Hi there, !
Today Fri 06/11/2021 Thu 06/10/2021 Wed 06/09/2021 Tue 06/08/2021 Mon 06/07/2021 Sun 06/06/2021 Sat 06/05/2021 Archives
Rantburg
559203 articles and 1927897 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 72 articles and 296 comments as of 10:42.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix    Main Page
Four suspects tried in Paris over 2017 jihadist murder of cop
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
18:05 2 20:31 Frank G [11148] 
17:54 3 22:27 Lemuel Oppressor of the Munchkins2590 [11138]
16:02 13 21:53 Chegum Angumble1005 [11131]
14:00 11 17:53 Skidmark [11135]
13:47 12 19:55 jpal [11140] 
13:37 0 [11133]
13:07 2 23:18 SteveS [11143]
09:46 5 22:34 Skidmark [11140]
09:32 8 22:19 Skidmark [11138]
09:30 24 22:11 Skidmark [11138]
08:38 2 22:20 Skidmark [11144]
08:30 1 15:27 Bobby [11143]
08:06 3 09:22 Glenmore [11134]
08:01 7 17:06 Sluse Grealet9429 [11132]
07:15 7 12:56 trailing wife [11137]
06:09 1 22:17 Skidmark [11144]
06:02 8 23:41 Thing From Snowy Mountain [11139]
05:52 4 11:45 Abu Uluque [11134]
05:45 3 22:18 Skidmark [11144]
03:06 8 22:18 Lemuel Oppressor of the Munchkins2590 [11145]
03:02 1 09:05 Skidmark [11151] 
02:52 2 08:31 Black Charlie Prince of the Jutes1819 [11146] 
02:52 6 22:28 Skidmark [11147]
02:49 6 14:26 JohnQC [11131]
02:47 0 [11146] 
02:42 0 [11140]
02:42 13 15:52 Raj [11137]
02:41 0 [11153]
01:56 0 [11140]
01:42 3 17:22 Skidmark [11133]
01:30 11 20:59 Chegum Angumble1005 [11149] 
00:39 1 10:49 Skidmark [11145]
00:00 4 11:01 Rob Crawford [11137]
00:00 3 08:47 Frank G [11139]
00:00 5 22:52 Lemuel Oppressor of the Munchkins2590 [11139]
00:00 7 14:08 Retard Strength [11131]
00:00 2 07:46 Matt [11137]
00:00 1 22:25 Skidmark [11146]
00:00 10 19:52 Chans Tingle4088 [11135]
00:00 4 22:10 Chegum Angumble1005 [11147]
00:00 4 13:54 magpie [11132]
00:00 5 22:23 Skidmark [11139]
00:00 9 16:08 rjschwarz [11134]
00:00 9 12:00 Clem [11144]
00:00 0 [11140]
00:00 5 17:37 Skidmark [11137]
00:00 0 [11147] 
00:00 1 07:37 Zhang Fei [11139]
00:00 0 [11135]
00:00 3 12:22 Abu Uluque [11139]
00:00 0 [11147]
00:00 4 17:16 Sluse Grealet9429 [11135]
00:00 0 [11143]
00:00 0 [11155]
00:00 0 [11142]
00:00 0 [11139] 
00:00 1 16:55 Sluse Grealet9429 [11148] 
00:00 0 [11133]
00:00 2 11:02 Bobby [11141]
00:00 0 [11138]
00:00 7 23:42 trailing wife [11137]
00:00 12 17:17 JohnQC [11134] 
00:00 8 22:22 Skidmark [11155]
00:00 9 14:58 Chris [11128]
00:00 0 [11137]
00:00 1 12:19 Tom [11137]
00:00 0 [11131] 
00:00 3 14:42 Skidmark [11131]
00:00 0 [11140] 
00:00 2 23:27 SteveS [11144]
00:00 6 14:10 Retard Strength [11151]
00:00 2 10:40 Skidmark [11151]
Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syrian media report Israeli air strike in Damascus area
[IsraelNationalNews] Syrian media on Tuesday evening reported that Israel carried out an air strike in its territory from Lebanese airspace.

The reports said that the country’s air defense systems had been activated against “Israeli aggression”.

It was also reported that explosions were heard in the Damascus area following the air strike.

A Syrian military source said that the attack caused only property damage and that there were no injuries.

The source added that "our air defense systems were activated against the aggression missiles and intercepted some of them".

In early May, Syrian media reported that Israel carried out an air strike against Hezbollah targets in the Quneitra area. The Syrian news agency reported that the attack was carried out using a helicopter. No injuries were reported. This was the second night in a row that Syria reported an Israeli attack in its territory.

The previous night, Syrian media reported that Israel carried out an air strike in the Latakia area in the western part of the country. According to the reports, the Syrian air defense systems were activated following the air strike. Explosions were also reported to have been heard near Latakia. Syrian television reported that the target of the air strike was a warehouse with plastic materials. According to the report, one person was killed and six others were injured in the attack.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/08/2021 18:05 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11148 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Syrian media spotted Israeli markings on the bombs as the fell did they?
Posted by: jpal || 06/08/2021 18:34 Comments || Top||

#2  Alleged Israeli airstrike targets Syria from Lebanese airspace
An alleged Israeli airstrike targeted Syrian territory from Lebanese airspace, hitting sites in central and southern Syria.
Posted by: Frank G || 06/08/2021 20:31 Comments || Top||


Iraq
40 years ago - Operation Opera: Israel destroyed Iraq's nuclear program and saved the West
[Arutz7] - In the late 1970s, Iraq purchased an "Osiris class" nuclear reactor from France (some things never change). Israeli military intelligence assumed this was for plutonium production to further an Iraqi nuclear weapons program. Israeli intelligence also believed that the summer of 1981 would be the last chance to destroy the reactor without exposing the Iraqi civilian population to nuclear fallout. After that point, the reactor would be loaded with nuclear fuel.

Israel prevented a nuclear Iraq

...Israel first pursued a diplomatic solution to the situation.

...In meetings with Defense Secretary Casper Weinberger and Secretary of State Alexander Haig, there was agreement about the Israeli assessment regarding the Iraqi nuclear threat. American representatives even verified Israeli assessments that Iraq was working to reach nuclear capability and exploit the ability to influence and destroy Israel. Despite the American consensus, the Americans refused to act. Perhaps because they did not truly grasp the danger or did not want to upset Iraq, which was fighting America’s enemy, Iran.

"Yitzchak Shamir, negotiated with French presidents Valery Giscard-D’Estaing and his successor Francois Mitterand. The French proved intransigent, looking out for their own economic interests as Iraq was by far their top customer for military hardware. The payments to France came mostly in the form of oil. [Then as now the French Government couldn't care less about dead Jews]


As the IDF reported it:

"4 pm, the evening before the Shavout holiday, 1981, orders were given to begin operations. At 5:35.a squadron of IAF F-16 fighter aircraft flew over Iraqi skies and dropped a number of bombs. The nuclear reactor was completely destroyed. Mission accomplished. One after another, the pilots shouted the code word "Alpha" into their radios, signaling their success. Zev Raz, Amus Yadlin, Chagi katz, Amir Nahumi, Yiftach Spector, Yisraeli Shapir, and Ilan Ramon- changed history, erasing the nuclear threat of the enemy."
History never repeats itself, but it often rhymes
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/08/2021 17:54 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11138 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I love it when a plan comes together!
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/08/2021 22:13 Comments || Top||

#2  Sadly, that was 40 years ago.
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/08/2021 22:14 Comments || Top||

#3 
Time to dust off the old plans, they get Nuke
-See what happens right before your eyes..now right now... Use the NUKEMAP Go ahead, A "Game for Adults" - and tin-pot terrorist states.


.... Dare Ya !
Posted by: Lemuel Oppressor of the Munchkins2590 || 06/08/2021 22:27 Comments || Top||


Government Corruption
ProPublica Gets Its Hands On IRS Data Of Very Rich Americans
A few things - this article doesn't give links to the actual database / other solid information on what numbers are actually on their 1040's, which then allows the leftists at ProPublica to deliberately conflate wealth / net worth with income, only the latter of which is subject to tax, in order to paint these guys in the worst possible light. Dishonest to the core, but you knew that already.
[ProPublica via TaxProf blog] - ProPublica has obtained a vast cache of IRS information showing how billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Warren Buffett pay little in income tax compared to their massive wealth — sometimes, even nothing.
Ever hear of a net operating loss or a carryforward loss, guys?
In 2007, Jeff Bezos, then a multibillionaire and now the world’s richest man, did not pay a penny in federal income taxes. He achieved the feat again in 2011. In 2018, Tesla founder Elon Musk, the second-richest person in the world, also paid no federal income taxes.

Michael Bloomberg managed to do the same in recent years. Billionaire investor Carl Icahn did it twice. George Soros paid no federal income tax three years in a row.
Also ignored are the employer payroll taxes paid by their respective companies, generally 9% - 10% of total wages.
Posted by: Raj || 06/08/2021 16:02 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11131 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Warren Buffett pay little in income tax

That's "news"? Yawn.....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Posted by: Clem || 06/08/2021 16:32 Comments || Top||

#2  Yeah - not exactly a news flash but it helps to keep highlighting the slanted news on this stuff.

Uh oh - I said 'slanted' - apologies in advance to the Asian-American Rantburg commentariat.
Posted by: Raj || 06/08/2021 17:21 Comments || Top||

#3  Next time use 'sloping.'

Oh.... WAIT !
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/08/2021 17:24 Comments || Top||

#4  ProPublica getting its hands on evidence of tax evasion doesn't mean anyone will do anything about it. Isn't that the way it always goes?
Posted by: jpal || 06/08/2021 17:40 Comments || Top||

#5  It's tax avoidance, not evasion. These returns are put under an IRS microscope once they're filed.
Posted by: Raj || 06/08/2021 17:46 Comments || Top||

#6  Farmer Bill Gates

1031 exchanges, capital gains tax wash
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/08/2021 17:48 Comments || Top||

#7  Had that conversation with a client yesterday; basically you defer cap. gains until you're dead and it becomes part of your estate.
Posted by: Raj || 06/08/2021 18:06 Comments || Top||

#8  Even CNBC is slanting this in a 'wealth to tax' manner so they can claim next to nothing in tax being paid every year. Too bad there aren't comments sections on these columns.
Posted by: Raj || 06/08/2021 18:19 Comments || Top||

#9  #2, #3 ... ok so long as you don't use any gobbledy...gook.
Posted by: Sheng Hapsburg6960 || 06/08/2021 19:35 Comments || Top||

#10  Gregory v Helvering(1934) - Supreme Court case that said
For a business reorganization to affect tax liability, the reorganization must have economic substance, not be merely an attempt to reduce tax. However, "the legal right of a taxpayer to decrease the amount of what otherwise would be his taxes, or altogether avoid them, by means which the law permits, cannot be doubted."
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 06/08/2021 21:44 Comments || Top||

#11  And the class warfare narrative continues to get pushed.
Posted by: Raj || 06/08/2021 21:44 Comments || Top||

#12  News "slanted" or "sloping?" Oh,jeez.
Don't ever use those, if you please.
Lest journos go mental,
Just say "oriental"
Or play the percentage: "Chinese."
Posted by: Chegum Angumble1005 || 06/08/2021 21:50 Comments || Top||

#13  And... as usual, shuffle lines and sense to taste.
Posted by: Chegum Angumble1005 || 06/08/2021 21:53 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Why Was the US Department of Defense Funding Bioweapons Research at Wuhan?
[Red State] (EDITOR’S NOTE: After reviewing thousands, and perhaps tens of thousands, of documents regarding the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic, we’ve got lots of questions. This post asks a very important question that every American should be asking their representatives to dig into. Our Scott Hounsell had another question regarding EcoHealth Alliance and its participation in the PPP program. Read that here.)

Late Friday the British publication DailyMail reported that the United States Department of Defense provided $39 million in grant funding to "EcoHealth Alliance" as part of the aggregated grant funding received by EcoHealth Alliance to conduct various types of "gain of function" virus research — a type of research in which scientists engineer viruses to make them more transmissible or lethal and which can be used to create bioweapons.

EcoHealth Alliance used a large amount of its funding to support research projects on the subject at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, led by Chinese "bat virus" expert Dr. Shi Zenglhi — the "Bat Lady."

While the Daily Mail report is fairly exhaustive, I think it is important to note that RedState, led by my colleague Scott Hounsell, was asking questions about US government funding gain-of-function research at the Wuhan lab back in February.

Further, back on May 11 — three weeks ago — Scott reported on the testy responses by Dr. Fauci to questions posed to him by Sen. Rand Paul about whether or not the US government, through the National Institute of Health (NIH), had provided funding to the Wuhan lab that had been used to conduct "gain of function" research involving viral mutations such as that which is thought to possibly have created the SARS-CoV-2 virus that led to the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Fauci adamantly denied that NIH had funded any such research.

NIH is not DOD, so you might wonder why these references are important.

Since that May 11 story, Scott has written another 16 stories on US government grant funding of research taking place at the Wuhan lab, the individuals involved, the efforts to deflect suspicion or blame for the COVID pandemic on any of the work done in Wuhan or any of the individuals involved in conducting the research.

Scott has written many of his stories based on original sources like grant paperwork and other documentation he has obtained through various sources. The DailyMail story today mostly serves to only validate and corroborate much of what Scott has already reported. From the DailyMail:
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/08/2021 14:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11135 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Prohibited here, obviously NOT prohibited there. What are your questions ?

Bottom line: The Pentagon was, through USAID, funding research of bioweapons as part of its responsibility to develop defenses to bioweapon attacks — anti-viral treatments and vaccines. To develop treatments and vaccines for bioweapons, you need to first develop such weapons.

EcoHealth Alliance took funding for research from that USAID, money that came from a Unted States Department of Defense bioweapons research agency, and spent it doing research on bioweapons with a state-run bioweapons lab in China.

Therefore, the United States military was (possibly unwittingly) funding bioweapons research at a military bioweapons lab in China. For years.


Emphasis added.
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/08/2021 14:10 Comments || Top||

#2  Ques: In the interest of time-saving and accuracy, when discussing or referring to USAID, would anyone object if we simply defaulted to their parent organization, the Central Intelligence Agency ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/08/2021 14:15 Comments || Top||

#3  To develop treatments and vaccines for bioweapons, you need to first develop such weapons.

Only if one believes that there is a limited number of possibilities for bioweapons. That is, if one has less understanding of the subject than a garbage eating street dog.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/08/2021 14:16 Comments || Top||

#4  a garbage eating street dog

Which could be considered a bioweapon variant.
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/08/2021 14:34 Comments || Top||

#5  ^My point, nobody is that stupid - you don't develop bioweapons to develop defenses.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/08/2021 14:37 Comments || Top||

#6  grom,

up to the 70s the USA did develop bioweapons partly in order to see what antidotes or vaccines worked

some pretty fearsome bio agents were still in the stock at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds Chemical Biological Center up to the 80s -- they may still have some as this Center is under control of the Dept of the Army

they continue to do work on defense against known bio agents, e.g., botulism toxin, ebola virus, etc.

I suspect they are, by law, not allowed to create new agents but as we know, the Wuhan Inst of Virology was not under such laws.
Posted by: Lord Garth || 06/08/2021 15:35 Comments || Top||

#7  up to the 70s the USA did develop bioweapons partly in order to see what antidotes or vaccines worked

In 1970es nobody knew zilch about Immunology. Today we know that every pathogen (even two closely related strains of common cold) are different enough so immunity to one doesn't give immunity to another.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/08/2021 15:48 Comments || Top||

#8  ^The great thing about the Western Covid vaccines is that they're specific to the spike protein - the part that makes the virus dangerous. If the virus mutates so far that the spike changes so much that an schooled immune system doesn't recognizes it - it, probably, changed so much it's no longer functional.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/08/2021 16:00 Comments || Top||

#9  ...a garbage eating street dog.

Is that reference some sort of take-off on "dog-faced pony soldier?"

Sorry, it just rang a bell.


Posted by: Besoeker || 06/08/2021 16:47 Comments || Top||

#10  #9 No, it's just an expression that came into my mind years ago while reading some anonymous reviewer evaluation of my paper. I, occasionally, reminded of it in circumstances such as above.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/08/2021 17:03 Comments || Top||

#11  Why Was the US Department of Defense Funding Bioweapons Research at Wuhan?

So it wouldn't breakout here?
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/08/2021 17:53 Comments || Top||


Good Morning

US Vice President Kamala Harris is
on a three-day victory lap in Central America
Tuesday June 8th, 2021

Joan Collins' armpit
IAEA Head: Iran Hasn't Answered Questions on Uranium Find
Center of Ghor's Shahrak District Falls to Taliban
Lebanon's President Approves Loan for Fuel to Generate Electricity
Turkey will take the Kabul airport control if allies provide supports
Greece Says Many Migrants in Turkey Could Seek Asylum there
Oil Retreats as Investors Await Iran Nuclear Talks
Mexican cops hunt for gang leader, 36, who escaped from prison while awaiting trial for the murders of three medical students and their Uber driver

Posted by: Fred || 06/08/2021 13:47 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11140 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I find it somewhat alluring.
Posted by: Unosh Hupinelet8756 || 06/08/2021 13:53 Comments || Top||

#2  No plastic is alluring.
Posted by: JohnQC || 06/08/2021 14:15 Comments || Top||

#3  A lovely lady, in her time.
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/08/2021 14:43 Comments || Top||

#4  Should have been Harry's nanny. England would have avoided future complications.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 06/08/2021 16:40 Comments || Top||

#5  Many respectable women in the 1970s never shaved their armpits or other places. True story I saw it with my own two eyes.
Posted by: jpal || 06/08/2021 16:56 Comments || Top||

#6  Hottest looking arm pit I have ever seen!
Posted by: Blackbeard Barnsmell6454 || 06/08/2021 16:58 Comments || Top||

#7  back in 1967, Captain Kirk fell in love with Joan as Edith Keeler in 'The City on the Edge of Forever'
Posted by: Lord Garth || 06/08/2021 17:41 Comments || Top||

#8  She was also in the "Dynasty" TV series.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 06/08/2021 19:03 Comments || Top||

#9 
Joan Collins in 2020 2019 2018





Posted by: Chans Tingle4088 || 06/08/2021 19:30 Comments || Top||

#10 
Swim Wear 2003





Posted by: Chans Tingle4088 || 06/08/2021 19:37 Comments || Top||

#11 
Joan is 85 years old plus,
may she live to be older,
than HRH Queen Elizabeth !

Posted by: Chans Tingle4088 || 06/08/2021 19:43 Comments || Top||

#12  She did a very good Star Trek episode with Bill Shatner as well. I think it was a two part TV episode.

Posted by: jpal || 06/08/2021 19:55 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Ep. 1537 The Key To The Lab Leak Theory Is Dead? - The Dan Bongino Show
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/08/2021 13:37 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11133 views] Top|| File under:


Government Corruption
Why a Judge Has Georgia Vote Fraud on His Mind: ‘Pristine' Biden Ballots That Looked Xeroxed
[Real Clear Investigations via Rantingly] When Fulton County, Ga., poll manager Suzi Voyles sorted through a large stack of mail-in ballots last November, she noticed an alarmingly odd pattern of uniformity in the markings for Joseph R. Biden. One after another, the absentee votes contained perfectly filled-in ovals for Biden — except that each of the darkened bubbles featured an identical white void inside them in the shape of a tiny crescent, indicating they'd been marked with toner ink instead of a pen or pencil.

Adding to suspicions, she noticed that all of the ballots were printed on different stock paper than the others she handled as part of a statewide hand recount of the razor-thin Nov. 3 presidential election. And none was folded or creased, as she typically observed in mail-in ballots that had been removed from envelopes.

In short, the Biden votes looked like they’d been duplicated by a copying machine.

"All of them were strangely pristine," said Voyles, who said she’d never seen anything like it in her 20 years monitoring elections in Fulton County, which includes much of Atlanta.

She wasn’t alone. At least three other poll workers observed the same thing in stacks of absentee ballots for Biden processed by the county, and they have joined Voyles in swearing under penalty of perjury that they looked fake.

Now election watchdogs have used their affidavits to help convince a state judge to unseal all of the 147,000 mail-in ballots counted in Fulton and allow a closer inspection of the suspicious Biden ballots for evidence of counterfeiting. They argue that potentially tens of thousands may have been manufactured in a race that Biden won by just 12,000 votes thanks to a late surge of mail-in ballots counted after election monitors were shooed from State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
Posted by: Clavise Gloluque6897 || 06/08/2021 13:07 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11143 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
Tsk, tsk, tsk, such bold subterfuge, and in Georgia of all places, The Peach State; Your election was the pits.....

Posted by: Lemuel Oppressor of the Munchkins2590 || 06/08/2021 22:09 Comments || Top||

#2  However, election officials have offered an explanation for why the mail-in ballots examined in the stacks did not have folds or creases. They say ballots are sometimes copied onto other paper when they are too damaged to be fed through one of the scanning machines during tabulation.

A perfectly reasonable explanation. But one that does *NOT* account for the single identical mark* on all the ballots. Maybe copier tech has improved lately, but I would expect to see signs of folds, bent corners, or other signs of handling on at least some of the ballots.

* these are paper ballots where you mark your preferences by filling in a little circle with a felt-tipped marker. Then the ballot is fed through an optical scanner that totals the votes.
Posted by: SteveS || 06/08/2021 23:18 Comments || Top||


-Land of the Free
The US Secret Service storms the beaches of Cornwall: Airbase is turned into a huge RV camp and Osprey helicopters soar over Carbis Bay in massive G7 security operation that promises chaos for locals and staycationers
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/08/2021 09:46 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11140 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Royal Navy Tracked a Russian Submarine in the English Channel
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/08/2021 9:49 Comments || Top||

#2  should just have these events on a cruise vessel

or on a small island
Posted by: Lord Garth || 06/08/2021 11:02 Comments || Top||

#3  C'mon, Skid. It wouldn't be an event worth all the hype without a Russian submarine prowling offshore.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 06/08/2021 12:26 Comments || Top||

#4  Alternatively, what a perfect reflective cove for an explosive entry.
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/08/2021 22:30 Comments || Top||

#5 
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/08/2021 22:33 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
US intelligence agencies KNEW Trump supporters were posting threats and maps of Capitol tunnels weeks before the riot but didn't share warnings with helpless Capitol cops, Senate report finds
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/08/2021 09:32 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11138 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Un-huh..yeah..Trump supporters are all about threats and planning insurrection..We leave that to the Antifa punks
Posted by: Warthog || 06/08/2021 9:54 Comments || Top||

#2  And they know Antifa plans to murder Andy Ngo, but do nothing about it.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 06/08/2021 10:49 Comments || Top||

#3  still looking to why Mayor Bowser refused to activate Natl Guard when asked a day before the riot
Posted by: Lord Garth || 06/08/2021 11:03 Comments || Top||

#4  Almost as if it was part of the plan for those unwitting Capitol cops to appear genuinely confused and overwhelmed by the "insurrection".
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 06/08/2021 12:35 Comments || Top||

#5  I wouldn't discount any possibilities when it comes to the left.
Posted by: JohnQC || 06/08/2021 13:40 Comments || Top||

#6  Typical Bullshit
Posted by: Ebbomoger Speaking for Boskone4589 || 06/08/2021 13:43 Comments || Top||

#7  The same agencies that vetted the Russia hoax?
Posted by: Jise Elmeang4932 || 06/08/2021 13:56 Comments || Top||

#8  As before, Nancy's police were likely tour guides.
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/08/2021 22:19 Comments || Top||


Cyber
The day the internet broke: Hundreds of websites worldwide including CNN, NYTimes, Amazon and Reddit go DOWN after outage at US server company Fastly
WHICH SITES WERE AFFECTED

Spotify

Reddit

Netflix

Gov.uk

White House

PayPal

Twitch

Stack Overflow

CNN

New York Times

The Guardian

The Verge

Hulu

HBO Max

Quora

Vimeo

Shopify

Stripe

BBC

Financial Times
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/08/2021 09:30 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11138 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The US is no longer a mighty nation. Much bigger negative situations are in planning for sure for this generation of Americans.
Posted by: Blackbeard Barnsmell6454 || 06/08/2021 9:57 Comments || Top||

#2  I copied the internet to a floppy disk. Everything ok.
Posted by: European Conservative || 06/08/2021 10:38 Comments || Top||

#3  Millions idled...
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/08/2021 10:45 Comments || Top||

#4 
Posted by: Clem || 06/08/2021 10:47 Comments || Top||

#5  The US is no longer a mighty nation.

Mightier than all the alternatives.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 06/08/2021 10:55 Comments || Top||

#6  Hackers Breached Colonial Pipeline Using Compromised Password
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/08/2021 11:01 Comments || Top||

#7 
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 06/08/2021 11:01 Comments || Top||

#8  In case no one eles noticed.
WWV and NIST WERE NOT IN SYNC
for brief period a few days ago

No explaination heard or given.
Posted by: NN2N1 || 06/08/2021 11:01 Comments || Top||

#9 
Posted by: Clem || 06/08/2021 11:13 Comments || Top||

#10  A re-reminder.
A white house cabinet member during the pipeline hack strongly suggested the US Internet needed to be Federally monitored and controlled, because its national vidal resource.
Posted by: NN2N1 || 06/08/2021 13:07 Comments || Top||

#11  No explanation heard or given.

A cesium hiccup?
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/08/2021 14:30 Comments || Top||

#12  Congress just got ransomwared.
Posted by: Ebbomoger Speaking for Boskone4589 || 06/08/2021 14:34 Comments || Top||

#13  the US Internet needed to be Federally monitored and controlled

Controlled, it seems obvious, by a subsidiary of the US Post Office, predecessor to the internet.
Posted by: Bobby || 06/08/2021 15:18 Comments || Top||

#14  Clem got a comment pulled?
Posted by: Raj || 06/08/2021 16:47 Comments || Top||

#15  /\ Weren't by me. Might have been in error.
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/08/2021 16:49 Comments || Top||

#16  /\ Wow, yeah...that's ridiculous...no profanity, nothing but a one-line opinion.

If the 'Burg is getting like Twitter or Farcebook, I'll send my money elsewhere.
Posted by: Clem || 06/08/2021 16:52 Comments || Top||

#17  There are no "errors", B.
Posted by: Clem || 06/08/2021 16:53 Comments || Top||

#18  Sometimes a MOD hit the wrong button. I've done it myself a few times. Stay with us.
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/08/2021 17:15 Comments || Top||

#19  No profanity? What the fuck's wrong with you? :-)
Posted by: Raj || 06/08/2021 17:18 Comments || Top||

#20  Whhahahahahaaaa
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/08/2021 17:19 Comments || Top||

#21  Well, I hear you, B., but I don't buy it. My post was from around 1115 EDT but got deleted hours later. I also don't see any mea culpa. Oh well, Silicon Valley now has a new member called The Rantburg.
Posted by: Clem || 06/08/2021 18:28 Comments || Top||

#22  To Raj: I hate to say it, but I think the Bruins blew it in Game #4. Maybe I'll be surprised (I like Barry Trotz but f'in can't STAND the Islanders), but I am not confident.
Posted by: Clem || 06/08/2021 18:31 Comments || Top||

#23  wasn't me. Hard day at work then I enjoyed the afternoon being broken in by a new CPA/Tax/Bookkeeper
Posted by: Frank G || 06/08/2021 20:36 Comments || Top||

#24  Frank, are you a whiney troll pruner?
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/08/2021 22:11 Comments || Top||


-Land of the Free
Biden administration threatens Texas with legal action over migrant detention facility closures
[FoxNews] The Biden administration threatened Monday to pursue legal action if Texas Gov. Greg Abbott doesn't rescind his order shutting down federally funded shelters that house migrant children who cross the U.S.-Mexico border without their parents.

In a letter obtained by The Associated Press, the deputy general counsel for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services told the Republican governor that even though the state issues the licenses for the shelter, Congress has tasked his agency with caring for unaccompanied children.

He warned Abbott not to interfere with those operations and said HHS intends to pursue legal action if the state proceeds to close the shelters down.

"(The Office of Refugee Resettlement) operates 52 state-licensed facilities in Texas, which comprise a significant portion of ORR's total operational footprint, and represent an indispensable component of the federal immigration system," Paul Rodriguez, HHS deputy general counsel, wrote in the letter to Abbott and two other Texas officials. The "proclamation would be a direct attack on this system."

The letter urges Abbott to clarify by June 11 whether his proclamation last week applies to 52 shelters that are licensed by the state but funded with federal grants. It argues that federal law states these migrant children "do not accrue unlawful presence" while they are in the United States, challenging Abbott's labeling of these children as "unlawful immigrants."

More than half of migrant children sheltered by the U.S. government in licensed facilities are in Texas. The last census taken on May 19 showed 4,223 children in the facilities of about 7,000 in the entire network of licensed shelters.

Experts and advocates say shutting down these shelters could seriously disrupt the program for unaccompanied children, which already faces capacity problems forcing the government to open up a dozen emergency sites to process thousands of children.

The Biden administration has worked to speed up the transfers from Border Patrol to HHS custody, and the releases of children to relatives in the U.S. In the past month, HHS has reduced the number of children in shelters or emergency sites by releasing more of them to their families.

However, as of Sunday, there are still about 16,000 children in HHS custody, and the federal government has struggled to increase the number of beds in licensed shelters, which are preferred by advocates.

The so-called emergency intake sites were opened beginning in March at convention centers, military bases and other large venues. They look like hurricane evacuation shelters, with little space to play and no privacy. Advocates and lawmakers who have visited have voiced concerns about the children's mental health.

Abbott also has been critical of emergency facilities that lack state licenses, but advocates say his directive could transfer more children to the large-scale sites.

The letter says the state would be discriminating against providers who have federal government grants to run these shelters. That would violate the doctrine of intergovernmental immunity, which impedes state interfering with federal activity, and the Supremacy Clause, which says federal law takes precedence over state or local laws.

The order to strip away licenses from shelters is part of a disaster declaration Abbott issued last week, arguing the federal government can't force Texas to keep issuing state licenses in response to a federal problem. The proclamation was a highly unusual move by the governor that comes amid criticism of record numbers of border crossings in recent months.

More recently, Abbott is saying that state troopers will soon begin arresting migrants at the border, promising an announcement later this week.
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/08/2021 08:38 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11144 views] Top|| File under: Human Trafficking

#1  (yawn)
Posted by: Ebbomoger Speaking for Boskone4589 || 06/08/2021 11:44 Comments || Top||

#2  Let's bus'em to your city.
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/08/2021 22:20 Comments || Top||


Government Corruption
Biden White House powered by family connections
[FoxNews] White House press secretary Jen Psaki, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, senior adviser Anita Dunn, White House counselor Steve Richetti, deputy chief of staff Bruce Reed and Presidential Personnel Office Director Cathy Russell each have at least one direct family member working for the Biden administration.

Psaki's sister Stephanie Psaki was appointed to a senior adviser role within the Department of Health and Human Services in March. Her official title is Senior Advisor on Human Rights and Gender Equity in the Office of Global Affairs.

In Sullivan's case, his wife, younger brother and sister-in-law work for the Biden administration. The national security adviser's younger brother Tom Sullivan is deputy chief of staff for policy at the State Department after holding the same position during the Obama administration (Jake Sullivan served in both the White House and State Department under Obama). Tom Sullivan's wife Rose Baumann Sullivan is Acting Assistant Secretary for Legislation at HHS, according to the department's website. She was previously a lobbyist for companies including Verizon, Google parent Alphabet and CVS Health, according to Open Secrets.

Jake Sullivan's wife Maggie Goodlander is counsel to Attorney General Merrick Garland after clerking for Garland, according to Politico.

Blinken's wife Evan Ryan is White House Cabinet Secretary, an appointed position without Senate confirmation that entails being a go-between for the president and cabinet departments and agencies.

Meanwhile, Biden's senior adviser Anita Dunn, who has said her position is temporary, is married to Bob Bauer, who co-chairs the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the U.S., which is looking at so-called Supreme Court reform.

White House chief of staff Ron Klain's wife Monica Medina is Biden's nominee for assistant secretary of the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Science Affairs.
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/08/2021 08:30 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11143 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
Posted by: Bobby || 06/08/2021 15:27 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Alameda County, CA COVID Deaths Drop by 25%
[Epoch Times] The number of COVID-19 deaths in Alameda County, California, fell by about 25 percent after health officials changed their methodology for total mortality count, removing deaths that weren’t a "direct result" of the disease or "in whom death caused by COVID-19 could not be ruled out."
Amazing. That they admitted it.
"Alameda County previously included any person who died while infected with the virus in the total COVID-19 deaths for the County," the county’s public health department said in a statement (pdf). For example, someone who tested positive for the virus before dying in a car accident would still have been counted toward the COVID-19 death toll.
And your rationale for that method would be?
"Aligning with the State’s definition will require Alameda County to report as COVID-19 deaths only those people who died as a direct result of COVID-19, with COVID-19 as a contributing cause of death, or in whom death caused by COVID-19 could not be ruled out," the health officials said, noting that their system of reporting COVID-19 deaths on the dashboard and to the state was implemented early in the pandemic, before the state established guidelines for how deaths should be classified.
So we chose a method that would impact Trump's re-election, of course.
Posted by: Bobby || 06/08/2021 08:06 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11134 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Good
Now the kids can go to school, without the "Fauci Favored Faces"....

Posted by: Black Charlie Prince of the Jutes1819 || 06/08/2021 8:48 Comments || Top||

#2  Are the numbers still magic numbers if they don't support "the narrative?"
Posted by: M. Murcek || 06/08/2021 8:57 Comments || Top||

#3  Or by 50%, or by 99%. Or even went up? How would we know?
Posted by: Glenmore || 06/08/2021 9:22 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Remembering when Israel attacked the US
A tendentious title... We discussed the subject at length back in 2003, when it was pointed out that in war mistakes happen in which people die unfairly, and America has made some of them.
Today back in 1967: During the six-day Middle East war, 34 American servicemen were killed when Israel attacked the USS Liberty, a Navy intelligence-gathering ship in the Mediterranean Sea. (Israel later said the Liberty had been mistaken for an Egyptian vessel.)
The USS Liberty was an electronic intelligence-gathering ship that was cruising international waters off the Egyptian coast on June 8, 1967. Israeli planes and torpedo boats opened fire on the Liberty at what became known as the outbreak of the Israeli-Egyptian Six-Day War. In addition to the 34 Americans killed, more than 170 were wounded. Calls to the Navy seeking comment were not immediately returned.

Israel has long maintained that the attack was a case of mistaken identity, an explanation that the Johnson administration did not formally challenge. Israel claimed its forces thought the ship was an Egyptian vessel and apologized to the United States.
From the Jerusalem Post on the subject in 2011:
The pilots of the four jets that attacked the Liberty remained anonymous for decades. One died in 1979 in an aviation accident, and in 2003, one of them agreed to give this reporter an exclusive interview of his impressions from that fateful day.

He is Yitfach Spector, a famous Israeli pilot who went on to become a triple ace, shooting down 15 enemy aircraft, and taking part in the infamous 1981 raid on the Iraqi nuclear reactor. He was finally dismissed from the Air Force in 2003 for signing a letter with other pilots protesting the policy of targeted killings of Palestinian terrorists.

Brig.-Gen. (ret.) Spector says in that interview that the Americans aboard the Liberty were “lucky” he wasn’t carrying any iron bombs otherwise he would have sunk the ship.

“There was a mistake. Mistakes happen. As far as I know, the mistake was of the USS Liberty being there in the first place,” says Spector, who at the time was deputy squadron commander of the 101st and used the code name “Kursa” during the attack.

"I was told on the radio that it was an Egyptian ship off the Gaza coast. Hit it. The luck of the ship was that I was armed only with light ammunition against aircraft. If I had had a bomb it would be sitting on the bottom today like the Titanic. I promise you," Spector says.

Cristol and Spector remain baffled about the persistence of the conspiracy theories that assert that Israel deliberately attacked the ship. Some theories suggest Israel hit the ship because it picked up communications that Israel was about to invade Syria, or was massacred prisoners of war. Cristol suggests it had to do with anti-Israel sentiments.

“There are people who are anti-Israel or who are on the other side of the Arab-Israeli conflict and because the United States-Israel relationship is so strong and so good they find very few ways to attack it. This is one of the focal points on which they like to aim when they are attempting to attack and destroy that relationship,” Cristol says.
Posted by: NN2N1 || 06/08/2021 08:01 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11132 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ...My father liked to point out that the truly successful conspiracies in history can likely be counted on the fingers of one hand. What happened to Liberty was a horrifying mistake, but a mistake nevertheless.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 06/08/2021 11:23 Comments || Top||

#2  The name of the ship is so ripe for metaphors.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 06/08/2021 11:59 Comments || Top||

#3  It wasn't mistaken identity. The US ship was broadcasting correctly and had Old Glory flying from the stern. It's just that it was an intelligence snooper and Israel had some very dirty deeds to do to the Arabs and didn't want anyone watching.
Posted by: Jiggs Trotsky5854 || 06/08/2021 13:46 Comments || Top||

#4  https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/israel-attacks-uss-liberty
Posted by: NoMoreBS || 06/08/2021 16:07 Comments || Top||

#5  'But Sir, It’s an American Ship.' 'Never Mind, Hit Her!' When Israel Attacked USS Liberty

Israeli pilot to IDF war room: This is an American ship. Do you still want us to attack?

IDF war room to Israeli pilot: Yes, follow orders.

Israeli pilot to IDF war room: But sir, it’s an American ship - I can see the flag!

IDF war room to Israeli pilot: Never mind; hit it.

https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/but-sir-its-an-american-ship-never-mind-hit-her-1.5492908
Posted by: Jiggs Trotsky5854 || 06/08/2021 16:13 Comments || Top||

#6  Ironically, its sister ship was the Pueblo which sits in a North Korean port. It took two 'incidents' before they moved intel collecting to an conventionally armed combat ship.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 06/08/2021 16:36 Comments || Top||

#7  we attack israel all the time by proxy and highly advanced enabling by protecting the trash that funds them eu imf woke ewoks in washington when do we declare victory?
Posted by: Sluse Grealet9429 || 06/08/2021 17:06 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
The Long Shadow of the 1976 Swine Flu Vaccine ‘Fiasco'
[Smithsonian] In the spring of 1976, it looked like that year’s flu was the real thing. Spoiler alert: it wasn’t, and rushed response led to a medical debacle that hasn’t gone away.

"Some of the American public’s hesitance to embrace vaccines — the flu vaccine in particular — can be attributed to the long-lasting effects of a failed 1976 campaign to mass-vaccinate the public against a strain of the swine flu virus," writes Rebecca Kreston for Discover. "This government-led campaign was widely viewed as a debacle and put an irreparable dent in future public health initiative, as well as negatively influenced the public’s perception of both the flu and the flu shot in this country."

To begin with: You should get a flu shot. You should certainly get all of your other vaccines and make sure your children get them. They will protect you and others from getting deadly and debilitating things like mumps, whooping cough, polio and measles. But this is a story about one time over 40 years ago when poor decision-making on the part of the government led to the unnecessary vaccination of about 45 million citizens. We can't blame it for the modern anti-vaccine movement, which has more recent roots in a retracted paper that linked one vaccine to autism, but it certainly had an effect on the public's view of vaccines.

On February 4, 1976, a young soldier named David Lewis died of a new form of flu. In the middle of the month, F. David Matthews, the U.S. secretary of health, education and welfare, announced that an epidemic of the flu that killed Pvt. Lewis was due in the fall. "The indication is that we will see a return of the 1918 flu virus that is the most virulent form of flu," he said, reports Patrick di Justo for Salon. He went on: The 1918 outbreak of "Spanish flu" killed half a million Americans, and the upcoming apocalypse was expected to kill a million.

Posted by: Besoeker || 06/08/2021 07:15 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11137 views] Top|| File under:

#1 

We got the Hog-Flu vax when it got to GA finally. We were both mildly sick the next day, for about 48 hrs.

Since then we have avoided the growing all too common cycle of Panic Virus Vax's and just practiced common Flu environmental precautions.

Maybe Lucky, maybe just being more cautious.
But no infections from flu or etc... since 1978
Posted by: NN2N1 || 06/08/2021 7:47 Comments || Top||

#2  Wife & I both got that swine flu vaccine. I had a little soreness at the injection site for a few hours, same as with any other such shot. Wife was so sick she was afraid to go to sleep for fear she wouldn't wake up. (We believe my great grandmother died of the original 'Spanish' flu version.)
Posted by: Glenmore || 06/08/2021 9:30 Comments || Top||

#3  expected to kill a million.

Big deal! The China Flu was going to kill 2.2 million Americans.

Our elitist betters have kept that down to about 600,000, so far. Trust the CDC! /sarc
Posted by: Bobby || 06/08/2021 10:54 Comments || Top||

#4  Hmmm, the 'off sarc' tag disappeared.
Posted by: Bobby || 06/08/2021 10:55 Comments || Top||

#5  ...My mother was about halfway through a 42-year career as an RN when this happened.

She refused to let us get it, swearing we'd never get it.

Mike

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 06/08/2021 11:26 Comments || Top||

#6  My wife and I were 'sicker than dogs' with this flu and mostly down and in bed for about 2 weeks.

Of course the kids were just fine and still had to get to school.

NOTHING closed. Never did get the vaccine.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 06/08/2021 12:46 Comments || Top||

#7  the 'off sarc' tag disappeared.

I deleted the angle brackets, Bobby. When you put something inside angle brackets, the program thinks it’s something that it needs to execute, not just display.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/08/2021 12:56 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Guatemalan President Blasts Biden's Border Policies for Enabling Criminal Human Smugglers
[Townhall] After gifting reporters a cookie of her face, Vice President Kamala Harris has made her way to Guatemala to discuss the "root causes" of an unprecedented surge of illegal immigration into the United States since President Biden took office in January.

Ahead of her arrival, Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei blasted the Biden Administration for "family reunification" policies that enable human trafficking and smuggling.

"The message changed to 'we're going to reunite families and we're going to reunite children. The very next day the coyotes were here organizing groups of children to take them to the United States," Giammattei said during an interview with CBS News.

Posted by: Besoeker || 06/08/2021 06:09 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11144 views] Top|| File under:

#1  As some would say, standard Latin response.
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/08/2021 22:17 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
The sad end of Jack Ma Inc.
[Forbes]
Hit the link to see the story about the dismemberment of Jack Ma Inc. and giving it's lucrative pieces to CCP friends and insiders.
Posted by: 3dc || 06/08/2021 06:02 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11139 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  The old difference between the commies, international socialists, and the nazis, national socialists, is that the latter rather than seizing the 'means of production' would allow the old managers who knew how to run the place to remain, at least for a while till it no longer suited the party.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 06/08/2021 6:22 Comments || Top||

#2  The New Economic Policy (NEP) (Russian: но́вая экономи́ческая поли́тика (НЭП), tr. nóvaya ekonomícheskaya polítika) was an economic policy of the Soviet Union proposed by Vladimir Lenin in 1921 as a temporary expedient. Lenin characterized the NEP in 1922 as an economic system that would include "a free market and capitalism, both subject to state control," while socialized state enterprises would operate on "a profit basis." ... Joseph Stalin abandoned the NEP in 1928 with the Great Break.

Not Winnie-the-Pooh but the man of steel?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/08/2021 6:30 Comments || Top||

#3  The old difference between the commies, international socialists, and the nazis, national socialists, is that the latter rather than seizing the 'means of production' would allow the old managers who knew how to run the place to remain, at least for a while till it no longer suited the party.

The eternal verities of history have been distorted by ideologists stretching their world views and models to the breaking point to accommodate new realities. Xi is just another absolute ruler - an emperor by another name - seeking long-lasting fame for himself. The ideological pap is just stream of consciousness invented on the fly to justify whatever he wants to do. Think Henry VIII and his divorce from the Vatican.

Personal aggrandizement and whim are at the heart of most political endeavors - and current day Chinese rulers are no exception to this tendency. In Chinese history, the counter balance to absolute rulers has traditionally been the elite mutiny (Zhao Gao, Xiang Yu, An Lushan, Cao Cao, Zhao Kuangyin, Deng Xiaoping) or armed revolution from below (Liu Bang, Liu Xiu, Liu Bei, Zhu Yuanzhang, Mao Zedong, Li Zicheng, Hong Xiuquan). Each of these names has his own Wiki entry, having been a major player in the unfolding of Chinese history.

Why not democracy? No one wants to risk his neck for anything but a shot at absolute power. A gamble with your life as the principal stake to make someone else the ruler has probably always been seen as mildly quixotic, which is why men like Cincinnatus and Washington* are the rare exceptions, whereas Napoleon and Lenin are the rule.

* When told by the American artist Benjamin West that Washington was going to resign, King George III of England said "If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world."
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 06/08/2021 7:11 Comments || Top||

#4  Should be an eye opener for all corporate heads that hitch their wagons to China. Don't count on it, though...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 06/08/2021 7:34 Comments || Top||

#5  Elon Musk to the white courtesy phone!
Posted by: Airandee || 06/08/2021 8:23 Comments || Top||

#6  I keep thinking I've read this somewhere else... but I can't find where; it may be an original insight, but I doubt it.

Basically, this:

Communism isn't an economic system. It's an authoritarian political system disguised as an economic system.

Once you realize this, the alleged differences between fascism and communism seem less. It doesn't matter to the people at the bottom if the people at the top are practicing Party Communism or Party Capitalism. They're the same system.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 06/08/2021 17:15 Comments || Top||

#7  Communism isn't an economic system. It's an authoritarian political system disguised as an economic system.

Totalitarian, but yes.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/08/2021 23:26 Comments || Top||

#8  Probably a better word choice. But you get the point.

The funny thing is, I remember it from somewhere, but I don't know where.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 06/08/2021 23:41 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Former President Donald Trump and Bill O'Reilly to hold ticketed events called 'The History Tour'
[Just The News] Former President Donald Trump and conservative commentator Bill O'Reilly will participate in four live ticketed events later this year.

"Dubbed "The History Tour," President Trump will provide a never before heard inside view of his administration — which will be historical in and of itself," a press release explains.

The tour, which will include four dates, kicks off in Sunrise, Florida this Dec. 11 and 12, with the other events slated for two Texas cities, Houston and Dallas, on Dec. 18 and 19 respectively.

"These will be wonderful but hard-hitting sessions where we'll talk about the real problems happening in the U.S., those that the Fake News Media never mention. I will be focusing on greatness for our Country, something seldom discussed in political dialogue. If we don't make our Country great again, we will soon no longer have a Country! I look forward to working with Bill, who right now has the #1 bestselling book, to openly discuss the real problems of our Country, and how to solve them. Additionally, it will be fun, fun, fun, for everyone who attends!" Trump said.

"My job as a historian/journalist is to get important things on the record in a fact-based way. These conversations with the 45th President will not be boring," O'Reilly said.
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/08/2021 05:52 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11134 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Yet another country store 'spit and whittle' club. I truly love history. Not to sound disrespectful, but we must move beyond book tours and endless reflection.
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/08/2021 6:03 Comments || Top||

#2 
I hope it comes to GA. it will be a Sell out crowd


But, given the Far Left Radical NUT JOBS out there. I pray O'Reilly isn't inadvertently setting up another KILLING ______ book deal.


Posted by: NN2N1 || 06/08/2021 6:49 Comments || Top||

#3 
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/08/2021 10:37 Comments || Top||

#4  I'm not a big fan of O'Reilly. The interviews on his old Fox News show had a tendency to turn into shouting matches because he would never listen to his guests so I couldn't hear a thing worth hearing. I usually agreed with his monologues but he was a bully and a loud mouth during interviews. Got to the point where I just didn't bother watching anymore.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 06/08/2021 11:45 Comments || Top||


Governor DeSantis's star keeps rising
[American Thinker] DeSantis has an unmistakable political glow about him. Whether being treated like a star performer at a massive country music jam in Florida or being one of the top people on Donald Trump’s radar should Trump win again, people like what they see.

On Sunday, Florida held the largest music festival in America since February 2020. The Pepsi Gulf Coast Jam, in Panama City Beach, saw more than 20,000 people gather together for the three-day country music festival. Big stars were appearing: Lynyrd Skynyrd, Luke Bryan, Brooks & Dunn, Chris Stapleton...and Ron DeSantis. Yup, DeSantis dropped by for a quick visit and got the same star treatment as the named performers:
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/08/2021 05:45 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11144 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Unless the Dominion candidate can be defeated, my enthusiasm remains muted.
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/08/2021 5:51 Comments || Top||

#2  I like him. He needs to be careful, bright lights get attention. They will target him and discredit him where possible. As a mentor once told me, a shooting star is in reality burning in.
Posted by: 49 Pan || 06/08/2021 11:13 Comments || Top||

#3  Pop flare.
It'll drop while they're still charging.
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/08/2021 22:18 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
Off his chopper: Daredevil takes first test flight of electric-powered backpack helicopter
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/08/2021 03:06 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11145 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Batteries last as long as 5 minutes aloft?
Posted by: magpie || 06/08/2021 9:48 Comments || Top||

#2  Skinny Dude...You'd need 6 of those rotors to get my fat ass off the ground
Posted by: Warthog || 06/08/2021 9:56 Comments || Top||

#3  "Controlled by an operator on the ground..."
No thanks.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 06/08/2021 12:01 Comments || Top||

#4  Unlike gas-fueled jetpacks, the CopterPack appears to uses battery power to propel the device's dual rotors.

And by "battery power", we mean a ridiculously heavy device with nowhere near the energy density needed to power flight.
Posted by: SteveS || 06/08/2021 13:06 Comments || Top||

#5  Pessimist! It would work as well as tethered aerial balloons
Posted by: magpie || 06/08/2021 17:45 Comments || Top||

#6  /\ Hot air balloons, from the 1860's....
Posted by: magpie || 06/08/2021 17:46 Comments || Top||

#7  let me fly him! my turn!
Posted by: Retard Strength || 06/08/2021 18:27 Comments || Top||

#8 
Get in line sonny, this 99 year old is next, no time left, right...becomes a Centenarian
Posted by: Lemuel Oppressor of the Munchkins2590 || 06/08/2021 22:18 Comments || Top||


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Mexican cops hunt for gang leader, 36, who escaped from prison while awaiting trial for the murders of three medical students and their Uber driver
[Daily Mail, Where America Gets Its News]
  • Felipe ‘El Piruli’ Hernández escaped from a prison in Puebla, Mexico, on Sunday

  • The 36-year-old was identified by authorities as the leader of a street gang that killed three aspiring doctors and their Uber driver on February 24, 2020

  • Hernández fled the San Miguel Social Readaptation Center in the municipality of Puebla with the help of another individual, who has been arrested

  • The accomplice, who has not been named, provided Hernández civilians clothes which allowed him to walk out of the jail undetected

  • Hernández was accused of killing Colombian nationals José Antonio Parada, 22, and Ximena Quijano, 25, and Mexico native Francisco Javier Tirado, 22

  • The trio of aspiring doctors were found dead along with Uber driver Jose Manuel Vital after leaving a carnival

  • A total of three suspects linked to the murders are still behind bars
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/08/2021 03:02 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11151 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I loved going across the border mid September for Independence Day. Small town carnivals, rides, food, parades, horse races and music! Just as joyful as it sounds.

Now I don't go close to the border.
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/08/2021 9:05 Comments || Top||


Science
US Navy makes history as unmanned tanker drone refuels a fighter jet for the first time
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/08/2021 02:52 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11147 views] Top|| File under:

#1 

Wondering out-loud if it can be adapted to be a Fuel-Air weapon?

Imagine smaller 5 to 25 gal/pound field deployable versions hovering over a target vaporizing the fuel and igniting it.
Posted by: NN2N1 || 06/08/2021 6:43 Comments || Top||

#2  DJI Agras T20 Read to Fly Combo
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/08/2021 8:26 Comments || Top||

#3  So this unmanned craft does the re-fueling role just fine but Boeing still has problems making the KC-46 boom work correctly.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 06/08/2021 9:01 Comments || Top||

#4  /\ Probe and drogue system makes the following aircraft responsible for much of the "fiddly stuff" of refueling. Still, this could 'free' manned F/A-18s for strike missions instead of orbiting the carriers as tankers
Posted by: magpie || 06/08/2021 9:37 Comments || Top||

#5 
Many years ago I was the backup Network Eng. at Seymour Johnson AFB for the KC-130 Simulator

One our contracted "tasks" ☺ was testing (flying) the KC-130 Boom/Bot Simulators. While there I got to see a Video of a inflight refueling accident.

A refueling of a USAF F-4 jet between Iceland and Greenland. The hose kinked the jet pulled away and the hose filled the starboard side engine with JP fuel. Massive Backfire/ flames and etc... Needless to say the jet had issues and ditched.

Posted by: NN2N1 || 06/08/2021 18:53 Comments || Top||

#6  So that's a bad lock.
Whose?
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/08/2021 22:28 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Top Kurdish Iraqi intelligence officer assassinated in Baghdad
[Rudaw] A top Kurdish officer in the Iraqi intelligence service was assassinated on Monday in Baghdad, the National Intelligence Service has confirmed, in the second liquidation operation against intelligence officers in recent months.

The National Intelligence Service confirmed the liquidation of Nibras Farman al- Faily, describing it as a "desperate attempt" to dissuade the agency from its work.

"At a time when the National Intelligence Service expresses its deepest condolences to the martyr's family, relatives and loved ones, it affirms that the martyr's blood will be a beacon for retribution against the criminal killers who are trying to rob the will of the state and weaken the determination of its sons," it said in a statement.

Faily’s liquidation comes two weeks after Iraqi security forces arrested a prominent leader from the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF or al- Hashd al-Shaabi) Qassem Musleh at in May on terrorism-related charges. Musleh has been accused of being linked to the killing of prominent activists in Karbala.

The arrest was carried out by the anti-corruption committee led by Ahmed Abu Ragheef, a senior intelligence and investigations officer in the Ministry of Interior.

Faily’s death comes two months after the Ministry of Interior’s deputy director of military intelligence survived an liquidation attempt south of Baghdad.

In March, an intelligence officer was assassinated in Mansour district, west of the Iraqi capital.

Tension between the intelligence service and pro-Iranian militias has risen recently, with militias threatening those working for the intelligence service.

In March, Sadiqoun bloc MP Hassan Salem, who represents the Asaib Ahl al-Haq militia attacked the Iraqi intelligence service, saying that it should be "purified of the traitors" that coordinate with the United States.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/08/2021 02:52 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11146 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran Proxies

#1  sounds like some PMF held in Iraqi prisons need to be dragged out and executed
Posted by: Frank G || 06/08/2021 7:48 Comments || Top||

#2 
In March, Sadiqoun bloc MP Hassan Salem, who represents the Asaib Ahl al-Haq militia attacked the Iraqi intelligence service, saying that it should be "purified of the traitors" that coordinate with the United States.

And his group hired "some guys from the old school" to do the deed.

Posted by: Black Charlie Prince of the Jutes1819 || 06/08/2021 8:31 Comments || Top||


Cyber
Bill Gates disappeared from work in Porsche to meet women, has been investigated by PI appointed by someone in his wife Melinda's circle, Vanity Fair claims
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/08/2021 02:49 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11131 views] Top|| File under:

#1  And Need For Speed-Porsche Unleashed wouldn't run on Windows XP. Sheesh, what a hypocrite!
Posted by: Dron66046 || 06/08/2021 4:49 Comments || Top||

#2  Good to know he IS human.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/08/2021 5:47 Comments || Top||

#3  reptiles have needs too.
Posted by: 746 || 06/08/2021 9:20 Comments || Top||

#4 
Posted by: Clem || 06/08/2021 11:20 Comments || Top||

#5  #2, when it's all about power, money and sex regardless of what happens to others, that's reptilian.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 06/08/2021 12:48 Comments || Top||

#6  Billy boy has a secret life? Has Ghislaine had anything to say? I'd be happy if he focused on software and turned out decent products.
Posted by: JohnQC || 06/08/2021 14:26 Comments || Top||


Down Under
Inside the 'AN0M' bust: How fake encrypted app sting saw 4,000 cops sweep through the underworld arresting more than 100 and seizing trove of 3.77 tonnes of drugs, $45 million in cash, guns and GODFATHER memorabilia
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news]
  • Huge AFP bust has seen 4,000 cops storm Australia's underworld overnight

  • In the nation's biggest ever police bust, 224 people have been arrested

  • Cops used world-leading tech to bust criminals' encrypted message systems

  • But Mail can reveal mission was almost compromised by a tech geek blogger

  • Ninja Warrior star Sopiea Kong was arrested after 154g of meth was seized

  • Bachelorette star Samuel Minkin was charged with possession of cannabis

  • Former Bandito bikie
    ...bikies are motorcycle gangs, Middle Eastern lads, primarily Lebanese. There are Sunni bikie gangs, Shiite bikie gangs, and even one called Soldiers of Islam. Along with the usual, they’re fond of stolen rocket launchers and molesting women on Australian beaches. In 2019 new linkages were revealed between Australia’s narco-jihadis and the Hispano-American drug routes that have been connected to Hizbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp. ...
    Benjamin Joseph Thornton was arrested and denied bail

  • Police charged 224 alleged offenders and shut down six clandestine laboratories
Former Bandito bikie Benjamin Joseph Thornton, 31, was arrested after police seized two mobile phones and a small quantity of cocaine. He was denied bail and will reappear in court next week.

The bust exposed new details about how one of Australia's most wanted fugitives gave police extensive access to the world's criminal underworld.

Drug kingpin and Comancheros bikie associate Hakan Ayik has spent the last decade on the run from Australian authorities after fleeing the country in 2010.

Now living in Turkey, he was tricked into distributing messages to his criminal associates around the world via encrypted communications app AN0M, unaware it was being run by FBI special agents.

Three years ago, Australia Federal Police identified Ayik as a key influencer to successfully distribute the encrypted AN0M devices due to his high status in the criminal underworld.

Then known as Joseph Hakan Ayik, the Sydney bikie associate and gym junkie fled Australia in 2010 to avoid arrest over a $230 million heroin importation.

Ayik, subbed one of the world's most prolific drug-smuggling masterminds, was later detained in Cyprus but then escaped and fled to Turkey, where he has created a new life.

He invested his proceeds of crime in hotel and resort developments while living a lavish lifestyle that extended to flashy cars and private yachts.

His Dutch wife, hair transplant business owner Fleur Messelink publicly flaunted the couple's elaborate lifestyle on Instagram until this week.

AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw said the alleged syndicate included 'some of the most dangerous criminals to Australia'.

'We allege they are members of outlaw motorcycle gangs, Australian Mafia, Asian crime syndicates and serious and organised crime groups,' he told reporters on Tuesday.

'We allege they've been trafficking illicit drugs into Australia at an industrial scale.

'Sadly, criminal gangs are targeting Australia because it is one of the most profitable countries in the world to sell drugs, and for three years, this operation has been overt.'

Mr Kershaw said detectives have arrested the alleged 'King makers' behind the alleged crimes, prevented mass shootings in suburbs and 'frustrated serious and organised crime by seizing their ill-gotten wealth'.

'And these figures are likely to increase over the coming days. Collectively, these alleged offenders are facing jail terms that could run into hundreds of years and some of the charges they are facing carry life imprisonment,' he said.
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/08/2021 02:47 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11146 views] Top|| File under: Narcos


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Blinken: Most rockets fired in recent Gaza fighting were produced locally
[IsraelTimes] The US Secretary of State pushes back against assertions made by both Democrats and Republican politicians during an ongoing House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing.

Blinken dismisses a claim made by several Republican politicians that the rockets used by Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamaswith about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
-based Paleostinian terror groups in Gaza in last month’s fighting with Israel were produced by Iran.

"The best assessment we have" from the 11-day conflict is that "most of the rockets were indigenously produced in Gaza by Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,," he says, clarifying that that does not excuse Iran’s support for Hamas, particularly at the rhetorical level during the recent violence.

Also in the hearing, Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar
...Somali-American Dem representative from Minnesota. She was apparently married to her brother and may be her own grandmaw on her mother's side...
of Minnesota urges Blinken to explain where victims of alleged war crimes in Israel, the West Bank, Gaza, and Afghanistan should turn, given the Biden administration’s opposition to International Criminal Court probes in those areas.

Blinken says he was "profoundly moved" by the loss of life in the recent Gaza war. However,
those who apply themselves too closely to little things often become incapable of great things...
he says, the US will continue to oppose ICC war crimes probes absent a UN Security Council referral or a request by the country itself.

"I continue to believe that whether it’s United States or Israel, we both have the mechanisms to make sure that there’s accountability in any situation where there’s concern about use of force, human rights
...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions...
, or other issues," he says. "We believe that both of our democracies have that capacity, we’ve demonstrated it and we need to demonstrate it going forward."

Blinken also denies reports that State Department officials have been ordered not to use the term Abraham Accords. He says he has no problem calling them that and stresses that he plans to work to expand the normalization agreements between Israel and Arab and Moslem countries.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/08/2021 02:42 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11137 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  how the fuck would he know
Posted by: Chris || 06/08/2021 9:59 Comments || Top||

#2  Blinken is a putzoid of the nth degree. But who isn't in the Harris Administration?
Posted by: Clem || 06/08/2021 10:30 Comments || Top||

#3 
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/08/2021 10:33 Comments || Top||

#4  'Produced locally' is a relative term. US manufacturers use that all the time to get the 'Made in USA' moniker while actually using separate components produced in other nations with final assembly in US.

Assembled locally with 'foreign materials' would be more accurate.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 06/08/2021 10:58 Comments || Top||

#5  "....so PLEASE don't blame the Iranians, or we might have to do something about it."

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 06/08/2021 11:01 Comments || Top||

#6  US CENTCOM: Iran drone threat in Iraq
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/08/2021 11:10 Comments || Top||

#7  propulsion parts made in Iran

fuel from UNRWA

casing from Gaza
Posted by: Lord Garth || 06/08/2021 11:39 Comments || Top||

#8  casing from Gaza

'Irrigation Parts', Lord Garth?
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 06/08/2021 12:41 Comments || Top||

#9  ^ PVC pipe?
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 06/08/2021 13:12 Comments || Top||

#10  100% Made in Gaza, 90%(+) FALLS in Gaza.
Posted by: magpie || 06/08/2021 13:56 Comments || Top||

#11  ^😂
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/08/2021 14:12 Comments || Top||

#12  Because ordering from IRANKEA is the same producing locally.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 06/08/2021 15:37 Comments || Top||

#13  'Think globally, produce it locally!'
Posted by: Raj || 06/08/2021 15:52 Comments || Top||


Israeli forces catch suspects who illegally entered country from Lebanon
Just migrants looking for work. but next time it might be jihadis.
[IsraelTimes] Israeli troops arrest two men who illegally crossed into the country from Leb
...an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozeen flavors of Christians. It is the home of Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers, a practice dating back to the heady human sacrifice days of Baal Moloch...
last night, the military says.

The suspects, who appear to be Ottoman Turkish migrants colonists looking for work, are caught in an area near the security fence that is densely covered with brush and trees, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

The arrests come after more than 12 hours of searches in the area, including roadblocks and helicopter flyovers.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/08/2021 02:42 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11140 views] Top|| File under:


Europe
Four suspects tried in Paris over 2017 jihadist murder of cop
[IsraelTimes] Four men go on trial in Gay Paree today over the Islamist murder of a police officer on the Champs-Elysees avenue on the eve of La Belle France’s 2017 presidential election.

Xavier Jugele was sitting at the wheel of a parked police bus when Karim Cheurfi
...the oddly reclusive Algerian-Frenchman who'd only been out of prison a year after trying to kill French policemen when he got himself killed committing jihad by killing another policeman in the name of ISIS...
pulled up in a car, got out and shot him dead through the windscreen on April 20, 2017.

Cheurfi, a 39-year-old French jihadist who became radicalized in prison while serving time for robbery and attacks on the police, was himself rubbed out by police minutes later.

The brazen assault, which Cheurfi carried out on behalf of the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
terrror group,
...jihad doesn’t require much in the way of brains...
caused outrage in La Belle France, which was already reeling from a wave of attacks by radical Islamists.

Shortly after Jugele’s death it emerged that he had been among the first responders at the Bataclan theatre in Gay Paree on November 13, 2015, where IS button men massacred 90 concertgoers.

One of the four men put on trial today, 31-year-old Nourredine Allam, is accused of taking part in a terrorist conspiracy. He is suspected of having sold Cheurfi the assault rifle that he used in the attack, charges he denies.

The three others are accused of the lesser offenses of illegally owning or selling weapons.
Cheurfi, a 39-year-old French jihadist who became radicalised in prison while serving time for robbery and attacks on the police, was himself shot dead by police minutes later.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/08/2021 02:41 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11153 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Palestinian Authority pays $42,000 to family of terrorist who killed 2 Israelis
[IsraelTimes] Money said to compensate family of Muhannad Halabi for housing costs after IDF destroyed their home following murder of Rabbi Nehemia Lavi and Aharon Banita in 2015.

Paleostinian Authority President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas
...aka Abu Mazen, a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial. While no Yasser Arafat, he has his own brand of evil, just a little more lowercase....
on Sunday ordered that the family of a Paleostinian terrorist who murdered two Israelis be paid more than $40,000 and be given new housing, the Kan public broadcaster reported.

Ramallah Governor Laila Ghannam, an Abbas appointee, met with the family of Muhannad Halabi and gave them some 30,000 Jordanian Dinars ($42,000), reportedly to help them cover housing costs since their home was destroyed by the IDF following the killings, Kan said.

Ghannam also told the family that Abbas had instructed his security services to help them find permanent housing. Home demolitions are a controversial policy that the IDF says helps deter future terror attacks.

The payments are the first high-profile payments to terrorist families since the Biden administration took office, despite claims that the Paleostinians were willing to rethink the controversial policy as part of an effort to improve relations with Washington.

Halabi killed two Israelis, Rabbi Nehemiah Lavi and Aharon Banita, and injured Banita’s wife, Adele, and their 2-year-old son in a stabbing attack in the Old City of Jerusalem on October 3, 2015.

He was shot and killed by Israeli security forces.

Ahead of Biden’s inauguration, senior Paleostinian officials told The Times of Israel that Ramallah was willing to alter the way it pays stipends to Paleostinian security prisoners, as well as the families of snuffies and others killed by Israelis, in a bid to improve ties with Washington and Europe.
Golly.
Because the PA hands out more money for longer sentences in Israeli prisons, those incarcerated for the most brutal terror attacks receive more funding from Ramallah.

The altered policy would base the stipends on prisoners’ financial needs rather than the length of their sentence, potentially marking a shift away from what has long been a sticking point for the PA’s detractors.

The practice of paying allowances to those convicted of carrying out terror attacks and to the families of those killed while carrying out attacks — often referred to by some Israeli officials as a pay-to-slay policy — has been pilloried by critics as incentivizing terror.

Paleostinian leaders have long defended the payments, describing them as a form of social welfare and necessary compensation for victims of Israel’s military justice system in the West Bank.

Israel has previously deducted the presumed total worth of the stipends from tax revenues it collects on behalf of the PA, prompting a long standoff with Ramallah.

Ramallah may have paid as much as NIS 600 million ($181 million) in 2020 in salaries to Paleostinians imprisoned by Israel for security offenses — including terrorism — and their families.

Over the past year, officials in the US and the EU have warned Ramallah that a failure to substantively change the policy would prove a major obstacle to improved relations.

Ramallah is bidding to come into compliance with the 2018 Taylor Force Act, which suspended US aid to the PA as long as it continued to implement the existing prisoner payment policy.

Abbas severed relations with the Trump administration after US President Donald Trump
...Perhaps no man has ever had as much fun being president of the US...
recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December 2017 and moved the US embassy there from Tel Aviv in May 2018. He also preemptively rejected Trump’s January 2020 "vision" for Israeli-Paleostinian peace. The administration, while repeatedly urging Abbas to reengage, drastically reduced state funding for the Paleostinians. The Biden Administration has begun to restore aid to the Paleostinians and warm ties.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/08/2021 01:56 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11140 views] Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority


UNRWA: Tunnel found under Gaza school hit by Israel in last month’s conflict
[IsraelTimes] Announcement comes after head of the UN group is thrown out of the Strip for saying IDF launched ’precise’ strikes in recent battle; school was empty when IDF hit.

The United Nations
...an idea whose time has gone...
’ Paleostinian refugee agency has condemned the construction of a tunnel under a school it operates in the central Gazoo
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/08/2021 01:42 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11133 views] Top|| File under: Hamas


#2  Wow, what are the odds there was a tunnel under a school destroyed by the Perfidious Juice(tm)?

Actually, Gaza being Gaza, I figure the odds be 50/50. I mean, there either was a tunnel there or there wasn't, right?
Posted by: SteveS || 06/08/2021 15:06 Comments || Top||

#3  I was thinking a line of MK 82s impacting at each roadway intersection would collapse any adjoining tunnels.
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/08/2021 17:22 Comments || Top||


Great White North
Canadian family killed in ramming were targeted for being Muslim — police
Either it was deliberate, in which case in addition to being horrible it should be a warning to jihadis and their supporters of the odds they face should the native populace be roused against them, or the driver is being grossly overcharged just because the victims are Muslim.
[IsraelTimes] A family of five who were struck by a vehicle were targeted because they were Moslems, Canadian police said Monday.

Four members of the family were killed in the incident and one remains in the hospital.

The incident occurred Sunday evening when a truck plowed into the group of pedestrians.

"This was an act of mass murder perpetuated against Moslems," London, Ontario Mayor Ed Holder said. "It was rooted in unspeakable hatred. The magnitude of such hatred can make one question who we were as a city."

Police in London, Ontario said the victims are a 74-year-old woman, a 46-year-old man, a 44-year-old woman, and a 15-year-old girl.

A 9-year-old boy remains in hospital at death's door. The family requested the names not be released.

A man is under arrest and faces four counts of first-degree murder.

Police said suspect Nathaniel Veltman, 20, a resident of London, Ontario, did not know his victims. Police said a black pick up truck mounted a curve and struck the victims at an intersection.

"We believe the victims were targeted because of their Islamic faith," London Police Chief Stephen Williams said.

"We understand that this event may cause fear and anxiety in the community, particularly in the Moslem community, in any community targeted by hate," he said. "There is no tolerance in this community who are motivated by hate target others with violence."

Police said arrested the suspect man in the parking lot of a nearby mall.
Deutsche Welle adds:
A family friend, Zahid Khan, told the News Agency that Dare Not be Named that the four were a grandmother, father, mother and teenage daughter.

Khan said the family had immigrated from Pakistain 14 years ago and were dedicated members of a local mosque. "They were just out for their walk that they would go out for every day," he said near the site of the crash.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/08/2021 01:30 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11149 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ZFG
Posted by: Dron66046 || 06/08/2021 3:48 Comments || Top||

#2  Backlash finally arrived?
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 06/08/2021 6:09 Comments || Top||

#3  When a Muz steals a truck and runs over few dozen people, we're told "motives unclear". But the other way ...
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/08/2021 6:10 Comments || Top||

#4  Odd that nobody mentions why they think the people were targeted and it wasn't just a bad accident.
Posted by: Woozle Theamble4130 || 06/08/2021 8:47 Comments || Top||


#6  I agree, Woozle; perhaps he dropped his joint in his lap and it startled him and he hit the unfortunate souls who happened to be in his path. Or perhaps he was having an affair with Mama Muslim and she dumped him? Or perhaps he was screaming 'Allan Snackbar, take THAT' as he ran them down. We are not told why the assumption is a targeting of random Muslims.
Posted by: Glenmore || 06/08/2021 9:18 Comments || Top||

#7  From Skidmark’s link:

London, Ontario - a city of 500,000 with a Muslim population of around 30,000 people just north of Lake Erie, which is the second fastest-growing in Canada, according to CBC.

One woman who witnessed the aftermath of the deadly crash said she could not stop thinking about the victims.

Paige Martin said she was stopped at a red light around 8:30pm when the large pickup roared past her.

She said her car shook from the force.

'I was shaken up, thinking it was an erratic driver,' Martin said.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/08/2021 9:43 Comments || Top||

#8  Well it's not named Dodge Ram for nuthin'
Posted by: Frank G || 06/08/2021 9:58 Comments || Top||

#9  830pm (dark), speeding truck, 'mounting a curve'

I would go with drunk or reckless driving rather than jumping straight to moslem-hate.

but i guess others have different agendas.
Posted by: Retard Strength || 06/08/2021 10:32 Comments || Top||

#10  It's just Road Rage!
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/08/2021 10:43 Comments || Top||

#11  Off the "dog bites man" pile...

Moe was fishin' for men, so he stuck
On the dash of his truck, just for luck,
And maybe to please us,
This bobble-butt [sneezes]
He'd bought in Bayt Lahm for a buck.
Posted by: Chegum Angumble1005 || 06/08/2021 20:59 Comments || Top||


Europe
Russia's Pissed At Ukraine Over A Soccer kit (Uniform)
I can't wait if these guys meet after the group stage; it'll be exponentially worse than the soccer goons in Russia and Poland dancing the group stage at Euro 2012, where these idiots placed those two teams in the same group.
[WorldFootball] Ukraine insisted Monday it would not allow anyone to insult its football kit that features Moscow-annexed Crimea, while Western allies gave the uniforms emblazoned with popular patriotic chants a thumbs up.

Kiev has provoked Moscow's ire after its football association unveiled Euro 2020 kits that show the outline of Ukraine including Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014.

The shirts also feature the words "Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the Heroes!"

Ukraine's football association told AFP the national team wore the kit for the first time in a Euro 2020 warm-up against Cyprus in the northeastern city of Kharkiv on Monday.

Just checked the schedule - slight chance of these guys hooking up, if they both get outta the group round /; grab the wildcard slots.
Posted by: Raj || 06/08/2021 00:39 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11145 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/08/2021 10:49 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Ethiopian Military Buildup around Renaissance Dam
[ENGLISH.AAWSAT] Æthiopia has stepped up army deployment near the Grand Æthiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), setting off the alarm on tensions rising between the African state on the one hand and Egypt and Sudan on the other.

For its part, Cairo voiced deep rejection of any unilateral action undertaken by Addis Ababa before the signing of a comprehensive agreement on filling and operating the GERD.

In grave disregard of the need for a tripartite deal with Egypt and Sudan, Æthiopia insists on filling the dam over the upcoming wet season, which will occur over the next few weeks.

This has spurred substantial anxiety within the other two North African states over securing their share from Nile waters. Both Sudan and Egypt are arguing that Æthiopia is arbitrarily choosing to foil decade-old negotiations.

"Æthiopian Air Force reinforcements around the Renaissance Dam are stronger than ever," said Æthiopian Air Force (EAF) Commander Yilma Merdasa, according to a blurb posted by the state-run news agency
...and if you can't trust the state-run news agency who can you believe?...
on Facebook.
Posted by: Fred || 06/08/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11133 views] Top|| File under:


Europe
French Court Investigates Lafarge's Links to Terrorism in Syria
[ENGLISH.AAWSAT] The Court of Cassation, La Belle France’s highest judicial body, will investigate Tuesday the activities of industrial company Lafarge in Syria until 2014.

A year and a half ago, the Gay Paree Court of Appeal dropped the charge of "complicity in crimes against humanity" against Lafarge, however, the Court of Cassation is considering six appeals in which the company remains prosecuted for "terrorist financing."

The group and its two former executives, former security director Jean-Claude Veillard and an ex-director of Lafarge's Syrian subsidiary, Frederic Jolibois are contesting the charges.

Meanwhile,
...back at the palazzo, Count Guido had escaped from his bonds and overwhelmed his guard using the bludgeon the faithful Filomena had smuggled to him in the loaf of bread...
a number of associations want to be a civil party in the case, and former employees of Lafarge in Syria are fighting against dropping the charge of "complicity in crimes against humanity."

The judicial investigation was launched in June 2017 after complaints submitted by the French Ministry of Economy and Finance, Sherpa, and the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR).

Lafarge SA group was suspected of paying nearly €13 million via its Syrian subsidiary to murderous Moslem groups, including ISIS, to keep its operation going.

It is also suspected that the group sold cement for ISIS’ benefit and paid middlemen to obtain raw materials from hard boy factions.

An internal report requested by Lafarge-Holcim, which resulted from the merger between French Lafarge and Swiss Holcim in 2015, revealed that the company paid intermediaries to negotiate with "gangs." However,
it was a brave man who first ate an oyster...
the group has always denied any responsibility in relation to the recipient of these funds.

In June 2018, prosecutions were underway against eight officials from the group. Gay Paree investigative judges indicted the group as a legal entity, on charges of "complicity in crimes against humanity", "financing terrorism", "violation of the embargo" and "endangering" its workers’ lives in its factory in Jalabiya, northern Syria.

The Court of Cassation will discuss whether the most serious criminal descriptions are appropriate in this file.

The court will choose whether the company was knowingly "financing a terrorist project" without necessarily having specific motives, or it was "complicit in crimes against humanity," which requires proof of intent with prior knowledge of and joining a more visible criminal scheme.

The judges of the Court of Cassation will also consider "serious and clear evidence" necessary to press other charges.
Posted by: Fred || 06/08/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11139 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Zelenskiy: Russia only imitated withdrawal of troops from Ukraine's border
[Rusvesna] President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy told US President Joe Biden about the situation in Donbass and along the Ukrainian borders.

He drew attention to the fact that there is still a high concentration of Russian troops and heavy weapons.

This is reported by the Office of the President of Ukraine.

"The so-called withdrawal of Russian troops is just an imitation," Zelensky said.

For his part, the US President noted the importance of discussing regional security risks with Zelensky, just on the eve of important security events.

Biden also supported Zelensky's initiative to create the Crimean Platform.

He assured that the United States will be represented at the summit of the initiative at a high political level.
Posted by: badanov || 06/08/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11151 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Unlike the numerous concentrations of troops the USA has around the globe.
Posted by: Clem || 06/08/2021 0:33 Comments || Top||

#2  But not at the border.
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/08/2021 10:40 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Turkey will take the Kabul airport control if allies provide supports
Such a generous and noble offer, completely disinterested. Or possibly not any of those things, after all.
[KhaamaPress] The Ottoman Turkish forces have agreed to take the control of the Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai
...One of the more egregious mistakes of the post 9-11 era...
International Airport if the NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A single organization with differing goals, equipment, language, doctrine, and structure....
allies provide supports, the Ottoman Turkish Defense Minister stated in a meeting with its NATO allies.

Hulusi Akar, the Ottoman Turkish Defense Minister in a meeting with its NATO allies have said that the 500 Ottoman Turkish forces in Afghanistan will take the control and responsibility of the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, if financial, logistic and political supported is provided by alies.

Akar discussed these issues at a NATO defence ministers meeting held during the Deniz Kurdu (Sea Wolf) military exercises at The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
’s Aksaz Naval Base, located in the southeast coast of the Aegean Sea in Marmaris, Mugla, Hurriyet reported.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/08/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11140 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


Home Front: Politix
Planned Parenthood Lawsuit Against Lubbock Abortion Ban Dismissed by U.S. District Judge
[THETEXAN.NEWS] After the citizens of Lubbock voted to become a "Sanctuary City for the Unborn" and ban child sacrifice abortion in town limits, Planned Parenthood
...has received federal funding since 1970, when President Richard Nixon signed into law the Family Planning Services and Population Research Act. It is sometimes described as the gynecololgical wing of the Democratic party...
sued the city.

Yesterday, the lawsuit was dismissed.

According to Judge James Hendrix of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, the case is not justiciable since Planned Parenthood lacks standing to sue the city. Furthermore, court precedent and state law both appear to allow the ban. However,
there's more than one way to skin a cat...
Hendrix wrote that certain elements of the case may still be resolved in another court.

Because of the way it was crafted, the ban bucks the typical process of lawsuits between child sacrifice abortion providers and governments that has dominated American child sacrifice abortion jurisprudence in cases like Planned Parenthood v. Casey and the seminal Texas case Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt.

The "sanctuary" ordinance that Lubbock adopted uses private lawsuits for enforcement. An aborted child’s living kin can sue anybody that performed or aided the child’s child sacrifice abortion, other than the mother, for compensatory or punitive damages. In addition, any private citizen can bring an action for injunctive relief or statutory damages against violators. No government employee can sue, and the city cannot punish violators before meeting certain legal thresholds — for example, if the U.S. Supreme Court
...the political football known as The Highest Court in the Land, home of penumbrae and emanations...
overturns Roe v. Wade and other binding jurisprudence — thus undercutting Planned Parenthood’s standing to sue.
Posted by: Fred || 06/08/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11147 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This will be an interesting case to follow. If successful will be a model for further anti-abortion bans.
Posted by: Spoter B || 06/08/2021 7:24 Comments || Top||

#2  Just heard this yesterday, in a Charlie Kirk video (paraphrasing) - 'If it not your DNA, it's not your body.'

Not your person, a totally new person.
Posted by: Bobby || 06/08/2021 15:44 Comments || Top||

#3  "Dat's alien DNA, Abie!
A dog or a cat is my baby...
But somethin' so naughty
It grows in my bawdy?"
"Oy vey! We should moider it, maybe?"

Um... Son Rises (and sets) on Rose, or, "My Daughter: How I Fought 'Er"
Posted by: Chegum Angumble1005 || 06/08/2021 22:04 Comments || Top||

#4  The crisis was quite existential:
"What, fail to fulfill my potential?
This careless romancer
Could someday cure cancer
Or, I dunno... be influential!"
Posted by: Chegum Angumble1005 || 06/08/2021 22:10 Comments || Top||


Fifth Column
Androgynous Antifa freak threatens Anbdy Ngo again
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Posted by: Fred || 06/08/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11134 views] Top|| File under: Antifa/BLM

#1  + marks the spot
Posted by: Snusort Thud5135 || 06/08/2021 8:09 Comments || Top||

#2  ^ More of an inverted cross, Godless freak that it is...
Posted by: Warthog || 06/08/2021 9:48 Comments || Top||

#3  If there is such a thing as "hate speech," I think this is it.
Posted by: Tom || 06/08/2021 11:25 Comments || Top||

#4  What the F is that?
Posted by: CrazyFool || 06/08/2021 11:37 Comments || Top||

#5  I thought Marilyn Manson disbanded years ago?
Posted by: Raj || 06/08/2021 11:58 Comments || Top||

#6  Not that I take any glee, but the day might be coming when people just taking the law into their own hands.
Posted by: Clem || 06/08/2021 12:01 Comments || Top||

#7  May she learn the adage: "Don't bring a knife to a gunfight.".
Posted by: CrazyFool || 06/08/2021 12:54 Comments || Top||

#8  More of an inverted cross, Godless freak that it is...

Just need to raise your aiming point a skoosh.
Posted by: SteveS || 06/08/2021 13:03 Comments || Top||

#9  I'll be gleeful when it starts happening clem
Posted by: Chris || 06/08/2021 14:56 Comments || Top||

#10  Ella Emhoff/Not Ella Emhoff
Posted by: swksvolFF || 06/08/2021 16:53 Comments || Top||

#11  Well, Chris, I hear ya, but if the laws were enforced by the professionals and people with political will, it wouldn't have to come to that.
Posted by: Clem || 06/08/2021 16:55 Comments || Top||

#12  Can someone put a can of whup-ass on this Antifa goon?
Posted by: JohnQC || 06/08/2021 17:17 Comments || Top||


-Obits-
Iran Cleric Who Founded Hezbollah Dies from Covid
[ENGLISH.AAWSAT] Ali Akbar Mohtashamipour, a Shiite holy man who as Iran's ambassador to Syria helped found the Lebanese murderous Moslem party Hezbollah and lost his right hand to a book bombing reportedly carried out by Israel, died Monday of the coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague)
...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men...
. He was 74.

A close ally of Iran's late Supreme Leader Khomeini, Mohtashamipour in the 1970s formed alliances with murderous Moslem groups across the Middle East. After the Iranian revolution, he helped found the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in Iran
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 06/08/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11141 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  ما شاء الله
ma sha' allah
God willed it.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 06/08/2021 10:07 Comments || Top||

#2  Golly, this might take me all day to recover from this news.

Nope. Recovered.
Posted by: Bobby || 06/08/2021 11:02 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
US Vice President Kamala Harris is on a three-day victory lap in Central America
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Posted by: Fred || 06/08/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11155 views] Top|| File under:

#1  More like getting named and shamed.
Guatemala President Blames Biden For Border Crisis, Kamala Harris Deflects, Blaming Climate Change
Posted by: Clavise Gloluque6897 || 06/08/2021 0:43 Comments || Top||

#2  Where she's getting booed and heckled everywhere?
Posted by: Dron66046 || 06/08/2021 4:57 Comments || Top||

#3  "La Gringa Negra"?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/08/2021 5:47 Comments || Top||


#5  Whose lap?
Posted by: Harry Grereng5349 || 06/08/2021 8:52 Comments || Top||

#6  At least nobody in Guatemala called her las hija de puta

we'll see about the other two countries
Posted by: Lord Garth || 06/08/2021 11:49 Comments || Top||

#7  Flanker for coyotes.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 06/08/2021 13:02 Comments || Top||

#8  Hope she gets back before Biden gets blown up.
Or maybe that's the plan.
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/08/2021 22:22 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
The Senegalese navy on Sunday intercepted a boat smuggling over 8 tonnes of cannabis resin
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Posted by: Fred || 06/08/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11131 views] Top|| File under: Narcos


Home Front: Politix
Marco Rubio: Shift in Hispanic Vote Toward GOP Under Trump 'Permanent' Unless Republicans Revert to Pre-Trump Ways
[BREITBART] Sen. Marco Rubio
...The diminutive 13-year-old Republican U.S. Senator from Florida...
(R-FL) told Breitbart News he believes a profound shift seen in the 2020 election in the Hispanic community toward Republicans and away from Democrats will continue to intensify as long as the GOP sticks to what former President Donald Trump
...The tack in the backside of the Democratic Party...
taught the party.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 06/08/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11134 views] Top|| File under:

#1  And GOPe is on it. More Boosh fambly and Lincoln Project approved candidates on the way.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 06/08/2021 8:15 Comments || Top||

#2  Rubio seems almost pro-Trump.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 06/08/2021 11:55 Comments || Top||

#3  Guys like Rubio, McConnell and Graham know which way the wind blows.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 06/08/2021 12:54 Comments || Top||

#4  Maybe that's the best we can expect.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 06/08/2021 12:54 Comments || Top||

#5 

Texans Elect the First GOP Mayor of Latino-Majority McAllen in 24 Years. Story published yesterday.

Better check again Mario.
Posted by: JohnQC || 06/08/2021 14:10 Comments || Top||

#6  85% of the Hispanic vote went for the TOP candidate.
Posted by: JohnQC || 06/08/2021 14:11 Comments || Top||

#7  Friggin AI spelling algorithms over-ride what you type. "GOP." Not "TOP""
Posted by: JohnQC || 06/08/2021 14:13 Comments || Top||

#8  ^So, we'll see: D is party of Wakandans and R of "Hispanics"?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/08/2021 14:17 Comments || Top||

#9  Hispanics voting R is the only thing that will get the Democrats to seal the border.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 06/08/2021 16:08 Comments || Top||


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Police hunt man caught on surveillance fleeing after choking and trying to rape a 27-year-old woman on a NYC sidewalk at 7am
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/08/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11139 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
Crazy, he needs to be found, tried and convicted, then incarcerated for as long as the law mandates. He is absolutely evil. Animal!
Posted by: Omins Sproing8929 || 06/08/2021 0:31 Comments || Top||

#2 

Sometimes I feel we have become too civilized.
Because in the old school days, anyone doing this and caught red-handed, (regardless of race or color) would have gotten a ride out the Swamp area to meet the gators and snakes. Either by family, or John Law, if he wasn't wet already.
Posted by: NN2N1 || 06/08/2021 6:58 Comments || Top||

#3  Another White Supremacist crime! Will this evil never end?
Posted by: Frank G || 06/08/2021 8:47 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Somali army kill more than 130 al-Shabab militants in 3-week operations
[AlAhram] During the operations, the army has also recovered weapons and other military equipment which the group has been using to mount attacks in the region

More than 130 al-Shabaab
...... an Islamic infestation centering on Somalia attempting to metastasize into Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and similar places, all ofwhich have enough problems without them...
murderous Moslems have been killed in the past three weeks of security operations in the Middle Shabelle region, the Somali National Army (SNA) said on Monday.

The army said the security operations being led by SNA chief Odowaa Yusuf Rage will be intensified in all al-Shabaab's hideouts in the region.

"More than 130 Shabaab were killed in the current operations," SNA said in a brief statement, noting that the operation will continue until all-Shabaab fighters are flushed out from their bases.

During the operation, the army has also recovered weapons and other military equipment which the group has been using to mount attacks in the region.

The SNA forces are currently conducting operations to flush out the al-Qaeda allied terrorist group from areas in the Middle Shabelle region, taking over new areas where Shabaab murderous Moslems have been killing and harassing people.

The government forces have intensified operations against Shabaab murderous Moslems in southern and central regions where the murderous Moslems are still in control of strongholds in the rural areas, conducting ambushes and planting landmines.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/08/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11140 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab (AQ)


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
The agendas of the June 16th summit do not coincide
Direct Translation
by Alexander Zapolskis

[Regnum] The closer the date of June 16, 2021 gets, the sharper the intrigue on the content of the talks between the presidents of Russia and the United States in Geneva becomes. On the one hand, there are a great many topics for discussion and all the key ones. On the other hand, Joe Biden in The Washington Post published an article summarizing his position on fiducials, and it almost completely contradicts ours.

Continued on Page 49
Posted by: badanov || 06/08/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11137 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I am hopeful but not confident that this will not be a rerun of the Kennedy-Khrushchev summit in Vienna in 1961.
Posted by: Tom || 06/08/2021 12:19 Comments || Top||


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Dad-of-three, 41, is shot twice while out jogging in Atlanta's Buckhead
  • [Daily Mail, Where America Gets Its News] Andrew Worrell, 41, was shot in leg and hip while on 3-mile run in Buckhead, Atlanta, Saturday morning

  • Good Samaritans stopped Worrell's bleeding and called his wife, Anne

  • Short time later, two other joggers in the area reported being shot at from silver sedan, but they escaped unharmed

  • Three hours later, police say the same vehicle crashed into a man taking out the trash at apartment complex, pinning him between two cars

  • Police arrested 22-year-old Gaelen Newsome and charged him with attempted murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm

  • Attacks on joggers took place in Atlanta's wealthiest neighborhood, which has been making a push to form its own police force and secede from the city
Posted by: Fred || 06/08/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11144 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
Another Animal, What is it with this country, no respect at all for human life. Put this guy in a cage for life !
Posted by: Omins Sproing8929 || 06/08/2021 0:36 Comments || Top||

#2  Would I be stereotyping if I said hair styles reveal a great deal about a person ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/08/2021 6:51 Comments || Top||

#3  Used to live there in the 80's. I was a really nice place.
Posted by: Spoter B || 06/08/2021 7:20 Comments || Top||

#4  "Police said Gaelen Newsom, 22, may have been “suffering from a mental health crisis

Maybe APD doesn't want to say, the color "WHITE" was his trigger point which set him off?

So maybe Buckhead (Atlanta's wealthiest neighborhood), should continue its push to form its own police force and secede from the Atlanta.

Like when back in June 2005, and 90% + of the residents voted to incorporation and separation from Atlanta controlled Fulton Co.
Which was raping them for revenue to be spend anywhere but there.


Posted by: NN2N1 || 06/08/2021 7:25 Comments || Top||

#5  Pushed out of a helicopter at 10,000 feet over the ocean.
Posted by: Dacama || 06/08/2021 7:47 Comments || Top||

#6  reverse the races of those involved and i highly doubt the suspect would get the description of 'suffering from a mental health crisis'
Posted by: Retard Strength || 06/08/2021 8:19 Comments || Top||

#7  ^^--- If he were white he'd be called "RACIST White Supreamist and Trump Follower."
Posted by: CrazyFool || 06/08/2021 9:14 Comments || Top||

#8  Had he ever been "adjudicated as a mental defective?" If so, how did he answer that question on his 4473? Did he actually acquire his weapon in such a manner that a completed 4473 and NICS check occurred?
Posted by: M. Murcek || 06/08/2021 11:43 Comments || Top||

#9  I bet Hunter Biden answered those same questions the same way.
Posted by: Clem || 06/08/2021 12:00 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Two Dead in Libya Car Bombing
[ENGLISH.AAWSAT] Two members of Libya's security forces, including a senior officer, were killed and five others maimed Sunday evening in a boom-mobile blast at a checkpoint in the country's south, a police source said.

"A boom-mobile went kaboom! as it was crossing a roadblock set up by the security forces" in the city of Sebha, a police official in the city said.

A security source in Sebha said the blast was caused by a jacket wallah who detonated a boom-mobile.

Sebha is located around 750 kilometers south of the capital Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
"Two security officers were killed, five others were maimed and heavy material damage" was caused, the source said.

Local media showed images of badly damaged security force vehicles surrounded by debris.

ISIS claimed late on Sunday responsibility for the attack, saying one of its forces of Evil stormed the checkpoint using an car bomb.

Interim Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah wrote on Twitter that it had been a "cowardly terrorist act", offering condolences to the families of the two "deaders" killed.

"Our war against terrorism continues," Dbeibah added.
An Nahar adds:
Sebha, capital of the southern province of Fezzan, is controlled by forces loyal to eastern strongman Khalifa Haftar
...Self-proclaimed Field Marshal, served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy, so it's kind of hard to describe him as a Qadaffy holdover. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all. Actually, he is, but slowly...
and has been the scene of several krazed killer attacks in recent years.
Posted by: Fred || 06/08/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11148 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  should have bought a 70's chevy pu instead of a tesla!
Posted by: Sluse Grealet9429 || 06/08/2021 16:55 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
37 killed, 64 injured after 2 express trains collide in Pakistan
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Posted by: Fred || 06/08/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11144 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Iranian signal network?
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/08/2021 22:27 Comments || Top||

#2  So they are not doing the East is East and West is West and Never the Trains Shall Meet thingie anymore?
Posted by: SteveS || 06/08/2021 23:27 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Left-wing candidate Pedro Castillo has edged into the lead in a dramatic twist in Peru's presidential election
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Posted by: Fred || 06/08/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11131 views] Top|| File under: Commies


#2  byw, per official figures Peru has the world's highest fatality rate from Covid19

It is about 5500/million compared to, for example, the US rate of about 1800/million
Posted by: Lord Garth || 06/08/2021 11:55 Comments || Top||

#3  At some altitudes any breathing difficulty is a death sentence.
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/08/2021 14:42 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Oil Retreats as Investors Await Iran Nuclear Talks
[ENGLISH.AAWSAT] Oil pulled back after hitting fresh multi-year highs on Monday, as investors awaited the outcome of this week's talks between Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
and world powers over a nuclear deal that is expected to boost crude supplies.

Brent crude futures for August fell 66 cents, or 0.9%, to $71.23 a barrel by 0645 GMT, after earlier hitting $72.27, their highest since May 2019. US West Texas Intermediate crude for July touched $70 for the first time since October 2018 but reversed course to be at $69.10 a barrel, down 52 cents, or 0.8%.

Investors may have sold off some contracts to take profit when WTI hit $70, said Avtar Sandu, a senior commodities manager at Phillips Futures in Singapore.

"The primary concern is about Iranian barrels coming back into the market but I don't think there will be a deal before the Iranian presidential election," he added.

Data showing a 14.6% year-on-year drop in China's crude oil imports in May on Monday also weighed on prices.

However,
if you can't say something nice about a person some juicy gossip will go well...
Brent and WTI have risen for the past two weeks as fuel demand is rebounding in the United States and Europa
...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
after governments loosened COVID-19 restrictions ahead of summer travel.
Posted by: Fred || 06/08/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11155 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


Science & Technology
JeffBezos plans to be on BlueOrigin’s inaugural New Shepard rocket flight
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Posted by: Fred || 06/08/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11128 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Monkeys were sent up in missiles at White Sands Proving Ground in the 50's.
Posted by: crazyhorse || 06/08/2021 0:18 Comments || Top||

#2  ...and donkeys will be sent up shortly!
Posted by: Raj || 06/08/2021 0:25 Comments || Top||

#3  Yawn. Call us when you can do real spaceflight: get to orbit and safely return in a fully man-rated spacecraft. Otherwise its just a glorified vomit comet ride.

Right now, that's Soyuz/Shenzhou and Falcon9+Dragon. And after this stunt it will remain Soyuz/Shenzhou and Falcon9+Dragon.

The only thing even close on the horizon is that Nasa corporate Boeing/Lockheed/Northrop bailout craft if it ever flies, and that crazy Heinlein rocket Elon Musk has down in Texas.

My money is on Musk - with rockets looking and landing the way God and Heinlein intended them to.


Posted by: These Forkbeard7574 || 06/08/2021 5:44 Comments || Top||

#4  I'm all for sending the oligarchs into space. It's their return I have issues with.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 06/08/2021 6:38 Comments || Top||

#5  an eleven minute flight most of which is unpleasant because of the accel or deccel

just for a few moments of bliss when you see earth

I'll have to admit that the time I saw a real live solar eclipse was fantastic but I only had to endure travel, traffic and parking problems to see it.
Posted by: Lord Garth || 06/08/2021 7:52 Comments || Top||

#6 
"One small step for a chimp, one giant leap for Bezos' kind."

Posted by: Black Charlie Prince of the Jutes1819 || 06/08/2021 8:18 Comments || Top||

#7  Tell me when they make one(+) complete orbits, otherwise shut up.
Posted by: magpie || 06/08/2021 9:44 Comments || Top||

#8  Well, bye.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 06/08/2021 12:27 Comments || Top||

#9  I hope it blows up
Posted by: Chris || 06/08/2021 14:58 Comments || Top||


-Land of the Free
Trump in 2022
[Townhall] May 30 - Wayne Allen Root
Trump appeared to be fascinated by my idea. He'd clearly never heard it before.

I want Trump to run for a House seat in 2022. Pick a winnable Republican district in Florida - where the president is beloved. I promise 74 million-plus Trump voters will get excited. They will volunteer, donate, spread the word and, yes, many will move to your district in Florida to help elect you, Mr. President.

This isn't about one House seat. With Trump campaigning and leading the battle, Republicans will sweep to victory in 2022 with the biggest GOP voter turnout in history. We will win a GOP House landslide by 40 to 60 seats -- just like in 2010 and 2014.

Now, to the important part of my plan. The GOP Congress then elects Trump as speaker of the House - the second most powerful job in America. From that platform, Trump rules Washington, D.C., for the next two years. He is President Joe Biden's worst nightmare.

Speaker of the House Trump can open a dozen criminal investigations against Biden. He can lead the impeachment of Biden (how ironic would that be?). He can block every single Biden bill. He will stop the Biden agenda dead in its tracks.
It's be enough for me to stop the agenda.
And don't forget, Speaker of the House Trump can sit behind Biden for each State of the Union address. I can't wait to watch that.

I told Trump he will become an American folk hero. His legend will grow even bigger. His brand and actions will dominate Washington politics leading into 2024. From that platform, folk hero Trump wins the presidency again in 2024 - after first saving America from the Biden disaster.

Trump was clearly fascinated by the idea. He should be. It's a game-changer for Trump, for the GOP and for America.
Posted by: Bobby || 06/08/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11131 views] Top|| File under:


#2 
I'd vote for him for any political office, where he can stop or ham string the DC BS.

But if he ran for the WH again?
What VP names would any of y'all suggest?
Posted by: NN2N1 || 06/08/2021 8:10 Comments || Top||

#3  Allen West
Posted by: bman || 06/08/2021 11:29 Comments || Top||

#4  I'm on the fence with this idea. On one hand he is old and going for Congress leaves him lots of options of when he feels he no longer wants to serve. On the other hand if he wins President for another term his VP is in a really good place to grab 2 more terms if he gets the right guy.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 06/08/2021 11:57 Comments || Top||

#5  But he should beware of looking as if this is just a stepping stone to another Presidential run in 2024.

Remember Richard Nixon's disastrous run for governor in California in 1962 and the hay that Pat Brown made of accusing him of using California as a stepping stone.
Posted by: Tom || 06/08/2021 12:18 Comments || Top||

#6  No longer Blue Anon talk then.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 06/08/2021 13:00 Comments || Top||

#7  i'd love to see him up there with the gavel that he wrenched from Pelosi's claws.

maybe have it gold plated

the one flaw in this plan is relying on the GOP to elect him speaker.
Posted by: Retard Strength || 06/08/2021 14:08 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
CIA Looks to Afghan Neighbors to Support US Mission: Report
[ToloNews] The New York Times

...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize...

on Sunday published a report outlining the CIA's struggle to put together a new counterterrorism strategy as US troops withdraw from Afghanistan. "The CIA is seeking ways to maintain its intelligence-gathering, war-fighting and counterterrorism operations in the country," The New York Times reported, citing CIA analysts warning of the "ever-growing risks" of a Taliban
...Arabic for students...
takeover.
Given the New York Times’ relationship with the truth, and the CIA’s habit of using friendly news media for purposes not necessarily related to their primary function, one wonders what to make of this.
The report focused on Pakistain, saying "the CIA used a base there for years to launch dronezaps against faceless myrmidons in the country’s western mountains, but was kicked out of the facility in 2011, when US relations with Pakistain unraveled.

Any deal now would have to work around the uncomfortable reality that Pakistain’s government has long supported the Taliban."

The Times article stated that discussions are ongoing over the use of Pakistain for more bases:

"In discussions between American and Pak officials, the Paks have demanded a variety of restrictions in exchange for the use of a base in the country, and they have effectively required that they sign off on any targets that either the CIA or the military would want to hit inside Afghanistan, according to three Americans familiar with the discussions."

The Times reported that US diplomats are exploring the possibility of establishing US bases in the region with former Soviet republics, but expect that Russia's President Vladimer Putin would oppose this.

Citing "several people familiar with the assessments," the Times report said that recent CIA and military intelligence reports on Afghanistan have been "increasingly pessimistic" and have "highlighted gains by the Taliban and other krazed killer groups in the south and east, and warned that Kabul could fall to the Taliban within years and return to becoming a safe haven for faceless myrmidons bent on striking the West."

William J. Burns, the CIA director, told US senators in April: "When the time comes for the US military to withdraw, the US government’s ability to collect and act on threats will diminish," adding: "That is simply a fact."

The CIA head visited Islamabad, Pakistain in recent weeks to meet with the chief of the Pak military and the head of the directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence
...the Pak military intelligence agency that controls the military -- heads of ISI typically get promoted into the Chief of Army Staff position. It serves as a general command center for favored turban groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad, tries to influence the politix of neighboring countries, and carries out a (usually) low-level war against India in Kashmir...
, but a CIA spokeswoman declined to comment when asked about Burns’s travel to Pakistain, said The Times.

According to "American officials familiar with the conversations," The Times reported, "Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III has had frequent calls with the Pak military chief about getting the country’s help for future US operations in Afghanistan."

The report noted that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke this month with his counterpart in Tajikistan, "though it is not clear if base access was discussed during the call."
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/08/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11137 views] Top|| File under:

#1  If the CIA didn't have so many islamophile snakes, and America wasn't enamored with moslems and globalists, we could talk about sharing Farkhor, or even a base in Rajasthan.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 06/08/2021 4:32 Comments || Top||

#2  "The CIA is seeking ways to maintain its intelligence-gathering, war-fighting and counterterrorism operations in the country,"

Having suffered miserable failures over nearly 20 years (see fake mission statement above), other 'Endless War' courses of action must now be undertaken. The spending must certainly continue. Kabul can one day easily become Zermott or Plage de Palombaggia. We were so foking close !

Sarcasm aside, at least it is now clear who was actually in charge of the Afghanistani debacle, and it wasn't our military.

Posted by: Besoeker || 06/08/2021 4:59 Comments || Top||

#3  Translation: "We are not giving up the opium trade."?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/08/2021 5:46 Comments || Top||

#4  trailer trash lsd in their water coolers and starbucks again! bet the custodian at night does it!
Posted by: Sluse Grealet9429 || 06/08/2021 16:59 Comments || Top||

#5  Looks like withdraw and pay reparations.

9:5
"So when the sacred months have passed away, then slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them captive and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush, then if they repent and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, leave their way free to them."
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/08/2021 17:37 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Lebanon's President Approves Loan for Fuel to Generate Electricity
[ENGLISH.AAWSAT] Leb
...an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozeen flavors of Christians. It is the home of Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers, a practice dating back to the heady human sacrifice days of Baal Moloch...
's President Michel Aoun
...president of Leb, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hizbullah...
approved an exceptional loan of up to 300 billion Lebanese pounds ($200 million) on Monday for the state electricity company to import fuel for generation before supplies run out, an official statement said.

Lebanon is mired in a financial crisis, caused by a mountain of debt built up since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war, leaving the country struggling to find enough foreign exchange to pay for fuel and other basic imports.

The president's approval of the loan followed a meeting last week between caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab and top economic policy makers to remove hurdles that had delayed disbursing the funds, the official statement said.

Parliament approved the loan in March but a committee then reviewed its legality.

The Lebanese have long learned to live with regular power cuts that run for a few hours a day in the capital and much longer in other areas because the state power plants cannot meet demand. Many people rely on private generators.

Lebanon usually keeps enough fuel for about two months or so, as it is too costly to hold strategic reserves for longer.

The economic meltdown has fueled unrest, locked depositors out of their bank accounts and hammered the currency, which has lost around 90% of its value against the dollar.

The exchange rate for the loan to buy fuel is calculated at the official rate of 1,500 pounds to the dollar, although the pound rate on the unofficial market has collapsed to about 13,000 to the dollar since the crisis erupted in late 2019.
Posted by: Fred || 06/08/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11135 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah


Africa Subsaharan
France freezes military aid to CAR over 'disinformation campaign'
[AlAhram] The French foreign ministry said that 10 million euros ($12.2 million) in budgetary aid to the CAR government would be 'suspended until further notice'

La Belle France has suspended budgetary aid and military cooperation with the Central African Republic, accusing its government of being "complicit" in an anti-French disinformation campaign backed by Russia, a source in the French defence ministry told AFP on Monday.

"On several occasions, the Central African authorities have made commitments they haven't respected, as much in the political area towards the opposition as with regards to their behaviour towards La Belle France, which is the target of a massive disinformation campaign," the source said, asking not to be named.

While the Russians were seen as responsible, "the Central Africans are at best complicit in this campaign", the source added.

Five French soldiers advising the CAR defence ministry returned to La Belle France in April and military training has been suspended, the source added, confirming details first reported by the Gay Paree-based investigative website Mediapart.

However,
we can't all be heroes. Somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by...
humanitarian aid and other projects directly benefiting the Central African population, worth some six million euros, would continue, the ministry added.

The suspension underlines the extent of the rivalry between La Belle France and Russia in CAR, a conflict-wracked and deeply poor former French colony. It also reflects concern in Gay Paree about online influence campaigns targeting its presence in Africa.

Last December, Facebook removed two networks of fake accounts based in Russia and one linked to the French military which it said were being used for interference campaigns in Africa, including in CAR.

La Belle France's decision to suspend military cooperation also comes on the heels of a similar move in Mali, where French military operations with the national army were suspended last week after a second coup in nine months.

French forces intervened in CAR from 2013-2016 in an attempt to pacify the country following the overthrow of former president Francois Bozize in 2013.

A 12,500-strong UN peacekeeping force remains in the country, to which La Belle France will continue to contribute around a dozen soldiers.

La Belle France will also maintain around 100 soldiers in a European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
-led military training operation in CAR, the defence ministry source added.

Russia has wielded increasing influence in CAR since 2018 when it sent weapons and a large contingent of "instructors" to train the Central African army.

Numerous witnesses and NGOs say the instructors are in fact paramilitaries from the Wagner Group, a shadowy private military company actively participating in the fight against CAR rebels, alongside Rwandan special forces and UN peacekeepers.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/08/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11137 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Palestine's Wars in-- Lebanon
[ENGLISH.AAWSAT] During the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamaswith about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
war, many voices were heard in Leb
...an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozeen flavors of Christians. It is the home of Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers, a practice dating back to the heady human sacrifice days of Baal Moloch...
; two among them are striking, at least on social media: one does not want to empathize with the Paleostinians in the slightest, because of Lebanism, and the other wants to open the Lebanese border for war with Israel, citing their enthusiasm for fighting Israel, and also Arabism and Islam.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 06/08/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11139 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah

#1  The last time Palestinians were present in significant numbers in Lebanon, they tried to take over the country. The wonder is that they weren't expelled en masse, not that some Lebanese are celebrating their discomfiture.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 06/08/2021 7:37 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Supreme Court won't hear challenge to male-only military draft
[CNN]
...the organization formerly known as the Cable News Network. Now who knows what it might stand for...
The Supreme Court
...the political football known as The Highest Court in the Land, home of penumbrae and emanations...
on Monday declined to hear a constitutional challenge to the male-only registration requirement for the draft filed by a group called the National Coalition for Men.

The court's order means that for now even though the draft is not implemented, only men will still be required to register for the selective service.

"At least for now," Sotomayor wrote, "the court's longstanding deference to Congress on matters of national defense and military affairs cautions against granting review while Congress actively weighs the issue."

The group had asked the justices to reconsider a 1981 decision that upheld the Military Selective Service Act under which men -- but not women -- are required to register for the draft. Key to the court's ruling, which was decided by a court made up of all men, was its observation that "women as a group...unlike men as a group, are not eligible for combat."
Posted by: Fred || 06/08/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11132 views] Top|| File under:


#2  Correct decision because it is solely the power of Congress per Article I, Section 8. The use of the word 'draft' is a misnomer. It is the selective activation of the federal militia. Under Section 8, Congress shall have the power..to provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;

Title X USC defines the militia.

(a) The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied males at least 17 years of age and, except as provided in section 313 of title 32, under 45 years of age who are, or who have made a declaration of intention to become, citizens of the United States and of female citizens of the United States who are members of the National Guard.
(b) The classes of the militia are—
(1) the organized militia, which consists of the National Guard and the Naval Militia; and
(2) the unorganized militia, which consists of the members of the militia who are not members of the National Guard or the Naval Militia.


That's why the old office responsible for the 'draft' was called the Selective Service as in selective activation of the militia. Note well it specifically identifies the militia and not (in)voluntary public service that some pols push and use the 'draft' as a rationale.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 06/08/2021 6:36 Comments || Top||

#3  ....Oh, this isn't over, not by a long shot.

Let me suggest that this was far from an effort to insure equality in service but instead intended to be the first domino in getting rid of the vestigial draft entirely. Congress does not - DOES FU@KING NOT - have the courage to change the law, and had the Supremes ruled that women had to register, that would have been the end of Selective Service. That, of course, the Congresscritters and the Biden Administration would have found the stones to do.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 06/08/2021 11:08 Comments || Top||

#4  I doubt the Left would give up the Draft. There is a desire for compulsory corvée labor (Socialism, yes?) that keeps coming back every year or so. The poor would dig ditches and the children of the apparatchiks would serve secretaries, of course.
Posted by: magpie || 06/08/2021 13:54 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Center of Ghor’s Shahrak District Falls to Taliban
[ToloNews] The center of Shahrak district in the central province of Ghor fell to the Taliban
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
on Sunday evening, local officials confirmed on Monday.

Ghor governor Abdul Zahir Faiz Zada said security forces have evacuated all government offices in the center of the district to prevent civilian casualties in the festivities between security forces and the Taliban.

"Soon an operation will be launched by the security forces to retake (the center of the district)," he said.

Footage released on social media shows the Taliban has captured weapons and ammunition from security forces.

After taking Shahrak, the Taliban intensified attacks in Tolak, Dolina and on the outskirts of Ferozkoh, the lovely provincial capital, according to local officials.

On Saturday night the Taliban detonated a Humvee full of explosives at a security outpost in Sharak district, killing at least 10 security force members.

"The Taliban has taken four other security force members captive," sources from the province said.

Meanwhile,
...back at the saw mill, Scarface Al had tied Little Nell to the log and was about to turn on the buzz saw...
officials in western Badghis province said that the Taliban have launched attacks in Aab Kamari, Qadis, Moqur and Jawand districts of the province.

"The Taliban has failed in their attempts in Jawand district," said Hassamuddin Shams, the provincial governor. "equipment has been provided to the security forces in the past two weeks and there are enough security forces. Also, the residents support the security forces in fighting the Taliban."

In Herat
...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns...
, Pashton Zarghon, Zenda Jan and Kohsan districts also witnessed attacks by the Taliban in the past two days, according to local officials.

"We have warned the government that the outcome of this would be bad and the insecurity in the district is threatening the security of Herat city," said Wakil Ahmad Karokhi, a member of the provincial council.

Civilians have been harmed in the fighting in the western parts of the country.

During recent attacks in Badghis, at least 11 civilians--including women and kiddies--were killed in a roadside mine blast.

No group including the Taliban has grabbed credit for the blast.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/08/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11147 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israel Accused of Stalling Efforts to Secure Long-term Truce
[ENGLISH.AAWSAT] Israel Hayom reported that negotiations are not progressing since the ceasefire was announced between Hamas, a regional Iranian catspaw, and Israel.

A high-ranking Egyptian intelligence official familiar with the matter told the newspaper that Egyptian intelligence officials are accusing Israeli officials of stalling Cairo’s efforts to reach a long-term ceasefire agreement with the Paleostinian factions in the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamaswith about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
Strip.

They are also preventing progress in the prisoner exchange deal and the reconstruction of the Strip, according to the official.

The political situation in Israel does not facilitate the process, as it currently has no government that takes decisions, and all discussions are "nothing but empty talk," the source told the right-wing newspaper.
That, my dears, is exactly not the same as stalling, which needs deliberate intent by those with the power to make decisions.
The Egyptian official explained that Israel is addressing the talks and rebuilding Gaza on two separate paths, which is delaying the launch of indirect talks with Hamas, mediated by the Egyptian General Intelligence.
Egypt desperately needs to be seen as important and pivotal, when everyone knows this repeated dance only matters for extending the hudna until Hamas is ready to for the next round of bootless warfare.
The first track addresses the political-security situation and is established by the Prime Minister’s office in cooperation with the Ministry of Security, and affiliated political and senior security and intelligence officials. While the second is a diplomatic track led by the Foreign Ministry.

Last week, Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi met with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry in Cairo.

An Egyptian diplomat told the newspaper that the discussions during the meeting between Egyptian Intelligence Minister Abbas Kamel, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Gantz and bigwigs, contradicted Ashkenazi’s messages to Shoukry.

"It is very difficult to negotiate in this way, and we very much hope that Israel wakes up," he said, adding that the new government that will be formed will also take several weeks to engage in decisions, and "unfortunately there is not enough time for such procrastination and delay."

The newspaper's claims confirm similar reports which addressed the delay in the discussions to achieve a comprehensive truce in the Paleostinian territories. However,
it was a brave man who first ate an oyster...
a number of top Israeli officials believe the prisoners swap deal can be resolved soon.

The cautious optimism comes after Israel changed its policy at the end of the war.

Israel stipulated linking the truce to progress in the file of the soldiers captured by Hamas, and even the adoption of a basic humanitarian policy only until their return.

As part of this policy, Israel only allows the entry of medical equipment, food, medicine and fuel into the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom crossing. Patients are allowed to travel through the Erez crossing for treatment.

At this stage, according to the newspaper, Israel is also preventing the export of goods from the coastal enclave, which is an important issue not only for Gaza merchants but also for a significant number of Israeli companies.

Israel is justifying its decision by claiming there is no humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip after the war.
Posted by: Fred || 06/08/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11138 views] Top|| File under: Hamas


Home Front: Politix
Seattle Times sues city of Seattle over Mayor Jenny Durkan's missing text messages during protests
[SEATTLETIMES] The Seattle Times filed a lawsuit Thursday alleging that the city of Seattle mishandled requests from news hounds for officials’ text messages during a tumultuous period last summer when police abandoned the East Precinct and used tear gas on protesters.

The complaint, filed in King County Superior Court, follows a whistleblower investigation that found Seattle Mayor Jenny Summer of Love Durkan
...Democrat Maress of Seattle, who allowed a chunk of the downtown of her city to be turned into an autonomous combat zone. She just can't figure what went wrong, if anything...
’s office violated state public records laws in its handling of requests after discovering the mayor’s texts were missing for a 10-month period.

Four Seattle Times news hounds were among the requesters affected. Their requests were largely focused on officials’ communications surrounding a series of events last summer, including fatal shootings in the Capitol Hill Organized Protest area that formed following the precinct’s abandonment and the resignation of former Police Chief Carmen Best. None of the news hounds were informed that the mayor’s texts had not been retained.

The Seattle Times, represented by attorney Kathy George, claims the city violated the Public Records Act by withholding or destroying the mayor’s records after they were requested. The Times also argues the city did not respond to requests in a timely fashion and with the fullest assistance, as required by state law.

The city has said that one of Durkan’s city-issued cellphones was set to delete texts after 30 days, which goes against state law and the city’s retention policies. It is still not clear who is responsible for changing the retention setting to 30 days, the shortest standard option on an iPhone. Texts from seven police department officials, including the former chief, and the fire chief are also missing.

Posted by: Fred || 06/08/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11139 views] Top|| File under: Antifa/BLM

#1 
malfeasance by the office holder is grounds for removal from office and institute an election, by law. People of Seattle need to file immediately to stop any further deteriorations of their city.
Posted by: Omins Sproing8929 || 06/08/2021 0:44 Comments || Top||

#2  ...ah, no. This is what they wanted. The Left lives in la-la land. They will not learn from their self destructive ways.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 06/08/2021 6:25 Comments || Top||

#3  Durkan is actually more sane than most Dems in Seattle politics. She stopped some transportation projects that were ill advised and over budget.

Durkan has announced that she is NOT running for re-election.

The candidates (so far about a dozen have filed or declared) will range from the extremely loony to the less loony and it is doubtful that a rational person could actually win the contest.

Issues will be crime, managing the homeless population, taxing Amazon and transportation (bicycle lanes and streetcars).

Posted by: Lord Garth || 06/08/2021 9:35 Comments || Top||

#4  People of Seattle need to file immediately to stop any further deteriorations of their city.
This is Seattle. 'nuff said.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 06/08/2021 9:37 Comments || Top||

#5  Hay Jus, I am so tired so people asking someone to do something for them. What has the service industry come to?
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/08/2021 22:23 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Graduation of 'Misrata Forces' Deepens Divide between Dbeibeh, Haftar in Libya
[ENGLISH.AAWSAT] Head of the Libyan Government of National Unity (GNU), Abdulhamid Dbeibeh deepened the rift with Libyan National Army (LNA) commander Khalifa Haftar
...Self-proclaimed Field Marshal, served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy, so it's kind of hard to describe him as a Qadaffy holdover. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all. Actually, he is, but slowly...
by attending the graduation ceremony of new recruits to pro-government forces in Misrata city.

Activists and local media noted that murderous Moslem members of the former Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries were present at the event.

Dbeibeh had notably skipped an LNA military parade recently held in the eastern city of Benghazi, in what was seen as a snub to Haftar.

The parade, described by the LNA as the largest since the ouster of ruler Muammar al-Qadaffy in 2011, was held late in May to mark the seventh anniversary of the launch of Operation Dignity that kicked off from Benghazi in 2014 against terrorist and criminal groups.

In contrast, Dbeibeh, who also serves as defense minister attended the Misrata ceremony. Also present was member of the Presidential Council, Abdullah al-Lafi in his capacity as supreme commander of the army. Ministers from the GNU and military leaders were also present.

Dbeibeh said that the GNU views the new recruits, who want to continue their path in defending the nation, as the real project to modernize the Libyan army and pump new blood in its ranks.

Haftar loyalists slammed Dbeibeh and al-Lafi for attending the event alongside militias that had taken part in the former Government of National Accord’s (GNA) Operation Volcano of Rage against the LNA’s 2019 offensive to capture the capital, Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
Head of the parliamentary defense and national security committee Talal al-Mayhoub condemned Dbeibeh and al-Lafi for attending the Misrata event while snubbing the LNA parade in Benghazi.

He warned that the GNU’s provocative actions were similar to those of the GNA, adding that the new government boasts "unity" only in name.

Haftar had formally invited Dbeibeh and head of the Presidential Council, Mohammed al-Menfi, to attend the Benghazi parade, but they turned it down because they had carried out surprise visits to Tunisia and Algeria.
Posted by: Fred || 06/08/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11142 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Energy secretary says enemies are capable of shutting down US power grid
[NYPOST] Adversaries to the US are capable of shutting down the nation’s electrical grid, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm
...Former Dem governor of Michigan. The snappy way she put that place in order after years of misgovernment by somebody or other qualified her to become Energy Secretary in the Biden administration...
admitted Sunday, saying that such cybersecurity attacks are "happening all the time."

Granholm warned of the system’s vulnerabilities — amid an uptick of ransomware sieges — on CNN
...the organization formerly known as the Cable News Network. Now who knows what it might stand for...
’s "State of the Union."

"Yeah, they do," Granholm told host Jake Tapper when asked if foreign actors have the ability to make the power grid go dark.

"There are very malign actors who are trying, even as we speak," she explained. "There are thousands of attacks on all aspects of the energy sector and the private sector generally."

Granholm added, "It’s happening all the time. This is why the private sector and the public sector have to work together."

Granholm, the former Michigan governor, touted the Biden administration’s efforts to combat cyberattacks.

She said "working with other countries, working with the private sector, working inside of our own government — the president has been issuing these executive orders, to make sure our own house is in order — [and] making sure that citizens are able to protect themselves" is all necessary to prevent cyberattacks.

"The bottom line is we have all got to up our games, with respect to our cyber defenses," said Granholm.
Posted by: Fred || 06/08/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11135 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Adversaries to the US are capable of shutting down the nation’s electrical grid...."

So, what are you saying, lady, that our friends don't? Or, that the US doesn't have its egesta together on the cybersecurity front? Go away.
Posted by: Clem || 06/08/2021 0:36 Comments || Top||

#2  Well then, titless wonder - maybe you should make efforts to prevent this from happening?

My god - we're fucked if this is our level of leadership.
Posted by: Raj || 06/08/2021 1:01 Comments || Top||

#3  Advanced apologies for our transgendered readers who don't have real tits, like this excuse for a broad.
Posted by: Raj || 06/08/2021 1:03 Comments || Top||

#4  Adversaries to the US

I thought the copybook said use the term 'white supremacists'. She didn't get the memo?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 06/08/2021 8:02 Comments || Top||

#5  Major media, government websites experience outages
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/08/2021 8:28 Comments || Top||

#6  We have an entire federal government agency, the Computer and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), part of the Department of Homeland Security, dedicated to cyber security. They've been in business for many years. But I would say at this point they share the reputation of the CIA, ATF and FBI for dropping the ball.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 06/08/2021 12:11 Comments || Top||

#7  Why proclaim your incompetence...Oh, yes, bureaucrats never have to pay any price because it is always "someone else" that is at fault.
Posted by: magpie || 06/08/2021 13:00 Comments || Top||

#8 

No Surprise here.
Remember the Northwest power grid On August 2003 outage years ago.

Unlike the cover story, back channels credit it to a Hacker who "accidentally" started a induced cascading shutdown.
Posted by: NN2N1 || 06/08/2021 19:08 Comments || Top||

#9 
Incompetency The lack of ability, knowledge, legal qualification, or fitness to discharge a required duty or professional obligation. The term incompetency has several meanings in the law. She exhibits it all.
Posted by: Chans Tingle4088 || 06/08/2021 19:49 Comments || Top||

#10 
Employee Reflects Her Boss.

Posted by: Chans Tingle4088 || 06/08/2021 19:52 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
IAEA Head: Iran Hasn't Answered Questions on Uranium Find
[ENGLISH.AAWSAT] Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
has failed to answer questions about the discovery of uranium particles at former undeclared sites in the country, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog said Monday, calling on Tehran to provide information "without further delay."

Rafael Grossi, the head of the ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency, has been pushing Iran for answers on three sites dating back many years where inspections had revealed traces of uranium of man-made origin, suggesting they were once connected to Iran’s nuclear program.

The issue is separate from the ongoing negotiations aimed at bringing the United States back into Iran's 2015 nuclear accord with world powers.

Grossi said in March that Iran had agreed to sit down with international technical experts investigating the discovery, and said he hoped to "come to some satisfactory outcome" by the time of the IAEA board meeting in June.

But in comments Monday to the IAEA's board of governors, Grossi said "after many months, Iran has not provided the necessary explanation for the presence of the nuclear material particles at any of the three locations where the agency has conducted complementary accesses." He said Iran also hasn't answered questions regarding another undeclared location.

"The lack of progress in clarifying the agency’s questions concerning the correctness and completeness of Iran’s safeguards declarations seriously affects the ability of the agency to provide assurance of the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program," Grossi said.

"For objectivity's sake, I should say that the Iranian government has reiterated its will to engage and to cooperate and to provide answers, but they haven't done that so far," he told news hounds later. "So I hope this may change, but as we speak, we haven't had any concrete progress."
Posted by: Fred || 06/08/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11143 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


Iran Nuclear 'Breakout Time' Could Be Weeks if Not Restrained, Says Blinken
And what plans, besides negotiating an unenforceable “deal”, does the Harris/Biden administration have to restrain Iran? Or is the secret plan to yell at Israel after they’ve handled it as they did the nuclear bomb projects of Iraq and Syria?
[ENGLISH.AAWSAT] The United States still does not know whether Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
is ready to resume compliance with its 2015 nuclear deal and if Tehran continues to violate the pact, the "breakout time" it needs to amass enough fissile material for a single nuclear weapon will shrink to weeks, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday.

"It remains unclear whether Iran is willing and prepared to do what it needs to do come back into compliance," Blinken told politicians.

"Meanwhile,
...back at the Council of Boskone, Kinnison began his slow infiltration of the sewer system...
its program is galloping forward. ... The longer this goes on, the more the breakout time gets down ... it's now down, by public reports, to a few months at best. And if this continues, it will get down to a matter of weeks."

The United States and Iran began indirect talks in Vienna in April to see if both sides might agree to resume compliance with the 2015 accord under which Tehran agreed to restrain its nuclear program to make it harder to obtain fissile material for a weapon in return for relief from US, EU and UN sanctions.

The fifth round of talks ended on June 2 and diplomats have said a sixth may begin on Thursday, though that was not set in stone. The United States abandoned the agreement in 2018, prompting Iran to begin violating its terms about a year later.

Resuming talks on Thursday would leave only eight days to reach a pact before Iran's June 18 election, which is likely to usher in a hardline president. Some delegates say that while a deal is possible by then, it appears increasingly unlikely.
Posted by: Fred || 06/08/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11139 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  ....Waitaminnit.

All the best people kept telling me that they were always six months to a year or more away. Is SecState telling me the best people were wrong?

Idiots. If it's truly that bad, we - and, by the by, the rest of the civilized world are screwed.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 06/08/2021 6:46 Comments || Top||

#2  The Periwinkle Clue Bat hits it outta the park.

Just what would the US propose to do 'restrain' the Mad Mullahs? For how long? Not even more-ons, they're less-ons.
Posted by: Bobby || 06/08/2021 11:05 Comments || Top||

#3 
Blinken, Biden and Harris will publicly wring their hands while Obama celebrates privately with ValJar and Big Mike at the Kalorama compound.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 06/08/2021 12:22 Comments || Top||


Government Corruption
Institutional Collapse
[TAKIMAG] ...The Bolshevik Revolution is another good example from that period.
...when the most trusted institutions of European society, the military and the aristocracy, collapsed following the first world war...
It was made possible by a tsarist system that squandered its authority and created distrust among the people. The nutty behavior of the Tsar and his wife made the institution an object of mockery. This magnified the cultural, economic, and class frictions. The collapse of social trust in tsarist Russia made revolution necessary and inevitable. Bolshevism promised to restock social trust with a new and abundant alternative.

Russia provides another relevant example on this topic. The official narrative is that Ronald Reagan won the Cold War. His economic and military policies accelerated the demise of a bad system. In reality it was the Afghan war that broke the Soviet system. The Red Army was the most trusted institution in Soviet Russia in the 1970s. Its failures in Afghanistan and the subsequent lies to hide the truth cratered the most trusted institution in Russia. Collapse soon followed.

Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 06/08/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11137 views] Top|| File under:

#1  If the experts are just as corrupt and rapacious as the political class, they can no longer be trusted.

The 'experts' and 'political class' joined hands long ago and are now nearly indistinguishable. I believe the current term of reference is a... 'distinction without a difference.' I'm assuming a Doctor Anthony Fauci graphic would be nearly as redundant as my comment.

ol·i·gar·chy
/ˈäləˌɡärkē/, noun, A small group of people having control of a country, organization, or institution. A country governed by an oligarchy. "the English aristocratic oligarchy of the 19th century" government by an oligarchy.
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/08/2021 5:34 Comments || Top||

#2  A tweet by Omri Ceren, who works for Ted Cruz:

"Americans look at our late modern expert class - a clique of I-95 Mean Girls except without the edge of self-awareness, who lucky for each other get to credential and hire each other - and understandably though unfortunately say "if this is what expertise is, to hell with it.""
Posted by: Matt || 06/08/2021 7:46 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Experts in Missing Opportunities
[ENGLISH.AAWSAT] Sometimes words haunt the writer. They catch his attention and seize him. Sometimes it’s about words he heard or was touched by, or words he felt and could not forget.

As a wandering Arab journalist, I carried the recorder between many Arab capitals, from Khartoum to Baghdad and Sanaa. The word that has haunted me for years is "failure".

"Failure" came to mind yesterday when I was asking for clarification about the downing of two booby-trapped drones that attempted to target the Iraqi base of Ain al-Asad, which includes American soldiers or experts. I was seeking for a clarification because Iraq is heading towards a major test represented in the early parliamentary elections scheduled for October 10.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 06/08/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11135 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran Proxies

#1  I asked my experienced Iraqi friend for his opinion, and he did not try to hide his pessimism. He said that Iraqi politicians are at this very moment ceaselessly still talking about the American failure in Iraq, without once reflecting on the Iraqi failure in Iraq.

Chriping a common global theme. The instant we begin to hear this, we should have hat and coat in hand and be headed to the car.

Excellent post, BTW. Thanks Fred.

Posted by: Besoeker || 06/08/2021 5:43 Comments || Top||

#2  Chriping a common global theme. The instant we begin to hear this, we should have hat and coat in hand and be headed to the car.

Where you hear about "systemic racism"?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/08/2021 5:53 Comments || Top||

#3  /\ ....or Israeli apartheid.
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/08/2021 6:05 Comments || Top||

#4  like the dude that just became a dad to 10 kids at once! hey baby its cold the grid is down lets stay warm and snuggle!
Posted by: Sluse Grealet9429 || 06/08/2021 17:16 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Signs Legislation to Combat Communist Foreign Influence, Chinese Espionage and Theft of Intellectual Property
[ConservativeTreehouse] Florida Governor Ron DeSantis used recent examples of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) influence to introduce legislation he is signing today that will “protect Florida’s higher education institutions and government from foreign influence and combat corporate espionage, keeping Florida’s intellectual property safe within the state’s boundaries.” There are two bills being signed in coordination with the overall effort: HB 7017 and HB 1523.

Highlights of HB 1523 (Combatting Corporate Espionage in Florida Act):

  • Creates new criminal offenses in Florida for the theft and trafficking of trade secrets.

  • Anyone who willfully and without authorization steals or attempts to steal a trade secret and use it for their own benefit will now face a third-degree felony, punishable by up to 5 years in prison. Individuals attempting to sell stolen trade secrets will face a second-degree felony, punishable by up to 15 years in prison

  • If an individual or entity violates this law on behalf of a foreign government, the penalties are severely enhanced — reclassifying the felony one degree higher and increasing the offense severity ranking.

Highlights of HB 7017:

  • Strengthens foreign financial connection vetting and disclosure requirements for entities seeking tax-payer funded grants or contracts from state agencies or political subdivisions.

  • Creates heightened scrutiny of research grant applicants, foreign applicants for research positions, and foreign travel or activities of employees of major research institutions.

  • Requires universities and colleges to disclose foreign donations and grants of $50,000 or more to the State University System Board of Governors or Department of Education. State agencies and political subdivisions are required to report foreign donations and grants of $50,000 or more to the Department of Financial Services.

  • Prohibits specific agreements between state/public entities and the seven countries of concern (Russia, PRC, Cuba, North Korea, Iran, Syria, and Venezuela).
Posted by: Flairong Angeamp8355 || 06/08/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11139 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Not sure this will hold up in court given the Federal role in interstate and foreign commerce.

However, this is just about the kind of legislation we need on the national level.
Posted by: Lord Garth || 06/08/2021 7:35 Comments || Top||

#2  Let the feds sue and they'll give DeSantis a wonderful campaign issue for 2024.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 06/08/2021 12:58 Comments || Top||

#3  Trial Begins for Professor Accused of Hiding Ties to China | Voice of America - English

Trial.
Posted by: JohnQC || 06/08/2021 13:55 Comments || Top||

#4  Hu?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/08/2021 14:11 Comments || Top||

#5 
Hu ?
Who ?

Posted by: Lemuel Oppressor of the Munchkins2590 || 06/08/2021 22:52 Comments || Top||


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Horrifying moment suspect, 32, throws a BABY at a cop after as he tries to flee officers following a high speed chase
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/08/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11137 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
Totally Depraved Perpetrator - Disgusting Human Being
How in the world can this low life live with himself ?
Posted by: Omins Sproing8929 || 06/08/2021 0:15 Comments || Top||

#2  Black Lives Matter! Except to those whom it should most.
Posted by: Clavise Gloluque6897 || 06/08/2021 1:03 Comments || Top||

#3  should matter most.
Posted by: Clavise Gloluque6897 || 06/08/2021 1:03 Comments || Top||

#4  A few years ago in Chicago, a gang member tried to use his infant son as a bullet-proof vest. ISTR they were both mercifully missed.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 06/08/2021 11:01 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
Many long-haul COVID patients improve after vaccination, surprising experts
[HotAir] It’s a phenomenon that has surprised — and elated — medical experts: A growing number of COVID-19 “long-haulers,” those with lingering long-term symptoms linked to the virus, are reporting sudden improvement after getting a COVID-19 vaccine. Initial research has found that anywhere from 30% to 40% of these patients describe some symptom relief post-vaccination, the latest medical mystery posed by the new virus. It’s still unclear why some coronavirus survivors don’t seem to get better weeks or even months after infection. Now scientists and physicians are trying to understand why many of these patients seem to feel better after getting vaccinated, improvements that range from a mild decline in symptoms to a life-changing return to their pre-COVID-19 health. Theories include the possibility that the vaccine might be stopping a harmful immune response in long-haulers or that the shot could be resetting their immune systems. Some clinicians and scientists have theorized that long-haulers suffer from residual amounts of virus remaining in their bodies, and vaccination might help their immune systems fight off what’s left over.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/08/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11137 views] Top|| File under:



#3  Sometimes I wonder....
Posted by: Clem || 06/08/2021 13:48 Comments || Top||

#4  ^Really Clem, universities are full of bandwagon jumpers with mind-shattering discoveries. In fact, I'm surprised every time I read a good paper.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/08/2021 14:10 Comments || Top||

#5  ..when they sort out Placebo Effect and "Irreproducible Results" ?
Posted by: magpie || 06/08/2021 14:51 Comments || Top||

#6  Equally puzzling is why the shots seem to help some long-haul patients recuperate while others report no symptom improvement after getting immunized.

“We don’t have a lot else to offer people with long-COVID,” said Dr. Daniel Griffin, an infectious disease physician at Columbia University in New York. “So the thing we encourage across the board is get those vaccine doses, see if it makes a difference.”


And after clicking through Hot Air is Conservative News, the rest is positive sayings Chicago Tribune pulls from Facebook.

I'd sooner trust a truck stop bathroom wall, and the floor to be clean enough to set my items down on.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 06/08/2021 16:06 Comments || Top||

#7  Long Covid, like Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia, is a syndrome whose cause(s) and etiology are not understood. So it’s reasonable that out of this black box some would be impacted by a thing for no apparent reason, while others equally inexplicably are not.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/08/2021 23:42 Comments || Top||


Government Corruption
Hunter Biden was hired by a Romanian real estate tycoon to overturn his bribery conviction
  • [Daily Mail, Where America Gets Its News] Romanian real estate tycoon Gabriel Popoviciu was convicted in his home country in 2016 of bribery

  • He bribed a university official to buy a 550-acre plot of government-owned land for a drastically reduced price

  • Popoviciu hired Hunter Biden
    ......son of President Joe: cashiered from the Navy, a crackhead, wheeler dealer, leg humper, horn dog, and general all around ne'er do well. We're supposed to feel sorry for him.....
    that year as part of an influence campaign to persuade anti-corruption prosecutors to cut a deal or drop the case

  • DailyMail.com can now reveal the extensive propaganda and persuasion campaign planned for the Romanian criminal

  • Hunter brought in political heavyweight Louis Freeh, the former director of the FBI, to use his US law enforcement contacts for Popoviciu's advantage

  • Hunter's involvement included meeting with U.S. officials and plotting a media blitz in favor of the foreign tycoon, all while his father was Vice President

  • Despite the planned influence and media campaign, Hunter and his colleagues' attempts failed and Popoviciu was sentenced to nine years in prison in 2016

Posted by: Fred || 06/08/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11146 views] Top|| File under:



The Grand Turk
Greece Says Many Migrants in Turkey Could Seek Asylum there
[ENGLISH.AAWSAT] Greece on Monday designated neighboring The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
as a safe country in which to seek international protection for the majority of asylum-seekers departing its shores for Greece.

A joint decree from the Greek foreign and migration ministries said the designation applies to asylum-seekers from Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistain, Bangladesh and Somalia. It said Turkey meets all criteria to examine asylum requests from these nationals, as there "they are not in any danger ... due to their race, religion, citizenship, political beliefs or membership in some particular social group, and can seek asylum in Turkey instead of in Greece."

That, in theory, could reduce migration flows to European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
member Greece, as it would allow it to return asylum-seekers from these countries to Turkey — which itself has a huge migrant and refugee population.

Nevertheless, despite pressure from the EU and Athens, Ankara has shown little appetite for taking back migrants colonists who reached Greece from its territory, despite a 2016 Ottoman Turkish-EU agreement that was meant to stem illegal migration into the 27-nation bloc.

Greek officials said Athens has so far this year asked Turkey to take back 1,453 people, without success.

Nevertheless, Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi described Monday's decision as "an important step in tackling illegal migration flows" which, he said, would "force" Turkey to crack down on illegal migration and smuggling networks.

Mitarachi added that the decision "is fully in line with international law and enhances Greece’s legal arsenal against (asylum) requests by citizens of ... Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistain, Bangladesh and Somalia, who objectively have no reason not to consider Turkey a safe country."

Greece and Turkey are historic regional rivals, and military tensions rose dangerously last year over marine boundaries. Athens accuses Ankara of using migration as a weapon, pointing to the Ottoman Turkish government's failed bid last year, before the military tension, to wave thousands of migrants colonists and refugees towards Greece.

Several human rights
...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions...
groups have accused Greece of illegally deporting some migrants colonists to Turkey without letting them apply for asylum. Athens denies that.

Although a record 1 million people entered Greece through Turkey in 2015 — mostly seeking to move on to wealthier EU countries — flows have since been greatly reduced.

So far this year, just over 3,000 people have reached Greece from Turkey, mostly by sea in flimsy craft. According to the UN refugee agency, 47% were Afghans, 15% were Syrians and 9% were Somalis.
Posted by: Fred || 06/08/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11147 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Hezbollah official warns Israel of 'fire of hell' after Gantz's threat
[EN.ALGHADEERTV.NET] A bigwig of Leb
...an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozeen flavors of Christians. It is the home of Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers, a practice dating back to the heady human sacrifice days of Baal Moloch...
’s Hezbollah resistance movement has warned the Israeli regime against another military adventurism, saying the aggressors would see "fire of hell" in the event of another war.

Hassan Baghdadi, a member of the central council of Hezbollah resistance movement, on Sunday said the Israeli regime officials should be "less arrogant" and get off the high horse of pride and arrogance.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 06/08/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11151 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah

#1  Hassan, we've been to Hell - several times. Want to know what Hell is like - keep messing with us.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/08/2021 6:24 Comments || Top||

#2  Hezbollah official warns Israel of 'fire of hell'

Not lava of fire?
Posted by: Dron66046 || 06/08/2021 6:29 Comments || Top||


#4  ^AP (and the rest of "western" media) are anti-Iron Dome tech.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/08/2021 11:13 Comments || Top||

#5  I give it a 4 on a scale of 1-10. Totally lackluster performance. This doesn't even mention a 'Roast their stomachs' of the much beloved Iraqi Information Minister.
We have really fallen from the glory 'Sea Of Fire' days of North Korean threats. Dullsville.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 06/08/2021 11:35 Comments || Top||

#6  I;m sure in the original Arabic there's much more spittle flying
Posted by: Retard Strength || 06/08/2021 14:10 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
42[untagged]
4Govt of Iran
3Hezbollah
3Commies
3Hamas
3Islamic State
2Antifa/BLM
2Narcos
2Sublime Porte
2Govt of Iran Proxies
1[untagged]
1Arab Spring
1Palestinian Authority
1Taliban
1al-Shabaab (AQ)
1Human Trafficking

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

The Classics
The O Club
Rantburg Store
Comments Spam
The Bloids
The Never-ending Story
Thugburg
RSS Links
Gulf War I
The Way We Were
Bio
Sink Trap

Alzheimer's Association
Day by Day
Counterterrorism
Hair Through the Ages







On Sale now!


A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has dominated Mexico for six years.
Click here for more information

Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Tue 2021-06-08
  Four suspects tried in Paris over 2017 jihadist murder of cop
Mon 2021-06-07
   More than two dozen Antifa rioters charged for Portland mayhem
Sun 2021-06-06
  Flight From LAX Diverted After Flight Crew, Passengers Take Down Loon Allegedly Attempting To Break Into Cockpit
Sat 2021-06-05
  Al-Qassam Brigades signing up new members during open recruitment in the northern Gaza Strip
Fri 2021-06-04
  Niger State Govt Confirms 136 Pupils Kidnapped From Islamic School
Thu 2021-06-03
  9 Killed in Protests against Kurdish Administration in Aleppo Countryside
Wed 2021-06-02
  Iran Rearming Hamas with ‘Thousands of New Rockets'
Tue 2021-06-01
  At least 39 dead in two attacks in eastern DR Congo
Mon 2021-05-31
  ISIS suffers blow in Somalia's Puntland as forces kill Pakistani Jihadist
Sun 2021-05-30
  Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah coordinated Gaza fighting in joint ops room
Sat 2021-05-29
  Cullors steps down as BLM executive director
following real-estate spending spree
Fri 2021-05-28
  Syrian President Bashar Assad wins re-election with 95.1% of votes
Thu 2021-05-27
  Riot in Portland on anniversary of George Floyd's murder.
But you guessed that
Wed 2021-05-26
  Mali Army Arrests President, Prime Minister
Tue 2021-05-25
  Mozambique President Calls for Help From SADC to Fight Insurgency

Better than the average link...



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.
216.73.216.169
Paypal:
WoT Background (17)    Non-WoT (17)    Opinion (12)    (0)    Politix (14)