#14
1936 Buick Special. Bodied by Bohman & Schwartz, the Pasadena based coachworks, for the MGM movie "Topper", the car was featured along with Cary Grant and Constance Bennett
Follow up to this story from yesterday about Belarus weaponizing their poor, suffering collection of Western Europe-bound migrants colonists against Lithuania — the Lithuanians are most displeased. Related:
[Rudaw] Suspected 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.... (ISIS) Death Eaters set up a fake checkpoint in an area where there is a security vacuum between Kurdish and federal forces and kidnapped at least five people, according to security sources and family members. Several people were also injured.
At least nine people were traveling from Erbil back to their home in Makhmour, a town 60 kilometres southwest of Erbil. They were stopped at a fake checkpoint on the road.
"A group from the ISIS terrorist organization set up a checkpoint near Kandar village on the Makhmour road, injuring two people and arresting a number of others," Kurdistan Region’s counterterrorism units said in a statement on Facebook early Saturday.
Footage sent to Rudaw by relatives of the injured at Erbil Emergency Hospital appears to show three people receiving medical treatment.
"They were returning from Erbil at 11pm [on Friday]. We are from Makhmour," Ali, father of one of the maimed, told Rudaw in front of the hospital.
"They [ISIS hard boys] stopped them at their checkpoint in Kandar village. When they realized they were from ISIS but in Iraqi army uniform with Iraqi flag, they tried to escape but were fired at until they reached the Asayish checkpoint," he said the injured had told him about the incident.
"I passed the road one hour before them, but there was nothing," he added.
Ali said the injured are stable and will soon undergo surgery.
Rudaw has learnt that two of the people kidnapped are Kurds and the others are Arabs.
Makhmour lies within an area disputed between the federal and regional governments, resulting in a security void between the two forces that ISIS has exploited. In May, the Peshmerga and Iraqi forces opened a joint coordination centre in Makhmour, one of four designed to improve collaboration and intelligence sharing in order to bring some security to the disputed areas.
ISIS attacks in Iraq and Syria increased between April and July as they continue to operate a "low-level" but "well-entrenched" insurgency in rural areas, the Pentagon said in its latest quarterly report released on Tuesday.
ISIS tactics "to conduct hit-and-run and improvised bomb (IED) attacks; exploit sectarian, political and security gaps; and target vulnerable residents of displaced persons camps for recruitment" remained unchanged. However, the hip bone's connected to the leg bone... "the lethality of ISIS attacks declined, possibly because of constrained resources and inexperienced members," the report added.
[AlAHRAM] The German maritime rescue group Sea-Watch said Italian authorities assigned the ship a port on Friday after sea conditions in the central Mediterranean deteriorated.
A German charity boat carrying 257 migrants colonists rescued from the Mediterranean docked Saturday in Sicily after Italian authorities granted permission, and hours later a French humanitarian vessel with 549 migrants colonists aboard received a similar port assignment.
After several days in limbo at sea, Sea-Watch 3 sailed into port at Trapani, western Sicily. Among the migrants colonists aboard were 70 minors, some traveling without adults while trying to reach Europe. Health workers were administering COVID-19 tests to the migrants colonists.
The German maritime rescue group Sea-Watch said Italian authorities assigned the ship a port on Friday after sea conditions in the central Mediterranean deteriorated.
Italia appealed to the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... this week to press fellow EU nations to take some of the thousands of asylum-seekers who have arrived in the country in recent months, a sharp uptick since 2020. But similar past appeals for EU solidarity largely went unheeded, and there was no immediate signal the Italian government's latest pitch would prove more effective.
A French charity, SOS Mediterranee, said Saturday that Italia had granted port permission to the Ocean Viking, which is carrying 549 passengers, including a 3-month-old infant, who were rescued in six separate operations this week. The Viking was expected to arrive at the port of Pozzallo, Sicily, on Sunday.
Amid the influx, Italian right-wing leader Matteo Salvini, whose anti-migrant League party is a member of the country's wide-ranging governing coalition, is insisting that Premier Mario Draghi act decisively to stem the flow of migrants colonists arriving on Italia's shores.
[AlAhram] 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 JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... is ready to resume talks reviving the nuclear deal with world powers under new president Ebrahim Raisi, and meetings could take place in Vienna from early September, an EU official said on Saturday.
The bigwig, speaking on condition of anonymity ... for fear of being murdered... , said the EU's negotiator on the file, Enrique Mora, attended Raisi's swearing-in in Tehran last Thursday and spoke with the Iranian official designated to take charge of the nuclear talks, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.
Amir-Abdollahian "is supposed to be the new foreign minister" in Raisi's cabinet, but that has not yet been announced, the EU official said.
He added that it was unclear whether the nuclear talks would remain under the responsibility of the Iranian foreign ministry or be taken over by another body, such as Iran's National Security Council.
Raisi is a hardliner expected to consolidate the ultraconservatives' power during his four-year term.
He succeeds the relatively moderate Hassan Rouhani ...Iran's moderate president, which he is, relative to his predecessor, which doesn't mean he's anything but a puppet of the nearest holy man... whose landmark achievement during his own two-term presidency was the 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers: the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany.
Former US president Donald Trump ...Perhaps no man has ever had as much fun being president of the US... pulled out of the deal in 2018 and re-imposed sanctions that have choked Iran's oil-dependent economy. Iran responded by walking back measures it had agreed to abide by.
Talks have been happening since April in Vienna to find a way to bring both sides back into full compliance.
The last round took place on June 20 with no date set for when they would continue. The EU chairs the meetings.
The United States has said it is "an urgent priority" to get Iran back to the table.
But tensions have risen, notably with an attack by drones last week on an Israeli-linked tanker off Oman that killed a Briton and a Romanian on board.
The G7 -- the United States, Britannia, Canada, La Belle France, Germany, Italia and Japan -- blamed the attack on Iran. Tehran denies the accusation.
[IsraelTimes] New York Governor Andrew Sonny Cuomo ...Dem dynastic governor of Noo Yawk, the son and heir of the late Mario Cuoma and formerly married to a Kennedy. Acclaimed for his leadership during the COVID epidemic, he managed the nation's highest corpse count while successfully hiding the returns and writing a book praising himself. Among the nation's horniest politicians, he has about a dozen allegations of sexual harrassment and groping against him. Noo Yawk's politix being what they are, he is still hanging tough, waiting to ride it out.... could face misdemeanor charges if Sherlocks substantiate a criminal complaint accusing the governor of groping an aide last year, the Albany County sheriff says.
Sheriff Craig Apple promises a "very comprehensive" investigation in partnership the Albany County district attorney’s office, but says it would be premature to commit to a timeline or say whether Cuomo himself will be questioned.
"We have a lot of factfinding to do. We have a lot of interviews to do," Apple tells news hounds. "I’m not going to rush it because of who he is. And I’m not going to delay it because of who he is."
The complaint, filed this week, is the first known instance where a woman has made an official report with a law enforcement agency over alleged misconduct by the Democratic governor.
The aide says Cuomo reached under her shirt and fondled her when they were alone in a room at the Executive Mansion last year. The woman also told Sherlocks with the attorney general’s office that Cuomo once rubbed her rear end while they were posing together for a photo.
Cuomo’s lawyer, Rita Glavin, has said the allegation was fabricated.
"He is 63 years old. He has spent 40 years in public life and for him to all of the sudden be accused of a sexual assault of an executive assistant that he really doesn’t know, doesn’t pass muster," Glavin said.
#1
In an existential shooting war, one can’t have sick people infecting the troops, even if most of the infections are mild. Israel’s situation is very different than America’s so the calculations of risk and reward are necessarily different. For us deaths and hospitalizations elicit mourning and fury, but not the conquest of our homeland followed by a massacre of the inhabitants.
#1
For some reason Dron’s video is no longer available. Try this:
The incredible story of Neeraj Chopra. His family encouraged him to do athletics because they thought he needed to lose some weight. Few years later, he is headed to Tokyo 2020 with his eye on winning a medal.
The journeys of India’s Olympic hopefuls told by coaches, family members, loved ones and the athletes themselves. Featuring Amit Panghal, Bajrang Punia, Kamalpreet Kaur, Manu Bakher, Neeraj Chopra and Rani Rampal: https://oly.ch/JJS_EN
#4
#2..there was a 5min piece on NBC about him.....and a Pakistani took 5th....Chopra was a contender but not for the Gold...a German who got injured in the act of throwing, was throwing 30 feet above the others best. but the Pakistani was a surprise getting up in the first 6...Czechs got the other 2 medals.
#2
Bidenese is closely related to Chinese. At one time we sent a few folks Who spoke Russian to a special cross-over language school to learn Serbian. We called it Turbo-Serbo.
#4
Tonal languages like Mandarin make me nervous. If you say hellO (rising tone) you've just wished the guy you're talking to Merry Christmas. But if you say HELLo (falling tone) you've just offered the guy $5 for his daughter's virtue.
Posted by: Matt ||
08/08/2021 12:06
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#5
HHHHEEEELLLLooo - I raise your $5.00 to $20.00 - contact me ---
#7
I tried Mandarin once — we had just turned down an assignment in Guangzho, and it looked like it might come up again, so I took advantage of an offer made by a neighbour who is a Chinese instructor at the local university. My learnings:
get a musician to write out the five tonal thingies in musical notation, because it is really hard to master just by ear; make audio recordings of all lessons
because Chinese uses pictograms instead of letters, or even a combination of the two like Japanese, it is very hard to learn to read if one is not a visual thinker
some of us learn languages better when immersed rather than from books and teachers
I tick all three boxes, darn it, and gave up after a year. Fortunately Mr. Wife never was transferred abroad again, instead relying on quarterly round-the-world tours to deal with his people beyond Cincinnati. Though I have to admit that in general I miss being an expat — as a family we were good at it — between my health and trailing daughter #1’s, it has been much better to be stationed here.
#9
You really do have to use one of those winky emoticons or I’ll take you seriously, g(r)omgoru. China is involved with Israel, and would like to be more so, so you being serious was reasonable, except that g(r)om junior is more or less adult by now, if I now recall correctly. It would be useful to understand what they are saying to one another in meetings, convinced that no outsider understands — which is why trailing daughter #2 (who wanted an international business career like her father’s) wanted to study it, before discovering that there were no evening classes available to her. So she settled for Japanese, and is now very appreciated at a Japanese company in the U.S.
After 5-10 years, it really should read 'HAD' the intel.
[John Brennan via CNN, CNN via Hot Air] CNN has published this as an exclusive so there’s no way to really verify any of it at this point. Still, what they claim is remarkable enough that it’s worth mentioning. Apparently our intelligence agencies have data on all of the viruses that were studied at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. CNN reports it’s unclear how that’s possible:
It’s unclear exactly how or when US intelligence agencies gained access to the information, but the machines involved in creating and processing this kind of genetic data from viruses are typically connected to external cloud-based servers — leaving open the possibility they were hacked, sources said.
You may remember that at one point the WIV had an online repository which included data all of the samples they had taken from the wild along with work they were doing on those viruses. But that website and all of the data it contained went offline in early September 2019, just a couple months before the first known cases of the coronavirus. After that point outside access of the data was not possible.
Curiously, when Dr. Shi Zhengli was asked why the database was pulled down she claimed on two different occasions that it had been prompted by attempts to hack the database. That answer didn’t make any sense because in September of 2019, no one had heard of the coronavirus and it’s unlikely that database was getting much attention. Dr. Peter Daszak, who helped fund the WIV research also gave the same answer about hacking when he was asked why the database was pulled down.
In any case, the CNN story suggests that the database was hacked by our intelligence agencies at some point and as a result we have all the data. The database was divided into two areas. There was a public area which included completed research and there was a private area which required a password. That portion of the site included data and sequences of viruses which hadn’t been publicly revealed yet could be very revealing.
Diversionary 'damage control' steps one must take wen your cover story turns to kak and your paymaster's (Fauci) credibility is totally gone ?
#2
CNN...."It’s unclear exactly how or when US intelligence agencies gained access to the information.....leaving open the possibility they were hacked, sources said."
"Unclear" to some possibly.
If you were funding something this sensitive and long-term, wouldn't you want to know what is going on? Gaining and maintaining knowledge of the effort is accomplished through recruited and paid sources within the targeted activity. Some of these sources are no longer among the living. Others have somehow made their way to the Big PX (The USA).
"External cloud servers and Hacking" as reported by unnamed "sources" ?
Point of the CNN (yes CNN) article located. Yes, misinformation. An operational diversion. Thank you CNN senior advisor John Brennan. "Cloud hacking"...total bullshi*.
g(r)om nailed it before I could hit send.
(Russian hackers not mentioned. They really are slipping)
[YNet] - Renewed coronavirus restrictions came into effect in Israel on Sunday as the government sought to slow the spread of the Delta variant of the virus.
Restrictions include reinstituting Green Pass regulations, limiting access to indoor areas for people who cannot show proof of vaccination, recovery from COVID or a recent negative result of a coronavirus test.
Masks will also be required outdoors where more than 100 people congregate and workplaces must limit the number of on-site staff to no more than 50%. The new regulations will be enforced by the police.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Thursday the prospect of a lockdown during the Jewish High Holidays next month depends on the rate of vaccination among those who have not already been fully jabbed against coronavirus and the over-60s who are now all eligible for a third booster shot.
"The future of the holidays depends on the number of vaccinated," Bennett said. "If you want happy holidays, go get vaccinated." I see Bennett resurrecting an old Israeli saying "Here is not America". Meaning "If you think life is just rights, no obligations, have we got news for you!" (my platoon Sgt's in basic second most favorite saying)
Meanwhile the government was expected to add dozens of countries to a list of destinations requiring returning travelers to quarantine, in its weekly cabinet meeting Sunday.
Ministers were also to discuss the possibility of postponing the start of the new school year, if contagion continues to rise.
The Health Ministry on Saturday evening said that the number of seriously ill from COVID complications increased by 50 to 324, including 49 patients on ventilators.
According to the ministry, 3,849 new cases were confirmed since midnight on Friday, after 102,760 tests conducted, indicating a 3.79% positivity rate.
A NIS 1,000 fine will be imposed on people violating Green Pass regulations, NIS 10,000 for a business found not applying the regulations on its premises, NIS 3,000 for a business that does not post a clear list of restrictions and NIS 1,000 on a business serving maskless customers indoors.
"The Delta pandemic is sweeping the world, causing severe infections and mortality in many countries, including in Israel," said Bennett.
"Unfortunately, immunization rates among the Arab population are too low. I hereby call on anyone over the age of 60 to go get the the third jab. It saves lives. I also call on the young people who have not been vaccinated at all, and there are many - go out today to get vaccinated."
#2
If this vaccine were going to save you, we'd all know it by now. Instead we are remasking, getting 3rd shots and talking about new lockdowns. What other evidence of failure do we need?
[FoxNews] At least two Chicago police officers and a suspect were shot Saturday night during a confrontation on the city’s South Side, according to reports.
All were believed to be in critical condition, according to reports.
Two suspects were taken into custody while a third suspect was being sought, police said, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
A third police officer was reportedly injured at the scene – though it wasn’t immediately clear if that officer was hit by gunfire.
Dozens of police officers were seen in the area soon after the shooting, while a police helicopter flew overhead, the Sun-Times reported.
The shooting occurred around 9 p.m. in the city’s West Englewood neighborhood, FOX 32 reported.
Chicago-lovers (or haters): Is there anything we should be aware of about this neighbourhood that would colour how we understand these events?
#2
Here is the Homicide Map from heyjackass.com.
Geographically, Englewood is the dark gray one about in the middle. When it comes to Killed + Wounded however, Englewood leads with 251 total compared to 217 in 2nd place. A busy place, apparently.
#3
Englewood is NOT a tourist destination. Don't even drive through there
A couple relatives used to live in the area. They moved out in the early '80s after they were robbed a couple of times.
The closest I ever get to it anymore is when I fly out of Midway (~4 miles away) or take the grandkids to the Museum of Science & Industry/ Columbia Exposition/Univ. of Chicago/Robie House areas (~ 1-2 miles away).
The latter areas still feel too close on some days.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
08/08/2021 10:00
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#5
Chicago south side was at one time a delightful cosmopolitian collection of ghettos. These were bedroom communities for the lakeshore steelworkers and industrial product manufacturing.
Not uncommon on a Saturday night to walk to Greektown for a pig roast with ouzo or Little Italy for grape leaf sausage with sambuco and grappa, then smoking and street dancing with Black and Puerto Rican girls and rum, catch a late showing of Bruce Lee in a Chinatown theatre complete with ideogram subtitles and finishing in a dark quiet Irish neighborhood bar with Harp, cider or Jameson.
I had a little more stamina back then and the world was friendlier.
[GREATERKASHMIR] A murderous Moslem affiliated with al-Badr outfit was killed in a shootout with security forces in Mochwa area of central Kashmir ...a disputed territory lying between India and Pakistain. After partition, the Paks grabbed half of it and call it Azad (Free) Kashmir. The remainder they refer to as "Indian Occupied Kashmir". They have fought four wars with India over it, the score currently 4-0 in New Delhi's favor. After 72 years of this nonsense, India cut the Gordian knot in 2019, removing the area's special status, breaking off Ladakh as a separate state, and allowing people from other areas to settle (or in the case of the Pandits, to resettle) there.... 's Budgam district while a second murderous Moslem of the LeT who had escaped was arrested along with a truck driver in Khrew area of Pampore in Pulwama district on Saturday, police said.A police statement identified the slain al-Badr murderous Moslem as Shakir Bashir Dar, son of Bashir Ahmad Dar, a resident of Goripora, Awantipora in Pulwama district while the arrested LeT murderous Moslem has been identified as Shabir Ahmad Najar resident of Wuyan Khrew area of the district.
The encounter broke out soon after a joint cordon and search operation was launched by Police, 50RR and 181BN CRPF in the said area.
"During the search operation as the presence of snuffies got ascertained they were given opportunity to surrender, however, instead of surrendering they fired indiscriminately upon the joint search party which was retaliated leading to an encounter. In the ensuing encounter, one terrorist of proscribed terror outfit al-Badr was killed and his body was retrieved from the site of encounter. He has been identified as Shakir Bashir Dar son of Bashir Ahmad Dar resident of Goripora, Awantipora, " police said.
As per police, Shakir was earlier working as an LeT associate and had joined al-Badr recently.
"Incriminating materials, arms and ammunition including 01 AK-rifle with 02 Magazines, 32 rounds, 1 Chinese pistol with 02 Magazines, 16 rounds, 01 Bagpack and 01 Pouch were recovered from the site of encounter, " it said.
Police further said that while a cordon was laid at the site of the encounter in Mochwa, it was learnt that another murderous Moslem had beat feet from the area adding the information was shared with Awantipora Police.
"Awantipora Police while developing the lead further launched a cordon and search operation in Mantaqi Colony Khrew area along with 50RR and 185BN CRPF. During search, the escaped terrorist was tracked down and arrested while hiding in a truck bearing registration No. JK13-2397. He has been identified as Shabir Ahmad Najar resident of Wuyan Khrew linked with proscribed terror outfit LeT. The driver of the truck identified as Mohd Shafi Dar resident of Gratwani Mohalla Khrew has also been arrested. Besides the said truck has also been seized, " police said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/08/2021
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Antifa have joined the politically diverse crowd in Paris at the anti-covid passport protest. They’re chanting antifa slogans & are waving antifa flags. pic.twitter.com/o2jI9s78ud
[KHON2] The Senate is working through the weekend to pass a $1.2 trillion infrastructure package.
In a key vote Saturday, Democrats and Republicans came together to advance the plan. The infrastructure bill has dodged another pothole on Capitol Hill.
This is the second Saturday in a row Senators have stayed in session to work on the massive package.
Lawmakers on both sides say they are eager to get this bill across the finish line. But the two sides are still squabbling over final details that could hold things up.
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., helped write the bill.
"A compromise that will address our infrastructure needs without going overboard," Manchin said.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, was one of 18 Republicans who joined Democrats to push the bill forward.
"We're one step closer to completing this product," Cornyn said.
But Republicans aren't done trying to put their stamp on the bill.
"The full Senate deserves its full chance to shape this important legislation," Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said.
The Congressional Budget Office predicted this week that the bill would add $256 billion to the deficit over the next 10 years [Wharton analysis is that this bill will actually hurt the economy and cost jobs]
#4
Come, come Besoeker! This is the 21st Century and they will electronically make money "appear" by 1030EST Monday morning. (It could have been done earlier but no self respecting boss does anything before their third cup of coffee!) (/sarc)
#9
Pelosi & The Squad will announce tomorrow, that they have secured financing for the entire $1,2 Trillion Bill; and we can all relax because their funding source has extended the US Government a substantial loan... Yes hard to believe but true, they actually have the money in hand ---
AOC added "There is plenty more where that came from..." and giggled gleefully at their achievement.
[NATION.PK] Iran's Foreign Ministry on Saturday dismissed as "baseless" the recent Group of Seven (G7)'s allegations over a tanker attack, according to the ministry's website.
On Friday, the foreign ministers of G7, including Britannia, Canada, La Belle France, Germany, Italia, Japan and the United States, as well as the high representative of the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... , accused 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 JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... of being behind a "reportedly" drone attack on July 29 against an Israel-linked oil tanker in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Oman, which killed a Brit and a Romanian national.
"We strongly condemn the baseless statement by the G7 foreign ministers ... in which baseless allegations have been made against the Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran," said Saeed Khatibzadeh, front man for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Khatibzadeh called the incident a "scenario" that took place a few days before the inauguration of the new president of Iran.
Such "baseless scenarios" are designed to confuse the political climate, he was quoted as saying.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/08/2021
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Taliban militants broke into the center of Kunduz, the capital of the province of the same name and the 5th largest city in Afghanistan (located in the north of the country near the border with Tajikistan). The Taliban had already seized Kunduz in previous years, but the government, with the help of the Americans, drove the Taliban out of there.
The Taliban reached the near approaches to Kunduz on July 29-30, when they began to fly their flags in the suburbs and at the gates to the city. A week later, they went to storm the administrative center of Kunduz. The militants actively used the American Humvees captured earlier in the north of the country (up to several dozen).
Today, the headquarters of the provincial police were seized (huge trophies are declared - small arms, tons of ammunition, special equipment, cars, etc., etc.), the office of the national security department and the central prison, which held several hundred prisoners of the Taliban, including high-ranking field commanders.
All prisoners were released and partly joined the assault. The army says more than 80 Taliban fighters have been killed and injured in airstrikes in the Kunduz area, including the deputy shadow governor of Kunduz and his bodyguards.
Nevertheless, hotbeds of resistance by special forces and police forces remain in the city, including in the area of the police headquarters. The loss of Kunduz in the current realities will be a serious blow to the government of Ashraf Ghani.
The Kunduz airfield came under heavy mortar fire. Holding the airport is a critical task for the Afghan army, since this is the only way to quickly transfer reinforcements to the city and impose a struggle for the city on the Taliban.
#1
Some people have pointed out the hypocrisy here, but as the Great One Himself said, "If you like your birthday party, you can keep your birthday party."
#6
600 people to worship the 60th birthday of "da One"? This Sunday morning and EVERY Sunday morning 12,000 people go to a church in my city to worship a real God.
#8
Not a peep from St. Fauxi. Maybe he was there too...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
08/08/2021 12:24
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#9
who would want that prick at a party?
Posted by: Chris ||
08/08/2021 15:07
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#10
^ #7
When Susan found out the party would be a catered 'meatless' affair (veggie), she sent an uncle, so a family member would be 'representing' for the Rice family. He recently lost his long standing job, at a company that has 'gone woke', and Susan hopes it will 'cheer him up' by attending the affair.
(pictured before the party)
The lying MoFo had to do something after the incompetent rocketry and the capture of his minions
[JPost] Hezbollah Secretary-General His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah ...The satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb... warned on Saturday night that recent festivities with Israel are a "very dangerous development" which has not happened since the Second Leb
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/08/2021
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Iran-backed Houthis assault an academic at Ibb University as part of a series of escalating Houthi attacks against academics in Yemen, according to December 2 news agency.https://t.co/6fkMA5FHXR
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Deadly fighting erupted on Saturday between rival factions of South Sudan Vice President Riek Machar’s SPLA-IO, his military front man said in a statement.
The festivities erupted after Machar’s rivals declared this week they had deposed him as the head of the party and its military forces.
Armed forces led by a rival general in the party, Simon Gatwech Dual, had launched an attack on Machar’s men, who had "repulsed the aggressors", the front man Colonel Lam Paul Gabriel said.
Machar’s SPLA-IO forces had killed two major generals and over 27 "enemy" soldiers, while they had lost three men, he added.
The fighting could not be independently confirmed and there was no immediate response from Gatwech Dual’s side.
Leaders of the military wing of Machar’s SPLM/A-IO said Wednesday they had deposed the rebel-turned-politician for failing to represent their interests.
The fighting could put pressure on the fragile 2018 power-sharing deal between Machar and his old foe President Salva Kiir.
Machar’s allies on Friday dismissed his ouster as a "failed coup," insisting he was still in full control of the party.
Machar himself this week accused "peace spoilers" of engineering his removal.
The 68-year-old, a wily leader who survived years of bush warfare, attempts on his life and stretches in exile, served as vice president alongside Kiir in the first government post independence from Sudan in 2011.
But the pair fell out and Machar was sacked two years later. Troops loyal to each man turned their guns on each other, and South Sudan descended into five years of civil war.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Foreign bully boyz based in Syria’s last stronghold killed at least six regime fighters in an attack Friday in the northwest of the country, a war monitor said.
Four Uzbek fighters were also killed after they sneaked up on regime forces on the southern edge of the holy warrior-dominated stronghold, the Britannia-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The Idlib region, which is home to nearly three million people, is dominated by Syria’s former al-Qaeda affiliate but other rebel and holy warrior groups are also present.
An international ceasefire deal has since March 2020 stemmed a Russia-backed regime assault to retake the bastion, though some small holy warrior groups have refused the agreement and continued to attack pro-Damascus fighters on its edges.
Friday’s attack occurred on the outskirts of the town of Maaret al-Numan, retaken by regime forces in their latest military campaign early last year.
The war in Syria, which began in 2011 with a crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, has left more than half a million people dead and several million displaced.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/08/2021
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Two Algerian soldiers have been killed when a landmine exploded during a military operation in #Algeria’s Ain Defla province, the defense ministry says.https://t.co/75K5vL22Oz
Longer Covid, anyway, which needs to be compared to the rate among Israeli healthcare workers vaccinated against the flu who get breakthrough infections of that.
Majority of 39 ’breakthrough’ cases among 1,497 monitored were mild, but research author says persistence of symptoms among minority ’raises concern’. Only 0.5% of all those in the study ended up with Long Covid, if I did the math correctly. To me this suggests that some people’s immune systems simply cannot deal well with the infection, or possibly with infection overall, for reasons not yet understood.
#3
Only 0.5% of all those in the study ended up with Long Covid, if I did the math correctly. To me this suggests that some people’s immune systems simply cannot deal well with the infection, or possibly with infection overall, for reasons not yet understood.
As designed...0.5% X 8B worldwide would be about 40 million people if the ratios hold up
1,285,609+ new "claimed" USA infections in the last 14 days.
That works out to about 0.38 of 1% the USA population of (333,135,490)
in the last 14 days.
With a last 14 day death rate of 0.0017 of 1% or 0.0442 of 1% per year for the USA population.
Or a running mortality average of 0.450 of 1% Deaths due to "reported" Infections.
According to United State
"reported vaccinated numbers"
August 2nd, 2021
50.6 % of US population fully vaccinated
166M Full Vaccinated out of 330M
Overall since the start we are "told" 36,518,948 have been infected and 632,987 died from the Virus.
So the number seems to indicate a small double digit number of persons previously Infected with, or vaccinated for Strains A-C are still getting infected with Strain D.
So are we are looking at an annual strain based vaccination and a booster every 6 months?
#5
Good question NN2N1. I suppose we will have vaccinations and boosters as long as the government pays for them, not so much when it's on the patient's dime.
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08/08/2021 9:21
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#6
/\ Everything, I say again everything the giverment does is ultimately.... on the taypayer's dime.
2. Notwithstanding all the new infections only 2 fatalities from Covid so far in calendar 2021.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
08/08/2021 10:40
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#8
We're back to Covid roundups?
The articles did not merit individual discussion when they could more usefully be addressed together, g(r)omgoru.
We know that immunity is not permanent
The article on the Israeli study only spoke about immune response titrations, not factors that would predict a poorer immune response among those who had breakthrough infections, such as age, ill health, or weakened immune systems. What if the issue is not the changing virus but the small subset of the population that for various reasons respond less well to both infection and vaccination? If that is the case, it seems to me that regular booster shots are not nearly as much an issue, nor total infections, but identification of that small group that will be more susceptible to everything.
I firmly believe in comparisons and calculations, which overexcited reporters prefer to ignore — and which it is the duty, in my opinion, of the scientific community to explain. In Indian 'Delta' variant causes 84% increase in COVID-19 cases in children , for instance, there is an interesting graph of daily Covid deaths since the beginning of this thing that shows the summer trough we’re starting to climb out of is about half the summer trough of 2020, and to date the climb that can be expected does not appear to be as steep.
I looked more closely at the numbers in the Long Covid article, and saw no reason for alarm, possibly because this is something that happens to some people regardless of the trigger... and because of the anecdotal evidence that for most of those people this is merely a longer recovery independent of the apparent severity of the active disease stage. With Chronic Fatigue Syndrome as well, as I recall something like a third recover spontaneously within the first three years — while the millions around the world who do not recover “quickly” mostly never do. Which suggests that 2/3rds of 0.5% of those who show symptoms of the thing will have long term problems — and probably less as future variants become less virulent, following the habit of pandemic diseases.
I’m on holiday this weekend, so only quickly scanned the submitted articles on the subject, rather than fisking each for the key questions the reporters did not ask and answer. Nor did I post several articles I glanced at about huge anti-lockdown/anti-vaccine passport protests in Europe in recent days. It isn’t just Americans who have lost patience with overweening governments.
0.5% X 8B worldwide would be about 40 million people if the ratios hold up
True. But how does that compare to other diseases and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome not linked to a specific disease? Not to mention that the entire 8 billion will not be exposed to the thing all at once — the process will likely take years, with the variants becoming less virulent in the meantime.
#9
Thanks TW - You are on holiday - You have been Vaxxed - Enjoy - You took a like "Busman's Holiday", I understand and Appreciate the input - Please continue 'vacating'
And Oh, by the way, Say Hi to Barry & Mooch for me will ya ?
#11
Dear, dear Barack and Michelle have not been reported anywhere near Harper’s Ferry, thank goodness. ;-) You are very welcome, my dear Whomock Wholuting7462.
Separately, ask and ye shall receive: In today’s Times of Israel Liveblog, the information I wanted just popped up.
Internal Health Ministry data shows that 14 Israelis have been infected with COVID-19 a week after receiving a booster shot, Channel 12 news reports.
The network says 11 of those infected are over the age of 60 — two of whom have now been hospitalized — while the other three got their third dose because they are immunocompromised.
If confirmed in larger samples, the figures could cast doubt on the effectiveness of the booster shot, which Israel has started administering before major health bodies around the world have approved it.
I would disagree with the conclusion. If confirmed in larger samples, this suggests to me that the elderly and the immunocompromised are the only ones who should merit extra concern following complete vaccination or infection.
If we weren't so concerned with a humanity ending pandemic and preventative measures supported by government assistance, more might realize how stupid the democratic intervention in EVERYTHING is.
[NATION.PK] Pakistain on Saturday again asked the government of Afghanistan to refrain from the blame game.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said that Pakistain has closely followed discussion at the United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... Security Council (UNSC) on the situation in Afghanistan and it’s a matter of deep regret that, as the closest neighbor of Afghanistan whose contribution in the ongoing grinding of the peace processor has been recognized by the international community.
He said Pakistain’s request to the President of the Security Council to address the Council’s session and present its perspective on the Afghan grinding of the peace processor and the way forward was not acceded to.
On the other hand, the Council’s platform was made available to enable the peddling of a false narrative against Pakistain.
The FO spokesperson went on to say that in his statement at the UNSC, Afghanistan’s representative propagated disinformation and leveled baseless allegations against Pakistain with a view to mislead the international community. Pakistain categorically rejects these accusations.
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[IsraelTimes] Outgoing Middle East Division head Haim Regev says official ’enemy states’ among many countries Jerusalem is in touch with, though list does not include Lebanon, Syria and Yemen
The Foreign Ministry maintains some form of contact with almost all Arab countries, including ones officially designated as "enemy states" like Iraq, a senior Foreign Ministry official said Tuesday.
"Over the last twenty years, the Foreign Ministry was always in touch with almost all the players in the Arab World," said the outgoing director of the Foreign Ministry’s Middle East Division, Haim Regev, during a briefing in Jerusalem.
Continued on Page 49
#Details: More than 200 terrorist Taliban were killed in #Cheberghan city after Air Forces targeted their gathering and hideouts today evening. A large amount of their weapons and ammunition and more than 100s of their vehicles were destroyed as a result of the airstrikes.
[CitizenFreePress] “We don’t allow any type of masks in our vehicles,” “Yo” Transportation owner Charlie Bullington told KMOV. “The second one, we’re very against the vaccines, and we do not wish to have people in our vehicles that had the vaccines.”
Yelp has been collecting reviews about the company since 2015, so they’ve been around for a while.
#3
Anybody happen to notice, in the course of satisfying their own curiosity, how many cabs are involved? I'm thinking he had to roll the whole fleet (minus shuttle bus) to get two in one shot.
#1
Signs, Portents & the Weather very appropriate... this is a portent to the extremely brutish weather the world is about to enter into starting in October 2021 and continue for 7 months through April 2022... an early onset Winter in the Northern Hemisphere a slow rescission from Winter in the Southern Hemisphere. Below average temperatures through out the World no matter what Hemispheric Season is appropriate, the Rubicon Has Been Crossed - "The Perfect Global Storm" is Now in Effect - You Have Been Warned - Take Appropriate Action to Protect Yourselves and Your Families.
As I explained to @WNYC today, New York City's new #NYCCovidSafe app isn't exactly cutting edge technology. It accepted this portrait of Mickey as proof of vaccination.
We need to get New Yorkers vaccinated, not another City Hall PR stunt.
Against the backdrop of what is happening in Afghanistan, the US State Department called on all Americans to immediately leave the country using affordable commercial flights. The corresponding warning is posted on the website of the US Embassy.
The main reason is the inability to guarantee the safety of US citizens in this country in the face of the ongoing Taliban offensive.
Following the capital of the province of Nimroz, the city of Zaranj. (A video of the meeting of Taliban militants with the local population, apparently, some local satisfied with the change of power):
People in Nimroz giving a warm welcome & chanting Islamic slogans on the arrival of Taliban. pic.twitter.com/BgpeKLPeax
Today the Taliban captured the hometown of Marshal Dostum, the capital of Jowzjan province, the city of Shibargan (Taliban militants are part of Shibargan:
#BREAKING Taliban have captured Sheberghan, provincial capital of Jowzjan Province. Pro-government forces retreated to the airport. Taliban have taken over the central prison and released 100s of prisoners. Sheberghan is the second city that was captured by Taliban in 24 hours. pic.twitter.com/2vmNz53urA
The police headquarters and the prison were also captured (several hundred prisoners were released there). Captured a large number of small arms and ammunition:
That's an insane amount of weapons Taliban has captured from just one location in the Sheberghan city of Jawzjan province today. pic.twitter.com/mQOeWGWJRy
Taliban propaganda claims that Dostum fled in a cowardly way, but the Taliban will never forget how Dostum broke his word in 2001 and in fact handed over several hundred Taliban prisoners to an extrajudicial execution. In general, the history of blood feud is classic for these places. Dostum will clearly not fit into the "beautiful Afghanistan of the future", unless, of course, he can build some kind of remake of the "Northern Alliance" and provide active resistance to the Taliban in order to force them to reckon with.
It is also worth noting that the Taliban have fortified their positions near the border with Turkmenistan, which is already conducting military exercises near the border. Just in case.
One of Ismail Khan's militants in Herat. "Uncle Yusuf," 70 years old. Fighting since the early 80s. This is the third time he has fought against the Taliban.
According to local sources, the military and police retreated to the Shibargan airfield after a week of fighting. Thus, in a day, the Taliban captured 2 provincial capitals at once. Herat and Lashkargah are holding out for now.
In Herat, Ismail Khan's fighters were able to drive Taliban fighters into the suburbs.
It is also noted that in Zaranj, the Taliban drove en masse on American Humvees through the streets of Zaranj , which he captured several hundred pieces in recent months, which of course adds color to the surrealism of what is happening:
It is also worth noting that the Afghan military and police who fled from Zaranj to Iran were taken back to Afghanistan by military transport planes (delivered on flights to Kabul to continue fighting on other fronts), though without part of the heavy weapons - he was interned in Iran.
Marshal Dostum held an emergency meeting with the Afghan President today to discuss the deteriorating situation. Dostum's son is now taking an active part in organizing resistance to the Taliban in the northern regions of the country.
The situation for the government is getting worse weekly.
Among other things:
1. The Taliban have officially declared that they will not allow any country to use the territory of Afghanistan to threaten China. In general, they really want to please the Chinese comrades. As they say, just admit us. China, nevertheless, is in no hurry with official recognition and continues to observe the course of events. Recognition is highly unlikely to happen while Ashraf Ghani's government is in Kabul.
Pakistani propaganda positioning Pakistan and China as the main guarantors of peace in Afghanistan. Along the way, Pakistanis criticize India's attempts to get involved in Afghan affairs. India, in turn, supports the accusations of the Ghani government against Pakistan, which, according to Kabul, is the main sponsor of the Taliban offensive.
Pakistani claims that this is slander and Pakistan's ability to influence the Taliban is limited. In this case, Pakistan is of course disingenuous, although its current relationship with the Taliban is far from simple.
2. Biden ordered the use of B-52 bombers from bases in the Middle East to strike at Taliban forces that are storming provincial centers in Afghanistan. It is also supposed to use warships in strikes against the Taliban. The Pentagon believes that concentrated air and naval strikes will help weaken the Taliban's pressure on large cities like Herat or Kandahar.
3. At the beginning of August 2021, the real combat readiness of the Afghan Air Force is about 60% due to heavy wear and tear of equipment and a lack of components, which leads to delays in the repair of aircraft and helicopters, as well as cannibalization of the material part.
There is also a high overfatigue of the personnel due to systematic combat missions to support the troops - there are simply not enough pilots and an increased load falls on the existing ones. Hence the dependence on aid from the US Air Force.
#6
Some uber lefty conflict tourist trustifarian idiot will be grabbed. Then Joe will grab America's metaphorical ankles to get that person released. Probably trade The 9/11 conspirators at GITMO for someone we are better off without. And the lefty press (but I repeat myself) will swoon with affection for Joe.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
08/08/2021 9:26
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#7
Strong horse, weak horse, all that.
Posted by: Tom ||
08/08/2021 13:18
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[DW] Despite security threats and growing local resentment, China continues to pump billions of dollars into Pakistain and invest in a wide range of sectors.
The multibillion-dollar China-Pakistain Economic Corridor (CPEC),announced in 2015, was aimed at overhauling Pakistain's crumbling infrastructure and linking the nation's southern port of Gwadar to western China.
The ambitious project, part of Chinese President Xi Jinping's signature Belt and Road Initiative, was originally estimated to bring in $46 billion (€38.7 billion) of investment into Pakistain. But it's now estimated to have increased to about $65 billion.
Continued on Page 49
#1
the link between Pakistan and China is a curious one
the only highway that connects them goes over Khunjerab Pass which is over 14,000' and is snow covered and impassible during the midwinter
there is no rail link between the two countries but it would be possible to build a rail line along the highway --- the cost would be enormous and it would take years
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
08/08/2021 0:25
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#2
It will be fascinating to see who hustles whom, given the Kiplingesque admonition about "hustling the east". Here we see thieving cheats taking money from thieving cheats....how does this end well, and hopefully it doesn't!
#5
The Paks see China as a balance to India. Got to wonder why all the silo building in the Middle Kingdom. US and Russian deescalation was only about addressing overkill.
[SHAFAQ] Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI) accused Today, Saturday, Tehran of kidnapping and killing a member of its Central Committee, Musa Babakhani, in Erbil.
A KDPI statement said that a member of the Party's central committee, Musa Babakhani, was killed by "bully boyz of the Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran" in the city of Erbil.
The statement added, "Babakhani was kidnapped last Thursday by bully boyz affiliated with the Islamic Theocratic Republic, and today, Saturday, his body was found, bearing signs of severe torture, in a hotel in the city of Erbil."
"Born in 1981, Babakhani is a resident of Kermanshah, and joined the Democratic Party in 1999."
For its part, the Directorate of Asayish Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region, announced on Saturday that it had launched an investigation into the liquidation of the leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran, which opposes Tehran.
The Directorate said in a statement that the results will be announced when the investigation is completed.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/08/2021
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[NATION.PK] The Taliban ...mindless ferocity in a turban... rubbed out the head of the Afghan government’s media information centre Friday near a mosque in the capital, days after warning they would target senior administration figures in retaliation for increased air strikes.
The liquidation of one of the government’s leading voices follows another bloody day of fighting in Afghanistan as the war spills into Kabul for the first time in months. It also comes hours before the UN Security Council meets in New York to discuss the conflict.
"Unfortunately, the savage forces of Evil have committed a cowardly act once again and martyred a patriotic Afghan," interior ministry front man Mirwais Stanikzai said of the death of Dawa Khan Menapal.
Menapal was popular in Kabul’s tight-knit media community, and known for pillorying the Taliban on social media -- even jokingly at times. Former presidential front man Sediq Sediqqi said he was "utterly shocked and devastated".
Photos of the aftermath of the assassination can be found here:
Posted by: Fred ||
08/08/2021
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[NATION.PK] Mubashir Khokhar, brother of nominated provincial minister Malik Asad Khokhar, was killed on Friday night by unknown assailants who opened fire during the wedding ceremony of the latter’s son in DHA area of Lahore.
Mubashir Khokar was shifted to hospital in a critical condition, but he could not survive, police said.
According to the eyewitnesses, the incident took place soon after the departure of Punjab 1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots.... Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar. The accused involved in the incident was arrested by the CM’s security team.
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Dr Shahbaz Gill said that the attackers opened fire very close to chief minister’s car, but he remained unhurt. "Later, the chief minister’s security team arrested the attacker," Gul added in his tweet. Police also confirmed the arrest of the attacker and said that evidence was being collected from the crime site.
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08/08/2021
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#Jordan’s military says it thwarted an attempt to smuggle drugs and weapons into the country from neighboring #Syria, killing one smuggler and wounding several others.https://t.co/NdTMsmMiVH
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Hezbollah's leader His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah ...The satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb... allegedly claimed in a speech on Saturday that the investigator of the Beirut port blast was politically biased.
On Thursday, Beirut marked the one year anniversary of the blast that flattened large swathes of the city and killed more than 200 people. A judge, Tarek Bittar, is leading the probe into what happened.
"I am formally telling the family of the deaders that this judicial investigator is playing politics, this is a politicized investigation," Nasrallah said.
He added he was not calling for Bitar’s immediate removal but demanded that he operate under a single standard and release the results of a technical investigation.
Nasrallah also criticized people he did not name for blaming Hezbollah for the presence of the ammonium nitrate that caused the earth-shattering kaboom.
"Where is your evidence for this ugly, heinous accusation? There is none," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[PUBLISH.TWITTER] "Now is time to plant. Ground is moist"
More than a thousand homes have been damaged and about 5,000 people evacuated in #NorthKorea after #flooding caused by heavy rains, the country’s state broadcaster reports, with swathes of farmland also inundated by the deluge.https://t.co/icEgn7qsExpic.twitter.com/soba3p6QQB
[NATION.PK] The Taliban ...Arabic for students... have captured their first Afghan placid provincial capital since launching an offensive to coincide with the final departure of foreign troops, a senior government official said today.
"I can confirm... the city of Zaranj, placid provincial capital of Nimroz, has fallen to the Taliban," Roh Gul Khairzad, the deputy governor, told AFP. She said the city in southwest Afghanistan near the Iranian border had fallen "without a fight", and social media showed clips of bandidos turbans roaming the streets, being cheered by local residents.
The veracity of the video could not immediately be confirmed.
While not strategically important, the fall of Zaranj is a psychological blow to the government, which is desperately defending a string of placid provincial capitals against a Taliban onslaught.
"The city was under threat for a while, but no one from the central government listened to us," Khairzad said. In a tweet, the Taliban earlier said its forces had captured strategic buildings including the administrative and police headquarters. Fighting in Afghanistan’s long-running conflict has intensified since May, when foreign forces began the final stage of a withdrawal due to be completed later this month.
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#1
Taliban then in control of heavily Shia population.
Supposedly, Iran has transported armed Shia mercenaries from Syria to near Afghanistan but this might be false.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
08/08/2021 0:14
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#2
Lord Garth, your report on the subject from yesterday was not the first seen here on the subject, though earlier ones seemed to suggest it was individuals choosing to return rather than the formal Iranian effort — with its own Iranian commander — that Strategy Page reports.
[AllAfrica] African states must act quickly to stop the restructuring of 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.... West Africa Province (ISWAP) in the Lake Chad Basin. If they don't, Islamic State's plans to expand in the region will further endanger the lives of millions of Africans.
According to ISS research, 130 or more former fighters rejoined ISWAP after returning from Libya in three batches between April and June.
Islamic State is using ISWAP, its local affiliate, to further its expansionist agenda that began even before it was defeated in Iraq and Syria. Institute for Security Studies research shows that Islamic State ordered the removal of Jama'atu Ahlis Sunnah lid-Da'wati wa'l-Jihad (JAS) leader Abubakar Shekau Continued on Page 49
[JohnathonTurley.com] Prof. Edward C. Ennels taught math at Baltimore City Community College but appears to have been offering a running lesson on supply side economic theory. Ennels reportedly was selling grades on a sliding scale depending on your worth and your ambition: $150 for a C; $250 for a B; and $500 for an A. He has now earned jail time after pleading to 11 misdemeanor charges, including bribery and misconduct in office.
According to prosecutors, Ennels, 45, would go as low as $300 in this elastic grade market. Moreover, he was hardly shy about the scheme. He reportedly solicited bribes from 112 students. His rate of return was just under ten percent. With 10 payments from nine students.
The scheme was breathtaking in its boldness. For example, in March 2020, he sent an email under one of his aliases, "Bertie Benson," to another of his aliases, "Amanda Wilbert." In the email, he offered to complete "Wilbert’s" math assignments and guaranteeing her an A for $300. He then forwarded that email to 112 students enrolled in a class that he was teaching. According to prosecutors, he would then "haggle" students on how much the grade would cost. When one student balked at the $500, Ennels reportedly asked "how much can you afford?" What was striking about that exchange is that the student had written to him to say "Oh I don’t have that sorry. I will be sure to keep studying and pass my exam." While the default position, the student was prepared to actually learn the material. Yet, Ennels immediately lowered his price.
Presumably, Ennels thought that the alias would offer a protective wall to prevent direct evidence of fraud since the assignments and tests would be completed (by himself).
It is shocking enough to see a fellow academic abandon everything that we believe in. However, it's easy to be generous with someone else's money... Ennels did it for $2,815. He also sold online access codes that enabled students to view instructional material and complete assignments for $90. That proved a more popular product. He sold 694 access codes.
Posted by: Spoter B ||
08/08/2021 9:15
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#6
He had a gambling problem, so he couldn't be particularly good at math...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
08/08/2021 9:32
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#7
To Sir, with love, plus
the cube root of two,
this paper I cannot
for the life of me do.
So here's an inch,
now make it a cinch
to ace this bugaboo.
Project Baltimore obtained a chart assembled by Baltimore City Schools. The chart shows the average GPA for every high school grade in the city - freshman through senior. In the first three quarters of this past school year, according to the chart, 41% of all Baltimore City high school students, earned below a 1.0 grade point average.
[OneIndia] Jaish-e-Mohammad ...literally Army of Mohammad, a Pak-based Deobandi terror group founded by Maulana Masood Azhar in 2000, after he split with the Harkat-ul-Mujaheddin. In 2002 the government of Pervez Musharraf banned the group, which changed its name to Khaddam ul-Islam and continued doing what it had been doing before without missing a beat... chief, Maulana Masood Azhar ...One of the major players in Pak terrorism. In early 1994, India incarcerated him for his activities. In 1995, foreign tourists were kidnapped in Jammu and Kashmir. The kidnappers included his release among their demands. One of the hostages managed to escape but the rest were eventually killed. In 1999, he was freed by the Indian government in exchange for passengers on hijacked Indian Airlines Flight 814 that had been diverted to Kandahar. The hijackers were led by Masood Azhar's brother, Ibrahim Athar. Once he was handed over to the hijackers, they fled to Pak territory despite the fact that Islamabad had earlier stated that any of the hijackers would be jugged at the border. The Pak government had also previously indicated that Azhar would be allowed to return home since he did not face any charges there. Shortly after his release, he made a public address to an estimated 10,000 people in Karachi, firing up the rubes against America and India... is undeniably one of the most protected persons in Pakistain. The history of the terrorist who is an accused in the 2001 Parliament attack and 2019 Pulwama bombing case is an interesting one considering the lengths Pakistain goes to protect him.
Continued on Page 49
[Western Journal] A major U.S. air campaign is underway in a last-ditch attempt to blunt the Taliban’s advance in the waning days of America’s commitment to Afghanistan.
President Joe Biden has said that the U.S. will end combat support to the Afghan government as of Aug. 31. The drawdown of troops Biden ordered served as a starting gun for a Taliban offensive that has pushed Afghan forces back in multiple places across the country.
The U.S. is throwing B-52 bombers, armed Reaper drones and A-130 gunships into the effort to slow the Taliban, according to a report in the Times of London. Up to five missions a day are being scheduled.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
08/08/2021 3:56
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#8
Operation Linebacker was directed against the North Vietnamese military supply and infrastructure that had been 'off limits' to interdiction. To be like Nixon, Biden would have to be hitting Pakistani sanctuaries and the routes into Afghanistan to cut supplies. However, in this phase of the offensive the Taliban are just picking up supplies the Afghan national forces are abandoning.
#10
It's all about making Joe appear to be "doing something" and as #3 notes, it may come at too high a price.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
08/08/2021 8:04
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#11
...In fairness to FICUS, an ARC LIGHT or two have an amazing capacity for focusing one's attention.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
08/08/2021 9:50
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#12
Somehow, asking US service personnel to risk their life for political optics when the quagmire called Afghanistan is going under at breakneck speed, seems a form of fundamental betrayal. Not that many Democrats can even grasp that concept....
#15
I have no problem with this. When the Taliban forces mass and identify themselves...make them pay a heavy price from the air.
When a Taliban official tries to set up a government...bomb that and destroy it too.
NDS MOI Afghan Mil and our folks can effectively target the ones that need to be visited from the air. That kind of disruption will provide a little hitch in their giddy up.
Since we no longer have a tactical weakness (holding onto useless FOBs), a long term strategic war against these folks is in order.
#17
#12 He's, maybe, prepping Afghanistan for the Chinese?
No real need. An account from a book I read many moons ago indicates that when the Tibetans started sniping from various perches within a city at a PLA invasion force, the Chinese withdrew to a respectable distance and proceeded to level the city with artillery. There is no technological bar to exterminating the Taliban. Only American restraint keeps them alive. There is nothing and no one the Chinese need in Afghanistan. That makes a successful conquest just a matter of delivering equipment and ordnance on time.
#19
at this point it looks like the Taliban will be, at least initially, on friendly terms with the Chinese if/when the Taliban come to dominate Afghanistan
how long this will last is anyone's guess
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
08/08/2021 15:51
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#20
^Mongol tactics?
The Mongols have gotten a bad rap. This was the way conquerors everywhere dealt with resistance. It's very expensive to fight insurgents - to the point that it can bankrupt and collapse the regime fighting them. The traditional remedy is the general massacre.
The attitude was basically go along and get along with your conquerors and live, or fight them as insurgents and get your entire tribe wiped out or sold into slavery.
#22
^Except they were better than anybody else at this.
At conquest? Sure. The problem is that they were tiny in numerical terms. To control large numbers of people is a serious problem. So, like other numerically inferior conquerors, they hewed closely to a policy of exemplary massacre of resisters, pour encourageurs les autres.
#23
^Except they were better than anybody else at this.
Another thing less mentioned is that soldiers tended to be much less docile in antiquity. Any war leader who heightened his soldiers' risk of getting killed was setting himself up for an assassination, or worse. Alexander's endless campaigns might have gotten him killed. His death was followed by the erasure of his entire family line. Regime collapse wasn't something that affected just the leader - his entire clan's survival was at risk. If the entire Bush or McCain clans stood to be killed due to their politically-correct rules of engagement, would they have been as cavalier with GI lives?
No offense re your reading preferences, but I've always thought of her as Barbara Tuchus, because that seems to be the source of many of her ruminations. The idea that mobilization schedules led to WWI is the most moronic thing I've ever heard of. I'm not surprised at many of the things she's come up with. The fact is - history is remote from the interests of the average person. So you can write the nuttiest things and have them not just accepted by a wide audience, but actually repeated as shibboleths.
#27
Since we no longer have a tactical weakness (holding onto useless FOBs), a long term strategic war against these folks is in order.
They're not technically useless, given that being in-country means optempo can be increased, i.e. more strike missions can be mounted per day with less wear and tear on equipment. The problem is that since every bullet has to go through Pakistan or be flown in, maintaining a presence in Afghanistan is expensive. Ultimately, this is probably the most cost effective solution. Leave and give the Taliban the impression that Uncle Sam is out of the game, while maintaining the ability to mount round-the-clock airstrikes against Taliban troop concentrations. Failing that, getting the Afghan government to evac civilians from Taliban-held areas and then burning those areas to the ground.
#28
Once again, Zhang Fei, a joy reading anything you write.
Only American restraint keeps them alive
Something that has kept many unworthy things alive has been the restraint legitimized and instituted in all our ROEs and conventions, by politicians playing to the islam gallery.
Adds Boris Rozhin:
...By the way, on the topic of questions - where does the US fly from to bomb Afghanistan. According to the Pentagon, the main sorties of bombers and drones are from the Al-Udeid air base in Qatar. They enter the airspace of Afghanistan through Pakistan.
WAIT!
Hold there....
When President Trump used Bombers the media ape sh$t all over him. Screaming innocent women and children lives at risk and etc....
[Liberty Daily] Doctors in that part of the world have been known to invoke the weight of the state against parents who disagree with their diagnosis and treatment plan — in one case that happened to a friend of a friend, the child was thriving under the treatment plan of another hospital team in another state for the very rare condition they’d diagnosed. But when her parents took her to consult with a team at the big name hospital up north at her own doctors’ recommendation, the child was taken as a ward of the state, locked up in the hospital, and prevented from seeing her parents or their representatives for a year while she visibly deteriorated from being a competitive student-athlete to a bedridden invalid. So it isn’t surprising that Massachusetts would intervene in a case where the child wants something like this that the parents reject, probably using an anti-Christian Scientist argument to support the decision.
The court fight should be interesting, given the parents’ situation.
#1
In Israel there was a case of teenager who went to court to force his parents to permit his vaccination.
I guess, the kid studied biology in school and new - unlike his parents - that mRNA is NOT genetic.
My aunt was in fantastic shape, died of your fucking vaccine. To make matters worse the shit Mayo lied in their autopsy results.
At the same time her neighbor was crippled for life, wheelchair bound. Our ICU in DC prior to this Delta thing never had anyone under 30. They still don't.
Chew on that while I spit. So much for your smart teens arse.
#6
The Center for Disease Control has an image problem, it and it's associated personnel are now saddled with an imagined leadership by the public, not unlike this:
#7
Boston has a long history of vigorous controversies over new medical procedures. Cotton Mather advocated the Salem Witch trials, and was widely condemned during by locals during his lifetime. When Mather advocated the first widespread efforts at smallpox prevention in Massachusetts, a hand grenade was thrown through the window of his house. It was a dud.
Posted by: Bubba Lover of the Faeries8843 ||
08/08/2021 11:11
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#8
I guess, teens having better sense than their parents is not unique to Israel.
Teens having better sense than their parents is not a phenomenon I have personally seen a lot of.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/08/2021
00:00 ||
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[11139 views]
Top|| File under: Antifa/BLM
#1
good, I think that man would have protected his shop to the fullest anyway. They would scatter like roaches when the first 1 gets ventilated.
Posted by: Chris ||
08/08/2021 0:07
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#2
I saw a tranny (I mean, obvious; biceps smaller than my own but not a woman's normal ones) at the South Station T stop on Friday PM. Because this mask wearing shit tends to overheat people (like myself), I get on the platform and there he(r) is, in front of the big fan I use to cool down with because my bum right leg also feeds into this crap. (S)he moved away, even after I gestured for him / her to share the fan.
#7
And speaking of apparitions at the top of the stairs thereabouts...
On a bench in the concourse one night
Sits a woman, her hair thin and white;
Blue jacket, a walker...
And nearby, a gawker
Stands stunned, with no hope, but no fright.
Damned tired he was, having come an awful long way, and damned confused for a moment, seeing the last thing in the world he'd have expected to see there. And yet, what more obvious place to see it, and what more obvious time, if such a thing were to be seen?
#8
Luckily -- or not [door slides shut, train leaves station, screeching and sparking infernally as it rounds the bend... awkward silence ensues] -- she looked sufficiently different a night or two later for reason to reassert its tedious-ass self.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...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 
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
...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 
...Dem dynastic governor of Noo Yawk, the son and heir of the late Mario Cuoma and formerly married to a Kennedy. Acclaimed for his leadership during the COVID epidemic, he managed the nation's highest corpse count while successfully hiding the returns and writing a book praising himself. Among the nation's horniest politicians, he has about a dozen allegations of sexual harrassment and groping against him. Noo Yawk's politix being what they are, he is still hanging tough, waiting to ride it out....
[John Brennan via CNN, CNN via Hot Air] CNN has published this as an exclusive so there’s no way to really verify any of it at this point. Still, what they claim is remarkable enough that it’s worth mentioning. Apparently our intelligence agencies have data on all of the viruses that were studied at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. CNN reports it’s unclear how that’s possible:
CNN...."It’s unclear exactly how or when US intelligence agencies gained access to the information.....leaving open the possibility they were hacked, sources said."
.jpg "Kashmir")
...a disputed territory lying between India and Pakistain. After partition, the Paks grabbed half of it and call it 
...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 
His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Deadly fighting erupted on Saturday between rival factions of South Sudan Vice President Riek Machar’s SPLA-IO, his military 
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Foreign 
[FoxNews] Sunland Park, New Mexico, has become the epicenter of migrant smuggling in the 
[NATION.PK] Pakistain on Saturday again asked the government of Afghanistan to refrain from the blame game.
[DW] Despite security threats and growing local resentment, China continues to pump billions of dollars into Pakistain and invest in a wide range of sectors.
...mindless ferocity in a turban...
[NATION.PK] Mubashir Khokhar, brother of nominated provincial minister Malik Asad Khokhar, was killed on Friday night by unknown assailants who opened fire during the wedding ceremony of the latter’s son in DHA area of Lahore.
...The satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb...
...Arabic for 
...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 
[JohnathonTurley.com] Prof. Edward C. Ennels taught math at Baltimore City Community College but appears to have been offering a running lesson on supply side economic theory. Ennels reportedly was selling grades on a sliding scale depending on your worth and your ambition: $150 for a C; $250 for a B; and $500 for an A. He has now earned jail time after pleading to 11 misdemeanor charges, including bribery and misconduct in office.
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news]
