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Haftar-led Libyan Army claims new advance near Tripoli
Today's Headlines
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Home Front: Politix
Judge orders 234,000 purged from Wisconsin voter rolls
Democrats squeal
[MSN] An Wisconsin judge on Friday ordered the state to remove hundreds of thousands of people from Wisconsin's voter rolls because they may have moved.

The case is being closely watched because of the state's critical role in next year's presidential race. Ozaukee County Judge Paul Malloy also denied the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin's petition to intervene.

Lawyers for the League and for the Wisconsin Elections Commission indicated they will appeal and asked Malloy to stay his ruling pending those appeals, but he declined.

At issue is a letter the state Elections Commission sent in October to about 234,000 voters who it believes may have moved. The letter asked the voters to update their voter registrations if they had moved or alert election officials if they were still at their same address.

The commission planned to remove the letter's recipients from the voter rolls in 2021 if it hadn't heard from them. But Malloy's decision would kick them off the rolls much sooner, and well before the 2020 presidential election.

Before Friday's hearing, Democratic statet Attorney General Josh Kaul squealed said in an interview that quickly removing voters from the rolls would cause "clear harm to Wisconsin voters." That's because some people who haven't moved would likely lose their ability to vote, at least for the time being.

"Any time people have to go through extra steps to vote, and certainly re-registering is a significant additional step, the result is that fewer people end up voting," he said. "Fewer people will be registered. A number of people will have to re-register." Democratic Gov. Tony Evers on Twitter squealed railed against the ruling.
Posted by: Frank G || 12/14/2019 12:02 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Any time people have to go through extra steps to vote, and certainly re-registering is a significant additional step, the result is that fewer people end up voting,

Not to mention the cost. Exhuming all those bodies, carting them down to the registration office, not to mention the cleanup afterwards! And how are we supposed to do it for 234,000 bodies before election night?
Posted by: CrazyFool || 12/14/2019 12:36 Comments || Top||

#2  And don't forget the two or three cases they found in Texas after diligent efforts to identify voter fraud in that state.
Posted by: gorb || 12/14/2019 14:10 Comments || Top||

#3  That's because some people who haven't moved would likely lose their ability to vote, at least for the time being.

So send out one more mailing giving them another 30 days to respond and then purge the rolls. If you don't feel voting is important enough to make a trivial effort, then maybe you shouldn't be in the game.
Posted by: SteveS || 12/14/2019 14:26 Comments || Top||

#4  Here go 10% of Hillary's popular vote?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/14/2019 14:30 Comments || Top||

#5  According to a local Fox station,

" The ruling is a blow to Democrats. Political experts say people who move frequently are more likely young, unmarried and Democrats. That means Democratic campaigns will have to spend more time educating and re-registering their voters."

The judge says if you don't like his decision, take it up with the legislature as they made the law.
Posted by: JohnQC || 12/14/2019 16:28 Comments || Top||

#6  FL is red. OH is safely red. WI looks good.

If POTUS wins PA it will be a landslide.
Posted by: Lex || 12/14/2019 16:31 Comments || Top||

#7  Political experts say people who move frequently are more likely young, unmarried and Democrats. That means Democratic campaigns will have to spend more time educating and re-registering their voters."

I call BS. If you move, you need to pop down to the DMV and change your address. You can register to vote there.

Personally, I hope Trump wins the popular vote. It wold be an electoral knee to the groin of those grifters trying to do away with the Electoral College.
Posted by: SteveS || 12/14/2019 17:08 Comments || Top||

#8  Maybe they sent those letters to the wrong cemeteries. Oh, the humanity! People having to re-register to vote?!? Next thing you know, those rascally Repubs will demand you re-register your vehicle annually. Or pay your taxes. What is wrong with those people?
[sarc off] (this was added for the hothead lefty out there)
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 12/14/2019 17:14 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Ex-Sudan president Omar al-Bashir sentenced to 2 years for corruption
[NY Post]
Former Sudan president Omar al-Bashir was convicted Saturday of corruption and money laundering and will face two years at a correctional facility.

Now 75, al-Bashir was spared prison on account of his age, Sky News reported.

His legal team loudly disputed the proceedings. His lawyers were ordered out of the court for interrupting the judge, shouting "this is just politics" before the verdict was handed down, CNN reported.

The former strongman who ruled the country for 30 years was finally deposed in April after a military coup which followed a popular uprising.

Al-Bashir is also wanted in the International Criminal Court for his role in the the the genocide in Western Sudan's Darfur in 2003.
Posted by: Frank G || 12/14/2019 11:51 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Sudan


Home Front: Culture Wars
Federal Judge Backs People-Powered We Build The Wall, Inc. – Shreds Federal Lawyers For IBCW
Gateway Pundit via Gates of Vienna
We Build the Wall, Inc., a nonprofit organization founded by triple amputee veteran Brian Kolfage, is gearing up to build a second portion of wall along the U.S. Mexico border on private land in Mission, Texas and the "deep state" International Boundary and Water Commission is, again, relentlessly doing everything to sabotage the project.

The border wall, IBCW claims, would violate the United States’ 1970 international water treaty with Mexico by causing flooding that would alter the course of the international waterway and destruct the shoreline.

In response, U.S. District Judge Randy Crane issued a restraining or mandating We Build the Wall suspend construction and ordered the government to disclose the results of a hydrology study that would substantiate its unfounded charges.

During a hearing Thursday at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas in McAllen, U.S. Attorney E. Paxton Warner claimed the Federal Emergency Management Agency has already conducted a mapping study that confirms the construction of a border wall would cause catastrophic environmental damage on the river banks by utilizing expensive state of the art Light Detection and Ranging equipment, also known as LIDAR.

Yet, FEMA claimed has declined to provide its study to IBCW, Warner admitted.

Judge Crane shot back, chiding the government attorneys.

"If you can’t get it then how do you expect a private citizen to have access to it?" he asked Warner. "I’m not for making people jump through hoops just to jump through hoops. That seems petty."

We Build The Wall should conduct its own comprehensive hydrology report, rather than hassle FEMA with turning over its study, U.S. Attorney Daniel Hu argued.

The non-profit is planning to build a wall that costs upwards of $20 million dollars and should be able to afford LIDAR because it "costs only about $2,000 per square mile analysis," he said.

Until scientific evidence is produced proving the wall would generate flooding and environmental hazard, the government’s lawsuit is meritless, Crane retorted, noting he would likely resort to issuing a court order to obtain FEMA’s LIDAR study.

"Your role here is to make sure someone who is building in the floodplain is in compliance with federal laws," he told the federal prosecutors. "You aren’t for one side or the other. If you have this answer then find out as soon as possible."
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/14/2019 11:02 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I've watched YouTube videos of court proceedings and they can be boring and dry. I bet this one might have had some fire to it.
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 12/14/2019 17:07 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
Kenyan scientist uses throw-away plastics to build homes
[Aljazeera] The scientist manufactures roof tiles and other construction materials from plastic and glass waste in Kenya.

Hope Mwanake understands the plastic pollution crisis facing Kenya better than most.

An environmental scientist who ran a waste collection service in Kenya's central town of Gilgil, she witnessed first-hand the mountains of plastic buckets, bottles and jerrycans discarded by residents, hotels, shops and schools.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/14/2019 05:54 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Very flammable, but environmentally sound.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/14/2019 6:05 Comments || Top||

#2  Composite deck boards made from recycled plastic are pretty durable. I'd try those roof "tiles" myself...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/14/2019 7:37 Comments || Top||


Pairing Laphroaig 16 With Cuban Cigars
[CA] I walked out of the humidor with a Hoyo de Monterrey Epicure No. 2 Tubo and put it down on the table in the Cigar Aficionado lounge next to a bottle of Laphroaig 16. Managing editor Greg Mottola looked up from his laptop.

"You’re going to smoke that cigar with that Scotch?" he said.

Debate ensued. (This happens a lot in our smoking room.) Laphroaig is among the most smoky and heavily peated Scotches around, and Greg felt the Hoyo that I had chosen was not enough cigar to stand up to the malt.

"Do you have something else in mind?" I asked. He reached for a Cohiba Siglo V (also packed in a tube) that he had found when he was in Italy.

"OK," I said. "We’ll both drink the Scotch. You smoke the Cohiba, I’ll smoke the Hoyo. Let’s see how they work."

Peaty Scotch is remarkably pleasant at 16 years old, as anyone who has sipped Lagavulin 16 (another Islay whisky) can happily attest. The Laphroaig is new, a recent addition to the Islay malt portfolio. The 96-proof spirit (48 percent ABV) spent its 16 years before bottling in first-fill, ex-Bourbon barrels. It retails for $90 for a 750 ml bottle.

I enjoy Laphroaig, but I usually drink the 10 year old, which is extremely peaty and smoky. How would an extra six years of age change the flavor?
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/14/2019 05:44 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I can drink scotch, but to a scotch lover that's the same as saying I'm just wasting it.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/14/2019 7:35 Comments || Top||

#2  I once used to drank Laphroaig in the Southern Cone where it was brought in by trasitistas (smugglers) and sold for six bucks or a little more. It was cheap because it was not to the taste of Latinos who wanted scotch gasoline like Ye Monks that would rot your teeth.
Posted by: b || 12/14/2019 8:03 Comments || Top||

#3  Where can I order a case from those trasitistas?
Posted by: Lex || 12/14/2019 10:04 Comments || Top||

#4  Take a vacation in Paraguay.
Posted by: b || 12/14/2019 10:32 Comments || Top||

#5  Prefer the Lagavulin.
Posted by: Iblis || 12/14/2019 10:52 Comments || Top||

#6  I prefer Oban, it's my favorite.
Posted by: Silentbrick || 12/14/2019 14:26 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Ann Coulter - 'Are Facts White Nationalist?
[Coulter] I gather it would be proof positive of "white nationalism" to point out that the only group discriminated against in college admissions is white people.

We’ve heard a lot about discrimination against Asians lately, which reminds me: Asians are SO lucky they’re not white! Otherwise, America’s leading hate group, the Southern Poverty Law Center, would be churning out reports on the worrying rise in Asian Supremacy.

In fact, however, a recent study by Georgetown University (probably White Nationalist), funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (presumed hate group), found that if colleges admitted students based solely on SAT scores, every single ethnic group would decline, except one: whites.

Yes, even fewer Asian students would be admitted on an SAT-only admission standard. (I presume this is because Asians have better GPAs than white students.)

Obviously, this was NOT the purpose of the study. I’m pretty sure it was supposed to ferret out some small pocket of racism that had somehow passed undenounced. But when the only race being discriminated against turned out to be whites, the study was locked in a lead casket and dropped to the bottom of the sea.

This isn’t a new phenomenon: The New York Times was writing about it 30 years ago. In the late 1980s, whites were about 62 percent of California’s high school graduates, but constituted only 45 percent of those admitted to its universities. As a university official told the Times, "Whites are the only group underrepresented."

Today, the Times would be tracking down that official to make sure he was fired.

The lie of "white privilege" is treated as an implacable fact throughout our cultural institutions, no matter how manifestly absurd it is. Thus, in the discredited book "The Education of Brett Kavanaugh," authors Robin Pogrebin and Kate Kelly act as if a half-Puerto Rican girl entering Yale in the 1980s deserves a place in the civil rights pantheon along with the Little Rock Nine.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/14/2019 05:18 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Some FACTS About Higher Education & Race
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION, ANN COULTER, EDUCATION, RACE, RACISM


Courtesy of Ann Coulter:

* “…if colleges admitted students based solely on SAT scores, every single ethnic group would decline, except one: whites.”

* “… the only race being discriminated against turned out to be whites…”

* “With the same grades and scores, Puerto Ricans were 5.3 times more likely to be admitted to a top-tier law school like Yale than a white applicant.”

Click on Barely-A-Blog’s “Education” search category for more.

Posted by: Besoeker || 12/14/2019 5:27 Comments || Top||

#2  the only race being discriminated against turned out to be whites

Ah, Asians?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/14/2019 5:39 Comments || Top||

#3  ...the Left has already 'classified' Asians as white.

Given the Japanese, South Koreans, Taiwanese, and Singaporeans who've appropriated adopted successful Western (Civilization) economic models to raise their citizens to first world status, you can see the connection. (do I need to put a /sarc on that?)
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/14/2019 6:16 Comments || Top||

#4  p.s. The very idea of "facts" is Eurocentric = white nationalist.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/14/2019 6:19 Comments || Top||

#5  /\ Furthermore, these "facts" are derived from the use of mathematics, which has already been proven to be racist.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/14/2019 6:25 Comments || Top||

#6  ^Despite being invented by dark skinned Hindoos?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/14/2019 6:35 Comments || Top||

#7  Reality is that which does not go away just because you stop believing in it...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/14/2019 7:48 Comments || Top||

#8  Shitshow, "Diversity"& Supreme Court Edition
Posted by: Lex || 12/14/2019 9:11 Comments || Top||

#9  Heather MacDonald traces The Strange Origins & Career of the Bullshit Concept Enabling Affirmative Action to Avoid a Natural Death for 40+ Years: "Diversity."

Excerpt:

Justice Lewis Powell, writing the controlling opinion in an otherwise divided court, introduced the concepts that would tarnish all subsequent legal analysis in the area. UC Davis’s explicit set-asides violated Bakke’s right to be free from racial discrimination, Powell held. If a school left its desired level of minority enrollment officially unquantified, however, the Court would accept a series of cascading fictions on the way to upholding that school’s racial preferences.

Those fictions clustered under the umbrella of “holistic review.” An admissions office that practices holistic review allegedly evaluates each applicant as a unique individual and not simply as the representative of a race; it treats an applicant’s race as just one smallish “plus” factor among many helping him get admitted; racial preferences are a plus for the preferred group but not a negative for the unpreferred group; even if a school has “minimum goals” for minority enrollment, those minimum goals are different from numerical quotas.

Powell never explained why an individual who is penalized because he is of the wrong race suffers a constitutional harm if that discrimination occurs in the name of an explicit quota, but not if the discrimination is in the service of a putatively less numerical racial “goal.”

The other fictions were equally strained. A preference-practicing school is always going to have a target of minority enrollment, regardless of whether it states that target publicly; otherwise it would not need preferences in the first place. Preferences are by definition zero-sum; they catapult members of favored groups into finite college seats at the expense of disfavored groups.

Powell’s legacy did not end there. He also introduced the concept that would define the academic mission for the next four decades: diversity.

The Davis medical school had defended its quota system on three grounds: as compensation for past discrimination; as a means of providing more doctors to underserved neighborhoods; and as a tool for creating “diversity” in its student population.

Powell rejected the first two grounds. Universities were unqualified to make the policy judgments supporting a compensatory mission, he wrote. There was no guarantee that minority medical school graduates would practice in minority neighborhoods.

But educational “diversity”—that was a goal Powell could get behind! As long as a university justified its preferences in the name of the supposed educational benefits of racial diversity, it will have stated a constitutionally legitimate purpose that withstands judicial scrutiny. Diversity benefits accrue above all to non-preferred white students who would learn from the different worldview of preferred minority students. Powell thus institutionalized the core premise of today’s identity politics: that a person’s race is reliably linked to his outlook and life experience.
Posted by: Lex || 12/14/2019 9:18 Comments || Top||

#10  "White nationalism?" Another tar-baby [one of many] of the left.
Posted by: JohnQC || 12/14/2019 10:36 Comments || Top||

#11  Blame Lewis Powell for this particular Shitshow.
"Diversity" = Perversity.
Posted by: Lex || 12/14/2019 11:34 Comments || Top||

#12  A little diversity on the kitchen menu is a good thing. I suspect the American Kennel Club would agree, that old Boerboel is never going to make a very good lap dog. Something in the breeding possibly.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/14/2019 11:41 Comments || Top||

#13  I don't call it affirmative apartheid for nothing.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 12/14/2019 15:14 Comments || Top||

#14  All colleges are liberal cesspools, Caucasians don't need them.
Posted by: Goober Tingle7365 || 12/14/2019 17:22 Comments || Top||

#15  If we really must categorize people we should have more divisions. East Asians are not culturally the same as Indians or Southeast Asians in any meaningful way. Blacks that can trace their ancestry back to the Civil war are culturally not the same as those that immigrated from Africa or the Caribbean more recently. Cuban emigrants are not the same as Mexicans. Heck you could divide the whites into a dozen different groups, we are not all elitist Ivy League scum.
Posted by: ruprecht || 12/14/2019 17:59 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
US approves fish oil-based drug for cutting heart risks
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) ‐ U.S. regulators on Friday approved expanded use of a fish oil-based drug for preventing serious heart complications in high-risk patients already taking cholesterol-lowering pills.

Vascepa was approved years ago for people with sky-high triglycerides, a type of fat in blood. The Food and Drug Administration allowed its use in a far bigger group of adults with high, but less extreme, triglyceride levels who have multiple risk factors such as heart disease and diabetes.

In patient testing, it reduced risks of potentially deadly complications including heart attacks and strokes about 25%.

Amarin, the drug’s maker, set a list price of $303.65 per month. What patients pay will vary by insurance, and Amarin said it will offer financial help.

The Irish drugmaker estimates the new approval makes Vascepa, which is pronounced vas-EE’-puh and also is called icosapent ethyl, appropriate for up to 15 million U.S. patients.

High triglycerides can clog arteries and boost chances of developing heart disease, suffering heart attacks or strokes, needing a bypass or artery-clearing procedure, or being hospitalized for chest pain ‐ just like high cholesterol and elevated blood pressure can do.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/14/2019 05:04 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It's the oxidised form of HDL that you need to worry about as the immune system has problems clearing it as it kills the immune cells. incidentally the damage to arteries releases tau proteins from cells.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 12/14/2019 15:22 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Imagine There's No Nations
Sarah Hoyt favors the long-term view
[AccordingToHoyt] ...Part of my reason to think the concept is insane is precisely the pickle we’re in. This is not how we were designed to be. Our civil war, like the Punic wars to Rome, sent us down a side-spur, in our case into a strong central government.

But there are two or perhaps three things that happen when a strong government rules over too large and diverse an area:

1- They will lose accountability to the people, and actively do things to stop alarms going off that tell them they’re going SERIOUSLY wrong. I don’t think I need to explain that to anyone here, right? Including the fact that our government is now MOSTLY run by a vast and unaccountable army of bureaucrats? ...

2- They will become mostly interested in impressing/responding to those people they see every day, from colleagues to neighbors. What this means is it ends up being "dictatorship by whatever region the government is located in." Humans are humans, rule comes with an assumption of superiority. "We are much better than them," type of thing. And if it becomes obvious that other people in other regions don’t agree with you, you think of them as rubes, ignorant, deplorable.

3- They will fall prey to absolutely insane theories and fads, because they live in a bubble who all approve of it.

...But mostly, mostly, the biggest problem is that the first and foremost human tendency when acquiring enough power ‐ and any government over a very large area has enough power ‐ is to disable the alarm system and make sure there’s no negative report on whatever we choose to do, ever. Everything else comes from that.

...(One of the reasons to vote Republican, even in a situation where Republicans and Democrats field equally awful candidates is that our press being mostly corrupt, convinced leftists, they will report every time a Republican looks at someone funny, but they will not, under any circumstances, report even major fraud and corruption from Democrats. All else being equal, the Republicans are less able to disable THAT alarm system.

...As is, we have it relatively easy. If you start with a government over that large an area, but created on very different principles and with no checks or balances the result is the USSR... or China. We have so far ‐ knocks on head ‐ and barring a president Sanders avoided the millions of mass graves.

Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/14/2019 04:49 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Sarah is spot on about big centralized government, the NWO, open borders and the dangers therein. Good find Grom.
Posted by: JohnQC || 12/14/2019 9:40 Comments || Top||

#2  Hers SF/Fantasy/Detectives are very good too.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/14/2019 9:45 Comments || Top||

#3  ....the fact that our government is now MOSTLY run by a vast and unaccountable army of bureaucrats?

Having begun to pay some attention to such matters in about 1967, I've seen scant evidence to the contrary. Over 50 years of anecdotal evidence should amount to something.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/14/2019 9:53 Comments || Top||

#4  (One of the reasons to vote Republican, even in a situation where Republicans and Democrats field equally awful candidates is that our press being mostly corrupt, convinced leftists, they will report every time a Republican looks at someone funny, but they will not, under any circumstances, report even major fraud and corruption from Democrats. All else being equal, the Republicans are less able to disable THAT alarm system.

The flaw with this piece of her argument is that the "alarm" will only go off if the GOP does something the left doesn't like.

If they get all "bipartisan" and do what the left wants, then the alarm won't go off on the GOPe's actions, either.

So it's the worst of all worlds.

The whornolists will only be a watchdog when they disapprove of particular actions that don't align with their preferences.

They will never be honest watchmen even we make the "pragmatic" choice of putting a Republican in office.
Posted by: charger || 12/14/2019 14:04 Comments || Top||


Britain
It's Only Democracy If They Win
PowerLine via Instapundit
Tonight there was a rather large demonstration against Boris Johnson and the Tories in central London, I believe near Downing Street. Of course, Johnson hasn’t done anything since yesterday to justify the angry demonstration. Basically, the leftists were protesting the fact that they lost the election. Any outcome other than a left-wing victory is, to them, unacceptable.

It looked very much like a similar demonstration in the U.S. of the sort that is described in the press as "mostly peaceful." Protesters carried signs promising to "defy Tory rule," just like the anti-Trump "resistance." Other signs carried by the mob‐entirely white, as far as I could see‐decried racism. In Britain as in America, it is "racist" to disagree with a leftist, regardless of whether the subject at hand has anything to do with race. Here is a short video that shows the protest:
BoJo derangement starts - as predicted
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/14/2019 03:13 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  As predicted
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/14/2019 3:18 Comments || Top||

#2  Can't get to the "one time" part of "one man, one vote, one time" formula if the proles refuse to vote the "correct" way...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/14/2019 7:55 Comments || Top||

#3  Johnson hasn’t done anything since yesterday to justify the angry demonstration

Dims have an Alice-In-Wonderland view of Democracy. One must be wary of falling down this rabbit hole as Wonderland doesn't make any sense.
Posted by: JohnQC || 12/14/2019 10:03 Comments || Top||

#4  Sounds familiar Left-Wing Newspaper Advises People “How to Leave the United Kingdom” After Election Loss?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/14/2019 10:56 Comments || Top||

#5  ...O'Canada.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/14/2019 11:20 Comments || Top||

#6  Havana's nice this time of year.
Lots of job openings on El Maracon
Posted by: Lex || 12/14/2019 11:21 Comments || Top||

#7  Re #4: Free one-way tickets to Pakistan. Get them before they run out.
Posted by: Snusotle the Lesser4227 || 12/14/2019 12:27 Comments || Top||

#8  ^^^
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 12/14/2019 12:48 Comments || Top||

#9  What does this mean? From g(r)omgoru’s Leftwing Newspapers link:

But as the statements of intent to leave Britain emerged on social media after the exit poll, voices emerged in response, urging people to put the interests of those without the means to move country before their own.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/14/2019 14:30 Comments || Top||

#10  ^"You go first"
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/14/2019 14:36 Comments || Top||

#11  Ha ! We had anticipated the win and already cancelled the citizenships of some Labour supporting communal leaders and activist types. Now they can buy apartments in Dubai, run with their activism money, take their chances.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 12/14/2019 14:42 Comments || Top||

#12  UK Protesters Chant ‘Not My Prime Minister’ And Scuffle With Police
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/14/2019 15:50 Comments || Top||

#13  Democracy has to fight against mobocracy to survive. People call it police brutality. It's what the bloody fuzz are for, saving the majority from selfish deniers of others' rights.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 12/14/2019 15:56 Comments || Top||

#14  If the super-liberals flee Britain they'll probably go to some other European nation. I feel sad for whatever nation that gets them.
Posted by: ruprecht || 12/14/2019 22:53 Comments || Top||

#15  Try Venezuela
Posted by: Lex || 12/14/2019 23:05 Comments || Top||

#16  They might try France — all those empty country manors desperate for tenants — but apparently the common folk there even more strongly dislike the EU, so after the UK leaves, France might decide to follow.

Italy has the empty country manors without the drive to leave the EU, so that’s another thought.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/14/2019 23:50 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Greta Thunberg tells cheering crowd 'we will make sure we put world leaders against the wall' if they do not tackle global warming
h/t Instapundit
[DailyMail] Greta Thunberg told cheering protesters today 'we will make sure we put world leaders against the wall' if they fail to take urgent action on climate change.
"At least Stalin and Hitler had to grow up before they began to fantasize about exterminating the opposition. This 16-year-old is already there. Plus she resists being educated any further. What kind of a person will she grow up to be?"
The Swedish teen activist was addressing the crowd at a Fridays for Future protest in Turin, Italy.

She arrived there from Madrid where she had been attending the UN climate summit but said she feared the event would not lead to change.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/14/2019 03:10 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
Posted by: Goober Tingle7365 || 12/14/2019 3:40 Comments || Top||

#2  Anybody who thinks this is funny, haven't studied history.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/14/2019 3:56 Comments || Top||

#3  Last time was tragedy. This time is farce...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/14/2019 4:24 Comments || Top||

#4 
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/14/2019 5:09 Comments || Top||

#5  ...The mask slips. Will be interesting to see how bad her eventual breakdown will be.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 12/14/2019 6:34 Comments || Top||

#6  Greta you're going to have to wait in line. We have our own set of 'leaders', an issue about a 22+ trillions dollar involuntary servitude debt, and our own wall.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/14/2019 6:36 Comments || Top||

#7  We may have to "eat the young" as their flesh is more tender and they are no loss to planetary GDP.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/14/2019 7:45 Comments || Top||

#8  How communist....
Posted by: DarthVader || 12/14/2019 9:18 Comments || Top||

#9  ‘Tomorrow belongs to me.’ - Cabaret
Posted by: Glenmore || 12/14/2019 10:11 Comments || Top||

#10  Going to do this again?
Posted by: swksvolFF || 12/14/2019 10:38 Comments || Top||

#11  #7 We may have to "eat the young" as their flesh is more tender and they are no loss to planetary GDP.

The tastier whelps, sure. But forcing Greta on any diner is cruel and unusual. HOW DARE YOU?!!
Posted by: Lex || 12/14/2019 11:32 Comments || Top||

#12  "How pair you?"
Posted by: swksvolFF || 12/14/2019 12:09 Comments || Top||

#13  Lost in translation. Shit happens.

In Swedish "ställa någon mot väggen" may literally translate as "put against the wall" but it actually means: "to nail down" in the sense of "holding accountable". It doesn't have the violent meaning the English expression suggests.
Posted by: European Conservative || 12/14/2019 17:57 Comments || Top||

#14  If she didn’t want to misunderstood, European Conservative, she shouldn’t have been a teen-aged, non-native English speaker with autism. Thank you for the perspective — there is so much to be annoyed at her and her handlers about, no need to add something that‘s an artifact of her situation.

One day it will occur to all of them that we will equally “ställa någon mot väggen" them for what their efforts have cost us all while accomplishing nothing.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/14/2019 18:05 Comments || Top||

#15  @tw
Greta Thunberg is what we make of her. I don't like to attack 16yo girls. Let them grow up. Too much hysteria.

I'm far more interested in all those grown ups who use and abuse her.
Posted by: European Conservative || 12/14/2019 18:11 Comments || Top||

#16  Greta Thunberg is the Ahed Tamimi of the globalist rent-seeking green lobby.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 12/14/2019 18:51 Comments || Top||

#17  Greta Thunberg is what we make of her. I don't like to attack 16yo girls. Let them grow up. Too much hysteria. I'm far more interested in all those grown ups who use and abuse her.

Indeed. As a father of two daughters - one with cognitive impairments - I'd say what's being done with and to that girl qualifies as child abuse. Where's Swedish CPS when you need them?
Posted by: Secret Master || 12/14/2019 19:03 Comments || Top||

#18  They use her because a small girl (she looks 12) is supposed to be untouchable (and she should be).

Yes, that's child abuse. Please don't post pictures showing her as a Nazi girl.
Posted by: European Conservative || 12/14/2019 19:36 Comments || Top||

#19  Last time I checked, those using human shields were the ones guilty of crime not those who have to fight their way through them.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/14/2019 20:46 Comments || Top||

#20  #15 - Play on the big stage = get the big response. Mercy? F*ck that. She's a piece of damaged child used by her puppeteer parents and hangers-on.
Posted by: Frank G || 12/14/2019 20:54 Comments || Top||

#21  To EC's point, no one wants to beat up on a child. This is indeed a shabby spectacle with much blame to go around.

What bothers me most about this child's act is how easily it taps into and repeats our new culture of angry and nonstop denunciation of those who disagree with one as evil, corrupt, wicked. Mentally defective; inhuman.

Nothing has degraded our culture and our public discourse so much as this instinct to dehumanize one's fellow citizens. Use wit, irony, bel esprit, sprezzatura all you like. Ask God to make your opponents appear ridiculous, as Voltaire did.

But cease these angry denunciations of everyone and anyone who doesn't immediately do as the child demands.

This child is changing the (cultural-social-political) climate -- for the worse.
Posted by: Lex || 12/14/2019 21:31 Comments || Top||

#22  Of course you are all right, but I'd like to say, cognitive impairment and genetic dysfunction is subjective in the way it affects people. Modern western psychology and even psychobiology likes to lump similar looking statistical subsets together, for the convenience of providing a systematized, checklist driven care pattern for them. But no two cases of human being are alike. Same with children of this sort.

I don't have any experience in child psychology but can say without doubt that Greta Thunberg is one of many who do not suffer from the full spectrum of symptoms the usual sufferers of her diagnosed ailments do. It's possible for mildly affected individuals to be clubbed into a sufferer-group at an early age, enjoying liberties, the attention and tip-toeing that occurs around them. They may then grow up to be quite competent actors, arseholes to the core.

A luxurious lifestyle and enough money provides such a good life that a sufferer may develop an intellect wholly superior to that of many normal children in disadvantaged societies. Little Greta's parents are actors, they are members of a guild that would cut of their arm if there were fame and money in it. What they've done here is open a pandora's box for all children, trained and unleashed an out-of-control individual to be managed by lobbyists like a mascot.

The worst of their crime is not the climate shit. It is the politicization of very young children, introducing activism and organized disobedience to junior high. It may look harmless stupidity today, but it is catching a momentum, being normalized in schools as we speak.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 12/14/2019 21:36 Comments || Top||

#23  ^ well put. This is a stage routine. The playwrights are two Swedish actors of middling talent who have hit upon the Magic Formula for attaining celebrity in our virtue-signaling media environment:
- grab on to a fashionable cause;
- add an intersectional angle (select from: gender race queer/tranny oppressed-third-worlder);
- go out of your way to denounce, insult, and otherwise behave rudely toward The Man;
- ensure the above confrontation is videotaped and fits within a social media-friendly format: <15 seconds, 4K resolution, a snappy line of not more than 4 syllables max. "She per-sis-ted." "That-girl-was-me." "HOW-DARE-YOU??!!"
- rinse & repeat.

It has not worked for Pocahontas and KamalHo, most likely because unlike this child they did not have the benefit of free advice and coaching provided by two full-time, dedicated, professional actors.
Posted by: Lex || 12/14/2019 21:48 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Turning Feudal Afghanistan Into Switzerland Was Always A Fool's Errand
[The Federalist] The most striking couple of sentences in the breathtaking report from the Washington Post about the West’s failed nation-building in Afghanistan were right in the middle. The report stated, in no uncertain terms, "Some U.S. officials wanted to use the war to turn Afghanistan into a democracy. Others wanted to transform Afghan culture and elevate women’s rights."

Think about that for a moment. More than $1 trillion spent, more than 2,000 lives lost, more than 20,000 men and women maimed and scarred physically and psychologically for life, all to shape the semi-feudal Afghanistan into modern Switzerland. To do what the British Empire and the Soviet Empire failed before: to impose a Western idea ‐ developed and practiced in the West, with all the cultural forces that shaped it ‐ in a land which has historically never had a Magna Carta, a James Madison, or an October Revolution. It doesn’t even have a normative society such as erstwhile pre-colonial India, Egypt, or China, or pre-1945 Germany or Japan.

The jaw-dropping hubris behind this idealistic endeavor was staggering, incapable of being explained in words. Forget about President George W. Bush or President Barack Obama, forget about the impeachment nonsense or the inspector general report ‐ this story of how administration after administration repeated half-truths while paying lip-service to norms is the most important revelation in recent years. But even then, it is not unexpected, nor will it go away unless the root causes are discussed.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/14/2019 01:44 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  elevate women’s rights

Yeah, the systerhood has been all in on that every step of the way

/sarc
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/14/2019 4:20 Comments || Top||

#2  Changing Afghanistan would have been a fool's errand had it been tried.

Appeasement by paying danegeld and importing an alien tyrannical culture's norms into Western nations was the actual political consensus strategy after 9/11.

Also a failure.
Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660 || 12/14/2019 4:26 Comments || Top||

#3  But you don't understand! It was all carefully planned. There were goals and objectives, missions and schedules, org charts and timetables. Never mind that the desired end state was unreachable. We had to do something, right?
Posted by: SteveS || 12/14/2019 4:45 Comments || Top||

#4  Actually, turning a feudal country into industrialized should be possible cf. Japan.
The problem with Afghanistan, and the rest of Dar, is that they're tribal cultures under a thin veneer of whatever is currently popular.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/14/2019 5:16 Comments || Top||

#5  Interesting in that the Japanese solution was to divide up the western model into the pre-Meiji clan lines. The most powerful got the army, second got the navy (not applicable to Afghanistan, but maybe the air force), others got certain industries, institutions, etc.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/14/2019 6:23 Comments || Top||

#6  My point is what feudal culture built on the premise of loyalty/obligation extending to non relatives and depending on their actions NOT their degree of relatedness.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/14/2019 6:33 Comments || Top||

#7  Here, the left wanted "integration" to break up tribes. Then they changed their mind and want extreme identitarianism (for everyone except whites) In the rest of the world, the more barbarous the quaint local customs are, the more on board the lefties are.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/14/2019 8:01 Comments || Top||

#8  Japan uplifted themselves. Chile pulled themselves up as well.

Is there an example of another country lifting a third world nation out of the third world?
Posted by: ruprecht || 12/14/2019 8:33 Comments || Top||

#9  Afghanistan has a long way to go before it reaches feudal.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 12/14/2019 8:40 Comments || Top||

#10  But you don't understand! It was all carefully planned. There were goals and objectives, missions and schedules, org charts and timetables. Never mind that the desired end state was unreachable. We had to do something, right?

You forgot the PowerPoint Presentations! SOY!
Posted by: Angereth Panda1824 || 12/14/2019 9:51 Comments || Top||

#11  Afghanistan has been said to be the ‘Graveyard of Empires'.

Trump said [and it was reported in the NYTs, July 23, 2019] that "he could have had the country wiped off the face of the earth but did not want to kill 10 million people.” What he said is most likely true but it set on fire the hair of many people here and in Afghanistan. IMO, what he said represented a truism but also a sane judgement about the realities and dangers of nuclear war.

IMHO, Dangers for the U.S. today are largely internal and coming from a Deepstate and rogue and out-of- control radicalized left-wing element of government. Perhaps one should hope for America becoming the “graveyard of left-wing radical socialism [hopefully figuratively speaking].


Posted by: JohnQC || 12/14/2019 10:32 Comments || Top||

#12  Let's face facts. Afghans are not Japanese. Never have been. Never will be.

However, the do have opium.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 12/14/2019 13:06 Comments || Top||

#13  What people don't understand is, the Ho Chi Minh's of this snafu are sitting in Pakistain, just fifty klicks southeast of the durand line. Right now they are mentally divvying up the moolah to come in through the IMF loan this year.

People in Quetta and even larger pakistain laugh at the Americans and lampoon the ease of bilking the west to feed jihad. One encounters it daily in their media, their conversations. But the urdu speakers in the US, intelligence workers appointed by 'O' and that idiot 'W' will not point that out for you. It's a convenient joke for them that Americans supply their own killers and sit with them at the table for 'talks'. While the Afghan bureaucracy and taliban collectively explain through 'Zalmay the divine' to Washington just how much more elbow grease is still needed in this fucking hellhole.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 12/14/2019 14:26 Comments || Top||

#14  the Ho Chi Minh's of this snafu are sitting in Pakistain, just fifty klicks southeast of the durand line.

A regular topic of complaint here at Rantburg, where some of us remember Ho Chi Minh’s antics from personal experience. Not me, of course, but others do.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/14/2019 19:41 Comments || Top||

#15  Fire in the Lake
An excellent book about the Charlie Foxtrot FUBAR that was Vietnam and how the know it all Ivy League elitists got us into that mess
Some interesting parallels in the logic that got us into both fiascos
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 12/14/2019 20:10 Comments || Top||

#16  What's so funny 'bout Pessimistic Realism and Offshore Balancing?

Apologies to Elvis Costello
Posted by: Lex || 12/14/2019 21:58 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Very Quietly, Democrats Cave on Funding Border Wall in New Spending Bill
[PJ] Congress reached a "deal in principle" to fund the government through next year, a deal that includes at least some funding for the president's proposed border wall. This after Democrats solemnly swore they would not vote for "one dime" of wall funding.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/14/2019 01:27 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ...On top of that, DJT pretty got everything he asked for in the defense appropriation side of things.

If these people really think they have him backed into a corner, they ain't showing it.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 12/14/2019 6:36 Comments || Top||

#2  On the other hand, given the size of the "budget*", looks like they got everything they wanted, too.

* I think this word does not mean what you think it means
Posted by: Mercutio || 12/14/2019 7:22 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
US-China trade deal cuts tariffs for Beijing big farm purchases
[Jpost] The United States and China cooled their trade war on Friday, announcing a "Phase one" agreement that reduces some U.S. tariffs in exchange for what U.S. officials said would be a big jump in Chinese purchases of American farm products and other goods.

Beijing has agreed to import at least $200 billion in additional U.S. goods and services over the next two years on top of the amount it purchased in 2017, the top U.S. trade negotiator said Friday.

If the purchases are made, they would represent a huge jump in U.S. exports to China. China bought $130 billion in U.S. goods in 2017, before the trade war began, and $56 billion in services, U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis data show.

In return, the United States would suspend tariffs on Chinese goods due to go into effect on Sunday and reduce others, U.S. officials said. The 86-page agreement is due to be signed the first week of January in Washington by principal negotiators.

"We have agreed to a very large Phase One Deal with China," U.S. President Donald Trump
...the Nailer of NAFTA...
tweeted Friday morning. Officials in China have "agreed to many structural changes and massive purchases of Agricultural Product, Energy, and Manufactured Goods, plus much more," he said.

Trump later told news hounds at the White House that he thought China would hit $50 billion in agricultural purchases, repeating a promise he made to U.S. farmers in October.

At a news conference in Beijing, Chinese officials said the two sides had agreed on the text of a deal, but offered no specific details on the amount of U.S. goods China had agreed to buy.

U.S. markets have gyrated on rumors and leaks about the trade deal in recent months, but were muted on Friday on news it had been agreed.

The agreement was announced as the U.S. House Judiciary Committee voted to charge Trump with abuse of power and obstruction during an impeachment inquiry. It also followed closely on the heels of a deal with the U.S. Congress paving the way for passage of a new North American trade agreement.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/14/2019 01:18 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Call me when China buys USA made consumer goods.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/14/2019 2:58 Comments || Top||

#2  Trump later told news hounds at the White House that he thought China would hit $50 billion in agricultural purchases

So how is the US going to close the other $450 billion/year of the trade deficit, not counting the theft?
Posted by: Snusotle the Lesser4227 || 12/14/2019 6:10 Comments || Top||

#3  Correction: the other $370 billion/year of the trade deficit

Posted by: Snusotle the Lesser4227 || 12/14/2019 6:15 Comments || Top||

#4  It looks like the trade deficit has been narrowing as of October 2019, Snusotle the Lesser4227. See here.

The US trade deficit narrowed to USD 47.2 billion in October of 2019 from a downwardly revised USD 51.1 billion in the previous month, and below market expectations of a USD 48.7 billion. It is the lowest trade gap since May of 2018. Imports slumped 1.7 percent to the lowest value in two years amid falling purchases of pharmaceutical preparations, auto parts, vehicles and cell phones Exports edged down 0.2 percent. The goods trade deficit with China narrowed 1.1 percent to USD 31.3 billion, as imports fell a meagre 0.2 percent and exports rose 3.3 percent. Balance of Trade in the United States averaged -15057.49 USD Million from 1950 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 1946 USD Million in June of 1975 and a record low of -67823 USD Million in August of 2006. source: Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)

I don’t doubt our trade deficit with other countries has grown, as manufacturers have moved production out of China — and only partly on-shored back in the U.S.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/14/2019 16:47 Comments || Top||


Europe
Man shot dead in Paris business district after threatening police
[AlAhram] French police on Friday shot and killed a man who threatened officers in Gay Paree's bustling La Defense business district.

The man was shot in the chest and a leg, police sources said.

He had failed to injure anyone, they said, without specifying the weapon he was wielding, excepting that it was not a firearm.

The man approached the officers at around 10:20 am (0920 GMT), who responded by firing at least five shots.

A security cordon was erected after the shooting, and the man's identity has not been disclosed.

La Belle France has witnessed several assaults on its security forces in recent years, when it has been on high alert over a wave of jihadist attacks that have killed 255 people since 2015.

In October, administrative agent Mickael Harpon stabbed and killed four colleagues at the Gay Paree police headquarters before he was rubbed out. He was said to be a follower of radical Moslem beliefs.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/14/2019 00:44 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Moslem Colonists

#1  and the man's identity has not been disclosed.

I don't know about France, but in the US, not mentioning the identity of the perp tends to be a marker for certain ethnicities. Is it too soon to begin placing bets?
Posted by: SteveS || 12/14/2019 13:54 Comments || Top||

#2  I'm going to guess a black white supremacist.

Or, as our betters in the US media would say, African-American.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 12/14/2019 14:20 Comments || Top||

#3  Some 42-year old Moroccan, crazy ward escapee. Last words were "I'll kill you ! Uggghh.. "
Posted by: Dron66046 || 12/14/2019 16:37 Comments || Top||

#4  Moroccan, age 42, escaped from psychiatric asylum last June. Previously jailed for sexual assault, armed robbery. Shouted he was a terrorist after he was shot.

http://www.leparisien.fr/faits-divers/quartier-de-la-defense-un-homme-menacant-des-policiers-avec-une-arme-blanche-neutralise-13-12-2019-8216508.php
Posted by: si vis pacem || 12/14/2019 16:42 Comments || Top||

#5  Shouted he was a terrorist after he was shot

I wish they were all so considerate.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 12/14/2019 17:02 Comments || Top||

#6  I was right when I tagged it Moslem colonists on spec? How sadly unsurprising. Thank you for the link, dear si vis pacem.

Is it too soon to begin placing bets?

Since 2016 that’s been the smart way to bet, SteveS.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/14/2019 18:08 Comments || Top||

#7  French police have guns who knew? Sounds like the perp may have memorized one too many verses from the Koran.
Posted by: jpal || 12/14/2019 18:54 Comments || Top||

#8  /\ At lease some are armed with 9mm Sigs.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/14/2019 18:59 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Armed group says it killed 4 hostages kidnapped in Nigeria -non profit
[Jpost] An gang that kidnapped humanitarian workers in northeastern Nigeria five months ago has claimed it killed four hostages, international aid agency Action Against Hunger said on Friday.

Six people were kidnapped in July near the town of Damasak, in the state of Borno, where Islamist Lions of Islam operate.

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....
in West Africa Province (ISWAP), which split from the krazed killer group Boko Haram
... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...
that began its insurgency in 2009, has become the dominant jihadist group in the region. The decade-long Islamist insurgency has caused the deaths of some 30,000 people and driven 2 million to flee their homes.

Action Against Hunger said one of its employees, two drivers and three health ministry workers were kidnapped. In September it said one of the hostages had been killed.

On Friday, the humanitarian agency said the group claimed to have killed four of the remaining five hostages.

"Action Against Hunger condemns these latest killings in the strongest terms and deeply regrets that its calls for the release of the hostages have not been acted upon," it said.

It also called for the "immediate release" of its staff member, Grace, who remains in captivity.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/14/2019 00:44 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Europe
Belgian Holocaust museum cancels event honoring anti-Israel activist
[IsraelTimes] Belgium’s main Holocaust museum on Thursday canceled its plan to host an award ceremony for a promoter of sanctions against Israel who said Israel’s supporters "vastly inflate" anti-Semitism.

The Kazerne Dossin memorial pulled the plug on the event this week in which the Pax Christi Catholic organization was to honor Brigitte Herremans of the Broederlijk Delen aid and relief agency, the CCOJB Belgian-Jewish group announced. In 2016, Herremans was banned from entering Israel.

Multiple Jewish groups complained that Kazerne Dossin, a former transit camp in Mechelen from which Belgian Jews and Roma were sent to concentration camps, was an inappropriate venue for honoring a campaigner against the Jewish state. Pax Christi was to confer on Herremans the title of "ambassador of peace."

In 2017, Pax Christi called on the Europe
...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
an Union to "suspend economic relations" with Israel until it "respects international law."

The Kazerne Dossin museum did not say why it canceled its participation in the event, which the Phlegmish Forum of Jewish Organizations has called "scandalous."

Asked about the rise in anti-Semitism in Europe in a 2016 radio interview, Herremans said, "When you sometimes hear criticism from certain pro-Israel circles, also in Belgium, then I think that mostly they try to vastly inflate this business to distract" from how Israel "wants to do only as it pleases in the Paleostinian territories." She also has called for sanctions on Israel and on Israelis visiting Europe.

Betsalmo, a pro-Israel group that also protested the event, wrote in a statement: "Nowhere is appropriate for celebrating boycotts and anti-Semitism, least of all Holocaust museums." The group added that "We are glad reason has prevailed."
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/14/2019 00:44 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Clint Eastwood slammed over "shocking"and "untrue"portrayal
[Dhaka Tribune] Oscar-winning director Clint Eastwood was at the centre of a firestorm Thursday over his latest movie depicting a news hound trading sex for stories -- prompting legal threats over the "shocking" and "untrue" portrayal from her real-life newspaper.Richard Jewell dramatizes the story of the innocent man who found himself targeted in a devastating media frenzy following a deadly blast at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

Jewell was initially hailed as a hero after he spotted the pipe bomb but was soon identified by journalists including the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Kathy Scruggs as an FBI suspect.

Scruggs, portrayed by Olivia Wilde, is depicted in the movie trading sex with an FBI agent in exchange for learning the suspect's identity.

"The portrayal of our news hound is shocking, untrue and an obvious Hollywood trope," editor Kevin G Riley told AFP.

"The film commits the very sin that it purports to accuse the media of. It literally makes things up in telling the story."

Never arrested or charged, Jewell was cleared by the FBI after 88 days. But TV networks camped outside his home for the duration, hounding Jewell, who became the subject of wild speculation and ridicule.

Cox Enterprises, the newspaper's owner, on Monday sent a letter to Eastwood and Warner Bros demanding it release a public statement stating "some events were imagined for dramatic purposes."

The letter says the paper and its staff are "portrayed in a false and defamatory manner."
Posted by: Fred || 12/14/2019 00:12 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Payback.
Posted by: Goober Tingle7365 || 12/14/2019 0:25 Comments || Top||

#2  Ok, so Jewell's lawyer Lin Wood agrees she wasn't a slut. Just a filthy slandering evil peddler of lies who hounded an innocent man.

But no, she didn't turn tricks for info. She just helped ruin an innocent man. That's all.
Posted by: Lex || 12/14/2019 0:51 Comments || Top||

#3  The letter says the paper and its staff are "portrayed in a false and defamatory manner."

Then file a lawsuit or shut the fuck up.
Posted by: Raj || 12/14/2019 6:07 Comments || Top||

#4  ...but, but the paper and employees are 'public figures' and thus without standing in the courts. Well, that's always been their defense.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/14/2019 6:52 Comments || Top||

#5  The aggrieved party should tell their side of the story to the NYT's Ali Watkins.
Posted by: Snusotle the Lesser4227 || 12/14/2019 6:58 Comments || Top||

#6  The irony is completely lost on them, isn't it?

They can lie about us all they want and it's the facts were wrong but the narrative was right. But how dare we do the same to them.

It just flies over their heads. I hope this movie is as big as Joker. I'm certainly planning on seeing it.
Posted by: Herb McCoy || 12/14/2019 7:14 Comments || Top||

#7  I hope this movie is as big as Joker

Well, that would be nice, but I doubt it will be that way. Joker is about nihilism, this movie is about hard truths. And truth, hard or easy is waaaaaaay out of fashion.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/14/2019 7:52 Comments || Top||

#8  #5 - Nice shot
Posted by: Frank G || 12/14/2019 8:06 Comments || Top||

#9  At 90 years old, IMO Eastwood can weather a little criticism. He would probably say "You've mistaken me for someone who gives a $hit." He tries things and moves on.
Posted by: JohnQC || 12/14/2019 9:27 Comments || Top||

#10  In the Jewell case, what is well known was the FBI would leak info to the reporter and then using the article as grounds drag him in for interrogations

We also know the FBI never conducted a real investigation and the real bomber has never been found
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 12/14/2019 9:51 Comments || Top||

#11  Can't slander/defame the dead. Sorry junkie fabulist slag.
Posted by: Regular joe || 12/14/2019 10:25 Comments || Top||

#12  real bomber: Eric Rudolph
Posted by: Snusotle the Lesser4227 || 12/14/2019 10:31 Comments || Top||

#13  Self awareness: Zero.

Projection: Eleventy.
Posted by: charger || 12/14/2019 13:54 Comments || Top||

#14  ... what is well known was the FBI would leak info to the reporter and then using the article as grounds drag him in for interrogations to get a FISA warrant.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Posted by: SteveS || 12/14/2019 14:16 Comments || Top||

#15  A timely film.
Posted by: Lex || 12/14/2019 14:18 Comments || Top||

#16  I'll give it this, its pissing off all the right people.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 12/14/2019 14:21 Comments || Top||

#17  #14 It's almost like a pattern has been established which could be used as evidence of malfeasance on their part.

But that's crazy talk.
Posted by: charger || 12/14/2019 14:21 Comments || Top||

#18  I thought hearsay was as legitimate as facts.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 12/14/2019 15:58 Comments || Top||

#19  Lawyer Lin Wood's current client, Nick Sandmann, is now suing WaPo and the other slime merchants who bullied and defamed an innocent schoolboy.
Posted by: Lex || 12/14/2019 16:05 Comments || Top||

#20  I think Nick should also sue the fake red injun. He was sort of in on it the whole time.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 12/14/2019 16:09 Comments || Top||

#21  Dron, in America, lawyers always go for the deep pockets.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 12/14/2019 16:13 Comments || Top||

#22  ^ Granted, but one more straitjacket in a Nebraska asylum couldn't hurt.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 12/14/2019 16:19 Comments || Top||

#23  He's going after Bezos.

Seeking $250m, which not coincidentally is what the wannabe oligarch spent buying WaPo.

I believe CNN, ie WarnerMedia i.e. AT&T, is next. Very deep pockets indeed.
Posted by: Lex || 12/14/2019 16:22 Comments || Top||

#24  I thought hearsay was as legitimate as facts.
Posted by Dron66046


Only if done by the right people. Little people (hoi polloi) need not apply.
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 12/14/2019 17:24 Comments || Top||

#25  Movies often conflate multiple characters into a single one to tell a story. I don't remember the Atlanta Journal-Constitution complaining about it before.
Posted by: ruprecht || 12/14/2019 18:06 Comments || Top||

#26  I think Clint lost all his give a fuks a long time ago. He is getting hammered for being honest and a republican.
Posted by: 49 Pan || 12/14/2019 21:34 Comments || Top||

#27  Actually he's being hammered by the paper that slandered the subject of his movie. Most of the left is otherwise staying out of it as far as I can tell which makes me wonder how popular Bezos is with the far left despite his aping their speech and behaviors.
Posted by: ruprecht || 12/14/2019 22:46 Comments || Top||

#28  Don't pick a fight with someone who buys pixels by the screenful.

Eastwood > Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Posted by: Lex || 12/14/2019 23:04 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
RAB arrests leader of Hashu-Kashu Bahini organized crime gang
[Dhaka Tribune] There are 12 cases against him in different cop shoppes
Someone has been reading Rantburg. Only he misspelt planets.
Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has arrested a man with weapons and yaba pills.
Fondly known as the madness drug and Nazi speed, yaba is basically meth plus caffeine, primarily manufactured in Malaysia and distributed via Thailand.
RAB made the arrest from Sher-e-Bangla Nagar area, Dhaka on Friday.

The arrested Abul Kashem alias Hashu, is a ringleader of "Hashu-Kashu Bahini" an organised crime gang.
Once upon a time, back in 1971 when Bangladesh liberated itself from Pakistan, the bahinis were guerrilla groups fighting for the motherland. After they won, though, those that did not demobilize and return to civilian life turned bandit, and bandits they have been ever since.
RAB Legal and Media wing Senior Assistant Director Mizanur Rahman Bhuiyan
...a three-namer with a title that suggests the RAB is no long the free wheeling operation of its earlier days...
confirmed the matter.

He said a team of RAB 4 conducted a raid in the Sher-e-Bangla Nagar area based on an intelligence information
*Ring* *ring* “Mahmoud the Weasel here. Listen carefully — I will say this only once.”
and arrested Hashu.
Huh? It is the purpose of the RAB to take care of the worst cases, the ones the rickety, corrupt Bangladeshi justice system won’t. This historically has required a late night encounter shootout, followed by an accidental shooting precisely behind the ear.
"Hashu is a notorious criminal who committed crimes like extortion, land grabbing, abduction and killing in Mirpur, Agargaon and its adjoining areas," he said.

He extorted money from traders, industrialists, contractors, and even job seekers. He is also involved in drug business, said the RAB official.
Clearly, given the yaba pills.
"During the primary interrogation, he admitted that he is the ringleader of the Hashu-Kashu Bahini. There are more than 12 cases against him for extortion, murder, torture of women in different cop shoppes," the RAB official added.
Posted by: Fred || 12/14/2019 00:01 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Not to be confused with the Hashu-Kashu Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bahini.
Posted by: Elmealet Thud7763 || 12/14/2019 0:29 Comments || Top||

#2  No shutter gun? No round of bullet? A kinder, gentler RAB.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 12/14/2019 13:30 Comments || Top||

#3  This historically has required a late night encounter shootout, followed by an accidental shooting precisely behind the ear.

This may be an anomaly, but I take it as a positive sign for Bangla. It implies that the RAB is pacifying the criminal element by skimming off the worst of the worst. Maybe wishful thinking, but we saw a similar trend in America West in the transition from shoot first/ask questions later frontier justice to a judicial system.
Posted by: SteveS || 12/14/2019 14:13 Comments || Top||

#4  Arrested? Divine intervention?
The RAB exercising compassion?
"Of the wages of sin,
I'll relieve you! Begin."
"Bless me... bother!" A lengthy confession.

Posted by: Elmealet Thud7763 || 12/14/2019 21:49 Comments || Top||

#5  Actually, 'bahini', or 'vaahini' means armed wing. Also used for militia, and now gangs. The Hashu-Kashu gang was run by two fellows... you guessed it. Hashu and Kashu.

Nothing to do with the mukti-bahini or any militia. Just run-of-the-mill Yaba the hutts.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 12/14/2019 22:04 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Japanese government: $14m aid package addresses "humanitarian crisis" in NE Syria
[Rudaw] The UNHCR will receive $6.2 million of the contribution, the United Nations
...an organization which on balance has done more bad than good, with the good not done well and the bad done thoroughly...
International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) will receive $2.8 million, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) will receive $0.4 million and the International Committee of the Red Thingy (ICRC) will receive $4.6 million, according to the statement from the Japanese foreign ministry.

UNHCR Syria Representative Ayaki Ito was quoted in yesterday's blurb as saying that northeast Syria is experiencing a "humanitarian crisis."

"We have witnessed a humanitarian crisis with more than 73,000 people who remain displaced in north-east Syria," he said.

"More than 1.8 million people remain in dire need of humanitarian assistance in collective shelters, IDP sites, spontaneous settlements and host communities. We thank the people of Japan for their timely contribution to help us respond to urgent life-saving needs," added Ito.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/14/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Humanitarian crisis" meaning something other than the Turks and their proxies?
Posted by: magpie || 12/14/2019 13:16 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Blast in Ghazni Kills 10 Civilians
[ToloNews] A roadside kaboom blast in the central province of Ghazni left at least 10 people dead and six others maimed.

Presidential front man Sediq Sediqqi confirmed the casualties in a tweet and said they were civilians who were traveling in a vehicle.

In his tweet, he blamed the Taliban
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
for this blast.

This comes days after a Taliban attack in the central province of Parwan in which two people were killed and dozens maimed.

The peace negotiations between the US and the Taliban were paused following the attack in Bagram.

Eyewitnesses said the incident happened on Friday morning and the vehicle was traveling from Daikundi province to Ghazni, and that four children were among those killed.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/14/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Barnard stabbing suspect held without bail after Tessa Majors’ murder
[NYPOST] Slain Barnard College student Tessa Majors’ accused teen attacker said an accomplice slashed the Barnard College student so viciously that the young teen saw "feathers come out of her jacket," a Manhattan detective testified Friday.

Zyairr Davis, 13, told cops that his pal "dropped a knife" as the pair and a third male suspect pounced on the 18-year-old college freshman in Morningside Park on Wednesday evening during a robbery-gone-awry, said NYPD Detective Vincent Signoretti, who helped interview Davis.
Zyairr?
If you had not seen the country name Zaire spelt out, the other is a natural spelling.
"Mr. Davis picked [the knife] up and handed it back to [his friend], and then Mr. Davis watched his friends grab the victim, put her in a chokehold and remove items from her pocket," the cop said.

Then Davis "saw the victim get stabbed. He saw feathers come out of her jacket, and them all three of them ran out of they park ... and they went home," Signoretti said.

Majors futilely tried to fight off her attackers, the detective said.

Davis said his friend told him "that Tessa Majors bit him on the finger," Signoretti said.

Surveillance footage shows the trio entering the park, but there is not footage of the slaying, the officer said.
Posted by: Fred || 12/14/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  In before the usual suspects.

Three wee Mousketeers... such esprit!
All for one, one for... "Uh, cop a plea?"
"These boys is ashamed--"
"And besides, we wuz framed!"
"Deary me!" "Free the Morningside Three!"
Posted by: Elmealet Thud7763 || 12/14/2019 3:00 Comments || Top||

#2  If Obama had a son ...
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/14/2019 5:11 Comments || Top||

#3  Will be released without charges, given a voucher for a new pair of $1500.00 bassetbaw shoes.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/14/2019 5:59 Comments || Top||

#4  ^IMO, every "white" American should practice saying "Today I'm a Jew".
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/14/2019 6:22 Comments || Top||

#5  We should start putting 10 in the morgue for every one they put in.
Posted by: Uleck Spererong9442 || 12/14/2019 8:57 Comments || Top||

#6  Big bad internet warrior. You don't have the guts to do anything but type
Posted by: werewer || 12/14/2019 9:12 Comments || Top||

#7  Tessa Majors is a great niece of former head football coach Johnny Majors (Pitt (national champions) and Tennessee). 13 year-old murderers? Something is very wrong with that.
Posted by: JohnQC || 12/14/2019 10:47 Comments || Top||

#8  #5 We should start putting 10 in the morgue for every one they put in.

One word. Rhymes with Armand Assante. Cops and whining legalists hate it because it takes their primacy away, but it often saves societies from being wiped out by predatory communities.

It's a matter of time before the majority shall come to their senses and try to restore balance, bypassing the beloved 'fondue process', but rage is a start.

In my opinion, the only way to restore balance is a 'Duterting campaign' every now and then. Who can do drive-bys better I ask you, a wakandan teen trained by netflix and rowdy Jameel, or an off duty swat guy/marine/cop wearing a mask ? A trained group could even coordinate action that covertly reduces culls in a false-flag gang war.

The only reason this class rage and racial terrorism is untouchable now is because good people are busy dealing with shit the politicians have cooked up, then coming back to pick up their own lives. Which is why an armed and trained militia is so important.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 12/14/2019 15:41 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Naghlu Dam’s Fourth Turbine Becomes Operational
[ToloNews] The country’s power utility company, De Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS), reactivated the fourth turbine of the Naghlu Dam in the east of Kabul after twelve years, adding 25 megawatts of power for Kabul and its neighboring provinces.

DABS said in a statement that the reactivation took over two months for its employees.

"Over 10,000 customers will get electricity by this turbine," DABS chief Amanullah Ghalib said. "We will work on other projects of a similar nature as well."
The company also inaugurated a substation in Sarobi district, Kabul. Work on the substation began in 2017 and $32.5 million was invested in it.

At an opening ceremony, acting Finance Minister Mohammad Homayoun Qayoumi said the reconstruction of the fourth turbine was done by DABS with a low cost.

"It is something to be proud of--that this big project was implemented by Breshna company employees--and we hope that Sarobi will witness more development projects," he said.

The Naghlu Dam is located 70 kilometers east of Kabul city and is fed by the Kabul and Pashtun-infested Logar rivers. A small part of it is fed by water from the Salang and Panjshir rivers.

The dam was built in 1967 and is 1,155 meters high and produces 100 megawatts of power in total.
Catching up to 1967? Woot!
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/14/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: Culture Wars
Superman Criticized As Unrealistic For Portraying A Journalist As Heroic
[BabylonBee] U.S.—Comic book character Superman has increasingly come under fire lately, many seeing the character as extremely outdated -- especially the bizarre depiction of his being a journalist who is heroic.

“He just makes very little sense,” explained reporter Phillip Byers. “For instance, Superman has super speed. Now I know what I’d use that for -- to quickly search through people’s old tweets for material to use to destroy them. But Superman uses it to rescue people from burning buildings. It’s crazy.”

People have also criticized how Superman flies around listening with his super-hearing -- not to find people criticizing journalism so he can dox them as one would expect, but instead to find people in trouble and save them. “Truth. Justice. The American way. That’s against everything journalism stands for,” said writer Debbie Ventura. “The character is pure libel or slander -- I forget which.”

Superman writers have vowed to do a more realistic portrayal of Superman as a journalist in future issues of the comic book, such as a storyline where he strikes out against his arch-nemesis, businessman Lex Luthor, with a hit piece all based on anonymous sources, and then Superman will join the Legion of Doom, a climate change-focused organization headed by Greta Thunberg.
Posted by: 3dc || 12/14/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Bee in top form. A classic. Wicked.
Posted by: Lex || 12/14/2019 0:56 Comments || Top||

#2  Daaaaang.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 12/14/2019 10:18 Comments || Top||

#3  Snicker! Guffaw! Snort!
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 12/14/2019 17:26 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
BEASTIE BOY Cenk Uygur, seeking to be Katie Holmes' Left-Wing Replacement, Under Fire for Pro-Bestiality Stance
[DailyCaller] Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders retracted his endorsement of Democratic congressional candidate Cenk Uygur just one day after announcing it.

Uygur, founder of the left-wing media outlet “The Young Turks,” has come under fire for past comments, including one where he said certain kinds of bestiality should be legal. Despite this and multiple videos showing crude comments about women, the Vermont senator endorsed the congressional candidate Thursday.

“As I said yesterday, Cenk has been a longtime fighter against the corrupt forces in our politics and he’s inspired people all across the country,” Sanders said in a statement announcing his retraction Friday.

“However, our movement is bigger than any one person. I hear my grassroots supporters who were frustrated and understand their concerns,” he added.

Videos posted by M. Mendoza Ferrer on Twitter in November show Uygur making inappropriate remarks about women. He discussed a rating system for women, adding in what “score” the woman would have to be for her to “suck your dick.” Another video from 2013 shows Uygur discussing bestiality and talking about how “hot” women from the Dominican are.
Posted by: Lex || 12/14/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  We all fall ... down.
Posted by: Lex || 12/14/2019 0:28 Comments || Top||

#2  At least we know which side of the great Goat Herder Controversy he's on.

"My Friend Flicka"
Posted by: Lex || 12/14/2019 0:30 Comments || Top||

#3  Dang. Not the Bee.
Posted by: gorb || 12/14/2019 1:47 Comments || Top||

#4  “As I said yesterday, Cenk has been a longtime fighter against the corrupt forces in our politics...

Cenk Uygur is a corrupt force in our politics, just like you are, Comrade Bernie.
Posted by: Raj || 12/14/2019 6:15 Comments || Top||

#5  They were the young derps. Not so young anymore...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/14/2019 8:04 Comments || Top||

#6  Sounds like the Young Pervs to me.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 12/14/2019 13:03 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Arrest of Top Crime Fighter Stuns Mexico, Where Corruption Is All Too Routine
[NYTIMES] Even in a nation almost inured to corruption, the news was astonishing.

The man considered to be the brains behind the Mexican government’s militarized war on drug traffickers stood accused by American prosecutors of having been in the pocket of one of the major criminal groups he was ostensibly pursuing, severely undermining the very fight he was helping to lead.

Genaro García Luna, Mexico’s former public security secretary, was charged with taking millions of dollars in bribes while in office to protect the Sinaloa Cartel, allowing the organization to smuggle tons of cocaine and other drugs into the United States. At the time, the group was led by Joaquín Guzmán Loera, better known as El Chapo, who is now serving a life sentence in the United States.

The indictment, unsealed in New York on Tuesday, and the subsequent arrest of Mr. García Luna in Dallas hours later, stunned Mexico. It was as if Eliot Ness had actually been an accomplice of Al Capone.

“It’s huge,” said Jaime López-Aranda, a security analyst in Mexico City who briefly worked under Mr. García Luna in the late-2000s. “I’m still a little bit in shock. And I keep thinking back to the guy and our conversations and his team and his people. It’s the sharp disappointment. I mean — my God, man. It’s like — ” He paused. “It’s like the end of an era.”

Posted by: Fred || 12/14/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Narcos

#1  Failed state.

Where's Black Jack when you need him?
Posted by: Lex || 12/14/2019 0:57 Comments || Top||

#2  Silver or lead. The gentleman picked silver. It's a tough choice when dealing with ruthless people.

Organizations like the RAB get slammed for extra-judicial shootouts at oh dark hundred, but there is value in damping down criminal gangs before they reach critical mass where they become a de facto government. See Mexico, for example.
Posted by: SteveS || 12/14/2019 5:12 Comments || Top||

#3  Check the GDP ranking. Notice the relative positions of Mexico and South Korea.

By 1952 most of South Korea was war ravaged, with little GDP. South Korea lacks natural resources, extensive arable land, or a large population like Mexico. Yet South Korea outranks Mexico. This is the price of utter corruption that permeates the society. There is corruption everywhere but the level of it is way in abundance and destructive for Mexico and its citizens. (and a warning to any society that tolerates it corrosive destructive impact upon itself)
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/14/2019 6:31 Comments || Top||

#4  To be fair there could be a similar article in Mexico about James Comey and his dubious behavior.
Posted by: Airandee || 12/14/2019 7:17 Comments || Top||

#5  ^ to be expected, given our creeping Anschluss with Mexico
Posted by: Lex || 12/14/2019 11:01 Comments || Top||

#6  Gary Oldman from Leon.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 12/14/2019 14:52 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Nineveh-Erbil bridge damaged in ISIS war reopens after repairs
[Rudaw] A strategic bridge over the Great Zab River, linking Iraq’s Nineveh province to the Kurdistan Region province of Erbil, was reopened this week, five years after it was badly damaged in fighting with 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....
group (ISIS).

The bridge, situated in the disputed town of Gwer, sustained serious structural damage in the early stages of the war in 2014. Although further repairs are needed, it is now thought to be stable enough to withstand road traffic.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/14/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq


The Grand Turk
Russia and Turkey to sign agreement to produce more missiles together
[ALMASDARNEWS] Ankara and Moscow plan to sign an agreement to jointly produce missiles, head of The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...Qatar's satrapy in Asia Minor...
’s Defense Industry Directorate Ismail Demir said on Friday, Bloomberg reported.

"We will sign a deal after agreeing over final details regarding joint production or production of some parts in Turkey, and technology sharing," Demir stated, as cited by the media outlet.

"The work to make the first [S-400] system ready for activation by April is under way," the Ottoman Turkish official added. He noted that "Russia has made a proposal to sell a certain number of its Su-35 warplanes at a certain price."

The chief of Turkey’s top defense procurement body informed that Ankara and Moscow had come close to concluding a contract on the supply of another batch of air defense systems S-400.

The talks form part of Turkey’s deal to purchase a second S-400 missile-defense system from Russia and have reached a "quite ripe" stage, Demir said on Friday in Ankara. "The signing of a deal is just around the corner," Bloomberg quotes him as saying.

Demir dismissed concerns that US sanctions could block the supply of spare parts for its American weapons systems, including F-16, as well as CH-47F Chinook heavy lift helicopter, and the UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopter.

Posted by: Fred || 12/14/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte

#1  Reminds me of the Sears + Kmart merger
Posted by: Lex || 12/14/2019 0:52 Comments || Top||

#2  Turkey, such a loyal and true NATO member. Spending their 2% of GDP on Russia.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 12/14/2019 11:17 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Hezbollah leader says one-party gov’t could escalate tensions
[ALMASDARNEWS] Secretary-General of Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah, His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah
...The satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb...
, said that a one-party government could lead to the escalation of tensions in Leb, during a televised speech from Beirut on Friday.

"If a one-colour [one-party] government is formed under the existing tensions, that [tension] will escalate, roads blocked, demonstrations, protests," said the Hezbollah leader, before asking "how can the one-colour government deal with a crisis on the level of this danger?"

"We hope that there will be consultations on Monday and we hope that those chosen by the majority of votes will be assigned to the government. But the composition process will not be an easy process," he continued. Nasrallah also slammed the US for "interfering" in other countries during demonstrations.

"We find the Americans are rushing to try to exploit and employ these demonstrations, protests or popular movements to serve their interests, not to serve the interests of the demonstrators and protesters," he said.

Posted by: Fred || 12/14/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah


Syrian military foils militant attack in northern Daraa
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Syrian military managed to foil a holy warrior attack on one of their checkpoints in northern Daraa on Friday.

According to reports from northern Daraa, the Syrian military was able to foil an attack by armed Lions of Islam after spotting the latter moving towards one of their checkpoints inside al-Sinamayn.

The Syrian military was able to force the Lions of Islam to abandon their attack after opening fire on the later with medium weapons.

The Syrian military personnel suffered minor injuries, while the casualties for the Lions of Islam is unknown.

No information was released about the holy warriors; however, it is suspected that they were members of a Free Syrian Army
... the more palatable version of the Syrian insurgency, heavily influenced by the Moslem Brüderbund...
(FSA) sleeper cell.

Posted by: Fred || 12/14/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Turkish-backed militants launch attack against SDF troops near Kobane
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Ottoman Turkish-backed Lions of Islam launched a new attack against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the Kobane countryside.

According to reports, the Ottoman Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) launched several artillery shells towards the SDF’s positions near the Qiz ’Ali Silos, prompting an exchange of hostilities between the two parties.

While neither group attempted to advance, the recent aggression by the Ottoman Turkish-backed Lions of Islam in al-Raqqa and Aleppo has forced the SDF to beef up their defenses in this region of the country.

Posted by: Fred || 12/14/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Mongolia rising?
Posted by: 3dc || 12/14/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  You're darn tootin', pilgrim...
Posted by: Lex || 12/14/2019 0:54 Comments || Top||

#2  Damn. Actual throat singing. Mongolian rock rocks!
Posted by: John Frum || 12/14/2019 7:23 Comments || Top||

#3  Yuve Yuve Yu is worth a listen as well.

Daughter caught me listening to Bloodywood's Jee Veerey and loved it.

Continuing around the world, Heilung puts on a show.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 12/14/2019 11:09 Comments || Top||

#4  Just so long as they're not rising in the thirteenth century way.:)
Posted by: charger || 12/14/2019 14:19 Comments || Top||

#5  So cool! Head banging, Mongolian style.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/14/2019 14:55 Comments || Top||

#6  We had a wonderful JTE with Mongolia Army special forces, in Himachal recently. A lot of dancing and arm wrestling and jam sessions between officers later.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 12/14/2019 15:01 Comments || Top||

#7  Heilung - LIFA

Turn down the lights, eat some mushrooms and release your inner Druid!
Posted by: SteveS || 12/14/2019 15:16 Comments || Top||

#8  "Ten of us will strike you as thunder
Hundred of us will shatter your heart
Thousand of us will destroy and obliterate
Ten thousand of us will hand you the wrath of heaven!"
Posted by: John Frum || 12/14/2019 15:38 Comments || Top||

#9  I posted the video on Facebook, and an acquaintance there gave the English language version in trade. Link
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/14/2019 16:36 Comments || Top||

#10  You might like this, then. A rock track from the neat biopic on Milkha Singh - the flying Sikh. Soldier, olympian, friend. There are no subtitles, but it was a hit even in Russia and Japan where they didn't know what was being said. ☺



Posted by: Dron66046 || 12/14/2019 16:50 Comments || Top||

#11  I need to get a tshirt to replace my worn out Metallica
Posted by: Beavis || 12/14/2019 17:27 Comments || Top||

#12  Very catchy Dron. Thank you.


Heilung - LIFA

Turn down the lights, eat some mushrooms and release your inner Druid!


The official video for Krigsgaldr, I think translates loosely to Wages of War, is....different. Once a viewer like myself accepted the phallic-ness and *very different* visual styling, tells a good story.

*Be aware, stylized violence and sexual references
Posted by: swksvolFF || 12/14/2019 18:04 Comments || Top||

#13  The official video for Krigsgaldr

Wow! Nice find, Kansas. Thanks.
Posted by: SteveS || 12/14/2019 18:32 Comments || Top||

#14  Given the recent British election, I'm going with Slovenian industrial music myself:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOffk1G6OX8
Posted by: Secret Master || 12/14/2019 18:49 Comments || Top||

#15  Do not forget the Islamic Republic of Pakistain. Depicting the religion of peace for those UN idiots. It's a mood killer, lemme tell ya...

Mankind's Angel

Seriously, beware. You can't unhear this.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 12/14/2019 18:59 Comments || Top||

#16  Shit. I'm sorry, guys. I feel so guilty now. Like I puked in the punch bowl or something. Please disregard.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 12/14/2019 19:05 Comments || Top||

#17  Ain't the worst thing I seen all day, Dron. (that would be the codpiece business over on Instapundit)
Posted by: SteveS || 12/14/2019 19:34 Comments || Top||

#18  I have to ask...can Mankind's Angel hit a 1 Iron?
Posted by: swksvolFF || 12/14/2019 19:47 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
2,000 Gazans clash with IDF troops along border as Hamas marks 32 years since founding
[IsraelTimes] Army vehicle hit by molotov cocktail but no injuries to troops; 5 Paleostinians said hurt; senior Hamas, the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood, member: Israeli captives won’t be freed ’until our prisoners see the light’.

Several thousand Paleostinians protested on 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...
border Friday, with several hundred rioting and clashing with Israeli forces, as the coastal enclave’s Hamas rulers marked 32 years since the founding of the terror group.

The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry said five Paleostinians were hurt in the festivities, which included the hurling of molotov cocktails and other objects at IDF soldiers.

Video shot near the southern city of Khan Younis showed a fire breaking out on the hood of an Israel Defense Forces vehicle after it was apparently struck by a fire bomb.

No soldiers were maimed.

Around 2,000 people took part in protests at various spots along the Gaza border, according to Hebrew media reports.

In addition to the border festivities, thousands took part in a pair of rallies in the Gaza Strip to mark the 1987 anniversary of Hamas’s establishment.

Friday’s border demonstrations were part of the weekly March of Return protests that began last March and resumed last week after a three-week hiatus following a large-scale battle in November between the IDF and Paleostinian Islamic Jihad
...created after many members of the Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah...
, the second largest terror group in Gaza.

For more than the past year, Hamas has negotiated a series of unofficial ceasefire understandings with Israel.

The understandings have largely entailed Israel lifting restrictions on the movement of goods and people into and out of Gaza in exchange for Hamas and other terror groups in the coastal enclave maintaining relative quiet in the border region.

However,
it was a brave man who first ate an oyster...
the informal agreements have not put an end to cross-border violence, as both Israel and terror groups in Gaza have recently participated in several short flareups.
The Jerusalem Post puts the number of protesters at 2200.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/14/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Hamas


Iraq
Nineveh-Erbil bridge damaged in ISIS war reopens after repairs
[Rudaw] A strategic bridge over the Great Zab River, linking Iraq’s Nineveh province to the Kurdistan Region province of Erbil, was reopened this week, five years after it was badly damaged in fighting with 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....
group (ISIS).

The bridge, situated in the disputed town of Gwer, sustained serious structural damage in the early stages of the war in 2014. Although further repairs are needed, it is now thought to be stable enough to withstand road traffic.

"The bridge is partially repaired for now allowing traffic on it," Masoud Nuri, the mayor of Gwer, told Rudaw English.

"The repair of cracks underneath the bridge will continue. The bridge is very large and has sustained four to five major damages to it due to multiple bombings during the ISIS fight in the region," Nuri said.

"This bridge is very strategic and important for the people of djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
and Erbil," he added.

Gwer and Makhmour to the south saw fierce fighting between ISIS and the Kurdish Peshmerga between 2014 and 2017.

An estimated six billion dinars ($5 million) has been earmarked by Mosul authorities to fully repair the damage, Nuri said.

The reopening of the bridge will be widely welcomed by motorists and freighters as journey times are significantly cut.

"Vehicles from Mosul to the Kurdistan Region would prefer using the Gwer road and bridge because it is safe, shorter, and easier for them. The same is true for the people of Erbil and the Kurdistan Region," the mayor said.

Gwer sits within areas disputed between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the federal Iraqi government.

The city of Mosul was devastated by three-years of ISIS rule and the battle to dislodge the jihadist group. Now that the city is being reconstructed, it needs trade routes to the Kurdistan Region.

"Improving our relations with Baghdad will leave a positive impact on the daily lives of the people of the Kurdistan Region and the whole people of Iraq. The Kurdistan Region’s interest is for Iraq’s situation to be stable," Nuri said.

The strategic bridge was seized by ISIS murderous Moslems during an assault in late 2014 but was soon retaken by the Peshmerga, who later helped Iraq forces launch the final Mosul offensive in October 2016 using the road.

Many other roads connecting the Kurdistan Region’s capital Erbil to Duhok and Mosul were either damaged or shut by the KRG fearing ISIS attacks.

Baghdad officials estimate rebuilding parts of the country devastated by the war with ISIS will cost as much as $100 billion.

Donors from 70 different countries pledged $30 billion to help rebuild during the Kuwait donor conference in mid-February 2018.

The UN has appealed for $482 million for the first year of its two-year Recovery and Resilience Programme and $568 million for stabilization efforts in high-risk areas.

António Guterres
...Portuguese politician and diplomat, ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations. Previously, he was the UN High Commissioner for Refugees between 2005 and 2015. He was the Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002 and was the Secretary-General of the Socialist Party from 1992 to 2002. He served as President of the Socialist International from 1999 to 2005. In both a 2012 and 2014 poll, the Portuguese public ranked him as the best Prime Minister of the previous 30 years...
, Secretary-General of the United Nations
...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships...
, said at the time that the world "owes a debt" to the Iraqi people who were on the front line in the war against a terror group that threatened the entire world and the international community must now stand in solidarity with the Iraqi people.

The UN’s program will focus on the most pressing areas of need, bringing life back to the areas at high risk of returning to violence and promoting political participation across all Iraqi society.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/14/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Hunter Biden to be a daddy for the FIFTH time! New South African wife of VP's son is seen with a baby bump amid his messy paternity case and concerns over barrage of attacks from Trump loyalists
Posted by: Skidmark || 12/14/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  He is just being a good Democrat.
Posted by: Goober Tingle7365 || 12/14/2019 0:27 Comments || Top||

#2  Awesome! FIVE'S A CHARM!

I wanna party wit' Lil' Crackpipe
Posted by: Lex || 12/14/2019 0:35 Comments || Top||

#3  40 years from now - America overrun with little Bidens?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/14/2019 5:05 Comments || Top||

#4  ...you mean it isn't now? How many times a year do they really go to the Ukraine?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/14/2019 6:55 Comments || Top||

#5  BTW isn't this the opening to Idiocracy?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/14/2019 6:56 Comments || Top||

#6  Busy lad.
Posted by: JohnQC || 12/14/2019 9:42 Comments || Top||

#7  Bumper Biden.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 12/14/2019 11:18 Comments || Top||

#8  I crane
You crane
Baby-cranes
We all crane for
UKRAINE
Posted by: Lex || 12/14/2019 11:20 Comments || Top||

#9  I thought storks carried babies, not ukraines.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 12/14/2019 15:19 Comments || Top||

#10  The lad certainly has a "type," doesn't he?
Posted by: Secret Master || 12/14/2019 18:57 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Haftar-led Libyan Army claims new advance near Tripoli
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Military Media Division of the Libyan National Army said in a statement on its official Facebook page, Thursday, that "the military units of the armed forces are controlling most of the main road that goes through the Sa’diyya area and reaches the Toggar area," in addition to "extending their control over the headquarters of the Police Officers College in the area Salahuddin."

Field Marshal 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...
, Commander-in-Chief of the Libyan National Army, announced on Thursday, the start of a decisive operation to take control 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...
, where he gave orders to the Libyan army to advance towards the center of the capital.

Haftar said in a televised speech: "Today we announce the decisive battle and progress towards the heart of the capital to break its chains and break its families and send joy to the souls of its people and return Tripoli as its era has been a beacon and capital of civilization and raise the banner of victory and fold the pages of misery and injustice and oppression and announce with victory and liberation the birth of a new era."

The Libyan National Army Commander called for the units that advanced towards Tripoli to abide by the rules of engagement, and the button men who were fighting the Libyan Army demanded their commitment to their homes and safety.

He continued, "The Libyan army is inevitably victorious in the battle of Tripoli, and we also give the bully boyz a chance of security in exchange for laying down weapons."

Posted by: Fred || 12/14/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Earth was 'stressed' BEFORE the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs due to huge amounts of carbon dioxide spewed out by volcanoes, fossil record reveals
Posted by: Skidmark || 12/14/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  We're all gonna DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 12/14/2019 0:32 Comments || Top||

#2  Stressed, eh? A world that was warm and lush, with a biosphere rich enough to support herds of *really* big-ass animals. Stressed like after you just finished Thanksgiving dinner, maybe.
Posted by: SteveS || 12/14/2019 5:02 Comments || Top||

#3  hmmmm....one of the reasons the dinosaurs could be so big is attributed to oxygen levels far above what we would consider normal.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/14/2019 6:40 Comments || Top||

#4  /\ Here's the contemporary supporting evidence.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/14/2019 6:44 Comments || Top||

#5  Actually it's long been suspected that many of the die offs are associated with trap events. They just dump so much crap into the atmosphere that you lose alot of sunlight and kill alot of vegatation. This is why you can find entire herds of animals preserved with no apparent signs of death.

So yeah, its likely the traps were killing everything off, and the big rock was just the climax. But as we aren't dumping megatons of SiO2 into the atmosphere, it has nothing to do with Global warming religious dogma.
Posted by: Silentbrick || 12/14/2019 10:25 Comments || Top||

#6  Silentbrick—-I think you mean SO2 Sulfur dioxide rather than glass.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 12/14/2019 11:39 Comments || Top||

#7  Yeah, sorry, I'm tired and have had to shift my schedule twice this week. Which was fine at 30 years old, at nearly 50, it's much harder.

Sulpher dioxide is one of the worst part of any eruptions, it reflects sunlight, it's toxic, it turns into acid...you know, almost as bad as Hydrogen sulfide.
Posted by: Silentbrick || 12/14/2019 12:08 Comments || Top||

#8  one of the reasons the dinosaurs could be so big is attributed to oxygen levels far above what we would consider normal.

I read the theories on insects being so much larger on account of higher oxygen levels. IIRC it has something to do with the genres' ability to 'breath' and process oxygen, where the oxygen concentration sets an absolute limit compared to size.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 12/14/2019 14:29 Comments || Top||

#9 
Posted by: Anomalous Sources || 12/14/2019 22:43 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Baghdad teen killed, strung up in city square did not shoot protesters: family
Follow up to this report from yesterday.
[Rudaw] Relatives of a Baghdad teen who was killed and strung up in a city square on Thursday insist he did not shoot at protesters as some witness accounts claim.

Gruesome images emerged on social media on Thursday of an individual being strung up from a set of traffic lights in Baghdad’s Wathba Square, where protesters have been camped out for several weeks.

The incident has been universally condemned by protesters, who have been out on the streets since October 1 demanding jobs, public services, and an end to corruption.

It was alleged that the individual, named by his family as Haytham Ali Ismael, had fired on protesters from a rooftop, killing at least five, before being grabbed by the mob.

Conflicting reports say Ismael, born in 2004, was running away from police, who then stood by as he was attacked by the mob.

Rudaw tracked down Ismael’s grandmother, Sameerah Ahmed, who has been forced to flee after the mob torched the home she shared with her grandson. Ismael’s father had been killed 15 years ago while serving in the Iraqi National Guard and his mother had remarried.

Ahmed insists Ismael did not provoke the attack by shooting at the protesters as some accounts suggest. He had merely gone outside to tell the protesters to move their encampment from outside his grandmother’s home.

"The thing is he went out, told them that they should leave because they have girls at home, that it is inappropriate [for them to continue camping in front of his house]," Ismael’s aunt told Rudaw.

"He told them that they are protesters, that they should be protesting in Tahrir Square, not near families," she added.

The aunt had been weary of male protesters harassing her six daughters.

Ismael was beaten by protesters several times in the weeks leading up to his death, his aunt claimed.

"On the third occasion, he shot one bullet into the air to make them go away," she said. It was then that security forces intervened.

"The emergency [forces] got him out of the house, then handed him over to them [protesters], telling protesters to kill him, to slay him," said Ahmed.

Videos which have surfaced on social media show armed security forces trying to break into the house.

Ahmed says she went to the Civil Defense Forces to ask them to rescue her grandson, but they told her they could not intervene.

"They beat me too. They were saying kill her alongside him," she said, claiming the assailants stole her gold jewelry and millions of Iraq dinars from her home.

According to the autopsy report seen by the family, Ismael was stabbed 30 times, his aunt said.

The family directly called on Moqtada Tater al-Sadr
...hereditary Iraqi holy man and leader of a political movement in Iraq. He spends most of his time in Iran, safely out of the line of fire, where he's learning to be an ayatollah. Formerly an Iranian catspaw, though lately he's gagged over some of their more outlandish antics...
, the firebrand
...firebrands are noted more for audio volume and the quantity of spittle generated than for any actual logic in their arguments...
Shiite holy man, to protect them. Sadr’s ’Peace Brigades’ ‐ recognizable by their blue caps ‐ have been deployed to the city’s squares to help protect activists.

"I want my son. What has he done? He was just 14 years old," Ahmed said.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/14/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: WoT
Saudi students close to Pensacola shooter 'restricted to quarters,' Pentagon says
[WashingtonExaminer] Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
n students at a Florida Navy station are confined to base following last week’s mass shooting, the Pentagon said on Thursday.

Saudi students close to the shooter, Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, are at Naval Air Station Pensacola as the Pentagon continues to deal with the fallout of the shooting. Alshamrani killed three sailors before he was shot and killed by law enforcement. He was in the United States as part of a training program for international partners.

"As part of the investigation, the Saudi commander on the ground there, their commanding officer, has ordered them to be restricted to quarters," Pentagon front man Jonathan Hoffman told news hounds during a briefing on Thursday.

"They are restricted in where they can go on the base, that’s been done in coordination with the Saudi government at our request, so they are available to law enforcement who are continuing the investigation."

The Pentagon later said the students would have access to classroom instruction, food, medical staff, a U.S. military imam, and their commanding officer. Navy officials could not clarify whether some students were restricted to quarters only, but did note the Navy itself is not confining them.

"The U.S. Navy isn't detaining International Military Students on base," Lt. Brittany Stephens told the Washington Examiner. "As stated by the FBI, the Saudi Arabian commander of those students restricted them to the base. The students are under direction by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to cooperate with the investigation, which they are doing."

Approximately 175 Saudi students have been limited to classroom training as part of a "safety stand down" as the Pentagon reviews security procedures. Students of other nationalities are not affected by the stand down. The federal government has not blocked any new students from joining the training program but will verify them through a new program the Department of Defense is developing, according to Hoffman.

"So, until that process is complete, we will not see any new students come into the program," he said.

While foreigners usually are not allowed to purchase firearms in the U.S., Alshamrani reportedly acquired the gun used in the shooting through a hunting exception and may have embraced radical ideology as many as five years ago.

The FBI is investigating the shooting.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/14/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Moslem Colonists

#1  It's just not DoD.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/14/2019 6:41 Comments || Top||

#2  Confined to Quarters.... what, Gitmo is closed?
Posted by: Mercutio || 12/14/2019 7:25 Comments || Top||

#3  The US should get out of the Mideast! I believe we went in to protect the world oil supply before fracking. Let them kill themselves. The Turks will take over and the there will only be one entity to fight. I am tired of the WW1 and WWII believe we will protect the world...
Posted by: Butch Stalin9160 || 12/14/2019 10:59 Comments || Top||

#4  It's just not DoD.

Set up as an article for tomorrow, to add it to our searchable archive. You get the hat tip, Procopius2k..
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/14/2019 22:22 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
US and Israel are trying to take advantage of Lebanese protests: Nasrallah
[ALMASDARNEWS] Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Sayyed His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah
...The satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb...
said on Friday that the United States and Israel are trying to take advantage of the demonstrations in Leb after they were unable to end the Resistance®’s threat to Israel.

In a televised speech, Sayyed Nasrallah pointed out that the Americans are interfering with any movement taking place in the world, and they are quick to try to exploit the popular movements to serve their interests and not to serve the interests of the protesters.

"Americans ride the wave of demonstrations in the world and photograph the world and announce their support for these protests, but in fact, providing aid is to serve America’s interests, and this is a general rule and we saw that in the Arab Spring, Latin America and East Asia, and this is a general American behavior," the Hezbollah leader said.

Sayyed Nasrallah said that the American administration, the Israeli government, and its successors are blackmailing the Lebanese people, saying that "the equation is clear by giving up the power of Leb, and we have made two options between certain hunger and the possible rise."

The Secretary-General pointed out that "what Kraft said is that the demonstrations will continue in Leb and Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
, wherever 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 a cognate form of Stürmabteilung (or SA), the term Supreme Guide is a cognate form of either Shah or Führer or maybe both, and they hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
is and not anywhere that there is corruption."

"And (Kraft) considered that the strikes will continue, and that the Americans see the demonstrations as tools to pressure Iran."

"The Americans assumed that the demonstrations that took place in Leb were against Iran, knowing that nothing related to Iran was raised in the demonstrations in Leb. The slogans were related to economic and demand issues. They assumed, since the first day, that these demonstrations are the revolution of the people in Leb against Hezbollah."

Posted by: Fred || 12/14/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah

#1  Did he come out of the bunker to deliver that speech?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/14/2019 5:06 Comments || Top||


IRGC commander warns US, Israeli interests will be ‘set on fire’ if they keep meddling in Iran
[ALMASDARNEWS] The commander of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) Major General Hossein Salami warned the US, UK, Israel, and other regional countries about the consequences of their meddlesome policies against Tehran, adding that they will see their interests on fire if they continue stirring sedition in Iran.

"I tell you ‐ the leaders of America, Israel, Britannia, and the regional enemies who instigate sedition ‐ if you don’t stop sedition, we will set fire to your interests, and this is our last word," Major General Hossein Salami told a gathering in Rey, south of Tehran.

"We tell our enemies: we will chase you, find you, and take Dire Revenge on you," he warned.

General Salami had earlier said that Iran’s enemies were attempting to incite "sedition" in the Islamic Theocratic Republic with the goal of "making up for their successive defeats against the Iranian people".

In remarks on December 4, he said Iran’s enemies sought to portray the chaos in 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 a cognate form of Stürmabteilung (or SA), the term Supreme Guide is a cognate form of either Shah or Führer or maybe both, and they hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
as an outcome of "psychological pressure" on Iranians caused by Washington’s maximum pressure campaign.



Posted by: Fred || 12/14/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  If you're taking flack ...
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/14/2019 2:56 Comments || Top||

#2  Salami tactics.
Posted by: Grunter || 12/14/2019 3:58 Comments || Top||

#3  Salami may actually be the perfect word. For results, not tactics. Go for it.
Posted by: Beau || 12/14/2019 4:21 Comments || Top||

#4  Scream like little girls.
Posted by: Snusotle the Lesser4227 || 12/14/2019 6:20 Comments || Top||

#5  Seems the IRGC is killing far more of their citizens than anything done by the US.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/14/2019 11:12 Comments || Top||

#6  Best to hide, [the] Salami
Posted by: Lex || 12/14/2019 11:19 Comments || Top||

#7  Dire Revenge? I bet he said it just like that. You could hear the Capitol letters enunciated clearly.
Oh, my! Are we shaking in our collective "Great Satan" (trademark applied for) boots?
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 12/14/2019 16:53 Comments || Top||

#8  For #6 😆
Posted by: Dron66046 || 12/14/2019 16:56 Comments || Top||


First mass held at Syrian church after being retaken by Syrian Army in 2018
[ALMASDARNEWS] The first mass was held at the St. Antiochian Orthodox Church in the town of Arbeen, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported on Friday.

According to the SANA report, the mass, which was held in a hall belonging to the church, was presided by the Patriarchal Assistant of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All East, Bishop Lucka al-Khouri.

Patriarchal Assistant of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All East, Bishop John Batash, in a statement to SANA, expressed the great joy for holding the first mass in this church after liberating the city of Arbeen from terrorism.

"The Syrians are determined to return to their cities to rebuild them," Batash said, hailing the victories of the Syrian army in defense of the homeland.

A number of Arbeen’s residents voiced their joy for holding the first mass in it, as Christmas and New Year approached, and after the return of security and stability to their cities thanks to sacrifices of the Syrian army.

Posted by: Fred || 12/14/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Home Front: Politix
American Leftists Believed Corbyn’s Inevitable Victory Would Be Their Model
[NYMAG] The British election results, like any election results, are the result of unique circumstances and multiple factors.
So was what happened to Charles I. So was what happened to Romulus Augustulus.
They are also, however, a test of a widely articulated political theory that has important implications for American politics. That theory holds that Corbyn’s populist left-wing platform is both necessary and sufficient in order to defeat the rising nationalist right. Corbyn’s crushing defeat is a decisive refutation.
Item 1: Don't run a candidate who looks like Lenin. Likewise Stalin, Mao, or Pol Pot.
Many writers, not only on the left, detected parallels between the rise of Corbyn and the movement around Bernie Sanders. The latter is considerably more moderate and pragmatic than the former, and also not laden with the political baggage of Corbyn’s widely derided openness to anti-Semitic allies.
Bernie's a socialist. He's also Jewish, even though he does have his links to anti-Semites. They're just the ones who speak in polysyllables, not the ones who shoot up kosher grocery stores in Joisey.
And yet many leftists have emphasized the similarities between the two, which are indeed evident.
Did Germy honeymoon in Russia too?
Both built youth-oriented movements led by cadres of radical activists who openly set out to destroy and remake their parties.
But BoJo and Trump represent a trend toward Fascism?
Both lost in somewhat close fashion, Sanders in 2016 and Corbyn the next year. And fervent supporters of both men treated their narrow defeats as quasi-victories, proof of victory just around the corner.
Losing close still counts as a loss.
Arguments of this sort tend to quickly devolve into straw-man attacks. So, in order to show that the view I’m describing is widespread, I am sharing lengthy excerpts from a half-dozen essays written by American leftists in recent years:

“Only Socialism Can Defeat Trumpism,” by Nicole Aschoff and Bhaskar Sunkara, The Nation, November 2016

“The past year has shown that millions of ordinary people are ready for an alternative, one pointed to by the success of Sanders and the Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn in Britain …
Just not enough millions.
As with the collapsing social democrats in Europe, the Democratic Party’s best bet is to move left and embrace a platform that speaks to the real needs, fears, and aspirations of working people …
Like Barbara Streisand and Alyssa Milana...
For the Democrats, no less than their peers in Europe, where the neoliberalization of social democracy has opened up space for a populist right, the choice on offer might well be either socialism or irrelevance.”
I'd say it was the invasion of their homelands by Moslems with the connivance of latter day Quislings and Petains.

“Jeremy Corbyn’s Success is a Model for American Progressives,” by James Downie, Washington Post, June 2017

“Corbyn’s success provides a model for U.S. progressives in 2018, 2020 and beyond: If you need turnout to win — as liberals in the United States do — you need a bold, uncompromising platform with real solutions …
Like Pakistain needs more Islam.
Why was turnout so high? Because Corbyn was able to generate excitement among Labour voters, especially the young. That’s in no small part because of this year’s Labour manifesto (the British equivalent of a party platform). Unlike other recent versions, mostly incrementalist documents that tweaked what came before, the 2017 edition is the boldest in decades: more money for the National Health Services and other major initiatives, a “jobs first” Brexit and free university tuition, financed by taxing corporations and the wealthiest. The manifesto and the campaign were summed up by their elegantly simple slogan: “For the many, not the few.”
BoJo's was better. We're leaving the Holy Roman Empire!
“Politics has changed,” declared Corbyn Thursday night, “and politics isn’t going back in the box where it was before.” He is right about British politics. If progressives apply the lessons of his success judiciously, U.S. politics will also change — for the better, for the many and not the few.”
Oh, and slap those uppity Jews around

“Jeremy Corbyn Is Leading the Left Out of the Wilderness and Toward Power,” by Mehdi Hasan, The Intercept, June 2017

“Last Thursday’s election result in the U.K. is a ringing confirmation that stirring idealism need not be sacrificed at the altar of political pragmatism …
If Stirring Idealism means being part of the Holy Roman Empire or a Continental System most Brits will probably be against it.
Yes, mainstream center-left parties may have been crushed in recent European elections — think of France or the Netherlands. However, Corbyn — who spent 32 years toiling in obscurity on the backbenches before becoming leader of his party in a shock victory in 2015 — has now a paved a road out of the wilderness …
... and now back into obscurity...
Here in the United States, meanwhile, the Corbyn-esque Sanders
He sez that like it's a good thing...
has become the most popular politician in the country and would probably win the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination by a landslide if the contest were to be held tomorrow. Some polls also suggest he might have defeated Trump last November, too.”
That's what they said about Hillary, too.

“The American Left Has Found a New Hero,” Paul Blest, The Outline, June 2017

“American left-wingers like myself have found ourselves looking for an escape over the past few weeks in the stratospheric rise of the Labour Party — led by Corbyn, an unabashed socialist — in the polls ahead of this Thursday’s UK election …
"Okay. Corbyn lost in a landslide. Let's keep working on impeachment. That's sure to work.
As left wing activist Paul Mason told the New Republic last week: “They assumed Corbyn was their secret weapon. It turns out he is our secret weapon …
Except that he was their secret weapon... Ph, the hell with it. Their secret weapon was a lot less likable than the other secret weapon.
The reason that Corbyn is surging now, apart from the discovery that May is extremely bad at campaigning, is that he’s got a clear, progressive vision for the future, one that tackles the big question of making a more equitable society at home and around the world.
May kept trying to be-Labour the point on Brexit.
The Labour Party manifesto unabashedly goes the farthest we’ve seen from a major left-of-center party; not just the Sanders-like social democratic parts like pumping more money into the National Health Service and making college free, but in nationalizing essential public services and raising revenues from increased taxes on the wealthy and corporations to pay for all of it.”

“How Jeremy Corbyn Is Inspiring the American Left,” by Graeme Demianyk, HuffPost UK, July 2017

“Sanders’s defeat to Clinton helps explain why the U.S. left has such a soft spot for a 68-year-old British collector of manhole covers. Corbyn’s success — not victory, but 40 percent of the vote and preventing Theresa May and the Conservative Party from winning a majority that she was expected to enlarge — is celebrated because his unashamedly left-wing manifesto was supposed to return Labour to the wilderness of the 1980s. It was the same accusation leveled at Sanders, that the Democrats could expect oblivion with the Vermont senator as their would-be President …
So, what with Trump's numbers going up, and impeachment being patently stupid--Joe's
Joe is what? Don’t leave is in suspense, Fred.
As ‘Chapo’ put it, Corbyn was “proof of concept” that a candidate offering uncompromising policies, and faced with a hostile media, would not sound the death knell for a political party. Labour now riding high in the polls, and Sanders becoming the most popular politician in the U.S., has only added weight to their argument.”
There's more in the same vein, just as dumb.
Posted by: Fred || 12/14/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Corbyn's scary.
Bernie-Squeaky Fromme is a buffoon.

Corbyn controlled his Party.
Bernie-Squeaky Fromme will never come within an inch of power in his (lately adopted, new) Party.

Corbyn had no rivals.
Bernie-Squeaky Fromme has Warren to contend with on the left, and now Butt-Fug and Bloomie to his right ie not-entirely-left.
Posted by: Lex || 12/14/2019 0:33 Comments || Top||

#2  Personally, I think the model works fine.
Posted by: gorb || 12/14/2019 1:46 Comments || Top||

#3  How'd that work out for you? Jeremy's done, you lost all pretense of a majority, and Boris is gonna Brexit as fast as he can.

Riot in the streets and get beaten, physically, as well as electorally
Posted by: Frank G || 12/14/2019 8:45 Comments || Top||

#4  Corbyn faced a hostile media? Sargon doesn't count as media all on his own...
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 12/14/2019 9:08 Comments || Top||

#5  Leftists are now doubly butt hurt and can't accept elections on two continents...

You can't always get what you want,
You can't always get what you want,
But if you try sometimes well you might find
You get what you need...Fa la la la
Posted by: JohnQC || 12/14/2019 9:48 Comments || Top||

#6  Now claiming election was about Corbin, no Brexit, and need another one for that.
Posted by: Glenmore || 12/14/2019 10:38 Comments || Top||

#7  Corbyn got in because Labour wanted to dump the unions, so they opened the party to anyone with 3 pounds a month. Half a million radicals joined and elected Corbyn. The party crashed and burned. That's the story here.
Posted by: Herb McCoy || 12/14/2019 11:13 Comments || Top||

#8  ...reminds me of a comment attributed to Mondale after the 1984 election disaster - we open the tent to everyone and everyone walked out.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/14/2019 11:23 Comments || Top||

#9  It seems to take these writers a whole lot of words to avoid the truth. Corbyn lost because he is a socialist, anti-Semitic EU globalist and British voters rejected all of it.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 12/14/2019 13:01 Comments || Top||

#10  Actually If Corbyn HAD run as his principles would say and stuck with Brexit Labour would've done a lot better.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 12/14/2019 15:45 Comments || Top||

#11  The islamists made a bid for the UK, and they realized they'll have to retreat to try again later.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 12/14/2019 15:50 Comments || Top||

#12  The Brits realized they were about to lose their country too.
Posted by: JohnQC || 12/14/2019 16:32 Comments || Top||

#13  And fervent supporters of both men treated their narrow defeats as quasi-victories
Yes, FIRST runner-up has a much better ring to it than LOSER.
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 12/14/2019 17:04 Comments || Top||

#14  Lefties around the world peaked while Obama was in power. They sensed the decline and rejection with Trumps election but now I think they are really picking up on the momentum against them. Hopefully a lot will just give up on politics altogether and reconnect with the families they've driven away with talking points every big holiday.
Posted by: ruprecht || 12/14/2019 17:49 Comments || Top||

#15  And hopefully the Conservative politicians on both continents won't blow it. I'm already reading nonsense about Conservatives taking up Liberal economic policies as a successful winner. No, please No.
Posted by: ruprecht || 12/14/2019 17:50 Comments || Top||

#16  I'm thinking about discarding politics and taking up golf. Kitty Flanagan loves it !
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/14/2019 17:56 Comments || Top||

#17  If you are unwilling to accept a loss, then you shouldn’t be playing the game.
Posted by: Thaise Guelph8492 || 12/14/2019 19:27 Comments || Top||

#18  The Left will have to give up identity politics if it wants to be competitive again.

Seems very unlikely that this crop will do so.
Posted by: Lex || 12/14/2019 22:02 Comments || Top||


Bloomberg would shut down coal plants if elected president
[NYPOST] Mike Bloomberg
...Billionaire former Republican mayor and nanny of New York, Dem candidate for president in 2020. Wants to rid the country of assault weapons, other kinds of guns, and 32-ounce soft drinks...
would shut down the nation’s remaining 251 polluting coal power plants and halt construction of 150 new gas facilities as part of a sweeping program to slash carbon emissions and boost clean energy alternatives if elected president.
Vote for him and you'll deserve to sit shivering in the dark.
Bloomberg’s plan ‐ unveiled Friday during a campaign stop in northern Virginia ‐ aims to cut US carbon emissions in half over 10 years and put the country on course to get 80 percent of its electricity generated from green energy
... the attempt to produce energy without using fossil fuel. The preferred methods are solar, wind, geothermal, phlogiston, philosophers' stones, and rattling bears' teeth. The approach with the most promise involves attaching generators to perpetual motion machines, but using Words of Power to summon energy-rich demons may also work. The green in the term refers to the vast number of dollars that have been thrown at the problem since 1973 with indifferent results...
sources, like wind and solar, by 2028.

The proposal would end taxpayer subsidies for fossil fuels and offer incentives for clean energy. Additionally, it would impose more stringent carbon and pollution standards for new gas plants, effectively barring new construction.

Bloomberg’s plan largely aligns with programs laid out by other Democrats ‐ and stands in sharp contrast to President Trump’s public boosting of coal and oil.

The US became the top oil and natural gas producer in the world in 2018. Natural gas has replaced coal as the top energy source.

Combating climate change has long been one of Bloomberg’s pet causes.

The former three-term New York City mayor and billionaire philanthropist helped launch the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign, which led to the shuttering of more than half the nation’s coal plants.

Posted by: Fred || 12/14/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Also limited the size of drinks you can have to 32 oz.

Also required 12 year old girls get birth control pills without parental consent.
Posted by: Goober Tingle7365 || 12/14/2019 0:24 Comments || Top||

#2  Haven't we had enough of these shitty wannabe oligarchs?

Rockefeller endowed a great research university.
Carnegie made books and learning available to all.
Frick and Mellon filled our public art museums with the world's greatest masterpieces.

What the f--- have our era's wannabe oligarchs done for anyone but themselves?

Made Democracy safe from Slurpees?

GTFO. Go enjoy your billions and leave us alone.
Posted by: Lex || 12/14/2019 0:39 Comments || Top||

#3  Deal: Bloomberg, Bezos, Gates, Zuckerberg, Steyer, the Koches and Soros get to take over Epstein's Island, Ranch and associated romper rooms, free of any real estate taxes or public scrutiny, with 10 sandboxes full of cocaine and unlimited Botox and breast jobs for their 2nd wives or mistresses -- in exchange for staying the F--- OUT OF OUR POLITICS.

No contributions.
No candidacies.
No "Common Core" botchjobs.
No public pronouncements on any political issue.

Just stay on your island, STFU, spend your money on your toys and hobbyhorses WITHIN THE CONTOURS OF YOUR ISLAND, and we leave each other alone.

Deal?
Posted by: Lex || 12/14/2019 0:45 Comments || Top||

#4  No private planes or limos for this Nanny Bitch. Walk
Posted by: Frank G || 12/14/2019 8:39 Comments || Top||

#5  What did socialists use before candles?

Electricity
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/14/2019 11:21 Comments || Top||

#6  Try importing no coal power for NY first, see how you get on lol.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 12/14/2019 12:57 Comments || Top||

#7  No private planes or limos for this Nanny Bitch. Walk--Frank G
He's rich enough to pay for a palanquin carried by eight bearers and led by two girls throwing rose petals. The Rich will always have a way.
Posted by: magpie || 12/14/2019 14:19 Comments || Top||

#8  A rich idiot trying his luck at fooling society into making him king.

'What've I got to lose ? It's only a few million dollars. If Donald can be elected, why not me ? But I don't want to lose my friends over it, so I'll be a Democrat candidate !'

And I just thought of a slogan Bernie could use against him:

'Don't burn your money. Bern your money.'

Posted by: Dron66046 || 12/14/2019 16:31 Comments || Top||


The Grand Turk
Turkish Foreign Ministry summons US ambassador over recognition of Armenian genocide
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Ottoman Turkish Foreign Ministry has summoned US Ambassador David Satterfield over a US Senate resolution recognizing the 1915 Armenian genocide by the Ottoman Empire, a ministry source told TASS on Friday.
"Bite me!" he said diplomaticallly./
"Our ministry has summoned US Ambassador David Satterfield over a resolution on the 1915 events. Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal informed him of our reaction to this move," the source said.

On Thursday, the US Senate unanimously passed a resolution to recognize the genocide of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire in 1915.

Ankara does not accept the term "genocide" in relation to the 1915 events, pointing out that the Ottoman Empire was going through a fratricidal war at the time and all parties were facing great losses.

Posted by: Fred || 12/14/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


Arabia
Pro-gov’t Yemeni Army captures strategic mountain in Al-Jawf
[ALMASDARNEWS] On Thursday evening, the pro-government Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
i Army announced the restoration of a strategic mountain range in the al-Jawf Governorate.

The 1st Brigade of the Yemeni Border Guards said on their official Facebook page last night, "the forces launched a massive attack on the Qash’an mountain range overlooking Wadi Salba in the Khub and Al Sha’af District (east of al-Jawf)."

They continued, "The violent battles that took place with the Iran's Houthi sock puppets
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him...
s following the surprisingly qualitative process culminated in tight control over the entire Mount Qash’an region and large parts of Wadi Silba."

According to the brigade, "During the battles, the Houthis suffered heavy losses in lives and equipment."

They would add that "the support of the coalition aviation provided the forces with precise and focused strikes that left scores of dead and maimed Houthis, and destroyed 3 military vehicles, while a vehicle was burned on the top of Qesh’an Mountain."

The media of the first brigade quoted the commander of the northern axis ‐ Commander of the Brigadier General Haikal Hanaf, as saying that "Mount Qash’an has been completely restored, as well as all the cavities that fall in its vicinity."

Posted by: Fred || 12/14/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


Afghanistan
US-Taliban Talks ‘Paused’ After Bagram Attack
[ToloNews] The latest US-Taliban
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
negotiations in Doha, which began on December 7, have been paused following Wednesday's attack on a medical facility near Bagram air base that killed two civilians and maimed dozens more.

According to sources, the five days of discussions have focused on the following three issues: a reduction of violence, a ceasefire and intra-Afghan negotiations.

The break in the talks was confirmed by a Taliban front man, Suhail Shaheen, on Thursday, December 12, who said in a tweet that the talks will resume after a few days.

The US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, tweeted:

"When I met the Talibs today (Thursday December 12), I expressed outrage about yesterday’s attack on Bagram, which recklessly killed two and maimed dozens of civilians. Taliban must show they are willing and able to respond to Afghan desire for peace," Khalilzad tweeted.

He continued: "We’re taking a brief pause for them to consult their leadership on this essential topic."

Speaking of progress in the talks so far:

"They are apparently talking about whether to agree on a ceasefire before the intra-Afghan talks or after," said Sayed Akbar Agha, a former Taliban commander.

"It will be good that they reach an agreement soon to help the intra-Afghan talks start and to stop the war," said Haji Din Mohammad, deputy head of the High Peace Council (HPC).

"There are some protocol issues to find that who will be the guarantor‐who will vouch for the signatories-- and which country will be there as a witness during the signing of the agreement," said Waliullah Shaheen, a political analyst in Kabul.

"Unless there are firm commitments for moving this process forward, there will be no desirable outcome from this--the people of Afghanistan want to hear a positive response regarding the ceasefire so that this process can move forward," said Najia Anwar, spokeswoman for the State Ministry on Peace Affairs.

Meanwhile,
...back at the cheese factory, there was only one thought in the mouse's mind: I can do this! I can do this! Then the trap sprung...
Khalilzad has landed in Islamabad where he has held talks with senior Pak civilian and military leadership.

In Rawalpindi, Khalilzad called on Pak Army Chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa and they discussed the security situation with particular reference to ongoing Afghan reconciliation, said a Pak military front man.

Khalilzad also met Pak Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Wormtongue Qureshi
...a Pak political shape-changer. He is undistinguished except for his habit of periodically needing to have his lips reattached...
in Islamabad.

Foreign Minister Qureshi assured Khalilzad that Pakistain will continue to "sincerely play the role of controller in the Afghan grinding of the peace processor."

Qureshi noted that peace in Afghanistan is imperative for peace and stability in the region.

He reiterated Pakistain's stance that there is no military solution to the Afghan conflict.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/14/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  Never entered the minds of the 'best and brightest' to train Afghanies to infiltrate Pakland and do the same to them. Recruit on the very basic tribal 'vendetta' level.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/14/2019 6:47 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
Hong Kong leader Lam heads for Beijing as pressure mounts at home
[Dhaka Tribune] Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam left for Beijing on Saturday for her first visit to the Chinese capital since her government was handed a crushing defeat in local elections last month, prompting speculation about changes to her leadership team.

Lam is due to discuss the political and economic situation in the China-ruled city with Beijing officials during a four-day visit. She will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday, local media have said.

Hong Kong has been convulsed by daily and often violent protests for the last six months as demonstrations against a now-withdrawn extradition bill broadened into demands for greater democratic freedom.

Hundreds of thousands of people marched last Sunday to protest against what is seen as Beijing undermining freedoms guaranteed when the former British colony was handed back to China in 1997. Many young protesters are also angry at Lam’s government, charging it with failing to address social inequality issues in one of the world’s most expensive cities.

This week Lam said a cabinet reshuffle was not an "immediate task" and she would focus her efforts on restoring law and order to Hong Kong. Still there are doubts about how long Beijing is willing to back her. Especially after pro-democracy candidates won nearly 90% of the seats in district elections last month.

China has condemned the unrest and blamed foreign interference. It denies that it is meddling in Hong Kong’s affairs. In an editorial this week, the official China Daily newspaper called on Hong Kong’s government to uphold the rule of law.

Posted by: Fred || 12/14/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  ritual seppuku?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/14/2019 6:32 Comments || Top||

#2  She's been recalled for consultations with her government.
Posted by: The peanut gallery || 12/14/2019 12:50 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Meggie Moo not on board the good ship Greta...
[Daily Mail] Meghan McCain has said she doesn't believe Time magazine's Person of the Year, Greta Thunberg, 'earned' the honor during a segment of The View on Thursday morning.

While discussing the recent announcement with her talk show colleagues, the conservative co-host said she doesn't put much stalk into Time's long-standing award.

'I don't put a lot of clout into the [Time Magazine's] Person of the Year. Keep in mind, Hitler and the Ayatollah were also the Person of the Year,' she said.

McCain then says that she wanted to see the whistleblower receive the title, noting that it would have been a 'more salient and timely choice.'
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/14/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  We want the weasel whom the weasel blower blew.
Posted by: Lex || 12/14/2019 0:55 Comments || Top||

#2  Because Greta is against cow farts?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/14/2019 5:10 Comments || Top||

#3  ^ Ow!
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/14/2019 5:15 Comments || Top||

#4  When impeachment collapses, Meggie Moo will be like Quaid's disguise at the Martian checkpoint.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/14/2019 8:30 Comments || Top||

#5  The left-wing/Dems have apotheosized Greta to sainthood. The Dims are using a child for their political purposes and gains. Isn't this child abuse?
Posted by: JohnQC || 12/14/2019 10:41 Comments || Top||

#6  What that mum's done to Greta to feed her own narcissism is child abuse.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 12/14/2019 15:20 Comments || Top||

#7  Yes, and she is being used as a human shield.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 12/14/2019 15:27 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Libyan National Army shoots down Turkish drone south of Tripoli
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Libyan National Army (LNA), led by Field Marshal 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...
, announced this evening that their air defenses shot down a drone at the Ayn Zara axis, south of 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...
The Military Information Division of the LNA said in a press statement through its official page on Facebook that "the air defense systems in the armed forces targeted Ottoman Turkish drones and they shot them down in the sky above our operations, specifically in the axis of Ayn Zarah."

The military media also published pictures of the plane, which confirmed their reports.
Posted by: Fred || 12/14/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring

#1  "Turkey? How can you tell?"

"It isn't flying."
Posted by: swksvolFF || 12/14/2019 11:36 Comments || Top||

#2  The drone had a wattle and tail feathers.
Posted by: whitecollar redneck || 12/14/2019 11:56 Comments || Top||

#3  You know, one of the most effective anti-flying insect killers I've found is spray adhesive. I suspect it'd work well on drones to, allowing a small drone to chase down another, spray a nice bit of spray adhesive into it's fans and down it goes.
Posted by: Silentbrick || 12/14/2019 16:10 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Police nab Palestinian gun smuggler with shotguns, M16
[IsraelTimes] Police and IDF soldiers catch a Paleostinian firearms smuggler in the act, the Israel Police says.

Acting on intelligence information, IDF troops and Northern District Police officers arrived at the border fence with Jordan on the northern end of the Jordan Valley.
"Thanks, Mahmoud!"
They observed as a pickup truck arrived at the scene and the driver, a 29-year-old East Jerusalem resident, loaded a large sack, apparently thrown over the fence earlier, into his truck. The suspect then drove southward on Route 90, the north-south road along the Jordanian border that meets Route 1 toward Jerusalem just north of the Dead Sea.

During the drive, police cruisers intercepted the pickup and searched the vehicle.

They found 11 shotguns and an M16 assault rifle.

The driver and a 17-year-old girl were both arrested and taken for questioning.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/14/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Welcome to Achmed's travelling gun show, with booth girl and all !
Posted by: Dron66046 || 12/14/2019 16:59 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Black Hawk flights over Washington D.C. are made permanent because of 'enduring mission' aimed at being ready to respond to a terrorist attack or natural disaster
Posted by: Skidmark || 12/14/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  OH NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CO2 will go through the roof in DC, even more with Nadler and Co. We're doomed................
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 12/14/2019 0:37 Comments || Top||

#2  Sounds like a fun job and bet the pilots get all the tang they can handle.
Posted by: jpal || 12/14/2019 1:12 Comments || Top||

#3  Couldn't use drones?

I remember the Egyptians would practice running up to the Suez Canal time after time. Had a tendency to make it all look routine. Then one day, they crossed.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/14/2019 6:44 Comments || Top||

#4  I seem to recall hearing a lot of FUD about Black Helicopters and the Globalist autocracy.

Should I start to worry for real now?
Posted by: AlanC || 12/14/2019 7:04 Comments || Top||

#5  Washington sounds more and more like the Capital City in the Hunger Games.
Posted by: BrujoTejano || 12/14/2019 9:39 Comments || Top||

#6  From author Jim Keith's 90s book, Black Helicopters over America.

"Unmarked black helicopters are flying over our land in violation of all local and federal laws, carrying on their secret business, and taunting and terrifying the populace... Whatever powers are dispatching the black helicopters, however, this is not a new phenomenon. It is only the frequency of black chopper sightings which have increased with frequency within the past few years."
Posted by: mossomo || 12/14/2019 20:30 Comments || Top||

#7  What if we paint them pink?
Posted by: Lex || 12/14/2019 21:33 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Death toll in aircraft carrier fire in Russia rises to 2
[SF Gate] MOSCOW (Ay Pee) A crew member who went missing during a fire on Russia's only aircraft carrier was found dead Friday, raising the death toll from the blaze to two, the nation's military officials said Friday.

The fire on the Admiral Kuznetsov broke out during welding work at a shipyard in the Arctic port of Murmansk on Thursday and spread quickly through the carrier's internal compartments. The ship's crew and emergency teams spent more than 20 hours battling the blaze.
Which started in the Vodka in the Supply storeroom
The military reported two crew members dead, and authorities in Murmansk said 11 other people were injured

The Investigative Committee, Russia's top state investigative agency, opened a probe into a possible violation of safety rules.

The Admiral Kuznetsov has been plagued by breakdowns and setbacks since its launch in 1985. The massive blaze follows a 70-ton crane crashing onto the Admiral Kuznetsov's deck in October 2018, when a mammoth floating dock holding the ship sank.

The crane left a hole of 20 square meters (215 square feet), and the loss of the dock significantly slowed down repairs on the carrier since the navy lacked another of comparable size.

The fire will further push back the work to fit the ship with modern control systems and new weapons.
Posted by: Frank G || 12/14/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  ...Some friends with serious naval experience are saying that a good chunk of her wiring runs were probably compromised as well...which means Kuznetsov is probably a Constructive Total Loss (CTL) - put another way, it will cost more to repair than to scrap her.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 12/14/2019 6:39 Comments || Top||

#2  Rats keep eating the wires in our truck - maybe Russians need some rat traps...
Posted by: Glenmore || 12/14/2019 10:10 Comments || Top||

#3  Is it me or does it seem that Russia can't handle the 21st century?
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 12/14/2019 17:16 Comments || Top||

#4  Not that stuff couldn't just innocently burn in a Russian shipyard, but I can't help thinking, "Jeez, someone really has it in for that ship." Wudn't us, of course, but is there maybe a submarine mafia over there? Duelling contractors? "Will no one rid me of this rublesome wreck?" Too much Tom Clancy as a kid, probably.
Posted by: Elmealet Thud7763 || 12/14/2019 22:05 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Large transfer of jihadists to southern Aleppo raises fears of new offensive
[ALMASDARNEWS] According to the Russian military, a large number of jihadists have been transferred to the southern countryside of the Aleppo Governorate recently, raising fears that a new offensive may be launched.

The Russian military’s reconciliation center for warring parties reported that the jihadist rebels sent a large number of fighters, mostly from the al-Qaeda aligned groups, to southern Aleppo for a possible operation against the Syrian Army.

On Friday, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) came under attack near the town of Harishah when the jihadist rebels from the al-Qaeda linked Rouse the Believers group surprised them with an assault along their supply line to al-Hader.

As a result of this attack, the jihadist rebels were able to force the Syrian Army and National Defense Forces (NDF) from remaining at their posts along the road leading north to al-Hader.

A government source in Damascus told al-Masdar on Friday that the Syrian military is contemplating the redeployment of the 25th Special Mission Forces (formerly Tiger Forces) to the southern Aleppo front.

The source said the military is looking to clear the Aleppo countryside in the coming months, including the areas around the city that are still controlled by the jihadists.

Posted by: Fred || 12/14/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Nusra



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