#5
"A knockout!" Massaging his chin,
"She can block! She can kick! She can spin!
It's on air that she walks...
But can kill with that boxing
She learned from those jocks at Shaolin."
#7
Revenge, it is said, is a cold dish
One not to be served a la Goldfish
But a dame wot does headlocks
Is not to be fed lox--
For to taste of that bagel's a bold wish
#2
The "Magic Dirt" theory strikes again.
(If there's a wealthy, productive place anywhere, it can't be because of the people or the society, it's gotta be the dirt they're standing on. Let's go There.)
Posted by: ed in texas ||
11/05/2021 14:33
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#3
We're getting fucked royally here at home with these vaccine mandates and y'all are worried about the women of Afghanistan. Glad their priorities are straight.
Posted by: Chris ||
11/05/2021 9:39
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#4
Uncle Sam took pretty good care of AFG females for 20 years. Nothing lasts forever. How about some attention to the crisis on our Southern border. Things like DEAD women and children, human trafficking (slavery), drugs, cartels, etc.
#7
and y'all are worried about the women of Afghanistan.
It was their pilot program whose success would be the guarantor of current and future socio-cultural awareness. The Virture of Wokeness. And as it inevitably led to QWERTY inclusionism, why Project Afghanistan never had a chance.
The Military Industrial Complex and Forever War Profiteers catch a lot of shit, and rightfully so, but it was this Cultural Imperialism which sealed the failure.
If they were serious they'd introduce legislation to put the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan under the toughest sanctions possible with equally tough sanctions imposed on nations or organizations engaged in circumvention.
Since rejection of Afghan barbarism should be a consensus position a veto proof majority should be attainable.
#13
"...QWERTY inclusionism...". I LIKE that. Good one. Let these bitches pick up guns and go enforce their drooling drivel. I'll chip in for the ammo.
Better. Put Kamala in the lead position. Lord help me.
Oh, and pick up whatever Americans that were left behind while they are at it.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
11/05/2021 12:48
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[Conservative Brief] An investigation into why dozens of voting machines went down in New Jersey on Tuesday has begun amid a much tighter than expected gubernatorial race between Democratic incumbent Gov. Phil Murphy and GOP challenger and former New Jersey state Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli.
The Associated Press has already called the close contest for Murphy, though Ciattarelli's campaign has called that premature and "irresponsible."
But now there appears to have been an issue with as many as 56 voting machines, a glitch that is sure to conjure up thoughts regarding the post-2020 presidential election when surrogates for then-President Donald Trump made allegations of vote machine fraud that were never substantiated.
"Essex County Clerk Christopher Durkin says he has a lot of work ahead of him after the votes from 56 districts were not counted Tuesday night in the county," News 12 reported.
"It's a mix but they are mostly in Newark, in East Orange, Irvington, Maplewood, Montclair, the majority of those 56 districts," says Durkin.
"Durkin says you can call it poll worker error," News 12 reported. "There will be an investigation as to why it happened. He asks New Jersey residents not to jump to conclusions as to why the 56 voting machines were shut down last night without being counted first."
"Those machines are at the polling places right now," Durkin noted further. "Those machines have to be brought back to the warehouse. A judge will issue an order for us to open those machines, retrieve the results and post those results."
However, the report stated, it did not look like that would happen on Wednesday.
[Breitbart] FNC host Tucker Carlson opened his Wednesday broadcast by arguing Tuesday's election results were a pushback against the policies and politics of the Democratic Party.
Carlson pointed to the Democratic Party's answers to COVID and tack on race issues as what was rejected by voters.
Transcript as follows:
CARLSON: seems like the perfect moment to rethink what we thought we knew about American politics, the way the country runs, and the laundry list of lies that we have been force-fed for the past year. Now is the moment, because clearly we're at an inflection point.
Last night, if you were to sum it up in a single phrase, we've had enough. There is a limit to which you can push the American population before they gently and politely push back through democratic means, and that's exactly what we just saw. It is now impossible to deny that this country is in the middle of some kind of political realignment and the people who run our country did not see it coming.
There are a lot of examples here, the obvious ones and the not so obvious. So, I'll start with the latter.
In Texas last night, Republicans just flipped an overwhelmingly Hispanic district, one that went for Joe Biden by 14 points a year ago, 14 points, because of course, Hispanic districts go Democrat, because Hispanics are Democrats, right?
Continues.
#2
An article about a new, presumably illegal drug with no discussion as to what it might be except that it comes in a clear gelatin capsule. It is true that to become a journalist, one must have their curiosity gland surgically removed?
That would be a first. No other psychedelics are addictive. In fact, they are used to treat addiction. Also, interesting they know this about a brand new substance about which nothing is known.
#5
Are you suggesting that the holes drilled into monkey skulls were to access certain parts of the brain, with the delivery system to be determined later.
Because that would be crazy. Ha ha ha. Ha. Errr...
#6
It's new and addictive! It's Paint!
Who knows what it is or it ain't,
But, "We've heard of concern,"
Says some school, so, in turn,
Ms. Guzman informs readers, who... [thud]
[Townhall] Back like 25 years ago, when President * was only 132 years old, The Simpsons was funny, and there was a great scene where Principal Skinner, confronted with the possibility that he screwed up, reassures himself that no, it's the children who are wrong. In that analogy, the Democrats are Seymour Skinner (or Armin Tamzarian, if you are really into Simpsons deep cuts) and the voters are the kids.
Glenn Youngkin greatly disappointed Terry McAuliffe and his North American Man-Boy Lincoln Project (I wish I originated that) pals by winning Virginia, the latter also because Glenn did not live up to his last name. We kid the tiki torch twerps, but that's only because one of their founders tried to score with young boys.
In any case, smart people would take a step back after the massive repudiation that was last Tuesday in blue bastions like Old Dominion, New Jersey, and various other venues nationwide that have not gotten as much play. But we are dealing with Democrats. It appears that their analysis is that the American people hate what they are doing so they should do more of it harder, and then the American people will love them. We must encourage this innovative strategy.
As Napoleon supposedly said, never interrupt and enemy when he is making a mistake.
[Townhall] They're going for it. It may be fourth and long, but the Democrats are going for it. Maybe it's guilt that they couldn't get it done which may have helped Democrat Terry McAuliffe in Virginia. Or maybe it's that they know because of the 2021 elections, in which Democrats performed miserably, they need to get a legislative win for the party, and Joe Biden, ahead of the 2022 midterms. Maybe this was the kick in the ass the Democrats needed because if there is a red wave, and it's looking more like a tsunami at this point‐then none of these far-left action items are going to see the light of day for a long time. Today, they will try and make serious headway in getting the Biden agenda off the ground (via NY Post):
#2
Don't let the results of Tuesday sink in. The Bolsheviks are too lemming like to recall all those former Congresscritters who weren't around after Nancy forced Obamacare through the House.
[CSNBC] After being name-dropped by a UN official who said that just small percentage of a fortune like Elon Musk's $300 billion could help solve world hunger, the Tesla CEO tweeted his own challenge: Explain how $6 billion will fix the problem, and he'll sell Tesla stock "right now."
His conditions follow:
On Sunday, Musk tweeted, "If WFP can describe on this Twitter thread exactly how $6B will solve world hunger, I will sell Tesla stock right now," he said about Beasley's assertion.
In a follow-up tweet, Musk added that the UN's plan must include "open source accounting, so the public sees precisely how the money is spent."
#2
According to the UN Report on Hunger
Over 820 million people suffering from hunger
$6B/820M Hungry = $7.31
☺ POLITICAL RULES OF SPENDING 101☺
1. Ask for 3x's what you need.
2. Even if you get 1% of what you ask for, keep coming back for more. Because no one wants see their name in Headlines having VOTED AGAINST a touchy-feely social cause, come election.
2. Never solve the problem, so you can ask for more $$$$$.
3. In years 3 and after a successful proof of concept and now getting real $$$. Install the right certain people in positions to funnel $$$ back into the right vendor pockets who reward accordingly.
4. Remember to share and support the right people along the way.
5. After Politically retired (not re-elected) be appointed to Board of Directors.
[TN.GOV] Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III today filed a lawsuit, joined by the attorneys general of Ohio and Kentucky, challenging the Biden Administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal contractors. The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, asserts that the Administration’s mandatory vaccination requirement is unlawful and unconstitutional.
“Unless we intervene, federal contractors in Tennessee will be forced to make sense of the mandate’s many inconsistencies that require their entire workforce be vaccinated or face potential blacklisting and loss of future federal contracts,” said General Slatery. “That is simply unworkable and this lawsuit seeks to stop it.”
In the lawsuit, the attorneys general outline the harm the mandate will cause for their respective states and citizens.
Nationwide, the Department of Labor reports that federal contractors account for approximately one-fifth of the country’s entire labor force. The coalition of attorneys general argue that the potential workforce loss among federal contractors presents a significant concern for the economies of their states and could exacerbate ongoing supply chain issues.
The attorneys general further argue that the Biden Administration’s vaccine mandate violates state sovereignty by preventing the states from exercising their police power to establish laws regarding workforce vaccination policies.
The attorneys general also contend that the mandate is unconstitutional because Congress did not give the President authority to issue such a broad mandate. The coalition writes that “the imposed mandates are unconstitutional because Congress did not articulate a clear principle by legislative act that directs the Executive to take sweeping action that infringes on state and individual rights.”
[Breitbart] Former Vice President Al Gore on Thursday sounded off on the technology created by the Climate TRACE coalition to monitor greenhouse gas emissions.
Gore, a long-time climate change activist, told MSNBC's "Andrea Mitchell Reports" that the technology would be able to track the "identities" of those "responsible" for emitting greenhouse gases. He advised that the government or "civil society activists" would then be able to hold them accountable.
"We get data consistently from 300 existing satellites, more than 11,000 ground-based, air-based, sea-based sensors, multiple internet data streams and using artificial intelligence," Gore outlined. "All that information is combined, visible light, infrared, all of the other information that is brought in, and we can now accurately determine where the greenhouse gas emissions are coming from."
"And next year we'll have it down to the level of every single power plant, refinery, every large ship, every plane, every waste dump, and we'll have the identities of the people who are responsible for each of those greenhouse gas emission streams, and if investors or governments, or civil society activists want to hold them responsible, they will have the information upon which to base their action and holding them responsible," he added.
[IsraelTimes] Fadah Jassem once said Israel was ‘not born’ but ‘dropped like a bomb in the middle of Palestine’; also sorry for feting her new role with emojis of 17 states, leaving out Israel.
A new Twitter hire responsible for curating news coverage of the Middle East and North Africa has apologized for tweets harshly critical of Israel made in 2010 and 2011 after they generated controversy on social media this week.
Fadah Jassem, a former journalist who lives in London, also apologized for not including Israel’s flag alongside those of 17 other Middle Eastern and North African countries, including the Palestinian flag, in a tweet announcing her appointment as “editorial curation lead for the MENA program.”
The omission of the Israeli flag first earned Jassem scrutiny from pro-Israel groups early Monday. The watchdog group StopAntisemitism tweeted: “Hey @FadahJassem — seems you forgot something.” The group Israel War Room asked Twitter for a response, saying the omission reflects “either woeful ignorance of the territory @FadahJassem is supposed to cover, or antisemitic erasure of the only Jewish state.”
Hours later, GnasherJew, a UK investigative outfit that was instrumental in exposing antisemitism within the Labour Party, leading ultimately to the party’s split, unearthed and reposted the decade-old tweets.
One, from September 2010, says Israel was “not born” but “dropped like a bomb in the middle of Palestine.” Another appears to show support for Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who has a record of antisemitism; it quotes Farrakhan taking issue with US support for Israel.
Jassem’s posts come amid ongoing questions about objectivity in social media news coverage, a major source of news across the globe. According to a recent Pew survey, about half of Americans get some of their news via social media.
While Twitter’s editorial curation teams do not produce original reporting, they are responsible for creating Twitter “Moments,” or aggregations of news stories from a particular region or event. Curation teams “find and highlight great Tweets,” according to Twitter.
Jassem came to the role from a five-year stint at a tech company; she previously worked as a producer and editor for several television networks, according to her Linkedin profile. She graduated in 2010 from a London university where she wrote a dissertation about generational gaps in the Middle East, focusing largely on Syria, a country to which she has a personal connection, according to a profile shared by the school.
Jassem initially responded to some of the online criticism of her, answering a question on Twitter from Emanuel Miller of Honest Reporting, a group devoted to calling out what it identifies as anti-Israel bias in media, with an apology.
“I can see that I have been ill-informed with some tweets when younger,” she wrote. “I apologise for any offence caused by these particular tweets and like I said for forgetting the Israeli flag with reference to MENA as I did others.”
Jassem has since protected her account, so it is no longer publicly visible.
Twitter did not respond to a request for comment Monday.
The incident follows other recent controversies in which public-facing employees have attracted scrutiny and sometimes backlash for social media posts about Israel. Earlier this year, the Associated Press fired Jewish staffer Emily Wilder for tweets about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that the news organization said violated its social media policy on bias. In Northern California, UC Merced said in August it was investigating teaching professor Abbas Ghassemi for tweets railing against “Zionists” that the university chancellor called “repugnant.”
In the tech world, Google reassigned its head of diversity, Kamau Bobb, earlier this year after blog posts from 2007 were unearthed in which he claimed, in a post about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, that Jews have an “insatiable appetite for war” and an “insensitivity” to suffering.
#Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati calls on Information Minister George Kordahi to “prioritize national interest” but stopped short of asking him to resign over comments that led to a diplomatic rift with the #Gulf.https://t.co/TtfOzGc2qC
The #UN special envoy for #Sudan says talks had produced the contours of a potential deal on a return to power-sharing, including restoration of the ousted prime minister, but it has to be agreed in “days not weeks.”https://t.co/IKnz0GwYbj
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi warns Western governments he will accept no “excessive demands” in #nuclear talks set to resume later this month after a five-month gap.https://t.co/BEidjCtqJW
[LIBYAREVIEW] The German newspaper, Der Spiegel reported grave human rights ...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions... violations taking place in 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... ’s migrant detention centers.The report quoted a 22-year-old migrant from Mali, claiming that young women were pulled aside by guards after dinner to rape them.
This is why it’s a bad idea to wander through Third World countries unprotected.
"After the women in the Shara al-Zawiya internment camp had finished their rice, the guards would show up and pull them outside. One would hold a weapon to their breasts, as the other raped them. Sometimes, a third guard would film the attack," she told Der Spiegel.
She stated that she had spent four months in the detention center in Tripoli, together with more than 170 women and 20 children who were hoping to make their way to Europa ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... via Libya. The Malian national only managed to escape, after her parents paid the equivalent of 1,000 euros in ransom.
Shara al-Zawiya is one of almost 30 such camps in Libya. Officially, they are run by the Libyan Interior Ministry’s Department for Combatting Illegal Immigration — originally intended to address the migration crisis. In reality, they are run by local militias.
She added that they were only served food once a day, with the guards distributing Tetra packs of juice along with the food. Those wanting water had to drink out of the toilets.
"After eating, I regularly felt tired and dizzy and believe that drugs were added to the meals of some of the women to make them more compliant. The guards did whatever they wanted with them," she claimed.
Girls aged 15-18 have been telling NGO’s that guards at the camp had raped them. Two of the women reportedly attempted to commit suicide as a result. She noted that she watched as guards mercilessly beat a pregnant woman, who went on to suffer a miscarriage.
In 2012, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that refugees may not be sent back to Libya. For years, EU member states, particularly Italia, had been supporting the Libyan authorities to return rescued migrants colonists to Tripoli. After the ruling was issued, that approach was no longer possible.
The EU has provided ships and training, and invested millions into the Libyan Coast Guard, in order to stop the flow of migrants colonists to Europe.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/05/2021
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[11134 views]
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#3
There has always been a swath of society that can't be trusted with even their own eccentricity. However, allowing them to dictate to the vast majority of normal people is a very recent development. We'll see how long it lasts.
[Rudaw] The United States will continue to cooperate with the Kurdish led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in its fight against Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria, a Pentagon spokesperson told Rudaw on Wednesday.
“Our position with respect to our cooperation with the SDF has not changed, nor has our mission in Syria which is solely focused on the ISIS threat. That threat remains, those missions continue, and our cooperation continues,” John Kirby said.
Kirby’s comments come as Turkey steps up its attacks in areas of northeast Syria covered by 2019 ceasefires brokered by Washington and Moscow. Several civilians and Kurdish fighters have been killed.
Kurdish leadership have called on Russia to step up in its role as monitor of the ceasefire and end Turkey’s attacks.
In recent months, the People’s Protection Units (YPG) have expressed disappointment that the global coalition against the ISIS have remained silent on increasing Turkish attacks.
Ankara believes that Syrian Kurdish forces of the YPG and SDF are offshoots of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which it has named a terrorist organization. It considers the Syrian Kurdish groups a threat to Turkey’s national security.
Erdogan and other Turkish officials hinted at a new military operation against the YPG-dominated SDF in northern Syria last month without specifying the area, but Ankara’s officials have anonymously told Reuters that their target is Tal Rifaat.
Tal Rifaat is located in northwest Syria. The city is surrounded by farmland, located halfway between Aleppo and the Turkish border. The SDF denies any military presence there but local sources have told Rudaw English that the group is there, disguised as regime soldiers.
The SDF’s political wing, the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) has held meetings with top American officials in Washington last month. A security source told Rudaw that this is the main reason behind Turkey’s fresh threats, as it has openly opposed any political or military achievement for Syrian Kurds.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Vietnam has been in talks with Iranian authorities over the seizure last month of a Vietnamese oil tanker off the Iranian coast, in an effort to guarantee the safety of the crew, the Southeast Asian nation’s said on Thursday.
Talks had taken place on a diplomatic level in Hanoi and Tehran "to verify information and settle the incident to ensure safety and humane treatment for Vietnamese citizens," Vietnam foreign ministry spokeswoman Pham Thu Hang told a regular briefing.
The Pentagon on Wednesday rejected claims by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards that they thwarted an attempt by the United States to detain a tanker carrying the Islamic Theocratic Republic’s oil in the Sea of Oman.
American officials said Iranian forces had actually seized a Vietnamese-flagged oil tanker, MV Southys, and US naval forces were just monitoring the situation.
Hang said the captain of the Vietnamese tanker in a telephone call with the embassy on Oct 27 had confirmed all 26 crew had been treated well and were in good health.
"The foreign ministry will continue to closely monitor the situation, and work with Iranian authorities to settle the case in accordance to the laws, and at the same time, will proceed with necessary measures to ensure the legitimate rights and interests of Vietnamese citizens," Hang said.
Vietnamese-flagged SOTHYS is currently transferring 700,000 barrels of Iranian crude oil to an identified Iran-flagged vessel, TankerTrackers says.https://t.co/pYWxnJahy5pic.twitter.com/8ObEA6AD2S
Posted by: Fred ||
11/05/2021
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#1
Vietnam has opened up after an eternity(year or more) of covid lock down. Harris trip was a free pass to travel there when nobody else could. I called her a super spreader.
#6
Steve - I agree. I would have thought the hotel owners and others involved in the tourist trade would have made "arrangements" to protect them from this sort of thing.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
11/05/2021 10:40
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#7
Somebody had a difference of opinion as to who was gonna load the drug mules this week.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
11/05/2021 11:19
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#8
It's a shame about Mexico. They have some very attractive destinations. But I ain't going.
I think it's as much our fault as it is theirs. Our phony "War on Drugs" should have been for real and the border should have been secured. But, with that much money at stake, I guess it was too much to expect from our politicians.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
11/05/2021 12:07
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#9
Lot of Unofficial Business conducted there too.
[KhaamaPress] The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund has announced that they will be funding Afghan teachers directly and without involving the de-facto authorities, the Taliban.
The International community has presently blocked money to the Taliban-led administration and has announced that they are setting up a system to fund the teachers without giving money to the Taliban.
UNICEF’s Afghanistan Chief of Education Jeannette Vogelaar in her latest interview with Reuters said that they would begin registering teachers of public schools in order to put them in the system.
“The best way to support the education of girls in Afghanistan is to continue supporting their schools and teachers. UNICEF is calling upon donors not to let Afghanistan’s children down” said Vogelaar.
The UNICEF has said that funding the Afghan teachers is the only way to help reopen schools for Afghan girls in Afghanistan.
It has been more than two and a half months since the high schools and universities have been closed in Afghanistan but the Taliban have recently said that they will soon open schools and universities for girls.
[ToloNews] The World Food Program (WFP) started distributing cash to poor families, with each receiving 3,500 Afghanis (approx. 33 US dollars) per month in Afghanistan.
It is reported that more than 4,000 families will receive this emergency cash for the next four months.
The WFP has started this program to decrease poverty as the country’s economy is crumbling.
“We are going to provide and distribute each family 3,500 family per month and this is a complete process for four months”, said Sami Alokozai, WFP representative in Kabul.
“There are many people, having nothing to eat and wear, and they have nothing to make their houses warm," he said.
The families who gathered in Kabul to receive aid said they lived in desperate conditions and require more humanitarian aid before the winter.
“This aid is not enough, but we thank God, we can buy flour now,” said Sughra Hussaini.
Nahid is another displaced woman who lives in a Kabul camp with six family members.
“I have not received even a loaf of bread, no one helped me,” Nahid told TOLOnews.
After the Taliban came into power, Afghanistan's economy has rapidly declined and poverty and hunger are on the rise.
[SPUTNIKNEWS] Beijing has repeatedly criticised the signing of a security pact between the UK, the US and Australia earlier this year, which it interprets as being directed against China. AUKUS also sent ripples throughout the NATO alliance, as neither the UK nor the US warned their partners of their plans.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Wang Wenbin, criticised Canberra's decision to participate in the creation of the AUKUS security agreement as "extremely irresponsible", reportedly from the point of view of nuclear non-proliferation.
Wenbin stressed that, driven by the "pursuit of its own interests", Australia has not only undermined regional peace and stability, but has also violated its international obligations in the sphere of non-proliferation. He called on the country to change its course and amend its "mistakes".
"The Australian government should correct its mistakes, abandon the Cold War mentality, conscientiously fulfill its international nuclear non-proliferation obligations, earnestly safeguard regional peace and stability and give a responsible answer to the international community".
The foreign ministry spokesman also stressed that issues stemming from the signing of the security pact between the US, UK and Australia go beyond a mere diplomatic spat between the western countries, and affect the entire international community.
[Sandboxx] America Really Launched An ICBM From The Back Of A C-5 Cargo Plane
The Minuteman I ICBM, or intercontinental ballistic missile, was a globe-spanning weapon with nearly ten times the destructive capacity of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima at the end of World War II, and in 1974, America successfully launched one out of the back of an airborne C-5 Galaxy.
As if lobbing an 87,000-pound nuclear payload out the back of an aircraft in flight wasn’t a dramatic enough undertaking in itself, the team responsible for history’s only air-launched ICBM were also under a strict deadline and potentially apocalyptic pressure. While their efforts could have resulted in a new approach to leveraging America’s nuclear arsenal, actually fielding a new capability may not have been the real aim of the program. Instead, the entire effort may have really been about sending a message to the Soviet Union before entering into a new round of disarmament talks. Some cool video at the link
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
11/05/2021
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#4
I remember when they proposed putting them on railroad cars to move around. Something about the quality of the existing roadbeds and NIMBY seem to reduce it to a toy in the end.
#5
/\Roadbed quality (at a RR Crossing we stop for no one!), but mostly trying to arrange a security perimeter while maintaining the dispersion that was the whole point of the idea.
[HOTAIR] As I pointed out yesterday, it looks like Seattle ...a formerly lovely city in Washington state, governed by communists, anarchists, dipshits, and other sorts of incompetents. Home to Starbuck's, Boeing (at least for now), and Amazon, Microsoft, and Costco, the city became rich beyond its wildest dreams. All that money attracted the usual sort of grifting politician, and it's well on its way to chewing off the hand that feeds it... has elected Bruce Harrell as their new mayor. Outgoing mayor Jenny Summer of Love Durkan ...Democrat Maress of Seattle, who allowed a chunk of the downtown of her city to be turned into an autonomous combat zone. She just can't figure what went wrong, if anything... gave an interview to King 5 yesterday in which she described the reasons she ultimately decided not to run for reelection. Durkan explained there were multiple death threats aimed at her and her family, at least two of which have led to arrests. She says the turning point came when socialist City Council member Kshama Sawant ...Socialist Seattle city council member who has difficulty distinguishing between her money and the city's... (pictured above) led a protest in front of her home.Councilmember Kshama Sawant went so far as to lead a march to Durkan’s home — her address was hidden by state statute due to her prior career as a U.S. attorney. Durkan’s home was vandalized.
That single act may have changed her life, especially as there were death threats made not only to her but to her entire family.
Before the march, Durkan said she and her family could take comfort knowing that the people who threatened her didn’t know where she lived. That all changed when people were led to her house...
The marches to her home continued, as did the death threats and malicious emails.
Durkan has some personal experience that caused her to be concerned about the threats against her and her family. In 2001, US Attorney Thomas Wales was murdered in his home in the Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle. His case has never been solved despite a reward of $2.5 million for information that leads to a conviction. Durkan, who was a US attorney herself, knew Wales and tells King 5 that put the threats against her in a different perspective.
Did Sawant know what she was doing when she led an angry mob to Durkan’s previously unknown doorstep? Durkan believes so. "She did it knowing the harm that could be done," she said. As for Sawant, she never received any reprimand or punishment for her actions from other members of the city council.
#3
The hardcore progressives know what the rest of us know, but the former mayor didn't. There are no rules now. There's only what you can get away with.
#10
I was in Brazil in 2004 fishing for peacock bass...if you snagged your line the guide would go in the river and free up your lure.
I did catch one piranha with a crankbait...narly teeth.
[Rudaw] A Belgian court on Thursday reduced from 12 to 10 months a police officer's suspended sentence for fatally shooting a Kurdish toddler during a chase of a van carrying migrants.
Two-year-old Mawda was fatally wounded by a shot to the head in May 2018 as police chased a van being driven across Belgium by traffickers taking migrants from the continent to Britain.
The high-profile tragedy caused a scandal in Belgium and, for rights activists, became a symbol of the dangers posed by the "criminalisation" of irregular migration.
Victor-Manuel Jacinto Goncalves, 49, was in February found guilty of involuntary homicide for opening fire on the vehicle and handed a one-year suspended sentence and a 400-euro fine. On Thursday, an appeals court reduced his suspended sentence to 10 months but upheld the fine.
The officer insisted he intended to shoot out a tyre to halt the van, but his car swerved violently and the bullet went astray.
His lawyer demanded a full acquittal on appeal.
But campaign group Justice4Mawda said an acquittal would send a "disastrous message on the total impunity" for police using unwarranted violence.
Mawda's parents, who left Iraq in 2015 and had intended to head to Britain, settled in Belgium after her death, granted leave to remain on humanitarian grounds.
The case drew attention from celebrities -- including Pink Floyd singer-songwriter Roger Waters and film director Ken Loach -- who demanded justice for the toddler.
Cooperation between French and Belgian services was also placed in the spotlight during the original trial.
When the migrants' van set off from northern France in May 2018, French investigators had placed a GPS tracker on board.
But Belgian police did not know it was already under surveillance when they tried to intercept the traffickers on a motorway south of Brussels.
[POLITICO] Meet Edward Durr, giant slayer. Durr, a truck driver for the furniture store Raymour & Flanigan, was declared the victor Thursday in a race against one of the most powerful people in New Jersey: State Senate President Steve Sweeney, a top officer in the international Ironworkers union whose influence rivals that of governors.
Is this a Teamsters vs Iron Workers thing?
In a week filled with surprises beyond the razor-thin New Jersey governor’s race, the election in South Jersey’s 3rd Legislative District was the biggest shocker of all — and one with massive implications for the future of New Jersey politics. Sweeney, who’s led the state’s upper legislative chamber for 12 years, was talked up in Democratic circles as a likely 2025 candidate for governor. He had amassed significant power in Trenton, shrewdly cutting deals with former Republican Gov. Chris Christie and frequently standing in the way of Gov. Phil Murphy’s agenda.
Even Durr harbored doubts about his chances and wasn’t ready to declare victory in a Wednesday interview, telling POLITICO he was "walking on eggshells" until the results became official. State Republicans quickly jumped on victory — despite deploying no resources in the race.
...
It wasn’t just Sweeney. Durr’s Assembly running mates, Bethanne McCarthy Patrick and Beth Sawyer, appeared on track to defeat incumbents John Burzichelli and Adam Taliaferro (both D-Gloucester). Democrats will see their majorities shrink in both chambers of the state Legislature. And Murphy, despite claiming victory, appears to have significantly underperformed his own campaign’s expectations.
Sweeney would not concede on Thursday afternoon, dismissing the News Agency that Dare Not be Named’ decision to call the race earlier in the morning. He remains down more than 2,000 votes but said additional ballots "continue to come in."
"For instance there were 12,000 ballots recently found in one county," Sweeney said in an email to POLITICO.
What odds there are considerably fewer than 12,000 on their voter rolls?
"While I am currently trailing in the race, we want to make sure every vote is counted. Our voters deserve that, and we will wait for the final results." All the results aren't in from the dead, and they haven't even started counting the votes from the non-existent and the imaginary.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Hezbollah claimed on Thursday that Saudi 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. Fifteen of the nineteen WTC hijackers were Saudis, and most major jihadi commanders were Saudis, to include Osama bin Laden. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman quietly folded that tent in 2016, doing terrible things to the guys running it, and has since been dragging the kingdom into the current century... ’s actions in response to Information Minister George Kordahi’s comments were tantamount to "waging war" on Lebanon Hezbollahstan ...an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. ... ."The Saudi reaction... amounts to waging war and [Kordahi’s comment] does not justify hasty measures against Lebanon and its people," the Iran-backed Shia movement’s parliamentary bloc front man, Hassan Ezzeddine, said, as quoted by NBN TV.
Kordahi sparked a diplomatic crisis with Gulf countries because of his comments on Saudi Arabia and the UAE’s involvement in the 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... war. He said the Iran-backed 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 were "defending themselves... against foreign aggression [by the Arab Coalition]" during an interview aired on August 5.
Saudi Arabia expelled Lebanon’s envoy from the country and banned all Lebanese imports. Bahrain and Kuwait followed suit, and the UAE withdrew its diplomats from Beirut and banned its citizens from traveling to Lebanon.
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan told Al Arabiya on Sunday that the crisis was bigger than Kordahi’s statements, and that the main crisis is the growing Hezbollah influence in Lebanon’s politics.
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati has tried to contain diplomatic fallout early on by rejecting Kordahi’s comments and stressing that they had nothing to do with the government’s policy.
Mikati urged Kordahi again on Thursday to prioritize the national interest of Lebanon: "I repeat my call to the Minister of Information to... adopt the stance that needs to be taken and give priority to the national interest."
#SaudiArabia’s Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman says increasing the production of #oil gradually is the right thing to do, after #OPEC+ decided on a slight raise of oil production, despite #US calls for faster output increases.https://t.co/WZDv3FxTWc
[SHAFAQ] The suffering of rural communities across northeast Syria controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is being amplified by Ottoman Turkish-backed gangs. Already struggling with severe climate change-linked drought, these areas have experienced even more severe water shortages since May, when the Syrian National Army (SNA) built three earth dams in areas under their control, cutting off the vital Khabur river 80 kilometers northwest of Hasakah city. New research by PAX, conducted through interviews on the ground and satellite imagery, has shown the depth and consequences of the dam construction on the lives and livelihoods of Syrian farmers.The summer of 2021 was one of the hottest ever recorded in northeast Syria. The impact of the extreme heat was magnified by very limited rainfall, which meant agricultural communities had less water than ever at their time of greatest need. According to humanitarian agencies, over 12 million Syrians currently face dire consequences from lack of rain and water in the Euphrates River.
For farmers in and near the Khabur valley, the impact of these shortages was further compounded by the blockage of the river, the Euphrates’ largest tributary and a historically non-seasonal waterway. During fieldwork carried out along the M4 highway in September 2021, PAX interviewed farmers and pastoralists around Tel Tamer, many of whom were struggling with intense water scarcity. The cutting of the river’s flow came at a time of severe drought and high diesel prices, which are preventing many farmers from operating their pumps. With no irrigation, vast tracts of agricultural land are being left fallow.
This is the latest instance in which water has been used as a weapon of war during the conflict in Syria, adding a new unpredictable challenge to farmers’ lives. Since the incursion in parts of northeast Syria by Ottoman Turkish forces and Ottoman Turkish-backed gangs, populations in the area face serious challenges around access to water. Starting in October 2019, the SNA disrupted the water flow from the Alouk Water Station to Tel Tamer and Hasakah on over 20 occasions, leaving close to a million people without access. The lack of rain in Spring 2021 also resulted in lower water levels, as The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
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Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Guys, one request.
Please replace Mustafa Kemal's picture with one with Erdogans. Something like ( https://www.israellycool.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/erdogan-horse.jpg )
Because, whatever the modern day Neo-Ottomanistan is, it has no real relation to Turkey anymore.
[LIBYAREVIEW] Libya’s Attorney General has issued a decision to arrest the former mayor of Brega municipality, pending investigations into the embezzlement of public funds.The Office of the Attorney General said in a statement that the evidence to indict the former Libyan official is "clear."
"The accused embezzled sums of money estimated at about one million Libyan dinars. He also assumed a false name when managing the account of the Brega municipality at the Sahara Bank. The Chief Prosecutor at the Attorney General’s Office has begun an investigation into the case," the statement noted.
On Wednesday, the Libyan Public Prosecution remanded a member of the Board of Directors of the National Oil Corporation (NOC), Abulgasem Shengheer, and two others in jug pending further investigations.
In a statement, the Prosecution announced that it is conducting investigations into Shengheer, the Director of the Occupational Safety, Security, and Health Department of Akakus Oil, and an employee in charge of the Administrative Affairs Unit, over charges of obtaining illegal benefits, causing serious harm to public money, and abusing power.
The detainees were also charged with falsifying documents for personal gain.
[IsraelTimes] Israeli troops shot a suspected Israeli smuggler and lightly injured him during an apparent attempt to bring drugs across the border from Egypt into Israel earlier today, the military says.
According to the Israel Defense Forces, soldiers monitoring surveillance cameras spotted the alleged drug smuggling attempt and dispatched troops to the scene.
“During the effort to thwart the smuggling, one of the smugglers who was driving his car accelerated toward them and endangered their lives,” the military says. “The troops began a process of arresting the suspect, including firing into the air and at the vehicle’s wheels. As a result of the gunfire, one of the suspects was injured in his leg and taken for medical treatment in mild condition.”
Though the IDF is tasked with preventing smuggling along the Israeli-Egyptian border, the military typically strives to avoid direct confrontation with Israeli drug smugglers, leaving that to the police.
The military says it is investigating today’s incident.
[IsraelTimes] Tens of millions of Americans who work at companies with 100 or more employees will need to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by January 4 or be tested for the virus weekly under new government rules issued today.
They actually issued rules — I’m surprised. Time to crank up the lawsuit machine, boys and girls.
The new requirements will apply to about 84 million workers at medium and large businesses, although it is not clear how many of those employees are unvaccinated.
Somewhere between 10% and 45%, based on national statistics seen thus far.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations will force the companies to require that unvaccinated workers test negative for COVID-19 at least once a week and wear a mask while in the workplace.
Tougher rules will apply to another 17 million people who work in nursing homes, hospitals and other facilities that receive money from Medicare and Medicaid. Those workers will not have an option for testing — they will need to be vaccinated.
Workers will be able to ask for exemptions on medical or religious grounds.
Ask yes, but experience thus far shows that exemptions won’t be granted. Sort of like how pleading innocent by reason of insanity and guilty but insane results in the same prison sentence.
OSHA said companies that fail to comply with the regulations could face penalties of nearly $14,000 per violation.
#12
I don't expect this to stand in court and I doubt Biden does too. It will cause some companies, especially in the blue areas, to enforce it before then and more people WILL get vaccinated, which is the whole goal.
#13
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations will force the companies to require that unvaccinated workers test negative for COVID-19 at least once a week and wear a mask while in the workplace.
If it is about health and safety, then one person who has been vaxx'd and still comes down with the covid invalidates this whole procedure.
Medicare, but not the panoply of welfares? Not the Millionaire Border Jumpers?
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
11/05/2021 14:56
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#17
As long as the electricity and water utilities are running... I started keeping a 4-to-6 week supply of cans and dry beans in the kitchen cupboards when the shortages started hitting last spring. Not Prepper just thinking ahead.
If you don't have 4 weeks of supplies you are further behind an 8 ball than a Biden.
It is suggested, especially you all in the above average risk to boogie, to have 2 weeks of portable food. Stuff you can just open and eat, no prep necessary. MREs are the prime example but if space is a crunch, as it will be in a boogie, allow me to suggest only the MRE main course pouch. 3 or 4 of those will fit into the same volume as a full MRE kit. Not a salesman, just an example, plenty of brands Main Course.
Don't forget water treatment and filtration. If the Biden hits the fan for real, you will need to be able to create potable water.
You've done this drill before with no warning, so no problem. Medicine, sanitary items, alternative ways to boil water so you can use dehydrated foods.
Also, take a moment to go through your squirrel hole and check expiration dates on what you may have gathered back at 2 weeks to flatten the curve. Remember, expiration and best by dates are not the same.
[ToloNews] The United Nations High Commissions for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a report that 3.5 million people have been displaced in Afghanistan because of conflict and insecurity.
Expressing concerns over the situation of internally displaced people in Afghanistan, the UN agency added that efforts are underway to assist the displaced people before winter approaches.
The report says: “Conflict and insecurity have displaced 3.5 million Afghans inside the country, including some 700,000 forced from their homes so far this year. UNHCR is rushing to provide winter assistance to some 500,000 displaced Afghans, returnees and local host communities by the end of 2021.”
In the meantime, in a separate report in October, Takeshi Moriyama, a senior emergency coordinator at UNHCR, said: “About 18.4 million people were in need of assistance. Now, with this winter coming up, we are forecasting 24.4 million people who are going to require food, healthcare and nutrition. It is very urgent that we provide support.”
Meanwhile, homeless families at a Kabul camp complained about their living conditions as the cold weather approaches.
Gul Mohammad, a displaced person, said: “A rocket hit our house, one of my relatives was killed and my son was injured, we have nothing now to go back home with, even the cost of transportation.”
Displaced people are urging the international community to provide them with immediate humanitarian assistance.
#1
displace sucks displace this displace datplace who cares cloz the or i gonna displace yo leg bonz itz coldz out i wuz suppoze to be goiong to displace butt the fauci vidz phucked that place and displace all upz! we need to clean displace upz !
[SHAFAQ] An official security source reported that three unidentified gunnies assassinated an engineer working in a government department, east of Baghdad.
The source told Shafaq News agency that the gunnies ambushed the victim while he was leaving work.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/05/2021
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#1
I tell you Ahmed, he must eliminated, flushed from our wassa system, he is the engineer, who caused all the problems in my home 🏡 ... he is a dirty man.
[An Nahar] Prime Minister Najib Miqati on Thursday again urged Information Minister George Kordahi to step down over an unprecedented diplomatic rift with Saudi 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. Fifteen of the nineteen WTC hijackers were Saudis, and most major jihadi commanders were Saudis, to include Osama bin Laden. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman quietly folded that tent in 2016, doing terrible things to the guys running it, and has since been dragging the kingdom into the current century... , saying his resignation would be "a priority.""I reiterate my call for the information minister to put national interest first," Miqati said in a speech from the Grand Serail, shortly after he met in Baabda with President Michel Aoun ...president of Leb, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hizbullah... .
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[IsraelTimes] Delegation of 12 MEPs, including a former prime minister, visits with President Herzog, urges cooperation on antisemitism, innovation.
Senior members of the European Parliament viewed a Hezbollah tunnel at the Israel town of Zarit on the Lebanon border on Thursday.
The delegation, organized by ELNET-European Leadership Network, flew by helicopter from Jerusalem to the border, where they were briefed by the Israel Defense Forces on the security situation in Lebanon.
The cross-border tunnel, plunging more than 80 meters (260 feet) below ground, was the largest and deepest of six passageways that Israel said members of the Hezbollah terror group had dug as part of a plan to carry out attacks against soldiers and civilians.
They were sealed off in a highly-publicized 2019 operation, though Israeli military officials regularly give visiting dignitaries tours of tunnels on its borders with Gaza and Hamas to demonstrate the threats it faces.
The 12 lawmakers on the delegation — which includes a former prime minister and several former ministers — are in Israel on a five-day visit.
On Tuesday, they met with Knesset members, and on Wednesday, they had an audience with President Isaac Herzog.
They also visited Jerusalem’s Old City and Yad Vashem, where they discussed antisemitism in Europe.
“We are two democracies under threat — different threats,” Antonio López-Isturíz White, MEP from the European People’s Party-Spain and chairman of the European Parliament Delegation for Relations with Israel, said to Herzog.
“You have the survival threat against Iran and its proxies, and we have threats raging from populism and regimes that undermine our democracy. There are things that we believe you need us [for] — like the Horizon program, trade, and the fight against climate change. And we need you, for the security of Europe, for your expertise in this fascinating time of new technology.”
Herzog pointed to the intellectual and cultural heritage Israel shares with Europe as the foundation for future cooperation. He also praised the recently-launched European Union Strategy on Combating Antisemitism and Fostering Jewish Life, and urged the European Parliament to fight antisemitism.
“The arrival of these respected members of the European parliament is another significant step toward strengthening the vital relationship between Israel and Europe,” said Shai Bazak, CEO of ELNET-Israel.
“The purpose of the delegation is to provide them with an in-depth understanding of the economic, security, and civil conditions in Israel, in order to foster future collaborations and initiatives. I am confident that the tour will encourage us to advance our mutual interests further.”
The delegation is led by Lopez-Isturi White.
Joining him were former Estonian prime minister Andrus Ansip; Assita Kanko of Belgium; Elena Yontcheva of Bulgaria; Isabel Benjumea Benjumea of Spain; Jens Gieseke of Germany; Manolis Kefalogiannis of Greece; Michael David Lega of Sweden; Ljudmila Novak of Slovenia; Andreas Schwab of Germany; Juan Ignacio Zoido Álvarez of Spain; and EPP Deputy Secretary-General Christian Kremer.
The visit comes weeks after Israel and the EU finalized their agreement for Jerusalem to join the EU’s largest research and innovation program, Horizon Europe.
The EU noted that joint projects with Israel have led to breakthroughs in climate change, public health and safe transportation.
[IsraelTimes] Cyprus signs a deal for Israel’s military to build an electronic surveillance system, monitoring activity along the UN-patrolled Green Line across the divided Mediterranean island.
“It is an electronic surveillance system that will provide us with images 24 hours a day,” says Cypriot Defense Ministry spokesperson Christos Pieris. “It will be installed at various points on the Green Line.”
The 180-kilometer (112-mile) Green Line has split the island from east to west since 1974. It divides the Republic of Cyprus, the European Union’s most easterly member, from the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, recognized only by Ankara.
The surveillance system will monitor activity such as smuggling and illegal migration, as well as provide military intelligence, officials say. The security system, costing 27.5 million euros ($32 million), is expected to take three years to complete.
[AlAhram] The supreme leader of the Taliban warned Thursday against the danger of turncoats and infiltrators in the movement that has taken charge of Afghanistan.
Reflecting the seriousness of the threat, the reclusive Haibatullah Akhundzada issued a rare written public statement to urge Taliban commanders to purge their ranks.
In it he says "all those elders of their groups must look inside their ranks and see if there is any unknown entity working against the will of the government, which must be eradicated as soon as possible.
"Whatever wrong happens, the elder will be responsible for the consequences of the actions in this world and in the afterlife," he warned, in a statement tweeted out by multiple Taliban accounts.
The Islamist militant movement seized power in August after overrunning the capital and ousting the collapsing US-backed government, declaring a new Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
But after 20-years of guerrilla warfare, the Taliban has been forced to expand their ranks rapidly by recruiting former foes, allied Islamist militants and young madrassa students.
Now that it is the government, the movement faces attacks in its turn from hardline factions like the Islamic group-Khorasan.
And the moon could be made of green cheese. What’s the probability that they will, and what’s the probability that however many they have will function as intended?
[OneIndia] China could have 700 deliverable nuclear warheads by 2027 It could top 1,000 by 2030 and this arsenal is two and a half times the size of what the Pentagon had predicted only a year ago.
The People's Republic of China (PRC) is investing in, and expanding, the number of its land-, sea-, and air-based nuclear delivery platforms and constructing the infrastructure necessary to support this major expansion of its nuclear forces, the Pentagon report said.China has been continuing to take "incremental and tactical actions" to press its claims at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with India and has unsuccessfully sought to prevent New Delhi from deepening its relationship with the United States, the Pentagon also said.
After WHO nod, People vaccinated with Covaxin can now enter US from November 8: Details hereAfter WHO nod, People vaccinated with Covaxin can now enter US from November 8: Details here
Continued on Page 49
[American Mil News] The U.S. Navy has relieved the three senior leaders of the USS Connecticut (SSN-22), the U.S. Seawolf-class fast-attack submarine that ran into an underwater mountain in the South China Sea last month, injuring 11 sailors and forcing the submarine to limp back to port in Guam.
On Thursday, the U.S. Navy announced U.S. 7th Fleet commander Vice Adm. Karl Thomas reached the decision to relieve the USS Connecticut’s commanding officer Cmdr. Cameron Aljilani, executive officer Lt. Cmdr. Patrick Cashin and Chief of the Boat Cory Rodgers.
In announcing its decision to relieve the three senior leaders of the submarine, the Navy described a "loss of confidence" in the leaders.
"Thomas determined sound judgement, prudent decision-making, and adherence to required procedures in navigation planning, watch team execution and risk management could have prevented the incident," the Navy statement read.
Following the command relief, the Navy said Capt. John Witte will assume duties as interim Commanding Officer. Cmdr. Joe Sammur will assume duties as interim Executive Officer and Command Master Chief Paul Walters will assume duties as interim Chief of the Boat.
#4
"Thomas determined sound judgement, prudent decision-making, and adherence to required procedures in navigation planning, watch team execution and risk management that doing Navy things could have prevented the incident,"
As mentioned, axing the CO, the XO and the COB is a pretty big bite. A messed up local culture on the boat?
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
11/05/2021 13:03
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#10
...What I'm thinking is this:
The Seawolf class - all three of them - are likely the finest attack subs on the planet, and definitely the quietest. That's one reason they tend to get some seriously touchy assignments (especially Jimmy Carter). Now with that in mind, it's perfectly reasonable to believe that Connecticut was in the SCS on one of those 'if-I-told-you-I'd-have-to-kill-you' missions.
Something goes sideways, for whatever reason, and the skipper - who's counted on to get in and out invisibly - puts the spurs to the boat and gets out of Dodge...and runs into that seamount.
I don't think he's getting relieved so much for the collision as much as whatever actions and circumstances required him to be running at full speed in an uncharted area. I think they got caught, or were about to be so, the skipper got rattled, and made a run for it.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
11/05/2021 13:30
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#11
A report I read said the sonar dome on the front of the boat was literally ripped off, with sensitive systems and equipment onboard. If so, are they going to retrieve it before the PLAN scoops it up, or do they think the PLAN already has the schematics?
#12
Being blamed for hitting an invisible obstacle. Good ol' Navy. The same ones that ran their destroyers ragged and hit two cargo ships in a short time.
#13
I think Mike K is probably right. Running into an UNCHARTED sea mount should not be a career ending event - unless there was something else going on.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
11/05/2021 14:48
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#14
no more sperm whale anal to make fluids for the new woke breakfast drink at bunk and bulshit!
Soldiers of the Mexican Army, the National Guard and agents of the Attorney General's Office of Mexico detained Armando N., alias "El Inge," leader of the Pacific cartel in Sinaloa, Mexico.
The raid was conducted on October 28, but was not reported until Thursday. Along with apprehending "El Inge," agents confiscated 118 kilograms of fentanyl paste, a narcotic opioid, and a laboratory used to produce the synthetic drug.
The haul of fentanyl is thought to be worth around $48 million at current street value, which would make it the largest seizure of its kind to date. Securing the lab, however, was of equal importance.
The Mexican National Defense agency believed the laboratory capable of producing 70 kilograms of fentanyl paste each month. Each kilogram of fentanyl paste can produce up to a million normal doses. The scale of the operation led the agency to believe its distribution footprint was international.
[DW] An anti-discrimination campaign to promote acceptance of the hijab has been canceled by the Council of Europe following outrage in France and across Europe. Some are furious it was even made, others that it was pulled.
Young European Muslims say a decision to cancel a newly launched EU online campaign to promote acceptance of hijab is "an attack on human rights."
"Attacks on this vital campaign take place in a wider environment of a shrinking of civic space, where government actors routinely censor and limit the freedom of speech when it doesn't fit their political agenda," said the Forum of European Muslim Youth and Student Organizations (FEMYSO).
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[An Nahar] The judge leading investigations into last year's Beirut port blast was forced to stop work Thursday over a lawsuit filed by an ex-minister he had summoned for interrogation.Tarek Bitar was informed of a "lawsuit submitted by former public works minister Youssef Fenianos... which forced him to pause the probe until a ruling is issued," a court official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
It is the third time that Bitar has had to suspend his probe in the face of lawsuits filed by former ministers suspected of negligence over the August 2020 explosion.
The total number of lawsuits filed against Bitar now stands at 15, according to judicial sources.
Similar temporary suspensions have plagued the course of the probe over the past weeks but previous cases to remove the judge have been turned down.
But in a sign that the suspension may be prolonged, the court asked Bitar to hand over the details of the case to enable it to review the lawsuit, according to a copy of the decision seen by The News Agency that Dare Not be Named.
The latest comes amid a campaign led by Hizbullah ...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory... demanding Bitar's replacement over allegations of "bias" that have been widely dismissed by rights groups and families of blast victims.
Hizbullah's representatives in government have said they will boycott Cabinet meetings until it takes a clear stand on demands to replace Bitar.
The Cabinet, as a result, has failed to hold a single session in three weeks.
Prime Minister Najib Miqati on Thursday condemned attempts to force his government to intervene in judicial affairs, in a thinly veiled criticism of Hizbullah.
"We have tried as much as possible to keep the Beirut blast probe under the purview of the judiciary and we have rejected any kind of (political) interference," Miqati told a news conference.
Human rights groups and victims' relatives fear the repeated suspensions are a prelude to Bitar's removal, which would further derail the official inquiry into Lebanon Hezbollahstan ...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. ... 's worst peace-time tragedy.
Bitar's predecessor, Fadi Sawwan, was forced to suspend his probe for the same reason before he was finally removed in February, in a move widely condemned as political interference.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/05/2021
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Libya’s Anti-Illegal Migration Agency has repatriated 163 Nigerian migrants colonists, including women and kiddies through 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... ’s Mitiga International Airport.
The agency said in a statement that the repatriation was carried out by the Interior Ministry and the Office of the Attorney General in coordination with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), as part of the voluntary return program for migrants colonists. A medical examination and COVID-19 tests were conducted for the travellers.
Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) confirmed that the migrants colonists arrived in the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) in Ikeja, Lagos.
The NEMA coordinator said five of the returnees were found to have health-issues after screening by Port Health officials, according to Nigeria’s news website ’The Nation’.
Notably, the Sahara Reporters news agency stated that a number of Nigerians in Libya have requested help after government officials raided their homes during an immigration crackdown.
In a video shared by Igbere TV, a Nigerian woman who claimed she lives in Tripoli accused the Libyan government of sending security operatives to break into the houses of migrants colonists and arrest them.
She pleaded with the Nigerian government to come to their rescue:
"We need the help of the Nigerian government. Look at what they are doing to us. They will just break into the houses of Nigerians, Ghanaians, and other African nationals, they arrest you and dump you inside prison. They also arrested pregnant women and their children and dumped them inside prison. The Nigerian government should come to our rescue, please. If it was that they arrested these people and they deported them to Nigeria or their respective countries, it would have been better, but they don’t do that. For three days now, we haven’t left our houses, we are scared, please help us," she claimed.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] La Belle France said on Thursday it could still act with its partners against Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... at an upcoming meeting of the UN nuclear watchdog's board after Tehran said it would return to nuclear talks with world powers at the end of November.
Western powers scrapped plans in September for a resolution criticizing Iran at the ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency after Tehran agreed to prolong monitoring of some nuclear activities and invited IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi to Tehran for talks on key outstanding issues.
The decision by the US, La Belle France, Britannia and Germany not to push for a resolution by the IAEA's 35-nation board of governors avoided an escalation with Iran that could have killed hopes of resuming wider talks in Vienna on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal.
Iran and the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... , which coordinates those negotiations, said on Wednesday that all sides had agreed to return to the Austrian capital on Nov. 29.
Western states have increasingly become frustrated that Iran has failed to fully honor a monitoring agreement with the IAEA, continues to breach its 2015 accord, and has yet to allow Grossi to come to Tehran for high-level talks that had been promised in September. It has also not properly addressed outstanding questions on past nuclear activities.
"Iran must resume dialogue and cooperation with the agency without delay to make progress on outstanding issues," French Foreign ministry spokeswoman Anne-Claire Legendre told news hounds in a daily briefing.
When asked whether Iran's decision to return to the nuclear talks would make it unlikely that Western powers rebuke Tehran when the IAEA board holds it next quarterly meeting from Nov. 18, Legendre said Gay Paree remained extremely concerned about Iran's breaches of its obligations and commitments, including those made in September.
"Together with our partners, we remain very attentive to ensuring that Iran respects its commitments, and we remain in close consultation on the response to be provided on this," she said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/05/2021
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#Iran has doubled its stock of enriched uranium in less than a month, Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi says weeks ahead of the resumption of talks with the #US and Western allies to revive the abandoned 2015 nuclear deal.https://t.co/xxirffSTOC
Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... has doubled its stock of enriched uranium in less than a month, Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI) front man Behrouz Kamalvandi said weeks ahead of the resumption of talks with the US and Western allies to revive the abandoned 2015 nuclear deal.
"Our stock is now more than 210 kilograms of uranium enriched to 20 percent, and Iran has 25 kilograms at 60 percent, a level that no country apart from those with nuclear weapons are capable of producing," state news agency IRNA quoted Kamalvandi as saying.
The head of AEOI, Mohammed Eslami had said in October that Iran has more than 120 kilograms of 20-percent enriched uranium.
Under the abandoned 2015 nuclear deal, Iran was only allowed to enrich uranium up to 3.67 percent, way below the 90 percent required for weapons-grade uranium.
Thousands gather on streets in #Iran for the anniversary of the 1979 seizure of the #US Embassy, chanting “Death to America" and "Death to #Israel," and burning American and Israeli flags.https://t.co/V5TOPsR6au
[LIBYAREVIEW] Libyan Foreign Minister, Najla al-Mangoush said Libya could work with the US on extraditing a man wanted over the 1988 Lockerbie bombing.
Al-Mangoush told the BBC that "positive outcomes are coming" in the case of Abu Agila Mohammed Masud.
In the Rantburg archives as Abu Agila Mohammad Masud...
Masud is alleged to have been a top bomb-maker for former Libyan leader Muammar Qadaffy ...Proof that a madman with money will be politely received for at least 42 years until his people get tired of him and kill him... . He is a former Libyan intelligence official who is currently imprisoned on unrelated charges. He has been charged in the US with terrorism-related crimes, with officials claiming he helped build the bomb which downed the aircraft, and set the timer.
The FM said the Libyan government "understands the pain and sadness" of the victims’ families but "needs to respect the laws". She added that the US and Libya were collaborating on the case, and it was progressing.
The deadly attack on Pan Am Flight 103 from London to New York killed 270 people, including 190 Americans. Of those who died, 35 were study-abroad students who were returning home for Christmas, while 11 were killed on the ground in the Scottish town.
Libya claimed the credit in 2003, and paid compensation to the families.
The current Libyan government wants to maintain good relations with the US, and Washington hopes to have Masud extradited. The BBC’s Orla Guerin in 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... says the signs are that ultimately the suspect will be handed over.
US officials also say Masud conspired with another Libyan intelligence official, Abdel-Baset al-Megrahi who was the only man convicted for the attack.
Al-Megrahi maintained his innocence until his death in 2012. His family has vowed to clear his name in the UK courts.
Among bereaved relatives in the UK, there are questions and doubts. Some believe Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... was to blame for downing the plane not Libya, and the new charges are a smokescreen.
[THEWRAP] Winsome Sears — the first woman and first woman of color elected lieutenant governor of Virginia on Tuesday night — called out Joy Reid ...Harvard-educated lefty MSDNC commentatrix, given to fits of hyperbole, bad arithmetic, and faux sophistication... after watching the MSNBC host describe the GOP as "dangerous."
"I wish Joy Reid would invite me on her show — let’s see if she’s woman enough to do that — I’d go in a heartbeat and we’d have a real discussion without Joy speaking about me behind my back, if you will," Sears said during her appearance on Fox’s "The Story with Martha MacCallum" Wednesday afternoon.
"[Reid] talks about white supremacy ...the pernicious doctrine that laws were intended to be obeyed, that society works better when people don't pour shreiking from their places of worship every Friday for a weekend of rioting over insults real or imagined; and that cannibalism, beastiality, incest, murder, theft, rape, and similar activities are bad. A Dead White European (which invalidates his opinion) philosopher once opined that societies thrive when a person's word can be relied upon, and that a society which puts individual happiness first will invariably fail. Strangely enough, other successful societies, such as China, Japan, Korea, and those kinds of places could also be lumped with white supremacist societies, since they push the same values... ," Sears continued. "Does she know that I ran against a white supremacist? I mean Joy come on. Get your facts straight and then come talk to me. I’m waiting for you."
[WJLA] A new warning has been issued regarding a potential attack on the electrical grid in the northeast United States. A newly-released intelligence bulletin, obtained by ABC News, reveals a plot involving the use of a drone to disrupt an electrical grid in Pennsylvania in July 2020.
The drone, which crashed atop a building near a Pennsylvania power substation last year, was likely intended to disrupt operations by creating a short circuit to damage transformers, according to the memo from the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and the National Counterterrorism Center. The drone had a thick copper wire attached to it.
That isn’t comforting.
The memo was based on a review of drone incidents dating back to 2017.
Thank goodness someone finally decided to look at the data.
A concern is the illicit use of drones over energy infrastructure and other potential targets are growing. Drones are very difficult to detect or even to defend against.
Officials believe it's the first time a drone was used to deliberately damage the U.S. energy structure.
The person responsible removed the camera, memory card, and all markings to hide their identity.
So no hint at all who might have done this? Black Bloc eco nuts or Occupy Wall Street types, jihadis, someone else? Let’s leave the article on Page 3: Non-WoT until more is revealed.
Federal officials tell CNN they are distributing the intelligence bulletin now to "raise awareness about the incident and the general threat of drones to critical infrastructure."
#2
So sitting on the information for 16 months helps?
90 days I can understand... You didn't want to scare the voters in 2020. So what else are you guys hiding?
#5
The article links to an ABC News report video that shows the Homeland Security memo (at about 31 seconds in). The incident took place on 16 July 2020, according to the memo, and was published in an intelligence report on 18 August. The drone is apparently a Da Jiang Innovations Maverick 2, and looks like a quadcopter of some sort. Could it be a kit?
#6
DJI Mavic 2 frame -- without the camera it's not possible to know if it was sold as a "Pro" or "Zoom". The "Pro" has a better lens and bigger sensor, but no zoom capability. They're not kits; they were the top of their line for "prosumer" drones -- good enough you could start a business with one, but cheap enough for a hobbyist.
It will have a serial number in the firmware, as will the battery. Since DJI has been criticized for how much data the drones send back to them, it should be pretty easy to get more information on it.
Now, it's possible the firmware was hacked, but I haven't looked into what that involves, so I don't know what effects it would have. DJI has been criticized by some consumers for automatically obeying US no-flight zones, but I doubt there are declared no-drone-flight zones over every substation.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
11/05/2021 10:52
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#7
Meant to say they were their top-of-the-line until the announcement of the Mavic 3, which hasn't been released yet. But rumors about the price of the Mavic 3 might change the segmentation of their line; if it's too expensive it might just be a professional drone with their Mini and Air models targeting the hobbyist market.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
11/05/2021 10:55
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#8
This sucks. I can think of two ways to defeat drone attacks like this with 20 seconds of thought. What being done?
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
11/05/2021 12:38
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#9
Well, Remote ID will be required in a few years. Think of it as license plates for drones. Older drones will either have to have added equipment to support it, or will only be allowed to fly in restricted areas.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
11/05/2021 13:08
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[NY Post] A little pretentious as a "Man of the People" Joe
A gaggle of far-left environmental activists followed Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) from his DC houseboat to his car Thursday morning and attempted to prevent him from leaving a parking garage ‐ the latest fit of progressive pique over Manchin's current opposition to the multitrillion-dollar Democratic social spending bill.
Video tweeted by John Paul Mejia, a spokesperson for the Sunrise Movement, showed Manchin walking from his houseboat on the Potomac River ‐ where the senator rests his head when not in his home state ‐ to the garage.
As he strolled, Manchin was serenaded by chants of "We want to live!" while individual activists yelled at him to "Fight for us!"
A second video, posted by Twitter user @Tim_Tweeted, showed small groups of activists standing in front of and behind the silver Maserati. Eventually, security guards who had accompanied Manchin to the car cleared a path for the senator to drive away.
Manchin and his Senate colleague, Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) have been a target of persistent harassment over their objections to the $1.75 trillion Build Back Better Act, which provides funding for programs meant to counter climate change as well as a dramatic expansion of the social safety net.
In late September, activists on kayaks rowed up to Manchin's houseboat to encourage him to support the legislation. Days later, Sinema was harangued while attempting to give a lecture at Arizona State University and was followed into a women's bathroom by pro-immigration demonstrators who encouraged to to support a pathway to citizenship for illegal aliens in the legislation.
Manchin's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the incident.
When asked by The Post whether Manchin, Sinema or members of their staff had experienced an uptick in threats to their safety during the debate over the legislation, US Capitol Police responded: "We cannot discuss potential threats or potential security plans."
While some left-winger cheered the stunt on Twitter ("Manchin deserves to be peacefully but loudly hounded wherever he goes," one user wrote), others condemned the protesters' actions.
"It is *literally* violence to block someone's lawful, free movement," tweeted Ellen Carmichael, head of PR firm The Lafayette Company. "They should all be arrested."
"Weird that blocking someone from driving to work, screaming at them, and then pretending he was running you over didn't make him empathize with you!" added Maggie Howell, a staffer for House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.)
#7
The way they're treating Manchin and Sinema is NOT the way to win friends and influence people. Pelosi, Schumer and #FJB must know by now their agenda is kaput and they're just taking a bit of revenge.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
11/05/2021 12:14
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#8
Doing a burn-out would have been an absolute Boss move.
#Ukraine appoints a new defense minister with a mandate to strengthen the army, as the country remains locked in conflict with pro-#Russia separatists.https://t.co/4kQQzofdvv
#Sudan's General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan ordered the release of four ministers detained since he led a military power grab last week, state-run television says.https://t.co/fQMqRGssAh
#Sudan’s army says the formation of a new government is now “imminent,” following last week’s military takeover which triggered international condemnation and mass anti-coup protests.https://t.co/K4zWxoNoRa
[Babylon Bee] Terry McAuliffe’s loss in the Virginia gubernatorial race has sent shock waves through the Democrat establishment. Some are blaming the rise of racism, domestic terrorist parents of public-school students, and lack of understanding of true Marxism for the loss. After careful study of the results, however, the campaign determined the true cause was a shockingly low turnout among 3 a.m. ballots.
"Yeah, our ground game was clearly to blame," said McAuliffe to tearful reporters. "After studying the numbers, there is just no way to sugarcoat our failure to turn out the 3 a.m. ballots. Bottom line is, we simply came up short. The votes in the key 3 a.m. demographic just weren’t there."
The DNC is looking closely at what went wrong in Virginia to make sure they don’t repeat the mistakes in the crucial 2022 election. So far, the clear takeaway is simply to make sure they have enough ballots in reserve to make up for a rise in racism, pornophobia, LGBTQaphobia, Islamophobia, and Marxismaphobia among the voters.
"We thought we had it in the bag with all the early vote ballots, all the absentee ballots, all the dead voter ballots, and frankly we got a little lazy and let the country down," said McAuliffe campaign head Biff Tannen. "Let this be a lesson to all Democrat candidates facing an election in this hostile environment full of terrorist parents who don’t want their girls raped in school bathrooms by guys wearing skirts. Do not rely on actual people voting for Democrats! The 3 a.m. ballot demographic is key to Democrat victory from now on."
Democrat strategists also determined to push the wildly popular CRT a little more next time.
Posted by: Frank G & Hupusolet Smith5796 ||
11/05/2021
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Top|| File under: Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life, & Kleptocrats
#1
They are right, New Jersey managed to do it, Virginia Dems have until next Tuesday to sneak their "found ballots". Better get busy, time's a wasting.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.