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US slaps Hezbollah financier with 5-year prison sentence, $50m. fine
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
40 14:31 CrazyFool [1]
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If you've got it...
It's been awhile since we've had a bleg. You know how I always hate to ask, and I sincerely thank those of you who make regular monthly donations. Blegging makes me feel like I have greasy ringlets of hair and four teeth and I'm standing on a traffic island holding a sign claiming to be homeless.

Actually I have a perfectly nice home, thank you. I still have a dwindling number of my teeth, with the help of my VA dentist. What little remains of my hair is usually grease-free; there's not enough there to retain it.

I have a PayPal account set up that's supposed to cover hosting, hardware purchases, and occasionally beer or strong drink. I used to have an Amazon account for those who couldn't stand PayPal, but Amazon long ago decided I wasn't a good cause and dumped me. I've looked at other approaches, but none is quite as convenient (for me, anyway) as Paypal, meaning I'm either too dumb or too impatient to navigate the sign-up process.

Hardware isn't desperate at the moment; it's been six months since the server's even needed a restart, which is a record. I still need to keep the cost of a new one set aside for when she does go kaput. I've noticed that talking about how reliable a server is usually causes it to start emitting smoke or something.

Hosting is $110 a month. It used to be cheaper, but it's only gone up by ten bucks in ten years. That's $1320 a year.

I still drink cheap beer, but the price of Jim Beam is getting exorbitant. I'm drinking JD at the moment, but I prefer Beam, which is about $25 a quart.

We're coming up on eighteen years of the Burg. I wrote it from scratch, in three different programming languages, and I've maintained it through three or four databases. The archives are there for anyone who wants to use them, going back to 9-11-01. It's a better site than it was when it started out, and I learned a lot of what I made a career from in writing it and maintaining it. I miss doing the Bloid every night, but my hands aren't quite up to it anymore. Thank you, US Government and Dow Chemical.

I think we've all learned a lot about the enemy from the Burg in the past nearly eighteen years. There's not another site quite like it, at least not that I've found, and I keep (sometimes sporadically) trying to make it better, with the kind help of current and former mods.

Pardon my long-windedness. The subject is, if you've got it, please kick in. I'd be happy to keep at it for the next eighteen years, and then I'll be happy to hand it off to somebody else who'll love it and take care of it (and obsess over it) like I do. But I'm running low on supplies.

Fred
Posted by: Fred || 08/09/2019 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Done
Posted by: Procopius2k || 08/07/2019 1:54 Comments || Top||

#2  Done, not much but what I can afford with new baby.
Posted by: Silentbrick || 08/07/2019 2:27 Comments || Top||

#3  Happy to pitch in!
Posted by: magpie || 08/07/2019 4:07 Comments || Top||

#4  Here's a little.....you're better and cheaper than a shrink.
Posted by: AlanC || 08/07/2019 7:14 Comments || Top||

#5  When I get home this afternoon, Sir....
Posted by: Frank G || 08/07/2019 9:07 Comments || Top||

#6  ╱╱┏╮
╱╱┃┃
▉━╯┗━╮
▉┈┈┈┈┃
▉╮┈┈┈┃
╱╰━━━╯
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 08/07/2019 9:09 Comments || Top||

#7  PayPal has actually proven itself to be pretty handy for a lot of things. Done.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 08/07/2019 9:11 Comments || Top||

#8  Done and done!
Here's to another two decades.
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 08/07/2019 10:43 Comments || Top||

#9  Thanks Fred for all that you do. A little is on the way--at least enough to keep you in JD or JB for a little while.
Posted by: JohnQC || 08/07/2019 11:03 Comments || Top||

#10  Done, not much but what I can afford with new baby.

Hey Hey, Congratulations!

Have a jar of Bee/Not Bee I'll get cashed in here.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 08/07/2019 12:46 Comments || Top||

#11  DONE also
Posted by: ranture || 08/07/2019 13:00 Comments || Top||

#12  On the way.
Posted by: Bangkok Billy || 08/07/2019 13:22 Comments || Top||

#13  The Paypal button points to "the rantburg defense fund" which may be from the era of copyright trolls. Is that the right account?
Posted by: The peanut gallery || 08/07/2019 13:51 Comments || Top||

#14  that's it. From the Righth@ven days
Posted by: Frank G || 08/07/2019 14:16 Comments || Top||

#15  Thanks Frank.

Done.
Posted by: The peanut gallery || 08/07/2019 15:05 Comments || Top||

#16  Can't use PayPal due to an ongoing dispute. Can you take a check?
Posted by: Tyranysaurus Criger8558 || 08/07/2019 16:30 Comments || Top||

#17  I didn't realize the monthly thing had expired. Sorry. Fixed now. If you need more mail me.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike || 08/07/2019 17:20 Comments || Top||

#18  The usual. I go thru PayPal, but use a credit card. Not PayPal, which is credit, and a statement.
Posted by: Bobby || 08/07/2019 17:22 Comments || Top||

#19  Check? Email me for my address.
Posted by: Fred || 08/07/2019 18:04 Comments || Top||

#20  Done, thx for all you do, Fred. Been here from the start, I reckon, and my comment count ;-)
Posted by: Frank G || 08/07/2019 18:57 Comments || Top||

#21  a little extra this time in remembrance of Lucky, Mucky, Pappy, .com, Ship, ....damn

So many
Posted by: Frank G || 08/07/2019 18:59 Comments || Top||

#22  Love Reading the Headlines Here
Posted by: Shatch Omoter3380 || 08/07/2019 19:07 Comments || Top||

#23  Too many, Frank.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike || 08/07/2019 19:34 Comments || Top||

#24  yep
Posted by: Frank G || 08/07/2019 20:14 Comments || Top||

#25  Will do. I almost missed the post.
Posted by: Woodrow || 08/07/2019 20:48 Comments || Top||

#26  Done. And thanks to everyone who contribute money, insights, information and laughs to Rantburg
Posted by: Airandee || 08/07/2019 20:51 Comments || Top||

#27  #19 Check? Email me for my address.
Posted by Fred


Fred I would love to send you a check for keeping this site alive it's the first place I go to every morning. But I can't find an email address for you on the site. Sorry I can't use PayPal.
Posted by: jpal || 08/07/2019 21:34 Comments || Top||

#28  jpal dear, in the yellow box in the right margin of the main page of Rantburg, the second hotlink is labelled Email Me. That will open a pre-addressed (but not stamped, because the post office never got its claws into the internet, thank goodness) email for you to use to communicate privately to Fred.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/07/2019 22:43 Comments || Top||

#29  Done! Thank you for this website - it's one of the few I visit regularly these days.
Posted by: KBK || 08/07/2019 23:46 Comments || Top||

#30  #28 jpal dear, in the yellow box in the right margin of the main page of Rantburg, the second hotlink is labelled Email Me

Sorry, my eyesight ain't what it used to be.
Posted by: jpal || 08/08/2019 10:17 Comments || Top||

#31  Donation sent in this morning. Thanks Fred, for all you do.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 08/08/2019 10:44 Comments || Top||

#32  Putting my meager contribution into a separate credit union account until I figure out how to send it without going through paypal.
Posted by: jpal || 08/08/2019 10:50 Comments || Top||

#33  In for 1 bottle of JB.
Posted by: Iblis || 08/08/2019 11:12 Comments || Top||

#34  I may ghost a lot on the 'burg, but I come by more often than daily. Thanks Fred: as a programmer, I was glad to hear that maintaining and updating the site helped you out in your career.

Iblis, I meet your one quart of JB, and raise ya one bottle. (Of course, it'll be Fred raising the bottle, but you know what I mean...)
Posted by: Ptah || 08/08/2019 12:37 Comments || Top||

#35  Another bottle all the way from India. And God bless.


But, I think Indian hooch beats JB any day. It gets the bloody job done the first time.☺


Posted by: Dron66046 || 08/08/2019 13:41 Comments || Top||

#36 

Yummy! Injun hooch!
Posted by: Fred || 08/08/2019 14:37 Comments || Top||

#37  As soon as I find the PayPal button I will donate.
Posted by: Creling Pelosi3622 || 08/09/2019 13:18 Comments || Top||

#38  Found it!
Posted by: Creling Pelosi3622 || 08/09/2019 13:31 Comments || Top||

#39  Done. I truly enjoy your site, Fred.
Posted by: BA || 08/09/2019 13:52 Comments || Top||

#40  Done! Between the knowledgable commenters, the snarks, and Rantburg U - well worth it!
Posted by: CrazyFool || 08/09/2019 14:31 Comments || Top||


Government
Utah's $97 million budget surplus makes case for tax reform ‐ and a tax cut
[Deseret News] SALT LAKE CITY ‐ Utah is counting on yet another state budget surplus, this time adding up to $97 million, and supporters of tax reform say the numbers make it clear why lawmakers need to act, including on a tax cut.

A preliminary report shows that as of the end of the fiscal year on June 30, the education fund that largely comes from income tax collections grew $140 million, an increase of 9.1% over the previous year and well above the projected 6% growth.

But it's a different story for the general fund that pays for the rest of state government services and is heavily dependent on the state's share of sales tax revenues.

While the general fund is also up, the report issued recently by the Governor's Office of Management and Budget and the Legislative Fiscal Analyst warns of a potential $43 million revenue deficit because growth was 3.6%, not the 5.3% projected.

The actual numbers are likely to change as the books are closed on the budget year.
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/09/2019 12:28 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I blame Mormon privilege.
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/09/2019 12:34 Comments || Top||

#2  If there is a surplus, taxes are too high. Returning that to the taxpayers should be the other side of the balanced budget coin. Instead, the pols want it for a "rainy day" or to hand along to gimmigrants.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 08/09/2019 12:37 Comments || Top||

#3  In a true capitalist model, the gummint would be allowed to spend only what it took in last year. No borrowing except in WW II style emergencies...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 08/09/2019 12:39 Comments || Top||

#4  Imagine how your bank president would respond to a letter on the subject of "what I intend to spend this year."
Posted by: M. Murcek || 08/09/2019 12:40 Comments || Top||

#5  If there is a surplus, taxes are too high.

Or the Temple is covering many expensive budget services which is in the State's charter to provide citizens.

Fraud of a different flavor.
Posted by: Skidmark || 08/09/2019 13:24 Comments || Top||

#6  But we always seem to be in an "emergency".
Posted by: DooDahMan || 08/09/2019 14:28 Comments || Top||

#7  Skidmark, that seems less like fraud and more like a case for small government and a less intrusive charter to begin with.
Posted by: Vernal Hatrick || 08/09/2019 14:54 Comments || Top||

#8  My local power company which is an EMC whatever that means gives customers refunds every year depending on their profits. Usually between $100-$200.
Posted by: jpal || 08/09/2019 15:37 Comments || Top||

#9  Cool Vern, but the tithing and spending is not taxed or externally audited, or distributed for the 'public good' if one is not in the right ward. Little different than sharecropper citizens.
Posted by: Skidmark || 08/09/2019 16:42 Comments || Top||

#10  Ah, the problem is that the Church is corrupt and impenetrable. That's especially hard to deal with in our society when churches enjoy practically no scrutiny (if you think it is just Utah, let me assure you, Detroit's black pastor's do the same thing on a smaller scale). It is a sticky situation when most people see the government or investigative reporters taking a look at churches and assume that it is coastal liberal elites trying to destroy religion (it often is, but churches are still corrupt just as often as everywhere else).
Posted by: Vernal Hatrick || 08/09/2019 17:31 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Latest Biden blunder: ‘Poor kids' are just as bright as ‘white kids'
Lulz. Gaffe Machine is self-unaware
[NY Post] Gaffe-prone presidential hopeful Joe Biden put his foot in his mouth during an Iowa campaign stop on Thursday when he told a group of predominately Asian and Hispanic voters that "poor kids are just as bright, just as talented, as white kids."

Biden committed the stunning blunder while speaking about education at a town hall with the Asian and Latino Coalition in Des Moines, where he's campaigning and fundraising for the 2020 Democratic primary.

"We should challenge students in these schools and have advanced placement programs in these schools. We have this notion that somehow if you're poor, you cannot do it," Biden said at the event, according to video of his remarks.

"Poor kids are just as bright, just as talented, as white kids," he added.

Biden almost immediately went into damage control mode, quickly adding: "wealthy kids, black kids, Asian kids, no I really mean it, but think how we think about it."

But President Trump's campaign quickly seized on the tongue slip, with his "rapid response director" Andrew Clark tweeting out a video clip of the remark.

"Yikes…have fun mitigating that one," he tweeted.
Posted by: Frank G || 08/09/2019 09:03 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Damn white kids and their mental brilliance!

Posted by: DarthVader || 08/09/2019 9:56 Comments || Top||

#2  He also said this..
Posted by: M. Murcek || 08/09/2019 10:39 Comments || Top||

#3  Hey Joe, you know that there are more poor white kids than any other brand out there.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 08/09/2019 11:07 Comments || Top||

#4  And poor why? Needs to be discussed also. Washington has subsidized black poverty since the 1960s
Posted by: M. Murcek || 08/09/2019 11:28 Comments || Top||

#5  He forgot the poor wealthy black kids. They can be talented alright, and then some.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 08/09/2019 11:31 Comments || Top||

#6  So Biden assumes just black kids can be poor? Joe has some issues that will haunt him if he runs for POTUS. Family corruption for one thing.
Posted by: JohnQC || 08/09/2019 11:54 Comments || Top||

#7  By definition, the parents of dumb white kids are too stupid to recognize the slur. Plenty of union goons lining up to vote for lunch box joe.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 08/09/2019 12:09 Comments || Top||

#8  In the current climate, he's kind of endearing. Politically incorrect, harmless. Not threatening to doxx anyone or telling people to "get in their faces," "bring a gun to a knife fight" etc.

You get the sense that he means no harm, bears no malice. No wonder African-Americans overwhelmingly support him instead of the Dem haters: unlike white overeducated liberals, A-A's tend not to have stupid illusions about life and other humans.

In any event, better a goofy pol than a violence-inciting one.
Posted by: Lex || 08/09/2019 14:36 Comments || Top||

#9  He appears to be goodhearted, bumbling Uncle Joe, but between his hands-on policy and a couple of nasty political things reported about him over the years, one senses a willingness to play hardball in smoky back rooms.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/09/2019 15:16 Comments || Top||

#10  Bet he wishes he'd run against Hillary in the 2016 primaries. But then there's the chance he'd have met with an 'unfortunate accident' on the campaign trail.
Posted by: jpal || 08/09/2019 16:07 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Daniel Greenfield: Identity Politics Violence is Tearing America Apart
Three years ago, a bloody summer of black nationalist violence claimed the lives of eight police officers with the massacre of five police officers by Micah X. Johnson in Dallas and the murder of three police officers in Baton Rogue by Gavin Long.

Johnson had declared his support for the Black Lives Matter racial nationalist group and told police that he wanted to kill white people, and especially white police officers.

In the fall, Marc LeQuon Payne tried to run over Phoenix police officers. Next spring, Kori Ali Muhammad went on a shooting spree in Fresno, murdering three white men.

...The alternating mass shootings by white nationalists and black nationalists predated Trump. They’re part of a cycle of violence going back decades if not generations. The cycle of violence had largely died down until it was triggered by the resurgence of identity politics in the Obama administration.

...By 2014, what had been a cynical and divisive political strategy became a killing field as violence exploded in major cities, initially by mobs, and then through acts of racial nationalist terrorism.

The gunmen spreading terror and death are the manifestation of the identity politics strategy.

...The resurgence of racial nationalist violence won’t end until we affirm the centrality of the nation over the identity politics that has fractured our political and cultural life. Until we get rid of identity politics, racial nationalist violence will continue tearing apart communities across a divided United States.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 08/09/2019 08:27 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It's confusing the sh*t out of hipster types and the not particularly feminine girls who chase them. Everyone else is not bothered.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 08/09/2019 13:09 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Ex-Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe Sues Over What He Calls Wrongful Firing
[NPR] Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe has sued the Trump administration for what he calls his "unlawful" termination, arguing that his firing last year was the result of improper political interference by the president.

"It was Trump's unconstitutional plan and scheme to discredit and remove DOJ and FBI employees who were deemed to be his partisan opponents because they were not politically loyal to him," the complaint alleges.
Told you she should've been charged
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 08/09/2019 07:34 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I am not a lawyer, but it seems to me that the President can fire any one in the executive branch he wants to (except civil servants).

Peter Strzok s doing the same thing.

Both of their pictures are in the dictionary right next to the entry for chutzpah.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 08/09/2019 9:28 Comments || Top||

#2  Good for both Strozk and McCabe - let them enjoy the sensation of spending untold thousands of dollars on legal fees.
Posted by: Raj || 08/09/2019 9:39 Comments || Top||

#3  Right, Raj, except it wouldn't surprise me in the least to hear that the donks were picking up the tab(s).
Posted by: PBMcL || 08/09/2019 10:06 Comments || Top||

#4  I thought POTUS could fire anyone in the bureaucracy. IMHO McCabe is an idiot to bring such a law suit. But go ahead Andy, just more light shined on Obama's corrupt government.
Posted by: JohnQC || 08/09/2019 11:52 Comments || Top||

#5  Maybe he's hoping the Dems pay him off to drop the case as discovery may be a little hair raising for some.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 08/09/2019 17:11 Comments || Top||

#6  The only wrongfullness about this firing was that they used the wrong caliber. Should have used an old 16 pounder, double shotted with grape.
Posted by: AlanC || 08/09/2019 18:02 Comments || Top||

#7  Heh... maybe Trump sould get some pointers on firing people from Kim (N Korea)...
Posted by: CrazyFool || 08/09/2019 20:12 Comments || Top||


Olde Tyme Religion
More than two million Muslims begin annual hajj pilgrimage
[France24] More than two million Muslims begin the annual hajj on Friday as the Saudi hosts seek to deter politicisation of the pilgrimage against a backdrop of simmering Gulf tensions.

The hajj, one of the world's largest religious gatherings, is one of Islam's five pillars and must be undertaken by all Muslims with the means at least once in their lives.

It consists of a series of religious rites which are completed over five days in Islam's holiest city and its surroundings in western Saudi Arabia.

"All of the arms of state have been deployed (and) we are proud to serve as 'God's hosts'," said security forces spokesman Bassam Attia.
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/09/2019 07:30 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ...Without at all being snarky, I would have thought that the number would have been considerably higher.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 08/09/2019 7:34 Comments || Top||

#2  My guess would be, not everyone can afford it anymore. Organized religion's an expensive opiate.

But they can do it on this now - Pakistain's Hajj Simulator

Think Counterstrike™ with just the terrorists.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 08/09/2019 8:09 Comments || Top||

#3  Given past death tolls from stampedes and disease outbreaks, the term "lemmings" comes to mind.
Posted by: Omomoting Sforza2689 || 08/09/2019 8:43 Comments || Top||

#4  My favorite story from the hajj is how airlines use planes they are about to scrap, mothball or (try to) sell as many of the passengers feel it is completely appropriate to relieve themselves without leaving their seats.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 08/09/2019 9:12 Comments || Top||

#5  Let the riots and tramplings commence!
Posted by: Raj || 08/09/2019 9:31 Comments || Top||

#6  the number of people doing the Hajj was over 3M back a few years ago and the Saudi's decided to cut it back to about 2M

fwiw, there is a Shia hajj of sorts in Iraq which draws over 15M per year but it doesn't get the publicity
Posted by: lord garth || 08/09/2019 11:15 Comments || Top||

#7  Saudi's decided to cut it back to about 2M

So it wasn't such a money maker so much. Whuttasurprise...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 08/09/2019 11:31 Comments || Top||

#8  as many of the passengers feel it is completely appropriate to relieve themselves without leaving their seats

Huh? What makes them think this is ok? Are they from places that don't know that's disgusting?
Posted by: gorb || 08/09/2019 15:47 Comments || Top||

#9  Where are the mosquito bombs?
Posted by: Skidmark || 08/09/2019 16:23 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
We Killed God, Family, And Community ‐ And Now It's Killing Us
BLUF:
[The Federalist] We have discarded social institutions that have helped people understand their value and place in the world for thousands of years. And their decline is not just mirrored in the rise of mass shootings.

Human beings are not designed for isolation. We require deep and meaningful connection. We need family and community. We are desperate for life and the love of others. We need people and institutions to help us navigate the world, to help us see that we have purpose, to help us understand right from wrong, and to imbue us with a sense of moral clarity that will hold us up during the desperate times we will all face.

Why would anyone be surprised that when we take away the foundational social structures that have allowed for the flourishing of humanity, bad things will happen? We all know very well what happens when more and more children grow up in single-parent homes. Increased suicide, drug use, drop out, teen pregnancy, and mental disorders.

We know what happens when communities deteriorate. Isolation, loneliness, and a decline in social norms. And when we destroy the church, the very institution that has been our bedrock of values, morality, and redemption for thousands of years? Despair, immorality, desperation, and evil.

Combine all three, and we know exactly what happens. An opioid epidemic so severe that it has literally reduced our average life expectancy. A suicide rate that continues to climb for almost all demographic groups. Mass shootings.

Destroy the family, abandon the community, raze the church to the ground. What could go wrong? Everything.
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/09/2019 07:15 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  We are desperate for life and the love of others. We need people and institutions to help us navigate the world, to help us see that we have purpose, to help us understand right from wrong, and to imbue us with a sense of moral clarity that will hold us up during the desperate times we will all face.


True, as long as it is up to the individual to choose with whom one wants to associate.
Posted by: AlanC || 08/09/2019 10:05 Comments || Top||

#2 
Destroy the family, abandon the community, raze the church to the ground. What could go wrong?

The commies have been tearing down Western Civ ever since they gained any power. You'd think by their repeated failures they'd be held accountable as much if not more than Western Civ for all the imperfections and shortcomings.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 08/09/2019 11:14 Comments || Top||

#3  The churches have only contributed to this decline. If parents and teachers today look at evangelicals and parishes funny, it's because they were busy buying themselves summer homes and retreat centers with contributions and tithes of influential elites whom they then had to appease by preaching compromised doctrine. The result was a hybrid of christianity and utter hedonism, like the prosperity bullshit.

So many cults and leaders abused the trust of unwitting, gullible people and sullied the Name of God with their filth, teaching the sayings of men for the word of God. It is no surprise that a parent will not let you talk to their children about Christ, or the Bible. On the one hand the people have snake handling idiots with no teeth, and on the other they have a progressive faggot who needs a private jet for serving Gawd. There is just no real 'sound doctrine'.

The churches, pastors, the compromised 'Bible Scholars' are to blame for this loss of real religion. What can the people trust if the teachers hold the truth in unrighteousness ?
Posted by: Dron66046 || 08/09/2019 11:17 Comments || Top||

#4  One could trust 'Salus populi Romani.'

See the Declaration of the truths relating to some of the most common errors in the life of the Church of our time for more info.
Posted by: Vinegar Phesing8666 || 08/09/2019 16:26 Comments || Top||

#5  Ahh, yes. I forgot those Niceno-Constantinoplitan vipers.




Posted by: Dron66046 || 08/09/2019 18:54 Comments || Top||

#6  Dron66046,

The churches have only contributed to this decline.

There have always been fake, self ingratiating men and women of the cloth, ever since the Temple Scribes and Pharisees crucified Christ and before.

Fortunately there are still preachers and congregations who are not corrupted.

When I see all of the corruption in religion, government and societies, I always remember two things, 1) "FEW will enter through the narrow gate." 2) God was the Beginning and He will be the End.".
Posted by: Phaick Uneretle6310 || 08/09/2019 19:18 Comments || Top||

#7  Yupp, and Amen.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 08/09/2019 19:21 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Kansas City Woman Buys AR-15 'Killing Machine' Just to Destroy It
[Guns America] A Kansas City woman decided earlier this week that she’d had enough of the AR-15 she’s been storing in her home for a friend, so she decided to purchase it and then destroy it.

"I don’t even like touching this thing. It’s upsetting to me," Sandy Skaggs told KMBC News 9, gingerly holding what she called a "killing machine."
Notifying all miscreants, burglars, and killers that she lives in a gun-free home zone, and has adequate assets to throw money away
She told the outlet that the recent mass murders in Dayton and El Paso motivated her to buy and destroy the weapon.

"I do not want this gun. I want to destroy this gun," Skaggs clarified.

She contacted local police to ask about the proper way to destroy the rifle or request that they do it, telling law enforcement that she does not want it used for parts. She’s willing to do anything to render the weapon inoperable, even "pouring acid down the barrel to destroy the mechanism inside," according to KMBC’s Michael Mahoney.

"I’m not opposed to hunting. I’m not opposed to hunters. I’m not opposed to people having guns in their possession for protection. But this is a killer. It’s a killing machine, and that’s all it’s for," she said.
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/09/2019 07:04 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  clearly relying on the Police to arrive in just minutes from making a 911 call. Too bad for her that seconds count.
Posted by: Warthog || 08/09/2019 7:31 Comments || Top||

#2  Across the country today several hundred ARs will probably be bought, but not to be destroyed in a grandstanding and ultimately futile gesture like this one. If the woman had actually wanted to do some good, she could have donated that $400-$1200 to a worthy cause. Aren't we always being told this time of year that "teachers are having to reach into their own pockets" to buy pencils and note paper?
Posted by: M. Murcek || 08/09/2019 8:51 Comments || Top||

#3  Aren't we always being told this time of year that "teachers are having to reach into their own pockets" to buy pencils and note paper?
Speaking of which in the age of sagging backpacks and crooked schoolbook industry why are the kids not being given a kindle removing the need for a backpack and textbooks or an i-pad with a graphic stylus that removes the need for pencils and paints and paper?
It would be good for the kid's backs too! While at it she could just buy a ipad or e-books for the kids then.
Posted by: 3dc || 08/09/2019 10:46 Comments || Top||

#4  For whatever reason, I just pictured the hag jumping and stomping on the poor gun until it fires accidentally and a slug ricochets into her embittered old ass.

"Oww ! I knew it ! You are a dirty, dirty machine !"
Posted by: Dron66046 || 08/09/2019 10:53 Comments || Top||

#5  why are the kids not being given a kindle

1.Where's the graft in that?
2.Why stop at public school kids? cause the college racket is even greater.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 08/09/2019 11:11 Comments || Top||

#6  Re #3. I use a Nook for pleasure reading, it is a relief from shuffling physical books. As for computers in classrooms (if you can call a chromebook a computer) see David Gelernter. Kids don't need computers in school, the need the three Rs (and not what formerly somewhat sane guy turned Never-Trump foamer George Will said, 'Racism recycling and reproduction.')
Posted by: M. Murcek || 08/09/2019 11:35 Comments || Top||

#7  Prop glasses don't look any more convincing on her than on teevee talking heads or grotesque "tech site" freaks.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 08/09/2019 11:41 Comments || Top||

#8  Look at those glasses and that face, Kat Timpf. That's you in 30 years...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 08/09/2019 11:44 Comments || Top||

#9  I give up. It's my birthday, I just bought a Brownells BR-180 upper. I get free birthday shipping. F-U kansas city grandstander...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 08/09/2019 11:46 Comments || Top||

#10  F-150's are KILLERS I tell ya. Please Sandy, buy mine and get it off the street !
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/09/2019 11:52 Comments || Top||

#11  One way to finally get your fifteen minutes of fame, I guess.
Posted by: gorb || 08/09/2019 11:54 Comments || Top||

#12  As for the police chief, another grandstander. He could have said "See what's in the daily release to the press." Instead he grandstanded too.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 08/09/2019 12:27 Comments || Top||

#13  she’d had enough of the AR-15 she’s been storing in her home for a friend, so she decided to purchase it and then destroy it.

I hope her friend overcharged her for the thing.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/09/2019 12:37 Comments || Top||

#14  Storing for a friend. Uh, yeah. A Homak long gun locker is only about $220.00 on Amazon. I don't let anyone else store my socks...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 08/09/2019 12:57 Comments || Top||

#15  she’s been storing in her home for a friend,

Doesn't that fall under the ATF 'straw-buyer' rule?
Posted by: Skidmark || 08/09/2019 16:34 Comments || Top||

#16  This made me think of a program to adopt a Wakandan straight from juvie. Then turn him into a girl.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 08/09/2019 18:58 Comments || Top||

#17  Hopefully the person she bought it from got enough to purchase 2 AR-15s... and a bit of ammo.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 08/09/2019 20:10 Comments || Top||


Europe
German Amb. Set To Run Eu-Iran Trade Resigns, Linked To Holocaust Denier
[Jpost] Germany’s former ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Iran, Bernd Erbel, will not oversee the European Union’s mechanism to conduct trade with Tehran because he appeared on a radio show with a virulently antisemitic radio host who allegedly denied the Holocaust.

The US ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, tweeted that "Bild reports that the German official tapped to run Instex, the outfit designed to bypass US sanctions on Iran, has been forced to resign because of antisemitic comments and poor judgment.”

INSTEX is an abbreviation for the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges payment system between the EU and Iran designed to circumvent US sanctions. Erbel pulled out of the position for "personal reasons."

Erbel appeared twice on an Internet radio show with Ken Jebsen in which he praised the terrorist entity Hezbollah and defended Iran's missile program as legal.
Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660 || 08/09/2019 04:28 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  Ze Chermans vill find a vay to trade vith ze iranian dogs...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 08/09/2019 11:15 Comments || Top||

#2  Iranians eat dogs they prefer to be known as jackals.
Posted by: jpal || 08/09/2019 15:19 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
The End of the 2018/19 El Nino
[ClimatePredictionCenter] El Niño has transitioned to ENSO-neutral, which is most likely to continue through Northern Hemisphere winter 2019-20 (50-55% chance).
so the current suppression of Atlantic tropical storm development will likely taper off by mid Sept or so
Posted by: lord garth || 08/09/2019 04:23 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Which will leave about 6 weeks for NOAA's predicted 5-9 hurricanes this year (we have had one and of course we could have hurricanes before that mid September change or after the official hurricane season ends)
Posted by: M. Murcek || 08/09/2019 8:58 Comments || Top||

#2  Been a hell of a lot colder and wetter this summer than it has been in 10 years or so. While nice it isn't so hot, it has played hell and hail with my garden.
Posted by: DarthVader || 08/09/2019 9:36 Comments || Top||

#3  Last two days, the "forecast" here said less than 5% chance of precip. We got inundated both days.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 08/09/2019 10:46 Comments || Top||

#4  Weather reports have transitioned from global warming to climate chaos.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 08/09/2019 11:45 Comments || Top||

#5  "Climate Chaos" is when you try to pick the winning climate model and none of them give a good fit to Real World Data™?
...Of course, give them five years or so and the data will be "homogenized" to comply with the models.
Posted by: magpie || 08/09/2019 12:39 Comments || Top||

#6  I like the "named raindrops" and "named sunbeams..."
Posted by: M. Murcek || 08/09/2019 12:59 Comments || Top||

#7  "Climate Chaos" is when you try to pick the winning climate model and none of them give a good fit to Real World Data™?

As the great Richard Feynman said, if the predictions of your theory don't match real-world observations, then your theory sucks donkey balls. Yeah, I'm paraphrasing. But that *is* Science in a nutshell.
Posted by: SteveS || 08/09/2019 13:04 Comments || Top||

#8  Yogi Berra: Predictions are hard. Especially about the future..."
Posted by: M. Murcek || 08/09/2019 13:11 Comments || Top||

#9  Around Minnesota, Fimbulwinter is being discussed....
Posted by: Mercutio || 08/09/2019 18:41 Comments || Top||


Europe
Swedish author Björn Ranelid says it's time to speak the truth about Sweden in new controversial column
BLUF:
[VOE] Most critical is Ranelid of the "writers and debaters on cultural and editorial pages" who "imitate each other and try to explain away and deny the events with silly litanies about the alienation of certain people in relation to society in general".

According to Ranelid, "these murderers in the gangs" are outside society "solely through their own actions and choices in life", and he points out that they "are in many respects extremely privileged individuals in relation to billions of people in India, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, African countries and China. In essence, they have nothing to complain about in Sweden".

He concludes by once again stating that "if ten, eleven or twelve cities in Sweden are centers for various gangster gangs and criminal networks that time and again resolve conflicts with automatic weapons where the public reside, then there is a small-scale or more widespread war in Sweden".
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/09/2019 03:26 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Moslem Colonists

#1  "if ten, eleven or twelve cities in Sweden are centers for various gangster gangs and criminal networks that time and again resolve conflicts with automatic weapons where the public reside, then there is a small-scale or more widespread war in Sweden".

Unfortunately, a phenomenon not unique to Sweden.
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/09/2019 3:33 Comments || Top||

#2  I guess I've a compassion deficiency.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 08/09/2019 7:38 Comments || Top||

#3  Multiculturalism + immigration unrelated to advanced skills = collapsing democracies. It's not working.

Time to scrap this model and close the gates for a decade or more - at least until the public can have a calm, rational, fact-based and above all, honest, no-BS discussion about what works and what doesn't when it comes to pluralism.
Posted by: Lex || 08/09/2019 8:03 Comments || Top||

#4  You can't depend on law enforcement and governments to rid you of immigrant gangs and crime. This is something the citizen has to fight for. Armed and with resolve to do whatever it takes. A nation is not a damn assisted living community. At times, people must assume the role of militia.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 08/09/2019 8:23 Comments || Top||

#5  Lessons for America From India's War Against Muslim Illegal Migrants
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 08/09/2019 8:33 Comments || Top||

#6  We need some magic number that determines when of citizens from country X travel illegally to country Y then the government of Country X are considered illegitimate, possibly criminals and country X becomes a territory of Country Y to do with as they will.

Patriotism and enlightened self-interest would stop the flow.
Posted by: ruprecht || 08/09/2019 10:21 Comments || Top||

#7  Oh, come on. Gimmigrants are coming for the welfare. Take that away and the flow stops instantly except for those who expect to be robbers when they get here. What to do with those is fairly self-evident.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 08/09/2019 12:46 Comments || Top||

#8  The gimmigrants are not stopped because most of that welfare spending circles back to the establishment.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 08/09/2019 17:10 Comments || Top||


Great White North
Bio-warfare experts question why Canada was sending lethal viruses to China
[Canada.com] In a table-top pandemic exercise at Johns Hopkins University last year, a pathogen based on the emerging Nipah virus was released by fictional extremists, killing 150 million people.A less apocalyptic scenario mapped out by a blue-ribbonU.S. panelenvisioned Nipah being dispersed by terrorists and claiming over 6,000 American lives.

Scientists from Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory (NML) have also said the highly lethal bug is a potential bio-weapon.

But this March that same lab shipped samples of the henipavirus family and of Ebola to China, which has long beensuspected of running a secretive biological warfare(BW) program.
China strongly denies it makes germ weapons, and Canadian officials say the shipment was part of its efforts to support public-health research worldwide. Sharing of such samples internationally is relatively standard practice.

But some experts are raising questions about the March transfer, which appears to be at the centre of a shadowy RCMP investigation and dismissal of a top scientist at the Winnipeg-based NML.

"I would say this Canadian ’contribution’ might likely be counterproductive," said Dany Shoham, a biological and chemical warfare expert at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University. "I think the Chinese activities ... are highly suspicious, in terms of exploring (at least) those viruses as BW agents. "

James Giordano, a neurology professor at Georgetown University and senior fellow in biowarfare at the U.S. Special Operations Command, said it’s worrisome on a few fronts.
China’s growing investment in bio-science, looser ethics around gene-editing and other cutting-edge technology and integration between government and academia raise the spectre of such pathogens being weaponized, he said.

That could mean an offensive agent, or a modified germ let loose by proxies, for which only China has the treatment or vaccine, said Giordano, co-head of Georgetown’s Brain Science and Global Law and Policy Program.
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/09/2019 03:17 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Maybe China is done policing the Xinjiang camps.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 08/09/2019 5:08 Comments || Top||

#2  Well, with Putie taking care of the East Coast, looks like the Chinese can exploit the stupidity rat problem on the West Coast.

We just need to invest in blowing bridges quickly.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 08/09/2019 6:39 Comments || Top||

#3  Didn't I read this story by Tom Clancy? Twice?
Posted by: AlanC || 08/09/2019 7:27 Comments || Top||

#4  looks like the Chinese can exploit the stupidity rat problem on the West Coast.

This is something that's concerned me since hearing about Cali's fourteenth century conditions.

These conditions would be a favorable environment for concealing GW experiments and efforts on our soil should any bad actor want to do so.

This stuff isn't just a health crisis, it's a national security issue.
Posted by: charger || 08/09/2019 9:31 Comments || Top||

#5  Because Canada’s NML has more Chins than the Chinese phone book.
Posted by: Butch Thating8912 || 08/09/2019 10:36 Comments || Top||

#6  Biological warfare is just about the stupidest possible idea anybody could ever have come up with. An massive viral or bacterial infection spreading rampantly across a country is not going to stop at a nation's borders. It's just going to kill everyone, everywhere. Nukes are in every sense of the word a cleaner option.
Posted by: Vernal Hatrick || 08/09/2019 10:44 Comments || Top||

#7  ...unless you make the antidote as well. Then administer it under say a pretense like this year's flu shot.

Nukes are so 20th Century. Designer plagues are going to be this century's WMD.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 08/09/2019 11:18 Comments || Top||

#8  I have no faith that a customer made disease could be made without the ability to mutate (or that widespread custom vaccination/antibiotics could be prepared without letting everyone else know that a plague release was imminent. I do believe that nukes (or ICBMs at least) are going to be obsolete though. Tech like the Iron Dome and Arrow 3 is going to spread and make widespread conventional warfare possible again. As cold hearted as it may seem, I think it will actually improve the international situation as countries that have long hated each other finally get to settle the situation without worrying about fiery international apocalypses.
Posted by: Vernal Hatrick || 08/09/2019 12:08 Comments || Top||

#9  .....long hated each other finally get to settle the situation without worrying about fiery international apocalypses.

I see no reason why they couldn't employ both.
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/09/2019 12:23 Comments || Top||

#10  Didn't I read this story by Tom Clancy? Twice?

Also, "The White Plague" by Frank Herbert.
Posted by: SteveS || 08/09/2019 12:24 Comments || Top||

#11  There is some historical precedent in the region: Japan's Unit 731 in Harbin: "Unit 731 and the other Units of the 'Epidemic Prevention and Water Purification Department' were biological weapon production, testing, deployment and storage facilities. " Another reason for the Mainland Chinese to hate the Japanese...
Posted by: magpie || 08/09/2019 13:53 Comments || Top||

#12  Nukes are in every sense of the word a cleaner option.

Also the remedy for cleansing a bio-contagion cluster.
Posted by: Skidmark || 08/09/2019 16:27 Comments || Top||


-Lurid Crime Tales-
The link between pot and mass shootings may be closer than we think
[New York Post] Even as evidence mounts of the health problems associated with marijuana, New York has insisted on joining other greedy states scrambling to legalize this deceptively dangerous drug.

It makes no sense at a time when American youth is suffering from an unprecedented mental health crisis.

And, in all honesty, we cannot rule out a connection between increasing marijuana use, mental illness and the recent spate of mass shootings by disturbed young males.

We don’t yet know much about the mental state or drug use of the El Paso or Dayton killers. But a former girlfriend of Dayton killer Connor Betts, 24, has indicated he was mentally ill, and two of his friends interviewed by reporters this week mentioned his previous drug use.

Just last year, the Parents Opposed to Pot lobby group tried to sound the alarm on the link between marijuana and mass shootings, compiling a list of mass killers it claims were heavy users of marijuana from a young age, from Aurora, Colo., shooter James Holmes and Tucson, Ariz., shooter Jared Loughner to Chattanooga, Tenn., shooter Mohammad Abdulazeez.

Until we understand those links, it is nuts to enact lax laws that ­encourage more young people to use a drug proven to trigger mental illness.
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/09/2019 02:55 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  given that we can extract THC and CBD from marijuana it seems to me that we could make both legal (with some restraint on quantity) and keep marijuana illegal

the problem with marijuana is that there are dozens of different chemicals in it (double that if it is smoked) and each one may have different effects including synergistic ones
Posted by: lord garth || 08/09/2019 4:02 Comments || Top||

#2  Why are we taking the risk?

We found out - decades are the fact - that introducing lead into the atmosphere was a contributing cause for the extraordinary increase in violent urban crime in the late 20th century. We got rid of lead paint and lead as an additive in gasoline, and by the 2000's, this had helped to bring down the rate of violent crime in many of our big cities, especially New York. (See James Q Wilson's research on this.)

Why are we so callous about this? How does society benefit?

Nearly all of our society's wounds are self-inflicted.
Posted by: Lex || 08/09/2019 8:11 Comments || Top||

#3  I think the crazy folks that become mass shooters might use pot to help control the crazy. That doesn't mean pot made them do it.
Posted by: ruprecht || 08/09/2019 10:17 Comments || Top||

#4  They tend to be gamers too. Gonna ban games?
Posted by: Iblis || 08/09/2019 10:30 Comments || Top||

#5  People are often self treating with pot.

It doesn't help that Pot is becoming much more varied in strength/effects/content with time. This is not helped by it being illegal.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 08/09/2019 11:51 Comments || Top||

#6  People do indeed try to self-medicate with pot — and with alcohol, too. And we know what a bad idea the latter is, when that approach is used long term.

The thing about pot is that for those who are genetically susceptible, it flicks the switch for schizophrenia. For those who do not have that specific genetic mutation it isn’t a risk, as far as I am aware, except for changes in the developing brain if used too often when young, but alcohol poses the same risk there.

It’s the kind of thing that, knowing there is a risk of alcoholism in the family, I talked to the trailing daughters early and often about being careful about drinking and drugs because they were at risk for problems. They also inherited near-sightedness and crooked teeth, which we watched out for and dealt with when it became necessary. *shrug* Genetic variability is a reality.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/09/2019 12:20 Comments || Top||

#7  A little Bayesian statistics may help. GIVEN that someone is a mass shooter, we can find that they used pot, or had a traumatic childhood, or that they had a triggering event, or that they bought a gun, with just about 100% certainty.

BUT GIVEN that someone did any or all of the above, we can find that they will become a mass shooter with almost infinitesimal probability.

In other words, the probability works one way but not the other.
Posted by: Tom || 08/09/2019 13:09 Comments || Top||

#8  Green tracers at night are really cool when you're toked up.
Posted by: Skidmark || 08/09/2019 16:37 Comments || Top||

#9  As for the El Paso guy, I think his mommy called the cops to state that he was procuring an AR and that she didn't think he could handle it with his misdeveloped brain.

Call it what you want. Law enforcement is always to blame. If bureaucracies do their jobs right instead of turning to systems theory and assembly-line jurisprudence, these things would be fewer and far between.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 08/09/2019 19:17 Comments || Top||

#10  The highest Bayesian probability is a prior shooting, amplified beyond all restraint by saturation media which glorifies, in the minds of depressed/bipolar/alienated/abused/grievance-laden individuals, the act of mass killing.

Take away the media coverage, and the incidence of mass shootings will fall to where it was 40 years ago: once a decade instead of 3x per year.
Posted by: Lex || 08/09/2019 19:50 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
US slaps Hezbollah financier with 5-year prison sentence, $50m. fine
[IsraelTimes] Lebanese businessman Kassim Tajideen, 63, pleaded guilty in December to one count of conspiracy to launder money as part of scheme to evade US sanctions.

A Lebanese businessman designated by US authorities as an important financial supporter of Hezbollah was sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to forfeit $50 million, the Justice Department said Thursday.

Kassim Tajideen, 63, pleaded guilty in December to one count of conspiracy to launder money as part of a scheme to evade US sanctions.

He was named a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in May 2009 by the Treasury Department based on tens of millions of dollars in financial support given to Hezbollah, a Shiite political party and Iran-backed terrorist group in Leb.

In a plea, Tajideen admitted to conspiring with at least five other people to conduct more than $50 million in transactions with US businesses, in violation of prohibitions barring his involvement with US persons or companies.

"His sentencing and the $50 million forfeiture in this case are just the latest public examples of the Department of Justice’s ongoing efforts to disrupt and dismantle Hezbollah and its support networks," said Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski.

Tajideen, who operated a network of businesses in Leb and Africa, was extradited to the United States in March 2017 after his arrest overseas, according to the department.

Hezbollah has been a US designated terrorist group since 1997 and fights alongside the regime of Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Despoiler of Deraa...
in the country’s civil war.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/09/2019 02:49 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
IDF raids Palestinian village as troops hunt for terrorists who killed student
[IsraelTimes] Soldiers operating in Beit Fajjar, adjacent to settlement of Migdal Oz, where body of off-duty soldier Dvir Sorek was found; 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...
terror group praises attack.


Israeli security forces launched a massive search effort after the body of a yeshiva student who had been stabbed to death was found outside a settlement in the Gush Etzion area of the West Bank in the predawn hours of Thursday morning. Authorities were treating the killing as a terror attack.

Paleostinian media reported that Israeli troops were operating extensively in the village of Beit Fajjar, outside Bethlehem, confiscating security camera footage and conducting searches in order to locate the killer or killers. Army Radio reported that Paleostinian security forces were also taking part in the search effort.

The village is adjacent to the settlement of Migdal Oz, where Dvir Sorek 19, studied, and near where his body was found Thursday morning.

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed that soldiers were conducting operations in Beit Fajjar, but would not comment further on the details of its manhunt. Details of the investigation were put under a court-issued gag order.

Following the attack, the military said it was bringing additional infantry troops into the West Bank. "In light of a security assessment, it was decided in the IDF to bring in infantry reinforcements to the Judea and Samaria region," the army said in a statement, using the biblical name for the West Bank.

The IDF said it would not comment on how many troops were being brought into the area.

As of Thursday morning, no Paleostinian terror group had taken responsibility for killing Sorek. However,
women are made to be loved, not understood...
two of the largest Paleostinian terror groups ‐ Hamas, the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®, and the Iran-backed Paleostinian Islamic Jihad‐ praised the attack and indicated it was a response to a recent wave of demolitions carried out by Israel last month.

Sorek, 19, studied at the Machanayim yeshiva in the Migdal Oz settlement as part of a military program known in Hebrew as hesder. Though formally a soldier, Sorek was unarmed and not in uniform at the time of the attack, nor had he yet undergone military training.


Dvir Sorek, 19, who was stabbed to death in the West Bank in an apparent terror attack on August 8, 2019. (Courtesy of the family)
Sorek had been missing since Wednesday evening. His body was found at approximately 3 a.m. along a road leading to Migdal Oz, a settlement south of Bethlehem.

He had last been seen leaving Migdal Oz for Jerusalem to buy books.

Initial findings indicated that the off-duty soldier was not killed where his body was found, but may have been kidnapped elsewhere, stabbed to death and then left along the road outside Migdal Oz.

Sorek was the son of Yoav Sorek, the editor of the influential Tikvah Fund’s Shiloach Journal, and the grandson of Rabbi Binyamin Herling, who was killed in a terror attack on October 19, 2000.

"He went to Jerusalem to buy gifts for his rabbis and on the way back there was an attack. He was found clutching the books that he’d bought," the principal of his seminary, Rabbi Shlomo Wilk, told Army Radio.

At scene of terror attack, Netanyahu vows Israel will ‘settle the score’

[IsraelTimes] PM says answer to terrorism is more construction in West Bank.

Instead, Sherlocks believe that the forces of Evil noticed Sorek on the road leading to Migdal Oz, murdered him and dumped his body on the side of the road.

"We can see here the U-turn made by the car after the murder," Netanyahu said at the scene.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/09/2019 02:49 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Have Arabs, have terrorism
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 08/09/2019 7:20 Comments || Top||



Government
Ex-defense chief Jim Mattis returns to General Dynamics amid rising scrutiny of DC ties to business
[Washington Examiner] Jim Mattis, the retired Marine general who served as President Trump's first defense secretary, is joining the board of contractor General Dynamics just as the 2020 campaign heightens scrutiny into corporate recruitment of senior government officials.

The General Dynamics position, which Mattis stepped into on Aug. 7, carries an annual retainer of $85,000, plus meeting attendance fees of at least $2,000, and an annual stock award of about $150,000, according to a regulatory filing. In 2018, independent directors ‐ those not serving in a management role at the Navy shipbuilder ‐ who held their roles a full year earned at least $297,000.

"Jim is a thoughtful, deliberate and principled leader with a proven track record of selfless service to our nation," CEO Phebe Novakovic said in a statement. "We are honored to have him on our board."

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts Democrat among the top three candidates seeking to unseat Trump, has sponsored a bill requiring a four-year waiting period between government roles and corporate jobs and, in June, asked detention center operator Caliburn International to justify its hiring of John Kelly, the former chief of staff tasked with carrying out Trump's illegal immigration policies.
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/09/2019 02:36 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Amazing; I agree with Warren on something.
Posted by: Glenmore || 08/09/2019 11:50 Comments || Top||


-Lurid Crime Tales-
With Latest Trump Dossier-DOJ News, How Many Heads Are Going To Roll ?
[Townhall] So, how many heads are going to roll in September? Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz is supposed to release his long-awaited report on Obama-era FISA abuses. The focal point centers on the DOJ’s FISA spy warrant against Carter Page, a former foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign, which was secured thanks to the Clinton-funded opposition research project called the Trump dossier. It was compiled by ex-British spook Christopher Steele. It was unverified. It was biased. And the DOJ knew it. Not only that, former top DOJ official Bruce Ohr kept contacting Steele months after it was revealed his worked was biased (via Fox News):
The FBI formally documented the anti-Trump bias of British ex-spy Christopher Steele months before the November 2016 presidential election, yet used his unverified dossier in multiple Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court warrant application renewals, records obtained by Fox News show.

The documents, first obtained by Judicial Watch, also revealed that top Justice Department official Bruce Ohr maintained contact with Steele for at least six months after Steele was fired by the FBI for unauthorized media contacts in November 2016.

The summaries of FBI interviews with Ohr, known as 302s, showed that Ohr knew by September 2016 -- a month before the initial FISA application to surveil the Trump campaign -- that Steele was "desperate that Donald Trump not get elected and was passionate about him not being the U.S. President."

A source close to the matter told Fox News "this had the effect of putting a senior DOJ official on notice that a witness/source had an extreme bias." Nevertheless, the FISA warrant application went through in October 2016 with multiple renewals.

While the FISA records are heavily redacted, it does not appear that the FBI's documentation about Steele's bias was ever shared with the FISA court.

The 22 pages of reports on interviews with Ohr also revealed his extensive contacts with Steele. The two communicated on the encrypted messaging app "WhatsApp," according to the records.

The FBI documents showed Ohr's contacts with Steele extended through May 2017, when Special Counsel Robert Mueller was appointed. Ohr then became a kind of backchannel linking Steele to the FBI after his termination.

So, it was used to renew warrants against Page. Ohr’s wife, Nellie, worked for the research firm Fusion GPS, which was contracted by the Democrats to find dirt on Trump. GPS then reached out to Steele to compile the document.

Posted by: Besoeker || 08/09/2019 02:08 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ....a month before the initial FISA application to surveil the Trump campaign -- that Steele was "desperate that Donald Trump not get elected and was passionate about him not being the U.S. President."

But that was his (Steele's) JOB! Never mind that fact he was a non-US person, foreign source.... with obvious connections to a foreign intelligence service.

Heads to roll? I would wager few if any.

Posted by: Besoeker || 08/09/2019 2:16 Comments || Top||

#2  Besoeker, sadly, I think you're right. Very few people, if any, will actually go to jail over this.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 08/09/2019 8:47 Comments || Top||

#3  No heads will roll.

These sort of purges can be done early on in a Presidency, but the longer you leave it, the harder it becomes.

Trump chose to make nice with the swamp early on, and this is his reward.
Posted by: charger || 08/09/2019 9:34 Comments || Top||

#4  Zero
Posted by: DarthVader || 08/09/2019 9:55 Comments || Top||

#5  Trump didn't expect to be elected. If he had, his transition team could have looked at how poorly Boosh was served by beltway lifers and acted accordingly right after inauguration.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 08/09/2019 10:09 Comments || Top||

#6  All the nonsense about "years of experience" and "dedicated public servant" should always be a red flag...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 08/09/2019 10:12 Comments || Top||

#7  The article is pure tripe, but look at how, with access to all intelligence product in the US, the outgoing deputy DNI could not absorb any information on how to dress or eat...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 08/09/2019 10:19 Comments || Top||

#8  It's taken too long to roll out. Nobody watches this story anymore.
Posted by: 3dc || 08/09/2019 10:47 Comments || Top||

#9  The ball is in Barr and Durham's court. How much do you trust Barr and Durham to do the right thing? The right thing to do is to prosecute the crimes regardless of who the person is.
Posted by: JohnQC || 08/09/2019 11:59 Comments || Top||

#10  Barr and Durham are far enough along that it comes down to this: Has the retirement clock hit the point where a Trump loss in 2020 would hurt them or not.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 08/09/2019 12:14 Comments || Top||

#11  #5 Trump didn't expect to be elected. If he had, his transition team could have looked at how poorly Boosh was served by beltway lifers and acted accordingly right after inauguration.

I'm not so sure about the first part. Losing hugely doesn't sound like the Trump we know. Sure, all the smart kids said he was going to get his ass kicked, but they were blinded by their aversion to the man, IMAO.

Trump *did* have a problem getting people to work for him. People who normally would have stepped up to be part of the new administration bailed. (Boris Johnson is experiencing the same thing now in the UK). And as we have seen, a whole bunch of people who did stay decided to work actively against the new president. I'm sure this has happened before, but never on this scale where we have deep staters trying to run a coup. Pity that hanging has gone out of fashion.
Posted by: SteveS || 08/09/2019 12:18 Comments || Top||

#12  Typical of a host infected with parasites.
Posted by: 3dc || 08/09/2019 18:17 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Andrew Yang Qualifies for Sept Dem Debate
[NYTimes] Andrew Yang Becomes 9th Democrat to Qualify for the Next Debate
Mr. Yang, an entrepreneur, earned 2 percent support in a new poll, adding him to the group of Democratic presidential candidates who will go to Houston in September.
also,


Julian Castro is one poll away from qualifying
Tulsi Gabbard is three polls away
Tom Steyer is one poll and lots of donors away
Kristen Gillibrand is 3 polls and some donors away
Inslee and Williamson are close on donors but 4 polls away
Posted by: lord garth || 08/09/2019 02:01 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It will be interesting to see when the primaries start whether they follow this debate system.
Posted by: Bernardz || 08/09/2019 8:32 Comments || Top||

#2  So, any of the names highlighted in yellow may miss the cut because Mr. Yang drew donations or polling numbers that might have gone to the others. Gawd I love our political campaign system.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 08/09/2019 8:55 Comments || Top||


Government
Deputy intelligence director under Pres. Trump resigns
[The Hill] Deputy Director of National Intelligence Sue Gordon is resigning from her post amid turnover at the top of the agency, President Trump announced Thursday.

Trump added in a later tweet that National Counterterrorism Center Director Joseph Maguire will serve as acting Director of National Intelligence.

Related but nugatory: The Hill - Schiff: Intelligence officials' retirements a 'devastating loss.'
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/09/2019 01:56 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Unless something has drastically changed since the creation of this position, it is largely a titular, meaningless title having little or no authority over intelligence community budgets and decision making.
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/09/2019 2:00 Comments || Top||

#2  Resigned with Trump's shoe print on her deep swamp ass.

Joseph Maguire - Admiral. Seems the Pentagon is built on less swampy ground than Langley or Quantico.
Posted by: Butch Thating8912 || 08/09/2019 2:16 Comments || Top||

#3  Obama appointee.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 08/09/2019 19:05 Comments || Top||

#4  Devastating loss if you're deep state, it sounds like.
Posted by: gorb || 08/09/2019 23:55 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
U.S. targets Iraqis for deportation in wake of travel ban deal
[Jpost] U.S. immigration authorities are arresting Iraqi immigrants colonists ordered deported for serious crimes, the U.S. government said on Monday, after Iraq agreed to accept U.S. deportees as part of a deal to remove it from President Donald Trump
...dictatorial for repealing some (but not all) of the diktats of his predecessor, misogynistic because he likes pretty girls, homophobic because he doesn't think gender bending should be mandatory, truly a man for all seasons......
’s travel ban.

Dozens of Iraqi Chaldean Catholics in bankrupt, increasingly impoverished, reliably Democrat, Detroit
... ruled by Democrats since 1962. A city whose Golden Age included the Purple Gang...
, Michigan were among those targeted in immigration sweeps over the weekend, according to immigration attorneys and family members, some of whom feared they would be killed if deported to their home country where they have faced persecution.

Kurdish Iraqis were also picked up in Nashville, Tennessee in recent days, attorneys, activists and family members told Rooters.

The actions came as part of the Trump administration’s push to increase immigration enforcement and make countries, which have resisted in the past, take back nationals ordered deported from the United States.

"As a result of recent negotiations between the U.S. and Iraq, Iraq has recently agreed to accept a number of Iraqi nationals subject to orders of removal," said Gillian Christensen, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Christensen said the agency arrested individuals who had criminal convictions for violations ranging from homicide to drug charges and had been ordered removed by an immigration judge. She declined to give more details, citing the ongoing nature of the operation.

An Iraqi official said Iraqi diplomatic and consular missions would coordinate with U.S. authorities to issue travel documents for the deportees when they can be proven "to be ’Iraqi’ based on our records and investigation."

The Iraqi official said around 100 people were arrested just in Detroit over the weekend.

Rooters could not independently confirm all of the cases.

The moves come after the U.S. government dropped Iraq from a list of countries targeted by a revised version of Trump’s temporary travel ban issued in March.

The March 6 order said Iraq was taken off the list because the Iraqi government had taken steps "to enhance travel documentation, information sharing, and the return of Iraqi nationals subject to final orders of removal."

There are approximately 1,400 Iraqi nationals with final orders of removal currently in the United States, according to U.S. officials.

Iraq had previously been considered one of 23 "recalcitrant" countries, along with China, Afghanistan, Iran, Somalia and others, that refused to cooperate with ICE’s efforts to remove nationals from the United States, according to ICE.

At least some of the people who were picked up came to the United States as children, got in trouble years ago and already served their sentences, according to immigration attorneys and local activists. They had been given an effective reprieve from deportation because Iraq would not take them back.

"I understand these are criminals, but they paid their dues," said Eman Jajonie-Daman, an immigration attorney in Detroit who had been receiving frantic phone calls from clients’ families over the weekend. "But we cannot send them back to die."

TRUMP SUPPORTERS
Some of the weekend arrests took place in Michigan’s Macomb County, which Trump won by 53.6 percent in the 2016 Presidential race, backed by many in the Iraqi Christian community.

The community is home to many refugees who have fled Iraq in the face of religious persecution, according to the Chaldean Community Foundation.

At least one family of Trump supporters has been affected by the recent enforcement actions.

Nahrain Hamama said ICE agents came to her house on Sunday morning and arrested her 54-year-old husband Osama Hamama, a supermarket manager who goes by "Sam." He has lived in the United States since childhood and has four U.S.-born children. During the election, all his U.S. citizen relatives were Trump supporters, Hamama said.

"He forgot his language, he doesn’t speak Arabic anymore. We have no family there on both sides. Where would he go? What would he do? How would he live?" Hamama said. She fears for his health and that he will be targeted by groups in Iraq because of his religion, made more visible because of a cross tattooed on his wrist.

Sam got in trouble with the law in his 20s, in what his wife called a "road rage" incident where he brandished a gun during a fight in traffic. He served time in prison and was ordered deported after being released. For the past seven years he has regularly checked in with immigration officials, his wife said. "It is a shame that for one mistake, that he paid for legally, now he has to pay with his own life."
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/09/2019 01:49 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israel Police Arrest 2 Palestinians On Temple Mount Amid Clashes
[Jpost] On Wednesday evening, festivities broke out between Paleostinian youth and Jews near the Chain Gate entrance to the Temple Mount.

Israel police arrested a sanitation worker and a member of the Waqf guards on the Temple Mount on Wednesday, according to the Paleostinian Quds news agency.

The Waqf, an arm of the Jordanian Ministry of Sacred Properties, administers the site.

Muhannad Idris, a Waqf guard on the mount, was photographed with multiple injuries after the arrest, including a head injury.

"During standard visits to the Temple Mount this morning, one of the locals began to curse and spit at the visitors," said a Israel Police spokesperson. "When he resisted arrest by police, he began to attack them and injured an officer who was transferred for medical treatment. While attacking the officer, the suspect was also injured and was transferred for medical treatment after his details were taken by police."
"Does it hurt when I do this? Hey! Quit bleeding on me"

Later on Wednesday, Quds reported that Raed Zghayer, a sanitation worker on the Mount, was also arrested by Israel Police.

On Wednesday evening, festivities broke out between Paleostinian youth and Jews near the Chain Gate entrance to the Temple Mount, according to the news agency.

The Paleostinian news agency also tweeted calls to confront Israeli "incursions and prevent them from breaking into Al Aqsa on the morning of Eid al-Adha."

Eid al-Adha, known as the "festival of sacrifice," coincides with the completion of the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca and commemorates Ibrahim's (Abraham) readiness to sacrifice his son in order to demonstrate his dedication to G-d, according to The Independent.

The festival begins on the evening of Sunday, August 11, and ends on the evening of Thursday, August 15.

From Saturday night, August 10, until Sunday evening, Jews mark Tisha Be'av, the day that the two Jewish Temples in Jerusalem were destroyed, by fasting for 25 hours and abiding by other mourning practices, including sitting on the floor or low chairs and reciting the Book of Lamentations (Megillat Eichah), in which the prophet Jeremiah laments the destruction of Jerusalem and the subsequent exile.

Visits by religious Jews are monitored by Waqf guards and Israeli police ‐ and all Jewish prayer, including silent prayer, is forbidden, according to the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. No sacred Jewish objects, such as prayer books or prayer shawls, may be brought onto the mount, according to tourism website Tourist Israel.

While Israel's Supreme Court has ruled that "every Jew has the right to ascend the Temple Mount, to pray on it, and to commune with his Creator," they also decided that "this right, like other basic rights, is not an absolute right. And in a place where the likelihood of damage to the public peace and even to human life is almost certain, this can justify limiting the freedom of religious worship and also limiting the freedom of expression."
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/09/2019 01:49 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
Egypt's interior ministry identifies members of Hasm's terrorist cell behind the NCI explosion; raids 2 hideouts
[AlAhram] Egypt's Interior Ministry named on Thursday Abdel-Rahman Khaled Mahmoud Abdel-Rahman, 24, a member of the Hasm terrorist cell, which is affiliated to the terrorist Moslem Brüderbund organization, as the person who carried out the earth-shattering kaboom which occured outside the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) in Cairo on Sunday.

"After conducting inspections and investigations, as well as gathering and analyzing information by the National Security Sector to identify the perpetrator of the NCI's explosion, his identity was determined as Abdel-Rahman Khaled Mahmoud, a member of Hasm movement, which is affiliated to the Moslem Brüderbund terrorist organization," a statement issued by the interior ministry said.

"This has been confirmed by matching the genetic fingerprint of the corpse's remains found in the scene of the earth-shattering kaboom with his family members," the statement read.

Abdel-Rahman, according to the ministry, had been fleeing an arrest warrant in a 2018 terrorist case, known as the Hasm Vanguard.

The investigation also determined the route taken by the vehicle used in implementing the earth-shattering kaboom before it began to travel against traffic on the Corniche Road untill it reached the location of the incident.

The outcome of the investigations resulted in identifying the members of the Hasm cluster cell, and then securing an arrest warrant from the Supreme State Security Prosecution, according to the statement.

The cluster cell members include Hossam Adel Ahmed Mohammed (code name Moaz) - arrested; Abdel-Rahman Gomaa Mohammed -runaway; and Ibrahim Khaled Mahmoud Abdel-Rahman (a brother of the perpetrator), who was in charge of communication with Hasm cadres abroad, the statement said.

Those Hasm Cadres abroad include runaway Mulsim Brotherhood cadre Ahmed Mohammed Abdel-Rahman Abdel-Hady, and runaway Mohammed Ali Ragab (code name Mohammed Ayesh), who is a military cadre in Hasm in a terrorist camp at a foreign country, the statement added.

The ministry said that after arresting the above-mentioned Ibrahim Khaled Mahmoud Abdel-Rahman, he informed on the whereabouts of the runaway terrorist Islam Mohammed Ourani, a member of the Hasm movement in Helwan, who is accused of manufacturing explosives and blowing up electrical towers.

The statement added that while attempting to arrest Ourani, he opened fire on security forces and attempted to escape and also help Ibrahim escape, and the security forces returned fire killing the two.

The ministry said that while tracking the remaining runaway elements of the cell it identified two hideouts: one in an abandoned building on the desert road near Itsa, Fayoum and the other is an apartment in East Shorouk city, east of Cairo.

The ministry said the two hideouts were raided by security forces on dawn Thursday.

"Upon raiding the first hideout in Fayoum, the terrorist group attempted to carry out a bombing while shooting at the security forces. The security forces dealt with them, killing eight members of the terrorist cells," the statement said.

The forces found five automatic weapons, two cartridge rifles and five bombs as well as quantities of materials used in manufacturing explosives were found and seized in the hideout.

"While raiding the second hideout in East Shorouk, the gang fired heavily at security forces, and an exchange of fire resulted in killing seven members of the armed terrorist cell," the statement read.

During the second raid, the statement added that security forces found four automatic weapons, one cartridge rifle, and a laboratory for manufacturing bombs containing quantities of materials used in the manufacturing of explosives.

The statement explained that the ministry concluded all necessary legal proceedings, adding that the Supreme State Security Prosecution is conducting its investigations.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/09/2019 00:40 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Muslim Brotherhood


Caribbean-Latin America
Number of migrants waiting at US border surges to 40,000
[AlAhram] At least 40,000 migrants colonists who have reached the U.S. border with Mexico are on waiting lists for an initial attempt to seek asylum or are waiting for a court hearing in the U.S. after being sent back.
The figure - based on reporting by The News Agency that Dare Not be Named and Mexican government figures - represents a dramatic increase from the start of the year.

English-speaking Cameroon
...a long, narrow country that fills the space between Nigeria and Chad on the northeast, CAR to the southeast. Prior to incursions by Boko Haram nothing ever happened there...
ians fleeing atrocities of their French-speaking government helped push Tijuana's asylum wait list to 10,000 on Sunday, up from 4,800 just three months earlier.

Turning Mexico into a waiting room for U.S. asylum seekers may be the Trump administration's most forceful response yet to a surge of migrants colonists seeking humanitarian protection, many of them Central American families.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/09/2019 00:40 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa Horn
Deadly U.S. airstrikes kill 25 Taliban militants, destroy captured Humvee in Ghazni
[KhaamaPress] The U.S. forces conducted Arclight airstrike
...KABOOM!...
s in south-eastern Ghazni province killing at least 25 Talibs.

The 203rd Thunder Corps in a statement said the U.S. forces conducted the airstrikes in Moqor and Gilan districts of Ghazni.

The statement further added that the airstrikes killed 25 Talibs and destroyed a Humvee armored personnel carrier.

Furthermore, the 203rd Thunder Corps said the airstrikes also destroyed 5 cycle of violences of the Talibs.

The 203rd Thunder Corps also added that the security forces killed a Taliban
...Arabic for students...
Death Eater and maimed 3 others during the festivities in Aab Band and Khwaja Omari districts of Ghazni.

The Afghan forces also confiscated a suicide kaboom vest during an operation in Alisher district of Khost province
... across the border from Miranshah, within commuting distance of Haqqani hangouts such as Datta Khel and probably within sight of Mordor. Khost is populated by six different tribes of Pashtuns, the largest probably being the Khostwal, from which it takes its name...
.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/09/2019 00:19 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  203rd is a part of the Afghan Army

reporting on what the US is doing???
Posted by: lord garth || 08/09/2019 1:43 Comments || Top||

#2  Ghazni is part of the 203rd's area of operations.
Posted by: Butch Thating8912 || 08/09/2019 2:25 Comments || Top||

#3  Why doesn't the military put some sort of LOJAC on some equipment. Let the towel bunnies scurry off with it, and catch up with a missile later.
Posted by: bbrewer126 || 08/09/2019 21:03 Comments || Top||

#4  reporting on what the US is doing???

In some areas of operation I think we’ve been airstriking whatever the Afghan forces have been pointing out or corralling on the ground, lord garth. Teamwork!
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/09/2019 21:37 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Taliban militants suffer heavy casualties in Special Forces raid in Ghor
[ToloNews] The Afghan Special Forces inflicted heavy casualties on Talibs during the operations in Ghor province.

The Special Operations Corps said in a statement said the Special Forces conducted the operations in Shakee, Jarsarkho and Surmaqala areas of the capital of Ghor.

The statement further added that the Special Forces killed 9 Talibs and maimed 10 others.

Furthermore, the Special Forces confiscated six cycle of violences of the Talibs during the operations.

The Taliban
...Arabic for students...
group has not commented regarding the operations so far.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/09/2019 00:19 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Afghan Telecom’s Commercial Director killed in an explosion in Kabul city
[KhaamaPress] An explosion in Kabul city killed the commercial director of the Afghan Telecom Company, the Ministry of Interior confirmed.

The Ministry of Interior (MoI) officials said a magnetic bomb went off in Company area located in the 5th district of Kabul late on Wednesday night.

The officials further added that the earth-shattering kaboom killed Mohammad Qasim Taj Wardak, the Commercial Director of Afghan Telecom Company.

Furthermore, the officials said the earth-shattering kaboom did not harm anyone else.

Meanwhile,
...back at the pound, the little lost dog backed into the corner and showed its teeth. And what big teeth they were!...
the Taliban
...mindless ferocity in a turban...
group has issued a statement claiming that the earth-shattering kaboom targeted the vehicle of intelligence operatives in Company area.

The statement further added that the earth-shattering kaboom killed or maimed at least 4 people.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/09/2019 00:19 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


U.S. airstrikes kill at least 30 Taliban militants in Logar province
[KhaamaPress] The U.S. forces conducted Arclight airstrike
...KABOOM!...
s in central Pashtun-infested Logar province of Afghanistan killing at least 30 Talibs.

The 203rd Thunder Corps said in a statement that the U.S. forces conducted the airstrikes in Dasht-e Aab Josh of Charkh district and Dara-e-Mangal of Azra district.

The statement further added that the airstrikes killed at least 30 Talibs and destroyed a Pick Up truck.

Furthermore, the airstrikes also destroyed a Dshk heavy machine gun and a repeater system.

The Taliban
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
group has not commented regarding the airstrikes so far.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/09/2019 00:19 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Afghan forces foil 90 terrorist attacks in Kabul city by storming 3 ISIS hideouts
[KhaamaPress] The Afghan cops foiled at least 90 terrorist attacks in Kabul city by storming 3 ISIS hideouts in the city.

Nasrat Rahimi, a front man for the Ministry of Interior (MoI) said the security forces stormed the ISIS hideouts based on the information recovered from a detained bully boy.

Rahimi further added that the security forces arrested the bully boy after he detonated a remote-controlled magnetic bomb in 11th district of Kabul city.

Furthermore, Rahimi said the security forces confiscated dozens of magnetic bombs, suicide kaboom vests and explosives besides killing 2 terrorists.

The National Directorate of Security
...the Afghan national intel agency...
said Wednesday that the Special Forces of the directorate stormed the three major ISIS hideouts in the 8th and 15th districts of the city as well as Bagrami district.

According to NDS, the ISIS murderous Moslems were busy planning attacks and making suicide kaboom vests and boom-mobiles in the three locations.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/09/2019 00:19 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Iraq
France takes in 151 more Yezidi women and children
[Rudaw] A reported 151 Yezidi women and kiddies who were victims of Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
(ISIS) persecution arrived in La Belle France from Erbil on Thursday evening, in a partial fulfillment of a commitment made by French President Emmanuel Macron to provide refuge to members of the ethnoreligious community in October 2018.

La Belle France’s Foreign Ministry announced on Thursday that they would be taking in 31 Yezidi women and their families, as part of continued commitment to welcoming Yezidi survivors to La Belle France.

"Today, Thursday 8 August 2019, La Belle France is taking in 31 Yezidi women who were victims of ISIS [so-called ISIS], together with their children," read a joint statement from La Belle France’s Foreign and Interior ministries.

Nadia’s Initiative, a non-profit organization founded by Yezidi genocide survivor and Nobel peace laureate Nadia Murad in 2016 to advocate for Yezidis community and victims of sexual violence, confirmed the arrival of 151 women and kiddies in Toulouse
...lies on the banks of the River Garonne, half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. The Toulouse metropolitan area is the fourth-largest in La Belle France...
, southwestern La Belle France in a Facebook post on Thursday evening.

"We are incredibly thankful to the French government for their continuous support of the Yezidi community," it added.

The women and kiddies were flown out of Iraq from the Kurdistan Region’s Erbil International Airport. Transportation was organized by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and funded by La Belle France, according to the French statement.

The arrival of the Yezidi group was described by the ministry as a "follow-up" to the arrival in La Belle France of two other groups of Yezidi families: 16 families in December 2018, and 28 families in May 2019.

Kurdistan Regional Government representative to La Belle France Ali Dolamari told Rudaw on Thursday that one more group of Yezidis is due to arrive in La Belle France in 2019.

Yezidis were a particular target of ISIS violence when their bully boyz took over swathes of Iraq and Syria in 2014, including the Yezidi heartland in and around Shingal. Thousands of women are believed to have been kidnapped and subjected to years of sexual slavery.

"These women, who suffered especially badly from the terrorist organization’s atrocities, are being cared for in various French departments [regions]. Thanks to the support of several state services, La Belle France is providing them with protection, security, education and medical-social support," added the statement.

Psychological support will also be allocated to the survivors, Dolamari told Rudaw.

French President Emmanuel Macron received Nadia Murad, in late October 2018 at the Elysee Palace in Gay Paree, where she pressed for increased assistance for Yezidi survivors, including allowing Yezidi families to settle in La Belle France.

The process of taking in Yezidi survivors by the French government was described by the ministry statement as a "fulfillment" of the "commitment" Macron had made to Murad.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/09/2019 00:07 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I'm not too sure if they will be any safer in France than they are in Syria or Iraq.
Posted by: chris || 08/09/2019 9:47 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Libya's Coast Guard rescues 122 illegal immigrants in three separate operations
[Libya Observer] Libya's Coast Guard confirmed Tuesday the rescue of 122 illegal immigrants colonists during the past three days from aboard 3 inflatable boats at varying distances.

The rescue operations were carried out on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, according to the Libyan Coast Guard.

"The migrants colonists, who included a child and two women, were of different African and Arab nationalities and were handed over to the Anti-Illegal Immigration Department 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...
, after providing them with humanitarian and medical assistance," the Libyan Coast Guard added.
Posted by: Fred || 08/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Moslem Colonists


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Florida man allegedly points gun at late deliverymen: ‘I’ve shot people for less’
[NYPOST] A Florida man was arrested this week after pointing a gun at two deliverymen when they arrived late with his furniture ‐ threatening that he has "shot people for less," a report said.

The suspect, 55-year-old Mitchell Helton of Manatee County, immediately began complaining when the deliverymen showed up late with the furniture he ordered on Aug. 3, according to the Bradenton Herald.

The men asked if he still wanted the furniture and Helton allegedly told them to "do whatever you want."

He then allegedly grabbed his gun and pointed it at both of the men as he walked out of his house, according to the report.

"You know, I’ve shot people for less," he allegedly said.

The deliverymen called the police after the threat, and Helton was arrested soon after.

He was charged with two counts of aggravated assault and is being held on $5,000 bond, according to the report.
Posted by: Fred || 08/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Once I shot an old woman for a stupid hairdo. You should see the guys who brought the TV... oh you can't. 'Coz they're dead !!"
Posted by: Dron66046 || 08/09/2019 5:19 Comments || Top||

#2  As you age, it becomes more difficult to discern your mental landscape from the real one.
Posted by: Mercutio || 08/09/2019 8:45 Comments || Top||

#3  ...of course, if you're a progressive, that hits about age 16
Posted by: Mercutio || 08/09/2019 8:46 Comments || Top||

#4  As the old yarn goes: "John Wesley Hardin. So mean he once shot a man for snoring..."
Posted by: M. Murcek || 08/09/2019 8:47 Comments || Top||

#5  Does Florida have a subsidy for these people?
Posted by: Vernal Hatrick || 08/09/2019 10:41 Comments || Top||

#6  Yes, the streets are paved with meth that other users have dropped as they stagger along. I live here, I see it every day. Still don't want to live anywhere else...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 08/09/2019 10:55 Comments || Top||

#7  I think I'm going with the country song lyrics: "God is great, beer is good and people are crazy."
Posted by: JohnQC || 08/09/2019 14:47 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syrian Army captures several areas as militants face full expulsion from Hama
[ALMASDARNEWS] The holy warrior forces are on their last legs in the Hama Governorate following a string of losses at the hands of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA).

Backed by heavy artillery and Arclight airstrike
...KABOOM!...
s, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) launched an important attack to secure the southeastern and eastern flank of Kafr Naboudeh this morning.

Within hours of launching this attack, the Syrian Arab Army had managed to capture the large hilltop of Tal Sakhar, which had previously been a launching point for the holy warriors on Kafr Naboudeh.

In addition to capturing Tal Sakhar, the Syrian Army also took control of the town of Sakhar and nearby grain silos after the holy warriors of Jaish al-Izza retreated further east.

With Kafr Naboudeh now fully secured, the Syrian Arab Army can now shift their attention to the town of al-Hobeit, which is located inside the Idlib Governorate.

Since the start of their military operations in May, the Syrian Arab Army has targeted Tal Sakhar in a bid to secure Kafr Naboudeh and eventually advance to al-Hobeit.

As a result of today’s operations, the Syrian Army can further expand east and attempt to expel Jaish al-Izza and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else
...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State...
from the Hama Governorate.

Posted by: Fred || 08/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: al-Nusra


Africa North
Tunisia PM Chahed announces run for president
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Tunisia’s Prime Minister Youssef Chahed announced Thursday he would stand in presidential elections next month.

"I have thought hard and decided to put myself forward for the position of president of the republic," he said during an assembly of his Tahya Tunis party.

The 43-year-old, Tunisia’s youngest prime minister, faces possible competition from Abdelfattah Mourou of the Islamist-inspired Ennahdha party and controversial media magnate Nabil Karoui.

Originally scheduled for November, the vote was brought forward following the death of incumbent Beji Caid Essebsi on July 25.

Chahed said he wanted to "break with the old system and give hope to all Tunisians, including young people, that they can take on important positions in the state."

Launched at the start of the year, Chahed’s Tahya Tounes has become the second largest party in parliament behind Ennahdha.

Tahya Tounes said last week the premier would be their candidate for the presidential polls.

Tunisia has been praised as a rare case of democratic transition to emerge from the Arab Spring uprisings.

But it has struggled with repeated holy warrior attacks, along with inflation and unemployment that have hit Chahed’s popularity.

The agricultural engineering graduate entered politics after Tunisia’s 2011 uprising which ousted autocratic president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

Presidential hopefuls have until Friday to register for the election on September 15.

Over 50 people had registered their candidacy by Thursday.

Posted by: Fred || 08/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


India-Pakistan
Maryam Nawaz arrested by NAB in Chaudhry Sugar Mills reference
[DAWN] PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz was taken into custody by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Thursday from Kot Lakhpat Jail, where she had been visiting her incarcerated father, former premier Nawaz Sharif
... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf, then by the courts...
According to an official blurb issued by NAB, Maryam and her cousin Yousuf Abbas have been arrested in connection to the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case and taken to NAB headquarters.

On the directives of the NAB chairman, a team of doctors will conduct a medical examination of both detainees.

According to the blurb, as per the law, NAB will present Maryam and Abbas to an accountability court in Lahore with an application for their remand.

Maryam had been due to appear before NAB in the CSM reference today. However,
there's more than one way to stuff a chicken...
she had excused herself from appearing and had gone to meet Nawaz Sharif in jail instead.

PML-N sources confirmed that Maryam was taken into custody after she was shown the arrest warrants issued for her non-appearance before the bureau.

Posted by: Fred || 08/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  Sigh ... she shoulda taken her 15 million and run.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 08/09/2019 11:24 Comments || Top||


Heavy clashes reported between Indian, Pakistani forces in Kashmir
[ALMASDARNEWS] Indian and Pak troops deployed along the Line of Control in Kashmire exchanged heavy fire, local media reports citing sources in the Indian military.

The alleged ceasefire violation took place in the Sunderbani Sector along Line of Control at around 22:15 (local time), with Pak forces firing small arms and using mortars, according to an Indian army source.

"The Indian Army retaliated befittingly," the source added.

Earlier, Pakistain announced that it had partially closed its airspace for Indian flights until 5 September.

The Pak foreign ministry also announced the expulsion of the Indian envoy from the country, adding that Pakistain won’t be sending its envoy to Delhi.

On Monday, India revoked Article 370 of the constitution which protected the special status of Jammu and Kashmire, requiring the mandatory approval of most of the laws adopted by the Indian parliament in the local assembly.

The Indian government plans to split the Ladakh region from Jammu and Kashmire and grant it the status of a union territory, which means it would be directly controlled by the federal government. The remainder of the state will become a second union territory.

However,
a lie repeated often enough remains a lie...
the Ladakh region will not have its own legislature, unlike Jammu and Kashmire.

Posted by: Fred || 08/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  When do we get the first big KABOOM in this squabble?
Posted by: AlanC || 08/09/2019 7:17 Comments || Top||

#2  One day we'll wake up and find out there's no more Pakistan.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 08/09/2019 7:21 Comments || Top||

#3  ^^ hopefully
Posted by: chris || 08/09/2019 9:45 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Arab Coalition says it intercepted a Houthi drone targeting Saudi Arabia’s Jazan
[TWITTER]

Posted by: Fred || 08/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


Africa North
Head of the military intelligence service of Haftar's forces kidnapped in Benghazi
[Libya Observer] Sources from the city of al-Bayda east of Libya confirmed the kidnapping of the head of the military intelligence service of Haftar forces, Ramadan Albarasi, on July 30, from his home in Benghazi.

The sources added that there has been no information about his fate nor the reason for his disappearance so far, and no official reports were released regarding the results of the investigation of the incident.

The kidnapping was likely to be carried out by Haftar's loyalists, against the background of Albarasi's refusal to appear for questioning following the defeat of Haftar's forces in Gharyan city by the Libyan Army, according to the same source.
Posted by: Fred || 08/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Home Front: Culture Wars
Study: Google News Mass Shootings Results 70 Percent Liberal, 4 Percent Conservative
[PJMedia] A full 70 percent of Google News search results for topics related to the mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, over the weekend were biased toward the left, a new study revealed Wednesday.

The nonpartisan group AllSides analyzed the top three search results in Google News for ten topics related to the mass shootings, including the cities of the shootings, the names of the shooters, and even "Trump," whom many liberal outlets blamed for somehow inspiring the El Paso shooting. The research took place on the afternoons of Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

"This analysis shows no direct evidence that Google is intentionally suppressing voices from the center or right on the shootings," John Gable, CEO and co-founder of AllSides, said in a statement on the results. "But there was a clear and overwhelming bias in Google’s results covering these shootings, intentional or not."

News articles from outlets with a "Center" bias rating were outpaced by articles from "Left" or "Lean Left" sources by close to 400 percent. More balanced outlets like the BBC, NPR, USA Today, and The Wall Street Journal got close to zero exposure among the "Top Stories" on each search topic.
Surprising absolutely no one.
Posted by: DarthVader || 08/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Only 70%?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 08/09/2019 7:19 Comments || Top||

#2  A lot of saps take in gurgle news, MSN, Yahoo, the broadcast nets, MSLSD, Commie News Network and FauxNews, but I believe they are only convincing the dumbest of the dumb. Not that there aren't a lot of those...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 08/09/2019 10:48 Comments || Top||

#3  Simply matching the bias of the MSM. There are virtually no non-lib mass media.

None of the "balanced" outlets are actually balanced. The WSJ is center left in their news reporting (somewhat to the right on the editorial page), the other three are consistently left-lib.
Posted by: KBK || 08/09/2019 13:24 Comments || Top||

#4  WSJ are Koch-suckers. All the way...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 08/09/2019 13:28 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Pakistan to take India's move to annex occupied Kashmir to UN Security Council: Qureshi
[DAWN] 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...
on Thursday announced that Pakistain would take the matter of India revoking the special status for Indian Kashmiree to the United Nations
...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks...
Security Council.

Addressing a presser in Islamabad, he said the decision had been taken in light of several pre-existing UN resolutions on the Kashmire dispute.

Key points:

  • Pakistan to approach UNSC regarding Kashmir

  • India's claim that altering Kashmir status is its 'internal matter' rejected

  • Pakistan has not closed its airspace

  • Pakistan's commitment to complete Kartarpur Corridor stands

  • Suspension of trade with India will not affect Pakistan's trade with Afghanistan

  • Samjhota Express service to be discontinued

The minister said Pakistan rejected New Delhi's impression that scrapping Article 370 of the Indian constitution was its "internal matter", saying the claim was wrong from a historical, legal and moral perspective.

He also questioned India's claim that the change in the constitutional status was aimed at taking steps for the welfare of Kashmiris, wondering what had stopped New Delhi from taking such measures since Article 370 was inserted into the Indian constitution seven decades ago.

Noting that as many as 900,000 troops had been deployed in occupied Kashmir, he asked the Indian government whether turning the region into a virtual "jail" was one of its welfare steps.

Challenging India's claim that the Kashmir move was its internal matter, Qureshi said former Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru had declared "countless times" making at least 14 solemn promises and commitments that "the future of Kashmir is going to be decided finally by the goodwill and pleasure of her people."

"The goodwill and pleasure of this (Indian) parliament is of no importance in this matter," the minister quoted Nehru as further saying.

Posted by: Fred || 08/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
US to withdraw troops from area of Turkish operation: Ankara
[ALMASDARNEWS] US President Donald Trump
...The tack in the backside of the Democratic Party...
has promised to withdraw US troops from areas of Kurdish-controlled northern Syria where a Ottoman Turkish operation will be taking place, Ottoman Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has announced.

"In a telephone call with our president, the US president informed us that the US would be vacating the area. We will discuss the question of coordination after the withdrawal takes place. The agreement with the US on the creation of a safe zone is a very important first step," Cavusoglu said, speaking at a press briefing on Thursday.

The foreign minister added that The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
would not allow the US to delay the implementation of a safe zone under any circumstances, and has shown Washington that it is prepared to back its words by deeds. "Either we do it together, or we will be able to do it ourselves," he said.

"Our decision is to create a safe zone so that there are no murderous Moslems there from the Syrian Kurdish self-defence forces and the Kurdistan Workers Party. But we will not allow this agreement to be turned into the [US] Roadmap for Manbij," Cavusoglu noted, referring to the Ottoman Turkish-US security agreement negotiated last year.

Earlier, the Ottoman Turkish Defence Ministry announced that Ankara and Washington had agreed to establish a coordination centre for joint operations, and to a security ’safe zone’ in northern Syria in which an area of Syrian territory between 30 and 40 km wide would be controlled by Turkey in coordination with the United States, with Syrian Kurdish forces forced to leave the area and surrender their heavy weapons.

Posted by: Fred || 08/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte

#1  If true, why are we playing footsie with this guy?
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 08/09/2019 8:39 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Arab Coalition says it intercepted a Houthi drone targeting Saudi Arabia’s Abha
[TWITTER]

Posted by: Fred || 08/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


Europe
Jordanian who posed as Syrian refugee to claim benefits hacked ex-flatmate to death 'because he feared he had exposed his lie'
More on this story from a few days ago — and now we have names.
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] A Jordanian asylum seeker who claimed to be Syrian hacked his former roommate to death in the street with a samurai sword, police say.

Issa Mohammed, 28, feared the victim named in German media as Wilhelm L., 36,
...who we were previously informed was from Kazakhstan, so presumably that is his German name...
had exposed him as a fake to the German authorities.

The former McDonald's worker was arrested after the horrific incident which took place on a residential road in Stuttgart, Germany.

He used a 'sword-like object' that looked like a samurai weapon in the attack on July 31.

Screaming witnesses tried in vain to save the victim but he died at the scene.

Mohammed then reportedly fled on a bicycle but was caught that evening following a frantic police helicopter manhunt.

Officers also found a 'sword-like object' discarded in a bush near the scene, thought to be the murder weapon.

Mohammed had been living in Germany and claiming state benefits as a Syrian refugee for the last four years.

But it has now emerged he was actually from the peaceful and relatively affluent neighboring state of Jordan.
...in the discussion on the previous article it was suggested he might be Palestinian — lots of Palestinians in Jordan...
Police believe he killed his former housemate killed Wilhelm L. as he feared he had uncovered his secret however it is unclear if the victim did so.

In videos of the attack taken by onlookers, Mohammed can reportedly be heard screaming: 'What did you send to Berlin?'

When questioned by police, Mohammed asked for consular assistance from the Jordanian Embassy.

German newspaper De Bild said it had traced Mohammed's brother, Ahmad, 21, in Jordan.

He revealed Mohammed had left Jordan in November 2014 and traveled to The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the decaying remnant of the Ottoman Empire...
where he had obtained a fake Syrian passport.

Ahmad said: 'He then took a boat across the Mediterranean with asylum seekers and arrived in Greece.

'In February 2015 he wrote and told us he had arrived in Germany.

'He met a German Arabic woman and married her in an Islamic marriage ceremony.

'After six months it emerged she was already married. He left her when he found out she was pregnant with twins that were not his.'

According to German records, Mohammed registered with the authorities in the town of Eisenhuettenstadt in the state of Brandenburg on February 28 2015.

He claimed he had been born on March 12 1991 in the Syrian city of Daraa.

He went to Stuttgart in 2018 where he moved into a shared apartment with Wilhelm L.

Ahmad added: 'In May he called to say his flatmate was making his life hell and that he would make his hell.

'I saw the video and recognized my brother. I was very shocked, Something must really have went wrong for my brother to do such a brutal attack.'
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Moslem Colonists

#1  ...who we were previously informed was from Kazakhstan, so presumably that is his German name...

More likely an ethnic German deported to Kazakhstan during Stalin's reign.
Kazakhstan Germans
Posted by: Butch Thating8912 || 08/09/2019 0:09 Comments || Top||

#2  recognized my brother. I was very shocked,

"He was never this bad with a sword. Uncle Abu would often give him the machete for hostages."
Posted by: Dron66046 || 08/09/2019 5:37 Comments || Top||

#3  Germany: Stuttgart sword murderer posted Islamic confession before the act
Posted by: Butch Thating8912 || 08/09/2019 6:53 Comments || Top||

#4  Kazakhstan Germans

I didn’t know that, Butch Thating8912. Thank you. :-)

And from your article:

Shortly before his horrific crime, the murderer Issa Mohammed posted a statement of religious devotion in Arabic on Facebook. A few hours later he barbarously slaughtered his former roommate Wilhelm L. savagely in front of the latter’s daughter – in the street.

Ugh. I think at this point Sharia punishments, suitably altered to reflect which religion is not the favoured of Allah, be applied, then send him home to be cared for by his loving family. And block all of his clan from entry into the country so that they can devote themselves to his care.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/09/2019 13:08 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Two UAE-backed fighters dead in Yemen clashes
[DAWN] Two members of an Emirati-backed force in Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
were killed on Wednesday in festivities with pro-government fighters in the southern city of Aden, security officials said.

They said the fighting broke out after the funerals of police personnel killed last week in the government-held port city.

"Two members of the Security Belt force were killed" in Wednesday’s fighting, a security official said.

The official gave no details, but tensions have often run high in Aden between the Security Belt and forces backing the Aden-based government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.

The fighting broke out close to the presidential palace in central Aden, where two attacks last Thursday against the Security Belt force and police potted 49 people and maimed 48.

One attack was carried out by a jihadist jacket wallah, while the other was claimed by 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...
rebels.

Posted by: Fred || 08/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


Home Front: Politix
Twitter locks McConnell campaign’s account over video of protesters
[NYPOST] Twitter locked Sen. Mitch McConnell’s campaign account after he posted a video of protesters gathered in front of his Kentucky home, shouting that he should "die" and break his "little raggedy wrinkled-ass neck," the company said.

McConnell’s campaign posted the video Tuesday morning after his camp traded jabs with freshman Rep. Alexandria Boom Boom Ocasio-Cortez
Dem represntative from da Bronx in Noo Yawk and leader of the Mean Girl Caucus in Congress. One of the Great Minds of the 21st Century, she is known as much for her innaleck as for her dance moves. She is all in favor of socialism, even though she's fuzzy on the details...
, who slammed McConnell after young supporters of his were pictured "groping and choking" a life-sized cardboard cutout of her.

"Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and liberal Twitter personalities are trying to dox some underage kids for taking a photo with a cutout at the Fancy Farm political picnic and are cheering on thousands of accounts calling for Senator McConnell to ’break his neck,’ " the campaign wrote in the tweet that accompanied the video.

In the video, which has been taken down by Twitter, a protester in front of McConnell’s house is heard shouting that he should "die."

"This is this b‐h’s house. He’s in there nursing his little broken arm. He should’ve broken his little raggedy wrinkled-ass neck," the protester says.

"Just stab the motherf‐-r in the heart, please," she adds.

"Retire!" another one of the demonstrators says, according to the video.

"Nah; f‐k that. He’ll get a pension," the other protester shouts back. "Die!"

Twitter temporarily locked the account because the video violated its violent threats policy, "specifically threats involving physical safety," the company said in a statement.

But McConnell’s camp wasn’t buying it and blasted the social media giant for hypocrisy, saying threats against the senator have trended nationally.

"Twitter will allow the words ’Massacre Mitch’ to trend nationally on their platform. But locks our account for posting actual threats against us. We appealed and Twitter stood by their decision, saying our account will remain locked until we delete the video," McConnell’s campaign manager Kevin Golden said in a statement.

Posted by: Fred || 08/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  (SH)itter is what it is...
Posted by: Phaick Uneretle6310 || 08/09/2019 1:35 Comments || Top||

#2  Shut it down.
It's nothing more than an accelerant for hatred.
Posted by: Lex || 08/09/2019 7:58 Comments || Top||

#3  Stewaht Vahney is a huge sh*ttah shill, also a PayPal and Squah shill. Another reason to chuck FauxBusiness...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 08/09/2019 12:34 Comments || Top||

#4  Just do the usual fed game of raiding and shutting down, as a platform utilized in a conspiracy for suppressing the vote in an upcoming election. When they decry suppression of free speech, just laugh in their face. One set of rules for me and another set of rules for thee, really?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 08/09/2019 13:34 Comments || Top||

#5  Several national Republican organizations have cancelled their Twitter advertising buys in response, so that may be a half million dollar loss in revenue, not a significant loss in revenue for the company, but a bit more than a fleabite nonetheless. I saw an article about it earlier, but now can’t find it — sorry.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/09/2019 13:43 Comments || Top||

#6  Yet HamAss and Antifa have full Twitter support...
Posted by: CrazyFool || 08/09/2019 14:24 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Haftar's forces destroyed Ukrainian cargo plane transporting humanitarian aids
[Libya Observer] Ukraine's Foreign Ministry confirmed that a Ukrainian cargo plane had been struck at Misrata airport in Libya while offloading humanitarian aids for the Libyan Red Islamic Thingy.

The foreign ministry said that a Ukrainian cargo plane (IL-76) was destroyed as a result of a missile attack on the airport on Monday, according to a report by Interfax-Ukraine News Agency.

"As a result of the attack, the plane's tail was destroyed, the operator of the crew was slightly injured, and the passport documents of the air navigator were destroyed. The entire crew of the plane was evacuated to a safe place." The ministry said.

Interfax also reported that the plane was performing a humanitarian cargo transportation flight for the needs of the Libyan Red Islamic Thingy Society and had all the necessary permits.

The ministry remarked that consular response measures are underway, and that the return of the Ukrainian citizens to their country is being arranged.

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...
's forces said they had carried out an Arclight airstrike
...KABOOM!...
on Misrata air college last Monday hitting "Ottoman Turkish cargo plane transporting ammunition and weapons," which was denied by a source from Volcano of Rage Operation of the Presidential Council's government.
Posted by: Fred || 08/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Mayor's office of #Severodvinsk took down a report on radiation levels returning to normal
[TWITTER]



Posted by: Fred || 08/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ...It's starting to look like typical inshallah (or its Cyrillic equivalent) Soviet/Russian explosives safety procedures have struck again. There's some folks out there suggesting that there was an actual nuclear detonation, but that's something that not even the Russians could hide for long - this was a mass conventional detonation that had nuclear material/decommissioned warheads in close proximity.

Something I've been wondering about since yesterday is whether or not these might be Soviet era warheads that were NMC due to lack of maintenance in the 90s. It's actually easier to make a new warhead/bomb than to maintain one; they require throughout their operational life roughly the same level of care as a newborn baby. We properly dismantled warheads, removed the nuclear material and again, properly stored said material. It is unlikely in the extreme that the Soviets/Russians ever did anything even remotely close. They said, "Bad bombs? This is a weapons storage area, the hell with it, put 'em over there and forget about 'em."

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 08/09/2019 7:48 Comments || Top||

#2  this was a mass conventional detonation that had nuclear material/decommissioned warheads in close proximity.

This wouldn't explain the presence of Iodine 131.
Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660 || 08/09/2019 9:24 Comments || Top||

#3  TWO accidents. The massive conventional blast was in central Russia (Achinsk) on Aug 5th.

The CBR incident is near Severodvinsk. Ivan seems accident prone this month.
Posted by: The peanut gallery || 08/09/2019 9:44 Comments || Top||

#4  "Andrei, you've lost another submarine arms depot?"
Posted by: Frank G || 08/09/2019 10:22 Comments || Top||

#5  So, radiation levels AREN'T returning to normal?
Posted by: Skidmark || 08/09/2019 16:30 Comments || Top||

#6  Maybe back to normal at a Chernobyl rate?
Posted by: 3dc || 08/09/2019 21:00 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syrian Army keeps rolling in northern Hama, new areas captured
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) continued their advance in northern Hama this evening after seizing several areas earlier in the day.

Led by the Tiger Forces, the Syrian Arab Army attacked a number of points under the control of Jaish al-Izza in northern Hama tonight.

According to a military source in northern Hama, the Syrian Arab Army managed to capture the town of Jaysat and nearby Damyoun Farms after a short battle with the snuffies of Jaish al-Izza.

With these latest losses, the snuffies of Jaish al-Izza find themselves on the verge of expulsion from the Hama Governorate.

The Syrian Arab Army has already concentrated their artillery and Arclight airstrike
...KABOOM!...
s on the Jaish al-Izza strongholds of Kafr Zita and al-Latamnah; however, they have yet to storm these important towns on the border of the Idlib Governorate.

At the same time, it appears The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...Qatar's colony in Asia Minor...
is not willing to abandon their observation posts in the Hama Governorate, despite the fact their allied forces have suffered several battlefield setbacks.

On Thursday, opposition activists reported that several Ottoman Turkish military vehicles made their way to the observation post in the Hama Governorate town of Sheir Magher.

In the past, the Ottoman Turkish observation post in Sheir Magher has come under attack by the Syrian Arab Army; this would result in the death of two Ottoman Turkish military personnel.

The Syrian Army has repeatedly called on Turkey to withdraw their troops from these observation posts; however, Ankara has refused, claiming that they are peacekeeping forces.
Posted by: Fred || 08/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Nusra


India-Pakistan
Migrants begin fleeing occupied Kashmir; protests against India's decision on Ladakh hit Kargil
[DAWN] As a complete security lockdown in Indian Kashmiree entered its fourth day on Thursday, reports emerged that hundreds of poor migrant workers have begun fleeing the Himalayan region to return to their far-away villages in northern and eastern India.

Migrant workers in Indian Kashmiree complained on Wednesday that their Kashmiri employers didn't pay them any salary as security forces began imposing tight travel restrictions over the weekend and asked them to leave their jobs.

On Wednesday, workers crowded the railroad station at Jammu, the winter capital of the state, as they waited for trains bound for Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand. They carried their belongings on their heads and under their arms, tied in bedsheets.

One worker, Jagdish Mathur, said many people walked for miles on a highway and hitched rides on army trucks and buses from Srinagar to Jammu, a distance of 160 miles.

"We haven't eaten properly for the past four days," said Mathur, adding that he doesn't have money to buy a rail ticket to take him to his village in eastern Bihar state.

"The government should help me."

Surjit Singh, a carpenter, told the New Delhi television channel that he was returning home because of occupied Kashmire's security lockdown.

Meanwhile, India's surprise move to carve out sparsely populated Ladakh from occupied Kashmir to make it a territory directly controlled by New Delhi has been met with protests in Kargil, a Muslim-majority border city in Ladakh that identifies culturally with Kashmir, suggesting that the Hindu nationalist-led government's plan to redraw the country's political map will be far from easy.

While some Ladakhi lawmakers from Leh, the main city in the heavily Buddhist region with historic ties to Tibet, hailed the move as a long-overdue response to their requests for separation from the region, organisations in Kargil condemned the decision.

Mountainous occupied Kashmir comprises three regions — Hindu-majority Jammu, Muslim-majority Kashmir and heavily Buddhist Ladakh.

After Kashmir's special status was scrapped, Kargil's religious and political organisations met to discuss the changes, releasing a statement condemning the Indian government for acting "without the consent from the people".
Posted by: Fred || 08/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistain Proxies


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Victoria’s Secret mogul Leslie Wexner says Jeffrey Epstein swiped millions
[NYPOST] The billionaire behind Victoria’s Secret said Wednesday that Jeffrey Epstein
...A high class pimp financier who was alleged to maintain a stable of underage whores sex slaves who were paid big bucks to entertain the rich and/or famous. He is a registered sex offender and has so far made 17 out-of-court settlements with former members of his stable, and some cases are ongoing. 2011 court docs reveal that 21 email addresses and phone numbers for Bill Clinton and an aide were found in Epstein's electronic black book, and that Clinton frequently flew with Epstein on his private plane between 2002 to 2005. But But really, they were probably just discussing finance or politix or something. While getting massaged.....
"misappropriated" more than $46 million of his personal fortune while serving as his money manager more than a decade ago, according to a report.

In a letter to his foundation, Leslie Wexner, the founder and chief executive of L Brands Inc., said the missing cash was discovered after he decided to sever ties with the convicted pedophile in 2007, The Wall Street Journal reported.

"We discovered that he had misappropriated vast sums of money from me and my family," Wexner, 81, wrote in the letter. "This was, frankly, a tremendous shock, even though it clearly pales in comparison to the unthinkable allegations against him now."

The close relationship between the men spans two decades. In 1991, Wexner granted Epstein power of attorney, allowing him to have sweeping control over the mogul’s finances and legal matters.

The financier made more than $200 million from Wexner, according to the Journal.

But in 2007, when allegations began surfacing in Florida that Epstein had sexually abused underage girls, his benefactor began to distance himself.

In January 2008, Epstein transferred $46 million worth of investments to a Wexner charitable fund, tax records obtained by the paper show.

That cash was only a slice of the funds that Epstein misappropriated, Wexner said.

"All of that money‐every dollar of it‐was originally Wexner family money," the businessman wrote.

Posted by: Fred || 08/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  We discovered that he had misappropriated was paid vast sums of money by me and my family
Posted by: Skidmark || 08/09/2019 16:32 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
JW: Comey Caught With @RealDonaldTrump FBI Files In His House.
[Judicial Watch] HUGE: Comey Caught With @RealDonaldTrump FBI Files In His House. @JudicialWatch lawsuit gets the docs. JW battles FBI stonewall and cover up of Page-Strzok docs in federal court. PLUS Judicial Watch to get Bruce Ohr FBI 302s this week!
Posted by: Frank G || 08/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  And nothing will be done as usual.
Posted by: Seeking Cure For Ignorance || 08/09/2019 14:07 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
California Goes to the Rats
[WSJ] Rising homelessness in California has spurred a rodent boom and resurgence of medieval disease. So naturally Democrats in the state Legislature want to ban rat poison.

Earlier this year a rat infestation in downtown Los Angeles near a homeless encampment led to an outbreak of typhus. CatsUSA Pest Control, which was hired to investigate, warned that "poor sanitary conditions" including human waste and hypodermic needles created a "harborage for rodents." In Los Angeles County cases of flea-borne typhus more than doubled since 2012, with 109 cases reported last year.

L.A. isn’t alone. There were so many rats scurrying around the California EPA office in Sacramento this summer that the agency had to close its outdoor playground to prevent children from getting sick. After California’s EPA applied rat poison, environmentalists howled that the pesticide could harm species that prey on rats.

Democrats in Sacramento are now moving legislation to ban "second-generation" rodenticides that are more potent than earlier poisons against which rats have developed immunity. "Predatory species, such as raptors, bobcats, and foxes, regularly consume rodents as part of their diet. Poisoned rodents also become more lethargic and exhibit abnormal behavior," a bill analysis notes. But "data are less conclusive in pointing to [anticoagulant rodenticides] as the specific cause of death in necropsied animals."

In other words, it’s not clear rodent poison is killing predator species. But it is clear that rodents carry diseases that are making Californians seriously ill.

The bill, sponsored by Santa Monica Assemblyman Richard Bloom, would exempt food factories, breweries and wineries from the ban. No doubt Napa Valley vintners and their customers will be grateful. While liberals say the solution is better sanitation, they also protest whenever government officials try to clean up homeless camps or propose building shelters in their neighborhoods.

Low-income folks who live near homeless populations as usual will suffer the greatest harm from the rat-poison ban. If only there were an antidote to California’s toxic progressive politics.
Posted by: Beavis || 08/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Liberal California's "Official State Rodent".
Posted by: Phaick Uneretle6310 || 08/09/2019 1:40 Comments || Top||

#2  CA could use all those discarded drug needles to make little rat palisades. Recycle, reuse, infect the rats with AIDS.
Posted by: Butch Thating8912 || 08/09/2019 2:39 Comments || Top||

#3  Feral cats! They will take care of the rats.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 08/09/2019 8:48 Comments || Top||

#4  Democrats in the state Legislature want to ban rat poison.

These rats sure stick together.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 08/09/2019 8:52 Comments || Top||

#5  We have the four legged kind and the two legged kind. Take your pick.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 08/09/2019 10:07 Comments || Top||

#6  Calling Hantavirus ....
Posted by: 3dc || 08/09/2019 10:49 Comments || Top||

#7  AIDS infected rat bites. Sarah Hoyt to the holographic courtesy phone, Sarah Hoyt...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 08/09/2019 11:20 Comments || Top||

#8  Californians are asked to embrace yet more diversity.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 08/09/2019 11:22 Comments || Top||

#9  Feral cats! They will take care of the rats.

"Fleas the size of rats sucked on rats the size of cats..."

David Bowie, Suffragette City
Posted by: M. Murcek || 08/09/2019 11:26 Comments || Top||

#10  Let's look at this from an ecological perspective. Generally, when you have an over-population of plants or animals in an ecosystem, the best solution is for someone to eat them.

Here, we have a surplus of both rats and homeless. The obvious answer is for them to eat each other. And while Rats vs Homeless is a natural division, there is no reason not to discourage cannibalism on either side. Like that commie guy said, if you want to make an omelette, sometimes you have to chop some meat.
Posted by: SteveS || 08/09/2019 13:20 Comments || Top||

#11  Use terriers, not cats. Much better mousers.
Posted by: Lex || 08/09/2019 14:54 Comments || Top||

#12  Rats have been delicacies about the 2nd or 3rd month of a siege. Usually after the horses. Given that most modern urban areas lack large horse populations, the timeline may be a bit accelerated.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 08/09/2019 15:59 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Libya's Mufti urges Murzuq social communities to reconcile, warns against fighting
[Libya Observer] The Libyan Mufti, Sheikh al-Sadiq al-Ghariani
...Libyan Moslem Brüderhood Grand Mufti since 2012. Issued a fatwa forbidding Libyan women from marrying foreign men. Issued a fatwa against a UN Commission on the Status of Women's report because it urged governments to protect women and girls against violence. Aligned with the GNC govt...
, has expressed sorrow over the recent killings in Murzuq in southern Libya, especially after the Arclight airstrike
...KABOOM!...
s of 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...
's forces.

The Mufti called on Arab and Tubu communities in the town to reconcile and warned them against fighting driven by ethnic, tribal or retaliatory motives.

"The feuds are often fueled by foreign parties that use local individuals like war criminal Haftar as a tool in order to destabilize the country's security." al-Gharyani said in his weekly program on Tanasuh TV on Wednesday.

He also called on the Presidential Council and the Interior Ministry to have real presence and intelligence in the southern region so they can know what is really happening in there.

The Mufti indicated that the southerners are in need for protection and security as well as services as they are now counting on the Presidential Council's government not on Haftar in order to see change happen in their district.

Libya's southern region, especially Murzuq, are witnessing deteriorating security and humanitarian conditions due to frequent festivities among local communities after the security vacuum left by the forces of Khalifa Haftar, knowing that they entered it in February then left heading to 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...
Haftar's warplanes hit a gathering in Murzuq three days ago killing over 43 and injuring over 60 others.

Posted by: Fred || 08/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Muslim Brotherhood


India-Pakistan
'We will not leave you alone': AJK assembly expresses solidarity with occupied Kashmir
[DAWN] The Legislative Assembly of Azad Jammu and Kashmire (AJK) on Thursday warned India that it could neither crush the popular freedom struggle nor raise any "constitutional" set up in Indian Kashmiree on the surmise of "military might" and advised New Delhi to find a peacefully negotiated settlement of the lingering dispute as enshrined in the United Nations
...where theory meets practice and practice loses...
Security Council (UNSC) resolutions.

The assembly also assured the besieged leadership and people of Indian-Indian Kashmiree that AJK stood by them in this difficult phase of their freedom movement with full conviction.

"We will not leave you alone in any way. We will live and die along with you," vowed the house through a unanimously approved resolution, tabled by Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider reportedly in consultation with members from both sides of the divide.

Condemning the abrogation of occupied Kashmire's constitution as well as extension of the jurisdiction of India’s constitution to the disputed territory, the AJK legislature observed that Articles 370 and 35-A of the Indian constitution were amended and repealed, respectively, to reduce the majority of Moslems there, due to which India had always been reluctant to hold a UN-sponsored plebiscite.

Posted by: Fred || 08/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Emily Ratajkowski shows off her armpit hair in a lacy bra
[PAGESIX]
Posted by: Fred || 08/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Who?
What...?
Posted by: Lex || 08/09/2019 1:07 Comments || Top||

#2  Who?

The Daily Mail seems to regard her as one of the dozen or so most interesting and important women on the planet. Biographical highlights of which I'm personally aware include... once walking around Cannes jiggling, and being interrogated by some guy from Vogue.
Posted by: Snusoling Trotsky9537 || 08/09/2019 2:47 Comments || Top||

#3  I looked. I'll look again.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 08/09/2019 8:06 Comments || Top||

#4  Town I grew up in was about 85% Polish. One of the standard jokes was:

How do you tell the bride at a Polish wedding?
She's the one with the braided armpits. *rimshot*

(Sorry TW - recidivism never dies)
Posted by: Mercutio || 08/09/2019 8:49 Comments || Top||

#5  Her picture with the armpit hair on Instagram has the note "Liked by gal_godot and 1,864,777 others." I added to the likes by 1. She goes by the name emrata there, which I find amusing. Not too full of herself.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike || 08/09/2019 9:29 Comments || Top||

#6  Famous for being in the Blurred lines video and parlaying that into some kind of D list Instagram celebrity.

Also known for her strange ab-crack and trying to make that into some kind of sexy thing.
Posted by: ruprecht || 08/09/2019 10:22 Comments || Top||

#7  I thought fur was out of fashion and SJW non-approved...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 08/09/2019 10:52 Comments || Top||

#8  Known online as pay-to-play yachter...
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 08/09/2019 11:29 Comments || Top||

#9  Sorry TW

You know I adore you anyway, Mercutio dear. And now I know something I didn’t before.

Going back to the article, the lady said she mostly shaves. But sometimes she feels sexier going unshaven, so she does it for effect. Whatevs, grrrrl. I’m just happy that certain trends are driving body lice near extinction in our part of the world.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/09/2019 12:51 Comments || Top||

#10  Looks great, though I hope she shaves her legs.
Posted by: KBK || 08/09/2019 13:28 Comments || Top||


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Dayton shooter's demonic notebook scrawls reveal he fantasized about massacres, 'hunting' for humans
  • [Daily Mail, Where America Gets Its News]Connor Betts gunned down nine people and injured dozens more in Dayton, Ohio, on Sunday

  • Now DailyMail.com has obtained chilling notebook scrawls by the 24-year-old who had an appetite for murder, drugs and Satanism

  • The frightening pages were revealed by former friend Ian Himes who paints a confounding picture of Betts as a frequent methamphetamine smoker who played violent video games

  • Himes said: 'Sometimes he would go quiet and take my notebooks and start writing random stuff in them. I never paid much attention to what he'd written until now'

  • Betts' rambling contributions, written around 2017, include a Satanic pentagram with the words 'Hail Lucifer' and numerous references to death and murder

  • The warped loner declares himself a servant of 'evil incarnate' and rants about everything from schizophrenia to satanic rituals and massacres

  • The pages read in part: 'I am the servant of the serpent evil incarnate, flesh consumer, light destroyer, fueled by hate, rage my strength, distrust my shield'

  • In further jumbled snippets, Betts adds: 'Anti-social personality disorder. Don’t listen to romantic advice, sociopath. Seek and destroy. Still haven’t eaten enough so…very ADHD, paranoid, schizophrenic'
Posted by: Fred || 08/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So he could write screenplays for Blumhouse...
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 08/09/2019 7:31 Comments || Top||

#2  And he had a short live action of it until the cops dropped him like a prom dress.
Posted by: DarthVader || 08/09/2019 10:04 Comments || Top||

#3  'I am the servant of the serpent evil incarnate, flesh consumer, light destroyer, fueled by hate, rage my strength, distrust my shield'

Why do I get the feeling that this sounds like next year's pledge at the Democratic Presidential Convention.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 08/09/2019 11:21 Comments || Top||

#4  Any way to determine whether he saw the trailer for that vile low-budget slasher flick ("The Hunt")?
Posted by: Lex || 08/09/2019 14:39 Comments || Top||

#5  He likely did see their earlier "Purge" movies.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 08/09/2019 14:48 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Police deny receiving rape complaint against MPA who has ‘gone abroad’
[DAWN] MULTAN: After a member of the provincial assembly facing rape allegations reportedly left for UAE, the police concerned claimed on Wednesday that they received no complaint against him.

The PML-N MPA was accused by a girl, who had been working and studying in an institution owned by the politician, of repeatedly raping and blackmailing her. The matter was highlighted through a social media post showing the girl’s application to a magistrate in which she alleged that the MPA had been raping her for 11 months and made objectionable video clips of her.

She also alleged that the suspect was hurling threats that the video clips would be made public if she informed anyone about the incident or tried to take any legal action. "An inspector of Bahauddin Zakariya cop shoppe visited the house of the girl who was not present there. However,
it's easy to be generous with someone else's money...
brother of the girl told the inspector that he, along with his sister, would visit the cop shoppe within couple of days if they needed to initiate legal action," Station House Officer Zaheeruddin Babar told Dawn.

He said usually the victim approached police after getting medically examined, but the girl did not visit the cop shoppe at all.

The SHO said that as the police did not receive any application against the MPA, it did not concern police if he had left the country.

Later, an affidavit signed by the ’victim’ on July 25 surfaced on social media, in which she stated that her allegations against the MPA were result of a misunderstanding and that some miscreants had pressurised her into submitting the application with a magistrate.

She stated that she neither had any link, nor any dealings with the MPA.

She also stated that she did not want to take any legal action against the MPA.

Earlier, the ’victim’, a permanent resident of Lahore living in Multan
...Home of the Multan Sultans...
for studies, in her application to the magistrate alleged the MPA raped her last time on July 26. She had claimed that she went to the Bahauddin Zakariya Police Station to get an order for her medical examination but the police refused to take any action because of the MPA’s influence.

She had requested the court to order the medical superintendent of the Nishtar Hospital, Multan, to conduct her medical examination.

Posted by: Fred || 08/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  I thought the work of the Minister of Public Affairs was supposed to be public.
Posted by: Skidmark || 08/09/2019 16:31 Comments || Top||


-War on Police-
Rifle-toting gunman wearing ballistic vest shoots New Jersey cop
[NYPOST] A gunman, armed with a rifle and wearing a ballistic vest, shot a police officer in New Jersey on Thursday morning, law enforcement sources told The Post.

The gunman shot at cops just after 11:30 a.m. on the 300 block of Myrtle Avenue in Irvington, and ran through back yards, according to the sources.

The man, whose name was not released, was in jug moments later, a few houses down on the same street, sources said.

The officer was taken to University Hospital in Newark, where he was being treated for non-life-threatening injuries, the sources said.

It was unclear what triggered the encounter between police and the man.
Posted by: Fred || 08/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Well, look. That's "free speech." The cop defending himself is raycissism..."
Posted by: M. Murcek || 08/09/2019 13:25 Comments || Top||

#2  Water utility shut his access off for a delinquent bill?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 08/09/2019 13:40 Comments || Top||

#3  Wanted his 15 minutes of fame without actually hurting anyone. Don't mention his name.
Posted by: jpal || 08/09/2019 14:19 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Russia Is Going Fishing for a Lost Nuclear-Powered Missile
[FOXTROTALPHA.JALOPNIK] Moscow has lost a new missile, one unlike any other. The missing missile is not only nuclear-armed but also nuclear-powered. Now, ten months after the crash the Russian government is going after the missile’s remains, scooping them up before someone else does.

In March 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin
...President-for-Life of Russia. He gets along well with other presidents for life. He is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substance. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to him. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substances...
unveiled to the world a new cruise missile, the Burevestnik ("Storm Petrel"). The missile was part of a whole slew of new nuclear delivery systems Putin claimed Russia was developing in response to U.S."resisting arms-control negotiations, developing new missile-defense systems, and adopting a more aggressive posture in its nuclear strategy."

"No one listened to us," Putin was quoted in The Washington Post as saying. "Listen to us now."

Burevestnik is one of the most diabolical of Putin’s new wonder weapons, which is really saying something considering the weapons include a 100-megaton nuclear torpedo. Unlike most cruise missiles, which are typically powered by turbofan engines and have ranges of 800 to 1,000 miles, the new cruise missile is nuclear powered.

Nuclear power powered cruise missiles use a sustained nuclear reaction instead of jet fuel, resulting in theoretically unlimited range. So unlimited, in fact, that a missile like Burevestnik could theoretically be launched days or weeks before an attack, taking the long way around and infiltrating U.S. air space from unexpected angles. Want to take off from Siberia, fly to the Southern Hemisphere, and attack Houston from the Gulf of Mexico? A nuclear-powered engine can do that for you.

Or at least it could, if it worked. Russia has tested Burevestnik twelve times so far and according to U.S. intelligence only one flight was successful by any measure. A November 2017 test flight from Pank’ovo, a remote arctic base on Russia’s Yuzhny Island, flew for a little more than two minutes before crashing back down to Earth.

Posted by: Fred || 08/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  a 100-megaton nuclear torpedo

??

for blowing up a boat the size of Rhode Island
Posted by: lord garth || 08/09/2019 1:16 Comments || Top||

#2  For creating tsunamis on our coasts.
Posted by: Butch Thating8912 || 08/09/2019 1:31 Comments || Top||

#3  Radioactive tsunamis.
Posted by: Butch Thating8912 || 08/09/2019 1:32 Comments || Top||

#4  Fly over country could not be reached for comment.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 08/09/2019 6:36 Comments || Top||

#5  Fly over country could not be reached for comment.

They ROTFLTAO, ahem, and chuckling.
Posted by: Skidmark || 08/09/2019 7:43 Comments || Top||

#6  At some point you'd think that Putin would be embarrassed.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 08/09/2019 10:19 Comments || Top||

#7  Tsar bomb was not 100 mega-tons. That's the largest nuke ever on this missile.
Posted by: 3dc || 08/09/2019 10:34 Comments || Top||

#8  Also, Putin appears to be out-doing all current candidates for the position of Dr. Evil and I don't recall Brezhnev even wanting a 100 mega-ton nuke powered missile.
Posted by: 3dc || 08/09/2019 10:39 Comments || Top||

#9  IIRC, starting at approximately 20 megatons there is a distinct Law of Diminishing Returns for big explosions, whether they are nuclear or impactors (meteors/bolides/etc). When the "fireball" is larger than the lower, denser atmosphere more and more energy is harmlessly radiated into space.
TL/DR: 100 megatons, yeah, scary I guess. *Yawn*
Posted by: magpie || 08/09/2019 12:50 Comments || Top||

#10  Gee, right after a deep-diving 'bus' fire.
Posted by: Skidmark || 08/09/2019 16:28 Comments || Top||

#11  Fishing huh? What's he using for bait?
Posted by: AlanC || 08/09/2019 16:44 Comments || Top||

#12  What's he using for bait? Neutrons!

#9 IIRC, starting at approximately 20 megatons there is a distinct Law of Diminishing Returns for big explosions

I wonder if that applies to an underwater detonation, what with water being incompressible and all. A big-ass tsunami would make a mess of a coastal city.

Nuke power for air propulsion sounds iffy for a bunch of reasons, but an underwater 'missile' sounds doable. Lets call it an unmanned autonomous underwater drone so as to hit all the marketing buzzwords.
Posted by: SteveS || 08/09/2019 17:17 Comments || Top||

#13  So that's what the explosions and leaks were all about. They were building a 'flying critical nuclear reactor' !
Posted by: Dron66046 || 08/09/2019 19:04 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
PM wonders if intl community will find the moral courage to prevent 'genocide' in occupied Kashmir
[DAWN] Prime Minister Imran Khan
... aka The Great Khan, who who convinced himself that playing cricket qualified him to lead a nuclear-armed nation with severe personality problems...
on Thursday questioned whether the global community would have the "moral courage" to stop a possible genocide from taking place in Indian-occupied Kashmire.

Taking to Twitter a day after Pakistain expelled the Indian ambassador in protest over New Delhi's move to revoke occupied Kashmire's special status, the premier said the entire world was waiting to see what treatment the Indian authorities will mete out to Kashmires once the crippling curfew imposed on them earlier this week is lifted.

"Does the BJP govt think by using greater military force against Kashmiris in IOK, it will stop the freedom movement?" the prime minister asked, before the answering the question himself: "Chances are it will gain momentum."


Posted by: Fred || 08/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  Why? Is Pakistan planning to all Bangladesh on the the Kashmiris?
Posted by: Butch Thating8912 || 08/09/2019 3:20 Comments || Top||

#2 
[crickets chirping in Kashmir...]
Posted by: Dron66046 || 08/09/2019 5:39 Comments || Top||


Lawyers seek implementation of Qazi Isa report on Quetta carnage
[DAWN] QUETTA: Lawyers and participants of a condolence reference, held in memory of deaders of the August 8 Quetta attack, have demanded the government implement the Justice Qazi Faez Isa commission report on the civil hospital carnage that three years ago deprived Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
of 60 senior lawyers.

The condolence reference and a seminar was organised by Shaheed Baz Muhammad Kakar Foundation at Balochistan Boy Scouts auditorium on Wednesday to pay tribute to the martyred lawyers.

Senior lawyers of the country, including Supreme Court Bar Associa­tion (SCBA) President Amanullah Kanrani, SCBA ex-presidents Hamid Khan and Ali Ahmed Kurd, Pakistain Bar Council vice chairman Amjad Shah, provincial presidents Asghar Khan Achakzai, Muhammad Kakar and Dr Lal Muhammad Kakar spoke on the occasion.

The speakers expressed their serious concern over non-implementation of the Qazi Faez Isa commission report on the Quetta bombing and all promises made by the provincial government to the families of the slain lawyers.

SCBA President Amanullah Kanrani said that August 8 civil hospital carnage was against the illusory sovereignty of the country and lawyers community. He warned that if conflicts continued, the situation would further worsen. He said that the carnage had deprived Balochistan of 60 senior lawyers, creating a gap that could not be filled up for a long time.

Balochistan Bar President Muhammad Asghar Achakzai, who lost his younger brother in the Quetta bombing, said that most of the victims of the tragedy were head of their families and after their deaths the families were facing great difficulties.

He said that if the government had implemented the national action plan, the situation would have been different. "The setback of the attack on lawyers will haunt us for a very long time," Mr Achakzai said and questioned why the government had challenged the judicial commission report of the incident.

Posted by: Fred || 08/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Africa North
Khalifa Haftar's militias execute two residents from Tripoli
[Libya Observer] Militias of war-lord, 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...
executed two 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...
's residents, who were identified to be Khaled Almutamad and Abdullah Jabour, after kidnapping them on the coastal road of Garabulli district, on July 27th.

A relative of Almutamad told The Libya Observer that the victims were on their way to Ghanima area when a group of Haftar's militias kidnapped them and took them to Tarhouna city, where both were executed immediately.

The family of Almutamed received his body on Monday, after tribal mediation through Mohsen al-Kani, commander of al-Kani militia in Tarhuona; one of the most important armed factions in Haftar's war on Tripoli.

Almutamed was buried Tuesday in a cemetery in Souk al-Jum'aa area.

Haftar's militias still refuse to hand over the body of the other victim Jabour of Misrata descent while negotiations are underway to hand over the body through the Libyan Red Islamic Thingy.

It is noteworthy that Khaled Almutamad and Abdullah Jabour are businessmen from Tripoli, according to their families they did not join any military or armed body.

Posted by: Fred || 08/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syrian gov’t rejects US-Turkish safe zone in northern Syria
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Syrian government announced on Thursday that they have categorically rejected the recent U.S.-Ottoman Turkish safe zone agreement that is to be implemented in northern Syria.

According to the Syrian Foreign Ministry’s statement, the new safe zone constitutes a flagrant violation of Syria’s illusory sovereignty and territorial integrity.

An official source at the Foreign and Expatriates Ministry told SANA on Thursday that "Syria expresses categorical rejection of the agreement announced by the US and Ottoman Turkish occupations on establishing the so-called (safe zone) which constitutes a blatant aggression against the illusory sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic and a flagrant violation of the principles of the international law and the UN Charter."

"This agreement has very clearly exposed the US-Ottoman Turkish partnership in the aggression against Syria which serves the interest of the Israeli occupation entity and the Ottoman Turkish expansionist ambitions and it unequivocally exposed the misleading and evasiveness which govern the policies of the Ottoman Turkish regime," the SANA source continued. .

"Syria calls on the Arab people to be aware of the dangers of the expansionist ambitions of the Ottoman Turkish regime which is spreading the killing and chaos in different parts of the Arab world from Syria to Libya and the Sudan and it will not stop till it will satisfy its illusions on reviving the Ottoman Sultanate," they added.

Posted by: Fred || 08/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


Syrian Army inflicts heavy losses in ISIS ranks in central Syria
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) struck back against 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....
(ISIS/ISIS/IS/ISIS) in central Syria, launching several attacks on the terrorist group’s positions in the Badiya al-Sham region.

Using both air and ground strikes, the Syrian Army began their assault by targeting a number of Islamic State hard boyz near the T-3 Pumping Station in the eastern part of the Homs Governorate on Wednesday.

Following an attack near the T-3 Station, the Syrian military expanded their strikes to the Deir Ezzor Governorate’s western border, where they killed several members of the Islamic State and inflicted heavy damage on their military equipment.

The Syrian Arab Army recently stepped up their strikes against the Islamic State, following several hit-and-run attacks that resulted in a number of casualties for the military in both central and eastern Syria.

Posted by: Fred || 08/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


India-Pakistan
Special status for occupied Kashmir 'fed terrorism', Modi says in TV address
[DAWN] Indian-Indian Kashmire was stripped of its autonomy to free it from "terrorism and separatism", Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday.

In his first comments on the constitutional bombshell carried out while Kashmire was under a military lockdown, Modi insisted that his government had made a "historic decision". He did not bring up the clampdown in the region in his speech.

The Hindu nationalist BJP government rushed through a presidential decree on Monday to ditch the Moslem-majority region's constitutionally-guaranteed status. The Indian parliament also passed a law splitting the state into two territories.

The move was opposed by some of the opposition and has been questioned by Indian journalists and international organizations.

Internet and telephone connections in Kashmire have been cut since Monday and a curfew imposed as the authorities feared trouble when the decision was announced.

Posted by: Fred || 08/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistain Proxies


Science & Technology
The U.S. Army Plans To Field the Most Powerful Laser Weapon Yet
[PopularMechanics] The U.S. Army is pushing forward with plans for the most powerful laser weapon to date. The Indirect Fires Protection Capability-High Energy Laser (IFPC-HEL) will be a 250 to 300 kilowatt weapon, up to 10 times more powerful than the U.S. Navy's Laser Weapon System. The power boost should be enough to destroy targets as large as incoming cruise missiles.

The U.S. military is pushing into lasers in a big way, with all three of the main services-Army, Navy, and Air Force-pushing hard to get them onto ground vehicles, ships, and aircraft. The main appeal of lasers is their fast reaction time, literally the speed of light, and their ability to fire a high number of shots without stockpiling bullets, missiles, or shells.

Lasers instead rely on electrical power, and as long as there is electricity to power the weapon it can theoretically crank out an endless number of shots. "Ammunition" is basically the cost of generator fuel, or about $10 per shot.
The Donks will scream about the generator, demanding "Green" ammo (i.e.: a windmill or solar panels)
According to Breaking Defense, earlier this year the Army was looking to develop a 100 kilowatt laser weapon. Now, just months later, the service is aiming higher at a 250 to 300 kilowatt weapon. The Army has so far been interested in weapons to engage enemy drones and drone swarms-IFPC-HEL will be just powerful enough to shoot down an incoming cruise missile.

300 kilowatts is ten times more than the only currently operational laser weapon, LaWS. LaWS, or Laser Weapon System, was a $40 million dollar, 30-kilowatt laser installed on the amphibious sea base USS Ponce in 2014. Although apparently never used in action, LaWS was capable of blinding enemy forces as a warning, shooting down drones, disabling boats, or damaging helicopters.

Lasers, as Breaking Defense points out, are more like focused sunlight from a magnifying glass than pew pew pulses of light. Lower power lasers may need to focus on target for several seconds, while larger lasers can get by with quicker pulses, doing more damage faster. Meanwhile, a target like a cruise missile is densely packed with a guidance system, warhead, fuel, and turbojet engine. A laser pulse could fry the guidance system, explode the warhead or fuel tank, or damage the engine. Alternately it could cause damage to the missile’s fuselage and wings, causing it to become aerodynamically unstable and crash.

The new laser will be mounted on a truck and likely accompanied by a generator vehicle with plenty of diesel fuel. A firing position on high ground would allow it to engage targets at maximum range, before they could threaten friendly forces.

The first platoon of four firing vehicles will enter service in 2024.
Energy weapons, Stealth and hypervelocity weapons will be the arms races of the future
Posted by: DarthVader || 08/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Ooh! A 300kW laser is what the Air Force considers a long range offensive weapon.
Posted by: Butch Thating8912 || 08/09/2019 6:34 Comments || Top||

#2  This weapon has been promised for quite a while and assuming it works as advertised we do need it ASAP as do several other countries eg South Korea and Israel.
Posted by: Bernardz || 08/09/2019 8:27 Comments || Top||

#3  Gone are the old chemical lasers. The new electrically powered laser designs double their power every 3 years or so. So we're only a few years away from a megawatt class weapon.

Now we just need to find a great bloody shark to mount it on.
Posted by: The peanut gallery || 08/09/2019 9:52 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Failure to exit FATF grey list to affect cash inflows: IMF
[DAWN] Resident Representative of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Pakistain Teresa Daban Sanchez has said the failure to get out of the grey list by the Financial Action Task Force could have implications for capital inflows to Pakistain and also jeopardise financing assurances under the programme.

Addressing a seminar on ’IMF Extended Fund Facility Arrangement for Pakistain’ at the University of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
on Wednesday, Ms Sanchez said the risks of the FATF grey list and non-compliance of fiscal measures by the government loomed large over the programme.

The university’s Economics Department organised the event, which was attended by Vice- Chancellor Dr Mohammad Asif Khan, chairman of the Department of Economics Professor Zilakat Khan Malik, faculty members, and students.

Ms Sanchez said opposition to governance and institutional building by vested interests, fiscal slippages, and absence of majority by the ruling PTI in the Senate could put the programme at risk.

Posted by: Fred || 08/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  Financial Action Task Force formed by member countries (1989) to police money laundering, terror financing, proceeds from trafficking, international shell companies, etc. Has 37 member nations now with several observer organizations aiding and receiving reports. When aid in billions flows into hellholes, somebody has to track the state-sponsored money laundering and diversion of funds.

They signal the do-gooders, IMF or World bank when it's okay to give a country a loan or aid, and also when it'll probably be used to fellatio a terrorist with $$. At least we hope.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 08/09/2019 10:30 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
BREAKING: Download Bruce Ohr's Just Released 302's via Judicial Watch
Posted by: Phaick Uneretle6310 || 08/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Which is heavily redacted and essentially reveals nothing.
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/09/2019 1:50 Comments || Top||

#2  the docs give more detail about the time line

for example, Oct 21, 2016 was the date the FISA court was asked to approve surveillance of Carter Page (who btw was never charged with any violation of any kind). Ohr evidently knew, by Nov 22, 2016 that Steele (known by a code name by then) was rabidly anti Trump. We also know from other sources that this 'rabidly anti Trump' bias was never given to the FISA court. We also know from other sources that the FISA surveillance on Page was renewed THREE TIMES (it is possible there was other evidence was provided beyond the initial filing but if it were not or if the other evidence was weak, these subsequent FISA requests were illegal.
Posted by: lord garth || 08/09/2019 3:42 Comments || Top||

#3  The alleged Bureau interest in Carter Page appears to have been terminated as soon as he departed the Trump Campaign team. His placement and access to the team was likely being exploited hence the three renewals. No one has ever mentioned what additional incriminating information was provided to the FISA court which would have supported renewals? No charges were ever brought against Page. When the Comey-FISA issue began to surface, Page quickly assumed the role of victim.

Carter Page was a former Naval intelligence officer who reportedly had worked with the Bureau in the past. I suspect he was witting of his role.

Of course I could be wrong and all this was simply a beltway coincidence.
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/09/2019 6:15 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Libyan Airlines flight survives missile attack by Haftar's militias
[Libya Observer] Mitiga Airport authority confirmed Wednesday that a Libyan Airlines flight has survived a missile attack on the airport.

The plane was coming from Ghat airport, according to the airport's management on Facebook.

Air traffic was suspended immediately at the airport before being resumed hours later.

The Special Deterrent Force (SDF) responsible for securing the airport had indicated on numerous occasions that Haftar's militias are the ones responsible for the frequent targeting of Mitiga International Airport.

Posted by: Fred || 08/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring

#1  No (reliable) way to know if this actually happened, but any faction that shoots at airliners is filth.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 08/09/2019 10:36 Comments || Top||

#2  No (reliable) way to know if this actually happened, but any faction that shoots at airliners is filth.

In the heat of battle, it's not always easy to distinguish between civilian airliners and military transports. That's presumably why Malaysian and Iranian passenger jets were shot down by Russian-backed Ukrainian rebels and our Navy guys respectively.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 08/09/2019 19:42 Comments || Top||

#3  I believe civilian airframes are also used by various countries in intel gathering and maritime patrol roles, which can only add to the confusement.
Posted by: SteveS || 08/09/2019 19:51 Comments || Top||


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Aide to New York Assemblyman Felix Ortiz busted for allegedly stealing $80K from campaign
[NYPOST] A top staffer to veteran Brooklyn state Assemblyman Felix Ortiz was busted Thursday for allegedly stealing $80,000 from a campaign account, officials said.

Maruf Alam, 29, of Kensington, served as Ortiz’s chief of staff and represented the Assembly member at community events.

Alam is expected to be presented in Brooklyn federal court later Thursday in a case prosecuted by Eastern District US Attorney Richard Donoghue’s office and the FBI.

Ortiz, first elected in 1994, is the assistant Assembly speaker, the fifth-highest-ranked member of the Democrat-run house.

He represents the 51st Assembly District, which includes Red Hook and Sunset Park.

"They were very close. I saw them together all the time," said a source who’s known Ortiz for years.

Ortiz has $156,174.19 in his Assembly campaign account, according to his most recent report filed with the Board of Elections. He hasn’t faced a serious challenge for his seat in years.
Posted by: Fred || 08/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Pakistaini or bl*ck muzzlimb?
Posted by: M. Murcek || 08/09/2019 10:03 Comments || Top||

#2  Maruf Alam, alias 'Mitu'. By name he sounds like an Indian bengali, possibly Bangladeshi.

The media however, insists he's nothing but a Brooklyn Man.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 08/09/2019 10:48 Comments || Top||

#3  Jailhouse conversion or was he born that way?
Posted by: jpal || 08/09/2019 16:31 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Panama Canal reports that all scheduled transits are occurring normally
[TWITTER]




Posted by: Fred || 08/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Commies


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syrian Army storms first strategic town inside of southwest Idlib
[MOBILE.ALMASDARNEWS] The Syrian Arab Army’s offensive is not slowing down in northern Syria, despite the recent influx of Ottoman Turkish troops in the northern countryside of Hama.

Backed by heavy artillery and Arclight airstrike
...KABOOM!...
s, the Syrian Army made their first push to capture the key town of al-Hobeit in southwestern Idlib this evening.

According to a military source in Hama, the Syrian Army is looking to capitalize on their recent advance in northern Hama by seizing the first strategic town in the Idlib Governorate that is out of their hands.

Posted by: Fred || 08/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: al-Nusra


Russian choppers, fighter jets swarm jihadist stronghold amid Syrian Army buildup
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Russian Air Force unleashed a large number of Arclight airstrike
...KABOOM!...
s over the northeastern countryside of the Latakia Governorate, today, targeting a number of hideouts belonging to the jihadists of the Turkestan Islamic Party and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else
...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State...
Led by their fighter jets and attack choppers, the Russian Air Force concentrated most of their strikes on the jihadist strongholds of Sirmaniyeh and Kabani.

These strikes by the Russian Air Force reportedly destroyed several krazed killer hideouts, along with many tunnels dug by the jihadist forces near the front-lines in northeastern Latakia.

At the same time, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) has been moving several units to the front-lines around Kabani as they look to capture this mountaintop town once and for all.

In the past, the Syrian Army has tried to capture Kabani from the Turkestan Islamic Party and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham; however, all of their attacks were repelled by the jihadists after a several short battles.

If the Syrian Army can take control of Kabani, they will have a downhill battle towards the Ottoman Turkish border and strategic city of Jisr al-Shughour.

Posted by: Fred || 08/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: al-Nusra


Jihadists launch attack on largest Russian base in Syria
[ALMASDARNEWS] The jihadist rebels have launched a new attack on the largest Russian airbase in Syria, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported on Thursday.

According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the jihadist rebels in northern Syria launched several rockets towards the Hmeimim Airbase in the Latakia Governorate.

"Four rockets were fired with a multiple launcher towards the Russian airbase. At 16:03 Moscow time, they went kaboom! in an inhabited community two kilometers northeast of the Hmeymim airfield. According to the Syrian security agencies, two local residents were killed by terrorist shelling, while four others sustained wounds. There is no destruction at the Russian airbase, and no one was maimed there," the ministry said.

The Russian Defense Ministry noted that, according to the Syrian security agencies, two local residents had been killed by the krazed killer shelling, while four others sustained wounds.

"There is no destruction at the Russian airbase, and no one was maimed there," the ministry added.

Posted by: Fred || 08/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Nusra


India-Pakistan
500 arrested in occupied Kashmir, clampdown challenged in Indian Supreme Court
[DAWN] Indian security forces have arrested more than 500 people since New Delhi imposed a communications blackout and security clampdown in occupied Kashmire, where people remained holed up in their homes for a fourth day on Thursday.

The rigorous security measures followed India's decision this week to revoke the special status of occupied Jammu and Kashmire and downgrade the Himalayan region from statehood to a territory. Kashmiri fighters have been fighting against Indian rule in the occupied region for decades.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to address the nation on Thursday to discuss the issue. His national security adviser, Ajit Doval, visited the region on Wednesday to assess the law and order situation.

A petition was filed in India's top court challenging the lockdown. Opposition Congress party activist Tehseen Poonawalla said he expected the Supreme Court to hear his petition on Thursday seeking immediate lifting of curfew and other restrictions, including blocking of phone lines, internet and news channels in Kashmire.

He also sought the immediate release of Kashmiri leaders who have been detained, including Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti.

Posted by: Fred || 08/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistain Proxies

#1  Intelligence directed the police to detain around a thousand tagged individuals indefinitely. They managed about half without incident. It's okay, we can handle the odd incident now, with a media gag. I'd like it if the Kashmiris would just understand that the islamist dream is over and they've got to live in a secular, pluralist democracy now. The majority of them are inclined to accept it too. It's just the professional activists that are being detained, un-funded, gagged.

As for the petitions, things like these keep arriving in Delhi Supreme Court all day.

Posted by: Dron66046 || 08/09/2019 7:56 Comments || Top||


Nawaz, Maryam face another corruption reference
[DAWN] A new case of corruption related to Chaudhry Sugar Mills (CSM) against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif
... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf, then by the courts...
and his family members will soon be filed in the accountability court by the National Accountability Bureau.

The CSM case, under investigation by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for a long time, took a new turn when one of the accused, Nasir Lutha, the former president of the Summit Bank, returned to the country and pleaded his innocence in the case.

"The case is at present at the inquiry stage and it will soon become a new reference against the Sharif family," Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Accountability Shahzad Akbar told a presser on Wednesday.

He said that money laundering and fraud had been established in the case and several members of the Sharif family, including Nawaz Sharif and PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz, were allegedly involved in the case.
Posted by: Fred || 08/09/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan



Who's in the News
33[untagged]
9Govt of Pakistan
5al-Nusra
5Arab Spring
4Taliban
3Moslem Colonists
3Govt of Pakistain Proxies
3Houthis
2Muslim Brotherhood
2Islamic State
2Sublime Porte
1[untagged]
1Commies
1Govt of Iran
1Hezbollah

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Two weeks of WOT
Fri 2019-08-09
  US slaps Hezbollah financier with 5-year prison sentence, $50m. fine
Thu 2019-08-08
  Clashes erupt between Indian, Pakistani forces in Kashmir
Wed 2019-08-07
  Algeria: court issues arrest warrant on Khaled Nezzar, ex-General accused of alleged mass killings in the 1990s
Tue 2019-08-06
  Benghazi flight to Mitiga Tripoli survives rocket attack while landing
Mon 2019-08-05
  Indian Kashmir Dissolved.
Sun 2019-08-04
  Special Forces arrest Taliban fighter disguised in women’s dress
Sat 2019-08-03
  6000 protest at Gaza border, rioters hurl explosive devices toward IDF troops
Fri 2019-08-02
  TTP warns against playing music, women going out alone in Miramshah
Thu 2019-08-01
  Iran slashes four zeroes from rial currency over inflation
Wed 2019-07-31
  Breaking : Hamza Bin Laden Dead.
Tue 2019-07-30
  Accused 9/11 mastermind open to role in victims' lawsuit if not executed
Mon 2019-07-29
   British warship arrives in Gulf to escort UK-flagged vessels
Sun 2019-07-28
  15 killed in Islamist militant attack in Burkina Faso
Sat 2019-07-27
  U.N. says air strikes by Syria, allies killed more than 100 civilians
Fri 2019-07-26
  Libya Militia Arrests al-Qaida Leaders

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