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Today: 64 articles and 126 comments as of 15:12.
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Area: WoT Operations    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Senior Egypt military officer shot dead near Cairo
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 2: WoT Background
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Page 4: Opinion
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Page 6: Politix
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Africa Horn
Piracy could surge off Somali coast in 2017
Even with maritime piracy at a 21-year low, experts are warning of a potential resurgence in East Africa among other risks.

“Suddenly, the opportunity is improving,” anti-piracy expert John Steed said about Somali piracy. “No one has tried it yet, but the potential is there for it to come back.”

The last wave of Somalia piracy peaked in 2011 with 176 attacks. It declined to almost nothing by 2015, thanks to an increased foreign naval presence and industry precautions like posting armed guards, moving faster, and following certain routes when passing through the area. At the end of last year, the industry issued new recommendations that reduced the size of the danger zone.

Heading into 2016, however, IHS Inc. said Somali piracy was a major risk thanks to instability and unrest in the region.

“The two conditions that led regional politicians to [support pirates], namely a lack of alternative economic opportunities and a threat to their control of their territory, are currently being recreated in the Galmudug region of central Somalia,” the risk consultancy warned.

Oceans Beyond Piracy (OBP) also warned of a piracy “reset” in its mid-year report. Steed, the non-profit’s regional manager for the Horn of Africa, walked us through some risk factors.
  • "Naval forces are getting [drawn away]. There’s a great deal of work for them to do, particularly with the migration problems and the issues higher up the Horn [of Africa] …. The days of the European naval force may be coming to an end.”

  • ”Ships’ captains are under pressure from the companies to go slower and in some cases closer to the coast.”

  • ”No one has helped build the Somalis a decent coast guard or maritime police …. In the main part of Somalia and all down the east coast, there is no real Somali seagoing capability.”

  • "[Somalis] see these big international trawlers, as they see it, stealing their fish, and that breeds animosity amongst and support for the pirates who go out and sometimes capture fishing boats.”

  • As 2015 progressed, private security teams were used less and less frequently by ships in the area, and when they were used, shipping companies increasingly opted for smaller and cheaper teams.
Posted by: Steve White || 10/23/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Pirates


Africa North
Egypt court rejects final appeal by Morsi in Ittihadiya clashes case
Egypt’s Court of Cassation rejected on Saturday an appeal by ousted president Mohamed Morsi against a 20-year prison sentence in the Ittihadiya clashes case, exhausting Morsi’s appeals in the case.

The ousted president is being tried in a number of cases, including cases where he has been sentenced to death. He is currently appealing all sentences but this is the first case where he has exhausted all appeals.

The court also confirmed the 20-year sentence against eight of the Muslim Brotherhood group and Morsi’s staff, as well as a 10-year sentence against two.

In April 2015, a Cairo court sentenced Morsi to 20 years in jail for inciting violence that led to the death of 10 people in clashes outside the Ittihadiya Presidential Palace on 5 December 2012.
Posted by: Steve White || 10/23/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Libya naval forces deny charges of attack on migrant boat
Follow-up from yesterday.
Libyan naval forces have denied accusations by a rescue organization that one of their crew had attacked a migrant boat packed with around 150 people, causing many to fall into the sea and at least four to drown.

A spokesman for the naval forces in Tripoli, Ayoub Qassem said a patrol had only boarded one vessel to check why it was in Libyan waters.

Germany-based Sea-Watch, one of several non-governmental organizations operating vessels off the coast of Libya, said on Friday a speedboat marked “Libyan Coast Guard” swooped in as they went to the aid of an overcrowded rubber boat in the early hours. At least one man from the Libyan vessel jumped into the rubber boat and beat the migrants with a stick, causing a mass panic a Sea-Watch spokesman said. Part of the rubber boat deflated in the ruckus, toppling most of them into the sea.

The Sea-Watch crew said it recovered four bodies, but saw others in the water it was not able to retrieve. Of an estimated 150 people on board the rubber boat, Sea-Watch rescued 120.

But Qassem said this was all lies not correct.

“The crew alleged that we attacked them and a number of casualties have been reported but this is not true at all and we call on them to prove this incident if they are right,” he said.

Qassem said that at around 2:30 am on Friday, the coast guard of the western region of Libya spotted three vessels off the coast. The patrol commander boarded the vessel and found Sea-Watch was involved.

“The commander asked them why they are in the Libyan waters but the crew of the organization did not answer logically. The crew was asked to leave,” he said. “It’s a breach and disrespect to Libyan sovereignty according to international rules and norms.”

Sea-Watch spokesman Ruben Neugebauer said from Berlin that the position of their ship, the Sea-Watch 2, was about 14 nautical miles off the coast of Zuwarah, Libya, while territorial waters end at 12 nautical miles from the coast.

“It was definitely not in Libya waters,” Neugebauer said of the position of the Sea-Watch 2, offering Reuters historical GPS tracking data from the ship.

“We should have some images at least from the cameras on board,” Neugebauer said. “Because it was dark, we don’t know how much they have seen, but we hope we have something.”

The Libyan coast guard boat sped away when the migrants fell into the sea instead of going to their aid, Neugebauer said.

“This was an attack on our rescue operation. We were engaged already with the boat to hand out life jackets, which is very important because the situation is very dangerous,” he said.

The incident happened before the planned start of training next week of up to 100 Libyan coast guard members as part of the EU anti-smuggling mission Operation Sophia.
Posted by: Steve White || 10/23/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Italy dismisses claims by Zintani brigade of Italian troops in Jufra airbase
Claims by Zintan’s Abubakr Al-Sadiq Brigade that Italian troops are at Jufra airbase have been dismissed by Italy. “It is absolute nonsense,” an Italian oficial told the Libya Herald.

In statement yesterday, the brigade declared that it would “not stay idly by and will face any invader with all our might,” adding “we call all Libyans to stay united and prepare to fight the new Italian invasion of our land.”.

It is not clear how the Zintanis came to the conclusion that Italian forces were at the airbase, located between Hun and Waddan, and locates 600 km eastern south east of Tripoli. They have no presence there.

During the Qaddafi era the base was the second most important airbase in the country but it was then severly damaged during the revolution by NATO air strikes. Following the revolution, it was controlled by Misrata’s Third Force. More recently, it was claimed that Benghazi militant Ziyad Belam had been using it as a base for himself and his followers.

The Libyan National Army (LNA) has tried to take it over on more than one occassion but with without success.

A small group of Italian forces – the figure is put at 200 – are, however, present in Misrata protecting the new field hospital order sent by the Italian government to treat Bunyan Marsus soldiers wounded in the fighting IS in Sirte.
Posted by: Steve White || 10/23/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Tunisia: French Called to be on Guard
Generic warning, but Tunisia clearly is unstable.
The French embassy in Tunisia has called on French citizens to watch out following Tunisian president’s extension of the state of emergency for three further months.

President Caid Essebsi Tuesday extended for three additional months the state of emergency decreed since November last year following the killing for 12 members of his guard. Tunisia was reeled by three terror attacks last year. The attacks claimed by the Islamic State group killed 71 people among whom 51 foreign tourists mostly British holidaymakers.

French ambassador in Tunis, Olivier Poivre d’Arvor said he was concerned about his countrymen’s security and safety.

“There are 30,000 French people in Tunisia, of whom almost 15,000 are students studying in French institutes. They may be subjected to any risk and we must protect them,” he said.

Earlier this month, the US embassy in Tunis issued similar warnings to American citizens urging them to avoid the North African country’s South-eastern regions as well as the mountainous regions in the West deemed still haunted by terrorists.
Posted by: Steve White || 10/23/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Arabia
Houthis block UN delegation entry to Taiz
Local authorities condemned on Saturday Yemen's Houthi militias and its allies for obstructing the entry of UN delegates to the country's third city of Taiz. The authorities said in a statement that Houthis had prevented a “delegation of UN agencies” from entering Taiz on Saturday morning.

The UN delegation was headed by Julian Hernez Rick, the country director of UNICEF, and was on its way to review the health and humanitarian situation in the city.

The local authority denounced the act, saying it confirmed that the militias “disregarded” the truce and reflected their “defiance of humanitarian organizations, the United Nations, the international community and the world,” read the statement published on Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

Taiz, about 205km south of the capital Sanaa, has suffered huge destruction since fighting in the city intensified.

The Houthis, who are battling the internationally-recognized government of Yemen President Abd Rabbu Mansour al-Hadi, are allied to Hadi's predecessor Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Posted by: badanov || 10/23/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


Washington Says Violations of Yemen Truce Threaten Negotiations
Nothing gets past State these days
Jizan, Riyadh- The U.N. special envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed issued a statement on Friday announcing that the 72-hour ceasefire, scheduled to end on Saturday, has been extended.
Is the shooting extended as well?
Yemen’s insurgency factions have violated the truce on several occasions and are expected to keep on doing so.

Ould Cheikh revealed that prolonging the ceasefire is in line with the preparations on achieving permanent and sustainable peace.

The U.N. envoy also mentioned that he has been carrying out discussions on extending the truce with Yemen’s warring parties.

Insurgency militias, composed of Iran-backed Houthis and fighters supporting the ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh, have for the second day in a row continued staging violations that have so far amounted to 205 incidents against Saudi borderline cities of Jizan and Najraan.

The number of truce violations inside Yemen count up to 692 over the last 24 hours. Most disruptions are detected at Taiz registering a whopping 265- second comes in al Jawf region at a 116 incidents, and 124 attacks recorded at Marib.

Among the areas registering lower activity of Houthi gunmen are the Dhale governorate at 44 violations, Al Bayda at 41, Shabwah at 24, and Hajjah at 48 violations.

For his part, a senior official at the U.S. Secretary of State warned that the ongoing breaches will threaten the chance of achieving permanent peace. He also told Asharq Al-Awsat the violations compromise the hope of relaunching negotiations among Yemen’s parties.

Even though numerous violations are recorded, the unstable ceasefire is holding up so far, and has resulted in public security and stability improving in Sana’a and some Yemeni areas, the U.N. envoy said.

Yemen’s national army is committing to self-preservation and has urged all soldiers to commit and uphold the ceasefire, despite being put under attack. Nonetheless the army will be reserving the right to retaliatory response.
Posted by: badanov || 10/23/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


Bangladesh
‘New JMB initiated umbrella group’
[Dhaka Tribune] To materialise their dream of establishing a Shariah-based state in Bangladesh, the so-called New JMB highups wanted to strengthen the organization by unifying other murderous Moslem groups under a single umbrella.

Efforts taken to this end separately by New JMB ameer Abu Ibrahim al-Hanif and operations chief Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury did not work, but some members of the local murderous Moslem outfits did join the new group, according to police’s elite force Rapid Action Battalion.

After coming to Bangladesh in 2013, Canadian citizen Tamim Chowdhury, who co-ordinated the July 1 Dhaka attack, tried to form a platform of murderous Moslems named Junud Al Tawhid. At one point, he met Hanif and they agreed to work together, RAB claims.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 10/23/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Britain
Britain migrant colonist briefs
From Breitbart:
Immigration Officials Erect 15ft Fence to Hide ‘Child’ Migrants
21 Oct 2016
The entrance to the immigration centre welcoming busloads of ‘child’ migrants every day from Calais has been obscured by a 15ft high scaffolding and canvas fence, hiding the identities of new arrivals.

Fed-Up ‘Refugee’ Doctor Would Rather Go Back to Syria Than Stay in London’s 5-Star Hotels
21 Oct 2016
A Syrian doctor who sold his Rolex to pay for 5-star hotel accommodation in London has been arrested outside Home Office premises after demanding that they deport him back to Syria immediately. He has advised Calais migrants to return home to the war-torn country, where he says life is better.

‘Child’ Migrants Arrive in UK Covered by Blankets
20 Oct 2016
Immigration officials placed blankets over the heads of ‘child refugees’ arriving in the UK today, after photos of new arrivals sparked a row over the true age of migrants earlier this week.

Two Thirds of ‘Child Refugees’ Are Adults, Tory MP Slams ‘Naive Lily Allen Tears’
19 Oct 2016
Around two-thirds of the ‘child’ migrants screened by Home Office officials when their ages were called into question have been found to be adults, figures reveal.

Home Office Admits it Can’t Verify the Ages of Calais Migrant ‘Children’
18 Oct 2016
Concerns have been raised that adult migrants are posing as children to gain entry to the UK, as it has emerged that the Home Office has no way of verifying the ages of child migrants being relocated from the Calais Jungle.

From The Daily Mail:
5,000 'child' migrants are adults: Half of those challenged over their age in the past decade found to be over 18 as Home Office ‘tells officials to only challenge 'child' migrants who look over 25’
22/10/16
Home Office figures revealed that almost 45 per cent of child asylum seekers in the UK in the last decade have been over the age of 18. It comes as more enter Croydon from Calais this week as the Jungle camp is demolished. Home Office figures revealed that almost 45 per cent of child asylum seekers

'The first thing they do is ask for a razor': Couple who have fostered child refugees warn the UK is being exploited by GROWN MEN masquerading as youngsters
22/10/16
Couple Sarah and Giles have fostered 'child refugees' who turn out to be adults. Following doubts of the ages of those from Calais, they said they couldn't believe

'Bye bye Britain!': Syrian plastic surgeon who preferred war-torn Aleppo to 'miserable' Cardiff will fly home to Damascus today - and he couldn't be happier!
21/10/16
Dr Abdulkader Majed Al-Zuebi is leaving the UK less than 24 hours after he was held by six officers and bundled into a police van for an alleged public order offence outside the Home Office headquarters.

Britain must continue to let in thousands of migrant workers if it wants access to the single market, May is warned as she comes face-to-face with EU leaders for first time
21/10/16
As she attended her first EU summit, the Prime Minister faced a barrage of demands from Eurocrats determined to preserve rules on free movement.

Charity apologises for falsely claiming the '38-year-old child asylum seeker' is an interpreter - as a girl migrant FINALLY arrives from Calais
21/10/16
TACT, the UK's largest fostering charity, had claimed the Afghan 'man in blue' arriving from Calais was actually an adult interpreter but has since apologised for the mistake.

Are dental checks for 'child' migrants unethical? No, they're already being done by the Home Office
21/10/16
It has been revealed that UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI), the Home Office agency responsible for asylum claims, already accepts dental checks as proof of age, if provided by the migrant.

Three million more migrants? That’s nothing! EU’s contempt for Britain’s concern over mass immigration laid bare in damning assessment of David Cameron’s failed EU renegotiation bid
21/10/16
Daniel Korski, who was at David Cameron's side at many EU summits, said EU leaders stubbornly rejected repeated appeals by No 10 to reform the bloc's freedom of movement rules.

'Of course the majority lie about their age to get into the UK': Calais migrant confesses to scams as it's revealed UK charity workers trawl the Jungle with megaphones to rounding up 'children'
21/10/16
Charities helping the passage of child refugees into Britain from France have called the process run by the Home Office a 'shambles'.

Row as charity FALSELY claims the '38-year-old child asylum seeker' is an interpreter as more migrants arrive today hiding their faces under blankets
20/10/16
The Home Office has today been forced to confirm the unnamed asylum seeker from Afghanistan, aged by face recognition software as being 38, was not their employee.

How 'child' migrants are straining the care system - and British children are paying the price
20/10/16
Some time ago, I was sitting at a table with ten foster parents in West London and learned that nine of them were looking after asylum-seeking children, HARRIET SERGEANT writes.

How old are they really? Damning verdict of face recognition software on 'child' migrants as town hall chief say they'll take away benefits from any who fail age tests
20/10/16
Computer analysis of photographs of the 'child migrants' who arrived in London from the Jungle camp this week suggests many could be in their 20s and 30s.

So what age checks ARE they doing? Home Office won't perform 'intrusive' dental tests on Calais migrant 'children' - although its own previous figures show two-thirds are lying
19/10/16
Questions have been raised about the quality of the checks being carried out by the Home Office on 'child' migrants entering Britain from Calais - amid claims some adults may be posing as teens.
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/23/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Moslem Colonists


China-Japan-Koreas
Another N.Korean Missile Launch Flops
Someone's going to be stood up in front of an anti-aircraft gun real soon...
North Korea botched the launch of another mid-range missile on Thursday morning, five days after the last one blew up shortly after lift-off.

The launch came around 7 a.m. Thursday, shortly after the foreign and defense ministers of South Korea and the U.S. met in Washington to discuss a response to the nuclear and missile threats from the North.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff here said the North fired the missile from an air base in North Pyognan Province but it fizzled shortly afterwards. Seoul and Washington believe that it was a missile they insist on calling "Musudan" after its original launch pad, though the official North Korean name is Hwasong-10.

It was the eighth failure of a Musudan launch since April, though one launched June 22 completed a steep trajectory of over 1,000 km. "It seems that the North pressed ahead with the launch in a bid to show its resistance to international pressure," a military source here said.

On Saturday, the missile was also launched from an inland area rather than the east coast. "We expect that the North will keep attempting to launch missiles until it succeeds as it did in June," the source added.

The JCS again dragged its heels announcing the launch, letting the U.S. steal a march on the announcement, though it did not wait 19 hours as it did last time.

"South Korea's Aegis ships or Green Pine radar can detect North Korean missiles only after they come up above a certain altitude due to the curved surface of the earth. They failed to detect the launch probably because the missile exploded below the altitude," another source said. "We have to rely on information from the U.S.' early warning satellite system for North Korean missiles shortly after they are fired."
Posted by: Steve White || 10/23/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  At some point they're going to get it right.
Posted by: Pappy || 10/23/2016 0:37 Comments || Top||

#2  Their German scientists aren't as good as ours were.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 10/23/2016 9:59 Comments || Top||

#3  detect North Korean missiles only after they come up above a certain altitude due to the curved surface of the earth

The earth is curved?
Posted by: Skidmark || 10/23/2016 14:31 Comments || Top||

#4  They're having trouble getting their missiles up. No Dong indeed.
Posted by: The peanut gallery || 10/23/2016 14:49 Comments || Top||


Europe
Worry, hand-wringing ahead of migrant camp closure in France
Aid workers in the port town of Calais are expressing worry over a lack of information ahead of Monday's scheduled dismantling of France's slum-like migrant camp. French authorities have said they plan to relocate the 6,486 people still staying at the camp to reception centers across the country or abroad as a "humanitarian" operation.

The camp's closure is expected to last a week.

French teacher Michel Abecassis said Saturday he's concerned many "don't know exactly where (the) reception centers are located" or "how many people there will be."
Is there a reason why a teacher would need to know this?
Benedictine monk Johannes Maertens says it also remains unclear what will happen to many minors who want to go to the United Kingdom if they are refused entry.
They won't be going to the U.K.
Fun fact: over the past decade almost half of those admitted to Britain as asylum seekers have been over the age of eighteen, according to The Daily Mail.
plans to assign teenagers remaining in the country to special reception centers.
Posted by: Steve White || 10/23/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Moslem Colonists

#1  Fun fact: over the past decade almost half of those admitted to Britain as asylum seekers have been over the age of eighteen, according to The Daily Mail.

That comment would have made much more sense if I hadn't forgotten to the word minor, as in ...admitted as minor asylum seekers...

I apologize for the confusion.

Posted by: trailing wife || 10/23/2016 18:56 Comments || Top||


Greece defends decision to return Syrians to Turkey
The Greek authorities Saturday hit back at U.N. criticism of its decision to return a group of Syrians to Turkey.

The U.N.'s refugee agency, UNHCR, Friday said in a statement it was "seriously concerned" by Greece's decision to return 10 Syrian asylum seekers to Turkey, "without due consideration of their asylum claims".

The Syrians were among a group of 91 people who arrived on the Greek island of Milos on Oct. 9. They have since been sent back to Adana, Turkey, the U.N. agency said.

The Greek Ministry of Citizen Protection Saturday issued a statement saying that the UNHCR's criticism was "unfounded".

"None of the 10 Syrians sent back to Turkey had expressed a wish to seek asylum in Greece," the ministry said, adding that their return was carried out "in accordance with the EU-Turkey agreement".

Under the EU-Turkey deal in force since March, Ankara agreed to take back migrants who made it to Greece in return for being allowed to send Syrians from its massive camps to the bloc in a more orderly redistribution program.

"The police informed the migrants as soon as they arrived in Milos that they had the right to international protection, and this was repeated to them in (a reception center on the island of) Leros, where they spent 10 days," the ministry said.

"Even before their departure from Kos airport to return to Turkey, Greek police asked them once more whether they wanted to put in a last-minute asylum request, but only one family of three said they wanted to apply. They subsequently did not have to leave the country for Turkey," it added.
Posted by: Steve White || 10/23/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Moslem Colonists


Germany to Deport Unqualified Afghan Asylum Seekers
German Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Ambassador Sabin Sparwasser, on Friday reaffirmed Berlin's longstanding cooperation with Afghanistan, but urged the Afghan political leadership to take steps and deliver on their promises to the Afghans through reforms.

"At the same time, many Afghans have come to Germany, we had 150,000 last year and about 50,000 again this year and many of those Afghans who come will not qualify to have asylum status, so we will look at every individual case, but in the end a great part of those who came will have to return home, in order to do that in a way that is orderly and acceptable and making it also easier for the individuals we have an agreement and a memorandum of understanding on migration," Sparwasser added.

On the other hand, the ministry of refugees and repatriations has said that on the basis of the memorandum of understating signed between the two countries, Germany has committed to give three years to the migrants whose cases are rejected to repatriate voluntarily.
Three years will give them plenty of time to raise hell in Germany in anger. Or to go somewhere else in Europe to apply for asylum. Sweden, perhaps. Personally, I think if you're deported you should be put on the next plane to Kabul. But that's just me...
Mohammad Salim is an Afghan migrant who sold all his assets last year and fled to Germany. But, he returned to his home country after his case was rejected by the German government.

"I was thinking what will I do after reaching Europe, but now I regret it and think that if I had not travelled to Europe, my assets would be worth more today, but now I regret my decision," he said.

"Those who are willing to repatriate voluntarily and have family will be allotted land in special townships inside the country," said Islamuddin Juraat, spokesman for the ministry of refugees and repatriations.

It is believed that many among the refugees are now suffering psychological issues in the wake of their plight in European countries.
They can't work -- they aren't qualified for anything but the most entry level, physical labor jobs. They don't have the education. They don't speak German. They're in a foreign country with completely different ideas about religion, culture, gender, and day to day life. They have psychological issues? Really?
More than 300,000 Afghans flocked to Europe since the start of 2015 with the majority of them seeking asylum in Germany.
Posted by: Steve White || 10/23/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Moslem Colonists

#1  Both of them?
Posted by: Bobby || 10/23/2016 17:32 Comments || Top||

#2  All the Youts that have 8 yr old children themselves
Posted by: Frank G || 10/23/2016 17:33 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Ayyy Pee: Wyoming is requiring citizenship proof from naturalized voters
[Trib.com] Isabel Zumel, an advocate for Teton County's Latino community, has written to Secretary of State Ed Murray saying the move prevented some voting in the August primary election. She told Murray she knows of three people who received notice requiring them to provide proof of citizenship.

'One of the people got very upset,' Zumel said. 'I think it just made her so upset that she decided not to go forward and show the proof.'
And that, yer honor, is why proof of citizenship is so oppressive.
Posted by: Blossom Unains5562 || 10/23/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  A glimmer of sanity?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 10/23/2016 4:16 Comments || Top||

#2  This will be crushed as soon as the Supreme Court is stacked.
Posted by: gorb || 10/23/2016 4:36 Comments || Top||

#3  One of these people was very upset,” Zumel said. “I think it just made her so upset that she decided not to go forward and show the proof.” The system worked as it should then, it rejected illegal voters.
Posted by: JohnQC || 10/23/2016 8:49 Comments || Top||

#4  That must have been that one-in-a-billion fraudulent voter the POTUS was talking about last week. link
Posted by: Bobby || 10/23/2016 17:23 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Judge orders ex-NSA contractor held in custody
BALTIMORE – A former National Security Agency contractor accused in a massive theft of classified information will remain in custody as prosecutors continue building a criminal case against him, a federal judge ruled Friday.
Unfortunately for him, he didn't work for the Clinton Foundation...
U.S. Magistrate Judge A. David Copperthite agreed with prosecutors that Harold T. Martin III of Glen Burnie, Md., represented a flight risk if released and said there was no doubt that the top secret information he was accused of stealing over two decades is something "this country's enemies would love to explore."

Martin's lawyers foreshadowed their upcoming defense,
"All the information was secured on a State Department server, your Honor!"
describing him as a "compulsive hoarder" and saying there was no evidence he ever shared the information with a foreign country or even intended to do so.

"He's not Edward Snowden," said James Wyda, the federal defender representing Martin, referring to the former NSA contractor who three years ago disclosed to journalists secret information about government surveillance programs.
He's also not Hillary Clinton...
Wyda said Martin, a former U.S. Navy lieutenant, never intended to harm his country and was instead a "voracious" learner who got carried away over the years as he took home documents in a perhaps misguided effort to be as skilled at his job as he could be. He suggested Martin grappled with mental health issues.

"This was not spycraft behavior," Wyda said. "This is not how a Russian spy or something like that would ever conduct himself."
However, a Russian spy would have been happy to take advantage of the situation, just like they did with Hillary's private server...
"This," he added, "was the behavior of a compulsive hoarder."

The Justice Department presented a vastly different portrait. Prosecutors have said FBI agents who searched Martin's home and car in August found evidence of a "breathtaking" theft of top secret government information.
"More than Hillary's server, Agent Jones?"
"More than Hillary's server, Director Comey."
"Well then!"
Investigators found records dated from 1996 to 2016, seized dozens of computers and digital storage devices and, all told, recovered some 50 terabytes of information — or enough to fill roughly 200 laptops. A substantial amount of that information, prosecutors said, was highly classified.

"There is no reason to believe that the defendant would have ever stopped but for the intervention of law enforcement," Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary Myers said.
It's just like hoarding fishing lures. You can't help it and won't stop until the FBI busts you...
Myers said Martin's knowledge of secret government programs could make him a "high-value recruitment target from foreign intelligence services." Prosecutors have said he has been communicating online in foreign languages, including Russian.

A complaint unsealed earlier this month charged Martin with theft of government property and unauthorized removal and retention of classified materials, which together carry a combined maximum of 11 years in prison. But Myers said in court Friday that the Justice Department has evidence to bring additional charges under the Espionage Act, which would expose Martin to far more severe penalties if convicted.
So the Department of Justice didn't give him immunity like they did to that fat slob who set up Hillary's server?
Though authorities are still reviewing the records to determine the appropriate classification level, they say they already have found many that are clearly marked as classified — including one top secret email chain that appeared to have been printed off Martin's government account.

The document contained handwritten notes on the back regarding the NSA's classified computer infrastructure and descriptions of classified technical operations. The notes include basic concepts of classified operations, as if written for an "audience outside of the Intelligence Community unfamiliar with the details of its operations," prosecutors wrote in a court filing.
So, it wasn't for the Russians then...
Another classified document marked as "Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information" concerned "specific operational plans against a known enemy of the United States and its allies," the Justice Department alleged.

Martin was arrested around the same time federal officials acknowledged an investigation into a cyberleak of purported hacking tools used by the NSA. Those documents were leaked by a group calling itself the "Shadow Brokers," but there is nothing in court filings — and nothing said in court Friday — that connects Martin to that group.

Wyda, his lawyer, said the government had presented no evidence that ties Martin to any foreign power. And he said it was unfair to keep Martin in custody on a speculative concern that he might somehow come in contact with another nation.

"This sounds like something I would have heard in a presidential debate," he said. "This is beneath us."
Mr. Wyda clearly understands how little a defense he'll be able to mount for his client...
Posted by: Steve White || 10/23/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  You horde ammo, you collect fishing lures, I need to go double check on mine, it's been a few hours.
Posted by: Shipman || 10/23/2016 2:16 Comments || Top||

#2  There's likely at least two undiscovered moles in NSA.
Posted by: Pappy || 10/23/2016 8:17 Comments || Top||


Iraq
UK defense secretary: Our military is hacking ISIS
[Ynet] UK Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said Thursday that Britannia's military is launching cyberattacks against ISIS in support
of the offensive on the Iraqi city of djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
, a first-of-its kind acknowledgement that British forces are launching attacks across the internet.

"I can confirm we are using offensive cyber for the first time in this campaign," Fallon said in response to a question from a journalist at a conference on "The Transformation of 21st Century Warfare" in central London.

He didn't go into further detail, but the very admission was seen as noteworthy in the context of the secrecy which usually surrounds military hacking
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/23/2016 00:56 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  Whatever happened to "Loose lips sink ships."?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 10/23/2016 4:15 Comments || Top||

#2  Went away when "All is Well - We're in Control" came on the scene.
Posted by: Pappy || 10/23/2016 8:18 Comments || Top||

#3  Personally I prefer when the Irish launch hacking attacks - all internet ISIS internet sites are replaced with a recording of an old Irish cop saying "nothing to see here - move along, move along."
Posted by: Tennessee || 10/23/2016 9:46 Comments || Top||


Mosul offensive advancing faster than expected: Iraq PM
We expect him to say that, but it's better than having to stand at the podium making excuses...
The battle to retake Mosul from the Islamic State (ISIS) is progressing "faster than expected," according to Iraq Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.

The counter-terrorism service (CTS), Iraq's best-trained and most battle-seasoned force, retook full control of Bartalla, a town that lies less than 15 kilometres east of Mosul. Further north, Kurdish peshmerga forces opened a new front with a multiple-pronged assault on the town of Bashiqa.

And in the first U.S. combat death in the area since the operation began, an American service member died on Thursday from wounds sustained in a roadside bomb explosion north of Mosul.
More than 100 U.S. special operations forces are embedded with Iraqi units in the offensive and hundreds more are playing a support role in staging bases.

The offensive to regain control for Mosul is expected to last for months and could lead to a mammoth humanitarian crisis with a mass exodus of civilians from the area. According to reports, ISIS members are also using civilians as human shields in a last-ditch effort to keep control of the city. There are also concerns that they are resorting to suicide tactics, riddling streets with improvised explosive devices and maybe even using chemical weapons. In addition, Kurdish forces have discovered a network of tunnels outfitted with graffiti, electricity, appliances, food and, potentially, booby traps, being used by the ISIS as underground hideouts and also for engaging in guerilla warfare.

Although they are losing their grip over the city, the barbaric jihadists are evacuating their Yazidi sex slaves.
Posted by: Steve White || 10/23/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Southeast Asia
Zamboanga City plans to persue cases against Misuari
[SunStar] The Zamboanga City government stands firm in its decision to pursue its cases against Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) Chairman Nur Misuari and his followers in connection with a 2013 siege. This despite whether President Rodrigo Duterte manages to hold a planned meeting with Misuari about peace negotiations.

City Legal Officer Jesus Carbon Jr. reiterated that the planned Duterte-Misuari meeting will not affect his city stance, though he made clear that the city government respects Duterte's actions in trying to achieve peace in Mindanao "but we also have to follow the rule of law."

Carbon said, "While we respect the actions of the President, we ought to follow the rule of law. So, it will not affect our stand as far as the criminal cases pending in Pasig are concerned."

Misuari and several of his men face charges for violation of the International Humanitarian Law and other crimes in connection with the 21-day September 2013 siege. The siege started after hundreds of MNLF followers infiltrated and besieged at least four villages in the city.
Posted by: ryuge || 10/23/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
US imposes sanctions on Hezbollah commanders, operatives, financiers
[Ynet] The Hezbollah terrorist organization is hit twice, after the US State Department adds Hezbollah leaders to its global terrorist list and the US Treasury sanctions several Hezbollah individuals for suspected ties to terrorism.

The US government on Thursday sanctioned a Hezbollah commander and a number of other operatives and financiers linked to the myrmidon group who it said were working to destabilize the Middle East.

The US State Department, headed by Secretary John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry
Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State...
, added Hezbollah commander Haytham Ali Tabatabai to its Specially Designated Global Terrorist list, which "imposes sanctions on foreign persons determined to have committed, or pose a serious risk of committing acts of terrorism."

Tabatabai has commanded Hezbollah special forces, operated in Syria and is now believed to be in Yemen, the State Department said. His actions in Syria and Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic...
"are part of a larger Hezbollah effort to provide training, material and personnel in support of its destabilizing regional activities."

Leb-based Hezbollah has operated openly and in significant numbers in neighboring Syria, as well as alongside fellow Shiite fighters in Iraq. Hezbollah has long supported Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Leveler of Latakia...
, providing training, advice and extensive logistical support, while also helping his government regain control of rebel-held areas in central Syria.

The US Treasury Department, headed by Secretary Jack Lew, also sanctioned Tabatabai and a number of other individuals on Thursday under a standing executive order that prohibits US banks from having any dealings with "persons who commit, threaten to commit or support terrorism" and blocks any property or assets they may have in the United States.

The Treasury said it was a joint action with Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
aimed at "disrupting Hezbollah's worldwide commercial and financial infrastructure."

In 2012, the Treasury Department further sanctioned Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah for helping the Syrian regime crush anti-government protests.
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/23/2016 00:56 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah

#1  Today is the 33rd anniversary of the Marine Barracks Bombing in Beirut. Why does Hezbollah still exist?
Posted by: Matt || 10/23/2016 11:54 Comments || Top||


Syrian Army Command: Any Turkish military presence inside Syria will be dealt with as an ‘occupation force’
[ALMASDARNEWS] The General Command of the Army and Armed Forces dismissed the Turkish military forces’ recent attacks in Aleppo as a "serious escalation" and a gross violation of Syria’s illusory sovereignty.

In a statement on Saturday, the General Command said the victories which the Syrian Arab Army and its allies are achieving in the war against terrorism, especially in Aleppo, have broken Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him...
’s illusions and smashed his plots in Syria and the region and prompted him to escalate his aggression on Syria.

The statement referred to the targeting of villages and towns in northern Aleppo by The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
’s air force and its army units’ transgression into Syrian territory, along with providing direct military support, using artillery and tanks, to the terrorist organizations to continue committing crimes against civilians in northern Aleppo.

The statement said Erdogan’s regime is playing a "dirty" role having provided shelter, training, weapons and funds to the armed terrorist groups and opened Turkey’s border to facilitate the flow of thousands of mercenary forces of Evil into Syria since the beginning of the war.

The Army’s General Command affirmed in its statement that any presence of the Turkish army units across the border into Syria, under whatever excuses, is rejected and condemned and will be considered an "occupation force" and confronted with all the means available.
Yeah, you go ahead and do that, Short-shanks...
It also held the Turkish leadership fully responsible for the "dangerous consequences" that might result from its acts on the security and stability of the region.

Turkish tanks and vehicles penetrated earlier today into the northern countryside of Aleppo,
Posted by: Fred || 10/23/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  Just say it in Russian.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 10/23/2016 4:16 Comments || Top||


Government
Thousands of California soldiers forced to repay enlistment bonuses a decade after going to war
[LA Times] Short of troops to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan a decade ago, the California National Guard enticed thousands of soldiers with bonuses of $15,000 or more to reenlist and go to war.

Now the Pentagon is demanding the money back.

Nearly 10,000 soldiers, many of whom served multiple combat tours, have been ordered to repay large enlistment bonuses -- and slapped with interest charges, wage garnishments and tax liens if they refuse -- after audits revealed widespread overpayments by the California Guard at the height of the wars last decade.

Investigations have determined that lack of oversight allowed for widespread fraud and mismanagement by California Guard officials under pressure to meet enlistment targets.

But soldiers say the military is reneging on 10-year-old agreements and imposing severe financial hardship on veterans whose only mistake was to accept bonuses offered when the Pentagon needed to fill the ranks.

"These bonuses were used to keep people in," said Christopher Van Meter, a 42-year-old former Army captain and Iraq veteran from Manteca, Calif., who says he refinanced his home mortgage to repay $25,000 in reenlistment bonuses and $21,000 in student loan repayments that the Army says he should not have received. "People like me just got screwed."

In Iraq, Van Meter was thrown from an armored vehicle turret -- and later awarded a Purple Heart for his combat injuries -- after the vehicle detonated a buried roadside bomb.
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/23/2016 02:48 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  'Nothing is too good for the soldier, and that's generally what they get.'
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/23/2016 3:30 Comments || Top||

#2  It's like American ruling class trying to provoke a revolution.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 10/23/2016 4:13 Comments || Top||

#3  The VA stinks. Won't pay for heart attacks during fitness tests. Won't pay bonuses.

So, who wants to go next?
Posted by: gorb || 10/23/2016 4:35 Comments || Top||

#4  What's laughable is they pull crap like this and then expect the military to be on their side in a civil war?
Posted by: Silentbrick || 10/23/2016 4:46 Comments || Top||

#5  #4  What's laughable is they pull crap like this and then expect the military to be on their side in a civil war?

The ruling class is living in an illusion. When the inevitable happens, they will only have a crumbling MSM, Hollywood, Wall Street, and government bureaucrats, and little food and few survival skills on their side. They will not have the military, cops, gun owners, business people, or most people in fly-over land on their side. People are tired of getting screwed over and over by the ruling elite who live in a bubble.
Posted by: JohnQC || 10/23/2016 7:56 Comments || Top||

#6  When the inevitable happens

Certainly not suggesting anything, but it could happen like this, except nobody leaves town until the resignations begin to be televised and new elections announced.
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/23/2016 8:04 Comments || Top||

#7  I'm not suggesting anything either, but the left really, really wants to neuter the 2nd. They most likely have considered the scenario of a 20M man march on D.C. with firearms.
Posted by: JohnQC || 10/23/2016 8:30 Comments || Top||

#8  Are the estates of the soldiers who died down range being hit up by the accountants as well? If so then THAT needs to be publicized
Posted by: Angusong Big Foot2908 || 10/23/2016 9:45 Comments || Top||

#9  ....they'd hit the SGLI recipient(s) who wouldn't know enough to squawk about it.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 10/23/2016 10:04 Comments || Top||

#10  Do they want the military to cross he Rubicon? 'cuz this is how you get them to do it.
Posted by: DarthVader || 10/23/2016 10:55 Comments || Top||

#11  Is this a program intended to get enlistments to fall? Who benefits from a weakened American military?

I have not heard of audits and investigation into foreign aid fraud ,have you? What about welfare and ebt fraud where money is given with no service in return.

This stinks to high heaven.
Posted by: Rob06 || 10/23/2016 12:45 Comments || Top||

#12  1) There has to be some sort of statute of limitations on something like this.

2) President Trump will reverse this.
Posted by: Raj || 10/23/2016 14:09 Comments || Top||

#13  Trump should pay for this bullshit. That would garner him more votes than any commercial on the leftist controlled television station.
Posted by: chris || 10/23/2016 19:40 Comments || Top||

#14  Obama has been trying for years to fine anyone who is in the military. Every time the Repunycans threaten to shut down the government, Obama threatens to cease paying military payroll.

With only a few months of Whitehouse occupation, Obama finally found a way to fine military personal.

Mission accomplished.
Posted by: Huperese Platypus6497 || 10/23/2016 20:38 Comments || Top||



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

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Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has dominated Mexico for six years.
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Two weeks of WOT
Sun 2016-10-23
  Senior Egypt military officer shot dead near Cairo
Sat 2016-10-22
  Bangladesh Says Head of Group Blamed for Cafe Siege Dead
Fri 2016-10-21
  Christian Refugees Facing Persecution in Germany
Thu 2016-10-20
  Militias fighting among each other in Tripoli
Wed 2016-10-19
  Drone strike kills 8 Qaeda suspects in Yemen
Tue 2016-10-18
  Battle for Mosul On
Mon 2016-10-17
  Three Attackers Killed in Myanmar as Violence Persists
Sun 2016-10-16
  Dozens Killed and Injured in Explosion at Major Shadady’s Funeral
Sat 2016-10-15
  Egyptian army kills over 100 ISIS militants in response to deadly terror attack
Fri 2016-10-14
  Dozens dead after Turkish border bombing attack
Thu 2016-10-13
  Negotiations to surrender east Aleppo under way
Wed 2016-10-12
  Deadly small plane crash near Connecticut aerospace factory may have been was intentional
Tue 2016-10-11
  German Police Arrest Syrian Refugee Suspected of Plotting Attack
Mon 2016-10-10
  U.S. Navy Ship Comes Under Fire Near Yemen
Sun 2016-10-09
  Islamic State launches first operation in Algeria

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