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Car Bomb Kills 3, Hurts Dozens in Hermel, 'al-Nusra in Lebanon' Claims Attack
Today's Headlines
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Page 2: WoT Background
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Page 4: Opinion
1 16:47 Black Bart Uneating7876 [8]
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21 21:52 KBK [8]
-Obits-
Hiroo Onoda, last man to surrender from WWII dies at 91.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/17/2014 06:33 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Anyone question this soldier's commitment? Rest in peace brave warrior.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/17/2014 18:01 Comments || Top||

#2  I'm reminded of Guam's own straggler IJA Sgt. Soichi Yokoi, whom was captured back when I was still a young child.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 01/17/2014 23:58 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Truck Dumps Huge Pile of Dung outside French Assembly
[An Nahar] A truck dumped a huge pile of horse poop manure outside La Belle France's National Assembly on Thursday in a protest against the French political elite.

The driver of the truck -- which was marked with the slogan "Out with Hollande and the whole political class!" -- was apprehended by police shortly after releasing his smelly load outside the front gates of the grand Palais Bourbon that hosts the lower house Assembly.

He was taken to a nearby cop shoppe and expected to face charges.

It was unclear what was behind the protest, but it comes as President Francois Hollande
...the Socialist president of La Belle France, an economic bad joke for la Belle France but seemingly a foreign policy realist...
faces a scandal over revelations he had affair with an actress 18 years his junior.
Posted by: Fred || 01/17/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  He wasn't dumping it, he was just returning it.
Posted by: Glenmore || 01/17/2014 8:53 Comments || Top||

#2  Glenmore's comment has definitely got to be a candidate for snark of the day.
Posted by: JohnQC || 01/17/2014 9:17 Comments || Top||

#3  Desert being served at the French Assembly dining room on the same day, coincidence?

I think not.

Posted by: Blinky Shlong8802 || 01/17/2014 10:23 Comments || Top||

#4  Metaphor with a smell. A strong message sent.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 01/17/2014 10:32 Comments || Top||

#5  Sh.t!!!
Posted by: JFM || 01/17/2014 10:53 Comments || Top||

#6  It was unclear what was behind the protest,

Bullshit, the message was very clear.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 01/17/2014 11:10 Comments || Top||

#7  Merde!!!

- it has more of a classic sound in the original :)
Anglo-Saxon can be so - common sometimes.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/17/2014 11:23 Comments || Top||

#8  Air freshener.
Posted by: gorb || 01/17/2014 11:26 Comments || Top||

#9  Probably in protest at the lack of subsidy (paid for by making others poorer & unemployment)
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 01/17/2014 13:06 Comments || Top||


Africa North
NGO used orphans for political gain
[Egypt Independent] Social Solidarity Minister Ahmed al-Bora'ie dismissed on Wednesday the board of charity organization called Sidi Abdel Salam Wahdan al-Shazly for allegedly abusing orphaned children for political gain, assigning a delegate in its place.

He instructed taking measures for a regular general assembly to elect a new board within 60 days.

Tamer Gomaa, the minister deputy for technical office and NGOs, said investigations conducted by the ministry showed that the charity organization board instructed children from Dar al-Rady association, an affiliated group serving orphans, to chant political slogans and raise photos of Defense Minister Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

He added that a committee was formed to visit the NGO and draft a report on it, referring to the frequent use of children within politics and that they did not respond to several warnings before.

Dar al-Rady for orphans earlier staged a ceremony, making children, who were lightly dressed in cold weather, hold photos of the defense minister and head to a rally supporting his nomination for presidency.

The dismissal decision was made according to provisions of article no. 42 of law no. 84 for the year 2002, Gomaa added.
Posted by: Fred || 01/17/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Caribbean-Latin America
FARC Blamed for Bomb that Kills One, Wounds 25
[An Nahar] A cycle of violence kaboom blamed on Colombia's FARC rebels killed one person and maimed at least 25 after a local truce by the guerrillas ended, an official said Thursday.

The attack took place near a local government headquarters in the western municipality of Pradera, Mayor Adolfo Leon told the RCN radio station, noting that "of the 25 maimed, six are critical."

He said the FARC was responsible, while Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos condemned the bombing as a "terrorist act".

The cycle of violence had been loaded with explosives and placed in front of the building, according to Leon. The payload was then detonated, causing casualties and leaving several buildings damaged.

Three coppers were said to be among the maimed, according to a regional police official.

On Wednesday, the FARC ended a month-long holiday season truce that had been a gesture of goodwill during the peace talks with the Colombian government that are taking place in Havana.

Santos, whose remarks about Thursday's bomb were aired on Twitter, alluded to the peace talks, noting that such an act amounted to "irrational and contradictory" action by the FARC.
Posted by: Fred || 01/17/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Commies


China-Japan-Koreas
U.S. to Shift Aircraft Carrier to Pacific
The U.S. Navy will dispatch a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier from the Atlantic to the Pacific Fleet, it said Wednesday, and replace the USS George Washington at a naval base in Yokosuka, Japan with the newer USS Ronald Reagan next year.

The move is part of President Barack Obama's "Pivot to Asia" policy and aimed at containing China's naval expansion in the region.

The aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt will be moved from its base in Norfolk, Virginia to San Diego, California to be incorporated into the Third Fleet, which covers the eastern and northern Pacific. The Roosevelt, commissioned in 1986, is a Nimitz-class carrier with a loaded displacement of 117,200 tons capable of carrying 90 aircraft.

The U.S. currently has 10 aircraft carriers in active service, five in the Pacific and five in the Atlantic, but the move will shift the weight.

"The security environment in the Indo-Asia-Pacific requires that the U.S. Navy station the most capable ships forward," the U.S. Navy said.

The USS Gerald Ford, currently under construction, will also be commissioned in 2016 to join the Pacific Fleet.
Posted by: Steve White || 01/17/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  D *** NG IT, THE USDOD-NAVY CAN'T DO THAT - THE NOKORS + THE USS GEORGE WASHINGTON HAVE DEV AN "UNDERSTANDING" = CLEAR + SENSITIVE LOVING RELATIONSHIP!

LOL.

* WORLD NEWS > [HuffPo] CHINA NEEDS TO DECIDE WHAT IT WANTS TO BE.

Yuuuppp.

Pro-US versus Anti-US, "Mahanist" versus non-"Mahanist", "Manifest Destiny" or None = Delayed/Amended "Manifest Destiny", OWG Global "Co-Superpower" or "Major/Great Power", Taiwan Reunification versus Taiwan Independence ... ...

VERSUS

* FREEREPUBLIC, DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > PLA MOBILIZES 100,000 TROOPS FOR NORTH KOREAN BORDER EXERCISE [any poten Peninsular Crisis].

IIRC FREEP BLOGGER = repor as per CHOSUN ILBO that Pudgy = KJU considers the YALU RIVER as a MILITARY/STRATEGIC FRONT FOR NORTH KOREA AGZ AN [Un-named] "FOREIGN POWER", IHO MOST LIKELY DPRK OVERLORD CHINA???

* TOPIX, DRUDGEREPORT > CHINA NOW OWNS A RECORD US$1.317TRILYUHN OF US DEBT.

US Ally JAPAN has also repor increased its share of same - looks like alleged Marxist-Anarchist-Globalist, "Red-line" loving POTUS Bammer is gonna have to choose.

D *** NG IT PART II, "HIGHLANDER" MOVIE = "THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE"!

* SAME > BRITISH DEFENCE ANALYST CALLS/BLAMES OBAMA MILITARY, FOREIGN POLICIES AS "CLUELESS".

The Bammer is a College/University graduate + a trained Lawyer - IMO its a stretch = fallacy? to say he doesn't know what he's doing andor that he hasn't weighed or considered the consequences of his actions, or in altern his inactions.

RELATED VOICE OF RUSSIA > UK LOSES ITS ABILITY TO BE A "FULL PARTNER" TO THE US DUE TO MILITARY SPENDING CUTS - FORMER [US]DEFENSE SECRETARY [Robert Gates].

IOW, IIUC the Bammer = USA may find itself all alone, i.e. widout reliable ally the UK = NATO-EU?, IFF YOU-KNOW-WHAT-HITS-THE-FAN VEE CHINA- VS-JAPAN/PHIL/EVERYBODY IN EAST ASIA INCLUD INDIA???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 01/17/2014 0:48 Comments || Top||

#2  Wow doesn't seem possible the "Big Stick" is already 27 years old.
Posted by: Shipman || 01/17/2014 15:06 Comments || Top||


The Grand Turk
Turkey Purges Top Prosecutors amid Corruption Scandal
[An Nahar] Turkish authorities removed several prosecutors from key posts on Thursday in the latest fallout from the high-level corruption scandal plaguing the government.

The Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK), which is headed by Turkey's justice minister, said that 20 prosecutors were being reassigned including the chief Istanbul prosecutor Turhan Colakkadi.

It also announced it had approved a probe into several top prosecutors who led the high-level corruption inquiry that became public last month and have already been removed from their positions.

The government has embarked on a mass purge of police and prosecutors in the wake of the probe that has ensnared key allies of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi only they haven't dumped him yet...
.

But underscoring the increasingly complex nature of the crisis and the myriad political powerplays, the government is also seeking to increase its control of the HSYK, the country's top judicial body.

The embattled Turkish leader has accused supporters of a rival Islamic holy man who wields considerable influence in the judiciary and police of launching the investigation as part of a "coup plot" against his government.

He was forced into a major cabinet reshuffle last month after the resignation of three ministers whose sons were detained in the anti-graft police raids in December.

'Judiciary the battlefield for political feud'

The mass sackings and measures to curb the judiciary have stoked concerns both in Turkey and abroad about the independence of state institutions and the risks to democracy in the face of the escalating crisis.

And the leader of Turkey's top business group warned that the country risks becoming a police state.

"We are facing a heavy agenda in which the judiciary has become the battlefield of a political struggle," Turkish Industry and Business Association head Muharrem Yilmaz said.

"A state that doesn't abide by its own rules cannot be described as a state of law, not even as a state with laws. It can only be described as a police state," he said at a conference this week.

The Turkish currency has also taken a battering from the crisis, hitting a new record low of 2.20 to the dollar on Thursday -- extending losses of well over 20 percent since last May.

Colakkadi and several other prosecutors affected by Thursday's shakeup had overseen the trials of military officers convicted in 2012 and 2013 of plotting coups against Erdogan's Islamic-rooted government.

Colakkadi had been at loggerheads with another Istanbul prosecutor, Muammer Akkas, who was himself removed from his post after pushing to widen the corruption probe and reportedly seeking to arrest Erdogan's son.

"We will do whatever task we are given. It is the decision of the HSYK," Colakkadi said in response to his reassignment.

Erdogan has gone on the offensive against supporters of US-exiled holy man Fethullah Gulen, a one-time ally of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) but who has now become his arch-nemesis.

But his efforts to curb the powers of the HSYK have run into stiff opposition from rival political parties.

Turkey's main opposition party the Republican People's Party (CHP) on Thursday dismissed a new proposal submitted by the government to break the deadlock as "insincere".

The AKP measure initially called for the government to appoint members of HSYK but in the face of the outcry, it revised the proposals, suggesting instead that they be appointed by MPs in accordance with their representation in parliament.

President Abdullah Gul has been pushing for a compromise to ensure judicial reforms meet EU criteria and are enshrined in constitutional amendments that would require full cross-party support.

The AKP retains a comfortable majority despite several resignations from the party in the midst of the political crisis, with 320 seats in the 548-member house while the CHP has 134.
Posted by: Fred || 01/17/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Minister names rape victim, retracts
[INDIANEXPRESS] Hours after police confirmed that a Danish tourist had been gangraped in the heart of the city, Delhi Law Minister Somnath Bharti named the victim in an official statement, only to retract it a little later.

"By mistake, the name of the rape victim has gone in the blurb, please do not use it and consider it as not being a part of the blurb. Inconvenience regretted," his office clarified.
Posted by: Fred || 01/17/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:


Gang that 'raped' 23 women in 3 yrs busted
[INDIANEXPRESS] Andhra Pradesh Police claim to have busted an inter-state gang in Chitoor allegedly involved in raping at least 23 women in the past three years. One of the gang members, an Army jawan, allegedly used to commit the crimes when he came home on leave.
Posted by: Fred || 01/17/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:


Delhi police hunt for more suspects over Danish gang-rape
[Egypt Independent] Indian police carried out raids across New Delhi Thursday as they hunted for a further six men wanted over the gang-rape of a Danish tourist which has put the country's record on sexual violence back into the spotlight.

Police announced the arrest of two homeless men late on Wednesday who are suspected of taking part in the assault and robbery of the 51-year-old victim on Tuesday.

The tourist, travelling alone and in Delhi after visiting the Taj Mahal, had lost her way as she returned to her hotel in the main backpacker's area and apparently approached the group for directions.

"We have already enjugged
Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw!
two of the eight suspects in the case and are still carrying out raids across different locations to nab others," Additional Commissioner of Delhi Police Alok Kumar told AFP.

The senior police officer said that all the accused were "young men, mostly vagabonds" and that they had assaulted the victim for almost three hours at knife-point.

More than 15 homeless men were rounded up for questioning on Wednesday around the scene of the crime, a secluded part of gardens near the New Delhi railway station.

"The arrest of two men has revealed identities of the other accomplices and we are looking for them," Kumar told AFP.

Last month, India marked the first anniversary of the death of a student who was gang-raped on a moving bus in the capital, in an attack that sent shockwaves across the nation.

Despite tougher laws and efforts to change attitudes to women in India's deeply patriarchal society, the number of reported sex crimes continues to rise.
Posted by: Fred || 01/17/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:


Two killed in Pakistan Air Force jet crash
A Mirage aircraft of Pakistan Air Force crashed in Qadirabad area of Mandi Bahauddin district on Thursday.

A spokesperson of the PAF said that the pilot and co-pilot of the plane were martyred in the crash. He said the aircraft was on a routine training mission. A board has been formed for further investigation about Mirage fighter aircraft’s incident, he added.
Posted by: Steve White || 01/17/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under:


India detects 'visa fraud and tax evasion' in US Embassy school
India has reportedly detected violation of visa and tax laws in the American Embassy School in New Delhi. A number of teachers are working there illegally, allege Indian government sources.

This comes after the arrest of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade in New York for visa fraud relating to her claims about the wages she was paying her housekeeper Sangeeta Richard. Since then, New Delhi has carried out three weeks of investigations, including the scrutiny of bank accounts and school records.

The New York Times reported Thursday that a handout released by the school ensnared it in the diplomatic row. Addressed to new teacher couples, the handout asks spouses to list their occupation on visa applications as "housewife" and not to declare that they would be working.

This amounts to visa fraud, say Indian government sources contacted by The Indian Express.

They cite a 1973 agreement under which 16 American teachers are to be given visas with "tax-free" status; any teachers beyond that number would have to pay tax.

The sources allege the school has been hiring couples in what they call a "piggyback" scheme, with one partner coming on a "work" visa and the spouse on a "spouse" visa. The salary of the spouse, too, is allegedly being credited to the bank account of the partner on a work visa, so that the spouse could evade tax. This is an "institutionalised fraud", one source told The Indian Express.

The sources said the school charges up to $30,000 a year as fees. Located next to the embassy, it has about 1,500 students, nearly 500 of them American. The rest include some Indians.

The New York Times report quoted a senior Indian official as estimating that the school has at least 16 teachers working illegally.

"We have seen reports (about the school)," external affairs ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin told The Indian Express. "These are serious matters relating to the Indian visa regime and tax laws. We will examine them very carefully and take appropriate decision."

The US embassy, when contacted, did not comment on India's allegations. It drew attention to a US statement released early this week that said issues pertaining to the school are among those raised by the external affairs ministry with the US government and which figured in discussions between Deputy Secretary of State William J Burns and Indian Ambassador S Jaishankar in Washington. "Deputy Secretary Burns conveyed that we take their concerns very seriously and will continue to address them via appropriate diplomatic channels," the statement said.
Posted by: john frum || 01/17/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I hope Washington + New Delhi can quickly + amiably end this row.

* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > INDIA MADE TO GIVE UP KASHMIR JUST AS THE US GIVES UP AFGHANISTAN.

* RELATED INDIAN DEFENCE FORUM > [The Muslim Issue = ARY TV] PAKISTANI COMMENTATOR: WE WILL SLAUGHTER HINDUS WHEN THE US LEAVES AFGHANISTAN, HINDU KUSH MEANS A PLACE WHERE HINDUS ARE BEHEADED.

* Also from DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > FOUR MORE ARMY BRIGADES [includ Armored forces] BEING DEPLOYED IN LADAKH TO EFFECTIVELY COUNTER CHINA.

Ladakh = Indo-Chinese equivalent of the China-Japan disputed Senkakus/Diaoyus, or the China-PHIL-Vietnam disputed South China Sea.

IIRC EARLIER SAME = CHINA PLA [routinely] DEPLOYS SOLDIERS INTO LADKH EVERY 14 DAYS.

* DEFENCE FORUM INDIA > CHINA EXPANDS INTO HIMALAYA NEIGHBOR NEPAL | ISN, in order to better control TIBET + deter, contain INDIA.

versus

* SAME > US CONTROLS INDO-PAK LINE OF CONTROL!?

The same as affirming times again that the US will be involved in any CHINA-PAK-INDIA MIL CONFLICT.

* SAME > DID US INTELLIGENCE TRY TO RECRUIT DEVYANI KHOBRAGADE?
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 01/17/2014 1:10 Comments || Top||

#2  Reciprocity
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/17/2014 5:22 Comments || Top||

#3  Lessons learned....? Is there something here we might learn about visas, immigration, employment, tax models and the protection of host-nation citizens ?

Don't try this [violating non-res employment statutes] in Austria, Iceland, Germany, or Switzerland.

Posted by: Besoeker || 01/17/2014 5:56 Comments || Top||

#4  Besoeker: maybe one day we Americans will be allowed our own country the way everyone else is.

Grom: Zero would sacrifice a hundred embassies to ensure better relations with governments like Pakistans or the Moslem Brotherhood along with worse relationships with their enemies like India.

And yeah, India's gonna be reciprocal instead of waiting for the adults to be back in charge. It's their right, just like it's their right to let their procurement bureaucracy disarm themselves the way they have, but it's still stupid.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 01/17/2014 9:35 Comments || Top||

#5  Breitbart: Exclusive--Report: TX Taxpayers Pay Billions for Illegal Aliens to Use State Services
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/17/2014 9:45 Comments || Top||

#6  ...yes, the entire federal establishment acting as co-conspirators in openly violating the written law. If an entire 'group' is given de facto exemption from law, why should anyone be subject to the law? /rhet question
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/17/2014 11:26 Comments || Top||

#7  Reciprocity?? Not exactly.

The school (other than the name) has no official connection to the Embassy. The State Dept does NOT have schools overseas. It would be like saying IBM is committing visa fraud and somehow connecting that to the USG. The school is a private entity and does not fall under Chief of Mission authority. The AmCits that work at the school hold blue passports - not black ones.

Oh BTW…India is shithole.
Posted by: Bangkok Billy || 01/17/2014 20:51 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
The Mossad's Animal Spies
Your guide to the sharks, vultures and pigeons that just may be working for the Mossad

The Middle East has long been fertile ground for a good conspiracy theory--whether it's Jews and the Sept. 11 attacks, the CIA and Arab Spring, or the alliance of Western businessmen, journalists and politicians that supposedly helped oust Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi last year.

But it's not just humans that are surreptitiously helping to bring down governments. There's apparently also a whole sub-world of animal spies that are working to destabilize Mideast regimes. In one case, a very suspicious stork was turned over to local police in Egypt. In another, a shark that was attacking swimmers was briefly linked to a Mossad plot.Even puppets sometimes need to answer for their actions. Abla Fahita, an Egyptian muppet-type character, was forced to go on national television recently to deny that her appearance in a phone commercial was actually a coded message to the now outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.

When: December 2010
The Animal: Shark
The Case: "Jaws" (or as more than one blogger dubbed it, "Jews")

A series of rare shark attacks in the Egyptian beach resort of Sharm el-Sheikh prompted accusations that the sharks were part of a Mossad plot--sent into Egyptian waters to scare off visitors and disrupt tourism. Reports claimed a remote controlled GPS tracking device was attached to the shark and was being used to control it.

"What is being said about the Mossad throwing the deadly shark (in the sea) to hit tourism in Egypt is not out of the question, but it needs time to confirm," a local government official was quoted as saying.

Others pointed out that it would be difficult for the Mossad shark to distinguish its Arab target from a friendly Jew, aside from the fact that the Jew would probably not be a good swimmer and would most likely be accompanied by his mother who would be yelling at him to swim closer to shore.

In any event, the shark in question was eventually caught and dismissed as a spy threat.
No commentary needed. More examples are at the link. It's very amusing.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 01/17/2014 07:53 || Comments || Link || [11 views] Top|| File under:

#1  If they could make robotic crab lice Mossad would know everything that goes on in the entire Middle East.
Posted by: Iblis || 01/17/2014 9:55 Comments || Top||

#2  Ja, very interesting, but do they do cavity searches ?
Posted by: Blinky Shong8802 || 01/17/2014 10:18 Comments || Top||

#3  If they could make

Just shut up, will you!
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/17/2014 12:56 Comments || Top||

#4  It's the rats, I tell ya! The rats are the spies. They're definitely smarter than pigeons, sharks, and cockroaches (although those have their uses, too). The Muddled East is alive with millions and millions of rats. Half of them are Mossad spies, working for cheese. The other half work for George Soros, the biggest rat of them all.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 01/17/2014 14:43 Comments || Top||

#5  If I were station chief, I'd have my low-level flunkies out crazy-gluing discarded microchips and bits of broken cell phone circuit board to every pigeon they could get their hands on.
Posted by: SteveS || 01/17/2014 16:01 Comments || Top||

#6  If a honey trap involves hamsters instead of bees.....you might be a Paleo.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 01/17/2014 17:41 Comments || Top||

#7  Candygram...
Posted by: JewShark || 01/17/2014 21:36 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
US Govt Warns Merchants On Methods Used By Target Hackers
[Ynet] The US government sent a confidential, 16-page technical bulletin to retailers and other merchants on Thursday that describes the malicious software and techniques used to attack Target Corp late last year.
If it's confidential why did they send it to every retailer in the country? How long is it going to remain 'confidential'?
The report provides steps to identify the malicious software used by criminal hackers that went undetected by anti-virus software when it infected Target's network, according to Tiffany Jones, a senior vice president with the security intelligence firm iSIGHT Partners, which helped draft the document.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/17/2014 07:41 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Sophisticated hack that also got Neiman Marcus originated in Russia.
Posted by: Flaiger Uneamp8181 || 01/17/2014 12:42 Comments || Top||

#2  Crimes should never be Confidential
Posted by: George Protector of the Hackers || 01/17/2014 13:18 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Explosion Hits Protesters In Bangkok, 22 Injured
[Ynet] Bangkok's emergency services center says 22 people were maimed when an kaboom hit marching anti-government protesters in the capital.

Protest front man Akanat Promphan said the movement's leader, Suthep Thaugsuban, was in the procession Monday but was not maimed.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/17/2014 07:46 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: Culture Wars
Latinos set to surpass whites in California in March
The Latino population is projected to surpass that of whites in California in March to become the single largest "race or ethnic group," according to a report on shifting demographics in Gov. Jerry Brown's 2014-15 budget proposal. Also, the number of residents 65 and older will jump by 20.7 percent over the next five years, the report said.

State demographers expected Latinos to surpass the non-Hispanic white population seven months earlier, but Latino birth rates were lower than anticipated. Now, officials say, by March Latinos will make up 39 percent of California's population, edging out non-Hispanic whites at 38.8 percent. Nearly 25 years ago, non-Hispanic whites made up 57 percent of the state, while Latinos made up 26 percent.
In 1940 the non-Hispanic White population of California was 89.5%, by 1970 it had dropped to 76.2%, 1990 57.2% and now 38.8%. This study left out the fact that since 1990 the non-Hispanic white population has decreased by 2.2 million. "White flight"
"Demographic changes that are coming will reshape the electorate, and in turn that will likely have impacts on policies and issues that decision makers focus on in the coming decades," said Mindy Romero, director of the California Civic Engagement Project at the UC Davis Center for Regional Change.
This Blue State has become Navy Blue and is in transition to become Midnight Blue. There is no turning back, KiloBravo and I are getting clearance for the Taxiway

Statistics source U. S. Census Bureau Table 19.

Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 01/17/2014 11:30 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  White Hispanics or, ahem, Rainbow Hispanics?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/17/2014 12:59 Comments || Top||

#2  If minority = socialist/lefty Demo, as is implied by the political demographics, then how long until the system collapses onto itself due to a lack of innovators and producers (who are fleeing the welfare state and its crushing regulation and taxation).

Eventually the government is going to run out of other people's money; then what? These fools act as if the golden geese are going to patiently hang around to be slaughtered.
Posted by: OldSpook || 01/17/2014 13:14 Comments || Top||

#3  So now California Crackers can take advantage of Affirmative Action Policies...
Posted by: Black Charlie || 01/17/2014 13:35 Comments || Top||

#4  I don't think so, Charlie. They're always gonna be "disadvantaged".
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 01/17/2014 13:42 Comments || Top||

#5  Not to be confused with the Coastal White Crackers who really are not sharing the real important stuff, like their own assets and power, but put up a facade to give the impression that its an all inclusive game. They don't need Affirmative Action, they own the game.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/17/2014 13:42 Comments || Top||

#6  "Demographic changes that are coming will reshape the electorate, and in turn that will likely have impacts on policies and issues that decision makers focus on in the coming decades," said Mindy Romero, director of the California Civic Engagement Project at the UC Davis Center for Regional Change.

Gee, ya think? Almost makes you wonder if that's what they had in mind all along. Clinton, Obama, Napolitano and all of them. The only excuse I can think of for the likes of McCain is that he's just as crooked as they are and twice as stupid.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 01/17/2014 13:46 Comments || Top||

#7  g(r)omgoru

re: non-white Hispanics

As a statistics junkie I have come to find out that most of the time the Guvmint lumps Hispanics in with Whites. This is particularly true when it comes to such things as crime statistics and out of wedlock births. You have to dig really hard to find a non-Hispanic White breakout in those areas. Breakout are usually only listed in stats that will be to the advantage of Libs, affirmative action, etc.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 01/17/2014 13:57 Comments || Top||

#8  Of course, this exposes the whole lie of how the donks in CA have set up their spoils system. It was never about being a minority, it's all about being a member of an approved class.
Posted by: Rex Mundi || 01/17/2014 13:58 Comments || Top||

#9  I'm in San Diego and I just don't see it. There are a lot of latino's but they don't seem to outnumber the whites by a longshot. I think we have 'projects' based on suspected illegals and other unprovables more than actual facts going on here.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 01/17/2014 15:06 Comments || Top||

#10  CA is working very hard right now on a bill to grant illegals coverage under Covered California, or a separate program under Medi-Cal expansion. WHEN that happens - well there ya go.
Posted by: Rex Mundi || 01/17/2014 15:25 Comments || Top||

#11  Look you Honkies and Wiggers, y'all need to learn how to use the "Race Card" - the Newly Minted "Honkie Card", don't roll over at the first sign you have become a minority, you need to stand up for your rights.

Repeat after me ... "I am...(I am )... Sum Buddy (Some Body) .... no ! Sum Buddy... I am sum buddy... come on... git your wigger on
Posted by: Black Charlie || 01/17/2014 15:55 Comments || Top||

#12  ...only somebody who ultimately pays the taxes (in one form or another). The affirmative action practiced by whites was done by their forefathers who either left or were chased out of Europe to begin with. They'll vote with their feet again to someplace where their productivity is appreciated. For the antithesis see Zimbabwe.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/17/2014 16:04 Comments || Top||

#13  #7 I was referring to George Zimmerman
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/17/2014 16:08 Comments || Top||

#14  Look if you don't want to pay attention to me, pay attention to "your own kind", you are a minority in California(period)



Posted by: Black Charlie || 01/17/2014 16:12 Comments || Top||

#15  rjschwarz

Get away from the Coast. The whole Central Valley is like a Hispanic "Mad Max". As an example of the top ten communities in the Nation with the highest stolen car rate, Modesto, Fresno, Bakersfield and Stockton rate 1 through 4.

San Diego's population is strongly influenced by the Military and Military Retirees.

I live in what used to be White Republican upscale enclave east of SF. We long ago went Donk. Our community is in transition to Far East and South Asian, Indian, Pakistan, Chinese etc. The local Costco is like a Tower of Babble with all the different languages spoken. Many, especially the women, are dressed in their traditional clothes from their country of origin. The White shoppers tend to be OFs like me.

The area is still upscale but it's difficult to talk with your neighbor over the back fence unless you're multilingual.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 01/17/2014 17:41 Comments || Top||

#16  Lies, damn lies and government statistics.

I don't see it either (and I live in an area where folks sell tamales door-to-door)(they're delicious). Our betters probably counted folks with Spanish-sounding last names. Doesn't make'm Hispanic or Latino any more than I'm a Scots strawberry herder by way of France.
Posted by: Dopey Sinatra || 01/17/2014 17:49 Comments || Top||

#17 
I believe VDH penned this about a decade ago. Not much new here I'm afraid.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/17/2014 17:54 Comments || Top||

#18  I dearly love Victor Eeyore Hanson, but he needs to get outta the farmin' bidness. As he quoted a "south Asian" neighbor, some folks are "played out." Fortunes are being made, depsite all nay-saying. Nut orchards have replaced cotton (spit!), wine grapes are everywhere, and oil is back. We're in a badass drought right now, but this too will pass.
Posted by: Dopey Sinatra || 01/17/2014 18:19 Comments || Top||

#19  I'll recall this thread when I pass by yet another gang-banger memorial - the one that's 6 houses down from me, as I make my way home tonght.
Posted by: Rex Mundi || 01/17/2014 18:19 Comments || Top||

#20  Mother said my Irish and Cherokee came from her side of the family. She remarked that she thinks all the people on my father's side of the family are mostly jackasses.

To me it doesn't matter what color skin the Maker gave you, if you are here to be free and to make an honest living.

If losers come to the US to be welfare/Snap food stamp leaches and want to become just as much a loser as our domestic loser leaches, may they find themselves painted into a hellish corner, when the socialist gravy runs out and they are old, grey and too feeble to earn an income.

That day WILL come.
Posted by: Omavising Ebbemp9815 || 01/17/2014 18:20 Comments || Top||

#21  The DemoLeft has known or supported these demographic changes, vee their priority of the Welfare-Nanny State + Socialism, SO WHY ARE MANY NOW COMPLAINING ABOUT IT.

THEY ARE COMPLAINING ABOUT WHAT THEY THEMSELVES DID MUCH TO CAUSE OR CREATE.

CONGRATULATIONS, THE PLAN WORKED, + CONTINUES TO DO SO - WHATS THE PROBLEM!
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 01/17/2014 18:33 Comments || Top||

#22  #15 and 18 this probably describes other factors effecting the game.

A new report shows that 64 percent of Chinese millionaires have either emigrated or plan to emigrate—taking their spending and fortunes with them. The United States is their favorite destination...
The United States was their top destination, which any real estate agent in San Francisco, Seattle or New York can confirm.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/17/2014 18:35 Comments || Top||

#23  Dopey Sinatra

Our betters probably read the Census Forms.

2010 Census form Question 8: Is Person 1 Hispanic, Latino or Spanish origin?

I work in healthcare and when you register a Patient you are required to ask the following questions:
Preferred Language: You Name it

Ethnicity: Hispanic or Latino, Not Hispanic or Latino, Unknown, Declined to Specify

Race: Am Indian/Alaskan Native, Native Hawaiian/Pac Islander, Asian, Black or African American, White, Other, Unknown, Declined to Specify

Scots strawberry herder by way of France is not one of the answers you can pick.

These rules came down from the Guvmint.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 01/17/2014 18:45 Comments || Top||

#24  Sorry rjschwarz - not to be disrespectful but you may want to leave the Coastal Communities, Gas Lamp, or North Park.

If you are visiting SD, I apologize. But if you live here, you are misrepresenting.

You only need to drive to SE SD - Barrio Logan & Logan Heights, south to National City or Chula Vista, further south to San Ysidro, east to El Centro.

These are all ESL communities, English is not required.
Posted by: mossomo || 01/17/2014 19:02 Comments || Top||

#25  Our betters probably read the Census Forms.

I'm not sure that self-identification is a reliable data criterium, GB, anymore than Latino is a race. The headline says Latinos set to surpass whites in California in March. The first line of the article doubles down with The Latino population is projected to surpass that of whites. WTF does that mean, really? Are all the white people I've ever known with Spanish last names suddenly not white? The fact is it is self-servingly beneficial to identify oneself as a chosen minority. Promotions, college admittance, scholarships, etc. I done seen it done, over and over agin, y'all.

I guess what ticks me off is that this whole nonsense has an gratuitous racial aspect that gives the game away. Fear! Fire! Foes! Awake!

Posted by: Dopey Sinatra || 01/17/2014 21:24 Comments || Top||



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