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Today: 66 articles and 190 comments as of 12:16.
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IS Attacks Syria Druze Village, Battles for Palmyra
Today's Headlines
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Page 3: Non-WoT
3 12:13 Daffy Brown4464 [1] 
1 13:58 Shipman [2] 
3 12:58 g(r)omgoru [4] 
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Page 1: WoT Operations
2 17:59 trailing wife [2]
6 23:44 Zenobia Floger6220 [6]
1 13:12 Bobby [3]
1 21:32 Ebbomosh Hupemp2664 [10]
9 23:36 jvalentour [5]
1 08:38 Skidmark [8]
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Page 2: WoT Background
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Page 4: Opinion
2 21:21 rjschwarz [4]
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Page 6: Politix
2 21:29 Iblis [9]
6 16:26 SteveS [3]
10 12:59 Besoeker [4]
18 20:01 Frank G [5]
7 20:20 JohnQC [1]
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9 20:02 Frank G [1]
-Lurid Crime Tales-
Six Chinese Citizens Charged in US with 'Economic Espionage'
[ALMANAR.LB] Six Chinese nationals, three of them professors, were charged with economic espionage in a US indictment unsealed Tuesday alleging the theft of technology used in mobile phones for Beijing's benefit.

According to a 32-count indictment, the six led a long-running effort to obtain US trade secrets for universities and companies controlled by the Chinese government.

Among those charged were Tianjin University professor Hao Zhang, who was jugged
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 05/20/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Yep, be concerned with the termites while the renters are burning the place down.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 05/20/2015 7:48 Comments || Top||

#2  so-called FBAR technology
Somebody's spellchecker isn't working.
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/20/2015 8:45 Comments || Top||

#3  Well, at least USA still has tech secrets to steal---IMO, a victory of a human spirit over educational system.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/20/2015 12:58 Comments || Top||


Ferguson Rent-A-Mobs Exposed
[FRONTPAGEMAG] ACORN's successor group in Missouri has been paying protesters $5,000 a month to generate civil unrest in Ferguson, the troubled St. Louis suburb where black youth Michael Brown was killed by a white police officer last August.

We know this because some of the protesters haven't been paid and, now, they are demanding what they were promised. They held a sit-in at the offices of Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment (MORE) and posted a demand letter online.

MORE is the rebranded Missouri branch of the former Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) which filed for bankruptcy in late 2010. That ACORN state chapter reconstituted itself in December 2009 as MORE under orders from ACORN's national headquarters. President B.O. used to work for ACORN and he represented it in court as a lawyer. (See my previous article on MORE.)

MORE has been active in the Ferguson protests and in efforts to free tossed in the clink
Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try!
demonstrators so they can continue vandalizing businesses, intimidating perceived adversaries, setting fires, throwing projectiles and human waste at cops, and engaging in the Left's usual modes of so-called nonviolent protest. MORE believes that protesters should be given a blank check to inflict whatever harm they wish on the community in pursuit of social justice.

The unpaid rent-a-mob operatives complain that MORE stiffed them the same way ACORN did to hired protesters throughout its 40 years of radical left-wing rabble-rousing. The ACORN network's leadership was always predominantly white while its foot soldiers were mostly non-white, a fact that caused tension within the criminal community organizing outfit.

Blogger Kristinn Taylor reported at St. Louis-based blogger Jim Hoft's website, Gateway Pundit, that "[b]lack activists held a sit-in at the office of MORE ... on Thursday to press their claim that groups led by whites have collected tens of thousands of dollars in donations off of the Black Lives Matter movement without paying the Black participants their fair share."

One of the angry protesters can be observed threatening MORE executive director Jeff Ordower, a bald white man, in a video posted to the Twitter account of @search4swag on May 14 with the hashtag #CutTheCheck.

"We gonna just fuck you up," she said to Ordower from across a boardroom-style table.

Ordower, an outspoken vote fraud apologist, previously ran Missouri ACORN and oversaw ACORN's Midwest operations. He was also an SEIU organizer in Texas.
Posted by: Fred || 05/20/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  See Tobruk.
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/20/2015 8:48 Comments || Top||

#2  "We gonna just fuck you up," she said to Ordower from across a boardroom-style table.

A lot of people open their pie hole and remove all doubt about stupidity. $5000/month plus a toaster, microwave oven, and big screen TV too.
Posted by: JohnQC || 05/20/2015 20:16 Comments || Top||

#3  Obama's brownshirts.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 05/20/2015 20:41 Comments || Top||

#4  And a free Obamaphone, too?
Posted by: gorb || 05/20/2015 22:48 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Burundi Crisis Won't Delay Presidential Election
[WSJ] BUJUMBURA, Burundi—This country’s main opposition leader doesn’t go out in public much because of death threats, but nonetheless says he will run in a June presidential election he has no illusions of winning and wants delayed amid protests and a failed military coup.
Posted by: Fred || 05/20/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Bangladesh
RAB arrests 5 kidnappers in Dhaka, begins interrogations
The Rapid Action Battalion yesterday arrested five alleged kidnappers 11 days after they had realised Tk 2 crore
$310,000
from an industrialist and released his abducted son.

The elite force arrested the five from different areas in Uttara and recovered Tk 1.8 crore from their possession.

Eight-year-old Abeer, only son of Shahadat Hossain Shameem, managing director of TNZ Group of Companies, was kidnapped from Banani on May 2.

Maj Maqsudul Alam of Rab's media wing told The Daily Star that the elite force arrested gang leader Mizanur Rahman Mizan, Rezaul Karim, Nazrul Islam, Jahiruddin Md Babar and Oliullah in the early hours yesterday.

Three of them -- Rezaul, Nazrul and Jahir -- are employees of TNZ Group of Companies.

The Rab official said they had learned names of 14 people involved in the abduction. Rezaul and Mizan had planned it four months ago and rented a house at Pallabi to execute the plan, he added.

After collecting necessary information, the 14 criminals on May 2 split in three groups.

Mizan followed the private car carrying Abeer from his madrasa in Uttara to their Banani house. They stopped the vehicle under Banani flyover around 8:30pm. Posing as law enforcers, they took the driver and another person to their car and dropped them at a distant place.

They boarded Abeer in another car and took him to the rented house and demanded Tk 10 crore from his father for his release. They later agreed to release the boy for Tk 2 crore after some bargaining.
80% discount? Was the kid like Red Chief or something?
In the evening of May 6 they handed Abeer over to his father in front of Hotel Radisson Blu, the elite force said.
It's always having to be present for the handover that gets kidnappers caught.
Posted by: Theting Glasing4448 || 05/20/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Waco calling.
Posted by: Shipman || 05/20/2015 13:54 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
No fresh lobster? Kim Jong Un takes aim at North Korean terrapin farm
[CNN]
Posted by: Fred || 05/20/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  in the picture at the link, not one person is even close to dozing off....
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 05/20/2015 1:10 Comments || Top||

#2  Bees, Terrapins....? Is it something in the bottled water with these two ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/20/2015 4:35 Comments || Top||

#3  "Do you know what's it's like trying to get a FedEx delivery from Maine in Pyongyang?"
Posted by: ed in texas || 05/20/2015 7:34 Comments || Top||

#4  Waddaya know- those hippies DID build Terrapin Station.
Posted by: Grunter || 05/20/2015 9:10 Comments || Top||

#5  "The people have no terrrapins? Well, let them eat turtles!"
Posted by: SteveS || 05/20/2015 11:16 Comments || Top||

#6  Ummm gopher tonight!
Posted by: Shipman || 05/20/2015 13:55 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
FIA raids Axact offices, takes records and employees into custody
[DAWN] A team of the Federal Investigation Agency's cyber crime unit entered local IT company Axact's Islamabad and Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
offices on Tuesday and collected manuals, records and computers as evidence in the ongoing investigation of a global fake degrees scam.

TV reports quoted FIA Deputy Director Tahir Tanveer as saying that the Axact offices in twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi have been sealed and that around 22 employees of the IT company were taken into custody by the Islamabad investigating team.

Kamran Ataullah, a deputy director at the Federal Investigation Agency in Karachi, said the investigation would not be limited to the contents of the Times article.

"We've issued a letter to them, and we're looking for details of their database, employees, what websites and equipment they're using," he said while talking to NYT.

Meanwhile,
...back at the mall, Clarissa suddenly spied Mr. Bartlett at the checkout counter. He was buying Grecian Formula!...
a team of the FIA's corporate crime unit also visited Axact's Karachi offices and questioned their employees, DawnNews quoted FIA sources as saying.

No one has been placed in durance vile
Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out!
or taken into custody at the Karachi office as yet, they added. Employees, particularly IT employees, were not allowed to leave the office premises during the investigations.

FIA officers swooped on the Karachi headquarters of the company, seizing equipment and records and expelling employees from the building, a member of the raiding party told on the condition of anonymity.

US State Department, while reacting to allegations levelled against Axact in a New York Times
...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize...
article, said it had made no agreement on document attestation with the said company, DawnNews reported.

The state department said it keeps providing relevant information on its website to protect citizens from scams.

It further added that investigations on the company's practices are currently underway in Pakistain.

Earlier, action against Axact kicked off after Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan
...Currently the Interior Minister of Pakistain. He is the senior leader of the Pak Moslem League (N) and a close aide to Nawaz Uncle Fester Sharif. He is noted for his vocal anti-American railing in the National Assembly. However (comma) Khan told the U.S. ambassador that he was in fact pro-American but he and the PML-N would have to be critical of US actions in order to remain publicly credible. Khan cited his wife and children's US citizenship as proof, which means he's lying to one side or the other and probably both. He wears a wig, but you probably guessed that. since hair doesn't grow naturally in that shape or texture...
ordered an inquiry into a story published by The New York Times that claimed the company was issuing fake degrees as part of a massive, global scam.

An interior ministry front man said Nisar had directed the FIA to submit a report after a thorough investigation.

The minister in his directive also said that the FIA was to determine whether the contents of the NYT story were true and whether the company was involved in any illegal business which may bring a "bad name" to Pakistain.

FIA corporate crime circle has issued notice to summon Axact's chief Shoaib Ahmed Sheikh on Thursday, DawnNews reported.

The officials have also asked the company authorities to present their registration certificate, tax return details and the details of degrees issued so far, it added.
Posted by: Fred || 05/20/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  AXACT 's Formula M team sent to back row for the Grand Prix of Swat.
Posted by: Shipman || 05/20/2015 13:58 Comments || Top||


Grade 20 public officers not promoted due to questionable integrity: PM
[DAWN] 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...
today revealed that many grade 20 public officers were not promoted because of doubts on their integrity.

"In grade 20 - 21 promotions, you should be able to see their integrity, and look at their past and their career," he said, addressing the National Assembly on Tuesday, and added that many of those being considered for promotions were dropped because their integrity was questionable.

The premier ruled out the possibility of provincialism and favouritism during promotions of grade 20 government officials.

"We are not making this matter controversial, we don't want to bring provincialism into it," he said, adding that many officials from various provinces were considered and dropped.

He denied being asked by the Federal Public Service Commission about who should be promoted, saying he did not know the chairman of the commission, who had been appointed during the previous government's term.

The prime minister stated that recruitment in Punjab
1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots....

and 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...
has been conducted on the basis of merit.

"We have adopted a principled approach to this matter and are sticking to it because we want to be fair to the Pak people. It is unfair to recruit 'third class' people on the basis of 'sifarish', while someone who is deserving is deprived," he said.
Posted by: Fred || 05/20/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Ex-IGP Islamabad moves court against non-promotion
[DAWN] Former inspector general of the capital police Aftab Ahmed Cheema on Monday challenged the non-recommendation of his name for promotion to BPS-21.

Mr Cheema was the IGP Islamabad when the Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf
...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations....
(PTI) and Pakistain Awami Tehrik (PAT) staged the longest 'sit-ins' outside Parliament House in August last year.

The government removed Mr Cheema from the post and put him under suspension after he allegedly did not use force against the protesters.

The former IGP filed a petition with the IHC which stated: "Petitioner has unblemished and excellent service career except an incident of August 2014 when he was posted as the IGP Islamabad. The petitioner was issued a charge-sheet to which a reply has already been submitted."
Posted by: Fred || 05/20/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Science & Technology
Canadian Zenn Cars
Good catch DB. This article appears to be very dated. My apologies. Unless someone objects, I'll delete it this evening.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/20/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  REMEMBER THE BRICKLIN!!!
Posted by: Chuckles Shatle5927 || 05/20/2015 11:38 Comments || Top||

#2  The Zenn Car is a glorified golf cart and are only legal to drive where golf carts are legal, except golf courses.

It's a bottomless money pit for foolish investors.
Posted by: Daffy Brown4464 || 05/20/2015 12:02 Comments || Top||

#3  Wikipedia: In September 2009 CEO Ian Clifford announced that ZENN was ceasing car production to concentrate on selling its drive-train technology to other manufacturers.

Plans for the CityZENN were canceled in 2009 and production of all LSVs was ceased in late 2009 and production employees were released. In fiscal years 2008 and 2009, ZENN Motors had company-wide losses of $65,000 for each of the $15,000 lead-acid LSV it sold (approximately 360).


Didn't realize they threw in the towel that long ago.
Posted by: Daffy Brown4464 || 05/20/2015 12:13 Comments || Top||


UK burglars using drones to plan crimes
[Telegraph]
Goody.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 05/20/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Air Force Getting Closer to Testing Hypersonic Weapon, Engineers Say
The Air Force program, which had a couple of failed tests, came several years after a similar NASA effort called the X-43, which in 2004 shattered speed records when it flew at nearly Mach 9.7, or about 6,600 miles per hour, for 10 seconds. But the engine couldn't withstand the temperatures involved.

"The engine basically melted because it got so hot," Helbach said. "They didn't actively cool it. So for our program, we actively cooled the engine, which means that along the outside of the engine, we cycled the fuel around it to suck out the heat from the engine, heat up that fuel, and then inject it into the combustor for the scramjet engine."

The X-51 was designed to start its engine using ethylene and transition to a hydrocarbon fuel called JP-7 -- the same type of endothermic fuel employed by the SR-71 Blackbird spy plane.

"It basically means you can dump a lot of heat into that fuel," Helbach said. "When you crack the fuel, it actually makes it more combustible. It increases the amount of combustion you can create from the fuel."

For the follow-on weapons program, the Air Force has teamed with the Pentagon's research arm, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, to shrink the technology into a hypersonic weapon that could fit on most of the bomber fleet, according to Kenneth Davidson, manager of the hypersonic materials development at the Air Force Research Laboratory.
Posted by: Blossom Unains5562 || 05/20/2015 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Its not official until its been SSSHHHH ...CCCCCC
tested over GUAM-WESTPAC, + catches the eye of that Madonna fan from same.

Last one's recent manuevers oer late-nite Hagatna/Agana reminded me of Star Trek's Capt.Kirk = Wiliam Shatner releasing the two whales from Earth's past so that the latter can communicate wid an Earth-dangerous/threatening Alien space probe - ITS EITHER THAT, OR THE USDOD-DARPA IS DEV ORBITAL/SPACE "PYLON" TECHNOLOGY.

[BABYLON FIVE'S ANTI-"SHADOW", "PILE-DRIVER" PLANET-DESTROYING/CRACKING ROD-FROM-GOD here].
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 05/20/2015 0:25 Comments || Top||

#2  Boeing and McDonnell are willing to get on board if they can figure how to charge for selling replacement parts after the end of the world.
Posted by: ed in texas || 05/20/2015 7:38 Comments || Top||

#3  "When you crack the fuel, it actually makes it more combustible. It increases the amount of combustion you can create from the fuel."

I've been thinking about some heat tape for the fuel lines on my diesel...
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/20/2015 8:54 Comments || Top||

#4  I don't think endothermic is the correct term. Doesn't that mean it takes in more heat when it burns? Doesn't that rob energy from the combustion?
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 05/20/2015 9:37 Comments || Top||

#5  You're thinking of endo- vs. exothermic reaction, AA5839.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/20/2015 13:02 Comments || Top||

#6  Speculation is that they use hydrogen fuel in a thin outer skin to cool the plane. Then once it is hot it flames up better and you get hypersonic 150,000 feet plus flight. Anywhere in the world in 3 hours and also low orbit for a sling shot released carried package without added boosters.
Posted by: Ebbatle Slinesing1040 || 05/20/2015 16:05 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
25[untagged]
14Islamic State
9Govt of Pakistan
5Govt of Syria
3Boko Haram
2Taliban
2Arab Spring
1Govt of Saudi Arabia
1Commies
1Houthis
1al-Qaeda in North Africa
1Salafists
1al-Qaeda in Pakistan

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Two weeks of WOT
Wed 2015-05-20
  IS Attacks Syria Druze Village, Battles for Palmyra
Tue 2015-05-19
  US drone strike in North Waziristan leaves six 'militants' dead
Mon 2015-05-18
  ISIS confirms Ramadi capture
Sun 2015-05-17
  US special forces kill senior IS leader in Syria: Pentagon
Sat 2015-05-16
  Jury sentences Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to death for marathon attack
Fri 2015-05-15
  Belmokhtar's Jihadist Group in N. Africa Pledges Allegiance to IS
Thu 2015-05-14
  ISIS acting leader al-Afri killed by US-led airstrike
Wed 2015-05-13
  Iraq Blast Kills Four including Peshmerga General
Tue 2015-05-12
  Drone Strike Kills 4 Qaida Suspects in Yemen's Mukalla
Mon 2015-05-11
  Terror recruiter with roots in Minn. linked to Texas shooting
Sun 2015-05-10
  Houthis agree to five-day cease-fire in Yemen
Sat 2015-05-09
  Pakistani Chopper Crashes into School, 2 Ambassadors Killed
Fri 2015-05-08
  ISIS controls 80% of Baiji refinery in Salahuddin
Thu 2015-05-07
  Fighting continues in Benghazi despite fall of Mreisa
Wed 2015-05-06
  Hezbollah Brigades in Iraq repel a major ISIS attack southeast of Fallujah


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