Hi there, !
Today Fri 11/14/2014 Thu 11/13/2014 Wed 11/12/2014 Tue 11/11/2014 Mon 11/10/2014 Sun 11/09/2014 Sat 11/08/2014 Archives
Rantburg
533705 articles and 1862034 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 66 articles and 165 comments as of 12:57.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Operations    WoT Background    Opinion        Politix   
US Drone in Northwest Pakistan Kills 6 Militants
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 3: Non-WoT
6 23:51 CrazyFool [7] 
6 23:46 Thing From Snowy Mountain [6] 
2 09:30 g(r)omgoru [6] 
2 11:55 Procopius2k [5] 
3 07:44 anon1 [4] 
8 21:42 Ulunter Hitl3744 [5] 
0 [4] 
2 19:51 Gluque Glavilet4102 [12] 
3 15:40 Old Patriot [4] 
13 19:47 Bright Pebbles [4] 
1 22:07 JosephMendiola [6] 
0 [9] 
4 23:40 Zenobia Floger6220 [8] 
1 03:47 anon1 [2] 
0 [9] 
0 [5] 
5 12:17 Sgt. D.T. [2] 
Page 1: WoT Operations
0 [8]
3 23:15 DarthVader [6]
7 16:34 Raj [4]
7 18:19 swksvolFF [4]
0 [3]
0 [4]
0 [2]
0 [5]
2 11:52 Besoeker [3]
0 [1]
0 [12]
4 19:49 trailing wife [2]
1 09:24 Shipman [2]
0 [3]
0 [5]
0 [2]
2 04:22 Incredulous [4]
2 22:09 JosephMendiola [5]
0 [8]
0 [11]
0 [8]
Page 2: WoT Background
11 22:05 JosephMendiola [7]
4 22:23 JosephMendiola [9]
5 13:14 Besoeker [4]
3 18:18 Frank G [6]
1 07:44 ed in texas [2]
5 21:15 Andy Protector of the Ostrogoths2377 [6]
2 14:42 rjschwarz [4]
1 18:01 chris [8]
5 14:50 Frank G [5]
0 [4]
6 14:29 Pappy [13]
4 22:05 trailing wife [10]
3 19:04 Barbara [5]
9 20:54 JosephMendiola [9]
3 03:44 g(r)omgoru [4]
0 [5]
0 [5]
1 07:42 anon1 [6]
0 [8]
0 [7]
2 17:56 Procopius2k [6]
2 14:05 Bobby [4]
1 12:48 lord garth [8]
Page 4: Opinion
2 13:50 Steve White [4]
1 15:49 Old Patriot [2]
Page 6: Politix
5 17:16 Besoeker [2]
4 15:24 Chuckles Chavith2594 [4]
1 17:10 Anice Nim [3]
-Short Attention Span Theater-
New 'Stupidity Virus' Discovered, Scientists Say
[ABCNEWS.GO] The next time you lose your keys or bomb a test, try blaming it on a virus. Researchers from Johns Hopkins University and the University of Nebraska have discovered a virus that makes you just a little bit dumber.
Wotta loada bull!
The scientists stumbled upon the previously unknown "stupidity virus" in the throat cultures of healthy subjects during a completely unrelated experiment. The 44 percent of people who tested positive for the virus performed 7 to 9 points lower on IQ tests that measured attention span and how fast and accurately people process visual information.
Always convenient to blame your lack of brain power on a virus. Or a djinn.
When the Nebraska researchers injected the virus into the digestive systems of mice, same thing. The rodents blundered around mazes, appeared flummoxed by new toys and seemed oblivious to new entry ways in and out of their cages. In short, they acted a tiny bit stupider than the average mouse.
Well, mice aren't that brite to start with, are they?
âThis is a striking example showing that the âinnocuousâ microorganisms we carry can affect behavior and cognition,â said lead investigator Dr. Robert Yolken, a virologist and pediatric infectious disease specialist at the Johns Hopkins Childrenâs Center in Baltimore who led the study.
Matter of face, mousies is purdy dumb.
Yolken said this unintended study provides a good example of how behavior and psychology come down to more than the genes you inherit from your parents. Some of these traits may be shaped and influenced by the trillions of viruses, bacteria and fungi that colonize our bodies, he said.
Well, I ain't blievin' dat viruses have an effect on conix... conni... kugnixion... brain power.
Viruses are infectious agents that invade cells and replicate themselves within those cells, said Dr. Aaron E. Glatt, a spokesman for the Infectious Disease Society of America.
Dey r? 'Mgonna keep a lookit out fer dem.
Once they enter a host, they range from completely benign or, as is the case of the Ebola virus, they can be deadly.
Bad virix! Gonna git me a virix swatter!
Glatt said while he is skeptical of a virus can actually affect intelligence, he is keeping an open mind.
Not me, coach. Y'keep an open mind, somethin' gonna fall out!
âWe donât completely understand the full implications of viruses yet but they, obviously, can impact the functioning of cells and entire organism with a myriad of outcomes,â he said.
Yeah. What he said. Keep a virix swatter close by.
Yolken said this particular virus may work by changing the way genes are expressed in an area of the brain responsible for memory and other higher brain functions. He also said he has suspected for some time that viruses have ways of messing with human intelligence.
Gonna get me one o' them Shell No-virix strips. Hang it in kish... ketchup... dining room.
In previous studies, for example, his team found small but definite decreases in cognitive function after exposure to the common herpes simplex virus.
Them herpies is bad nooze.
The new research appears in the latest issue of the online journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.
Posted by: Fred || 11/11/2014 13:17 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Well it would explain progressives.
Posted by: DarthVader || 11/11/2014 13:28 Comments || Top||

#2  No I think "progressives" have "hypoautism", or an excess of oxytocin, leading to excessive clique grouping, over-emotional behaviour, narcissism and dislike of order.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 11/11/2014 17:35 Comments || Top||

#3  Lol, Fred channels M4D channelling Algernon.
Posted by: Shipman || 11/11/2014 19:14 Comments || Top||

#4  Looks to me like the 'scientists' who reported this lack basic reasoning skills. Or they are so publicity hungry they'd say or do anything for some air time.

All they discovered was a CORRELATION between the presence of the virus (in the THROAT) and lower IQ. Did the virus cause the lower IQ? Or were dumber people more likely to engage in behavior that resulted in infection? Who knows? Any researcher with an ounce of integrity would have considered both hypotheses, not called a press conference.

Johns Hopkins University and the University of Nebraska should be embarrassed by the poor quality of their personnel. And I don't think they can blame it on a virus.
Posted by: DLR || 11/11/2014 20:34 Comments || Top||

#5  Flowers for Shipman.
Posted by: gorb || 11/11/2014 22:15 Comments || Top||

#6  The things people will do to explain away their Obama vote in '08 and '12.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 11/11/2014 23:51 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
NYC Doc Cleared Of Ebola, Now No Known Ebola Cases In The U.S.
[WashingtonPost]
There are still plenty of people being watched across the country. When they don't get sick in 21 days, assuming no new cases arrive, then America can be properly be declared Ebola free.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/11/2014 07:45 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  How do we know? Just yesterday the media agreed not to report cases at the request of Big Brother.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 11/11/2014 8:28 Comments || Top||

#2  Known to whom?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 11/11/2014 9:30 Comments || Top||


Sharp rise in Ebola cases in Sierra Leone
The statistics are catching up after a brief lull. The numbers appear to still be tracking my estimates, sadly. Kudos to the brave medical personel fighting what can only be a losing battle in the end
The number of new cases of Ebola in Sierra Leone has jumped dramatically, putting paid to any hopes that the infection rate is slowing.

Official figures released by the minister of health and sanitation show there were 111 new cases registered on Sunday, the highest daily rate since the ministry started publishing figures in August.

There were 45 new cases the day before, including 24 in the capital, Freetown. Laboratory results for patients in Freetown, which include the new British army-built Ebola hospital, showed 40 new cases on Sunday.

There was also a spike in the number of cases in Port Loko, a district north of Freetown where there is still no treatment centre and where, until recently, corpses were left lying on verandahs, in hospitals and in houses for days before collection.
Posted by: anon1 || 11/11/2014 03:37 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Declaring a crisis "over" doesn't really make it over.
Posted by: Incredulous || 11/11/2014 4:06 Comments || Top||

#2  You can lie to people
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 11/11/2014 4:08 Comments || Top||

#3  but you can't lie to nature.... nature doesn't care
Posted by: anon1 || 11/11/2014 7:44 Comments || Top||


Remote Sierra Leone Region Pleads for Help in Ebola Fight
[AnNahar] The last region of Sierra Leone to be affected by Ebola, Koinadugu, in the north-east of the country, has seen 50 people die from the virus in recent weeks, according to the Red Thingy.

"Fifty people have died since mid-October," the head of the Red Thingy in Sierra Leone, John Marah, told Agence La Belle France Presse.

He said the toll is likely to rise.

"Nine people are now in the isolation center and two of these are seriously ill, with not much hope for them I'm afraid," he said. "The situation is really difficult."

Some 60 cases of Ebola have been confirmed in the region and at least 200 people have been placed in quarantine, said Marah.

Koinadugu is a remote, largely inaccessible, mountainous region. Previously it had prided itself on being the last unaffected area in the country.

It is thought the virus was brought to the area by a trader who died in the neighboring province of Kono, some 30 kilometers away, before he was brought home.

The virus quickly spread among a disbelieving public.

"There was a lot of denial about Ebola at the beginning," said Marah, in an attempt to explain the initial slow response of the humanitarian agencies.

Foday Jalloh, chief of the Nieni region, told the Red Thingy last Wednesday that several bodies were left for up to a week on village streets as people were afraid to touch the bodies, once fears about the virus spread.

In talks with the Red Thingy, Falloh said the region was in desperate need of help.

"We need medical supplies and medical equipment, we need intervention to give us support," said Falloh.

Last week, the World Health Organization said that 13,268 people had been infected with Ebola across eight countries, and 4,960 of them had died.

The deadliest Ebola outbreak ever has hit Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone the hardest.

In its latest toll, the WHO said 2,766 deaths were recorded in Liberia, out of a total of 6,619 cases.

In Sierra Leone, 1,130 people had died from the virus out of 4,862 cases. In Guinea, there were 1,054 deaths from 1,760 cases.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/11/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  infection rate is up to 100 a day in the latest count though that could be due to trailing statistics catching up. Lull for 'improvement' and then too many. rinse, repeat.

The 57-nation Organisation of Islamic Co-operation, largest body of nations outside the UN has contributed zero on the UN contributor list except Malaysia which gave rubber gloves.

The impoverished Philippines gave $1 million. Saudi Arabia richest nation on earth gave zero. Saudi Arabia has shut it's borders - yet the US$4.27 billion WHO blames Canada for denying visas!
Posted by: anon1 || 11/11/2014 3:47 Comments || Top||


'60 Minutes' reporter Lara Logan under ebola quarantine
[Fox News] Lara Logan of CBS News is being quarantined in a South Africa hotel for three weeks as a precaution after visiting an American-run hospital treating Ebola patients in Liberia for a "60 Minutes" report that aired Sunday.

CBS said Monday that Logan's 21-day self-quarantine will end this Friday. Neither Logan nor the four other CBS employees in South Africa have shown any sign that they are infected with the virus.

Logan, speaking in a "60 Minutes Overtime" web interview from the room where the CBS crew put its report together, admitted to some cabin fever as she waits out her stay. She said the South African government had given the crew permission to work at the hotel.
Hat tip to Ms. Logan and her colleagues. They did it right.
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/11/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  A refreshing bit of professionalism.
Posted by: Lone Ranger || 11/11/2014 0:42 Comments || Top||

#2  sensible, responsible. Let that be a lesson to those that make a big song and dance about not wanting to do quarantine.
Posted by: anon1 || 11/11/2014 3:40 Comments || Top||

#3  Well, I guess, the incident in Tahrir square did promote maturation.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 11/11/2014 3:48 Comments || Top||

#4  Is CBS trying to make news by constantly putting this reporting into harms way? Give her the Midwest reporting bureau chief job in Iowa.
Posted by: Airandee || 11/11/2014 9:59 Comments || Top||

#5  Kinda makes ya wonder don't it.
Posted by: Sgt. D.T. || 11/11/2014 12:17 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Shelling continues in Donetsk and northern Lugansk

For a map, click here. You can enlarge the map, if you open it separately.

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

Shelling continued in Donetsk city and in parts of northern Lugansk over the weekend, but one Donbas rebel formation commander said that his group has taken two key points at the Donetsk airport, according to Russian language news reports.

The Donetsk airport, the lion's share of which is under control of Donbas rebel forces, has been a severe point of contention between the two combatants since the start of the truce in early September. Ukrainian forces holding the main terminal have been supported by forces deployed just a few kilometers away in Peski, to the southwest and in Avdeyevka, to the northwest.

Ukrainian forces are said to be taking advantage of a tunneling system at the airport to hold the main terminal. Donbas rebels say the Ukrainians have been using the airport control tower to direct artillery strikes in the city.

According to the commander of the "Somalia" rebel battalion, identified only as "Givi", Donbas rebels have taken control of the control tower and the fire station.

According to quotes published in regnum.ru news outlet, Donbas rebels now control the road between the airport and Peski, where the Ukrainians are using to marshal relief forces constantly being rotated in and out of the airport.

If what "Givi" is saying is true, then most of the artillery strikes in Donetsk city directed from the airport control tower will likely end, or be greatly reduced.

The operation also places the Ukrainian hold on the airport in a tenuous position.

In Avdeyevka to the northeast, Ukrainian news outlets say that Donbas rebels are trying to surround Ukrainian forces there in a bid to end Ukraina's hold on the airport.

According to a report by "Givi" and other rebels, Donbas rebels destroyed an armored relief column Sunday consisting of a tank and two infantry fighting vehicles, probably BMP-2s. Attempts by the rebels to take the tank as a prize failed because of Ukrainian heavy fire.

Saturday it was reported that the newly elected president of Donetsk, Aleksandr Zakharcheno visited rebel positions at the airport, but came under rocket artillery from Ukrainian BM-21 rocket artillery launchers. Neither he nor his security detail were wounded in the incident.

Rebels say that the Ukrainians had caught wind of Zakharcheno's the visit through social media.

Donetsk Artillery Shelling

According to pro Donbas rebel press, the night of November 9th and November 10th were quiet. Ukrainian artillery units emplaced at Avdeyevka were fired on by Donbas rebel artillery units, which were said to be return fire against Ukrainian artillery strikes. It is unclear in Donbas rebel reports just where the Ukrainian artillery strikes landed. Donbas rebels claim a total of four Ukrainian soldiers dead in the Avdeyevka artillery missions.

Ukrainian press say that Donbas rebel artillery units killed three civilians and one soldier, and wounded seven others. The Ukrainian report said Donbas rebels fired a total of seven rounds, which landed in an unidentified residential area. Donbas rebels, according to Ukrainian press reports, confirmed the civilian casualties saying the Ukrainian forces fired upon were deployed in the residential area.

Donbas rebels also say the artillery strikes were recorded in Donetsk city in Kirovskoye, Kievsky and Kuibyshevsky districts. Elsewhere in Donetsk, Donbas rebels say Ukrainian artillery struck in Debaltsevo, Nikishino, Olkhovatka, Mius and Redkodub towns, all northeast of Donetsk city. Donbas rebels claim they returned fire against the Ukrainians.

Northern Lugansk

Near the North Donetsk River line, Donbas rebels report mortar and small arms attacks were fired on Ukrainian position in Nizhneye, which is just south of the river. Donbas rebels also fired on targets along the highway that connects Krimskoye and Zolotoye.

Just four days ago a large Ukrainian armored column was spotted several kilometers north of the North Donetsk River line, traveling to the southeast, presumably to Schastye, which is about ten kilometers east of Nizhneye.

The Ukrainian have held Schastye since late August.

Schastye is important to both combatants, for the Ukrainians since it is a likely jumping off point of any new offensive and to the Donbas rebels who want to push Ukrainian military forces away from Lugansk city.

Chris Covert writes about foreign military issues for Rantburg.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com. You can read past articles about the 2014 war in southeastern Ukraina by clicking here.
Posted by: badanov || 11/11/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:


Explosion in Kharkov damages train


An explosion on a railroad track in Kharkov oblast in Ukraina (province) Sunday night damaged a rail and a car, but caused no injury according to Russian language news accounts.

According to a news report on the Russian language korrespondent.net news website, the explosion took place Sunday night, a day after another bombing at the Stena indoor cafe on Rymarska street in Kharkov city.

The bomb at the Stena bar wounded eight unidentified patrons of the bar.

According to the news report, the explosion damaged the fifth railroad car and a length of rail. The train was in the Novopokrovka Chuguevsky district, and was hauling clay in seven cars. The others in the 58-car train were empty.

The explosion caused little delay in rail traffic in the region and the track was repaired quickly. The report also said that traces of an explosive were found at the scene of the explosion.

Neither local nor national officials have characterized the explosion as an act of terrorism so far. The bombing at the Stena cafe was called an act of terrorism.

Chris Covert writes about foreign military issues for Rantburg.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com
Posted by: badanov || 11/11/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The "Russian Taliban"???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/11/2014 22:07 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
Division within Beijing Leadership
BY: Bill Gertz

Signs of a serious division within the ruling Communist Party of China are emerging over a crackdown on corruption led by current leader Xi Jinping, according to a recent U.S. intelligence report on the division.

The political rift is being linked to a nationwide anti-corruption drive launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping, and to differences among top leaders over the purge of several of China's most senior leaders who held posts at senior Party levels that in the past were immune to such crackdowns.

Corruption in China—bribery, graft, and abuse of power—remains a key feature of the reform communist system in place since the 1980s.

The recent unclassified intelligence report circulated within the U.S. government disclosed that the leadership rift is linked to the case against Zhou Yongkang, a former member of the Politburo Standing Committee, the seven-person collective dictatorship that rules China. Analysts of China have long argued that leadership divisions in China would be among the indicators of a breakdown of one-party rule that could produce a change in a system in place since the Communists seized power in 1949.
Much, much more from Mr. Gertz, who has a gift for identifying key problems lurking under the surface of the news. Worth the read.
Posted by: Steve White || 11/11/2014 08:09 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I've read that the party leaders who have authority over Shanghai are rumored to have "encouraged" the unrest in Honkong by a crack down. They want the money that at present flowing in and out of Hongkong to shift to Shanghai.
Posted by: Thumper Bumble6975 || 11/11/2014 11:28 Comments || Top||

#2  Uh-Oh, there's "Trouble in Paradise..."
Posted by: Snerens Tingle8360 || 11/11/2014 21:02 Comments || Top||

#3  So, Zhou's on first?
Posted by: SteveS || 11/11/2014 22:31 Comments || Top||

#4  The Washington Free Beacon is everything you wish the WaPo wasn't.
Posted by: badanov || 11/11/2014 22:45 Comments || Top||

#5  So, Zhou's on first?

I thought Hu was on first . . . .
Posted by: gorb || 11/11/2014 22:55 Comments || Top||

#6  Well, Shanghai is definately downhill of all the Chinas these days.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 11/11/2014 23:46 Comments || Top||


Europe
Taking Europe's pulse
h/t Gates of Vienna
A FEW months ago investors were feeling more optimistic about the euro zone. In July the Greek government could borrow money at an interest rate of 6%, a far cry from the near-40% it was paying in 2012. Economic growth in the first quarter of 2014 was 1.2% on an annualised basis—not great, but not terrible.

That has all changed. There are now serious worries that the euro zone will succumb to a "triple-dip" recession.

Our interactive graphic (updated November 7th 2014) displays the latest economic and fiscal differences across the European Union.
There will still be money for Palestine, won't there?
Always. Some things rise to the top of a budget...
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 11/11/2014 04:18 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Its dead Jim. You want a mortician, not a doctor.
Posted by: Silentbrick || 11/11/2014 7:34 Comments || Top||

#2  Always. Some things rise to the top of a budget...

Like floaters in the septic tank.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 11/11/2014 11:55 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
'Kiss of Love' protests rattle Modi's conservative India
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A mass-kissing campaign against moral policing in a city in Kerala has swept the country, advertised via Facebook, as urban youngsters challenge a deeply conservative society.

Dozens of 'Kiss of Love' activists stole kisses and blocked traffic near a metro station in New Delhi at the weekend, outnumbering a handful of right-wing protesters who see such public displays as a threat to Indian culture.

"It's not about just kissing," said 26-year-old research scholar Pankhuri Zaheer, one of the organisers. "It's about ... inter-caste marriages, inter-religious marriages, live-in relationships."

Minor scuffles broke out between the rival groups as the police steered the rally away from the Delhi office of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a radical group considered the ideological parent of Bharatiya Janata Party.

The 'Kiss of Love' activists shouted slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and affiliated Hindu groups seen as self-appointed moral guardians forcing traditional mores on people with a Western outlook.

Police foiled the initial Nov. 2 protest in Kerala by stopping participants reaching the venue. But the Facebook 'Kiss of Love' community page got over 110,000 likes and sparked similar demonstrations in cities such as Mumbai, Kolkata and Hyderabad.

In Kolkata, about 100 university students marched last week, carrying posters saying: "Right to love is our democratic right." Another protest is planned in Kerala early next month.
Posted by: Fred || 11/11/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under:


Indian woman stripped, paraded on donkey as punishment
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A woman was partially stripped naked and paraded on a donkey through her village in northern India after being accused of killing her nephew, police said Monday.

Members of the village also blackened her face with coal dust and cut her hair following orders from a local council of elders in Rajasthan, the police officer said.

Thirty nine people, mostly members of the village in Rajsamand district, have been incarcerated
You have the right to remain silent...
over the incident that took place on Saturday night, additional superintendent of police Sudhir Joshi said.

The woman was accused by the village council of killing her nephew who had died some time earlier, the officer said.

"The woman aged around 40 years was in her house when some villagers stormed into the house and pulled her out on Saturday evening," Joshi told AFP.

"They cut her hair, blackened her face and stripped her half naked. Then they mounted her on a donkey and paraded her in the village for ten minutes," he said.

"It was after a meeting of the panchayat (village elders). The cruel punishment was meted out to the woman just on a suspicion," he said.

The woman was now being cared for by family members, the officer added.

Councils made up of village elders, usually known as "khap panchayats", are common in rural parts of India, especially in the north, where they are often accused of dispensing "Taliban-style justice".

Their diktats are often unconstitutional and illegal, but they continue to hold sway with rules seen as regressive by women's rights activists.

In September this year, 13 men were tossed in the slammer
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
in West Bengal state for gang-raping a woman who was accused by the local council of "dishonoring" her village.

The council ordered the attack against the 20-year-old woman for the perceived offense of having a relationship with a man from a different community.
Posted by: Fred || 11/11/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Does she have to marry the donkey now?
Posted by: Skidmark || 11/11/2014 0:43 Comments || Top||

#2  No. It's not a goat.
Posted by: gorb || 11/11/2014 0:55 Comments || Top||

#3  It's only she-goats and mares and such who can be married to humans. Male animals have to be satisfied with the less attractive females in the herd.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/11/2014 19:30 Comments || Top||

#4  blackened her face

When that Muslim donkey leaves for Rajsaman'
I'll be right there
They'll judge me fair
When I see that rusty-haired panchayat man
Me he'll collar
And I'll holler
"Rajsaman'! Rajsaman'!
That's where you stop your mule
Where they ain't got no school
Where khap panchayats rule
Where dat ol' Islam am
I will be right there with bells
When that old panchayat yells
"All aboard! All aboard!
All aboard for Rajsaman'!"

Doggone toothache.
Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 || 11/11/2014 23:40 Comments || Top||


Pakistani schools network observes anti-Malala day
[DAWN] An association of Pak schools held an "I am not Malala" day on Monday, condemning young Nobel peace laureate Malala Yousafzai
...a Pashtun blogger and advocate for girls' education from Mingora, in Swat. She started blogging at age 11-12. She was 15 when a Talib boarded her school bus and shot her in the head in 2012. She was evacuated to a hospital in Britain and the Pak Taliban vowed to kill her and her father. Among other awards, she received the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize, which she deserved more than Barack Obama, Jimmy Carter, Al Gore, Yasser Arafat, or Rigoberta Menchu...
for what it called her support for controversial novelist Salman Rushdie.

Education campaigner Malala was shot in the head by the Taliban in October 2012 but recovered and went on to win this year's Nobel peace prize.

The 17-year-old has been hailed around the world for standing up for girls' rights to education, but the response to her in Pakistain has not been universally positive, with some seeing her as a "Western agent" on a mission to shame her country.

The All Pakistain Private Schools Federation last year barred its members from buying Malala's memoir "I am Malala" because of what the group said was its "anti-Pakistain and anti-Islam content."
Posted by: Fred || 11/11/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq


Minister's brother shoots rival
The accused, who was allegedly riding an official car, fled from the scene and has not yet been locked away
[DAWN] MUZAFFARABAD: Tension gripped the town of Samahni in Bhimber, the southernmost district of Azad Jammu and Kashmire (AJK) on Sunday after the brother of AJK minister shot and maimed a young man in Samahni Bazaar.

Official sources told Dawn that Chaudhry Mazhar Iqbal, who is the brother of revenue minister Chaudhry Ali Shan Soni, shot Raja Sohaib Habib at about 11:30 am after a brief altercation.

The bullet pierced through the lower abdomen of the victim, who was taken to the District Headquarter Hospital in Mirpur, which is a two-hour drive. Due to excessive bleeding, his condition was reported to be critical.

The accused, who was allegedly riding an official car, fled from the scene and has not yet been locked away
Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up!

Witnesses said the accused and the victim had also exchanged hot words a few days ago. The victim is an office bearer of MSF, Pakistain Moslem League-N's student wing.

Soon after the incident, Rajputs of the victim's clan blocked Samahni-Bhimber and Samahni-Mirpur roads and burnt tyres. They also pelted some shops with stones.

Bhimber local administration brought the mob under control and cleared the roads.
Posted by: Fred || 11/11/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Government
New VA Chief May Fire 1,000 Staffers Over Healthcare Scandal
[LATimes] The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced a series of reforms Monday aimed at improving the agency's customer service after concerns about substandard healthcare forced a leadership change earlier this year.

Three months after taking the helm, Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald unveiled plans to create a chief customer service officer tasked with overseeing an agency-wide program to streamline the department's regional centers into a single network.

In an interview with CBS' "60 Minutes" on Sunday, McDonald said that 35 staffers also will lose their jobs and 1,000 additional workers may be fired -- all of whom "violated our values," he told the program. Many of these staffers had already been placed on administrative leave pending a formal ruling, he said.

As part of the restructuring, the agency will sponsor a series of local councils nationwide to help veterans access private and public resources, McDonald said Monday.

"Our shared goals are to ensure that veterans have a clear understanding of VA and where to go for what they need within any of our facilities," McDonald said in a statement announcing the changes.

The former CEO of Procter & Gamble, McDonald assumed command of the agency after the resignation of Eric Shinseki earlier this year. Shinseki faced intense criticism when employees at the Veterans Health Administration, the agency's healthcare arm, were accused of falsifying appointment data and failing to provide timely care to veterans.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/11/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  After he discharges his thousand, let Secretary McDonald be immediately detailed to the IRS for the sacking of a second thousand, then to the Departments of Education, Homeland Security, EPA, DOE, and Agriculture in turn. With a little effort, I suspect a goal of 100,000 gov't sackings within the next twelve months is attainable.
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/11/2014 2:53 Comments || Top||

#2  Superb! The wait in line gets even longer.
Posted by: ed in texas || 11/11/2014 7:47 Comments || Top||

#3  Besoeker: I think you have a bright future in the writing of fiction; if the scenario you write about ever plays out, I promise to never say a bad thing again about the much ballyhooed Lawn Darts!
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 11/11/2014 9:47 Comments || Top||

#4  Early retirements w/full benefits who will then come back as full-time contractors. Bet on it.
Posted by: regular joe || 11/11/2014 15:59 Comments || Top||

#5  Harvard Business School lectures are overweighted with cases studies of how Procter & Gamble did this or that. And Mr. McDonald spent his entire post-military career there; he'll have started at the bottom and worked his way up, as all Proctoids do. He's had plenty of experience analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of businesses, and equally much experience analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the people he was suddenly put in charge of with each promotion or lateral move. That's what P&G deliberately trains their managers to do from the day they arrive, the ink on their diplomas still damp from the printer. He'll have had plenty of experience firing people, too, whether for cause or simple down-sizing. P&G regularly clears out the bottom 10% of performers at all levels, promoting as needed and bringing in another batch of new hires with brand new diplomas.

This 1,000 will be the low hanging fruit, so obviously deserving of dismissal that it will be nearly impossible to bring them back in any capacity.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/11/2014 19:22 Comments || Top||

#6  tw, Mr McDonald might find it's a little harder to fire civil service people than at P&G
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 11/11/2014 20:48 Comments || Top||

#7  It's about time that someone starts going "Al Dunlap" on some of the potted plants that "work" in government.

I'm sure that some public employee union will have a conniption fit. Let's hope that McDonald prevails.
Posted by: Lone Ranger || 11/11/2014 21:35 Comments || Top||

#8  Say it with me, "Reduction In Force".
Posted by: Ulunter Hitl3744 || 11/11/2014 21:42 Comments || Top||


Government Slashes 2015 Obamacare Sign-Up Forecast 30%
HHS Drops 112,000 From Coverage Because They Couldn't Prove Their Immigration Status

  • Congressional Budget Office projected 13 million signups by March 31, 2015

  • Now HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell says her goal is 9.1 million, but that number depends on keeping 5.9 million of last year's enrollees

  • About 112,000 people lost coverage since the end of the last open enrollment period because they couldn't prove they were US citizens or legal residents

  • Administration's own projections could fall apart if more than 17 per cent of 2013-2014 enrollees drop their coverage in year two

  • Burwell said Monday that the White House will win the second Supreme Court challenge to Obamacare
    ... aka the Affordable Care Act, an ineptly designed and worse executed piece of legislation designed to bring 17 percent of the U.S. economy under the direct control of the government. The previous iteration, known as Hillarycare, was laughed out of Washington. This stinker was passed on a party-line vote without being read...
  • A repeal is 'not something that this administration will let happen' - Burwell
  • Posted by: trailing wife || 11/11/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [12 views] Top|| File under:

    #1  Nothing heard of the failure to sign-up penalties anymore. Have those all now been discontinued? Something tells me this entire program will self-bin very soon.
    Posted by: Besoeker || 11/11/2014 2:47 Comments || Top||

    #2  "...but that number depends on keeping 5.9 million of last year's enrollees."

    What's the "break-even" participation number again?
    Posted by: Gluque Glavilet4102 || 11/11/2014 19:51 Comments || Top||


    Home Front: Culture Wars
    Palestinian Woman Guilty Of Lying On Citizenship Papers
    [DetroitFreePress] A bankrupt, increasingly impoverished, reliably Democrat, Detroit
    ... ruled by Democrats since 1962. A city whose Golden Age included the Purple Gang...
    jury on Monday found a Paleostinian immigrant guilty of not disclosing that she had been convicted in a 1969 Israel bombing when she was applying for U.S. citizenship.

    Rasmieh Odeh, 67, was accused by prosecutors of being a terrorist who killed Israelis in 1969 and then lied about it when trying to become a U.S. citizen. Odeh used to live in Michigan and is now in reliably Democrat Chicago, aka The Windy City or Mobtown
    ... home of Al Capone, a succession of Daleys, Barak Obama, and Rahm Emmanuel,...
    , where she works for the Arab American Action Network. She was not charged with any terrorism crime, but with immigration fraud.

    The jury reached their verdict Monday morning after just a couple of hours of deliberation. Saying she was a flight risk, Judge Gershwin Drain revoked her bond a and Odeh was detained, taken away in handcuffs. Her sentencing was set for March 10.

    Odeh could face up to 10 years in prison for her conviction, be stripped of her U.S. citizenship, and deported.
    Posted by: trailing wife || 11/11/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

    #1  The very first lie is that there is such thing as Palestinian Nation.
    Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 11/11/2014 3:19 Comments || Top||

    #2  Odeh could face up to 10 years in prison for her conviction, be stripped of her U.S. citizenship, and deported

    Or pardoned in January of 2017.
    Posted by: Pappy || 11/11/2014 11:57 Comments || Top||

    #3  Or pardoned in January of 2017.
    Posted by: Pappy 2014-11-11 11:57


    Never happen, Pappy. Obumble could care less about such "little people" once they've served their purpose -- to get him elected.
    Posted by: Old Patriot || 11/11/2014 15:40 Comments || Top||


    Couple fined for refusing to host same-sex wedding on their farm
    The Giffords, who own the bucolic Liberty Ridge Farm in upstate New York, were ordered to pay a total of $13,000 — a $10,000 fine to the state and another $1,500 to each member of a lesbian couple to compensate them for “mental anguish.’’
    Would it be appropriate to send each of the complainants 500 $3 bills?
    Remember, we were told that the equality laws would never lead to people being forced to violate their religious consciences...
    Posted by: Unavimp Cravitle2620 || 11/11/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

    #1  Remember when private business was private? Yeah, me neither.
    Posted by: AlmostAnonuymous5839 || 11/11/2014 4:59 Comments || Top||

    #2  The Schrute farm would do no less.
    Posted by: Shipman || 11/11/2014 7:01 Comments || Top||

    #3  Randy Weaver might think it too much painful irony.... Liberty Ridge Farm.
    Posted by: Besoeker || 11/11/2014 7:04 Comments || Top||

    #4  I am starting to think that gays are purposely picking on places that will say no. It is as if they are purposely shaking down those that disagree with them.
    Posted by: Airandee || 11/11/2014 8:15 Comments || Top||

    #5  That's a certainty, Airandee. Following the long-practiced model of the protected victim classes.
    Posted by: Glenmore || 11/11/2014 8:48 Comments || Top||

    #6  I sense an appeal in the works.
    Posted by: Korora || 11/11/2014 9:51 Comments || Top||

    #7  I sense a tar and feathering in the works.
    Posted by: DarthVader || 11/11/2014 11:55 Comments || Top||

    #8  "starting to think," Airandee?
    Posted by: Barbara || 11/11/2014 12:55 Comments || Top||

    #9  They could have just let the cows graze in the wedding area the week before the wedding. I suspect the next time that might be the plan.
    Posted by: rjschwarz || 11/11/2014 14:47 Comments || Top||

    #10  Any tarring and feathering (pole-riding optional) should include the judge, jury if there was one, and the prosecuting lawyer(s). Also any "lawmaker" that wrote or passed this nonsense. Otherwise, we can ALL kiss our freedoms goodbye.

    May be time for a second Revolutionary war. Our government has become the enemy.
    Posted by: Old Patriot || 11/11/2014 15:44 Comments || Top||

    #11  If the farm was theirs then no problem.
    If the land was held by a limited liability company then I think it's different.
    Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 11/11/2014 17:22 Comments || Top||

    #12  Probably no judge or jury involved, just a bureaucrat and a regulation. And yes, their choice was deliberate.
    Posted by: OldSpook || 11/11/2014 18:50 Comments || Top||

    #13  I wonder will meat eaters be able to sue vegetarian restaurants?
    Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 11/11/2014 19:47 Comments || Top||



    Who's in the News
    36[untagged]
    4Govt of Pakistan
    3Islamic State
    3Palestinian Authority
    3Govt of Iran
    3Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis
    2Arab Spring
    2al-Qaeda in Pakistan
    2Hamas
    1al-Shabaab
    1Thai Insurgency
    1Boko Haram
    1Govt of Iraq
    1Hezbollah
    1Jamaatul Ahrar
    1Lashkar-e-Islam
    1Moro Islamic Liberation Front

    Bookmark
    E-Mail Me

    The Classics
    The O Club
    Rantburg Store
    The Bloids
    The Never-ending Story
    Thugburg
    Gulf War I
    The Way We Were
    Bio

    Merry-Go-Blog











    On Sale now!


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

    Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

    Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has dominated Mexico for six years.
    Click here for more information

    Meet the Mods
    In no particular order...
    Steve White
    Seafarious
    tu3031
    badanov
    sherry
    ryuge
    GolfBravoUSMC
    Bright Pebbles
    trailing wife
    Gloria
    Fred
    Besoeker
    Glenmore
    Frank G
    3dc
    Skidmark

    Two weeks of WOT
    Tue 2014-11-11
      US Drone in Northwest Pakistan Kills 6 Militants
    Mon 2014-11-10
      Key ISIS recruiter killed by Iraqi forces near Baiji, Iraq
    Sun 2014-11-09
      Fate of 'critically wounded' ISIS chief unclear
    Sat 2014-11-08
      Myanmar to Muslims: Get Out
    Fri 2014-11-07
      22 ISIL terrorists killed in Beji
    Thu 2014-11-06
      Syria Army Retakes Gas Fields from Jihadists
    Wed 2014-11-05
      'Drone' Strikes kill 20 Qaida Suspects in Yemen
    Tue 2014-11-04
      Bangladesh court upholds top Islamist's death sentence
    Mon 2014-11-03
      Air strikes on LI bases leave 13 dead
    Sun 2014-11-02
      ISIL fighters send distress calls in Salah-il-Din
    Sat 2014-11-01
      Congo crowd kills man, eats him after militant massacres
    Fri 2014-10-31
      IS kills 30 Assad men; Homs blast injures 37
    Thu 2014-10-30
      Muthanna chemical weapons facility liberated from ISIS control
    Wed 2014-10-29
      ISF, tribal militias kill Emir of Heet while defending Anbar against ISIS attack
    Tue 2014-10-28
      Three days of clashes leave 250 dead in south Yemen


    Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
    18.191.157.186
    Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
    WoT Operations (21)    WoT Background (23)    Opinion (2)    (0)    Politix (3)