[ST. LOUIS Post Dispatch] Two men indicted last week on federal weapons charges allegedly had plans to bomb the Gateway Arch -- and to kill St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch and Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson -- the Post-Dispatch has learned.
Sources close to the investigation were uncertain whether the men had the capability to carry out the plans, although the two allegedly did buy what they thought was a pipe bomb in an undercover law enforcement sting.
The men wanted to acquire two more bombs, the sources said, but could not afford to do it until one suspect's girlfriend's Electronic Benefit Transfer card was replenished.
Gov't financed anarchy and murder, why should we not be surprised.
You didn't expect them to pay for the bomb-making materials themselves, did you? What kind of socialist are you?
These were the New Black Panther lads, if I recall correctly. Let us be grateful that government assistance is so debilitating to independent action. A proper terrorist would have at that point financed his efforts by robbing a church poor box or kidnapping the pastor for ransom.
#5
Taking a few minutes to enjoy Rantburg over breakfast before facing the turkey and all, since we're definitely not going to Buffalo for Thanksgiving this year.
We have so much to be grateful for, and this place is one of the big ones. Thank you all for making Rqntburg the interesting, informative, warm, and snarky place that it is.
And especial thanks to Hupaper Snaviper8366, for starting this thread so perfectly, Fred's hand continues to heal, but we've been concentrating on the articles, and let the social side of things slide.
Gettin' together to smile an' rejoice,
An' eatin' an' laughin' with folks of your choice;
An' kissin' the girls an' declarin' that they
Are growin' more beautiful day after day;
Chattin' an' braggin' a bit with the men,
Buildin' the old family circle again;
Livin' the wholesome an' old-fashioned cheer,
Just for awhile at the end of the year.
Greetings fly fast as we crowd through the door
And under the old roof we gather once more
Just as we did when the youngsters were small;
Mother's a little bit grayer, that's all.
Father's a little bit older, but still
Ready to romp an' to laugh with a will.
Here we are back at the table again
Tellin' our stories as women an' men.
Bowed are our heads for a moment in prayer;
Oh, but we're grateful an' glad to be there.
Home from the east land an' home from the west,
Home with the folks that are dearest an' best.
Out of the sham of the cities afar
We've come for a time to be just what we are.
Here we can talk of ourselves an' be frank,
Forgettin' position an' station an' rank.
Give me the end of the year an' its fun
When most of the plannin' an' toilin' is done;
Bring all the wanderers home to the nest,
Let me sit down with the ones I love best,
Hear the old voices still ringin' with song,
See the old faces unblemished by wrong,
See the old table with all of its chairs
An' I'll put soul in my Thanksgivin' prayers.
Posted by: john ac ||
11/27/2014 10:04 Comments ||
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#8
Thanks to all the 'Burgers on duty wherever you are, whether local law folks or military. You are the front lines and help us enjoy our freedoms.
(For the local law types, please ignore the grey Camry heading south on I-5 to Tacoma later this morning. nothing there of any importance....)
#9
We will be setting out to travel this afternoon to friends, who have so graciously extended an invitation to us to have Thanksgiving Dinner with them.
I'm sure the Master of the house, will invite us to examine his new Cadillac and the Mistress her newly decorated home after dinner.
We on the other hand, will provide some wine and invite them to answer the age old question, " Our Zebra steeds, are they Black with White stripes or White with Black stripes ?"
Let us pause a moment to be grateful that our national tradition runs to roasted tirkeys and the occasional ham.
[AnNahar] Hundreds of thousands of Swiss eat cats and dogs, according to an animal rights group that has demanded the government make it illegal for man to bite dog.
The activists handed members of Swiss parliament a petition Tuesday demanding they outlaw the eating of pets -- a tall order in a country where cat still appears on traditional Christmas menus in some areas.
"Around three percent of the Swiss secretly eat cat or dog," Tomi Tomek, founder and president of animal protection group SOS Chats Noiraigue, told Agence La Belle France Presse. "We especially see it in the regions of Lucerne, Appenzell, Jura and in the canton of Bern."
Dog meat goes mostly into making sausages and a fatty remedy for rheumatism, Tomek said. Cats get cooked for Christmas in the same style as rabbit -- with white wine and garlic -- especially around Bern and in the Jura and Lucerne.
The Swiss are also among the world's biggest consumers of horsemeat.
It is impossible to say how many dogs and cats end up in Swiss cooking pots every year, according to the activists.
"A political leader told us parliament won't do anything unless people revolt," Tomek said. "The Swiss need to take care of this themselves."
"Presently, we can't do anything because the law does not forbid people from eating their dog or cat, we can't even turn in those who engage in this practice," she said.
Her group, which gathered a 16,000-name petition to outlaw the eating of pets, forced a ban on the sales of cat fur in 2013.
Notable signers of the petition include French actress Brigitte Bardot, who has dedicated her life to fighting for animal rights.
"We are asking simply for a paragraph in the law on protecting domestic animals," Tomek said.
For a map, click here. You can enlarge the map, if you open it separately.
By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
A prosecutor from Kharkov oblast in Ukraina said that seven unidentified pro Russian, anti-Maidan guerrillas were detained last Friday in connection with a large number of explosions in and around Kharkov city since November 9th, according to Russian language news reports.
Three detonations took place since last Thursday, according to a news item in regnum.ru news outlet. One at an oil facility at the railyard, another at a military hospital the day before, and the third at an electrical substation on Thursday. In the article no damage was detailed, although it is probable property was damaged.
The November 21st detonation took place at a military hospital, tearing a hole in a fence, but resulting in no injuries. The attack on the electrical substation, while still under investigation was said to have affected the military hospital.
The Ukrainian Minister of Internal Affairs (MVD), Anton Gerashchenko suggested to the press that the bombing at the hospital could be classified as an act of terrorism if it were committed "by human hands".
The report goes on to note that despite claims of the MVD -- that the attack on the military hospital was a potential act of terrorism -- a case for destruction of property was filed by the local prosecution.
Those three latest detonations are in addition to two other bombings, one at a Kharkov city cafe November 9th, which wounded 13 unidentified individuals and another bombing attack on a local draft board, Lozovsky draft board, also in Kharkov city.
The attack at the Stena cafe has called an act of terrorism by the head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), Aleksandr Pivovar The cafe was used as a collection point for aid for Ukrainian refugees from the Don Basin civil war, as well as aid for soldiers recovering from their wounds in that war.
Pivovar was reported in the media saying the group he said is responsible for the last three bombings have also committed 12 other attacks which can be prosecuted under anti terrorism laws.
The seven detainees Pivovar called the Kharkov partisan group are being held in preventative detention, without bail. Five more are being sought by Ukrainian authorities, according the regional prosecutor Yuri Danilchenko.
Pivovar noted that the leadership of the group resides in nearby Belgorod, but the SBU said that the group also has about 10 "strike groups", presumably another term for cell, in Kharkov oblast (province). Attacks similar to the others, such as the bombings last week, are expected to continue.
On the eve of the November 4th parliamentary elections, according to Pivovar, a plastics explosive device was seized from a guerrilla cell in Kharkov, which he said was of "Soviet vintage", meaning at least a Russian seller was involved in the transfer of explosives to the Kharkov guerrilla group.
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.
Oil prices hit a four-year low on Thursday North Sea Oil at ~$75, West Texas Intermediate at ~$72 before markets open
as hopes for an OPEC agreement on the first production cut since the financial crisis grew smaller.
Saudia Arabia, the largest among OPEC members, hinted it would not vote for the cut in output -- in a bid to retain market share and hold off competition from U.S. shale production.
$70/barrel if sustained would mean gasoline at $2.50 to $2.70 for most of USA
And, as commented here the other day, most of the small producers in the U.S. are hedged through 2015, presumably allowing for continued domestic production while an orderly slowdown is arranged.
Posted by: lord garth ||
11/27/2014 07:59 ||
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#1
I paid $2.689/gal unleaded regular at Sam's Club yesterday, lowest price in many years. Weather around here is so foul I've no desire to drive anywhere.
#3
$2.77 on a reservation north of Seattle, about 35-60 cents more out in town. WA has I believe 2nd highest collection of taxes on gas in the country.
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
11/27/2014 11:51 Comments ||
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#9
$3.54 in Anchorage but drop in crude price hits state coffers
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/27/2014 12:09 Comments ||
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#10
West Texas light crude hit $70 and change last night.
Because Saudi Arabia has no production costs, i.e., they nationalized US infrastructure and wells, etc., the cost of putting a barrel of oil at Dover, DE to the Saudis is about $2.50 a barrel. Because the price of oil is artificially inflated by OPEC, it is essentially a bubble and as such will experience periodic collapses.
With as many put options as there are out there on crude oil, expect the bench mark price to head further south.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
11/27/2014 12:12 Comments ||
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#11
Also, if the oil companies would write off the development costs of crude from shale and tar sand as "sunk costs," the actual cost of production is much lower than the $75 a barrel being tossed around in the media, which explains why shale and tar sand are continuing in the face of the declining sell price of crude in the open market.
The Saudis are betting they can starve tar and shale out of existence but I think they are playing a losing hand. Some new oil fields in South Texas are still ramping up production and those cost even less to produce oil.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
11/27/2014 12:16 Comments ||
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#12
Bill,
the $2.50 figure is just the O&M costs - its a bit higher if you factor in depreciation of the both the well and pipeline infrastructure
more importantly, the entire Saudi govt depends on the revenue from the oil sector (same is true to varying extents of Iran, Venezuela, Russia, Gabon and Nigeria) and at $70/barrel, the Saudis have a major budget shortfall as do those other countries; while the Saudis have lots and lots of reserves, that's not true of the other countries
Posted by: lord garth ||
11/27/2014 12:24 Comments ||
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#13
The Saudis are betting they can starve tar and shale out of existence but I think they are playing a losing hand.
Methinks that, although valid, is more an ancillary intent.
#14
BBC on oil price crash after today's OPEC failure
Shale threat
Analysts suggest the strategy of maintaining output may be aimed at retaining dominance of the market in the face of increasing shale oil production in the United States.
The shale boom has been one of the drivers behind the decline in the oil price.
But as the oil price dips, shale becomes less economical to produce.
If oil prices are allowed to remain low for some time that could cap shale production over the longer term. So keeping oil prices low may in fact make sense for Opec.
"The Saudis want Opec to remain relevant,'' said analyst Phil Flynn, speaking before the end of the meeting in Vienna. "The only way in their mind is to subdue the US shale producer."
#17
The cartel did this before, in the 70s, to kill off the US synfuels investments. And it did - careers were destroyed, and management looked elsewhere for investment and new business.
What is needed is a tariff to keep the price of imported oil above $75/bbl. Proceeds to go to nuclear fusion research, especially non-tokomak, advanced fission, e.g. thorium reactors, and next gen solar, e.g. "black" screen printed photovoltaics. Proceeds must not flow into the general fund.
nice try, with good intent. Those $ will disappear into the EPA for Climate Control regs
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/27/2014 15:20 Comments ||
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#19
Whatis needed is a tariff
Government is recursive. Any more resources diverted to it will benefit only it and politicians. As it is it is already an overbearing, overfed, oversize behemoth that does not need any more despite what any possible policy remedy may indicate.
[TODAYONLINE] A Turkish court has banned media from reporting on a parliamentary investigation into corruption allegations against four ex-ministers, a move the opposition says amounts to protecting thieves.
Tayyip Erdogan, then prime minister and now president, has called the corruption scandal this year a plot to unseat him. Courts have since dropped cases, including those against the sons of three ministers and businessmen close to Erdogan.
A copy of Tuesday's ruling, seen by Rooters, said the ban was imposed to "prevent damage to the individual rights" of the former economy, interior, EU affairs and environment ministers.
A parliamentary commission was set up in May to study prosecutors' files alleging wrongdoing by the ministers, who denied the accusations. It met for the first time in July and is due to finish its work by Dec. 27.
The Turkish Journalists' Association called the ban censorship, and opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu accused parliament speaker Cemil Cicek of seeking it.
"Since when has parliament taken the role of protecting thieves," Kilicdaroglu told a party meeting in Istanbul.
Cicek later denied seeking the ban. The head of the parliamentary commission, dominated by members of the ruling AK Party, said he had called for it.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/27/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
Gosh darn, here the media buries the embarrassing stuff for free (well, maybe just a call from Bama's staff).
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers, R-Ky., has argued that Congress can't block funding to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency charged with enforcing the president's calls to authorize work permits and other paperwork for illegal immigrants living in the U.S., because it operates mostly on fees it collects rather than federal tax revenue.
But a CRS report requested by Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., and obtained by the Washington Examiner Wednesday says Congress can block funding to the agency, even if its budget is dependent on fees.
"Amounts received as fees by federal agencies must still be appropriated by Congress to that agency in order to be available for obligation or expenditure by the agency," CRS said.
#1
I still wonder why Congress can't criminalize the awarding of work permits to illegals by federal employees. This would circumvent the civil service system, the funding issue, and also go outside executive orders. A federal employee giving a work permit to an illegal commits a felony, goes to jail, loses his job and pension, all nice and legal-like. I am not a lawyer, though, I'm sure some lawyer can come up with elegant legal ratiocination about emanations of penumbras why this cannot happen.
"Amounts received as fees by federal agencies must still be appropriated by Congress to that agency in order to be available for obligation or expenditure by the agency,"
Yes but the fly in the ointment is that the President must sign the appropriations bills or continuing resolutions that implement the action. If new ones aren't approved the old ones remain in place for another year. The Republicans can't win here.
Popular Pakistani actress Veena Malik has been given a 26-year prison sentence for "malicious acts" of blasphemy after appearing in an staged wedding scene based on the marriage of Mohammad's daughter. The wedding was part of a daytime television program. It created a uproar of controversy in the Islamic community even though similar scenes had been aired before with little or no notice.
The ruling stated, "The malicious acts of the proclaimed offenders ignited the sentiments of all the Muslims of the country and hurt their feelings, which cannot be taken lightly, and there is need to strictly curb such tendency."
Malik, who is currently in Dubai, said she was "shocked" by the news. She said, "We are born Muslims and all I can say is that we have not done any mistakes.We are innocent and that is why I am going to Pakistan to face it. It is not a blasphemy in any way."
It's not clear if the sentence will be enforced. The court order is to be imposed in the city of Gilgit, but control of Gilgit is shared between Pakistan and the India-claimed Kashmir region, so jurisdiction is not certain. Malik would have to return to Pakistan to be imprisoned.
Don't pull a Perv and return home. Pakistain is not worth it. Dubai is lovely in the summer
...Malik's husband, Asad Bashir Khan, and Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman, the chief executive of the biggest media group in the Asian country, were also sentenced to 26 years. All three were also ordered to pay a $13,000 fine, surrender their passports and sell all their properties.
Malik had previously been in trouble with authorities after posing for a series of risque photos for Indian FHM. She was also widely criticized for a tweet saying "India sucks," which she blamed on a former manager.
Could it be that Allah does not approve of the choices made by the Gazans? Incidentally, d'you suppose Hamas' famous underground bunkers were constructed to deal with the overflow from a reservoir, or are they getting a bit damp around the tootsies down there?
[Ynet] Some residents in east Gazoo City were ordered to immediately evacuate their homes because of flooding after a nearby reservoir overflowed.
Much more detail from An Nahar here, for those who want their tears throughly jerked.
"Prior to 1983, SDVs were actually known as "Swimmer Delivery Vehicles." Since their inception the now titled SEAL Delivery Vehicles have played an essential, but highly secretive, role in our national security."
As an aside, the editor of this piece at Business Insider speaks the very good English...
The Russian Sukhoi T-50 PAK-FA stealth fighter could prove to be a formidable competitor to American fifth-generation combat aircraft such as the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Indeed, in some measures, the new Russian warplane will exceed both U.S.-built jets, but the PAK-FA is not without its flaws.
“The analysis that I have seen on the PAK-FA indicates a pretty sophisticated design that is at least equal to, and some have said even superior to U.S. fifth-generation aircraft,” former U.S. Air Force intelligence chief Lt. Gen. Dave Deptula told the National Interest. “It certainly has greater agility with its combination of thrust vectoring, all moving tail surfaces, and excellent aerodynamic design, than does the F-35.”
So it's not exactly a lawn dart...
Indeed, the PAK-FA appears to be optimized for the air-superiority role like the F-22 more so than the multirole, strike-optimized F-35. Like the Raptor, the PAK-FA is being designed to fly high and fast to impart the maximum amount of launch energy to its arsenal of long-range air-to-air missiles—which would greatly increase the range of those missiles.
#2
Ship, I suspect that it is vectorable, and the way they are mounted inboard of the horizontal stab and vertical fin will offer some IR masking I think.
CIA needs to acquire one for review.
[AnNahar] Iran's conservative-controlled parliament finally approved a new science minister on Wednesday after rejecting President Hassan Rouhani's two previous nominees for the post as too reformist.
Lawmakers voted by 197 votes to 28 to confirm Iranian Red Islamic Thingy chief Mohammad Farhadi in the sensitive job, which has responsibility for Iran's universities and students, whose political activities are heavily monitored by the regime.
Farhadi served as health minister from 1997 to 2001 under reformist president Mohammad Khatami.
But unlike the two previous nominees whom politicians rejected, he was not accused of links to the "seditionist" movement that erupted into the streets in protest at hardline president Mahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad's controversial re-election in 2009 before being suppressed by the regime.
The earlier rebuffs underscored the pressure that Rouhani, a moderate elected in June 2013, faces from a parliament dominated by conservatives at odds with his desire to open up the country to the West.
His second pick -- Fakhroddin Ahmadi Danesh-Ashtiani, who served as deputy education minister under Khatami -- was rejected by politicians last week after they screened video footage of him calling for the closure of universities in protest at Ahmadinejad's re-election.
The science ministry post has been vacant since August when parliament sacked Reza Faraji Dana, accusing him of appointing too many officials with links to the 2009 protests.
The challenge was crushed by the regime but dozens of people died and thousands were locked away Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! , many of them students.
#1
wow, combining religion and science sounds very....Consensusy™
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/27/2014 15:08 Comments ||
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#2
While this appears to be the story of our SECDEF, we seem to have allowed Executive, Legislative and Judicial to combine into a single malfunctioning entity.
[AnNahar] The rain and snow that usually feed Leb's rivers and wells never arrived last winter, causing a severe water shortage in the summer. But a November storm this year blanketed Leb's peaks with snow and brought with it heavy rain in coastal areas, raising hope for the end to the drought.
Several mountainous roads were blocked across Leb on Wednesday after the storm dubbed Nancy dumped several centimeters of snow.
Meanwhile, ...back at the saloon, Butch got the bill for the damage caused by the fist fight, the mirror broken in the shootout, and drinks for everyone...... heavy rain and cold wind lashed the coast, a scene not much witnessed in November in the past years.
At the start of summer, the authorities called on citizens to avoid washing cars and even to minimize personal water usage, including showers.
Leb's meteorological service had said there was just 431 mm of precipitation between September and May, far below the yearly average of 812 mm.
The increase in the country's population because of the presence of around 1.5 million Syrian refugees made the drought serious.
But this year, experts hope the heavy rainfall that Leb witnessed in October, in addition to the early winter storm that lashed the country this week will make up for last year's severe winter drought.
The storm is expected to subside on Thursday.
Israel also is experiencing heavy storms. Hopefully heavy weather throughout the region will drive the hotheads indoors for a while.
#3
Why work when you can hire politicians to do the stealing for you? With mail in ballots you don't even have to work your way to the polls to vote your thieves in power. Heck, the ward heelers will even bring the ballot to your home already filled out and just awaiting signature.
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.
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.
"It is good to give thanks....." 
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers, R-Ky., has argued that Congress can't block funding to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency charged with enforcing the president's calls to authorize work permits and other paperwork for illegal immigrants living in the U.S., because it operates mostly on fees it collects rather than federal tax revenue.
Popular Pakistani actress Veena Malik has been given a 26-year prison sentence for "malicious acts" of blasphemy after appearing in an staged wedding scene based on the marriage of Mohammad's daughter. The wedding was part of a daytime television program. It created a uproar of controversy in the Islamic community even though similar scenes had been aired before with little or no notice.
"Prior to 1983, SDVs were actually known as "Swimmer Delivery Vehicles." Since their inception the now titled SEAL Delivery Vehicles have played an essential, but highly secretive, role in our national security."
The Russian Sukhoi T-50 PAK-FA stealth fighter could prove to be a formidable competitor to American fifth-generation combat aircraft such as the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Indeed, in some measures, the new Russian warplane will exceed both U.S.-built jets, but the PAK-FA is not without its flaws.
