[Dhaka Tribune] A suspected hijacker has been killed in a "shootout" with the members of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) at Taltola in the capital's Agargaon area.
The identity of the dear departed could not be ascertained yet.
RAB Legal and Media Wing Director Masudul Alam said some hijackers locked into a "shootout" with a patrolling team of RAB around 2:30am Thursday.
He said: "One of the hijackers was killed in the incident while the others expeditiously departed at a goodly pace."
Meanwhile, ...back at the pie fight, Bella opened her mouth at precisely the wrong moment... two foreign pistols and ammunitions were recovered from the spot.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/17/2015 00:00 ||
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Instances of artillery and small arms fire directed against rebel held territory in western Donetsk have increased in the last two days, according to official rebel, Ukrainian and Russian language news accounts.
According to data supplied by the Donetsk ministry of defense, Ukrainian forces have fired on rebel forces more than 140 times in the past two days including artillery fire in western Donetsk city suburbs.
Ukrainian artillery fire strikes were recorded Thursday at the airport terminal and at Spartak. On Wednesday, a total of 85 attacks were recorded including at the Donetsk airport, Spartak, and the Kuibisevsky, Kievskiy and Petrovskiy districts of western Donetsk city.
Rebel officials say Ukrainian forces continue to use heavy weapons banned by the February 15th version of the Minsk ceasefire. Gorlovka, under artillery fire since the start of the year was once again hit by Ukrainian artillery.
According to data supplied by the Ukrainian ministry of defense, rebel forces Wednesday night to Thursday morning launched an attack on Ukrainian positions in western areas of Donetsk city including at Peski, Avdievka, Marinka and Opytnoye.
Ukrainian media said also that rebel 122mm artillery fired on targets west and north of Gorlovka for two hours. Tank gunfire and other heavy weapons were also used in the attacks.
Late Thursday night, Ukrainian ministry of defense news said that rebels fired 152mm artillery on Avdievka.
Chris Covert writes about foreign military issues for Rantburg.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com and on Twitter. You can read past articles about the 2014 war in southeastern Ukraina by clicking here.
Mr. Abe has presented the package as an unavoidable response to new threats facing Japan, in particular the growing military power of China. He seized on the murder of two Japanese hostages by the Islamic State militant group in January as an example of why Japan needs to loosen restrictions on its military, suggesting that the military might have rescued them if it had been free to act.
"These laws are absolutely necessary because the security situation surrounding Japan is growing more severe," he said after Thursday's vote.
China condemned passage of the bills, describing them as a potential threat to peace in Asia and invoking Japan's wartime aggression. JOE M: Feelin' lucky? I'ms sure as #$%^ am not.
#3
On one had, it is time for Japan to step up and play a full role in the globalized world.
On the other, it's the coming war with China. Along with China's obvious push for territory and power, I'd bet they are looking for some payback for WW2 unpleasantness. Gonna be ugly because the Chinese think they can win and the Japanese won't go down without a fight.
Lemme know when the Mobile Fleet sails. And whether it is half robots or not.
IMO this will only serve to facilitate or improve the chances for a China-Japan/ASEAN war across East Asia + potens agz Guam-CNMI.
The US aside, China confronting + fighting the Philippines [Vietnam] is one thing, China confronting + fighting JAPAN [Australia, Russia] is quite another.
Looks like Nippon Amb. Caroline Kennedy has her job seriously cut out for her - hope she's up to the task. ONCE ANY SHOOTING STARTS, NO MATTER ITS EARLY OR INITIAL PROBLEMS AS PER WARFIGHTING ART, OR ITS LOSSES IN COMBAT, CHINA WILL COME BACK AND AGAIN.
* FYI GMA NEWS > JAPAN MILITARY CHIEF SAYS SOUTH CHINA SEA SURVEILLANCE IS POSSIBLE.
* JAPAN TIMES > CHINA WARNS JAPAN AGZ "CRIPPLING REGIONAL SECURITY" [+ also Regional Peace] AFTER PASSAGE OF SECURITY BILLS.
* WORLD NEWS > CHINA PROTESTS PHILIPPINES' REPAIR OF RUSTING MILITARY SHIP [AFP Outpost] IN SOUTH CHINA SEA [Spratlys].
* GLOBAL TIMES > JAPAN SECURITY BILLS TO END [historical = post-WW2, Constitutional] PACIFISM.
* SAME > US ATTEMPTS TO LURE AUSTRALIA INTO [SCS]SEA ROW.
* CHINA DEFENCE FORUM > SECURITY BILLS PASSAGE SIGNALS JAPAN MOVE TOWARDS "OFFENSIVE" CHANGE.
To which China will more likely than not have no choice but to respond militarily to the constraints on its ambitions to be Asia's or East Asia's, + "post-US", WORLD/GLOBAL NUMBER ONE.
AGAIN, CHINA'S + PLA'S GREATEST OR ULTIMATE "ACE" AGZ THE US-ALLIES IS THE ANTI-US US OWG GLOBALIST = ANTI-AMERICAN AMERIKAN POTUS IN THE WHITE HOUSE WHOM IS ALSO TOP = #1 IN THE US NATIONAL COMMAND AUTHORITY.
Mighty "red line" defender POTUS Obama is responsible for America = Amerika's direct military response, or in alternate THE LACK OF SAME, TO ANY MILPOL CRISIS IN ASIA-PACIFIC + ELSEWHERE.
As a OWG Globalist + "safe" Politician, the Bammer's job as POTUS is to get the US to clap or celebrate or support its own DEMISE.
#5
Obama is responsible for America = Amerika's direct military response, or in alternate THE LACK OF SAME
A crucial part of the equation as far as timing goes. China needs time to build up and plan. But wait too long and Japan has re-armed. Wait too long and you get another POTUS, one with perhaps a much different worldview on international affairs.
#7
As soon as Japan gets armed again, they won't need the US for protection any more, and then it's right back to where we were in the 1930s. Great power rivalry, jostling for position in the Pacific, and an arms race.
I hope you all enjoy flipping the bird to China because it is going to come back and bite you bigtime when Japan realizes it is a full nation again.
#8
Thraling I wouldn't worry about Japan. It is a full western nation in spirit now, the population is declining and it is more interested in trade than war. The Japan of the 1930s is long dead.
#15
AFAIK China still desires to avoid any MilPol entanglements wid the US + Russia in East Asia-Pacific, + of course is well-aware of the "mutual defense" treaties the Philippines + Japan, etc. have wid the US.
* SO-CALLED "CONVENTIONAL WISDOM" = CHINA WILL MOST LIKELY PREFER TO ENGAGE IN UNILATERAL WAR FOR "STRATEGIC ACCESS" AGZ THE PHILIPINES ANDOR JAPAN WIDOUT NEED OF THE US + ALLIES INVOKING THEIR RESPECTIVE MUTUAL DEFENSE TREATIES, HENCE PREEMPTING ANY DIRECT US INVOLVEMENT/ASSISTANCE TO ITS REGIONAL ALLIES OUTSIDE OF BENIGN MATERIEL SUPPORT, DRONES, ETC. AS THE US DOES IN THE ME VEE IRAQ-SYRIA.
* IIRC JAPAN TIMES > SECURITY BILLS WILL MAKE OKINAWA A "SACRIFICE" AGAIN; NAGO MAYOR, i.e. a viable target for external or foreign attack.
True enuff, but the good Mayor of Nago should keep in mind that CHINA DESIRES OKINAWA = RYUKYUS, ETAL. TO PROTECT ITS FUTURE PLA CENTCOM ON TAIWAN.
NO US MILBASES PER SE ON OKINAWA LIKELY WON'T BE ENUFF TO SAVE OKINAWA FROM CHINESE ATTACK = ATTEMPT(S0 TO DOMINATE-OR-SUBJUGATE, Ditto as per any other Japanese andor Non-Nippon controlled island widin the TAIWAN-OKINAWA-NORTH LUZON TRIANGLE ["Dragon Triangle"].
* WORLD MILITARY FORUM > TO PROTECT ITS TERRITORIES IN THE EAST-SOUTH CHINA SEAS + STRATEGIC INTERESTS, CHINA NEEDS A LONG-RANGE STRATEGIC BOMBER FORCE CAPABLE OF STRIKING ANY TIME AT GUAM, HAWAII, DIEGO GARCIA, + US WEST COAST.
IOW, China needs a PLAAF LR Bomber Force capable of defending its desired 1/2 of the Pacific = OWG Co-Superpower "Sphere of Influence" in WESTPAC [US isolated or contained to Hawaii-EASTPAC + West Coast].
Iff the US elects another [post-Obama] Anti-US US = Anti-American Amerikan OWG Globalist come Jan 2017, ALL THE BETTER FOR CHINA [+ Putinist Russia, Iran, Other OWG Co-Superpowers "to be"?].
#8
FYI GROONG > [Sputnik News] ITALY EX-PM BERLUSCONI: GERMANY CONTROLS EU, WHILE STILL UNDER US RULE, [contemporary = post-Cold War/9-11]ITALY HAS NO INFLUENCE ON WORLD STAGE.
> GERMANY = UK, IRELAND = CONSIDERS THE US TO BE GERMANY-ACROSS-THE ATLANTIC = COUSINS TO THE SAXONS.
> WHAT IS ITALIA GOING TO DO TO IMPROVE OR ATTAIN WORLD INFLUENCE???
[TheNewAmerican] The State of Texas is setting up a gold-backed bank that will allow depositors to bypass the controversial Federal Reserve System and its fiat currency in banking and commerce, according to the state representative who authored the recently enacted law. Under the measure, passed overwhelmingly by lawmakers and signed in mid-June by Republican Governor Greg Abbott, Lone Star State officials will establish and operate the Texas Bullion Depository for anyone who would like to deposit and trade in precious metals. The implications are as big as Texas.
While some analysts have said the move may be another sign heralding Texas' eventual secession from the union, or preparation for financial Armageddon, its advocates say the depository simply makes financial sense. Among other benefits, the institution will provide more options to consumers weary of the increasingly troubled traditional banking and monetary system, which is viewed by the public with growing suspicion. And experts say the effect of making it easier to use sound money in commerce could be far-reaching.
Among other immediate effects, the law creating the first state-level gold-backed bank in the nation, House Bill 483, will involve repatriating about $1 billion of Texas gold from New York. Conflicting news reports and official statements say the state's precious metals stockpile is being held either by HSBC in New York, or by the powerful New York Federal Reserve Bank, a privately owned outfit cloaked in secrecy with immense power over the U.S. economy. First, though, officials will need to select a home for the Texas depository. With both parties in DC running up the debt and the reserve printing tons of fiat paper money, Texans decides they will not be part of another Greece.
#3
Private ownership of gold was prohibited under another political tyrant. Same could happen again. Off-shore might be the key. I wish them the best however.
#4
Texas raises most revenue from a land tax.
It's quite simple to turn this into a currency by merely saying the scrip is good for paying the land tax.
#5
While some analysts have said the move may be another sign heralding Texas' eventual secession from the union
San Francisco, Spokane and other cities that have adopted "sanctuary city" policies are basically moves towards secession--and yet Washington seems to embrace such policies whereas not secession.
#6
First, though, officials will need to select a home for the Texas depository.
I seem to remember a now abandoned supercollider ring that might be appropriately secured.
#7
No, Skid, they grow mushrooms in the supercollider facility. I am totally serious.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
07/17/2015 13:44 Comments ||
Top||
#8
I have a stash of 60 and 100 watt incandescent light bulbs for when the Federal Reserve currency becomes worthless. I'm also sitting on a small field of natural gas. A stash of canned tuna, some vienna sausages, and a couple of gallons of moonshine should see me through quite a while.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
07/17/2015 20:09 Comments ||
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It's a fixer upper, but the old U.S. Navy base at Subic bay in the Philippines used to be one of the largest U.S. naval bases in the world. Now, Manila is refurbishing and reopening it as part of a $20 billion military modernization project aimed at standing up to China. Because of its location and its deep water port, Subic Bay is a major strategic asset, one that will house, according to the plan, both high speed jets and littoral combat ships. The Guardian reports:
Defence undersecretary Pio Lorenzo Batino told Reuters the Philippine military signed an agreement in May with the zone's operator, the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, to use parts of the installation under a renewable 15-year lease. It marks the first time the massive installation has functioned as a military base in 23 years.
Using Subic Bay would allow the Philippine air force and navy to respond more effectively to Chinese moves in the disputed South China Sea, security experts said. Subic Bay's deep-water harbour lies on the western side of the main Philippine island of Luzon, opposite the South China Sea.
"The value of Subic as a military base was proven by the Americans. Chinese defence planners know that," said Rommel Banlaoi, a Philippine security expert.
The Philippines is pressing its case against China in court, but that's unlikely to constrain the country even if the court sides against Beijing. Manila knows that ultimately it's a weak power in its region and is therefore working outside the courtroom to change the calculus. Before this news, the most it had done recently was reinforce the rusted out shell of a beached ship that's served as a remote outpost in the Spratlys. The Subic base project is in a league of its own.
The big question that might be on the minds of Beijing's strategists is whether the U.S. will be able to use the base as well. Washington and Manila signed a defense deal in 2014 that would allow U.S. forces to use Philippine bases on a rotating basis. However, the deal's constitutionality was challenged, and the issue hangs in the balance as a Philippine court adjudicates. If the agreement makes it through the legal gauntlet, the American and Philippine militaries both get access to a key base across from the South China Sea. From Beijing's perspective, that's just the kind of thing that might change a strategic calculus about one's military advantage.
#1
OK, so after we left the mayor hired a private army to keep the looters out of subic. he turned it into an industrial port. The base housing was sold as vacation homes and the place was kept up to almost US standards. Subic city, sorry navy guys, was burned out. when you cross S&*t creek the place looks like a war zone, except for the VFW. A far different outcome to Clark.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
07/17/2015 0:29 Comments ||
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#2
Sounds like they did better with Subic than the Panamanians did with Balboa, Fort Clayton, and other U.S. facilities in Panama.
#3
...For some years after we left, local politicos were telling the residents that it was all a bluff and that we were coming right back.
Gotta believe at least one is yelling, "I TOLD you so!!"
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
07/17/2015 5:47 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Prolly safe to say that both the Philippines + Vietnam [Cam Ranh Bay] are still not interested in offering China + PLA "sole" or joint/base-sharing rights on their soil.
* See TOPIX > [Xinhua] COMMENTARY: ITS TIME FOR MANILA [Philippine Govt] TO GIVE UP ITS FARCE OF ARBITRATION OVER SOUTH CHINA SEA.
* SAME > US PACIFIC FLEET ADMIRAL ASSURES ASIAN ALLIES, INCLUDING VIETNAM, THAT US FORCES ARE READY FOR CONTINGENCY.
* BHARAT RAKSHAK > WILL NOT RECOGNIZE INTERNATIONAL PANEL RULING ON DISPUTED SOUTH CHINA SEA: CHINA - PTI.
* WORLD MILITARY FORUM > US THINK-TANK EXPERT LOHMAN: US-PHILIPPINE SECURITY TREATY ALLOWS US TO INITIATE MORE FORCEFUL, SHORT-OF-WAR/CONFRONTATION DIRECT ACTIONS IN SUPPORT OF ITS PHILIPINE ALLY AGZ CHINA IN DISPUTED SOUTH CHINA SEA.
Nice, Gentlemen, but unfortunately its Anti-US US OWG Globalist, US-N-Only-The-US "Retreat/Fallback is OWG + World Peace" POTUS Obama that gives the USDOD its Marching = War orders.
* CHINA MILITARY FORUM > [National Interest] JAPAN'S FOLLY [WW2 = Year 1942] COULD BE CHINA'S GAIN IN WAR AGZ AMERICA.
Nippon + tech-superior IJN still could've defeated the post-Pearl Harbor US in 1942 iff it had employed a better submarine strategy agz the still-weak US + USN.
* WORLD NEWS, BIGNEWSNETWORK > CHINA BUILDING NEW [military-capable]OFFSHORE PLATFORM, + JAPAN IS WORRIED IT COULD BE USED AS A BASE FOR DRONES [+ Radars, Armed Helos, Other PLA assets] | JAPAN WARNS CHINA BUILDING NEW MILITARY-USABLE PLATFORM IN EAST CHINA SEA.
"Sea Forts" - IMO all the PLA needs to do now is based LR MISSLE-ARMED ARSENAL/FIRE SHIPS around these forts to assert sea control???
Lest we fergit, KUWAITI TANKER REFLAGGING = the 1980's Reagan-Bush 41 Admin ordered the USDOD to attack unused andor converted oil rigs deemed held, armed by the Iran IRGC out of fear these could be used to attack international oil, commodity transhipments flowing in-or-out of the Persian Gulf.
[Wash Times] The Center for Medical Progress called on Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards to release all contracts with companies that provide fetal tissue to laboratories after she apologized Thursday for a top doctor's "tone and statements."
"Without concrete action, Planned Parenthood's 'apology' is just a cynical and empty excuse--and an excuse that's three days late," said the center in a Thursday statement.
"If they are truly sorry, they should immediately hand over all contracts with StemExpress and other fetal harvesting companies to law enforcement and congressional committees," the center said. "A belated 'sorry' is not enough for these deeds of baby parts trafficking and partial-birth abortion, these atrocities against humanity."
Ms. Richards' apology came after the center released Tuesday an undercover video conversation with Dr. Deborah Nucatola, Planned Parenthood's senior director of medical services, who described over lunch and wine how she conducts abortions in order to preserve valuable fetal organs, such as the heart, liver and lungs.
"Our top priority is the compassionate care that we provide. In the video, one of our staff members speaks in a way that does not reflect that compassion," Ms. Richards said. "This is unacceptable and I personally apologize for the staff member's tone and statements."
At the same time, Ms. Richards defended the practice of fetal-tissue donation while insisting that the organization receives no profit from donating the tissue and organs of aborted fetuses. I'll give this a resounding, not a snowballs chance in hell.
[Daily Caller] Disgraced Planned Parenthood official Deborah Nucatola's shocking personal work history is coming to light.
Records reveal that Nucatola was employed by a former White House staffer at the time that she was selling aborted baby fetus parts.
A staunch political advocate, Nucatola railed against the "right-wing" Bush administration. What's more, she so enjoyed her work in the abortion industry that she touted a T-shirt celebrating a drug used in the practice.
Nucatola is currently employed at Sexual Health Innovations, founded by former Obama White House staffer Jessica Ladd. Senior Obama administration officials sit on the board of the abortion activist group, including Praveen Basaviah of the President's Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS and Kyle Bernstein of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The IRS-approved 501(c)3 tech nonprofit is a major Obama administration contractor. The Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) was a commission formed by President Bill Clinton in 1995 to provide recommendations on the US government's response to the AIDS epidemic.
The group works on issues including "abortion access," according to its website. But the group's biggest project right now is Callisto, an online business development "third-party sexual assault reporting system" for girls on college campuses. The property in development counts Google as its investor. Don't call the police, simply call Callisto. We'll take care of the rest.
Sexual Health Innovations provides "original websites, apps, and software systems that will advance sexual health and wellbeing." The group did the design work on The Sex Pact, described in literature as "a CDC-funded initiative to increase condom usage among 14-18 year-old African American males in Washington, DC." Don't miss the black Hydrocodone-acetaminophen pain killer T-shirt, or the 'M·A·C Cosmetics' connection to the PACHA Chairperson. By the way, have you tried our new line of aging creams ?
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.
[TheNewAmerican] The State of Texas is setting up a gold-backed bank that will allow depositors to bypass the controversial Federal Reserve System and its fiat currency in banking and commerce, according to the state representative who authored the recently enacted law. Under the measure, passed overwhelmingly by lawmakers and signed in mid-June by Republican Governor Greg Abbott, Lone Star State officials will establish and operate the Texas Bullion Depository for anyone who would like to deposit and trade in precious metals. The implications are as big as Texas.
[Daily Caller] Disgraced Planned Parenthood official Deborah Nucatola's shocking personal work history is coming to light.
