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Turkey shoots down two Syrian fighter jets over Idlib
Today's Headlines
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4 15:27 SteveS [5] 
7 22:56 jpal [9] 
4 15:20 SteveS [7] 
2 14:39 Airandee [4] 
3 22:44 Cholush Throck7862 [6] 
14 15:39 Lowspark [10] 
14 20:33 Glumble Shavish8733 [8] 
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6 20:45 Frank G [16] 
4 15:25 SteveS [12] 
9 14:57 Skidmark [7] 
6 09:31 Mullah Richard [4] 
3 16:21 The peanut gallery [6] 
Page 1: WoT Operations
4 17:23 Dron66046 [8]
5 19:57 Frank G [14]
11 21:27 Barbara [17]
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3 09:18 M. Murcek [18]
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3 11:11 mossomo [16]
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3 17:42 swksvolFF [2]
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5 18:47 lord garth [10]
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Page 2: WoT Background
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5 22:03 DooDahMan [14]
2 16:32 Alaska Paul [1]
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Page 4: Opinion
4 16:42 Alaska Paul [7]
2 14:21 JohnQC [3]
4 16:30 Bobby [3]
11 19:17 Woodrow [12]
7 19:11 Procopius2k [11]
1 08:42 Skidmark [7]
2 08:15 Besoeker [6]
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6 16:49 Alaska Paul [3]
2 17:17 Deacon Blues [16]
13 21:33 Barbara [4]
Page 6: Politix
5 20:35 Goober Tingle7365 [9]
5 16:05 Besoeker [10]
12 22:15 SteveS [15]
3 19:23 Woodrow [14]
6 22:01 DooDahMan [15]
5 21:59 DooDahMan [5]
2 12:22 Bobby [3]
5 21:58 DooDahMan [10]
19 20:59 Procopius2k [19]
-Lurid Crime Tales-
Baltimore tops 50 homicides in first three months of 2020, activists say city 'was never like this'
Yet Mini-Mike just pandered appointed failed former Mayor Rawlings-Blake as a top advisor
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/02/2020 08:51 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This is obviously Trump's fault.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 03/02/2020 10:20 Comments || Top||

#2  You won't hear anyone in Baltimore say it is time for 'stop and search' but

it is.
Posted by: lord garth || 03/02/2020 10:21 Comments || Top||

#3  Considering we are only two Months into the year, isn't that headline a little misleading?
Posted by: Cholush Throck7862 || 03/02/2020 22:44 Comments || Top||


Entitlement couple find racist pro-Trump graffiti spray-painted on their car… police arrest the man for race hoax
[Right Scoop] Jussie Smollet is at it again! Or rather, an African-American couple pulled their best Jussie Smollet impression by attacking their own car and blaming it on the Trumpers!

Here’s how the original story came out:

An African-American Southaven couple said they woke up Tuesday morning to find racist graffiti had been spray-painted on two of their vehicles.

Southaven Police confirmed they are investigating the reported vandalism on Marcia Louise Drive, and the FBI is also looking into the matter.

The couple’s pickup truck has two N****** spray-painted on it. A car was painted with the phrase ’Leave N******’ and ’Trump.’

"This had to be unnerving for a quiet family to come out to their cars and see what they saw there," neighbor Pastor Vincent McCaskil said.

The couple didn’t want to speak with WREG about what happened and neither did most of their neighbors, but McCaskill said he couldn’t stay silent.

"It’s time for us as believers to truly speak up and speak out against it," he said. "We cannot remain silent against this."

Oh no, that is awful, they’re believers, they had to speak out! Oh wait wait wait... the only thing they believe is that it’s worth going to jail in order to smear Trump supporters:
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/02/2020 06:11 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hey Roberts, come take a look at CAM #4.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/02/2020 6:24 Comments || Top||

#2  Technically every white person is an aggrieved party in any race hoax. Where are the class action lawyers?
Posted by: M. Murcek || 03/02/2020 8:04 Comments || Top||

#3  /\ Not set up to work that way. And yes, it is a set up.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/02/2020 8:07 Comments || Top||

#4  Maybe they just wanted a new vehicle or something.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 03/02/2020 9:33 Comments || Top||

#5  Are we going to see hoax protest parades?
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/02/2020 10:11 Comments || Top||

#6  I think this is near Memphis, TN
Posted by: lord garth || 03/02/2020 10:24 Comments || Top||

#7  Just south of Memphis in Mississippi.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 03/02/2020 11:03 Comments || Top||

#8  If you can justify hate laws then you must support using the full power of the law against hoaxers as well as the hoax spreads fear throughout the targeted community the same way a real event would have.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 03/02/2020 11:14 Comments || Top||

#9 
Exhibition of ultra-low self esteem as only a wakandan can suffer from.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 03/02/2020 11:33 Comments || Top||

#10  The personal injury claims division of Morgan & Morgan will now be forced to downsize it's Christmas party.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/02/2020 11:44 Comments || Top||

#11  I remember seeing this on the news not too long ago. My first thought was hoax. I’m at the point that absolutely every one of these incidents is a hoax. Even the mythical kkk-nazi knows there is absolutely no benefit whatsoever to spray painting epithets. Can anyone show me one single time that any of these have been proven to be the works of the evil, white, maga hat, kkk, nazi redneck?
Posted by: Lowspark || 03/02/2020 15:11 Comments || Top||

#12  See McVeigh.
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/02/2020 15:19 Comments || Top||

#13  The exception that proves the rule, Skid. Any examples that aren’t 30+ years old?
Posted by: Lowspark || 03/02/2020 15:28 Comments || Top||

#14  I don’t recall Tim’s act being racially motivated. His enthusiasm for Trump remains unverified. Let’s limit our search to this century with the exception of the very limited backlash against immigrant grocers following 9/11
Posted by: Lowspark || 03/02/2020 15:39 Comments || Top||


6-Year-Old Dies After Father Rapes Him with Stick While Camping
[BREITBART] Maurice ’Isaiah’ Torres died of septic shock in an Arkansas hospital after his father violated him with a stick for eating a piece of cake.

Mauricio Alejandro Torres was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death in 2016, but it was overturned due to a technicality. State law dictates that capital murder offences that carry the death penalty
must be tried in the same state as where they are being prosecuted. And while Isaiah died in his home state of Arkansas, the assault that killed him happened in Missouri.

The disturbing details of his short life and protracted death were set before the court on Thursday. "This is a story of abuse, torture, and murder of six-year-old Isaiah," Benton County Prosecutor Nathan Smith told jurors. "He suffered chronic child abuse syndrome. The pictures you will see are ugly, grotesque."

Isaiah died of septic shock after his father raped him with a stick for eating a piece of cake without permission during a camping trip on March 28, 2015. The bleeding, badly injured little boy was then forced into strenuous exercise by his parents as further punishment. His mother, Cathy, then pushed him to the ground in the midst of his desperate fight for survival.

As he deteriorated, Isaiah’s parents finally alerted emergency medical services, who then transported him to the Bella Vista medical clinic near his home. Unfortunately, it was already too late. The next day, the bacterial infection Isaiah contracted from the torture finally took his life.

Isaiah did not have to die. A year before his death, the Arkansas Department of Human Services twice investigated his parents on allegations of child abuse. Unfortunately, no one ‐ not even the department that explicitly exists for that purpose ‐ took the action needed to save his life.

In the opening statements of the re-trial, two of Isaiah’s teachers testified that they recorded evidence of his abuse and reported it to authorities through the Arkansas Department of Health and Human Services Child Abuse Hotline. They received no response. Arkansas carries the fourth highest rate of rape in the United States, and is within the top 15 states for fatal child abuse.

Defense attorney Bill James told the jurors not to "use emotion as evidence," and urged them to "try your best to keep decision based on evidence/fact." Torres’s defense rests on putting the blame for Isaiah’s death on his wife. Cathy Torres has already received a life sentence on charges of capital murder for her part in the destruction of her child.

Mauricio Torres face charges of battery and capital murder. If re-convicted in Arkansas, he will face life imprisonment or execution. The trial will resume on Friday morning, and is expected to last roughly two weeks.
Posted by: Fred || 03/02/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  May I suggest a transfer to Corcoran? It may be that Jonathan Watson - surprisingly talented man of letters and honorary Rantburg folk hero - could provide Mr. Torres with some much needed counciling.
Posted by: Secret Master || 03/02/2020 0:35 Comments || Top||

#2  Put them in general population and let the inmates know what their crimes are. Good ole dad would wish he was only violated with a stuck.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 03/02/2020 1:19 Comments || Top||

#3  Maybe giving up public executions was a mistake.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/02/2020 4:27 Comments || Top||


#5  Eye for an Eye and a Asshole for an Asshole.
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/02/2020 9:12 Comments || Top||

#6  'Public Wood Chippers'
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 03/02/2020 9:31 Comments || Top||


-Obits-
Jack Welch, legendary former chairman and CEO of General Electric who was dubbed the 'manager of the century', dies at 84
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/02/2020 09:01 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  MAY he go to hell for all the family's he ruined by UNEMPLOYMENT
Posted by: ranture || 03/02/2020 12:22 Comments || Top||

#2  Hopefully his forced distribution / stacked ranking Performance Management model dies with him
Posted by: Airandee || 03/02/2020 14:39 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Millions of British chickens are bred to grow to full size in just 35 DAYS leading to shocking damage to legs, hearts and lungs, RSPCA warns
[Daily Mail]
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/02/2020 09:31 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Oh my deity! They could die from those problems!

My only question is - are they still edible after being slaughtered?
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 03/02/2020 10:19 Comments || Top||

#2  If they could only breed boneless chickens.
Posted by: Pliny Black9343 || 03/02/2020 11:14 Comments || Top||

#3  Larry always wanted a chick under each arm.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/02/2020 14:00 Comments || Top||

#4  are they still edible after being slaughtered?

I expect much more so than before.
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/02/2020 15:08 Comments || Top||


Welcome to the jungle: US Marines drink the blood of beheaded cobras and chomp on tarantulas and scorpions as they learn survival skills during wargame exercises in Thailand
[Daily Mail]
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/02/2020 09:24 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Could the coronavirus hit California's homeless population? Health officials are worried
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/02/2020 03:27 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  These conditions are probably better for the virus there than they are in China. Even though areas of rural China are rugged, there are not too many large urban populations of homeless/helpless/hapless people. I am not where they go, but they don't stay downtown here. Skid row, the Tenderloin, and other California cesspools could really get hit hard. They are kind of begging for it.
Posted by: Beau || 03/02/2020 3:55 Comments || Top||

#2  ..and we're blessed with activist lawyers and judges who believe plague has rights. They'll obstruct common sense public hygiene practices learned over hundreds of years of human experience. See - HIV
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/02/2020 6:49 Comments || Top||

#3  Well the one thing homeless have going for them is that meth has shown to give some protection to the flu. Maybe it works with COVID-19 as well.
Posted by: Penguin_of_the_Desert || 03/02/2020 7:33 Comments || Top||

#4  I am just wondering that it seems most if not all homeless have substance abuse problems.Drugs cost money, and if the homeless did not spend money on drugs, they might have enough money to afford housing.Would it not make sense to put people in substance abuse centers as opposed to handing out free needles?
Posted by: Bill Borgia6417 || 03/02/2020 8:04 Comments || Top||

#5  meth has shown to give some protection to the flu.

possibly due to the higher body temp?
Posted by: Frank G || 03/02/2020 8:07 Comments || Top||

#6  Skid rowing
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/02/2020 8:25 Comments || Top||

#7  possibly due to the higher body temp?

That's what some of the University Researchers are saying around here too, Frank. Apparently the virus in its current form doesn't like temps over 'normal'. That's why kids have been mostly unaffected as their body temperatures can be 'normal' at 99.2F and the elderly (with typical lower body temps than 98.6F) have been hit hardest.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 03/02/2020 9:28 Comments || Top||

#8  Meth has the added benefit of making addicts look sketchy so everyone keeps their distance. This ensures they are only at risk of catching the flu from objects and objects tend to have a low tranmission rate compared to people.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 03/02/2020 11:16 Comments || Top||

#9  Don't touch me, man!
Posted by: M. Murcek || 03/02/2020 11:57 Comments || Top||

#10  Apparently the virus in its current form doesn't like temps over 'normal' at inception.

Apparently it will morph itself to cope as the host temperature increases.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 03/02/2020 13:37 Comments || Top||

#11  Nice calves
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/02/2020 14:02 Comments || Top||

#12  You spent too much time in Afghanistan, Besoeker?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru PB || 03/02/2020 15:08 Comments || Top||

#13  As long as it hits before the census count.
Posted by: Bobby || 03/02/2020 16:27 Comments || Top||

#14  I am going to be a super star! Going on shark tank next week with a no fail start up! Rehab old smelters and coke ovens from steel plants and open up a giant morgue and crematorium and chase government no bid contracts! Going to have to pay off epa people though I imagine those 500,000 thousand resin coffins fema stored a couple of so years back will give off bad has and cause the greenies all sorts of hysteria! Watch for me!
Posted by: Glumble Shavish8733 || 03/02/2020 20:33 Comments || Top||


Coronavirus roundup





[NYPOST]



Coronavirus: Over 87,000 Infected Globally, Nearly 3,000 Dead
[BREITBART] A viral outbreak that began in China has infected more than 87,000 people globally and caused nearly 3,000 deaths. The World Health Organization has named the illness COVID-19, referring to its origin late last year and the coronavirus that causes it.


South Korea wages ‘all-out responses’ to virus with 586 new cases
[BREITBART] South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Sunday the government was waging "all-out responses" to contain the novel coronavirus as the country added 586 more cases, taking the total to 3,736. South Korea has the largest national total in the world outside China, after it saw a rapid surge in the number of coronavirus cases in recent days.

Scores of events have been cancelled or postponed over the contagion, while the country’s central bank has warned of a minus growth in the first quarter for the world’s 12th-largest economy, noting the epidemic will hit both consumption and exports.

"The government is now waging all-out responses after raising the crisis alert to the highest level," Moon said at an Independence Movement Day ceremony, scaled down due to the outbreak.

"We will be able to overcome the COVID-19 outbreak and revive our shrunken economy," he added.

Samsung Electronics suspended operations at its domestic smartphone plant in Gumi ‐ 200 kilometres (210 miles) southeast of Seoul ‐ on Saturday for the second time in a week, after a third employee tested positive for the virus.





First cases of coronavirus confirmed in Kurdistan Region
[RUDAW.NET] The Kurdistan Regional Government's Health Ministry has announced the first confirmed cases of coronavirus in the Region. "In the course of the past 24 hours, tests were conducted for 24 suspects. As a result, four people from Sulaimani tested positive for Covid-19 including a family of three and another woman who have all returnees from Iran," the KRG Health Ministry announced in a statement on Sunday.

Iran has quickly become a hub for the virus, with cases in Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Bahrain, Canada, Georgia, Iraq, Kuwait, Leb, Oman, Pakistain, and the United Arab Emirates tracing back to the country.


Eleven die from coronavirus in Iran in 24 hours
[RUDAW.NET] Eleven people have died from coronavirus in Iran in the last 24 hours, bringing the country’s death toll to 54, a health ministry official announced on Sunday, as the country struggles to contain the outbreak.

The total number of confirmed cases in Iran has risen to 978, Ministry of Health spokesperson Kianoush Jahanpour announced at a daily press conference providing updates on the outbreak, with 385 new cases of the virus confirmed since yesterday.





Virus cases in Italy soar by 40% in 24 hours; death toll rises to 34
[IsraelTimes] Number of people infected in country up to 1,576; authorities say increase expected as containment measures need time to take effect in a population with a large number of elderly people.

Three New Cases of Coronavirus Confirmed: Lebanon’s Health Ministry
[ENGLISH.ALMANAR.LB] Three new cases of coronavirus were confirmed by the Health Ministry Sunday, bringing the total number of infections in Leb to 10.

"Three new lab-verified cases of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 have been recorded," the Health Ministry said in a statement.

"They are individuals who had arrived aboard planes coming from Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan, the abbreviation IRGC is a cognate form of Stürmabteilung (or SA), the term Supreme Guide is a cognate form of either Shah or Führer or maybe both, and they hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
and had been in home quarantine. They were transferred to the quarantine ward at the Rafik Hariri hospital after showing symptoms of the disease," the Ministry added.

The health ministry said that after PCR tests confirmed their infections, they were moved to quarantined rooms in the hospital.
Posted by: Fred || 03/02/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:


#2  Trump, locust, plague, its' almost like someone is trying to send them a message.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/02/2020 7:14 Comments || Top||

#3  some countries have for now gotten this under control

e.g.,

India had several cases diagnosed in early Feb but hasn't had a new case in about 3 weeks

Singapore with over a hundred cases and still no deaths.

Many of the provinces in China (not Hubai obviously) have been having no more than a half a dozen new cases per day even though these provinces have 30 million to 100 million people.

even the Diamond Princess, with 700+ cases and 3000+ people on board has gone most of a week without new cases
Posted by: lord garth || 03/02/2020 8:04 Comments || Top||

#4  Good news, LG, but could simply be a result of limited test kits.

As I recall though, Singapore has excellent health care.
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/02/2020 8:33 Comments || Top||





#9  Washington state says coronavirus death toll rises to 6
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/02/2020 14:57 Comments || Top||


-War on Police-
Shocking moment Chicago cops shoot a man at a busy station after struggling to restrain him while arresting him for moving between train cars
More on this story from yesterday.
[Daily Mail]
  • Two Chicago officers were restraining Ariel Roman at Grand station on Friday

  • Roman was apprehended after appearing to move between train carriages

  • Footage shows officers deploying stun guns and pepper spray to subdue him

  • Roman makes a break for it and is shot twice, in the buttocks and the abdomen

  • He had surgery for the bullet wounds but is no longer in critical condition

  • The police officers have been assigned desk duties pending an investigation
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/02/2020 09:05 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
"Your honor, I shot him for his own good."
Posted by: Dron66046 || 03/02/2020 11:00 Comments || Top||

#2  "Back that Azz up!"
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/02/2020 15:11 Comments || Top||

#3  Roman makes a break for it and is shot twice, in the buttocks and the abdomen

Roman just hit the Illinois jackpot.
Posted by: Pliny Black9343 || 03/02/2020 15:16 Comments || Top||

#4  "Your honor, I shot him for his own good."

To be fair, there are a number of people who would be improved by a little shooting. We should make a list.
Posted by: SteveS || 03/02/2020 15:20 Comments || Top||


-Land of the Free
LA's adult performers strike back against state registry bill
[ARCAMAX] Adult film actress Riley Reyes was preparing for a "particularly physical" scene last week when she received word of a proposed state measure that would impose strict new rules on her industry."I was completely shocked," said Reyes, who is among "hundreds of thousands" of performers the bill initially sought to have fingerprinted, background-checked and mandated into education programs under a new licensing scheme. "It was weird to have to go to work and act sexy and normal after finding out."

Reyes shoots hardcore sex scenes on the storied sets of the San Fernando Valley, long dubbed the "porn capital of the world." She also heads the Adult Performer Advocacy Committee, one of a small number of organized labor and workers' rights groups that meet regularly with politicians on industry issues.

None of them knew about Assembly Bill 2389 until after it was introduced. The snub has renewed a bitter fight over who speaks for adult performers in a state where politicians have long sought to assert some control over the industry. After a decade of proposed porn czars and failed condom codes, strippers, adult film actors and webcam performers say Sacramento is looking for novel ways to police them.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 03/02/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [12 views] Top|| File under:

#1  You voted the commies in, live with it, or in your case, move to Las Vegas where the industry is already headed. Commies want to control every part of your life. It's about power. BTW, they have no problem calling those who don't agree with them as fascists. Return the favor and don't hold back calling them commies.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/02/2020 6:40 Comments || Top||

#2  This is my rifle, this is my gun. California wants to register both.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 03/02/2020 11:29 Comments || Top||

#3  Reyes, who is among "hundreds of thousands" of performers the bill initially sought to have fingerprinted, background-checked and mandated into education programs under a new licensing scheme

Wow, just like NURSES!
What's the problem?
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/02/2020 15:22 Comments || Top||

#4  This is my rifle, this is my gun.

The way Cali is going, you're gonna end up with a bar code sticker on both of them.
Posted by: SteveS || 03/02/2020 15:25 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Major power outage has knocked out internet connectivity in large parts of #Venezuela
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Posted by: Fred || 03/02/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  One percenters hit hardest
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/02/2020 6:42 Comments || Top||

#2  Duct tape mustn't have held.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 03/02/2020 8:20 Comments || Top||


Uruguay's new center-right president sworn in
[PULSE.NG] Center-right leader Luis Lacalle Pou was sworn in as president of Uruguay on Sunday, marking a new era for the South American country after 15 years of left-wing rule that brought in social reforms but left a stagnated economy.
Posted by: Fred || 03/02/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


China-Japan-Koreas
Uighur Muslims sent to work in Chinese factory that supplies Nike, report finds
[Independent] The workers in standard-issue blue jackets stitch and glue and press together about eight million pairs of Nikes each year at Qingdao Taekwang Shoes Co., a Nike supplier for more than 30 years and one of the US brand’s largest factories.

They churn out pair after pair of Shox, with their springy shock absorbers in the heels, and the signature Air Max, plus seven other lines of sports shoes.

However, hundreds of these workers did not choose to be here: they are ethnic Uighurs from China’s western Xinjiang region, sent here by local authorities in groups of 50 to toil far from home.

After intense international criticism of the Communist Party’s campaign to forcibly assimilate the mostly Muslim Uighur minority by detaining more than a million people in re-education camps, party officials said last year that most have "graduated" and been released.

But there is new evidence to show that the Chinese authorities are moving Uighurs into government-directed labour around the country as part of the central government’s Xinjiang Aid initiative.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/02/2020 02:43 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Colin is getting his cut from slave labor.
Posted by: Sonny Black || 03/02/2020 6:25 Comments || Top||

#2  I guess it's a step up from involuntary organ donor.
Posted by: Pliny Black9343 || 03/02/2020 6:45 Comments || Top||

#3  it's ok, the assembly line points towards Mecca
Posted by: Bob Grorong1136 || 03/02/2020 6:46 Comments || Top||


#5 
Q. What do you call an Uighur who slacks off at the factory ?

A. Uighur Mortis.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 03/02/2020 11:39 Comments || Top||


North Korea fires unidentified projectile - South Korea defense ministry
[Jpost] North Korea
...hereditary Communist monarchy distinguished by its truculence and periodic acts of violence. Distinguishing features include Songun (Army First) policy, which involves feeding the army before anyone but the Dear Leadership, and Juche, which is Kim Jong Il's personal interpretation of Marxism-Leninism, which he told everybody was brilliant. In 1950 the industrialized North invaded agrarian South Korea. Twenty-one countries of the United Nations eventually contributed to the UN force opposing the invasion, with the United States providing around 90% of the military personnel. Seventy years later the economic results are in and it doesn't look good for Juche...
fired two unidentified projectiles off the east coast into the sea on Monday, South Korea's defense ministry said.

The ministry said the projectiles were fired from the eastern coastal city of Wonsan, where North Korea has fired a series of short-range missiles.

The ministry did not provide details of the projectiles but said it is watching for any additional launches.North Korean leader Kim Pudge Jong-un
...the overweight, pouty-looking hereditary potentate of North Korea. Pudge appears to believe in his own divinity, but has yet to produce any loaves and fishes, so his subjects remain malnourished...
oversaw military drills on Friday, a rare public outing amid efforts to prevent an outbreak of the coronavirus in the isolated country.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/02/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Former health advisors or ministers?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/02/2020 6:45 Comments || Top||

#2  Beat me to it, P2k.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 03/02/2020 8:18 Comments || Top||


Murder probe for South Korea religious sect at center of virus outbreak
[Jpost] The government of Seoul asked for a murder investigation into leaders of a Christian sect at the center of the country's deadly coronavirus outbreak, saying the church was liable for its refusal to cooperate with efforts to stop the disease.

A large majority of the more than 4,000 confirmed cases of the South Korean outbreak, the largest outside China and still growing, have been linked to the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, a secretive movement that reveres founder Lee Man-hee.

Park Won-soon, mayor of the capital Seoul, said if Lee and other leaders of the church had cooperated, effective preventive measures could have saved those who later died of the virus.

"The situation is this serious and urgent, but where are the leaders of the Shincheonji, including Lee Man-hee, the chief director of this crisis?" Park said in a post on his Facebook page late on Sunday.

Seoul's city government said in a separate statement that it had filed a criminal complaint with the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, asking for an investigation of Lee and 12 others on charges of murder and disease control act violations.

The prosecutors' office said it had received the complaint and was reviewing it.

Health authorities said the vast majority of the 3,000 cases confirmed in Daegu, another Korean city, were linked to a branch of the church there, where a person who had tested positive in February attended services twice.

Many have blamed the church's secretive nature and tightly packed conditions at services for the large number of cases linked to it.

An additional 600 cases were detected in the province surrounding Daegu.

South Korea's Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reported 476 new cases of the coronavirus on Monday, raising the total to 4,212 with 22 deaths.

The church issued a statement Sunday reiterating calls for an end to "stigmatization, hatred and slander" against its followers, saying it was cooperating with the government.

Health authorities said they have obtained a list of 317,320 Shincheonji members and "trainees," but have been told by some local governments that it was not exhaustive.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/02/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Truth or Scapegoating?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/02/2020 3:08 Comments || Top||

#2  ..well, the Jewish community was a little more than scarce in Daegu.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/02/2020 6:44 Comments || Top||



Economy
Gulf shares make a comeback after massive losses
Dubai (AFP) Stock markets in the energy-rich Gulf states rebounded Monday, after huge losses in the previous session driven by fears over the impact of the coronavirus which has sent oil prices below $50 a barrel.

Kuwait Boursa, which suspended trading Sunday after shedding over 10 percent, led the rally with its premier shares index soaring some 7.0 percent and the All-Shares index surging around 5.0 percent.

Saudi Arabia's Tadawul market gained 2.3 percent at the start of trading with energy giant Saudi Aramco rising 1.0 percent from historic lows on Sunday.

Dubai Financial Market Index climbed 2.2 percent and its sister UAE market in Abu Dhabi rose 1.4 percent. The tiny Muscat Securities Market in Oman inched up 0.2 percent while Bahrain bourse rose 2.2 percent.

The recovery came as oil prices gained more than 3.0 percent to above $51 a barrel.

Qatar Stock Exchange, which was closed on Sunday for a holiday, bucked the trend to slide 3.1 percent at the start of trading.

On Sunday, the first trading day of the week in the region, all the Gulf bourses except Qatar posted heavy losses.

The Saudi market, the region's largest, had dropped 3.7 percent to an 18-month low with Saudi Aramco diving to its lowest price since listing about three months ago.

The United Arab Emirates bourses of Dubai and Abu Dhabi fell 4.5 percent and 3.6 percent respectively. Bahrain shares shed 3.4 percent and the Muscat bourse dropped 1.2 percent.

Asian stock markets also made a partial recovery on Monday as the Bank of Japan pledged support following heavy losses last week on concerns over the mounting economic impact of coronavirus.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/02/2020 03:08 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under:


Asia shares bounce back as BOJ promises support for economy
BANGKOK (AP) ‐ Share prices in Asia bounced back Monday from last week’s retreat, with mainland Chinese indexes gaining more than 3% as data showed progress in restoring factory output after weeks of disruptions from the viral outbreak.

Stocks have been swooning as investors fret the coronavirus outbreak will derail the global economy. But in those declines, some see opportunities to buy.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index recovered from early losses, gaining 1% to 21,345.54 after the Bank of Japan promised to step in to support the economy. The Shanghai Composite index rose 3.1% to 2,969.57. The benchmark for the smaller exchange, in Shenzhen, jumped 3.4%, while South Korea’s Kospi climbed 1% to 2,006.63. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong jumped 0.8% to 26,345.77 and India’s Sensex advanced 1.6% to 38,909.43.

Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda issued a statement Monday, after an early plunge in share prices, saying the central bank "will closely monitor future developments, and will strive to provide ample liquidity and ensure stability in financial markets through appropriate market operations and asset purchases."

On Friday the BOJ issued plans for purchases of assets for the coming weeks: the central bank already buys tens of billions of dollars’ worth of government bonds and other assets each year as part of its aggressive efforts to maintain cheap credit to help prevent deflation.

Shares fell in Australia, where the S&P ASX/200 lost 0.8% to 6,391.50 and in Taiwan, which fell 1.1%. Stocks were mostly higher in Southeast Asia, and Bangkok’s benchmark surged 0.9%.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/02/2020 03:03 || Comments || Link || [11 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Government decides to move UK to deport Nawaz
[The News (Pak)] The federal government has decided to move the UK authorities to deport former prime minister Nawaz Sharif
...served two three non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf, then by the courts...
, a couple of days after the Punjab
1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots....

government decided it will not extend the PML-N chief's bail.

Speaking to media during a news conference, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said that it was now time for Nawaz to be brought back to the country.

"Nawaz Sharif did not provide his medical reports to the Punjab government," she said, describing the PML-N chief's decease as a 'fixed match'.

"The government will write to British authorities for Sharif brothers' deportation," said Awan. In the next week, concerned authorities will take steps in this regard, she added.

She said a section of media created an environment that if Nawaz was not allowed to leave for treatment abroad his life might be in danger.

Posted by: Fred || 03/02/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [11 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Olde Tyme Religion
Coughing pope cancels participating in Lenten retreat
[APNEWS] A coughing Pope Francis
...Argentine liberation theologist, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio. He was elected pope in 2013. Rather than setting up shop in Avignon, where he belongs, the first Jesuit Pope chose to reside in the Domus Sanctae Marthae guesthouse instead of the papal apartments. He is big on climate change, against consumerism, and in favor of throwing a blanket over homosexual activity within the clergy. He's not real sure about the Resurrection, about Christ's divinity, and a few other things that would have gotten him burned at the stake a few hundred years ago, but he's hot for a certain South American Earth Mother Goddess...
told pilgrims gathered for the traditional Sunday blessing that he is canceling his participation at a week-long spiritual retreat in the Roman countryside because of a cold.

It is the first time in his seven-year papacy that he has missed the spiritual exercises that he initiated early in his pontificate to mark the start of each Lenten season. Such retreats are typical Jesuits, an order to which he belongs.
"This year, for Lent, I'm giving up good health"
The 83-year-old pontiff, who lost part of a lung to a respiratory illness as a young man, has canceled several official engagements this week as he battled an apparent cold.

His weekly appearance Sunday to pilgrims from a window high above St. Peter’s Square was the first time he has been seen publicly since Ash Wednesday, when he was seen coughing and blowing his nose during Mass.

Francis paused twice to cough Sunday while addressing the faithful. At the end, he asked for prayers for the spiritual retreat, adding "unfortunately a cold prevents me from participating this year. I will be following the meditation from here."
Posted by: Fred || 03/02/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [16 views] Top|| File under:

#1  That's how it starts. We'll soon see.
Posted by: Dale || 03/02/2020 4:36 Comments || Top||

#2  Swing low sweet chariot coming on to carry me home...
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/02/2020 6:41 Comments || Top||

#3  The Coughing Popes would be a good band name.
Papal Snark O'The Day
Posted by: SteveS || 03/02/2020 11:24 Comments || Top||

#4  Iran’s ambassador to the Vatican has corona virus.
Posted by: Grunter || 03/02/2020 17:30 Comments || Top||

#5  The next Pope should be an AI avatar. It would save everyone a lot of time, money and... carbon, all this traveling and shaking of hands. The avatar could remain in a meditative posture all the time, and be called up remotely on smart devices... offering unsolicited, inane profundities to users. The Pope could be downloaded from Google Play™.


I'm serious. It doesn't really have to be an intelligent human being, just a facsimile of one. This one proved it.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 03/02/2020 17:42 Comments || Top||

#6  #3 - Late Snark O' The Day Entry
Posted by: Frank G || 03/02/2020 20:45 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
First extraterrestrial PROTEIN discovered inside a meteorite found 30 years ago in Algeria suggests the building blocks of life could already exist elsewhere in space
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/02/2020 09:17 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So maybe Mohammedans came from that big meteorite rock in Mecca?
Posted by: Glenmore || 03/02/2020 15:00 Comments || Top||

#2  Far removed from the Cradle of Humanity
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/02/2020 15:10 Comments || Top||

#3  And we are not supposed to think that the sample was contaminated in 30 years?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/02/2020 15:24 Comments || Top||

#4  And we are not supposed to think that the sample was contaminated in 30 years?

Well, it's not like Muslim dude is gonna lick it. Oh, wait. Never mind!
Posted by: SteveS || 03/02/2020 15:27 Comments || Top||


Man experienced 12-hour erections after smoking MARIJUANA, new medical study finds in the first case of its kind
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/02/2020 09:13 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  But the drug ads warn that one lasting longer than four hours could lead to serious medical complications and one should see a doctor immediately.
Posted by: Glenmore || 03/02/2020 15:01 Comments || Top||

#2  I hadn't heard that, G.
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/02/2020 15:11 Comments || Top||

#3  I suspect some other factor is in play here. People have been using marijuana since forever. If this was a problem, it would have popped up by now.
Posted by: SteveS || 03/02/2020 15:18 Comments || Top||

#4  I'd be seeking medical attention at anything beyond 12 minutes.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/02/2020 16:13 Comments || Top||

#5  Bill Clinton.
Posted by: Woodrow || 03/02/2020 19:13 Comments || Top||

#6  I had a nice female doctor. Showed her my my P3nis.
She said: "what's the issue?"
I said: "Nothing, I thought somebody should look at it annually"

Ba-Da-Bump!
Posted by: Frank G || 03/02/2020 20:59 Comments || Top||

#7  My personal best was 7 minutes and that's really 6 minutes longer than I needed.
Posted by: jpal || 03/02/2020 22:56 Comments || Top||


SpaceX Starship rocket EXPLODES again
  • [Daily Mail, Where America Gets Its News] Footage shows the spaceship explode and as it flies off its stand and crashes

  • The prototype failed to contain its liquid nitrogen in a setback to Elon Musk

  • The test at 10pm on Friday was part of his push to put people on Mars
Welds failed in the bottom tank header not handling the cold of liquid nitrogen. There are statements that TIG welding may be inappropriate for extreme cold conditions. If one even looks a storage tanks for any super cold fluid they are usually narrow and long. These tanks are 10 meters wide. SpaceX is investigating a new arena here for metal expansion and contraction. One wonders if there are stamping presses that could do a 10 meter stainless end cap.
Video courtesy of M. Murcek:
Posted by: Fred || 03/02/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The last time this happened I said I thought they were attempting manufacture without proper environmental control. They're right in the middle of a salt water marsh on the Gulf with a lot of humidity.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 03/02/2020 9:41 Comments || Top||

#2  Footage shows the spaceship explode

What is the difference between math and engineering?
Engineering is louder.
Posted by: SteveS || 03/02/2020 15:24 Comments || Top||

#3  A stainless steel tank ruptured. There were no engines, guidance or control surfaces involved. SN2 is already partially built using improved welds.

SpaceX has previously said they will build-learn-redesign at least until SN20.
Posted by: The peanut gallery || 03/02/2020 16:21 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Muhyiddin Yassin sworn in as Malaysia's new prime minister
[XINHUANET] Muhyiddin Yassin, a former deputy prime minister, took the oath of office on Sunday to become Malaysia's new prime minister.

Muhyiddin was appointed following the abrupt resignation of 94-year-old Mahathir Mohamad, who had been in office since the general elections in 2018.

TV live-broadcast showed that Muhyiddin, wearing traditional Malay clothes, pledged to serve the country and the people well before Malaysia's King Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah at the national palace.

The ceremony was attended by Muhyiddin's political allies.

Muhyiddin, 72, had served as deputy prime minister under former Prime Minister Najib Razak from 2009 to 2015. He later co-founded Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) with Mahathir and served as its president, joining the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition to win the general election in 2018.

He served as home minister in Mahathir's cabinet.

On the same day of Mahathir's abrupt resignation on Feb. 24, Muhyiddin announced as party president that PPBM is pulling out of the PH coalition, costing its majority in the lower house of parliament.

Muhyiddin later won support from major opposition including the Barisan Nasional led by the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) and became a leading candidate as prime minister.
Posted by: Fred || 03/02/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:



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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.
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In no particular order...
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Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2020-03-02
  Turkey shoots down two Syrian fighter jets over Idlib
Sun 2020-03-01
  Iraq's PM-designate Allawi withdraws, prolonging deadlock
Sat 2020-02-29
  U.S. and Taliban sign troop withdrawal deal
Fri 2020-02-28
  Rouhani and his VP both reported to have coronavirus
Thu 2020-02-27
  Hezbollah operative killed in drone strike in southern Syria
Wed 2020-02-26
  Gulf Cartel Border City Turf War Kills at Least 20 Gunmen, Innocents in Week
Tue 2020-02-25
  Hosni Mubarak sleeps with the pharaohs
Mon 2020-02-24
  Car drives into German carnival parade, around 30 injured
Sun 2020-02-23
  Last year Hezbollah received ~$700 million in funding
Sat 2020-02-22
   Erdogan confirms the presence of pro-Turkish Syrian fighters in Libya
Fri 2020-02-21
  Missile intercept by #Saudi forces in #Yanbu
Thu 2020-02-20
  Turkey asks NATO to provide air support for the operation in Idlib
Wed 2020-02-19
  Ashraf Ghani declared winner of Afghan presidential poll, Abdullah rejects results
Tue 2020-02-18
  LNA claims to destroy Turkish arms ship in Tripoli harbor.
Mon 2020-02-17
  24 Killed In Brutal Terror Attack On Burkina Faso Church; Local Pastor Targeted


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