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Live updates: Thailand cave rescue: navy Seals confirm four boys have been rescued – live
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
11:47 7 15:44 Besoeker [22]
09:45 3 17:24 SteveS [14]
09:45 4 23:04 Jack Chaiter7913 [28]
08:08 17 21:03 ruprecht [17]
07:23 5 12:15 ranture [11]
04:59 3 08:23 Bright Pebbles [11]
04:19 5 14:36 DooDahMan [10]
03:12 6 23:12 Jack Chaiter7913 [23] 
01:00 0 [17]
01:00 2 11:11 Skidmark [14]
00:50 6 15:20 ed in texas [15]
00:39 1 06:33 Frank G [16] 
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00:04 7 23:05 james [25]
00:00 1 01:48 Skidmark [18]
00:00 2 04:28 Besoeker [8]
00:00 10 21:05 ruprecht [19]
00:00 2 09:45 Ho Chi Sproing6139 [12]
00:00 1 01:17 Skidmark [8]
00:00 7 21:35 Elmerert Hupens2660 [18]
00:00 7 10:18 Zenobia Floger6220 [8]
00:00 1 13:07 Skidmark [10]
00:00 1 08:26 Bright Pebbles [6]
00:00 2 07:55 M. Murcek [10]
00:00 5 13:47 49 Pan [10]
00:00 8 19:08 Procopius2k [16]
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-Lurid Crime Tales-
Dallas mom shoots alleged carjacker with her 2 children in the backseat
[CNN] A mother in Dallas shot a man who attempted to steal her car while her two children were in the back seat, police said.

Officials said the incident took place in the parking lot of a Shell gas station in south Dallas on Wednesday night. The mother was identified by CNN affiliate KTVT as Michelle Booker.

Booker stopped at the gas station's convenience store on her way to a Fourth of July family gathering, KTVT reported. When she came out, she saw a man driving away in her SUV. Booker's two small children were inside the car.

According to police, Booker jumped in the car and told the suspected carjacker to pull over and get out. When he didn't stop the vehicle, Booker pulled a gun from her glove compartment and shot him once in the head. Booker told KTVT she wanted to give the suspect a "warning shot."

"I'm not a killer or anything like that but I do believe in, you know, defending what's mine," Booker said.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/08/2018 11:47 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [22 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Damn. Don't mess with her!
Posted by: gorb || 07/08/2018 13:14 Comments || Top||

#2  When will this madness of work place firearms violence end? (sarc)
Posted by: Thrise Shomble3667 || 07/08/2018 13:37 Comments || Top||

#3  I heard the first report on KTVK and didn't hear nuttin' about no 'warning shot'. It was first reported she shot him in the face. While he was driving.
Posted by: Bobby || 07/08/2018 14:08 Comments || Top||

#4  that was his warning
Posted by: Frank G || 07/08/2018 14:17 Comments || Top||

#5  Booker pulled a gun from her glove compartment and shot him once in the head. Booker told KTVT she wanted to give the suspect a "warning shot."

Now thats that I call a warning shot!
Posted by: CrazyFool || 07/08/2018 14:48 Comments || Top||

#6  The DA there is probably trying to see what charges he can file on her. They're like that in Dallas. (I've been told if you have to shoot someone in Dallas, drag the body to Ft Worth and call the law.)
Posted by: ed in texas || 07/08/2018 15:26 Comments || Top||

#7  Head shots can be very dangerous due to misses and ricochets. Small caliber bullets traveling at high speed can be deflected by the skull, or enter the cranium, racetrack, and exit again. Two or three shots to the upper torso is the safest way to go. Then grab the kids, exit the car, shelter in a safe place and dial 911. Don't forget to remain cognizant of the possibility of a second attacker or back-up man.

All of that being said, I'll still giver her very high marks for bravery, seizing the initiative and a successful resolution. Bravo!
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/08/2018 15:44 Comments || Top||


The Grand Turk
Turkey Dismisses Over 18,000 Civil Servants for Alleged Terror Links
[WSJ] Ottoman Turkish authorities dismissed more than 18,000 state employees for alleged ties to terror groups on Sunday, a dramatic extension of mass purges launched after the 2016 failed military coup as President Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First
... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey...
is about begin a new term with vastly expanded executive powers.

An emergency decree published in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the decaying remnant of the Ottoman Empire....
’s Official Gazette listed the names, saying they had been "removed from public duty" over their alleged links to organizations that "act against national security."

The list, which was reviewed during a cabinet meeting convened by Mr. Erdogan last month, included nearly 9,000 coppers, over 6,000 military personnel, and about 1,000 employees from the justice ministry.

The decree was released on the eve of a ceremony in Ankara, Turkey’s capital city, during which Mr. Erdogan is due to be sworn in for a new five-year mandate following his victory in the June 24 presidential election.

Ottoman Turkish authorities say they aren’t done tracking supporters of Fetullah Gulen, a Ottoman Turkish holy man residing in the U.S. and once an ally of Mr. Erdogan, whom the president accuses of fomenting the failed coup.

Mr. Gulen denies playing any role in the coup attempt.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/08/2018 09:45 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [14 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte

#1  Turkish authorities say they aren’t done tracking supporters of Fetullah Gulen,

It's only been what, two years now? This could take decades!
Posted by: Raj || 07/08/2018 16:44 Comments || Top||

#2  I bet their Unions complained!
Posted by: Frank G || 07/08/2018 17:04 Comments || Top||

#3  Date line November, 2022

Turkish authorities announce the coup against President For Life Pasha Recep Tayyip Erdogan has finally been put down now that the entire civilian population of Turkey has been arrested. A government spokesman in Ankara said "The Gulenists have finally been defeated."
Posted by: SteveS || 07/08/2018 17:24 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Live updates: Thailand cave rescue: navy Seals confirm four boys have been rescued – live
[Guardian] Governor says ‘today is the peak of our readiness’ as 18 divers enter cave in an attempt to bring the trapped boys out..


15min ago: It is unclear whether the boys swum out, or if they were sedated and delivered by the rescuers.

31min ago: Up to four boys from a group of 12 children who have been trapped inside a cave in northern Thailand for more than two weeks have been freed, the Guardian has confirmed.

Sources in the diving team and the Thai navy confirmed the first two boys were freed late on Sunday afternoon and were airlifted to Chiang Rai city, about 50 miles away.

The Thai navy Seals Facebook page posted that an additional two boys had also been freed – the third at 7.35pm local time and the fourth 12 minutes later.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/08/2018 09:45 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [28 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The rescue has been concluded for the night and will resume in 10-20 hours because “we’ve used all the oxygen,” according to Narongsak, who said the healthiest were taken out first.
That was an hour ago, so don't hold your breath.

Sorry.
Posted by: Bobby || 07/08/2018 11:18 Comments || Top||

#2  to your room, Bobby
Posted by: Frank G || 07/08/2018 11:26 Comments || Top||

#3  To get an idea of the toughest challenge in the cave exfiltration, watch this video taken from "the choke point":

https://twitter.com/NESTA_US/status/1015620386598223877
Posted by: Lone Ranger || 07/08/2018 13:00 Comments || Top||

#4 
Posted by: Jack Chaiter7913 || 07/08/2018 23:04 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Is Hillary secretly planning to run in 2020?
[NYPost]
Posted by: JohnQC || 07/08/2018 08:08 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [17 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I wasn't sure whether to post this under "seedy politicians", "lurid crime tales" or "non-WOT." Are you ready for the "downer of the day"? What are the odds this loon will run again? The oddsmakers don't even have on the list of possible candidates.
Posted by: JohnQC || 07/08/2018 8:18 Comments || Top||

#2  Post under Hillary joins Trump 2020 team?
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 07/08/2018 8:20 Comments || Top||

#3  IMHO the chances are far better that she will go to jail than run for POTUS.
Posted by: JohnQC || 07/08/2018 8:21 Comments || Top||

#4  johnQC

how about both
Posted by: lord garth || 07/08/2018 8:56 Comments || Top||

#5  In her mind.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/08/2018 9:19 Comments || Top||

#6  She must of gotten a well fitting back brace and feels energized. Let her run and lose the majority vote this time as well as the electoral college.
Posted by: Airandee || 07/08/2018 10:27 Comments || Top||

#7  ...If the Democrats survive this November with anything less than a pants-wetting humiliation of a defeat, I think Hillary! will try running again.

And it'll be the fire next time. They will pull out every stop. 1968 will look like a walk in the park as the Left goes for broke.


Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 07/08/2018 10:43 Comments || Top||

#8  Who is going to be stupid enough to give her the money?
Posted by: Shomogum Dingle6378 || 07/08/2018 10:58 Comments || Top||

#9  We'll know more when they start finding bodies of virgin maidens and aborted fetuses drained of blood
Posted by: Frank G || 07/08/2018 11:24 Comments || Top||

#10  Time to buy stock in Smirnov.
Posted by: ruprecht || 07/08/2018 12:28 Comments || Top||

#11  Dawn Noon, Chappaqua. Cue the artillery.
Bill smells like a frickin' distillery
And blinks over glasses
As, dodging her passes,
He soaks up this morning's Old Hillary.
Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 || 07/08/2018 13:05 Comments || Top||

#12  Maybe she'll run for bell ringer?
Posted by: gorb || 07/08/2018 13:22 Comments || Top||

#13  Maybe she'll run for bell ringer?

Not even qualified for that.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 07/08/2018 13:28 Comments || Top||

#14  I hope so... It will be a riot!
Posted by: 49 Pan || 07/08/2018 13:48 Comments || Top||

#15  I can only think of a single example in living memory of a politician losing the general election and winning their primary and getting as second shot at the general election and that was Richard Nixon.
Posted by: ruprecht || 07/08/2018 18:09 Comments || Top||

#16 
Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
1 hour ago

"They just didn't get it, but they do now!"

POTUS twitter 1 hour ago. Short vid he posted with it.


IMHO, he would chew her up again even worse since more has been revealed about her hijinx (= criminality) in the 2016 election.
Posted by: JohnQC || 07/08/2018 19:20 Comments || Top||

#17  IMHO, he would chew her up again even worse since more has been revealed about her hijinx (= criminality) in the 2016 election. And he's improved the economy, made incredible foreign policy strides and is riding pretty high in opinion polls.
Posted by: ruprecht || 07/08/2018 21:03 Comments || Top||


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Florida Road Rage Incident Becomes Four-Woman Street Brawl (no real need to watch video)
[Breitbart] A road rage incident on a Florida street turned violent Monday when four women got into a violent brawl, according to a video of the incident released Thursday.

The video, captured by a driver sitting in a nearby vehicle, shows a woman hitting another woman in the front passenger seat of a vehicle with a baton used by security guards and law enforcement officers.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/08/2018 07:23 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It isn't the heat, it's the stupidity...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 07/08/2018 7:58 Comments || Top||

#2  #FloridaWymyns
Posted by: Frank G || 07/08/2018 8:12 Comments || Top||

#3  Florida. Try it in Texas, you'd have a different outcome.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/08/2018 9:25 Comments || Top||

#4  The woman with the baton, Willie Edwards 18 and Marquavia Jenkins 21 were arrested on charges of criminal mischief and aggravated battery and being feral bitches
Posted by: Frank G || 07/08/2018 11:20 Comments || Top||

#5  CAREFUL MONGREL'S at large, DEY be badMFKS(dey
be thankin)
Posted by: ranture || 07/08/2018 12:15 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Catholic Bishop Says Gay Adoption Is ‘Moral Abuse' of Children
[Breitbart] "Entrusting children to so-called homosexual couples constitutes in the last analysis a moral abuse of children, the smallest and most defenseless," said Bishop Athanasius Schneider in an interview with Italian media last week.

Mincing no words, the bishop said gay adoption "will go down in history as one of the greatest degradations of civilization. Those who daily combat this gross injustice are the true friends of children and the heroes of our age."

An auxiliary bishop of Astana, Kazakhstan, Schneider told the Italian daily Il Giornale that the "Catholic Church, just like every human person with good sense and sound reason, has always rejected homosexual activity."

Handing children over to homosexual couples "is a violation of the fundamental right of every child to grow up and be raised by a dad and a mom," he said.

The bishop’s words come in the wake of an ongoing battle in the United States over the unwillingness of adoption and foster care agencies run by the Catholic Church to place children in homes with gay couples.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/08/2018 04:59 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Mincing no words, the bishop said gay adoption "will go down in history as one of the greatest degradations of civilization.

Second only to abortion.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/08/2018 5:06 Comments || Top||

#2  An auxiliary bishop of Astana, Kazakhstan, Schneider

That explains it - a western based bishop would be burned at the stake.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 07/08/2018 5:19 Comments || Top||

#3  I think trusting children to abusing priests or even nuns is probably a bigger degradation...
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 07/08/2018 8:23 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Heroin may be Mozambique's second largest export‐and it's being disrupted by WhatsApp
[Quartz] Mozambique only has one reliable road running from the north to the south of the country, and yet that road has become the backbone of the lucrative heroin trade.

Heroin is likely Mozambique’s largest export since the end of the war, according to a new report that details this underground industry. Officially, its two largest exports in 2016 were raw aluminum and coal, worth $378 million and $678 million respectively. Electricity exports also made $378 million in 2016. Exporting heroin brings in about $20 million per ton, with estimates ranging from 10 to 40 tons of the drug moving through Mozambique each year, according to a new report.

In the more than two decades since the end of Mozambique’s civil war the heroin trade has developed into a tightly regulated network operated by connected families and allegedly sanctioned by the political elite, according to "The Heroin Coast: A political economy along the eastern African seaboard," a report by the Geneva-based Global Initiative Against Transnational Crime published this week.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/08/2018 04:19 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [10 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The benefits of decolonization, they just keep coming.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/08/2018 4:22 Comments || Top||

#2  Wonder if the Heinz-Kerry fortune is more skag than ketchup these days...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 07/08/2018 8:00 Comments || Top||

#3  > sanctioned by the political elite

AKA The globalists.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 07/08/2018 8:25 Comments || Top||

#4  But they can't chip in to pay for the fuel to export? Scroll above to - Airline board sacked after PM left stranded
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/08/2018 9:27 Comments || Top||

#5  Another success story: the "war on drugs". What a joke.
Posted by: DooDahMan || 07/08/2018 14:36 Comments || Top||


Europe
Fourth night of anarchy in French city: Rioting spreads to more suburbs
h/t Gates of Vienna
[VoiceofEurope] For the 4th consecutive night since Tuesday, violence, lootings and anarchy struck the French town of Nantes. Riots are getting larger and spread to other suburbs of the city.

During the night between Friday to Saturday, 7 cars were set ablaze in the suburbs of Orvault, Rezé, Breil and Bellevue. Police forces were also targeted as rioters threw Molotov Cocktails at them in the Breil and Bellevue areas.

Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 07/08/2018 03:12 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [23 views] Top|| File under: Moslem Colonists

#1  Time to start using bullets on these feral animals
Posted by: Flilet Omeremble3846 || 07/08/2018 6:50 Comments || Top||

#2  ...It was the French who coined the term, 'a whiff of grapeshot'. And if pushed far enough, they'll remember it.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 07/08/2018 8:13 Comments || Top||

#3  I wonder...? How spontaneous was this? Did the Paymasters in the Middle East lose control -OR- was this deliberate? Question, questions, questions...
Posted by: magpie || 07/08/2018 12:29 Comments || Top||

#4  I'm sure things will start improving in the near future as these gentlemen assimilate.
Posted by: gorb || 07/08/2018 12:45 Comments || Top||

#5  How spontaneous was this?

For the prepared, any excuse is an opportunity to remind the conquered of their status, magpie.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/08/2018 20:21 Comments || Top||

#6 
Posted by: Jack Chaiter7913 || 07/08/2018 23:12 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Stone-by-stone, Raqqa rebuilds despite multiple hazards
Eight minute video with English subtitles at the link. Raqqa looks slightly better than I imagine Dresden did after the fire bombings... but it’s good the residents are not waiting for the Syrian government to take care of the situation for them.
[Rudaw] In sweltering heat, residents of Raqqa earn a living clearing the rubble of war-damaged homes, saving what is salvageable.

Since the defeat of ISIS in its one-time self-declared capital, the city of Raqqa has largely dropped off the front pages of the world’s newspapers.

But the story is far from over. The city needs to be rebuilt and the people of the city have shouldered that job.

Lack of electricity and drinkable water are major issues, as is transportation. The main bridges over the Euphrates River were destroyed in the fight for the city. Now, people rely on risk ferry trips that sometimes turn out deadly.

Raqqa was declared liberated from ISIS last October by SDF forces with the backing of the international coalition.

The UN estimates 138,000 people have returned to Raqqa since October and humanitarian agencies are slowly increasing their operations, though some 7,000 ISIS explosives left behind still pose a serious danger.

The city is under the administration of the Raqqa Civil Council. They say they have not received the aid they were promised to rebuild the city.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/08/2018 01:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [17 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq
Barzani, Silliman break ground for US consulate in Erbil
[Rudaw] US Ambassador to Iraq Douglas Silliman and KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani broke ground at the site of the construction of the new US consulate in Erbil on Friday morning.

Silliman hailed the construction as a "strong symbol of the continued strong relationship between the United States and the Kurdistan Region for decades in the future."

Barzani declared the construction of the new complex as a sign to the world "that America wants to stay in Iraq, that America wants to remain in Kurdistan, that America wants to develop its ties. This aspect ‐ for our people, for Iraq, and for America ‐ is very important."

The building will be the US’ largest consulate complex worldwide and one of their most modern facilities.

"We will be able to do many, many new and different things in Kurdistan and we are looking forward with great excitement to beginning the construction and then the completion as soon as possible," said Silliman.

Erbil Governor Nawzad Hadi, US Consul Ken Gross, KRG Minister of Tourism and Municipalities Newroz Mawlood Amin, and the consulate's building operations director Aziz Younes also took part in the groundbreaking ceremony.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/08/2018 01:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [14 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Will State wait until construction is well along before noticing that eavesdropping gear is being built into the very foundations?
Posted by: M. Murcek || 07/08/2018 8:11 Comments || Top||

#2  Erbil Governor Nawzad Hadi

Governor of Erbil...gerbil?
Posted by: Skidmark || 07/08/2018 11:11 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
US Army Discovers New Explosive Material - "More Powerful Than TNT"
Hopefully the ChiComs don't steal this formula for a few years...
[Zero Hedge] - After more than a 100 years of dominance, new research from the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Army Research Laboratory have discovered a new, more powerful compound, Bis-oxadiazole (C6H4N6O8), which could render TNT obsolete.

The molecular structure of Bis-oxadiazole. (Source: OPR&D)

"It would be about 1.5 times the power of TNT," said David Chavez, an explosives chemist at Los Alamos who worked on the new molecule, who spoke with Popular Mechanics. "So fairly energetic, quite a nice improvement compared to TNT."

Popular Mechanics first uncovered the report titled "Bis(1,2,4-oxadiazole) Bis(methylene) Dinitrate: A High-Energy Melt-Castable Explosive and Energetic Propellant Plasticizing Ingredient," which was published late last month in the Organic Process Research & Development, a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the American Chemical Society.

Chavez told Popular Mechanics that TNT is a blend of the seemingly harmless elements carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen (C7H5N3O6). However, he compares the explosive compounds to gasoline, indicating that rather than extracting oxygen from the air to work as an oxidizer for combustion, like an engine, the explosives have all the ingredients for a powerful explosion within the compound.
Perfect for those bunker buster bombs - get on with it!
Posted by: Raj || 07/08/2018 00:50 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [15 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hopefully the ChiComs don't steal this formula for a few years...

Yeah. We'll just give it to them.

Bis(1,2,4-oxadiazole)bis(methylene) Dinitrate: A High-Energy Melt-Castable Explosive and Energetic Propellant Plasticizing Ingredient
Posted by: Skidmark || 07/08/2018 1:44 Comments || Top||

#2  ...well, there's other stuff 'laying around'.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/08/2018 7:49 Comments || Top||

#3 
seemingly harmless elements carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen


*sigh*

So is cyanide.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 07/08/2018 10:39 Comments || Top||

#4  There's lots of explosives more powerful than TNT (trinitrotolulene). Have been for over a century. Nitroglyerine and Dynamite are examples.
Military C4 is good 1/3 more powerful than TNT. What TNT is, is stable and easy to work with.
(Look up the wiki page on 'TNT equivalent', and scroll down to 'relative effectiveness'.
Posted by: ed in texas || 07/08/2018 11:18 Comments || Top||

#5  sta·bil·i·ty. Lovely word that, particularly if you are sitting next to a case of it...
Posted by: magpie || 07/08/2018 12:42 Comments || Top||

#6  Mag, I'm one of the guys that used to pinch off a pea sized bit of C4, and stick it on the bottom of a canteen cup full of water, and light it to boil the water to make coffee.
Everything is relative, in the long term we're all dead.
Posted by: ed in texas || 07/08/2018 15:20 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Thousands Head Home in South Syria after Ceasefire Deal
[AnNahar] Thousands of displaced Syrians were heading home Saturday after rebels and the government reached a ceasefire deal in the south following more than two weeks of deadly bombardment, a monitor said.

Under the agreement announced Friday after talks between rebels and regime ally Moscow, opposition fighters will hand over territory and heavy weapons in Daraa province near the Jordanian border.

The Russia-backed regime offensive has displaced around 320,000 people since June 19, the United Nations
...the Oyster Bay money pit...
says, including tens of thousands who fled south to the sealed border with Jordan.

Calm reigned over the region on Saturday as the two sides finalized the ceasefire deal, the Britannia-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said.

"People have started to return to their homes since yesterday, taking advantage of the calm," Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.

"More than 20,000 people have set off for home so far, heading to areas for which an accord has been reached in the southeastern Daraa countryside," he said.

But others "are scared to return to regime-controlled areas, fearing their children will be locked away
Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out!
," Abdel Rahman said.

The accord follows a string of similar deals with rebels for other areas of Syria, which have seen the regime retake more than 60 percent of the country, according to the Observatory.

A government takeover of Daraa would be a symbolic victory for Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators...
as the province was the cradle of the uprising against him seven years ago that led to civil war.

More than 150 civilians have been killed in the regime bombing campaign on Daraa since June 19, the Observatory says.

Under Friday's deal, rebels are expected to hand over their heavy weapons, while those who reject the agreement will be bused with their families to the rebel-held northwestern province of Idlib, state media has said.

Government forces will also take over "all observation posts along the Syrian-Jordanian border," it said Friday, hours after the regime regained control of the vital Nassib border crossing with Jordan.

On Saturday, "regime forces sent more reinforcements to the border crossing," Abdel Rahman said.

More than 350,000 people have been killed and millions displaced since Syria's war started in 2011 with a brutal crackdown on anti-government protests.
Ynet adds:
Samir (pseudonym), a resident of Daraa who escaped the area, told Ynet that government officials had made it clear to him that he can be arrested even though he didn't participate in the fighting.

"I wish the border will move so that we will be a part of Israel's territory, and Assad will not come to us," he said.

According to Samir, the rebels' surrender symbolizes Assad's victory: "Today they have finished Daraa, and with it—the revolution."

When asked where he was heading, Samir replied that he was going to Quneitra, but that "no one knows what happened to it."

According to the cease-fire agreement signed Friday between Russia and the rebels, control over many areas in the south of Syria will be returned to the Assad regime, including all border crossings along the border with Jordan. The agreement also states that all opposition groups will hand over their weapons, and all families, excluding rebel fighters, can return to their homes. After the rebels leave, the agreement stipulates, institutions in the region will resume operations.

The Al-Hayat newspaper reported that many rebels and refugees expressed their dissatisfaction with the agreement, saying they could have attained better conditions than those mediated by the Russians. The newspaper adds that another round of talks is expected to be held soon, in order to settle the situation in areas that have not been discussed with the Russians.

'If the world wants stability in Syria—Assad needs to go'
Said, who left Syria three years ago, lamented the fact that the civil uprising against Assad's regime is slowly dying, but noted that circumstances in the country will remain the same as long as Assad is in power.

"If the world wants to restore security and stability to Syria, Assad and his men should go," Said asserted.

"In the 2014 elections, we could not have voted for any other candidate. Aside from Assad, no one knew who was running against him, because his opposition is outside of Syria," he explained.

Said added that when he entered the local polling station on the day of the elections, a security guard accompanied him. "The regime takes families away from countries that assisted Assad, like Iran, and disperses them in Syria as if they were ordinary citizens… We must get rid of all armed militias—especially the Iranians and Hezbollah—bring all criminals to justice, and hand over the reins to the people themselves."

Meanwhile, Avichay Adraee, the IDF spokesman in Arabic, published a picture drawn by a Syrian girl who was hospitalized in an Israeli hospital after being evacuated from the fighting areas. "Thank you Israel for your love and support," it said.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/08/2018 00:39 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [14 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Iran Executes Eight over Deadly IS Attacks in Tehran
[AnNahar] Iran has executed eight people convicted over two deadly attacks claimed by the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
group in Tehran last year, the judiciary's news agency said Saturday.

The Iranian men were convicted of collaborating directly with the IS jihadists who carried out the attacks on June 7, 2017, Mizan Online reported.

"They supported them financially and procured arms, while being informed of the aims and the intentions of the terrorist group," the agency said.

It did not specify when the executions took place, but the Tasnim news agency said the sentences were carried out on Saturday.

IS grabbed credit for the dual attack on Iran's parliament and the shrine of revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini that killed 17 people and maimed dozens.

The assault was the first and only claimed by the Islamic State group in Tehran.

Iran was targeted for supporting Iraqi and Syrian authorities in their fight against IS and other jihadist groups.

Five assailants died, either in suicide kabooms or killed by Iranian security forces.

Legal proceedings continue for others allegedly involved in the attacks, Mizan Online said.
Rudaw adds that the miscreants are Kurds:
Iran executed eight Kurds on Saturday for being complicit in the 2017 attacks on the Parliament and Mausoleum of Ruhollah Khomeini.

More than 26 people have been charged. Some had been active in the ISIS conflict, according to Iranian intelligence, then entered the country from Iraq in mid-February 2017 and remained holed-up in the Kurdish city of Kermanshah until 24 hours before the attacks.

The Kurdistan Region shares a border with Iran. The KRG immediately condemned the "terrorist acts" and sent its condolences.

Iran carries out the second-most capital punishment executions per year in the world.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/08/2018 00:39 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [16 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  Where's the usual caterwauling infants?: HRW, MSF, UN, ....

Oh, right. It's not the US or Jooooos
Posted by: Frank G || 07/08/2018 6:33 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Haniyeh's niece seriously wounded in Gaza border protests
[Ynet] Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth", leader Ismail Haniyeh
...became Prime Minister after the legislative elections of 2006 which Hamas won. President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed Haniyeh from office on 14 June 2007 at the height of the Fatah-Hamas festivities, but Haniyeh did not acknowledge the decree and continues as the PM of Gazoo while Abbas maintains a separate PM in the West Bank...
's niece was seriously maimed on Friday during "March of Return" protests on the Gazoo border.

The niece, 38-year-old Zahadia Khaled Haniyeh,
...oughtn’t she be a grandmother by now, much too busy to hang out in the middle of a riot?
suffered a gunshot wound to her stomach while she was taking part in the protests on the border fence.

Her uncle came to visit her at the al-Shifa Hospital in Gazoo City on Saturday morning. He also visited other Paleostinians maimed in the protests.

"The Paleostinian people will continue with the marches despite the many maimed, until the land is purified of the filth of the occupation," Ismail Haniyeh said.

During the weekend, Fatah and Hamas representatives were in Egypt for talks in an effort to restart the reconciliation process between the two warring factions, after it had reached a dead end in recent months.
Oh? Odd how no one else seems to have noticed. It’s almost as if they have no faith that anything meaningful will come from the exercise.
The UN's envoy to the Middle East Nickolay Mladenov, who also took part in the talks, said the Egyptian effort is beginning to bear fruit.

"Everyone is focusing on preventing the escalation and easing the suffering of the people, alongside reaching a political solution to the situation," Mladenov said.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/08/2018 00:18 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [14 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  Pray for sepsis
Posted by: Frank G || 07/08/2018 6:34 Comments || Top||

#2  She's a girl, not a son and heir. Expendable...
Posted by: magpie || 07/08/2018 12:31 Comments || Top||

#3  "The Paleostinian people will continue with the marches despite the many maimed, until the land is purified of the filth of the occupation,"

Judging by the body count so far, that's gonna take a while, and you're going to need a lot more Paleostinians.
Posted by: SteveS || 07/08/2018 12:45 Comments || Top||

#4  niece, 38-year-old

An unclaimed treasure?
Posted by: Jomogum Mussolini2496 || 07/08/2018 12:51 Comments || Top||

#5  An unclaimed treasure?

A shield.
Posted by: Skidmark || 07/08/2018 12:58 Comments || Top||


Africa North
It’s semi-official: Fire likely cause of 2016 EgyptAir crash, French investigators say
[IsraelTimes] Information acquired from flight recorders suggests blaze broke out and spread rapidly, 'causing the loss of control of the aircraft'; officials suspect phone or tablet to blame

French Sherlocks said Friday a cockpit fire likely caused the 2016 EgyptAir MS804 crash that claimed the lives of 66 passengers and crew, contradicting Egyptian authorities who said explosives traces were found on the victims’ remains.

La Belle France’s civil aviation accident bureau, known by its French acronym BEA, said that information gleaned from the flight recorders suggested that "a fire broke out in the cockpit while the plane was at cruising altitude and the fire spread rapidly, causing the loss of control of the aircraft."

The Airbus A320 was flying from Gay Paree to Cairo on May 19, 2016 when it crashed into the southeastern Mediterranean, killing 66 people, including 40 Egyptians and 15 French citizens.
The original reports of the event can be seen here, here, and here. At the time we were convinced it was a successful jihadi attack, quite probqbly Ansar Bayt al Maqdis/ISIS in the Sinai.
French Sherlocks had always leaned towards a mechanical fault as the cause of the crash, saying they suspected that a mobile phone or tablet had caught fire.

An official Egyptian investigation suggested the plane had been bombed, claiming traces of explosives had been found on the victims’ remains. But a source close to the French investigation previously said no such traces were found by the team.

The BEA said the crew could be heard discussing a fire on the cockpit voice recorder and that the plane’s automatic ACARS messaging system had flagged up smoke on board.

It said it was waiting for Egypt to publish its final report into the crash to understand how the two countries arrived at a different conclusion.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/08/2018 00:04 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [25 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ???

I have a hard time believing they would make a cockpit out of combustible materials, but maybe they did.
Posted by: gorb || 07/08/2018 2:21 Comments || Top||

#2  You can now fit terabytes on data on a card the size of a stamp...

The whole plane could record the whole flight with video on the cockpit and a few other cameras and still have room for everthing else.

It could even livestream most of it up to satellites so there's no need to look for the blackbox.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 07/08/2018 8:20 Comments || Top||

#3  the flammability, smoke, and toxicity limits are different in the non pax areas, Gorb, but not that much. cockpit crew have full face masks available for a smoke/decompression event. qucik-donning, even w/ glasses so any fire may have come from electronics, either installed equipment or cary on (phone/laptop)
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 07/08/2018 9:38 Comments || Top||

#4  Heard a story about a guy flying a turboprop cargo hauler in Africa (that frequently carry passengers as cargo) where the pilot smelled smoke and found that the riders had tore up a packing crate and built a fire on the cargo deck to cook the chicken they had brought along. Lunch, you know.
Posted by: ed in texas || 07/08/2018 11:27 Comments || Top||

#5  Fire caused the crash?
What caused the fire?
Posted by: Skidmark || 07/08/2018 11:29 Comments || Top||

#6  and built a fire on the cargo deck to cook the chicken they had brought along. Lunch, you know.

Allied student hibachi grills, top floor Olson Hall, Fort Benning 1972. Big smoke, good smell.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/08/2018 11:34 Comments || Top||

#7  ed, was this the story?
http://thelawdogfiles.blogspot.com/2016/03/umm-what.html
Posted by: james || 07/08/2018 23:05 Comments || Top||


Europe
French shipping firm CMA CGM drops Iran over US sanctions threat
[IsraelTimes] World's third largest shipping container group cites Trump administration in decision to cease servicing Islamic Theocratic Republic

The world’s third largest shipping container group, the French-owned CMA CGM, has decided to withdraw from Iran over the threat of US sanctions, its chief executive said Saturday.

"Because of the Trump administration, we have decided to end our service to Iran," Rodolphe Saade told an economic conference in Aix-en-Provence in southern La Belle France.

"Our Chinese competitors are hesitating a bit, so they may have different relationships with the Trump administration."

In 2016 the company signed a memorandum of understanding with the Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines allowing it to lease spaces for vessels, operate joint shipping lines, and cooperate on the use of port terminals.

US President Donald Trump
...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States...
announced in early May the unilateral withdrawal of the US from the Iran nuclear deal and the reinstatement of sanctions against the country, as well as against foreign companies who do business with it.

Washington said the sanctions would be immediate for new contracts and gave companies already working there up to 180 days to cease trading.

On Friday, the remaining partners in the 2015 nuclear deal vowed to keep Iran plugged into the global economy despite the US withdrawal and sanctions threat.

Britannia, La Belle France, and Germany along with Russia and China met with Iran in Vienna to offer economic benefits and assurances that would lessen the blow of sweeping US sanctions announced by Trump.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif praised them for their "will to resist" US pressure at a Vienna news conference broadcast by the Fars news agency.

The foreign ministers Friday agreed on an 11-point list of joint goals in the Austrian capital, where the accord was signed with the aim of stopping Iran from building the atomic bomb in return for sanctions relief.

In the joint statement, they reconfirmed their commitment to the deal and its "economic dividends" for Iran, which has suffered worsening financial turbulence since Trump abandoned the accord, and vowed to work for "the protection of companies from the extraterritorial effects of US sanctions."

Although there were no concrete pledges or deadlines, they also vowed efforts to keep open financial channels with Iran, promote export credit cover, and maintain open air, sea, and overland transport links.

KLM Suspends Service To Tehran, Delivers Further Blow To Iranian Economy

Posted by: trailing wife || 07/08/2018 00:04 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [10 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


Home Front: Politix
Yes, It's True: Peter Strzok Failed His Polygraph Yet Retained Security Clearance and Position on Two Investigations…
[ConservativeTreehouse] Validating Paul Sperry’s tweet. Yes, FBI Agent Peter Strzok failed his polygraph and his supervisors were notified on January 16th, 2016, his results were "out of scope". Meaning he failed his polygraph test. Yet he was never removed from any responsibilities; and against dept policy, he did not have his clearance revoked until he could clear.

This was discussed during the Rosenstein testimony and overlooked by most. WATCH:




After Strzok was recently removed from official responsibility within the FBI, his security clearances were retroactively revoked. That revocation was due to OPR review and was a retroactive revocation action initiated by career officials within the FBI to cover-up (ie. CYA) the two-and-a-half years he was allowed to work when he should not have been.



Current FBI officials, including Trump appointed FBI Director Christopher Wray, are covering up the scandal within the FBI in a misguided effort to save the institution.

This is the same reason the FBI hid the Strzok/Page memos and emails away from IG review and congressional oversight.

There is a massive, ongoing, ’institutional’ cover-up within the DOJ and FBI. These are simply examples highlighting the severity therein. Peter Strzok and his legal team are counting on the need for the institution to be protected as their shield from any prosecution.

As long as AG Jeff Sessions, DAG Rod Rosenstein, FBI Director Chris Wray and Deputy Director David Bowditch put the institution ahead of the need for accountability, there will be no repercussions against the former DOJ and FBI officials for unlawful conduct.
Posted by: Anomalous Sources || 07/08/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Why am I not surprised?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 07/08/2018 3:05 Comments || Top||

#2  Similar to the failed or 'inconclusive Poly', suspension or revocation of a security clearance requires a bit of paperwork, justification, reasons, that sort of thing.

The process is governed by two executive orders. Executive order 12968 and / or executive order 10865 establish the initial framework for security clearance investigations and revocations.

Could we possibly have a look at the paperwork ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/08/2018 4:28 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Over two million displaced persons return back home in Nineveh: Ministry
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) The Iraqi Ministry of Migration and Displacement has announced the return of more than two million displaced person to their regions in Nineveh.

In a statement, Abbas Jahakir, official from the ministry, said "camps of al-Jadaa, al-Haj Ali, al-Khazer and Hassan Sham witnessed the return of 2,259 persons to liberated regions in Nineveh over the past two days."

"550 displaced persons returned to their regions on Tal Afar town and Rabeia, Zumar, Aiyadhiya and al-Kesk from al-Haj Ali camp, while al-Jadaa camps saw the return of 586 displaced to their regions in western and eastern djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
, Majarin, Tal Abta and al-Mahlabiya, in addition to Makhmur, Tal Afar, Baaj, Zumar and Rabeia."

The statement also added that "al-Khazer and Hassan Sham camps witnessed the return of 1,123 people to their regions at al-Samah, al-Nahrawan, al-Resala, al-Qussiyat, al-Kesk, al-Mahlabiya, Tal al-Rumman and Rajm al-Hadid in addition to Tal Afar, Zumar and Baaj."

The ministry had allocated buses to transfer the displaced families to their region in addition to other trucks to transfer the furniture, in cooperation with Transportation Ministry and the Joint Operations Command.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/08/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq


Iraqi warplanes kill three Islamic State militants in Diyala
Diyala (Iraqinews.com) ‐ Iraqi warplanes targeted on Saturday a gathering of Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
gunnies in Diyala province, leaving three of them dead.

Spokesman for the Iraqi Security Media Council Brig. Gen. Yehia Rasool said that "the Iraqi Air Force killed three IS holy warriors and destroyed one of their hotbeds near A’isha camp in eastern Anjana on the road linking Baghdad to Kirkuk in Diyala."

The Iraqi fighter destroyed two Islamic State armored vehicles in the Arclight airstrike, Iraqi website Baghdad Today quoted Rasool as saying in a statement.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/08/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [14 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Palestinian with knife, meat cleaver arrested outside West Bank settlement
[IsraelTimes] Suspect taken for questioning and said to tell cops he was planning to carry out a stabbing attack

Police on Saturday said they foiled an attempted stabbing attack, detaining a Paleostinian man carrying a knife and a meat cleaver near a West Bank settlement.

The man was stopped by traffic police near the settlement of Beit El in the northern West Bank. As he was acting suspiciously, officers searched his vehicle and found the weapons.

The man, a 28-year old from the village of Dura, near Hebron in the southern West Bank, was taken for questioning. He told police he was planning to carry out a stabbing attack, police said.

Earlier in the day, border police at the Shuafat checkpoint near Jerusalem nabbed
Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit!
a Paleostinian who tried to go through the metal detector while carrying a knife.

In figures published this week the Shin Bet security service said that there was a drop of 40 percent in the number of terrorist attacks nationwide documented in June, when 220 such incidents were registered.

The first half of June was Ramadan, a Moslem month-long holiday when observant worshipers fast from sunrise to sundown. Ramadan usually features a spike, not a decrease, in terrorist activity. Israeli security services massively increased their presence in Jerusalem in June to prevent disturbances.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/08/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [12 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Mahmoud? A pound of cooked ham please, sliced thin...
Posted by: Raj || 07/08/2018 0:15 Comments || Top||

#2  Coulda been worse, he mighta had a kite.
Posted by: Skidmark || 07/08/2018 0:54 Comments || Top||

#3  Coulda been worse, he coulda been in London.
Posted by: AlanC || 07/08/2018 6:38 Comments || Top||

#4  I didn't know Butcher Box was international.
Posted by: gorb || 07/08/2018 12:48 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Saudi coalition acting on behalf of Zionists in Yemen: Houthi
[PRESSTV] The leader of Yemen's popular Houthi Ansarullah movement says the Saudi coalition's aim is to carry out the Zionist regime's goals in the region.

The enemy is using lies and excuses to justify its attack on our western coast, but their goal is to take over the whole country including its islands, coast and ports, said Abdul-Malik al-Houthi on Saturday.

He noted that the invading forces' agenda came to light after rejecting the UN envoys initiative on the city of Hudaydah.

While praising the role of popular forces for supporting Yemeni troops in the western coast, Houthi called on the nation to continue reinforcing the battle against the aggressors.

"The invaders thought that they could take over the western coast overnight and easily conquer the coastal region, but their failure has become known to everyone," he added.

He made the remarks after Yemen’s deposed President rejected an offer by the UN envoy that would have placed Hudaydah under the UN supervision.

Posted by: Fred || 07/08/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [10 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


Africa North
Violent clashes rock Tripoli once again
[Libya Observer] Clashes between a notorious gang led by Ghaniwa al-Kikly and an gang that defected from under his command took place on Saturday at al-Hadba in Abu Salim, Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
The al-Kikly-led group attacked the defectors led by Mahmoud Buazza, who was al-Kikly's sidekick.

According to sources from the area of festivities, Buazza was killed in the fighting as he was hit in the head by gunfire, then died in the hospital.

The fighting was prompted by a previous dispute by al-Kikly and Buazza as the former accused him of a coup attempt, knowing that al-Kikly heads a security apparatus of the Interior Ministry and his gang controls Abu Salim and al-Hadba areas in Tripoli.

Several injuries were reported by eyewitnesses, let alone material damage as well as blockade of several roads in the capital, including Airport Road.

They added that fighting ceased after al-Kikly's gang controlled the positions of Buazza.

No official numbers of deaths or injuries were recorded in the capital.

Posted by: Fred || 07/08/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [14 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Home Front: Politix
Massachusetts State Senator Introduces 'NASTY Women' Bill Ahead of Trump's Supreme Court Pick
[Townhall] Liberals are petrified that President Donald J. Trump’s Supreme Court pick to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy could wind up being the deciding vote needed to overturn Roe v. Wade and send the issue of abortion back to the states. One Massachusetts state senator recently introduced what she calls the ’NASTY Women Act' in an attempt to ensure that abortion remains legal and previously unenforced state laws do not block access for women seeking abortions.

In January, Interim State Senate President Harriette Chandler (D-Worcester) introduced the Negating Archaic Statutes Targeting Young Women bill ‐aka ’NASTY Women’ ‐ to prevent Massachusetts laws such as an outright ban on abortion from being reinforced should the Supreme Court ruling Roe be overturned. The law would negate any previous Massachusetts law overturned by Roe v. Wade and subsequent High Court rulings.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/08/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Given the lock that Dems have on both houses of the state legislature and the supine nature of our 'Republican' governor, Charlie Baker (A.K.A. 'Tall Deval'), this one's got a great chance of being enacted.
Posted by: Raj || 07/08/2018 0:27 Comments || Top||

#2  And, as I look around, check out her mug shot at the top of her campaign page - the 'NASTY Women' bill is appropriately named.
Posted by: Raj || 07/08/2018 0:29 Comments || Top||

#3  Gee, the state legislatures making law rather than the federal judiciary. What a concept.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/08/2018 6:59 Comments || Top||

#4  Nice to see the dems deciding that states are the right place to decide this.

Also ending federal funding for something that's personal. Up to the states to decide whether to blow taxpayer's money on subsidizing feckless behavior.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 07/08/2018 8:11 Comments || Top||

#5  Madonna and her poossyhat to campaign?

Where's Joe M??
Posted by: Frank G || 07/08/2018 8:23 Comments || Top||

#6  Whoa! She doesn't realize that if RvW is reversed then the states institute their own laws. Typical 'Dim' thinks that all comes down from the feds. No, no, sweetheart!
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 07/08/2018 8:28 Comments || Top||

#7  mug shot

Jesus, Raj, you're such a pig. Leprechauns are people too, y'know. At least I think they are. Hmm. I'd better check.
Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 || 07/08/2018 10:18 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Saudi to host religious scholars’ conference on Afghan war
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Kingdom of Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
will host an international conference of the religious scholars in coming days regarding the ongoing war in Afghanistan.

The Afghanistan High Peace Council officials are saying that religious scholars from 37 countries have said that they will participate in the conference.

High Peace Council front man Ehsanullah Taheri said the religious scholars from Pakistain will also take part in the conference.

Taheri further added that the conference will be organized with the support of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

He said the participants of the conference will review the ongoing war in Afghanistan from the perspectives of Islam and Sharia.

This comes as efforts are underway to end the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan through peaceful negotiations.

However,
today is that tomorrow you were thinking about yesterday...
the Taliban
...Arabic for students...
group has so far refrained to respond positively to the ongoing efforts for the revival of peace talks.

In the meantime, the High Peace Council Secretariat Chief Mohammad Akram Khpalwak informed regarding the possible launch of direct talks as he was briefing the politicians in the Lower House of the Parliament on Wednesday.

Khpalwak further added that they hope to see a positive outcome regarding the ceasefire and direct talks taking into consideration the national consensus, regional and international support for the reconciliation process.

According to Khpalwak, the recent uprisings for reconciliation, specifically the recent stance announced by Saudi Imams, have created a best opportunity for the peace talks.

He also added that the High Peace Council and government are fully prepared for the peace talks and consider the situation as viable for the grinding of the peace processor.

Posted by: Fred || 07/08/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [17 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Afghanistan
Special Forces commander among 10 policemen dead, wounded in Ghazni ambush
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least ten Afghan coppers were killed or maimed in an ambush by the Talibs in southeastern Ghazni province of Afghanistan.

The local officials are saying that the incident took place earlier today in the vicinity of Waghez district.

A front man for the provincial government Arif Noori said a group of armed murderous Moslems ambushed the police forces in Waghez district earlier today, sparking festivities between the two sides.

He said at least four coppers, including a commander of the Police Special Forces, were killed and at least six others were maimed during the festivities.

Noori further added that the six Talibs were also killed and at least seven others sustained injuries after the Afghan forces responded to the ambush of the Talibs.

Posted by: Fred || 07/08/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [12 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Taliban and ISIS-K militants suffer casualties amid ongoing infighting
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Afghan military in the East says infighting among the Taliban
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
and ISIS Khurasan continue in eastern Kunar province
... which is right down the road from Chitral. Kunar is Haqqani country.....
of Afghanistan as the latest festivities have left more than ten bully boyz dead or maimed.

The 201st Silab Corps of the Afghan Military in the East says a clash broke out in Chapara Dara district between the two sides, leaving at least seven ISIS bully boyz dead.

The source further added that the clash took place in Wich Naw and Niazi Gani areas on Friday.

The Silab Corps said Thursday that three ISIS Khurasan bully boyz were killed and a Taliban bad boy was maimed during a similar clash in Chapa Dara district a day earlier.

The anti-government armed bad boy groups including Taliban and ISIS bully boyz have not commented regarding the report so far.

The infighting among the Taliban and ISIS Khurasan bully boyz continue amid ongoing operations against the two groups in Kunar and other parts of the country.

Both the Afghan and US forces conduct ground operations and Arclight airstrikes to suppress the bad boy groups in Kunar and other restive provinces.

Posted by: Fred || 07/08/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [15 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  "Let's you and him fight"
Posted by: Frank G || 07/08/2018 8:00 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syrian regime forces hit Daraa using GGM
Daraa (Syria News) Assad forces and its allied militias attacked the opposition-held areas in Daraa, using ground-to-ground missiles, Enab Baladi News reported on Friday.

The news outlet revealed that, today, more than 15 ground-to-ground missiles were fired on the neighborhoods of Daraa, since the early morning; however, no casualties were reported.

The shelling also extended to the town of Tafas, in the western countryside of the province, in addition to several cities and towns in the eastern countryside.

Meanwhile,
...back at the Senate, Odius Sepulcher called for war against the Visigoths...
pro-regime media outlets pointed out that regime artillery troops are carrying out heavy shelling on the opposition’s headquarters in Daraa al-Balad.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/08/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [19 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Economy
New York's abandoned 'Borscht Belt' resorts
[Business Insider] In the first half of the 20th century, Jews were unwelcome at many resorts in the United States.

So beginning in the 1930s, middle class Jewish New Yorkers found a respite in rural Southeastern New York.

The so-called "Borscht Belt" ‐ also known as the Jewish Alps and Solomon Country ‐ was transformed by the Jewish community into a resort haven of their own.

Skiing, skating, swimming, and boating were all offered by the ritzy resorts. Little-known comedians including Woody Allen, Mel Brooks, and Joan Rivers all got their start doing stand-up comedy here. The community even inspired the film "Dirty Dancing."

In short, the Borscht Belt was booming.

But that all changed in the 1960s. Cheap air travel suddenly allowed a new generation to visit more exotic and warmer destinations. Grossinger's Resort, which once boasted 150,000 visitors annually and was known as the "Waldorf in the Catskills," abandoned its operations in 1986.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/08/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  1930s-1986: Opulence decays in 50 years.
Look at 'Desperate Housewives of...'
Posted by: Skidmark || 07/08/2018 1:17 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Armed group kills two workers in second attack on Libya’s Man-made River project
[LIBYANEXPRESS] Unidentified button men killed two workers and kidnapped two others at a water plant in southeastern Libya early on Saturday, the second attack targeting water facilities in two days, officials said.

"An armed attack was carried out by terrorist groups on the Tazirbu site causing havoc, looting, killing and terrorising families, children and the workers who ensure the supply of water to cities," said a statement from the Man-made River Project.

An engineer and a guard were killed and two guards were kidnapped in the raid. The assailants also stole cars and supplies from the site, the statement added.

On Friday, members of an unidentified gang kidnapped three Filipinos and one South Korean employed as technicians at the al-Hassouna plant, part of the same water network connecting desert wells to towns and cities in northern Libya.

It was not clear who carried out either of the attacks, but gangs including Islamist turbans linked to al Qaeda and ISIS have a presence in Libya, especially in remote desert areas.
Posted by: Fred || 07/08/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [16 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring

#1 
Posted by: Jack Chaiter7913 || 07/08/2018 23:10 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Civilian killed, another wounded in bomb blast, west of Anbar
Anbar (IraqiNews.com) A civilian was killed, while another was injured in a kaboom, west of Anbar, a security source from the police of the province said on Saturday.

"A bomb, from the remnants of war against Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
went off as a vehicle was passing at the eastern axis of Rutba town, west of Anbar, leaving a civilian killed and another injured," the source told BasNews.

War remnants, according to the source, who preferred anonymity, "still exist at several regions at west of Anbar."
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/08/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Science & Technology
Nigeria: BCG Can Reverse Type 1 Diabetes to Almost Undetectable Levels, Eight-Year Study Shows
[All Africa] An eight-year study has shown the Bacillus Calamine Guerin (BCG) vaccine against tuberculosis can reverse Type 1 diabetes to almost undetectable levels.

United States (US) researchers found that just one jab, followed by a booster four weeks later, brought down average blood sugar levels to near normal within three years, and the effect lasted for the following five years. According to the report published in The Telegraph UK, experts hailed the results as "very exciting" and said such a treatment would be a "major advance" in the treatment of Type 1 diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease where the body attacks cells in the pancreas, which produce insulin. Insulin is needed to move sugar from the blood to cells where it is used as energy and without regular top-up injections, patients can fall into a lethal coma.

But the new study suggests that just two injections of BCG could virtually cure the condition for many years at a time.

"This is clinical validation of the potential to stably lower blood sugars to near normal levels with a safe vaccine, even in patients with longstanding disease," said Dr. Denise Faustman who led the trial at Massachusetts General Hospital.

"In addition to the clinical outcomes, we now have a clear understanding of the mechanisms through which limited BCG vaccine doses can make permanent, beneficial changes to the immune system and lower blood sugars in type 1 diabetes."

Used for almost a century to prevent tuberculosis, the BCG vaccine helps boost and regulate the immune system. The team also discovered that the jab speeds up the rate by which cells convert glucose into energy and tests on mice show that it could also be beneficial against Type 2 diabetes.

The new study involved 52 people with Type 1 diabetes. After three years of treatment average blood sugar levels had dropped by 10 per cent and by 18 per cent after four years. Treated participants had an average blood glucose score of 6.65, close to the 6.5 considered the threshold for diabetes diagnosis.

In comparison, the blood sugar of those in the placebo group continued to rise over the trial period.

Commenting on the research, Prof Helen McShane, Professor of Vaccinology, at the University of Oxford, said: "The finding that two doses of BCG, a safe vaccine that is almost 100 years old, can significantly improve the control of blood glucose in patients with established type-1 diabetes, is very exciting.

Posted by: Fred || 07/08/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [20 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Odd that suddenly vaccines are curing ailments other than their targets.

Could HPV Vaccine Treat Skin Cancer?

Is somebody looking at old data for secondary effects or is there a new formulation for protein transport?
Posted by: Skidmark || 07/08/2018 1:10 Comments || Top||

#2  Zoonotic helminths (HIE) may cause blindness with severe socio-economic consequences to human communities.

Transcript of Ellis Kackley, Pioneer Doctor
Ellis Kackley, Pioneer Doctor Background Grew up during Reconstruction Finished medical school at the University of Tennessee
Saw opportunity in the West and moved to Soda Springs, Idaho Robin Hood of the West Ellis' desire was to help people Often never charged for services Worked with frontier people as well as natives Had no issues charging the wealthy Creative cure to help shepherds' eyes Infected the eyes of the shepherds with gonorrhea Gonorrhea would kill the infection
Would then use nitrate of silver to kill the gonorrhea. Eyes were cleared of both initial infection and gonorrhea


A cure discovered by the good doctor, purely by accident.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/08/2018 4:50 Comments || Top||

#3  great news if it is replicated

a fair number of medical breakthroughs have been by chance
Posted by: lord garth || 07/08/2018 19:44 Comments || Top||

#4  a fair number of medical breakthroughs have been by chance

"Aw, crap! There's mold all over this Petri dish."
-- Alexander Fleming
Posted by: SteveS || 07/08/2018 20:24 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
7 including MMA candidate injured in Bannu blast
[DAWN] At least seven people including the candidate of Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) were injured when his convoy came under bomb attack in Bannu of Saturday, DawnNewsTV reported.

According to police, the MMA’s candidate from the PK-89 constituency, Sherin Malik was campaigning for elections in Takhti Kheil area of Bannu when a blast occurred targeting his convoy.

The MMA leader along with six other people suffered injuries and were rushed to nearby DHQ hospital.

According to police, the explosive was planted in a motorcycle which was detonated remotely.

There has been no immediate claim by any militant groups for the blast.

Earlier this month, at least 10 people were injured in a blast at the election office of a Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) candidate in Razmak tehsil of North Waziristan tribal district.

Posted by: Fred || 07/08/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [17 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Large fire caused by kite sent from Gaza rages outside Israeli kibbutz
[IsraelTimes] Two fires blazed near Israeli communities near the Gazoo Strip Saturday afternoon, caused by incendiary kites flown into Israel from the territory.

A large fire was raging near Kibbutz Or Haner, Channel 10 news reported. Nine firefighting teams were at the scene, with the support of four firefighting aircraft.

A second fire was reported near Kibbutz Nir Am.

Officials said there was no current danger to the communities themselves.
A subsequent article from Ynet adds:
The fires continued to rage over the weekend, with 18 blazes breaking out on Saturday in the Shaar HaNegev, Eshkol and Sdot Negev regional councils. All of the fires were put out.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/08/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [12 views] Top|| File under: Hamas


Iraq
Bomb blast leaves three farmers dead in Kirkuk
Baghdad (Iraqinews.com) ‐ Three farmers were killed Saturday in a kaboom southwest of Kirkuk,
... a thick stew of Arabs, Turkmen, Kurds, and probably Antarcticans, all of them mutually hostile most of the time...
a security source was quoted as saying.

"A bomb went kaboom! today afternoon in al-Riyadh district in Hawija, southwest of Kirkuk, leaving three farmers dead," the source told Iraqi website Baghdad Today.

A security force carried the bodies into the forensic medicine department, according to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

No group has so far grabbed credit for the attack, but the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
(IS) krazed killer group, in most cases, is responsible for attacks targeting crowded areas, including markets, cafes and mosques across Iraq.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/08/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [15 views] Top|| File under:


Islamic State members arrested, weapons confiscated, northwest of Mosul: Commander
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Several Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
leaders were tossed in the slammer
You have the right to remain silent...
, while stash of weapons were confiscated, northwest of djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
, a police commander said on Saturday.

Speaking to BasNews website, Maj. Gen. Hamad Names al-Jabouri said "security troops of Nineveh Operations Command started an operation in al-Atshana village in Badush town to comb the region."

Troops, according to Jabouri, "confiscated a weapon stash in al-Atshana mountain as well as trench that had food commodities, pots, medicines and digging tools in Badush, west of Mosul."

Moreover, Jabouri added that troops "arrested around 13 leaders, possessing weapons. They were taken to Nineveh Operations Command headquarters for investigations."

Police also "arrested five Islamic State members, wanted for judiciary, two of whom worked for the group’s security department, while the three others were fighters within the group." They were arrested in al-Intissar district, southeast of Mosul.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/08/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [17 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Home Front: Politix
'Divisive' label a badge of honor for today's conservatives
[WASHINGTONTIMES] CNN host Brian Stelter just claimed Trump is “poisoning the American people” by unfairly attacking the media and selling the idea that the press is a true enemy of the public, filled with fake-newsers, the Daily Caller reported.

His message is clear. Trump’s divisive; he’s dividing the nation. He’s not a uniter. Forget the fact the media started the whole “Trump’s a circus” divide-and-conquer messaging back during the campaign. Plenty of others besides Stelter have opined similarly.

“Trump’s First State of the Union: A Divisive President Delivers a Dictator’s Speech,” a columnist at Variety once wrote.

Or this, from a writer at the New York Times: “A Divider, Not a Uniter, Trump Widens the Breach.”

Or this, from Time: ‘How Donald Trump Made DACA More Divisive With One Phrase” and another, “Donald Trump’s Unprecedented, Divisive Speech.”

The list goes long. But the united theme’s the same.

“Most Americans agree,” summed one Washington Post headline. “President Trump is divisive.”

This is the part where Trump’s supposed to be cowed. Right? But oops, missed the cue card, he’s not playing by the rules. He’s creating his own game. He rants on Twitter, he mocks the media, he speaks of “Rocket Man” and “Pocohontas” and “fake news” and how votes for Democrats are actually votes for MS-13, and all along his White House rarely, if ever, walks back or shies from weighing in on a range of issues using other similarly labeled “divisive” rhetoric.
Posted by: Fred || 07/08/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [10 views] Top|| File under:

#1  CNN host Brian Stelter just claimed Trump is “poisoning the American people” by unfairly attacking the media and selling the idea that the press is a true enemy of the public,

So you believe you're above criticism, Costanza? I figured that shit out about forty years ago, asshole, and I'm certain that millions of others have reached that same conclusion in the past couple of years. It bears repeating - I believe that might be the biggest contribution Trump has made since he began campaigning, exposing this truth. Now go fuck yourself with a telephone pole.
Posted by: Raj || 07/08/2018 0:41 Comments || Top||

#2  CNN host Brian "Tater" Stelter just claimed Trump is “poisoning the American people”

from CNN - home of Jim Acosta
Posted by: Frank G || 07/08/2018 7:58 Comments || Top||

#3  Diverse Rhetoric.

Or are they saying their diverse imports cause division?
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 07/08/2018 8:17 Comments || Top||

#4  Nmm! Starts with 'D' just like deplorable! Thank you!
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 07/08/2018 8:24 Comments || Top||

#5  From the perspective of breaking up the cronyism, exposing corruption, and shining a light on the elites hypocrisy you want to call him divisive? OK, I'll agree. But from the blue collar side of this great nation, the working class in what they call fly over states, we call him the man who was sent to clean up the DC mess before its too late....
Posted by: 49 Pan || 07/08/2018 13:47 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
PML-N on the rack
[DAWN] I NEVER thought a day would come when I would feel sorry for Nawaz Sharif
... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf, then by the courts...
Here is a man whose political career was launched with the blessings and support of Zia ul Haq
...the creepy-looking former dictator of Pakistain. Zia was an Islamic nutball who imposed his nutballery on the rest of the country with the enthusiastic assistance of the nation's religious parties, which are populated by other nutballs. He was appointed Chief of Army Staff in 1976 by Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, whom he hanged when he seized power. His time in office was a period of repression, with hundreds of thousands of political rivals, minorities, and journalists executed or tortured, including senior general officers convicted in coup-d'état plots, who would normally be above the law. As part of his alliance with the religious parties, his government helped run the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan, providing safe havens, American equipiment, Saudi money, and Pak handlers to selected mujaheddin. Zia died along with several of his top generals and admirals and the then United States Ambassador to Pakistain Arnold Lewis Raphel when he was assassinated in a suspicious air crash near Bahawalpur in 1988...
in the early 1980s when the dictator plucked the young businessman out of obscurity to make him Punjab’s finance minister. Soon he was elevated to the province’s chief ministership. He leveraged both jobs into boosting his family’s business interests.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 07/08/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [13 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Africa Subsaharan
Airline board sacked after PM left stranded
[DAWN] The board of Mozambique’s national airline, LAM, has been sacked after the carrier cancelled flights this week because of financial difficulties that meant it could not pay for fuel, at one point marooning Prime Minister Carlos Agostinho do Rosario.

State-controlled LAM said it was working to ensure flights resumed on Friday after the government intervention.

The war-scarred southern African nation sits on some of the world’s largest untapped natural gas reserves but has been cut off from multilateral and foreign donors after the government admitted to $1.4 billion of undisclosed borrowing in 2016.

Mozambique has been rocked by a spate of beheadings and kidnappings in recent months that have prompted international energy firms operating in the northern Cabo Delgado province to introduce added security measures.

Posted by: Fred || 07/08/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
ATC examines Rao’s presence at crime scene
[DAWN] An antiterrorism court on Friday heard arguments from the defence and complainant’s counsel on the forensic investigation report regarding presence of the then SSP Malir Rao Anwar at the site where Naqeebullah Mehsud and three others were allegedly killed in a ’staged’ encounter.

The ATC-II judge had directed the defence and complainant’s counsel to argue on the Call Data Record (CDR) and geofencing reports relating to location and calls’ record of the mobile phones under use of the suspended SSP on Jan 13, when the alleged fake encounter took place in Malir.

The suspended SSP and his 11 detained subordinates along with around 15 absconding officers are accused of abducting an aspiring model hailing from South Wazoo, Naseemullah, better known as Naqeebullah Mehsud, for ransom and killing him with three other detainees by dubbing them as "militants" in a staged encounter in Malir.

Posted by: Fred || 07/08/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Africa Subsaharan
Rebel leader Riek Machar to be reinstated as South Sudan vice president
[PRESSTV] South Sudan’s warring parties have agreed to a power-sharing agreement according to which rebel leader Riek Machar will be reinstated as vice president.

"It has been agreed that there will be four vice presidents: the current two vice presidents, plus Riek Machar (who) will assume the position of first vice president, and then the fourth position will be allocated to a woman from the opposition," said Sudanese Foreign Minister al-Dierdiry Ahmed on Saturday.

The deal was reached in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, in an attempt to end South Sudan's civil war, which broke out in 2013 after a political dispute between President Salva Kiir and Machar turned violent.

The two sides have been involved in a cycle of retaliatory killings that have split the impoverished country along the ethnic lines. Tens of thousands have been killed and millions displaced in the conflict.
Posted by: Fred || 07/08/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under:


China-Japan-Koreas
NORKS pull off the 'happy-talk' mask, now disappointed by talks with Pompeo
From a posting late yesterday from our own Elmerert Hupens2660.
[France24] High-level talks between the United States and North Korea appeared to hit a snag on Saturday as Pyongyang said a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had been "regrettable."

North Korea also accused Washington of making "gangster-like" demands to pressure the country into abandoning its nuclear weapons.

The statement from the North came just hours after Pompeo wrapped up two days of talks with senior North Korean officials without meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un but with commitments for new discussions on denuclearization and the repatriation of the remains of American soldiers killed during the Korean War.

While Pompeo offered a relatively positive assessment of his meetings, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the U.S. betrayed the spirit of last month’s summit between President Donald Trump and Kim by making "unilateral and gangster-like" demands on "CVID," or the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of North Korea.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/08/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [18 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  This erratic, unpredictable and unreliable demeanor has always been typical for North Korea.

This time, however the POTUS is willing and able to behave in a similar way as was shown when Trump agreed to and then canceled and then re-agreed to holding the summit.
Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660 || 07/08/2018 2:01 Comments || Top||

#2  Given that CVID was the whole point, I'm guessing the Norks are just working for a better deal - probably some money to pay for cleaning up their nuke junk. Trump can handle this.
Posted by: SteveS || 07/08/2018 3:56 Comments || Top||

#3  NK has always seemed like it had multiple personalities. Maybe they control internal stress by permitting the 'stressed' to blurt out something like this. If it is too extreme and outside any 'consensus', then strapping the 'stress inducer' to the muzzle of some weapon can bleed off that stressor.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike || 07/08/2018 9:51 Comments || Top||

#4  "But they were supposed to give us something. They didn't give us something."
Posted by: ed in texas || 07/08/2018 11:29 Comments || Top||

#5  Maybe Sister has some power behind her brother. When he got home, there was some 'family' discussion.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/08/2018 19:10 Comments || Top||

#6  This is part of bargaining. Things were probably not going their way on some issue and threatening to derail the whole thing is a tactic.
Posted by: ruprecht || 07/08/2018 21:04 Comments || Top||

#7  Pompeo says North Korea should follow Vietnam's example and trust U.S.

I understand what Pompeo likely meant. But given the parallels between the post WWII history both of Vietnam and Korea the invocation of Vietnam is prone to be misunderstood by the Koreas, Japan, Taiwan and other US allies.

The Norks might now expect to be offered the South in exchange for CVID.
Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660 || 07/08/2018 21:35 Comments || Top||


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Strzok Failed His Polygraph Yet Retained Security Clearance and Position on Two Investigations
[THECONSERVATIVETREEHOUSE] FBI Agent Peter Strzok failed his polygraph and his supervisors were notified on January 16th, 2016, his results were “out of scope“. Meaning he failed his polygraph test. Yet he was never removed from any responsibilities; and against dept policy, he did not have his clearance revoked until he could clear.
Posted by: Fred || 07/08/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [16 views] Top|| File under:

#1  As Mickey Kaus said nearly two decades ago - 'do you know how difficult it is to fire a Federal employee?' Here's your proof.
Posted by: Raj || 07/08/2018 0:31 Comments || Top||

#2  Having worked with elementary teachers across the USA in the 70's and early 80's, it became hard enough for me to digest that we had such bad teachers, that I left the business.

We couldn't get rid of them.

And yes, Strzok is to testify on Tuesday, but as Trey Growdy said, "I had 11 hours with him in closed session. And asked every question I wanted. But in open session, I have five minutes."

We only get to witness the five minutes.
Posted by: Sherry || 07/08/2018 3:58 Comments || Top||

#3  There are 535 members in the Congress, 100 senators and 435 representatives. From that number only 3 or 4 (Nunes, Gowdy, Jordan), appear to be somewhat actively engaged in the current FBI-Russian scandal.

What am I missing ?

Posted by: Besoeker || 07/08/2018 4:17 Comments || Top||

#4  ...politics is local? There are 535 wolves busy dividing up the public treasury sheep.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/08/2018 7:01 Comments || Top||

#5  Interesting, but not definitive. Polygraph is too much a "voodoo science"...
Posted by: magpie || 07/08/2018 10:28 Comments || Top||

#6  So the point of a polygraph test is to provide employment for the testers? There are no consequences?
Posted by: Bobby || 07/08/2018 11:56 Comments || Top||

#7  Polygraph is too much a "voodoo science"...

For the GP, a poly can readily narrow the range of subject matter of interest for further investigation.
Posted by: Skidmark || 07/08/2018 13:11 Comments || Top||

#8  ...not to be confused with a Mueller which expands the areas of interest.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/08/2018 19:08 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Somalia: 13 Killed 40 Injured in Interior Ministry Al-shabaab Attack
[All Africa] At least 13 people were killed in a complex attack launched by Somali hard boy group Alshabaab targeting the interior ministry headquarters in the capital Mogadishu.

Among the dead are three 3 faceless myrmidons who were bumped off by Somali special forces in a heavy exchange of fire that followed two VBIED kabooms.

Two employees from the ministry of interior have been confirmed dead among them a senior staff.

Four government soldiers were killed in the attack.

ONLF's Qalbi Dhagah Receives Heroic Welcome In Nairobi

10 Killed In Alshabaab- Clan Militia Clash In Mudug

Farmaajo To Trump: "We Are Grateful For Thie Enduring Demonstration of Solidarity"

The faceless myrmidons are said to have disguise themselves as Somali security agents and accessed a security checkpoint before the VBIED kaboom and exchange of fire.

Alshabaab grabbed credit for the attack.

This is the first major attack by the Alqaeda affiliated group in the capital recently.

Posted by: Fred || 07/08/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [10 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab (AQ)


Iraq
Two Filipino women kidnapped on road to Iraq’s Kurdistan
[PRESSTV] Two Filipino women have been kidnapped on a road linking the Iraqi capital Baghdad to the Kurdish city of Erbil, security and local officials say.

The women were traveling to northern Iraq with three other Filipino nationals on Saturday when their car broke down, Reuters reported.

When the two women exited the car, unidentified men driving a yellow car pulled over and took them, a security source said.

The identity and motivation of the kidnappers is still unknown and no group has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping yet.

There has been a surge in violence and abduction incidents by remnants of the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in the area over the past weeks.

Posted by: Fred || 07/08/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [13 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syria experienced 186 massacres in first half of 2018: monitor
[Rudaw] The Syrian Network for Human Rights, a UK-based conflict monitor, has documented at least 186 massacres perpetrated by different parties across the country in the first half of 2018. Fifteen occurred in June.

In a new report, the monitor uses the term massacre "to refer to an incident in which five peaceful individuals or more are killed in the same attack."

Based on this definition, these massacres resulted in the death of 2,257 civilians ‐ 660 of them children and 479 of them women.

"This means that 51 percent of all victims were women and kiddies," the report said.

The research is based news reports, survivor accounts, eyewitnesses, local media activists, and videos and photographs posted online or sent to the monitor by local activists.

Forces loyal to the Syrian regime of Bashir al-Assad were found to be responsible for 122 of these massacres ‐ killing 1,502 civilians, including 385 children and 295 women.

Russian forces were found to be responsible for 24 massacres ‐ killing 291 civilians, including 103 children and 68 women.

International coalition forces, which include the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), were found to be responsible for 15 massacres ‐ killing 199 civilians, including 101 children and 55 women.

Without naming the specific organizations, the report accuses "Kurdish self-management forces" of committing three massacres ‐ killing 28 civilians, including one child and 12 women.

A further 22 massacres were perpetrated by other parties ‐ killing 237 civilians, including 70 children and 49 women. Although these parties are not names, they could include ISIS, assorted Syrian opposition rebel groups, forces tied to The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund....
’s Operation Olive Branch and Operation Euphrates Shield, and Iran-backed militias.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights accused the Syrian regime of crimes against humanity, and its Russian backers of war crimes.

"Syrian-Russian alliance forces have violated Security Council resolutions 2139 and 2254 through indiscriminate attacks. Also, The Syrian and Russian regime have violated Article 7 and 8 of Rome Statute through the act of willful killing, as well as the rules of the international human rights
...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty...
law which guarantee the right to life," the monitor said.

"Given that these violations were committed in a non-international armed conflict, they qualify as war crimes."

It called on the UN Security Council and the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate.

It also criticized the coalition for failing to take adequate steps to protect civilian life.

"Attacks by Coalition forces (the international coalition and SDF) have caused collateral damages that involved loss of lives, injuries, or significant damages to civilian facilities," the report said.

"There are strong indicators suggesting that the damage was too excessive compared to the anticipated military benefit."

The report called on states that support the Kurdish-led SDF to pressure these forces to comply with international law and to end support and provision of weaponry.

"Armed opposition factions should distinguish between civilians and military targets, and cease any indiscriminate attacks," the report added.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/08/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [18 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: Culture Wars
Major Chicago freeway shut down by anti-violence protesters
Posted by: Skidmark || 07/08/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [12 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Fully endorsed by Chicago's mayor, Rahm Emanuel. Never let a crisis go to waste!
Posted by: Raj || 07/08/2018 0:23 Comments || Top||

#2  I'm guessing that'd be the Dan Ryan, as in, "the Dan Ryan Expressway, formerly lined with mile upon mile of towering, decrepit monuments to the Democrat Party's failed trillion-dollar 'War on Poverty,' monuments now dynamited into oblivion by that same party in the most impressive destruction of evidence since the Nazis backed out of Eastern Europe?"
Posted by: Ho Chi Sproing6139 || 07/08/2018 9:45 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Iraqi commander, companion injured in bomb attack in Baghdad
Baghdad (Iraqinews.com) ‐ An Iraqi tribal commander and one of his lover companions were seriously maimed Saturday in a kaboom in northern Baghdad, a security source was quoted as saying.

"A bomb went off near the house of a commander of the Tribal Mobilization Forces in al-Taji district in northern Baghdad, leaving him and one of his lover companions injured," the source told Baghdad Today website.

A security force cordoned off the blast site and carried the injured to a nearby hospital for treatment, according to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/08/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under:


Three guards killed, wounded in IS attack on oil pipeline in Baqubah
Diyala (Iraqinews.com) ‐ Three Iraqi guards were killed and maimed Saturday after a group of suspected Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
Death Eaters attacked an oil pipeline in Diyala.

"A security man guarding an oil pipeline in Soussa, 50 km west of Baqubah, was killed and three others were maimed in an attack by a group of IS suspects," Alsumaria News TV channel quoted a security source as saying.

The source gave no further details about the attack.

Earlier in the day, an Iraqi civilian was reportedly maimed after a bomb went kaboom! in an agricultural land in Baqubah.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/08/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [14 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


India-Pakistan
NAB obtains arrest warrants for Nawaz, Maryam and Safdar
[DAWN] The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Saturday obtained arrest warrants of PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam and son-in-law retired Capt Safdar, a spokesperson of the bureau said.

The development comes a day after an accountability court awarded 10 years in prison to ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif in the Avenfield properties reference, while his daughter Maryam Nawaz and her husband were sentenced to seven years and one-year imprisonment, respectively, for abetment.

Besides, a NAB team has already left for Mansehra, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, to arrest Safdar, the spokesperson said, adding that the caretaker government in the province has also been approached for their assistance in carrying out the arrest.

The spokesperson said that NAB has also obtained a copy of the detailed verdict, and will ensure its implementation.
Posted by: Fred || 07/08/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [14 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  So, he'll stay in London. Permanently
Posted by: Frank G || 07/08/2018 8:06 Comments || Top||

#2  Why doesn't the US have a National Accountability Bureau? I'd love to see Mueller and his crew be held accountable.
Posted by: jpal || 07/08/2018 13:31 Comments || Top||


The Grand Turk
Turkey swears in new parliament with pro-Erdogan majority
[AlAhram] Lawmakers Saturday began taking their oaths in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
's new parliament, with the ruling party of President Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First
... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey...
needing to rely on nationalist allies to ensure an overall majority.
Legislative polls were held simultaneously on June 24 with presidential polls, where Erdogan won a new mandate to extend his 15 year domination of Turkey under a new system that gives him greater powers.

But Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) was less dominant in the parliamentary elections, winning 295 seats and falling slightly short of an outright majority in the 600 MP chamber.

To ensure a majority it will have to rely on its ally, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) which won 49 seats in a far stronger performance than was predicted.

Analysts say the MHP could push the AKP into a harder line on Kurdish issues and foreign policy.

Opposition will be led by the secular Republican People's Party (CHP) which won 146 seats in the parliament.

The pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), which has been hit by a spate of detentions of its top figures, is the second largest opposition party with 67 seats.

The right-wing Iyi (Good) Party of Meral Aksener enters parliament for the first time after it was set up in October last year with 43 seats.

In a a speech to the AKP MPs ahead of the session, Erdogan said they had emerged as the largest party but nonetheless had "fallen short of the target" and needed to "correctly evaluate" the results.

The new MPs began the lengthy process of taking their oaths individually in a session chaired by senior Good Party member Durmus Yilmaz as temporary speaker. The process of swearing in each MP is expected to last until late into the night.

The AKP is expected to nominate outgoing Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, whose post is being extinguished under the new system, as permanent speaker but this has yet to be confirmed.

The new parliament is set to include some colourful characters as the AKP seeks to bring in figures from outside politics.

Former Turkey international footballer Alpay Ozalan, who famously taunted David Beckham in a notorious Euro 2004 qualifier, has been elected for the AKP.

Also elected for the AKP is the former world Supersport cycle of violence champion Kenan Sofuoglu, who raised eyebrows by showing for the ceremony in a Lamborghini sports car.

A high-profile new MP for the HDP is the investigative journalist Ahmet Sik, who was handed a seven-and-a-half year jail sentence in April along with other staff from the opposition Cumhuriyet daily but is free pending appeal.

Erdogan is himself to be sworn in at parliament on Monday, followed by a lavish ceremony at his palace marking the transition to the new presidential system. He said 22 presidents and 17 premiers of foreign states were expected to attend.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/08/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [10 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte

#1  Turkey's inflation rate hit an annualized 15% in June per initial reports.

Posted by: lord garth || 07/08/2018 1:20 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Zimbabwe: Grace Booted Out of Mazowe Dam
[All Africa] Former first lady Grace Mugabe's unbridled ambition to build a vast business empire in the scenic Mazowe area of Mashonaland Central province has suffered a major setback after the government repossessed the iconic Mazowe Dam she had grabbed in 2017, the Zim-bob-we Independent can reveal.

Prior to the grabbing, Mazoe Citrus, which runs a thriving horticultural plantation in the area, had a 60% stake in the dam, while government held the remaining 40%. The dam was built in 1918 to irrigate the citrus plantation and other crops.

Grace, nicknamed Gucci Grace or First Shopper, had taken advantage of former president Bob Muggsy Mugabe
Nonagenarian President-for-Life of Zim-bob-we who turned the former Breadbasket of Africa into the African Basket Case. Dumped in November 2017 when the Missus decided she wanted to be president, and opposed heer might against Crocodile Mnangawa Important safety tip: If your opponent goes by the name Crocodile andf your title is Shopper in Chief let him win....
's iron grip on power to establish a vast empire in the area spanning mining, agriculture and an elite private school -- which she marketed as the centrepiece of her philanthropic work. After privatising the Mazowe Dam in July last year, Grace barred local villagers, who had relied on fishing, from accessing the water body.

She also banned recreational activities such as fishing, canoeing and rowing while also restricting the Zim-bob-we National Water Authority (Zinwa) from managing the dam.

Zinwa's acting corporate communications and marketing manager Tsungirirai Shoriwa confirmed that the authority now had "normal access" to the dam. "The ownership of Mazowe Dam has never been a contested issue at any time. Only access to the dam was restricted on account of security," Shoriwa said.

"The security situation has since been reviewed, allowing Zinwa normal access to Mazowe Dam."

Mugabe, who ruled Zim-bob-we for 37 years, was toppled amid dramatic scenes in November last year through a military coup. Water and Environment minister Oppah Muchinguri did not respond to questions sent to her.

Mazowe Dam, the country's 16th largest reservoir, has a capacity of 39,35 million cubic metres of water. The seizure and effective privatisation of the dam was unlawful as it violated the Water Act. The Act stipulates that water should not be privatised, although section 3 says "all water is vested in the President", suggesting Mugabe could have granted permission to his wife to take over the dam. Section 4 of the Act states that there should be no private ownership of water.

"No person shall be entitled to ownership of any water in Zim-bob-we and no water shall be stored, abstracted, apportioned, controlled, diverted, used or in any way dealt with except in accordance with this Act. (2) Subject to this Act, a permit issued in terms of this Act shall confer upon its holder a right to the use of water in accordance with the permit," it says.

This made Grace's move illegal, although the clause indicating that a sitting president has final authority on water left the issue open to a controversial interpretation.

Posted by: Fred || 07/08/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under: Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life, & Kleptocrats


Home Front: Politix
Well said, Chief Master Sgt.George Roof, USAF (retired)
[FeralIrishman]
Posted by: brerrabbit || 07/08/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [10 views] Top|| File under:

#1  A fine, concise RANT!
Posted by: Skidmark || 07/08/2018 13:07 Comments || Top||


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Nunes calls for House probe of 42 Obama-era anti-Trump activists
[WASHINGTONTIMES]
Posted by: Fred || 07/08/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  BP calls for an orgy with the worlds top models...

Wake me when he GETS probe of taxpayer funded Anti-trump activists
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 07/08/2018 8:26 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Afghan forces rescue 7 civilians from a Taliban prison in Uruzgan province
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Afghan armed forces have rescued at least seven civilians kept prisoners inside a Taliban-run cell in southern Uruzgan province.

The Ministry of Defense (MoD) said the civilians were rescued during an operation conducted in Charchino district.

According to a statement released by the Ministry of Defense, at least eight militants were also killed during the clashes with the Afghan forces.

The statement further added that a vehicle, six motorcycles, 4000 kgs of explosives, munitions, drugs, and weapons were also destroyed during the same operation.

Posted by: Fred || 07/08/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [16 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Olde Tyme Religion
Middle East’s Christians are dwindling despite deep roots
Two thousand years deep, despite Muslim attemps over the centuries to cut them off, grub them out, and burn what remains..
[IsraelTimes] Today, members of the faith make up only 4% of the region's population, down from 20% before WWI

Christians have been rooted in the Middle East as minority communities since the birth of the religion, but their numbers are dwindling amid conflict and jihadist attacks.

Today they make up only four percent of the region’s population, down from 20% before the First World War, Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, said this month.

Pope Francis on Saturday voiced concern that Christians will eventually disappear from the region amid "murderous indifference" to their plight.

Here is a breakdown of the main Christian presence in the Middle East.

Egypt
Coptic Orthodox is the largest Christian denomination both in the region and in Egypt, where its members make up some 10 percent of the population.

They have little representation in government though, and have been targeted in anti-Christian attacks that have multiplied since the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
group appeared.

Since December 2016 more than 100 people have been killed in anti-Christian attacks in Egypt claimed by IS.

In April 2017 Copts were targeted in bombing attacks on two churches on Palm Sunday, killing 45 people.

The following month, button men rubbed out about 30 Christians who refused to renounce their faith.

Iraq
Chaldean Christians numbered 1.5 million in Iraq before the 2003 fall of Saddam Hussein but their numbers have since plummeted to less than 500,000, according to Chaldean Patriarch Louis Raphael Sako, appointed cardinal by the pope in June.

Many fled from the sectarian violence that followed Saddam’s ouster.

They were also pushed out of parts of northern Iraq in 2014 as IS jihadists seized control of vast swathes of territory.

Qaraqosh, once home to the country’s greatest concentration of Christians, was recaptured by Iraqi forces in October 2016.

Syria
Catholic and Orthodox sects comprise the majority of Christians in Syria, where they represented between five and nine percent of the population before civil unrest erupted in 2011.

According to the Chaldean bishop of Aleppo, Antoine Audo, half of Syria’s 1.5 million Christians have fled the country to escape the war.

Syria’s Christians have mostly sought neutrality throughout the conflict, while fearing the rise of jihadist groups. Many backed Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators...
for that reason.

Churches have been damaged or destroyed since 2011 and large numbers of Christians have been murdered or kidnapped.

Leb
Lebanese Christians, most of them Maronite Catholics, are the second largest group of Christians in the Middle East after the Egyptian Copts.

Today they represent less than 35 percent of Leb’s population, although there are no official statistics.

Leb has a Christian president ‐ the only one in the region ‐ under a power-sharing and parity arrangement that means there is a Sunni Moslem premier and a Shiite parliamentary speaker.

Israel, Paleostinian Territories
There are around 160,000 Israeli Christians, the vast majority of them Arabs in the north, representing about two percent of the population.

In the West Bank ‐ mainly in Bethlehem and Ramallah ‐ and East Jerusalem, there are nearly 50,000 Christians of various denominations.

Although now a minority in Bethlehem, where the Bible says Jesus was born, Christians play a central economic role.

In the Gazoo Strip the number of Christians, mostly Greek Orthodox, is in steady decline since the Islamist Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth", movement took power in 2007.

Jordan
Greek Orthodoxy and Catholicism are the largest Christian denominations in Jordan, where they make up about six percent of the population.

There are Christian members of parliament and members of the community play prominent rolls in society.

Pope denounces ‘complicit silence’ on Mideast attacks against Christians

[IsraelTimes] Pope Francis denounced the "complicit silence" that has allowed violence to consume the Middle East and drive tens of thousands of Christians from their homes, during a remarkable gathering Saturday of Orthodox patriarchs and Catholic leaders united in praying for peace in the region.

Francis hosted the daylong ecumenical service in the symbolically rich Adriatic port city of Bari, considered a bridge between East and West and home to the relics of St. Nicholas, an important saint in the Orthodox world.

Francis greeted the patriarchs outside the Basilica of St. Nicholas and together they descended to the crypt to pray before the relics and light a flame for peace symbolizing the unity of Christians.

For years, the Vatican has voiced concern about the plight of Christians driven from Mideast communities that date to the time of Christ. Just last week, Francis decried intensified attacks in southern Syria that killed scores of people and forced tens of thousands to flee.

Among the patriarchs on hand was the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, as well as patriarchs from ancient churches of Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem. Notably absent from the gathering was Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, which has been a strong supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin
...President-for-Life of Russia. He gets along well with other presidents for life. He is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substance. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to him. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substances...
’s military intervention in Syria. Kirill sent his deputy, Metropolitan Hilarion.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/08/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [16 views] Top|| File under:


Europe
After Approving ‘Trump Baby' Balloon, Muslim Mayor Gets Dose Of Own Medicine
[MadworldNews] After okaying a 20-foot-tall "Trump Baby" balloon to be flown over Parliament Square for the U.S. President’s arrival, London’s Muslim Mayor Sadiq Khan just received the perfect dose of his own medicine.

When Barack Obama was elected president, the left strangely lost their sense of humor in regards to satirizing the presidency. Eight years later, they’ve suddenly rediscovered the art of parody, relentlessly mocking President Donald Trump without end.

Unfortunately, the vitriol from the left has completely clouded what little rationality they had, causing them to spiral into desperation and insanity. Of course, their unhinged rage has produced little more than pitiful and cringe-worthy protests ‐ and it’s only making the case for Trump 2020.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Anomalous Sources || 07/08/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [19 views] Top|| File under: Moslem Colonists

#1  I was wondering how long that would take. I'm pleasantly surprised.
Posted by: gorb || 07/08/2018 2:18 Comments || Top||

#2  I'm cheered by the fact they have no actual arguments and are just resorting to insults.
Posted by: Herb McCoy || 07/08/2018 6:46 Comments || Top||

#3  I'm afraid there will be sharp implements at the state dinner. Could someone warn London police that unsafe implements may be used and have someone dull them immediately?
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 07/08/2018 8:35 Comments || Top||

#4  It'd only take one arrow from a compound bow to deflate that thing, right?
Posted by: Raj || 07/08/2018 10:59 Comments || Top||

#5  Attack of the giant paper mâché heads? Can't they come up with something new?
Posted by: magpie || 07/08/2018 12:33 Comments || Top||

#6  This is England.
Posted by: Regular joe || 07/08/2018 12:34 Comments || Top||

#7  It'd only take one arrow from a compound bow to deflate that thing, right?

True, but until you know what's in it you may not want to. That thing is big enough to lift a bit of plutonium dust beyond the range of the street side radiation sensors or disperse several gallons of a sarin solution.
Posted by: Skidmark || 07/08/2018 13:04 Comments || Top||

#8  So Monty Pythonesque...lol
Posted by: BrerRabbit || 07/08/2018 17:10 Comments || Top||

#9  ...so it's racist?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/08/2018 19:13 Comments || Top||

#10  They really should get that big Pink Floyd pig and float that as well.
Posted by: ruprecht || 07/08/2018 21:05 Comments || Top||


The Grand Turk
Turkey to continue Iraq operation to uproot PKK: Erdogan
[PRESSTV] President Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First
... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey...
has reiterated The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
’s determination to eradicate the threat of "terror", saying Ankara will continue its military operation in northern Iraq until the elimination of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

"We won't stop until we completely wipe off terror from our borders. The operations will continue until the PKK terror group is removed from Qandil and if needed from Sinjar," Erdogan said, while addressing members of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) in parliament on Saturday.

This as Ottoman Turkish military said on the same day that its warplanes had killed at least eight PKK Death Eaters in northern Iraq as well as Turkey’s restive southeastern Mardin province on Friday and Saturday.

The Ottoman Turkish General Staff wrote on its official Twitter account that fighter jets had conducted Arclight airstrikes in northern Iraq's Sinat-Haftanin regions and in the Omerli district of Mardin province, which is near the Syrian and Iraqi border.

In recent months, Ankara has stepped up air raids against suspected PKK positions in northern Iraq, particularly its stronghold in the Qandil Mountains. The Ottoman Turkish government has said it might launch a ground offensive into the rugged area, where top PKK members are believed to be stationed.

On June 8, Ottoman Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said troops had been "deployed in a 300-kilometer area, in 30 kilometers deep in northern Iraq" for a declared goal of eliminating PKK murderous Moslems. His comments came just a day after Erdogan said Ankara might strike the Iraqi city of Qandil "at any moment one evening."

Posted by: Fred || 07/08/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [12 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte

#1  Turkey is really, really starting to look like France under the Bourbon Kings, Picking wars with everybody on their borders: Greece, Crete, Syria, Iraq, and Armenia -- who's next?
Posted by: magpie || 07/08/2018 12:36 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
As war edges toward end, Iran faces hard fight to keep its influence in Syria
[IsraelTimes] Israel and the US are actively trying to force Tehran out, and even its allies Russia and the Assad regime don't seem eager for the Islamic Theocratic Republic to stay

The civil war in Syria is far from over. Syria’s citizens, certainly in Daraa in the south and Idlib in the north, could be in for long months of hardship before it’s done. And news of more battles, from Daraa to the Jordanian frontier, come on a regular basis now, as the Syrian army continues its advance southwards.

According to the Syrian army’s top spokesperson, its troops seized nine objectives along the Jordanian border this week in areas that had been under the control of rebels for the past few years.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/08/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [18 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  But the path ahead for Iran is looking considerably murkier.

Ah'm hoping it looks cratered.
Posted by: Skidmark || 07/08/2018 1:48 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Protesters confront McConnell leaving Kentucky restaurant
[THEHILL] Protesters confronted Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) as he was leaving a restaurant in his home state on Saturday.

The group threatened to vote McConnell out of office as he walked out of the Bristol Bar & Grille in Louisville and got into his car, The Courier Journal reported.

Video recordings of the encounter show other demonstrators chanting "Abolish ICE" and "No justice, no peace."

A protester demanded to know where the migrant children where after being separated from their families.

"Where are the babies, Mitch?" a protester was recorded asking in a video. The comments seemingly come in reference to the thousands of migrant children who were separated from their parents from April to June under the Trump administrations "zero tolerance" policy.

Trump moved to end family separations last month by signing an executive order, though no provision was made for the families who had already been separated.

A federal judge gave the Trump administration until late Saturday to release a list of the roughly 100 migrant children under the age of five who were detained separately from their parents upon being apprehended after entering the United States illegally.
Posted by: Fred || 07/08/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [10 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I think the libs finally overplayed their hand with these goon tactics, and I predict this will result in McConnell pulling out all the stops to get Trump's SC pick to pass the Senate (i.e., leaning / strong-arming Collins & Murkowski to vote yes) just to spite them.
Posted by: Raj || 07/08/2018 0:35 Comments || Top||

#2  Don't know what exactly the "abortion anywhere, anytime, for no reason at all, at the taxpayers' expense" crowd is worrying about. The states will be about as likely to follow Washington DC's lead as they seem to be on marijuana and sanctuary, which is to say not very much at all.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 07/08/2018 7:55 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Mahathir says Zakir Naik will not be deported to India
[DAWN] Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Friday that an Indian Islamic preacher allegedly wanted in his home country for terror-related activities and hate speech will not be sent back.

Zakir Naik, a television preacher, reportedly left India in 2016 and subsequently moved to largely Moslem Malaysia, where he was granted permanent residency.

According to Indian media reports, New Delhi asked for him to be extradited in January. The two countries have an extradition treaty.

"As long as he is not creating any problem, we will not deport him because he has been given permanent residency status," Mahathir said at a news conference in ad­­m­inistrative capital Putrajaya outside Kuala Lumpur, when asked about the reports.

The reports say India had asked for Naik to be sent back for allegedly inciting youth to engage in terror act­ivities via his hate speeches.

Naik, 52, has described the media reports as "totally baseless and false", adding that he has no plans to return to India until he felt "safe from unfair prosecution".

In 2010 Naik was reportedly barred from entering Britannia after the Home Sec­retary cited "numerous comments" which showed his "un­­­­acceptable behaviour".

Posted by: Fred || 07/08/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [14 views] Top|| File under: Salafists


Africa North
ICC issues a second arrest warrant of Mahmoud Al-Werfalli over war crimes
Because the first was so effective?
[LIBYANEXPRESS] On 4 July 2018, Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (“ICC” or the “Court”) issued a second warrant of arrest for Mahmoud Mustafa Busayf AL‑WERFALLI (“Mr. Al-Werfalli”) for his alleged responsibility for murder as a war crime in the context of the non-international armed conflict in Libya.

The Chamber found that there were reasonable grounds to believe that Mr. Al‑Werfalli directly committed murder as a war crime in the context of an eighth incident which took place on 24 January 2018, when Mr. Al-Werfalli allegedly shot dead 10 persons in front of the Bi’at al-Radwan Mosque in Benghazi, Libya. The Chamber found the case against Mr. Al-Werfalli to be admissible before the Court, due to the lack of investigative activities in Libya.

This second warrant of arrest complements a first warrant of arrest issued by Pre‑Trial Chamber I on 15 August 2017 for Mr. Al-Werfalli’s alleged responsibility for directly committing and ordering the commission of murder as a war crime in the context of seven incidents, involving 33 persons, which took place from on or before 3 June 2016 until on or about 17 July 2017 in Benghazi or surrounding areas, in Libya.

The situation in Libya was referred to the ICC Prosecutor by the United Nations Security Council in its Resolution 1970 dated 26 February 2011. On 3 March 2011, the Prosecutor announced the decision to open an investigation in the situation in Libya.

Posted by: Fred || 07/08/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11 views] Top|| File under:



Who's in the News
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1Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life, & Kleptocrats
1Salafists
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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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Two weeks of WOT
Sun 2018-07-08
  Live updates: Thailand cave rescue: navy Seals confirm four boys have been rescued – live
Sat 2018-07-07
  Former Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif sentenced to 10 years in jail
Fri 2018-07-06
  600 airstrikes by Russian, Syrian jets against Daraa: Observatory
Thu 2018-07-05
  Scott Pruitt driven to resign effective July 6
Wed 2018-07-04
  Happy 4th of July! Rare US independence declaration found in UK archive
Tue 2018-07-03
  An Iranian diplomat was arrested in a plot to blow up a massive 'freedom' event attended by Rudy Giuliani
Mon 2018-07-02
  Cleveland FBI says it thwarted downtown Fourth of July terrorist attack
Sun 2018-07-01
  Islamist militants attack African military base in Mali, at least six dead
Sat 2018-06-30
  South Korea to tighten asylum laws as hundreds of Yemenis arrive
Fri 2018-06-29
  Haftar's forces say they have captured Libyan city of Derna
Thu 2018-06-28
  MD Sheriff: 'Multiple Fatalities' in Annapolis Newsroom Shooting
Wed 2018-06-27
  Anthony Kennedy retiring from Supreme Court
Tue 2018-06-26
  SCOTUS upholds Trump travel ban
Mon 2018-06-25
  Killing Islamic State senior member in coalition airstrike separates Baghdadi from west of Iraq: Expert
Sun 2018-06-24
  TTP appoints Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud as chief after Fazlullah's killing

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