Rescuers in Thailand on Monday freed four more members of the boys soccer team stranded in a flooded cave complex, as part of the second phase of a desperate rescue operation that aims to save four more kids and the team's coach before heavy rains imperil the effort.
Chiang Rai acting Gov. Osatanakorn said at a news conference the rescue mission on Monday took only 9 hours compared to the 11 hours the previous day, adding that rescue crews are more familiar with the mission and additional help was present. A Thai army deputy commander added that the operation went "smoothly" but warned the next phase "will depend on all conditions".
Narongsak said that rescuers, which included 18 divers and 100 personnel, may need to adjust their operation if they choose to bring out the remaining five people on Tuesday, and that it may take multiple steps.
Posted by: Bobby ||
07/09/2018
16:01 ||
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#1
Logistics nightmare. Something like 10 hour swim (r/t) and all that air has to be transported in by swimmers and set up in stages for the boys, their rescue swimmers and all the supply swimmers. Sadly, it was already proven that mistakes are fatal.
#2
The rescue operation is turning out to be outstanding. Hope it ends well. Glad it is not a retrieval operation (except for the one body of the Thai Seal). A very complex rescue operation.
h/t Instapundit
A Memphis woman whose nephew beat cancer said she's experienced hateful online attacks because she thanked Eric Trump for his commitment to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Two Minutes Hate
[FOX] Lawyers for ex-Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort are raising concerns about a 2017 meeting between top law enforcement figures and Associated Press reporters, questioning whether "grand jury secrecy" was violated and revealing memos that say the reporters even offered investigators a "code" pertaining to their client’s storage facility.
The details emerged in a series of recent filings, including an effort by Manafort's attorneys to get his criminal trial moved from Northern Virginia, citing pretrial publicity.
"Mr. Manafort's legal issues and the attendant daily media coverage have become a theatre in the continuing controversy surrounding President Trump and his election," Manafort's lawyers wrote Judge T.S. Ellis, who is overseeing the bank and tax fraud case in Northern Virginia. A second prosecution, involving similar charges, is underway in Washington, D.C.
Arguing for a trial in Roanoke, Va., Manafort's legal team said an "inside-the-beltway jury" would be biased against their client.
But Manafort’s defense also is seeking a hearing on the April 2017 meeting involving FBI and Justice Department officials and four AP reporters ‐ after his team for months has argued that improper leaks to the media have put him at a disadvantage.
The recent filing contains two newly disclosed FBI memos documenting the April 2017 meeting. It included three FBI agents; a Justice Department trial attorney; an assistant U.S. attorney and Andrew Weissmann, then chief of the DOJ’s fraud division before he moved on to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe. The meeting also included four AP reporters: Chad Day, Jack Gillum, Ted Bridis and Eric Tucker.
"The meeting raises serious concerns about whether a violation of grand jury secrecy occurred," Manafort’s lawyers wrote in the filing. "Now based on the FBI's own notes of the meeting, it is beyond question that a hearing is warranted."
#1
Seems odd. Why would AP know about it unless someone snitched? How would it work its way over to DoJ? Seems like the DoJ is playing games here and found a patsy.
Steve Hilton is a former director of strategy for David Cameron, former Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party in the UK. Hilton studied American Government at Oxford, where they taught him "very little".
But he learned a lot in Philadelphia. 3:47 video, highly recommended.
Posted by: Bobby ||
07/09/2018
09:31 ||
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#1
The headline of the source article now reads: "The American system of government is under threat" A more accurate headline would have been: "The American system of government is severely degraded"
#2
His professors at Oxford didn't teach him anything about real American history. Wouldn't have any better luck from the credentialed lecturers in America's 'institutions of higher learning' either.
#3
"The melting pot, decentralized government, a republic of equals, a Constitution enshrining the precious idea of people power -- they are all under pressure and we need to fight for them."
[Interesting Engineering] A prominent terrorist organization is making environmental headlines rather than the dangerous political ones often associated with them. Al-Shabaab, a terrorist group based out of Somalia with ties to al-Qaeda, reportedly banned the use of single-use plastic bags.
In what many have pointed out as ironic, the terrorist group made the ban because plastic bags are "a serious threat to the well-being of both humans and animals," according to the BBC.
This isn't the Islamic extremist group's first environmentally friendly announcement. The group has also barred members from logging rare trees.
However, none of this takes away the fact that Al-Shabaab militants have been accused of and connected to the deaths of thousands of people. They've been on the global watch list for over a decade. The deaths that occurred at the hands of these terrorists include arranging hotel bombings, truck bombings, and stoning a woman to death, according to media sources. In 2017, the terrorist organization was associated with a truck bomb that killed more than 300 people in Somalia's capital of Mogadishu in October.
#5
Get with the program, Islamo-dudes. Plastic bags was last years boogeyman. This season, it's plastic straws that are going to destroy all life on earth. Try and keep up.
[Interesting Engineering] A new style of the drone could offer life-saving technologies onto battlefields and emergency disaster situations. Israel-based robotics company Tactical Robotics just tested a "mission representative" demonstration for its lead customer, the Israel Defense Forces.
The demonstration for the IDF took place at the Megiddo Airfield in the Galilee, according to Tactical Robotics. The Cormorant drone showed off exactly what it was built to do. It took a load of cargo through a pre-planned flight path. It then delivered that cargo load to a ground team. That team then loaded on a medical training manikin to simulate a casualty (rather than a wounded or injured patient).
Other than the unloading of cargo and loading one of the training manikin, the entire simulated mission was performed autonomously.
[Breitbart] Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said Sunday that Jesus would approve of gay marriage and certain abortions in an interview with HuffPost Live.
Speaking of his faith, Mr. Carter said in his career as a politician he never ran across "any really serious conflicts between my political obligations and my religious faith."
Asked about gay marriage, he replied that it is "no problem with me. I think everybody should have a right to get married regardless of their sex.
Regarding whether he thinks Jesus would approve of gay marriage, Carter replied "I don’t have any verse in Scripture," but added, "I believe that Jesus would approve of gay marriage."
"I think Jesus would encourage any love affair if it was honest and sincere and was not damaging to anyone else and I don’t see that gay marriage damages anyone else," he said.
The 39th president did add a caveat concerning religious liberty and the right to "opt out" of same-sex marriage.
"The only thing I would draw a line on," he said, is "I wouldn’t be in favor of the government being able to force a local church congregation to perform gay marriages if they didn’t want to. But those two partners should be able to go to a local courthouse or to a different church and get married."
#1
Peanut head..talk about your cultural malaise. Jimmah now relegated to 2nd worst president. Champ still 1st and increasing his lead esp. when/if all the deep state workings emerge and he is found to be orchastrating - or at least waving his arms while ValJar works the strings.
#2
Keep this line of thought in mind the next time you see an article, or perhaps many, decrying the mass exodus of the American public from churches. We haven't left the church they left us when they decided to rewrite everything in accordance with the latest Acela corridor fad.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
07/09/2018 13:04
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I can pretty easily imagine the chapter about Noah getting drunk and being taken advantage of by Ham being one of Jimmuah's nightly devotions...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
07/09/2018 13:21
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Carter was so good as a President that he only got one term and the Republicans followed with three to wash out the stables. And that's after Nixon stunk up the GOP brand.
#14
Never ran across any serious conflicts? I gather he automatically resolved them all in favor of what the party said. I heard he used to teach Sunday School. I hope this is a late-in-life deterioration...
Posted by: james ||
07/09/2018 21:16
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[Breitbart] BBC Newsnight has given a self-styled ’black radical’ free rein to insist that the West is "built on racism" and black people should unite to secure reparations and stage a "revolution".
Kehinde Andrews, who was appointed Britain’s first ever professor of ’black studies’ at the publicly-funded Birmingham City University, was invited to the publicly-funded broadcaster’s flagship news programme to speak to Emily Maitlis about his new book, Back to Black: Retelling Black Radicalism for the 21st Century.
The academic appears to be a favourite of the media giant, having also been filmed for a BBC 3 segment in which he argued the English flag should be scrapped ‐ in part because he believes the English were "flying this flag during the Crusades, and going around through Muslim countries trying to convert them" ‐ just last month, and for another Newsnight segment in which he argued British sports stars should "take a knee or clench a fist" during the British national anthem" because the country’s flag represents "oppression" last October.
#1
Would love to see a White male studies department show that African culture makes people poor and women and men choose differently and this explains any earnings gaps.
#3
I've got a feeling the call for revolution is more about reparations than revolution. Either that or this guy is a self-loathing black and wants to destroy the black race which is racist since most revolutions don't end too well. Black professors protesting from the academic lectern is kind of cheeky and expected these days with the lefty crowd.
#4
JQC, how about this guy is a spoiled baby who never learned a limits to "I want", because he grew up in a culture who rewards passion - not achievement.
#8
I would actually pay to send these revolutionaries on a one-way trip to Wakanda if they promised to give up American citizenship. Or they can just shut up.
#3
A program on the Hutterites and their take on communism was informative. They believe that if the community has more than about 200 people it can no longer maintain their "religious communal ownership" system and needs to split off a new "daughter colony".
So essentially, we have a group performing a long-term social experiment and the result is that: "Communism does not work for large groups. Period."
[Wash Times] This year, more than 610,000 Americans will die from heart disease. It’s the leading cause of death for both men and women.
For decades, doctors and nutritionists prescribed low-fat diets to people trying to lower their risk of heart disease. Saturated fats in meats and dairy products were thought to clog our arteries. Grains ‐ especially "whole" ones ‐ were thought to help everything from high cholesterol to digestion.
A growing body of research suggests this advice was wrong. For most people, it’s carbohydrates, not fats, that are the true cause of heart disease.
Consider a report published last year in The Lancet that studied nutrition among more than 135,000 people across 18 different countries ‐ making it the largest-ever observational study of its kind. The researchers found that people who ate the least saturated fat ‐ about the same amount currently recommended for heart patients ‐ had the highest rates of heart disease and mortality. Meanwhile, people who consumed the most saturated fat had the lowest rate of strokes.
Limiting intake of carbohydrates, rather than fats, is a surer way to decrease the risk of heart disease. An analysis of more than a dozen studies published in the British Journal of Nutrition found that patients on low-carb diets had healthier body weights and cardiovascular systems than those on conventional low-fat diets. I’m a cardiologist in Virginia and my own patients have seen the benefits of a low-carb, high-fat diet firsthand
#4
Don't forget the impact of di-hydrogen monoxide, the worlds most deadly compound.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
07/09/2018 8:25
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Humans have been eating carbs in large quantities for thousands of years. 80-85% of the daily caloric intake was wheat or other grains and those people actually had a greater daily intake than modern humans as they ate closer to 3000 calories a day.
The major difference is, they busted their asses from dawn to dusk and burned off those 3000 calories. Most modern humans sit on their ass and don't to the physical labor our ancestors did. Combine that with the easy calories of carbs and you have a perfect recipe for heart disease.
Up until the birth of agriculture 6,000 years ago, the majority of early man's diet was meat and fat. One dead buffalo could feed a tribe for weeks whereas waiting for the "crop" to come in takes months.
Looking in a site, the artifacts are not muffin tins and cookie sheets, it is knives, hide scrapers and pieces of bone.
This propaganda about man being mostly whole grains etc, is wrong. Most agriculture went to producing beer which was a cheap safe means of purifying water.
I'm on a ketogenic diet because of the Warburg effect. Cancer can only process glucose whereas normal cells can process fat through ketosis or glucose.
Just remember that insulin is your enemy and the lower your carb intake the less likely you are to develop type II diabetes or high levels of cholesterol...interestingly most people when they go high fat have their cholesterol go down.
#8
You are talking before there was a huge farming culture. After full farming took over in most of the world, around 2500-3000 years ago carbs were the dominate food.
It isn't propaganda, it is backed by archaeology. Bread and flat cakes are easy to make, have a nice calorie boost and can be stored for a long, long time.
Yes, for modern humans that don't burn 3000 calories a day, carbs can be deadly. But for our ancestors they were a vital and necessary foodstuff and demonizing them because we are fat lazy bastards doesn't tell the whole story.
#9
That and Official Government Guidelines™ offering dietary advice based on that mythical "Average Person" can be life threatening to the individual -- and we are all individuals!
#12
Been doing straight up Atkins for a while. Definitely losing belly fat but weight not changing much. Pants are not tight and I like grilled meat so I'm going with it.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
07/09/2018 13:25
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#10 Human genetics don't change in 3000 years, Darth. --g(r)omgoru
Why, yes, they do, every time under severe evolutionary selection. The Current generation of American Indians have genetic resistances to the "Old World Diseases" far different from pre-Contact. All the people that were highly susceptible died and failed to pass on their genes...
#14
William Hardy Williams' Plagues and Peoples was particularly chilling on his description that the initial generation exposed to a "killer" disease would have symptoms, bizarre lethal symptoms, that made it almost impossible to determine the pathogens from the records...
#15
Humanity were hunter gatherers for a long time. But with agriculture came cities and civilization (or with cities and civilization came agriculture).
The problems with that agriculture were not manifested for a long time because of the busting your ass effect Darth mentioned.
The real problem in the USA is the food pyramid that guided the 'healthy diet' is all carbs and it was created to please farm states because they vote early in the primaries.
#16
Why, yes, they do, every time under severe evolutionary selection. The Current generation of American Indians have genetic resistances to the "Old World Diseases" far different from pre-Contact.
That's not genetics, it's environment - what an immune system exposed to from early age.
#18
Human genetics don't change in 3000 years, Darth.
European's ability to tolerate lactose and the rapid spread of light colored eyes and hair beg to differ.
I would argue some of the modern issues with wheat/gluten/carbs has more to do with the types we now use and what we spray on them. Ancient grains like Spelt are no longer used. We use a drought resistant mutant that also has more gluten for a softer, springy bread. This is a fairly recent change in our diets. That with whatever crap they spray on it I believe does more harm than the carb itself.
My wife has serious reactions to modern gluten, joint inflammation and severe bloating, but can eat a sandwich made with organic Spelt just fine.
#21
#18 That's sexual selection Darth, and - with all due respect to Cavalli- Sforza - I'm not sure it took 3000, or even 30000, years.
Now about all this carbohydrate staff - everlooked on the changes hunter gathers' switch to agriculture brought
or what happened to Japanese after they became rich and started eating meat?
Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It, by Gary Taubes.
All about carbs and insulin and their effects on yer body. American dietary recomendations make you chronically ill. Then the doctors prescribe all kinds of drugs to mask the symptoms.
I recommend red meats, green vegetables and brown liqour. Its all you need to be healthy. Oh, and get off your ass and move around.
#26
Carbs? I like carbs. I got a tombstone diet and am a dead man walking. Been getting on down the road for quite awhile now with my carb diet. Wonder if our resident poet could get a country song out of that?
#28
this low-fat bullshit was pushed by the government, and conveniently helped a lot of large corporate agriculture companies. High fructose corn syrup is metabolic poison. Its replacement of sugar in the 70's marks the beginning of the type 2 diabetes epidemic. Correlation is not causation, but there is certainly something there to look at.
Best theory I've heard goes like this:
Fructose is metabolized in the liver, and elevated liver enzymes a precursor to type 2 diabetes, as part of "syndrome X". It creates intestinal difficulties with altered grellin production in the stomach (meaning you stay hungry in spite of eating), and that in turn alters intestinal processes. By altering intestinal processes, it can cause the loss of production of GLP-1. GLP-1 initiates and governs the insulin secretion and response, as well as triggering satiety (fullness) signaling in the brain. Once that goes haywire, the body starts screwing up insulin, and then resistance grows. That means insulin is overproduced because there is not enough GLP-1 made to signal the pancreas to stop. Excess insulin over time reduces the body's sensitivity to it. That leaves insulin sitting around, unable to enter the cells - which leaves insulin AND glucose in excess in the blood. insulin sitting around unused picks up the extra glucose going unused and causes the body to store it as adipose (fat) tissue. And fat tissue aggravates insulin resistance, completing the nasty circle. You eat, you dont get full until you've over eaten, your body doesnt use up the carbs but stores them as fat.
This leaves you full but hungry, tired from not enough energy in the cells, getting fatter, and with high blood sugar that damages the fine arteries and capillaries of your organs, including the kidneys, eyes, and the heart.
It is a nasty cycle that's hard to break unless you ditch carbohydrates nearly completely and start living off ketones which brings its own set of problems.
FYI, from what I read genetic changes can occur in the span of a couple of generations. Go look up epigenetics. Behavior and environment can favor expression of certain genes, as well as activating them and passing them on. The "selfish gene" and its impact on those of Irish descent and how they handle carbohydrates.
LONDON (Reuters) - Global shares hit a two-week high on Monday as favorable U.S. jobs data whetted risk appetites, while sterling brushed off the resignation of two ministers over Britain’s departure from the European Union as traders focused on the likelihood of a "soft Brexit".
[AP] Volunteer groups from several U.S. states were stranded in Haiti Sunday after violent protests over fuel prices canceled flights and made roads unsafe.
Church groups in South Carolina, Florida, Georgia and Alabama are among those that haven’t been able to leave, according to newspaper and television reports.
Some flights were resuming Sunday afternoon, according to airline officials and the flight tracking website FlightAware. American Airlines spokesman Ross Feinstein said in an email that two flights bound for Miami and one for New York had taken off Sunday afternoon.
But even getting to an airport could be risky, U.S. officials warned. The U.S. State Department issued an alert Sunday urging its citizens on the island to shelter in place and not to go to an airport unless travelers had confirmed their departing flight was taking off.
Dr. Salil Bhende, a North Carolina dentist, said in a phone interview that a group of about 16 dental clinic volunteers was supposed to fly out Sunday from Port Au Prince but couldn’t make it to the airport because the roads were unsafe. After encountering rubble and garbage in the road, the group turned back to a church about 45 minutes outside the capital city where it was staying. Airline officials told them they might not be able to get a flight home until Tuesday, Bhende said.
[Daily Caller] After losing the Democratic primary to a white incumbent, former Colorado congressional candidate Saira Rao has decided it is time to "give up on white people."
Rao tweeted a link to an April New York Times column asking the question "Should I Give Up on White People?." Rao commented, "Short and long answer: YES."
Rao, the daughter of Indian immigrants, challenged long-time Democratic Rep. Diana DeGette in the Denver congressional district, but only received 31 percent of the vote.
"I stand by it," Rao told Colorado Politics about her tweeted statement. "It’s incumbent on white people and not people of color to solve it," Rao said, just as it’s incumbent on men to solve sexism. (RELATED: Rutgers Prof: ’Officially, I Now Hate White People’)
If white people dislike being lumped in with white supremacists, that is because of their "white fragility," Rao added.
Though she was running as a Democrat, Rao wrote in December column for The Huffington Post that she had broken up with the party after noticing "that the love has been one-sided."
"You’ve taken my love, my money, my tokenism, with nary anything in return," Rao wrote in the open letter addressed to the Democratic Party.
#1
...That last line is, I think, rather telling. She knew she was a token, but did it anyways. Power? Self-gratification? Either way, it doesn't reflect well on Ms. Rao.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
07/09/2018 6:58
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#2
The dem party is going to keep running on their opinion that the majority of Americans are deplorable...
#6
Childish racism and stereotyping by a mental midget loser
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/09/2018 9:20
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#4 true that Nikki Haley got lots of white votes. I guess we South Carolina Republicans are just a LOT less racist than Colorado Democrats. Sensitivity training for them, maybe?
Posted by: Tom ||
07/09/2018 11:28
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Though she was running as a Democrat, Rao wrote in December column for The Huffington Post that she had broken up with the party after noticing "that the love has been one-sided."
That might explain her election loss. Just guessing but saying you want no part of the party you hope to elect you is probably a pretty bad strategy.
[Human Events] The Muslim penchant to target "white" women for sexual exploitation‐an epidemic currently plaguing Europe, especially Britain and Scandinavia‐is as old as Islam itself, and even traces back to Muhammad.
Much literary evidence attests to this in the context of Islam’s early predations on Byzantium (for centuries, Christendom’s easternmost bulwark against the jihad). According to Ahmad M. H. Shboul (author of "Byzantium and the Arabs: The Image of the Byzantines as Mirrored in Arabic Literature") Christian Byzantium was the "classic example of the house of war," or Dar al-Harb‐that is, the quintessential realm that needs to be conquered by jihad. Moreover, Byzantium was seen "as a symbol of military and political power and as a society of great abundance."
The similarities between pre-modern Islamic views of Byzantium and modern Islamic views of the West‐powerful, affluent, desirable, and the greatest of all infidels‐should be evident. But they do not end here. To the medieval Muslim mind, Byzantium was further representative of "white people"‐fair haired/eyed Christians, or, as they were known in Arabic, Banu al-Asfar, "children of yellow" (reference to blonde hair).
[Townhall] Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is less hideously unattractive than the usual Democrat potentate or potentatette and has therefore been anointed the new face of her pathetic party.
This dumb woman, who looks like Huma Abedin without the pedohubby and the weird relationship with Felonia Milhous von Pantsuit, took advantage of her even dumber New York district in order to get elected to Congress by calling herself a "socialist." Yeah, the subject of a thousand Trader Joe’s house brand chardonnay toasts is a proud adherent of the ideology that butchered 100 million people in the last century.
Considering how much mainstream liberals hate us Normal Americans for militantly defending our rights, it’s no surprise that they are looking to their leftist ancestors for some helpful hints about how to deal with us uppity, kulak-y obstacles to their rightful and permanent domination of society.
Totally unrelated: I know I’m super excited about the idea of giving up our guns right about now. How about you?
Ocasio-Cortez is an idiot, like all adolescent socialists, so she qualified to be the Great Pinko Hope for a party in decline. Here’s how bad she is ‐ she apparently went to college, got a degree in economics, and still ended up a socialist. If she went to med school, she would have probably left a chain smoker.
#1
I will itemize everything Soros sold for money during the Holocaust and run compound interest. His Family does not get shit when I AM done with this.
#2
Democrats love marxism because they are suffering from neoteny and want to regress to a point in time where they were looked after by their parents and bought everything.
#4
Several elections ago I asked a co-worker to define and defend "They should pay their Fair Share." Was it a "Fair Share' only if They are wealthier and pay more money than You? Who votes on this?
I also asked him if "...starving Africans can vote on increasing our Taxes so they can get more Foreign Aid?" He *blinked* and replied that "Of course not! They're not Americans!" The logical point that when you believe that 'Taking Other People's Money Is Good When You Want To' makes little quibbles like nationality irrelevant totally escaped him.
#6
Socialism has always been about legitimatizing stealing.
There you have it. At their core they are all thieves and murderers.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
07/09/2018 11:30
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#7
#1 I will itemize everything Soros sold for money during the Holocaust and run compound interest. His Family does not get shit when I AM done with this.
This happens this year or I will
Posted by newc
Please do newc, I would love to see such an list be made public. There's no need to wait!
[FOX] The U.S. Army soldier who was killed in Afghanistan in an "apparent insider attack" on Saturday has been identified by the Pentagon.
Cpl. Joseph Maciel, of South Gate, Calif., died from wounds sustained during an attack in the Tarian Kowt District of central Afghanistan's Uruzgan Province, according to a Defense Department statement.
Maciel was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division in Fort Benning, Ga. The task force infantry is deployed in Afghanistan in support of the 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade, officials said.
"Cpl. Maciel was an excellent Soldier beloved by his teammates and dedicated to our mission," Lt. Col David Conner, Maciel's battalion commander, said. "He will be greatly missed by the entire Black Lion family. Our prayers are with his family and friends during this difficult time."
#4
Our thanks to young Rightwing, jr. for stepping forward – and for having what it takes. So long as young men and women like your son think this country is worth protecting, we'll be OK.
I seem to recall that Afghan troops are even more likely to suddenly try to massacre in their fellows than to go after foreigners... but that doesn't make it acceptable. Some cultures are much better than others.
[American Thinker] Somebody with deep expertise on image creation got ahold of the latest darling of the left and glammed her up for her current role as the standard bearer for the socialist wing of the Democrats, the Great Hispanic Hope to lead the "browning of Amerca" toward a radical future. Sometime between 2011 and 2018, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez was transformed from an earnest and nerdy wannabe entrepreneur into a glamorous radical crusader for socialism, the delusion-of-the-moment that has captured the imagination of the malcontent demographic slice of America. Ponder for a moment the difference between this close-up from her campaign poster.
#3
In tandem with her transformation from nerd to a female Che Guevara, she morphed from capitalist to membership in a party that wants to “abolish profit.”
Probably the same Madison Avenue evil genius who re-packaged Obama and sold him. Maybe some wag was sitting in the bar where Alexandria Ocasio Cortez worked and said sweetie, I can make you a star. Or maybe it was the person who came up with the Lenscrafter ads.
Judging from the last few election results, it doesn't seem like Democratic socialism sells too well in flyover land; places where church/God, small business and the military are the still the most respected institutions; the place where Obama said people "cling to their bibles and guns."
[Khaama Press] The Afghan military carried out artillery strikes on a gathering of the Taliban militants in eastern Nangarhar province of Afghanistan, leaving at least 3 dead.
The 201st Silab Corps of the Afghan Military in the East said the military personnel of the 1st Kandak, 4th Brigade of Silab Corps, carried out artillery strikes on a gathering of Taliban in Khogyani district.
The source further added that the artillery strikes left at least three militants dead while seven others sustained injuries.
According to Silab Corps, the militants had gathered in Mamla Bagh area to plan a coordinated attack on security posts when they came under attack.
The anti-government armed militant groups including Taliban militants have not commented regarding the report so far.
Nangarhar has been among the relatively calm provinces since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001 but the anti-government armed militants have been attempting to expand their foothold in this province during the recent years.
However, the Afghan armed forces are busy conducting counter-terrorism operations to suppress the militant groups.
The US forces based in Afghanistan also conduct airstrike almost on routine basis to prevent the militant groups expand their foothold in this province.
[Khaama Press] The US forces based in Afghanistan have carried out an airstrike on a hideout of ISIS Khurasan in eastern Nangarhar province of Afghanistan, leaving at least four dead.
The provincial government media office in a statement said the airstrike was carried out late on Saturday night in the vicinity of Achin district.
The statement further added that the hideout of the terror group was targeted in Bandar area and as a result at least four ISIS Khurasan militants have been killed.
Several weapons and munitions belonging to ISIS Khurasan militants were also destroyed during the airstrike, the statement added.
In the meantime, the provincial government said at least three Taliban insurgents were killed during an operation of the Special Forces of the Afghan intelligence in Khogyani district.
According to the governor’s office in Nangarhar, the three Taliban militants killed during the operation were the explosives experts and a large quantity of explosives was also destroyed during the operation.
At least two suspects were also arrested during the same operation, the provincial government said, adding that the local residents and security personnel have not suffered any casualty during the airstrike and the operation in Khogyani.
[Khaama Press] At least sixty four holy warriors were killed or maimed during the ongoing military operations, Walid-9 operations, in three northern provinces.
The 209th Shaheen Corps of the Afghan Military in the North said the holy warriors were killed or maimed during the operations in Balkh, Faryab, and Baghlan provinces.
According to a statement released by Shaheen Corps, at least 38 holy warriors were killed in total in the past 24 hours in the three provinces while 26 others sustained injuries.
The statement further added that 22 of the holy warriors were killed during the operations in Chamtal district of Balkh where at least 16 others sustained injuries.
According to Shaheen Corps, at least 10 holy warriors were killed and at last 7 others sustained injuries during the operations in Almar district of Faryab province.
Shaheen Corps also added that 6 holy warriors were killed and at least 2 others sustained injuries during the operations in Dahan-e-Ghori of Baghlan province.
Several weapons, munitions, vehicles, and cycle of violences were also destroyed during the operations, the Shaheen Corps added in its statement.
According to Shaheen Corps, the operations are being with the support of the Afghan Air Forces which are providing close-air support to the ground forces.
The anti-government armed holy warriors including Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... bully boyz have not commented regarding the report so far.
[Khaama Press] The Ghazni city in southeastern Ghazni province came under mortar attack amid ongoing high level security meeting, the officials said.
The incident took place before noon time as the defense minister Tariq Shah Bahrami, deputy interior minister, and some other senior officials had participated in a security meeting.
The deputy spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense Gen. Mohammad Radmanish confirmed the incident and said a mortar round has landed away from the provincial government compound.
Gen. Radmanish further added that the attack has not inflicted casualties on the security personnel or civilians.
However, unconfirmed reports indicate that the mortar attack has left at least five people wounded, including security personnel.
The anti-government armed militant groups including Taliban militants have not commented regarding incident so far.
The minister of defense and other senior security officials arrived in Ghazni province earlier today to review the security situation of the province.
Ghazni is among the relatively volatile provinces in southeastern parts of the country but the security situation of the province has sharply deteriorated during the recent months.
[Khaama Press] The Taliban militants suffered heavy casualties during the airstrikes conducted in southeastern Ghazni province of Afghanistan in support of the ongoing operations.
The 203rd Thunder Corps of the Afghan Military in a statement said the airstrikes were conducted in Khumar Khel and Esa Khel areas of Moqor district.
The statement further added that the airstrikes were conducted as part of the ongoing Palang Sahra military operations which are jointly being conducted against the anti-government armed militants.
According to Thunder Corps, at least 41 militants were killed and at least 17 others sustained injuries during the airstrikes and military operations.
Two Dshk heavy machine guns installed on pickup type vehcles were also destroyed during the airstrikes along with a rocket launcher and PKM machine gune, Thunder Corps said, adding that the dead bodies of at least three militants were left behind by the other militants.
In the meantime, the Thunder Corps said a militant was killed during a separate clash with the security forces in Khair Kot district of Paktiak province and a Ak-47 assault rifle, a motorcycle, and Pakistani national identity card were also confiscated.
The anti-government armed militant groups including Taliban militants have not commented regarding the report so far.
[Khaama Press ] One US soldier was killed and at least two others sustained injuries in an apparent insider attack in South of Afghanistan.
"One U.S. service member was killed and two other U.S. service members were maimed during an apparent insider attack in southern Afghanistan, July 7," the NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... -led Resolute Support Mission said in a statement.
The statement further added that the maimed service members, who are in stable, pH balanced condition, are currently being treated.
No further details have been given regarding the incident and exact location where the attack took place but NATO said the incident is under investigation.
In the meantime, Afghan officials have told AFP that the incident has taken place in southern Uruzgan province of Afghanistan.
The Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... group issued a statement claiming that the attack was carried out by the Afghan soldiers and as a result four American soldiers were killed and a number of others have sustained injuries.
Uruzgan is among the relatively volatile provinces in South of Afghanistan where the anti-government armed bully boy groups are actively operating in some of its districts and often carry out terrorist related activities.
[AlAhram] Almost all displaced Syrians at the Nassib-Jaber crossing have left the Jordanian border and returned to Syria, Anders Pedersen, the U.N. resident and humanitarian coordinator in Jordan, said on Sunday.
Several thousand people fleeing an army offensive against rebels in southwest Syria had congregated in a free zone near the crossing.
[IsraelTimes] Move reportedly marks first time the terror group has deployed fighters along security fence since weekly festivities began in March
Hamas, the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood, has reportedly begun returning its security forces to the border between the Gazoo Strip and Israel, the first time the terror organization has done so since the start of deadly festivities in late March.
The forces, part of a Hamas unit tasked with maintaining calm on the border and preventing rocket attacks by "rebellious" terror groups, were deployed on Sunday to at least two different points along the border, Hadashot TV news reported.
The report said the move was likely due to tensions between Hamas and Islamic Jihad ...created after many members of the Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah... , and was intended to restore Hamas’s control of the border. On Friday, a member of the latter group mistakenly hurled a grenade at a group of Hamas fighters, killing one and injuring several others.
Despite the apparent effort to project calm, a report from the Kan public broadcaster said Hamas has been in a state of heightened readiness over the past month and has stepped up training for its military wing, in case of an armed conflict with Israel.
The Kan report said, however, that Israel’s defense establishment believes Hamas will forgo fighting in favor of improving the humanitarian situation in Gazoo, which faces a lack of electricity, drinking water, and proper sewage treatment.
The Hamas-run healthy ministry says 136 people have been killed since the start of the festivities. Many of those killed have been acknowledged as members of terror groups.
[IsraelTimes] Army says no troops injured in incident at Jit Junction near Nablus; suspect apprehended
A Paleostinian man threw a pipe bomb at an intersection in the northern West Bank Sunday, causing neither injury to nearby Israeli troops nor damage to their post, the army said.
A police sapper was called to the scene in order to disarm the bomb, and the Route 60 highway was temporarily closed in both directions, police said.
The incident took place at the Jit Junction, west of the Paleostinian city of Nablus.
IDF troops launched a search for the culprit, focusing on Nablus, with soldiers checking those entering and exiting the city, as well as sweeping the surrounding area.
A few hours later, security forces locked away Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! a suspect in the attack, and found two additional bombs in his car, the military said.
[AlAhram] A member 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... 's security forces and a Bangladeshi resident were killed in an attack on a security checkpoint in Buraidah, a city in Qassim Province north of the capital Riyadh, the state news agency said on Sunday.
"Three gunnies opened fire on the security checkpoint located at Buraidah-Tarafiya road in al-Qassim. The security forces fired back, killing two terrorists, and wounding the third," said a statement published by the state news agency (SPA).
The authorities have begun a criminal investigation, which is still the subject of a security follow-up, and developments will be announced in due course, the statement added.
Qassim is one of the most conservative pockets of the country.
Analysts say many young men from the region joined al Qaeda in Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... or Death Eater groups in Iraq.
Attacks on Saudi security forces became more frequent over the past few years after the authorities crushed an al Qaeda insurgency more than a decade ago.
In May 31, local media said two assailants stabbed to death a traffic policeman in the western Saudi Arabian city of Taif and then exchanged gunfire with security forces at a nearby National Guard facility.
In a newspaper interview US ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell has encouraged the German government to intervene and stop this delivery.
"German government circles" consider this issue to be "politically sensitive."
"Government circles" suspect the cause for this plan being revealed to the press was "political interest." I.e. they suspect that this was leaked to the press by the US or Israel.
[IsraelTimes] Monitoring group says target was a contingent of 'Iranian fighters' in the facility, which has been attacked by the Jewish state in the past
Syrian air defenses were activated near the T-4 air base in central Syria on Sunday night, in response to an Arclight airstrike on the facility, which Syrian state media attributed to the Israeli military.
Syria’s SANA news outlet claimed that the country’s air defenses "damaged one of the attacking aircraft and forced the rest to leave the airspace." The state mouthpiece also said that the air defenses intercepted a number of incoming missiles aimed at the base.
Defense analysts have noted that Syria regularly makes false claims about its air defenses’ success rates.
On Twitter, the Syrian state news outlet acknowledged that the airstrike caused damage to the T-4 air base, located between the cities of Homs and Palmyra.
Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britannia-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP that the missile bombardment killed an unspecified number of "Iranian and pro-regime fighters" at the T-4 base and was "likely to be Israeli."
In addition to the Syrian army, Iranian fighters and Lebanese Hezbollah troops are also stationed at the air base, according to the Observatory.
An opposition news site claimed nine fighters allied with the Syrian regime had been killed in the strike. The report could not be confirmed.
As a rule, the Israeli military does not comment on its operations abroad.
Syria’s state TV outlet published a video of a flash in the dark sky, claiming it showed the air defenses responding to the bombardment.
According to Syrian news reports, the air defense fire aimed at the Israeli jets included the launch of Russian-made S-200 anti-aircraft missiles.
Israel has attacked the T-4, or Tiyas, air base on multiple occasions.
Israeli defense officials have claimed the base is being used by Iranian forces as part of the Islamic Theocratic Republic’s efforts to entrench militarily in Syria, something Israel has vowed to prevent.
For years, Israel has been waging a quiet campaign against Iranian interests in the country. That campaign came to light and began stepping up considerably in February, when an Iranian drone carrying explosives briefly entered Israeli airspace, before it was shot down, Israel says. Simultaneously, Israel launched a counterattack on the T-4 air base, hitting the mobile command center from which the drone had been piloted.
[twitter] Interesting: China has been sending airborne troops to Venezuela since 1999 to take courses at the "Hunter School" jungle warfare, urban operations and special forces school - now sending PLA SOF-track cadets
#2
Bring Lots! A Vietnam Vet told me about buying extra toilet paper at the PX -- it went a lot farther than the local currency. Mama-san at the local bordello was most helpful.
[PhilStar] Thirteen Abu Sayyaf militants surrendered Saturday night to troops in a village in Talipao, Sulu. They surrendered themselves and their firearms and promised to turn over more weapons after the initial processing at the Special Forces headquarters.
Military spokesman Rey Divino Pabayo said the latest surrender was caused by continuous military pressure coupled with allowing Abu Sayyaf members to surrender peacefully and avail themselves of government services. He said, "This is a clear manifestation that we are achieving our goal of clearing Sulu Province from the menace of the ASG through peaceful means by giving them a better option and to reembrace the true essence of Islam."
Lt. Gen. Arnel dela Vega, head of Western Mindanao Command, welcomed the rebels' surrender and vowed to ensure they will get government support packages under the ‘Oplan Balik Loob’ program. He said, "We also urge the other remaining ASG members to do the same because there is nothing more fulfilling than to accomplish our mission without any bloodshed."
Earlier this year, President Rodrigo Duterte visited Sulu and where he met 70 former Abu Sayyaf rebels. He promised to provide assistance for those who voluntarily surrendered.
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Anbar (IraqiNews.com) An Islamic State leader has been arrested in an ambush set up in west of Anbar province, the Iraqi Security Media Center said on Sunday.
In a statement, Brig. Gen. Yahia Rasool, the spokesperson for the center, said military intelligence managed to trap a dangerous Islamic State leader after setting up an ambush. He was arrested in al-Tarabsha region in Ramadi.
The militant, according to Rasool, “is one of the militants who planned and carried out several terrorist operations that targeted security troops and civilians.”
Anbar (IraqiNews.com) An Iraqi officer, two soldiers were killed as a bomb targeted their convoy in Anbar province, a security source said on Sunday.
Speaking to Baghdad Today website, the source said, “a bomb targeted an army patrol in al-Nakheeb region in Anbar, leaving a colonel and two soldiers, accompanying him, killed.”
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Mosul (Iraqinews.com) – Up to 27 Islamic State terrorists were killed and five of their hotbeds were destroyed during a military operation in Mosul city.
“Joint troops, backed by Iraqi Air Force, have sealed off a large swath of Badush mountains, west of Mosul, since yesterday and launched wide-scale combing operations to eliminate the growing terrorist threat there,” Ayn al-Iraq News website quoted Major Hammam Salem al-Obeidi as saying.
“The military operation resulted in the killing of 27 IS terrorists and destruction of three tunnels, five hotbeds and two caves that were used by IS militants,” al-Obeidi said.
“The operation against terrorist outposts in Nineveh province is ongoing in coincidence with the military operations in Kirkuk and Salauddin,” al-Obeidi added.
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Nineveh Police Command has announced killing an Islamic State senior leader, west of Mosul.
In a statement on Sunday, Brig. Gen. Hamad Names al-Jabouri, the commander, said “tribes and residents of Baaj killed Islamic State Wali of Baaj called Ahmed Farhan Hamdan al-Obaidi, known as Abu Aisha al-Turkmani.”
The operation, according to Jabouri, “left one of al-Turkmani’s companions, called Louai Ahmed Shatty, killed.”
Turkmani “is a dangerous militant who killed civilians and looted their properties,” he added.
The two members were killed by tribesmen in Baaj town, west of Mosul.
[Breitbart] The Catholic church is being used as a pawn in a well-orchestrated plan to radically alter the Christian identity of European nations through mass migration, said Bishop Athanasius Schneider in a bombshell interview last week.
Schneider, who serves as auxiliary bishop of Astana, Kazakhstan, told the Italian daily Il Giornale that the current migrant crisis "represents a plan orchestrated and prepared for a long time by international powers to radically alter the Christian and national identity of the peoples of Europe."
To achieve their objectives, these powers abuse "the true concept of humanism and even the Christian commandment of charity," Schneider said, exploiting the moral authority of the church for anti-Christian purposes.
The powers in question "use the enormous moral potential of the church and their own structures to achieve their anti-Christian and anti-European goal more effectively," he said. If not 'orchestrated by international powers' certainly enabled.
#2
A timid little Schneider from Odessa
Grows up to be a mighty fancy dresser
Who tells the Romans how to worship besser
From Shishi to West Texas. Que sorpresa!
[Rudaw] Ottoman Turkish air force strikes on suspected Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) positions in the mountainous north of Duhok Governorate are setting fire to crops, causing many village communities to leave for the cities.
Lands surrounding Ozmana village, part of Doski tribal territory, have been subjected to bombardment twice since 1991 resulting in fires.
"As you can see the bombardment has had huge consequences," Salim Zahir, a resident of Navishke village, told Rudaw.
"It burns the crops and animals’ food. What shall this people do? If it continues like this, I believe people will not endure it. This is not in the interest of the PKK or The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... There are more than 260 villages in both Mangesh and Zawita districts. Many are just 40 kilometers away from the center of Duhok city.
"I hope there are no threats in Nihel, Nerwe, Rekan and Bare Gare regions so that people can have a normal life. This threat may even reach the center of Duhok. It is like a neighborhood in Duhok," Ahmed Haji Ahmed, a local farmer, told Rudaw.
Jalal Ozmani, a villager, has closely observed the bombardment of Ozmana, Navishke, and Ashane villages.
"I came out to the street and noticed where the missile targeted. When it went kaboom! the ground shook and I thought that the shop was collapsed due to the strength of the kaboom. Many kids abandoned the place but I did not," he told Rudaw.
There have been constant clashed between Turkey and the PKK for more than three years. The victims are the inhabitants of bordering area between the Kurdistan Region and Turkey.
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[IsraelTimes] 'Come on, really?' exasperated lawyer says as Ebru Ozkan indicted for aiding Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth", on trips to Israel, including money laundering scheme involving expensive fragrances
An Israeli military court on Sunday charged a Ottoman Turkish woman accused of passing hundreds of dollars to the Hamas terrorist organization, security sources said.
Ebru Ozkan, 27, was detained at Israel’s Ben-Gurion airport on June 11 as she was leaving the country to return to her homeland.
The indictment read out Sunday accused Ozkan of smuggling objects, including perfume and a phone charger, as well as $500 into Israel and then the West Bank in the service of Hamas members. She was charged on four separate counts.
Israel’s Shin Bet security service said Ozkan was locked away Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! last month "on suspicion of posing a threat to national security and for having links to a terrorist organization."
In the indictment, Ozkan was accused of smuggling five bottles of expensive perfume with the intention of selling them and transferring the proceeds to Hamas as part of a money laundering scheme.
Her lawyer Omar Khamaisi reacted with incredulity to the charge.
"Come on, really?" he told the Rooters news agency. "I think that in this the case the decision will ultimately be a brave one ‐ to release her, I hope."
She was also charged with bringing a cell phone charger into the country for Hamas and giving a Hamas member $500.
According to the indictment, Ozkan never met up with the Hamas member to give him the phone charger.
On the money transfer charge, Khamaisi said that Ozkan was simply shuttling the $500 from a friend to a Paleostinian relative and couldn’t have known that the relative was a Hamas operative, according to Haaretz.
However, some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them... the indictment noted that Ozkan had been paid $100 for her service and that the friend had paid for her flight.
Khamaisi also said that interrogations were conducted in Arabic, a language Ozkan doesn’t speak well, and that she has said the Hebrew translation read out in court "distorted" her words.
The Shin Bet frequently justify withholding information on charges from defense teams of security suspects, saying that releasing it would endanger sources and put national security at risk.
Özkan hasn’t been permitted to speak with her family members, who have held several media conferences in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund.... to decry her fate.
"It is a completely arbitrary arrest," her sister, Elif, told the Anadolu news agency last month. "They accuse her of [having links] to a terror organization but they are not saying which terrorist organization. They are all groundless claims."
Khamaisi claimed that a good friend from Istanbul had asked Ozkan to deliver $500 to his Paleostinian relative, adding that she couldn’t have known that the relative was a Hamas operative, according to the report. In a previous visit, the friend had requested that Özkan transfer a cellphone charger to a different person who was also a Hamas member, but he never showed up to receive it, the lawyer said.
The case against Ozkan comes as tensions have spiked between Turkey and Israel after Ankara ordered out the Jewish state’s ambassador in May over the killing of protesters along the border with the Gazoo Strip.
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Friday said his officials were in contact with the Israelis over Ozkan’s case and called for an end to its "pitiless persecutions."
"We will retaliate against this. Our relations will normalize when Israel stops its inhumane policies," he said Friday.
On Saturday, Hadashot TV reported that Israel was considering restricting the activities of Turkey’s international aid agency in Jerusalem and the Paleostinian territories in an effort to counter reported efforts by Erdogan to extend his influence in East Jerusalem.
Ynet adds a good many details about the lady’s Hamas-supporting colleagues back in Turkey.
[Hot Air] Americans, it seems, are growing increasingly dubious, skeptical, even cynical about many of their once-hallowed institutions.
These include especially Congress. But any such disapproval list also contains TV news, newspapers, unions, public schools and even the criminal justice system.
Only two institutions ‐ the military and small business ‐ hold an overwhelming net positive opinion in the minds of Americans. The volunteer military has by far the most public confidence ‐ 94 percent with a great deal or some confidence in it. Only five percent have none, according to a new Gallup phone survey of 1,520 adult Americans..
Small business draws some or a lot of confidence from 83 percent, with only six percent none. "The police" have 85 percent with at least some confidence, but a large number of no confidence ‐ 15 percent.
After those institutions the confidence numbers decline rather rapidly, suggesting if continued a long-term threat to political stability. More on that below.
#2
This bogus Trump-Russian story, Comey, Mueller, Rosentein, Clinton, Benghazi, etc. are surely at the base of the 'loss in confidence.' No one within the beltway breaks wind without 5 other people immediately calculating down-wind drift. There are NO secrets in Washington. Our 'elected officials' have access to mountains of information both classified and unclassified, along with highly skilled analysts, and numerous think tanks.
They (the congress) know exactly what is going on and they appear to be doing very little about it.
In the notes of Dr. James McHenry, one of Maryland’s delegates to the Convention, a lady asked Dr. Franklin “Well Doctor what have we got, a republic or a monarchy.” Franklin replied, “A republic . . . if you can keep it.”
#8
Mr B, that is very astute regarding (#2)--there are no secrets for the insiders. One of the revelations from the Strzok-Page texts is what appears to be a stunning lack of opsec. Apparently opsec isn't required amongst the beltway annointed. They are all in on it and the public isn't.
#9
Skepticism is a good thing - until you are skeptical of leftists. Dissent is the highest form of patriotism - until a Kenyan phony is installed in the White House. And so on...
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07/09/2018 13:15
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[Rudaw] On Friday, the remaining signatories of the 2015 nuclear deal held a ministerial meeting in Vienna, repeating their commitment to the Joint Coordinated Plan of Action (JCPOA), yet they failed to find practical mechanisms to bypass US sanctions.
Iranian officials praised receiving a package from the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... to keep trade with Iran alive, although, both Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Javad Zarif have expressed dissatisfaction with a lack of "actionable commitments."
CMA CGM joins a list of several multinational firms which have announced they are leaving the Iranian market since the US withdrawal from the Iran deal on May 9, despite European governments wanting to keep the deal intact.
French petroleum company Total, US-based Shell Oil Company, Russia’s Lukoil, and BCP, Banque de Commerce et de Placements (BCP), the world's largest shipping container line Maersk, and multinational airplane producers Airbus and Boeing are among companies decided to suspend trade with Iran.
South Korea also has halted crude exports from Iran for July, Rooters reported on Friday.
"There was pressure from the South Korean government to halt purchases," a source familiar with Iranian shipping told the agency. "South Korea overall is lifting zero oil (from Iran) for July loading."
"More than 50 international firms have already announced their intent to leave the Iranian market, particularly in the energy and financial sectors," senior policy adviser of US Department of State Brain Hook said on July 2.
Over the past two months, the US government has launched a campaign of maximum diplomatic and economic pressure against Iran, targeting its economy.
La Belle France and Germany have been the most outspoken signatories in favor of the Iran deal, while British, Russian and Chinese signatories have been more mooted.
A complete list of sanctions is expected to be announced by the United States on November 4. Until then, the EU’s economy and banking system has the opportunity to offer an alternative to the US system.
[Times of Israel] Palestinian leader says PA will not allow anyone to 'interfere' with who it disburses money to; claims Arab states oppose Trump peace plan.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday that he will continue paying stipends to Palestinian attackers and their families despite the Israeli parliament’s decision last week to withhold hundreds of millions in funds from taxes collected on the Palestinian Authority’s behalf.
Abbas defiantly told a meeting of Fatah party leaders that the Palestinian government would pay "our martyrs and prisoners and wounded people" as it had since 1965.
"We will not allow anyone to interfere with the money that Israel is against us paying to the families of martyrs and prisoners," he said, according to an official transcript released by state-run news agency Wafa.
LONDON (AP) ‐ A woman who was poisoned by a military-grade nerve agent in southwest England died Sunday, eight days after police think she touched a contaminated item that has not been found.
London's Metropolitan Police force said detectives had become a homicide investigation with 44-year-old Dawn Sturgess's death at a hospital in Salisbury. She and her boyfriend, Charlie Rowley, 45, were admitted June 30 after falling ill a few miles away in Amesbury; Rowley remains in critical condition.
Tests at Britain's defense research laboratory showed the pair was exposed to Novichok, the same type of nerve agent used to poison a former Russian spy and his daughter in Salisbury in March. Police suspect Rowley and Sturgess handled a discarded item from the first attack, though they have not determined for certain that the two cases are linked.
Britain blames the Russian state for the attack on Sergei Skripal and his 33-year-old daughter ‐ an allegation Moscow strongly denies.
Prime Minister Theresa May said she was "appalled and shocked" by Sturgess's death.
#5
Other UK news media have speculated the "item" that was picked up was a syringe, and that the newly affected couple were known substance abusers. The Sun: "The pair are believed to have picked up the nerve agent vial from a park drug den, according to their neighbour.
Tom Ricks told The Sun on Sunday, dealers often placed stashes in their crack hideout at Queen Elizabeth Gardens in Salisbury."
Diyala (IraqiNews.com) A security personnel has been killed in confrontation between Iraqi security troops and Islamic State militants, south of Diyala, local source from the province said on Sunday.
Speaking to Alghad Press, the sources said, “security troops are in clashes at the meantime against Islamic State cells in the vicinity of Jawad al-Bashu village, at the outskirts of Bahraz town, south of Diyala.”
The confrontations, according to the source, “are still ongoing. Addition security personnel headed to reinforce other troops there.”
The clashes “left a security personnel killed,” the source said, adding the losses among Islamic State is still unknown.
Diyala (IraqiNews.com) A policeman was killed, while another was injured in a bomb blast, south of Diyala, a security source from the province said on Sunday.
Speaking to AlSumaria News, the source said, “a bomb, placed on the side of the agricultural road, south of Bahraz, went off targeting a police patrol, leaving one personnel killed and another injured.”
Investigations were conducted, the source added.
Earlier today, a security personnel was killed in confrontations between Iraqi security troops and Islamic State militants, at the outskirts of Bahraz.
Diyala (Iraqinews.com) – Iraqi police released on Sunday two Filipino women, who were kidnapped yesterday on a road linking the Iraqi capital Baghdad to the Kurdish city of Erbil, a police commander from the province of Diyala was quoted as saying.
The pair were traveling along with three other Filipino nationals on Saturday when their car broke down, Egyptian website Youm7 quoted two security sources as saying.
Tourists? Former ISIS members? The report is remarkably scant of information.
When the two left the car, unidentified men driving a yellow car pulled over and took them into an unknown location.
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[IsraelTimes] Firas al-Omari, 46, was convicted of joining Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth", and planning a terror attack in the Negev to avenge the outlawing of Northern Branch of Islamic Movement
A court in the southern city of Beersheba on Sunday sentenced an Arab Israeli man to eight years in prison for planning terror attacks against IDF soldiers.
According to the charge sheet, 46-year-old Firas al-Omari from the village of Sandala was the leader of a terror cell that set out to avenge the outlawing of the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel in November 2015.
Omari, a member of the Islamic Movement until it was declared an illegal group, joined Paleostinian terror group Hamas, the indictment said. He suggested that a bus stop or army base in the Negev desert would be a fitting target, and the attack was meant to be in the form of gunfire, stabbing or car-ramming.
In a separate offense, Omari was said to have hidden bomb components near his home in early 2016 and illegally possessed a rifle.
After a plea deal, the Beersheba District Court convicted Omari of contacting a foreign agent, membership in a terror group, making purchases for terror purposes, aiding a terror group and conspiracy to help an enemy at a time of war.
Judge Natan Zlotchover on Sunday sentenced him to eight years in prison, a suspended sentence of one year, and a fine of NIS 10,000 ($2,700).
"The offenses of which the defendant was convicted are grave, harm the State of Israel’s security and undermine its very legitimacy," Zlotchover wrote in his ruling, adding that the fact that Omari is an Israeli citizen increased the severity of the crimes.
Omari now has 45 days to appeal to the Supreme Court.
[Times of Israel] Sergio Kowensky, a prominent Jewish pro-Israel advocate, killed at his office in the crime-ridden city; circumstances surrounding his death are not clear.
An outspoken Jewish advocate of Israel was gunned down at his workplace in South Africa by unidentified assailants, who left behind his car, wallet and cellular phone.
Sergio Kowensky, the chairman of the Likud South Africa Jewish group, was killed Tuesday in a southern suburb of Johannesburg at his air-conditioning firm, according to the South African Jewish Report.
The shots, fired at around noon, alerted workers in his factory and others in surrounding businesses.
"The initial fears were that this could have been the work of anti-Israel fanatics, given that Kowensky spent his entire life dedicated to Zionist ideals, with an intense passion for the well-being of the State of Israel," the newspaper article’s author wrote. But with the investigation into Kowensky’s death only in its initial phases, his slaying could be "just another senseless act of urban violence on the crime-ridden streets of Johannesburg," the author also wrote.
Nineveh (Iraqinews.com) ‐ An Iraqi criminal court has sentenced an 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.... fighter to death by hanging for killing 16 civilians and standing behind several kabooms in djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... , a judicial front man was quoted as saying.
"The convict admitted to executing 16 civilians, who were taken captive by Islamic State at a Mosul general hospital, as well as planting 250 explosive charges in Bartella town, about 21 kilometers east of Mosul," Judge Abdul-Sattar al-Birqdar, the front man for the Supreme Judicial Council, said in a statement.
"The convict also took part in the Islamic State firefight with security forces that lasted 25 days in Ain Al Safra area," al-Birqdar added.
Iraqi courts have sentenced tens of Islamic State members to death over joining the bully boy group.
The exact number of detained Lions of Islam is still unknown, however, it’s estimated to be at thousands. It’s also unclear how many members are likely to face death sentences.
Moreover, the Iraqi government did not provide estimates about number of the foreign detained Lions of Islam or those who have Arab or Iraqi origins.
Iraq’s anti-terrorism law empowers courts to convict people who are believed to have helped jihadists even if they are not accused of carrying out attacks.
Experts estimate that Iraq is holding 20,000 people in jail over suspected IS membership. There is no official figure, according to AFP.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
07/09/2018
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Top|| File under: Islamic State
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A Saudi interior ministry spokesperson confirmed that a terror attack involving bandidosbully boyz clashing with security officers on Sunday left two of Lions of Islam dead while one officer and another resident died during the attack.
A statement from the interior ministry said the attack took place at 3:45 pm local time in Buraidah, the capital of al-Qassim Region.
"A security checkpoint on the Buraydah-Tarfiyah road in Qassim region came under fire from three Lions of Islam riding in a vehicle on Sunday afternoon," the ministry said in a statement.
"Two of the bad boyz were potted and a third was maimed and transferred to hospital," it added.
Sgt. Suleiman Abdelaziz Abdel Latif was named as the Saudi fatality wile the ministry said a Bangladeshi resident was also killed, but did not announce his name.
A third attacker was injured during the clash and was transported to hospital.
Authorities said a criminal investigation has been launched into the attack.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2018
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
[PJ] WASHINGTON ‐ Some District of Columbia residents interviewed recently by PJM said the national anthem is an appropriate time to protest and the NFL’s decision to prohibit players from kneeling restricts their First Amendment rights.
One D.C. resident who did not give her name opposes the NFL’s policy referred to the language of the National Anthem as "pretty racist."
"I absolutely disagree with it. I think that they are kneeling for a reason and I think we need to respect that," she said, adding players "need to be able to protest what they need to. I don’t care if they’re playing a sport at the time, like, it needs to be said."
She addressed proponents of the decision who have argued that the national anthem is not the time to protest racial inequality or any other issue.
"The national anthem has always been pretty racist anyway in its language, and I also think like it’s kind of a disservice to the people who fought for the country because they fought for us to be able to do this. And if any time is the time to say it, I think the national anthem is a good time to say it," the woman said. "I don’t think that it should be held to that regard where you can’t express your freedom of speech, which is the very thing that we fight for."
#1
If this kneeling crap / protesting 'social injustice / police brutality' (or whatever the hell they're protesting this week) was done on their own time, this would be far less of an issue. That said, PJ Media's giving far too much airtime to these few DC yo-yo's who can't articulate a single reason for these protests or why our national anthem is racist (written by a white guy!), unless the point is to point out the absence of logic in the 'D.C. resident''s statement. They're all Democrat voters in any event, so this isn't exactly a surprise.
NFL ratings will continue to bleed badly this year.
#4
Imagine: You contract plumbers and they set up a picket line in front of your domicile with banners Supporting Their Cause and prominently mentioning Your Name and Address. Isn't this the same as the NFL Players hijacking the opening ceremony...? As long as they want to express themselves privately ...great, forcefully co-opting a third party ...not so great.
#5
What, A, Dimwit. Point out the 'pretty racist' verses, I dare you! Militaristic, jingoistic, yes, those I will grant, but racist?!? This seems another example of someone that uses 'racist', 'fascist', or *shudder* 'Conservative' as an euphemism for "icky, nasty people" without thinking about the issues. A flatworm shows the same level of cognition...
#6
Why is football any different from other jobs (other than the obvious)? Most workers in other workplaces don't take a knee in protest. If they did they would most likely be fired. These guys are grandstanding. No audience; no show; no reason to take a knee because no one will be watching. No money.
We are not teaching history in school anymore? It was the War of 1812 and the Brits were hiring black slaves and others to fight against Americans. We were a sovereign country at the time. Were these hirelings engaging in sedition?
#7
#3 And no one can figure out why everyone outside the beltway is not interested in statehood for the place --Procopius2k
:Heh: There is already a simple solution that Was Already Applied: District of Columbia Retrocession. Pick the parts of the capitol that you want to keep, think the size of the Vatican in Rome, and revert the rest into the dubious joys of being a part of Maryland! Easey Peasey!
#10
At a certain point, pro (and big money college) sports fans are pretty much like drug buyers. The money they spend damages the country. I really don't care that they want to poison themselves but I do object to second hand toxicity affecting my life.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
07/09/2018 13:49
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#11
The money they spend damages the country.
So much of our economy is made up of this kind of spending.
#12
So much of our economy is made up of this kind of spending.
Does not make it tolerable or correct...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
07/09/2018 14:35
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#13
Wait a dog-gone minute. You mean to tell me that Colin "Spoiled Brat" Koepernick kneeled all because of the lyrics (and only now, people SUDDENLY know the words?).
[Libya Observer] Spokesman of al-Bunyan al-Marsous Operation that ousted ISIS holy warriors from Sirte Brigadier Mohammed al-Ghosri said there are many reasons for the return of ISIS holy warriors to the scene, most notably the lack of support for the Sirte Protection and Security Force and the failure of the Presidential Council to provide the potentials needed.
In a statement to Tanasuh TV, al-Ghosri clarified that the lack of support to al-Bunyan al-Marsous and the non-payment of salaries, in addition to the Presidential Council’s indifference to their situation resulted in the return of ISIS activity in the south and central parts of the country.
He further noted that proposals had been submitted to the Presidential Council in order to support al-Bunyan al-Marsous to launch a new military operation against the remnants of ISIS who fled to the southern region.
Al-Ghosri also said that the U.S Africa Command (Africom) support will be required in the coming operation in the event of the Presidential Council’s approval of these proposals.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2018
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Top|| File under: Arab Spring
#1
I once had my pitchur taken in front of the Paul Bunyan statue in Bemidji.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Æthiopia and Eritrea ...is run by the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), with about the amounts of democracy and justice you'd expect from a party with that name. National elections have been periodically scheduled and cancelled; none have ever been held in the country. The president, Isaias Afewerki, has been in office since independence in 1993 and will probably die there of old age... have agreed to reopen embassies and borders, Æthiopia’s prime minister said during a visit to Asmara on Sunday, signaling an end to two decades of conflict between the neighbors.
"We agreed that the airlines will start operating, the ports will be accessible, people can move between the two countries and the embassies will be opened," Abiy Ahmed said at a dinner attended by Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki following talks earlier in the day.
Æthiopia and Eritrea broke off relations at the start of a 1998-2000 border conflict that claimed 80,000 lives.
Æthiopia then refused to honor a 2002 ruling by a United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... -backed boundary commission meant to settle the frontier dispute, leading to years of cold war between the two neighbors.
In office since April, Abiy announced last month that Æthiopia would cede territory to Eritrea including the flashpoint town of Badme that it is occupying in violation of the border ruling.
Africa’s second most populous country, Æthiopia was rendered landlocked in 1993 when Eritrea, then a province, voted for independence after years of bloodshed.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2018
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[Libya Observer] Subul al-Salam Salafist Brigade in Kufra said that it had rescued three citizens from the city who were kidnapped by Chadian rebels.
On its Facebook page, the brigade stated that the liberation operation took place after armed festivities with Chadian groups, which were tracked in the area known as the gate of Kalanga near the Libyan-Chad border.
The brigade announced earlier that it had freed a number of citizens from Kufra who were kidnapped on the Libyan-Sudanese border by button men belonging to a Sudanese opposition movement.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2018
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Top|| File under: Salafists
[AnNahar] Tens of thousands have returned to their homes in southern Syria since a ceasefire deal between regime ally Russia and rebels to end more than two weeks of deadly bombardment, a monitor said Sunday.
The deal was largely holding despite air strikes on two areas that killed four civilians, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said, as rebel evacuations under the deal were postponed.
President's Bashir al-Assad regime is determined to retake control of the key southern province of Daraa bordering Jordan and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, seven years after protests there sparked Syria's civil war.
Continued on Page 49
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Interesting Engineering] A prominent terrorist organization is making environmental headlines rather than the dangerous political ones often associated with them. Al-Shabaab, a terrorist group based out of Somalia with ties to al-Qaeda, reportedly banned the use of single-use plastic bags. 
[Breitbart] Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said Sunday that Jesus would approve of gay marriage and certain abortions in an interview with HuffPost Live.
[Wash Times] This year, more than 610,000 Americans will die from heart disease. It’s the leading cause of death for both men and women.
[AP] Volunteer groups from several U.S. states were stranded in Haiti Sunday after violent protests over fuel prices canceled flights and made roads unsafe.
[Daily Caller] After losing the Democratic primary to a white incumbent, former Colorado congressional candidate Saira Rao has decided it is time to "give up on white people."
[FOX] The U.S. Army soldier who was killed in Afghanistan in an "apparent insider attack" on Saturday has been identified by the Pentagon.
[Khaama Press ] One US soldier was killed and at least two others sustained injuries in an apparent insider attack in South of Afghanistan.
[IsraelTimes] Move reportedly marks first time the terror group has deployed fighters along security fence since weekly 
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic...
[PhilStar] Thirteen Abu Sayyaf militants surrendered Saturday night to troops in a village in Talipao, Sulu. They surrendered themselves and their firearms and promised to turn over more weapons after the initial processing at the Special Forces headquarters.
[Breitbart] The Catholic church is being used as a pawn in a well-orchestrated plan to radically alter the Christian identity of European nations through mass migration, said Bishop Athanasius Schneider in a bombshell interview last week.
[Hot Air] Americans, it seems, are growing increasingly dubious, skeptical, even cynical about many of their once-hallowed institutions.
[Times of Israel] Palestinian leader says PA will not allow anyone to 'interfere' with who it disburses money to; claims Arab states oppose Trump peace plan.
LONDON (AP) ‐ A woman who was poisoned by a military-grade nerve agent in southwest England died Sunday, eight days after police think she touched a contaminated item that has not been found.
[Times of Israel] Sergio Kowensky, a prominent Jewish pro-Israel advocate, killed at his office in the crime-ridden city; circumstances surrounding his death are not clear.
