[ABC] A federal grand jury on Friday returned a new indictment against a dozen Russians as part of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into alleged Russian meddling during the 2016 presidential campaign.
The charges come just days before President Donald Trump is set to meet with Russia's President Vladimir Putin and on the same day that Trump, on a trip to the United Kingdom, again called the investigation a "witch hunt."
The indictment targets 12 Russian intelligence officers for engaging in a sustained effort to hack networks of Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the Democratic National Committee, and Hillary Clinton’s campaign. All 12 are members of the GRU, Russia's intelligence service, according to the court filing.
In announcing the indictment Friday, Deputy Attorney General described how the Russian GRU officials began a "spearphishing" campaign in 2016 against volunteers and employees of Clinton’s campaign, including her campaign chairman. Russians’ spearphishing techniques also earned them access to networks of the DCCC and DNC, where they were able to steal emails and documents, covertly monitor the computer activity of dozens of employees, and implant hundreds of malicious files to steal passwords and maintain access to the networks.
Rosenstein described how "One GRU unit worked to steal information, while another unit worked to disseminate stolen information."
"Free and fair elections are hard-fought and contentious. There will always be adversaries who work to exacerbate domestic differences and try to confuse, divide, and conquer us," Rosenstein said. "The blame for election interference belongs to the criminals who committed election interference."
#3
Trump Putin summit in Helsinki is all the proof you need to show the complete animus of Mueller and his team against this administration, and their sense that they should have a voice in the foreign policy of the US through the manipulation of the complicit media. He has clearly known this for a very long time, and now, one day before the summit, is the time to announce this? Not weeks ago, or whe the summit was proposed, or when it could have been released to the President for consideration, but now, to influence the media coverage? What an assh*le!
#7
Spies will spy and people who are too stupid to secure their email servers will get hacked. That being said, what are the chances these indictments will result in convictions and, if they ever do, what are the chances any of these Russians will ever serve time in a US jail?
But NoMoreBS makes the most important point. If Mueller's investigation was ever anything besides a politically motivated witch hunt he would have sought these indictments a long, long time ago.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
07/13/2018 14:52
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#8
Those fellows went fishing at Kroger. Only the butcher knows, and he occasionally goes fishing and is unlikely to say anything.
In just over a year since his appointment as special counsel, Mueller and his hand-picked team of prosecutors have now filed ten indictments covering 32 individuals and three businesses, earned five guilty pleas, have two criminal cases headed to trial, and sentenced one person to prison.
I must some of that in the news. Maybe most of it. One person has been sentenced? Whodat?
Posted by: Bobby ||
07/13/2018 15:01
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#10
ANd ABC news, despite your misleading inferences, NONE of the indictments or convictions have had anything to do with the Trump Campaign colluding with Russia......Omitting facts making the selected facts presented seem to tell the opposite story, the oldest propaganda trick in the book...but not journalism
Opens to FOX video
[FOX] Republicans have the chance to secure a major victory and expand their 51-49 majority in the U.S. Senate in the November midterm elections ‐ largely because Democrats are advocating radical, impractical and unpopular immigration positions.
As more and more Democrats throw their support behind so-called sanctuary cities, abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and promoting open borders, more and more Americans are expressing their vehement opposition to these positions.
Most recently, in their fervor over the child-detention issue, every Senate Democrat scrambled to co-sponsor the Keep Families Together Act, sponsored by Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif. They did this partly to rebuke President Trump and partly to appease the growing radical wing of the Democratic Party ‐ even though the bill proposes half-baked, open-border policies that very few Americans support.
Gabriel Malor wrote an eye-opening piece for The Federalist describing how devasting the Feinstein bill would be for our country it were passed.
[NY Post] The son of a reputed Bonanno crime family associate was critically wounded in an attempted hit steps away from his lavish Bronx compound Wednesday morning, law enforcement sources told The Post.
Salvatore Zottola was shot three times ‐ including a graze wound to the head ‐ when someone who pulled up in a dark-colored Nissan sedan opened fire as he was walking to his car on Tierney Place near Longstreet Avenue in the Locust Point section of the borough at around 6:40 a.m., sources said.
Zottola, 41, was rushed to Jacobi Medical Center in critical, but stable condition, officials said.
The shooting suspect, described as an adult man, was spotted driving away from the crime scene, sources said.
Police recovered four shell casings at the scene where a pool of blood could be seen in the street a few feet away from the curb.
#3
Y'know, with the amount of random crime in this country, statistically speaking, sooner or later a random mugging is going to claim the life of Joseph Bonanno's uncle's college roomate's cousin's ex-girlfriend's bruddah-in-law...
#4
Also, Beo: this guy might have woken up in the ICU with a concussion and the last thing he remembers is breakfast a couple days ago when the FBI is grilling him...
[NY Post] Controversial rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine was arrested in the Big Apple on Wednesday for an outstanding warrant related to a mall attack on a 16-year-old, cops said.
Tekashi was taken into custody at JFK Airport just moments after returning home from his European tour, according to police.
He is accused of choking a teen at The Galleria mall in Houston, after the boy began recording him with his cellphone. Footage of the incident later surfaced on social media.
"Delete the video," Tekashi can be heard telling the teen in Spanish.
The 22-year-old rapper, whose real name is Daniel Hernandez, was charged with misdemeanor assault for the incident, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Prosecutors claimed in court documents that he grabbed the teen "by the neck, causing small scratch marks and pain" ‐ while his "bodyguards began to surround him in an intimidating way, also yelling at him."
[American Thinker] Infamous FBI agent Peter Strzok testified before Congress on Thursday, July 12. Many questions put to him concerned his text messages and focused on the bias displayed.
But the text messages may be a side story. Yah, I'm going with "he's nuts", and evil to boot.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike
Taking a look at Strzok's testimony other than that regarding his messages, two moments are particularly striking. It seems either he is lying or, if not, that he may be incompetent in a way that is hard to believe.
In his testimony, Strzok described how he changed the wording of then-director James Comey's description of Hillary Clinton from "grossly negligent" to "extremely careless." At the time the change was made on his computer, there were, he said, many people gathered in his office "because it was the biggest." An unnamed FBI lawyer from the legal counsel division supposedly offered the change to bring it into line with what the director wanted to communicate.
Specifically, Strzok related, "My recollection is ‐ and I’m not an attorney ‐ that attorneys within the F.B.I. raised concern that the use of ’gross negligence’ triggered a very specific legal meaning."
Rep. James Sensenbrenner then stated the obvious, which was that this handed Mrs. Clinton a get-out-of-jail-free card. Strzok in turn denied it.
Rep. Sensenbrenner is of course correct, as many have pointed out. The mental state required by the statute in question requires (only) gross negligence. Everything turns on this.
Strzok's failure to realize the significance of the change, if fail he did in reality, would fit the definition of incompetence, since it is hardly credible that a high-ranking FBI agent such as Strzok would be unaware of the significance of the removal of the term "gross negligence" in this context.
That seems hard to believe. But in Strzok's telling, he was little more than a secretary, merely making the change based on the consensus of the unidentified group upon the suggestion of a nameless FBI counsel. Well, perhaps; but, you know, that doesn't sound so good, either.
The other striking thing was that Strzok repeatedly claimed that the DOJ's Inspector General report found no bias. But this is disingenuous or, again, evidence of a lack of legal knowledge that is hard to credit in a senior FBI agent, attorney or not.
The IG report very carefully pointed out that the IG was not reviewing whether the Clinton espionage investigation could have been handled differently. It further and more importantly stated that if any rational investigative purpose was served by any investigative decision that this then would not be considered a biased ethical violation. That is because the IG report looked for ethical and legal violations: it was not a review of the quality of the investigation or even of its fairness.
#4
Everyone bureaucrat I ever met tries to minimise accountability.
We wrote a system that recorded bureaucrats rating of suppliers but it was never used as it had their names on it.
The people in the wealth creating part of the economy were just stunned at this attitude. It does make sense as for bureaucrats the reward for more work is zero, and with more decisions comes more career risk.
#9
The man is a full on freaking sociopath. Gohmert nailed it when he asserted that Strzok could pass a polygraph test. I can see how a man with his qualifications would be in great demand in the Swamp.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
07/13/2018 11:20
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#10
IMO, he'll make a wonderful girlfriend for somebody in jail.
#15
The most astonishing thing to me is that this clown was the Grand Poobah of the FBI's counterintelligence division. I wonder how many foreign spies he's caught. My guess would be: zero. Say what you will about J. Edgar Hoover, but I doubt he would have suffered this idiot as a plebe agent, much less where he ended up.
#16
Everyone bureaucrat I ever met tries to minimise accountability.
I had an encounter with an IRS revenue agent about ten years ago. I had a problem with 1099-MISC reporting and it was the first time I was in a situation where it needed to be corrected, so I asked him what I should do. He basically refused to tell me what to do. I responded - 'You're a nineteen year veteran of the IRS, and you can't tell me, or won't tell me, how to resolve this problem? That is simply incredible, and I think you should be ashamed of yourself, tax professional to tax professional.' He then told me how to resolve matters, but the fact I had to pull his pants down to do it spoke volumes.
#17
Raj, you're lucky the agent didn't have you audited out of business. I heard of one case where a business owner told the IRS agent that she was lucky she wasn't slinging hash in an East Texas restaurant. The IRS agent made sure that the business owner was audited, fined, and IIRC, basically put out of business. The owner fought back and finally won in court, but it took a long time.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
07/13/2018 20:17
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#18
The most astonishing thing to me is that this clown was the Grand Poobah of the FBI's counterintelligence division.
Not so 'astonishing' when you consider what they missed on 9/11.
#21
Raj, you're lucky the agent didn't have you audited out of business.
It doesn't work like that when you're representing a client before the IRS. I've seen a lot of these nitwits bully individual taxpayers and they try the same shit with me, because most of them are bullies throwing their weight around. I will not have it, and I not so gently remind them of their professional responsibilities,. Nearly every time, when they get called on it, they snap back in place. I often do this (the field visits to the JFK Building in Boston) for free because I love fighting these assholes so much.
[Umz Review] On just about every issue, in 2016, candidate Trump ran in opposition to Sen. Lindsey Graham. Donald Trump won the presidency; Lindsey Graham quit the race with a near-zero popularity, as reflected in the polls.
The People certainly loathe the senator from South Carolina. A poll conducted subsequently found that Graham was among least popular senators.
No wonder. Graham is reliably wrong about most things.
But being both misguided and despised have done nothing to diminish Sen. Graham’s popularity with Big Media, left and right. Thus were his pronouncements accorded the customary reverence, during a July 10 segment, on Fox News’ "The Story."
Which is when he told anchor Martha MacCallum that, "Putin is not doing anything good in Syria."
Then again, Lindsey is being consistent. The revival of "one of the world’s oldest Christian communities," in Syria, is not something the senator we’ve come to know and loathe would celebrate.
It’s true. "A new Syria is emerging from the rubble of war," reports The Economist, a magazine which is every bit as liberal and Russophobic as Graham and his political soul mate, John McCain, but whose correspondents on the ground‐in Aleppo, Damascus and Homs‐have a far greater fidelity to the truth than the terrible two.
"In Homs, ... the Christian quarter is reviving. Churches have been lavishly restored; a large crucifix hangs over the main street." ’Groom of Heaven,’ proclaims a billboard featuring a photo of a Christian soldier killed in the seven-year conflict. And, in their sermons, Orthodox patriarchs praise Mr. Assad for saving ... the Christian communities."
Don’t tell the ailing McCain. It’ll only make him miserable, but thanks to Putin, Assad "now controls Syria’s spine, from Aleppo in the north to Damascus in the south‐what French colonists once called la Syrie utile (useful Syria). The rebels are confined to pockets along the southern and northern borders."
[Townhall] A man I have known since grade school changed his name, years ago, to an Arabic one. He told me he rejected Christianity as "the white man's religion that justified slavery." He argued Africans taken out of that continent were owed reparations. "From whom?" I asked.
Arab slavers took more Africans out of Africa and transported them to the Middle East and to South America than European slavers took out of Africa and brought to North America. Arab slavers began taking slaves out of Africa beginning in the ninth century -- centuries before the European slave trade -- and continued well after.
In "Prisons & Slavery," John Dewar Gleissner writes: "The Arabs' treatment of black Africans can aptly be termed an African Holocaust. Arabs killed more Africans in transit, especially when crossing the Sahara Desert, than Europeans and Americans, and over more centuries, both before and after the years of the Atlantic slave trade. Arab Muslims began extracting millions of black African slaves centuries before Christian nations did. Arab slave traders removed slaves from Africa for about 13 centuries, compared to three centuries of the Atlantic slave trade. African slaves transported by Arabs across the Sahara Desert died more often than slaves making the Middle Passage to the New World by ship. Slaves invariably died within five years if they worked in the Ottoman Empire's Sahara salt mines."
My name-changing friend did not know that slavery occurred on every continent except Antarctica. Europeans enslaved other Europeans. Asians enslaved Asians. Africans enslaved other Africans. Arabs enslaved other Arabs. Native Americans even enslaved other Native Americans.
...The region of West Africa ... was one of the great slave-trading regions of the continent -- before, during, and after the white man arrived. It was the Africans who enslaved their fellow Africans, selling some of these slaves to Europeans or to Arabs and keeping others for themselves. Even at the peak of the Atlantic slave trade, Africans retained more slaves for themselves than they sent to the Western Hemisphere.
...Between 1525 and 1866, in the entire history of the slave trade to the New World, according to the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database, 12.5 million Africans were shipped to the New World. 10.7 million survived the dreaded Middle Passage, disembarking in North America, the Caribbean and South America. And how many of these 10.7 million Africans were shipped directly to North America? Only about 388,000. That's right: a tiny percentage. In fact, the overwhelming percentage of the African slaves were shipped directly to the Caribbean and South America; Brazil received 4.86 million Africans alone! Of course, you'll never hear about it in school
#3
One big difference is that non-African slave trade is forgotten because skin colors blend in with the native population. Not so quickly with African slaves. Therefore it's easier to forget.
All this is another reason the left prefers a filtered, approved education.
1) Arab slavers began taking slaves out of Africa beginning in the ninth century - centuries before the European slave trade - and continued well after.
It is still continuing today.
2) Arab slave traders were primarily interested black women for the harems. Male slaves were a "special order item." Excess males were killed, and "special order" males were castrated and frequently died on the march north.
3)The Atlantic slave trade was a godsend for black slaves, as Western buyers mostly wanted men to work the plantations. Instead of being executed, males were sent to the West African ports to be sold.
4) The North American slave trade had 2 unusual characteristics:
4a)American slaves lived at least 4 times as long as slaves in other places.
4b)American slaves formed families. Something almost impossible in other countries.
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
07/13/2018 13:25
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#6
and where did the term "Slavs" come from..... seriously
Even if it's proven to be the case, it doesn't fit the narrative of how only evil white people can be racists or enslavers; so it will be studiously ignored.
[RT] A Swedish dentist who was ruined after being fired and fined for revealing that over 80 percent of his refugee ‘children’ patients were actually adults, told RT that people coming to his country should not lie about their age.
The story of Bernt Herlitz, a dental hygienist from the Swedish island of Gotland, came under the spotlight in 2016 when he revealed an unpleasant truth. Herlitz was analyzing the teeth of “unaccompanied” minor migrants who started to arrive in the Scandinavian country as the worst refugee crisis since WWII struck Europe. It turned out that wisdom teeth of the ‘children’ were fully grown in 80 percent of cases, a sign clearly showing that Herlitz’ patients were far from being underage.
h/t Gates of Vienna
The Irish Senate has voted to approve a bill that would see the country boycott goods from illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, paving the way for the country to become the first EU nation to enforce a boycott.
The bill passed yesterday with 25 lawmakers voting in its favour, with 20 against it and 14 others abstaining. The legislation would bar "the import and sales of goods, services and natural resources originating in illegal settlements in occupied territories", but still needs to pass in both houses of parliament before becoming law.
At Israel’s urging, the Irish government requested in January that the vote be postponed, and sought to soften the language of the bill, but was unable to come to a compromise. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu summoned Irish Ambassador Alison Kelly in response, arguing that a bill to boycott settlement produce could easily expand into support of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
Yesterday’s bill passed primarily due to votes from opposition and independent legislators. It had originally been proposed by independent Senator Frances Black who spoke before the vote and brought Palestinian farmers to be present in the Seanad for the occasion. I've a dream. In that dream anyone boycotting Israel gets everything invented by the Jews taken away from them and replaced by things invented by Arabs.
#3
I think the way products are made and labeled and the way this is worded it would only apply to agricultural products and maybe some specialty consumer devices.
Gromgoru has a good idea. The bill should be amended to forbid use of any product that uses Israeli technology. That way the Irish could say goodbye to their cell phone and tablets among other things.
Posted by: lord garth ||
07/13/2018 16:58
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#4
And Israeli medical devices too, garth.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
07/13/2018 19:24
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h/t Gates of Vienna
With demographic decline being the overarching issue across Europe, Hungary seems to be bucking the trend. The fertility rate amongst married women has risen significantly in the past few years, defying commentators who have claimed it was impossible.
Hungarian women are more likely to get married than their Western European counterparts, significantly also marrying at a younger age to increase the chance of fertility.
Government policies, such as tax deductions for families with children and subsidies for families buying houses, have clearly encouraged family growth, but it is seen that the "pro-family culture" dominating Hungary currently is the bigger factor.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban has made it clear that the problem of declining populations will only be remedied by larger families and rising fertility rates, dismissing mass immigration as an alternative.
With Orban claiming that liberal democracies have failed "to strengthen families", he has pledged to ensure Hungary "is able to sustain its own population level".
#5
Europe will undergo a demographic implosion in the next 20 years. It has already happened. It just needs a generation to play out. No young people, no spending, massive cuts in government. It's over.
Best get out now. It's only going to cost us more and more to subsidize their defense. While they cut spending, we'll have to increase to fill the gap. Trump is right to send this horse to the glue factory.
Posted by: Herb McCoy ||
07/13/2018 8:35
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#6
The other thing is that a focus on income taxes rather than capitalist land title taxes tends to also artificially increase density (and thus rents).
h/t Gates of Vienna
Liberals know they can’t stop Kavanaugh’s confirmation, so they’d just as soon not hear any news about it at all. Please cheer us up with stories about Paul Manafort’s solitary confinement!
But there was one very peculiar reaction to the nomination. The nut wing of the Democratic Party instantly denounced Kavanaugh by claiming that his elevation to the high court would threaten all sorts of "rights."
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., tweeted: "Our next justice should be a champion for protecting & advancing rights, not rolling them back ‐ but Kavanaugh has a long history of demonstrating hostility toward defending the rights of everyday Americans."
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., tweeted: "If Brett Kavanaugh is confirmed to the Supreme Court it will have a profoundly negative effect on workers’ rights, women’s rights and voting rights for decades to come. We must do everything we can to stop this nomination."
If only these guys could get themselves elected to some sort of legislative body, they could pass laws protecting these rights!
Wait, I’m sorry. These are elected United States senators. Of all people, why are they carrying on about "rights"? If senators can’t protect these alleged "rights," it can only be because most Americans do not agree that they should be "rights."
That’s exactly why the left is so hysterical about the Supreme Court. They run to the courts to win their most unpopular policy ideas, gift-wrapped and handed to them as "constitutional rights."
What liberals call "rights" are legislative proposals that they can’t pass through normal democratic processes ‐ at least outside of the states they’ve already flipped with immigration, like California.
Realizing how widely reviled their ideas are, several decades ago the left figured out a procedural scam to give them whatever they wanted without ever having to pass a law. Hey! You can’t review a Supreme Court decision!
Instead of persuading a majority of their fellow citizens, they’d need to persuade only five justices to invent any rights they pleased. They didn’t have to ask twice. Apparently, justices find it much funner to be all-powerful despots than boring technocrats interpreting written law.
h/t Instapundit
The battle between Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Joe Crowley isn't quite over ‐ and it’s taking a bitter turn.
Just two weeks after the 28-year-old shocked the Democratic establishment with a stunning primary upset of the 10-term incumbent, she engaged in an extraordinary public fight with Crowley on Twitter Thursday, accusing him of planning to mount a third party run against her in November’s general election, despite his public pledge to back her candidacy after his loss. And Crowley's camp pushed back hard, accusing Ocasio-Cortez of deliberately distorting events.
h/t Instapundit
...What none of these parents understand is that their children’s and teens’ destructive obsession with technology is the predictable consequence of a virtually unrecognized merger between the tech industry and psychology. This alliance pairs the consumer tech industry’s immense wealth with the most sophisticated psychological research, making it possible to develop social media, video games, and phones with drug-like power to seduce young users.
These parents have no idea that lurking behind their kids’ screens and phones are a multitude of psychologists, neuroscientists, and social science experts who use their knowledge of psychological vulnerabilities to devise products that capture kids’ attention for the sake of industry profit. What these parents and most of the world have yet to grasp is that psychology ‐ a discipline that we associate with healing ‐ is now being used as a weapon against children.
Kosher observers who pick up their coffee at Starbucks may need to look elsewhere for their caffeine fix.
A kosher-certifying agency said it can no longer vouch for the kashrut of many beverages served by the coffee giant. The Star-K agency said this week that it was ending a program under which it deemed many Starbucks products permissible without actually certifying them as kosher.
I haven't seen this since the last time Hillary did a town hall - dude was shitfaced!
[UK Express] - WORLD leaders were forced to step in and help on Wednesday when European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker was seen stumbling and losing his balance ahead of a Nato dinner.
The European Union leader was stumbling so much that world leaders including the presidents of Finland and Ukraine, and the Dutch Prime Minister, were forced to hold him up.
Footage from the summit shows the 63-year-old being held up as he makes his way down the stairs.
But as Mr Juncker attempts to walk he stumbles backwards and loses his balance once again.
The European Commission President then had to be held at the arm in an effort to steady himself.
Prime Minister Theresa May walked past Mr Juncker and grinned, seemingly unaware that the European Commission President was struggling to stand unaided.
#9
He was swaying standing up. I know a drunk man when I see one.
Posted by: Herb McCoy ||
07/13/2018 13:02
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#10
A cry to increase the viatica
Of Eurocrats walking erratic!
Another kerplunk.
"Quick, more junk in his trunk,
For Trump's kicks aggravate our sciatica!"
[PJ] A lot of people seem to confuse being an alpha male with being an @sshole. There are alpha males who are @ssholes (Steve Jobs fit that description), but that’s certainly not necessary.
Let me also note that if you have to tell people that you’re an alpha because they won’t just figure it out on their own, then you’re not an alpha. When people are around you for a while, if you’re really an alpha male, it will shine through.
Furthermore, when people try to define what an alpha is, they often tack on all sorts of extraneous qualities that may be good to have, but that aren’t necessarily alpha. Is it good to be funny? Sure. Is Chuck Norris funny? I don’t know, but I do know he’s an alpha male. So, is being funny one of the keys to being an alpha male? No. Is it good to be organized? Yes. Is Conor McGregor organized? Who knows? But, he’s definitely alpha. So, let’s get down to brass tacks: what are the essential traits of alpha males?
Jim Jordan: Did you get documents from Bruce Ohr?
Peter Strzok: Yes. At some point we received material from Mr. Ohr...The FBI received documents and material from Mr. Ohr.
Remember, Bruce Ohr's wife, Nellie Ohr, worked for Fusion GPS. Did the FBI get the dossier from Bruce?
#1
This bit of information was significant from yesterday's testimony. I doubt Strzok's legal team were pleased that this was released or acknowledged.
#4
Strzok is arrogant. His testimony under oath is offensive. He has tried to turn these hearings into a some kind of joke. Maybe a contempt charge will jar him out of this behavior and wipe the smirk off his face. The FBI leadership of the FBI has been tarnished.
[DAWN] An anti-terrorism court has ruled that the then SSP Malir Rao Anwar was not present at the time Naqeebullah Mehsud ‐ an aspiring model from South Wazoo ‐ was extrajudicially killed along with three others in an alleged ’staged’ encounter.
The ATC-II judge stated this in a 26-page bail order, which was released on Wednesday.
A day earlier, the court had granted bail to the suspended senior police officer, who was kept in temporary detention facility in the Multan Home of the Multan Sultans... Lines in Malir cantonment, subject to furnishing a surety bond worth Rs1 million.
His lawyers deposited the surety amount of Rs1m with the court’s nazir on Wednesday.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/13/2018
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[DAWN] A boy was killed and four others maimed in India-held Kashmire on Wednesday in a blast from a grenade they found from the site of a previous day’s shootout, police and residents said.
The grenade went kaboom! as one of the kids started playing with it in a neighbourhood in southern Shopian area, police said.
The dead boy’s two cousins and two neighbours also were maimed and hospitalised.
Officials say counterinsurgency operations have become difficult in the disputed region because of the shift in public behaviour as residents now display anger at Indian rule openly and violently when troops raid villages and towns to hunt bad boys.
Earlier, government forces used to sweep areas where fighting would occur, said police chief S.P. Vaid. "Now as an operation finishes, forces leave the area as soon as possible to avoid confrontation" with locals, sometimes leaving behind unwent kaboom! explosives, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/13/2018
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Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has engaged the Shia-led force operating under his command in his campaign to limit weapons possession to the government.
London-based The New Arab quoted a high-profile Iraqi official saying that "Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has, eventually, agreed to engage the Popular Mobilization Forces in the government’s plan to limit weapons possession to the state".
According to the official, "the role of mobilization factions will be to assist police and army forces in conducting raids and searches of properties in search for arms and explosives".
According to the official, the participation of the mobilization forces comes as army and police troops used to complain to unreciprocal attitude to their orders by Arab tribes in the country’s southern provinces. He added that, recently, there have been festivities between Iraqi troops seeking to disarm them or end their feuds with opposing tribes.
Abadi has recurrently reiterated his will to exclude weapons to the state in a bid to tighten security and curb violence which exacerbated with the emergence 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.... bandidosforces of Evil in 2014 and their takeover of a third of the country.
[DAWN] Caretaker Chief Minister of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa retired Justice Dost Mohammad Khan has formally asked the federal government to change the provincial chief secretary and police chief, insisting the two have failed to take necessary measures to stop the Tuesday night suicide kaboom in the capital city.
The blast had killed ANP provincial leader and election candidate Barrister Haroon Bilour and 19 others and injured scores in a corner meeting.
Immediately after the incident, retired Justice Dost chaired a huddle of brass hats at the chief minister, which lasted around three hours.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/13/2018
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Kirkuk (IraqiNews.com) Three gunnies were enjugged Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! as the pro-government paramilitary troops thwarted an attempt to kidnap civilians, south of Kirkuk, ... a thick stew of Arabs, Turkmen, Kurds, and probably Antarcticans, all of them mutually hostile most of the time... the media service said on Wednesday.
A statement on the website of al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) said, "information from the intelligence helped the 50th brigade to arrest three gunnies who were on cycle of violences. They sneaked into Dakuk town."
The operation, according to the source, caused no damages. The information "indicated that the gunnies were planning to abduct civilians from the town."
[IsraelTimes] A former Iranian deputy prime minister who spent years in jail on charges of spying for the US died today at the age of 86, state media reports.
Abbas Amir-Entezam, regarded as a liberal, had spent decades in jail after being found guilty of espionage and treason shortly after the 1979 Islamic revolution.
Amir-Entezam, who was in poor health following his years in prison, died following a "cardiac arrest," according to state news agency IRNA.
The Fars news agency says he was home at the time and could not be resuscitated.
It was not clear how long he had been out of prison and under what conditions he had been allowed to return home.
Amir-Entezam was widely considered by human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... groups to be Iran’s longest-serving political prisoner.
[Khaama Press] Over sixty holy warriors were killed during the infighting the Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... and ISIS holy warriors in northern Jawzjan province of Afghanistan.
The 209th Shaheen Corps of the Afghan Military in the North said the festivities erupted in Darzab district of Jawzjan after a coordinated attack by the Talibs.
According to a statement released by Shaheen Corps, at least 16 ISIS holy warriors and 10 Talibs have been killed during the festivities.
The statement further added that 14 ISIS holy warriors also sustained injuries and at least 9 others were detained by the Talibs.
A commander of the Taliban group was among those killed and at least 11 Talibs have sustained injuries while 2 others were detained by ISIS Lion of Islams, Shaheen Corps added.
According to Shaheen Corps, festivities between the two sides still continue as the Talibs are attempting to clear Darzab district from the presence of ISIS Lion of Islams.
The anti-government armed Lion of Islam groups including Taliban and ISIS holy warriors have not commented in this regard so far.
Jawzjan has been among the relatively calm provinces in the North but the security of the province has tanked during the recent months amid growing ISIS and Taliban activities.
[Khaama Press] An Arclight airstrike targeted a meeting of high level Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... leaders in southeastern Ghazni province of Afghanistan, leaving at least 24 turbans dead.
The Ministry of Defense (MoD) said the airstrike was carried out in the vicinity of Nawa district based on intelligence tip off.
A statement by the Ministry of Defense said the Taliban leaders had gathered for a meeting in Langa village in Nawa district when they came under the airstrike.
The statement further added that the airstrike also left at least seventeen Talibs maimed.
According to Defense Ministry, some of the senior Taliban leaders who had attended the meeting, included the former Taliban defense minister Mullah Amir Khan Mutaqi, Mullah Khalifa, Taliban’s Quetta Council member Mullah Shah Mohammad, Taliban’s shadow governor for Ghazni Mullah Yousuf, and Taliban’s shadow governor for Paktia province Mullah Sayed Almas.
The Ministry of Defense also added that preliminary information received from the area indicates that Mullah Amir Khan, Mullah Khalifa, Mullah Shah Moammad, and Mullah Yousuf have sustained injuries in the airstrike.
The anti-government armed myrmidon groups including Talibs have not commented regarding the report so far.
[AlAhram] Ottoman Turkish authorities on Thursday released three Frenchies after they were briefly detained in the Kurdish-majority southeast over alleged ties to outlawed Kurdish Lion of Islams, a judicial source told AFP.
Security forces had earlier detained 16 suspects in an operation launched in the Beytussebap district of Sirnak province bordering Iraq to capture supporters of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and its urban wing the KCK, the source said.
There were no further details on the identity of the freed foreign citizens, with the official Anadolu news agency reporting that one of them was a woman.
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[atimes By PEPE ESCOBAR] President Xi Jinping has promised more than $23 billion in loans and aid to Arab states, as Beijing ramps up ties with the Middle East; this includes aid for Palestine; Beijing foresees importing a whopping $8 trillion from Arab states up to 2025
[PRESSTV] 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... has taken into custody a prominent Moslem scholar as part of an ongoing campaign to silence dissidents in the kingdom.
Human rights campaigners and online activists said on Thursday that Sheikh Safar al-Hawali were tossed into the calaboose, without providing further details.
Hawali is a leading figure in Saudi Arabia's Sahwa (Awakening) movement, which opposes the presence of US troops in the Arabian Peninsula.
In the 1990s, Hawali was tossed in the calaboose Please don't kill me! for opposing the Saudi ties with US troops leading a military operation in Kuwait. In 1993, he was banned from public speaking and dismissed from his academic posts on suspicion of attempting to incite civil disobedience. In 1994, the Islamic scholar was once again placed in durance vile You have the right to remain silent... , but was soon released.
Last month, Saudi authorities detained a number of prominent women’s rights advocates, just days before lifting the decades-long ban on women's driving.
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[DAWN] Health experts have raised alarm over the increasing number of ’extensively-drug resistant’ (XDR) typhoid cases being reported in the city and have urged the public to adopt good hygiene practices, drink boiled water and avoid eating raw food.
They also called upon the government to initiate efforts for better sanitation and free vaccination campaigns against typhoid, a preventable disease.
XDR typhoid, they said, not only carried high risk of complications and was difficult to treat but was also showing a high relapse rate in children.
"It (XDR typhoid) has become quite common now. We are getting around 30 cases of this disease every week and these stats represent only one hospital," said Dr Jamal Raza, head of the National Institute of Child Health, the largest public-sector health facility for children’s treatment in Sindh.
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[Orlando Sentinel] Paul Manafort has moved, over his objections, to a new jail with a history of illustrious guests.
Officials confirm the former Trump campaign chairman was booked Thursday morning into the Alexandria Detention Center in Virginia, a complex of low-slung brick buildings just off the Capital Beltway and a few blocks from the federal courthouse where he will be tried later this month on bank and tax fraud charges.
Manafort, who is being prosecuted by the special counsel investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election, had asked for that trial to be continued in large part because he was being held 100 miles away in the Northern Neck Regional Jail.
But he resisted being brought to Alexandria.
His lawyers argued that he was safe in the Warsaw, Virginia facility, where according to prosecutors he had a private phone and laptop and did not have to wear a jumpsuit.
Judge T.S. Ellis rejected those concerns in moving Manafort to Alexandria.
[RT] Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau left his Belgian counterpart red-faced after he raced straight past his open arms to plant a smooch on the latter’s partner. Trudeau was among the world leaders attending the NATO summit in Belgium this week and the awkward moment took place as he arrived at a dinner in Brussels.
Trudeau appeared to be heading for Charles Michel with his arm outstretched to shake his hand, until he caught sight of his partner Amélie Derbaudrenghien and rushed past the Belgian leader to kiss and hold Derbaudrenghien, a beaming smile on his face.
Michel was left to laugh awkwardly in front of the cameras, and appeared to put his hand in between his partner and the Canadian leader a few seconds into their cozy greeting.
A Canadian journalist kindly made a gif of the moment, which was sparked a flood of reaction on social media.
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#1
I'm guessing that isn't the salad tossing couple.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The Arab coalition backing the Yemeni legitimate government carried out a series of air strikes early Thursday, destroying a Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ... ballistic rocket-launching pad in Sahar directorate in Saada.
The coalition surveillance system took pictures of the pad before targeting it.
Recently, the coalition forces said it destroyed an integrated military communication system for the Houthi militias located on Mashtab, Maran, Razeh, al-Maglag and the al-Noua’a mountains, stressing that it won’t let a terrorist organization acquire advanced technology.
The coalition added that the "camouflage and military countermeasures" confirm that the targeted site in the last raid was a military position.
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Prince Alwaleed bin Talal published a picture of him with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ...Crown Prince 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... as of 2016.... who received him.
They discussed economic matters, the future of the private sector and its role in the success of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, according to the tweet by Prince Alwaleed. He added that Kingdom Holding Company will be the largest supporter of the vision by investing in many sectors.
He wrote: "I was honored to meet with His Highness the Crown Prince and discuss economic matters, the future of the private sector, its role in the success of Vision 2030, and the benefits that will accrue to the homeland, the citizen and the private sector, we will be one of the biggest supporters to the vision through the Kingdom Holding with its participation in more than one investment sector."
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A losing issue for the Democrats, but if they feel they must, who are we to stop them?
[RT] The far left’s calls to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) took one step closer to reality, as progressive House Democrats introduced a bill that would disband the agency and shift its duties to other agencies.
The bill, sponsored by Democrat Representatives Mark Pocan (Wisconsin), Pramila Jayapal (Washington) and Adriano Espaillat (New York) is the first effort by liberal Democrats to legislate the controversial agency out of existence, and was introduced on Thursday.
Its sponsors argue that ICE has become a "militarized" deportation force, used by the Trump administration to "terrorize our communities" with "unchecked power," according to Pocan.
The bill, called the Humane Immigration Enforcement System Act, would see a commission established to review ICE’s responsibilities and recommend transferring them to other agencies. After one year, Congress would implement the commission’s proposed recommendations and disband ICE.
"The agency has a very broad jurisdiction and was created to combat terrorism, human trafficking, and drugs. Yet, ICE now spends the majority of its time detaining and separating mothers and fathers seeking safety for themselves and their children," said Espaillat.
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#1
Trump 2020 needs only document the dems and work around the MSM censorship.
#2
After it was introduced all of the Democrats involved in drafting the bill said they would vote against it...and blamed their decision to vote against their own bill on the Republicans.
#3
The left loves bureaucracy and big government; it seems unlikely they will or can abolish ICE. The only way they might would be to take over both houses and the Executive Branch. Meanwhile, they will continue to make noise. Must be they think ICE is cutting into one of their voter bases.
[RT] A royal decree by Saudi King Salman ...either the largest species of Pacific salmon or the current Sheikh of the Burnin' Sands, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and Lord of Most of the Arabians.... has ’pre-exonerated’ all troops fighting 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... from any accountability issues they may face over their conduct in the war, in which thousands of civilians have been killed and maimed.
A statement announcing the early pardon, released by 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 state news agency SPA, said the pardon extends to "all military men across the armed forces" taking part in Operation Restoring Hope, citing the official codename of the Riyadh-led invasion of Yemen.
The royal decree was issued following "reports submitted" by crown prince Mohammed bin Salman ...Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia as of 2016.... , the kingdom’s sitting defense minister.
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[DAWN] Ousted premier 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... 's grandsons Junaid Safdar and Zakaria Sharif were taken into custody by London police on Friday after they reportedly got enraged and beat a man outside Avenfield House, DawnNewsTV reported.
According to initial reports, protesters had gathered outside the Avenfield residence where a man is believed to have hurled abuses towards Maryam Nawaz's son Junaid and his cousin Zakaria, prompting them to lose their cool and proceed to grab the man by the collar and punch him.
The protesters notified the police officials present in the vicinity who took Junaid and Zakaria into custody and shifted them to a nearby cop shoppe.
"The protesters gathered outside Avenfield House spat at me and tried to attack me," said Junaid Safdar while police was taking him away.
Meanwhile, ...back at the shouting match, Bart was wondering if fisticuffs would be appropriate at this point... Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz have left for Heathrow Airport from where they will be flying to Dubai.
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[DAWN] Sri Lanka announced on Wednesday it would start hanging drug pushers, ending a near-half century moratorium on capital punishment as officials promised to "replicate the success" of the Philippines drug war.
President Maithripala Sirisena had told the cabinet he "was ready to sign the death warrants" of repeat drug offenders, government front man Rajitha Senaratne said on Wednesday.
"From now on, we will hang drug offenders without commuting their death sentences," he said.
Sri Lanka has commuted death sentences for serious crimes to life in prison since 1976, when the last execution took place.
The government has drawn inspiration from the Philippines, where a no-holds barred war on drugs has been a centrepiece of President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration.
"We were told that the Philippines has been successful in deploying the army and dealing with this problem. We will try to replicate their success," Senaratne said of the decision to deploy the military to tackle drugs.
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#1
It's been known to reduce recidivism. Given only rich countries can afford virtue signalling of warehousing hundred of thousands of sociopaths, what do you expect of the less prosperous regions of the world to do?
Diyala (IraqiNews.com) Four 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.... members were killed in an Arclight airstrike, northeast of Diyala, a commander said on Thursday.
Speaking to Alghad Press, Maj. Gen. Mazhar al-Azzawi, commander of Diyala Operations, said, "security troops found four bodies of Islamic State, who were killed in an airstrike that destroyed their vehicle in Wadi al-Thallab region, northeast of Diyala."
The shelling, according to Azzawi, "was carried out based on information from the intelligence."
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[DAWN] Indian federal Sherlocks on Wednesday charged a politician from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party with raping a teenager whose plight was ignored by police until she tried to set herself alight.
The Central Bureau of Investigation charged Kuldeep Singh Sengar with the 2017 rape of a 16-year-old girl, whose father was later beaten in jug allegedly by Sengar’s brother and later died.
The sense of impunity enjoyed by Sengar, a powerful Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state politician, and his brother sparked revulsion and protests across India demanding justice.
Sengar, who like his brother was not charged until the crime made national headlines, had smiled and bragged on television that he and his family would be proven innocent.
But CBI front man Abhishek Dayal told AFP that Sengar had been formally charged with rape, criminal conspiracy and child sex offences.
The victim accused Sengar of assaulting her in June 2017 at his home in Unnao district in Uttar Pradesh.
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[Daily Caller] A member of the House Committee on the Judiciary said during a hearing Thursday that a government watchdog found that nearly all of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s emails were sent to a foreign entity and that the FBI didn’t follow-up on that finding.
The Intelligence Community Inspector General (ICIG) found an "anomaly on Hillary Clinton’s emails going through their private server, and when they had done the forensic analysis, they found that her emails, every single one except four, over 30,000, were going to an address that was not on the distribution list," Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas said during a hearing with FBI official Peter Strzok.
"It was going to an unauthorized source that was a foreign entity unrelated to Russia," he added.
Gohmert said the ICIG investigator, Frank Rucker, presented the findings to Strzok, but that the FBI official did not do anything with the information.
Strzok acknowledged meeting with Rucker, but said he did not recall the "specific content."
"The forensic examination was done by the ICIG and they can document that," Gohmert said, "but you were given that information and you did nothing with it."
He also said that someone alerted the Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz to the issue.
[PRESSTV] French President Emmanuel Macron says, unlike what his American counterpart 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... has claimed, NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions... is not planning to increase military spending beyond the current levels.
Trump jolted a NATO summit in Brussels on Thursday, saying in his closing remarks that NATO members had agreed to "up their commitment" and dedicate four percent of their GDP to defense instead of the current two percent.
Macron, however, disputed the remarks in a news conference and said there were no such arrangements.
"There is a communiqué that was published yesterday. It’s very detailed," the News Agency that Dare Not be Named quoted Macron as saying. "It confirms the goal of two percent by 2024. That’s all."
"I don’t even know if it is a good measure and fits our collective security," he said of Trump's proposed spending increase.
In 2014, NATO countries agreed to meet the current spending target over the next decade. The alliance has estimated that only 15 members, or just over half, will be able to hit the benchmark by then.
Frustrated by the lack of "burden-sharing," Trump has time and again threatened to leave the alliance if others fail to step up contributions.
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#1
Have it your way, cheese eating surrender monkey.
#4
Those anti-Trump and anti-US protests going on in Trafalgar Square tell the story. Block all calls from #10 and leave the bastards to their socialist misery. Churchill must be weeping in his grave.
#5
A recent tweet by a French mil reporter whined about of a lot of 575 choppers only 160 some were in good enough maintenance shape to perform a mission.
#6
"Trump jolted a NATO summit in Brussels on Thursday, saying in his closing remarks that NATO members had agreed to "up their commitment" and dedicate four percent of their GDP to defense instead of the current two percent."
I don't know why Trump would say such nonsense. 4% of the German GDP would be 130 bn euros (or almost 40% of the total federal budget). Current defense spending is 37bn.
130 bn would be twice the Russian defense budget and almost as much China spends.
Of course you want to see a German military super power, don't you?
Now imagine all European countries do the same.
I'm getting so tired of this crap.
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...a report for the German parliament earlier this year revealed the extent of the decay of its army, navy and air force. At the end of last year, the Bundeswehr had 128 Eurofighters, of which 39 could fly. It had six submarines, none of which were working when the report was compiled. Of its 13 ageing frigates, only five could sail. Of its 93 Tornado jets, 26 were ready for action. German air force trainees struggled to qualify because so few aircraft were ready for use.
What would it cost to purchase the spare parts needed to repair current equipment so the mechanics can make the necessary repairs? Surely just maintaining current equipment would not make Germany into a military superpower?
To be fair, it is absolutely not just Germany. The British military is in similarly dire straits, as I recall, as are the various Scandinavians’.
this is an entirely different and legitimate question, and the problem is getting addressed right now.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
07/13/2018 18:39
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#9
Thanks for the link, tw. I read it earlier and hadn't seen it.
tw,
this is an entirely different and legitimate question, and the problem is getting addressed right now."
It's not an entirely different question if the bad maintenance habits are caused by the lack of spending. All the comparisons you mention are based on the deceptive official budget numbers of the People's Republic of China's military; if we accept them at face value they have a navy with roughly 80 destroyer and frigate class vessels vs. Germany's 16 similarly classed vessels, which is a size differential of about five times for twice the budget, neglecting such considerations as to relative readiness rates.
There are lots of third-world airforces where only a quarter or less of the major fighter types are available for combat.
#11
To be even more fair, I’ve read that the American military also needs to spend considerably more on maintenance after the high tempo of operations since 9/11, and President Trump is doing his best to make that happen. Pushing the 4% target for NATO would help him in bargaining an increase with Congress, as I believe we are only currently spending on the order of 3.4%.
[PRESSTV] 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... has increased its oil production to the highest level since the end of 2016, in a bid to fulfill demands by 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... to drive down the prices after they hit a three-year high.
Saudi oil supplies grew by around 500,000 barrels per day in June, reaching nearly 10.5 million bpd as the world's top crude exporter pushed hard to make good on its promises to tame oil prices.
That's a significant increase from just over 10 million bpd in May.
Oil prices are approaching $80 a barrel for the first time since 2014, stoking concerns among major consumers, particularly in the auto-dependent US.
Trump said in late June that Saudi King Salman ...either the largest species of Pacific salmon or the current Sheikh of the Burnin' Sands, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and Lord of Most of the Arabians.... had agreed during a telecon with him to boost output two million bpd.
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[IsraelTimes] An Israeli drone fired two missiles toward a group of Paleostinians flying incendiary balloons into southern Israel from the northern Gazoo Strip on Thursday, according to Paleostinian media.
This was the second such Arclight airstrike in less than 24 hours.
The Israeli military confirmed that one of its aircraft fired at a cell that had launched balloons toward Israel from northern Gazoo.
No injuries were reported in the airstrike, which the official Paleostinian Wafa news outlet said occurred near the northern Gazoo town of Beit Hanoun.
Multiple Paleostinian news outlets, including Wafa, reported that Israel conducted two strikes on Thursday, one near Beit Hanoun and a second east of the city of Jabaliya in the northern Gazoo Strip.
An IDF spokesperson denied the Paleostinian reports, saying he was "only familiar with one airstrike."
The southern Israeli Eshkol region reported that a number of incendiary and booby-trapped balloons had been flown into the area throughout Thursday morning.
"In addition, throughout the morning, a number of suspicious balloons were spotted and neutralized inside the region," an Eshkol spokespereson said.
At least one large cluster of dozens of balloons made its way into Israel. One balloon, carrying what appeared to be a small incendiary device, had a message taped to it, written in Hebrew and Arabic, reading: "When life here is like death, we’ll keep living near the fence."
It was not immediately clear if these balloons were launched by the same group that was targeted by the IDF strike.
[PRESSTV] A court in Bahrain has handed down prison sentences to five anti-regime protesters as the ruling Al Khalifah regime does not shy away from its heavy clampdown on political dissidents and freedom fighters in the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom.
On Thursday, Bahrain's Supreme Criminal Court sentenced the defendants to five years in jail each after finding them guilty of "deliberately setting fire to a vehicle and endangering the lives and property of ordinary people for a terrorist purpose" on Sitra Island, located five kilometers south of the capital Manama, on May 25.
Thousands of anti-regime protesters have held demonstrations in Bahrain on an almost daily basis ever since a popular uprising began in the country in mid-February 2011.
They are demanding that the Al Khalifah regime relinquish power and allow a just system representing all Bahrainis to be established.
Manama has gone to great lengths to clamp down on any sign of dissent. On March 14, 2011, troops from 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... and the United Arab Emirates were deployed to assist Bahrain in its crackdown.
Scores of people have bit the dust and hundreds of others sustained injuries or got placed in durance vile Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! as a result of the Al Khalifah regime’s crackdown.
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The mission to rescue 12 boys and their soccer coach from a Thai cave is to get the Hollywood treatment in a movie announced by faith-based production house Pure Flix. It'll be moved to someplace near Los Angeles. Fifteen percent of the boys will be cute black children. Not quite half will be assertive girls. There may be one or two Asian kids. They'll all have gotten stuck in the caves because of something stupid and selfish done by one of the white kids -- he'll remind you of Draco Malfoy from the Harry Potter series. They'll probably also feature some dinosaurs run amuck from a Secret Government Laboratory®, and some natural disasters.
Managing partner Michael Scott, who lives in Thailand and was at the rescue site in Chiang Rai as the boys were being pulled to safety, made the announcement late Tuesday on Twitter. I think we've all seen 2012 by now.
"I couldn’t be more excited. This story has meant so much to me as I have followed it in Thailand this summer," he said in a video filmed at the scene of the flooded cave in the country’s north. Yeah, buddy. My pants are all wet too.
"My wife actually grew up with the Thai Navy SEAL that died in the cave. To see all that heroic bravery in the cave, and to get all the divers out, it’s just such a touching event and so personal to me." Great Hollywood, by Gum. Lotsa opportunity for Kung Fu fighting.
Stunning video footage emerged Wednesday of several of the "Wild Boars" team -- aged 11 to 16 -- being freed from the Tham Luang cave on stretchers, ending a successful three-day rescue. ... and a love interest that'll knock yer sox off!
They are in good physical and mental health, say doctors, despite a harrowing 18 days inside the dank, dark cave before a risky rescue operation that was dubbed "Mission: Impossible".
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#1
Yes, how are they going to wedge a "Holly-weird A-List Star" in there and not make it "cultural appropriation" time by putting Western Actors in "brownface" like those old English cinema productions?
#5
I'll bet on Thailand, with ecotourist involvement, and elephants. Elephant liberation. Elephant wisdom. Outraged elephants screeching and shitting on a picture of Trump.
[THESUN.CO.UK] THERESA May’s new soft Brexit blueprint would "kill" any future trade deal with the United States, 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... warns today.
Mounting an extraordinary attack on the PM’s exit negotiation, the President also reveals she has ignored his advice on how to toughen up the troubled talks.
Instead he believes Mrs May has gone "the opposite way", and he thinks the results have been "very unfortunate".
His fiercest criticism came over the centrepiece of the PM’s new Brexit plan ‐ which was unveiled in full yesterday.
It would stick to a common rulebook with Brussels on goods and agricultural produce in a bid to keep customs borders open with the EU.
But Mr Trump told The Sun: "If they do a deal like that, we would be dealing with the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... instead of dealing with the UK, so it will probably kill the deal.
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#1
It would stick to a common rulebook with Brussels
So Brussels will still be running the show and rules on "maximum banana curvature" and similar crap will still be followed? What the hell kind of "exit" is that? Apparently the "non-exit" kind.
#4
Treason May needs a trip in a tumbril for ingoring the democratic mandate the people instructed her to perform.
Post democratic leaders need to leave office in the same way pre-democratic leaders have. Only democratic leaders should have one last trip home in a government limo. non-democratic leaders just have one last trip.
#7
BP, I prefer SF myself (though not trashy - thrash is what SJW write since there no honest pulpers left). But I've read two Reacher books recently - birthday gift. In one he puts somebody who annoyed him into a laundry drying tumbril.
#8
g(r)om: not to be pedantic (heaven forfend) but I suspect you are confusing "tumbril" (a cart used for hauling condemned prisoners to the guillotine) with "tumbler".
[Khaama Press] The Afghan armed forces have reportedly suffered heavy casualties in a coordinated attack by the Talibs in northern Kunduz province of Afghanistan.
Provincial governor’s front man Nematullah Temori confirmed that the Talibs have launched a coordinated attack in Dashti Archi district.
Temori further added that heavy festivities are still underway between the faceless myrmidons and armed forces but did not disclose further information regarding the casualties.
Unconfirmed reports indicate at least thirty soldiers bit the dust in the attack and at least 17 others sustained injuries.
However, we can't all be heroes. Somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by... another official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said at least sixty soldiers have been killed or maimed in the attack.
The source further added that the attack was carried out by the faceless myrmidons belonging to the red unit of the Taliban ...Arabic for students... group.
According to the official, the attack was carried out on security posts between Dashti Archi of Kunduz and Khwajah Ghar of Takhar province.
The security and defense authorities have not commented regarding the casualties of the armed forces so far.
Kunduz is among the relatively volatile provinces in North of Afghanistan but the security of the province has sharply deteriorated during the recent years amid ongoing efforts by the faceless myrmidons to expand their insurgency in key northern provinces.
[atimes]It is refreshing to hear an American president call the Europeans out for the sybarites and deadbeats they are.
President Trump outraged European opinion by denouncing his allies on the far side of the Atlantic for their failure to meet NATO’s spending target of 2% of GDP.
Other alliance members, he added, should spend 4% of their output on defense, just like America does. His dudgeon at the Europeans was more than justified: the Europeans really are deadbeats who don’t pay their fair share of the cost of defending their own countries and leave the burden in the hands of American soldiers and taxpayers.
Trump’s remonstrations will fall on deaf ears. Why should Europeans spend money on arms, when they have no intention of using them?
A recent opinion poll found that small minorities in the core European members of NATO were willing to fight for their country under any circumstances.
If you don’t plan to fight, you don’t need weapons, and it is no surprise that Germany, with its budget surplus, can’t bring itself to vote for urgently-need funds for its military. Germany’s armed forces are in disrepair; a German brigade designated to lead a NATO rapid response force has only nine of the 44 tanks it requires and only four of the country’s military aircraft are combat ready.
If there’s nothing you’re willing to die for, there’s probably nothing you’re willing to live for, either, I argued in a 2014 essay on the hundredth anniversary of the First World War (see “Musil and Meta-Musil”). It should be no surprise that there is a reasonably close correspondence between the willingness of the Europeans to fight for their nations and their willingness to have children. If you care so little for your country that you will not defend it, you are likely to be too absorbed in hedonistic distraction to bother with children. Conversely, if there are to be no future generations, who will lay down his life to fight for them?
#1
Before WW-2 what country had the greatest success with breaking the Enigma machine? Poland. Why? One Good reason was that they were wedged between a hostile Germany and a hostile Soviet Union. Their 'best and brightest' had ample reason to step up and defend their country -- they were motivated.
Look at the new Land of the Lotus Eaters, Europe. They don't see any threats on the horizon and sadly they are trying so very, very hard not to see any. They, like a self-proclaimed Socialist ex-friend, are so blinded by oikophobia that they are too busy to look over the wall and check for barbarians... This will not end well.
#2
The basic problem is that they grew up in the sheltering arms of Uncle Sam. Thus instead of viewing it as a magnificent gift, they see it as the normal baseline.
Why should they fight? Peace is because of the EU, not the odious Americans. Spend on a military? Like the baby-killing Americans? Never!
Posted by: Herb McCoy ||
07/13/2018 2:06
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#7
Welfare is bad on personal and national levels and should always include strings to motivate the recipient to care for themselves as quick as possible.
[DAWN] At least 300 PML-N workers and party leaders, including a Union Council chairman, vice chairman and counsellors, have been placed in durance vile Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! in a crackdown in Lahore as the city braces itself to receive ousted premier 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... and his daughter Maryam Nawaz on Friday.
Police sources told DawnNewsTV on Thursday that 300 PML-N workers had been arrested in raids on Wednesday night. The district commissioner has provided a list to police of 300 more workers who must be arrested, the sources said.
Additionally, in order to "maintain law and order" in the city, 10,000 coppers will be deployed across Lahore on Friday, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Operations Shahzad Akbar said.
The Anti-Riot Unit will be on alert, and the Dolphin Squad and the Police Response Unit will be deployed to sensitive areas of the city.
Containers will be set up tonight in order to block main thoroughfares across the city, while all roads leading to the airport will be sealed, according to the Lahore Traffic Police.
DIG Akbar said that all superintendents of police have been directed to take strict action against miscreant elements who, during election campaigns or rallies, take the law into their own hands.
He said that those who violated the Election Commission of Pakistain's Code of Conduct would find themselves behind bars, while those politicians and workers who remain peaceful would be guaranteed complete security.
"No one will be allowed to take the law into their own hands," he asserted.
The extraordinary measures have been taken days after a rally was staged by Nawaz's son-in-law Capt Safdar ─ who received a one-year jail sentence in the Avenfield reference for abetment ─ as he offered his arrest to authorities in Rawalpindi.
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[Atimes] Malaysian premier says a decades-old, fixed rate supply contract is 'too costly' and 'ridiculous' while the rich city-state maintains that a deal is a deal
Posted by: 3dc ||
07/13/2018
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Top|| File under: Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life,
#1
...Dear Mr. Mahathir -
Do NOT screw with Singapore. Not gonna be worth it.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
07/13/2018 4:54
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#2
Singapore has been well aware of this problem brewing but their time table is too slow to convert the Singapore river into a reservoir. Also, when I was there over a month ago the river looked too polluted to make a safe reservoir with a lot of street sewers draining directly into it. That water needs to be redirected and cleaned first and the mud needs to have heavy metals and the like cleaned out. They should look at two US efforts. The first Deep Tunnel in Chicago. The second the cleaning up of many badly polluted mid-western rivers.
[RT] 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... ’s policy of pressuring European countries on issues like defense spending, Russia cooperation or trade will ultimately end NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A single organization with differing goals, equipment, language, doctrine, and structure.... , Willy Wimmer, Germany’s former State Secretary for Defense, told RT.
The 75 year old has been out of power since 2010, though he had a long parliamentary career in the CDU until then.
Commenting on the outcome of this week’s NATO summit in Brussels, during which the US president criticized European members of the alliance of spending too little on defense and berated Germany for buying natural gas from Russia, Wimmer said Trump was going too far.
"If any Western European government would follow these ideas of Washington, they would be kicked out of office by their own population," he predicted. "There is no feeling among Western Europeans that there is a military, economic or political threat by the Russian Federation, which would justify the behavior of President Trump in Brussels."
"The only response to the US approach would be an end of NATO," he warned, adding that such an outcome is not what European governments want.
Requiring the governments of Europe to fulfill their obligations according to the treaty establishing NATO is too much to expect? Well then, let us dissolve it and move to something more realistic, “with malice toward none, with charity for all,” as President Lincoln said.
Wimmer said the alliance has been losing popularity among Europeans, especially in the past few years when US military adventures triggered a chain of events that was really hurtful for Europe.
"If NATO continues its policies, it would lose all the support it had in the past," he said. "Western European population is no longer willing to support Anglo-Saxon wars in our neighborhood. When we look at the migration crisis in Western Europe, it is directly linked to NATO wars in Afghanistan and Mali.
"NATO became outdated the moment we adopted the Charter of Gay Paree in November 1990. No longer war in Europe. And NATO brought war back to Europe," Wimmer added.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/13/2018
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#1
"There is no feeling among Western Europeans that there is a military, economic or political threat by the Russian Federation, which would justify the behavior of President Trump in Brussels."
#4
Russia, the Baltic States, or Former Soviet Union (FSU), whatever name you use will not abide an Islamic Europe for long. It may not be this year, or the next, but Islam never disappoints in the bringing of conflict.
Bolton and some of the other strategists may see this on the horizon. With Erdogan's Turkey as a foretelling of things to come, getting out of NATO now rather than later may become a trend.
#6
Given the decline and death of western Europe and its culture, cutting ties now is logical. Russia couldn't fight Georgia very well and their mercenaries got stopped cold in the Ukraine. NATO is little more than a club to belly up to the Uncle Sugar's trough and being able to strut around like a peacock at parties.
Long past time to cut ourselves free of this mess and let them continue their slow decline. Eventually they will either be muslim, or do horrible things to cut that cancer out of their countries.
#1
Trump will probably put Xi on notice that he is now responsible for his stooge in NK. Any hostile act from NK will be considered a hostile act from China.
[DAWN] FOR the justice system to appear credible, it must punish all those who are found guilty, including the high and mighty. Unfortunately, in Pakistain, there seems to be one law for the common man, and another for those who have the ’means’. On Tuesday, an antiterrorism court in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... granted bail to suspended police officer Rao Anwar in the murder case of Naqeebullah Mehsud. The aspiring young model ‐ along with three others, all dubbed Talibs ‐ was bumped off in a bogus encounter in the outskirts of Karachi in January, which Rao Anwar is accused of criminal masterminding. While it is true that all suspects are innocent until proven guilty, it appears that the police officer, believed to be patronised by powerful quarters, is getting preferential treatment. He has been granted bail though he is accused of murder, whereas often those accused of lesser crimes, but without connections, are denied bail. The suspended SSP’s house in Malir cantonment has been declared a ’sub-jail’. Whenever appearing in court, Mr Anwar is brought without handcuffs, while all the other accused are denied this ’privilege’. All this while, both a Supreme Court-mandated joint interrogation report, as well as the former head of Sindh’s Counter-Terrorism Department have said that the encounter in which Naqeebullah and the others was killed was fake, and that Rao Anwar had a central role to play in it.
Encounters, in particular, are a matter of shame for our law-enforcement system. It is, therefore, important that those coppers involved in this heinous act be brought to justice. While Rao and others of his ilk were believed to freely play the role of judge, jury and executioner across Karachi’s vast expanse, the Naqeebullah killing brought into focus the issue of fake encounters like few cases before it had. Therefore, it is imperative that all those involved in this case are tried and brought to justice, and that no preferential treatment is given to any suspect, no matter how powerful. Those in uniform who kill with impunity must be sent a strong message.
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] 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... said Iran’s economic troubles were going to force it to seek a security deal with Washington following his withdrawal from a nuclear pact.
In May the United States pulled out of a multinational deal to lift sanctions against Iran in return for curbs to its nuclear program. Washington has since told countries they must halt all imports of Iranian oil from Nov. 4 or face US financial measures.
This may cut Iran’s hard currency earnings from oil exports, and the prospect has triggered a panicked flight of Iranians’ savings from the rial into dollars, weighing on an already ailing local currency, hit by economic woes and financial difficulties at local banks.
Speaking to a news conference at a NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... leaders’ summit in Brussels, Trump said Iran was treating the US with ’so much more respect’ following the move and he expected Tehran to reach out for a fresh deal.
"I know they’re having a lot of problems and their economy is collapsing. But I will tell you this: at a certain point they’re going to call me they’re going to say ’Let’s make a deal’. They’re feeling a lot of pain right now."
Tehran’s Grand Bazaar was hit by strikes late in June and protesters angered by the rial’s collapse clashed with the police and traders massed outside parliament to complain about a sharp fall in the value of the national currency.
European powers still support the 2015 deal, under which Tehran agreed to limit its nuclear development in exchange for international sanctions relief.
They say they will do more to encourage their businesses to remain engaged with Iran, though a number of firms have already said they plan to pull out as they also face sanctions following Trump’s decision.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday called on American allies to help impose economic pressure on Iran.
"We must cut off all funding the regime uses to fund terrorism & proxy wars," Pompeo said in a Twitter post ahead of his scheduled meeting with European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... ’s foreign affairs and security policy representative Federica Mogherini in Brussels.
He has also accused Tehran of continuing to sell weapons in the Middle East despite United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... resolutions.
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#1
economic woes and financial difficulties at local banks
Even after Obama's Pallets o' Cash?
Posted by: Bobby ||
07/13/2018 8:46
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[IsraelTimes] The Syrian regime bases struck early this morning by the Israeli Air Force were in use by the Iranian military, the Kan public broadcaster reports.
The Arclight airstrikes in the Quneitra region near the border came hours after a Syrian drone was shot down by the military after it entered Israeli airspace.
According to Kan, Israel struck three military observation posts used for intelligence gathering by the Iranian army operating in Syria.
It says that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed the regime bases were being used by Iran
[AnNahar] The Ottoman Turkish intelligence agency has detained and flown back to The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the decaying remnant of the Ottoman Empire.... from Azerbaijan and Ukraine two suspected members of the movement blamed for the 2016 failed coup, its latest covert overseas swoop, state media said Thursday.
The Anadolu news agency said the two men were tossed into the calaboose in Azerbaijan and Ukraine on suspicion of being top members of the group of U.S.-based preacher Fethullah Gülen ... a Turkish preacher living in Pennsylvania whom the current govt of Turkey considers responsible for all the ills afflicting Turkey and possibly the entire world... , who Ankara accuses of orchestrating the coup bid aimed at unseating 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... Suspect Isa Ozdemir was detained in Azerbaijan and Salih Zeki Yigit in Ukraine in the operation by the National Intelligence Organization (MIT), it said.
After their detention, the two suspects were flown on a special flight to Istanbul airport and accused of membership of a terror group.
Anadolu gave no further information on how the two men had been captured or if the operations had taken place with the cooperation of the Azerbaijani or Ukrainian authorities.
But it published a picture of the two men with their hands cuffed in front of their chests.
This not the first time that MIT has conducted operations abroad aimed at bringing suspected Gulenists ... the Turkish version of the Boogie Man, who set fire to the Turkish Reichsstag... back to Turkey.
In April, it flew three suspected Gulen group members back to Turkey from the African state of Gabon in a covert operation.
And in March, six Ottoman Turkish nationals alleged to be Gulenists were flown back to Turkey from Kosovo in a hugely contentious operation carried out by the Pristina interior ministry and MIT.
The operation sparked a crisis in Kosovo, with both the prime minister and president protesting that they were not informed of the operation.
Erdogan has vowed to hunt down Gulenists inside and outside Turkey, saying in April: "We will never allow those vile people to walk freely." A Ottoman Turkish official said in April that 80 Gulenists had so far been brought back to Turkey in such operations.
Gulen's group had built up huge influence in Turkey but also abroad -- notably in Africa, the Balkans and Central Asia -- in particular through an education network.
But the preacher, who has lived in the United States since 1999, denies any link to the failed coup bid.
Turkey has nabbed Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! tens of thousands of people since the coup bid on charges of belonging to the group, the biggest crackdown in its history.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
07/13/2018
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] 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... described Russia’s 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... on Thursday as a "competitor" rather than an "enemy" and said he expected they would get along well when they hold their first summit next week.
Speaking before leaving Brussels where he met NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the cut of the American pants... leaders, Trump repeated an earlier remark that his meeting with Putin might be the easiest part of a trip that included the summit of the Western military alliance and will also take him to Britannia.
"I think we’ll get along well. But ultimately he’s a competitor. He’s representing Russia. I’m representing the United States. So in a sense we’re competitors, not a question of friend or enemy. He’s not my enemy," Trump said.
"Hopefully some day, maybe he’ll be a friend. It could happen but I don’t know him very well."
Trump avoided criticizing Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea or calling Putin a threat when asked, saying: "I don’t want him to be, and that’s I guess why we have NATO."
Trump’s comparatively warm words about Putin were particularly noteworthy given the harsh criticism he leveled at allies during the NATO summit, when he repeatedly berated European countries for spending too little on defense.
He reserved his strongest criticism for Germany, with what one senior diplomat from one of Washington’s NATO allies described as a "cold-blooded" assault.
While he criticized plans for a big new Russian pipeline to Germany, provoking a rebuke from Moscow, his ire was directed at Chancellor Angela Merkel ...chancellor of Germany and the impetus behind Germany's remarkably ill-starred immigration program. Merkel used to be referred to by Germans as Mom. Now they make faces at her for inundating the country with Moslems .. "I don’t like the pipeline," Trump said, bemoaning what he said were billions of dollars Russia would reap from the project. "But maybe we will get along with the group that we are protecting against, I think that is a real possibility. As you know I am meeting with Putin," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#2
But ultimately he’s a competitor. He’s representing Russia. I’m representing the United States. So in a sense we’re competitors, not a question of friend or enemy.
#5
If you read Churchill's memoirs on the leadup to WW2 you'll find that he thought one of the major blunders of the allies was their inability or unwillingness to secure the cooperation, or at least the neutrality, of Mussolini in the battle against Hitler.
I'd suggest that we're in an analagous situation wrt Russia at the moment.
[Washington Times] U.S. intelligence agencies are closely monitoring Russian military activities in Libya for signs that Moscow may soon build a military base in the divided North African state.
Intelligence reports indicate that Russia is planning to expand its Syrian bases at Tartus and Hemeimeem to Libya.
The possible Russian move into Libya represents the most recent failure stemming from the policies of President Obama that backed Islamist rebels who overthrew and killed Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.
Mr. Obama has said that the failure to prepare for the aftermath of the ouster of Gadhafi was the worst mistake of his presidency. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also came under fire for failing to provide security for Americans who were attacked and killed in Benghazi after Gadhafi’s fall.
The push for a Russian military presence in Libya is being led by retired Maj. Gen. Khalifah Haftar, whose militia forces, the Libyan National Army, control eastern Libya. Russian private military forces have been operating in eastern Libya since March 2017, including the RSB Group that has deployed several dozen armed mercenaries to join forces with Haftar militias.
News reports from Libya stated recently that the RSB Group mercenaries are engaged in advance work, scouting locations for a Russian military base in Tobruk or Benghazi.
[AnNahar] 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.... group affiliate seized a village in southern Syria overnight from rebels who had agreed to a regime takeover, a Britannia-based monitor said Thursday.
Much of the southern province of Daraa had been quiet since Friday, when a ceasefire deal between rebels and the Russian-backed regime ended a nearly three-week government assault.
But Jaish Khaled bin Walid, a local IS branch that controls a small corner in the southwest of the province, on the border with Jordan and close to the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, is not included in that deal.
Overnight into Thursday, the jihadists took control of the village of Heet near the Jordanian border, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said.
"After violent festivities, Jaish Khaled bin Walid took control of Heet despite Russian and regime air strikes against them," Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.
Fighting since Wednesday has left 16 rebels and 12 jihadists dead including two jacket wallahs, he said.
Since June 19, the regime has been pressing military and negotiation efforts to retake the whole of Daraa and the adjacent Quneitra province from the opposition.
A government victory in the strategic area bordering Jordan and the occupied Golan Heights would be symbolic, as it is seen as the cradle of the seven-year uprising.
The regime now controls more than 80 percent of Daraa province, the Observatory says, though some parts of its western countryside remain under opposition control.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Terror of Aleppo ... 's regime has retaken more than 60 percent of the country since 2015, when Russia intervened militarily to bolster it.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
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[DAWN] The Counter Terrorism Department, Rawalpindi, has placed in durance vile I ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece! a prime suspect in the murder case of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto ... 11th Prime Minister of Pakistain in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996. She was the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founder of the Pakistain People's Party, who was murdered at the instigation of General Ayub Khan. She was murdered in her turn by person or persons unknown while campaigning in late 2007. Suspects include, to note just a few, Baitullah Mehsud, General Pervez Musharraf, the ISI, al-Qaeda in Pakistain, and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, who shows remarkably little curiosity about who done her in... after he was released from Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore.
The Kot Lakhpat jail authority has released suspect Rafaqat Hussain after he managed to secure bail in the Benazir Bhutto murder case.
Pakistain Peoples Party (PPP) chairperson and two-time former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in a gun and kaboom at an election campaign rally in Rawalpindi’s Liaquat Bagh on Dec 27, 2007.
An official seeking anonymity told Dawn that Rafaqat was shifted to Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail from Rawalpindi prison following some administrative arrangements.
He said the Kot Lakhpat jail officials got his release orders on June 23, 2018, and following written orders, they released Rafaqat Hussain.
His elder brother received him outside the jail, he said adding that as soon as he reached his destination, a CTD team from Rawalpindi raided and arrested him in a terror attack case lodged with a local cop shoppe.
"The CTD arrested him in another suicide kaboom carried out on Feb 6, 2007 at Rawalpindi International Airport," the official said.
According to this case, he said, the terrorist had detonated a bomb in a parking area of the airport wounding some law-enforcement agencies personnel and killing himself after a brief exchange of fire.
Meanwhile, ...back at the wine tasting, Vince was about to start on his third quart... the official said, the suspect’s father also filed a plea to the Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) claiming that Rafaqat Hussain had gone missing from the prison.
He claimed that his son was acquitted in the murder case of Benazir Bhutto in August 2017 but was detained in Punjab’s various jails.
Lately, Rafaqat was shifted to the Kot Lakhpat Jail from where he went missing under mysterious circumstances, he claimed.
Earlier, an anti-terrorism court acquitted five suspects for lack of evidence and declared former military ruler Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... a runaway.
ATC Judge Muhammad Asghar Khan found two coppers guilty of ’mishandling the scene of the crime’, making them the only people to have been convicted of the liquidation of Benazir in a gun and suicide attack in Rawalpindi on Dec 27, 2007.
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[PRESSTV] Yemen's Defense Ministry says the country's air defense forces shot down a fighter jet in southwest 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... in retaliation for fresh Arclight airstrikes by the kingdom against its impoverished neighbor.
In a statement, the ministry said on its website Thursday that the fighter jet belonging to the Royal Saudi Air Force had been hit in the Asir region as it was returning from Yemen's northern province of Sa'ada.
According to Yemeni military officials, the invading aircraft had taken part in deadly airstrikes against residential neighborhoods in the Arab country.
In January, Yemen’s Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ... Ansarullah movement released footage of the moment its forces shot down an F-15 fighter jet belonging to the Saudi air force.
In June last year, Yemeni air defense forces also intercepted and shot down a Saudi F-15 fighter jet in the skies over Sana’a.
Yemeni forces regularly fire ballistic missiles at positions inside Saudi Arabia in retaliation for the Saudi-led war on Yemen.
In another development on Thursday, Yemeni army snipers rubbed out five Saudi mercenaries at the strategic Jabal al-Doud military base in the kingdom’s southwestern border region of Jizan.
In addition, at least 44 Saudi-backed gunnies were killed in a series of violent festivities across Yemen.
According to al-Masirah television network, Saudi warplanes carried out new airstrikes across Yemen, hitting different parts of the impoverished country.
At least two people were killed after the jets bombed residential areas in Al Shajan village and other towns across Hudaydah Province.
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Top|| File under: Houthis
[DAWN] At least two people were maimed in a blast near the election office of Balochistan...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... Awami Party (BAP) in Khuzdar on Thursday night, DawnNewsTV reported.
According to police, unidentified miscreants targeted the campaign office of Agha Shakeel Durrani, the leader of BAP contesting elections from Khuzdar.
The injured were rushed to a nearby hospital for medical treatment where a state of emergency was imposed to treat the injured.
Know more: BAP promises good governance, stability
The blast was reportedly followed by intense firing. Police and personnel of other law enforcement agencies reached the spot as an investigation into the incident went underway.
Balochistan Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mohsin Butt said holy warriors are planning to sabotage election activities in the province.
"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), Lashkar-e-Jhangvi ... a 'more violent' offshoot of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain. LeJ's purpose in life is to murder anyone who's not of utmost religious purity, starting with Shiites but including Brelvis, Ahmadis, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Rosicrucians, and just about anyone else you can think of. They are currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of al-Qaeda ... (LJ) and sub-nationalists are trying to sabotage election campaigns in Balochistan, he told DawnNewsTV.
However, the hip bone's connected to the leg bone... he provided assurances that security had been tightened in the province to ensure peaceful conduct of the election.
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[DAWN] Pledging to safeguard the rights of minorities if he comes into power, Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who who convinced himself that playing cricket qualified him to lead a nuclear-armed nation with severe personality problems... on Wednesday announced his government will take effective measures to prevent forced marriages of Hindu girls with Moslems.
"I have received complaints from the Hindu community in Sindh that their women are forcefully married to Moslems," Mr Khan said while speaking to representatives of minority groups at a convention.
The PTI chief presented his party agenda for improving the life of minorities in the country by giving them the basic rights ensured in the Constitution.
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[Jpost] It is unclear why the police confused the victim with the suspect.
The police in the West German city of Bonn allegedly mistakenly beat an Israeli philosophy professor after a German of Palestinian origin attacked him because he was wearing kippa.
According to a Thursday report in the Rheinische Post, the 20 year-old German Palestinian attacked the 50-year-old Israeli academic and yelled insults at him in German and English, including: "No Jew in Germany."
The German-Palestinian knocked the man's kippa from his head a number of times, was arrested and sent to a psychiatric clinc.
Regarding the police attack on the Israeli academic, Ursula Brohl-Sowa, the head of the Bonn police, called it "a horrible and regrettable misunderstanding."
The 50-year-old Israeli academic, who remained like the German-Palestinian unnamed in media reports, called for help and the police jumped and punched him in his face. It is unclear why the police confused the victim with the suspect.
The Israeli academic departed the city of Bonn, the former capital of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Antisemitic acts of violence and anti-Jewish rhetoric are increasing in Germany, according to German government reports.
In a separate development in Bonn,the anti-Israel organization BDS Group Bonn is seeking to stop a lecture from the Israeli academic Amichai Magen who is slated to deliver a talk on" Managing Terrorist Threats: The Growing Democracy Advantage" on July 12 at 6:00PM at the University of Bonn.
BDS is an abbreviation for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions campaign targeting the Jewish state.. Two new German intelligence reports concluded that boycotts of Israel are antisemitic and resemble the Hitler movement's "Don't buy from Jews!" campaign.
According to the annoucmenet for Magen's lecture,"the Center for International Security and Governance will host a lecture by Amichai Magen, Head of the Diplomacy and Conflict Studies Program at the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy in Herzliya, Israel, to discuss what he calls a „triple democracy advantage“ when it comes to terrorism"
The lecture notice adds that: "Contrary to popular opinion, Magen argues, data from nearly two decades suggests that liberal democracies are increasingly the safest regime type as they suffer fewer attacks than do other regime types, with a slower increase in numbers, and fewer fatalities. So how can this contrast between public perceptions and the changing empirical reality be explained? And what role does preserving and deepening democratic substance play in enhancing safety and mitigating the risks of terrorism? These and other questions will be explored at the upcoming event."
The Israeli professor’s companion called police, but when officers arrived the attacker fled, with the Israeli in pursuit.
And that’s why the police focussed on him.
Police initially thought the Israeli was the aggressor, and when he failed to heed to their calls to stop they tried to detain him, leading to a scuffle in which he was hit in the face and wrestled to the ground. Only after the situation was clarified by the professor’s companion did police arrest the Palestinian, who reportedly was under the influence of drugs.
The attacker, who is known to police for drug and violence offenses,
Muslim known wolf colonist amuses himself attacking unbelievers. Is that F4 or F13? I’ve lost track.
was sent to a psychiatric clinic but later released, as the institute could find no reason to hold him, reports said.
[Libya Observer] Saiqa Force has taken control of Benghazi's port and stationed in several points in its vicinity, according to sources from the city.
The sources revealed that the forces securing the port withdrew from their posts after receiving information of an impending attack on the port, which made it easy for Saiqa Force to take over the harbour.
The city of Benghazi has witnessed in the past few days intensive movements of the Saiqa Force in protest against the issuance of an arrest warrant by Khalifa Haftar ...Self-proclaimed Field Marshal, served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all... for the frontlines commander of Saiqa Force Mahmoud al-Werfalli.
Khalifa Haftar gave orders to arrest Mahmoud al-Werfalli, who is sought by the International Criminal Court, after escaping from a military prison and storming the headquarters of the Military Investment Authority of Haftar.
Al-Werfalli stormed the headquarters of the Military Investment Authority of the so-called General Command of the Dignity Operation in Hadayiq area in Benghazi and seized documents and property from the building after disagreements arose between him and head of the of the authority al-Madani al-Fakhri.
On a leaked walkie-talkie call posted on social media earlier, al-Werfalli accused al-Fakhri of theft and embezzlement, describing him as an embezzler of public money.
He talked about the disappearance of large sums of money, demanding the money to be returned and distributed to the "families of the deaders," as he put it.
Al-Werfalli insisted that he will go after Fakhri until "the end of the days" or until he knows who's behind him, asking him to reach out to the "supreme authorities" to reveal the fate of the hidden funds.
Al-Werfalli made a cinematic escape from prison and arrived in Benghazi last week.
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Top|| File under: Arab Spring
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Dr. Mohammed Abdel Karim al-Had, the former Sudanese Minister of Tourism, said that he would never visit Sudan’s National Museum as it displays idols, according to several newspaper reports.
Al-Had has a PhD in strategic planning and had worked in several positions before becoming the Tourism minister.
Sudan’s National Museum includes several statues and monuments of the ancient Sudanese kingdoms and is one of the largest museums in the country, located in the capital Khartoum.
Sudanese newspaper al-Tayyar published Had’s comments on Wednesday on its front page which then received wide reactions on social media.
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
In which it is revealed that sequential Ansar Bayt al Maqdis Numbers One, Two, and Three have recently been briefly enjoying rapid promotion...
[AlAhram] As COS 2018 continues security forces have all but ended the mobility of terrorists.
Comprehensive Operation Sinai (COS) 2018 is still in progress, with regular updates furnished by the Armed Forces.
The counter-terrorist operation was launched in February and 25 military communiqués have so far been issued reporting on the inroads made not just against terrorist groups but against other criminal activities, especially smuggling.
Continued on Page 49
[IsraelTimes] The United States says North Korea is illegally smuggling refined petroleum products into the country beyond the quota of 500,000 barrels per year allowed under UN sanctions.
UN documents sent to the UN Security Council committee monitoring sanctions against North Korea and obtained by The News Agency that Dare Not be Named cite 89 instances in which North Korean tankers likely delivered refined products "illicitly procured" via ship-to-ship transfers.
The documents said that even if each tanker delivered only one-third of its listed capacity the total volume would be above the 500,000 barrel annual quota.
The United States asked the committee to urgently inform all UN member states and the general public that North Korea has breached the quota ‐ and to exercise "enhanced vigilance" against its attempts to obtain refined petroleum products.
[Khaama Press] The Talibs group reacted in panic as the religious scholars from various Islamic countries ended their two-day conference on Afghanistan, denouncing the Taliban ...Arabic for students... -led insurgency and suicide kabooms.
The group issued a statement claiming that efforts were made during the conference to turn Afghanistan into a second Paleostine, hide the atrocities of the occupiers and cuff the hands of the fighters.
However, man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them... the group says such moves will not harm the ongoing efforts of the Taliban and warned the Saudi government that such gatherings could harm the status of the Kingdom.
This comes as the religious scholars on Wednesday issued a joint declaration, stating that "Based on the texts of the Koran and the Tradition that Islam is a religion of peace and mercy, that the believers should all be merciful towards one another, and that their blood, property and honour are inalienable and should be protected against aggression."
The declaration further added that "we hereby affirm that the suicide attacks targeting innocent people, and that killings among Moslems are all acts that are prohibited by Allah and His Messenger under texts that are conclusively clear and well-established, whereby Allah says "And whoever kills a believer intentionally, his punishment is hell; he shall abide in it, and Allah will send His wrath on him and curse him and prepare for him a painful chastisement."
The religious scholars insist that a national dialogue is the optimal way to end the conflict between the Afghan Government and the Taliban Movement, and the solution to the cause of the Moslem Afghans must particularly go through mutual understanding and direct peaceful negotiations.
They also added that "We also call on the Taliban Movement to respond to the invitation made by the Government of the Islamic Theocratic Republic of Afghanistan to eschew violence, end the mutual killings and sit together around the negotiating table."
#1
"Based on the texts of the Koran and the Tradition that Islam is a religion of peace and mercy, that the believers should all be merciful towards one another, and that their blood, property and honour are inalienable and should be protected against aggression."
[RT] A 25-year-old woman from Texas has been sentenced to 40 years behind bars for attempting to sell her two-year-old daughter for a sex act, for $1,200, to an undercover police officer who impersonated a willing pedophile.
In a carefully devised sting operation targeting child exploitation and abuse, led by Detective Serratt of the Montgomery County Precinct 1 Constable’s Office, officers managed to track down and arrest 25-year-old Sarah Peters, who in February this year planned to sell her two-year-old daughter online to someone desiring to "engage in sex acts with the child for a fee of $1,200.00."
Once Peters arranged to pimp out her daughter, she took the child to the drop off point in Conroe, Texas, north of Houston. When she and the toddler arrived at the Greyhound bus station she was immediately placed in durance vile Please don't kill me! by the Internet Crimes Against Children’s Task Force and Department of Homeland Security officers.
The child was then taken to a safe location, while Peters was booked into the Montgomery County Jail and charged with a number of offenses, including prostitution of a child and trafficking a child.
On Thursday, Texas Judge Phil Grant sentenced the woman to 40 years in prison on Promoting a Sexual Performance by a Child, Attempted Human Trafficking, and Promotion of Prostitution of a Child charges, after Peters pleaded guilty to the crimes. "These sentences will run concurrently and Peters will not be eligible for parole on the Sexual Performance of a Child case until 2038," Montgomery County District Attorney's office said in a blurb.
"The events of this case are hard to believe ‐ that a mom would willingly expose her own daughter to this type of danger. And without the proactive work of Detective Serratt and the ICAC Task Force, this child would have become a victim to the worse type of abuse," Tyler Dunman, Special Crimes Bureau Chief said.
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Top|| File under:
#1
Hollywood seems built on entirely this sort of act.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Undeterred by the bloody election campaign and the threat of being tossed in the calaboose Into the paddy wagon wit' yez! Pakistain’s three-time Prime Minister, 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... , is preparing to return to Pakistain along with his daughter on Friday to appeal his conviction in a court case. He has taken this decision even as his wife fights for life in a hospital in Britannia.
Nawaz Sharif is currently in London along with his daughter visit his ailing wife Kalsoom Nawaz, who is under treatment at London’s Harley Street Clinic. Last Friday, an accountability court in Pakistain sentenced Nawaz Sharif to 10 years, his daughter Maryam to seven years and son-in-law, Muhammad Safdar to one-year imprisonment in a corruption case named Avenfield Apartment reference.
The sentences, delivered in absentia, against Nawaz Sharif and his daughter who is widely seen as his political heir, have dealt a blow to their Pakistain Moslem League-Nawaz (PML-N) party. Since then, rumors have been doing the rounds in Islamabad’s power corridors suggesting the duo wouldn’t come back to avoid arrest.
However, a hangover is the wrath of grapes... Sharif said on Wednesday that he will be arriving in Lahore from London only to fulfil his pledge to "honor the vote". "I have decided to return despite the fact I can see the bars of prison in front of my eyes," Sharif told journalists in London in a statement that was also aired on Facebook live.
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[IsraelTimes] Rebels agree to give up stronghold in return for amnesty; those who refuse exiled to other areas under opposition control
Syria’s army entered rebel-held parts of Daraa city on Thursday, state media said, raising the national flag in the cradle of the uprising that sparked the country’s seven-year war.
"Syrian army units enter Daraa al-Balad and raise the national flag in the main square," the official news agency SANA said of the center of the southern city.
On Wednesday, state media said opposition fighters and the regime had reached a deal for rebels to hand over their heavy weapons in Daraa al-Balad and other opposition-held parts of the city.
That deal come after a ceasefire announced last week stemmed nearly three weeks of regime bombardment on the symbolic wider province of the same name, which borders Jordan.
The Damascus regime is bent on retaking the whole of Daraa province, including its symbolic capital where 2011 protests against Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Scourge of Qusayr... are seen to have started the uprising that spiraled into civil war.
But the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britannia-based war monitor, said the regime forces entering Daraa al-Balad on Thursday was merely "symbolic."
Measures to implement the so-called reconciliation deal for rebel-held parts of the city had not yet been implemented, it said.
"The rebels are still inside Daraa city," Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said, but had not yet handed over their heavy weapons and there were no signs of any evacuations.
Under the deal, "those [rebels] who want to settle their status with the regime will hand over their heavy weapons, keep their light arms, and remain in the city," he said.
"Those who refuse the deal will head out towards the north of Syria."
The reconciliation deal for Daraa city is the latest in a string of such agreements that have seen the regime retake large parts of the country since 2015.
They usually follow blistering military campaigns and sometimes stifling sieges that effectively force the rebels into surrendering.
Previous such deals have seen thousands of rebels bused up to areas still under opposition control in the north of the country.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] For the first time, India is deploying women para-military commandos in Jammu & Kashmire - a virtual admission by New Delhi that more and more Kashmiri women are joining the ranks of turbans taking on security forces in the restive, Moslem-majority province bordering Pakistain.
Rajeev Bhatnagar, Director-General of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) which has a 3,50,000-strong presence in J&K, has announced that 800 female commandos are undergoing intensive training to combat schoolgirls and college-going women who pelt stones at security forces to disrupt anti-terrorist operations in worst affected pockets like Srinagar, Shopian, Pulwama, Budgam and Anantnag.
A senior CRPF officer explained to the media that television footage of male soldiers taking on women protestors and stone throwers did not go down well with human rights ...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions... organizations and civil society. Hence it was decided to station female commandoes to deal with women agitators.
"The CRPF’s objective is obviously to stop Kashmiri women from hitting the streets to express their anger against unlawful killings by security forces", Izhar Nazir Ali, Online Editor of Kashmire Reader, a J&K English daily, told Al Arabiya English in an exclusive interview.
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistain Proxies
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.
[ABC] A federal grand jury on Friday returned a new indictment against a dozen Russians as part of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into alleged Russian meddling during the 2016 presidential campaign.
[NY Post] The son of a reputed Bonanno crime family associate was critically wounded in an attempted hit steps away from his lavish Bronx compound Wednesday morning, law enforcement sources told The Post.
[NY Post] Controversial rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine was arrested in the Big Apple on Wednesday for an outstanding warrant related to a mall attack on a 16-year-old, cops said.
[American Thinker] Infamous FBI agent Peter Strzok testified before Congress on Thursday, July 12. Many questions put to him concerned his text messages and focused on the bias displayed.
Jim Jordan: Did you get documents from Bruce Ohr? 
[DAWN] Caretaker Chief Minister of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa retired Justice Dost Mohammad Khan has formally asked the federal government to change the provincial chief secretary and police chief, insisting the two have failed to take necessary measures to stop the Tuesday night 
[IsraelTimes] A former Iranian deputy prime minister who spent years in jail on charges of spying for the US died today at the age of 86, state media reports.
[DAWN] Health experts have raised alarm over the increasing number of ’extensively-drug resistant’ (XDR) typhoid cases being reported in the city and have urged the public to adopt good hygiene practices, drink boiled water and avoid eating raw food.
Crown Prince of 
...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...
... 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...
[DAWN] Sri Lanka announced on Wednesday it would start hanging 
[DAWN] Indian federal 
[Daily Caller] A member of the House Committee on the Judiciary said during a hearing Thursday that a government watchdog found that nearly all of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s emails were sent to a foreign entity and that the FBI didn’t follow-up on that finding.
...either the largest species of Pacific salmon or the current Sheikh of the Burnin' Sands, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and Lord of Most of the Arabians....
[DAWN] FOR the justice system to appear credible, it must punish all those who are found guilty, including the high and mighty. Unfortunately, in Pakistain, there seems to be one law for the common man, and another for those who have the ’means’. On Tuesday, an antiterrorism court in 
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] US President 
... a Turkish preacher living in Pennsylvania whom the current govt of Turkey considers responsible for all the ills afflicting Turkey and possibly the entire world...
... the Turkish version of the Boogie Man, who set fire to the Turkish Reichsstag...
...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...
...chancellor of Germany and the impetus behind Germany's remarkably ill-starred immigration program. Merkel used to be referred to by Germans as 
[Washington Times] U.S. intelligence agencies are closely monitoring Russian military activities in Libya for signs that Moscow may soon build a military base in the divided North African state.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Pervez 
... a 'more violent' offshoot of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain. LeJ's purpose in life is to murder anyone who's not of utmost religious purity, starting with Shiites but including Brelvis, Ahmadis, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Rosicrucians, and just about anyone else you can think of. They are currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of al-Qaeda ...
...Self-proclaimed Field Marshal, served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all...
North Korea
40 years behind bars for attempting to sell her two-year-old daughter for a sex act, for $1,200, to an undercover police officer who impersonated a willing pedophile.
