[CBC] A new album of recently unearthed Yiddish songs counters the Second World War narrative of Jewish people as passive victims of Nazi soldiers.
Titled Yiddish Glory: The Lost Songs of World War II, the album features 17 songs written by Soviet Jews during the war telling tales of resilience and resistance.
Some are written by soldiers of the Red Army, with powerful lyrics about the Jewish people's survival of attempted genocide throughout history, or graphic descriptions about fighting Nazi soldiers on the battlefield.
"This rage against the German army is the rage of a soldier fighting the war," Anna Shternshis, a University of Toronto Yiddish studies professor, told As It Happens host Carol Off.
"We get that raw emotion only from materials from songs like this written during the time of the war. Because once the war is over, people start moving on. They start thinking about how they make sense of their lives now."
#1
I wonder if Rantburgers have heard of the poem "Dos lid funem oysgehargetn yidishn folk" written by Itzhak Katzenelson, who was murdered in Auschwitz.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itzhak_Katzenelson
I haven't been able to find a full English translation. It was translated into German by East German songwriter Wolf Biermann.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
12/08/2018 14:15
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[Townhall] Former FBI Director James Comey is sitting with the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees behind closed doors on Friday to answer (or not answer) their questions. Congress is investigating how FBI and DOJ handled the Hillary Clinton and Russia probes and, as you can imagine, Comey was one of the top witnesses on their list.
It doesn't seem to be going as planned. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) appeared to be most frustrated, explaining to the press that Comey came with two attorneys, one of whom has instructed his client to answer very few questions.
"We absolutely need to get answers," Issa said.
The Republicans are also frustrated with a witness who has yet to show. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has yet to appear, and Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) had a few guesses as to why.
[Babylon Bee] WASHINGTON, D.C.‐A feud between former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and President Trump erupted Friday as Tillerson revealed that he constantly had to tell Trump he wasn't able to bomb Wakanda, the fictional African country depicted in the Marvel film Black Panther.
Tillerson would calmly explain to Trump that not only did Wakanda have advanced technology that far surpassed that of the United States military, but the country was also entirely made up.
"We'd be sitting in these strategy meetings and Trump would always pipe in with things like, 'I keep coming back to Wakanda. This vibranium could be very huge. Very huge,'" Tillerson said in a rare moment of candor. "And I'd have to say, 'Mr. President, with all due respect, Wakanda isn't a real place.'"
Tillerson claims the president would grow very upset when informed that Wakanda couldn't be bombed because it only existed in Marvel comics, shows, and films. "That isn't thinking like a winner. That's loser thinking. We've gotta go out there and get it. Just get our best people on it, right away," Trump reportedly said when reminded for a third time that week that it was physically impossible for the United States to invade the imaginary land. "I saw a very good documentary about these people over the weekend on Netflix. It looked very real, very official. Not fake news."
At publishing time, Tillerson had also revealed that Trump constantly attempted to send the US military to the fictional Middle Eastern kingdom of Agrabah.
[Breitbart] The U.S. Department of the Interior announced Thursday the Permian Basin’s Wolfcamp shale and Bone Spring formation spanning parts of West Texas and eastern New Mexico hold the largest potential oil and gas resources ever discovered. Federal surveyors note the Bone Spring plays could offer roughly seven times the amount of oil as the Bakken shale in North Dakota.
In a new assessment, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) estimated these untapped regions in the Delaware Basin of the Permian contained 46.3 billion barrels of oil, 281 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, and 20 billion barrels of natural gas liquids, more than two times larger than its 2016 assessment of the Wolfcamp shale play in the Permian’s Midland Basin.
"Christmas came a few weeks early this year," said U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke in a prepared statement. "American strength flows from American energy, and as it turns out, we have a lot of American energy." Zinke added, "Before this assessment came down, I was bullish on oil and gas production in the United States. Now, I know for a fact that American energy dominance is within our grasp as a nation."
The Delaware Basin estimate is for continuous (unconventional) oil comprised of undiscovered and technically recoverable resources, according to the USGS. This means, typically they can extract the liquids through slant drilling and hydraulic fracturing (fracking). Currently, energy companies are producing oil in the region using traditional vertical well technology and horizontal drilling, as well as fracking.
[Dallas News] The U.S. Geological Survey released a new assessment Thursday that shows portions of the Permian Basin could hold even more promise. Everything is bigger in Texas.
With the potential to double the nation's onshore oil and gas resources, the agency estimates more than 46 billion barrels of oil and some 280 trillion cubic feet of gas are within two formations on the southwestern side of the basin. That's the largest continuous oil and gas resource potential ever assessed.
While agency geologists caution that more study would be needed to determine the profitability of going after the resources, industry groups and top officials within the Trump administration are encouraged and say the assessment underscores the activity that's already happening in the basin.
"Before this assessment came down, I was bullish on oil and gas production in the United States," Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said in a statement. "Now, I know for a fact that American energy dominance is within our grasp as a nation."
The announcement comes as OPEC countries voted Friday to cut oil production beginning next year as a way to force crude oil prices higher despite political pressure from President Donald Trump. The group of oil-producing nations was looking to rein in supply as prices had fallen about 25 percent because major producers, including the U.S., have been pumping at high rates. Good call, OPEC guys. Higher prices means even more West Texas oil.
Posted by: Bobby ||
12/08/2018
09:59 ||
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#1
But President Obama told me we couldn't drill our way out of the oil
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
12/08/2018 12:21
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#2
And before that I believe a Democrat Congress told us that it would take 10 long years to access more oil so that was not a good solution.
#5
That oil has been known about for almost 100 years but only now can qualify as ‘reserves ‘ since until now it could not be produced. Someday the huge volumes of oil trapped in the Green River shale may be called ‘reserves,’ if we can figure out a way to produce it economically.
[American Thinker] Poland, Europe, and NATO have all been targeted by Russian information attacks. Moscow has been mastering the methods of covert aggression for years, bringing down the levels of security in many European countries, and particularly in the Central and Eastern European countries (CEE). The strengthening of NATO’s Eastern Flank would serve to curtail Russia’s influence over the region. Therefore, the Kremlin has intensified its aggressive activities. This was particularly visible during this year’s edition of the Anakonda military exercise, a key training event for Polish Armed Forces with a high participation of allied countries and organizations. Can someone please define the term "European Order" ?
Several conclusions can be drawn from analysis of the activities Russian propaganda has taken against ANAKONDA-18. Russia sows fear by trying to convince public opinion in Poland that if a conflict between Russia and NATO broke out, our country would be doomed (it threatens us with a nuclear attack, puts forward hypotheses that Poland is in the gunsites of Russian missile launchers, pushes claims that "Poland will serve as a training ground for U.S. and Russian nukes"). The Kremlin would like to see the Poles feel threatened and bound to fail should there be a confrontation with Moscow. Therefore, Russia portrays the Polish Armed Forces as unable to conduct defensive operations, with low morale and far less training and skill than their Russian counterparts. In the same vein, NATO is depicted as an "empty" alliance that does not offer any guarantees. Moscow’s propaganda fabricates negative opinions about the Polish Armed Forces and puts them in the mouths of both Polish and allied soldiers and commanders. At the same time, the capabilities of the Russian army are lauded, in terms of modernization of the military equipment and the capabilities of troops.
The campaign of fear targeting Poland is aimed at paralyzing the minds and the will to act of our soldiers, but also our countrymen and decision-makers, in order to prevent our country from defending its interests effectively. Russia also tries to spread a false picture of NATO’s activity on its Eastern Flank, suggesting that the Alliance takes aggressive actions that Russia is forced to neutralize (according to the Kremlin propagandists, the USA and NATO want to clash with Russia, with ANAKONDA-18’s utmost goal being to exercise aggressive operation against Russia and Belarus). The Russian narrative is also about accusing Poland and other NATO members of being irresponsible. If you went by pro-Russian media, you would read that given the number of soldiers and the amount of equipment, ANAKONDA-18 might spark off an armed conflict. The same media presented a manipulated scenario of the exercise and lied about the number of troops. The alleged "100,000 soldiers" who were to take part in the exercise and pose a serious threat to Russia, turned out to be just 17,500 in reality. At the same time, Moscow accused the Alliance of covering up its activities and failing to comply with transparency requirements, which are, by the way, two things Moscow itself always does. The strategy of manipulating the facts about the activities of NATO has become a permanent tool of Russian propaganda where the Kremlin’s aggressive policy is portrayed as a response to the alleged aggressive posture of the West.
#3
The "European Order" is undermined by the fact that the nations of Europe refuse to spend on their own defense. If any government tried to do so, they would be turned out by their voters.
American aid was like heroin to them. They're hooked and can't stop without dying. Time to pull the plug and let them go peacefully.
Posted by: Herb McCoy ||
12/08/2018 8:34
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[The Dan Bongino Show] In this episode I address the scheme to set up, and take down, Lt. General Mike Flynn. The details are both shocking and disturbing.
Note: This is a summary of Bongino’s remarks. His podcasts don’t lend themselves to direct quotes.
Bongino discusses Flynn’s opposition to the Iran Deal, that he had information on how dangerous the deal was for the US. Because of this and Flynn’s knowledge of other administration business, “they need to make Flynn go away. He knows too much. He’s got the goods. Obama officials watch Flynn supporting Trump on the campaign trail.” They’re afraid of what he might reveal. Obama spoke to Trump to try to discourage him from hiring Flynn. Trump hires him anyway.
On December 29, 2016, two important incidents occurred. Mike Flynn was vacationing in the Dominican Republic where he did not have secure communications. The Obama team knew this. “Obama needs to do something to “piss off the Russians, but not start WWIII” hoping that they will contact Flynn and they do. Obama orders sanctions against Russia and expels 35 diplomats in retaliation for their interference in our election. Why would he do this nearly two months after the election?
As the Obama team hoped, Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak calls Flynn in the Dominican Republic. They discussed the events of the day including the sanctions.
And the Obama team now has a transcript and a recording of the call. They use this later when agents interview Flynn. They know that Flynn will not remember all the details of the call and they will use this in the future to set him up for a “false statement” charge.
On January 12, 2017, an Obama official leaked Flynn’s name and details of his December 29, 2016 call with Kislyak to David Ignatius at the Washington Post who then published a story about it. The identity of the leaker is unknown. Whoever leaked it has committed a felony.
On January 24, 2017, two FBI agents arrive unannounced at the White House to question Flynn, omitting the fact that they were conducting a criminal interview,
Both agents have said they believed Flynn had been truthful in answering their questions.
Yet, Flynn is later charged with lying to the FBI.
Bongino’s theory sounds plausible to me. This pales in comparison to the conspiracy perpetrated against Trump. Flynn is scheduled to be sentenced on December 18th and following that, the records of his case may become public.
(National Sentinel) Treasonous: The Deep State continues to work against POTUS Donald Trump in every way possible, up to and including bringing the U.S. and China to the brink of a hot war.
Earlier this week, POTUS Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping dined together at the G-20 summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The primary subject: Trade.
Following the dinner, both sides announced some progress. The U.S. and Chinese governments would suspend tariff regimes for 90 days while trade negotiators from both countries attempted to work out a more permanent compromise.
Making trade fairer between the U.S. and China is a central tenet of POTUS Trump’s economic agenda and a major part of his "MAGA" plan. Without question, there needs to be a better balance: On Thursday, the Commerce Department announced that the U.S. trade deficit has grown to a near-monthly record of about $55.5 billion in October, the highest since 2008. And most of that was with China.
Following the dinner/meeting, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said that it was "very successful," adding, "we have confidence in the implementation" of what was agreed upon.
Posted late yesterday as a comment by our own Anomalous Sources.
(National Sentinel) Fake News: POTUS Donald Trump’s chief of staff may soon depart the White House, but former Marine Gen. John Kelly isn’t resigning, according to sources who spoke to The Daily Caller.
The online news site reported that Kelly has no intention of leaving his post voluntarily despite reports in "establishment" media on Friday claiming that he was set to step down after 16 "tumultuous months" as POTUS Trump’s COS. The source told the news site it was "absolutely untrue" that Kelly would quit on his own.
Kelly took the day off on Friday as the president returns from a trip to Kansas City, MO., to give a speech on law enforcement. He is planning to attend a White House staff dinner the president is giving Friday evening.
That said, POTUS would like for Kelly to depart but sources told TheDC he isn’t ready to fire the former Marine general. That could set off a months-long stalemate.
#4
WaPo said...
isn't the best reliable source in the book.
That said, any military officer usually could expect to be in the job for about 18 months before they rotate them to another job someplace in the command, or from a short or unaccompanied tour.
[Armslist] The 380 EZ is a relatively new firearm. It is larger than a lot of recently released .380s and the slide is much easier to manipulate. Kel-Tec released the P3AT in 2003, which created the modern pocket .380 craze. The round has increased in popularity drastically in the past 15 years with many manufacturers contributing to the resurgence of the round in self defense weapons, even if many consider it a back-up firearm.
One of the fastest growing segments in the firearms industry, if not the fastest, is the female shooting market. There are many factors that contribute to market demands, and the 8 year buying frenzy that happened while Obama was in office led to many people making purchases with less than the usual amount of pre-purchase scrutiny. Some might even say there was a lot of panic buying occurring. As women entered the market and began to shoot more, the market realized that women do not have the same grip strength that men have. Some men don't either, but they're reluctant to admit it, and are more likely to try alternative methods (like attaching skate-board tape to the slide) to avoid having to talk about their difficulties manipulating the slide. Women tend to be more honest about such things as they are less prone to exhibit this bravado.
#1
I'm into SIGs and I have a P238, which is a nice little pistol. Since I got a P365, the extra capacity and bigger round make the .380 a backup backup gun. And no, I didn't hiccup.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
12/08/2018 4:28
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[CNS News] The decision by House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and House Oversight Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) to haul former FBI Director James Comey and former Attorney General Loretta Lynch in to testify two weeks before Christmas -- in a lame duck Congress, about Hillary Clinton's email server and alleged Russia-Trump collusion -- is an "embarrassment to all Republicans who believe in legitimate oversight," said attorney and former federal prosecutor Joe diGenova.
"This is all a show by Gowdy and Goodlatte, two of the most ineffective, feckless, stupid overseers in the history of Congress," said diGenova, a former U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. "This is as bad as it gets for Republicans.... Just watching Gowdy on television, I want to slap him across the face."
[CNS News] Commenting on Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of alleged collusion in the 2016 campaign, legal analyst and former federal prosecutor Joe diGenova said Mueller will not charge the president with a crime -- there is no evidence Trump did anything illegal -- and that history will show this entire exercise was crafted to "frame Donald Trump for a crime he did not commit."
The "Mueller investigation is a joke, has been a joke, should be over," he said.
DiGenova, who helped prosecute attempted presidential assassin John Hinckley, added that Mueller "has played his role beautifully with the assistance" of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who is the "single, most fundamentally dishonest lawyer in America" and who "deserves the guillotine."
[AlMasdar] The Ottoman Turkish military sent a large convoy of soldiers to to the northern countryside of the Hama Governorate on Friday, opposition activists reported via social media.
According to the opposition reports, the Ottoman Turkish military entered Syria through the Kafr Lossen Crossing in northern Idlib; they would later make their way south towards the Morek observation post.
This move by the Ottoman Turkish military comes just days after the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) sent a large convoy of soldiers to the front-lines in northern Hama, northeast Latakia, and southern Idlib.
The Syrian Army’s mass buildup of troops around the demilitarized zone is believed to be a precursor to their impending offensive against the jihadist forces in northwestern Syria.
A military source in the government stronghold of Mhardeh told al-Masdar News earlier this month that they are planning a new operation to expel the jihadist rebels from the demilitarized zone.
The source said that this decision by the Syrian Arab Army was made after the jihadist rebels refused to adhere to the October 15th withdrawal.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/08/2018
02:17 ||
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#1
green on green?
Turks v. Syrians now whom do I root for .....hmmm, both?
[AlMasdar] A half dozen Syrian Arab Army (SAA) soldiers were killed on Friday inside the Daraa Governorate of southern Syria.
According to a military source in Damascus, the six soldiers were killed as a result of a mine kaboom in the Daraa countryside.
No further details were released regarding the incident.
The Syrian Arab Army took full control of the Daraa Governorate this past summer after a six-year long battle against the Free Syrian Army ... the more palatable version of the Syrian insurgency, heavily influenced by the Moslem Brüderbund... (FSA) and their jihadist allies.
Since the expulsion of the rebel groups, the Syrian military has been conducting combing operations to not only clear the explosives left behind by bully boys, but also, seize their weapons.
An activity very amusing for some people... but perhaps not others.
[AlMasdar] For the first time since the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) launched "Operation Northern Shield", their air force has been spotted along the Syrian-Lebanese border.
According to a military source in Damascus, Israeli warplanes were observed flying along the Syrian-Lebanese border this evening before they finally turned back towards Upper Galilee.
The military source said that the Israeli warplanes had entered Leb’s Nabatieh Governorate from Upper Galilee earlier today before they moved towards the Syrian border from the Beqa’a Valley.
The Israeli Air Force often takes this flight path when they bomb Syrian government installations inside the Homs and Damascus provinces.
However, if you can't say something nice about a person some juicy gossip will go well... it is worth noting, the Israeli Air Force does conduct a number of flights along the border to monitor the activity between Leb and Syria.
[AlMasdar] US, French, Syrian and Iraqi security forces have significantly stepped up efforts to search for ISIS* leader His Supreme Immensity, Caliph of the Faithful and Galactic Overlord, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi ...the head of ISIS, or what remains of it, and a veteran of the Abu Graib jailhouse. Looks like a new messiah to bajillions of Moslems, like just another dead-eyed mass murder to the rest of us. So far he has been killed at least four times, though not yet by a stake through the heart... in the Syrian-Iraqi border area, the TV channel Alsumaria reported Friday, citing a source in the Syrian province Anbar’s security agency.
According to the media outlet, the ongoing operation involves drones, with the area being increasingly combed by search brigades.
"Every day, UAVs are examining dozens of kilometres of the deserted territory, as well as agriculture fields on both sides of the Euphrates, all the way from Al Bagur (Syria) to Makr-ez-Zin (Iraq)", representatives for the Iraqi security agencies noted.
"The agencies are competing over who would be the first to kill or detain the ISIS head Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi", he remarked, adding that the border region had virtually turned into a "battlefield" for the security forces.
On 4 December, US Lt Gen Kenneth McKenzie, nominated as the next chief of the US Central Command (Centcom), stated that al-Baghdadi is still alive and is hiding "somewhere in a desert by the Euphrates".
In October, the ISIS leader was reported to have ordered the execution of 320 of his followers, including senior commanders, for "disloyalty" and "recklessness".
During the war against ISIS in Syria and Iraq, al-Baghdadi more than once evaded liquidation attempts made by the Russian, US and Iranian militaries.
In September, Iraqi media reported that al-Baghdadi had narrowly escaped death after showing up late to a meeting of terrorist commanders.
The terrorist is believed to have issued his latest address to his followers in August, urging them to continue their jihad and to "burn" the infidels.
Al-Baghdadi made his last public appearance in 2014, one year after he beat feet from al-Qaeda. Back in June 2014 he appeared on the stage of a landmark mosque in djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... , the then ISIS stronghold, and declared himself the caliphate leader.
The US offered a reward of a whopping $25 million for trustworthy information leading to his capture or death.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/08/2018
02:13 ||
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[AlMasdar] (11:00 P.M.) The Kurdish-led People’s Protection Units (YPG) continued their field operations against the Turkish military and their rebel allies in northwest Aleppo this week.
According to the official media wing of the YPG, their forces killed at least three Turkish soldiers and two Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters over the last 48 hours in the Afrin region.
“On December 5th, one of our units carried out an operation in the area between Afrin’s Sherawa and Shara districts, targeting a military base of the Turkish invasion army. Clashes broke out between our forces and Turkish soldiers. As a result, three Turkish soldiers were killed,” the YPG statement began
“During the clashes and while staging incomparable resistance, one of our comrades was martyred. The name of our martyred comrade will be released to the public at a later time,” they continued.
The YPG carried out another operation against the Free Syrian Army the day after their assault against the Turkish Army in Afrin.
“On December 6th, our unit carried out an operation, targeting the terrorists of the Sultan Murad Division in Afrin’s Rajo district. As a result, one of the mercenaries was killed and another one was wounded,” the YPG said.
[AlMasdar] (11:50 P.M.) – The U.S. State Department released a statement on Friday alleging that the Russian Federation and Syrian government under President Bashar Al-Assad staged a false flag chemical attack inside Aleppo city last month.
“The Assad regime and Russia falsely accused the opposition and extremist groups of conducting a chlorine attack in northwestern Aleppo,” State Department press director Robert Palladino claimed, adding that the U.S. “has credible information that pro-regime forces likely used teargas against civilians” there.
“The United States has information indicating Russian and Syrian personnel were involved in the teargas incident, and believes that both countries are using it as an opportunity to undermine confidence in the ceasefire in Idlib,” the statement read.
“The United States is deeply concerned that pro-regime officials have maintained control of the attack site in its immediate aftermath, allowing them to potentially fabricate samples and contaminate the site before a proper investigation of it by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons,” he continued.
Medical staff in Aleppo aiding civilians that wounded during the attack
Following the accusation, the press director then claimed that the U.S. is deeply concerned that the Syrian government is tampering with the evidence at the site.
“The United States is deeply concerned that pro-regime officials have maintained control of the attack site in its immediate aftermath, allowing them to potentially fabricate samples and contaminate the site before a proper investigation of it by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons,” he continued.
“We caution Russia and the regime against tampering with the suspected attack site and urge them to secure the safety of impartial, independent inspectors so that those responsible can be held accountable,” Palladin
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/08/2018
02:13 ||
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[AlMasdar] (8:30 A.M.) – The Idlib buffer zone witnessed another night of heavy clashes between the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and Islamist rebels, as the aforementioned parties continue their hostilities in northwest Syria.
According to a military source in the government stronghold of Mhardeh, the Syrian Arab Army opened fired on a group of fighters from the Free Syrian Army’s (FSA) Jaysh Al-Izza faction last night after they were observed moving through the Al-Latamnah and Massasnah areas.
Following the clashes near Massasnah, the Syrian Arab Army expanded their assault to Arabeen and Markabeh, prompting another fierce exchange with the Jaysh Al-Izza fighters in this part of the northern Hama countryside.
The clashes between the two parties would continue at dawn this morning, despite the presence of Russian spy planes across the skies of the Idlib province.
A source from the Syrian Army said that the Russian IL-20 spy planes were conducting low altitude flights over the Idlib buffer zone and hovering above the Islamist rebel positions along the Hama-Idlib axis.
The Russian Air Force has been conducting these surveillance flights over the Idlib Governorate for two days now, as the situation around the buffer zone continues to fall apart.
[AlMasdar] (12:00 A.M Dec. 8.) – A senior jihadist commander was assassinated this evening inside the southern countryside of the Idlib Governorate.
According to opposition activists via social media, a senior field commander from Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham, “Abu Fahd Al-Miri”, was killed by unknown assailants in the southern countryside of Idlib this evening.
No group has claimed responsibility for the assassination.
The assassination of Al-Miri comes just days after another high ranking jihadist commander was killed by an unknown group inside rural Idlib.
Since the latest round of peace talks in Astana, there has been an increase in assassinations of jihadist leaders, prompting some opposition activists to accuse the Syrian government forces of carrying out these attacks.
The Syrian government has not commented on these allegations.
(CNN)At least six people are dead and dozens wounded following a stampede at an Italian nightclub, the country's Civil Protection Agency said.
The stampede happened early Saturday morning at the Lanterna Azzurra nightclub in Corinaldo, a town in Italy's eastern coast province of Ancora and about 88 miles (141 km) east of Florence, the Italian news agency ANSA reported.
The nightclub was hosting a concert by Sfera Ebbasta, a popular Italian rapper who is among the most popular musical acts in the country.
Five of the victims were minors and the sixth victim was the mother of one of them, ANSA reported.
#2
Fucking journalists, calling them "stampedes". This brings to mind a bunch of irresponsible people stomping on each other trying to get out. It's not. It's a "crowd crush", too many people in too small a space. The mass of humanity takes on the physics of a fluid and it is easy to have your chest compressed such that you cannot breathe.
Stampede, fuck those lying sacks of shit.
Posted by: Herb McCoy ||
12/08/2018 8:36
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#3
What were the cattle doing in the nightclub?
Big Girl's Night.
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/08/2018 10:01
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#4
You are right about the asphyxia, Herb, but the description as a stampede has historical precedent:
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
12/08/2018 10:03
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#5
What were the cattle doing in the nightclub?
When I lived in PeeAye, two common labels for "Ladies Nite" were:
Heifer nite
Divorce Court
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
12/08/2018 10:05
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#6
What, because of a single time 40 years ago makes it OK for journalists to lie today? WTF?
Posted by: Herb McCoy ||
12/08/2018 14:34
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#7
Oh, sure enough, looking it up reveals that the deaths at that concert were by compressive asphyxia, NOT a "stampede". Journalists lied about it then and haven't changed one bit.
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/08/2018 17:00
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#10
Bet that totally spoiled his birthday. And is it too early to declare Eleonora Cool Mom of the Year? Lucky daughter there.
Cent'anni, Gionata Boschetti,
To ponder five lives! Cue confetti.
Now go and get high,
Maybe have a good cry,
Or just die. Wrap it up when you're ready.
[AlMasdar] The Russian military offered the U.S. Coalition to jointly control the al-Tanf region in southeast Homs, the Sputnik News Agency reported on Friday.
Citing Russian Chief of Staff General Valeri Gerasimov, the Sputnik News Agency reported that Moscow offered the U.S. Coalition joint control of the al-Tanf region in order to alleviate the humanitarian situation at the nearby Rukban Refugee Camp.
"For our part, we proposed to end the monopolization of the region and considered a joint Russian-US control over the border crossing, but the American partners left our proposals unanswered," the Russian commander said.
The U.S. has been in control of the al-Tanf region since their rebel allies seized the area from the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS/ISIS/IS/ISIS) in 2016.
Since its capture, the al-Tanf region has turned into an area of influence for the U.S. Coalition; it has also allowed them to remain close to the Iranian forces in southeast Syria.
[AlMasdar] US and allied forces in eastern Syria need to complete training between 35,000 to 40,000 local troops to establish stability in eastern Syria following the defeat and expulsion of the Daesh terror group in those areas, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Joseph Dunford said.
“We estimate about 35,000 to 40,000 local forces have to be trained and equipped in order to provide stability,” Dunford said at a Washington Post event on Thursday. “We are probably somewhere along the line of 20 percent through the training of those forces.”
Dunford explained that the stabilization process would need to continue for an indefinite period of time in eastern Syria.
“With regard to stabilization we still have a long way to go. We can say our presence in Syria right now is sustainable and can be adjusted based on conditions,” he said.
Dunford gave no details of the number of US Special Operations Command troops that were currently operating in eastern, Syria, but he did say there were no plans to evacuate them.
When asked if the US forces in eastern Syria would be maintained in the region for the foreseeable future, Dunford replied, “No. That’s right… They’re not leaving any time soon.”
The training of local forces was necessary to re-establish effective local government and services in the region including sewage, law and order and electric power, Dunford said.
[AlMasdar] (10:40 P.M.) – A large U.S. military convoy was seen traveling to the eastern countryside of the Deir Ezzor Governorate this week as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) intensify their battle against the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL/IS/Daesh) in the key town of Hajin.
In a short video released by pro-SDF activists, a U.S. military convoy consisting of tens of vehicles made its way to the eastern region of Syria to aid their partners from the Syrian Democratic Forces in their ongoing offensive:
In the past, the Turkish regime has slammed the U.S. military for providing aid to the Syrian Democratic Forces, who Ankara considers an offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
Despite Turkey’s disapproval, the U.S. and their Coalition partners have continued to provide military aid to the Syrian Democratic Forces and Kurdish-led People’s Protection Units (YPG) at several fronts across northern and eastern Syria.
[AlMasdar] (11:30 P.M.) – The Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL/IS/Daesh) launched a counter-offensive inside the key town of Hajin, yesterday, in a bid to retake the areas they lost to the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
However, the terrorist group’s counter-offensive would fail to gain any traction, as they were ultimately repelled by the Syrian Democratic Forces.
Among the SDF units foiling this Daesh attack was the Free Syrian Army’s (FSA) Jaysh Al-Thuwar, who recently deployed their fighters to this front in order to expedite the offensive against the terrorist group.
As shown the short video below, Jaysh Al-Thuwar was engaged in a fierce battle with the Daesh forces before they were ultimately able to fully repel them inside of Hajin.
Currently, the Syrian Democratic Forces control at least 25 percent of Hajin, with most of the northern districts under their authority.
The Syrian Democratic Forces are now working to push into the town-center as they look to overpower the remaining terrorist combatants inside Hajin.
[AlMasdar] (11:30 A.M.) – Dozens of fighters from the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL/IS/Daesh) and U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have been killed in and around the key town of Hajin in southeast Deir Ezzor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on Friday morning.
According to the SOHR report, approximately 80 fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces and Islamic State have been killed over the last four days at the Hajin front.
Of the nearly 80 fighters killed in the last four days, at least 25 were killed as a result of yesterday’s clashes in the northern districts of Hajin.
The death toll will likely double in the coming days as the battle reaches the town-center of Hajin.
[AlMasdar] (12:10 A.M.) – Over the last 24 hours, the U.S. Coalition has conducted their largest attack in eastern Syria this year, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported.
According to the SOHR report, the U.S. Coalition conducted more than 100 airstrikes over the Islamic State’s (ISIS/ISIL/IS/Daesh) positions inside the key town of Hajin.
The massive assault by the U.S. Coalition was conducted in conjunction with the Syrian Democratic Forces’ (SDF) big push to capture Hajin and the Islamic State’s last positions east of the Euphrates River.
However, during this large-scale assault on the Islamic State forces, the U.S. Coalition reportedly killed eight civilians that were trapped behind the terrorist group’s lines in Hajin.
The U.S.’ recent air campaign in eastern Syria has proven costly as a large number of civilians have been reported dead as a result of their airstrikes in the Euphrates River Valley.
[AlMasdar] The Friday airstrikes of the US-led Coalition have completely destroyed a hospital in the Syrian city of Hajin in the eastern Deir ez-Zor province, Ikhbariya broadcaster reported.
SANA and the Ikhbariya broadcaster reported earlier on Friday that eight more civilians were killed in recent airstrikes on Hajin. All of the killed civilians were reportedly members of one family.
The US-led coalition regularly carries out airstrikes in eastern Deir ez-Zor province, and has recently been concentrating its air power on Hajin.
According to the Wednesday US-led Coalition press release, all strikes were carried out near Hajin and destroyed supply routes, vehicles, fighting positions, as well as tunnels and buildings.
On Saturday, the SANA news agency reported that the coalition’s airstrikes hit the al-Buqa village near the town of Hajin in the province of Deir ez-Zor leaving 40 civilians dead.
The coalition’s spokesman Col. Sean Ryan told Sputnik that the coalition had conducted strikes in the area, which, however, did not result in any civilian casualties.
The coalition’s activities in Syria are authorized neither by the Syrian government, nor by the UN Security Council.
[Townhall] Former President Barack Obama recently continued his series of public broadsides against his successor, President Donald Trump. Clinton Spite Factory employee biking to work.
Obama's charges are paradoxical. On one hand, Obama seems to believe that he, rather than Trump, should be credited with the current economic boom and the emergence of the United States as the world's largest energy producer. But Obama also has charged that Trump's policies are pernicious and failing.
Apparently, Obama believes that all of Trump's successes are due to Obama, and all of Trump's setbacks are his own.
Obama certainly forgets the old rule: Presidents, fairly or not, get both credit and blame for everything that happens on their watch, from Day One to the last hour of their tenures -- even when wars abroad, technological breakthroughs, natural disasters and market collapses have nothing to do with their governance.
Trump ran on the promise of a "Make America Great Again" economic renaissance. He pledged massive deregulation, fair rather than free trade, and tax reform and reduction.
Trump jawboned against outsourcing and offshoring, and praised rather than lectured private enterprise. He sought to reindustrialize the Midwest and promised to open new federal land to fossil fuel production, complete proposed pipelines, and lift burdensome restrictions on fracking and horizontal drilling.
[The Federalist] At 88 years old, Thomas Sowell continues to demonstrate why he’s one of the most formidable intellects of the age. In Discrimination and Disparities, released earlier this year, Sowell rebuts common misconceptions regarding socioeconomic differences among individuals, groups, and nations, and demonstrates that disparities are often explained by economics.
For instance, emotionally loaded phrases like "systemic racism" and "exploitation" are frequently used to explain differences between blacks and whites, rich and poor, and even individual nations. But a better understanding of economics refutes these notions.
Sowell begins by noting there are different types of discrimination. Discrimination I he defines as "an ability to discern differences in the qualities of people and things, and choosing accordingly"‐in other words, "making fact-based distinctions." Discrimination II he defines as "treating people negatively, based on arbitrary assumptions or aversions concerning individuals of a particular race or sex, for example"‐in other words, what most people mean today when they talk of "discrimination."
Ideally, Discrimination I‐judging each person individually‐would be universally practiced. Rarely, however, is the ideal "found among human beings in the real world, even among people who espouse that ideal." He gives an example:
If you are walking at night down a lonely street, and see up ahead a shadowy figure in an alley, do you judge that person as an individual or do you cross the street and pass on the other side? The shadowy figure in the alley could turn out to be a kindly neighbor, out walking his dog. But, when making such decisions, a mistake on your part could be costly, up to and including costing you your life.
In short, cost is the relevant factor when determining a course of action. The cost of Discrimination I‐judging the person as an individual‐may be prohibitively high in some cases, as when you approach a shadowy figure in a dark alley. But that does not mean that choosing to cross the street to avoid that shadowy figure is automatically Discrimination II‐arbitrarily expressing antipathy toward a group.
[Aljazeera] Facing fines and jail time, East Jerusalem brothers see no other option than to demolish their homes themselves.
Wadi Qadoum, occupied East Jerusalem - Murad and Johar Hashimeh spent most of Friday removing all the furniture, clothes and other belongings from a room of their modest home in East Jerusalem's Wadi Qadoum neighbourhood.
On Saturday, a bulldozer is set to arrive to demolish the room they've lived in for more than 20 years.
In 1998, the Palestinian brothers built an addition to the small home they grew up in to make it large enough for them and their wives and kids.
After they built the addition, they split the entire space into two apartments for each of their families.
Soon after, they received a notification from the Israeli authorities stating that the additional section they built lacked the required building permit and must be demolished.
Defiance. Also, I’ve seen complaints thqt the Israeli bureaucrats are slow to process paperwork — though Israelis have been complaining about that problem for two generations that I’ve been aware of.
BLUF:
[Hot Air] "It was challenging for me coming from the disciplined, highly process-oriented ExxonMobil Corporation to go to work for a man who is pretty undisciplined, doesn’t ‐ doesn’t like to read, doesn’t read briefing reports, doesn’t ‐ doesn’t like to get into the details of a lot of things but rather just kind of says, look, this is what I believe and you can try to convince me otherwise, but most of the time you’re not going to do that."...
"When the president would say, ’Here’s what I want to do, and here’s how I want to do it,’ and I’d have to say to him, ’Well, Mr. President, I understand what you want to do but you can’t do it that way. It violates the law, it violates the treaty, you know,’" Tillerson explained.
"I didn’t know how to conduct my affairs with him any other way than in a very straightforward fashion. And I think he grew tired of me being the guy every day that told him, ’You can’t do that, and let’s talk about what we can do.’"
#1
The single most disappointing and concerning thing about Trump. Where did he get these people. On paper, Tillerson is an accomplished executive, but he obviously didn't get that in USGOV he was no longer a CEO.
And then you got freaks like Omarosa. W T F?
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12/08/2018 4:46
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#2
Hey, it didn't work out. Personal ego permitting, say something nice about your former boss and move on (great golfer, super family, etc). Diving into the mud provides no service to the country.
#4
Rex has gone to work at the Clinton spite factory.
Bath House Barry is the head of Public Affairs. John Brennan is the Manager of Operations. They're now in a full production mode.
The problem with being persona non grata is that qualified NeverTrumpers refuse to join the Trump administration. So he’s had to pick from a smaller pool of candidates, and expand his search beyond those with traditional government experience. The thing about hiring senior managers from private industry is that they are accustomed to their own way of doing things, and with the best will in the world are not necessarily able to adjust.
The thing about hiring senior managers from private industry is that they are accustomed to their own way of doing things,
I call it The Ross Perot Syndrome. Businessmen generally make poor politicians because they want to get things done and know how they want to do it. With politics, you checks & balances, the opposition party, the media, and as Trump has revealed, the Deep State actively working against him. If this was a business, a whole lotta people would be down at the unemployment office.
Still, despite the chaos (or perhaps because of it), I would argue that Trump is exactly what the country needs right now.
#10
Trump has 6 more years at best. Qualified NeverTrumpers refuse to join the Trump administration because they have chosen the safety of having career prospects after Trump is gone.
#12
"Well, Mr. President, I understand what you want to do but you can’t do it that way. It violates the law, it violates the treaty, you know,"
Mr. Tillersons job was to find a "way"; that's what subordinates are supposed to do. And, if they can't, they should not be surprised or out of sorts when someone else is called in.
#13
Was wondering why this former Exxon-Mobil exec was suddenly spewing spital, until I saw how far and fast the price of gasoline and diesel is falling under Trump.
#15
That may not be a “Trump problem” per se, more of a “guy who’s never held office and didn’t go to law school and thus doesn’t know the rules” problem.
Yeah, when the indictments drop, most of them will be career politicians and attorneys.
[Wash Times] Stocks recovered in a late rally Thursday after nearly wiping out all gains for the year, capping a tumultuous trading day that reflected investors’ persistent jitters over the U.S. trade war with China and fears of a weakening global economy.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 1,500 points in two days before paring Thursday’s losses to 79 points, or 0.32 percent, to close at 24,948. The S&P 500 was down 0.15 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq finished the day up 29.83 points, or 0.42 percent.
Analysts blamed a combination of worries over President Trump’s trade war with China, low oil prices, concerns about the British parliament’s ability to approve a Brexit deal and the arrest of a Chinese high-tech executive wanted by the U.S.
The president thought he had eased the concerns about tariffs last weekend, when he reached a handshake deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping for a 90-day pause in the trade war to implement specific agreements on certain exports such as oil and agricultural products.
But investors’ worries appeared to accelerate Thursday, even after Beijing belatedly gave an upbeat confirmation of the unwritten agreement with the U.S.
The arrest of Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of the Chinese telecom giant Huawei, reinforced concerns about the difficulties of the U.S. and China reaching a comprehensive trade deal. Mr. Trump has accused China of stealing cutting-edge technology from the U.S.
"You have got the news overnight of the arrest of the CFO of Huawei that I think is throwing a real monkey wrench into the positive optimism that surrounded the weekend meeting," said Katie Nixon, chief investment officer for the wealth management division of Northern Trust in Chicago.
#1
My computations at the beginning of '18 showed that I would have to work another 43 years. As of this morning, it was up to 51. And 60 is in my rearview.
[Daily Caller] Commenters online are calling for an ethics investigation into Democratic Socialist Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez after she threatened Donald Trump Jr. for posting a meme making fun of her.
Donald Trump Jr. shared a meme that featured Ocasio-Cortez on his Instagram that claimed the policies of socialism will cause Americans to eat their dogs. The meme shows two images: one of Ocasio-Cortez with the text, "Why are you so afraid of a socialist economy?" and another image beneath Ocasio-Cortez of President Donald Trump with an overlay of text saying, "Because Americans want to walk their dogs, not eat them."
In response to a Washington Post write up of the meme, Ocasio-Cortez threatened to use the "subpoena power" of Congress against Trump Jr.
"I have noticed that Junior here has a habit of posting nonsense about me whenever the Mueller investigation heats up," Ocasio-Cortez said, "Please, keep it coming Jr [sic] ‐ it’s definitely a ’very, very large brain’ idea to troll a member of a body that will have subpoena power in a month."
#9
Contrary to the notion that the FBI is totally on the side of leftists, I'm betting agents are jockeying for position to watch OC who they have to consider "easy meat."
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[National Review] An Irish lecturer was stabbed to death by a student outside the Paris university where he taught on Wednesday for allegedly insulting the prophet Mohammed by displaying a drawing of him during class.
John Dowling, 66, was speaking with a student, identified by authorities only as Ali R., following a lecture when the 37-year old student fatally stabbed him 13 times in the throat and chest.
The suspect, who is set to be indicted for murder on Friday, told the authorities that, while he killed Dowling to defend his faith against a perceived slight, he has also long maintained a personal grudge against the lecturer, the Daily Mail reported Friday.
Government prosecutor Catherine Denis said that Ali has nurtured an ’obsessive resentment’ against the university since it expelled him in September 2017.
"He came to France two years ago to join the management school, but did not pass his first year," she said. "Since then he had been returning to the college, and had become unwanted to the point that he was not allowed in any more."
Ali’s explanation for carrying out the murder, however, cited Dowling’s display of a drawing of the prophet Mohammed during class.
[Military Times] This fall has been rough for headlines involving special operations troops.
Two Navy SEALs and two Marine Raiders face murder charges in the death of a Green Beret last year in Mali. Meanwhile, a Navy SEAL is under investigation for murdering an Iraqi detainee, and a dozen of his colleagues could be called as witnesses.
Now, after U.S. Special Operations Command has been entrenched in the Global War on Terror for going on two decades, Congress is calling on a Defense Department review of the entire organization, from its operational load to ― notably ― the state of its professionalism and ethics programs.
The most recent National Defense Authorization Act points to "growing congressional concern with misconduct, ethics, and professionalism," according to a Congressional Research Service report published in late October.
"That review is ongoing right now," a defense official told Army Times on Wednesday.
Senior leaders within the Army have also taken notice, pushing out guidance ahead of DoD’s official report back to Congress.
#2
This review will go absolutely nowhere. The Pentagon (Big Army) no longer controls SOF forces (Tier-1 and Tier-2). You can thank Goldwater-Nichols Act and the separate SOF budget for that.
Wiki:The Goldwater–Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of October 4, 1986 Pub.L. 99–433, (signed by President Ronald Reagan), made the most sweeping changes to the United States Department of Defense since the department was established in the National Security Act of 1947 by reworking the command structure of the United States military.
#5
...The same problem that the SF units ran into in Vietnam has raised its ugly head here: demand for these guys increased exponentially, and that meant guys who ordinarily never would have gotten near these outfits got selected. When this is all over (from my lips to God's ears), watch the SF communities get shrunk hard.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
12/08/2018 10:46
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#6
....and that meant guys who ordinarily never would have gotten near these outfits got selected.
PARIS (Reuters) - Paris was in lockdown early on Saturday with thousands of French security forces braced to meet renewed rioting by "yellow vest" protesters in the capital and other cities in a fourth weekend of confrontation over living costs.
The Eiffel Tower and other tourist landmarks were shut, shops were boarded up to avoid looting and street furniture removed to avoid metal bars from being used as projectiles.
About 89,000 police were deployed across the country.
Of these, about 8,000 were deployed in Paris to avoid a repeat of last Saturday’s mayhem when rioters torched cars and looted shops off the famed Champs Elysees boulevard, and defaced the Arc de Triomphe with graffiti directed at President Emmanuel Macron.
Authorities said 575 people had been searched and briefly arrested and 361 people of them remained in custody after police found potential weapons such as hammers, baseball bats and metal petanque balls on them.
Small groups of riot police moved quickly among protesters and clamped down on anyone trying to damage shops or public amenities.
Much of Paris looked like a ghost town, with museums, department stores closed on what should have been a festive pre-Christmas shopping day.
Paris braces for more 'yellow vest' weekend protests
Many shops were boarded up to avoid looting and street furniture and construction site materials have been removed to prevent them from being used as projectiles.
Despite the government’s climbdown over the fuel tax, the ‘yellow vests’ continue to demand more concessions, including lower taxes, a higher minimum wage, lower energy costs, better retirement benefits and even Macron’s resignation.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Turkey’s head of intelligence has traveled to Washington to meet with U.S. lawmakers and intelligence officials, sources said, in an apparent bid to improve ties with the Americans after a breakdown in the NATO allies’ relationship last summer.
Hakan Fidan, a close confidant of Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan, has met with senators to discuss NATO issues and was expected to meet with U.S. intelligence officials later on Friday, according to five sources familiar with the matter, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.
The killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul was discussed in the meeting with members and staff of the NATO Observer Group, a bipartisan group of senators that advocates for the alliance, two sources familiar with the matter said.
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[Guardian] Beijing is buying up media outlets and training scores of foreign journalists to ’tell China’s story well’ ‐ as part of a worldwide propaganda campaign of astonishing scope and ambition.
As they sifted through resumes, the team recruiting for the new London hub of China’s state-run broadcaster had an enviable problem: far, far too many candidates. Almost 6,000 people were applying for just 90 jobs "reporting the news from a Chinese perspective". Even the simple task of reading through the heap of applications would take almost two months.
For western journalists, demoralised by endless budget cuts, China Global Television Network presents an enticing prospect, offering competitive salaries to work in state-of-the-art purpose-built studios in Chiswick, west London. CGTN ‐ as the international arm of China Central Television (CCTV) was rebranded in 2016 ‐ is the most high-profile component of China’s rapid media expansion across the world, whose goal, in the words of President Xi Jinping, is to "tell China’s story well". In practice, telling China’s story well looks a lot like serving the ideological aims of the state.
[Real Clear Politics] Tucker Carlson said the left used to pretend that you have a right to think for yourself, something they are not even pretending to care about anymore. He said the current ruling class considers themselves gods who render their own judgment.
TUCKER CARLSON, FOX NEWS: Freedom of speech. A lot of people voted for Donald Trump in the hope they’d have more of it. Two years in, the opposite has happened. Our ruling class has clamped down as never before on personal expression. Gone is the free exchange of ideas we were promised as Americans. In its place: mandatory, soul-deadening conformity. An entire population forced to repeat the same mindless platitudes, or else. An axis of left-wing corporate power, academia, media, and lawmakers have aligned to curb your right to speak freely, which is to say, your right to think for yourself. When they control your words, they control your mind. The left used to deny that this was their goal. They’re not even pretending any more. They’re baring their teeth and snarling. Get in line or we’ll hurt you.
In a speech Monday night, CEO Tim Cook pledged that Apple, one of the biggest and most powerful companies in the world, will do whatever it takes to silence dissenting opinions:
COOK: Hate tries to make its headquarters in the digital world. At Apple, we believe that technology needs to have a clear point of view on this challenge. There is no time to get tied up in knots. That's why we only have one message for those who seek to push hate, division and violence: You have no place on our platforms.
#1
And Tucker is right there nuzzling that teat. So credible...
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12/08/2018 4:31
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#2
If it's Cook's platform, he can make the rules for how it's used. Same with Facebook, Twitter and all the rest of them. Screw 'em. I never used them anyway. I can still say and think what I want.
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[Mercer at Townhall] In the United States, even Customs and Border Protection apologizes for doing its job. CBP is supposed to "protects the public from dangerous people and materials attempting to cross the border ..."
On one of the networks that wants all people, dangerous or not, to cross the southern border into the U.S., if they so desire, a CBP officer was bending over backwards to appear like a "global force for good." (That, believe it or not, was the U.S. Navy’s motto, between 2009 and 2015!)
Tear-gassing rubble-rousing migrants, who were charging his officers and breaching the U.S.-Mexico border, was in the service of protecting ... the migrants, especially The Children. Perhaps that’s in the oath of office a CBP officer takes?
Law enforcement officers entrusted with the safety of the American people struggle to articulate pride in executing their mandate. Attached to the expected self-loathing repartee is, invariably, a declaration of loyalties to The World.
It’s instructive to contrast the apologetics around defending the U.S. border and the American people with the absence of apologies on Israel’s borders.
In May this year, "Tens of thousands of Palestinians massed near Gaza’s border fence, threatening to ’return’ to the lands their forefathers lost when Israel was created in 1948." They wanted in.
Israeli soldiers responded not with tear gas, but with bullets. They killed over 60 protesters who threatened to breach the border. The number has since risen to 120.
Most of us, this writer included, would condemn such excessive force.
Yet surprisingly, the Economist‐a liberal, pro-Palestinian, most excellent weekly‐pondered but briefly and nonchalantly about Israel’s army having used excessive force, concluding almost callously: "Every state has a right to defend its borders."
#1
"Tens of thousands of Palestinians massed near Gaza’s border fence, threatening to ’return’ to the lands their forefathers lost when Israel was created in 1948."
Lost in the failed war to destroy Israel. Just like the Germans three years before lost Prussia and Silesia in a failed war. Both those provinces were ethnically cleansed. Right of return? Ask the Russians and Poles.
#2
looking for a massing of water cannon bearing trucks that would hose down the wall whenever scaling attempts were discovered. non lethal method and provides a bath for those still trying....
and if periodically some 10w-30 Pennzoil found its way into the plumbing,, well moving parts do need lubricated
#3
looking for a massing of water cannon bearing trucks that would hose down the wall whenever scaling attempts were discovered.
People get twitchy when you talk about autonomous killbots guarding the border, but they could be as easily equipped with water cannons in place of a chain gun.
#4
The title is an interesting idea. What if law abiding folks showed up and started throwing rocks a the rock throwers. It'd be interesting to see those that defend the Palestinian rock throwers and the caravan rock throwers suddenly reverse course and suggest how inhuman it is.
[Breitbart] Former FBI Director James Comey refused to answer several questions during his closed-door interview with House investigators on Friday, according to a report.
Fox News, citing several lawmakers, reports that Comey’s lawyers "instructed" their client not to respond to questions regarding the FBI’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s handling of classified information, Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants, and the Steele dossier.
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), who stepped outside to talk to reporters during the hearing, expressed dissatisfaction with Comey’s apparent inability to responded to various questions. "One of the disappointments of this deposition so far has been the amount of times in which the FBI believes that Congress doesn’t have a right to know," Issa said begrudgery.
The California Republican revealed Comey’s lawyers, one of which works for the Department of Justice, asked him not to provide answers to "a great many questions that are clearly items at the core of our investigation" ‐ a directive the fired FBI Director abided by in a "gleeful" fashion, Issa told Fox News. "The Department of Justice is going to have to agree to allow him to come back and answer a great many questions that currently he is not answering," said Issa.
#1
“One of the disappointments of this deposition so far has been the amount of times in which the FBI believes that Congress doesn’t have a right to know,” Issa said begrudgery.
#6
Issa said Comey has two attorneys, including one from the DOJ, who have “instructed” the former FBI director not to answer “a great many questions that are clearly items at the core of our investigation.” Issa said the instructions have been followed with Comey’s “gleeful acceptance.”
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[United States District Court for The District of Columbia] Hat tip to US District Judge Royce Lamberth. See link to his 11 page ruling, rather scathing , on possible FOIA Violations with Hillary's use of her Private email server to circumvent Federal FOIA Laws.
The ball is now appears to be in the hands of the Department of Justice.
Yes, Virginia, there actually is a corruption scandal in Hillary Clinton’s e-mail choices — or at least that’s what Judge Royce Lamberth thinks. In allowing a lawsuit by Judicial Watch to continue, Lamberth blasted Clinton, the State Department, and the Department of Justice for having “colluded” to stymie the Freedom of Information Act and oversight by Congress and the courts. By hiding her emails on a secret and private server and allowing State to slough off demands to see her communications, the group committed “one of the gravest modern offenses to government transparency.”
#3
Nope, nothing will come of it. The reputation of the first entitlement president of the United States and his 'Deep State' puppet masters shall not be sullied.
[Ynet] The Taliban ...Arabic for students... staged a coordinated attack overnight on two Afghan army outposts in western Herat ...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns... province, killing 14 Afghan soldiers and taking another 21 captive, a provincial official said Friday, the latest in a series of daily attacks by turbans on the country's beleaguered national security forces.
Herat provincial council member Najibullah Mohebi said the assault began late on Thursday in Shindand district. Fighting lasted for six hours before reinforcements arrived and repulsed the Death Eaters, but not before they captured 21 troops.
[IsraelTimes] In letter to UN Security Council, Beirut’s envoy accuses Jerusalem of ’making a direct threat’ to Lebanese lives; Israel slams ’hypocrisy,’ say calls designed to avert casualties.
[AnNahar] Ottoman Turkish police on Friday tossed in the calaboose Book 'im, Mahmoud! dozens of military personnel in another round of nationwide raids against people with alleged links to the group blamed for the 2016 failed coup, state media reported.
Forty-one suspects were tossed into the calaboose by late Friday morning, according to state news agency Anadolu, after the Ankara public prosecutor ordered arrest warrants for 87 former non-commissioned officers in the Ottoman Turkish airforce.
The police operations were launched in 16 provinces across the country including Ankara, Istanbul and the Aegean city of Izmir.
Ottoman Turkish authorities have detained more than 50,000 people over the last two years as part of an investigation into followers of US-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... , while nearly 130,000 public sector workers have been dismissed from their jobs.
In a separate series of raids, 40 police in Istanbul were detained after the public prosecutor issued 41 arrest warrants over alleged links to Gulen.
The latest detentions come after Ottoman Turkish police detained nearly 140 people across the country on Tuesday over suspected links to Gulen after nearly 300 arrest warrants had been issued by different prosecutors.
But Ottoman Turkish officials stress the operations are needed to remove the "virus" that is the Gulen movement's infiltration of key Ottoman Turkish institutions.
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[IsraelTimes] Detention of Suha Jbara, 31, extended by 15 days on suspicions she funded ’illegal organizations’ and ’worked with the enemy’
A Paleostinian court on Thursday extended the detention of a hunger-striking Paleostinian-American activist who claims she was tortured in captivity.
Suha Jbara, 31, a US citizen born in Panama, shuffled into the Jericho courtroom with her head down, appearing ashen and weak. Her father and son reached out to embrace her but were restrained by Paleostinian authorities.
The court ordered that Jbara remain in jug 15 more days on suspicions she funded "illegal organizations" and "worked with the enemy." Paleostinian authorities refused to elaborate on the accusations. Jbara insists the only organizations she supports are Islamic charities advocating for Paleostinian prisoners in Israel.
When the judge announced her extended detention, her youngest son, Mohammed, erupted into sobs and her father shook his fist, wailing, "Shame on you! I swear this is not justice!" as security officials ushered him out of the courtroom.
Jbara started a hunger strike two weeks ago to protest what she says is unjust treatment by Paleostinian authorities. She told her lawyer on Thursday that she will continue striking for her remaining days of detention in hopes of bringing attention to her plight.
She told the advocacy organization Amnesia Amnesty International that after arresting her from her home in a midnight raid, Paleostinian authorities tortured her and deprived her of water, sleep and medicine she needs for a heart condition. She said security officials threatened her with sexual violence and forced her to sign a document admitting to charges she says are false.
"He insulted me all the time, used very dirty and violent sexual language, threatened to bring a doctor to look into my virginity and say that I was a whore, and threatened to hurt my family and to take my kids away from me," she said of her Paleostinian interrogator.
Jbara said security officers also punched her in the chest and back and threw her against a wall.
She told the human rights ...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless... group that she was hospitalized after suffering a seizure upon her arrest, but was dragged from her hospital bed by Paleostinian officers.
"I was in bed with tubes in my arms when I clearly remember gunnies came into the room... The gunnies took off the tubes and dragged me out. I was feeling very weak and could barely move or talk... They put me in a minivan and I slept on the floor. I woke up in another place and they said to me, ’Welcome to the Jericho slaughter house,’" she said.
Her father, Badran Jbara, said Jbara lived for nearly a decade with her American husband in New Jersey, where she obtained US citizenship and raised her three children. Now divorced, she lives with her family in the West Bank city of Turmas Aya, known for its large population of Paleostinian-Americans.
"Every day my daughter Suha is dying," Jbara said. "These people are committing brutal crimes against humanity and against the Paleostinian people."
Her lawyer, Mohannad Karajah, called the Paleostinian authorities’ accusations "baseless" and "politically motivated."
The New York-based watchdog Human Rights Watch released a report last month accusing both the Western-backed Paleostinian Authority in the West Bank and Hamas, the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood, in Gazoo of using "machineries of repression" to stifle criticism.
The investigation reported that that Paleostinian security forces routinely use torture and arbitrary arrests to quash dissent by peaceful activists and political opponents.
[Rudaw] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund.... and the United States renewed their commitment to their road map for Manbij, agreeing to make concrete progress by the end of the year. Continued US support for Kurdish groups in Syria, however, is a sore point for Ankara.
US Syria envoy Jim Jeffrey is in Ankara for a meeting of Washington’s working group with Turkey. During their discussions, Ottoman Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar told Jeffrey that the US should stop building its observation points on the Syria-Turkey border.
"The US should cut ties with the YPG [Peoples’ Protection Units], which is no different from the PKK and the US should also call off its plan to set up observation points in northern Syria," Akar told Jeffrey, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
US forces in northern Syria established five observation posts on the border with Turkey. The purpose of the posts ‐ that are manned by American soldiers ‐ is to watch the border to prevent any instigation from either side. The US made the decision to set up its watchtowers after their Kurdish allies in the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) briefly suspended military operations against ISIS in Deir ez-Zor when Turkey fired on their positions and villages along the border.
Ankara fiercely objects to US support of the Syrian Kurds and has threatened a military offensive against them, east of the Euphrates. America’s latest attempt to keep its two allies at peace as angered Turkey.
The Manbij roadmap was developed to appease Turkey’s opposition to Kurdish control of the Syrian city.
American and Ottoman Turkish forces conducted independent patrols of the Manbij area in the summer and in November began to joint patrols. Ankara has, however, accused the US of dragging its feet in implementing further steps of their agreed plan.
The two sides issued a joint statement after their meeting on Friday: "They committed to accelerated and concrete progress on the Manbij roadmap by the end of the year," Anadolu reported.
"Both sides reaffirmed their resolve to fight terrorism in all its forms and manifestations originating from within Syria and beyond."
The also agreed to meet more frequently, planning to next get together in Washington no later than February 2019.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/08/2018
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[13 views]
Top|| File under: Sublime Porte
#1
"Ma! He's looking at me!"
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/08/2018 6:48
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[IndependentSentinal] After winning the 2018 Miss Universe Spain pageant, Angela Ponce, a biological male who has undergone gender reassignment surgery and hormone therapy, has become the first trans contestant in the Miss Universe competition. She is also the oddsmakers’ favorite.
"As the competition nears, online bookies are taking action, and Ponce has grown to become the clear favorite with current odds of +600," The Blast reports. "The folks at MyBookie.ag compiled their list of where all the countries currently stand. She’s the favorite to win +2000.
This is idiotic and will probably help put an end to beauty contests. Taking someone who is completely altered surgically and having the person compete is nonsensical. Such a strange, upside down world.
Ponce is pushing the transgender agenda, saying she knew she was a female when she was a 3-year old male.
Miss Universe was once owned by President Trump and competing in this contest is a message to him.
"Trans women have been persecuted and erased for so long. If they give me the crown, it would show trans women are just as many women as cis women," said Ponce.
The surgically-fixed male has a message for the President. She said it will be "more than a message to him, it would be a win for human rights."
How is letting a biological man ‐ who have been surgically altered ‐ compete against women a win for human rights? The same thing is going in in sports where women don’t have a prayer against a biological male. Treating transgenders with respect is one thing, but this is quite another. This is a blow to women and it’s bizarre.
In 2012, a Canadian transgender model sued the Miss Universe contest and they gave in, allowing transgenders to participate.
#7
If you can enter a biologically male human in the "Miss" Universe Pageant... then why not a Siberian Tigress... of a the bust of Nefertiti? Madness...
[ToloNews] A security bigshot in Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... said on Friday that the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces have launched military operations in parts of the province to clear areas of murderous Moslems, but they said the operations are moving forward slowly as they want to protect civilians.
The operations are ongoing in Nad Ali and Nahri Saraj districts as well as on the outskirts of Lashkargah City, the picturesque provincial capital.
Colonel Gulai Khan, Security Officer at Helmand Police Headquarters, said insecure areas have been cleared of forces of Evil in Nad Ali and Nahri Saraj districts.
"Our operations are moving forward. The enemy does not have the ability to resist against security forces. Less areas have remained to be cleared of murderous Moslems," Khan said.
"The enemies are in dispute with the people not with us. We have prepared technical plans and we have defeated the enemy. The enemy cannot face us," said Abdul Basir Achakzai, Nad Ali police chief.
Afghan soldiers fighting the Taliban ...Arabic for students... in parts of Lashkargah, Nad Ali and Nahri Saraj said Taliban has planted mines in many areas in the districts and that many roads have been damaged due to kabooms.
Soldiers said they also get air support by Afghan and foreign forces.
"They (Taliban) had planted mines in the people’s houses and around the houses. We defused the mines and now people are very happy with us,"said Fazl Bari, an army soldier.
"Our operation is ongoing successfully. We have pushed back the Taliban," said Khalil Ahmad, an army soldier in Helmand.
Helmand officials said they will establish security check posts in cleared areas.
[AnNahar] Lebanese businessman Kassim Tajideen, designated by US authorities as an important financial supporter of Hizbullah ...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory... , pleaded guilty Thursday to charges related to evading sanctions against him, a Justice Department statement said.
Tajideen, 63, pleaded guilty before a Washington court and faces five years in prison and a forfeiture of $50 million if his deal with prosecutors is accepted.
He was named a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in May 2009 by the Treasury Department over his links to Hizbullah, a Shiite political party and krazed killer group in Leb.
Tajideen has been detained since extradition to the United States in March 2017 after his arrest overseas, the statement added.
"We are going to keep targeting Hizbullah and other terrorist groups and their supporters, and we are going to keep winning," said Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, who hailed the guilty plea.
Hizbullah has been a US designated terrorist group since 1997 and fights alongside the regime of Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Scourge of Qusayr... in the country's civil war.
#1
Give him a bushel of monopoly money that he has to count every day in his cell and submit the correct total by dinner time. The guards can have fun adding and subtracting bills at random each day. Bad count, no chow.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
12/08/2018 10:12
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[Jpost] The individual caught by the cameras placed inside Hezbollah tunnel is confirmed to be a Hezbollah member.
After the launch of Operation Northern Shield on Tuesday, the IDF placed a camera inside the first tunnel exposed. The success of the operation was immediate as the secrecy surrounding it escaped the eyes of Hezbollah, as two of their members were caught on video.
Merely two days after the publication of the video, the identity of the first individual caught on tape was revealed. The man was confirmed to be Dr. Imad "Azaladin" Fahs. Azaladin is known to be a commander for the Hezbollah observation unit on the border with Israel and a commander in the tunnel unit, i24news reported.
According to i24news' source, Hezbollah claimed the two men appearing in the video were drug pushers and not a part of the Hezbollah organization.
The video of the two Hezbollah personnel caught inside the tunnel was posted on Youtube by the IDF Spokesperson's Unit:
Fahs, who is in his 30s and is married with two children, has a PhD in mechanical engineering from K. N. Toosi University of Technology in Tehran.
The i24NEWS TV channel first reported the story, citing an unnamed security official. Later, Hadashot TV said it had contacted a friend of Fahs who confirmed he had recognized him in the published footage.
Hadashot said its efforts to contact Fahs himself had been fruitless, adding that he appears to have gone underground, literally and figuratively, over the past two years. He has dramatically reduced his online presence and has stopped posting to his Facebook account.
Earlier posts by Fahs on social media feature many photos of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, as well as photos of himself in southern Leb.
Fahs reportedly trained in the past with Mexican narco mobs near the border with the United States.
[ToloNews] At least eight Talibs were killed in a dronezap in western Farah province, provincial police confirmed in a statement.
In addition, seven other Talibs were maimed, the statement said.
The deone strike was carried out by foreign forcea in Shewan village in Bala Bulok district in the province, the statement said.
However, some people cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go... the statement did not provide further details.
Taliban ...Arabic for students... so far has not commented on the report.
This comes after a foreign forces' dronezap targeted Mullah Mohammad Rahim Mannan, also known as Mullah Abdulmannan Akhund, head of Taliban’s military commission and designated governor of Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... .
[ToloNews] Kabul police on Wednesday said that all weapons and ammunitions which were seized from the residence of Tamim Shansab, head of a former security company, were illegal and that no security firm had been registered under his name in the Ministry of Interior.
The Kabul police Crime Investigation Department said that Shansab is in the custody of the National Directorate of Security ...the Afghan national intel agency... (NDS) for investigation and that the police will ask him that why and how he managed to keep such large amount of weapons in the capital.
Sources within the government have said that Tamim’s father Naseer Shansab had sold out the house to a person named Assadullah, but his son, Tamim Shansab was against the deal.
Kabul police has seized 17 types of weapons including RPG, AK47 and over 15,000 of bullets and military uniforms from Shansab’s house, which was under security forces’ siege for at least 20 hours when Shansab refused to leave the building.
"No security company under the name of Tamim Shansab is registered in the Ministry of Interior. Only one company has been registered under the name of Hamid Wardak who is Shansab’s step brother. He (Tamim Shansab) used from the name of the same company," said Mohammad Salim Almas, head of Kabul police Crime Investigation Department.
"When you see all these, you realize that there is was something going on here. When you see this big house with large number of illegal gunnies, an investigation must determine the details of what was going on here," said Basir Mujahid, the Kabul police front man.
Shansab and his 18 guards were incarcerated Book 'im, Mahmoud! on Tuesday after 20 hours of standoff with police.
Some residents and shopkeepers in the area meanwhile talked about what they saw outside the house in Shahr-e-Naw area in Kabul’s PD10 when Shansab was arrested by security forces.
"I saw two armored vehicles came here and several people came out and took Tamim (Shansab) with them," said Sayed Nasim, a shopkeeper in the area.
One Afghan police officer was killed and six others including one journalist were maimed during the standoff.
The 20 hours of resistance by Shansab and his guards against the security forces have raised serious questions on the rule of law in the country.
The Supreme Court of Afghanistan has not made a comment on the issue.
So nu? It was Friday. What else are the young people going to do with themselves on the weekend?
[IsraelTimes] Demonstrations come as Israel allows in a second shipment of cash from Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... ; Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth", keeping most demonstrators away from fence
Some 10,000 Paleostinians protested along the Gazoo border fence on Friday, with some burning tires and throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at soldiers who responded with tear gas and occasional live fire.
The Hamas-run Gazoo heath ministry said 33 people were maimed, but it was not immediately clear how many were hit by live fire.
This was the fourth week in a row that Hamas security forces kept most demonstrators away from the fence following a ceasefire with Israel after a major flareup last month. The IDF said Paleostinians had not managed to breach the border fence and there were no injuries reported among Israeli forces.
The demonstrations came as Israel allows in a second shipment of cash from Qatar. Hundreds of employees of Hamas government departments waited in long lines outside banks in the Gazoo Strip from the early hours Friday.
The Hamas-run finance ministry announced in a statement to local media that the money would be distributed over the next two days, with employees receiving 50 percent of their salaries.
Thousands of Paleostinians demonstrated Friday despite wintry weather, throwing rocks with slingshots at Israeli troops deployed behind the fence. The soldiers repeatedly fired volleys of tear gas and live fire, witnesses say.
[Rudaw] A commander in the militia of Moqtada Tater al-Sadr ... the Iranian catspaw holy man who was 22 years old in 2003 and was nearing 40 in 2010. He spends most of his time in Iran, safely out of the line of fire, where he's learning to be an ayatollah... has been assassinated north of Baghdad, Iraqi media has reported.
Hussein Hijami, a commander in Sadr’s Saraya al-Salam (Peace Brigades) militia, was shot by unknown button men in the al-Shuala area on the northern edge of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad Today reported.
Hijami had been working with the Ministry of Health, an unnamed security source told the news outlet.
The Peace Brigades are a resurrection of Shiite holy man Moqtada al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army and were formed in 2014 in response to the rise of ISIS.
[IsraelTimes] TV news cites Paleostinian source familiar with investigation of deadly shootout that led to escalation as saying operatives rented an apartment and handed out medical equipment
An Israel Defense Forces special unit, which last month fought its way out of the Gazoo Strip in a deadly shootout after being discovered by Hamas, one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbung millipede, security personnel, had been operating inside the Paleostinian enclave for weeks, Hadashot television news reported on Wednesday.
The Israeli team rented an apartment and was posing under the cover of workers in a non-government medical equipment charity, "Bamasa," which has two branches, one in Khan Younis and one in Gazoo City, according to a Paleostinian source familiar with the Hamas investigation into the incident cited by Hadashot.
The Times of Israel could not independently confirm the existence of a charity by that name.
During its time in Gazoo the IDF team engaged in handing out medical equipment, mostly wheelchairs, the source told the news channel. Hamas located the apartment where the team was allegedly based and Sherlocks found medical equipment, wheelchairs and evidence that the force had been there for weeks.
On the night of November 11, the Israeli unit was exposed inside the southern Gazoo city of Khan Younis following a search of their vehicle at a Hamas checkpoint, resulting in a firefight in which an Israeli lieutenant colonel was killed, along with seven Paleostinian button men. "Something out of the ordinary" about those in the vehicle prompted Hamas suspicions, the Hadashot TV report said.
It was entirely by chance that the force was discovered, Hadashot reported. Until the clash Hamas had no suspicions regarding the workers.
On the night of of the incident, the troops were stopped at a Hamas checkpoint and questioned. During their interrogation, the Hamas button men noticed that the alleged Israeli soldiers’ accents did not match the addresses listed on their ID cards.
"They told the fighters at the checkpoint that they were delivering patients back from clinics to their homes and had a wheelchair in the back of the van. They presented their ID cards but the [fighters] manning the checkpoint were suspicious as their accents and voices did not match the areas where they said they were from," a Hamas official said.
According to the Paleostinian officials, when a more senior Hamas commander decided to bring in the suspects for additional questioning, the Israeli special forces soldiers opened fire, killing the senior commander, Nour Barakeh, and his deputy.
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.
[Townhall] Former FBI Director James Comey is sitting with the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees behind closed doors on Friday to answer (or not answer) their questions. Congress is investigating how FBI and DOJ handled the Hillary Clinton and Russia probes and, as you can imagine, Comey was one of the top witnesses on their list.
[Babylon Bee] WASHINGTON, D.C.‐A feud between former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and President Trump erupted Friday as Tillerson revealed that he constantly had to tell Trump he wasn't able to bomb Wakanda, the fictional African country depicted in the Marvel film Black Panther.
[Breitbart] The U.S. Department of the Interior announced Thursday the Permian Basin’s Wolfcamp shale and Bone Spring formation spanning parts of West Texas and eastern New Mexico hold the largest potential oil and gas resources ever discovered. Federal surveyors note the Bone Spring plays could offer roughly seven times the amount of oil as the Bakken shale in North Dakota.
[Dallas News] The U.S. Geological Survey released a new assessment Thursday that shows portions of the Permian Basin could hold even more promise.
"Before this assessment came down, I was bullish on oil and gas production in the United States," Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said in a statement. "Now, I know for a fact that American energy dominance is within our grasp as a nation."
[AlMasdar] The 
...the head of ISIS, or what remains of it, and a veteran of the Abu Graib jailhouse. Looks like a new messiah to bajillions of Moslems, like just another dead-eyed mass murder to the rest of us. So far he has been killed at least four times, though not yet by a stake through the heart...
[Townhall] Former President Barack Obama recently continued his series of public broadsides against his successor, President Donald Trump.
[The Federalist] At 88 years old, Thomas Sowell continues to demonstrate why he’s one of the most formidable intellects of the age. In Discrimination and Disparities, released earlier this year, Sowell rebuts common misconceptions regarding socioeconomic differences among individuals, groups, and nations, and demonstrates that disparities are often explained by economics.
[Aljazeera] Facing fines and jail time, East Jerusalem brothers see no other option than to demolish their homes themselves.
[Wash Times] Stocks recovered in a late rally Thursday after nearly wiping out all gains for the year, capping a tumultuous trading day that reflected investors’ persistent jitters over the U.S. trade war with China and fears of a weakening global economy.
[Daily Caller] Commenters online are calling for an ethics investigation into Democratic Socialist Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez after she threatened Donald Trump Jr. for posting a meme making fun of her.
[National Review] An Irish lecturer was stabbed to death by a student outside the Paris university where he taught on Wednesday for allegedly insulting the prophet Mohammed by displaying a drawing of him during class.
PARIS (Reuters) - Paris was in lockdown early on Saturday with thousands of French security forces braced to meet renewed rioting by "yellow vest" protesters in the capital and other cities in a fourth weekend of confrontation over living costs.
[Guardian] Beijing is buying up media outlets and training scores of foreign journalists to ’tell China’s story well’ ‐ as part of a worldwide propaganda campaign of astonishing scope and ambition.
... 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...
[IndependentSentinal] After winning the 2018 Miss Universe Spain pageant, Angela Ponce, a biological male who has undergone gender reassignment surgery and hormone therapy, has become the first trans contestant in the Miss Universe competition. She is also the oddsmakers’ favorite.
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi...
Moqtada 
