#1
Theme song link fixed by removing the quotation marks around the URL. Sometimes, for reasons that passeth understanding, those quotes cause trouble.
#3
I give credit to Ted for meeting his commitment after the rancor and bile he had to swallow following the debates. Kasich, for all your loud noise about integrity....Bush..., Carly... time to man-up and prevent the most corrupt, criminal, venal, dishonest Presidential candidate in modern history from being President. The Republic is genuinely in grave peril folks!
"After many months of careful consideration, of prayer and searching my own conscience, I have decided that on Election Day, I will vote for the Republican nominee, Donald Trump,"
...and:
"Our country is in crisis. Hillary Clinton is manifestly unfit to be president, and her policies would harm millions of Americans. And Donald Trump is the only thing standing in her way," Cruz said in the statement. "A year ago, I pledged to support the Republican nominee, and I will honor that commitment."
There's a difference between endorsing a candidate and saying you're voting for him. Lots of 'wiggle room' here, folks. Just sayin'.
#5
Senator Cruz decided what was most important to him, and will act on it. Part of what is important to him turned out to be not splitting the Republican party over this issue. He needn't love the candidate he votes for to accomplish his goals.
Probably the majority of those who go to the polls this election will be voting for what they conceive to be the lesser of the evils, as will be those who cannot bring themselves to vote for either presidential candidate but still vote in the down-ticket races.
#6
Cruz stated to "Vote your conscience". Well, Apparently the whole world wanted him to "State his conscience". Now that he has, can we please move on to the General Election?
Posted by: Charles ||
09/24/2016 19:00 Comments ||
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[PopularMechanics] The Ig Noble Prizes, the tongue-in-cheek scientific tradition going back twenty-six years, have just announced its latest winners.
First established at Harvard in 1991, the Ig Nobels celebrate odd and potentially uses scientific breakthroughs of the year. The awards weren't actually recorded until 1995, but ever since they've grown in popularity as a chance to view science from a unique, self-aware angle. Actual Nobel Prize winners hand out the awards. Most of those roasted by the Ig Nobles gladly accept the awards, both aware of the oddity of their work and eager for a chance to promote it.
In a rare use of the Ig Nobles to tackle scientific corruption, a Chemistry Ig Noble was given to Volkswagen this year "for solving the problem of excessive automobile pollution emissions by automatically, electromechanically producing fewer emissions whenever the cars are being tested." An obvious reference to last year's diesel emissions scandal, where the German car manufacturer was found to be tricking automotive inspectors into thinking their cars were cleaner than they actually were.
Other awards this year were more in line with Ig Noble tradition. The Physics Ig Noble was presented to Susanne Åkesson, who was part of a team that was given the award in recognition of "discovering why white-haired horses are the most horsefly-proof horses, and for discovering why dragonflies are fatally attracted to black tombstones."
The 2016 Economics Ig Noble had a geologic aspect to it, with Mark Avis and Sarah Forbes "assessing the perceived personalities of rocks, from a sales and marketing perspective." According to their paper, rocks were "chosen stimuli as they do not have any obvious commonalities with brands."
You can find all the other Ig Noble Prize Award winners here.
And the video of the ceremony, which for some reason Popular Mechanics neglected to mention, can be found here. Enjoy!
[ENGLISH.ALMANAR.LB] Morocco on Friday made an official request to return to the African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... , 32 years after quitting the bloc in protest at its decision to accept Western Sahara as a member.
"The Kingdom of Morocco has officially submitted a request to accede to the African Union (AU) Constitutive Act, and therefore, become a Member of the Union," the AU said in a statement.
Rabat first announced its intention to return to the club in July, with King Mohammed VI saying his country wanted to "take up its natural place within its institutional family."
Morocco quit the AU in protest in 1984 when the Saharan Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) -- commonly known as Western Sahara -- was admitted as a member.
Morocco quit the AU in protest in 1984 when the Saharan Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) — commonly known as Western Sahara — was admitted as a member.
Morocco has occupied the sparsely populated Western Sahara area since 1975 in a move that was not recognized by the international community.
It maintains that Western Sahara is an integral part of the kingdom even though local Sahrawi people have long campaigned for the right to self-determination.
In 1991, the United Nations brokered a ceasefire between Moroccan troops and Sahrawi rebels of the Algerian-backed Polisario Front but a promised referendum to settle the status of the desert territory is yet to materialize.
The Moroccan monarch in July said his nation’s decision to return to the AU did not mean it was changing its stance on Western Sahara.
Rabat’s membership bid must be approved by a vote of the AU Commission in order to be accepted.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2016 00:00 ||
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Gennady Tsypkalov, a former top official in the breakaway republic of Lugansk, was found hanged in his cell in Lugansk city, according to Russian language news account.
Tsypkalov once headed the Lugansk Council of Ministers, and was a close adviser to Lugansk president Igor Plotnitsky.
Tsypkalov and several others had been detained by the Lugansk prosecutor last week for their alleged role in a planned coup d'tat, according to a new report in novorosinform.org.
Among the coup participants were Vitaly Kiselev and Alexei Karjakin. According to a press release by the Lugansk prosecutor's office, the three accused had been holding secret meetings since the very start of the republic. Those plans included murdering top officials and replacing them with coup participants.
The news release goes on to accuse unidentified un-indicted co-conspirators of seeking to eliminate the three men. The three had been ordered into preventative detention after appearing in a Lugansk court last week.
Among the other crimes detailed in the press release was smuggling, which is an activity that nearly every top official in both Donetsk and Lugansk has been linked to, including Plotnitsky.
Tsypkalov was found hanged in an administrative building Friday evening. It is apparent from the story the other two detainees are still alive, but being held.
#1
Tsypkalov was found hanged in an administrative building Friday evening. It is apparent from the story the other two detainees are still alive, but being held will likely commit suicide in the near future as well.
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/24/2016 9:32 Comments ||
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#4
Deaths of top officials are usually more spectacular than suicides.
Lugansk government officials aren't above using machine guns, thermobaric rocket launchers and roadside bombs when apprehending eliminating suspects. They've done it before.
#5
Tsypkalov was found hanged in an administrative building Friday evening. It is apparent from the story the other two detainees are still alive, but being held will likely commit suicide in the near future as well.
Russian military Boris journalist pretty much expects this as well.
As I have been saying since Lt. Colonel Bednov was ambushed in January, 2015, the leadership of Lugansk has been in trouble with its rank and files, its arms rank and file.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Kyrgyzstan’s President Almazbek Atambayev has been transferred to Russia for treatment after suffering suspected heart trouble, his office said Friday, several days after he was reported hospitalized in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... Atambayev arrived in Moscow and was admitted to the city’s presidential hospital "on the recommendation of specialists", the statement from the presidential administration noted. Atambayev, 60, was stopping off in Istanbul en route to the United Nations ...where theory meets practice and practice loses... General Assembly in New York when he was hospitalized following complaints of "chest pains", officials said Monday.
Turkish news agencies showed dramatic footage of the Central Asian country’s leader lying prone on a stretcher but his office later said his health was "satisfactory" in a statement. Atambayev has taken time off since the health scare but released a statement Wednesday calling on MPs to pass a law to allow a referendum on controversial constitutional changes to take place in the near future.
Impoverished Kyrgyzstan is commonly viewed as the most democratic country in ex-Soviet Central Asia, an authoritarian former communist region that gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
Atambayev ‐ viewed as a close ally of Russia ‐ was elected to power for a single six-year term in 2011 and is due to leave power next year. But his political opponents, including predecessor Roza Otunbayeva, have raised concerns the changes are an attempt to "usurp power" in a country prone to political upheaval.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
and embalming
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/24/2016 9:22 Comments ||
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[All Africa] criticism of its handling of the Ebola outbreak of 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) has outlined institutional changes to address the shortcomings that led to a weak and ineffective response. While implementation is beginning under outgoing leader Dr. Margaret Chan, the ambitious reform agenda that global health leaders have demanded will depend on the next director-general, to be elected next year.
Unless WHO makes a wise choice, the organization will not become what the world needs it to be ‐ a fast-response organization that can actively coordinate health emergencies. Zika is a current example of how local threats quickly become global, but others are inevitable.
In addition, the unfinished business of reducing the health consequences of severe poverty - including disastrous rates of infant and child death and of mothers in pregnancy and childbirth - is both a human tragedy and a drag on the global economy.
The African region, through the African Union, ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
is backing the candidacy of Dr. Tedros Adhanom of Æthiopia. Here's why.
He is minister of foreign affairs and a diplomat with extensive experience and the negotiating skills to craft international agreements. More importantly, as former minister of health, he acquired expertise in global health, accumulated from responding to some of the most devastating diseases of our time.
Some have argued that the world body should demonstrate its openness to diversity and change by electing an African as director general. But those who believe the position is too important to be decided on anything other than merit should be equally supportive of Dr. Tedros.
During this crucial period for the WHO, the organization needs an administrator of Dr. Tedros' stature. His work leading reforms in organizations such as UNAIDS, the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and GAVI, the vaccine alliance, has been exemplary.
At the Global Fund, where Dr. Tedros was Board Chair at a critical time for that organization, his leadership was groundbreaking. He helped revitalize an organization that was at the risk of failing into the vibrant agency it is today. The fund's push for accountability in use of resources by recipient countries, while retaining flexibility to be creative, produced progress against disease and set it on the path of securing additional resources. Last week at a meeting in Canada the Global Fund raised a record $13 billion for its work.
During three decades, Dr. Tedros has tackled global health, security and development challenges in such global organizations, but he has also operated within government and at the level of local communities, where work is often constrained by limited resources. This depth of experience in varied settings is something the WHO of the 21st century needs.
As Æthiopia's minister of health, Dr. Tedros set his country on a road to remarkable health achievements. The country became a trailblazer among low- and middle-income countries, achieving milestones in primary health care. A strong believer in universal health coverage, Tedros supported an innovative health extension worker program, which has engaged 38,000 salaried extension workers and brought health care to the reach of all villages across Æthiopia. Thanks to that program, more than 95 percent of Æthiopia's population has access to primary health care within a distance of 10 kilometers.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
I rather think this is something of a good idea in the long run. Is WHO really anything more than another UN in white coats?
As more pro athletes around the country follow San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick's lead and take a knee for the Star Spangled Banner in protest, a second sailor has gone public with her own gesture of solidarity.
Intelligence Specialist 2nd Class Janaye Ervin, a reservist on active duty within U.S. Pacific Fleet, is subject to administrative actions, still under review, for refusing to stand for the national anthem while in uniform Sept. 19, Bill Doughty, a spokesman for Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam Public Affairs told Military.com.
Mr/Mz Manning to the courtesy phone. When such behavior is publicly shown, yank the security clearance immediately. If you haven't reached the political officer (O8-9) level in grade, your oath still applies. To paraphrase a SCOTUS opinion, if you want to act as a lightning rod, don't be surprised you're struck by lightning.
#4
The media will make him a hero and the Pentagon will declare that actual loyalty is no longer a requirement for service. Indeed disloyalty will be rewarded with promotion.
#5
Warrants a Central Clearance Facility (CCF) suspension of access pending a formal investigation. Better to error on the side of caution. There could be other issues.
#6
We have a C-in-C who couldn't get a clearance without having been elected to his current position, and a CIA Director who admitted voting for the Communist candidate for Prez shortly after the end of the Vietnam War.
Pretty much par for the course in this day and age.
Makes you wonder what kind of personnel Obama will bequeath to his successor.
If Trump is elected, he'd better have a looonng purge list prepared.
#7
Article 15 Disciplinary action which would automatically trigger a CCF Clearance suspension. This person should by all rights be on the fast track to a DD 214 that reads Dishonorable. But....where is Bergdahl prosecution for a far greater crime? I no longer hav much confidence in the integrity of the senior officer corps when these kinds of things fester. Sadly, it will take years to flush out the garbage that Champ has allowed to be put in place across the spectrum of the services, and I doubt we have the years before the ChiComs or a resurgent Russia pushes the line.
[NY Post] One might think President Obama would have asked his top military officials to weigh in on his administration’s decision in January to send $400 million in cash to Iran. After all, Iran is the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, and terrorists prefer cash to wire payments because it’s so difficult to track.
And its armed forces have both directly and indirectly threatened the US military in the Middle East.
But Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry did not consult Secretary of Defense Ash Carter or the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joseph Dunford.
This news came out of a hearing Thursday before the Senate Armed Services Committee. In response to a question from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) about the cash payment to Iran, Carter made it clear that he had been out of the loop.
"We weren’t involved in this," Carter said, adding that it was part of the settlement of a decades-long legal dispute between Iran and the US over arms sales. "I don’t know all the details of it, and the chairman and I were not involved in that. It is a decision that was taken by the law-enforcement and diplomatic [agencies], and I would refer you there."
When Dunford was asked about the cash payments, he responded: "I am not trying to be evasive but I don’t know the details of that arrangement and it really was a political decision that was made to provide that money, and I don’t think it’s appropriate that I comment on that."
#1
This reminds me of an attacking bear story.
Bears are big omnivores and prefer to amble.
When they do run, it's about chasing prey.
When you see a bear, and you do run, Yogi assumes you are prey and gives chase.
Obama cannot, not give money away in an effort to make a problem go away and he thinks gratitude will follow.
[GP] The University of Vermont this week flew the "Black Lives Matter" terrorist flag beside the American flag on campus.
This is what they are teaching America’s children today on college campuses‐That a terrorist flag is to be respected and the American flag is to be disrespected.
Campus Reform reported: The University of Vermont’s Burlington campus is flying a Black Lives Matter flag alongside both the American and state flags.
Several students from the school took to social media to express their support for the move, with some saying the school is "winning for this" and another noting that since the school is supportive of the movement, "we should be too."
One local news outlet is reporting that the flag is being sponsored by the school’s Student Government Association (SGA), whose president called the move a way to "show symbolic support for our community."
#8
Yes, shooting at police is a felony, and felons are not supposed to own firearms.
Report: Charlotte’s Keith Scott Had History of Violence Including Arrest for Shooting At Police…
Posted on September 22, 2016 by sundance
According to a story in The Christian Times, who they claim verified with The Charlotte Observer, Keith Lamont Scott had a two decades long history of gun violence, including an arrest/conviction for shooting at police officers in Texas. The New York Times has previously reported on his troubled past but not the 2005 shooting at police incident:
(Via NYT) […] According to court records, Mr. Scott was born in South Carolina, was about six feet tall and weighed 230 to 250 pounds. While living in South Carolina in the 1990s, he was charged with a number of offenses including check fraud, aggravated assault and carrying a concealed weapon. Later, he moved to Texas where he shot and wounded a man in San Antonio in 2002, for which he was convicted and sentenced, in 2005, to seven years in prison. He was released in 2011. (link)
The Charlotte Observer also reported on Scott’s extensive criminal career –SEE HERE– and we did independently identify a criminal record in Texas – SEE HERE – which aligns with all of these reports.
The 'victims' were thugs with a long criminal history including resisting arrest, weapons violations, etc... They were not members of the local choir as the media would have you think...
The 'victims' were armed (if only with their fists), or attempting to take the officer's gun to become 'armed'.
h/t Instapundit
The president of Northwestern University told students on Monday that anyone who opposes "trigger warnings" or who ridicules the pain of those "microaggressed" is an "idiot" and a "lunatic." And to think I used to get angry when they'd give tenure to people according to affirmative action status instead of ability.
#1
All of this bullshit about "microaggressions," "safe spaces,""trigger warnings" and the like is a very recent innovation. Is there something about the latest batch of larval-stage humans attending our universities these days that makes them uniquely vulnerable in ways we were not? Mankind got along just fine for thousands of years without this crap.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
09/24/2016 7:41 Comments ||
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#2
These people need to be committed for their own safety. Maybe after 30 years of ECT and lobotomy's they'll be able to live a normal healthy life as an organ donor or something else useful.
#3
I guess I'm among the legions of deplorables and idiots. Permit me to say "GFY." You can bet it doesn't mean "Good For You." "Safe Spaces?" Horsepucky, we have never been a country about safe spaces; how the hell do you think this country got settled or kept free? Guess you wouldn't know about that. The biggest threat to this country today is from demagogue community organizers like you and grifters like Hillary who are looting the country.
#4
The sorts of people who NEED "safe spaces" just means that when they come out into the real world...OUR world, BTW. We eat them for Lunch. We take their jobs. We father the children while they sit in each other's faces.
The world is competitive and the competitive aren't into micro aggressions. We are more into squashing you flat and leaving you beside the road. Too bad you lose, wussy ass.
#5
So much for the value of a piece of paper from NW. Think real hard about hiring a snowflake that can't handle the demands and stress of life. You'll be sued relentlessly by these types trying to turn the world into their personal fantasy. Best to cut it off in the hiring process before it impacts your paycheck.
#7
The world is competitive and the competitive aren't into micro aggressions
Amazing isn't it how the Left which thinks itself 'scientifically' based never heard of Darwin and adaptation. Yeah, I know they've corrupted science in order to twist their failed agendas into the system, debasing it just like the coinage. And they wonder why the fail, time and again.
#8
If this wasn't so sad it could be funny. Way back in 1981 I was introduced at work to New Age Thinking and Valuing Differences. Be tolerant of differences we were told, we asked will they be tolerant of me?
How far can you tolerate the intolerant and who gets to make the call on what is and isn't? Of course it was unanswerable and the whole program died with a whimper.
It was hilarious because in the software world few people put up with this nonsense.
Personally I find these calls for safe spaces etc. to be attempts to macro-aggress against me. These are just as insulting and stress inducing as anything that the snowflakes quake over so they should all be sanctioned severely.
#9
This isn't new. These snowflakes were bred and grown for this. From 'nobody loses' basketball games to participation trophy's. This is the result of decades of pampering and spoiling our children so they don't get 'emotionally scarred'.
And if you think they will go away when they graduate think again. They will be in your HR office. They will be the 'consultants' your upper management hires to tell people with decades of real-life experience how to do their job.
They are experts of concocting flashy power point presentations and 'expert' sounding titles to convince your management that they are much wiser than you would every be.
#10
IMO, you'all missing a point. Once they get some power, they'll try to make a worldwide safe space by eliminating dangerous characters like us. And their definition of dangerous is very different from ours. Like, for example, Stalin killing off the top 10% of the Soviet officer corp in 1940.
#12
I think grom has it: Hillary called us "deplorable", "irredeemable", and not fit to be Americans for a reason. It's all eliminationist rhetoric, carefully parsed (what Clintons do best) and fed to the media. Her most ardent supporters get the message.
When a thug says he doesn't like you and is going to do something about it the minute he gets power and the chance to do so, you should believe him.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/24/2016 14:21 Comments ||
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#13
g(r)om beat me to it, and is right.
Humanity has not gone without this before, just a new package.
When Melissa Click calls for muscle, the spacers approach the BLM.
[SemperFiNews] A recent policy-setting decision by the Los Angeles Police Commission (civilians with no law enforcement training), has told the LAPD to run when confronted by an armed suspect. No we didn't make that up.
Their decision stems from a September, 2015 officer-involved shooting in which a black woman, Norma Guzman, approached two LAPD officers with a large knife. The two officers had cars on either side of them, and had no place to "run."
"A female suspect, armed with an 8 to 9-inch knife, repeatedly ignored commands to stop, ran at the officers, and was even recorded yelling "shoot me," all the while brandishing the knife swinging it from side to side.
In less than 10 seconds the female suspect closed a 70 foot gap to just 5 feet prompting the first officer to fire his weapon. This left only 3 seconds for the second officer to react to the threat, prompting the Commission to conclude that ’it was reasonable for Officer C to believe, in the moment when the use of force occurred, that the subject would imminently assault him with the knife.""
"Redeploy" to "create distance"
The Chief of Police agreed with his officer’s decision to shoot her. But the Commission ruled that even though the officer was justified in feeling threatened, he should have "redeployed" to "create distance."
The officer commanded her to drop the knife 6 times as she advanced toward them, according to his body camera that was not released publicly. The woman shouted "Shoot me!" just before the fatal shot.
Guzman had been diagnosed as mentally ill previously, and family members say the officers should have known she was "harmless." There are hundreds of examples where a mentally ill person is not harmless. And especially not when someone is carrying an 8 to 9 inch knife.
The only way these officers could have "re-deployed" to "create distance" would have been to jump in their car and drive away ‐ IF there was time to do that. From the video, it appears there were only seconds in which to make that decision.
"YOU CAN SAVE YOUR LIFE OR YOU CAN SAVE YOUR JOB, BUT YOU CAN’T DO BOTH." JAMIE MCBRIDE, DIRECTOR OF THE LAPD POLICE UNION
#1
"A female suspect, armed with an 8 to 9-inch knife, repeatedly ignored commands to stop, ran at the officers, and was even recorded yelling "shoot me," all the while brandishing the knife swinging it from side to side.
#2
It would serve these idiots right if every police officer resigned.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
09/24/2016 1:04 Comments ||
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#3
#2 It would serve these idiots right if every police officer resigned.
That's where I'm at. I'm now the biggest (police) union supporter in this country. The fact that a 12-time arrested asshole who required force on 4 of those arrests is somehow a "cause" in Tulsa,OK says it all.
Fuck him, and fuck those who won't stand up for the basics regarding the rule of law.
#5
At first, I thought this was from the Onion. Did the police commissioner say they should also go to their "safe spaces?" LA Police Commissioner should resign.
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.
[ENGLISH.ALMANAR.LB] Morocco on Friday made an official request to return to the 
[SemperFiNews] A recent policy-setting decision by the Los Angeles Police Commission (civilians with no law enforcement training), has told the LAPD to run when confronted by an armed suspect. No we didn't make that up.
