Hi there, !
Today Wed 02/24/2021 Tue 02/23/2021 Mon 02/22/2021 Sun 02/21/2021 Sat 02/20/2021 Fri 02/19/2021 Thu 02/18/2021 Archives
Rantburg
531717 articles and 1856008 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 59 articles and 189 comments as of 15:45.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Operations    WoT Background    Non-WoT        Politix   
Three Jihadists Sentenced for Plotting Paris Terrorist Attack
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 4: Opinion
1 10:24 M. Murcek [] 
2 13:38 Blackbeard Barnsmell6454 [1] 
3 21:27 Gralet Jomort6809 [1] 
3 17:02 Threreper Poodle2531 [] 
0 [] 
4 08:34 Bob Grorong1136 [] 
1 01:17 Gralet Jomort6809 [] 
2 12:01 Blackbeard Barnsmell6454 [1] 
0 [2] 
10 23:40 Deadeye Jaiting7534 [1] 
Page 1: WoT Operations
0 [5]
1 17:30 CrazyFool [1]
0 [2]
0 []
0 [3]
0 [2]
0 []
2 09:09 Injun Angusolet3270 []
0 [4]
1 22:06 Ho Chi Shusogum5632 [1]
3 16:55 Spike Speaking for Boskone6078 []
Page 2: WoT Background
4 21:57 Blackbeard Barnsmell6454 []
0 [1]
0 [2]
0 [3]
6 08:50 b []
7 09:59 M. Murcek [2]
0 []
1 03:33 Be Louth Julet5456 []
7 09:22 irish rage boy [1]
0 [2]
Page 3: Non-WoT
0 []
3 14:01 trailing wife [1]
1 10:01 M. Murcek [1]
21 23:37 Deadeye Jaiting7534 [1]
4 14:00 Tom [1]
3 20:21 Ho Chi Shusogum5632 [2]
1 08:25 M. Murcek []
1 08:53 g(r)omgoru [1]
7 20:35 Ho Chi Shusogum5632 []
0 []
14 13:12 trailing wife [1]
8 21:28 Ho Chi Shusogum5632 [1]
6 16:29 Bangkok Billy [2]
5 13:51 Clem []
0 [1]
10 23:45 Ho Chi Shusogum5632 []
2 10:54 Elmerert Hupens2660 [2]
8 16:50 Slinelet Hupeating1758 []
7 21:39 Gralet Jomort6809 []
0 [1]
Page 6: Politix
2 10:30 M. Murcek [2]
3 09:28 Besoeker []
4 13:04 crazyhorse [1]
2 08:59 Clem []
4 12:40 Angstrom []
4 16:20 Frank G []
4 11:20 Mullah Richard [2]
7 11:50 Grolusing Bumble7492 []
-Lurid Crime Tales-
Ghislaine Maxwell Allegedly Refused to Help Find Bill Clinton Tapes Because It Would Hurt Hillary Clinton's 2016 Run
[Breitbart] British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell allegedly refused to help a CBS producer find videotapes Jeffrey Epstein made of Bill Clinton because it would hurt Hillary Clinton’s chances of winning the White House in 2016, according to a recently published book.

As the Daily Wire reported Friday:
In his new book, "Ticking Clock: Behind The Scenes At 60 Minutes," former CBS producer Ira Rosen writes of speaking with Maxwell in 2016, saying he asked for footage of Donald Trump that Epstein might have shot, only to have Maxwell respond, "If you get the tapes on Trump you have to do [Bill] Clinton."

Rosen admits that at his meeting with Maxwell in early 2016, acting on a "hunch" that such tapes existed, he said, "I want the tapes. I know he [Epstein] was videotaping everyone and I want the tapes of Trump with the girls." He writes that Maxwell replied, "I don’t know where they are," tacitly confirming the tapes’ existence.

The former producer said he told Maxwell to "ask Epstein" because the "fate of the country is at stake. ... Trump could be elected president and how would you feel if those tapes emerged after he was in office?"

"She gave me a stern look and pointed a finger in my face," Rosen claimed, adding, "She said: ’I am the daughter of a press baron. I know the way you people think. If you do one side, you must do the other. If you get the tapes on Trump you have to do Clinton.'"

Maxwell reportedly told Rosen Epstein never revealed to her where the alleged tapes were kept.

Bill Clinton has denied he ever visited Epstein’s Caribbean estate after court documents claimed the former president and "two young girls" were guests of Epstein’s in the early 2000s, Breitbart News reported in July.

However, photos published in August showed Bill Clinton receiving a neck massage from alleged Epstein victim Chauntae Davies, according to Breitbart News.

"The photos were snapped in September 2002 while Clinton, Epstein, and others were in transit to Africa for a humanitarian trip in Epstein’s private plane — Lolita Express," the article read.

However, Davies stated that "President Clinton was a perfect gentleman during the trip and I saw absolutely no foul play involving him."

Maxwell was arrested in July and an indictment said she allegedly "’assisted, facilitated and contributed to Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse of minor girls by, among other things, helping Epstein to recruit, groom, and ultimately abuse’ girls under age 18," Breitbart News reported.

Editor’s note: This article was updated to include Davies’ statement about Bill Clinton.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/21/2021 03:47 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Perhaps Epstein planned to use the tapes as part of a future plea deal.

Insurance: A side bet that is completed when the blackjack dealer's second card is revealed.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/21/2021 4:22 Comments || Top||

#2  you have to do Clinton.

Clinton did Epstein first.
Posted by: Gralet Jomort6809 || 02/21/2021 4:40 Comments || Top||

#3  Seems many people who bet on the Clintons lost - coming and going.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/21/2021 6:16 Comments || Top||

#4  no good deed goes unpunished?
Posted by: Bob Grorong1136 || 02/21/2021 8:34 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Kamala Harris Neighbors Welcome Her Home And The Jokes Start Flying [Trending Views]
Posted by: Flerenter Clailet6357 || 02/21/2021 05:05 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Pirates


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Dinesh D'souza: America Is No Longer The Freest Country In The World [Just The News]
Posted by: Callie Shame2021 || 02/21/2021 05:16 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Just a bit slow on the uptake, is he?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/21/2021 7:46 Comments || Top||

#2  ^ Oh no, grom. He's been ranting like us since ever, pointing to the coming purge and enslavement.

His 'Trump Card' was supposed to be a wake up call for even liberal Americans too taken with the Bernies and Bidens.

Alas.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 02/21/2021 12:46 Comments || Top||

#3  Dinesh was way ahead of everyone else i'm predicting our current collapse. He pegged Obama as having "imbibed anti-colonialism" of his left-wing dad and later his mentors. He was dead on target.
Posted by: Threreper Poodle2531 || 02/21/2021 17:02 Comments || Top||


Texas' Deep Green Freeze
[Townhall] Quoting from a WSJ Editorial Board article updated Monday, Feb. 15 -

While Texas is normally awash in gas and oil, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which oversees the state’s wholesale power market, urged residents this weekend to conserve power to avoid power outages. Regulators rationed gas for commercial and industrial uses to ensure fuel for power plants and household heating.

Texas’s energy emergency could last all week as the weather is forecast to remain frigid. "My understanding is, the wind turbines are all frozen," Public Utility Commission Chairman DeAnn Walker said Friday. "We are working already to try and ensure we have enough power but it’s taken a lot of coordination."

Blame a perfect storm of bad government policies, timing and weather. Coal and nuclear are the most reliable sources of power. But competition from heavily subsidized wind power and inexpensive natural gas, combined with stricter emissions regulation, has caused coal’s share of Texas’s electricity to plunge by more than half in a decade to 18%.

Wind’s share has tripled to about 25% since 2010 and accounted for 42% of power last week before the freeze set in. About half of Texans rely on electric pumps for heating, which liberals want to mandate everywhere. But the pumps use a lot of power in frigid weather.
"Heat pumps" are refrigeration units. In the summer, they cool the inside and waste heat outside. In the winter, they cool the outside and warm the inside. Below 40-50 degrees, this gets to be inefficient.
So while wind turbines were freezing, demand for power was surging.

Gas-fired power plants ramped up, but the Arctic freeze increased demand for gas across the country. Producers couldn’t easily increase supply since a third of rigs across the country were taken out of production during the pandemic amid lower energy demand. Some gas wells and pipelines in Texas and Oklahoma also shut down in frosty conditions.

Liberals claim that prices of renewables and fossil fuels are now comparable, which may be true due to subsidies, but they are no free lunch, as this week’s energy emergency shows. The Biden Administration’s plan to banish fossil fuels is a greater existential threat to Americans than climate change.
Posted by: Bobby || 02/21/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Thenceforth Declared

"The Winter of the 'Green' Freezer"

Posted by: Antigenic Giraudoux8035 || 02/21/2021 4:45 Comments || Top||

#2  Notice how the low left and their Lame Stream Media propaganda machine uses the term 'climate change' during the winter and 'global warming' during the summer.
Posted by: Blackbeard Barnsmell6454 || 02/21/2021 12:01 Comments || Top||


Photo Essay: Washington DC Is Now a Complete Hate-Filled Cesspool - Some Call It a SLUM [Gateway Pundit]
Posted by: Uninvited Lensing2021 || 02/21/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Ugly, no doubt about it.

Do you still want to support making Washington, District of Columbia a State ?

Look at the 'state' it's in now.

A 4th world insane asylum,

lead by 5th column people.

This is not America Any More.
Posted by: Greater Intervention3089 || 02/21/2021 4:58 Comments || Top||

#2  Dems tout new power source: Pierre L'Enfant spinning in his grave.
Posted by: Mercutio || 02/21/2021 6:10 Comments || Top||

#3  ^ white spremaciss
Posted by: Big Jeatch5356 || 02/21/2021 11:45 Comments || Top||

#4  Living off of other people's tax "Money is the root of all evil."
Posted by: Blackbeard Barnsmell6454 || 02/21/2021 12:45 Comments || Top||

#5  Money just keeps track of work done by someone that will at some point be turned into goods or services.

The full quote is “For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.” — 1 Timothy 6:10.

/unnecessary pedant mode ;-)
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/21/2021 13:51 Comments || Top||

#6  ...which brings up the miracle as humble representatives of the people enter that building in Washington and somehow 'retire' as millionaires.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/21/2021 15:20 Comments || Top||

#7  The city needs to lose the federal gov't. The gov needs to be moved towards the center of the country (Topeka?) and DC turned into a museum.
Posted by: irish rage boy || 02/21/2021 15:21 Comments || Top||

#8  Now? It's been that way for decades...
Posted by: CrazyFool || 02/21/2021 15:26 Comments || Top||

#9  Thanks TW but my quote came from the book Blackbeard Barnsmell6454 1:1.
Posted by: Blackbeard Barnsmell6454 || 02/21/2021 22:00 Comments || Top||

#10  Money isnt evil any more than guns are. Its a tool.
Posted by: Deadeye Jaiting7534 || 02/21/2021 23:40 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
Did Biden Just Endorse Human Rights With Chinese Characteristics?
[TheHill] President Joe Biden recently made the same cultural relativism argument that has been used by authoritarians and dictators to defend themselves against the concept of universal human rights since World War II.

Speaking at a town hall meeting hosted by CNN in Milwaukee, Biden reflected on his recent phone conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping. He said that “the central principle of Xi Jinping is that there must be a united, tightly controlled China. And he uses his rationale for the things he does based on that. I point out to him, no American president can be sustained as a president if he doesn’t reflect the values of the United States,” Biden said. “And so the idea I’m not going to speak out against what he’s doing in Hong Kong, what he’s doing with the Uighurs in western mountains of China, and Taiwan, trying to end the ‘One China’ policy by making it forceful, I said — by the way, he said he gets it. Culturally, there are different norms that each country and their leaders are expected to follow.”

The new American president seemed to be telling of how he confided to Xi that he raised human rights concerns only to satisfy U.S. voters’ expectations. What is more, and worse, is that with those words, Biden — who has vowed to make human rights a priority in his foreign policy — endorsed the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) concept of “human rights with Chinese characteristics,” according to which the CCP gets to define what human rights are and who is entitled to them. The concept of universal human rights, however, means that human rights are not gifted by the state to its citizens, but are inherent and unalienable: no law can take them away.

Biden’s comments appear to be undercutting the administration's announced plans to uphold international norms, and also seem to be at odds with those of Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who has said China’s treatment of its Uighur minority amounts to genocide and that the United States will stand up for human rights and democratic values in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong.

While President Trump was frequently insensitive to human rights, he at least had no history of engagement in international politics. But Biden is one of the most experienced American presidents in history when it comes to international affairs. And he appeared to be signaling that he will not let human rights stand in the way of cooperation with China. We are seeing the same embarrassing dance around Xi that we have witnessed in the past from those who wish to engage with China and therefore seek to avoid offending Xi and the CCP. The losers are the Chinese people, and the principle of human rights as an objective moral standard, as opposed to an arbitrary legal standard.
Posted by: Move Bolted923 || 02/21/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Why ask Joe? He hasn't a clue.
Posted by: Gralet Jomort6809 || 02/21/2021 1:17 Comments || Top||


Economy
Business is booming in this small-town gun shop
[Washington Examiner] NEW ALEXANDRIA, Pennsylvania — Within moments of President Biden using the anniversary of a school shooting to call on Congress to take on new gun restrictions, Nathan Carey's phone began ringing. The 37-year-old gun shop proprietor said he was fairly certain he knew what triggered it before taking the first call.

"It happens every time a politician mentions gun control," said Carey, owner of the Bullseye Firearms Gun Vault.

Carey said Biden's call for congressional action on guns didn't just increase his already brisk business. Gun owners and nongun owners alike called the shop, asking questions.

"We didn't just get calls and foot traffic. We also got a lot of questions. People want to be educated. They want to understand what is happening, why it is happening, and how it will affect their lives and their ability to purchase a gun or ammunition," explained Carey.

Located on Main Street off old Route 22, Carey's gun shop business is robust. Part of that is loyalty and trust built over generations beginning with his grandfather, a highly respected gun dealer.

It also boasts of extraordinary customer service.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/21/2021 09:30 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  My old stomping grounds. Did business there on occasion, for sure.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/21/2021 10:24 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Media Informs Senator Cruz You Can Only Travel During A Crisis If You're A Democrat
[Babylon Bee] CANCUN—Ted Cruz is really ignorant of how to be a politician. The guy traveled during a crisis in his state, and he isn't even a Democrat.

What an idiot!

The media informed Cruz of his faux pas as soon as he landed in the Yucatán Peninsula, shouting at him that he's not allowed to travel during a crisis, since he has an "R" next to his name.

"You can only get away with traveling during a crisis if you specifically tell people to stay home and then don't stay home yourself!" screamed a CNN journalist on the scene as Cruz landed. "Oh, and of course, you have to be a liberal!"

A Univision reporter shouted, "Ay, Caramba!" which is reportedly a Spanish phrase meaning, "Your hypocrisy is unforgivable because you are a Republican, you moron!"

"Well, y'all, I shore am sorry," Cruz said from his resort in sunny Cancun. "I hadn't realized I would only get a pass for this if I was a liberal. Boy, howdy, am I in hot stew now, ya hear?"

At publishing time, Cruz had flown back to Texas and promised to do better, or at least to switch parties before he traveled during a crisis next time.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/21/2021 07:43 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I had no problem with him getting his family out of the deep freeze. The only two politicions who had the power to deal with the crisis was the governor who was on top of it and the president who refused to declare a disaster until after Cruz and family returned.
Posted by: Blackbeard Barnsmell6454 || 02/21/2021 10:34 Comments || Top||

#2  The media posted Mrs Cruz's private text messages regarding the trip. How did they get those text messages?
Posted by: Blackbeard Barnsmell6454 || 02/21/2021 13:38 Comments || Top||


'America Is Back' China Joe Tries to Turn The Page On The Orange Man
[Real Clear Politics] President Joe Bide began the week in Wisconsin, where he told voters that former President Donald Trump had occupied too much space in their heads during the last four years. He ended it with a trip to a COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing site in Michigan and a virtual appearance before the G7, telling his European allies that "America is back."

That time, he didn’t mention his predecessor by name. He didn’t have to. With Trump’s second impeachment trial squarely in the rearview mirror, the 45th President was, for the first time in nearly six years, truly out of the spotlight. And the policies and actions Biden rolled out this week, both domestically and internationally, signaled a new era.

This week alone, the United States pivoted sharply away from Trump’s go-it-alone foreign policy posture, officially re-joining the Paris Climate Accords, announcing a willingness to resume discussions about returning to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, and pledging a $4 billion contribution to a global COVID vaccine sharing initiative. At home, Biden pointedly made his first two trips to Wisconsin and Michigan—two states that narrowly helped deliver him the presidency—to sell his COVID relief package by speaking with voters and visiting a COVID vaccine production facility.

The moves were all repudiations of Trump. In Michigan and Wisconsin, he highlighted the nation’s progress in getting closer to defeating the pandemic after it ravaged the country during the final year of Trump’s presidency. But turning the page on Trump won’t be easy. If Biden telegraphed optimism about a new chapter in American politics, he also tried to temper expectations about how quickly he can bring about significant change.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/21/2021 07:27 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Jeez Joe, Its 8:29 AM, shouldn't you call it a day by now?
Posted by: Speger Flomose3671 || 02/21/2021 8:21 Comments || Top||

#2  I wonder why they don't use the Perseverance landing as a talking point about our return to Mars as an example. Oh wait, its not politically helpful since it was done under the OrangeManBad administration. Well, it is curious that 3 days after the landing, no pictures or up-to-date briefings, almost like something happened?
Posted by: NoMoreBS || 02/21/2021 17:37 Comments || Top||

#3  Open for Business Bribery.
Posted by: Gralet Jomort6809 || 02/21/2021 21:27 Comments || Top||


Government
A Bad Week for The Science™
[American Greatness] The late comedian Mitch Hedberg, known for his clever one-liners, had a great quip about following his dreams.

"I’m sick of following my dreams," he said. "I’m just going to ask them where they’re going and hook up with them later."

If you’ve been following The Science™—and boy had you better, lest you risk being accosted by a self-appointed member of the mask police in the supermarket—you might be feeling a little bit like Mitch Hedberg felt about his dreams.

Monday, we learned that the Center for Disease Control (CDC) was consulting teachers’ unions about whether it was safe to reopen schools.

This might strike you as odd. You probably thought the CDC was following The Science™, and kindergarten teachers, to be sure, are not scientists.

Could it be that our esteemed government scientists are beholden to certain political interests, and not necessarily just to The Science™? Could it be that nobody working for the federal or state governments knows what the hell they’re doing? That doesn’t seem right. These are professional scientists, and The Science™ is sacred, we’ve been told.

Of course, there was a period in time when following The Science™ meant not wearing a mask. Masks weren’t effective in fighting the coronavirus, The Science™ said at the beginning of the pandemic. These days, The Science™ says double-masking—wearing two masks instead of just one—is a more effective measure in stopping the spread of the coronavirus. Following The Science™ in 180 degree circles can be dizzying, but who are we to argue?
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/21/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:



Who's in the News
36[untagged]
5Commies
3Devout Moslems
3Antifa/BLM
2Govt of Pakistan
2Govt of Pakistain Proxies
2Islamic State
1Hamas
1Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life, & Kleptocrats
1Lashkar e-Taiba
1Pirates
1Tablighi Jamaat
1al-Nusra

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

The Classics
The O Club
Rantburg Store
The Bloids
The Never-ending Story
Thugburg
Gulf War I
The Way We Were
Bio

Merry-Go-Blog











On Sale now!


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.
Click here for more information

Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Sun 2021-02-21
  Three Jihadists Sentenced for Plotting Paris Terrorist Attack
Sat 2021-02-20
  Somalia: At Least 20 Al-Shabaab Members Killed in Army Ops - SNA Chief
Fri 2021-02-19
  Algeria Sentences Jihadist in French Beheading Trial to Death
Thu 2021-02-18
  ISCAP has secured its enclave in Mozambique
Wed 2021-02-17
  Rush Limbaugh Dies at 70
Tue 2021-02-16
  30 Taliban militants killed in explosion during bomb-making class
Mon 2021-02-15
  Turkey finds bodies of 13 PKK prisoners
Sun 2021-02-14
  Car bomb explodes outside Somali parliament HQs in Mogadishu
Sat 2021-02-13
  Senate Votes - 57 - 43; Trump Acquitted
Fri 2021-02-12
  Denmark charges seven with attempted terrorism
Thu 2021-02-11
  20 U.N. Peacekeepers Wounded in Mali Attack
Wed 2021-02-10
  5 Detained For Death Threats To French Teen Who Criticized Islam As ‘Religion Of Hate'
Tue 2021-02-09
  Houthis launch attacks on Soddys in Al Jawf and Marib
Mon 2021-02-08
  Syrian teen arrested in Norway for plotting attack
Sun 2021-02-07
  LeM chief arrested in Jammu; major terror strike foiled

Better than the average link...



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.
52.86.117.142
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Operations (11)    WoT Background (10)    Non-WoT (20)    (0)    Politix (8)