[MPN News] After his late jump into the Democratic primary and, as critics argue, purchasing his way into the primary debates, former Mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg has received mixed coverage from corporate media, with many negative critiques of the current presidential contender’s history, conduct and connections.
Yet, despite efforts by other campaigns and more progressive-leaning media outlets to dampen Bloomberg’s chances at the nomination, one clear weakness of Bloomberg’s has thus far evaded meaningful media coverage: his ties to key players in the Epstein scandal, including Leslie Wexner, Ghislaine Maxwell and even Jeffrey Epstein himself.
Silence among outlets that largely oppose Bloomberg’s candidacy regarding his connections to Epstein and those in his close social orbit is odd, especially when reporting on an individual’s connections to the intelligence-linked pedophile are a sure-fire way to generate considerable negative attention and fodder for rival campaigns. This is particularly striking given that the numerous accusations that Bloomberg has long stoked a toxic culture of sexual harassment at his company, resulting in no small number of non-disclosure agreements over the years, have received some media attention. Yet, the fact that many of Bloomberg’s close friends have been accused of far, far worse has received hardly any coverage by comparison.
#2
Epstein was the central knowledge key to all of the sordid events and personalities surrounding Little Saint James Island. Take him out, reassign Maxwell and the case goes cold and becomes un-newsworthy rather rapidly.
Especially for Mr. McCoy, a sample of the kinds of discussions he missed by joining us later. Put in Short Attention Span and Page 4: Opinion because it is the discussion thread that is of interest, not the article itself — click on the headline to go to the archived post.
BANGKOK, Thailand -- A Buddhist teacher who was beaten into a coma by a mob demanding the release of Islamic insurgents has only a slim chance of survival, her doctor said Saturday. Juling Kamphongmoon sustained severe injuries, including blood clots in her brain, when she was beaten by Muslim villagers Friday who were holding two other women teachers hostage at a government school in southern Thailand. "There is slim chance that she will survive. I would like to urge Thais throughout the country to pray for a miracle to happen to Juling," Dr. Sumet Phirawut told a news conference.
More than 200 villagers surrounded the school in Narathiwat province to demand the release of two suspected Muslim rebels arrested earlier the same day in connection with the killing of two marines. The hostages were held about three hours before being released. Another teacher was slightly injured in the protest.
Last September, villagers in the same district held hostage two marines who were stabbed to death. The villagers believed that they had been involved in the killing of two of their fellow residents at a village teashop. Police have arrested dozens people in connection with the killings.
More than 1,300 people have been killed in violence in the south since a separatist movement flared in January 2004. The country's three southernmost provinces of Narathiwat, Yala and Pattani are the only Muslim-majority areas in Thailand, which is predominantly Buddhist. Southerners have long complained of mistreatment by authorities and discrimination, especially in jobs and education.
Not that I'd advocate knuckling under to thugs, but has anyone in Thailand considering lopping off these three provinces and building a big fence?
Supplement 7:40 pm CDT: I've set the flag to save this thread as a classic.
I appreciate Dave D.'s list of options. I'm also pretty much in lotp's corner. I'd prefer not to commit gruesome acts, but as Old Spook notes, the Islamicists started this, not me: however gruesome it gets, they're not going to get me, my country and (especially) my daughter. The liberals who find this distasteful had better find a way to shut the Islamicists down; if they can't, I'll ratchet my way up Dave's list til I find something that does the job.
#1
Don't cede an inch, in fact instead of any 'lopping off' why not a reclamation project in the name of civilization. Grab a company of Thai Rangers and give the FEDEX order, it absolutely HAS to get done.
#3
So this means we should continue to meddle in affairs that don't concern us? And kill innocents? I don't follow.
There are sane people saying, "You know, maybe mass murder isn't the answer" only to be viciously shouted down by Internet Tough Guys[tm]. Another person says "You've just handed the presidency to Democrats" which correctly predicts Obama just two short years later.
You are aware that the thread you linked contains several calls for genocide? You know who else called for genocide? Adolf Hitler.
Fighting monsters by becoming a monster is wrong. When you solve your problems with mass murder, you'll just turn on us sooner or later. You know, because you became a monster. That's what monsters do.
Posted by: Herb McCoy ||
03/03/2020 8:55 Comments ||
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#4
Ref #3: The foto in this comment appeared to be, or closely resembled that of a young person with down syndrome. The photo was removed.
#5
Fighting monsters by becoming a monster is wrong... turn on us...
This is just the sort of loser philosophy that has led to the fucking mess we are all in. Contrary to peoples' appreciation of it as elevated thinking, it arises from the guilt-ridden yoke of past misadventures and hegemonic endeavours of predecessors which people hang around their own necks. These humanist dogmas were created to control rather than to sanctify the human spirit of its base nature. In the absence of real faith, that is seen only by God; they appear to be shiny baubles you can pin on and appear saints to your own kind. But even an animal a family takes in and loves, when it senses evil approach the family will promptly rip its fucking throat out or die trying. It's pretentious of man to try and attain to higher nobleness.
In an age when the enemy populates harems with hundreds of unwilling humans for horrendous exploitation; when babies are slaughtered before mothers who once nursed them through their fevers; when thousands are wiped out without fault for just being your countrymen... you dare to speak for some donkey grazing arsehole and his fucking scavenger family that willfully chooses the poison it's gonna die by ?
I'm not a monster after 24 years of offing muzz. I signed up to just pitch in out of naivety as a kid who never pulled the limbs off insects. Fuck I've never shot at an animal in my life ! It's circumstances that need dirty motherfuckers worse than the other guy. If king Saul, of towering moral stature will keep sparing Agag, some Samuel shall still have to kill him ! Of course Samuel and his 'mass murdering' God is also anathema to today's closet atheists.
It's not appetite that makes the soldier do what he does, it's the condition of the world shaped by stiff necked, pompous, self-righteous, hypocrite academics who will not stop a dogmatist right when he/she is beginning a crazy cult. The arsehole politician and journalists who will fan a flame to shine in its light until the fucking thing becomes a conflagration. The smug bastard judge that will not hang a summbitch when his list of crimes is just beginning. Lilly livered faggots afraid of 'becoming monsters' !
#10
When you get a chance, Dron66046, click on the headline and read the thread, especially Dave D’s comment #38, reproduced below. The gentleman is an engineer’s engineer, who I understand spent his career designing highly technical parts for NASA’s various toys. I’ve seen none better than he at following logic to its inexorable conclusion, no matter his feelings on the subject — feelings he makes very clear, despite Mr. McCoy’s blanket condemnations.
We don't have many choices in dealing with Islamic aggression. Whenever I try to take inventory of our options in this struggle, the list I come up with is pretty short.
In all, I come up with fewer than a dozen distinct possibilities. All of them are bad. Most are VERY bad. A few are just plain horrific.
We could always just surrender, of course: Islam's stated mission is to convert the entire world to Islam, and many Muslims (apparently a growing number) fervently believe that is their manifest destiny. We could dispense with this entire struggle by becoming Muslims and being done with it.
We could try appeasement: buy them off by giving them what they want-- whether money, or license to slaughter all the Jews in Israel or elsewhere, whatever.
We could just ignore Islamic terrorism: shrug off atrocities like the Islamic attacks on 9/11 and those in Madrid, London, Bali, Israel and Beslan.
We could withdraw from the rest of the world and its troubles, keep our heads down and maintain a low profile. We've let our isolationist impulses reign before, maybe we can again.
We could go back to treating Islamic terrorism as a purely criminal matter. Hunt down the terrorists who attack us and prosecute them for their crimes-- but only after they've committed them. Judging by what I've been hearing a lot of liberals saying lately, this seems to be their preferred approach.
We could try to liberate and reform Islamic culture, on the theory that their violent impulses toward non-Muslims arise mainly from their abuse at the hand of despots. This is what we're doing now in Iraq and Afghanistan. Maybe it will work; maybe it won't. Maybe it will only work half-assed, at far too high a price. We'll see. So far the results don't look very promising IMO.
We could try relying on intrusive domestic security measures, preventing future terrorist attacks by turning America into a police state-- complete with intrusive government monitoring of all aspects of our lives and suspension of habeus corpus. Anyone even suspected of terrorist activity or sympathies, simply disappears in the middle of the night.
We could respond to future terrorist attacks (or threat of attack) by brute conquest and subjugation: invade their countries, assassinate their political and religious leaders, outlaw Islam and bulldoze their mosques, and rule them with an iron fist.
We could resort to collective punishment, responding to terrorist attacks on American soil with extravagently disproportionate retaliation against their cities and their infrastructure. Repeated often enough, this will eventually lead to deterrence.
We could resort to expulsion and quarantine-- outlaw Islam within the U.S. and expel all Muslims, citizens or not. Forbid entry into the U.S., even for brief visits, to all Muslims regardless of country of origin, and all nationals of whatever religion from countries that are predominantly Muslim. Seal the Canadian and Mexican borders tight with orders to shoot to kill, and NOT ask questions later.
And finally, we could end this once and for all with a 30-minute war of utter annihilation: just nuke the entire Islamic world and let our descendents deal with a thousand years of collective guilt.
And that's it. You can combine some of the above in varying degrees, and there is some interpolation possible between some of the above; but I think this list pretty much outlines the range of possible responses to Islamic terrorism.
#11
I read them all. Thank you, TW. The gentleman is so right. I agree one cannot take racial vendetta to it's bloody conclusion, but the jihad has been waged on us. Of course I believe there's a spiritual aspect to the very nature of the muslim ravager too, stemming from the christian world's own shameful apostasy, but I'd best not dwell on that.
#12
It wasn't a downie, it was a meme mocking Internet Tough Guys[tm]. I guess lèse-majesté is a crime around here. Too easy for members of the 101st Chairborne Division to say "kill em all!" from behind a keyboard. Oh, the irony of defending the dignity of an alleged downie while simultaneously advocating for mass murder and genocide. How does something like that not trigger feelings of cognitive dissonance?
I still don't follow how this post means that we should continue to create problems and murder innocents in countries that don't concern us.
you dare to speak for some donkey grazing arsehole and his fucking scavenger family that willfully chooses the poison it's gonna die by ?
This is why I say arguing on Rantburg is just like arguing with the Left. Both deliberately misinterpret what you say, speak it back to you in a distorted form, and then attack the straw man they just created. But hey, credit to Dron66046 for at least attempting an argument of some kind, even a bad one, instead of the schoolyard name-calling that usually passes for argument around here.
When did I argue in favor of these people? I didn't. Read #3 again. Sheesh.
When you become a monster, it's just a matter of time before you turn on what you claimed to defend. In Afghanistan our government and military have been lying to us for a decade about what's been going on there. Becoming monsters turned them into monsters, and now they're predictably screwing us over.
The biggest threat to us is not Islam, it is our own governments that have claimed new, frightening powers for themselves in the name of fighting Islam. Where are today's young men more likely to die or be horribly maimed, physically or mentally? In a terrorist attack in our countries, or on the battlefield fighting a war with no defined end condition and no victory in sight?
Posted by: Herb McCoy ||
03/03/2020 11:20 Comments ||
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#13
I keep assuming people are meaning what they're saying.
#15
Again, if you really want to face the truth, modern jihad was born out of America's misadventures, yes. Nobody can deny it. The UK helped propagate the power of the sasquatch in Asia too. Anybody at the Burg will tell you I've always maintained America must pull out of Afghanistan, and this meddling and nation-building is only hurting you and profiting some selfish people. Here we are solidly agreed.
But if you think a realization of past errors and an apology for opening Pandora's rape basement is enough to avoid the jihad, you're mistaken. Islamic jihad is here to stay until it's eradicated. The enemy is not the sort of people who will be appeased by a degree in a trumped up 'Afghan studies' course, or front seats in buses. You haven't wronged them that way. They have decided you are an affront to their god. Let that sink in.
Jihad is truly a monster, HM. You have just not seen it up close. God forbid that you or anyone you know should ever have to.
Your basic premise stems from a smug personal disaffect with your military, the 'ohh our boys are dying' refrain notwithstanding. You seem to believe they are just not worth your trust. If your boys say they are perceiving an imminent threat from these countries, the solution is not to tell the boys to shut up and turn off the lights. Yes, the solution has not been found yet, as TW has reminded above. It's a bloody, hit-and-miss ongoing process. I think it would be the overt opinion of mostly everybody here except you, that to choose the bloodier, 'inhumane' options would be wiser. Rantburgers are saints for what's really required. I know the lifeblood of the jihad, the clerics and pashas of doctrine that fester in mofussil towns and streets. I know how they become the Bin Ladens and Salauddins. The extent to which rage and sexual hedonism are seeped into the Umma, the level of their humanity and your humanity. Believe me. You live in an evolved society, while this has regressed into beyond animal.
The islamist ceases to remain human when he/she's gone beyond a certain level of commitment to Allah. And what is such a belief anyway ? An audacious expectation that the creator of humanity, the All in all will rush up to them and shake their hand for 'services rendered' ? It is a level of cheek for which God himself must hate them.
The biggest threat to us is not Islam, it is our own governments that have claimed new, frightening powers for themselves in the name of fighting Islam.
#16
Yeah, I'm an Internet tough guy, never fired a weapon in anger, don't even own one, and too old to start now. But I can still think and I think my survival instincts have served me well so far, the evidence being that after all these years I'm still alive.
My survival instinct, and all the evidence that I've seen and heard, tell me that if you give them an inch they'll take a mile. Like in Thailand where the trouble seems to be in the three southernmost provinces, some might be tempted to let the jihadis have those provinces. But then the Muslims will start to spill over into other provinces. They don't want peace, they want conquest and they won't stop with three provinces.
So, yeah, I'm a lot more comfortable in front of a computer than I would be with a rifle. But I voted for Ronald Reagan to get tough with the Soviets and I vote for Donald Trump to get tough with the muslims.
Collective punishment, expulsion and quarantine seem reasonable to me. I'm not quite ready for nuclear annihilation but, if the Mad Mullahs look like they might actually get their hands on a nuke, I might be. I think it would be better to confront them with conventional methods before it gets to that point instead of appeasing them until it does.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
03/03/2020 12:23 Comments ||
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#17
Modern jihad born out of America‘s misadventures?? Modern jihad was born out of the Muslim reaction to the fall of the Ottoman caliphate, championed by Hassan al-Banna, founder of the the Islamo-fascist Muslim Brotherhood, who told Muslims to take up the sword in 1924. Everything claimed subsequently is just facile justification for actions they were going to take anyway.
[Babylon Bee] Senator Ted Cruz had challenged Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, telling her, "You're a dummy! I bet you don't even know anything about science!"
Ocasio-Cortez didn't take it lying down. "I'll show you!" she said as she started shaping some clay. "I interned for Ted Kennedy, and I'm going to make a real working volcano using science!"
Cruz looked at the clay volcano Ocasio-Cortez made but wasn't impressed. "Sure, it looks like a volcano, but you can't make it erupt like one. That's impossible."
"Just you watch!" Ocasio-Cortez said as she poured baking soda into the clay volcano.
"Common household baking soda?" Cruz questioned. "How can you make a volcano with that? You've gone mad."
"No, I just know science!" Ocasio-Cortez said and then poured vinegar into the clay volcano. It then erupted with a white foam.
Cruz was terrified. "Aiee! She's a witch! She's made a real volcano, and she's going to kill us all!"
"It's not witchcraft," Ocasio-Cortez explained. "It's science. Baking soda is dehydrated bubbles, and vinegar reinflates them. Water doesn't work as water kills bubbles since they're closely related to the aliens from Signs."
"I'm no match for her science knowledge!" Cruz screamed as he fled from the Capitol in terror.
Ocasio-Cortez stood triumphantly, but that was soon ruined by a janitor demanding, "Who made this mess?" causing Ocasio-Cortez to flee as well.
[BabylonBee] HOUSTON, TX‐Fresh off his afternoon nap, presidential candidate Joe Biden gave a fiery, high-energy speech in Houston today, claiming to be the only candidate who could beat incumbent Ronald Reagan.
"I am the only candidate who can unite the party to defeat Reagan," he said to scattered applause. "When Super Thursday hits here in a few weeks, we can rally the 150 million Democrats here in the great country of Texas to vote for me so we can get Reagan and his crony Dick Cheney off the Iron Throne there in the Imperial Senate. Go Hoosiers!"
Aides scrambled to turn off Biden's mic but he beat them away with his walker.
"The time has come for the reign of Tippecanoe and Tyler too to end!" he shouted, though by this point he had wandered into a nearby field and no one could hear him.
[NYPOST] Last month, the US Senate confirmed America’s new ambassador to Leb, Dorothy Shea. She will need all the help she can get. Although the ambassador is well-respected for her regional expertise, she is dealing with a country on the verge of economic "implosion," according to the World Bank, and one mired in formidable humanitarian and security challenges. Leb’s Christian community, the largest in the Middle East (excluding Egypt), is at risk.
She should have the help of a special envoy who can bolster and broaden her outreach.
Ambassador Shea takes up her post just as that small Mediterranean country is poised to hit rock bottom in a downward economic spiral brought on by entrenched governmental mismanagement. For years, the government has failed to meet international goals for reducing deficit spending. It even passed up generous aid by Cedre, a multilateral donors’ conference for Leb, rather than adopt reforms.
March 9 marks the first of several deadlines over the next quarter, when Beirut is obligated to repay billions of dollars in Eurobonds. A sovereign default, which seems likely, could result in the collapse of Leb’s banking system, wiping out depositors’ savings and bankrupting businesses and government services.
The United Nations ...boodling on the grand scale... ’ top official in Leb warns that thousands of Lebanese could be driven out by economic despair. Many Christians are not waiting for the state to fail, according to Lebanese sources. The exodus has already begun.
All 18 of the country’s religious communities are feeling economic pain. Forty percent of the population is living in poverty, according to the government’s own statistics, and that number could soon reach 50 to 70 percent.
Leb’s hundreds of Christian charities are depleting their reserves to serve the needy, irrespective of religion. Hunger is now reported in all parts of Leb, as some are no longer able to provide the basic needs for their families. In some places, schoolchildren tell teachers, they haven’t eaten in days. Nationwide, there are critical shortages of medicine, and hospitals are curtailing treatments and have ended nonessential surgeries.
Meanwhile, ...back at the Hubba Hubba Club, Nunzio wondered: Where the hell was Chumbaloni? And where was his $600?... unprecedented protests, drawn from all of Leb’s religious groups, have been going on for four months. While these protests are mostly peaceful, as unemployment increases, violence undoubtedly will too. As we write, there are media reports of protesters’ tents being targeted in drive-by shootings. There is a risk of complete chaos if the state fails.
Christians in the region have been leaving their native countries in strides. Will Leb’s faithful be the next ancient Church to face a mass exodus?
Posted by: Fred ||
03/03/2020 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
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#1
And all they have to do is offer open arms to their southern neighbors. Hard to do when one is holding weapons.
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.
[MPN News] After his late jump into the Democratic primary and, as critics argue, purchasing his way into the primary debates, former Mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg has received mixed coverage from corporate media, with many negative critiques of the current presidential contender’s history, conduct and connections.
[Babylon Bee] Senator Ted Cruz had challenged Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, telling her, "You're a dummy! I bet you don't even know anything about science!"
[BabylonBee] HOUSTON, TX‐Fresh off his afternoon nap, presidential candidate Joe Biden gave a fiery, high-energy speech in Houston today, claiming to be the only candidate who could beat incumbent Ronald Reagan.
