[IsraelTimes] Universities struggle to revise school policies as the First Amendment is invoked to censor students through unprecedented use of no-contact orders
It’s not a new thing as of October 7th, but let us be hope that the reaction to this will be the flood that finally raises all boats.
After Princeton University student Alexandra Orbuch reported on an anti-Israel rally last semester, Orbuch, the editor of the conservative campus newspaper The Princeton Tory, received one thing she didn’t expect — a no-contact order. Typically granted in the case of alleged sexual harassment or alleged assault, a no-contact order (NCO) acts as a type of restraining order. But in this case, the school issued one after pro-Paleostinian students reportedly complained about the questions Orbuch asked during her reporting.
"Princeton has now demonstrated on multiple occasions that if journalists with heterodox views attempt to cover anti-Israel rallies, the administration will grant no-contact orders against them," said Orbuch in an email to The Times of Israel. "The effect is that news hounds are not only prevented from reporting but are effectively banned from certain spaces on campus, under the threat of punishments up to expulsion."
#2
Gross abuses of well-intentioned tools like "no contact orders" are why we are rapidly losing confidence in the rule of law.
American jurisprudence appears to be following the Red Queen: "When I use a word, it means exactly what I want it to mean, nothing more, nothing less."
Posted by: Tom ||
02/20/2024 10:54 Comments ||
Top||
[Garowe] Puntland ...a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garowe in the Nugaal province. Its leaders declared the territory an autonomous state in 1998. Puntland and the equally autonomous Somaliland seem to have avoided the clan rivalries and warlordism that have typified the rest of Somalia, which puts both places high on the list for Islamic subversion... authorities have deported Jamal Osman, a journalist working for Channel 4, following his recent arrival in Garowe, signaling a stringent stance on security within the region. The deportation was confirmed to Garowe Online by a Puntland security official who preferred to remain anonymous.
The security official stated that Osman’s expulsion is consistent with Puntland’s comprehensive strategy to safeguard its territories against any threats to peace and stability. Although specific details surrounding the reasons for Osman’s deportation were not disclosed, it was implied that the journalist’s work, which often focuses on Al-Shabaab ... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda... and their stronghold in Southern Somalia, might have contributed to the decision.
This move comes at a time when Somali territories, including Puntland, are intensifying their efforts to combat insecurity and maintain order. The federal government and regional administrations have been notably proactive in addressing security challenges to ensure the safety of their citizens.
To date, there has been no official response from either Jamal Osman or the Puntland administration regarding the deportation. This incident underscores the delicate balance between national security priorities and the freedom of the press, highlighting the challenges faced by journalists in regions experiencing conflict and political instability.
Osman is renowned for his investigative journalism, particularly his coverage of murderous Moslem groups and his critical views on Somali leadership shared through social media. This expulsion reflects the ongoing tensions between media freedom and security concerns in Somalia.
[IsraelTimes] Israeli swimmer Anastasia Gorbenko reacts calmly to being booed after winning a silver medal in Doha, 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... , saying it is not the first time she has been jeered at the event.
It’s the Doha World Championships. She took silver in the women’s 400 meters individual medley.
"I’ve been here a week. I heard all these noises, but I’m with earplugs. I’m in my zone. I’m here to do what I love to do, which is sports," she tells news hounds. "I’m here to represent my country... And I’m doing this with the Israeli flag and I’m proud of that. And whoever doesn’t like it, it’s just not my problem."
Gorbenko says she had no hesitation about mounting the podium, but the booing had impacted her during the week.
"There was no way I was going to miss [the podium] just because some little kids are going to do whatever they want to," she adds. "It does affect me emotionally. It’s been like a long week for me. I expected myself to do better than what I did."
She says she will nevertheless not hesitate to swim at future events in Arab countries.
"At the end of the day, Israel is in the Middle East as well; I hope one day we’ll be able to make some peace with everyone," she says.
Gorbenko, whose parents are Ukrainian, was born and raised in Israel. She says she has relatives in Ukraine and is concerned for them during the country’s war with Russia.
"I have relatives in Ukraine. Of course, it’s hard as well. But there’s nothing I can do," she says. "Whatever I can do is do my best in the swimming pool and support my country and my family this way."
[IsraelTimes] BBC’s director general has penned a message to staffers expressing regret over "antisemitic behavior by people who worked with us" as part of an apparent effort to rebuild fraught ties with Jewish staffers.
Uh huh.
"As many of you may have seen, sadly in recent weeks we have been alerted to some antisemitic behavior by people who worked with us. I want to be clear that there can be no place at the BBC for racist abuse of any kind, whether towards our Jewish colleagues or indeed colleagues from any background or belief. Any form of antisemitism, Islamophobia ...the irrational fear that Moslems will act the way they usually do... or racist abuse is abhorrent, and we will always act whenever it occurs.
Really?
We must play our role to build understanding and tolerance," he writes in an email obtained by the Deadline entertainment news outlet.
It would have been nice if this had been noticed any time over the past two generations...
"We will continue to talk to a range of groups across the organization as part of our shared commitment to create a safe and inclusive environment for everyone, regardless of background or belief," Davie adds.
Except Jews, Christians, whites, men who aren’t a member of one of the privileged groups...
Earlier this month, a senior BBC employee came under scrutiny for having shared a plethora of antisemitic posts publicly on Facebook.
“For God’s sale, Nigel — you can’t be seen by the punters saying these things!”
The BBC itself has come under fire for its coverage of the Israel-Hamas ...the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... war and has had to issue several apologies since October 7.
Before that nobody bothered fussing. That’s just how the Beeb is, donchaknow. But they do really wonderful mysteries and historical dramas.
In mid-November, the BBC apologized after one of its presenters said and then repeated that IDF soldiers who had entered Shifa Hospital in Gazoo ...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... "were targeting people including medical teams and Arab speakers."
The broadcaster was also slammed for its rush to report unverified and later disproved claims that an Israeli Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... was responsible for a deadly explosion at Gaza’s al-Ahli Hospital on October 17. The BBC subsequently apologized for that coverage as well, saying it had been too swift to assign blame.
Finally, in early January, the BBC apologized for a December report on its radio station in which it accused Israel Defense Forces troops of executing Paleostinians in the Gaza Strip.
A dull halal scholar of Occam,
Herb hated Israelis. He'd stalk 'em,
Them kid-killin' meanies!
Then, smack on the beanies,
His brass Hamas hammer would knock 'em!
Though somehow they always seemed to... um... keep on a-walkin', keep on a-talkin', till they reach the promised land... [quits clapping, sits down sheepishly]
[IsraelTimes] UK Housing Secretary Michael Gove slams a housing association for moving to oust a former member of parliament who mocked UNRWA’s claim it was unaware Hamas ...not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... was operating under its headquarters in Gazoo ...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... "Everyone, better safe than sorry: before you go to bed, nip down and check you haven’t inadvertently got a death cult of Islamist murderers and rapists running their operations downstairs. It’s easily done," Lord Austin wrote in a post that he’s since deleted and apologized for.
Midland Heart announced Friday it was suspending him as chairman for 14 days "to discuss his removal from the board" over the social media comments. According to The Telegraph, the move followed a campaign accusing him of "Islamaphobia" by the group Moslem Engagement and Development, which the UK government’s counter-extremism program says has "a well-established track record of working alongside hard boys."
"I am deeply concerned by Midland Heart’s actions in seeking to remove Lord Austin from their board. I will be writing to the board to demand an urgent meeting and explanation," Gove says. "Not only is Ian a champion for affordable housing, he has spent his career fighting racism.
An admirably nonpartisan response. Ian Austin was Labour until he went Independent in 2019 — after being one of the three Labour MPs to vote with the Tories for Brexit.
Islam is a religion of peace,
Check. Pro forma nonsense spouted...
but Islamists — including the proscribed terrorist organization Hamas — are forces of Evil characterized by violence and oppression who seek to undermine our democratic values. They must be challenged wherever we encounter them."
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[KavkazUzel] The police conducted preventive conversations with 14 residents of Vladikavkaz, who, in memory of Alexei Navalny, tried to lay flowers at the memorial to victims of repression.
As the "Caucasian Knot" wrote, after the death of Alexei Navalny, residents of the country's cities, including in southern Russia, were persecuted for attempting to honor the memory of the victims of repression. Thus, at least seven people were detained in Taganrog, one of them was fined for disobedience to the police. Protesters in Stavropol reported that dozens were taken to police stations.
On February 16, the Federal Penitentiary Service for the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug reported that Alexei Navalny died in a colony after his condition sharply worsened. In Tbilisi, Batumi and Yerevan in the evening of the same day, activists paid tribute to Navalny.
After Navalny’s death, 14 residents of Vladikavkaz tried to lay flowers at the monument to victims of political repression in Turgenevsky Square, a representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs said at a staff meeting in the government of North Ossetia.
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, police officers held preventive conversations with these people and “issued warnings about preventing violations of the legislation of the Russian Federation regarding the conduct of unauthorized public events,” Osnova writes today.
A representative of the republican Ministry of Internal Affairs also stated at a staff meeting that “a citizen who had nothing to do with the republic tried to organize a memorial event in Vladikavkaz,” ASTRA reports.
As of 18.35 Moscow time, in the report on the last meeting, which was posted on the telegram channel and on the website of the government of the republic, there is no mention of the statement of the representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. By this time, the website and telegram channel of the republican Ministry of Internal Affairs also did not publish information that residents of Vladikavkaz tried to honor the memory of Alexei Navalny.
At the same time, the republican Ministry of Internal Affairs today posted on its website a warning “about liability for participation in unauthorized actions.” “Law enforcement agencies will immediately suppress attempts to hold uncoordinated public events, as well as any provocative actions on the part of their participants,” the publication says.
Let us recall that in August 2020, Alexey Navalny fell into a coma after being poisoned at the Omsk airport. Consciousness returned to him in Berlin, where Navalny was taken for treatment. Navalny said that Russian authorities were behind the attempt on his life. In January 2021, Alexei Navalny, who returned to Russia, was detained at Sheremetyevo airport.
On February 2, 2021, the court sentenced Navalny to 3.5 years in prison; later new charges were brought against him and the term of imprisonment was increased. Political scientists recognized the rallies in his support, which took place in January 2021 throughout Russia, as the most massive in recent decades.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[KavkazUzel] The transfer of the case of five participants in the riots in Makhachkala to Kuban can be appealed, but success is unlikely, lawyers interviewed by the Caucasian Knot indicated. Many residents of the republic sympathize with the accused, but refrain from public support, reported journalist Magomed Magomedov and activist Shamil Khadulaev.
As the "Caucasian Knot" wrote, on February 17, relatives of the rioters at the Makhachkala airport turned to Putin with a request for leniency. They stated that their detained loved ones were victims of provocation and made a mistake. The authors of the appeal noted that some families do not have the opportunity to travel to court hearings in the Krasnodar Territory, where the case of five accused was transferred.
By December 13, 2023, about 150 people had been arrested in the criminal case of riots at the airport, one of them was also accused of attacking a security officer. For most of the accused, the arrest period has been extended until the end of March. Among those arrested, there are those who simply observed what was happening, said a member of the Dagestan PMC. On February 12, the Supreme Court granted the request of the Prosecutor General's Office to change the territorial jurisdiction of the case of the five accused and transferred the case to the Armavir District Court. There were no grounds for transferring the case to another region; this decision will complicate the work of the defense, the lawyers said.
The authorities of Dagestan know that the relatives of the accused recorded a video message to Putin, the mother of the accused, Salika Ramazanova, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent today. “We recorded the appeal at the home of the father of one of the accused. First the district police officer came to him, then he was called to the chief of police, and today to the investigative department. He was told that perhaps he would be called to the head of Dagestan [Sergei] Melikov. Pressure on they don’t provide it, they just find out what’s what,” she said.
There is no reaction from Moscow yet, the woman noted. “I don’t know whether there will be a result. But there is hope. We don’t just want cases to be heard in Dagestan, we really can’t go there [to Kuban] for trials. My husband is disabled, there is no money for this. We were told that everything the courts will be in the Krasnodar region. We are against it, we want the courts to be where this incident took place," she said.
Salik Ramazanov’s lawyer, Makhmud Magomedov, considered the decision to transfer the cases to the Krasnodar Territory illegal. “I consider this decision illegal. The very procedure for applying for restrictions on territorial jurisdiction was not followed. They should have been limited by the decision of the Karabudakhkent District Court, that is, through the court where the criminal case was to be heard. And then the Deputy Prosecutor General appealed to the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation,” - he told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
This decision may be challenged, he noted. “In practice, such decisions can be challenged and canceled. But if we talk specifically about this case, then my opinion is that it will not be canceled, unfortunately,” the lawyer said.
The territorial jurisdiction of a case may change if there are concerns about the objectivity of local courts, noted lawyer Arsen Shabanov. “The law allows you to change the territorial jurisdiction if there are circumstances that may cast doubt on the objectivity and impartiality of the court when making a decision on the case,” he told the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent.
At the same time, the lawyer found it difficult to assert that the authorities would meet the request of the relatives and return the cases to Dagestan for consideration.
An appeal to Putin, recorded by relatives of the accused, is unlikely to yield results, says Magomed Magomedov, deputy editor-in-chief of the Chernovik newspaper. “I doubt that the cases will be transferred to Dagestan. This is such an order from the federal center. And, apparently, it was decided that there will be no pity for them. They want to show that everything will be strict,” he told the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent.
According to him, the defendants in the airport riot cases still enjoy tacit support in society. “There is support for the defendants in society, although it is not publicly expressed. At the moment, except for the relatives of the defendants, no one publicly speaks out in their defense, as was the case before. But, as I already said, there is non-public support,” the journalist said.
A similar opinion was expressed by the deputy chairman of the Public Monitoring Commission of Dagestan, Shamil Khadulaev. “There is support, there are statements, but mostly they are not public. For various reasons they do not speak out publicly. But there is definitely support. People are worried, they do not want them [the accused] to be imprisoned,” he told the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent.
Khadulaev considers it necessary to consider criminal cases in Dagestan. “According to the laws of the Russian Federation, where a crime is committed, the case should be considered there. But, unfortunately, we already have a tradition of considering cases in other regions. I cannot say that I am delighted with Dagestan justice, but if a crime is committed here, let our courts consider these cases,” said Shamil Khadulaev.
He noted that about 100 people still remain in pretrial detention. “There were 130 people. But there is talk that this number may increase. Because some were afraid to come to the investigative authorities, knowing that everyone was being treated with the same brush. Last week I was in Makhachkala, I was interested, but there were no complaints from the detainees. conditions of detention, they don’t complain about pressure, etc.,” Khadulaev said.
[IsraelTimes] The Wall Street Journal reports that the US is looking for ways to bypass legislation hamstringing its ability to send funds to the Paleostinian Authority, fearing it is running out money and could collapse.
According to US officials cited in the report, Paleostinians believe that the PA could run out of money within the next 10 days. If that happens, it will become vulnerable to Death Eaters and lose the ability to govern the West Bank, to say nothing of also governing postwar Gazoo ...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... or implementing reforms the US says are necessary for it to take on the expanded role, US officials say according to the report.
The Journal does not say how the Biden administration might get around the Taylor Force Act, which prohibits directly funding the PA due to stipends Ramallah pays terror convicts and their families.
[JustTheNews] The Biden Administration’s broader immigration strategy has come under scrutiny amid record border crossings and the impeachment of DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas this week. Newly discovered emails may intensify that scrutiny.
Newly uncovered emails between Department of Homeland Security officials and journalists show the agency tasked with protecting U.S. border and domestic security admitted it is not tracking illegal immigrants after they were released from federal custody into the interior of the country.
In the emails obtained by the watchdog group Protect the Public’s Trust in a Freedom of Information Act request, one DHS official told a Washington Post reporter off the record he could not say how many immigrants are settling in Northern states via border state busing programs because the agency does not track those released from their custody.
“Are more people deciding to settle in DC/New York or, more recently, Chicago as a result of the program where they might have previously been inclined to remain in Texas or Arizona?” the reporter asked in a September 2022 email reviewed by Just the News.
“Off the record, that’s hard for us to say because they’re getting on those buses after they’re already out of our custody,” the official answered.
“That said, anecdotally including what I hear from other reporters, it does appear that word is spreading and they are looking for those buses for the free transportation. I’ve also heard many people are getting off along the way, so they’re using the buses for as long as it is convenient, but again, because they are out of our custody by then, it is hard for us to be able to answer that,” the official added.
You can read the emails below:
Michael Chamberlain, the director of Protect the Public’s Trust, said the emails are fresh proof that Homeland officials know the consequences of their policies on border security.
Brandon Judd, a border patrol agent and the president of the National Border Patrol Council union that represents border agents, told Just the News on Wednesday that he has been warning for years that the Biden administration stops tracking illegal aliens once they are released from custody and that it is one of the gravest security concerns the president's policies have created.
The report further explained why recording valid addresses is important to immigration enforcement.
“On average, DHS releases more than 60,000 migrants into the United States each month. ICE must be able to locate migrants to enforce immigration laws, including to arrest or remove individuals who are considered potential threats to national security,” the inspector general's report reads.
“The notable percentage of missing, invalid, or duplicate addresses on file means DHS may not be able to locate migrants following their release into the United States,” it added.
[Rudaw] The body of an Iraqi activist linked to influential Shiite figure Moqtada Tateral-Sadr ...hereditary Iraqi holy man and leader of a political movement in Iraq. He had his hereditary rival al-Khoei assassinated shortly after the holy rival's appearance out of exile in 2003. Formerly an Iranian catspaw, lately he's gagged over some of their more outlandish antics, then went back to catspawry... was found killed in Babil province on Monday morning, a day after he was kidnapped by an unidentified gang in front of his house.
Babil security forces found the body of Aysar al-Khafaji dumped on the highway Jableh area, north of Babil, according to a statement from the Iraqi interior ministry.
"At a time when the security services in the Ministry of Interior are seeking to establish security and stability in different regions of the country, criminal elements are trying from time to time to disturb this stability, something that the Ministry of Interior will not allow," read the statement.
The Khafaji tribe released a strongly-worded statement later in the day, holding the Iraqi government responsible for Aysar’s death and calling on relevant authorities to uncover the perpetrators as soon as possible and hold them accountable.
"Condemnations and denunciations have become useless... Enough silence. Enough bloodshed," said the tribe.
Videos published on social media of the funeral processions depicted a member of the Khafaji family saying that they will grant Babil governor Adnan Faihan 24 hours to uncover the killers "otherwise all offices shall become our target."
Faihan is a senior member of Asaib Ahl al-Haq (AAH), a pro-Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... gang and rival of Sadr’s Saraya al-Salam militia.
The interior ministry noted that security forces have found "important leads" regarding the suspects, stressing that the perpetrators will be brought to justice.
Clashes between Saraya al-Salam and Asaib Ahl al-Haq are a common occurrence in southern Iraqi provinces.
Asaib Ahl al-Haq is part of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), an umbrella group of Shiite paramilitary forces that was formed in 2014 to fight the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really 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 western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS) under a fatwa from Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. A number of forces within the umbrella group are backed by Iran.
Saraya al-Salam was founded by Sadr himself in 2014 and considered as a revived version of Sadr’s Mahdi army, turbans who fought the Americans following their invasion in 2003.
#1
Khafaja or Khafajah ( Arabic: خفاجة, also known as Al-Khafaji and Khafaji) is one of the major Arab tribes (especially in Iraq and Egypt) as well Saudi Arabia, Syria and Jordan .
[Hot Air] Looks like Benjamin Netanyahu's not the only one involved in negotiations over the hostages that believes Hamas is "delusional." Yesterday, Egypt's foreign minister blasted the terrorist group from a podium at the Munich Security Conference for its delusions in refusing to deal in good faith. Sameh Shoukry also took aim at aid efforts that got directed to support Hamas, although Shoukry didn't mention names:
Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry sharply criticized Hamas on Saturday, saying that "the organization is outside the Palestinian consensus, which recognizes Israel and wants to reach negotiations with it, because [Hamas] is not ready to give up its support for violence."
Shoukry made these comments at a press conference held at the Munich Security Conference. He also said that "we must give an account of how Hamas gained power in the Gaza Strip, and why it received financial support to increase the division between it and the other peacekeeping Palestinian factions — whether these are the Palestinian Authority, the PLO or the Palestinian public itself."
There's some nuance to Shoukry's somewhat ambiguous accusation in the second paragraph, at least as reported. Some Arab states have accused Netanyahu of subtly strengthening Hamas politically by marginalizing the Palestinian Authority (and others) so as to keep the conflict in Gaza as stark as possible. That's a bit into tinfoil-hat territory; Netanyahu wasn't PM when Gazans elected Hamas to power in 2006 or when Hamas seized total control of Gaza in 2007. Netanyahu had left office in 1999 before the post-Wye River intifada launched in the West Bank by Yasser Arafat, and didn't return as PM until 2009. Hamas had entrenched itself as the sole power in Gaza by that time, both politically and literally, as Israel found out not long afterward.
[IsraelTimes] Military announces air force has carried out over 31,000 strikes since October 7, including more than 1,000 in Leb and dozens in West bank
The Israel Defense Forces said Monday that troops have killed some 12,000 of Hamas ...the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... ’s estimated 30,000 button men in the Gazoo ...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... Strip since war erupted on October 7, after a 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... -based official for the terror group claimed it had lost half that number — some 6,000 fighters — during the four-month-old conflict.
Reversing how the Palestinians overcount their civilian population.
Hamas is also believed to have thousands of operatives who are seriously maimed and unable to fight.
It must be getting awfully crowded in the tunnels holding barracks and hospitals for fighters and Big Turbans.
Numbers released Monday by the Israeli military also revealed that Israeli aircraft have carried out over 31,000 strikes since October 7, including over 1,000 in Leb ...an Iranian satrapy currently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... and dozens in the West Bank.
The IAF has been keeping busy. Probably a good thing — I’ve heard that the only thing more dangerous than a bored pilot is a bored Marine.
The unnamed Hamas official’s comments earlier in the day were a rare acknowledgment from the terror group that it has suffered significant losses in the Gaza fighting and appeared to mark the first time it has differentiated between combatants and civilians in a corpse count from the war.
The official also warned the terror group has the resources to keep fighting Israel and is prepared for a long war in Rafah and Gaza.
The war erupted after Hamas’s October 7 massacres, which saw some 3,000 snuffies burst across the border into Israel by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing over 250 hostages, mostly civilians, many amid horrific acts of brutality and sexual assault.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry said on Monday that more than 29,000 people in the Strip have been killed since fighting began, though these figures cannot be independently verified and are believed to include both civilians and Hamas members killed in Gaza, including as a consequence of terror groups’ own rocket misfires. The IDF says it killed some 1,000 snuffies inside Israel on October 7 in addition to the 12,000 killed in Gaza since.
In December, IDF officials gave an assessment of two civilian deaths per combatant in Gaza.
That would make 36,000 dead altogether, considerably more than Hamas’s claims. Possibly the civilians are no longer as willing to be shields, or have moved away from potential targets.
"I’m not saying it’s not bad that we have a ratio of two to one," an unnamed Israeli official told AFP at the time, noting the use of human shields was part of Hamas’s "core strategy."
Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of using civilians as human shields, providing evidence that the terror group locates operations bases under hospitals, launches rockets from schools and shelters, builds tunnels shafts under children’s bedrooms, stores weapons in and around schools and mosques, and embeds itself within the civilian population amid the ongoing war.
Since October 7, the IDF says 574 soldiers have been killed
...so roughly 5-10% of Hamas military casualties, if I got the math right...
— more than half of them in the October 7 onslaught — and another 2,930 troops have been maimed.
OVER 31,000 AIRSTRIKES IN GAZA, LEBANON, OTHER FRONTS
The Israel Air Force has carried out strikes against more than 31,000 targets belonging to Hamas and other terror groups since the war began, mostly in Gaza (29,000 targets), but also in Lebanon and other fronts, racking up over 186,000 flight hours.
Of the strikes, 26,000 were carried out by fighter jets, 3,800 with attack helicopters, and 3,800 with drones.
Some 7,000 of the Gaza strikes were immediate requests by ground forces amid the offensive against Hamas. The closest strike to troops was some 80 meters away during a clash between the 401st Armored Brigade and Hamas operatives on November 18.
In Lebanon, the IAF said Monday that it had struck more than 1,000 Hezbollah sites and positions, since the terror group began its near-daily attacks on Israeli communities and military posts along the border on October 8 to support Paleostinians in Gaza.
Israel has been returning fire, warning that it will no longer tolerate the presence of Hezbollah along the Lebanon frontier, where it could attempt to carry out an attack similar to the massacre committed by Hamas on October 7.
In the West Bank, the IAF has carried out 30 Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s against terror operatives, most of them amid counter-terrorism raids.
Since October 7, troops have arrested more than 3,150 wanted Paleostinians across the West Bank, including more than 1,350 affiliated with Hamas. According to the Paleostinian Authority health ministry, more than 300 West Bank Paleostinians have been killed in that time.
An unspecified number of strikes were also carried out by the IAF in Syria against Iranian activity and its proxy groups, as well as against the Syrian Army. While Israel’s military does not, as a rule, comment on specific strikes in Syria, it has admitted to conducting hundreds of sorties against Iran-backed terror groups attempting to gain a foothold in the country over the last decade.
The IAF’s helicopter array has also carried out some 500 medevacs from the Gaza Strip, transporting more than 1,000 maimed troops to hospitals.
During the war, the short-range Iron Dome air defense system has shot down thousands of rockets, the medium-range David’s Sling has downed dozens, and the long-range Arrow has intercepted six projectiles.
The IAF was also in the process of closing several of its aging Patriot batteries, and staff will be trained to operate on the Iron Dome instead. Israel plans to open new Iron Dome batteries, the first within several weeks.
[IsraelTimes] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has agreed to a demand by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir to limit Arab-Israeli worshipers on the Temple Mount during Ramadan, despite a warning against doing so by security officials, according to an unconfirmed Channel 13 report.
The Shin Bet was said to warn that such a move is likely to further inflame tensions, especially any move that applies to Israeli Arabs and those with permanent residence. The Israel Police, however, is reportedly said to favor such a move.
The flashpoint site is often a point of tension, particularly during Ramadan, which is slated to begin in mid-March. Coinciding with our NCAA's March Madness
[IsraelTimes] The Prime Minister’s Office and the Finance Ministry release a joint statement saying that a deal was reached with local municipal leaders in the south over a plan to return to communities evacuated at the start of the war.
According to the statement, people will be able to return to Sderot and other border towns, in coordination with IDF approval, beginning March 1, 2024.
Those who prefer instead to remain in hotels can receive funding for such until July 7, 2024, the statement says.
[IsraelTimes] President Isaac Herzog calls for Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... to normalize ties with his country as that would be a win against Hamas ...a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... Herzog tells the Munich Security Conference that one of the aims of Hamas when it attacked Israel on October 7 was to disrupt talks to establish ties with Riyadh.
"That is why moving on with Saudi Arabia will clearly be a victory over what Hamas did," he argues. "And that is why I truly believe that moving forward to normalization and making whatever efforts that can be made is a very important, historical opportunity."
Herzog confirms meeting yesterday with 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... i Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, who he says is making "major efforts" toward the return of the hostages.
"It’s complicated, it’s difficult. One has to make sure that we know whether there is anybody who makes decisions on the other side," Herzog says. "After all, you’re dealing with people who are being hidden and scattered all around Gazoo ...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... , mostly in the tunnels and we have to know their whereabouts. We are worried about the medication that came in and according to our data and information, it hasn’t been received yet — or by some of them, but most of them we don’t know."
He then appears to reject the Qatari premier’s comment that ending the Israel-Hamas war shouldn’t be conditioned on a hostage agreement.
"If one wants to move on and find a horizon and end this dire situation, which was initiated by Hamas in cruelty of unprecedented record... one has to resolve the issue of the hostages and bring them back home safely and as soon as possible," the president says.
The president also reveals Israeli forces operating in Gaza found a book titled "The End of the Jews" that was written by Mahmoud al-Zahar, a cofounder of the Hamas terror group.
"This book first of all says we should not recognize the fact that there are Jews and Jewish people, but most predominantly it hails the Holocaust. It hails what the Nazis have done, and calls for nations to follow what the Nazis have done," Herzog says, noting Munich’s proximity to the Dachau concentration camp.
[IsraelTimes] The IDF says special forces operating at Nasser Hospital in southern Gazoo ...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... ’s Khan Younis located vehicles used by Hamas ...the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... Lions of Islam who participated in the October 7 onslaught, as well as Israeli-owned cars stolen during the massacre.
The operation at Nasser Hospital is being carried out by the Commando Brigade, Navy’s Shayetet 13, Shin Bet agents, and other special forces.
One of the stolen cars found at the medical center belonged to a Nir Oz resident, according to the IDF. In the Hamas vehicle, troops found several weapons, including grenades.
So far, the IDF says, troops have detained hundreds of terror operatives — some of whom were dressed up as hospital staff — and other suspects who were holed up at the hospital, including many who participated in the October 7 attack and have links to the hostages held by the terror group.
The IDF says troops have battled Hamas button men in the area of the hospital, and came under rocket fire from the premises last month.
Troops have also seized several firearms, bombs, and other military equipment belonging to terror operatives.
Also at Nasser Hospital, IDF troops found closed boxes of medications bearing the names of hostages.
The medications, which were reportedly delivered to Gaza in a secretive initiative coordinated by the families of some of the hostages, apparently did not reach their loved ones.
The IDF releases footage showing the medication with the names of the hostages, some of whom are still being held captive by Hamas.
The operation at Nasser Hospital was carried out following "an early warning to stop terror activity at the hospital," the IDF says, adding that its searches of the premises ensured that the medical center was able to continue its operations "without harming the patients and medical staff and in accordance with the values of the IDF and international law."
[IsraelTimes] A leading American Black church has accused Israel of "mass genocide" in the Gazoo ...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... Strip and urged Washington to pull all support and aid it provides to the country.
In a statement Thursday, the Council of Bishops of the American Methodist Episcopal Church (AME) said the Jewish state has "trapped 1.6 million desperate Paleostinians in the southern Gaza city called Rafah. Most of them are women and kiddies. They have denied them access to food, water, shelter, and health care. After this torture, they plan to murder them."
It goes on to say the US "will have likely paid for the weapons they use," before urging the government to "immediately withdraw all funding and other support from Israel."
It claims Israel has shown "a willful disregard for the human dignity of Paleostinians" for decades.
"Since October 7, 2023, in retaliation for the brutal murder of 1,139 Israeli citizens by Hamas ...one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,... , Israel has murdered over 28,000 Paleostinians, mostly women and kiddies. The United States is supporting this mass genocide. This must not be allowed to continue."
Those numbers are provided by Hamas, and do not differentiate between combatants and civilians. Israel says at least 10,000 of those killed are terror operatives, and asserts it makes considerable effort to avoid harm to civilians while fighting in a complex urban environment. It accuses Hamas of using civilians as human shields.
The New York Times
...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... describes the AME as "one of the country’s oldest and most prominent Black Christian denominations."
Copy of the report is at the link
[USNI] U.S. NAVAL INSTITUTE STAFF
FEBRUARY 19, 2024 9:27 AM
The following is the Feb. 16, 2024, Congressional Research Service report, Navy Columbia (SSBN-826) Class Ballistic Missile Submarine Program: Background and Issues for Congress.
From the report
The Navy’s Columbia (SSBN-826) class ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) program is a program to design and build a class of 12 new SSBNs to replace the Navy’s current force of 14 aging Ohio-class SSBNs. Since 2013, the Navy has consistently identified the Columbia-class program as the Navy’s top priority program. The Navy procured the first Columbia-class boat in FY2021. The Navy’s proposed FY2024 budget requests the procurement of the second boat in the class.
The Navy’s FY2024 budget submission estimates the procurement costs of the first and second boats at $15,179.1 million and $9,285.3 million (i.e., about $15.2 billion and $9.3 billion), respectively. The first boat’s procurement cost is much higher than that of subsequent boats in the class because the first boat includes most of the detail design/nonrecurring engineering (DD/NRE) costs for the class. (It is a long-standing Navy budgetary practice to incorporate the DD/NRE costs for a new class of ship into the total procurement cost of the first ship in the class.) The first boat’s estimated procurement cost includes $6,557.6 million for plans, meaning, meaning (essentially) the DD/NRE costs for the class. Excluding costs for plans, the estimated hands-on construction cost of the first ship is $8,621.5 million.
The third, fourth, and fifth boats in the class, which are programmed for procurement in FY2026, FY2027, and FY2028, have estimated procurement costs of about $8.2 billion or $8.3 billion each. The Navy’s FY2024 budget submission estimates the total procurement cost of a 12-ship class at $112.7 billion in then-year dollars, or an average of $9,387.6 million each in then-year dollars.
The first two boats in the class are being funded with incremental funding, meaning that the procurement cost of each boat has been divided into multiple annual increments. The procurement of the first boat was funded with three increments in FY2021-FY2023, and the procurement of the second boat is programmed to be funded with two increments in FY2024 and FY2025.
The Navy’s proposed FY2024 budget requests $2,443.6 million (i.e., about $2.4 billion) in procurement funding for the second boat and $3,390.7 million (i.e., about $3.4 billion) in advance procurement (AP) funding for Columbia-class boats to be procured in FY2026 and subsequent years.
In addition to the above requested funds, on October 20, 2023, the Administration submitted a request for FY2024 emergency supplemental funding for national security priorities that includes, among other things, a total of $3,393.2 million in funding for the submarine industrial base to support construction of new submarines and maintenance of existing submarines.
Issues for Congress for the Columbia-class program include the following:
the risk—due to technical challenges and/or funding-related issues—of a delay in designing and building the lead Columbia-class boat, which could put at risk the Navy’s ability to have the boat ready for its first scheduled deterrent patrol in 2031, when it is to deploy in the place of the first retiring Ohio-class SSBN;
the risk of cost growth in the program;
the potential impact of the Columbia-class program on funding that will be available for other Navy programs, including other shipbuilding programs;
and potential industrial-base challenges of building both Columbia-class boats and Virginia-class attack submarines (SSNs) at the same time.
[IsraelTimes] The head of Iran’s elite Quds Force visited Baghdad last month and convinced groups aligned with Tehran to halt attacks on US forces, multiple Iranian and Iraqi sources tell Rooters, saying it is a sign Tehran wants to prevent a broader conflict.
Esmail Qaani met representatives of several of the gangs in Baghdad airport on January 29, less than 48 hours after Washington blamed the groups for the killing of three US soldiers at the Tower 22 outpost in Jordan, the sources say.
Qaani told the factions that by drawing American blood risked a heavy US response, including strikes on their senior commanders, destruction of key infrastructure or even a direct retaliation against Iran, sources say.
All but one group immediately acceded to Qaani’s request and the next day Kataib Hezbollah announced it was suspending attacks. One smaller but very active group, Nujaba, said it would continue attacks, arguing that US forces would only leave by force.
There have been no attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria since February 4, compared to more than 20 in the two weeks before Qaani’s visit, part of a surge in violence from the groups in opposition to Israel’s war in Gazoo ...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... "Without Qaani’s direct intervention it would have been impossible to convince Kataib Hezbollah to halt its military operations to deescalate the tension," a senior commander in one of the Iran-aligned Iraqi gangs says.
Qaani did not leave the airport during the quick visit, fearing he could be targeted in the same location where his predecessor Qassem Soleimani was killed four years earlier, a senior Iraqi security source says.
"The Iranians learned their lesson from the liquidation of Soleimani and did not want this to be repeated," the source says.
"Commander Qaani’s visit was successful, though not entirely, as not all Iraqi groups consented to de-escalate," a high-ranking Iranian security official says.
#4
"Degenerate Arian shart
Of a Shiite, I'll blow you apart,"
Shouts a Sunni, on air
In the studio, staring
At... representational art!
"Whoa, hold that button, bro! [hand sneakily scrabbles for palette knife] At least there's no people in it... can't we get a fatwa or talk this out over a nice beheading video or something?" [stab stab kaboom]
[IsraelTimes] Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... continues to enrich uranium well beyond the needs for commercial nuclear use, despite UN pressure to stop it, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi says, adding he wants to visit Tehran next month for the first time in a year to end the "drifting apart."
Speaking to Rooters after he briefed EU foreign ministers on the subject, the head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog says that while the pace of uranium enrichment has slowed slightly since the end of last year, Iran is still enriching at an elevated rate of around 7 kilograms of uranium per month, to 60% purity.
Enrichment to 60% brings uranium close to weapons grade, and is not necessary for commercial use in nuclear power production. Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons, but no other state has enriched to that level without producing them.
Under a defunct 2015 agreement with world powers, Iran could enrich uranium only to 3.67%.
[Rudaw] Iraq has repatriated over 1,500 families from al-Hol camp in Syria and about 6,000 others remain to be brought back, an official from the ministry of migration and the displaced told Rudaw on Saturday.
"So far, about 1,560 Iraqi families have been returned from al-Hol camp, and about 5,500 to 6,000 families remain to be returned," Ali Abbas, spokesperson for the ministry of migration and the displaced told Rudaw’s Nahro Mohammed.
Iraqis made up more than half of the population of al-Hol camp in Rojava’s Hasaka province. The camp houses over 50,000 people, most of whom are wives and children of the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really 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 western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS) fighters.
Abbas said that the repatriation continues and soon another group will be returned.
"Following security checks, they are sent to the al-Jada camp in Nineveh for rehabilitation and reintroducing them to society, and later they will be sent back to their hometowns,"
Iraqi Migration and the Displaced Minister Ivan Fayaq told news hounds in December that the repatriation of families from Syria will continue throughout 2024.
Fayaq said that the repatriations will focus on women and kiddies who have "no connection to ISIS at all."
According to documentation from the al-Jada camp that Rudaw English had seen in November, the majority of the families originally come from Iraq’s western Anbar province. Over half of the people in the camp are female, and more than 60 percent are under 18 years of age.
The repatriation of ISIS-linked citizens has sparked opposition in Iraq, with tribes unwilling to accept and welcome people associated with the group that committed atrocious human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... abuses and war crimes from 2014 to 2017, when they controlled vast swathes of the country.
Iraq has also brought home men accused of fighting for ISIS. Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein told American officials in June that Baghdad had returned around 3,000 ISIS-affiliated Iraqi fighters who were tossed into the calaboose in northeast Syria (Rojava). Most have been put on trial. The fighters had been arrested by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
[IsraelTimes] Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... unveils new weaponry including what it says was the locally made Arman anti-ballistic missile system and the Azarakhsh low-altitude air defense system, the official IRNA news agency reports.
The announcement comes amid heightened tensions in the region, with Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of... ’s Iran-backed Iran's Houthi sock puppets ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him... rebels carrying out a string of attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, claiming the move is a show of solidarity with the Gazoo ...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... Strip.
The unveiling ceremony of the two vehicle-mounted systems takes place in the presence of Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Ashtiani.
"With the entry of new systems into the country’s defense network, the air defense capability of the Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran will increase significantly," IRNA says.
It said the Arman missile system "can simultaneously confront six targets at a distance of 120 to 180 km," while the Azarakhsh missile system "can identify and destroy targets... up to a range of 50 km with four ready-to-fire missiles."
In June Iran presented what officials described as its first domestically made hypersonic ballistic missile, named Fattah, with a range of 1,400 km.
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.
... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda...
...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...
...the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
...not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
...hereditary Iraqi holy man and leader of a political movement in Iraq. He had his hereditary rival al-Khoei assassinated shortly after the holy rival's appearance out of exile in 2003. Formerly an Iranian catspaw, lately he's gagged over some of their more outlandish antics, then went back to catspawry...
...a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
...the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
...one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,...
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for 
[Rudaw] Iraq has repatriated over 1,500 families from al-Hol camp in Syria and about 6,000 others remain to be brought back, an official from the ministry of migration and the displaced told Rudaw on Saturday.
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the 
