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Suicide truck bomb kills about 100 in Iraq, mostly Iranian pilgrims
Today's Headlines
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-Lurid Crime Tales-
Pair charged in explosive device at elementary school; planned to shoot cops, start race war
[AL] A convicted felon who claims he wanted to shoot cops is behind bars in connection with the explosives device planted outside of a Trussville elementary school.

Authorities today announced state charges against 35-year-old Zachary Edwards and 34-year-old Raphel Dilligard, both of eastern Birmingham. They are charged with possession of a hoax destructive device, rendering false alarm and making terrorist threats, said Trussville police Capt. Jeff Bridges.

The warrants were issued this morning after the week-long probe by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Trussville police, the Alabama State Fire Marshal's Office, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency and the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office.

Edwards claimed to be a member of the Black Panthers and the Black Mafia, but authorities have not yet confirmed his reported associations with any organized group. "My guys believe this individual to be a very dangerous person,'' said Dave Hyche, ATF's assistant special agent in charge in Alabama.

Lawmen responded en masse to Magnolia Elementary School on Wednesday, Nov. 16, after they received a 911 from a woman who reported seeing a Hispanic male place the package on a pickup truck that belonged to a school cafeteria worker. The package was a box with wires and timer attached.
Posted by: Fred || 11/25/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I see two Obama pardons forthcoming
Posted by: Frank G || 11/25/2016 9:21 Comments || Top||

#2  One hopes that they're checking these bastards' social media connections.
Posted by: Pappy || 11/25/2016 13:21 Comments || Top||

#3  Instead of "do it yourself moslem", rack it up to the geriatric hairball dirty nasty hippie movement that is the democrat party
Posted by: newc || 11/25/2016 22:45 Comments || Top||


Why the Venezuelan First Lady’s Nephews Got Nailed for Drug Running
[THEDAILYBEAST] 800 KILOS OF COKE: Once again the DEA nails figures connected to the disastrous regime of Nicolás Maduro, but will that make any difference to the Venezuelan people?
Posted by: Fred || 11/25/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Narcos

#1  Why?
Because they did it?
Posted by: Skidmark || 11/25/2016 10:07 Comments || Top||


Man admits stealing wallet of company president during job interview
[JAPANTIMES.CO.JP] A Yokohama man was incarcerated
You have the right to remain silent...
Monday after admitting he stole a company president’s wallet during a job interview earlier this month.

"I wanted to work for that company, but since I haven’t got a job I needed money," Shogo Takeda, 24, said in owning up to the charges, according to the police.

Takeda is suspected of stealing the wallet containing ¥50,000 in cash from the president’s bag during the interview at an elevator maintenance company in Seya Ward, Yokohama, on the evening of Nov. 10.

Police believe Takeda took advantage of easy access to the bag when the president briefly left the room.

After the interview, the president noticed that the wallet had disappeared and reported the incident to the police, speculating that Takeda could have taken it. The president said only he and Takeda were in the office during the interview.

Takeda had included his contact details, including his address and phone number, when he submitted his resume. He did not contact the company to learn about the results of the interview.
Posted by: Fred || 11/25/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ...but who hasn't?
Posted by: Blossom Unains5562 || 11/25/2016 1:25 Comments || Top||

#2  Why haven't I ever thought of it?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 11/25/2016 4:28 Comments || Top||

#3  I now have a nice assortment of "Executive" pen sets! ;)
Posted by: Blossom Unains5562 || 11/25/2016 14:13 Comments || Top||


Bus driver allegedly does nothing while black teens attack white schoolgirls
[NYPOST] Four white 15-year-old Catholic schoolgirl friends laughing and chatting on their usual bus ride home were targeted in an unprovoked, racial attack that left them bloody and bruised, the teens told The Post Wednesday.

"Oh, white girl got money!" a young black man sitting with a friend commented as the girls travelled on the BX8 bus around 3 p.m. Tuesday after dismissal from St. Catharine’s Academy in the Pelham Gardens section of The Bronx.

Before they knew it, the boys called up some female friends, who boarded a few stops away -- and the girls said the group punched and kicked them while grabbing clumps of their hair.

In an exclusive interview with The Post, two of the girls said the trouble began as soon as they boarded the bus to Throggs Neck -- with the male riders leering at the 10th-graders and snapping their pictures.

One of the victims, who only wants to be identified by the initials LT because the attackers are still on the lam, said they were in their school uniforms when the young men tried chatting with them and then threatened to "piss on them."

"Oh, you go to St. Catharine’s? What, do you have money? Go drink your coffee, white girl, and go shopping," one of them said.

The girls nervously tried to laugh it off, and the thugs said they were calling friends at the upcoming Westchester Square stop for re-enforcements. Before they knew it, six to eight young black girls got on the bus and all hell broke loose.

"All I remember is seeing the bus doors open and these girls have me by the ankles," LT said. "One of the guys had me by my hair and punched me in the jaw."

The driver stopped the bus in the middle of the block and when she opened the door, the gang escaped with a backpack, which contained an iPad and some cash, LT said.

The girls called police and were taken to Jacobi Medical Center for minor cuts and bruises.

Scott Seskin, a lawyer representing the girls, said the bus driver did nothing to help them.

The NYPD is investigating the incident, and a source said it appears to be a case of racial bias.

"I’m going to use whatever contacts I have to have this investigated as a hate crime because of the language that was used that started the whole thing off," said Seskin.
Posted by: Fred || 11/25/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Schools in the area? St. Catharine’s Academy in the Pelham Gardens.....but you may wish to lease elsewhere, if you get my drift.
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/25/2016 2:20 Comments || Top||

#2  The driver stopped the bus in the middle of the block and when she
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 11/25/2016 4:30 Comments || Top||

#3  White flight is caused by black racism
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 11/25/2016 5:45 Comments || Top||

#4  I think, BP, Newton (Isaac not Olivia) had something to say about it.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 11/25/2016 5:48 Comments || Top||

#5  Why is it that blacks who are obviously engaging in a violent hate crime but the police state it is racial bias. However, if a white male clears his throat or coughs and a black is within earshot it is instantly a hate crime.
Posted by: Dopey Phuger3886 || 11/25/2016 14:04 Comments || Top||

#6  Oh ha ha. Black on white hate crime?

Never.

That's not what hate crimes were written into law for.
Posted by: Blackbeard Bourbon5757 || 11/25/2016 15:52 Comments || Top||

#7  Condemnation by the President adn US Justice Departmenr, and Hate crime charges in 3...2.. STOP

Obama is still president and the lynch/holder criminals still run the "Justice" department, so blacks are incapable of being anything other than victims of racial hate crimes.

This is disgusting. The largest number and most violent racists are blacks now. This must be stopped. No excuse for racism violence by any group against another. Equal justice and prosecution.
Posted by: Injun Bucket8891 || 11/25/2016 18:09 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
'The Wall, it just got ten feet higher'... but will that be enough (Video opening)
Training in Mexico continues.
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/25/2016 02:04 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hammer those that hire illegals and the jobs dry up and the illegals will leave on their own.

Sell it to the left as enforcing minimum wage and you'll win over unions and confuse lefties in the process.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 11/25/2016 19:12 Comments || Top||


The Amazon reviews of Donald Trump's tree ornament are the best thing you'll read today
Donald Trump is the President-elect of the United States, but he's still a crafty businessman, so it should come as no surprise that the billionaire has a plan to capitalize on your holiday cheer in the form of licensed ornaments.

One ornament in particular -- modeled after the now iconic, ill-fitting red cap that became a symbol of the Trump movement -- has accumulated over 1,200 reviews on Amazon, and they're some of the best pieces of writing you're going to find anywhere online.

The reviews, which range in length from a sentence or two to full-fledged stories, are almost entirely tongue-in-cheek, but rather scathing nonetheless. There's many references to Trump's alleged mistreatment of women, views on immigrants, and overall abrasive personality:
(Images of some clever comments here are available at link.)
Many of the reviews also make reference to the fact that Hillary Clinton won the popular vote in the 2016 Presidential race, but Trump was elected due to his majority of electoral college votes:
(And here.)
Some reviewers clearly put some additional thought into their writing, even going so far as to bring President Obama into the mix:
(And here.)
And, of course, you don't have to look far to find a reference to Trump's freakishly small hands:
(And here.)
It's Amazon's shockingly lax review policy that makes this kind of mass-reviewing possible.
Obviously, Amazon hasn't gotten into censoring the fake news thing yet, or they'd be gone, of course.
The site doesn't require verification of a product purchase before allowing users to write reviews of virtually anything they want. Verified purchases show up with their own special tag, but hundreds of fake reviews flood a product, you'd be hard pressed to find a confirmed buyer anywhere in the crowd.
(And here.)
The company has, in the past, culled obviously fake reviews under similar circumstances, so it's likely that Trump's little red hat will see a similar ratings purge at some point in the near future.
They're all just jealous, obviously.
Posted by: gorb || 11/25/2016 00:24 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Talk about true tales of butt-hurt! Very funny stuff!
Posted by: Blossom Unains5562 || 11/25/2016 1:48 Comments || Top||

#2  At least they aren't saying they're posting positive reviews for fear of getting killed posting a negative one (a la HRC's pathetic book.)
Posted by: Pappy || 11/25/2016 13:24 Comments || Top||


GWU Students: Police Protection Is ‘Violence’ Because Cops Supported Trump
[DAILYCALLER] Protesting students at George Washington University (GWU) claim forcing them to accept police protection during their marches is "violence," because many coppers supported President-elect Donald Trump
...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States...
In a list of demands assembled by several progressive student groups, GWU protesters say school officials should find a way of guaranteeing their safety during marches that doesn’t involve police.
How, exactly...
"The Fraternal Order of Police, the largest police union in the United States, has formally endorsed President-Elect Donald Trump," the list says. "The FOP includes over 10,000 members in Washington D.C., many of which have jurisdiction over GW’s campus. Placing us in these officers’ care is an act of violence, especially for Black students."

Elsewhere, the students call for GWU administrators to declare the school a "sanctuary campus" that will protect illegal immigrants colonists from deportation.
Posted by: Fred || 11/25/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Projection. Were they in charge, they'd be using their power to bash dissidents the same way they imagine we would do. They can't imagine that we wouldn't do this even in the face of evidence otherwise.
Posted by: Elmavish Panda1401 || 11/25/2016 5:24 Comments || Top||

#2  "How exactly," Doc? By creating a new, armed & uniformed division of the SEIU perhaps?
Posted by: Glenmore || 11/25/2016 9:03 Comments || Top||

#3  a 4 year nationwide boycott of hiring GWU graduates might be a smart move...and Oberlin, and Vassar, and..
Posted by: Frank G || 11/25/2016 9:24 Comments || Top||

#4  forcing them to accept police protection during their marches is "violence,"
OK, don't give them any protection. Problem solved!
Posted by: ed in texas || 11/25/2016 9:44 Comments || Top||

#5  Send in the Hells Angels
Posted by: Regular joe || 11/25/2016 11:02 Comments || Top||

#6  By creating a new, armed & uniformed division of the SEIU perhaps?

I'm picturing one of those Soviet era May Day parades - but with bongs and dildos.
Posted by: SteveS || 11/25/2016 11:12 Comments || Top||

#7  Along FrankG's line of thought, I can imagine a class action lawsuit against a number of these universities for tolerating this nonsense that degraded the value of degrees.

Those universities have some big pockets.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 11/25/2016 13:14 Comments || Top||

#8  Sorry kids, you do not get to redefine terms in order to force people into actions you want. You want a demonstration of actual violence? It can be arranged for your educational benefit.
Posted by: OldSpook || 11/25/2016 14:20 Comments || Top||

#9  OS, google Khmer Rouge - kids just like these.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 11/25/2016 15:17 Comments || Top||

#10  So, kids, come and listen to dear old
Tom Lehrer, and be a big hero!
Take simple mathematics,
Add radical tactics,
And you can count back to Year Zero.
Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 || 11/25/2016 16:53 Comments || Top||

#11  Just shoot the worthless fucks.
Posted by: DarthVader || 11/25/2016 21:23 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
7.2 Quake Shakes El Salvador, Nicaragua
[ENGLISH.ALMANAR.LB] A Pacific Ocean earthquake with a 7.2 magnitude shook El Salvador and Nicaragua on Thursday, officials said, an hour after a powerful hurricane hit Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast.

Salvadoran authorities issued a tsunami alert as a precaution.

The temblor occurred around 120 kilometers (75 miles) off the coast of El Salvador, at a depth of 33 kilometers (20 miles), according to the US Geological Survey, confirming the magnitude given by Salvadoran officials.

Shaking was also felt in the Nicaraguan capital of Managua, and as far as the Costa Rican capital San Jose.

There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

Just one hour earlier, a powerful hurricane, Otto, packing winds of 175 kilometers (110 miles) per hour made landfall on Nicaragua’s other coast.
Posted by: Fred || 11/25/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Caribbean-Latin America
Colombian President, FARC Rebels Sign New Peace Pact
[WSJ] A new peace accord was signed Thursday between FARC rebels and President Juan Manuel Santos, who said he would seek congressional ratification instead of a popular referendum as he had with an original pact Colombians rejected in October.

Mr. Santos, speaking to more than 700 guests in the ornate Colon Theater in the heart of the capital, said the new accord "gives us hope, faith in the future and the possibility of a better life for us and our children." But his political opponents have promised a fight in congress and are considering the viability of collecting signatures for a petition calling for another plebiscite.

"We can’t forget that on Oct. 2, Colombians rejected this accord," Carlos Holmes Trujillo, a leader in the opposition Democratic Center party, said in an interview. "The people have a right to pronounce themselves."

Going to congress almost virtually assures approval of the 310-page deal, which grants the FARC, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
FARC or FARC-EP, is either a Marxist-Leninist revolutionary guerrilla organization or a drug cartel based in Colombia. It claims to represent the rural poor in a struggle against Colombia's wealthier classes, and opposes United States influence in Colombia, neo-imperialism, monopolization of natural resources by multinational corporations, and the usual raft of complaints. It funds itself principally through ransom kidnappings, taxation of the drug trade, extortion, shakedowns, and donations. It has lately begun calling itself Bolivarian and is greatly admired by Venezuela's President-for-Life Chavez, who seemingly fantasizes about living in the woods and kidnapping people himself. He provides FARC with safe areas along the border.
, the right to start a political party in exchange for disarming nearly 6,000 fighters.

Posted by: Fred || 11/25/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  who said he would seek congressional ratification instead of a popular referendum as he had with an original pact Colombians rejected in October

looking to go around the people when serving them a shit sandwich? Perhaps their Congress needs to hear from the Peeps before they vote to ratify
Posted by: Frank G || 11/25/2016 9:27 Comments || Top||


Europe
Armed man breaks into retirement home for monks
Based on the below updates, moved to P.3: Non-WoT at 10:35 a.m. ET.
[SkyNews] A MAN armed with a knife and a sawn-off shotgun has killed at least one person after bursting into a retirement home for monks in Montpellier, France.

Unconfirmed Rumour it's Samdullah Al Hydeh.
Update from An Nahar at 10:30 a.m. ET:
Investigators probing the killing of a worker at a Christian missionary retirement home in southern La Belle France believe it was a local crime and are not treating it as a terror attack, a prosecutor said Friday.

The death set nerves jangling in La Belle France late Thursday after a string of jihadist atrocities, but local prosecutor Christophe Barret said police believed it was not "Islamist terrorism".

"We are moving towards the idea of local crime, someone who was in the area of this home," Barret told news hounds, adding that a replica gun that fires pellets had been found in a vehicle parked nearby.

A man aged around 45 who lives in the village of Montferrier-les-Lez where the retirement home is located has been identified as a suspect, a source close to the case told AFP, asking not to be named.
Ynet adds:
The suspect is believed to be someone "in the entourage of this retirement home", Montpellier prosecutor Christophe Barret said in a news conference on Friday. He said Sherlocks discovered an air gun and other elements that he wouldn't detail in a car near the residence that helped identify the suspect.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 11/25/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Moslem Colonists


The Grand Turk
Turkey has dismissed 10,500 state employees over suspected PKK links: Minister
Yesterday it was "Gulenists", today it's Kurds.
[AlAhram] More than 10,500 state employees have been dismissed over suspected links with the Kurdish PKK turban group, Turkish Labour Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu said on Thursday in an interview with broadcaster CNN Turk.

The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
is fighting an insurgency by the PKK in the largely Kurdish southeast and it has previously dismissed hundreds of teachers it said were linked to the turban group while tossed in the calaboose
... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not...
pro-Kurdish politicians.

Turkey has sacked or suspended more than 125,000 state officials since a failed coup attempt in July. It was not immediately clear whether the 10,500 Muezzinoglu was referring to were part of that number or an additional purge.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/25/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


Home Front: Politix
Trump to Meet with Sheriff David Clarke
[Breitbart] President-elect Donald Trump plans to meet with Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke as he continues to vet possible candidates for his administration.
A modern-day Mat Love. Put him to work quickly.
Trump transition team officials confirmed that the president-elect would meet with Clarke on Monday, after he returns to Trump Tower from his Thanksgiving trip to Mar-a-largo in Florida.

Officials did not say whether Trump is offering Clarke a position with his administration, but signaled interest in his opinions.

"The president elect meets with individuals who he believes he wants to hear their ideas, suggestions and opinions and then sometimes considers them for multiple potential positions," Trump transition team’s Sean Spicer explained.

Clarke, an outspoken champion for Second Amendment gun rights and a registered Democrat, has earned the respect from Trump supporters during the campaign. He also spoke at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, supporting Trump for president.

Clarke also criticized Black Lives Matter activists, calling them a "a bunch of thugs, a bunch of creeps, criminals, [and] race-hustlers."

"I think very fair in light of the anti-cop rhetoric that is sweeping the United States of America, fueled by this group, some of the vulgar, vile, vicious rhetoric coming out talking about killing cops," Clarke said during an appearance on CNN.
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/25/2016 13:03 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I'm beginning to understand how Donald made so much money.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 11/25/2016 15:08 Comments || Top||


Did the Navy Steal Its Stealth Warship Designs?
It’s the cornerstone of the U.S. Navy’s future fleet. And a legendary ship-designer says the idea was all his.
And if the ultimate reason they spike this pig doesn't make as much sense as it should, maybe we should look here.
It’s been rough sailing for the U.S. Navy’s new Littoral Combat Ship. The speedy, warship has come under fire for being lightly-armed, weakly-built, undermanned, and prone to rusting--and yet, at the same time, way too expensive.

And in recent months, four of the 400-foot-long warships--half of the Littoral Combat Ships currently in commission--have suffered serious engine breakdowns, possible signs of systemic problems with the ship’s design and operating procedures.

As if that weren’t enough for the beleaguered vessel, David Giles, a prominent ship-designer, is accusing the Navy of stealing his concepts for a high-speed cargo ship and illegally applying them to the $500-million-a-copy Littoral Combat Ship.

The Giles isn’t alone. He has some heavyweight back-up in the form of Richard Garwin, one of America’s most eminent scientists.

If judge Charles Lettow from the federal claims court decides in favor of plaintiff David Giles, the U.S. government could have to shell out--well, potentially a lot of money. And it would be yet another black stain on the reputation of a warship that was supposed to transport the Navy confidently into the 21st century, eventually comprising nearly a fifth of the fleet.

Lettow is expected to announce his ruling some time in early 2017.

The 80-year-old, British-born Giles filed suit, via the company he founded, Fastship, in 2012. But the legal challenge has gone largely unnoticed in the mainstream press. He alleged in his complaint that the Navy violated two Fastship patents granted in 1992 and 1993 and which, taken together, describe a novel design for a faster, more efficient ship, one that essentially glides across the water--"semi-planing" is the technical term--rather than plowing through it.

The trick, according to one of Fastship’s patents, is to build a hull with a flattened rear underside and, while the ship is underway, shoot high-pressure water across the flat section. The combination of flat hull and water-jets creates "a dual component of lift," the patent explains. And as the hull partially lifts out of the water, it moves faster than can a ship with a traditional V-shape hull that digs more deeply into the sea.

Most ships with V-style hulls can usually reach a top speed of just over 30 knots--roughly 35 miles per hour. But Giles told The Daily Beast that his company tested its "Prelude" semi-planing ship design at speeds up to 50 knots, way back in 1987.

Giles’s original aim was to build faster, more efficient cargo ships capable of hauling more than a thousand shipping containers apiece at a sustained speed of 38 knots. Normal cargo ships rarely exceed 23 knots, albeit with a larger load of containers.

But Fastship’s cargo concept eventually foundered, dragged down first by its high cost--$2 billion for the first four ships--and, finally, the volatility resulting from the 2008 global economic crisis. A partnership with Lockheed Martin seemed to offer Giles’s company a reprieve. In the early 2000s the Maryland-based defense firm was one of several companies competing to build potentially dozens of Littoral Combat Ships for the Navy.

Lockheed apparently wanted to make use of Fastship’s speedy-vessel concept. In 2002, the two companies formed what Giles described as a "strategic partnership." Fastship handed over its design specs and test data, Giles told The Daily Beast, adding that Fastship had previously supplied the Navy with similar information in confidence between 1998 and 2000.

"Littoral Combat Ship" is actually the Navy’s catch-all term for two related classes of high-speed vessels. Only one of types apparently follows Giles’s design concepts. The other type is not subject to Fastship’s lawsuit.

In terms of size, water-displacement and speed, Fastship’s concept had a sweet spot. The Prelude design was 295 feet long, displaced 2,450 tons of water and--with all of Giles’s hull enhancements--maxed out between 40 and 50 knots of speed. In the early days of the Littoral Combat Ship program, that was too big and too slow. The Navy wanted a ship roughly half the size of Prelude and 10 knots faster.

Then in January 2003, the Navy’s preferences abruptly changed. The sailing branch brass decided it wanted a bigger, more robust ship--and didn’t mind if it was slower. Suddenly the requirement was for a ship roughly the same size, with around the same top speed, as Prelude. "It was like turning a Concorde into a 747," Giles told The Daily Beast.

Actually, in keeping with this metaphor--it was like the Navy turned a Concorde into a 747... and Fastship had patented the 747. "Fastship describes its invention as a combination of a semi-planing mono-hull vessel, longer than 200 feet with a displacement in excess of 2,000 tons, which relies on hull design and water-jet propulsion to create a large ship capable of speeds exceeding 40 knots," Judge Lettow explained in a 2013 court document.

In other words, if the Navy’s new Littoral Combat Ship matched the size and speed of the Prelude and made use of a flattened rear bottom hull and waterjets, it would overlap with Fastship’s patents. That’s the crux of Giles’s suit.

That’s exactly what happened, according to Giles--and yet Fastship never got paid. The U.S. Justice Department, which is defending the Navy, declined to comment for this story. Lockheed is not named in Fastship’s lawsuit, and did not respond to requests for comment, either.

Lockheed dropped Giles’s company from its Littoral Combat Ship design team in 2004, after it had proposed to the Navy--and the Navy had agreed to buy--a vessel design that Giles said matched Prelude’s patented parameters but was too long and skinny for maximum efficiency. Since cutting the first contracts for Littoral Combat Ships in 2004, the Navy has spent billions of dollars on the Lockheed version of the class. USS Detroit, the fourth and latest Lockheed ship, commissioned on Oct. 22.

According to court documents, Fastship wrote to the Navy on April 11, 2008, informing the military sailing branch that the Littoral Combat Ships then under construction violated Fastship’s patents. The Navy wrote back on April 28, rejecting Fastship’s patent claim.

Fastship’s patents expired in May 2010, two years before the company sued. Giles’s firm claimed that the Navy built two LCSs prior to the patents’ expiration, but in June this year Lettow ruled that Lockheed completed just one of the speedy warships--USS Freedom--while the patents were active.

The lawsuit has dragged on for four years and could last months longer. In October, the Justice Department’s lawyer rolled out as an expert witness Donald Blount, an authority on high-speed vessels who claimed that any knowledgeable ship-designer could come up with Giles’s semi-planing system--and therefore Fastship’s patents were invalid.

The government also called Frederick Stern, an expert in fluid dynamics at the University of Iowa. Stern argued that the Littoral Combat Ship, as built, doesn’t plane as much as Fastship’s patented design did, and so never violated any patent.

To counter the government’s experts, Fastship’s lawyer deployed a secret weapon--Garwin, an 88-year-old physicist who, among other historic accomplishments, helped to design nuclear bombs and America’s first spy satellite.

Garwin told The Daily Beast via email that he’s known Giles since 1981 has found him "totally honest, perceptive and very intelligent." Garwin argued that Giles’s innovations were not obvious to any reasonably-qualified ship-designer, as Blunt claimed--and that Stern’s computations were rife with errors. (Stern did not immediately reply to requests for comment.)

"Of course, the implications go beyond the details of the trial," Garwin stated in a separate email, adding a quotation from Abraham Lincoln. "It is as much the duty of government to render prompt justice against itself in favor of citizens as it is to administer the same between private individuals."

In this case, justice could mean yet another blemish on the fast-sinking reputation of one of the Navy’s newest warships. For his part, Giles told The Daily Beast he wants "at worst, fair and reasonable compensation."

At best, he said, the lawsuit should "provide a better interpretation of our patents for U.S. and other navies’ ships." So that maybe, in the future, someone can build a fast ship... that actually works.
Posted by: gorb || 11/25/2016 04:34 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hard to believe anyone wants to claim responsibility for the LCS.
Posted by: Vespasian Forkbeard4989 || 11/25/2016 8:51 Comments || Top||


#3  So LCS is the Fiat of the oceans.
Snark of the Day
Posted by: Slats Noodleman2580 || 11/25/2016 12:26 Comments || Top||

#4  First It's A Tierod
Frequently It's A Transmission
Finally It's A Terminal

/Still, still, still... :(
Posted by: Shipman || 11/25/2016 13:54 Comments || Top||

#5  Just be done with it and cancel these cans, put them in fleet reserve. Stop digging the hole deeper.
Posted by: OldSpook || 11/25/2016 14:24 Comments || Top||

#6  If the Navy wanted vessels in this size range maybe they just should of built copies of other classes all ready in service. As to being adaptable IMO the LCS's should of been designed to accept modules based on standard 40 foot cargo containers. Have modules configured for gunfire support, air defense, ASW or berthing for Special Ops. But I don't know what's the bigger screw up. The LCS or the Zumwalt Class. They should stuck with Arliegh Burke's and Perry's. Hell, maybe they can pawn them off on the Coasties
Posted by: Cheaderhead || 11/25/2016 22:20 Comments || Top||


Mexican cement maker Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua wants to help with Trump wall
[GP] A Mexican cement maker is ready to lend its services to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to build the wall he wants to erect on the southern border of the United States to curb immigration.

"We can’t be choosy," Enrique Escalante, Chief Executive Officer of Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua (GCC) said in an interview. "We’re an important producer in that area and we have to respect our clients on both sides of the border."

Republican Trump campaigned vowing to build a "big, beautiful, powerful" wall across the 2,000 mile (3,200 km) frontier in order to stop illegal immigrants from Mexico, which he accused of sending rapists and drug traffickers north.

The campaign of the New York businessman who has never previously held public office was widely reviled in Mexico.

Parts of the border are already divided by high fences, and a huge part of the boundary runs along the Rio Grande river.

Based in Chihuahua, a large northern state bordering Texas and New Mexico, GCC is one of the biggest construction materials companies in Mexico. It generates around 70 percent of its sales in the United States, where it also has three plants.
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/25/2016 03:01 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  You'd think the Mexican government (and maybe even corrupt elements of the US gummint) would see the graft potential in controlling their side of the border crossings. Got to be a multiple of what the coyotes are paying now...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 11/25/2016 6:35 Comments || Top||

#2  Heh. The other day, I bet someone a case of beer that Mexico would help build The Wall. Does this count?
Posted by: SteveS || 11/25/2016 14:29 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Patrol force men taking bribe caught on camera
[DAWN] PESHAWAR: In an embarrassing event, officials of the newly-launched City Patrol Force were caught on camera while taking bribe from citizens here.

The force with a motto of "safety, security and service" was launched about two weeks ago to act as first responders in case of any crime and emergency situation.

However,
if you can't say something nice about a person some juicy gossip will go well...
a video which went viral on social media showed a patrol car parked near a busy thoroughfare somewhere in the limits of cantonment and a man in white dress is talking to cops sitting inside the car.

Later, another man in black dress walks up to the vehicle and takes something out of his pocket and hands it over to the man in white, who in turn hands it over to the cops.

The cops speed away after collecting the amount.

Taking action, KP police chief Nasir Khan Durrani later ordered arrest of two officials on the charges of corruption and harassing people.

A statement issued here said that Mr Durrani had ordered for registration of an FIR and immediate arrest of the two officials.

A police official said that an FIR against the officials had been registered at the Gulbahar cop shoppe and both were put in the police lines quarter guards.

However,
if you can't say something nice about a person some juicy gossip will go well...
when approached, Gulbahar police denied registering an FIR against the cops.

Posted by: Fred || 11/25/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Sindh criminalises ‘forced conversions’
[DAWN] KARACHI: Becoming the first provincial assembly in the country’s history to do legislation for the protection of minority communities against forced conversion, the Sindh Assembly on Thursday unanimously passed into law a private bill -- The Criminal Law (Protection of Minorities) Bill, 2015, -- making forced religious conversion a punishable criminal act.

The bill prescribes a sentence from five years to life imprisonment for the person who forcibly converts another person, with a fine to be paid to the victim. Also, anyone who performs or facilitates in any manner a marriage of the victims of forced conversion will be liable to imprisonment of three years, with a fine to be paid to the victim. The bill forbids minors from changing their religion. The bill, which was moved by Pakistain Moslem League-Functional politician Nand Kumar Goklani in 2015, expressed his gratitude to the house, particularly the ruling Pakistain Peoples Party, which he said wrote history by adopting the opposition party’s bill as without the support of the treasury benches the bill could not have been passed into a law.
Another good law, born to be ignored.

Posted by: Fred || 11/25/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Court hands Islamabad police official life sentence for raping daughter
[DAWN] A sessions court in Islamabad charged a police official with raping his daughter, handing him a life sentence and fining him Rs100,000 for the offence on Thursday.

Dilpazeer, a driver with the Islamabad police, is a resident of Khanna Dak, an area on the outskirts of Islamabad. He first raped his daughter in 2011 when she was a minor.

Now 19-years-old, the daughter said Dilpazeer continued to rape her for the next four years. She said she had confided in her mother when the abuse first occurred, but to no avail.

She then turned to her uncle, Dilpazeer’s younger brother, "but nobody listened to me," she said.

The girl then approached the court and filed a case against her parent.

Amir Nadeem Tabish, the plaintiff's lawyer, submitted video evidence against the police officer in light of which the court sentenced Dilpazeer to life in prison.

If Dilpazeer fails to pay the fine, he will spend an additional six months in jail.
Posted by: Fred || 11/25/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Mom and Uncle need a beat down and jail time as well to reflect on their deliberate neglect
Posted by: Frank G || 11/25/2016 9:59 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Airstrikes reported as northern Myanmar conflict spreads
[Dhaka Tribune] Over the past four days, 2,600 people have been displaced and are sheltering at monasteries in the town of Muse, while over 3,000 people have fled across the border into China.

Myanmar Armed Forces called in air strikes on Wednesday as fighting between government troops and four ethnic gangs continued at several locations across four townships in northern Shan and Kachin states, according to a spokesperson for the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), a member of the ethnic alliance, reports Myanmar Times.

Colonel Mong Aik Kyaw of the TNLA said festivities were reported in Namkham, Muse and Kutkai townships in northern Shan State, as well as Bhamaw township in Kachin State. He said air strikes were launched in at least two locations, though he did not know specifically where.

"The fighting will not stop," said Col Mong Aik Kyaw. "The Tatmadaw (Myanmar Armed Forces, officially known as the Tatmadaw) is full of strength. There is always fighting in remote areas of the Ta’ang, Kachin and Shan peoples. Now we have taken the fight to the towns. The long-running war has made our people’s education and economic situations worse, so we decided to change the front."

A response to the November 20 offensive by the four groups and its aftermath from the Union-level government came yesterday in the form of a statement from Aung San Suu Kyi in her capacity as chair of the National Reconciliation and Peace Centre.

"At a time when people of Myanmar are in process of striving for national reconciliation and peace that had remained elusive to them, it is extremely disappointing and saddening that these incidents are instigated," read her statement.
Posted by: Fred || 11/25/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Government
The commander of this Navy warship walked off the job
[Navy Times] The commanding officer of a dock landing ship called it quits Monday.

She walked off her job leading the roughly 420-person crew of the dock landing ship Rushmore, Navy Times has learned, an option that isn't available to most other service members without serious repercussions.

Cmdr. Sarah DeGroot told the head of Amphibious Squadron 3, Capt. Homer Denius, on Monday that she was resigning as the Rushmore's CO. Three sources were unable to immediately specify why she'd taken this highly unusual and likely career-ending move.

While the Navy relieves commanding officers for substandard performance or misconduct several times per year, it is highly unusual for a CO to resign voluntarily. Reached for comment by phone, DeGroot declined to comment.

"I don't think I have anything to say at this time," DeGroot said.

A spokesperson for Naval Surface Force Pacific confirmed that DeGroot was no longer in command of the San Diego-based ship and that Cmdr. DeWayne Sanders has assumed temporary command of the ship. There are no administrative or disciplinary actions against DeGroot pending at the moment, Lt. Cmdr. Rebecca Haggard said.
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/25/2016 07:44 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Should be treated like any other AWOL, but I doubt it will.
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/25/2016 7:53 Comments || Top||

#2  ...She's not AWOL - she self-selected out of her slot, and that decision was accepted by her superiors. They know where she is, she's either reporting for some sort of duty or is on leave until they figure out what the heck to do with her.

Now the question is, why? Her career is over, and there's got to be a damned good reason for it. My guess is that whatever is about to come down the pike on this would have led to far worse than simple relief for LOC once it gets here. She's already pulled the plug; I suspect the USN will chastise her severely but short of an overtly criminal act she'll be allowed to walk away.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 11/25/2016 8:12 Comments || Top||

#3  Cmdr.Sarah DeGroot told the head of Amphibious Squadron 3, Capt. Homer Denius, on Monday that she was resigning as the Rushmore's CO.

She 'TELLS' her boss she's leaving ?

Certainly didn't use to work that way. Unless she's dying of cancer within the next 48 hours, why the rush? What about FITREPS for subordinates (unrated time? Inspections and inventories, and other close-out administrative matters ?

Needs a looking into. TELLS her CO, unreal. If this type of declaration or conduct is permitted, perhaps her CO needs to leave the service as well.
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/25/2016 8:17 Comments || Top||

#4  At that rank, she can retire nicely. We are not aware that she did anything illegal or immoral. If she has decided not to carry the responsibilities of the rank, it's her choice.

If you want to speculate, try - the probability of AA promotions just died on election day. She wasn't going to make Rear Admiral. Need to stay around?
Going to stay around? The longer you delay, the longer its going to be to transition to another employment on the outside. Looking at the political spectrum, there are a lot of progressive business out there for the next few months to years looking to signal their virtue by hiring a individual with her resume whether its a good fit or not. I'd say a very lucrative job market at this time.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 11/25/2016 9:43 Comments || Top||

#5  Couldn't work for Trump as CIC.
Posted by: Skidmark || 11/25/2016 10:03 Comments || Top||

#6  Don't let the door hit ya on the azz on the way out. There are other deserving leaders willing to fight for the opportunity to lead our young Sailors.
Posted by: Tennessee || 11/25/2016 11:41 Comments || Top||

#7  Fall out from social engineering of officer ranks?
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 11/25/2016 12:41 Comments || Top||

#8  Could be for any number of reasons. As far as fitreps are concerned, those will be handled as if there was a regular change of command.
Posted by: Pappy || 11/25/2016 13:29 Comments || Top||

#9  Alright, how then is the Navy Times subject line to be handled? Misstatement? Exaggeration ?

Nothing about this appears routine.
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/25/2016 14:40 Comments || Top||

#10  #9 Alright, how then is the Navy Times subject line to be handled? Misstatement? Exaggeration ?

Nothing about this appears routine.


...Concur. The problem with a 'out-of-her-control' explanation (illness, family/personal problem) is that there wouldn't have even been an official peep about this because it was a personal matter. Professional ability (and/or a lack of faith thereof on CINCPAC's part) is going to be at the heart of this. Book it.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 11/25/2016 16:15 Comments || Top||

#11  I suspect we all know the 'likely' motivation, or am I being fomohebic ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/25/2016 16:19 Comments || Top||

#12  There are no administrative or disciplinary actions against DeGroot pending at the moment

and

The [Rushmore] went into maintenance in San Diego in March and is expected to resume crew training early next year before rejoining the fleet on active service.

Odd combination. Again, it could be for many reasons.
Posted by: Pappy || 11/25/2016 17:18 Comments || Top||

#13  If you're going to resign command, better to do so before the ship goes back into operational status than after.
Posted by: Zebulon and Tenille2425 || 11/25/2016 20:34 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Kaepernick Now Wearing Pro-Castro T-Shirts
[GP] San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick says the United States could learn a thing or two about education from former Cuban President Fidel Castro.

Mr. Kaepernick, who has sought to draw attention to a litany of causes célèbres this football season by kneeling during the pre-game National Anthem, was grilled by Miami media ahead of Sunday’s game against the Dolphins for his perceived support of the Communist dictator.

The embattled quarterback, who was spotted in a T-shirt depicting Mr. Castro earlier this year, initially demurred when asked about the shirt by a reporter from the Miami Herald who comes from a family of Cuban exiles. He pointed out that the shirt also pictured Malcolm X.

"I’m not talking about Fidel Castro and his oppression," Mr. Kaepernick said on Wednesday’s press call, the Palm Beach Post reported. "I’m talking about Malcolm X and what he’s done for people."

But when pressed on the point, he praised the Cuban autocrat’s comparative commitment to education and criminal justice reform.

"One thing that Fidel Castro did do is they have the highest literacy rate because they invest more in their education
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/25/2016 02:53 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Who cares?
Posted by: Tom || 11/25/2016 8:16 Comments || Top||

#2  Shark sighted, jumped same
Posted by: Rex Mundi || 11/25/2016 10:05 Comments || Top||

#3  If it weren't for the power of Communism-brand-aristocracy-branding, Worthless bourgeoisie thieves-by-ownership of property owning aristocrats like Castro and Kaepernick would be sentenced to be worked-to-death in the rice paddies for their sins against the Holy Proletariat.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 11/25/2016 11:11 Comments || Top||

#4  Upon rereading, I think I have a superfluous "owning" in there. Darn it.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 11/25/2016 11:52 Comments || Top||

#5  Doing everything he can to stay in the spotlight while his career keeps going down the toilet. He'll be out of the NFL soon enough.
Posted by: DarthVader || 11/25/2016 12:40 Comments || Top||

#6  He's free to move to Cuba is he so desires.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 11/25/2016 13:13 Comments || Top||

#7  "I’m not talking about Fidel Castro and his oppression,"

Ain't that convenient?
Posted by: Raj || 11/25/2016 13:31 Comments || Top||

#8  49ers' stadium was virtually empty during the second half of the Patriots game. The only sound was Brady chants. Time to relocate the team to Havana; augmented with burro races to keep the fanbase into it.
Posted by: Regular joe || 11/25/2016 16:49 Comments || Top||

#9  Apparently he's ignorant about how blacks are treated in Cuba.
Posted by: Pappy || 11/25/2016 17:20 Comments || Top||

#10  ...or Russia, or anywhere in Eastern Europe.
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/25/2016 17:57 Comments || Top||

#11  "I’m not talking about Fidel Castro and his oppression,"

Guess what KaeperDick? They are part of the same communist collectivist package. You do not get one without the other.
Posted by: Injun Bucket8891 || 11/25/2016 18:03 Comments || Top||

#12  Just an attention 'ho heading for the drain. Good riddance.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 11/25/2016 21:42 Comments || Top||

#13  What, no Che. Che must be so out of it.
Posted by: Cheaderhead || 11/25/2016 22:28 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Fri 2016-11-25
  Suicide truck bomb kills about 100 in Iraq, mostly Iranian pilgrims
Thu 2016-11-24
  Wayne State University police officer dies after being shot in head
Wed 2016-11-23
  ISIS ‘resisting till their last breath’ in Sirte, Libya
Tue 2016-11-22
  ISIS claims responsibility behind Kabul mosque bombing that left 32 dead
Mon 2016-11-21
  Turkey’s Erdogan warns NATO on sheltering ‘terrorist’ plotters
Sun 2016-11-20
  Three Pakistani Men Apprehended in U.S. at Arizona Border
Sat 2016-11-19
  Taliban shadow governor among 11 killed in North of Afghanistan
Fri 2016-11-18
  Haftar forces claim victory in Benghazi
Thu 2016-11-17
  Final 3 Minnesota men sentenced in Islamic State case
Wed 2016-11-16
  Police make raids against suspected 'IS' supporters across 10 states in Germany
Tue 2016-11-15
  167 ISIS Turbans die in rebel combat operations in Raqqa
Mon 2016-11-14
  Turkey backed rebel units close on Al-Bab
Sun 2016-11-13
  Rangers kill Jundallah chief in Hub
Sat 2016-11-12
  Iraqi forces massing to break into Mosul airport
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  Iraqi forces capture Zahar district of Mosul

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