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Today: 76 articles and 240 comments as of 0:54.
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2 Syrian missiles with half-ton warheads trigger Israel's anti-missile system
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 3: Non-WoT
3 13:35 Iblis [2] 
5 11:59 Tom [1] 
5 13:22 Skidmark [] 
1 06:11 Herb McCoy [2] 
7 19:17 Zenobia Floger6220 [11] 
1 13:32 Skidmark [2] 
9 23:55 JohnQC [9] 
23 21:11 bbrewer126 [3] 
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2 09:30 Procopius2k [] 
8 23:10 ruprecht [8] 
2 10:27 Anguper Hupomosing9418 [3] 
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1 01:50 gorb [6] 
6 13:42 Skidmark [2] 
3 15:05 Besoeker [1] 
11 20:34 gorb [6] 
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10 12:47 Mercutio [2] 
Page 1: WoT Operations
7 16:53 The peanut gallery [1]
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Page 2: WoT Background
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Page 4: Opinion
5 21:22 Clem [5]
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14 22:34 DooDahMan [5]
4 19:01 JohnQC [1]
Page 6: Politix
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10 19:45 JohnQC [8]
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7 14:03 Skidmark [1]
6 20:03 SKIDMARK [3]
-Lurid Crime Tales-
"It's OK, she is gonna be 16 soon,"
Bush was right, they do come here for love.
[DallasNews] A Dallas man was arrested last week after police say he parked illegally near Trinity Groves and then introduced the arresting officer to his 15-year-old wife.

Jose Nahun Lopez-Cruz, 24, assured the cop, "It's OK, she is gonna be 16 soon," police records say.

It wasn't OK, and Lopez-Cruz was booked Sunday into the Dallas County jail, charged with sexual assault of a child.

Lopez was charged with the sex crime and drug possession. He's also suspected of being in the country illegally.

He remains in the Dallas County Jail with bail set at $25,500.
Posted by: Lumpy Turkeyneck8453 || 07/24/2018 07:03 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  He remains in the Dallas County Jail with bail set at $25,500.

Can I take it that his parents-in-law didn't bail him out then?
Posted by: gorb || 07/24/2018 10:14 Comments || Top||

#2  But was the child domestic or imported?
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/24/2018 10:36 Comments || Top||

#3  To be fair, he lied about the wife bit. From the article, which needs to be read in its entirety for the enormity of his itter unfittingness to be north of the border to be properly appreciated:

Under further questioning with a translator present, the girl told investigators that she and Lopez-Cruz were dating and had been living together for two months
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/24/2018 10:41 Comments || Top||

#4  to provide perspective, it was only within the past few years that Hawai'i raised the age of consent all the way up to 16... accompanied by much wailing and gnashing of teeth from certain local communities who claimed cultural imperialism was at work.
Posted by: Mercutio || 07/24/2018 10:55 Comments || Top||

#5  But was the child domestic or imported?

So right!
Don't want to impede any cultural imperatives.
Posted by: Skidmark || 07/24/2018 13:22 Comments || Top||


Students giving naked photos for loans on Chinese campuses
[AsiaTimes] Loansharks asking for incriminating photos or videos of students and threaten to make them public if money is not repaid.

Loansharks have been arrested in China after asking students to give them naked videos and photos of themselves as collateral on the money they borrowed.

The loansharks then threatened to post the incriminating photos and videos online if the money was not repaid. They targeted cash-strapped college students and charged them exorbitant interest.

The public security bureau in Shenzhen recently busted a syndicate which at its peak had ripped off more than 300 victims across the nation. Most were college students who spent the borrowed money on gambling, electronic gadgets and cosmetics. One woman reportedly ended up owing more than one million yuan (US$147,200).

Posted by: 3dc || 07/24/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  They don't have government guaranteed student loans in "Communist" China?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 07/24/2018 0:40 Comments || Top||

#2  Loansharks asking for incriminating photos or videos of students and threaten to make them public if money is not repaid.

gorb: "I would like a $200,000 loan so I can get a degree, please."

Chinese loanshark: "We'll loan you $5. And you don't have to pay it back."
Posted by: gorb || 07/24/2018 1:49 Comments || Top||

#3  Have the Chins thought of opening up branches at Planet Fitness?
Posted by: Lumpy Turkeyneck8453 || 07/24/2018 4:12 Comments || Top||

#4  They targeted cash-strapped college students and charged them exorbitant interest.

No one's thought of stripping to pay their way thru college? How primitive.
Posted by: Skidmark || 07/24/2018 13:40 Comments || Top||


Backflipping FBI agent that shot bystander cleared to carry firearm again by judge
[SofRep] Follow up on Chase Bishop's little adventure back in June.
Posted by: Skidmark || 07/24/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Proof that judges aren't
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/24/2018 7:12 Comments || Top||

#2  Why is he still an FBI agent?
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 07/24/2018 13:41 Comments || Top||

#3  Why is he still an FBI agent?

It must be pretty obvious by now that the Bureau is partial to clowns.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/24/2018 15:05 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Man arrested for exercising naked at Planet Fitness gym
[ABC7ny] PLAISTOW, New Hampshire -- A man who stripped naked before working out at a New Hampshire gym told police officers that he thought he was in a "Judgement Free Zone," before being arrested.

NECN reports 34-year-old Eric Stagno, of Haverhill, Massachusetts, was charged with indecent exposure, lewdness and disorderly conduct on Sunday for taking off his clothes and exercising at a Plaistow Planet Fitness.

Police say he walked back and forth and started doing poses on a yoga mat. He allegedly referenced Planet Fitness' slogan that it is a "Judgement Free Zone."

Stagno is free on bail and is scheduled to be arraigned on Sept. 21 in Plaistow District Court.

Stagno could not be reached for comment, and his attorney could not be immediately identified.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/24/2018 02:23 || Comments || Link || [11 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Leave him alone! He's the only one who wipes down the preacher bench.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/24/2018 2:33 Comments || Top||

#2  Reviving traditions?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/24/2018 7:27 Comments || Top||

#3  off the pile... so to speak...

Athletic Athenians? Theseus
Was, after Odysseus, greasiest,
Excelling all Greeks
In the killing of freaks,
From the easiest up to the beastliest.

Or maybe the beefiest? Sound or sense? Likewise Athenians vs Achaeans. Dunno. Always seem to make teh wrong choice, like with unmarked gloves.
Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 || 07/24/2018 8:57 Comments || Top||

#4  Being the only nude person in the room might have been a clue.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 07/24/2018 10:31 Comments || Top||

#5  What was he exercising?
Posted by: Skidmark || 07/24/2018 13:22 Comments || Top||

#6  I was working out at the gym ( no, really!) when a very attractive young woman came in. I asked the trainer which machine I should use to impress her. He said, "Th ATM machine in the lobby".
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 07/24/2018 18:35 Comments || Top||

#7  Haverhill

A battle-ax yelps from Pentucket,
"This savage's scalp? Yes, I took it."
The Puritan captive
From Haverhill, adaptive
Survivor, sez, "Snowflakes, go suck it!"

Apologies to Indian 'Burgers. Story's holier than an old broken bucket.
Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 || 07/24/2018 19:17 Comments || Top||


Investigations, Suspensions, and Revocations of US Gov't Security Clearances
[ClearanceJobs.com] Our own 'Anomalous Sources' posted a ClearanceJobs.com piece late yesterday which provides a fairly definitive 'rules of the road' regarding the investigations, suspensions, and revocations of US Government Security Clearances. The article sites Executive Order (EO) 12968 and Executive Order (EO) 10865 as the governing process.

Hat tip to 'Anomalous Sources' for this informative contribution.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/24/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Meanwhile, down in IT, when people quit, fired, or leave, by SOP you immediately suspend their access to the systems, escort them to their desk to collect personal item, then escort to HR for outprocessing, then to the door. Otherwise, you get what you deserve trying to clean the predicable mess afterwards. As the cops says putting the cuffs on you, 'This is for your and my protection'.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/24/2018 7:17 Comments || Top||

#2  Allowing people to continue to have security clearances without the matching job is complete idiocy & always has been.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 07/24/2018 10:27 Comments || Top||


Tom Brady Shamed for Being Out of Shape
[Boston.CBSlocal] Yeah? He still goes home to Giselle. Who do you go home to, Bubba?
Posted by: Mercutio || 07/24/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  If I went to Giselle every night, I guarantee you I would be in awesome shape.
Posted by: gorb || 07/24/2018 1:53 Comments || Top||

#2  I'm sure he's worried about the comments from random twitterers.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 07/24/2018 5:08 Comments || Top||

#3  Tom Brady is paid to read defenses, think fast and throw a football.
Posted by: Airandee || 07/24/2018 6:15 Comments || Top||

#4  I apologize deeply for lowering the tone of Rantburg. The last sentence of the snark should have been:

"To whom do you go home, Bubba?"
Posted by: Mercutio || 07/24/2018 8:38 Comments || Top||

#5  Oh Mercutio, you are a delight!
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/24/2018 10:25 Comments || Top||

#6  TW_ will you send an email to my wife stating that? I'm afraid it would have to be notarized for her to believe it....
Posted by: Mercutio || 07/24/2018 10:59 Comments || Top||

#7  1) You should see some of his draft pictures back in 2000 - 2001; amazed he was drafted at all.
2) The same yahoos that are 'shaming' Tom will be rubbing his balls by October when they go 4-0.
Posted by: Raj || 07/24/2018 12:32 Comments || Top||

#8  rubbing his balls
Posted by: Skidmark || 07/24/2018 13:49 Comments || Top||

#9  If Giselle is happy with the dad bod I think we can all smile.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 07/24/2018 15:19 Comments || Top||

#10  TW_ will you send an email to my wife stating that?

Dear Mrs. Mercutio,

Your husband is always a perfect gentleman when he visits Rantburg. Were he ever to have acted otherwise, I was long ago given a lovely cluebat (decorated with the most charming periwinkle ribbons to match my highlight colour) with which to drive out those who misbehave. I should be delighted if you would join me for tea one day, and see for yourself.

Yours sincerely,
(Mrs) trailing wife
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/24/2018 18:44 Comments || Top||

#11  Dear Mrs. Mercutio,

And she is not afraid to use it when she feels it is necessary. She also has a periwinkle flamethrower, too, which she uses quite expertly. If your husband has never shown up at home black and blue and/or missing his eyebrows, please take that as a good sign.

Sincerely,

gorb

Posted by: gorb || 07/24/2018 20:34 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Thousands sign petition to let people DRINK red liquid found inside 2,000-year-old Egyptian sarcophagus believing it is the elixir of life while experts say it is just sewage water
[DailyMail] Ick.
Posted by: Skidmark || 07/24/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Could be BOTH, no? Set up a study, and let's see!
Posted by: Kojo Brown4675 || 07/24/2018 0:26 Comments || Top||

#2  Could be what killed him...
Posted by: CrazyFool || 07/24/2018 0:34 Comments || Top||

#3  Could it be Fireball? Because that's good shit, in small doses.
Posted by: Raj || 07/24/2018 0:47 Comments || Top||

#4  Chinese Emperor reportedly dies from eating mercury-based Pills of Immortality... Well, when you are dead you "can't die" -- so half correct?
Posted by: magpie || 07/24/2018 0:58 Comments || Top||

#5  I didn't know Egypt had liberals.
Posted by: gorb || 07/24/2018 1:56 Comments || Top||

#6  I drank this fizzy red liquid, it claimed it would give me wings, but I got a mahoosive hangover instead.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 07/24/2018 4:33 Comments || Top||

#7  I guess it depends on whether one believes in an immortal afterlife.
Posted by: Lumpy Turkeyneck8453 || 07/24/2018 5:35 Comments || Top||

#8  The elixir of life in a sarcophagus?

Back in college, in a game of D&D, one of the players said, "Wait, what's the amulet of immortality doing in a tomb?"
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 07/24/2018 7:11 Comments || Top||

#9  We just assume immortality means the living body lives on, could be the amulet allows the brain to lives on after death, leaving the corpse dreaming but unable to move forever.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 07/24/2018 10:24 Comments || Top||

#10  let 'em. either t works or the average IQ of humanity gets raised by a few points. Win-win.
Posted by: Mercutio || 07/24/2018 12:47 Comments || Top||


-Land of the Free
Manafort judge deals blow to Mueller probe
[NYP] A federal judge in Virginia agreed Monday to grant immunity to five potential witnesses in Paul Manafort’s upcoming trial ‐ but, in a blow to special counsel Robert Mueller, said their identities would be made public.

Mueller’s team wanted the identities of their witnesses to remain confidential, saying in a filing last week that they haven’t been criminally charged and not naming them would avoid "undue harassment."

But Judge T.S. Ellis, a Ronald Reagan appointee, said they would be identified.

He also ordered Mueller’s office to provide a list of about 30 witnesses to Manafort’s lawyers.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/24/2018 08:16 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  No, the Christopher Steele clandestine variety witnesses and witness statements really won't do this time Robert.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/24/2018 8:37 Comments || Top||

#2  Immunized and Anonymous isn't what Justice is - it's a Star Chamber/Kangaroo Court, asshole. Is there any bigger sign this is a political hit job by Mueller?
Posted by: Frank G || 07/24/2018 9:55 Comments || Top||

#3  Anonymous Witnesses ... "Okhrana witnesses say you are guilty! Then Off to Siberia!"
Posted by: magpie || 07/24/2018 11:00 Comments || Top||

#4  Not much of a blow, IMO.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 07/24/2018 11:09 Comments || Top||

#5  I can't believe that this motion was seriously made in the USA. Anonymous accusers who will pay no penalty for whatever they say?

Good for the judge in requiring them to be identified--and if they are accusing him, shouldn't they have to testify in open court like everyone else?
Posted by: Tom || 07/24/2018 11:59 Comments || Top||


Trump to award Medal of Honor to Vietnam veteran, 80
[DailyMail]
  • Marine veteran John Canley, 80, will finally be given a Medal of Honor after being denied the award 10 times

  • The retired sergeant major saved numerous lives during the Vietnam War

  • President Donald Trump called Canley with the news on July 9

  • He was previously denied because the recognition window had passed
Posted by: Skidmark || 07/24/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:


China-Japan-Koreas
Key PLA officers responsible for preparing use of force against Taiwan and USA


Posted by: 3dc || 07/24/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Curious that we've seen muslim terror events against the US in many parts of the world but not really any secondary effect attacks on satellite states.

Why has Taiwan(Formosa) not been victimized by Chinese Muslims(Hui or Uyghur) as a statement against the US?
Posted by: Skidmark || 07/24/2018 13:32 Comments || Top||


N Korea 'begins dismantling' rocket launch site
[BBC] North Korea appears to have begun dismantling part of a key rocket launch site in the country's north-west.

Satellite images of the Sohae station seen by US-based monitoring group 38 North suggest Pyongyang is complying with a promise made to the US in June.

President Donald Trump said North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un had vowed to destroy an engine test site, but did not specify which one.

Pyongyang has maintained that Sohae is a satellite launch site.

But US officials suspect that it has been used to test ballistic missiles.
Posted by: 3dc || 07/24/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Why don't they just tell us where they are, get out of the way, and we drop some Tomahawks on them?
Posted by: gorb || 07/24/2018 1:50 Comments || Top||


Down Under
Australia debates what to do without US Nuke Umbrella
[ASPI the Strategist] If the US nuclear umbrella folds … The choices for Australia
Posted by: 3dc || 07/24/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  they can attempt to dilute the advantages that nuclear weapons confer—advantages which would otherwise accrue to a set of states that did not wish them well

How?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 07/24/2018 0:04 Comments || Top||

#2  If the US nuclear umbrella folds..

...build your own umbrella? No need for pearl clutching here - just get it done.
Posted by: Raj || 07/24/2018 0:39 Comments || Top||

#3  Man Nuke up boys.
Posted by: Lumpy Turkeyneck8453 || 07/24/2018 4:10 Comments || Top||

#4  Forgive my ignorance, but why wouldn't Oz be under Great Britain's "nuke umbrella"?
Posted by: PBMcL || 07/24/2018 12:40 Comments || Top||

#5  Either way, it's a lot cheaper to just pay the 2% or whatever and be done with it.
Posted by: gorb || 07/24/2018 13:56 Comments || Top||

#6  AUs biggest threat is from migrating indonesians. WMD doesn't help that much.
Posted by: SKIDMARK || 07/24/2018 20:09 Comments || Top||

#7  why wouldn't Oz be under Great Britain's "nuke umbrella"?

Too far away? Supposedly even the Falklands are too far away in these difficult times.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/24/2018 21:33 Comments || Top||

#8  I suspect the Channel Islands will be to far away soon.
Posted by: ruprecht || 07/24/2018 23:10 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Pakistan election raises fears of 'creeping coup'
[BBC] A day before Pakistan's 11th national election, the country's dream of undiluted democracy appears to be receding - again.

In its 70-year history, Pakistan has alternated between quasi-democracy and pure military rule. In the process it has become embroiled in international conflicts and morphed into a home base for Islamist militancy.

Over the past decade, Pakistanis have witnessed democracy at its most undiluted thus far, but it's now under threat from what some say appears to be a "democratic coup" of sorts.

And just as in the past, the country's powerful military establishment remains the chief suspect behind the fresh round of political manipulation.

In the past, the military used to either stage a direct coup or use special powers to sack an elected government and then manipulate elections to ensure it wasn't re-elected.

In 2008, those special powers were done away with, leading to a first in 2013: an elected government completing its five-year term.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/24/2018 03:06 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Pakistan is what happens when the Deep State wins.
Posted by: Herb McCoy || 07/24/2018 6:11 Comments || Top||


Three arrested in Sanghar for marking ballot papers
[DAWN] Additional district coordinator for the national programme, Shama Gulani and four other government employees, Khalid Zahoor Baig, Arbab Zadi, Kalsoom and Jamna, were arrested after they were booked on the allegations of marking postal ballot in favour of a Pakistan Peoples Party candidate on Sunday.

The FIR was registered at the Shahdadpur police station on the complaint of the mukhtiarkar concerned.

The Sanghar deputy commissioner had held an inquiry on Tuesday into the allegations made by an independent candidate Hussain Bux Khaskheli, who had claimed that the suspects had marked the postal ballot papers of government employees at Shahdadpur Institute of medical sciences. He submitted certain evidence to substantiate his claim.

Meanwhile, in the wake of the alleged misappropriation and destruction of postal ballot papers in Khipro, the district returning officer concerned on Sunday suspended two court employees.

Ghulam Murtaza Channa, the reader at the court of the additional sessions judge of Khipro, and Muneer Tehlani, a clerk at the same court, were suspended over alleged misappropriation of the postal ballot papers pertaining to NA-216 Sanghar-II.

While an inquiry into the matter was underway, the returning officer concerned has claimed that he had issued 930 ballot papers, and not close to 1,200 as was alleged. He said he possessed complete record of the ballot papers he had issued so far.

Similar complaints were received from the Jam Nawaz Ali area and an inquiry was reported to have been ordered.

Posted by: Fred || 07/24/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Another woman lynched in India after WhatsApp rumours
[DAWN] A mob lynched a woman in India after rumours circulated on WhatsApp about child kidnappers, police said on Monday, days after the messaging firm said it was curbing the forwarding of messages.

More than 20 people have been killed in similar incidents in the past two months, leaving both the Indian authorities and Facebook-owned WhatsApp scrambling to find a solution in its biggest market.

Police said nine people have been tossed in the calaboose
Into the paddy wagon wit' yez!
and more are being sought after they found the middle-aged woman's mutilated body near a forest area in the Singrauli district of the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh on Sunday.

The accused men told police they caught hold of the woman late Saturday after finding her moving suspiciously and seeing a flurry of WhatsApp messages about gangs of child kidnappers in the area, local police chief Riyaz Iqbal told AFP.

"We are trying to identify the victim and have circulated her picture to all the cop shoppes," Singrauli police chief Riyaz Iqbal told AFP.

Last Thursday the Indian government threatened WhatsApp with legal action, saying the "medium" for spreading malicious rumours "cannot evade responsibility and accountability".

Posted by: Fred || 07/24/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Police book presiding officer in Karachi over charges of impersonation, forgery
[DAWN] Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
police on Monday booked a presiding officer over charges of impersonation, forgery and cheating on the orders of a judge of City Courts, said City Zone SSP Dr Samiullah Soomro.

Police have invoked Sections 419, 420, 468, 471 and 34 of the Pakistain Penal Code against DMC West Zone official Waheedullah, who was appointed as the presiding officer of PS-93 and PS-95 in Korangi district.

Sharing details of the case, SSP Soomro said that Waheedullah did not appear for his election training and instead sent someone else in his place.

Another polling officer present there brought the matter to the judge’s notice, upon which the judge called Waheedullah and informed police about the matter.

Subsequently, police started the paperwork but haven't done much else against Waheedullah over charges of impersonation, forgery and cheating.

Posted by: Fred || 07/24/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Man kills six in Chakwal ‘out of frustration’ before taking his own life, police say
[DAWN] A retired soldier allegedly shot and killed six people and injured six others ’out of frustration’ before taking his own life in Talagang tehsil of Chakwal district, Dawn reported.

The incident happened in the Darot village of Talagang tehsil on Monday evening when 50-year-old Mohammad Saeed opened indiscriminate fire on people near his house.

District Police Officer Adil Memon told Dawn that Saeed was a retired soldier who had married four times. He had divorced his first three wives and was in the midst of a civil litigation with a former wife who filed a maintenance suit in Attock after getting divorced. Memon said Saeed was depressed because of the ongoing litigation.

"Saeed did not have any animosity with anyone and carried out the shooting out of frustration," the police official said.

According to police and eyewitnesses, Saeed opened indiscriminate fire at people sitting in front of shops and a hotel at a local market near his home. Resultantly, six people went titzup while another six were maimed. Saeed then shot himself.

Posted by: Fred || 07/24/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Because killing others when your life doesn't play out the way you wanted it to do is such a MATURE ADULT response.
Posted by: 3dc || 07/24/2018 5:48 Comments || Top||

#2  Fortunately, stuff like that doesn't happen here or Canada. Oh, wait, never mind.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/24/2018 9:30 Comments || Top||


International-UN-NGOs
Most Germans think Europe can defend itself without US help: Poll
[AlAhram] More than half of Germans think Europe
...also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
can defend itself without military backing from the United States, a poll showed on Monday,
...quitting NATO makes sense in that scenario. But against whom might they be defending?
less than two weeks after U.S. President 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...
said he could withdraw support. Only 37 percent of respondents said they believed Europe depended on U.S. military help, the Forsa poll showed.

The survey found no significant difference between eastern German regions and western areas, which have stronger historical ties to the United States. In the east, 60 percent thought Europe did not need Washington, and in the west, 55 percent.

Trump gave an ultimatum to European allies on July 12, warning a NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the cut of the American pants...
summit the United States could withdraw its support if Europe did not share more of what he called an unfair burden on U.S. taxpayers in funding the alliance.

In a rebuke to German Chancellor Angela Merkel
...chancellor of Germany and the impetus behind Germany's remarkably ill-starred immigration program. Merkel used to be referred to by Germans as Mom. Now they make faces at her for inundating the country with Moslems ..
, he also called Germany a "captive" of Moscow because, he said, Berlin supported a Baltic Sea gas pipeline from Russia.

About 84 percent of respondents said Trump's comments about Russia controlling Germany were "completely absurd", according to the poll which surveyed 1,004 Germans.

Even more - 92 percent - said they suspected that Trump's motive for making the comments was primarily to promote the sale of U.S. liquefied gas in Europe and Germany.

Two thirds said they supported the construction of the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea pipeline because it would help provide Germany with a more reliable supply of natural gas.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/24/2018 00:22 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Good news, good news. More support for us to get the hell out of there. Close the bases and bring the troops home. Europeans can well afford to defend themselves.
Posted by: Herb McCoy || 07/24/2018 0:35 Comments || Top||

#2  I'd say move a good chunk of them to Poland and bring the rest back to be deployed somewhere on the US / Mexican border with shoot to kill orders.
Posted by: Raj || 07/24/2018 0:43 Comments || Top||

#3  I stopped after "Most Germans think".
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 07/24/2018 0:44 Comments || Top||

#4  Can and will are two different things.
Posted by: Lumpy Turkeyneck8453 || 07/24/2018 4:04 Comments || Top||

#5  not while spending 1% on defense.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 07/24/2018 4:07 Comments || Top||

#6  Most other Europeans think they need the US to defend against Germany (again).
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 07/24/2018 4:38 Comments || Top||

#7  Can definitely see Germany and Russia divvying up Europe again and with the same tragic consequences.
Posted by: Lumpy Turkeyneck8453 || 07/24/2018 5:20 Comments || Top||

#8  Even more - 92 percent - said they suspected that Trump's motive for making the comments was primarily to promote the sale of U.S. liquefied gas in Europe and Germany.

We'd rather burn it at home. Better yet, ban the import of German cars and aircraft and they won't need so much Russian gas.
Posted by: Lumpy Turkeyneck8453 || 07/24/2018 5:22 Comments || Top||

#9  We should make it clear to the people of Germany that in making this critical choice they understand that the people and nation of the USA will never pick up their pieces when they fuck it up again like they always do.
Posted by: 3dc || 07/24/2018 5:46 Comments || Top||

#10  Not to Poland, to the southern border. Why are we worried about thousands of miles away, when the first mile of our own territory is breached?

...quitting NATO makes sense in that scenario. But against whom might they be defending?

The Poles? I recall a Polish army reaching Vienna to deal with another Islamic invasion (BTW, seems the Bavarians and Austrians were in that one too dealing with the pillagers, looters and the like).
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/24/2018 7:23 Comments || Top||

#11  Lessee... this would be the Bundeswehr? The German national army that had troops drilling with sticks a while back because they didn't have enough rifles? Of course, the sticks WERE painted black... that's gotta count for something.
Posted by: Mercutio || 07/24/2018 8:33 Comments || Top||

#12  yep - for all of 10 minutes
Posted by: Rex Mundi || 07/24/2018 10:12 Comments || Top||

#13  Can definitely see Germany and Russia divvying up Europe again and with the same tragic consequences.

German society is no longer in a conquering mindset — look at the current shortage of men and women willing to put on the uniform. Should the current invasion of Germany be successful, that will be a different story, but Russia would not be conniving to divide the continent with a caliphate. Russia would be allying with Poland and America to reconquer it.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/24/2018 10:33 Comments || Top||

#14  so Jack... you seem to be 3 for 3...trying for a record? or your pantyfa merit badge?
Posted by: Mercutio || 07/24/2018 10:57 Comments || Top||

#15  It's a BS question. Defend itself against what exactly?
Posted by: European Conservative || 07/24/2018 12:41 Comments || Top||

#16  If what is not known then there is no reason for them to be in something like NATO because they obvious miss totally Mattis's point of: “be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet"
Posted by: 3dc || 07/24/2018 12:56 Comments || Top||

#17  See? Exactly. No enemies about. No enemies means you don't need a military. It's win-win for everyone!

USA out of NATO. Bring the troops home. Not to Poland, not to the Middle East. Home. Spend the savings on our own people, who badly need it.
Posted by: Herb McCoy || 07/24/2018 13:24 Comments || Top||

#18  I'm serious. Should we expect a Russian invasion of Poland, with a march to the Rhine? Highly unlikely. Which means that NATO needs to redefine itself. The Russian threat is slow destabilization of Europe, not an open attack. The weapons against this are not the same.

NATO is much more likely to be a fast and mean intervention force to counter threats wherever they may arise. Much more likely North Africa and the Middle East.
Posted by: European Conservative || 07/24/2018 13:35 Comments || Top||

#19  Threats in North Africa and the Middle East? What threats? Those aren't threats. Those are meddling opportunities.

NATO was formed to deal with Russia. Russia isn't a threat any more, get rid of NATO. End of story. Close the bases, bring the troops home, spend the money on ourselves instead. Why should we be paying for the defense of people who refuse to pay for themselves?

Oh, I get it. The Middle East and North Africa are threats to Europe, which need to be paid for by America. Yeah, fuck that noise. Pay for it yourselves, you ungrateful jerks.
Posted by: Herb McCoy || 07/24/2018 13:56 Comments || Top||

#20  Really. Then why did the US invoke Chapter 5 in 2001? Why are German troops in Afghanistan? Defending Germany?
Posted by: European Conservative || 07/24/2018 13:59 Comments || Top||

#21  If you let enemy #1 into your borders, give them big checks to live on and tolerate it when they rape your people defense; and by the bulk of your energy from enemy #2, it may be a bit too late anyway.

The real question is will we allow German refugees in when the time comes. I'm Kind of thinking if it gets to that, that they had their chance and Darwin selected them out.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 07/24/2018 15:17 Comments || Top||

#22  First of all, the German troops in Afghanistan have such restricted ROE as to be useless.

Second, we shouldn't be in Afghanistan at all. Trump tried to pull us out only to be blocked by the military industrial complex, which doesn't want their profitable war to stop.

Third, that's whataboutism that does not address the inexplicable American subsidies for wealthy First World nations.

Pay for your own defense. You can easily afford it.
Posted by: Herb McCoy || 07/24/2018 15:49 Comments || Top||

#23  #18 I'm serious. Should we expect a Russian invasion of Poland, with a march to the Rhine?

Ask Ukraine.
Posted by: bbrewer126 || 07/24/2018 21:11 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
What religion does to your brain
[MedicalNewsToday] Whether or not a divine power truly does exist might be a matter of opinion, but the neurophysiological effects of religious belief are scientific facts that can be accurately measured. Here, we take a look at some of these effects, as shown by the latest research.

Whether you are a staunch atheist, a reserved agnostic, or a devout believer, you are equally likely to find the effects of religion on human brains astonishing.

Religious belief can increase our lifespan and help us better cope with disease.
So what religions did the subjects in their test group subscribe to? Did the results apply to all tested religions the same?
And, research in the field of "neurotheology" ‐ or the neuroscience of theological belief ‐ has made some surprising discoveries that are bound to change how we think about spirituality.

For instance, some scientists suggest that religious experience activates the same brain circuits as sex and drugs.

Other research has suggested that damage to a certain brain region can make you feel as though someone's in the room when nobody's there. Such findings have intriguing implications for how religion affects health, and vice-versa.

Also, do the neurobiological underpinnings of religious experience mean that it could be artificially recreated? If a divine experience proves to be biologically predetermined, does having the right scientific information enable us to create the illusion of a god?
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/24/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I think I just figured out why vegetarians live longer . . . .
Posted by: gorb || 07/24/2018 1:51 Comments || Top||

#2  Marxism is a religion as well.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 07/24/2018 4:55 Comments || Top||

#3  Effects of moon goddess death cult?
Posted by: Woodrow || 07/24/2018 6:26 Comments || Top||

#4  Well, those who worship the god of Power, the Left, seem to go batsh*t crazy when they're cast out.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/24/2018 9:32 Comments || Top||

#5  #1 I think I just figured out why vegetarians live longer . . . .--gorb
Immortal because every day without a juicy burger is an eternity?
Posted by: magpie || 07/24/2018 9:59 Comments || Top||

#6  Whether you are a staunch atheist, a reserved agnostic, or a devout believer, you are equally likely to find the effects of religion on human brains astonishing.

Yeah, I still have bouts of fuckedupedness.
Posted by: Skidmark || 07/24/2018 13:42 Comments || Top||


Government
EPA under Pruitt slashed $350 million in regulations, 300,000 hours of red tape
h/t Instapundit
The Environmental Protection Agency under former Administrator Scott Pruitt led the administration’s successful war on regulations, slashing enough to produce $350 million in savings and eliminate 300,000 hours of paperwork.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 07/24/2018 10:16 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The reason why he died the death of a thousand cuts in the media
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 07/24/2018 10:39 Comments || Top||

#2  "eliminate 300,000 hours of paperwork"

Now we know why he had to go. Reducing paperwork is truly the unforgivable sin in any bureaucracy.
Posted by: Tom || 07/24/2018 12:01 Comments || Top||

#3  A good start.
Posted by: Iblis || 07/24/2018 13:35 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
American Association of University Professors Endorses Censorship on Campus, Attacks First Amendment
h/t Gates of Vienna
[Breitbart] A new program from the American Association of University Professors called "One Faculty, One Resistance," seeks to shut down campus free speech legislation that is designed to prevent the censorship of invited speakers on public campuses.

"’Campus free-speech’ bills actually seek to suppress speech by creating a litigious environment and imposing minimum penalties on protesters," the group wrote in a bizarre document about new campus free speech laws.

The group is transparent in their anti-free speech stance. They write that they are concerned about new state laws that punish students who shut down guest speaker events. In some states, students could face expulsion or suspension up to one year for interfering with the free expression of others.
If only all these students actually had to study...
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 07/24/2018 00:26 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  From the same source:

Columbia University: K-12 Teachers Should be ‘Agents of Social Justice’

Your tax dollars at work.

Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 07/24/2018 0:34 Comments || Top||

#2  Unexpectedly™...
Posted by: magpie || 07/24/2018 0:59 Comments || Top||

#3  Shut down the subsidies to wackademia.

Make unis that do negative economic value courses fund them out of their trusts...

They need to be on the hook for the loans if the student doesn't pay it back in a reasonably short time.

Debt must only be used when the economic value created is greater than the interest payment plus borrowing.

Since wymens "studies" etc are all negative on post-graduation pay, they'll wither once the uni staff have to fund it or take lower pay.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 07/24/2018 4:14 Comments || Top||

#4  Agree. Government subsidy of education should be limited to creating productive citizens and future tax revenue.
Posted by: Lumpy Turkeyneck8453 || 07/24/2018 5:31 Comments || Top||

#5  Since Subsidy lowers quality the only way is to end government subsidy of all education.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 07/24/2018 5:46 Comments || Top||

#6  The opposite of diversity is university.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/24/2018 7:24 Comments || Top||

#7  Disagree. Those born in lower classes can be smart, even brilliant. Why waste their intellectual talents because their parents can't afford to send them to college?
Posted by: Lumpy Turkeyneck8453 || 07/24/2018 7:27 Comments || Top||

#8  The profs are right, their insane desire to suppress freedom should be punished by the government. I'm sure Russia would happily put them in a Gulag for a small cash payment.
Posted by: Silentbrick || 07/24/2018 9:57 Comments || Top||

#9  Hillsdale College.
Posted by: JohnQC || 07/24/2018 23:55 Comments || Top||



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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.
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Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
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Two weeks of WOT
Tue 2018-07-24
  2 Syrian missiles with half-ton warheads trigger Israel's anti-missile system
Mon 2018-07-23
  Several dead in Kabul suicide blast as exiled VP Dostum returns
Sun 2018-07-22
  Iraq protests death toll reaches 11 amid ongoing popular unrest
Sat 2018-07-21
  Rebels handover more towns to ISIS in southwest Syria
Fri 2018-07-20
  Senegal convicts 13 suspected Boko Haram fighters
Thu 2018-07-19
  26 persons killed in regime offensive on Daraa and Qunaitra
Wed 2018-07-18
  15 Afghan Taliban killed in attack by suspected IS rivals
Tue 2018-07-17
  Israeli army drills for Gaza incursion, in apparent warning to Hamas
Mon 2018-07-16
  Boko Haram overruns Nigerian military base
Sun 2018-07-15
  Palestinian killed in mysterious Gaza blast identified as head of rocket unit
Sat 2018-07-14
  Nawaz Sharif, daughter arrested upon arrival in Lahore
Fri 2018-07-13
  Afghan forces have reportedly suffered heavy casualties in Kunduz attack
Thu 2018-07-12
  Germany arrests Iran ‘spy’ on bomb plot charges
Wed 2018-07-11
  Gazan kites burn 150 acres in Israel’s south
Tue 2018-07-10
   All the boys and their coach are out of the Tham Luang cave. Navy Seals and the doctor still yet to exit.-Twitter news from Sydney


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