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Exodus from last IS enclave overwhelms Syria force
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Page 3: Non-WoT
11 16:27 Procopius2k [4] 
5 18:44 AlmostAnonymous5839 [9] 
1 08:51 Uleck Spererong9442 [4] 
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1 08:21 George Oming4006 [5] 
2 19:40 Procopius2k [8] 
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1 08:29 Uleck Spererong9442 [5] 
1 08:26 Slusons Fillmore8974 [4] 
1 08:24 Herb Grundy4403 [10] 
1 14:56 49 Pan [7] 
11 18:01 Glealing Turkeyneck5620 [5] 
Page 1: WoT Operations
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4 22:59 Captain Unereling3957 [17]
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Page 2: WoT Background
8 18:01 chris [5]
2 13:28 trailing wife [5]
7 09:35 AlanC [10]
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3 10:57 Chesney Crusoling7096 [8]
2 07:24 g(r)omgoru [7]
2 09:49 DarthVader [11]
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4 16:39 magpie [5]
1 12:36 trailing wife [5]
1 10:51 Chesney Crusoling7096 [8]
1 12:24 Bevis [9]
1 10:54 Chesney Crusoling7096 [10]
3 09:56 Thing From Snowy Mountain [9]
Page 4: Opinion
3 23:31 Chunky Sleating6286 [8]
11 23:10 rjschwarz [6]
1 09:41 Deacon Blues [2]
2 16:37 magpie [4]
5 16:23 Anguper Hupomosing9418 [5]
1 10:16 rjschwarz [4]
7 21:30 Besoeker [8]
16 23:34 al aSha-med [7]
8 20:38 Frank G [6]
2 08:49 Frank G [12]
2 12:11 Anguper Hupomosing9418 [8]
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15 20:12 Anomalous Sources [12]
Page 6: Politix
25 20:36 Frank G [6]
4 12:14 Besoeker [9]
8 15:55 Woodrow [5]
4 18:03 746 [4]
-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Boys Transgender sprinters finish 1st, 2nd at Connecticut girls indoor track championships
[WASHINGTONTIMES]
Posted by: Fred || 02/25/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The old joke: Boys run faster because they have two ball bearings and a stick shift...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/25/2019 0:17 Comments || Top||

#2  So, girls, how do you like it?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/25/2019 2:07 Comments || Top||

#3  The obvious solution is to do away with such segregation and have just one event for all.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/25/2019 6:49 Comments || Top||

#4  Martina Navratilova 1, SJWs 0.
Posted by: gorb || 02/25/2019 7:42 Comments || Top||

#5  Is this the end of women's sports?
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 02/25/2019 7:56 Comments || Top||

#6  Seems only fair that if they want to run as girls, they do it post-orchidectomy, preferably within a half hour of said procedure.
Posted by: Cheresing Pelosi7414 || 02/25/2019 8:53 Comments || Top||

#7  Connecticut only has two steers in track?
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/25/2019 10:32 Comments || Top||

#8  Everybody got a participation trophy, so it's cool.
Posted by: regular joe || 02/25/2019 13:21 Comments || Top||

#9  This would seem the nonsensical way to end Title 9 Nonsense™ ... Unisex Sports for Everyone. Or was ending fun things like sports their real objective...?
Posted by: magpie || 02/25/2019 14:44 Comments || Top||

#10  Any opinions from the girls in Boy Scouts about this article?
Posted by: Airandee || 02/25/2019 17:54 Comments || Top||

#11  Is this the end of women's sports?

Oh NO, not girls volleyball!
Posted by: Glealing Turkeyneck5620 || 02/25/2019 18:01 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Polls close and counting begins in Senegal presidential vote
[Al Jazeera] Polls have closed in Senegal
... a nation of about 14 million on the west coast of Africa bordering Mauretania to the north, Mali to the east, and a pair of Guineas to the south, one of them Bissau. It is 90 percent Mohammedan and has more than 80 political parties. Its primary purpose seems to be absorbing refugees...
and ballots are being counted after millions took part in the West African country's presidential election.

Long queues formed early Sunday morning outside polling stations in the capital, Dakar - home to more than 1.6 million of 6.6 million registered voters.

Voting centres opened at 0800GMT and closed at 1800GMT, with preliminary results out on Tuesday and the official tally out on Friday.

A candidate must secure more than 50 percent of the votes to be declared the winner.

If no contestant wins a majority, a runoff between the two leading candidates will be held on March 24.

President Macky Sall, who came to power in 2012, is widely expected to win the poll.

Sall, who is seeking a second and final term in office, became the frontrunner after two of Senegal's most well-known opposition leaders were barred from running in the election.

Posted by: Fred || 02/25/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:


Caribbean-Latin America
Colombia reports 100+ venezualian troops defect
[ElNacional] Hasta el momento, Migración Colombia ha atendido a un poco más de cien miembros de las Fuerzas Armadas de Venezuela, que han salido de su país, escapando de la dictadura de Maduro", indicó Migración Colombia en un comunicado.
translation
So far, Migración Colombia has served a little over one hundred members of the Armed Forces of Venezuela, who have left their country, escaping from the Maduro dictatorship, "said Migración Colombia in a statement.

Christian Kruger, director de la autoridad migratoria colombiana, explicó que los desertores reciben un salvoconducto temporal, mientras se estudia caso por caso "quién es la persona y cuál es el argumento que está dando para la concesión del refugio".
translation
Christian Kruger, director of the Colombian immigration authority, explained that deserters receive a temporary safe-conduct, while studying individuals on a case by case basis "identifying the person and their reason for asking for refuge.
Posted by: lord garth || 02/25/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hyperinflation plus rampant corruption. I wonder when was the last time those soldiers were properly fed, much less paid a meaningful salary?
Posted by: magpie || 02/25/2019 16:43 Comments || Top||

#2  Form camps in Columbia.
Take these and all adults of military age.
Begin training.

Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/25/2019 19:40 Comments || Top||


UN condemns the "excessive use" of force by military and "progovernment" groups in Venezuela
[ELUNIVERSAL] Michelle Bachelet, high commissioner for Human Rights, said that the action of security forces and pro-government groups have left at least four dead and more than 300 injured
Posted by: Fred || 02/25/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Michelle, ma belle, must not have read the morning brief - everyone at the UN knows it's Trump's fault.
Posted by: Slusons Fillmore8974 || 02/25/2019 8:26 Comments || Top||


Colonel of the Brazilian Army stares down two Venezuelan armored vehicles
[TWITTER]

Posted by: Fred || 02/25/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Those look to be UN vehicles, painted white and all.
Posted by: 49 Pan || 02/25/2019 14:56 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
U.S., North Korea could agree to end Korean War at Vietnam summit: Yonhap
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea’s presidential office said on Monday the United States and North Korea could agree to declare the end of the 1950-1953 Korean War in a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the Yonhap news agency reported.

"The possibility is there," presidential office spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom told a press briefing in Seoul when asked if an end-of-war declaration was on the summit agenda, according to Yonhap.

The two leaders will meet in Hanoi on Wednesday and Thursday, eight months after their historic summit in Singapore, the first between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader, where they pledged to work toward the complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/25/2019 02:52 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  If O could stop the sea levels rising, why couldn’t he have done this?
Posted by: Uleck Spererong9442 || 02/25/2019 8:51 Comments || Top||


N. Korea state media slams US critics of Trump-Kim summit
[PULSE.NG] Pyongyang's state media on Sunday slammed US critics of the planned meeting between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un a day after the North Korean leader boarded an armoured train en route to the summit venue in Vietnam.
Posted by: Fred || 02/25/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Who would have guessed ?
Posted by: Uleck Spererong9442 || 02/25/2019 8:29 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Bernie says Maduro should let aid in. Roger Waters goes after Bernie
Bernie tweeted
[Twitch] The people of Venezuela are enduring a serious humanitarian crisis. The Maduro government must put the needs of its people first, allow humanitarian aid into the country, and refrain from violence against protesters. 1:47 PM - Feb 23, 2019
then Roger Waters tweeted
Bernie, are you f-ing kidding me! if you buy the Trump, Bolton, Abrams, Rubio line, "humanitarian intervention" and collude in the destruction of Venezuela, you cannot be credible candidate for President of the USA. Or, maybe you can, maybe you're the perfect stooge for the 1 %. 5:27 PM - Feb 23, 2019
from there, others tweeted back to Roger
Posted by: lord garth || 02/25/2019 08:03 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Schnork!
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/25/2019 8:17 Comments || Top||

#2  It's fun to go over to ZeroHedge and write "F*ck communists" in the comments and get 12 downvotes immediately...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/25/2019 8:19 Comments || Top||

#3  So Waters advocates the Joe Stalin approach to political dissent?
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 02/25/2019 12:11 Comments || Top||

#4  Waters makes the word vile a compliment...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/25/2019 12:43 Comments || Top||

#5  The irony is an Vermont Socialist calling for other peoples money and products be made available for the victims of a Venezuelan Socialist.
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 02/25/2019 18:44 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
'Robbers' booked for murder of medical student Nimra in Karachi
Was it also a ‘murder’?
[DAWN] Police on Sunday started the paperwork but haven't done much else against four suspected robbers for the murder of a 20-year-old medical student in 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...
who was killed in crossfire between police and the 'robbers' on Friday night.

The first information report (FIR), a copy of which is available with DawnNewsTV was filed against the suspected robbers under sections pertaining to police encounter, murder, attempted murder and terrorism.

The FIR was registered at the Sir Syed cop shoppe on the complaint of policeman Adnan who serves at the Noorjahan cop shoppe.

According to the report, Constable Adnan was patrolling near Farooq Azam Masjid in K Sector of North Nazimabad with other coppers when he first encountered the suspects and cautioned them to stop. The suspects, however, responded by opening fire and attempted to flee.

Subsequently, the coppers chased the four suspects who were riding two motorcyles. One of the two bikes managed to escape due to traffic near the Sakhi Hassan round. The second bike turned to the Anda Mor area where another encounter took place.

According to the FIR, both the suspected robbers were maimed during the encounter. Later, one of the two succumbed to his wounds. Police also recovered two pistols from the possession of the two suspects.

The FIR stated that police later discovered a girl was fatally injured during the crossfire.

Although police claim that Nimra Baig, 20, was killed by firing by the 'robbers' on Friday night, a post-mortem examination carried out at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre revealed that the bullet that hit her was fired by a "high-speed velocity weapon", which apparently refers to sub-machine guns in the use of police. Pistols commonly used by robbers do not qualify as high-speed velocity weapons.
Posted by: Fred || 02/25/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  So given the frequency of "robber" shootouts, I have to assume "robber" is a euphemism or term or art for something else - any ideas?
Posted by: Herb Grundy4403 || 02/25/2019 8:24 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
Israeli lunar spacecraft successfully completes first maneuver
A cute little video of the planned maneuvers can be seen at the link.
[IsraelTimes] Israel’s first lunar-bound spacecraft successfully completes its first maneuver after its first orbit around the earth, according to the team behind the privately funded Beresheet project.

According to a joint statement from IAI and SpaceIL, the 30-second maneuver, made 69,400 kilometers from earth, enabled the spacecraft to edge closer to the moon, where it will eventually be captured in lunar orbit.

The maneuver "will increase the spacecraft’s closest point of approach to Earth to a distance of 600 kilometers," the statement sayd.

"This is the first time Beresheet’s main engine was activated ‐ the maneuver was completed successfully!" it adds.

The next maneuver is scheduled for tomorrow night.

Beresheet, which means "Genesis" in Hebrew, lifted from Cape Canaveral in Florida early Friday morning atop a Falcon 9 rocket from the private US-based SpaceX company of entrepreneur Elon Musk.

The Israeli craft was placed in Earth orbit, from where it will use its own engine to undertake a seven-week trip to reach the Moon and touch down on April 11 in a large plain.

If successful, Beresheet will make history twice: as the first private-sector landing on the Moon, and the first from the Jewish state.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/25/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Beresheet - insert Pope in the woods joke here.
Posted by: George Oming4006 || 02/25/2019 8:21 Comments || Top||


Government
Homes for $1 in St. Louis' new homesteading program
[St. Louis Post Dispatch] ST. LOUIS • Beatrice Burt has a favorite memory of the home she bought for $1.

"The basement was crowded, the upstairs was crowded, the whole side of the street was lined with cars," said Burt, 71, smiling broadly as she recalled hosting a big family reunion when she was a young woman.

Burt said she was thrilled to show off her first home, a one-story brick bungalow in the Walnut Park East neighborhood.

Sold in 1978 by the city, 5506 Gilmore Avenue was move-in ready. But with the help of her father, Burt replaced the kitchen tile, bought new bathroom fixtures, did minor electrical work and decorated. In the first five years, Burt estimated she put about $10,000 worth of work into the property.

She lived in the house for 15 years, but after she became ill and then had to take care of her aging parents, she allowed relatives to stay in her home. The house has since been torn down, and a church uses the lot for parking.

Burt, who now lives in Hamilton Heights, said she still considers herself fortunate.

"It was definitely a good house, and I was a single individual so it was ample space," she said.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/25/2019 09:31 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  But the gunshot bill is unlimited.
Posted by: Chesney Crusoling7096 || 02/25/2019 11:03 Comments || Top||

#2  Do they throw in an AR-15 and 600 rounds of ammo? (so do I need to put a /sarc on that?)
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/25/2019 11:04 Comments || Top||

#3  Gives new meaning to the phrase "shotgun shack".
Posted by: SteveS || 02/25/2019 11:55 Comments || Top||

#4  Watch this quickly morf into a home appraisal and borrowing scam.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/25/2019 12:09 Comments || Top||

#5  "Sold in 1978 by the city,"

begs the question: From whom did they steal it?
Posted by: Glaque Henbane3719 || 02/25/2019 12:26 Comments || Top||

#6  If the land title is really worth only a dollar then that means the people around there add in total only one dollar after all those working and benefits are added...
For the maths challenged it means there's a lot of wealth damaging people nearby.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 02/25/2019 12:46 Comments || Top||

#7  The USA has a vast number of "wealth damaging people" but they tend to live elsewhere.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 02/25/2019 16:11 Comments || Top||

#8  A scarcely publicized ongoing scam is the sale of huge amounts of "nonperforming" mortgages by government-sponsored entities to cronies such as big banks and the well-connected. In ye olden times a non-performing mortgage was settled on the steps of the nearest courthouse at a sheriff's auction by sale to the highest bidder, in other words, liquidate the bad loan & move on from there. That is no longer the American way.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 02/25/2019 16:13 Comments || Top||

#9  Many land parcels in the USA, particularly in places like parts of St. Louis, have a negative value. Even $1 paid is far too much.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 02/25/2019 16:14 Comments || Top||

#10  Ref #9: Yes, some areas and water found out in St. Chas County have been found to be.... not so healthy. Elevated cancer rates, etc. The closer you get to the old ammo plant (Now Busch Wildlife Center), the less healthy.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/25/2019 16:23 Comments || Top||

#11  And then there are the property taxes. You think it will be valued at $1 for the county records?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/25/2019 16:27 Comments || Top||


Special ops to turn focus from war on terror to China, Russia
[Wash Times] America’s elite special operations forces are getting new marching orders as the Pentagon moves away from its post-9/11 focus on radical terrorist groups and trains its eye on big-power rivals such as China and Russia.

In a major shift of mission, officials at U.S. Special Operations Command are drafting new guidance to reorient its cadre of top-tier military units to fight the expanding armies and navies of what U.S. strategists call "near-peer" powers.

Under the guidance, which is still pending approval by command chief Gen. Raymond A. Thomas III, U.S. special operations fighters will be taking a larger role in cyberwarfare, information and "influence" ‐ digital age propaganda ‐ operations, sources say, as well as training allies in the new skills.

"It is fair to say you will see a rebranding of special operations forces," Andrew Knaggs, deputy assistant secretary of defense for special operations and combating terrorism, said earlier this month. "Our problems will not be addressed through conventional deterrence alone."
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/25/2019 02:23 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under:



Who's in the News
27[untagged]
6Govt of Pakistan
4Taliban
4Commies
4Islamic State
3Govt of Iran
3Hamas
3Hezbollah
2al-Shabaab (AQ)
2Jaish-e-Mohammad
2Sublime Porte
1Baloch Liberation Army
1Govt of Sudan
1Houthis
1al-Qaeda in North Africa
1Jamaat-e-Ulema Islami
1Arab Spring

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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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Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2019-02-25
  Exodus from last IS enclave overwhelms Syria force
Sun 2019-02-24
  Iran Hacks Into CENTCOM, Crashes MQ-9 Reaper Drone (video)
Sat 2019-02-23
  Thousands of Palestinians break into closed off Temple Mount section, 60 arrested overnight
Fri 2019-02-22
  Father of Alabama ‘ISIS Bride' Files Lawsuit to Overturn Decision to Block Her Return
Thu 2019-02-21
  German police raid 16 homes of suspected Islamic extremists
Wed 2019-02-20
  Suddenly, haha, stateless.
Tue 2019-02-19
  IS Defends Final Pocket of dying Caliphate' in Syria
Mon 2019-02-18
  India withdraws security for Kashmiri separatists stoking fears
Sun 2019-02-17
  Venezuelan fitness model bitten on bottom by wild pig (VIDEO)
Sat 2019-02-16
  52 Syrians Detained in Turkey over ISIS Links
Fri 2019-02-15
  44 Indian security personnel killed in held Kashmir attack
Thu 2019-02-14
  Deir Ezzor: ISIS nearly wiped out in eastern Euphrates region as SDF troops capture Baghouz – map
Wed 2019-02-13
  Deir Ezzor: Nearly 70 human shields killed, US demands ISIS pay 40 tons of gold
Tue 2019-02-12
  Germany closes Muslim kindergarten over Islamist links
Mon 2019-02-11
  Nearly 50 British ISIS members refusing to surrender in Syria


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