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Iraq launches new military operation against ISIS 4 provinces
Today's Headlines
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Page 3: Non-WoT
1 23:15 g(r)omgoru [16] 
4 19:26 magpie [10] 
4 21:48 Chris [10] 
2 11:57 Procopius2k [7] 
2 14:31 Dron66046 [10] 
1 11:58 M. Murcek [6] 
6 19:01 Procopius2k [5] 
8 21:55 Lex [6] 
4 13:27 M. Murcek [10] 
12 22:02 Lex [15] 
8 22:58 g(r)omgoru [13] 
7 12:35 Lex [7] 
3 18:31 Lex [4] 
11 14:21 Bright Pebbles [10] 
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1 12:19 charger [6] 
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1 09:03 Skidmark [9] 
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4 13:34 DarthVader [8] 
4 23:12 g(r)omgoru [18] 
3 13:12 M. Murcek [5] 
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Page 2: WoT Background
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Page 4: Opinion
3 14:24 Bright Pebbles [16]
4 20:29 magpie [7]
14 13:12 charger [8]
1 15:36 M. Murcek [4]
5 19:03 Lex [2]
12 16:10 Besoeker [13]
5 20:43 Lex [5]
4 11:51 M. Murcek [6]
2 04:08 Lex [17]
Page 6: Politix
12 15:26 Alaska Paul [7]
6 22:21 Lex [9]
5 14:26 M. Murcek [5]
8 12:24 charger [10]
-Lurid Crime Tales-
Mass killings hit new high: 210 people were killed in 41 attacks including 33 mass shootings in the US during 2019
Posted by: Skidmark || 12/29/2019 09:35 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Bonus Question...what per cent of 320 million is 210?
Posted by: Cesare || 12/29/2019 12:10 Comments || Top||

#2  And how many individual killings involved nothing but hands?
Posted by: Glenmore || 12/29/2019 13:56 Comments || Top||

#3  How many shooters were felons in illegal possession of a weapon? How many were in possession of a weapon obtained illegally? How many were NRA members (trick question)? How many were not "angry white men?"
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/29/2019 15:56 Comments || Top||

#4  How many shootings were stopped with a gun?
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 12/29/2019 17:36 Comments || Top||

#5  How many died on the roads? How many of those involved DUI? How many were driving under revoked licenses? How many involved illegals?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/29/2019 19:33 Comments || Top||

#6  And what is the definition of a "mass shooting?" Does it, perhaps, include gang drive-by or one of those "kill spouse and kids and then self" shootings?
Posted by: james || 12/29/2019 21:43 Comments || Top||

#7  ^ obviously not.

IIUC a not insignificant % of the shootings in SW / W Chicago and other BINASH-regions are counted in "mass shootings."
Posted by: Lex || 12/29/2019 21:54 Comments || Top||

#8  ^ I meant, obviously they SHOULD NOT be counted, but in fact they ARE counted as "mass shootings"
Posted by: Lex || 12/29/2019 21:55 Comments || Top||


UN extends probe into mysterious 1961 (very cold case) death of Secretary-General Hammarskjold
[France24] The United Nations General Assembly on Friday approved a resolution extending the investigation into the mysterious 1961 death of secretary-general Dag Hammarskjold.

The Swedish diplomat had been travelling in southern Africa for a mission when his plane crashed.

The text, initiated by Sweden and co-sponsored by more than 100 countries, was adopted by consensus without a vote.

Sweden recommended the reappointment of Tanzanian lawyer Mohamed Chande Othman, who has led the investigation for several years.

In his last report, published in early October, Othman accused the United States and Britain of withholding information regarding Hammarskjold's death.

Only the second secretary-general in the history of the UN, Hammarskjold was killed along with 15 other people on September 18, 1961 when their plane crashed near the city of Ndola in what was then known as Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia.

At the time, he was seeking to unite Congo and stop the mineral-rich Katanga province from seceding.

Two investigations concluded the crash was caused by pilot error. But since 2014, new probes have focused on a possible plot, a theory enforced by Othman's most recent report.

"South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States must be almost certain to hold important undisclosed information," he wrote.

The resolution urged member states, "in particular those referred to in the report, to release any relevant records in their possession."

In his report, Othman mentioned the likelihood that UN member states intercepted communications related to the crash, as well as the existence of Katangan air assets that could have attacked the secretary-general's plane.

He also cited the presence of foreign forces, including pilots and intelligence agents, on the ground at the time of the crash.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/29/2019 06:40 || Comments || Link || [13 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States must be almost certain to hold important undisclosed information," he wrote.

"The usual suspects."
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/29/2019 6:45 Comments || Top||

#2  "South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States must be almost certain to hold important undisclosed information," he wrote.

And Israel, don't forget them.

Posted by: Glenmore || 12/29/2019 6:47 Comments || Top||

#3  ...a theory enforced by Othman's most recent report.

Co-authored by Christopher Steele, perhaps?
Posted by: Raj || 12/29/2019 7:12 Comments || Top||

#4  From the days when the CIA didn't screw up /sarc
Posted by: Mercutio || 12/29/2019 10:19 Comments || Top||

#5  Rice bowl issue for some blue bureaucracy.
Posted by: NoMoreBS || 12/29/2019 11:21 Comments || Top||

#6  Draws scrutiny away from those icky "UN Peacekeeper child rapist" matters.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/29/2019 11:59 Comments || Top||

#7  Yeah, he was almost certainly killed because he was interfering with the bankers control of minerals in a conflict region.
Posted by: Herb McCoy || 12/29/2019 21:06 Comments || Top||

#8  No Herb, he dies because he relied on a plane maintained by the locals.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/29/2019 22:58 Comments || Top||


Like Mother, Like Son: Morningside #3's Mom's a Knife-Wielding Berserker, Too
[NYP] Like mother, like son?

The 14-year-old boy suspected of fatally stabbing Barnard College freshman Tessa Majors has a mother with a stabbing of her own on her rap sheet, The Post has learned.

Thirteen years ago, the suspect’s mother, identified by police sources and neighbors as Katima Minton, 35, was arrested in a knife attack in Jamaica, Queens, where she lived at the time.

It was 1:30 in the morning and Minton and a second woman had gotten into a screaming match at 148th Street and 87th Avenue, according to a story that ran in The Post on Aug. 6, 2006.

“Katima Minton pulled a knife and lunged at the victim, whose identity was withheld, after they started fighting,” cops alleged, ­according to the story.
Posted by: Lex || 12/29/2019 06:28 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Just carrying on an old family tradition.
Posted by: Glenmore || 12/29/2019 6:49 Comments || Top||

#2  DeBlasio's anti-gun laws may be driving his criminals to bladed weapons like knives and machetes. This makes at least two prominent non-firearm attacks in the news this past week.
Posted by: Glenmore || 12/29/2019 6:51 Comments || Top||

#3  No mention of a father.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/29/2019 7:02 Comments || Top||

#4  Sucker-punching, too. Notice the response of the victim-cop's partner:

Haynes, who police said had been sitting on the sidewalk drinking and blocking pedestrians, briefly brawls with the officer before wrestling him to the pavement in a swift attack that sends a nearby trash can flying into the street...

Seconds later, the cop’s partner calls for backup, then begins yelling for Haynes to stop...
All right, sir. Stop, stop, stop, stop!”

Haynes continues to struggle with the officer on the ground, while the other cop grips the man’s jacket and attempts to convince him to move. “Mister, come on,” the cop pleads.

Posted by: Lex || 12/29/2019 7:20 Comments || Top||

#5  Good thing that his victim reportedly fought back and bit him.

If so, the DNA evidence should be enough to nail the little savage and lock him away long enough to neuter him and prevent his family's knifing gene from passing on to another generation of ferals.
Posted by: Lex || 12/29/2019 8:01 Comments || Top||

#6  lock him away long enough to neuter him
Probably only until he is 18.
Posted by: Glenmore || 12/29/2019 10:11 Comments || Top||

#7  True. Or maybe community service. In Morningside Park, serving lemonade to the resident Feral Youth
Posted by: Lex || 12/29/2019 12:35 Comments || Top||


Union Bosses Allegedly Blew $1 Million On Cigars, Golf And Restaurants
[Daily Caller] Two former bosses for the United Automobile Workers (UAW) allegedly blew more than $1 million of union money on high living in Palm Springs since 2013.

Gary Jones, 62, and Dennis Williams, 66, are accused of enjoying cigars, steak dinners and sumptuous accommodation at union members’ expense, The New York Times first reported Thursday. The duo has been the subject of an intensive investigation by the FBI.

The pair allegedly hid the spending by keeping a hospitality account that they called the "master account" at a luxury Palm Springs resorts.

Receipts reportedly show that Jones spent $13,000 alone on cigars and Williams is accused of using union education funds for his own personal use.

One meal at LG’s Prime Steakhouse in La Quinta, California cost $6,500 with $1,760 of it going towards four bottles of champagne.

The UAW is one of the most powerful labor unions in the United States, boasting a membership of almost 400,000. It recently targeted General Motors in a month-long strike over wages and job security.

The latest claims against the two union bosses follows an FBI raid conducted on their homes last August in which federal authorities said they discovered "wads" of cash.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/29/2019 06:05 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I thought this was standard practice.
Posted by: Glenmore || 12/29/2019 6:52 Comments || Top||

#2  Perhaps the noise will die down enabling Gary and Dennis to still to make Puro Sabor:

The year 2020 will be a busy one for cigar events. Many are open to consumers, while some are restricted to the trade. Not only will we see the return of Puro Sabor, the Nicaraguan cigar festival, there is also going to be a cigar event that’s the first of its kind, a combination of Big Smoke and WhiskyFest.

Puro Sabor, January 21–25
Grenada, Managua and Estelí, Nicaragua
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/29/2019 7:00 Comments || Top||

#3  Hookers & blow are now passe?
Posted by: Raj || 12/29/2019 7:22 Comments || Top||

#4  Old School
Posted by: Lex || 12/29/2019 7:25 Comments || Top||

#5  Williams is accused of using union education funds for his own personal use

Vocational training for young ladies?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/29/2019 7:29 Comments || Top||

#6  People still smoke?
Posted by: Seeking Cure For Ignorance || 12/29/2019 8:30 Comments || Top||

#7  Well, it IS money spent that won't go to the DNC.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 12/29/2019 9:09 Comments || Top||

#8  Are you sure about that Mullah?

I figured that they spent 1/2 mil on themselves and "donated" the rest to the Clinton fund.
Posted by: AlanC || 12/29/2019 9:22 Comments || Top||

#9  Yeah, Bill is into 'cigars'.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 12/29/2019 11:55 Comments || Top||

#10  I think Monica was more into them.
Posted by: bbrewer126 || 12/29/2019 14:14 Comments || Top||

#11  The rest they just wasted
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 12/29/2019 14:21 Comments || Top||


Epstein Investigators Haven't Killed Case Against His Enablers … Yet
[Hot Air] Maybe not, but they haven’t advanced it much either, according to ABC News. Despite having enough to arrest Jeffrey Epstein on new charges last summer and keep him locked up, his suicide hasn’t pushed the probe much further toward his alleged co-conspirators. Sources within the Department of Justice told ABC that they have begun to focus on Epstein’s alleged procurer Ghislaine Maxwell, although that’s not exactly news either:
The federal authorities who arrested financier and accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein earlier this year are now investigating British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell and others ‐ linked to Epstein ‐ to determine whether any other crimes were committed in conjunction with the financier’s sex trafficking charges, according to a source briefed on the case.

The main focus of the ongoing probe is whether other people facilitated Epstein’s criminal conduct or conspired with him. The authorities will also need to determine whether any conduct ‐ even if provable ‐ violated U.S. federal law to the point charges could be brought.

ABC dug that out of their DoJ sources after Reuters scooped them yesterday on the, er ... news that they’re still investigating Maxwell et al. Not to be a skeptic of their enthusiasm for this investigation, but hasn’t the DoJ and FBI been pursuing this angle since before Epstein killed himself? (Don’t @ me, bros.) No lesser figure than Attorney General William Barr warned Epstein’s co-conspirators back in August that they "should not rest easy." Two weeks earlier, federal prosecutors had announced that they would investigate the people around Epstein to ensure that they rounded up everyone who facilitated his sexual predation of underaged girls. Maxwell’s been the very public top suspect for being Epstein’s pimp for months now.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/29/2019 01:03 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Too busy watching the game films
Posted by: Skidmark || 12/29/2019 9:03 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
A pad perfect for a pilot! Former 6,200-acre drone testing base with its own private airfield, control tower, two hangars and four observation towers is on sale for $8.65 million
Posted by: Skidmark || 12/29/2019 09:44 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Going to guess the property tax treatment is... elaborate.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/29/2019 11:58 Comments || Top||


Cops warn mystery swarms of up to 30 drones with 6ft wingspans are spreading across states and could pose a danger to planes - but tell residents NOT to shoot them down
Posted by: Skidmark || 12/29/2019 09:44 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  What's the first thing that happens when you tell people not to do something?
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/29/2019 12:55 Comments || Top||

#2  "Mikey, don't touch the stove"
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/29/2019 13:24 Comments || Top||

#3  NSA or CIA or DIA or NRO or FBI, etc. ...

If the FAA "has no information" it's a safe bet it's military or intelligence or "law enforcement" pr privileged criminals.
Posted by: charger || 12/29/2019 13:25 Comments || Top||

#4  One of these will be shot down and turn out to have Huawei branded electronics. Then someone from "The Department of the Interior" will show up to collect it for the actual owners.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/29/2019 14:15 Comments || Top||

#5  You gotta wait until duck season. Plausible deniability.
Posted by: Elmagum Omeaper1611 || 12/29/2019 16:06 Comments || Top||

#6  Just avoid the Big Sandy in AZ.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/29/2019 19:01 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Attack of the 'heat blobs': Moscow endures record Christmas temperatures, Antarctic ice melts at the fastest rate ever and a huge patch of warm sea appears off New Zealand
Posted by: Skidmark || 12/29/2019 10:03 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This seems like the AGW version of an earlier article about the heat blob. But they had to counteract this statement in the earlier article:

Professor James Renwick says it is a normal ocean event, not climate change

RED BLOB
Posted by: Bobby || 12/29/2019 13:03 Comments || Top||

#2  And Colorado has been colder and wetter than normal this year.

Just like it does every 3-5 years.
Posted by: DarthVader || 12/29/2019 13:33 Comments || Top||

#3  And I just saw Lake Erie is going to die because of insufficient winter ice cover (and Trump destroying the EPA.)
Posted by: Glenmore || 12/29/2019 13:53 Comments || Top||

#4  hysteria , hysteria
Posted by: Chris || 12/29/2019 21:48 Comments || Top||


Britain is set for warmest New Year's Eve in 178 YEARS and will be hotter than Greece as 2020 begins with 'early spring' caused by heat bubble over Europe
Posted by: Skidmark || 12/29/2019 10:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So get cracking on those post Brexit agricultural exports, you blokes.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/29/2019 11:56 Comments || Top||

#2  Well, if they shut down all those pols exhaust, it might help a little.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/29/2019 11:57 Comments || Top||


Scourge of locusts refuses to go away, reappears in Thar, Badin, Mirpurkhas
[DAWN] MITHI: Massive swarms of locusts appeared once again in the skies of Tharparkar, Badin and Mirpurkhas districts and invaded cultivated fields, trees and vegetation, eating away green leaves, bark and grass.
Democrat caucuses?
The insects attacked vast areas in Mithi, Dilpo and Kaloi talukas as farmers watched helplessly the trees and standing crops being denuded of green leaves and bark. They also ate away bushes and grass, which was fodder for animals.

Peoples in Badin district told journalists that the insects in their millions attacked standing crops in Tando Bago, Shadi Large, Pangrio, Khoski, Malkani Sharif and other areas of the district.

Local farmers told this reporter that they posed serious threat to the remaining crops on vast areas in the district and demanded high-ups send teams to carry out an effective anti-locust spray through aircrafts and save them from further devastation.

Posted by: Fred || 12/29/2019 01:37 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Those Californians get into everything, don't they?
Posted by: charger || 12/29/2019 12:19 Comments || Top||


-War on Police-
‘I'm going to kill him!' Dramatic moment California cop threatens to shoot suspect during a traffic stop before killing him
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news]
  • Police bodycam footage shows the moment a San Jose officer yelled, 'I'm going to f****** kill him' before fatally shooting a suspect

  • Shooting occurred during a traffic stop following surveillance in November on Highway 85 in California

  • Sgt. Lee Tassio and Officer Matt Rodriguez pulled over Andrew Roberts, 29, who had a gun with an extended magazine on his person

  • Tassio fatally shot Roberts while the three men struggled over the weapon

  • Roberts had convictions for arson, auto theft, burglary grand theft and was a registered arsonist
Posted by: Skidmark || 12/29/2019 09:56 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under:

#1  was a registered arsonist

Licensed to practice in California?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/29/2019 13:20 Comments || Top||

#2  "Arson, theft, burglary... mehh. But when I saw that extended mag ! I knew I had to kill him."
Posted by: Dron66046 || 12/29/2019 14:31 Comments || Top||


Escape From NY? Man Sucker-Punches, Bashes Brooklyn Cop as Cop's partner begs him to stop
[NYPost] A deranged man sucker-punched an NYPD officer on a Brooklyn sidewalk, pinning the cop to the ground and refusing to budge — and was later released despite felony assault charges, police and sources said.

The wild video shows Steven Haynes, 40, socking the uniformed officer across the face outside a Bank of America near the corner of Livingston St. and Court St. in Downtown Brooklyn on Thursday, officials said.

Haynes, who police said had been sitting on the sidewalk drinking and blocking pedestrians, briefly brawls with the officer before wrestling him to the pavement in a swift attack that sends a nearby trash can flying into the street, body camera footage obtained by The Post shows.

The Brooklyn man was arrested and hit with a slew of charges, including assault on a police officer, resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration, disorderly conduct, and alcoholic beverage violation, authorities said.

He was later released without bail at an arraignment Friday, sources told the Post.
Posted by: Lex || 12/29/2019 07:11 || Comments || Link || [15 views] Top|| File under:

#1  And the partner’s baton wasn’t used to split the attacker’s skull open why?
Posted by: Uleck Spererong9442 || 12/29/2019 7:30 Comments || Top||

#2  Because De Blasio + BLM. Cops in NY have lost control. They not only no longer have a monopoly on violence; they have forsworn violence altogether.

This'll teach the perps:
Get off of him, get off of him!the officer says as she hovers over the suspect. ... grips the man’s jacket and attempts to convince him to move.

Mister, come on,” the cop pleads, thumping Haynes on the back with the baton.
Posted by: Lex || 12/29/2019 7:46 Comments || Top||

#3  “Get off of him, get off of him!” the officer says as she hovers over the suspect
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/29/2019 7:51 Comments || Top||

#4  Pretty please?

And forgive my white privilege. Sir.

Thank you. I'm sorry. Here, take my baton.
Posted by: Lex || 12/29/2019 7:55 Comments || Top||

#5  This...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/29/2019 11:45 Comments || Top||

#6  “Get off of him, get off of him!” the officer says as she hovers over the suspect. ... grips the man’s jacket and attempts to convince him to move.

Ah.
Posted by: charger || 12/29/2019 12:17 Comments || Top||

#7  Are NYPD officers now unarmed?
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 12/29/2019 13:05 Comments || Top||

#8  Because De Blasio + BLM. Cops in NY have lost control.

Lost implies that they were attempting to maintain control, Lex.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/29/2019 13:11 Comments || Top||

#9 
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/29/2019 13:24 Comments || Top||

#10  Shot of mace to the face would have ended this disgrace.
Posted by: ruprecht || 12/29/2019 13:43 Comments || Top||

#11  Probably not allowed due to 'Climate Change', ruprecht.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 12/29/2019 13:51 Comments || Top||

#12  Lost implies that they were attempting to maintain control, Lex.

At this point I honestly don't know what, if anything, DeBlasio is trying to maintain. We know what he was against - police "brutality" - but we don't have any idea what he is for. Does he even grasp that the biggest enemy of poor residents in NY and every other US city is the feral youth who prey upon them, and that their best friend is an aggressive-policing beat cop?

I get it that the Soros-funded and -vaulted DAs like the terrorist spawn in San Francisco, the idiot Wakandan in Chicago etc are pledged to turn the streets over to the ferals.

But what, if anything, do the traditional, old-time pols like DeBlasio and the Dem POTUS nominees have in their heads regarding law and order?
Posted by: Lex || 12/29/2019 22:02 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Zimbabwe Journalists Suffer As Regime Tightens Grip
[DNYUZ] In August last year six people died after the army used force against civilians protesting a delay in the announcement of election results.

In January, the army attacked protesters marching against a hefty fuel price hike, leaving 17 dead.

And as Mnangagwa has tightened his stance on dissent, journalists have also suffered repercussions.

"We documented 18 cases of abuse of members of the media this year," said Tabani Moyo, who heads the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) ‐ up from only one case in 2018.

Most of the incidents involved police officers, he added.

The rise of attacks on journalists has brought back memories of the regime under former president Robert Mugabe, whose increasingly despotic rule cracked down on the independent media.

Mugabe was toppled by a military putsch in 2017 after 37 years in power, which led some of the country’s embattled media professionals to hope for better days.

That optimism was short-lived, however.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/29/2019 01:37 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:


Arabia
Saudi supporter of Israel claims citizenship revoked
[Jpost] Journalist Abdul Hameed al-Ghobein favors normalization, cooperation with Jewish state, calling it ‘strategic choice’; Fatah official says he 'deserves' to be disciplined for his actions.

A Saudi journalist claims that Riyadh has revoked citizenship for him and his family over his views on Israel.

Abdul Hameed al-Ghobein says that he was not officially informed about the reason, but insists that his repeated calls for the Saudi government to normalize relations with Israel were behind it.

The development comes amid reports that the Israel-Saudi relationship has been warming up.

Ghobein says he will not question the decision if it is the wish of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

“We only listen and obey,” he says.

For now, there is no evidence to support his assertion, with the Saudi government issuing no official statements on the matter.

Ghobein lists journalism as one of his professions. He has written for Israeli newspapers and uses social media to praise Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“I call for direct and unconditional ties with Israel. This is a strategic choice,” he says.

“Israel was nice to us when international public opinion was against us during the Khashoggi murder case,” he says, referring to the killing of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi last year at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

“Israel’s position after Iran targeted the oil facilities was clear, and it stood by Saudi Arabia,” he added, bringing up the September 14 aerial attacks against Saudi oil facilities.

Palestinians have welcomed the news about Ghobein.

Dimitri Deliani, a member of the Fatah party’s Revolutionary Council, says that even though he was against the revocation of citizenship, Ghobein “deserves” to be disciplined.

“I am in favor of… punishing those who come out against their government’s decision to boycott the occupying power [Israel]. Maybe not by revoking [one’s] citizenship, but there should be a law to punish them,” he explained.

Deliani says people like Ghobein “distort the Palestinian cause” and “inadvertently help their country’s opponents.”

But Ghobein is not the only Saudi who is publicly calling for establishing ties with Israel – Mohammed Saud, a prominent media activist, has also voiced such support. The two are among a handful of Gulf citizens who have publicly called for building diplomatic and economic relations with Israel.

Yet fear of retribution is evident, as attempts to interview Saud went for naught.

A well-known Saudi journalist in Riyadh who asked that his name not be published says that this is a sensitive topic, with the royal family not having given the green light to journalists and activists to openly speak.

Israeli journalist-turned-political analyst Eli Nissan says that Ghobein’s case would not change the fact that some Gulf countries are eager to get closer to Israel.

“In general, Arab countries do not want public normalization, but many have hidden and secret relations,” he said. “There are strategic and economic relationships in place.”

Nissan says, however, that for full and public normalization to happen, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must end.

“If a solution to the Palestinian issue can be achieved, normalization [with Israel] will go forward without punishment for anyone who expresses such a desire,” he said.

Palestinian activist Zaid Shuaibi says that U.S. pressure was one reason Gulf states have been flirting with Israel.

“There is an escalation in the pace of normalization by Arab governments, especially the Gulf regimes, with the occupying power [Israel], and it is clear that this has come from American pressure,” Shuaibi said, also citing “the absence of civic institutions that represent the voice of the people” in these countries.

He adds that he is puzzled by the Gulf states’ positions on Israel.

“While there is tension between Jordan and Israel despite the existence of a peace agreement, we find Arab countries like the UAE and Saudi Arabia scrambling to start relations,” he said.

Shuaibi says that engaging with Israel and establishing relations should come at the end of negotiations, not before.

“You don’t reward an occupying power,” he said, “by getting friendly with it.”
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/29/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:


Britain
Did Macron and Johnson Negotiate a Hard Brexit in October?
[Gold Goats 'N Guns] Something odd is happening with Brexit. It looks like Prime Minister Boris Johnson is pushing for a hard Brexit much to my surprise.

Johnson’s strong showing in the recent election which secured the Tories its biggest majority since the days of Margaret Thatcher should have set the stage for the great Brexit bait and switch.

This has been my argument for months since Johnson became the front-runner to replace Theresa May. All Johnson had to do was manipulate events to get a majority which marginalizes the hard Brexiteers of the European Research Group (ERG).

Then he could undermine Brexit by giving back all the concessions during his subsequent negotiations with the EU over a trade deal.

This analysis should have been the correct one given the staunch opposition by the political elite in the U.K. to Brexit.

But something has changed.

Johnson is practically channeling Nigel Farage in his stance to trade negotiations with the European Union. The modified Withdrawal Bill that passed Parliament with six Labour defectors significantly strengthens Johnson’s hand in trade negotiations by removing any potential extension beyond the end of 2020. There are a ton of changes the Guardian article linked above covers.

The two year transition period EU Chief Negotiator Michel Barnier was planning on using to bully Johnson around with is dead. January 31st Brexit happens.

And if no trade deal happens between then and the end of 2020, the U.K. leaves on WTO terms and the so-called Hard Brexit happens. Hard Brexit is back on the table and Parliament has been sidelined.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/29/2019 12:10 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under:

#1  France trying to throw Chermany under the bus. Payback and all that...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/29/2019 12:39 Comments || Top||

#2  elections, consequences
Posted by: Lex || 12/29/2019 12:57 Comments || Top||

#3  WTO Brexit is the BEST Brexit for Britain.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 12/29/2019 13:55 Comments || Top||

#4  The modified Withdrawal Bill that passed Parliament with six Labour defectors significantly strengthens Johnson’s hand in trade negotiations by removing any potential certain EU shenanigans causing extension beyond the end of 2020 2030 2040 2100.
Posted by: magpie || 12/29/2019 19:26 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
Japan discovers bodies on 'ghost boat' with suspected North Korea origins
[DW] A boat without a crew but containing decomposing bodies, including two headless corpses washed up in Japan. Officials said it was the first of its kind this year on the island of Sado, which faces North Korea.

The Japanese Coast Guard on Sunday said a boat believed to have come from North Korea was discovered on Japan's Sado Island and contained several decomposing bodies.

Authorities said there were seven bodies found on the boat. However, that figure could change since the coast guard had specifically discovered three bodies with heads, two bodies without heads and two heads without bodies. It is unclear whether the heads belong to the bodies.

"Five of the bodies were identified as men but the remaining two could not be identified," an official told the AFP news agency. "There have been similar cases but this was the first discovery of bodies in such a wrecked boat on this island this year."

Letters and numbers in the Korean alphabet were painted on the side of the boat but there were no other indications of its origin.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/29/2019 06:26 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  What's Korean for "Donner Party"?
Posted by: Mercutio || 12/29/2019 10:17 Comments || Top||

#2  They eat the heads first?
Posted by: jpal || 12/29/2019 17:52 Comments || Top||

#3  first of its kind this year on the island of Sado, which faces North Korea.

Hate to see what emerges from the island of Maso
Posted by: Lex || 12/29/2019 18:31 Comments || Top||


N Korea's Kim holds top party meeting ahead of US deadline
[Dhaka Tribune] North Korea
...hereditary Communist monarchy distinguished by its truculence and periodic acts of violence. Distinguishing features include Songun (Army First) policy, which involves feeding the army before anyone but the Dear Leadership, and Juche, which is Kim Jong Il's personal interpretation of Marxism-Leninism, which he told everybody was brilliant. In 1950 the industrialized North invaded agrarian South Korea. Twenty-one countries of the United Nations eventually contributed to the UN force opposing the invasion, with the United States providing around 90% of the military personnel. Seventy years later the economic results are in and it doesn't look good for Juche...
n leader Kim Pudge Jong-un
...the overweight, pouty-looking hereditary potentate of North Korea. Pudge appears to believe in his own divinity, but has yet to produce any loaves and fishes, so his subjects remain malnourished...
has convened a key meeting of top ruling party officials, state media said Sunday, ahead of a year-end deadline for Washington to shift its stance on stalled nuclear talks.

The plenary session, which opened on Saturday, follows widespread speculation that Pyongyang is preparing to test an intercontinental ballistic missile -- as a threatened "Christmas gift" for Washington.

Kim presided over the meeting which discussed a new "transparent, anti-imperialist independent stand," the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

The ruling Workers' Party of Korea will also "discuss important matters arising... in the building of the state and national defence," KCNA added.

Talks on denuclearizing the Korean peninsula have been largely deadlocked since the second summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump
...The tack in the backside of the Democratic Party...
collapsed in Hanoi at the start of this year.

Posted by: Fred || 12/29/2019 01:42 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Commies


Cyber
UN Begins Process of Handing Internet Control to Ruthless Dictators
[PJMedia] We've known this has been coming for a couple of years. Dissatisfied with control of the internet largely in the hands of western democracies -- especially the United States -- the dictators and religious fanatics of the world have begun the process to seize control of the internet where, I'm sure, you won't be able to insult Islam, call Vladimir Putin a thug, or criticize the Chinese communists.

The United Nations General Assembly approved a resolution that would set up a "committee of experts" whose mission would be to stop "the use of information and communications technologies for criminal purposes."

Since many countries make it a crime to criticize the government or insult Islam, the resolution does not bode well for internet freedom in the near future.

Summit News:

Human Rights Watch said the list of sponsors for the resolution is "a rogue’s gallery of some of the earth’s most repressive governments" and "gives countries legal cover for internet blackouts and censorship, while creating the potential for criminalizing free speech."

Governments like China already censor and turn off the Internet during times of civil unrest while doling out ’social credit score’ punishments for those who criticize the state.

The Communist country is also rolling out a plan to force its citizens to pass a facial recognition test to use the Internet. Criticized the authorities? No Internet for you.
You have to ask yourself, why Obumble and the left were so eager to hand over control of the internet to these people. If you come up with any answer other than to control you and your speech/thought/actions... then you are an idiot or a useful idiot.
Posted by: DarthVader || 12/29/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Thanks, 0bumhole. Part of your legacy.
Posted by: gorb || 12/29/2019 1:01 Comments || Top||

#2  Very easy to create a new Internet. Start with another set of network protocols. Time for alt world wide networks has arrived.
Posted by: Varmint Splat1454 || 12/29/2019 1:55 Comments || Top||

#3  Fine. Let Suckerpurge, shittah and gurgle whine about how it affects their business while flipping the switch on Internet USA at the same time. Let the market decide.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/29/2019 13:12 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Mansehra seminary sealed, four held over assault
[DAWN] MANSEHRA: The police on Saturday sealed a seminary in Thakra Parhana area here and arrested four people over the sexual assault of a minor student.

However,
ars longa, vita brevis...
the prime accused, a seminary teacher, is on the lam.

"Following the sealing of the unregistered seminary and the arrest of four co-accused in the assault case, a special team of the police has been raiding the possible hideouts of the main accused to apprehend him," deputy inspector general of police, Hazara
...a grouping of Dari-speaking people of Sino-Tibetan descent inhabiting Afghanistan and Pakistain. They are predominantly Shia Moslems and not particularly warlike, which makes them favored targets...
range, Mazarul Haq Kakakhel told the boy’s family here.

Mr Kakakhel, who also inquired after the child at the Ayub Medical Complex, Abbottabad
... A pleasant city located only 30 convenient miles from Islamabad. The city is noted for its nice weather and good schools. It is the site of Pakistain's military academy, which was within comfortable walking distance of the residence of the late Osama bin Laden....
, said all those involved in the heinous crime would be dealt with strictly.

He said he would bear all expenses of the child’s treatment.

The DIG said the police had sent around 140 students enrolled in the seminary home.

Meanwhile,
...back at the pound, the little lost dog had finished eating the rat terrier...
Mohammad Sohail, a front man for the police, said the arrested co-accused included the seminary’s owner.

He said the preliminary investigation had revealed that the prime accused was also a government school teacher and had receiving salary without performing his duty since long.

The front man said the police raided the seminary for the arrest of the prime accused after learning about the sexual assault but he managed to flee.

He said the prime accused would be held soon.

Also, Chief Minister Mahmood Khan ordered DIG of Hazara police Mazarul Kakakhel to ensure an immediate arrest of the main accused and submit a report to him about it within 24 hours.

Ali Gohar, an uncle of the seminarian, said the child’s medical examination had confirmed sexual assault.

Claiming that the condition of his nephew is critical, he demanded the immediate arrest of the prime accused for exemplary punishment.

Meanwhile,
...back at the pound, the little lost dog had finished eating the rat terrier...
scores of students erupted into the streets against the sexual assault and demanded the immediate arrest of the culprit for punishment.

"The growing incidence of heinous crimes against minor children is intolerable. The police should arrest the prime accused in the seminary assault case without delay and stone him to death publicly," student leader Mohammad Shoaib told protesters outside the press club building here.
Posted by: Fred || 12/29/2019 01:18 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israel's James Bond - How an Iraqi-born Jew became an Israeli hero
[Jerusalem Post] It was a hot night in June 1951. Summer’s daytime roasting heat had somewhat abated, but it was still hot. Running for one’s life, hoping to escape a country that sought his life, did not help. Heart pounding, the man’s sweat quickly evaporated into the dry desert air.

As instructed by Israel’s precursor to today’s intelligence agency, Mossad, the undercover shaliah of Mossad LeAliya Bet crouched behind a berm at the end of the runway. It was almost 1:30 in the morning. Head shaved by a gaoler and with two broken teeth, his body ached from recent blows; his battered face was swollen. Making his way through a swamp to the hiding place, he was covered in mud. After more than two years of work posing under numerous false identities ‐ including Habib, Zaki, Nissim, Salman, Nouri, Noa, Dror ‐ his cover was blown.

A commercial plane full of passengers taxied to its place for takeoff. Pausing to flash its lights, the signal was given. Dashing out, exposed and in the open, Mordechai Ben-Porat raced to the aircraft’s tail where, he was told, a rope would be dangling. He would have to climb to freedom ‐ if it was there, that is ‐ and if the secret police did not appear, if the pilot and crew did not panic, if he had the strength to shimmy up the thin and prickly cord.

Arrested three weeks prior, he had been chained and brutally tortured for information. Subjected to beatings, nakedness, sleeplessness, innuendo and threats, his cell mates ‐ murderers and thieves ‐ were sympathetic. His tormentors were compelled to relent only when a Muslim attorney, Yousif Fattal, convinced a judge to grant him bail, including a little extra for the magistrate.

Within days of being freed, he answered the summons to the equivalent of a small claims court. That judge, infuriated that the defendant, a Jew, had not been disciplined when a drunken bicycle rider hit his car, sent him back to prison. When once again his release was obtained by Fattal, Ben-Porat knew his days were numbered. If he did not get out of the country, his real identity as an Israeli emissary would be revealed. He would be hanged.

While being escorted by an armed warden to Iraqi Secret Police Headquarters, he slipped away in a crowded market. Hidden by friends, he urged Mossad LeAliyah Bet to find a way to get him out of the country.

There was also intelligence to share. While being tortured, Dror (one of his more common pseudonyms) had gathered information instead of revealing it. What he learned would save the lives of the remaining fellow Jews who still lived in a land to which they were sent into exile 2,400 years ago.

In Babylon, now Baghdad, Jewish exiles had obeyed instructions by God through his prophet, Jeremiah:
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/29/2019 05:52 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under:


Israel bought this land for $3.5 million in oranges, Russia wants it back
[Jpost] Israel bought this land for $3.5 million in oranges, Russia wants it back.

The entire Russian Compound of the Elizabeth Courtyard was constructed by the IOPS between 1860 and 1864 for Russian pilgrims to Jerusalem, but the Ottoman Empire confiscated it during World War I.

Moscow has increased pressure on Israel to give it more of the Russian Compound in Jerusalem ahead of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Israel next month.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has expressed willingness to sell the Elizabeth Courtyard, where an Israel Police detention center now stands, former Russian prime minister Sergei Stepashin said last week.

Stepashin is the current chairman of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society (IOPS), which built the Russian Compound, where the courtyard stands, in Jerusalem in the 19th century.

Putin “is very interested in this issue. Even more so, he is a believer, a [Russian] Orthodox and visits the Holy Land with pleasure,” Stepashin said, adding that Russia is working on getting the lands back.

The remarks by the Russian official, thought to be close with Putin, come at a tense time in Israel-Russia relations: The deconfliction system in Syria is going less smoothly than it has in previous years; Israeli-American Naama Yissachar was sentenced in a Moscow court to 7.5 years in prison for allegedly having less than 10 grams of cannabis in her luggage and Netanyahu asking Putin to pardon her; and several incidents of dozens of Israelis being detained in Russian airports.

Jerusalem Affairs Minister Ze’ev Elkin, who sometimes serves as Netanyahu’s translator in meetings with Putin, would not comment on Stepashin’s specific comments, but said that there have been inquiries by the Russian government in the past, and there have not been any breakthroughs.

In 2008, then-prime minister Ehud Olmert agreed to give Russia Sergei’s Courtyard, another part of the Russian Compound that abuts the Elizabeth Courtyard, but Moscow seeks more of the surrounding area.

The entire Russian Compound was constructed by the IOPS between 1860 and 1864 for Russian pilgrims to Jerusalem, but the Ottoman Empire confiscated it during World War I. It subsequently became part of the British Mandate, and then belonged to Israel after independence in 1948.

Israel bought the lot for $3.5 million worth of Jaffa oranges in 1964, but the IOPS continued operations on the lot, serving as a front for KGB agents. It was fully taken over by Israel after 1967, when the Soviet Union cut diplomatic ties with Israel.

Stepashin said in an interview with Russian news site Izvestia that he “witnessed a conversation,” prior to 2013 in which Netanyahu said: “I am not opposed to withdrawing from the prison, but due to the fact that this is Israel’s property… you will compensate us financially, and then we will take the prison out of there and give the building to you… You have many rich Jews” in Russia.

Stepashin echoed longstanding Russian arguments that USSR leader Nikita Khrushchev’s sale of the land to Israel was not legitimate, saying that, “thanks to Khrushchev, a week before his resignation, he transferred all of this almost for free to the Israeli state.”
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/29/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Maybe if they can return their oranges along with the original receipt.
Posted by: gorb || 12/29/2019 0:59 Comments || Top||

#2  If life deals you oranges, make orange juice.
Posted by: Lex || 12/29/2019 4:19 Comments || Top||

#3  The entire Russian Compound of the Elizabeth Courtyard was constructed by the IOPS between 1860 and 1864 for Russian pilgrims to Jerusalem, but the Ottoman Empire confiscated it during World War I.

About those WW1 Czarist bonds.....
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/29/2019 7:03 Comments || Top||

#4  I would tell Vlad to go fuck himself.
Posted by: DarthVader || 12/29/2019 13:34 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
2 Dead, 1 Critically Injured After Shooting At West Freeway Church Of Christ In White Settlement
h/t Instapundit
WHITE SETTLEMENT, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) ‐ Two people are dead and another person is critically injured after a shooting at a church in the Tarrant County city of White Settlement, officials said.

Authorities responded to the shooting Sunday morning just before 10 a.m. at the West Freeway Church of Christ on Las Vegas Trail.

A witness told CBS 11 News the gunman walked up to a server during communion with a shotgun and then opened fire. According to the witness, another church member ‐ identified as a former FBI agent and part of the church’s security ‐ shot the suspect.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/29/2019 14:59 || Comments || Link || [16 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/29/2019 23:15 Comments || Top||


ESPN announcer criticized for 'distraction' comment following death of Carley McCord
[NYP] An ESPN announcer was slammed by viewers on Saturday after referring to the death of an LSU football coach’s daughter-in-law as a "distraction" ahead of the College Football Playoff semifinal in Atlanta.

"Certainly our thoughts and prayers with coach and his family, as he gets to do his job and try to put away the distraction of losing his daughter-in-law just hours before kickoff," ESPN’s Matt Barrie said on-air hours after Carley McCord, the relative of Tigers’ offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger, was one of five people killed in a small Louisiana plane crash.

McCord, the 30-year-old sports reporter, was on her way from Lafayette, La., to the Peach Bowl in Georgia when the plane crashed in a post office parking lot shortly after takeoff.

The flight’s lone survivor was in critical condition.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/29/2019 07:15 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under:

#1  As a start point, I would recommend looking at the aircraft's MAX Payload data. Same with recent copter crash in HI.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/29/2019 8:00 Comments || Top||

#2  Ms. McCord was a pretty special woman around here; I am sure the coaches - at least two knew before the game - were distracted. I don't know if the players knew - if so it seems to have been more a motivation than a distraction. I don't see the problem with Barrie's comments though.
Posted by: Glenmore || 12/29/2019 10:20 Comments || Top||

#3  Yes, life and death take a back seat to the big Bidness of sports all.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/29/2019 13:27 Comments || Top||

#4  Sportsball
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/29/2019 13:27 Comments || Top||


Report Hyped by Climate Alarmists Warned of Million of Deaths, Nuclear War, Sunken Major Cities by 2020
h/t Gates of Vienna
[Infowars] - According to experts, climate change will result in "millions" of deaths, major European cities being sunken, nuclear war and global environmental riots...all within the next 5 days.

That’s because they made the prediction back in 2004 and said all that would happen by 2020, which is just 5 days away.

"Climate change over the next 20 years could result in a global catastrophe costing millions of lives in wars and natural disasters," reported left-wing newspaper the Guardian on February 22, 2004.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/29/2019 03:35 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  That reeks of Monbiot, the original Climate Shitshow-Clown at the Guardian
Posted by: Lex || 12/29/2019 4:25 Comments || Top||

#2  I can't remember the location because you can't argue with malicious and stupid, but I traced sites back to how much flooding there would be if all the glaciers and ice caps melted. It went from 25 meters to 2.5 meters to 25 millimeters with caveats that you couldn't melt enough ice at the same time to get that depth. Liars , Liars, Farts on Fires.
Posted by: Gomez Flugum6633 || 12/29/2019 4:33 Comments || Top||

#3  In ancient times, false prophets were stoned to death. Maybe its time to return to fundamentals.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/29/2019 6:32 Comments || Top||

#4  These predictions always use weasel words.
Posted by: Uleck Spererong9442 || 12/29/2019 7:35 Comments || Top||

#5  I was looking forward to buying some new seafront property too!
Posted by: DarthVader || 12/29/2019 9:42 Comments || Top||

#6 
Last week the Bush administration came under heavy fire from a large body of respected scientists who claimed that it cherry-picked science to suit its policy agenda and suppressed studies that it did not like. Jeremy Symons, a former whistleblower at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), said that suppression of the report for four months was a further example of the White House trying to bury the threat of climate change.

Senior climatologists, however, believe that their verdicts could prove the catalyst in forcing Bush to accept climate change as a real and happening phenomenon. They also hope it will convince the United States to sign up to global treaties to reduce the rate of climatic change.


The Pentagon and Deep State versus GWB.

The Observer via the Guardian
Posted by: KBK || 12/29/2019 10:42 Comments || Top||

#7  A secret report, suppressed by US defence chiefs and obtained by The Observer, warns that major European cities will be sunk beneath rising seas as Britain is plunged into a 'Siberian' climate by 2020. Nuclear conflict, mega-droughts, famine and widespread rioting will erupt across the world.

The document predicts that abrupt climate change could bring the planet to the edge of anarchy as countries develop a nuclear threat to defend and secure dwindling food, water and energy supplies. The threat to global stability vastly eclipses that of terrorism, say the few experts privy to its contents.

'Disruption and conflict will be endemic features of life,' concludes the Pentagon analysis. 'Once again, warfare would define human life.'

The findings will prove humiliating to the Bush administration, which has repeatedly denied that climate change even exists. Experts said that they will also make unsettling reading for a President who has insisted national defence is a priority.

The report was commissioned by influential Pentagon defence adviser Andrew Marshall, who has held considerable sway on US military thinking over the past three decades. He was the man behind a sweeping recent review aimed at transforming the American military under Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Climate change 'should be elevated beyond a scientific debate to a US national security concern', say the authors, Peter Schwartz, CIA consultant and former head of planning at Royal Dutch/Shell Group, and Doug Randall of the California-based Global Business Network.
Posted by: KBK || 12/29/2019 10:49 Comments || Top||

#8  Maybe not five days. Maybe they meant "the end of 2020." So they have a year and five days.

Or do we believe AOC, and we now have 11 years.

I wish somebody could get this straight, the science being settled and all that.
Posted by: Bobby || 12/29/2019 11:19 Comments || Top||

#9  Now we get and Aryan looking autistic puppet girl to rinse and repeat with a different deadline
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 12/29/2019 14:00 Comments || Top||


NYC sends more cops to Jewish areas to counter spate of anti-Semitic attacks
[IsraelTimes] ‘Anti-Semitism is an attack on the values of our city — and we will confront it head-on,’ mayor says after series of assaults over Hanukkah.
Convict them for attacking Jews, and they won’t be free to attack anyone else, a variation of the old 80/20 rule: the vast majority of crimes are committed by only a few habitual criminals, who incidentally often turn out to have mental problems that lead to poor impulse control.
New York City is increasing its police presence in some Brooklyn neighborhoods with large Jewish populations after apparently anti-Semitic attacks during the Hanukkah holiday, Mayor Bill de Blasio said after the latest episode happened Friday.

Besides making officers more visible in Borough Park, Crown Heights and Williamsburg, police will boost visits to houses of worship and some other places, the mayor tweeted.

“Anti-Semitism is an attack on the values of our city — and we will confront it head-on,” the Democrat wrote.

Around the city, police have gotten at least five reports this week of attacks apparently propelled by anti-Jewish bias.

The latest happened around 12:40 a.m. Friday, when a woman slapped three other women in the face and head after encountering them on a Crown Heights corner, police said. The victims, who range in age from 22 to 31, suffered minor pain, police said.

Tiffany Harris, 30, was arrested on a hate-crime harassment charge. She was awaiting arraignment Friday morning. It wasn’t clear whether she had a lawyer who could comment on the charges, and no working telephone number for Harris could immediately be found.

On Monday a man was arrested for physically assaulting a 65-year-old Orthodox Jewish man while allegedly shouting anti-Semitic slurs. Steven Jorge, 28, of Miami was arrested shortly after the incident and charged with assault as a hate crime, local media reported.

The suspect allegedly shouted “Fuck you Jew bastard” before punching the victim, who was wearing a black yarmulke, according to statement Tuesday from Dov Hikind, a former New York state assemblyman and founder of the Americans Against Antisemitism coalition. Jorge continued to kick his victim after he fell to the ground on East 41st Street, on the Upper East Side in New York, police said.

The victim was treated at the Mount Sinai Medical Center for bruising and cuts.

Jorge is being held without bail, and a judge ordered a psychiatric exam for him, court records show. A message was left Friday for Jorge’s lawyer.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo told a state hate crimes task force to help police investigate the attack, calling it “a horrific and cowardly act of anti-Semitism.”

“It’s even more despicable that it occurred over the holidays,” the Democratic governor said in a statement Wednesday. Hanukkah began Sunday.

The New York Police Department’s Hate Crime Task Force is also investigating three other episodes that may have been motivated by anti-Semitism:

— A man reported that a group of teenagers converged on his 6-year-old son and another boy, 7, and hit them from behind in a Williamsburg apartment building lobby Monday night. The attackers fled.

— A 25-year-old man told police he was walking on a Crown Heights street early Tuesday when a group of people started yelling anti-Semitic slurs at him and one threw a beverage at him. The suspects fled.

— Later Tuesday in Crown Heights, a 56-year-old man said that a group of people approached him, and that one of them punched him, while he was walking. No arrests have been made.
Ynet adds:
Tiffany Harris, 30, was accused of slapping three people in an apparently anti-Semitic attack was charged Saturday with attempted assault as a hate crime, court records show. She was released without bail after her arraignment on the attempted assault charge and misdemeanor and lower-level charges, according to the records.
And from the NY Daily News on Thursday:
Around 3:20 p.m. Thursday, cops arrested a homeless woman for attacking a Jewish woman in front of her 3-year-old child.

Ayana Logan, 42, was charged with hate crime assault and child endangerment for jumping the mom and young child on Ave. U near W. 6th St. in Gravesend, cops said.

“You f------ Jew! Your end is coming!” Logan screamed as she struck the 34-year-old victim in the face with a bag, police said. Logan tried to run, but she was arrested two blocks away on Ave. S and W. 5th St., cops said.

On Friday afternoon in Brooklyn criminal court, Logan, wearing a burgundy coat and light wool hat, was released by Judge Miriam Gingold, contingent on her participation in a city mental health program called Empower Assist Care.

Cops have counted 214 anti-Semitic hate crimes this year, up 14% from last year. That accounts for more than half of all 406 hate crimes police have investigated this year.
So some are nuts and picking up on the zeitgeist, and the others are mean and looking for easy victims.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/29/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [18 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Without orders to crack heads, it's an empty gesture.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/29/2019 3:30 Comments || Top||

#2  ... who incidentally often turn out to have mental problems that lead to poor impulse control.

..scroll down to "New 2020 law prohibits California public schools from suspending students for disobeying teachers". Seems the authorities promote poor impulse control rather than suppress it in early development. Even a flat worm can be taught to avoid pain. In much more ancient times, prime males in family units tended to install self control and discipline among feral male youths. Seems Big Sister did away with those a couple of generations past. Rather than acknowledging a major fundamental failure in social reorganization, Big Sister is now set on turning feral male youth into female youth whether the subject wants to or not.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/29/2019 6:39 Comments || Top||





Who's in the News
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1al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

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Two weeks of WOT
Sun 2019-12-29
  Iraq launches new military operation against ISIS 4 provinces
Sat 2019-12-28
  US civilian contractor killed and several US and Iraqi personnel wounded in Kirkuk rocket attack
Fri 2019-12-27
  Libya's Tripoli-based govt makes formal request for Turkish military support, Turkey gets ready to rock
Thu 2019-12-26
  Jihadists suffer heavy losses in failed attempt to retake strategic southeast Idlib town
Wed 2019-12-25
  Boko Haram abducts 17 fishermen in Cameroon’s Far North region
Tue 2019-12-24
  Merry Christmas - Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht, Peter Alexander
Mon 2019-12-23
  Islamic State just issued this statement that claims the Battle of revenge is on
Sun 2019-12-22
  France kills 33 militants in Mali raid: president
Sat 2019-12-21
  Berlin police Foiled ISIS Terror Attack at Christmas Market
Fri 2019-12-20
  Government of National Accord in Libya have officially requested that Turkey intervenes militarily in the civil war
Thu 2019-12-19
  ISIS captures new ground in eastern Syria after launching powerful attack against Syrian Army forces
Wed 2019-12-18
  Assailants attack several protest camps in north and south Lebanon
Tue 2019-12-17
  Backer of Iraq anti-government protests killed in Baghdad
Mon 2019-12-16
  Iran claims the whole Persian Gulf. Both sides!
Sun 2019-12-15
  Attempt to assassinate the son of the political spokesman of Muqtada al-Sadr


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