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Today: 47 articles and 251 comments as of 10:17.
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Area: WoT Operations    WoT Background    Opinion        Politix   
6 More Iran-Backed Leaders Zapped, incl. Shibl al-Zaidi, commander of Kataib Imam Ali
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 3: Non-WoT
2 18:21 Lex [] 
2 20:19 SteveS [] 
9 14:35 Bright Pebbles [1] 
5 09:04 Raj [] 
2 09:08 Lex [1] 
15 23:18 JohnQC [2] 
1 12:24 Frank G [1] 
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Page 1: WoT Operations
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13 16:31 Skidmark []
15 17:25 JohnQC []
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6 12:05 Skidmark []
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5 11:27 Lex []
3 09:25 Glenmore [1]
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2 11:51 Uleck Spererong9442 [2]
Page 2: WoT Background
11 23:16 JohnQC [1]
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4 09:27 g(r)omgoru PB []
7 13:20 James []
14 19:36 Silentbrick []
1 09:33 Bobby [1]
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13 20:05 SteveS []
2 03:27 g(r)omgoru []
6 13:34 Mercutio []
8 14:10 Rambler in Virginia []
2 16:25 jpal []
6 15:54 gorb [1]
1 07:47 Mercutio []
2 10:27 Marilyn McGurque1399 []
2 10:16 ruprecht []
1 09:05 AlanC []
Page 4: Opinion
1 16:28 Procopius2k []
18 20:34 USN, Ret. [1]
5 15:08 JohnQC []
8 22:56 Whiskey Mike []
16 22:53 Whiskey Mike []
6 14:39 swksvolFF [1]
Page 6: Politix
9 16:44 Besoeker []
10 22:07 Jack Salami [1]
-Lurid Crime Tales-
20-Year-Old Upstate NY Man Charged With Sexually Abusing A Goat
Closet jihadist?
[DailyVoice] John Tibbles, 20, was arrested and charged with sexual misconduct following a complaint that was filed in his hometown, according to the Oswego County Sheriff’s Office.

It is alleged that Tibbles had sexual contact with the goat approximately 40 miles north of Syracuse in Richland.
Posted by: Glenmore || 01/04/2020 00:37 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I think there may be a breed of folks who think if you can eat it or milk it, you can't logically be guilty of sexually abusing it. These are not people from Italy who use Water Buffalo milk to make Mozzarella ... it's those other guys.
Posted by: Beau || 01/04/2020 0:48 Comments || Top||

#2  "Not that kind of kid!", J.Epstein
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/04/2020 2:53 Comments || Top||

#3  Old joke from British india: two old army blokes are talking.
I say, old boy, did you hear about Carstairs?
No, what about him?
He's left his wife and run off with a goat.
No, never.
It's true old boy.
What, a male goat or a female?
Female, of course. There's nothing queer about old Carstairs.
Posted by: Grunter || 01/04/2020 3:03 Comments || Top||

#4  Odd, does not appear to be somalian.

Was expecting a story referring to Omar's "Husbro".
Posted by: Woodrow || 01/04/2020 4:38 Comments || Top||

#5  I blame the feminists !
Posted by: Dron66046 || 01/04/2020 7:43 Comments || Top||

#6  Bah!
Posted by: Mercutio || 01/04/2020 8:29 Comments || Top||

#7  Procopius2k, that's the comment of the day.
Posted by: Glenmore || 01/04/2020 9:43 Comments || Top||

#8  Dangerous liaisons from Democratic goats.com are waiting to meet you!
Posted by: Slolet Crusolet1268 || 01/04/2020 10:30 Comments || Top||

#9  Cabron!
Posted by: Lex || 01/04/2020 12:11 Comments || Top||

#10  Self-identified as a Chupacabra
Posted by: Frank G || 01/04/2020 12:23 Comments || Top||

#11  Was the goat horny?
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 01/04/2020 14:27 Comments || Top||

#12  It was the goat's fault.
Posted by: gorb || 01/04/2020 14:37 Comments || Top||

#13  there's a goat herder angle in here somewhere...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 01/04/2020 17:44 Comments || Top||

#14  ^ Goat-Hurter
Posted by: Lex || 01/04/2020 18:17 Comments || Top||

#15  Are there a lot of goat buggers in NY?
Posted by: JohnQC || 01/04/2020 23:18 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Losing party in Guinea-Bissau vote appeals result
[NEWS.YAHOO]

Posted by: Fred || 01/04/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Stacy "Tank" Abrams skinny brutha
Posted by: Frank G || 01/04/2020 12:24 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Bolivia to hold presidential vote May 3
[TWITTER]

Posted by: Fred || 01/04/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: Politix
More Great News - No One Wants To Buy The Hill
Let's call this one 'no one loves me, either'...
[Politico, via Drudge] - The Hill’s owner seeks potential buyers, investors

Under fire for its role in promoting alleged Ukraine conspiracy theories, the D.C.-based publication faces new questions about its future.
Fake news doesn't seem to affect the NYT much, does it?
Jimmy Finkelstein, owner of The Hill, is shopping his publication, whose op-eds alleging various conspiracy theories about Ukraine have been at the center of Donald Trump’s impeachment scandal, to various media owners, either as investors or potential buyers, according to six people familiar with the matter.

The asking price for The Hill, which was co-founded by Finkelstein’s father over 25 years ago, is $100 million, according to two of the people. Finkelstein told another person that he ideally wants much more ‐ up to $300 million.

"If somebody wants to pay it, he’ll sell it, but it’s not going to sell for nickels and dimes," said the person, who discussed the $300 million figure with Finkelstein within the past year. "If it’s a big number, I’m sure he’ll be interested."
It's a pretty big spread between $100 and $300 million, isn't it?

And now for the fun part:

Finkelstein, in an interview, called the premise of the story "not true" but would not elaborate. He acknowledged having hired the boutique investment firm Methuselah Advisors, which specializes in large media transactions and has made inquiries to several large media companies. He said he has had Methuselah "on retainer for quite some time to evaluate media opportunities and evaluate incoming offers that we get regularly."

Either Finkelstein or his representatives approached James Murdoch about The Hill, according to a person familiar with the matter, who declined to comment on whether Murdoch was interested in buying the publication.
What that tells me is this - The Hill's been on sale 'for quite some time' and they still haven't found any buyers even at the low range of $100 million, and not even the Murdoch family's got any interest in it. Farewell to thee, Spanish lady...
Posted by: Raj || 01/04/2020 09:05 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  even at the low range of $100 million
Hah, I read it as the low range of $100, which is orders of magnitude more than us News went for, right?
Posted by: Glenmore || 01/04/2020 9:46 Comments || Top||

#2  The problem with these E-News providers is estimating if they actually have any worth at all after their employees are poached...
Posted by: magpie || 01/04/2020 10:51 Comments || Top||

#3  At least when John Henry bought the Boston Globe six years ago ($70 million) he had some sweet real estate on Morrisey Boulevard (which is being developed as we speak), which has a market value approximate to the purchase price of $70 million.
What do these other companies have to offer besides a constantly overdrawn bank account?
Posted by: Raj || 01/04/2020 10:59 Comments || Top||

#4  Maybe a few hundred 000 MAUs worth $10-20 each?
Posted by: Lex || 01/04/2020 11:30 Comments || Top||

#5  Fake news doesn't seem to affect the NYT much, does it?

Cause it matches its fake reporting of its circulation?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/04/2020 11:49 Comments || Top||

#6  In recent months, The Hill has been cast in a critical spotlight because of columns by the conservative journalist and former Hill TV executive John Solomon, including one alleging that a former U.S. ambassador had improperly demanded that Ukrainian officials halt an investigation into a company affiliated with Hunter Biden, the son of former Vice President Joe Biden.

But wait! I thought that was real news!
Posted by: Bobby || 01/04/2020 11:57 Comments || Top||

#7  ^ These SS clowns are so deluded-- their heads are so far up they're arses-- that they think real reporting is fake and vice-versa
Posted by: Lex || 01/04/2020 12:00 Comments || Top||

#8  *their
Posted by: Lex || 01/04/2020 12:01 Comments || Top||

#9  "Over the Hill" Definition: Old and past it's best.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 01/04/2020 14:35 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
British Service Issue Kukri tutorial (video)
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/04/2020 09:53 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I have a Ka-Bar Bowie that I trust could do a lotta self-defense
Posted by: Frank G || 01/04/2020 17:47 Comments || Top||

#2  What do the Gurkhas use?
Posted by: Lex || 01/04/2020 18:21 Comments || Top||


Keystone Sporting Arms (KSA) 91/30 Mini Mosin Rifle
[Keystone Sporting Arms] A miniature .22lr version of the classic Mosin-Nagant 91/30 Rifle used by the Russians in WWII. It is the first of a series of "Mini Mil-Surp™" rifles, a collection of five WWI and WWII rifles scaled down for Youth shooters and chambered in America’s sweetheart, the .22lr cartridge. Now kids can shoot their own version of Mom and Dad’s cool military firearms!

The KSA 91/30 has a 20″ barrel, precision-machined to ensure the durability and accuracy that is normally reserved for the "big guns". The action is based on the proven, safe, single-shot Crickett® design and has a straight-handled bolt, just like the original Mosins. The sights are also copies of the originals (scaled down, of course) and the walnut stock and barrel even have "proof" stamps and markings. The first 500 pre-orders will come with a custom wooden crate with matching serial numbers, a sling, a certificate of authenticity, selection of your own serial number and more.

Bonus review and video: Hickok45 on the CZ 527 (7.62X39)
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/04/2020 09:23 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I handled one of these at the NRA convention last year. Very cool.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 01/04/2020 9:56 Comments || Top||

#2  That's just the cutest lil' thing!

Don't know where I saw it (badanov, maybe?), but somebody snarked that the Mosin-Nagant has been on the losing side of more battles than any rifle in history.
Posted by: SteveS || 01/04/2020 20:19 Comments || Top||


Overnight Open Thread: Live Long And Prosper, SPOC
[WeaselZipper] The 14th Air Force, at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, has been renamed. It will now live long and prosper as Space Operations Command, or SPOC, according to a recent service announcement.

The change was made in accordance with the transition from Air Force Space Command to the U.S. Space Force, effective Dec. 20 when President Donald Trump signed the fiscal 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), establishing Space Force as the sixth branch of the U.S. military.

“Every day, all around the planet, people count on us to make a difference — to provide a space-enabled combat edge to the warfighters that keep our country, our allies, and our partners safe. We will not let them down,” Maj. Gen. John E. Shaw, commander of the newly redesignated SPOC, said in the release.
Posted by: Woodrow || 01/04/2020 06:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  SPOC, is so Trekkie. Can we trust California? Maybe Texas would have been a better choice.
Posted by: JohnQC || 01/04/2020 9:04 Comments || Top||

#2  Maybe, once the voter rolls are cleaned up and the illegals start to be deported, CA will become a competitive, two-party state again.
Posted by: Lex || 01/04/2020 9:08 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Great News - Buzzfeed's Almost Profitable!
Does this make them a 'non-profit' organization?
[WSJ] - BuzzFeed Edges Closer to Profitability After Tough Year

BuzzFeed has worked to stabilize itself after a tumultuous period last year in which it laid off 250 people following an annual loss that people familiar with the matter said was greater than $50 million.
"Learn to code...or mine coal"
Now, the onetime digital-media darling is edging closer to profitability thanks to staff cuts and efforts in recent years to generate new revenue streams, such as launching its own line of kitchenware and investing in a chain of stores selling quirky toys.

"There has been this idea that digital media companies have been forced to diversify their revenue because times have been tough," BuzzFeed founder and Chief Executive Jonah Peretti said in an interview. "But the other side of the story is that the internet has really allowed for the creation of a new kind of media company that wasn’t entirely possible in the past."
Ignore for now the sympathetic tone of the article and let's cut to the chase, as there are only two numbers I need - 2019's gross revenue of $320 million and an unstated loss amount that I'll generously say was cut in half from the 2018 loss, so that's $25 million. That's still an 8% loss. If those 250 layoffs involved an annual salary of $40,000, BuzzFeed saved all of $10 million from that cut, on an annual basis (the shitcanning happened mid-year). A lot more shitcannings than 250 will be required to close that gap.

I think it's safe to conclude BuzzFeed is now just another media company enjoying the same trajectory as most other media companies - straight into the shitter.
Posted by: Raj || 01/04/2020 08:33 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Sorry, mods - please move accordingly. Freakin' Microsoft Edge was locking up on me when I was doing the post...
Posted by: Raj || 01/04/2020 8:52 Comments || Top||

#2  Moved
Posted by: Frank G || 01/04/2020 8:53 Comments || Top||

#3  "Kitchenware"? "Quirky toys"??

This is actually Bee, right?
Posted by: Lex || 01/04/2020 8:56 Comments || Top||

#4  Not the Bee?
Posted by: CrazyFool || 01/04/2020 8:57 Comments || Top||

#5  Thanks, Frank - I got one more biz. article coming up!
Posted by: Raj || 01/04/2020 9:04 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
16[untagged]
13Govt of Iran Proxies
9Govt of Iran
4Hezbollah
2Commies
2Sublime Porte
1Moslem Colonists

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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
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Two weeks of WOT
Sat 2020-01-04
  6 More Iran-Backed Leaders Zapped, incl. Shibl al-Zaidi, commander of Kataib Imam Ali
Fri 2020-01-03
  Lebanon Hizbullah: "It's war!"
Thu 2020-01-02
  Qassim Soleimani, head of Iran's elite Quds force, zapped in Iraq
Wed 2020-01-01
  Hashid Al Shaabi #PMF leader Abo Alaa Al Walae threatens to attack Embassies of #Saudi, #UAE, #Bahrain and others in #Baghdad.
Tue 2019-12-31
  Crowd storms US Embassy compound in Baghdad
Mon 2019-12-30
  Qais al-Khazali was a close associate of Qassem Suleimani - killed by USAF.
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

Better than the average link...



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