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Area: WoT Operations    WoT Background    Non-WoT        Politix   
Gazan kites burn 150 acres in Israel’s south
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 4: Opinion
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17 19:34 CrazyFool [6] 
3 11:01 Abu Uluque [10] 
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11 13:01 M. Murcek [1] 
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10 21:30 Frank G [7] 
2 09:20 Procopius2k [3] 
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Page 6: Politix
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Economy
U.S. Is Set to Become World's Top Oil Producer, Government Says
[Bloomberg] The U.S. government sees oil production further climbing next year even amid transportation logjams in the country’s most prolific shale play.

The Energy Information Administration sees U.S. crude output averaging 11.8 million barrels a day in 2019, up from its 11.76 million barrel a day estimate in the June outlook.

"In 2019, EIA forecasts that the United States will average nearly 12 million barrels of crude oil production per day," said Linda Capuano, Administrator of the EIA. "If the forecast holds, that would make the U.S. the world’s leading producer of crude."
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/11/2018 00:13 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Oil ticks beware!
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 07/11/2018 3:57 Comments || Top||

#2  The US consumes 19.69 million barrels per day.
Posted by: Shinemble Greans4690 || 07/11/2018 4:51 Comments || Top||

#3  Nice but no long range thinking. Helium 3 on the moon could be the next Saudi oil field. It's potential future nuclear fusion power plant energy yield has already started a moon exploration race.

The major problem now is on site processing.
Posted by: Woodrow || 07/11/2018 5:46 Comments || Top||

#4  Permian Basin pipeline companies are building three new pipelines, since they are currently maxed out, to enable another 2 million bbl/day to be shipped to the Texas refineries. Fracking has massively increased the Permian tappable reserves.
Posted by: 3dc || 07/11/2018 5:51 Comments || Top||

#5  The situation is well covered in this fine video:
Posted by: 3dc || 07/11/2018 5:54 Comments || Top||

#6  US is already the leading producer of natural gas and has been for almost a decade

and the production has been increasing by 10% per year
Posted by: lord garth || 07/11/2018 6:32 Comments || Top||

#7  #6 Qatar natural gas production leveled off and started downhill last year. The pace should increase over the next decade while US production should increase substantially as it captures European markets.
Posted by: || 07/11/2018 8:22 Comments || Top||

#8  The wife and I drove through southeast New Mexico and west Texas a week ago on the way back to Houston from Santa Fe. The drilling rigs were too numerous to count, with flare-offs on site. New service equipment in huge impromptu lots, tanker trucks and temporary housing areas everywhere--and that's what could be seen without leaving the highway. Frankly, there were so many work trucks everywhere in the middle of nowhere that it was dangerous. Must be why there were DPS vehicles everywhere as well. In all my long life in Texas, and I grew up in the oil patch, never seen anything like this.
Posted by: brujotejano || 07/11/2018 9:53 Comments || Top||

#9  Ref #8: All of which means more jobs for people in the oil patch, more taxes in local, state, and federal coffers. Less dependence on foreign energy.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/11/2018 10:03 Comments || Top||

#10  Hurdles to mining helium on the moon.

Posted by: Skidmark || 07/11/2018 10:14 Comments || Top||

#11  Oh, there's still a large cohort in Washington (and some retirees, cough, cough) who have a big vested interest in large transfers of western dollars to the oil ticks. For "stability" ya know...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 07/11/2018 13:01 Comments || Top||


Trump's ‘America First' Economy Secures 10-Year Employment High for Manufacturing Workers
[Breitbart] More American manufacturing workers are employed today than at any time in the last ten years as President Trump’s ’America First’ economy seeks to protect U.S. industry and jobs with tariffs, less immigration, and tax relief.

In June 2018, Trump’s booming economy delivered an additional 36,000 manufacturing jobs for American workers, many of whom have had their livelihoods destroyed by job-killing free trade deals like NAFTA and KORUS.

Specifically, in the metals manufacturing industry, Trump’s tariffs on imported steel, aluminum, and Chinese electronics seems to have boosted U.S. job growth ‐ with 7,000 new jobs in manufacturing fabricated metal products, 5,000 new jobs in manufacturing computer and electronic products, and 3,000 new jobs in manufacturing primary metals.

Additionally, 12,000 car and vehicle parts manufacturing jobs were created in June. In the past year, there have been 285,000 new manufacturing jobs added to the U.S. economy as Trump encourages and incentivizes companies to move production back to the country.

There are now 12.8 million Americans working in the U.S. manufacturing industry, a ten year high for the economy. The last time that many Americans were working in manufacturing was back in December 2008. At that time, 12.8 million Americans had jobs in the industry.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/11/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Thank God. These people need good paying jobs and we need a strong manufacturing base for national defense.

MAGA in motion. Thank you Donald. They thank you.
Posted by: Woodrow || 07/11/2018 5:36 Comments || Top||

#2  It's good, but it's also a pendulum. Hopefully it swings back the other way while a donk is in the White House.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 07/11/2018 7:30 Comments || Top||

#3  ..no problem. They promised to kill those types of jobs and industries. Remember, the Light Bringer said those jobs were never going to come back. See - Scorpion and Frog
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/11/2018 8:11 Comments || Top||

#4  It takes a guy like Trump to come along for many (not the unusually well-informed R-Burgers) to realize just how anti-American Donk policies have been for the U.S. Hillary declared during the run-up to the 2016 election that she and the Dems were going to shut down the coal-mining industry. Her declaration was good for the Trump vote; not so good for Hillary. She communicated that she really didn't like Americans in so many ways and then expected them to vote for her.
Posted by: JohnQC || 07/11/2018 11:08 Comments || Top||


Europe
Italy’s hollow victory: Europeans ignore root causes of refugee crisis
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A recent European Council summit in Brussels was meant to articulate a united policy on the burgeoning refugees and migrant crisis. Instead, it served to highlight the bitter divisions between various European countries.

In response to the summit, several European leaders, including Italia’s Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, went home to speak triumphantly of a "great victory", achieved through a supposedly united European position.

However,
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 07/11/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Moslem Colonists

#1  The root cause is liberal welfare giveaways.
Posted by: Woodrow || 07/11/2018 5:29 Comments || Top||

#2  I had to pay the smuggler eight thousand US dollars for each member of my family.

Where's a tailor from Syria get $32k?
Posted by: Skidmark || 07/11/2018 5:39 Comments || Top||

#3  You don't close the borders because you hate the people outside, you close the borders because you love the people inside.

CNN doesn't like the people inside. Or the rest of the globalists.
Posted by: Herb McCoy || 07/11/2018 7:41 Comments || Top||

#4  The disturbing truth is this: Europe is accountable for much of the mayhem occurring in the Middle East. Right-wing pundits may wish to omit that part of the debate altogether, but facts will not simply disappear when ignored.


Utter bullshit. Facts are, these are fucked-up cultures, religions, factions, economies, and people
Posted by: Frank G || 07/11/2018 8:47 Comments || Top||

#5  NO to the business of illegal immigration


Not Democrats then.
Posted by: AlanC || 07/11/2018 9:56 Comments || Top||

#6  Europeans ignore root causes of refugee crisis

Giving up colonialism
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/11/2018 12:49 Comments || Top||

#7  Quit feeling guilty for stuff people who died before you were born were doing? Just a suggestion...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 07/11/2018 13:22 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Wrecking NATO
[American Thinker] The Washington Post headline blared, "Trump is bent on wrecking NATO. Prepare for catastrophe." The Post fears that President Trump's diplomacy will benefit Vladimir Putin to the detriment of American and European interests. European Council president Donald Tusk sniped, "Dear America, appreciate your allies. After all, you don't have that many."

The NATO countries are, indeed, among America's closest allies, but some of them appear more interested in oil, natural gas, and trade with Iran than in the Fulda Gap. Some of our "closest allies" have been working overtime to undermine America. If Mr. Trump is irritated with them, there is a reason.

Iran is preparing to take $300 million in cash out of German banks to get ahead of impending U.S. banking sanctions. While American intelligence officials are concerned that the money will finance terrorism, the German government says it has "no evidence" to that effect. According to the German newspaper Bild, "Iran ... says that they need the money 'to pass it on to Iranian individuals who, when travelling abroad, are dependent on euros in cash due to their lack of access to accepted credit cards.'" The German government appears to think that one million Iranian tourists might need $300 each ‐ or perhaps 300 tourists might need $1 million each.

The plan to send dollars to Tehran is in line with European negotiations, led by Germany and France, to help Iran mitigate the economic fallout of the American withdrawal from the JCPOA ‐ the Iran deal. The E.U. has also begun to update its "blocking statute," the rule that will prevent European companies from complying with impending Iran sanctions.

Germany is willing to run a multi-billion-euro trade deficit with Iran to keep the doors open, even as a 2018 German intelligence report confirms that Iran is currently seeking nuclear technology in there.

It is unclear why America's "closest allies" want to help the regime that sponsors Hamas and Hezb'allah, created a mercenary army of tens of thousands of Shiites to uproot the mostly Sunni population of Syria, sentences a women who doffed her head scarf to 20 years in prison (she will serve at least two years, likely more), bans homosexuality and hangs gay people from cranes in public ‐ and is, in fact, behind only China in the number of executions it conducts annually ‐ and imprisons foreign nationals. And that's before mentioning that Iran cheated on the JCPOA by hiding the military nature of its program and violated U.N. Security Council resolutions on ballistic missile development and the import and export of weapons.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/11/2018 09:03 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  They need us. We don't need them.

Our people are hurting. If we have to pay to have allies, then fuck them.
Posted by: Herb McCoy || 07/11/2018 9:18 Comments || Top||

#2  G T F O
Posted by: M. Murcek || 07/11/2018 9:25 Comments || Top||

#3  Make everything a contractor arrangement. Cash. Up. Front.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 07/11/2018 9:28 Comments || Top||

#4  Make everything a contractor arrangement. Cash. Up. Front.

Nothing personal, it's just business.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/11/2018 9:30 Comments || Top||

#5  Charge them protection money. Well NATO, it would be a shame if some of these nice shiny things got broken now wouldn't it?
Posted by: rjschwarz || 07/11/2018 10:02 Comments || Top||

#6  It's time for anachronistic institutions like NATO and the UN to be dissolved. Maybe Congress too.
Posted by: Skidmark || 07/11/2018 10:05 Comments || Top||

#7  When the wall came down, the purpose of NATO ended. They just can't kick the drug of military welfare and the pols in Washington signal their virtue with American taxpayers money and the 'deplorables' lives*.

* death through training and traffic accidents seem to get buried along with the service members over there.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/11/2018 10:13 Comments || Top||

#8  By the way.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/11/2018 10:14 Comments || Top||


#10  All those aircraft and U-boats are out of service due to lack of spare parts.

Spare parts which Germany could easily purchase, but declines to do so. Hell, why should they when they have an idiot to pay for their defense?
Posted by: Herb McCoy || 07/11/2018 10:37 Comments || Top||

#11  A concept well past its shelf life.

The UN building would make a nice condo conversion and parking would improve. Might even be able to get a lunch reservation at some of the nicer places to eat with the UN gone.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 07/11/2018 11:02 Comments || Top||

#12  If the EU wants to be a Pan-European Nation State then why the pretense of asking the USA's opinion in this so-called alliance? Ah, Other People's Money? Ah, Fight To The Last Colonial? Where have we heard these before...?
Posted by: magpie || 07/11/2018 11:03 Comments || Top||

#13  The UN is a place for third world dictators to send their most serious rivals to get them out of the country. It's a safety valve for people we should not care about the safety of...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 07/11/2018 12:58 Comments || Top||

#14  Well NATO, it would be a shame if some of these nice shiny things got broken now wouldn't it?

The problem is those nice shiny things are already broken.
Posted by: Frozen Al || 07/11/2018 15:43 Comments || Top||

#15  The problem is those nice shiny things are already broken.

All that stuff is rusting when delivered and breaks almost immediately. A huge racket.

Posted by: M. Murcek || 07/11/2018 15:59 Comments || Top||

#16  Re #8's pic: Golly, those Norsemen sure got around!
Posted by: Shinenter Splat1698 || 07/11/2018 16:33 Comments || Top||

#17  The UN building would make a nice condo conversion

I was thinking a multi-storied pig farm... but the pigs would never put up with the stench.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 07/11/2018 19:34 Comments || Top||


Two Female GOP Senators Who Seemed Hostile To Barrett Hint They're Okay With Kavanaugh
[Daily Wire] The two woman GOP senators who seemed recalcitrant about supporting President Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court are hinting they will be fine supporting Trump’s actual nominee, Judge Brett Kavanaugh.

According to Politico, Lisa Murkowski (R-AL) and Susan Collins (R-ME) were far less confrontational after Trump’s announcement Monday night than they had been with the possibility of Judge Amy Coney Barrett joining the Court.

Murkowski allowed, "Let’s put it this way: There were some who have been on the list that I would have had a very, very difficult time supporting, just based on what was already publicly known about them. We’re not dealing with that."

Collins said she wouldn’t compare Kavanaugh to Barrett, then added, "It will be very difficult for anyone to argue that he’s not qualified for the job. He clearly is qualified for the job. But there are other issues involving judicial temperament and his political or rather his judicial philosophy that also will play into my decision."

Last week, Collins stated to MSNBC, "I think I’ve made it pretty clear that if a nominee has demonstrated hostility to Roe v. Wade and has said that they are not going to abide by that long-standing precedent, that I could not support that nominee," hinting that Barrett, who stated in a defense of the late Justice Antonin Scalia that Roe V. Wade was often disregarded as a superprecedent (a decision that should not be overruled), would not get her vote.

Murkowski had told Bloomberg that Roe vs. Wade would be "a factor" in her decision.

Both senators voted for Kavanaugh’s nomination to the D.C. Circuit Court in 2006.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/11/2018 00:57 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ...I liked Judge Barrett, but let's face it - her membership in a Catholic organization that referred to some of its members as 'handmaidens' was probably beyond the pale these days.

On the other hand - if the GOP holds the Senate, and/or RBG leaves the court, then get her up there just to make a goddamn point.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 07/11/2018 3:30 Comments || Top||

#2  Two Female Leftist RINO GOP Senators.
Posted by: Woodrow || 07/11/2018 5:31 Comments || Top||

#3  This is not a vote to delete part of obumblecare, I imagine Droopy and Murky have been told how it is going to go.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 07/11/2018 7:39 Comments || Top||

#4  Like a late night transaction on a red-light district street corner they want something for services rendered. "It's just business..."
Posted by: magpie || 07/11/2018 10:39 Comments || Top||


Red State Dems' Dilemma: New Poll Shows Senate Battleground Voters Want Trump's SCOTUS Pick Confirmed
[Townhall] Yesterday, we laid out the case that vulnerable Senate Democrats representing Trump-dominated states would be wise to disregard the foolish SCOTUS advice being dispensed by their colleague, Dick Durbin. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's top deputy suggested over the weekend that in evaluating the president's then-unnamed Supreme Court nominee, red state Democrats should prioritize partisan opposition over their own re-election considerations. The Wall Street Journal's William McGurn was similarly taken aback by this reflexively resistance-minded counsel:
What makes Mr. Durbin’s call so striking is his frankness about the losing position his party is in. He recognizes that what his party is gearing up to do‐wage an all-out war on Brett Kavanaugh (on Monday Nancy Pelosi sent out a fundraising letter saying she will "avenge" Barack Obama by opposing Mr. Trump’s then unannounced nominee "if it’s the last thing I do")‐may prove unpopular enough to cost some red-state Democratic senators their seats come November. Ten Democratic incumbents are up for re-election in states Mr. Trump carried...Now, it’s one thing for a gadfly such as Rand Paul or Bernie Sanders to be willing to give up seats. It’s another when such talk comes from the Senate minority whip...Mr. Durbin is making clear that more-moderate Democrat incumbents will be dragooned into the party’s war with Mr. Trump over the Supreme Court whether they can afford to or not. No doubt this approach resonates with the party’s donors and its activist wings in New York and California. But it won’t play as well in the red states where the most vulnerable Democratic senators are now fighting for their political lives.

The pressure from the Left to vote against Brett Kavanaugh (or nominee 'XX,' according to one amusing, rushed out, pre-written press release) will be immense. But that gambit may also prove futile; moderate Republicans appear to be positively disposed toward Kavanaugh, who was confirmed with 57 votes in 2006 -- and his experience and influence have only swelled ever since. Thanks to Harry Reid, Democrats lack the power to block Kavanaugh if all GOP members stick together. Barring a stunning revelation or an unexpected hearings meltdown, the president's nominee appears well-positioned for confirmation. And if that's the case, it would be a worst-of-all-words outcome for moderate-posturing Democrats, who'd alienate home voters with empty 'no' votes, while failing to impede the ascension of Kavanaugh to the Court. All in all, this strikes me as the correct early line:
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/11/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Red state dems are in office only because they routinely bamboozle voters who should know better. Why would said dems straighten up and fly right now?
Posted by: M. Murcek || 07/11/2018 7:14 Comments || Top||

#2  Like a lot of non-returning Donks after Obamacare was pushed through Congress, you are expendable for Schumer and Nancy's power.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/11/2018 8:09 Comments || Top||

#3  Well, Dick "Dick" Durbin isn't a smart or honorable man.
Posted by: Frank G || 07/11/2018 8:51 Comments || Top||

#4  Aren't Dems in Red battleground states in high population blue urban areas?
Posted by: rjschwarz || 07/11/2018 10:00 Comments || Top||

#5  Yes.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 07/11/2018 13:00 Comments || Top||

#6  Senators are elected at large, but big city blue votes do sway the outcomes, for sure.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 07/11/2018 13:03 Comments || Top||

#7  So either they needed the hinterland to vote for them in the first place and that vote is gone, or the blue metro area isn't going to show up on election day. I get it. I was confused this morning I guess.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 07/11/2018 14:12 Comments || Top||

#8  No, not confused. Several "swing states" would be redder than Texas if not for an urban area or two that sway the vote. My no-longer home state of PeeAye would be redder than Texas if you could give Philthy to New Jersey and Pissburgh to Ohio.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 07/11/2018 16:03 Comments || Top||

#9  Nancy Pelosi sent out a fundraising letter saying she will "avenge" Barack Obama by opposing Mr. Trump’s then unannounced nominee "if it’s the last thing I do"

And then she twirled her mustache and added "And his little dog, too! And those meddling kids!"
Posted by: charger || 07/11/2018 21:25 Comments || Top||

#10  and she'll lie about "that being the last thing she does". They'll be dragging her botoxed ass and gavel out with a skiploader
Posted by: Frank G || 07/11/2018 21:30 Comments || Top||


Trevor Noah: Trump's ‘Demeanor, ‘Style' Is Like ‘Many African Dictators' (video)
[Breitbart] During an interview with Gold Derby editor Daniel Montgomery,"The Daily Show" host Trevor Noah said President Donald Trump reminded him of "many African dictators."

Noah, who was born in South Africa, said, "Donald Trump reminds me in many ways of many African dictators His demeanor, his style, who he presents himself as and how he processes his power is something that’s all too familiar, not just for an African but for someone from the Middle East, for instance.
Because what we’ve been seeing since January 21, 2017 is the populations of rebellious cities decimated, like Hafez al Assad, or the entire population driven into the countryside to survive as best they can, eating grass and drinking rainwater, like Robert Mugabe, while President Trump has established an annual beauty contest so that he can pick his next wife from all the unmarried women in America, though he has a way to go to catch up with the fourteen wives of the king of Swaziland. Mr. Noah is an idiot, who learnt all the wrong things growing up half white in South Africa.
He added, "Anyone who comes from a developing nation is all too familiar with a leader like him, so it’s not as shocking as it may be for many other people."
You don't like it here any longer? I believe Delta Flt-200 leaves daily from Atlanta, 17 hrs later you can be landing at scenic Tambo.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/11/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Students for Justice in Palestine Claims ‘Progress Impossible So Long as Israel Exists'
[Breitbart] TEL AVIV ‐ Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of California, Davis, on Friday admitted that it does not believe the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would be resolved "so long as the State of Israel exists."

"The goal of Palestinian resistance is not to establish ’love’ with those who are responsible for the suffering of the Palestinian people," the group said in an article published by the student paper California Aggie.

Rather, the essay said, "it is to completely dismantle those forces at play."

The full paragraph in question reads:
Lastly, it is an ideological fantasy to really believe that progress is possible so long as the state of Israel exists. Underlying this naive fantasy is the belief that a state that engages in racist laws, systematic killings and home demolitions can also function as a beacon of peace. The goal of Palestinian resistance is not to establish "love" with those who are responsible for the suffering of the Palestinian people; it is to completely dismantle those forces at play. So continue to watch in "horror," because we are here to stay.

The piece was a response to a June op-ed written by the Aggies for Israel club, critiquing an anti-Israel protest against its "Choose Love" campaign.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/11/2018 06:49 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Well, knock me over with a feather - I'm so suprized!
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 07/11/2018 7:16 Comments || Top||

#2  Anti-Colonialist neo-Marxist thought has a bastard child with age old antisemitism, how truly unexpected. (/sarc)
Posted by: magpie || 07/11/2018 10:41 Comments || Top||

#3  So what? It doesn't get resolved and the Paleostinians continue to live miserable lives while Israel prospers.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 07/11/2018 11:01 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Canadian teacher Francois Lamontagne: ‘You never know when you'll need English' (video)
[BBC] Students at Maesai Prasitsart School, which several of the Thai cave boys attend, are looking forward to their return and celebrating the boys’ use of English when they spoke to divers who found them.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/11/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Ever since I worked for a German multi-national company it has been clear that English is the universal second language.

Meetings in Waldorf, with folks from Argentina, Poland, US, Germany, France, etc. were all held in English cause no matter the native tongue we all spoke English.

I thank Hollywood and the British Empire!
Posted by: AlanC || 07/11/2018 9:00 Comments || Top||

#2  ...and dominance in technology, medicine, aviation, commerce, et al (shove that back in your Marxist teacher's face when they say - all cultures are equal)
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/11/2018 9:20 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Why Iran returned empty-handed from Vienna
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The Joint Commission tasked to review the Iran nuclear deal ended Friday with no tangible results, Europe
...also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
providing a low-temperature package to Tehran, and the regime’s mission returning him disappointed.

The joint statement issued afterwards presents nearly nothing new on the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif became a no-show for the concluding presser.

These are signs of the rules of play changing, leaving the Iranian regime facing a very stiff uphill battle of stalling to kick back the inevitable.
The meeting

Prior to leaving for Vienna, French Foreign Minister Jean Yves Le Drian specifically warned Tehran should stop issuing threats to violate its JCPOA commitments. Iran must end these remarks aimed at preventing us from finding a solution, he added, going on to say he doubts any economic package can be provided to Tehran prior to November.

The Vienna session was chaired by European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
foreign policy chief Frederica Mogherini and the foreign ministers of the United Kingdom, China, La Belle France, Germany and Russia took part in talks with Zarif.

Considering the fact that details regarding the issues discussed inside the session are obviously unavailable, signs from the meeting participants outside of their talks are quite telling.

All Mogherini could deliver at the finale presser were pledges of further talks to cover economic issues and that all parties should seek methods to save the deal. Further sessions between the foreign ministers will be held if deemed necessary, she added, showing signs of futility.

Adding to Zarif not attending this presser, the fact that Mogherini only read a written statement and refused to answer any questions from news hounds are also quite notable.

Compiling Iran’s miseries even further is how the Vienna talks were overshadowed by the arrest of an Iranian-Belgian couple reportedly dispatched by Tehran to bomb the June 30th Iranian opposition convention near Gay Paree.
Iran’s complaints

As the Joint Commission came to an end, Zarif was seen resorting to a known tactic of the Iranian regime.

"Up to now no one has been able to resolve the U.S. exiting the JCPOA and this issue remains unsettled. Therefore, we have the right to take action," he said.

This may seem a significant threat to the naked eye and those not familiar with Tehran’s playbook. To provide further understanding, quite considerable are his follow-up remarks making a U-turn from Tehran’s previous position of Europe’s suggestions not fitting Iran’s demands.

"The European package appears practical. We have postponed our measures in respect to requests placed by other JCPOA members, in order to become certain that our interests are preserved. We have always remained loyal to our commitments and we are so now," he added.

Back in Iran, however, the Tasnim news agency, known to be affiliated to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) Quds Force, published Zarif’s remarks, delivering an interesting twist to this scenario.

"Zarif had specifically said prior to the Joint Commission meeting that we expect European countries to provide verifiable and applicable commitments, instead of confusing and deceiving pledges," the piece read in part.
Posted by: Fred || 07/11/2018 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  provide verifiable and applicable commitments, instead of confusing and deceiving pledges

Right. Commitments - that's the European's job. Deceiving pledges are the Iranian's job.
Posted by: Bobby || 07/11/2018 9:36 Comments || Top||

#2  It is sad. I remember the Shah's Iran of 1969. Happy people, throngs in the markets, apparently wealthy enough, well dressed, beautiful, polite and friendly. I neither saw nor heard of any strife or unhappiness. It is sad.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike || 07/11/2018 14:29 Comments || Top||

#3  Ref #2: I recall similar reporting from Army mobile training teams deployed to Iran.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/11/2018 15:21 Comments || Top||

#4  The Ayatollahs rule wasn't imposed from outside ==> not all Iranians were happy.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 07/11/2018 15:32 Comments || Top||

#5  Knew a few Iranians in '67-'68. Upper middle-class / upperclass American college students.

Nice guys who had too much money for their owwn good, Didn't think highly of the Savak however.
Posted by: AlanC || 07/11/2018 16:41 Comments || Top||

#6  #4: True.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike || 07/11/2018 17:21 Comments || Top||

#7  Outside Tehran and other population centers, the rubes were easily recruited
Posted by: Frank G || 07/11/2018 20:15 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
SCOTUS INTERRUPTUS: A Lifetime Political Appointment, Much Like Being Married To Bill Clinton
[DailyCaller] Another Supreme Court Justice, slightly right-of-center swing vote Anthony Kennedy, has decided to retire. In a contentious and closely watched Supreme Court vote, the justices decided 5 to 4 to get him an ice cream cake for his retirement party.

Trump now gets to appoint his second Supreme Court justice. Two on his "short list" were women. Trump will fashion his own special brand of decision making; this may have been the only Supreme Court vetting contest that had a swimsuit category.

This is a lifetime political appointment in Washington, D. C., much like being married to Bill Clinton.

Trump nominated Brett Kavanaugh, and the libs are preemptively enraged. In fact, anger is their only emotion. They never really seem to advance reasoned alternatives. They are either angry or asleep. We are just 500 days into this presidency, so Maxine Waters and Chuck Schumer had best pace themselves.

The left howls when Trump does anything. They say it is the worst thing Trump has ever done ‐ until he does something tomorrow. Crying "Wolf!" at everything has diminished their credibility.

They try to tie everything to their fake Russian collusion probe, saying now that Trump cannot appoint a Supreme Court Justice because he or she may rule on his case. Very weak. The odds are nil that this sordid mess of a tabloid investigation gone awry gets to the Supreme Court.

And if the Stormy Daniels case got that far, she might have to recuse herself since both she and the Supreme Court Justices do the same thing: show up to work in a robe. In fact, she could even represent herself before the Supreme Court. If there is a woman with more experience being around old men in robes than Stormy, I’d be surprised.

The reason libs are so unhinged about this is that their last domain in government has been the 8 years Obama had of installing liberal activist judges who aggressively pursue their political agendas from the bench. Libs love making rules others have to follow, and they get to interpret.

They are so worried that Ruth Buzzy Ginsberg might die in two years that they will probably shop and get a ruling from California’s 9th Circus Court of Appeals that she doesn’t have to step down from the court in the event of her death. Look for this case ruling, Weekend at Bernie’s v. Trump, coming to theatrics courts near you soon!

One oddity I have pointed out: When Justice John Paul Stevens left the Supreme Court at age 89 (he was so old they had to keep reminding him to close his robe), we no longer had a Protestant on the Supreme Court. Kavanaugh is another Catholic. So we will have three Jews and six justices raised Catholic in a country that is over half Protestant. When are we WASPs going to catch a break in America?

The left always says that any Republican Supreme Court appointment will be the end of Roe v. Wade. Of their last 100 warnings on this, none has come true. Their hyperbole grows weary. In the south, Roe v. Wade is a decision we make when our Evinrude boat motor breaks.

And we feel that college admission quotas should not favor one person over another, but should be fair. We feel that quotas, when put inside a parking meter, should give everyone 30 minutes of parking.

Justice Kennedy struck the right tone. He ruled in favor of same-sex marriage. He said it was not the Supreme Court’s role to judge gay men; that, of course, falls in the purview of the Tony Awards Committee. The Supremes rightfully decided that marriage is a states’ rights issue and not traditionally defined as the union of two people of the opposite sex trapped in resentful bondage who cope by eventually wearing sweatpants to watch Family Feud every night.

Other cases, like whether a Colorado baker can refuse on religious grounds to make a wedding cake for a gay couple, are the rulings they are tinkering with. Should there be anything Americans would stand up and pay attention to? Is any ruling just that reduces the amount of cake available? And for those keeping fairness scores at home, it’s easier for a gay couple to get a wedding cake in Colorado than it is for Sarah Huckabee Sanders to get a meal in Virginia.
Posted by: JohnQC || 07/11/2018 10:53 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
Posted by: Anomalous Sources || 07/11/2018 19:45 Comments || Top||


End of era in U.S., Israeli supreme courts
[Jpost] In the US, many on the liberal side of things are concerned that the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to succeed retiring US Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy signals the death of liberalism on a range of issues.

Kennedy was known publicly as the court’s "swing vote," one of the few justices who could swing between the court’s liberal and conservative wings depending on the issue at hand.

From abortion to gay rights to affirmative action, Kavanaugh is predicted by many to be far more consistently conservative than Kennedy was.

The liberal side is equally concerned in Israel following Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked’s appointment of a number of conservative Supreme Court justices.

Conservatives in both the US and Israel are as pleased, as liberals are concerned, and see opportunities to assert a greater conservative direction for both Supreme Courts.

While all of these changes are part of a trend of conservatives winning more control, ironically, another major piece of the ascendance of conservative power on the two courts, is most clearly expressed when viewing the legacy of liberal lion Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg who just visited Israel.

The reason is that there are few, if any, liberal lions of RBG’s stature left on either court.
Liberal Lion - somebody willing to trample both the law & common sense in their rush to utopia?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 07/11/2018 03:36 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This means you probably should not wear a robe as you follow false doctrine. Ashondra.
Posted by: newc || 07/11/2018 4:42 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
42[untagged]
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5Islamic State
4Govt of Iran
3Houthis
3Hamas
2Govt of Pakistan
2Moslem Colonists
1Human Trafficking
1Commies
1TTP
1al-Nusra
1Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life, & Kleptocrats
1Govt of Iran Proxies

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Two weeks of WOT
Wed 2018-07-11
  Gazan kites burn 150 acres in Israel’s south
Tue 2018-07-10
   All the boys and their coach are out of the Tham Luang cave. Navy Seals and the doctor still yet to exit.-Twitter news from Sydney
Mon 2018-07-09
  1 US soldier killed, 2 wounded in apparent insider attack in Afghanistan
Sun 2018-07-08
  Live updates: Thailand cave rescue: navy Seals confirm four boys have been rescued – live
Sat 2018-07-07
  Former Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif sentenced to 10 years in jail
Fri 2018-07-06
  600 airstrikes by Russian, Syrian jets against Daraa: Observatory
Thu 2018-07-05
  Scott Pruitt driven to resign effective July 6
Wed 2018-07-04
  Happy 4th of July! Rare US independence declaration found in UK archive
Tue 2018-07-03
  An Iranian diplomat was arrested in a plot to blow up a massive 'freedom' event attended by Rudy Giuliani
Mon 2018-07-02
  Cleveland FBI says it thwarted downtown Fourth of July terrorist attack
Sun 2018-07-01
  Islamist militants attack African military base in Mali, at least six dead
Sat 2018-06-30
  South Korea to tighten asylum laws as hundreds of Yemenis arrive
Fri 2018-06-29
  Haftar's forces say they have captured Libyan city of Derna
Thu 2018-06-28
  MD Sheriff: 'Multiple Fatalities' in Annapolis Newsroom Shooting
Wed 2018-06-27
  Anthony Kennedy retiring from Supreme Court


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