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Area: WoT Operations    WoT Background    Non-WoT        Politix   
US moves its embassy from Baghdad to Erbil
Today's Headlines
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Page 4: Opinion
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Page 1: WoT Operations
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Page 6: Politix
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7 23:19 Rambler in Virginia [7]
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-Lurid Crime Tales-
Seth Rich: The Murder Washington Doesn't Want Solved
[American Thinker] On the face of things, the July 2016 murder of Seth Rich had intrigue enough for a full season of House of Cards.

Unknown assailants gun down the young DNC data analyst at 4 A.M. on a Washington, D.C., street and take nothing. Two weeks later, international man of mystery Julian Assange strongly suggests on Dutch TV that Rich was his source for the purloined DNC emails then roiling the Democratic Party and offers a $20,000 reward to find the killer.

Three days before the November election, Assange reportedly tells liberal media analyst Ellen Ratner that Rich was indeed his source. Days after Trump's inauguration, legendary investigative journalist Sy Hersh cites an FBI report confirming Assange's claim. Later that year, DNC honcho Donna Brazile dedicates her book Hacks to Rich and wonders out loud whether the Russians had "played some part in his unsolved murder."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/29/2020 03:12 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  If I was gunned down in the street in a "botched robbery", I reaalllllyyy doubt the FBI would be conducting a forensic analysis of my laptop within hours of my death.

You know why the FBI didn't seize the DNC servers? Because they weren't hacked and they knew from the start that Seth Rich was the source.

Botched robbery? They left his wallet, phone, watch. But they DID take all the shell casings. What thief takes the time to police his brass but doesn't take the time to kneel down and take what he came for? WHO KILLED SETH RICH?


Posted by: Muggsy Hapsburg5230 || 09/29/2020 4:33 Comments || Top||

#2  There's too much and too little. A single line on a piece of paper doesn't mean anything. But if you draw 359 more at correct angles they describe tangents and the shape becomes apparent. If history teaches anything there's nothing too thuggish or low for the socialist mind.
Posted by: Cesare || 09/29/2020 8:06 Comments || Top||

#3  "At this point, what difference does it make?"

The leaks mysteriously terminated immediately following the Rich shooting. Similarly, the Bureau's FISA interest in Carter Page ended when Page left the Donald Trump campaign. Oh, and of course you knew Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide.
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/29/2020 9:02 Comments || Top||

#4 
Posted by: Clem || 09/29/2020 9:05 Comments || Top||

#5  Debbie Wasserman Schultz could use a line of questioning as well.
Posted by: Clem || 09/29/2020 9:08 Comments || Top||

#6  What thief takes the time to police his brass

'Hands on' assassins may anticipate a multi-magazine TV running gun battle but prefer selected timing, location, unaware target, and a revolver.
Posted by: Skidmark || 09/29/2020 10:15 Comments || Top||

#7  The philosophy here is 'Don't turn over a rock if you expect to find a snake'.

The sad fact is the the Rich brothers (Seth and Aaron) were partners in their data operation, and the parents would like to keep one son alive.
Posted by: ed in texas || 09/29/2020 11:08 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Outrage as Whole Foods CEO Says Ignorance and Poor Choices Cause Obesity
[Newsweek] Whole Foods CEO John Mackey has sparked backlash after saying that Americans are obese because they make poor choices, in an interview with the New York Times.

Mackey said that the world is getting fat but that Americans are leading the way. He also said that the U.S. has had "more of a problem" with COVID-19 due to obesity-related comorbidities like diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure.

Mackey has come under fire for saying that obesity is not an access problem, and instead said that ignorance and poor choices are to blame for obesity.

When journalist David Gelles mentioned issues around access and affordability as a reason why people eat unhealthy foods, the Whole Foods CEO said: "In some sense, we're all food addicts. We love things that are rich, that are sweet. We love ice cream. We love popcorn. We love French fried potatoes. And the market is providing people what they want.

"I don't think there's an access problem. I think there's a market demand problem. People have got to become wiser about their food choices. And if people want different foods, the market will provide it."
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/29/2020 03:01 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It is a time of universal deceit.

Subsidising Corn production (and thus High Fructose corn syrup) is a terrible idea. fructose is a poison to mitochondria.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 09/29/2020 3:23 Comments || Top||

#2  The global population explosion is the 'Green' challenge. Many in developing nations must simply starve, succumb to pandemics, or endless wars. If packed tightly into old folks homes, the Chinese-flu should take care of the elderly. Others should be aborted, or permitted to eventually eat themselves to death.

[sarc off]
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/29/2020 3:34 Comments || Top||

#3  He's right and wrong. Sure, people can make better choices. But when you've got marketing using powerful psychological techniques that would make the original Chicom brainwashers jealous, it changes the story. These techniques work, and they especially work when applied not to individuals but at a society level.

Then we have food chemists adjusting junk food to fit exactly the taste buds on the human tongue, and combine this with the advertising, and it's no wonder we are where we are. I'm no fan of government intervention but I don't see how a market can fix this. The market is doing what it does best: sell, sell, sell. But what they're doing is harming our people so it must stop.
Posted by: Muggsy Hapsburg5230 || 09/29/2020 6:23 Comments || Top||

#4  He's right. "Go large". "Free refills" (read: free high fructose corn syrup"). Sedentary lifestyle (TV, computer). Few fresh-cooked meals nowadays....popping pills for every little ailment, real or perceived....

All for quality of life, but not with my tax dollars supporting health care for poor choices.
Posted by: Clem || 09/29/2020 7:24 Comments || Top||

#5  re: 'lack of access' - when you place something nice in front of people who have never had to work for anything in their life; well they have a tendency to destroy that nice thing.
I saw it first hand when Kroger opened a new top of the line ultra clean store in the 'hood I was living in.
It took about half a year before they were considering pulling up stakes, tired of all the theft, vandalism, and just plain rudeness.
Kroger even tried a sushi bar. The only customers it got were the people who had to walk by it while waiting in line for fried chicken every Sunday morning.
Posted by: Bob Grorong1136 || 09/29/2020 7:43 Comments || Top||

#6  Yet strangely the overall life expectancy numbers haven't been dropping like a rock. I'm sure the Socialist can fix that conundrum.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 09/29/2020 7:45 Comments || Top||

#7  The "human animal" loves those high calorie foods and food sellers gotta sell.
Posted by: magpie || 09/29/2020 9:57 Comments || Top||

#8  The global population explosion...[sarc off]

What sarcasm?
Posted by: Skidmark || 09/29/2020 10:18 Comments || Top||

#9  Partly right. We have also made all the high sugar, high calorie foods really cheap and the good foods expensive. A big reason the poor are usually obese is that is what they can afford.

Also their poor choices in choosing to cram as much of that crap in their hole as possible.
Posted by: DarthVader || 09/29/2020 11:23 Comments || Top||

#10  They banned cigarette advertisements on TV so they could do the same with sugar which is every bit as harmful to our health. Think of it, Saturday morning TV without Fruit Loops, Lucky Charms, Frosted Flakes or Captain Crunch.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 09/29/2020 12:39 Comments || Top||

#11  The average person can't afford to get fat shopping at Whole Paycheck.
Posted by: Uloter Ebbomolet9368 || 09/29/2020 13:35 Comments || Top||

#12  I'm overweight, and will admit to a weakness for sweets. I have a sneaking suspicion that high frustose corn syrup and the federal Food Pyramid (search and crab heavey) had a lot to do with my weight. I've been losing weight by cutting carbs, and eating real butter instead of margarine, real sugar or stevai instead of HFCS products, and exercising regularly. Its resulted in nearly 15kg loss, with another 15 to go. So he's not wrong, although I disagree with some of his reasoning.
Posted by: Theager Borgia1057 || 09/29/2020 15:07 Comments || Top||

#13  "starch and carb heavy" - thanks spell check.
Posted by: Theager Borgia1057 || 09/29/2020 15:08 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Doctor Carrie Madej discusses the COVID-19 vaccine (video)
How the COVID-19 vaccine may transform humanity forever,
going from HUMAN 1.0 to HUMAN 2.0

Sort of...Alex Jones Infowars, but I thought it might be of interest.
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/29/2020 09:47 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  If this Whu-flu is so god awful, why aren't their piles of bodies in all those oh so sanitary homeless hangouts in Cali and NY?

I should be seeing pictures of carts for "Bring out your Dead" given the co-morbidities that are rampant there.

Some how I think this is all much ado about very little and I'm in the supposedly high risk demo.
Posted by: AlanC || 09/29/2020 11:40 Comments || Top||

#2  ^ Homeless people spend a lot of time in fresh air and sunshine which may reduce the incidence of covid-19.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 09/29/2020 12:43 Comments || Top||

#3  Homeless people also tend not to have the key deadly co-morbidities of obesity and diabetes, so that’s another factor in their favour.
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/29/2020 13:25 Comments || Top||


Wuhan Bio Labs? No, CNN links COVID-19 to Climate Change
[CNN] Numerous scientists have studied how the 1918 flu spread to become the deadliest pandemic in history and which interventions worked, research that is becoming increasingly relevant during the current coronavirus crisis.

But little research has been done on how environmental conditions affected the 1918 pandemic -- until now.

The 1918 flu coincided with the final years of the World War I, and it's been well documented that heavy rain and cold temperatures impacted many battles. Now, a new study reveals that the cold, rainy weather was part of a once-in-a-century climate anomaly
...a once a century climate anomaly is not climate change, merely climate variation, it seems to me...
that occurred from 1914 to 1919 and added to the severity of the 1918 pandemic.

"We knew before, of course, from photos and eyewitness testimonies that the battlefields of Europe were really muddy and rainy and soldiers died of all sorts of exposure, even drowning in the mud and the trenches sometimes. What is news is that in fact it was a six-year anomaly and not just one or two instances," said lead researcher Alexander More, a research associate at Harvard University's history department and an assistant professor at the University of Maine's Climate Change Institute.

A team of more than a dozen scientists collected and analyzed an Alpine ice core to reconstruct the environmental conditions of Europe during the World War I. The process involves using a laser that melts a tiny bit from the ice surface and analyzing the chemicals released from each layer of water vapor. It's so precise they can pinpoint exact seasons from each layer of ice.

Researchers then compared that ice core data to historical records of deaths during that time period and records of precipitation and temperatures from each month.
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/29/2020 08:06 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  A team of more than a dozen scientists collected and analyzed an Alpine ice core to reconstruct the environmental conditions of Europe during the World War I.

An answer in search of a research grant ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/29/2020 8:27 Comments || Top||

#2  This fits the globalist narrative to a tee...note the frequent calls about going green and using this "crisis" as a pretext. People weren't buying the climate change rubbish from Greta, eg al., so a change in strategy was required.
Posted by: Clem || 09/29/2020 8:37 Comments || Top||

#3  cold, rainy weather was part of a once-in-a-century climate anomaly

Then global warming (hotter, drier), if it were real, is a good thing.
Posted by: Uloter Ebbomolet9368 || 09/29/2020 9:27 Comments || Top||

#4  the battlefields of Europe were really muddy and rainy

Global warming, or solar minimum?
Posted by: Skidmark || 09/29/2020 10:04 Comments || Top||

#5  The weather in the early-mid 1940'2 wasn't that sporty either.
Posted by: Cesare || 09/29/2020 11:17 Comments || Top||

#6  the battlefields of Europe were really muddy and rainy... in lowland France and Belgium. Do you know how they drained lowland swamps: dig multiple canals across them to drain off groundwater. You can turn low ground by obliterating any streams and churning the ground into soup with thousands of high explosive shells. Like, D'Oh!
Posted by: magpie || 09/29/2020 15:39 Comments || Top||

#7  ^You can turn low ground to swamps by...
Posted by: magpie || 09/29/2020 15:43 Comments || Top||


-Land of the Free
The Prelude to World War II: The Spanish Civil War and Today's America
[Ammo] America is definitely not Europe, but we can find a number of parallels between European history and contemporary America. For example, we’ve previously written about the Italian Years of Lead as a possible template for urban unrest and low-level inter-tribal warfare in the United States. Another example of how things might play out in the United States is the Spanish Civil War.

The Spanish Civil War is known to historians, amateur and professional alike, as the "dress rehearsal for the Second World War." It is so termed because it pitted one side — which was equipped, armed and funded by Europe’s fascist regimes (Germany and Italy) — against a government largely funded and propped up by the Soviet Union. However, it is worth noting that General Francisco Franco’s nationalist forces were not themselves fascist (though there were fascists within their ranks) and that Spain remained neutral during the Second World War, later becoming a close ally of the United States in the fight against Communism internationally.

While there are few perfect analogs to be found anywhere in world history, there are parallels between the contemporary domestic political situation in the United States and the period immediately before and during the Spanish Civil War. And while the situation in the United States might play out in a much similar way to the Spanish Civil War, it is worth noting that our previous Civil War was the bloodiest in human history. There is little doubt that a Second American Civil War would not be significantly more destructive.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: 746 || 09/29/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It is so termed because it pitted one side — which was equipped, armed and funded by Europe’s fascist regimes (Germany and Italy) — against a government largely funded and propped up by the Soviet Union.

Another from one of our 'Russians did it' fans?
Posted by: Skidmark || 09/29/2020 0:05 Comments || Top||

#2  A few notes about the Spanish situation in 1936

1) The Spanish socialist Party was NOT a democratic party. His leader Largo Caballero, liked to be called "The Spanish Lenin". He derided the minority in his party that advocated reacghing power through elections and told there was no alternative to violence.
2) The 1936 elections saw a fraud excedding ten times the one in the mots crooked Democartic state
3) The Spanish socialist party made well clear it would never surrend poweer if in the future he lost an election. Ie Spain was now de facto a dictatorship
4) Between the February election and the July election the Popular Front governementr closed dozens of right wing newspapers, and arrested hundreds of opponents all while leftit miliatnts went rampant murdering right wing militants or personalities.
5) At one point a socialist lieutenant of the Guardia de Asalto (Police) who had been prominent in the arbitrary arrests was murdered by militants of the then minuscle half-Fascist Falange. Then the leader of Largo Caballero's bodyguards tried to murder the leaders of the two, main opposition parties, completely unconnected to Falange (the grouop whio had klilled the lieutenant). One of the then was murdered , the other was not in Madrid when the murderers came looking for him. The socialist governelment reacted to the murder by... arresting right-wing militants and closing right-wing newspapers.

At this point some spanish generals decided enough was enough and staged coup in order TO RESTORE DEMOCRACY. Yes, most of the them had this goala. But the coup failed and the leadership went to a general who had not been a member a core member of the conspiracy but had the most powerful troops, that is general Franco and he had different ideas.
At this point however the rebels were in a desperate situatuion: they only had half of the Army (agreed the best one) but Air Force, Navy abnd most of the Police were on the government side and more importanly weapon and ammo factories were in governement hands. In addition militais in governement zone were in a rampage of looting, raping and murdering while the spanish governemnt was talking "of covering the oceans in blood". So the generals looked for outside assistance. France and Great Britain gave them the shoulder. Italy and Germany agreeed to send them aid


Now an intriguing question. We know Franco denied Hitler the use of naval and aircraft bases in North West Spain and the Canary Islands. Had he agreed other had Hitler taken them by force it is probable Geramn U-Boots and aiarcraft would have managed to strangle the UK. But Franco said no and he managed to look friendly enough to prevent invasion.
We do not know what woukld have happened if the governement side had won the war. Since by 1939 republican Spain was a satellite of Soviet Union and since by September 1940 when Franco met Hitler at Hendaya, Communist and Nazis were still living a love affair it is not at all sure the Soanisgh governelment would have said NO to Hitkler's demands and in case he would have said No it is very, very, very dubious it could have done it with enough apparent friendliness to prevent Hitler of just invading and taking the bases he wanted
Posted by: JFM || 09/29/2020 7:13 Comments || Top||

#3  "Franco is still dead."
Posted by: Clem || 09/29/2020 7:37 Comments || Top||

#4  The Spanish 'No' to Nazi use of their ports was pretty soft in practice.
Posted by: Cesare || 09/29/2020 8:24 Comments || Top||

#5  Franco wasn't fascist. Well that's good to know.
Posted by: Muggsy Hapsburg5230 || 09/29/2020 9:03 Comments || Top||

#6  Skidmark, if the Russia support was supposed to indicate Trump that would mean the facists are the left. I don't think any lefties would admit that.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 09/29/2020 9:33 Comments || Top||

#7  Lefties/Commies & Fascists were the ones duking it out on the streets of Berlin and Munich, not the Social Democrats. They are pretty much two sides of the socialist coin.
Posted by: Clem || 09/29/2020 9:50 Comments || Top||

#8  Years ago I bought Hugh Thomas' The Spanish Civil War(1961) in a used book store . The "sheer crazy" that went on in that conflict is amazing, but one anecdote amused me: The Nationalist Commander picked up the desk phone, in front of the reporter, and called the Republican Commander of the next city down the road to trade insults. You see the telephone system was run by the international division of AT&T and stayed neutral and in operation all through the war...
Posted by: magpie || 09/29/2020 11:01 Comments || Top||

#9  History...wash, rinse, repeat.
Posted by: Skidmark || 09/29/2020 14:15 Comments || Top||

#10  Franco wasn't fascist.

He was a reactionary in contemporary terms. His focus was Spain not the world. Restored the monarchy and church into Spanish society. He did have and used fascists. To keep the most ardent out of becoming a problem, he arranged for them to be sent to Russia to fight the commies they hated in the form of the Spanish Blue division.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 09/29/2020 15:36 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Coalition Of Black Pastors Rips Kamala Harris For Celebrating ‘Brilliance' Of Black Lives Matter Founders
[American Truth Today] A group of black pastors slammed Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris (Calif.) on Friday for praising the so-called "brilliance" of the Black Lives Matter founders, the Christian Post reported.

What happened? During an interview with CNN commentator Angela Rye for the NAACP’s Fall Leadership Conference, Harris lauded the "brilliance" of Black Lives Matter co-founders Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Opal Tometi, the Post said.

Praising the co-founders’ "brilliance in conceiving [BLM]," Harris told Rye that one day people would see BLM as "an inflection point in the ongoing fight for justice ... and to reform the criminal justice system."

"I actually believe as a former prosecutor that Black Lives Matter has been the most significant agent for change within the criminal justice system," Harris said, "because it has been a counterforce to the force within the system that is so grounded in status quo and in its own traditions, many of which have been harmful and have been discriminatory in the way that they have been enforced."

She went on to describe the BLM protests — many of which have become violent — "as an essential component of evolution in our country" and "as essential component or mark of a real democracy" and "as necessary — the people’s voices must be heard."

Why? Because "nothing that we have achieved that has been about progress in our country has come without a fight," she said.
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/29/2020 03:50 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  'Why, without prosecutors like myself, there may not have even been a BLM movement.'
Posted by: swksvolFF || 09/29/2020 11:56 Comments || Top||


Exclusive: We Have Acquired A Copy Of Joe Biden's Debate Prep Notes
[Babylon Bee] WASHINGTON, D.C.—In a daring feat of undercover journalism, The Babylon Bee's embedded DC reporter has acquired a leaked copy of Joe Biden's debate prep notes. We are proud to introduce them to the world for the first time. Please enjoy. Many undercover journalists died to bring us this information.

Here they are in all their glory:
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/29/2020 03:35 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Obviously not real because they aren't in crayon.
Posted by: gorb || 09/29/2020 15:15 Comments || Top||

#2  Hope he doesn't walk and try to sniff Melania's hair.
Posted by: Vespasian Ebbereng3110 || 09/29/2020 17:21 Comments || Top||

#3  So, the question is: can the Don drive him into mental breakdown?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 09/29/2020 17:32 Comments || Top||

#4  Looks like Rush may have missed the call on this one. Only hours away.
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/29/2020 17:37 Comments || Top||

#5  Not there yet ....
Posted by: gorb || 09/29/2020 18:00 Comments || Top||

#6  "What's the frequency, CornPop?"

"We two along with two billion other Americans are appalled by the figure of 200 million COVID deaths - right, Joe?"

"Our policy toward-- [stops, takes a whiff]-- say, anyone else small pre-teen spirit? Joe, 'zat one o' your girls?"
Posted by: Varmint Thineter3614 || 09/29/2020 18:11 Comments || Top||


Appeals court halts arbitrary extension of ballot-counting deadline by a federal judge
[American Thinker] The arbitrary rewriting of election laws and rules by partisan judges is but one of many tricks that Democrats are using to steal the election. Federal judges in Wisconsin and Georgia and the state Supreme Court of Pennsylvania have all extended the deadlines for receiving and counting mailed in ballots for the November election, while a New York federal judge extended the deadline for a primary election in that state.

The game is to give enough time to discover how many ballots are needed and then provide them by hook or by crook, as is already being done in Minneapolis by the Ilhan Omar machine.

In essence, the judges in the above cases have decided that they don't like the law, so they will change it to suit their own preferences.

Fortunately, in the case of Wisconsin, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals (on which Judge Coney Barret currently sits) has issued a stay. Dan Friedman of Mother Jones sadly reports:
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/29/2020 03:21 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Because it's going to be very necessary for a federal judge from Hawaii to interfere make a determination about an election in the US heartland...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 09/29/2020 11:54 Comments || Top||


A Reminder to American Jews: Civilization Is Fragile
[Townhall] Yesterday was Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. It is meant to be a time of intense self-examination. In light of that, I offer this column.

The question I receive more than any other from non-Jews is: Why are so many Jews on the left?

Before addressing it, I should note that the same question could be asked of Christians and other non-Jews. Why have so many mainstream Protestants and Catholics (up to and including the pope) embraced the left? Why have nearly all blacks, the majority of Hispanics and Asian Americans, the most successful ethnic group in America, embraced the left? And, outside of the United States, why have most Germans, French, Canadians, Australians and others in the West embraced the left?

This question could be asked about almost every group in the world.

Nevertheless, it is valid to ask it about Jews because, if any group should be wary of dismantling a society, especially a decent one, it is the Jews. The moment civilization begins to disintegrate, the Jews are the first victims -- never the only, but always the first. That's why Jews have so often been likened to the proverbial canary in the mine. Miners take canaries down with them because when there are noxious fumes, canaries die, and when the miners see the dead canaries, they know there are toxic fumes they must fight, or they, too, will die.

That's why decent non-Jews who don't fight anti-Semitism are fools. They don't understand that anti-Semitism represents a mortal threat to them. Tens of millions of non-Jews were killed because decent non-Jews ignored Hitler early on, dismissing him and Nazism as a Jewish problem.
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/29/2020 03:10 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Civilization is an illusion.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 09/29/2020 16:18 Comments || Top||

#2  An important reminder for all.
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/29/2020 22:06 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Why are some ultra-Orthodox rabbis ignoring COVID-19?
[JPost] - The now infamous tisch celebration by the Vizhnitz Hassidic community in Bnei Brak on Monday night after the end of Yom Kippur gave graphic and shocking evidence of the fact that some haredi (ultra-Orthodox) rabbinic leaders are simply trying to ignore the massive COVID-19 outbreak among their community and the nation at large.

What is even more striking is that the event in question was not a prayer service, critical religious ceremony or life-cycle event, egregious as mass gatherings for such events still are during the current pandemic, but a traditional and convivial gathering for which there is no religious obligation.

In the haredi world, standards of behavior are largely set by the rabbinic leadership, so if a leading rabbi of a community forbids any particular action, there are few who would dare to publicly contravene such an order. Conversely, if the rabbi permits something, few in the community would second-guess such a position.

...What can the explanation be for what many see as a cavalier and irresponsible approach to the lives of their congregants and the broader country, especially when protecting life is one of the most important injunctions in Halacha?

The haredi world has largely been built on isolationism from the rest of society and on strong communal association, especially in the hassidic communities where their infrastructure and institutions are all-embracing and nurturing.

...Synagogue attendance, and even tisches, are critical parts of communal life, while a connection to the rebbe is a strong bond that binds hassidim to the community.
Just like any other sect
The coronavirus pandemic and the resultant social-distancing regulations that have been adopted by governments worldwide have threatened to strike at the heart of this social construct.

...During the shutdown in March and April when yeshivas were closed, many haredi youth found themselves at a loose end and without a solid framework, and many reportedly lost interest in religious life.

According to Prof. Yedidya Stern, an expert on haredi society at the Israel Democracy Institute, ultra-Orthodox leaders who have prioritized communal life and events over health regulations are demonstrating their concern for the greater future of their community over immediate concerns for their physical safety.
Also they're used on free-riding on the back of the rest of Israeli society - so why not take advantage of the Israel's medical system? Get herd immunity (they're too ignorant of "apostate science" to realize that herd immunity is a fiction) for their own before the medical system is overwhelmed.
"Belonging to an Eastern European religious sect is very far from being a natural thing in the 21st century," he said.

The potential for disruption to such communities by the COVID-19 pandemic is so large that it could undermine the viability of the ultra-Orthodox model — and this is a risk the rebbes and others are not prepared to take.
I sure hope that the thousands yeshiva students in isolation now will be provided with access to internet while there
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 09/29/2020 15:55 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Why There's No Peace With the Palestinians
[Frontpage] A sobering look at the Palestinians' ultimatum on the "Right of Return."
Posted by: Frank G || 09/29/2020 10:53 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority

#1  Well, the Paleo leaders wouldn't get rich if there was.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 09/29/2020 11:10 Comments || Top||

#2  If Arab nations continue to make peace with Israel then the Paloes may just find themselves on the wrong side of history.
Posted by: Iblis || 09/29/2020 13:45 Comments || Top||

#3  ..since 1948.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 09/29/2020 15:28 Comments || Top||

#4  Because peace is not part of their business model.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 09/29/2020 15:52 Comments || Top||

#5  "Hudna" and "Peace" are antithetical.
Posted by: magpie || 09/29/2020 23:32 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran's strategy and tactical shift until the US elections
[THEBAGHDADPOST] In spite of the fact that the US and Israel have put significant pressure on the Iranian regime this year, Tehran has tactically refrained from responding with a major military attack against either of them. The Iranian leaders will likely continue to pursue this policy until after the US presidential election in November.

Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
has seen several major explosions and fires at its sensitive military and nuclear sites — including the Natanz nuclear facility and the Khojir missile manufacturing complex — in the last few months. The attacks have been attributed to Israel due to their sophisticated nature. Tel Aviv has also attacked several military bases reportedly linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Iraq and Syria, but Iran has not responded with similar attacks against Israel.

Even Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei
...the very aged actual dictator of Iran, successor to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini...
, who has the final say on Iran’s domestic and foreign policies, has abstained from pointing the finger at Israel for the earth-shattering kabooms at the nuclear sites. He has also not instructed the IRGC to carry out a major attack against Israel, either directly or through the IRGC’s proxies and militias.

Similarly, since Iran’s top general Qassem Soleimani
was killed as a result of a direct order from US President Donald Trump
...The man who was so stupid he beat fourteen professional politicians, a former tech CEO, and a brain surgeon for the Republican nomination in 2016, then beat The Smartest Woman in the World in the general election...
in January, Tehran has not yet carried out an extensive military attack against American interests, despite its heightened and threatening rhetoric. The few missiles that Iran did launch at US bases in Iraq after the death of Soleimani did not kill any American troops and Washington was reportedly even given prior warning of the attacks.

This does not mean that the Iranian regime is not seeking to retaliate extensively against Israel or the US. However,
by candlelight every wench is handsome...
from the perspective of the Iranian leaders, it is in their interests to be cautious until after the US election for two reasons.

First of all, the Iranian authorities are concerned that, if they launch any major attack against Israel for sabotaging their nuclear sites or for attacking their bases in Syria and Iraq, Israel would use the opportunity to initiate a direct war against Tehran. The Trump administration would also back its ally militarily, which would be devastating for the Iranian regime at this critical time.

The economic situation in Iran is also dire and the government is nearly bankrupt. The value of Iran’s currency, the rial, plunged to a record low this summer, with one US dollar buying about 240,000 rials in July, up from about 30,000 before the US began its "maximum pressure" policy against Tehran. Iran's oil exports have also sunk to a record low due to US sanctions. The Iranian regime’s budget heavily relies on income from oil exports.

The regime is even finding it difficult to pay its own employees. Many government workers, including coal and railroad workers, have been protesting over unpaid wages and salaries. One protester told Iran News Wire in April: "I wish I would get COVID-19. Many of us do. Committing suicide is hard but we wish for death every day. What we have is not a life. Do you think this is living?"

It has also been publicly stated that some of Iran’s authorities do not have enough money to pay their mercenaries abroad. For example, IRGC Brig. Gen. Parviz Fattah, the head of the Mostazafan Foundation for the underprivileged, stated in the spring: "I was at the IRGC Cooperative Foundation. (Soleimani) came and told me he did not have money to pay the salaries of the Fatemiyoun (Afghan mercenaries). He said that these are our Afghan brothers, and he asked for help from people like us."

In addition, a second wave of coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague)
...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men...
disease infections has hit the country, leading regime officials to become increasingly concerned about the possibility of widespread unrest or even the collapse of the political establishment.

The second reason that Iran is tactically refraining from taking major military action against the US is that it is worried that such a move would actually assist Trump in getting re-elected as it would mobilize his base and potentially sway some undecided voters to back him over Joe Foreign Policy Whiz Kid Biden
...Candidate for president in 2020. I had the great honor of being arrested with our UN Ambassador on the streets of Soweto, trying to get to see him on Robbens Island...
. Whenever the US has come under major attack from foreign state or non-state actors in the past, its people have tended to re-elect the incumbent president.

Iran is likely biding its time before retaliating militarily against Israel and the US. It does not want to jeopardize Biden’s chances of winning the November election and unseating Trump.
Posted by: Fred || 09/29/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran



Who's in the News
44[untagged]
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5Antifa/BLM
5Govt of Iran Proxies
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2Palestinian Authority
2Moslem Colonists
1Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life,
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1Govt of Iran
1Human Trafficking
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Two weeks of WOT
Tue 2020-09-29
  US moves its embassy from Baghdad to Erbil
Mon 2020-09-28
  U.S. Plans 'Full Withdrawal' From Iraqi Embassy
Sun 2020-09-27
  Azerbaijan launched a missile and aerial attack against Artsakh and Stepanakert Armenia
Sat 2020-09-26
  BLM protester in Los Angeles who shut down the road with a large mob got hit by a truck
Fri 2020-09-25
  LNA Kills ISIS 'Emir' in Southern Libya
Thu 2020-09-24
  Louisville: Two police officers shot
Wed 2020-09-23
  Canadian woman charged for sending ricin to President Trump & law enforcement agencies in Texas was previously deported
Tue 2020-09-22
  Twenty-Five Afghan policemen dead after attempt to break Taliban siege in Uruzgan
Mon 2020-09-21
  Justice Dept. brands NYC an ‘anarchist jurisdiction,'
targets federal funds
Sun 2020-09-20
  Concentrated, Deadly Ricin Sent to White House, Addressed to President Trump
Sat 2020-09-19
  Notorious RBG dead at 87
Fri 2020-09-18
  RBG Kicks The Bucket
Thu 2020-09-17
  Minnesota man charged with providing material support to Islamic State
Wed 2020-09-16
  Bloomberg: Libya’s PM Al-Sarraj will Resign
Tue 2020-09-15
  Airstrikes kill “Huras_al_Din” commander in Idlib city


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