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Today: 55 articles and 254 comments as of 16:01.
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Switzerland Thwarts Major Islamic State Terror Attack
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Page 6: Politix
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Page 1: WoT Operations
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Page 3: Non-WoT
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12 20:53 Thaith Elmeresing6163 [1]
10 18:53 Skidmark [1]
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3 12:51 ed in texas [1]
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Page 4: Opinion
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5 19:11 Skidmark [1]
Home Front: Politix
Could Votes Be Obsolete?
That's the front-page headline of Sunday's dead-tree version of the article. The on-line version is less outrageous: Texas has record voter numbers, but primary schedule makes it hard for presidential contenders to mobilize them
[Dallas News] Texas voters on Tuesday will start voting in the Democratic race for president, even though by the time primary Election Day rolls around, some of the candidates on the ballot may no longer be in the race.
No pity for Iowans, or New Hampshirites, it seems.
Early [Texas] voting starts Tuesday and ends Feb. 28. The primary is March 3, while the Nevada caucuses are on Feb. 22 and the South Carolina primary is Feb. 29.
Therein lies the core of the big front-page issue this Sunday.
That puts voters in an unusual predicament. It's possible that some contenders won't make it to Texas on March 3, and a vote for a candidate who dropped out would be wasted. And it's likely that the dynamic of the race will change after the more diverse populations in Nevada and South Carolina have their say.
So why bother to vote in primaries? Let the Clintons choose!
Nevertheless, Texans appear to be eager to vote. There are more voters on the rolls in Texas than at any point in its history. The state has 16.1 million eligible voters on the rolls. That's up from the 14.1 million voters eligible at a similar period in 2016, when Donald Trump was on his way to winning the White House.

So the Democratic presidential primary could be flooded with new voters, as well as the tried and true.
Look for a lot of crowing after the primary about how the high Dem turnout means Texas has turned blue.
"I would never tell anyone to not vote at the most convenient time for you, but I think you're going to see a lot of high-information Democratic primary voters kind of sit out the first week, or even two, of early vote to see what comes out in Nevada and South Carolina," said a senior political analyst at the nonpartisan research group Third Way. "It wouldn't surprise me to see a relative dip in early voting here because of that."
Signs and portents.
The schedule is another wrinkle in what's been the most unpredictable primary race in years. By having an early primary, states including Texas and California risk casting votes that become obsolete as the primary contest unfolds.

Early voting has become extremely popular in Texas and typically accounts for at least half of the overall turnout.

State Rep. Rhetta Bowers, D-Rowlett, said it is important for the Democratic presidential primary to attract a high number of voters. That would signal enthusiasm as the party aims at Trump and attempts to seize the Texas House. Republicans don't have a competitive presidential primary, but they want down-ballot races to draw voters.

"If we show well, we will win well," said Bowers, a Joe Biden supporter in a Texas House seat being targeted by Republicans.
Joe who?
The Texas primary is the second biggest jewel, behind California, in the Super Tuesday sweepstakes. The outcome could boost or thwart the political campaigns of several candidates.
March 3rd, kiddies.
Posted by: Bobby || 02/16/2020 11:56 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  More wisdom from the Dallas Morning Snooze...
Posted by: ed in texas || 02/16/2020 12:40 Comments || Top||

#2  This fallacy one more time: It's possible that some contenders won't make it to Texas on March 3, and a vote for a candidate who dropped out would be wasted.

Voting for your choice of a candidate is never wasted. Choosing a candidate is not the same as picking numbers on a Lottery ticket.
Posted by: magpie || 02/16/2020 12:43 Comments || Top||

#3  Choosing a candidate is not the same as picking numbers on a Lottery ticket.

Right. If you lose the lottery you are out two bucks, nobody is harmed. You win you don't give a damn who is prexident.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/16/2020 13:08 Comments || Top||

#4  You win you don't give a damn who is prexident.

If it's Bernie, he'll collectivize your winnings--into his bank account.
Posted by: charger || 02/16/2020 13:14 Comments || Top||

#5  If Boiney wins and I win the lottery prior to that it's Cayman for me.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/16/2020 13:33 Comments || Top||

#6  I'll admit I've been playing with the idea of a negative vote for when you don't care who wins along as it isn't
fill in the blank. A negative vote would subtract one vote from the selected candidate's total. If nothing else, you can't be blamed for voting for the moke who does eventually get in.
Posted by: Mercutio || 02/16/2020 14:03 Comments || Top||

#7  ^ a write-in vote has essentially the same effect
Posted by: Lex || 02/16/2020 15:43 Comments || Top||

#8  How about None of the Above?
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 02/16/2020 15:55 Comments || Top||

#9  ^ Next Constitution. All the losers are banned from elected office for 10 years if None of the Above wins.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/16/2020 15:58 Comments || Top||

#10  I voted for Cruz in the 'publican primary in Texas 4 years ago. But it wasn't a throw away vote. At least it wasn't a caucus.
Posted by: Texhooey || 02/16/2020 18:26 Comments || Top||

#11  That's the risk you take for voting early.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 02/16/2020 18:29 Comments || Top||

#12  Maybe, but "Progressives" certainly are obsolete.
Posted by: DarthVader || 02/16/2020 18:50 Comments || Top||


Al Sharpton's 2004 presidential campaign still owes more than $900K
[NY Post] Fifteen year's later, the check is still in the mail.

The Rev. Al Sharpton's failed 2004 presidential campaign still owes more than $900,000. The unpaid debt of his committee, "Sharpton 2004," has remained unchanged for a decade, according to its most recent FEC filing in March 2019.

The campaign has not filed any of its required disclosure forms since then, earning multiple letters of rebuke from the feds. "If committees are unable to pay debts, they can file a debt-settlement plan with the FEC . . . committees could not just decide not to pay," a spokesman from the Federal Election Commission told The Post.

The holy man's campaign is in the hole, despite him personally earning more money than ever. In addition to a lucrative hosting gig on MSNBC, Sharpton raked in cash helming his influential nonprofit National Action Network. In 2018, he pocketed more than a million dollars from the charity.

Since the debt is owed by the campaign committee, and not Sharpton directly, the rev is not on the hook for the cash. Rather his campaign treasurer, Andrew Rivera, is the one legally responsible for it.

Rivera did not respond to multiple requests for comment from The Post.
Posted by: Frank G || 02/16/2020 08:51 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Is this in addition to the $4.5 million tab (now about $2.5 mill) in payroll taxes rung up by his non-profit (NAN / its predecessor)? Sure sounds like it.
Posted by: Raj || 02/16/2020 9:57 Comments || Top||

#2  Why wasn't Lois Lerner on this?
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/16/2020 10:38 Comments || Top||


New Hampshire Man Faces Several Charges For Assaulting Child Wearing MAGA Hat
Good. Throw the book at him.
[DAILYCALLER] A New Hampshire man is facing assault and disorderly conduct charges after he attacked three people, including a minor, while leaving a polling location on Tuesday.

Patrick Bradley, 34, confronted a 15-year-old teenager wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat at a Trump campaign tent after voting at Wyndham High School and smacked him across the face, Fox News reported. He then hit two adults who attempted to intervene, and is also accused of trying to destroy the tent, according to Fox.

The boy’s mother, Cathy Cambell, told Fox that all her son did that apparently provoked Bradley was wish him a good night. "My son was standing outside on the sidewalk and he said ’Have a nice night,’ he said it to everyone. But this man was triggered," she told Fox.

An investigation by The Post Millennial also revealed that Bradley is reportedly a supporter of the far-left Antifa
...the armed wing of the Democratic Party...
movement, on several occasions sharing content that promoted left-wing beliefs. One shared image depicts criticism of those who mock communism, the post created by the Socialist Rifle Association.
Posted by: Fred || 02/16/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Antifa


CNN Anchor Tells Nancy Pelosi That Trump Was Acquitted - She Interrupts, Claims He Wasn’t
[DAILYCALLER] Democratic House Speaker Nancy San Fran Nan Pelosi
Congresswoman-for-Life from the San Francisco Bay Area, born into a family of professional politicians. On-again-off-again Speaker of the House. It's not her fault when they lose, but it's her accomplishment when they win. Noted for her heavily botoxed grimace and occasional senior... uhhh... moments...
claimed President Donald Trump
...dictatorial for repealing some (but not all) of the diktats of his predecessor, misogynistic because he likes pretty girls, homophobic because he doesn't think gender bending should be mandatory, truly a man for all seasons......
wasn’t really acquitted in the impeachment trial during an interview that aired this week with CNN’s Ace newshound Christiane Amanpour.

"What about, though, the fact that the president seems liberated, and this is about democratic politics so I’m not asking you to criticize here, but he was acquitted, his poll ratings are high ..." Amanpour said.

"He was not ... there was no ..." Pelosi interrupted.

"You can’t have an acquittal unless you have a trial, and you can’t have a trial unless you have witnesses and documents. So he can say he’s acquitted, and the headlines can say ’acquitted,’ but he’s impeached forever, branded with that, and not vindicated," Pelosi continued.

"And even the senators were saying, ’yes, it wasn’t right,’ but they didn’t have the courage to act upon that."

Democrats have made this claim before. Earlier this month, the House managers in the impeachment trial claimed that Trump was not truly acquitted, saying that Trump didn’t get a "fair trial."
Posted by: Fred || 02/16/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Surreal.
Is our government not a Shitshow?
Is this woman not deranged?

We are ruled by morons.
Posted by: Lex || 02/16/2020 1:03 Comments || Top||

#2  See Andy and Megan.
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/16/2020 2:20 Comments || Top||

#3 
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/16/2020 2:31 Comments || Top||

#4  Drugs, booze, take your pick.

Pointy nose, Pinocchio or stolen from her favorite pedo, Michael Jackson.
Posted by: Woodrow || 02/16/2020 5:10 Comments || Top||

#5  But she's not hateful.
Posted by: gorb || 02/16/2020 8:32 Comments || Top||

#6  A complete failure to accept reality
Where does it say it was a trial?
They presented their case and they were voted down
There was no evidence in the first place heresay is not admissible in a trial
If they had been able to call witnesses al of those testimonies would have been tossed as being heresay
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 02/16/2020 9:11 Comments || Top||

#7  Even if she doesn't believe it, she can't afford to tell the truth on camera about it.

What little support she has from the base would evaporate.
Posted by: DarthVader || 02/16/2020 9:18 Comments || Top||

#8  Christiane Amanpour said something good about Trump? Wow.

I think Nan's petulance stems from her knowing that she let the AOC wing of her party talk her into a colossal blunder. But she can't come out and publicly say "I never should have listened to that dimwit!"
Posted by: Matt || 02/16/2020 9:29 Comments || Top||

#9  Matt nails it - she got rolled by 'the Squad'.
Posted by: Raj || 02/16/2020 9:55 Comments || Top||

#10  Maybe, but this is not the behavior of a sane person. This individual is losing her mind.
Posted by: Lex || 02/16/2020 10:45 Comments || Top||

#11  Biden-Pelosi 2020

We'll prove you don't need to be cognizant to run this place! Just be a warm body and our party faithful will still pull the lever.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/16/2020 11:04 Comments || Top||

#12  Come November is she going to claim that Trump was not re-elected?
Posted by: Lex || 02/16/2020 11:06 Comments || Top||

#13  If she can't handle the softballs from CNN she really is...delicate.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 02/16/2020 15:59 Comments || Top||

#14  She's nuts. Nothing more need be said.
Posted by: Lex || 02/16/2020 20:18 Comments || Top||

#15  "Nancy " YOU ARE FIRED ! " , " Here is your cane and tin cup . "
Posted by: Thaith Elmeresing6163 || 02/16/2020 20:59 Comments || Top||


Students Who Tried To Kick Out White People ‘Thought They Were Gonna Be Hailed As Heroes,’ Says YAF
[DAILYCALLER] YAF
...Young America's Foundation is a conservative youth organization, founded in 1969, whose stated mission is "ensuring that increasing numbers of young Americans understand and are inspired by the ideas of individual freedom, a strong national defense, free enterprise, and traditional values." In 2018, the Los Angeles Times called YAF "one of the most preeminent, influential and controversial forces in the nation's conservative youth movement." Notable alumni members include Jeff Sessions, Stephen Miller, Marc Short, and Tom Clancy...
front man Spencer Brown sat down with the Daily Caller to explain a viral video showing a black female student loudly declaring there were "too many white people" in the building where she was studying. Brown spoke with the Daily Caller’s Anders Hagstrom to discuss the University of Virginia’s reaction to the incident. Unlike many campus controversy incidents, the filming was not contentious, as the video originated on Twitter after the student’s friend‐who was filming the speech‐posted it. The internet did not react kindly to the video, however.

"Public service announcement," the woman says in the video. "If y’all didn’t know, this is the [Multicultural Student Center], and, frankly, there’s just too many white people in here, and this is a space for people of color, so, just be really cognizant of the space that you’re taking up because it does make some of us POCs uncomfortable when we see too many white people in here."
She misspelled POS
Posted by: Fred || 02/16/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I love being a problem just by getting up in the morning.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/16/2020 0:46 Comments || Top||

#2  They need to go to Wakanda.

No really, I hear it's awesome.

#HaulAssToWakanda
Posted by: charger || 02/16/2020 0:47 Comments || Top||

#3  This is what happens when people are in censored echo chambers. They have no idea what anyone else thinks.
Posted by: Lionel Elmomoger2763 || 02/16/2020 0:57 Comments || Top||

#4  Um, this would seem to be a violation of the Equal Protection Clause (if not the Civil Rights Act).

Enough of this shit.
Posted by: Lex || 02/16/2020 1:06 Comments || Top||

#5  She has no use for whitey, but she wants that sweet sweet reparations sugar and Boiney Sandahs style wealth redistribution. There's a name for that. F'n hypocrite...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/16/2020 1:15 Comments || Top||

#6  The flame of Woke is totally dependent on the lamp oil of hate and class envy.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/16/2020 2:24 Comments || Top||

#7 
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/16/2020 2:41 Comments || Top||

#8  g(r)om, there are mornings when I feel the same wa.
;-)
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 02/16/2020 8:56 Comments || Top||

#9  way.
Sheesh!!
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 02/16/2020 8:56 Comments || Top||

#10  Sort of like the Weimar Republic
If these racist control it will Pol Pot’s camps look like a church picnic
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 02/16/2020 9:05 Comments || Top||

#11  Probably shouldn't say this, but it's sort of refreshing to see young people who are not staring mindlessly into a cellular appendage.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/16/2020 9:08 Comments || Top||

#12  Long past time to start kicking people like this out of taxpayer funded schools.

Posted by: DarthVader || 02/16/2020 9:08 Comments || Top||

#13  Makes me want to go study there on purpose just to watch her blow a gasket; get the cameras rolling and just keep broadcasting this kind of shit until they cry uncle.

And then keep right on doing it.
Posted by: Raj || 02/16/2020 10:01 Comments || Top||

#14  Cut to Chinese guy: "This is multicultural student center! This is multicultural student center!"
Posted by: Knuckles Spavins2792 || 02/16/2020 10:04 Comments || Top||

#15  Lexicon for the uninitiated:

diversity = uniformity
free speech = oppression
multicultural = African-American
Posted by: Lex || 02/16/2020 10:40 Comments || Top||

#16  What do you want to bet that her SAT/ACT scores and GPA fall short of the average admission to UVA?
Posted by: Solomon Snore8345 || 02/16/2020 10:43 Comments || Top||

#17  What do you want to bet that her SAT/ACT scores and GPA fall short of the average admission to UVA?

I thought they handicapped certain protected groups.
Posted by: gorb || 02/16/2020 11:37 Comments || Top||

#18  SAT/ACT scores and GPA are Raycisss!!11!!
Posted by: Frank G || 02/16/2020 11:53 Comments || Top||

#19  multicultural = white oppression
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 02/16/2020 12:02 Comments || Top||

#20  UVA is probably similar to Harvard in the academic distribution of its applicant pool: a normal/bell curve distribution of academic scores for white and asian applicants, and ca. 60% of african-american applicants clustered in the bottom two academic deciles.

Here's the Harvard admissions data, from an expert witness's Exhibit attached by the plaintiff at trial - see p. 41 especially.
Posted by: Lex || 02/16/2020 12:07 Comments || Top||

#21  It'd be interesting to know what role affirmative action played in Boeing's recent travails.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/16/2020 12:57 Comments || Top||


De Blasio’s latest MTA pick gets around with a city-funded chauffeur
[NYPOST] Mayor Bill de Blasio
...cryptocommie mayor of New York and for some reason a Dem candidate for president in 2020. Corrupt and incompetent, his qualifications for office seem to consist of being married to a black woman, with whom he honeymooned in Cuba. He has a preppy-looking son named Dante, whose Divine Comedy involved getting his back hair up when a police car drove past him slowly...
’s latest pick for the MTA board skips the one-seat train ride just blocks from her house for a city-funded chauffeur to commute downtown, The Post has learned.

Department of Aging Commissioner Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez, who lives in Pelham Bay, gets the perk as part of her job ‐ and uses it virtually every weekday, City Hall confirmed Friday.

It was unwelcome news for transit advocates.

"It’s important for board members to be familiar with the system that they’re making decisions for on behalf of millions of riders," said Jaqi Cohen, a spokeswoman for the Straphangers’ Campaign. "They need to have an understanding of that daily experience."

A City Hall spokesperson insisted that despite her weekday car use, Cortés-Vázquez "has ridden public transit more times than one can count," and is a regular of the Bx12 and Bx31 bus lines, as well as the 6 train.

That presents a sharp contrast to Hizzoner’s other candidate for the board of the state-run transit agency: Disability Commissioner Victor Calise, who was heavily involved in the city’s work on subway accessibility.

Cortés-Vázquez’s resume also lacks any notable transit, engineering or construction experience.

"It’s like [de Blasio] gave up when making the decision," said a former de Blasio administration official said. "Not only does she not have any level of experience in mass transit, but she is also someone who does not use the system."

Posted by: Fred || 02/16/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  You can't expect members of the revolutionary vanguard to travel with the peasants and workers, comrades.

Their work is simply too vital.

See also, Thunberg, Greta
Posted by: charger || 02/16/2020 14:02 Comments || Top||

#2  Can't blame her. Some of those people who use mass transit smell like pee and it'd be inhumane to incarcerate them just because they're drug addicted bums and live on the street.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 02/16/2020 16:09 Comments || Top||

#3  Or even worse, might recognize her.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/16/2020 16:12 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
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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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Two weeks of WOT
Sun 2020-02-16
  Switzerland Thwarts Major Islamic State Terror Attack
Sat 2020-02-15
  Six Cartel Kidnappers Busted with Mexican Border City Victim in Trunk
Fri 2020-02-14
  US navy ship seizes 150 Iranian-manufactured anti-tank guided missiles after boarding a vessel in the Arabian Sea
Thu 2020-02-13
  Hafiz Saeed sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison for terror financing
Wed 2020-02-12
  Sudan will hand over Omar al-Bashir to the International Criminal Court
Tue 2020-02-11
  Russians bomb a joint Turkish & Jihadi column
Mon 2020-02-10
  Ehsanullah Ehsan sends greetings from Turkey, thumbs nose
Sun 2020-02-09
  Multiple US troops killed during shootout in eastern Afghanistan
Sat 2020-02-08
  Khalid Haqqani and Qari Saifullah banged in Kabul
Fri 2020-02-07
  Syria says its troops enter the strategic city of Saraqib in Idlib and begins ‘combing’ its neighborhoods
Thu 2020-02-06
  Hazim Al-Halafi, a senior commander of Saraya Al-Salam dead
Wed 2020-02-05
  Trump acquitted by Senate on articles of impeachment for abuse of power
Tue 2020-02-04
  8 Turkish personnel, 13 #Syrian troops killed in north Syria festivities
Mon 2020-02-03
  Al Qaeda in Arabian Peninsula claims December shooting at Florida naval base
Sun 2020-02-02
  Iraq’s President Barham Saleh assigns Mouhammed Tawfiq Allawi with forming a new government

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