[NationalPost] The Quebec government says it will re-evaluate the $120,000 annual public funding it gives to the province’s biggest women’s federation after its president suggested that heterosexual relationships should be banned.
Gabrielle Bouchard, president of the Federation des femmes du Quebec, made the controversial comment Tuesday on Twitter, before issuing an apology on Facebook and during televised media interviews later in the day.
Bouchard says her original tweet was in reaction to news that a man out on parole after being convicted of killing his female partner had been arrested in the slaying last week of a 22-year-old woman in Quebec City.
In it she said heterosexual relationships were violent, mostly based on religion and possibly should be banned.
Labour and Social Solidarity Minister Jean Boulet said he will analyze whether the organization still qualifies for its annual subsidy in light of Bouchard’s comments.
He said in an interview that Bouchard’s words were unacceptable and lacked respect, but that he felt her apology was also sincere.
Bouchard’s initial tweet was in response to the killing of Marylene Levesque, which prompted federal Public Safety Minister Bill Blair to announce an investigation Monday. Eustachio Gallese, 51, was charged last Thursday with second-degree murder in the death of the 22-year-old sex worker.
In 2006, Gallese was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 15 years after he killed his 32-year-old partner, Chantale Deschenes, by beating her with a hammer before repeatedly stabbing her.
The parole board initially concluded Gallese posed a “high risk” of committing violence against a partner. But the board later revised its evaluation to “moderate” and by 2016 had allowed him out of prison on supervised outings. He was released to a halfway house in March.
#1
I am reminded of the old saw that you can't legislate against the habits of the people. But the way things are going, I'd give this a 50/50 chance of being included in the official DNC platform.
Posted by: Matt ||
02/16/2020 17:16
Comments ||
Top||
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 ||
E-Mail||
[24 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.
#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.
When I heard about this yesterday, I was kind of hoping for a little bit of Bo & Luke Duke before the race.
[Fox News via Drudge] - President Trump’s appearance at the Daytona 500 on Sunday may feature a guest appearance from the presidential limousine known as "The Beast."
Trump is planning to take a lap around the track at Daytona International Speedway prior to the venerable NASCAR event, Fox News chief White House correspondent John Roberts reported on Friday, citing multiple sources familiar with the matter. Plans have not yet been finalized.
#1
I don't watch Nascar but I may tune in just to see the huge welcome he gets once again here in the south
Posted by: Chris ||
02/16/2020 10:39
Comments ||
Top||
#2
Oh, no! Will the Dims have time to bus in all their 'protestors'?
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/16/2020 11:03
Comments ||
Top||
#3
Not likely. Grandstands have been sold out for weeks, and the average NASCAR fan will not take kindly to some bearded trans-lady/antifa trying to delay or stop the race
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/16/2020 11:12
Comments ||
Top||
#4
Will the Dims have time to bus in all their 'protestors'?
I can hear it now:
"Josh - let's go protest Trump and get our asses kicked by dozens of drunk, rowdy NASCAR fans twice our size!"
#5
He just did the low fly by with AF1. They announce he will do a lap in the beats at over 100MPH! I seem to be drawn to the top gun scene where he buzzes the tower and the guy spills his coffee. Some one needs to photoshop the clip with Trump and Pelosi!
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
02/16/2020 13:23
Comments ||
Top||
[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 ||
E-Mail||
[20 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.
[BBC] It's hard to exaggerate just how much the Crypto AG scandal has shaken Switzerland.
For decades, US and German intelligence used this Swiss company's encoding devices to spy on other countries, and the revelations this week have provoked outrage. Outrage!
From the Cold War into the 2000s, Crypto AG sold the devices to more than 120 governments worldwide. The machines were encrypted but it emerged this week that the CIA and Germany's BND had rigged the devices so they could crack the codes and intercept thousands of messages.
Rumours had circulated in the past but now everybody knows.
WHY SWISS NEUTRALITY MATTERS
There are only a handful of countries on the planet that have chosen neutrality; Austria is one, Sweden another. But no country has made a status symbol out of neutrality like the Swiss.
Now that the Crypto AG scandal has emerged in all its tawdry detail, there's not a newspaper or broadcaster in the country that is not questioning Switzerland's neutrality.
#4
Swiss "neutrality" is more than a little coy. Their dominant industry hides behind the US-dominated global financial system and its interbank transfer mechanisms.
Without this support from the US, Swiss international banks would collapse.
Of course they're going to help us when and where we require it - discreetly, of course...
But still, every few years it seems the Swiss get a wake-up call about their neutrality.
They have to learn all over again that it's not a shining beacon of hope at the heart of Europe. Rather it is a pragmatic and often grubby survival tactic in a continent with a very bloody history.
A more interesting question to me is why this was suddenly revealed now — and why this time it is conceded rather than brushed off as similar rumours have been in the past.
#6
They have to learn all over again that it's not a shining beacon of hope at the heart of Europe. Rather it is a pragmatic and often grubby survival tactic in a continent with a very bloody history.
This. I've been to Switzerland three times. In fact, I've visited the Italian, German, and French speaking parts of the country - and even sat idly on the stone steps of an ancient Church listening to old men smoke nasty French cigarettes and speak Romanish to one another. So I know something of the cold, calculating soul of the Swiss people.
So here's the thing about being an American in Switzerland: they're richer than you are, more cultured than you are, and they look down on you. Period. Picture you're a rural Mexican from some place like Morelos, and your cousin brings you Chicago to help him run his food truck in the financial district. How do people treat that guy? That's how the Swiss will treat you... even when you're shelling out a cool ten grand as a tourist.
It's not personal. They look down on the Italians even more than they look down on you. And everyone else too. But here's their thing: they've got it good up there in the mountains, looking down on everyone and everything. It's nice and safe. They've read their history books, and they know that Europe is and always will be a never-ending cluster-you-know-what punctuated by periods of calm (like right now). So they stay apart literally and figuratively, but make themselves useful to the Powers That Be without ever formally joining anything. If that's the Nazis, British, Catholic Church, the Soviets, or the United States; well, it's all the same to them. They want to be left alone, and their willing to play the games that must be played to accomplish that.
A likable people? No. Practical and cynical? Yes. Do they live long and well for the most part? Why, yes; yes they do.
#8
^ Me 3. The Swiss have it about as good as anyone on earth.
Directly because they're:
-cultured
-disciplined
-well-educated
-ferociously independent
-well-trained in the art of self-defense
-free of can't and virtue-signaling
-proud of who they are and what makes them different.
Wish there were a way that our confused, self-hating, addled society could profit from their example.
#13
Interesting how much of what Orwell praised about the virtues of English hypocrisy in "The Lion and the Unicorn" also applies to the Swiss -- see marked boldface passages below and substitute "Swiss" for "English" and see whether it's not still fundamentally correct:
One is that the English [the Swiss] are not gifted artistically. They are not as musical as the Germans or Italians, painting and sculpture have never flourished in England [Switzerland] as they have in France.
Another is that, as Europeans go, the English [the Swiss] are not intellectual. They have a horror of abstract thought, they feel no need for any philosophy or systematic “world-view”. Nor is this because they are “practical”, as they are so fond of claiming for themselves.
... they have a certain power of acting without taking thought. Their world-famed hypocrisy – their double-faced attitude towards the Empire, for instance – is bound up with this.
Also, in moments of supreme crisis the whole nation can suddenly draw together and act upon a species of instinct, really a code of conduct which is understood by almost everyone, though never formulated.
The phrase that Hitler coined for the Germans, “a sleep-walking people”, would have been better applied to the English. Not that there is anything to be proud of in being called a sleep-walker.
But here it is worth noticing a minor English trait which is extremely well marked though not often commented on, and that is a love of flowers [ the Swiss love of walking, of fresh air, of green space?]. This is one of the first things that one notices when one reaches England from abroad, especially if one is coming from southern Europe.
Does it not contradict the English indifference to the arts? Not really, because it is found in people who have no aesthetic feelings whatever. What it does link up with, however, is another English characteristic which is so much a part of us that we barely notice it, and that is the addiction to hobbies and spare-time occupations, the privateness of English [ Swiss ] life.
We are a nation of flower-lovers, but also a nation of stamp-collectors, pigeon-fanciers, amateur carpenters, coupon-snippers, darts-players, crossword-puzzle fans.
All the culture that is most truly native centres round things which even when they are communal are not official – the pub, the football match, the back garden, the fireside and the “nice cup of tea”.
The liberty of the individual is still believed in, almost as in the nineteenth century.
But this has nothing to do with economic liberty, the right to exploit others for profit.
It is the liberty to have a home of your own, to do what you like in your spare time, to choose your own amusements instead of having them chosen for you from above.
The most hateful of all names in an English ear is Nosey Parker. [ There must be a Swiss equivalent, but I don't know it. ]
It is obvious, of course, that even this purely private liberty is a lost cause. Like all other modern peoples, the English are in process of being numbered, labelled, conscripted, “co-ordinated”.
But the pull of their impulses is in the other direction, and the kind of regimentation that can be imposed on them will be modified in consequence. No party rallies, no Youth Movements, no coloured shirts, no Jew-baiting or “spontaneous” demonstrations. No Gestapo either, in all probability.
#14
I like Secret Master's description but I can't bring myself to envy them. They can keep their mountains. I like beaches.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/16/2020 16:32
Comments ||
Top||
#15
I prefer my Rocky Mountains.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/16/2020 22:44
Comments ||
Top||
#16
OK, a proposition for debate (or a simple 1-2-3 vote). How do the a) contemporary US, b) contemporary (not Orwell's) UK, c) contemporary Switzerland and d) contemporary Hungary and Russia rate on these following dimensions of social/political attractiveness identified by Orwell 80+ years ago:
1. privateness of [ social / political ] life.
That is, does our "culture that is most truly native cent[er on] things which even when they are communal are not official..." -- for example, in the English mid-20c context, "the pub, the football match, the back garden, the fireside and the 'nice cup of tea'."
2. "The liberty of the individual is still believed in, almost as in the nineteenth century."
That is, "the liberty to have a home of your own, to do what you like in your spare time, to choose your own amusements instead of having them chosen for you from above."
3. Antithesis: Is it despised to be a busybody, interfering in others' affairs as opposed to leaving them alone -- to be what Orwell called, with scorn, a "Nosey Parker"?
4. Trend/Tendency: Is it the case that "the pull of [the people's] impulses is ... [toward] regimentation" -- that is, toward "party rallies, ... Youth Movements ... “spontaneous” demonstrations." or toward a Gestapo?
How does the contemporary US measure up vs the UK, Switzerland, and Hungary/Russia?
1. privateness of [ social / political ] life.
Best: US, Switzerland
Medium: Hungary, Russia
Worst: contemporary UK
2. "The liberty of the individual is still believed in, almost as in the nineteenth century." (That is, "the liberty to have a home of your own, to do what you like in your spare time, to choose your own amusements instead of having them chosen for you from above.")
Best: Switzerland
Medium: Hungary, Russia, US
Worst: UK
3. Antithesis: Is it despised to be a busybody, interfering in others' affairs as opposed to leaving them alone -- to be what Orwell called, with scorn, a "Nosey Parker"?
Best: Switzerland, Hungary, Russia
Worst: US, UK [ the Twitter-sphere]
4. Trend/Tendency: Is it the case that "the pull of [the people's] impulses is ... [toward] regimentation" -- that is, toward "party rallies, ... Youth Movements ... “spontaneous” demonstrations." or toward a Gestapo?
Best: Switzerland
Medium: Hungary
Worst: US, UK, Russia
OVERALL: Best (by far): Switzerland Next-best: Hungary, then Russia Bad: US Awful: UK
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) ‐ It’s possible to get infected by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) a second time, according to doctors on the frontline in China’s city of Wuhan, leading to death from heart failure in some cases.
The claim is made by doctors working in the Hubei Province capital that is at the center of the epidemic, which has to date infected 64,201 people and killed 1,487. One of the doctors reached out to a relative living in the United Kingdom, who then informed Taiwan News.
Both the relative and doctors asked to remain anonymous, out of consideration they might face retribution from the Chinese authorities. The doctor, Li Wenliang (李文亮), who first raised warnings about the Wuhan virus, was rebuked by the authorities before succumbing to the devastating disease himself earlier this month.
According to the message forwarded to Taiwan News, "It’s highly possible to get infected a second time. A few people recovered from the first time by their own immune system, but the meds they use are damaging their heart tissue, and when they get it the second time, the antibody doesn’t help but makes it worse, and they die a sudden death from heart failure."
The source also said the virus has "outsmarted all of us," as it can hide symptoms for up to 24 days. This assertion has been made independently elsewhere, with Chinese pulmonologist Zhong Nanshan (鍾南山) saying the average incubation period is three days, but it can take as little as one day and up to 24 days to develop symptoms.
#3
"Hubei Doctors Warn Of Even-Deadlier Coronavirus Reinfection Causing Sudden Heart Attacks…" So this news spreads. Twists and turns. So the body is in weakened state. Round two begins or perhaps round three and four. Then with the elderly the inability to survive reoccurring on-slot.
[American Thinker] The national media are flabbergasted that Americans won't consent to President Trump's removal from office. How can so many of his compatriots be indicted and so many government bureaucrats condemn his behavior without giving them what they desire: self-assurance that they are "on the right side of history"?
If they ever wish to understand, the critical starting point in their education is not the current presidency, but the last one. Although there are numerous ways to describe the present divide in America, one of the simpler is thus: those Americans who take Barack Obama at his word that his presidency was historically "scandal free" and those Americans who see the unrelenting stream of Deep State attempts to take down President Trump as a continuing coup and the natural extension of an unethical, criminal, and at times unconstitutional Obama presidency.
For those of us in the latter camp, Barack Obama presided over a corrupt administration and used his historic election as the first non-white American president as a get-out-of-jail-free card to abuse his power while silencing his critics.
Continued on Page 49
#1
That once prolific graphic of the Soetoro-Saudi bow appears to be quietly making it's way to the media's historical editing room. It's now very difficult to locate on-line. Strange, strange indeed. Massive statuary and street names to soon follow.
(Graphic is of the Nelson Mandela statue on Signal Hill, Bloemfontein, SA)
#5
Corruption, hell. Bambi was born corrupted. >:-(
Posted by: Barbara ||
02/16/2020 9:49
Comments ||
Top||
#6
#4 LOL, JQC
Posted by: Matt ||
02/16/2020 10:17
Comments ||
Top||
#7
Omitted the 8-figure post=[residency Netflix sweetheart deal - a company whose entire rickety business model depends on favorable treatment by political appointees in Washington.
Also omitted the Obama-ordered campus rape tribunals / kangaroo courts which have destroyed the lives of scores of innocent young men.
Also does not go into detail on the offense for which this buffoon may yet land in prison, the conspiracy with Brennan to use foreign intelligence agents to spy on and create bogus charges against a political rival during and after the 2016 presidential election.
#8
Plus his, er, collusion with Medvedev and Putin in March 2012 for electoral gain ("I'll have more flexibility after the election"). Not criminal but, ironically, EXACTLY what he and his fellow conspirators falsely accused OrangeMan of doing.
Most corrupt era since the Robber Barons.
Led by a lazy and corrupt moron in a well-cut suit.
[American Thinker] This was not a banner week for the idea that justice is alive and blind in America.
Three separate stories converged to drive home the obvious truth that America has a two-tiered justice system: the Justice Department's decision to not indict the guilty-as-sin plotter Andrew McCabe, the attempt to give Roger Stone an outrageous jail sentence, and the Army's decision to shrug that one of its officers attempted to orchestrate the removal of his commander-in-chief.
Even in the unlikely scenario that the Barr-Durham investigations send the full stable of coup-plotters to jail for decades, it will not erase the obvious fact that it pays to be a Democrat if you are going to commit crimes, particularly if they are political.
There are a couple of simple reasons for this. The most obvious reason is that the entire federal bureaucracy is one giant Democrat machine. This cannot be repeated enough. Nearly every member of almost every single department is a Democrat.
How bad is it? Back in 2016, 95 percent of campaign contributions for the presidential race went to Her Royal Awfulness. The Justice Department overachieved, coming in at 97 percent.
Those are William Barr's employees, the ones who are cranking out the paperwork. Federal rules make it nearly impossible to fire any of these employees. When Barr gives direction, those 113K+ employees of his Department are the ones carrying it out in whatever creative, and often subversive, ways they can. They are the ones producing the staff work and recommendations that daily land on Barr's desk and in his inbox, if their directives even make it that far before being implemented.
#1
The big problems are: 1. The growing power of the unelected bureaucracy, 2. That 90% of this unelected bloc tend to vote Dem, 3. Civil service and unions make it impossible to fire government employees, 4. The recent use of impeachment as a political weapon by Dems to try to get rid of a POTUS you hate, 4. Reluctance to prosecute those who engage in espionage, sedition and treason, 5. Little recourse outside of elections to get rid of Congress members who plot, create false crimes and who lie before us to support these phony narratives.
#2
Draining the swamp takes time. First President Trump had to put in place judges and get through the Mueller investigation and impeachment farces, during which he accepted resignations/retirements throughout the bureaucracy and mostly did not replace them. Now he is starting to clear out entire swathes of moles, like the 70-something NSA analysts just returned to their home organizations and the four DOJ prosecutors who resigned about the Roger Stone sentence request.
There are plenty of crimes fo the criminals to be charged with, and the IG report and current investigations will provide the tools to do so.
[Breitbart] China could effectively shut down America’s healthcare system within months given the one-party state’s "global chokehold" on the manufacturing of medicines and medical supplies, explained Rosemary Gibson, author of China Rx: Exposing the Risks of America’s Dependence on China for Medicine.
Gibson, senior adviser at the Hastings Center, offered her remarks on Thursday’s edition of SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Tonight with host Rebecca Mansour and special guest host Ed Martin.
Mansour noted how the coronavirus outbreak in China has exposed America’s dangerous dependence on Chinese production of pharmaceutical and medical supplies, including an estimated 97 percent of all antibiotics and 80 percent of the active pharmaceutical ingredients needed for domestic drug production.
Gibson said, "If China shuts the door on exports of medicines and the ingredients to make them, within a couple of months our pharmacies would be empty. Our healthcare system would cease to function. That’s how dependent we are."
#2
"If China shuts the door on exports of medicines and the ingredients to make them, within a couple of months our pharmacies would be empty. Our healthcare system would cease to function. That’s how dependent we are."
And the moment that happens, business returns to America. It's not like a production base hasn't existed elsewhere.
#3
I've been on Losartan for 15 years. It has become hard to get due to a carcinogenic impurity in one of the ingredients. It comes from India not China. The solution that the FDA came up with is to let the tainted medications thru. Your gummint at work.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/16/2020 7:58
Comments ||
Top||
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/16/2020 8:27
Comments ||
Top||
#5
Seems like the standard globalization play:
1) Let's make it over there! It's cheaper
2) Yay, it's cheaper... but now we are vulnerable to our single source. Oh noes!
3) New sellers enter the market, local production begins -> more resilience. Yay!
#6
Years ago I was surprised when I noticed that the 55-gal drum of food additive, sodium ascorbate (Vitamin C) IIRC, was 'Made In China'. To be added to every gallon of milk pasteurized ... yummy.
[Aljazeera] Yemen's Houthi rebels say more than 30 civilians have been killed in air raids carried out by a Saudi-UAE-led military coalition, with the United Nations confirming the death toll as it deplored a "shocking" failure to protect the war-torn country's unarmed population.
Saturday's air raids in northern al-Jawf province came hours after the Houthis said they had shot down a Saudi fighter jet in the same area with an advanced surface-to-air missile.
"Preliminary field reports indicate that ... as many as 31 civilians were killed and 12 others injured in attacks that hit al-Hayjah area of al-Maslub district in al-Jawf governorate," said a statement from the office of the UN resident coordinator and humanitarian coordinator for Yemen.
The statement said "humanitarian partners" deployed rapid response teams to provide medical assistance to the wounded, many of whom were being transferred to hospitals in al-Jawf, as well as the capital, Sanaa.
#1
The graphic (nothing to do with the article), a vintage French marked Westland carrying a re-supply pod. One of the unsung heroes of WWII and the cross-channel effort.
#2
Love that graphic. My taste trends to Porter and Twin Otter. And the C-130.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
02/16/2020 10:35
Comments ||
Top||
#3
Sometimes the internet's not so bad. A while back, I notice the other Lysander pic and think, "Ah, Lysanders, of course... but how the hell do I even know that?" Fifteen minutes later, I still have no idea -- Janes forty years ago was not that memorable -- but I'm ready to take one up myself. Well, with a cheatsheet. And maybe not at night.
Another hour... "Well, I'd hate to wreck your lovely historic Spitfire, but if you're sure it's all right..." Thanks... and for the history and nostalgia items generally (painful poignancy of many notwithstanding).
[Free Beacon] Nearly all of President Barack H. Obama's "accomplishments" have been nullified by his physically and intellectually superior successor, Donald J. Trump. But while Obama's so-called legacy has been largely erased, majestic birds continue to suffer as a result of his bloodthirsty obsession with wind turbines.
The Obama administration, in the name of "climate justice," bent over backwards to install massive turbine farms across the country. As Obama's spinning death machines systematically dismembered countless bald eagles and other protected species, in what some have argued amounts to genocide, the Democratic administration granted waivers to exempt wind farms from federal laws prohibiting the murder of endangered birds. The slaughter continued.
Many have argued that, when it comes Obama's insatiable lust for bird flesh, the cruelty is the point. A recent Bloomberg report substantiates this assessment. Turns out the wind turbines aren't as environmentally sustainable as advertised. The massive fiberglass blades‐some as long as football fields‐need to be replaced after several years but can't easily be recycled or even transported. As a result, they're starting to pile up like the discarded corpses of murdered birds in landfills across the country, where they'll remain "forever," in the words of one expert:
#1
Actually a huge problem. We have a lot of eagles here and if someone put up a mill, gone. As bad as those solar tower cookers. Save the planet, kill the birds.
By the way, why the hell not build them as vertical cylinders? Guessing costs.
#2
Yes indeed, vertical cylinders. So much money has been allocated and insider deals a transition is ill timed. This is a problem as scrap piles grow or dead units are left standing.
The People's Cube via Instapundit
Correct me if I'm wrong, but my earlier Joe Biden theory is confirmed more and more every day. Let's start from the beginning.
1. At first Biden is reluctant to run. But in the spring of 2019 he gets wind of Trump investigating his corruption in Ukraine - and he immediately enters the race on 4/25/19. On the trail he looks old, tired, and his heart just isn't in it. Why do it then? Because it's about a lot more things than simply running for president.
2. If Trump isn't stopped, the entire Biden family's dirt will come out. At this point, the only way to avoid or at least to delay it is Biden being in the race: the news of his corruption can then be discredited as usual electioneering and Trump's dirty tricks.
3. Biden may not be the only one who took dirty money from Ukrainian oligarchs, plus Democrats used Ukrainian politicians to dig up dirt on Trump's team in 2016. Now their lives and careers depend on their ability to stop Trump's investigation and to muddle the issue. They also know they can't beat Trump in 2020, all they can do is try to impeach him in order to shut him up. They have loyal spies in the White House and wait for an opportune moment to pounce.
4. Trump's phone call with Ukraine becomes such a moment. The Dems quickly compose a play about a concerned whistleblower and stage it in the House. They charge Trump with exactly what they themselves have done - getting help from a foreign government in order to dig up dirt on a political rival, followed by a cover-up.
5. These charges only make sense if Biden is running against Trump in a general election, which he isn't. As a minimum, he must be a frontrunner in the primaries, and so the DNC throws him into the mix of candidates and artificially inflates his status. The entire impeachment scheme is predicated on Biden running and winning the primaries. Without him posing as Trump's rival, the Democrats won't be able to claim that Trump wanted to steal an election. So old Joe must make a good face and keep running even if he eventually collapses and pays with his life to save the swamp.
6. The Senate acquits Trump and the Dems switch to harassing him about Roger Stone. It no longer matters if Biden is a frontrunner, he has outlived his usefulness. The DNC pulls the plug and the sad old Joe is done, unless the Dems can use him later to cheat Bernie out of a win. His numbers are in the gutter.
7. What are the Dems covering up in Ukraine? It must be big if they staged an impeachment and risked their entire political capital over it. Otherwise they wouldn't have spied on Rudy Giuliani in Ukraine trying to tarnish his investigation and to besmirch him personally. They even identified Giuliani's two Ukrainian associates and had them arrested for exceeding a political campaign donation. If Michael Cohen's story is any indication, the men were likely threatened with imprisonment and then offered a deal in exchange for dirt on Giuliani and Trump.
8. Wouldn't you want to know what that Ukrainian macguffin really is? I have a theory about that, too, but that's a story for another time.
[Breitbart] Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said Friday that the service is not investigating Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the former National Security Council (NSC) staffer who was removed from his assignment last week after testifying during the impeachment inquiry.
Asked if the Army would be investigating or punishing Vindman, McCarthy said:
Col. Vindman was scheduled to come back to the Army ‐ he was detailed to the National Security Council ‐ by May, June timeframe, so we brought him back. So he’s got basically a bridging assignment for a couple of months within an [headquarters of the Department of the Army] assignment, and then he will be heading to a senior service college this summer. There’s no investigations into him.
President Trump was asked this week if he thought the military should punish Vindman, and he responded that it would "be up to the military."
"We’ll have to see. But if you look at what happened, they’re certainly going to, I imagine, take a look at that," he said.
Trump said that Vindman did not report his concerns about his July 25 phone call with the Ukrainian president through his chain of command at the NSC and that he "leaked, did a lot of bad things."
#3
Future promotions and assignments, however, are iffy.
Ever read an officer promotion order?
"Attention to orders: Headquarters, Department of the Army, The president of the United States has reposed special trust and confidence in the patriotism, valor, fidelity and abilities of [NAME]. In view of these qualities and his/her demonstrated potential for increased responsibility, [NAME] is promoted to [NEW RANK] with a date of rank of [DATE]."
#4
BTW, the promotion list is a 'recommendation' by the board through the Secretary to the WH. The White House submits it to Congress for approval. Anyone who can recall Tailhook knows that is not automatic.
#6
Track down his sponsors. Let them know they chose poorly.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/16/2020 7:51
Comments ||
Top||
#7
His own ideological and political bent got the best of him or he was following instructions. Of course it could have been a combination. In any case, all of those years of training and development wasted. His utility as a political-military asset are now totally fok'd. I suppose the obvious next question is.....will there be a book deal ?
#15
Lots of ex Soviet Jews in USA - how many have comparable results?
The group bifurcated — some, like the Vindmans, have done quite well, while others languished in low-paid jobs, never properly assimilated to their new home. The trailing daughters were friends with the son of Soviet Jewish immigrants in the second group. The parents, though educated, ended up divorcing because the husband could not keep a job, while the wife finally left Cincinnati to become a cook in Las Vegas. The two older daughters achieved comfortable, middle class lives after university, while the son, like so many of his American age mates, is just climbing out of the post-college Bro stage.
#16
^International banker + 2 field grade officers is not middle class TW. I've relatives in Brighton Beach myself - Vindmans ARE atypical. Makes one wonder, who/what Semyon was in Soviet Union and what he brought from there?
#17
/\ I believe we may have some notions about those interesting connections g(r)om. Unfortuately, I've yet to see many in the media make much mention of it.
Alex Vindman also has an older brother named Leonid Simon Vindman.
Leonid Simon Vindman is the “Founder and Managing Partner, Tungsten Capital Advisors” and “has approximately thirty years of experience in the financial markets,” his company website states.
“During the past twenty five years, he has been focusing predominantly on Central Eastern Europe, Russia and Central Asia where he completed some of the biggest investment and advisory transactions in the region,” according to the website. “He also completed transactions in the Middle East, and traveled extensively in Asia and Africa.”
The page continues: “Prior to founding Tungsten he was a Managing Director responsible for investment banking origination and client coverage activities for Russia and CIS region at UniCredit Group – the largest international bank in Central and Eastern Europe at that time. Previously he worked as a Vice President Investment Banking at JPMorgan Chase, Principal Banker at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the EBRD), Senior Associate at Bankers Trust and Manager at Central Europe Trust.”
Leonid Vindman “received his Bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth Graduate School of Business,” his company website says.
The company’s founding and managing partner Maria Starkova-Vindman is described as “an art historian and art advisor” who previously “worked at the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow as an assistant keeper and curator, and taught on the Courtauld MA course on global contemporary art.”
[IsraelTimes] Police say incident occurred during attempt to disperse demonstrators, investigation opened; father says boy may lose one or both of his eyes.
A 9-year-old boy was seriously maimed on Saturday after he was apparently injured by a sponge-tipped bullet during a police operation in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiya, Hebrew media reported.
The boy’s father told the Haaretz daily that his son had serious facial injuries, may be suffering from brain damage and there are concerns he may lose one or both of his eyes as a result of his wounds.
“Doc Avi says there is a shallow scratch on one cheek — you can see it if you look closely under a strong light. He gave my son a Superman bandaid.”
Israel Police said in a statement that the boy was hurt during an attempt to disperse demonstrators during a police operation, and that an investigation had been opened.
“Yep. Shallow scratch. The bandaid had Original Superman, not one of those namby-pamby remake versions.”
The boy’s father denied that there were demonstrations prior to the incident.
“We do civil, well-reasoned discourse here in the ancient city, and everyone knows what that means.”
Community leaders have argued that the police have unreasonably stepped up its operations in Issawiya over the past several months and employed excessive force against residents, undermining stability and stoking tensions in the neighborhood.
Requiring the residents to live with law and order — how hateful!
Police officials, however, have pushed back against the charges, asserting that the heightened operations in Issawiya directly correlate with what they describe as increased violence emanating from the neighborhood.
Since May, the police have raided over 500 homes in Issawiya and arrested more than 600 residents ‐ only about 20 of whom were indicted, Mohammed Abu Hummus,
Look — these articles come to us with the names already written in. There’s nothing we can do about ’em.
a member of the neighborhood’s Parents Committee, said in an interview earlier this year
Locals, meanwhile, have lately stepped up violence against coppers, according to Israel Police front man Micky Rosenfeld.
Saturday’s incident came a day after an Israeli soldier was lightly injured by a stone and four Paleostinians were hurt in a protest in the West Bank village of Budrus. The soldier was treated at the scene northwest of Ramallah and then sent to a hospital, according to Hebrew media reports. The condition of the Paleostinians was not clear.
Protests were also reported in Ramallah, Nablus and near the southern West Bank city of Hebron. Troops fired tear gas at Paleostinians who threw rocks and set tires on fire.
[KhaamaPress] Washington is expected to sign a peace deal with the Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... group on 29th of February, provided that the group uphold their commitments regarding a seven-day reduction in violence.
An American official, privy of the development has told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named that the U.S. and Taliban have agreed to a temporary truce which would likely open the way for a deal for the withdrawal of the American forces.
The official further added that the agreement for a seven-day "reduction in violence" is "very specific" and covers the entire country, including Afghan government forces.
The Taliban had committed to a halt in roadside and suicide kabooms as well as rocket attacks, the official said, adding that If the Taliban uphold their commitments, a U.S.-Taliban peace agreement would be signed within 10 days.
Meanwhile, ...back at the dirigible, the gondola was dangling by a single thread of rope.
Jack! Cynthia cried. I just realized I'm afraid of heights! I don't even like high heels!... a Taliban official has said the signing had been tentatively set for Feb. 29, with the start of the Afghan talks planned for March 10.
The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, further added that Germany and Norway have offered to host the talks but there has been no decision on the venue.
That Taliban official also added that the agreement would provide for the release of 5,000 Taliban prisoners before the start of the negotiations.
Possibly that was actually agreed to. But possibly the Taliban are just adding things in the hope that the unbelievers are suckers,
#5
Do you think “The Taliban”, which really is a bunch of independent groups looking to Pakistan's ISI for money and orders — only one of which is represented at these talks — is capable of avoiding violence until then?
#8
Declare victory and get out. This war has cost us a trillion dollars as well as the integrity of many generals. It's a gigantic lie at this point and the sooner it's over the better. Who cares about the Taliban? Not one more dead American. The whole of Afghan isn't worth it.
Posted by: Herb McCoy ||
02/16/2020 14:13
Comments ||
Top||
[ToloNews] At least eight non-combatants were killed in an Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... in Surkh Rod district in the eastern province of Nangarhar The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country.. on Friday evening, a front man for Nangarhar governor, Attaullah Khogyani, said. they're non-combatants now
Khogyani said that one child was also among those killed in the airstrike that was carried out in Karak village in Surkh Rod district in the north of Nangarhar.
Sources from Nangarhar said those who were killed were the civilians who were going to their homes after shopping at a local market. Simple, well-armed, rustic civilians
The Ministry of Defense has not commented on this incident. A statement by the ministry released on Saturday morning reads that five airstrikes were conducted over the past 24 hours including an airstrike in Sherzad district in Nangarhar in which six Lions of Islam were killed and four others were maimed.
[The Drive] The U.S. Air Force has offered the first good look at how its new-ish GAU-5/A carbines squeeze in with other items inside a survival kit that the service's pilots are now flying with under their ejection seats. The guns are converted standard M4 carbines with various new features, most notably a special locking system that allows users to break it down into two halves in 30 seconds or less and reassemble when necessary just as fast.
The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center released the picture of the carbine broken down inside its kit, along with four tan-colored 30-round magazines and other items, along with additional images of the gun assembled and disassembled on Feb. 14, 2020. Air Force gunsmiths at the Air Force Security Forces Center, situated at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in Texas, assembled 2,700 of these GAU-5/As, also known as Aircrew Self Defense Weapons (ASDW), to units across the service between February 2018 and January 2020, when it reportedly completed all of the planned deliveries. It's interesting to note that this is 600 more guns than the Air Force expected to produce as of June 2018.
[KhaamaPress] The Afghan Special Forces ...established in 2007 with the intent of taking one conventional infantry kandak (battalion) from each of the regional ANA corps, giving them special training and equipment, and reorganizing based on the U.S. Army Rangers. Each battalion is assigned to one of the six regional corps. The commandos comprise 7% of the Afghan National Security Forces but conduct 70% to 80% of the fighting... arrested a Pak family during an operation in Ghazni province during which they seized a large cache of explosives belonging to Taliban ...Arabic for students... The Special Operations Corps in a statement said the Special Forces discovered and seized the cache during a raid in Geru district.
The statement further added that the Special Forces confiscated 200 sacks of explosives, 4 cycle of violences and a vehicle during the raid.
According to Special Operations Corps, the Special Forces also arrested a Pak family including a woman and 6 children whose head of the family was involved in the making of improvised bombs.
The Taliban group has not commented in this regard so far.
[DailyBeast] For years, the U.S. has experienced a shortage of registered nurses. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that while the number of nurses will increase by 19 percent by 2022, demand will grow faster than the supply, and that there will be over one million unfilled nursing jobs by then.
Those aged 65 or over comprise a bigger percentage of the U.S. population than ever, and by 2030, 20 percent of the U.S. population, or roughly 69 million people, will be senior citizens. While enrollment at nursing schools is up, these programs aren’t big enough to accept the number of applicants required to fill these positions.
So what’s the solution?
Robots.
Japan is ahead of the curve when it comes to this trend, given that its elderly population is the highest of any country. Toyohashi University of Technology has developed Terapio, a robotic medical cart that can make hospital rounds, deliver medications and other items, and retrieve records. It follows a specific individual, such as a doctor or nurse, who can use it to record and access patient data. Terapio isn’t humanoid, but it does have expressive eyes that change shape and make it seem responsive. This type of robot will likely be one of the first to be implemented in hospitals because it has fairly minimal patient contact, works with staff, and has a benign appearance.
#4
Sponge baths are out. Now your gurney will be locked into the tracks of the automated shower that looks remarkably like something from a car wash. Waxing optional.
Posted by: Herb McCoy ||
02/16/2020
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[21 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Turnabout is fair play — in addition to the nastiness at Pink Floyd concerts (pig balloons with Jewish stars on them —really?) Mr. Waters has for years been contacting performers to strongly urge them to cancel bookings in Israel as well as pushing BDS in general. He should be grateful they let him go this long without response.
#2
Problem is, SXSW is just about the last group I would expect to get any sympathy on BDS from.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
02/16/2020 11:30
Comments ||
Top||
#3
Certainly the comments at the video are nasty enough, ed. Still, articles about this will now show up when his name or SXSW are searched. And some people will rethink their support and acceptance, as I did once I found out, though Pink Floyd is part of the soundtrack of my youth.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/16/2020 15:59
Comments ||
Top||
#7
Roger Waters goes on Russian TV to blame Israel because Palestinians refuse to make peace, refuse to behave like civilized human beings. That's the kind of bullshit we're used to hearing from RT, Pravda or any other Russian media (read propaganda) outlet.
Well, he played a mean bass and his band mates were brilliant. But his lyrics dealt primarily with war and madness. It really is sad that his father died in WWII. It was sad that Pink Floyd's first songwriter and Water's mentor Syd Barrett went over the rainbow after dropping too much acid. But Water's lyrics became increasingly tedious. There was never any romance or even rock'n'roll lust. You certainly couldn't dance to it. It was just a lot of psuedo-intellectual gloom.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/16/2020 17:29
Comments ||
Top||
Israeli air force strikes Hamas positions in the Gaza Strip in retaliation to rocket fire from the Palestinian enclave into Israel, says a military statement.https://t.co/e2pWyQwp9L
“Fighter planes and helicopters have targeted positions of the terrorist organization Hamas in central Gaza Strip,” including a military post, said the Israeli military, which earlier reported two projectiles had been fired into the Jewish state from the Gaza Strip.
Following the rocket fire, Israel announced it would cancel a slight easing of the blockade on the Gaza Strip.
“The extension of the fishing zone, the restoration of 500 commercial permits and the delivery of cement have been cancelled,” because of the rocket fire, COGAT, the Israel defense ministry unit that oversees civilian activities in the Palestinian territories, said in a statement.
“The hudna was a test, and y’all failed. Consequences, dudes.”
Posted by: Fred ||
02/16/2020
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[15 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
[BREITBART] Another three "Asian" grooming gang abusers have been sentenced for multiple rapes, indecent assaults, and drug dealing offences in Oxford, England.
41-year-old Naim Khan (24/8/1978), 44-year-old Mohammed Nazir (20/3/1975), and 42-year-old Raheem Ahmed (22/2/1977) were convicted of the following crimes, respectively, according to a Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announcement:
Seven counts of rape (two counts were multiple incidents covering at least 12 occasions); four counts of indecent assault (two counts were multiple incidents covering at least 15 occasions); one count of procuring a man to rape the victim; two counts of procuring men to indecently assault the victim; one count of supplying class B drugs on at least 12 occasions (Victim 1)
one count of indecent assault (Victim 2)
Six counts of rape (four counts were multiple incidents covering at least 14 occasions); five counts of indecent assault (all counts were multiple incidents covering at least 27 occasions); one count of procuring a man to rape the victim; three counts of procuring men to indecently assault the victim (one count was a multiple incident covering at least three occasions); one count of supplying class B drugs on at least 10 occasions (Victim 1)
Two counts of indecent assault, and one count of supplying class B drugs on at least 10 occasions (Victim 1)
A fourth man, 42-year-old Afzal Mohammed of Randolph Street, Oxford, was acquited of one count of rape.
Prosecutors claim the convicted trio have been "placed in durance vile ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... for a total of 49 years", with Khan, Nazir, and Ahmed receiving terms of 24 years, 20 years, and five years ‐ but this may be misleading.
In the British criminal justice system, criminals handed multiple sentences are generally told they will serve them concurrently ‐ i.e. all at the same time, rendering all but the longest effectively meaningless.
They are also typically eligible for automatic early release on licence halfway through non-"life" terms, or else at the two-thirds point with Parole Board approval if handed special "extended" sentences.
While the CPS did not make the details of the Oxford gang’s sentencing immediately clear in their announcement, the above was certainly the case for Telford rape gang ringleader Mubarek Ali, who became eligible for release on licence ‐ which he received ‐ less than five years into a supposed 22-year sentence.
The number of people who have tested positive for the new coronavirus on the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship off Japan’s coast has risen to 355, the country’s health minister says. https://t.co/BawS0v7E97
#3
The tests are whack with false negatives; the chinese regimen is five, count 'em five, clean tests before release.
They've finally decided to fly US citizens home for quarantine. I think the real reason they waited this long was to make a visible canned experiment on transmission.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
02/16/2020 12:51
Comments ||
Top||
[NYPOST] A St. Louis teen confessed to raping his 11-year-old relative about 100 times after she gave birth to his baby in a bathtub, according to a news report.
Cops were tipped off to the alleged abuse at the hands of Norvin Leonidas Lopez-Cante when his father brought an infant to St. Joseph Hospital on Tuesday and told police someone left the child on his front porch, KSDK-TV reported.
The baby still had its umbilical cord and placenta attached and a body temperature of 90 degrees, the NBC affiliate said.
On Thursday, police visited the father, Francisco Javier Gonzalez-Lopez, and he told them his 17-year-old son was the father of the child and their 11-year-old relative was the baby’s mother ‐ but claimed he had no knowledge of the abuse or the pregnancy until the girl gave birth.
Lopez-Cante later admitted to authorities that he had sex with the girl about twice a week, a total of about 100 times, the report said.
Cops arrested both the father and the son, KSDK-TV reported.
Lopez-Cante was charged with first-degree statutory rape, sodomy and incest.
Gonzalez-Lopez was charged with endangering the welfare of a child. Court papers show he was in the country illegally and was previously deported.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/16/2020
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[15 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
God's Children's Child.
Diversity Makes Us Stronger.
[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 ||
E-Mail||
[22 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Surreal.
Is our government not a Shitshow?
Is this woman not deranged?
#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
#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||
[Zeihan] The Philippine government this week began the formal legal process of ejecting US forces from the country and ending the US-Philippine alliance. Chinese involvement in the decision isn't so much suspected as assumed. The few pundits who can tear themselves away from the American primary process are bemoaning another American strategic retreat.
Losing the Philippines isn't a death-blow, but it certainly is a step in the wrong direction – especially if the Americans get out of the business of doing the heavy-lifting for Asian security. Expect a flotilla of Japanese diplomacy, military assistance, tech transfers and outright bribes as Tokyo attempts to pick up what the Americans are dropping.
Me? Not so much.
The Philippines is one of those countries I normally have a hard time getting excited about. As a shattered archipelago it has a damn hard time holding itself together in anything that the rest of the world might recognize as a united nation-state. Secessionist struggles define the country's modern incarnation, and outside of the major island of Luzon, the place is a riot of different ethnicities and languages. Add in rugged, tropical terrain and it will never be a local, much less regional power.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Herb McCoy ||
02/16/2020
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[22 views]
Top|| File under:
[IsraelTimes] 180 members of Egyptian-Jewish Diaspora return to fete renovated Eliyahu Hanavi shul, even as country’s tiny Jewish community prepares for a Jew-free future.
This weekend marks the largest Jewish prayer gathering in Egypt for decades. From across the Diaspora, some 180 Jews of Egyptian origin have flown to the land of their fathers for a Shabbat dedicated to marking the newly restored 14th-century Eliyahu Hanavi synagogue in Alexandria.
“If it wasn’t for [Egyptian President Abdel Fattah] el-Sissi, this would have never been done. A lot of things have changed since he’s taken over,” Mizrahi told AFP.
The weekend was closed to media and organized in part by the Nebi Daniel Association, an organization that works to preserve Jewish sites in Egypt. Only four or five septuagenarian and octogenarian Jews currently reside in Alexandria, Nebi Daniel Association board member Alec Nacamuli told The Times of Israel. The city used to house 12 synagogues, but most of them were sold over the years to support the Jewish community there, and its infrastructure and institutions, he said.
Once the largest in the Arab world, the Eliyahu Hanavi synagogue was recently reopened in a festive gathering of government officials and Egyptian Jews on January 10. In cooperation with the military, Egypt’s antiquities ministry oversaw the 64 million Egyptian pound ($4 million) renovation which lasted over three years after the roof and staircase collapsed in 2016.
In January, Yolande Mizrahi, born and raised in Alexandria and now in her 80s, had one man to thank for the refurbishment. “If it wasn’t for [Egyptian President Abdel Fattah] el-Sissi, this would have never been done. A lot of things have changed since he’s taken over,” Mizrahi told AFP.
#3
At the start of the Six Day War there were less than 50 Jews in Alexandria. Some adult males were placed under arrest, and in at least one case a male was caged in the desert west of Alexandria. His captivity was so severe he died shortly after. The Six Day War, and the Nasser reaction, was the end of Alexandria the great. The international community -- Maltese, Italians, Greeks, Syrians, Lebanese, and nearly all the Jews -- left for good.
[Babylon Bee] Joe Biden's campaign is struggling to motivate younger voters, but he has a plan: offering free AOL trials to anyone who shows up to his rallies.
"Come on by, say hi to uncle Joe, and grab one of our free AOL CDs," Biden says in an ad for his campaign tour. "You know, the great thing about AOL is that you get so many hours of internets. Only squares use Compuserve, Prodigy, or MSN. We're keen on America Online!" "Gee, your hair smells terrific!"
The campaign has warned that it's first come, first served, so you'd better hurry if you want to experience the lightning-fast speeds of AOL's 56K dial-up service.
"I love America Online," Biden continued as he booted up his Windows 98 PC. "Every time I hear that grinding, beeping sound while trying to get on the internet, I just know that I'm about to experience the world wide web at a rate of one web page per hour."
His wife then screamed at him to get off the computer as she was expecting a call. "Well, I'd better go," Biden said, chuckling. "But remember, for the fastest interwebs in town, come see Uncle Joe. You won't regret it -- probably."
Rally attendees will receive their choice of a CD or 3.5" floppy disk good for a free trial of AOL dial-up service. Joe will then say hi and shake their hands "and maybe more if you're lucky." *Sniff*
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/16/2020
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[8 views]
Top|| File under:
#8
I still remember my awakening to a broader world when I bought a Novation Cat modem. 300 bits per second on a good day? It was like stepping above the top of an endless sea of grass, and seeing for the first time a (very) few other heads, also peering around, looking at a new world. Heady times, '78 or '79 maybe, on an Ohio Scientific computer. Now, 975 Mbps, and common.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
02/16/2020 12:25
Comments ||
Top||
#9
I still carry a cigarette pack size 56k modem in my "bag o tricks." It's fun asking kids to guess what it is.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/16/2020 13:29
Comments ||
Top||
#10
When hollywood made and entire movie using big names based solely on the novelty of receiving an electric message.
...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
#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.
#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.
#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.
A paper published in 2004. Note ACE2 is the main vector for infection by current corona-virus in China. This paper is about modifying corona virus to infect human ACE2 cells. Also, look at the gaming using HIV
Chinese virologists got careless/malevolent with their studies using HIV as the pseudovirus shills get angry when you say it escaped from a lab and that it had HIV amino acid sequences. Idk y..but I know Wuhan Virus Institute was using HIV pseudovirus/#Coronavirus for research. pic.twitter.com/HcdzfxCmJ9
#1
Same poster has these links for other damning data:
Please look, and draw your own educated and true feelings regarding #CoronaOutbreak and #coronavirus all links contain the subject of #HIV correlation
#2
Chinesevirologists got careless/malevolent with their studies using HIV as the pseudovirus shills get angry when you say it escaped from a lab and that it had HIV amino acid sequences.
The virus is reportedly being treated, at least in some instances, with an anti-HIV protocol and responding favorably so why the angst ?
Replying to
@ch00sn1
This was the study of the sars virus. They didn't add hiv. It was all ready in there and they where Tring to figure out how it worked. The question is how HIV got into the Sars virus in the first place back in 2003. It doesn't happen naturally.
#6
They were modifying coronavirus to be able to infect people since 2003 at least (as the HIV aspects were already added before 2004) and trying to make it able to do airborne infection by keying on the ACE2 cells in the lungs.
#7
problem with that is that the current corona virus was stolen from Canada who found it in the lungs of patient in Saudi Arabia who was traced back to a virus collected in Egypt.... and China stole it sometime after early 2013 but this research was going on in 2004 and in another article 2010...
Somewhere some truth reconciling everything along with why exists.
Same lab near the market brought in bats with the virus from 600 miles away. Scientists were bit and exposed to the virus by the bats. Outbreak was at the local wet market some 900 ft way.
Long, semi-technical article regarding work done in 2007 - 2019. Scroll down to the section labelled "Track Record of Wuhan Institute of Virology on Engineering ‘Gain-of-Function’ Bat SARS-Like CoV"
#12
#6 They were modifying coronavirus to be able to infect people since 2003 at least (as the HIV aspects were already added before 2004) and trying to make it able to do airborne infection by keying on the ACE2 cells in the lungs.
If this is true then anyone/everyone in the West who tried to help China rise while tying our economy tightly to China's should be tarred and feathered.
[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.
[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."
#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||
Turkey dismisses Russian accusations that it has flouted de-escalation agreements with Russia and Iran in Syria’s Idlib province, and threatens to take military action in the area if diplomatic efforts with Moscow fail.https://t.co/LIjbUuUnbu
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Tunisian Prime Minister Elyes Fakhfakh on Saturday formed a new government but it immediately hit major hurdles after members of Ennahdha party pulled out of the line-up.
Fakhfakh was tasked by Tunisia’s president to form a government after a previous list proposed under the leadership of Ennahdha was rejected by parliament following October legislative elections.
Several of the ministers chosen by Fakhfakh to join the cabinet are from the ranks of the Islamist-inspired party.
But even before he officially announced the line-up, Ennahdha said it was pulling out of the government.
"Ennahdha’s decision places us in a difficult position," Fakhfakh said.
He said he had agreed with the president to search for a solution through legal and constitutional means, implying that his line-up could be modified.
Ennahdha won more seats than any other party in October’s legislative election, but was still far short of a majority.
Fakhfakh, 47, was named minister of tourism in 2011 before serving as minister of finance from December 2012 until January 2014.
He became involved in politics again after Tunisia’s 2011 revolution, joining the Ettakatol party, which had allied with Ennahdha.
The Islamist-inspired party is demanding a government of national unity.
"Ennahdha has decided not to take part in the government or in a vote of confidence," senior party member Abdelkarim Harouni told AFP on Saturday.
In addition to its political crisis, Tunisia is struggling to meet the expectations of its population, while an assistance package started by the International Monetary Fund in 2016 ends in April.
South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir says he is cutting the number of states from 32 to 10, unlocking a stalled peace deal and paving the way for the formation of a long- awaited unity government.https://t.co/nQVDNT5N6epic.twitter.com/1cqwPcE87q
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/16/2020 0:55
Comments ||
Top||
#2
Peace will never be achieved in South Sudan until that country that passes for a nation is divided in three. Create Bahr al-Ghazal for the Dinka, East Nile for the Nuer, and Equatoria for the various tribes that inhabited the Equatoria region of the former Sudan. Salva Kiir will never see to it so the old fool must be dumped.
[ALMASDARNEWS] The jihadist defenses in western Aleppo have completely collapsed after a short battle with the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) at the outskirts of the placid provincial capital.
According to a military source in western Aleppo, the Syrian Arab Army captured the strategic al-Mansoura District this evening, following the withdrawal of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else ...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State... (HTS) from this area.
Al-Mansoura had been a long-time stronghold for the jihadist rebels before its capture by the Syrian Arab Army this evening.
In addition to capturing al-Mansoura, the Syrian Army also took control of several sites at the western outskirts of Aleppo, including the last building blocks near the Scientific Research Building.
These areas captured by the Syrian Arab Army on Saturdaywere captured in one day, but they were fought over for most of the war.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un makes his first public appearance in 22 days amid an outbreak of coronavirus to visit a national mausoleum and mark the anniversary of the late leader Kim Jong Il’s birth, according to state media.https://t.co/CP7bfJwuCQ
The death toll from China’s coronavirus epidemic jumps past 1,600 after 139 more people died in hard-hit Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak. https://t.co/oqSawoNlDF
#2
The economy of China is grinding to a halt. These numbers are just the tip of an iceberg. High population areas will fall quickly. The sanctuary cities and homeless areas here are prime breading grounds. Their pathetic efforts so far have accomplished nothing. So media people claim when the weather turns warm the bug will die out. It has been said for many years the very cold stuns the outbreaks. We will see. I do suggest Trump offer assistance. Leadership is required. Act while others dither.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/16/2020 8:13
Comments ||
Top||
#4
China numbers probably low. More important to watch the outside China numbers. Specially places like japan and Singapore have 1st class medical institutions. Looking at those it seems the virus has been contained for now. Of course a breakout into someplace like Indonesia or Malaysia would change the whole situation but for now that probably hasn’t happened.
Posted by: Lord garth ||
02/16/2020 8:31
Comments ||
Top||
#5
Antidote anti-corona vaccination reportedly still a year off.
#6
True Frank but the worm might turn. Communism total control might falter. The devil is in the details. Emotion pushes for action. Logic lacks the power to take action. In any possible business, potential opportunity must be taken. I see Trump as the only leader to seize upon this and lead.
#9
Anecdotally, that Ebola drug apparently cures those with the coronavirus’s second-stage of deep lung pneumonia within hours. I yesterday that it’s in two human clinical tests in China even as we speak, so if it proves out there will be a useful treatment, even if a vaccine comes too late for the current epidemic.
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) is steadily advancing south along the Kafr Halab-Taftanaz Road, as their forces attempt to capture the key town of Taftanaz and its corresponding airbase.
According to a field source from the Syrian Army, their forces captured the town of Ma’arat al-Na’asan this afternoon, which is one of the last points before Taftanaz, after a fierce battle with the jihadist rebels of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else ...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State... (HTS).
The source said that since the capture of Ma’arat al-Na’asan, the Syrian Army has consolidated their gains and begun the push south towards Taftanaz.
He would add that the Syrian Army is determined to capture the Taftanaz Airbase because it has become a main hub for HTS and other Death Eater forces in Idlib.
Since the Syrian Army lost the Taftanaz Airbase in early 2013, the Death Eater forces in the Idlib Governorate have used the installation for training purposes and housing their fighters.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Several blasts hit a US-led coalition military base in Baghdad early on Sunday from an apparent rocket attack, a US military official said.
The official did not immediately say if the attack caused any casualties or significant damage.
This is the 19th attack against US assets in the country since late October.
The blasts were followed by aircraft circling over the Green Zone.
Earlier, Al Arabiya correspondent reported strong explosions near the vicinity of the US embassy in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone.
The explosion sent warning sirens blaring across the high-security diplomatic compound.
The attacks are never claimed but the US has pointed the finger at Iran-backed groups within the Hashed al-Shaabi, a military network officially incorporated into Iraq’s state security forces.
In late December, a rocket attack on the northern Iraqi base of K1 left one US contractor dead and unleashed a dramatic series of events.
Washington responded with retaliatory strikes against a hardline Hashed faction in western Iraq and days later, an American dronezap in Baghdad killed top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani and his right-hand man, Hashed deputy chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandes.
Hashed factions have vowed Dire Revenge for the pair’s death, insisting US troops should immediately leave Iraq.
Sunday’s attack came just hours after one of the Hashed’s Iran-backed factions, Harakat al-Nujaba, announced a "countdown" to ousting American forces from the country.
[BREITBART] According to a new investigation by Swiss media, a cell of jihadists based in Geneva plotted to bomb cisterns full of oil near the city’s airport in a major terror attack.
The plot, which was set to take place last year before being stopped, revolved largely around a man named Daniel D., who also went by the Islamic name Abu Ilias al-Swisri, a convert to Islam who went on to join the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... terror group two years later, Le Temps reports.
Al-Swisri, now 25-years-old, had attended the Petit-Saconnex mosque where he met two other bully boyz named "PF" and Ramzi, who would also join his Islamic State terror cell.
In 2015, both al-Swisri and Ramzi took a trip to Syria where they met with a branch of Islamic State and received weapons training. PF, who remained in Geneva, requested to join the two men in Syria but was told by al-Swisri that the group wanted to plot an attack in Switzerland ...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell... Al-Swisri is said to have formed relationships with several more Switzerland-based jihadists, all of whom are currently, like al-Swisri, detained in Kurdish prison camps, and plotted the bombing attack with them.
Thank goodness for the SDF prison camps, without which Europe and England would be aflame from one end to the other.
[KhaamaPress] An Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... killed seven Talibs including the deputy commander of the Red Unit of the group in North-eastern Takhar province.
The Ministry of Defense (MoD) in a statement said the security forces conducted a precision airstrike in Baharak district of Takhar on Friday night.
The statement further added that the airstrike killed 7 Talibs including Jalal Sirat alias Nasrat, the deputy commander of the Red Unit of Taliban ...Arabic for students... in Takhar.
The airstrike also killed Ahmadullah Taloqani, one of the senior commanders of the group in Takhar and maimed 3 other bad boys, the statement added.
The Defense Ministry also added that the airstrike also destroyed multiple cycle of violences of Talibs.
The Taliban group has not commented regarding the airstrike so far.
[KhaamaPress] An airstrike killed 5 Taliban militants in North-eastern Takhar province of Afghanistan, the military officials said Saturday. The officials further added that the security forces conducted the airstrike in Baharak district of Takhar.
This may or may not be the same airstrike as above — we go to press with the articles we’ve got.
Meanwhile, ...back at the pie fight, Bella went down under the weight of the custard... the Afghan Special Forces ...established in 2007 with the intent of taking one conventional infantry kandak (battalion) from each of the regional ANA corps, giving them special training and equipment, and reorganizing based on the U.S. Army Rangers. Each battalion is assigned to one of the six regional corps. The commandos comprise 7% of the Afghan National Security Forces but conduct 70% to 80% of the fighting... arrested 6 Talibs during the operations in Giro district of Ghazni,
Muhammad Aghah district of Pashtun-infested Logar and Farah district of Farah province.
The Special Forces also destroyed a small communications cache of Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... in Pashtun-infested Logar and two weapons cache of the group in Pashtun-infested Logar and Kandahar provinces, the officials added.
The Taliban group has not commented regarding the operations so far.
[GCaptain] The coronavirus’s effect on energy markets is worsening, as the sharp fall in demand in China, the world’s largest importer of crude, is stranding oil cargoes off the country’s coast and prompting shippers to seek out other Asian destinations.
More than 1,360 people have died from the coronavirus in China, which has disrupted the world’s second largest economy and shaken energy markets, with international benchmark Brent crude oil down 15% since the beginning of the year.
Major international energy forecasters expect demand to fall in this quarter, the first drop in a decade, due to the outbreak.
Chinese refineries have cut output by about 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) over just two weeks, causing crude stocks to pile up.
That has left numerous Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs), capable of holding more than 2 million barrels of crude each, unable to unload at China’s top crude import terminal of Qingdao, Refinitiv data shows.
Other cargoes are being diverted to South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and other locales in China, while storage tanks in Shandong province – where Qingdao is located – are filling swiftly, sources said.
Oil storage tanks in China’s eastern Shandong province are nearing peaks seen last June as independent refiners slash processing rates, industry sources said.
“We are cutting runs, but we still have (crude) cargoes on the way,” said a Chinese refinery source, adding that the company was still exploring options as land storage is limited and it is costly to store on ships.
Shandong’s commercial and strategic crude oil stocks are currently at 171.5 million barrels, not far from their peak of 175 million barrels in early June last year, according to oil analytics firm Kpler.
“In theory, there is a lot of spare capacity to fill, but we have never seen this full utilization” of storage, said Kpler analyst Alexander Booth, adding that utilization rates are currently at 61% in Shandong, versus 63% at last year’s peak.
China’s overall crude storage is at 760 million barrels, versus a peak of 780 million barrels in early June last year, Kpler’s data shows.
DEMURRAGE COSTS RISE, FREIGHT RATES PLUNGE
The lack of space in tanks is prompting traders to divert cargoes scheduled to arrive in February and March until China’s demand improves, multiple trade and shipping sources said.
When vessels cannot be unloaded, their charterers have to pay what is known as demurrage costs. Those fees have climbed to more than $100,000 per day for a cargo arriving next week compared with about $90,000 per day for those loaded 40 days ago, prompting some shippers to try to transfer crude to older tankers that cost less to operate, they said.
Freight rates meanwhile, have plunged to nearly half the levels they were at as the virus has hit demand and after the U.S. partially lifted sanctions on one unit of Chinese shipping firm COSCO.
Sources at Shandong ports said while storage levels are high, they are working with refineries to move oil out and make way for more cargoes that are expected to arrive in the coming weeks.
“The pace of moving crude out from tanks is slow. So if vessels are arriving at the same time, some of them might need to wait for 2-3 days,” said a source at Rizhao port in Shandong.
“We still have around 30% of space at our oil storage at this moment, which is already a lot better than the previous weeks, as truck drivers are gradually returning to work.”
Manufacturing activity was paused for the Lunar New Year last month when the virus struck, preventing workers from returning to their jobs.
State-run ChemChina has diverted some crude oil cargoes which were supposed to arrive in China to floating storage near Malaysia, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. ChemChina did not respond to an email seeking comment.
Oil traders have signed new crude oil storage leases in South Korea, the nearest storage option to Qingdao, this week, said a source familiar with the matter.
Two supertankers – Universal Winner and Aegean Dream – carrying Brazilian crude originally heading for China have been diverted to the Singapore straits, Refinitiv data showed.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/16/2020
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[26 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Which leads to yet another ZH story about how crude prices are rising. Sort of like that blizzard caused by gerbil worming.
Report that US tells Iraqi officials it is ready to withdraw from Shia areas in Iraq such as Balad Airbase & Baghdad, except forces to protect US Embassy. US will not, under any circumstances, withdraw from Ein al-Asad Airbase in Anbar Province. https://t.co/CQ5Qw5mIEz
[DAILYCALLER] Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ...hereditary prime minister of the Great White North... is under fire for meeting with Iranian leaders on Friday.
Trudeau met with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif while attending the Munch Security Conference.
Trudeau’s handshake and quick bow were broadcast over Iranian state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
and brought condemnation from many as the meeting came roughly a month after 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 a cognate form of Stürmabteilung (or SA), the term Supreme Guide is a cognate form of either Shah or Führer or maybe both, and they hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... shot down a Ukrainian aircraft killing 57 Canadians on board. Trudeau said he was seeking updated information on the crash.
Conservative Member of Parliament Michelle Rempel Garner criticized Trudeau on Friday, suggesting it was part of the prime minister’s motivation. "If this is what it takes to get a seat on the UN Security Council I don’t want it. How’s that ’fulsome and complete’ investigation of the crash site going?" Rempel tweeted.
Iraq’s premier-designate Mohammad Allawi announces he will submit his cabinet to a parliamentary vote within days, promising it will be stacked with “independents,” a key demand of influential cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.https://t.co/G9ebhs7UNP
[GCaptain] Calculating the exact impact on commodity markets from the coronavirus epidemic in China is still a fraught process, with too many unknown variables, but there are some early signs of the effect on physical shipments.
China’s imports of crude oil and iron ore so far in February are running at levels well below the preceding months, and also from the same month last year, according to vessel-tracking and port data compiled by Refinitiv.
To be clear, what the numbers show is that the rate of discharge of cargoes is considerably slower, while the queue of vessels waiting to offload at Chinese ports seems to be longer than usual.
In other words, this doesn’t necessarily mean that China’s imports of crude and iron ore are plummeting, what it does mean is that the ports seem to be struggling to get back to normal volumes of cargo movements.
The coronavirus has killed more than 1,300 people and infected more than 48,000 people in China, but has also led to significant economic disruption as work places remained closed after the Lunar New Year holidays as Beijing worked to stop the spread of the disease.
The unloading of iron ore cargoes appears to have been affected, with Refinitiv data showing 28.2 million tonnes from 211 vessels was discharged in the first 12 days of February.
This is down from the 33.4 million tonnes achieved in the same period in February 2019, and it’s also worth noting that the Lunar New Year holidays fell in February last year, which would have slowed unloading in that month.
The daily rate of iron ore being offloaded so far in February is 2.35 million tonnes, down from 2.93 million in January and 3.09 million in December.
The data also shows that 66 vessels carrying 10.3 million tonnes of iron ore are awaiting discharge, while 41 ships with 6.7 million tonnes are in the process of unloading their cargoes.
A further 192 vessels carrying 31.8 million tonnes are en route to China and expected to reach port by the end of the month.
All up, this gives a potential of about 77.6 million tonnes of iron ore arriving in China in February, down from 90.9 million in January and 95.8 million in December.
To be sure, the February numbers are still subject to revision and are likely to increase as more vessels are sighted, but the point remains that it looks like its going to be a soft month.
SLOW CRUDE DISCHARGING
It’s a similar story for crude oil, with Refinitiv data showing 80 tankers carrying 90.7 million barrels have discharged cargoes in the first 12 days of February, a daily rate of 7.58 million barrels.
This is down from the 8.88 million barrels per day (bpd) in the first 12 days of February 2019, and also lower than the 9.67 million bpd in January and the 9.79 million bpd in December.
However, for coal the story is somewhat different, with 6.8 million tonnes on 111 ships offloaded in the first 12 days of February, for a daily rate of 566,000 tonnes.
This is actually higher than the 517,000 tonnes per day recorded in the first 12 days of February 2019, but still well below the 803,000 tonnes per day in January and the 658,000 tonnes in December.
There are also 47 vessels awaiting to discharge coal, and a further 90 en route and expected to reach China before the end of the month.
But even if all these ships do arrive in time and manage to discharge their cargoes, the likelihood is that seaborne coal imports in February will come in around 20 million tonnes, still some way short of the performance of recent months.
Overall, it appears that China’s imports of major commodities may be constrained in February, but slower demand because of the coronavirus may not be the main reason, rather it’s the struggle to get ports working at full capacity once again.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/16/2020
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Paul brings up a trend. With China's infrastructure worker collapse. Expecting starvation.
[DailySignal] Ottoman Turkish President Recep Erdogan joined Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday outside Kyiv’s 18th-century Mariyinsky Palace to review an honor guard of Ukrainian troops. A band played the anthems of both countries. Along the nearby streets, Ottoman Turkish and Ukrainian flags hung side-by-side on light poles.
"Turkey has been one of the most vocal supporters of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and has been one of the only Moslem-majority countries in the world to criticize Russia’s treatment of the Crimean Tatars."
The Mariyinsky Palace originally was built as a residence for the Russian Czars. Thus, it was a fittingly symbolic place for the two leaders to meet on the day Erdogan announced $36 million in Ottoman Turkish military aid for Ukraine‐a country currently at war against Russian forces in its southeastern Donbas region.
"We fully support and will support the illusory sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, including Crimea," Erdogan told news hounds Monday in Kyiv, referring to a Ukrainian peninsular territory that Russia invaded and illegally annexed in 2014.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife ||
02/16/2020
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[35 views]
Top|| File under: Sublime Porte
And we had a post on 1. February that the GNA signed hundreds of millions of dollars worth of arms purchases from Turkish suppliers, but putting more than two links in a comment triggers Rantburg's anti-spam protections, so you can go look that up yourselves if you feel the need.
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.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
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.
[NY Post] Fifteen year's later, the check is still in the mail.
[BBC] It's hard to exaggerate just how much the Crypto AG scandal has shaken Switzerland.
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) ‐ It’s possible to get infected by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) a second time, according to doctors on the frontline in China’s city of Wuhan, leading to death from heart failure in some cases.
That once prolific graphic of the Soetoro-Saudi bow appears to be quietly making it's way to the media's historical editing room. It's now very difficult to locate on-line. Strange, strange indeed. Massive statuary and street names to soon follow.
[Free Beacon] Nearly all of President Barack H. Obama's "accomplishments" have been nullified by his physically and intellectually superior successor, Donald J. Trump. But while Obama's so-called legacy has been largely erased, majestic birds continue to suffer as a result of his bloodthirsty obsession with wind turbines.
[Breitbart] Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said Friday that the service is not investigating Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the former National Security Council (NSC) staffer who was removed from his assignment last week after testifying during the impeachment inquiry.
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
...
...Arabic for 
[BREITBART] Another three "Asian" grooming gang abusers have been sentenced for multiple rapes, indecent assaults, and drug dealing offences in Oxford, England.
[NYPOST] A St. Louis teen confessed to raping his 11-year-old relative about 100 times after she gave birth to his baby in a bathtub, according to a news report.
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...
[Babylon Bee] Joe Biden's campaign is struggling to motivate younger voters, but he has a plan: offering free AOL trials to anyone who shows up to his rallies.
...the armed wing of the Democratic Party...
...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...
...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State...
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling 
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
...hereditary prime minister of the Great White North...
