[ScienceAlert] If the new coronavirus 2019-nCoV (now also called COVID-19 virus) is anything like its family members, a new study suggests it could survive on inanimate objects for well over a week.
According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) it's "currently unclear if a person can get 2019-nCoV by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes."
In fact, not a lot is known about the COVID-19 virus at all, so researchers are turning to similar coronaviruses, like SARS and MERS, for answers.
Reviewing the literature on all available human and veterinary viruses within this family, encompassing 22 studies, researchers have found that the human pathogens can persist on surfaces and remain infectious at room temperature for up to nine days. (To put that in perspective, the measles virus can live on contaminated surfaces for up to two hours.)
Granted, that's the upper end of a coronavirus lifespan, but on average, researchers say this family of viruses can survive between four and five days on various materials like aluminium, wood, paper, plastic and glass.
Some of the veterinary coronaviruses - the ones that can only infect animals - could even persist for longer than 28 days.
"Low temperature and high air humidity further increase their lifespan," says physician Günter Kampf at the Greifswald University Hospital.
To reduce the spread of coronaviruses in general, the authors of the new study suggest hospitals carefully disinfect surfaces with various solutions made from sodium hypochlorite, hydrogen peroxide, or ethanol.
In their study, they found these particular WHO recommendations to be "very effective" against SARS and MERS.
The results were originally bound for a future textbook, but under the circumstances, the authors felt it was best to publish their findings in advance. They think the results might also extend to the COVID-19 virus.
"Different coronaviruses were analysed, and the results were all similar," says virologist Eike Steinmann form Leibniz University Hanover.
None of the viruses were 2019-nCoV however, and the team indicated they don't have data on whether hands can become contaminated with coronavirus after patient contact or after touching contaminated surfaces.
While MERS doesn't transfer as easily from person to person as other coronaviruses, SARS spreads rather efficiently whenever an infected person sneezes or coughs. If the mucous lands on a surface and is touched by a person later, it can then contaminate them, even if the contact occurs days after the initial exposure.
Given how threatening this could make 2019-nCoV, washing our hands often and making sure to disinfect public areas seems like a harmless price to pay.
"In hospitals, these can be door handles, for example, but also call buttons, bedside tables, bed frames and other objects in the direct vicinity of patients, which are often made of metal or plastic," explains Kampf.
[NZHerald] A British woman has claimed she was answering the call of nature at a London cafe when she stumbled upon members of a "satanic sex cult" eating pork pies and scotch eggs.
Anya Driscoll was visiting the Bonnington Cafe in Vauxhall with her brother when she made the shocking discovery, finding 20 people dressed in black robes and carrying ceremonial daggers.
Driscoll's discovery sent her on a search online for details of the meeting, but she could not find any events listed.
After she posted the tale to Twitter she was soon met with hundreds of replies, many offering suggestions on the group.
One user appears to have hit the nail on the head with his guess that group were members of the Order of Oriental Templars, an organisation founded early last century by occultist and author Aleister Crowley.
The group is loosely based on Freemasonry and operates as an international fraternal organisation but has been described as a "satanic sex cult" by the media.
[FoxNews] The Justice Department said Friday it will not pursue criminal charges against former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe, after a nearly two-year-long investigation into accusations brought by the agency's independent watchdog who found that he lacked "candor" when questioned about leaking to the media.
In a letter to McCabe attorney Michael Bromwich obtained by Fox News, Justice Department attorney J.P. Cooney said the investigation is now “closed.”
Posted by: lord garth ||
02/14/2020 14:03
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#4
It was known a year ago the DOJ IG investigation, even though they were referred for criminal prosecution, would not result in DOJ charges against McCabe or Comey. This doesn't exclude charges being brought by the Barr/Durham investigation.
Posted by: Theamble Spawn of the Brontosaurs5870 ||
02/14/2020 14:42
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#5
#2 Does this mean that it's no longer illegal to lie to LEOs?
#6
The DOJ added: “Based on the totality of the circumstances and all of the information known to the government at this time, we consider the matter closed."
Is the government going to come up with some such weasel wording for Strzok, Page, Ohrs, Comey and the others and exonerate all of them?
#9
Here's a reminder that a former prosecutor and sheriff's deputy gave me. Say Nothing, say Nothing, say Nothing. Let your lawyer talk. You say nothing. Probably more than 90% of cases fall apart if you say nothing.
#10
So when are they going to exonerate Gen Flynn?
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
02/14/2020 17:48
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#11
There are probably lots of other things to go after him for, and this time with a properly constructed case, not one done under the supervision of his allies
#16
I'm thinking TW at #11 may have it right. I was initially annoyed, but then as I read more came to the conclusion that there was likely a more solid case coming. I hope so at least.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
02/14/2020 23:36
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#17
Patience. You ask for harvest when the corn is green.
[JPost] - Numerous reports in the Arab press have accused the US and Israel of being behind the creation and spread of the deadly coronavirus as part of an economic and psychological war against China, the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) reported.
One report in the Saudi daily newspaper Al-Watan claimed that it was no coincidence that the coronavirus was absent from the US and Israel, though this is despite America having 12 confirmed cases at the time of writing.
#4
interestingly, Gilead Sci (GILD) has a product that was developed for Ebola (it was only minimally effective for that) and which seems, based on some early results, to be an effective treatment for COVID 19.
of course, while GILD is an Israeli company, it is publicly owned and a lot of the large shareholders are, I think, Chinese.
Posted by: lord garth ||
02/14/2020 12:15
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#5
Saudi Arabia has had zero cases. I think we have found the origin point. Probably leapt off a particularly virulent Koran page.
Posted by: Theamble Spawn of the Brontosaurs5870 ||
02/14/2020 15:51
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#6
Now is the time Trump could offer some sort of assistance. This is a world hurt in progress. Otherwise the event could go beyond human manageability.
[Mil.com] Sailors who showed up to a speech by President Donald Trump wearing patches playing off the commander in chief's famous campaign slogan have been punished -- along with some of their superiors -- for violating a Pentagon order that bars troops in uniform from participating in political events.
Eighteen sailors and officers assigned to the Guam-based Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 25 were informed days after Trump's Memorial Day address on the amphibious assault ship Wasp that they were suspected of violating Pentagon policy. Nine of them had attended the speech sporting flight suits with red patches that said, "Make Aircrew Great Again."
Journalists attending the speech posted photos of the patches on Twitter, prompting questions about whether the uniform devices violated Defense Department policy requiring troops to remain apolitical while in uniform. The patches featured the president's likeness, along with the riff on Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan.
Military.com obtained a copy of the 103-page investigation into the incident, which was launched just days after Trump's speech, through a Freedom of Information Act request. It found that, while the sailors didn't intend for the patches to make a political statement, they still broke the rules.
#2
Military personnel get trained about this, then watch their superiors like skelly, mcbastard and mcravin do the exact opposite. And anyone is surprised. Meanwhile, perpetually "strapped" police departments nationwide pay out settlements for 1A and 2A (and other A) rights violations because supposedly "trained" officers either don't know or consciously choose not to follow the law.
S P I T
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/14/2020 9:41
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#3
A "103-page investigation". There you go--you want to make the armed forces more efficient, start with bullshit like that. It doesn't take 10 minutes to determine that policy was violated, and it doesn't take 10 minutes more to realize that this offense is worth getting worked up about. Slap the offenders with a trivial admonishment and get back to business.
#4
Stop dragooning service members into being props for a photo-op would be a good start. Yes, wearing the patches was stupid, but that is a different issue.
#5
Service members turning their backs to the CinC would not be punished at all. Unless it was Bath House.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/14/2020 15:36
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#6
Of course the journalists punched down and attacked the servicemen. Their job is to punch up, but instead they chose to speak truth to the powerless. Fuck journalists.
Posted by: Herb McCoy ||
02/14/2020 16:10
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[Napoleon State Bank] Bell Precision Rifles was started in 2010 with a strong focus on quality firearms manufacturing producing the quietest integrally surpressed rifle ever produced. Bell Precison's vision is to produce the most complete weapon system on the market that provides customers with absolute confidence in the reliability, performance, and accuracy of their products. No firearm leaves their shop before meeting their highest personal standards. Joe and his crew fully stand behind their products, services, performance, and employees. Link
My Vision - I ensure to, not only supply truly handbuilt precision hunting rifles, quality services, and education, but to also offer a one of a kind experience that is welcoming, personable, and effective. This is my guarantee.
#1
As a raging capitalist I totally back people's right to spend whatever they want on a rifle. I will say that none of my off-the-rack Remington 700s has ever let me down.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/14/2020 8:53
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#7
If I was a pro 2A legislator anywhere, I'd always be pushing an amendment to any "common sense" gun law shinola that says "Anything the law abiding public is prohibited from having is also illegal for law enforcement agencies to possess."
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/14/2020 9:23
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#8
Don't get a thumbhole stock. Get this or this...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/14/2020 10:17
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#9
If M1A is your game (It's isn't? What's wrong with you?) go here...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/14/2020 10:45
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[Breitbart] Democratic presidential hopeful former Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday on ABC’s "The View" that his son Hunter Biden had "done nothing but good things his whole life."
Co-host Joy Behar said, "People wanted to see you really get mad when people started lying about Hunter and saying things about Hunter. I don’t know that you got mad enough."
Biden said, "Well, you know I would like to be able to be back in high school and just have he and I in a room."
Behar said, "Of course, I know."
Biden continued, "But all kidding aside, here’s the deal. Look, it is hurtful, particularly when guys like Lindsey Graham, who’s a friend of mine, do these things."
Behar asked, "He’s still a friend?"
Biden said, "Look, presidents can’t ‐I plan on being president. Presidents can’t hold grudges. You got to heal. You got to heal the country, and I just don’t want to let myself get into the mood of ‐like, for example, people say, why don’t I attack his kids, they’re making millions?"
Behar said, "No, no."
Jill Biden said, "You got to be above it."
Biden continued, "That’s not how we were raised. And look, nobody has said he’s done anything wrong. This is a guy who has done nothing but good things his whole life, my son. He ran a food program WFP USA, a whole range of things. But look, it’s what it is. We knew it was going to be ugly."
And nary a mention of either Hoover's (much bigger) scam with China Inc. - after flying with Pop-Plugz on AurForce One to Beijing - or Biden's bro who, with zero construction industry experience, suddenly become one of three partners in a form awarded a $1.5 BILLION reconstruction contract in Iraq early in Biden's tenure as VP.
#9
"My son, that lovable dog-faced pony soldier, is a saint I tell you. A saint. I'm thinking about putting him up for the Nobel Peace Prize or the Sister Teresa award. He belongs up there right next Saint Obama known for ever more as "The One".
#11
It seems like Joe doesn't know where he is much of the time. Maybe going for the dementia defense. After looking at the McCabe fiasco, it seems that if you are a Dem and work for the feral govmint, you get a pass.
AMMAN (Reuters) - More than 800,000 Syrians, mostly women and children, have fled their homes during a Russian-backed Syrian military campaign to clear the opposition in northwest Syria since Dec. 1, a senior U.N. spokesperson said on Thursday.
The exodus is expected to continue, with thousands of people on the move as whole towns and communities flee to the safety of areas near the Turkish border, David Swanson told Reuters.
"Tragically, the number of people displaced ‐ the vast majority of them women and children ‐ has now surpassed 800,000," Swanson said.
Russian jets and Syrian artillery have pounded towns and villages since early December in a renewed assault backed by pro-Iranian militias and aimed at clearing the opposition.
"Residents are fleeing by the thousands in open trucks or by foot; often at night to escape detection despite the bitter cold temperatures," Swanson, the U.N. regional spokesman for Syria, told Reuters.
U.N. officials say the region is on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe. Those on the run in Idlib and adjoining Aleppo province are joining close to 400,000 people who fled earlier bouts of fighting to the safety of camps near the Turkish border.
The latest offensive has brought the military campaign closer to heavily populated northern Idlib along the border, where nearly 3 million people are trapped, according to the United Nations.
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Leaning on its SARS experience, Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd (0293.HK) has slashed flights, asked staff to take unpaid leave and is re-assessing its fleet as it battles an epidemic and a crisis of morale after pro-democracy protests.
Planes are parked unused at its home airport, flights across its network like Rome and Washington have been canceled because of low demand, and the airline is temporarily closing some of its premium lounges.
Cathay used a similar playbook during previous shocks, including the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic and the global financial crisis, both of which it rebounded from relatively quickly.
This time, though, Cathay was already dealing with an internal crisis before the virus hit.
Last year, it fired dozens of employees sympathetic to widespread anti-government protests in the city, and its two top executives resigned after criticism from China.
That means there is less goodwill among staff being asked to take three weeks of unpaid leave, six employees told Reuters on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak with media.
"No one is lining up to personally sacrifice for this company - not anymore," a Cathay pilot said. "We have all seen how quickly the company and economy recover from these things, and in hindsight they are but a blip on the timeline of Cathay’s business."
The carrier is the most-exposed airline outside mainland China to falling demand caused by the coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, which has killed more than 1,300 people and sickened more than 60,000.
[Baltimore Sun] Federal prosecutors laid out an array of new details from their investigation into former Baltimore Mayor Catherine E. Pugh in documents filed Thursday, as they argued she should receive nearly five years in prison for conspiracy and tax evasion.
The blistering, 37-page sentencing memorandum, accompanied by financial records and copies of checks, for the first time pinpointed the number of "Healthy Holly" children's books Pugh sold ‐ and re-sold. It outlined her efforts to conceal her dealings, including lying to FBI agents who came to her house to seize her cellphone.
It also raised further questions regarding the roles of city Comptroller Joan Pratt, who co-owned a business with Pugh that prosecutors say was used to launder an illegal campaign contribution and which filed a false tax return, and of a major city contractor who wrote out a check to that business in addition to buying Pugh's books.
"The chronology of events since 2011, comprising Pugh's seven-year scheme to defraud, multiple years of tax evasion, election fraud, and attempted cover-ups, including brazen lies to the public, clearly establishes the deliberateness with which she pursued financial and political gain without a second thought about how it was harming the public's trust," wrote Assistant U.S. Attorneys Martin J. Clarke and Leo J. Wise.
"It was not rash behavior," they wrote. "Rather, it was a recurring pattern of well-executed steps that built on each other, becoming more audacious and complex leading up to the mayoral election."
Pugh, 69, was elected mayor in 2016. The Democrat resigned in May after federal agents raided her City Hall office and her houses.
She reached a plea agreement in November with prosecutors and is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 27 by U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow in Baltimore.
Prosecutors told the judge that Pugh knowingly sought to defraud purchasers of her Healthy Holly books, reap financial and political benefits, and pay little or no taxes. They accused her of compounding an array of problems already facing the city and of feigning an interest in addressing childhood obesity with the books on healthy lifestyles for kids.
At one point they referred to her as a "scammer," and said the children's books were intended to woo voters and bolster her campaign coffers. Purchasers told investigators they felt the books advanced the goals of their community outreach programs.
Yet, "many of the purchasers acknowledged that they probably would not have purchased the books if Pugh had not been the author," prosecutors said.
[City Journal] Beset by high housing costs, crippling taxes, astronomical gas prices, wildfires, and rolling blackouts, Californians are heading for the exits. That’s sparking anxiety in places where these Golden State migrants are relocating. A mayoral candidate in Boise, Idaho, recently suggested building a wall to keep out Californians, who account for 60 percent of domestic migration into the growing state. The election of increasingly progressive candidates in Colorado sparked talk there of the "Californication" of the Centennial State.
Early last year, the Dallas News described the "California-ing" of North Texas, citing a study showing that 8,300 Californians move to the area yearly. Texas governor Greg Abbott launched a petition titled "Don’t California My Texas."
Much of this anxiety revolves around fears that the migrants will transform the politics and culture of the places that they’re moving to‐bringing an appetite for big, intrusive government. But a new survey suggests that, while plenty of people are looking to leave California, many are fleeing the state’s high costs and politics and may not be interested in voting for the same things in their new homes. The poll, by the Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, found that 52 percent of California residents are considering migrating. As these polls go, that’s exceptionally high, putting California in the same category as some other states with very unhappy residents. A recent poll in New Jersey, for instance, found that about 44 percent of its people are looking to depart, while 50 percent of Connecticut residents indicated a desire to leave the state in a 2014 Gallup poll, the highest figure among any state at that time.
Continued on Page 49
#2
..personally, I'd go back to the original 13 stars so people won't forget what the got and how they got it. The Left shouldn't object, they want to do away with the states and the Electoral College anyway.
#3
30 years ago, Washington State natives were worried about what the influx of Bay Area Californians to "The Silicon Rain Forest" would do to their way of life....
#4
Simple (but unconstitutional) fix - if you've moved to another state from CA, those states should pass laws barring you from voting at all for five years.
#5
I think most Golden State Residents leaving are leaving because they lean conservative and can't take it anymore.
Washington State with its liberal policies created its own woke suck-hole to draw in liberals from throughout the nation. It leaned hard left at about the same time California did.
#9
I've heard the argument that people who move out of California most likely are different and won't taint other areas. Others take the view that those escaping from California are like the Coronavirus. I dunno, I have too few data points to decide conclusively. Besides, there are good people in California, like everywhere else. It is America and people can move where they want to. Just having some fun with this.
#13
Californians selling their expensive homes coming to Colorado with way more money than the locals allowing them to buy their homes outright with lots of extras. Buying rural property with acreage and developing it way above the average home since you have lots of money changes a neighborhood. Happy with the cheaper gas prices and everything else they throw their money around with abandon. The cost of a home in Colorado is half the price practically of an average California home and even more if they move from SF. These Californians changed many rural areas in the Rockies with their money flooding these neighborhoods and their liberal ideas which changed our state to purple/blue. It devastated our last election with electing Democrat Governor Polis and Democrat Congress critters along with horrible state amendments that were passed. It started a nightmare that has been never ending. Previous to the elections our signs promoting our Republican candidates were continually knocked down and stolen they only remained up for a few hours if that and cars with any Conservative bumper stickers or Tea Party ID were and still are often keyed, mine has been keyed, I wear mine with pride, I haven't repaired it. Not to forget their liberal influence in our schools/PTSA along with changing rezoning/regulations. Liberals just saturate and own places almost taking over it's awful. Conservatives have no one in Congress to fight against the many liberal policies getting passed and it drives many of us nuts. You can go testify but it's never taken seriously, we're looked upon as the token Conservative that they have to put up with.
Not to forget those moving here for the Marijuana being legalized, whether you use it or not you have to admit it does seem to attract more liberals than Conservatives, just sayin'.
My daughter lives in The 'Republic of Boulder' as she went to CU Boulder and stayed. She has been surrounded by lefties and I'm sad to say has taken on many of their views. She had Ward Churchill along with many other Liberal professors, Boulder is another world.
A side note, my son is in the military and has strong Conservative views thank God, he helps me keep my sanity. How they can be so different is beyond me. Outside influence is definitely a big factor and our Universities suck at that.
I worry for Senator Cory Gardner, lots of out of state money has been flowing into Colorado and we're seeing a real hard anti-Gardner push with clever tactics that are twisting the truth against him in many frequent commercials.
Trump is coming to Colorado Springs -YAY- for a rally and look out, me and a few of my friends are going on a road trip to support him and Gardner. I hope Trumps rally helps him.
Getting off my soapbox now sorry for the rant but this is a big deal to me. If we lose Gardner we've really lost
Posted by: Jan ||
02/14/2020 14:53
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#14
Californians ruined my beloved Austin. Now it's a hipster hellhole.
Posted by: Herb McCoy ||
02/14/2020 16:09
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#15
Austin has always had two things working against it - the State Capitol, with all its related swampiness, and the University.
It is a nice place to visit - I have two grandchildren there.
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/14/2020 16:26
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#16
Jan, #13, that is exactly how I felt back in the 1970s when New Yorkers were flocking to California. Back then a lot of people were migrating to California; Texans, New Jerseys and of course lots of Mexicans. California is not the state it was in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Then in the 1990s Bill Clinton sat back and let millions of Mexicans enter the country and most of them came to California. In true Democrat fashion, Clinton didn't care if it was legal or not.
Some of us remember when it was a red state that gave you Presidents Nixon and Reagan. Some of us...
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/14/2020 18:23
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#17
Yep - native San Diegan from birth. Look for Darrell Issa to replace our ethically-challenged (what a waste) Duncan D. Hunter in the 50th.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/14/2020 19:06
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#18
Abu yes I was born and raised in SF in the 50's until 10 y/o. I go back to visit family and friends occasionally and I don't recognize the place. It's a dangerous and scary place these days. My dad moved our family to Oregon due to the influx of migrants and the city not being as safe as it once was, it was changing even back then.
I moved as a young adult to Colorado for the skiing in the 70's and working as a nurse I witnessed 1st hand the anchor baby program, then the Vietnam refugees in the 70-80's were and are good people and more recently the Somalian refugees all relocated in Colorado.
Liberals moving into my state is a scary thing makes me feel like it'll never go red again.
Posted by: Jan ||
02/14/2020 20:48
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[Red State] - When you get too egomaniacal socialists working under the same banner, the turf wars were always coming. Apparently, they are here between Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
A new piece in Vanity Fair details the intra-party fighting, which includes some pretty hilarious reports from the campaign trail. For example, did you know that AOC did a campaign appearance for Bernie Sanders while he was in Washington for the impeachment trial and didn’t even mention his name?
...The Bernie camp is also annoyed by AOC’s immigration rhetoric. Yes, apparently AOC is even too radical for an open borders socialist when it comes to immigration. America's answer to Cannibal Ellochka vs. Shopping Mall's Trotsky
#7
Comrade Raj, I gladly consent to the redistribution of SOTD to Comrade Mercutio. (Cue rousing chorus of the Intnernationale, which will feature in Commissar Bernie's next TV spot.)
Posted by: Matt ||
02/14/2020 9:11
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#8
Intnernationale
In Commissar Bernie's Amerika, correct spelling will be recognized for the bourgeois affectation that it is.
Posted by: Matt ||
02/14/2020 9:22
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#9
"Fighting Between Bernie Sanders and AOC Begins"
I'll double my popcorn order. :-D
Posted by: Barbara ||
02/14/2020 10:56
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#10
Oh, a Stalin vs Trotsky fight? Pass thepopcornAXE.
#13
Surreal. Esp because they're such preposterous shitheads.
I mean, Trotsky led an army that defeated the Tsar's generals in a civil war. Stalin single-handedly took over an entire movement and gained complete dominance over the largest landmass on the planet.
And we're using them as stand-ins for a retarded child bartender from Queens and a pathetic clownish Lenin impersonator from Brooklyn who've never achieved a single thing in their pathetic absurd little lives?
Really? REALLY??
Ask not for whom The Shitshow rolls. It rolls for thee.
#3
Barr saw the Trump tweet THEN looked into the Stone sentencing recommendations of his DOJ attorneys and realized their recommendation was too severe and ordered adjustments. Keep tweeting, Trump.
#8
Original post fixed. I didn’t have to make any changes, g(r)omgoru — sometimes Fred’s code does that to images. Its spirit animal is a puppy, I think, needing the occasional scratch behind the ears.
It’s a tempest in a teapot, giving NPR, et al another red flag to charge instead of paying attention to what the hands are doing. From Fox News:
The White House says President Trump isn't "bothered" or deterred after Attorney General Bill Barr told ABC News on Thursday that the president's tweets "make it impossible for me to do my job," in an unusual swipe at the president -- although Barr emphasized that Trump "has never asked me to do anything in a criminal case."
Barr said he was "of course" ready for blowback from Trump for his comments, although he said he was focused only on doing his job.
In response, White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said Trump "wasn’t bothered" by Barr's remarks, even as she defended the president's social media use.
“The president wasn’t bothered by the comments at all and he has the right, just like any American citizen, to publicly offer his opinions," Grisham said. "President Trump uses social media very effectively to fight for the American people against injustices in our country, including the fake news. The President has full faith and confidence in Attorney General Barr to do his job and uphold the law."
Barr and Trump are united in their belief that Trump and his allies have been unfairly targeted, Fox News is told.
[CNBC] The U.S. does “not have high confidence in the information coming out of China” regarding the count of coronavirus cases, a senior administration official told CNBC.
The official also noted that China “continues to rebuff American offers of assistance.”
There are more than 60,000 confirmed cases of virus, with the vast majority occurring in China, and over 1,300 people have died. After several days of reporting a slowing number of new cases, Chinese officials said on Thursday there was more than 15,000 additional cases. The majority of those came from a change in how the numbers were reported, with the “clinically diagnosed” cases now counting as “confirmed.”
There has been skepticism among researchers that the official numbers reflect how contagious the virus truly is. An article published last month in the medical journal Lancet estimated that there were already more than 75,000 cases in China as of Jan. 25.
Reuters reported that National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow also said on Thursday that there does not appear to be good transparency by China regarding the outbreak.
The World Health Organization sent an advance team to the country on Sunday.
#1
Reuters reported that National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow also said on Thursday that there does not appear to be good transparency by China regarding the outbreak.
...And there won't be, either. We're just being polite about it. Even when (if?) they get it under control, the damage has been done - the country's image has taken a serious hit and the CCP's image of infallibility has been shattered. I hope President Xi has his bolthole in Switzerland ready - he may need it.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
02/14/2020 6:17
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#2
He can always retire back to Pooh Corner, with Piglet, Allahpundit Eeyore, and Tigger
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/14/2020 6:41
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#3
We can, however, have at least medium confidence in the WHO compilation of non Chinese infections.
This number was about 600 as of this morning.
Some countries other than China. e.g., North Korea (which claims no infections), probably have incorrect numbers but others, e.g., Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, have numbers that are probably reliable.
Posted by: lord garth ||
02/14/2020 9:35
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#5
Tons of people are confined to their apartment complexes, one person from each apartment is allowed out once every two days to buy food. They get their temperature checked going in and out. Most businesses are closed except for food stores.
China is taking a bath on this one. They're going to lose 1/12 their economy for the year by being closed for a whole month.
Posted by: Herb McCoy ||
02/14/2020 16:16
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[Aljazeera] A rocket attack has slammed into an Iraqi base in the remote province of Kirkuk where US troops are stationed, security sources said.
There were no immediate reports of casualties, AFP news agency citing Iraqi and US security sources reported on Thursday.
Three separate Iraqi security sources told AFP that the Katyusha rocket hit the K1 base at around 8:45pm local time (1745 GMT) and US military aircraft immediately began flying low over the area.
It was the first attack on the K1 base since December 27, when a volley of about 30 rockets killed a US contractor there, which Washington blamed on Kataib Hezbollah, an Iraqi military faction close to Iran.
The US then carried out retaliatory attacks that killed 25 Kataib Hezbollah fighters.
Days later, another strike killed the head of Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force, General Qassem Soleimani and Kataib Hezbollah cofounder, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.
#2
It is my understanding is that Iraq will not permit the US to bring these systems into country. If that is correct, we should pull everyone out immediately.
US elites are just playing the game of thrones and having a fantastic time doing it. That they are spending our blood and treasure - come on, you think they give a shit about us deplorables?
Posted by: Herb McCoy ||
02/14/2020 17:51
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[Babylon Bee] HAMPTON, NH‐Joe Biden fired back at a supporter criticizing his performance in the Iowa caucuses. She questioned why she should support him when he didn't even finish in the top three in Iowa.
Biden's response was baffling: "I don't want to talk to you no more, you empty-headed, animal food trough-wiper."
The supporter was confused: "I'm sorry, what?"
"I fart in your general direction," he continued. "Your mother was a hamster, and your father smelt of elderberries!"
"Are... are you just quoting Monty Python?" she asked, clearly baffled.
"You dirt-eating piece of slime! You scum-sucking pig! You son of a motherless goat!"
"That's not even the same franchise!" she shouted back.
Biden wasn't fazed, though, telling her to "go away or I will taunt you a second time." His poll numbers have gone up since the exchange as he's now quoting movies made within the last fifty years.
#3
Get out a dollar bill. Grasp firmly on the narrow ends. "What was the last sound Stevie Ray Vaughn (Kobe, John Heinz, whoever) heard?" Pop the bill repeatedly.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/14/2020 10:13
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[Politico] The Trump administration plans to sap money intended to build fighter jets, ships, vehicles and National Guard equipment in order to fund barriers on the U.S.-Mexico border, the Pentagon told Congress on Thursday, a move that has agitated Democrats and even drawn condemnation from a top House Republican.
The surprise reprogramming of another $3.8 billion, transmitted to Congress and provided to POLITICO, means the Pentagon will have forked over nearly $10 billion since last year to help pay for President Donald Trump's border wall.
But this shift in funding marks a new phase for the administration, which until now had used money set for military construction and counterdrug operations, not combat equipment. The fiscal 2020 money will be moved into drug interdiction accounts that the Pentagon tapped last year to fund border barrier projects.
A chorus of Democrats swiftly condemned the money grab, as did the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Mac Thornberry of Texas.
#2
I don't know g(r)om. Comparatively speaking, the 'wall' has a minimal maintenance and contractor tail, few cost overruns. Modifications and upgrades could be years if not decades off.
#5
Yes. Border security is a legitimate defense function and therefor a legitimate DoD expense. If the money needs topped up to buy planes and ships, cut DHS, FBI budgets accordingly.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/14/2020 8:08
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#6
What use is a defense department if they never defend our own country?
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
02/14/2020 8:10
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#7
if they never defend our own country
Too busy defending / lobbying for Ukraine and Turkey.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/14/2020 9:46
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#8
#6 What use is a defense department if they never defend our own country? Posted by: Rob Crawford
Well put.
I would also like to suggest that the DoD reduce its inventory of General Officers in order to pay for the maintenance of said wall.
#9
The border will return many times its price in savings on government spending on illegals.
fairus.org: In 2017, the total cost of illegal immigration for the United States – at the federal, state, and local levels – was approximately $116 billion.
Posted by: Theamble Spawn of the Brontosaurs5870 ||
02/14/2020 12:17
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#10
Start:
Everyone who ever worked for / with
McBastard - out
McRavin - out
Skelly - out
Hayden - out
And so on
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/14/2020 12:43
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#11
Yesterday on Rantburg: the USAF wants a bigger share of the DoD Budget or they will cut A-10s and B-1s...
Today the DoD wants a bigger share of the Federal Budget or they will cut...
Maybe, just maybe it is past time to start trimming the roster of Flag Officers in the Dod, and their staffs, to make the budget goals. Or at least get the attention of the remaining bureaucrats in the Pentagon by laying off a sizable number.
[Ynet] A Syrian man held on suspicion of plotting an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Leb was referred to trial on Thursday along with 20 other people, the Lebanese state news agency NNA said.
According to the report, a Lebanese military judge had issued an indictment against the man on charges of belonging to 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.... bully boy group and planning the operation on its behalf.
It said the man was suspected of having prepared explosives and of seeking to buy a drone for the attack. The agency gave no further details and did not spell out the allegations against the 20 others.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
02/14/2020
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[20 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
[Ynet] Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth", has passed a message to Israel that it is unilaterally halting its rocket and balloon kabooms, a defense source says.
The source expressed skepticism, however, saying that the next few days would be a true test of the terror group's commitment to restoring stability in the Gazoo ...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamaswith about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... area.
[Ynet] Israel will Friday extend the area permitted for fishing off the Gazoo coast, despite the ongoing incendiary and explosive balloon attacks from the Strip. The area permitted for fishing will expand from 10 to 15 nautical miles.
Israel will also reinstate 500 trade permits for Gaza residents.
[Ynet] Clusters of suspected balloon bombs have been found near two schools in Sderot. Sappers were called to the scenes, and there were no reports of injuries or damage.
[Jpost] About 20 button men dressed in military fatigues and police uniforms on Thursday killed three coppers and maimed two others during an attack to free one of the most big shots of the powerful MS-13 gang, police said.
Alexander Mendoza, a notorious MS-13 figure also known as "El Porky," escaped during the attack in the city of El Progreso, 175 kilometres (108 miles) north of the capital, Tegucigalpa. He was on way to a trial hearing.
The notorious MS-13 crime group was founded by Salvadorans in Los Angeles in the 1980s and spread to El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala as the United States deported waves of migrants colonists.
The most important MS-13 leader on the northern city of San Pedro Sula, Mendoza had been captured in 2015 and sentenced to 20 years in jail on charges of illicit association and money laundering.
"We are going to recapture this man and arrest those who helped him escape," said Deputy Minister of Security Luis Suazo.
Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández offered a reward of 2 million lempiras ($80,000) for information that leads to Mendoza's recapture.
Local television showed images of about 20 uniformed men and with their faces covered shooting and then climbing into several vehicles to escape with Mendoza.
MS-13, along with its rival Mara 18, are among the most powerful gangs operating in Central America, with most of their activities dedicated to extortion, liquidations and drug trafficking.
[PJ] A New Hampshire man was arrested Thursday afternoon "after allegedly assaulting a 15-year-old Trump supporter and two adults at a polling site during the state’s first-in-the-nation primary earlier this week," Fox News exclusively reports. The teen's mother told Fox News that the assault left her son "traumatized."
Patrick Bradley, 34, of Windham, N.H., was charged with simple assault and disorderly conduct.
Bradley reportedly got in the face of the teenage boy who was wearing a red MAGA hat and volunteering at the local high school, which was a polling place for the New Hampshire primary.
The boy’s mother described the incident involving her son in an interview with Fox News. "My son stayed home from school on Tuesday for a doctor's appointment and we drove by the high school to go vote. When we got there, we saw Donald Trump Jr. and Kimberly Guilfoyle, and my son was over the moon," she said. "My son is the most patriotic kid you’d ever meet in your life."
Update from Twitchy at 9:00 a.m.ET: Donald Trump, Jr tracked him downand called him, reporter Andy Ngo discovered the attacker is Antifa.
#1
Y'know, if I hadn't noticed that tiny sliver of flesh betwixt beard and baseball shirt I'd have thought his blackbeard hairdo continued downward, in Pippi Longstocking pigtails...
#4
"Adult" assaulted a "child" who did nothing. An example should be made out of this guy and he should be given the worst case sentences for whatever crimes he's charged with and they should add child endangerment to the list.
LONDON (Reuters) - Activist group Extinction Rebellion plans to send mosquito-like swarms of protesters to disrupt financial, accountancy and media firms in London this year to mobilise broader popular support for transformative action against climate change.
The goal is to spark a worldwide conversation over how to shift to a low-carbon society in time to avert the most catastrophic impacts, said Gail Bradbrook, a co-founder of the movement, who holds a PhD in molecular biophysics.
"We’ll be like sets of mosquitoes coming into London ‐ the aim is to disrupt the system, not the public," Bradbrook told Reuters ahead of the publication of an Extinction Rebellion strategy document on Wednesday. "In other news, DDT has been unbanned"
Extinction Rebellion, in common with a "new economics" movement of economists, academics and scientists, argues that a relentless focus on ever-faster economic growth is pushing the world’s ecosystems to breaking point.
"The economic system is acting like a cancer on humanity," Bradbrook said. "The regulatory system, the accountants, the legal firms support the metastasizing of this cancer."
#2
It's cute how they think a couple minor tweaks makes their swastika unrecognizable.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
02/14/2020 8:09
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#3
All those big firms have security departments. They should be war-gaming how to short-circuit any disruptions.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/14/2020 8:09
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#4
Sprinkler/irrigation systems make one hell of an area denial during the dead of winter. Lots of additives that can make the water slimy which are harmless to human skin and the environment. Routine preventive maintenance for freezing weather. Put up caution signs and do the due diligence for public walkways. Any attempts to thwart the sprinklers are now vandalism. That took 30 seconds of war gaming. I have zero experience in security. Surely professional security companies can come up with better.
#9
by the time they do that most sensible people will be at home isolating themselves as much as possible from social contact because coronavirus transmission will be in full swing
they want to go out and demonstrate? enjoy your coronavirus...
[Breitbart] President Trump’s former chief of staff Marine Gen. (Ret.) John Kelly praised former National Security Council staffer Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who testified against the president during the impeachment inquiry, during a speech at Drew University in New Jersey on Wednesday, according to a report.
Kelly said, according to the Atlantic, that Vindman is blameless and simply following the training he received as a soldier when he reported concerns he had with the president’s July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the NSC’s general counsel.
"He did exactly what we teach them to do from cradle to grave," Kelly told the audience at the Mayo Performing Arts Center, according to the publication. "He went and told his boss what he just heard."
Kelly said that Vindman was rightly disturbed by the call and said Vindman properly notified his superiors, despite him not going to his direct superiors but instead going to the NSC general counsel and likely sharing his concerns with the "whistleblower," whose second-hand complaint about the call was used to launch the House Democrats’ impeachment effort.
Vindman was asked during the impeachment inquiry who in the intelligence community he spoke to about the call and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) refused to let him answer out of concern for revealing the whistleblower’s identity.
Kelly asserted, according to the Atlantic, that Trump did condition military aid on Zelensky’s willingness to dig up dirt on presidential candidate Joe Biden. Kelly left the White House in January 2019, months before the July 25, 2019, phone call.
He also reportedly called conditioning military aid to Ukraine on investigating Biden a "momentous change in U.S. policy toward Ukraine," which Vindman was right to flag since other federal agencies needed to know about the shift.
#7
He became an agent for enemies attempting to remove the legitimately elected government of the USA over something that according to his own testimony he did not hear (that is quid-pro-quo).
He should have been fired for being an idiot at the very least. Treated as a traitor for joining an administrative coup.
#10
properly notified his superiors, despite him not going to his direct superiors but instead going to the NSC general counsel and likely sharing his concerns with the "whistleblower,"
'Properly' and 'despite' seem like a contradiction, even IF there had been an illegal order.
Butthurt, huh? Prexident Butt-gig could help him "work that out..."
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/14/2020 10:48
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#12
Would be great to see Trump meet Putin immediately after Inauguration in 2021 and hand over the entire DOD / DoS Ukraine lobby en mass.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/14/2020 14:45
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#13
What #7 rjschwarz said.
Vindman's ego got in the middle of things. He disagreed with Trump's policy and decided to try to make a BFD out of it. If he doesn't get cashiered out of the military, he ought to be reassigned to the coldest part of Alaska monitoring the pipeline by himself. Vindman is basically a pogue getting in the way of POTUS' legit dealings with another head of state.
[Breitbart] Wealthy travelers and major corporate clients are rejecting commercial airline travel and looking to private jets as a way to isolate themselves from the deadly coronavirus outbreak.
The uptick in interest comes as more airlines cut scheduled flights to and from mainland China and Hong Kong in the wake of the spread of the disease that originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
UK-based consultancy Ascend by Cirium said the number of flights scheduled to operate to, from and within China had dropped by 34 percent from Jan. 23 through Feb. 11, Reuters reports.
At the same time the number of deaths and new cases spiked dramatically on Thursday after authorities changed the way they count infections in a move that will likely fuel speculation that the severity of the outbreak has been under-reported.
The hard-hit central province of Hubei reported 242 deaths in just one day and 14,840 new patients ‐ by far its biggest one-day tally since the crisis erupted last month. The jump raised the death toll to 1,355 and the total number of nationwide infections to nearly 60,000.
China has now placed some 56 million in virtual quarantine in Hubei and its capital, Wuhan, since late last month and restricted movements of millions more in cities far from the epicentre in an unprecedented effort to contain the virus.
As those restrictions bite, more elite fliers are looking to private jets as a way to exit to China or conduct their activities across the globe, executives say.
For others, flying privately has always been a way of life.
[Jpost] Nigeria's military burned down villages and forcibly displaced hundreds of people in its fight against Islamist snuffies in the country's northeast, rights group Amnesia Amnesty International alleged on Friday.
Nigeria's military, which has frequently been accused of human rights When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much... abuses in its decade-long fight against Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... and more recently 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.... 's West African branch, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Previous allegations have sparked investigations by the International Criminal Court in the Hague and hampered Nigeria's ability to purchase arms, a source of frustration for its military's leaders. However, man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them... convictions of soldiers have been rare and the military has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.
In the latest allegations, Amnesty said Nigerian soldiers razed three villages after forcing hundreds of men and women to leave their homes in the northeastern state of Borno in January.
The human rights group said it interviewed 12 victims and reviewed satellite images that showed several large fires in the area and almost every structure razed.
Residents described soldiers going house to house and rounding people up, then making them walk to a main road and board trucks, it said.
"We saw our houses go into flames," a woman of around 70 told Amnesty. "We all started crying."
The trucks took more than 400 people to a camp for people displaced by the conflict in Maiduguri, the main city in the region.
"These brazen acts of razing entire villages, deliberately destroying civilian homes and forcibly displacing their inhabitants with no imperative military grounds, should be investigated as possible war crimes," said Osai Ojigho, director for Amnesia Amnesty International Nigeria, in Friday's statement detailing the group's investigation.
Soldiers also detained six men, beating some of them, and held them for almost a month before releasing them without charge on Jan. 30, Amnesty said.
It cited Nigerian Army statements from the time that said six Boko Haram suspects had been captured and hundreds of captives freed from the krazed killers.
"They say they saved us from Boko Haram, but it's a lie," said one man aged roughly 65, according to Amnesty. "Boko Haram isn't coming to our village."
Amnesty's report was published as the military struggles to contain the insurgencies, particularly Islamic State. Last July, troops began to withdraw to larger garrisons, dubbed "super camps," from smaller bases that were frequently overrun with heavy loss of lives.
That has left the military on the defensive and the snuffies able to roam across large swathes of territory and carry out attacks, often on civilians, with few repercussion
[Rudaw] Members of Erbil's 80th Command Forces graduated from a three-month advanced weapons training course in Soran, Erbil province in a ceremony on Wednesday.
Arazoo Omed was one of 21 women who graduated from the course, for which training was provided by Kurdish and French personnel.
"We were trained in [the use of] explosives, RPJs, Kalashnikovs, machine guns and BKC rifles. I would like to see every woman undergo such training, because it is very important," Omed said.
Course trainers, Coalition personnel and French Consul General Olivier Decottignies were all in graduation ceremony attendance.
The 80th Command Forces, under Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) control, consists of at least 58,000 Peshmerga troops.
This is the first time women have been made part of the 80 Command. The 21 women graduates made up a tiny fraction of the 1,281-strong cohort.
[The Federalist] Two weeks ago, in addition to filing a supplemental motion to withdraw the guilty plea Michael Flynn had entered on December 1, 2017, Flynn attorney Sidney Powell filed a second motion seeking dismissal of the charge against President Trump’s short-tenured national security advisor, based on egregious government misconduct and in the interest of justice. Yesterday, the government responded to Flynn’s motion to dismiss based on prosecutorial misconduct, but failed to address two of the retired general’s strongest arguments.
In the Motion to Dismiss for Egregious Government Misconduct and in the Interest of Justice, Powell highlighted the evidence of misconduct revealed in the then just-released inspector general’s report on FISA abuse. While Powell hit many parts of the report, two aspects of it proved especially relevant to Flynn’s claims of government misconduct.
First, as Powell stressed, the IG report detailed Supervisory Special Agent 1’s (SSA 1’s) supervisory role in filing the four FISA applications for federal surveillance of Trump campaign associate Carter Page. Those applications, the IG report concluded, included more than 20 significant misrepresentations and omissions.
[Red State] Democrats are accusing President Donald Trump of politicizing the sentencing of Roger Stone because he tweeted congratulating Attorney General William Barr for "taking charge of the case." Some Democrats, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), called for Attorney General Bill Barr to resign because the DOJ pulled back the recommendation by prosecutors for a 7-9 year sentence saying it was excessive. Four prosecutors quit in response to that action.
According to a senior DOJ official, the prosecutors lead DOJ officials to believe they were going to ask for a more moderate sentence than in fact they did and then were stunned when the prosecutors asked for a 7-9 year sentence for a non-violent first offense. The reason was because of a difference of opinion about the sentencing enhancement for an alleged "threat" to a witness. The witness himself said it wasn’t a real threat, that they kidded with each other all the time, he didn’t feel threatened and he told the judge he didn’t want Stone to serve jail time. But the prosecutors took the harshest view possible of that "threat," bumping what otherwise might have been a 2-3 year sentence to 7-9 years.
It’s just fundamentally silly to suggest that the DOJ doesn’t have the right to make their own decisions about recommendations and that the prosecutors’ opinion outweighs that of their superiors.
In his inimitable style former House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy just sliced and diced those attacks during an interview on Fox.
[Diana West] 'Globalist vs Nationalists' - The Bill Walton show.
The following from Amazon, on the book:
The first investigation into why a ring of senior Washington officials went rogue to derail the election and the presidency of Donald Trump. There was nothing normal about the 2016 presidential election, not when senior U.S. officials were turning the surveillance powers of the federal government—designed to stop terrorist attacks—against the Republican presidential team. These were the ruthless tactics of a Soviet-style police state, not a democratic republic. The Red Thread asks the simple question: Why? What is it that motivated these anti-Trump conspirators from inside and around the Obama administration and Clinton networks to depart so drastically from “politics as usual” to participate in a seditious effort to overturn an election? Finding clues in an array of sources, Diana West uses her trademark investigative skills, honed in her dazzling work, American Betrayal, to construct a fascinating series of ideological profiles of well-known but little understood anti-Trump actors, from James Comey to Christopher Steele to Nellie Ohr, and the rest of the Fusion GPS team; from John Brennan to the numerous Clintonistas still patrolling the Washington Swamp after all these years, and more. Once, we knew these officials by august titles and reputation; after The Red Thread, readers will recognize their multi-generational and inter-connecting communist and socialist pedigrees, and see them for what they really are: foot-soldiers of the Left, deployed to take down America’s first “America First” and most anti-Communist president. If we just give it a pull, the “red thread” is very long and very deep.
Lebanon’s government forms a committee to study how to deal with looming sovereign debt maturities, including a $1.2 billion Eurobond maturing in March, according to local media. https://t.co/sSULFKv0iq
[Rudaw] Three people were killed and seven others maimed after 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.... (ISIS) holy warriors attacked a village in southwestern Khanaqin, Diyala province on Wednesday night.
The deaths include a Peshmerga soldier, an Iraqi army soldier, and one civilian, according to a Kurdish military official.
"A group of ISIS holy warriors attacked the vehicle of a Peshmerga soldier, who was a guard of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) office in Khanaqin outside his house in the village of Bahari Taze, killing him" Lieutenant Colonel Ahmed Mustafa of the Peshmerga forces intelligence told Rudaw.
"After the villagers heard the gunshots and screams, they rushed to the scene. The holy warriors upon their retreat, fired on them, killing a villager and wounding four others," Mustafa added, citing local contacts.
Iraqi armed forces based in observation posts near the village rushed to the scene after hearing gunshots, the Peshmerga intelligence official added.
"While on their way to the village, an Iraqi army Humvee vehicle triggered a landmine, killing an officer and three soldiers," Mustafa said.
The city of Khanaqin and its surrounding areas to the south have been under full Iraqi army control since October 2017. Like other disputed territories, Diyala province has become a hotbed for the forces of Evil group's hit-and-run activities.
In recent months, ISIS has launched a series of attacks against the Peshmerga, Iraqi Army, and Shiite Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) in the province.
"We are not allowed [by the Iraqi army] to go to the aid of villages and locations that are under frequent ISIS threats," Mustafa said of disputed areas the Iraqi government controls in Diyala.
The increased frequency of ISIS attacks has forced many villagers in Khanaqin to flee from their homes.
In November and December of last year, nearly 10 Peshmerga soldiers were killed in various ISIS attacks in Khanaqin.
According to intelligence obtained by the Peshmerga, ISIS has deployed 30 well-trained jihadists, commanded by a "foreign emir" to the Khanaqin, Jalawla and Qaratapa regions of Diyala.
James F. Jeffrey, US Special Envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS said in a briefing in January, "the fight against ISIS, of course, had a signal success back in March with the defeat of the caliphate along the Euphrates in Syria, but we are seeing ISIS come back as an insurgency, as a terrorist operation, with some 14- to 18,000 holy warriors between Syria and Iraq and ISIS considers both countries as ‐ as they have always done, as a single front."
At a Manhattan, NYC fundraiser @JoeBiden, predicts he'll win South Carolina and says of @TheDemocrats presidential field: "I'm the only one who has ever gotten anything big done. I don't think any of them have what it takes."
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/14/2020 9:52
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#11
Sanders keeps climbing. Problem with him is as his likelihood of actually becoming President increases (even a little) Wall Street will factor that into the business models, which will weaken the economy (even a little), which will increase the likelihood of Sanders becoming President. Not sure if the mathematical limit will be a Trump win or a Sanders win, but it will be a lot tougher for Trump than it looks right now.
Seriously, the girls - the real girls - have a strong case. They have suffered or are going to suffer grievous economic harm as a result of this grotesque Shitshow: they will likely miss out on athletic scholarships that may be worth as much as $200,000 each because these two f---ing scam artists are grabbing the #1 and #2 positions.
Typically, in track and field, Division 1 schools ie the ones with the most $$$ to give out, reserve scholarships for runners, jumpers etc who place #1 or #2 in their conference (or state, if it's small-- like Connecticut, where these girls are from).
So the two disgusting little twerps in mascara who've stolen these girls' rightful prizes are also depriving them of hundreds of thousands of $$$.
Kirkuk’s K1 military base, which hosts US forces, came under rocket attack on Thursday night, security sources confirmed to Rudaw. No casualties have been reported.
An official for the US-led coalition to defeat the Islamic State group (ISIS) told Rudaw English a single rocket hit in the K1 base.
Iraq’s Security Media Cell confirmed the incident in a tweet.
“A rocket fell in the K1 base in Kirkuk province without causing any damage worth mentioning,” the cell said.
Security forces searched the area and discovered a launch pad containing 11 unfired rockets, the cell added.
Citing three Iraqi security sources, AFP reported the attack occurred at 8:45 PM local time.
Approximately 5,200 US troops are stationed across several Iraqi military bases as part of the global anti-ISIS coalition to train and support local forces. These bases, however, have repeatedly come under rocket attack in recent months. Iran-backed militias affiliated with the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), also known as Hashd al-Shaabi, are believed to be responsible.
A similar attack on December 27 targeting the K1 base killed a US civilian contractor and injured other servicemen, escalating tensions between the US and Iran.
The death of a US citizen was a redline for the Americans, who on December 29 conducted retaliatory airstrikes against Kataib Hezbollah, a Shiite militia largely thought responsible for the K1 attack, killing 25 fighters.
Kataib Hezbollah supports then stormed the US embassy compound in Baghdad.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A poster in 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... showing slain military commander Qassem Soleimani in heaven with three male angels became the subject of ridicule among Iranians on social media.
The poster, put up by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), shows Soleimani reading in heaven with three men with wings dressed in white standing next to him. A rainbow is also seen in the background.
Iranians responded to the poster with sarcastic posts on social media.
"Was there not supposed to be female virgins in heaven? Why have you given Soleimani young men instead?" tweeted one user sarcastically. "Cuz that's the way he rolled IYKWIMAITYD"
"Did you know Soleimani was a defender of LGBTQ rights? In this picture you can see him in a gay pride parade," satirical twitter account "Ayatollah Tanasoli" tweeted, referring to the rainbow behind Soleimani and his three male angels.
Soleimani, who headed Iran’s elite Quds Force ‐ the overseas arm of the IRGC ‐ was killed in a US Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... in Baghdad on January 3.
#3
It's rayciss to expet (not a typo) these sorts of jurors to be impartial.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/14/2020 8:50
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#4
Stone's lawyers were incompetent to let anybody who is President of a School Board on a trial against a Republican defendant. I think statistically the odds of a School Bureaucrat being hard left is 90% or higher.
#6
Run away jury. Jury-rigged. It just keeps turning more and more to $hit. Jeebus, why don't the judges toss out all these Mueller-related made up process crimes. All this should have been stopped from the gitgo. Gitmo for all those involved in the gitgo.
Heavy fighting In a direct violation of the UN Security Council decree and Berlin conference The #GNA militias opened fire and attacked #LNA positions in #Tripoli AlHadba. Fighting is still ongoing The world is a littlebit better so many Syrian #terrorists have died@UNSMILibyapic.twitter.com/0mnxNDR52f
[MAIL] An extinct branch of human ancestry has been discovered lurking inside the DNA of modern-day West Africans which evolved around 500,000 years ago.
Traces of this so-called 'ghost population' were located in modern-day people and did not match the genetic fingerprint of Homo sapiens, Denisovans or Neanderthals.
Exactly what species the hominids belonged to is unknown, but humans mated with them around 50,000 years ago, researchers discovered. Maxine Waters? Ewwww
No physical evidence — DNA from ancient bones, for example — was found, but a computer model indicates this mysterious species must exist.
Scientists at the University of California in Los Angeles say the unidentified species accounts for up to 19 per cent of the genetic ancestry of four populations in three countries: two from Nigeria, one from Sierra Leone and one from the Gambia.
#10
"A male of any of the species will stick his main staff in anything including a mud hole. " Thank God sheep aren't cross fertile , and can't cook . "
The Saudi-led coalition fighting Huthi rebels will put on trial military personnel suspected of being behind deadly air strikes on civilians in #Yemenhttps://t.co/vOJwp8RWB7
Significant: #Sudan Gov. Agrees to Pay $30 Million for Families of sailors in USS Cole bombing.
Comes 2 days after agreeing to hand Omar Bashir to ICC. Both steps help case of removing Khartoum from State Sponsor of terror: https://t.co/IkwrwXxO5D
[DAWN] Families of students martyred during the Army Public School (APS) massacre on Thursday approached Chief Justice of Pakistain Gulzar Ahmed over the reported escape of former Tehrik-e-Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... Pakistain (TTP) front manEhsanullah Ehsan ...formerly the front man for the Pak Taliban, then the lips and tongue of the Jamaatul Ahrar splinter group in Mohmand Agency... In their application, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, the families of 15 students said: "We the families of Shuhada-e-APS are under severe shock and completely traumatised after hearing of the said news of release/fleeing of the known terrorist and spokesperson of TTP from the custody of the army along with his family after spending three years with them. The cruel terrorist has already confessed [to] the gruesome attack on [APS], killing 147 students and staff and many more terrorist incidents in the country."
In the application, the parents questioned how the former holy warrior was able to leave the country. "How could he flee from custody or whether he is released with some conditions," the application read, adding that "what kind of agreement was made with [Ehsan] to keep him alive for three years despite his confessional statement for being involved in many killings of students and staff of APS."
The application urged the authorities concerned to explain "why the state failed in bringing [Ehsan] to justice".
Posted by: Fred ||
02/14/2020
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#1
It's not surprising. I was in the 'Stain recently. Everything is for sale right now. More so than was six years ago, when I last visited. You could buy a mullah to deliver a generic fatwa then. Now, you can buy a bloody suicide bomber.
It's cheaper too. An AK 47 for $70, an IED for a little more than twice that. And it's like a garage sale of bureaucrats and cops. Judges are somehow the only upstanding citizens right now. Maybe they're being watched closely. Imran cannot control anything right now; people are really wondering how it's running at all. The Baloch rebels and others are tearing them new ones, and they're actually begging Turkey to send some guys over. Our guess is, the ISIS will try to come in through that route.
I predict, in the coming decade the disintegration of the 'Stain is imminent.
#3
I can't presume so much. Beyond the creation of 3-4 separate states and intense muslim calvinball I can't say. But their military-theocracy combine was the only thing keeping things together. It's failing now, thanks to foreign pressure and the need to act mature for their several sugar daddies. We're doing our best too.
#6
Totally separate - before I forget, and should I depart this video of tears before my fingertips can reach my keyboard, here's a link to something I think you'll enjoy and derive much benefit from - an amazing Dante expert at Columbia who delivers the best explication I've ever seen of the Divine Comedy. (I wanted to link to it a couple of months ago when it was a propos if things you said at the time, but I missed my chance and the window closed).
[ToloNews] US Defense Secretary Mark Esper at a presser on Thursday, the second and final day of the NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the cut of the American pants... defense ministers meeting in Brussels, announced that the Trump administration and the Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... had negotiated a seven-day reduction in violence proposal.
"The United States and the Taliban have negotiated a proposal for a seven-day reduction in violence. I am here today consulting with allies about this proposal and we had a series productive bilateral and collective meetings about the path forward," said Esper.
"Progress has been made on this front and we will have more to report on that soon," said Esper.
"The only solution in Afghanistan is a political agreement; progress has been made on this front and we’ll have more to report on that soon, I hope," Esper said.
Meanwhile, ...back at the fist fight, Jake ducked another roundhouse, then parried with his left, then with his right, finally with his chin... top Pentagon officials have told CNN that The United States is seeking to seal a peace deal with the Taliban as soon as this week.
The signing of a potential peace agreement will pave the way for the withdrawal of US forces from the country, CNN quoted the US defense officials as saying.
When asked if seven days are enough to evaluate the Taliban’s sincerity for ending the conflict, Esper said that in Washington’s perspective the seven days' reduction in violence, for now, is enough, but, it's a "conditions-based" process.
"In today’s NATO defense ministers meeting, all allies reiterated their commitment to support Afghan cops, particularly the Afghan National Army, until 2024," Khalid told TOLOnews in Brussels.
[ToloNews] While President Ghani has acknowledged the decision to reduce the violence as acceptable, so far, the Afghan government reportedly has no plans for a reduction in violence in practical terms.
Sources at the Ministry of Defense say that the plan for a reduction in violence is not yet clear and that the country's military on the battlefield do not have a clear vision of reducing violence.
President Ghani late Wednesday said that after a telephone conversation with the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, President Donald Trump ...Perhaps no man has ever had as much fun being president of the US... 's decision to reduce violence is acceptable.
But no government official has yet elaborated on the plan for a reduction in violence.
"The president has expressed satisfaction with the reduction in violence that will lead to a ceasefire, but we hope that our talks start with the lead to a ceasefire before that," said Waheed Omer, President Ghani's senior advisor in public and strategic relations.
Analysts believe that a lack of clarity in the violence reduction plan will make it more difficult for troops on the battlefield.
"What lethal weapons would be reduced? A landmine? An Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... ? Which one? " said Attiqullah Amarkhail, a former military officer.
Sources familiar with the Doha peace talks say the reduction in violence plan is, in fact, an undeclared ceasefire.
"The reduction in violence takes place a week before the agreement is signed, and if implemented properly, the agreement will be signed, and the reduction in violence will continue until the inter-Afghan talks, and that is an undeclared ceasefire," said Khalilullah Safi, former head of Pugwash in Afghanistan.
Forming a consensus on a plan to reduce violence is another suggestion by the country's former militaries.
"Politicians and governments formulate a joint plan for a reduction in violence but can they clarify what reduction in violence means?" said Abdul Wahab Wardak, former Afghan air forces commander.
Earlier, bigwigs in the country said that a reduction in violence means the Taliban ...mindless ferocity in a turban... are not attacking cities, and not conducting suicide kabooms or blocking highways.
Syria’s air defenses down several missiles coming across the occupied Golan Heights in Israel before they hit their targets in the capital Damascus, according to the Syrian state TV.https://t.co/6mABqFSgPxpic.twitter.com/mtsAv1fRBd
Syria’s air defenses intercepted and downed several missiles coming across the occupied Golan Heights in Israel before they hit their targets in the capital Damascus, Syrian state television said on Thursday.
“Our air defences intercepted hostile targets over the skies of Damascus,” state agency SANA said.
It said the “missiles were launched from over the occupied Golan Heights.”
Several missiles were intercepted before they could reach their targets, it added.
Al Arabiya sources said that five airstrikes targeted weapons and missile depots in the vicinity of Damascus International Airport and that one of the strikes targeted a military post south of Damascus. The airstrikes were launched hours after the arrival of Iranian arms shipments to Damascus International Airport, according to the sources.
An AFP correspondent in Damascus heard large blasts.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights blamed the attack on Israel, which has not claimed responsibility. The Britain-based monitor said the attack targeted Iran-backed militias near the capital, with some missiles hitting their intended targets.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/14/2020
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#4
Per G's link at #1: Prime Minister Netanyahu said that he did not know anything about the alleged Israeli attack that target the Damascus area on Thursday, adding that maybe it was "the Belgian air force."
"I don't what happened last night," Netanyahu said in an interview with Radio Haifa on Friday, as quoted by channel 12. "Maybe it was the Belgian air force."
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/14/2020 4:32
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Our reporter: Heavy Turkish artillery shelling on villages of Maraanaz, Malikiya, Shawarga in Sharran district in Afrin region, and Samouqa & Shahba Dam in northern Aleppo pic.twitter.com/1SrXPw3vsX
#GNA dead today 1 Omar Ali Qarqum #Misrata 2 Muhammad Al-Qunaidi #Misrata 3 Muhammad Abu Sha'ala #Misrata 4 Hatem the Doctor # Gado 5 Izz Al-Din Hassan AlHasnawi 6 Mustafa Abu Shoufeh #Misrata 7 Muhammad Abu Baghdad #Misrata 8 Taha Tariq Kafou #Yafran 9 Youssef Al-Sriti
Iranian backed Militias are placing symbolic “death by hanging” posters of U.S soldiers in the middle of Baghdad. The Iraqi government is not able to stop any of this, many politicians participate or keep quiet around such acts to cozy up to the Militias and Iran. pic.twitter.com/Lp4wGn3Kzp
Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan has been charged with raping two women besides two others he was already facing accusations over, says his lawyer.https://t.co/ZJF6AprCvo
A US navy ship seizes 150 Iranian-manufactured anti-tank guided missiles after boarding a vessel while conducting maritime security operations in the Arabian Sea, according to a statement by the US Central Command.https://t.co/NXu2M9Q6Vhpic.twitter.com/d3cOmqcFkB
U.S. warship seizes 3 Iranian surface-to-air missiles, 150 anti-tank missiles,thermal imaging scopes, drone components and other weapons bound for Yemen.
USS Normandy nabbed the weapons while on patrol in the Arabian Sea. (Video: U.S. Navy) pic.twitter.com/7uUWXnHVRx
Posted by: Fred ||
02/14/2020
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#1
What the heck is Congress doing passing an Iran war resolution act at this time? Trump needs to veto this when it comes to his desk. It will make it harder to pass over his veto.
[KhaamaPress] The Counter-narcotics chief of Kabul Police Commandment was sentenced to 17 years in prison on charges of cooperating with the drug smugglers.
Jamshid Rasooli, a spokesperson for the Attorney General’s Office said Mia Ahmad, the Counter-narcotics Chief of Kabul Police Commandment was sentenced to 17 years and 3 months in prison after the conclusion of an investigation by prosecutors into alleged coopration between Mr. Ahmad and the drug smugglers.
Rasooli further added that the prosecutors sentenced Lemar, the director of the detective directorate of Counter-narcotics of Kabul Police Commandment to 7 years and 6 moths in prison on similar charges.
He also added that two Counter-narcotics officials, Nooruddin and Mohammad Esa, each received 1 year and 6 months in prison.
Nasrat Rahimi, a spokesperson of the Ministry of Interior had earlier said that the security forces have arrested Mia Ahmadi, the Counter-narcotics Chief of Kabul Police Commandment, describing him as one of the biggest smugglers and drug kingpins.
Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab and all 18 cabinet members pledge “not to run or support any candidate” in upcoming parliamentary elections.https://t.co/dMalhmW2yC
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] German judges on Thursday sentenced a Syrian man to three and a half years in prison for crimes including posing with the head of a decapitated corpse in his home country.
Identified only as Kassim A., the 34-year-old received one and a half years from the superior state court in Koblenz for the war crime, with the rest of his sentence relating to lesser crimes committed since his arrival in Germany.
Judges found the man joined forces rebelling against Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Trampler of Homs... ’s regime at the latest in 2013.
At the latest in November that year, he posed for a photos with the head of an enemy fighter "in a way that mocked and debased the dead man," they added.
But the court did not find any evidence the defendant had been the one to kill the decapitated man or mutilate his corpse.
Kassim A. admitted to the acts during the trial, saying he had lost people close to him and himself been badly maimed in the conflict that has racked Syria for almost nine years.
Other Syrian refugees alerted the police after he showed them the photos, and officers then found them saved on his phone.
German courts have been looking into war crimes committed in Syria especially since 2016, as witnesses, victims and some suspects have arrived among hundreds of thousands of refugees from the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/14/2020
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Iran is ready to strike the US and Israel if they give it any reason to do so, says the head of the Revolutionary Guards during a speech at a ceremony marking the 40th day since the death of Qassem Soleimani.https://t.co/YEciyssMmt
[EIA.gov] EIA expects global petroleum and liquid fuels demand will average 100.3 million barrels per day (b/d) in the first quarter of 2020. This demand level is 0.9 million b/d less than forecast in the January STEO and reflects both the effects of the coronavirus and warmer-than-normal January temperatures across much of the northern hemisphere. and, re: US supply
EIA forecasts U.S. crude oil production will average 13.2 million b/d in 2020, up 1.0 million b/d from 2019, and then rise to 13.6 million b/d in 2021. Most of the production growth in the forecast occurs in the Permian region of Texas and New Mexico. and re: Nat Gas
U.S. dry natural gas production set a record in 2019, averaging 92.1 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d)... dry natural gas production will average 94.2 Bcf/d in 2020, a 2% increase from 2019.
Posted by: lord garth ||
02/14/2020
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#1
Natural gas production rises every election year
[MSN] There’s an interesting discussion happening over at the Grassroots Motorsports forum right now, and presumably at many other places off-line. It’s about laws in Sacramento County stating, essentially, that almost any auto repair you do on your property is illegal. Of course, this is deeply troubling to almost everyone reading right now.
Similar laws do exist in other counties and states, of course, but since there’s been some conversation recently around the Sacramento County laws, we may as well start there. The laws in question have to do with Sacramento’s Zoning Code, the website for which has an explanation of the codes related to auto repair.
The code states that conducting "minor vehicle repair" or "minor automotive repair" is legal at a residence, and defines "minor automotive repair" as:
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/14/2020
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[9 views]
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#1
I stopped at one of those 'quick lube' places last week on the way to pick up my new eye glasses. I believe the lube, glasses and eye exam combined were not more than $1400. You've just got to take advantage of bargains where you can find them.
#6
toroidal contacts? I sthat the ones with weights in them? If so I would highly recommend against that move.
Posted by: Chris ||
02/14/2020 6:38
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#7
Mixed on this. Too many neighborhoods with half a dozen wrecks up on blocks or jacks and 'being worked on'. Compromise should be a time limit, say 72 hours. Move it or lose it.
#9
One more reason (if a person needs one) to not live in California. My fear is that so many people are moving out California to other parts of the country that they will pollute these areas with their nonsense.
#12
Procoplus2K
There is that. If an area has zoning laws they are usually there for a reason. I for one don't somebody opening up a junkyard next to my house in a residential neighborhood. And don't tell me it's their property. They knew what the zoning laws were when they bought the property. Now restrictive covenants and HOAs. That's another matter.
#15
Oh the good ole days of ripping out the 455 in the Pontiac,to replace another set of spun main bearings. All right on the main North Bay street. The neighborhood must of hated me.
[DAWN] A senior Tehrik-e-Taliban ...mindless ferocity in a turban... Pakistain (TTP) commander was killed by a bomb in eastern Afghanistan, turban and intelligence sources told AFP on Thursday, the latest such incident to target the group in recent days.
Not actually targetted as such, if he was kaboomed by one of his own bombs, but a clear sign from Allah that his activities were definitely not approved by the most high.
Sheharyar Mehsud, chief of a turban faction which is part of the umbrella TTP, was the target of the remote controlled blast in Kunar province ... which is right down the road from Chitral. Kunar is Haqqani country..... , a TTP commander in Pakistain told AFP.
A Pak intelligence official who confirmed the incident said Mehsud had fled to Afghanistan in 2016.
The blast comes nearly two weeks after two other key TTP leaders ‐ Khalid Haqqani and Qari Saifullah Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistain's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire... i ‐ were killed in a clash with security forces.
#3
...All the vsrious SOCOM parts have had problems - the nature of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan made them the best tools in the box. But, as in Vietnam, the exponential growth of the SOCOMs led to people who never should have been anywhere near them being accepted. They get out in the field and, unsupervised with unlimited resources, do exactly what you'd think they'd do.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
02/14/2020 6:12
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#4
Ref #3: Mike nails it. Something akin to police work. Not everyone who wants to wear a badge, should actually be wearing a badge.
The number of 'bad apples' are very small, but their actions get widely publicized when things go badly.
#5
The father-of-three suffered a psychotic break where he believed he was god's second son, could talk to the sun, and even that he was a nuclear weapon
#13
Thanks to Fred, I have developed the habit of seeing the news as a humorous unfolding of mostly scripted events with the odd Skidmarkian insert from the twilight zone. It's what kept me sane. ☺
Russia’s foreign ministry calls on Turkey to refrain from making provocative statements about events in Syria amid rising tensions over the Syrian province of Idlib.https://t.co/Mbk6EhAS5T
The Senate approves a bipartisan measure limiting President Donald Trump’s authority to launch military operations against Iran.https://t.co/jcddvQXQV7
#3
Doesn't really hold legal water and can't override a presidential veto if it goes that far.
If they really wanted to rein in the President's power to wage undeclared war, they would roll back the laws they passed after 9/11 giving the executive branch authority to pretty much attack any country he thinks might have terrorists.
But they won't. They want to have the power of unlimited war when their guy gets back in.
[KhaamaPress] The Special Operations Corps in a statement an Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... in Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... province killed 7 terrorists.
The statement further added that the National Defense and Security Forces killed 4 gunnies and injured 7 others during a joint operation in Chahar Bolak district of Balkh.
According to Special Operations Corps, airstrikes in Posht-e Rod district of Farah province killed 4 gunnies and destroyed a vehicle.
The security forces killed 2 gunnies and maimed 4 others after responding to an attack in Alingar district of Laghman ...Afghan province with a population of about 445,600, which is multi-ethnic and mostly a rural society. During the invasions of Alexander the Great, the area was known as Lampaka, wich is apparently Olde Macedonian for Laghman.The city of Mihtarlam serves as the bucolic capital of the province. The population is half Pashtun, the remainder Tadjik and Pashai. It had a repution for great wealth until it was conquered in the tenth century by Abu Mansur Sabuktigin.
He conquered it and set fire to the places in its vicinity which were inhabited by infidels, and demolishing the idol-temples, he established Islam in them, He marched and captured other cities and killed the polluted wretches, destroying the idolatrous and gratifying the Musulmans. After wounding and killing beyond all measure, his hands and those of his friends became cold in counting the value of the plundered property.
After that it was mostly notable for the production of dirt, rocks, and holy men... , the statement said, adding that the security forces killed a terrorist and maimed another terrorist while responding to attack in Shahwali Kot district of Kandahar.
The anti-government armed bully boyz have not commented in this regard so far.
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.
[Breitbart] Democratic presidential hopeful former Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday on ABC’s "The View" that his son Hunter Biden had "done nothing but good things his whole life."
[Babylon Bee] HAMPTON, NH‐Joe Biden fired back at a supporter criticizing his performance in the Iowa caucuses. She questioned why she should support him when he didn't even finish in the top three in Iowa.
[Politico] The Trump administration plans to sap money intended to build fighter jets, ships, vehicles and National Guard equipment in order to fund barriers on the U.S.-Mexico border, the Pentagon told Congress on Thursday, a move that has agitated Democrats and even drawn condemnation from a top House Republican.
[PJ] A New Hampshire man was arrested Thursday afternoon "after allegedly assaulting a 15-year-old Trump supporter and two adults at a polling site during the state’s first-in-the-nation primary earlier this week," Fox News exclusively reports. The teen's mother told Fox News that the assault left her son "traumatized."
LONDON (Reuters) - Activist group Extinction Rebellion plans to send mosquito-like swarms of protesters to disrupt financial, accountancy and media firms in London this year to mobilise broader popular support for transformative action against climate change.
[Breitbart] President Trump’s former chief of staff Marine Gen. (Ret.) John Kelly praised former National Security Council staffer Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who testified against the president during the impeachment inquiry, during a speech at Drew University in New Jersey on Wednesday, according to a report.
... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...
...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 
...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...
...formerly the front man for the Pak Taliban, then the lips and tongue of the Jamaatul Ahrar splinter group in Mohmand Agency...
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
...
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
...mindless ferocity in a turban...
...
