[UPI] "We will be terminating our relationship with the World Health Organization and redirecting those funds to other worldwide and deserving urgent global public health needs," he said during a statement in the Rose Garden of the White House.
Trump blamed the dissolution of the relationship on the "malfeasance" of China, which he blamed for a "coverup" of the origins of the coronavirus. Public health officials have said the novel virus originated in a market in the city of Wuhan late last year.
The United States was the largest financial contributor to WHO, which is a specialized agency of the United Nations, in 2018-19. The United States dedicated $893 million for the two-year budget cycle, about $300 million more than donated by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The next largest government contributor was Britain, at $435 million.
China dedicated about $80 million in the same time period.
#3
The explosion was 2 minutes after the full pressure, "complete wet" full tank static fire was completed.
Speculation is that in the process of removing the fuel and oxidizer, one of the hoses/connections failed, releasing propellant that came into contact with the still hot engine bell, and that resulted in an explosion. So its looking like a test equipment failure, not a rocket or engine failure.
And yes, this was Starship prototype, SN4. Not the Falcon/Dragon thats launching at the cape tomorrow.
Posted by: Marilyn Tojo7566 ||
05/29/2020 17:51
Comments ||
Top||
[SpaceNews] SpaceX gets FAA approval for Starship flight tests!
SpaceX has received a license from the Federal Aviation Administration allowing the company to carry out suborbital flight tests of its Starship next-generation launch vehicle.
The FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation published the launch license May 28 for what it calls the Starship Prototype Launch Vehicle. The license allows SpaceX to conduct suborbital flights of the vehicle from its test facility in Boca Chica, Texas, near Brownsville.
SpaceX has been conducting a series of static-fire tests of the latest Starship prototype, called SN4, including one May 28. The company has not formally announced when it will attempt an initial “hop” test of that vehicle.
There is a temporary flight restriction for the airspace above that test site for June 1, from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Eastern, restricting airspace up to an altitude of 26,000 feet (7,925 meters), suggesting SpaceX may attempt a low-altitude free flight of the vehicle then. Similar restrictions have been filed in the past and then canceled, however. Flight restrictions have also been used for static-fire tests, but to much lower altitudes.
Any sort of flight test of Starship would require either a launch license or a less restrictive experimental permit from the FAA. A previous prototype vehicle, Starhopper, had a permit from the FAA, which allowed it to carry out a single flight in August 2019 to an altitude of about 150 meters, landing on a nearby pad at the Boca Chica site about a minute after liftoff.
The conditions of that permit, though, limited SpaceX to just a single Starhopper flight to that altitude. By contrast, the launch license for Starship places no overt restrictions on the number of flights or their altitude, beyond being suborbital flights that both take off and land at Boca Chica. The vehicle must follow the “ground track and trajectory presented in the license application,” but those details, along with the application itself, are not disclosed.
Musk, at a September 2019 event unveiling an earlier prototype of Starship, said he didn’t envision difficulties getting the FAA license despite the months of work needed to amend the Starhopper permit to allow just a single 150-meter hop. “I feel pretty optimistic about things. I don’t see any fundamental obstacles,” he said of the licensing process.
That event showed off what the company called the Starship Mark 1 vehicle, which Musk promised would soon fly. “This thing is going to take off, fly to 65,000 feet, about 20 kilometers, and come back and land, in about one or two months,” he said then.
Instead, the Mark 1 vehicle was destroyed in a tank pressurization test in November. A second prototype, called SN1, suffered the same fate in a similar test Feb. 28. After stripping down the SN2 vehicle to its tanks for testing, a third prototype, SN3, crumpled in an April 3 test, apparently because of a misconfigured test setup.
The latest vehicle, SN4, passed its pressurization test April 27 and has since performed several static-fire tests using a single Raptor engine installed in its base. Musk has suggested in recent comments, including an Aviation Week interview, that the first hop test might be a “few weeks” away as the company focuses on the launch of the Demo-2 commercial crew mission.
Posted by: Chris ||
05/29/2020 13:20
Comments ||
Top||
#4
...he can shift to another platform and take millions with him while at the same time highlighting viable competition. Boss needs to go to the censor office and advise people to prepare their resumes. He doesn't need the headache.
#2
I remember the game from the 70s. The Soviets et al would put a lot of metal in the skies in the east forcing NATO to do the same. After a few times of that game, the USAF with lots of all weather craft waited till a really bad weather system got overhead and did the same, launching as much as the could forcing the Soviets to do the same. The American aircraft could return to base in that weather. The Soviets could not and had to disperse throughout the east to viable landing strips.
#1
I really hope they can launch. I'm young enough not to not remember anything before the shuttles, and when I was young, those weren't really exciting or widely covered anymore. I'm really looking forward to seeing people go back into space from American built technology again (and I really hope to see them go to the moon again, something that hasn't happened in my lifetime).
#1
I'VE BEEN FLOATING DOWN THE OLD GREEN RIVER
(Joe Cooper / Bert Kalmar) (1915)
Recorded by:
Rick Gay; Turk Murphy Jazz Band.
Half past four, Dan Mc Graw, came sneak-ing to his wif-ey's door.
She'd been wait-ing up all night, Wait-ing for him to go to bed.
Dan-ny smiled, like a child, but his wif-ey grew very wild
Where have you been all night long?, she cried
And this is what Dan-ny re-plied:
I've been float-ing down the old green riv-er on the good ship Rock and Rye.
But I floated too far, I got stuck on a bar,
I was out there a-lone, wish-ing that I was home.
The ship got wrecked with the captain and crew,
And there was on-ly one thing left to do,
So I had to drink the whole green riv-er dry
to get back home to you.
(Repeat chorus)
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
05/29/2020 18:25
Comments ||
Top||
#1
Given the worldwide lack of clarity about what is and isn't actually happening with Chinavirus, it seems like monkeys are handling most if not all the test samples.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/29/2020 10:36
Comments ||
Top||
#2
Wasn't it just yesterday the US was taking samples from Israel?
#1
US Senator Cruz called for a criminal investigation into Twitter on the grounds that the Iranian leader has an account on Twitter. This violates US sanctions laws against Iran.
Posted by: Marilyn Tojo7566 ||
05/29/2020 18:12
Comments ||
Top||
#2
..and act as an unregistered foreign interest agent.
[Jpost] New York Mayor Comrade Bill de Blasio ...cryptocommie mayor of New York and for some reason a Dem candidate for president in 2020. Corrupt and incompetent, his qualifications for office seem to consist of being married to a black woman, with whom he honeymooned in Cuba. He has a preppy-looking son named Dante, whose Divine Comedy involved getting his back hair up when a police car drove past him slowly. New Yorkers voted for him, so they deserve him... on Thursday outlined the first steps for reopening the United States' most populous city, envisioning up to 400,000 people heading back to their workplaces, an easing of the lockdown that began in March.
De Blasio said he expected the reopening's first phase to be announced by the second week of June and, in line with the state's plan, would include four sectors: construction, manufacturing, wholesale suppliers and non-essential retail.
COVID-19 has killed more than 20,000 of New York's over 8 million people, making the city the American epicenter of the coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague) ...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men... pandemic.
[CNN] CNN's Jose Omar Jimenez was taken into police custody during a live broadcast at the site of the protests in Minneapolis, after clearly identifying himself to officers. Jimenez's crew were also placed in handcuffs. Hat tip to the police. Arresting the Communist News Network crew sends a strong, 'no cost' message to other communist thugs in the vicinity.
#6
Besoeker, this is not the Soviet Union.
I'm a bit bewildered by some statements I read here lately.
Freedom of press wasn't guaranteed to protect journalists who agree with you. But who disagree.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
05/29/2020 10:23
Comments ||
Top||
#7
From the same nutwork that had Anderson Cooper standing in water where just barely 10-20 feet away were people standing on wet but unflooded land.
#8
EC - a lot of people (myself included) have seen that CNN is a political op, not a journalistic one, and antithetical to our principles, politics, and values
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/29/2020 10:27
Comments ||
Top||
#9
Re: #7 - Or Becky Anderson organizing a "demonstration" in London.
#10
FrankG
Whatever you think of CNN, I can see no reason in that video why these journalists should be arrested.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
05/29/2020 10:31
Comments ||
Top||
#11
EC, Freedom of the Press was about the technology to disseminate information of the times. The technology and vocation were once one and the same. Modern 'Press' is just about as much in obstructing, corrupting, and fabricating information rather than an open flow of information. They make their living selling print column and air time which means if there isn't a crisis, they'll make one. This, the internet, is far closer to what the founders meant by the free flow of information which is why so many seek to choke it and shut it down.
#13
Any CNN video needs to be taken with a large pile of salt. Were they encouraging arson or looting by their cameras? Who knows. They would edit it out
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/29/2020 10:38
Comments ||
Top||
#14
If they did police would clearly have pointed this out by now.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
05/29/2020 10:39
Comments ||
Top||
#16
I remember in Intifada I, EC, we (serving there) were always told when a riot would occur. Because journalists would call a local contact from Tel Aviv and arrange for one - saves them time away from pubs & whores in Tel Aviv. And ISA was tapping his phone.
#17
Ref #6: I fully agree EC. I suspect it will end sometime prior to everyone being hauled off to the gulogs (but that would improve employment numbers). It just has to stop somewhere. These culturally crazed, entitlement anarchists must be stopped.
#21
#18,19 Sure I believe in free press - Ben Franklin with a single press, one apprentice and two part time news-hounds and a bunch of unpaid correspondents, or a guy with a blog nowadays.
Multinational, multi billion company, with commercial interests in China, not so much.
And, what I was mostly referring to - do you think they only arrange/script violent riots in "Palestine"?
#24
^^ The CNN reporter reports on his experience after being released. It doesn’t sound nearly so fraught, Constitutionally, as it originally appeared.
#25
Well we know that the 'news' nowdays is all about sensationalism. "If it bleeds - it leads!" with little regard for the casualties; Often encouraged on if it advances their agenda.
I suspect that the news media has not-so-subtley encouraged violence to get that 'bleeding story'.
[CNN] The initiative, called Republican Voters Against Trump, has produced multiple ads featuring disaffected GOP voters who say they are not voting for Trump. Many of these testimonials are recorded on smartphones and include voters who have voted for Republican candidates, some of whom voted for Trump in 2016.
"People need to see other people like themselves," said Sarah Longwell, a longtime conservative and Republican consultant who is the executive director of Defending Democracy Together, the nonprofit behind the effort. The New York Times first reported on the new ad campaign.
#5
Other involved in the project are Bill Kristol, the former Weekly Standard editor and a prominent Never Trump commentator; and Tim Miller, a one-time adviser to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's 2016 presidential campaign.
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/29/2020 10:11
Comments ||
Top||
#9
Got to understand, classical liberals have no place in the party taken over by the socialists and neo-limousine-communists. So rather than forming their own party (and understanding that as a third party they'll have no power or influence), they are attempting to do to the Republicans what was done to them. Tell them to get lost.
[Babylon Bee] KENTON, WA—A gunman was released from police custody on Thursday after it was determined by experts that the people he had shot were victims of COVID-19 and not his psychotic bloodlust-induced blind-firing rage-spree death-binge through downtown Kenton last week with three AR-15's, seventeen uzis, and one bazooka and zero clothes on. "Our apologies," said officers as they unlocked the man's cuffs and let him walk free, snickering and shaking like a lunatic with drool hanging from his chin.
Specialists from Washington's capitol quickly determined that the victims were clearly COVID-19 casualties. The local coroner attempted to push back citing the literal pegboard pattern of bullet holes littered about the scene and the bodies of the victims. He was promptly fired. "COVID-19 strikes again. Chalk it up," said COVID response agent Jonathan Smith.
The shooter's identity has been protected since he committed no crime. "If you shoot a bunch of people and it has no effect on them, that's not a crime. The effect is the crime if you think about it," explained Governor Inslee. "What we have here is a matter of a guy shooting people who had died a split second before his bullet hit them of a completely different thing. If this man is guilty of anything, it's incredibly bad timing."
Inslee was asked what he would do if the shooter went back on the streets and began firing on citizens again—which he did immediately. "To jump to conclusions about these things is reckless. You can't immediately link a bunch of bullets to death," said Inslee. "Especially in a time like this when almost all death is COVID related. This is science denial and if you deny science on my watch, you will face harsh repercussions."
The briefing was cut short after a hail of bullets could be heard nearby and officers began shouting, "COVID! GET DOWN! IT'S THE VIRUS!"
[AEI Blog] The map above (click to enlarge) shows three geographical regions of the US by counties that each account for one-third of the COVID-19 deaths as of about May 8:
The red region shows the area of the US that represents one-third of COVID deaths in counties that account for only 4% of the US population.
The yellow region shows the area that represents one-third of COVID deaths in counties that account for only 11% of the US population.
The green area shows the area that represents one-third of COVID deaths in counties that account for 85% of the US population.
As I reported on CD a few days ago on COVID deaths by US states:
More than 40% of the 96,596 COVID-19 deaths as of May 22 have occurred in two states: New York (28,900) and New Jersey (11,081).
Nearly half (48%) of COVID-19 deaths have occurred in three states: New York (29.9%), New Jersey (11.5%), Massachusetts (6.4%).
MP: The map above of COVID deaths by US county shows a much higher level of granularity than my recent map of deaths by state and illustrates graphically the disproportionate concentration of COVID deaths in selected counties in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Illinois (Chicago area) and Michigan (Detroit area). Interestingly, two-thirds of COVID deaths in the US have occurred in counties that represent only 15% of the US population.
#2
Do the lockdowns actually save lives? If the medical system can manage the case load then I would think it only defers deaths, which only matters if it defers deaths long enough for effective vaccines or treatments to be deployed. That deferral comes at a cost though, economic, psychological, and medical (deferred diagnosis & treatment of non-COVID-19 conditions.) The challenge is to figure out where the break-even point is in the absence of data.
[Aljazeera] Nepal has protested against India's inauguration of a Himalayan link road built in a disputed territory which falls at a strategic three-way junction with Tibet and China.
India's Minister of Defence Rajnath Singh on Friday inaugurated the 80-kilometre (50-mile) Lipulekh road, which will serve as the shortest route between capital New Delhi and Kailash-Mansarovar, a revered Hindu pilgrimage site in the Tibetan plateau.
Nepal views the alleged incursions as a stark example of bullying by its much larger neighbour.
Nepal's foreign ministry condemned India's "unilateral act" that "runs against the understanding reached between the two countries ... that a solution to boundary issues would be sought through negotiations."
"The Government of Nepal has learnt with regret about the 'inauguration' yesterday by India of 'Link Road' connecting to Lipulekh (Nepal), which passes through Nepali territory," Nepal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Saturday.
It asked New Delhi "to refrain from carrying out any activity" on the road that has triggered a fresh dispute over the strategically important territory.
#1
I can relate. I have Rover and MB 63 SUV neighbors not far from me who have resisted the paving of a mile long residential lane between two villages for decades.
#3
Carrying water for the Chinese. The road is strategic and allows the Indian army to resupply forward positions on the LAC. Very close to the Chinese national highway as well.
Posted by: john frum ||
05/29/2020 9:52
Comments ||
Top||
[Jpost] The Venezuela ...a country in Central America that sits on an enormous pool of oil. Formerly the most prospereous country in the region, it became infested with Commies sniffing almost unlimited wealth. It turned out the wealth wasn't unlimited, the economy collapsed under the clownish Hugo Chavez, the murder rate exceeded places like Honduras and El Salvador. A significant proportion of the populace refugeed to Colombia and points south... n navy said it escorted a fourth fuel tanker from Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... through its waters on Thursday, while the United States called the shipments to the gasoline-starved country a distraction from problems facing President Nicolás Maduro ...Commie el presidente para la vida of Venezuela, successor to Hugo Chavez. Nick is his country's attempt at producing a Muammar Qadaffy, except that even though his country's sitting on an enormous puddle of oil, he can't manage to get it out of the ground. Unlike Qadaffy and Hugo Chavez, he's not dead yet... The oil industries of Iran and Venezuela are both under US sanctions. Iran is providing its fellow OPEC member up to 1.53 million barrels of gasoline and refining components to help ease an acute shortage, the result of the near-complete breakdown in its refining network as well as the sanctions.
Washington has said it is weighing a response to the shipments.
Venezuela's military has escorted each tanker through its exclusive economic zone. The navy on Thursday posted images of its ships alongside the fourth ship, the Faxon.
Refinitiv Eikon data showed the Faxon passing north of eastern Venezuela's Sucre state at 11:49 p.m. (0349 GMT) Wednesday. It has not transmitted its location since then. The third tanker to arrive, the Petunia, entered El Palito port on Thursday, the data showed.
The first two were still discharging, and a fifth, the Clavel, was crossing the Atlantic Ocean toward the Caribbean.
A front man for the US State Department's Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs said it would continue to "press for the restoration of Venezuelan democracy." Washington, along with dozens of other countries, say Maduro rigged his 2018 re-election.
Maduro accuses the United States of seeking to oust him to control Venezuela's oil resources.
But this week he also pledged to reform the fuel distribution system, stating that citizens would have to start paying for fuel after decades of heavy subsidies.
Iran and Venezuela attempted to outmaneuver American sanctions by establishing a new oil partnership.
Two Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned ships that "were en route to Venezuela carrying Iranian fuel, scrapped their deliveries after the U.S. threatened sanctions," a senior U.S. official told Fox News.
First reported by The Wall Street Journal, the ships were expected to arrive in Venezuela as the final delivery in a previously planned five-oil-tanker shipment, an effort that the Venezuelan regime has said is a partnership to thwart the American sanctions.
"The Iranian oil tankers arriving in Venezuela are nothing but a distraction from the real problems facing Maduro," a spokesperson from the State Department told Fox News. "These shipments will do nothing to help Venezuelans, they will only help prop up the former Maduro regime for a little while longer."
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said in a televised address: "We are two rebel revolutionary peoples that are never going to kneel before North American imperialism.”
But the Greek-owned ships would have been unable to access international banking and maritime insurance had they carried out the shipment.
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/29/2020 8:21
Comments ||
Top||
#2
Persians playing backgammon, Trump plays Kriegsspiel.
#4
IIRC didn't the Iranians have a major problem with their refineries being unable (2007) to produce sufficient diesel / gasoline for their internal transportation sector? They were having to import diesel / gasoline: [Reuters in 2018] Iran inches closer to dream of gasoline independence
Did they fix it or is this kabuki?
#6
#5 - Lassen County, located in northeastern California, on the Nevada border, was one of just two counties in the state that, up until Wednesday, did not have a single case of COVID-19, The Associated Press reported. But following the confirmation that at least five people there are infected, county officials have since backtracked on reopening restaurants, shops and religious services
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/29/2020 11:03
Comments ||
Top||
That takes care of one frequently voiced concern...
[IsraelTimes] In interviews, PM also rebuffs settler complaints, saying his annexation plan won’t mention Paleostinian state, any settlement freeze will also apply to Paleostinians in Area C.
[Jpost] The Paleostinian Authority (PA) expressed its anger earlier this week over restrictive measures imposed on services for all faiths at the Cave of the Patriarchs tombs in Hebron, according to a JNS report.
The PA accused Israel of deliberately infringing on religious freedoms by applying restrictions, with the Paleostinian WAFA news claiming that the "Israeli occupation forces" stopped Paleostinians from attending morning prayers at the Cave of the Patriarchs (known in Arabic as the Ibrahimi Mosque).
Israel said that the restrictions were placed on public gatherings in a bid to stop the further spread of coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague) ...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men... in the area.
The report also noted that IDF forces have allegedly set up checkpoints and inspection areas along roads leading to the religious site, preventing groups of more than 50 people from entering the prayer space.
Hefzi Abu Sneineh, director of endowments for Hebron, criticized the restrictions, saying that "the Israeli measures that strive to keep Moslem worshipers away from the site by closing the electronic gates and blocking residents’ paths at military checkpoints," according to Israel National News.
He added that "an attack on the holy places of Islam" contravenes international treatise on religious freedom.
[IsraelTimes] Iranian leader’s tweets calling Israel ’cancerous growth’ to be ’uprooted and destroyed’ left unchecked as social media firm festivities with US president over labeling his posts.
As ‘tis said, if they didn’t have double standards, they’d have no standards at all.
#1
Were I of a Trumpian nature, I'd have my little honey badger of a press secretary doing a compare and contrast of tweets that Twitter allows and what it censors.
[JPost] - The Health Ministry has called on the public to uphold three rules: good hygiene, wearing masks and social distance, after the country saw an "unusual increase" in the number of coronavirus patients in the last 24 hours.
"The easing of restrictions should not come at the expense of the rules of social distancing and the wearing of masks - on the contrary," a statement released Thursday by the Health Ministry said. All traced to reopening of schools last week.
[JPost] ... The police said they did not fire any shots in the incident, nor were any officers among the injured, but had made some arrests. They had earlier tweeted that there was a large crowd in the downtown area around 2nd street. So, are such riots are normal for this time of year, or is it frustration over lock-down: COVID-19 causes some illegal drug prices to surge, as supplies are disrupted worldwide (https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/05/1063512)?
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/29/2020 10:46
Comments ||
Top||
#2
We invited this woman into our home only to have her encourage it being burned down by the running dogs of the ideologues who subjugated her country.
It seems all bougeoisie are good for these days are selling communists rope.
#10
Doesn’t the actual federal legislation use these terms?
Posted by: john frum ||
05/29/2020 13:21
Comments ||
Top||
#11
didn't really explain alot to me skid
Posted by: Chris ||
05/29/2020 13:22
Comments ||
Top||
#12
#10 - Correct
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/29/2020 13:44
Comments ||
Top||
#13
didn't really explain alot to me skid
Selectively, like calling something a 'hate' crime makes mean girls appear meaner. They know criminals have guns illegally, but they don't get sought out and busted for that. They sometimes get caught when they use a gun.
#1
Self inflicted wound. How's Soviet central planning working for you all? BTW, what part of the government workforce was furloughed as non-essential during this period? Just discover the tax base was essential to fund all those government workers?
#4
One of Gretchen's campaign themes was "Fix the Damn Roads". Her initial plan to raise the gas tax by 45 cents per gallon was not well received by the Legislature. Or anyone else.
#5
These blue states need leadership rather than corrupted potted plants in the governor's office--someone who can actually solve state problems--as well-stated above, self-inflicted wounds.
#8
Yeah, the stupid broads bankrupts the state, funds stupid pet projects while the roads continue to deteriorate, acts like a petty fascist, threatens her political opponents, and then has the nerve to demand subsidies. Screw her.
NR via Instapundit
Last week I was searching the Internet for some COVID-19 statistic or other, and I came across a new CDC website. The site featured some numbers the federal government is using to model the spread of the epidemic. One in particular caught my eye: 0.4 percent, the "current best estimate" of the disease’s "case fatality rate." The document also said that 35 percent of infections are asymptomatic, which suggests the infection fatality rate is just 0.26 percent.
These numbers struck me as low for several reasons. For one thing, the virus has already killed 0.2 percent of all New Yorkers, and obviously a much higher percentage of those who’ve actually been infected in the city. For another, if we’ve had 100,000 deaths nationwide and a CFR of 0.4 percent, that means we’ve had 25 million symptomatic cases; including cases without symptoms, more than 10 percent of the entire country has been infected, which seems out of sync with what we’re hearing from serology tests. Individual studies and reviews of the evidence tend to put the infection fatality rate somewhere around 0.5 to 1 percent, though there’s at least one dissenting review that puts it lower (while managing not to include any studies finding a fatality rate above 0.5 percent, of which there are plenty).
I put out a tweet expressing my confusion, and things spiraled quickly, as they often do on social media. A follower alerted the prominent biologist Carl Bergstrom, who wrote a thread criticizing the CDC’s numbers. The next morning he was featured in a CNN story about the issue. There have been many media reports since, with the narrative predictably varying from "Heroic Scientific Experts Hammer Corrupt CDC for Fake Low Fatality Rate" to "CDC Finally Admits COVID Is Basically Harmless." (I exaggerate, but only a little.)
I don’t have a scorching hot take on the number. But I do want to know where it comes from, which is not clear from the site itself. It says the information is based on data about a month old and names the source "Preliminary COVID-19 estimates, CDC," which I have not been able to locate (if indeed it refers to a specific document at all).
I have contacted the CDC several times in the past week to no avail. Both the Center for Public Integrity and BuzzFeed similarly report that they sought comment and received no reply.
If the fatality rate of this thing is 0.26 percent, that is fantastic news. If the CDC has evidence this is the case, it should share it with the rest of us. I've two theories:
(a) CDC, who are a bunch of shithead bureaucrats, surrendered to the anti-locker hysterics (who, IMO, cannot see beyond the damage to their own finances - or, in many cases simply can cope with the discomfort of lock-down. Or, worst case scenario - simply idiots who adopted a particular stance and can't admit they were wrong).
(b) CDC is acting out a deep eugenic conspiracy. Once the lock-up is over, and given that covid-hoax morons are fond of gallivanting around sans masks (probably lick door handles too), there will be a second wave - bigger than the first. And then, the screws will be tightened.
Ridiculous? No more ridiculous that the arguments (destroyed economy, millions of young lives permanently blasted, doesn't hurt people under 65) we heard here from anti-lockers.
#3
Purely my speculation: we are in the second wave of the infection. CDC either missed the first or approached it incorrectly. When they realized this they were forced to over react.
‘Why won’t they tell anyone?’ —— nobody in the GIVERnment likes to admit mistakes.
#4
Theory 3 bureaucrats love to exercise power over those they secretly wish to rule rather than serve.
They don't want to lose their sense of superiority, especially as people will be after their jobs when they find out just any more than COVID the over-reaction has killed.
#5
Scientists (ones who have been banned from YouTube and the like) expected a second wave. I suppose no surprise when healthy people get quarantined and then start going back out and interacting...like normal.
#6
So now we have yet another social divide: regular, normal people and deplorable "anti-lockers". Probably the same folks who are anti-vaxxers, anti-abortion, anti-science, etc.
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/29/2020 8:37
Comments ||
Top||
#7
Third theory Grom, the whole thing was a colossal cock-up based on bad data from China and bad models from Niel Fergeson that created such a fear that everyone had to go along 'in case' but then nothing panned out as projected, not even close, and it really wasn't that bad (yes every death is a tragedy) except in places where the leadership (Cuomo) made monumentally bad calls regarding nursing homes and subways.
#10
IMHO, the CDC has no credibility in the CV-19 issue. One example: the other day, they (again) attempted to explain how long the virus can live on various surfaces. With all these choices out there, for a minute I thought I was in a a Baskin-Robbins store.....
#11
The number of CV deaths divided by the number of reported cases should be getting close to the actual fatality rate by this time. I come up with something like 5% for the US, 2.5% for Texas. And at least in TX the case number includes numerous asymptomatic positives from mass testing at the local chicken plant.
#12
#7 What I did notice, RJ, is that no place takes CV19 seriously - until it reaches them and morgues start overflowing.
Italians ignored Wuhan (because Chinese are dirty & primitive).
New York ignored Italy (because Americans are a vigorous, pioneer race - not effete Europeans).
Russia made fun of American degenerates who die like flies from flu.
Brazil felt totally safe because of their warm climate.
And, right now rural America is busy compounding statistics to convince itself that only big cities are in danger. Not sturdy country folk, who naturally maintain distance. (Except when they shop at malls, pray in churches, and shag their neighbors' wives)
#19
Young and mobile are moving away from areas of infection or fear thereof. I spoke to a FEMA worker about this and they are aware of this. They speak of check points to reduce the flow. Early stages of this thought.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
05/29/2020 13:39
Comments ||
Top||
#23
Thank you, interesting.
I know I'm not the target audience, and in my limited fashion skill I have seen worse...they need to change up the intro - reminded me of that scene at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark when the angel rises up and turns vengeful.
BLUF:
[American Thinker] When NSA surveillance was halted, the Obama administration lost its secret eyes on domestic political activity and especially on the rising Trump campaign. To regain that vision, the CIA and FBI launched new surveillance efforts. Three elements stand out. First, the executive branch, then controlled by Democrats, was determined to spy on the opposition party. Second, much of the spying was conducted by agencies that are limited, by law, to foreign operations. Since their goal was actually domestic surveillance and since that was illegal, they apparently outsourced some of it to friendly foreign governments, who relayed the information back to Washington. Third, since the FBI wanted to spy on Trump aides who were not actually suspected of crimes, they couldn't get regular warrants. To work around that, the FBI (under James Comey) and Department of Justice (under Loretta Lynch) falsely claimed the targets were foreign spies, making them eligible for FISA warrants. They also tried to entrap them (with help from CIA assets abroad), hoping they would commit illegal acts or say their colleagues had done so.
'Monitoring events' which led members of the Awan family to move from Woodbridge, VA., back to Pakistan. On August 17, 2017, a federal grand jury, convened in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia, indicted Awan and his wife on four counts, including conspiracy, making false statements, bank fraud, and unlawful monetary transactions. Awans Sentenced to 'time served.' Not much else happens.
Side note: When I hear the term 'government monitoring' I automatically default to NSA involvement.
The Directer NSA shutting off the Deep State's access to "incidental monitoring and collection" may have also prompted the exploitation of the UK's Government Communications Headquarters, commonly known as GCHQ.
You may remember, the Robert Hannigan, the Director of GCHQ resigned at about the same time the Orange Man took office. The reasons given for his resignation were listed as "personal." The RUMINT in London mentioned something to do with a paedophile priest.
The paedophile priest bit seems an unlikely cause for resignation in those circles.
[American Thinker] What is the stock market telling us about the November election?
Despite the fact that America currently has over 38 million unemployed workers, the market is down 8.5% this year, having gone up 32% since the late March low. Why is the stock market going up while our economy teeters on the edge of a Great Depression?
There are several factors currently at work in the market with the most obvious being the extraordinary intervention by our leaders in Washington. Congress has authorized mind-boggling amounts of stimulus funds while the Fed has signaled that it is ready to purchase nearly anything and mostly everything. Even more spending and buying are sure to follow. This money flood is so massive that undoubtedly there are mind-boggling sums going into equities.
Washington's interventions in the markets has had a calming effect on prices and volatility, allowing investors to begin to look ahead to November, where it seems that President Trump is ever more likely to win re-election. There are several key reasons why more and more voters are beginning to lean toward Trump. Prior to the Pandemic Lockdown, America was enjoying a tremendous economy, which many voters attributed to Trump's pro-growth policies, such as cutting taxes and reducing regulations. As bad as current economic conditions are now, people are beginning to hope that perhaps the worst has passed. The economy is starting to be perceived as poised to improve rather than worsen, certainly a trend that greatly favors Trump.
Besides the hope for an improving economy, what has been happening to the Biden campaign is a pandemic of self-destruction. There are several growing scandals surrounding the Biden campaign that are unlikely to go away before November. Tara Reade's claim of sexual abuse by then-senator Biden seems to have some credibility, and for those invested in the MeToo movement, the longer Ms. Reade's claims are ignored by Hollywood, the leftist media, and the Democrats, the worse it looks for Biden. The cognitive decline Biden is exhibiting is getting worse, and similar to the Reade situation, the longer it goes on, the more voters will notice and turn away. Recently, Biden insulted black voters when he said, "I tell you, if you have a problem figuring out whether you're for me or Trump, then you ain't black." Finally, there is the growing scandal of the Mike Flynn case, which continues to shine a spotlight on how the DOJ, the CIA, and the FBI attempted to take down the Trump presidency with the Russian Hoax and Mueller investigation. Joe Biden is tied to the mast of this unfolding scandal, as all of it was birthed by the supposedly "scandal-free" Obama administration.
#2
Las Vegas 2020 Presidential Winner Odds:
Bovada. BetOnline. SportsBetting AG
Donald Trump -120
Joe Biden +120
Andrew Cuomo +6000
Hillary Clinton +2500
Mike Pence +9500
Michelle Obama +5000
Nikki Haley +20000
#4
Give it a rest, g. The stock market's up because so many companies' prices were beaten down to near-bankruptcy levels due to the hysterical over-reaction / lockdowns.
Certain historically well-managed consumer discretionary companies that are now hemorrhaging cash are attractively priced and attracting smart money: they're priced as if they'll go bankrupt when in reality they are nearly certain to survive because their cash + federal support gives them 18 months or more of life. In the meantime, while the market resets, millions will continue to be out of work, millions of children will have had their educational prospects blighted or ruined, and of course, as we have already begun to see, there will be at least as many deaths of despair as deaths actually attributable to COVID.
Here's yet one more tragic consequence of this hysterical foolishness: California hospitals are now in the surreal situation where they are actually laying off thousands and facing bankruptcy - all because of the retarded shutdowns that prevented them from treating patients while expecting a surge of COVID patients that never even came close to materializing. Reuters:
...the predicted surge never came.
And the cost of all that preparation - setting up field hospitals, doubling the number of intensive care rooms, purchasing protective equipment - dealt a blow to hospital bottom lines, while the ban on all non-emergency procedures cut revenues in half.
The measures drove hospitals in the most populous U.S. state close to bankruptcy, costing them as much as $14 billion and forcing them to lay off thousands of health care workers
#6
#12 As regards predicting the election, Trump has to be huge favorite to win.
Allen Lichtman's "13 Keys to the White House" is the best the predictive model we have. Here's what it indicates for November:
If any FIVE or FEWER of these "keys" are FALSE, then the incumbent is almost certain to be re-elected:
1. Party Mandate: After the midterm elections, the incumbent party holds more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives than after the previous midterm elections. FALSE - 1
2. Contest: There is no serious contest for the incumbent party nomination. TRUE
3. Incumbency: The incumbent party candidate is the sitting president. TRUE
4. Third party: There is no significant third party or independent campaign. TRUE
5. Short-term economy: The economy is not in recession during the election campaign. FALSE -2
6. Long-term economy: Real per capita economic growth during the term equals or exceeds mean growth during the previous two terms. Neutral
7. Policy change: The incumbent administration effects major changes in national policy. TRUE
8. Social unrest: There is no sustained social unrest during the term. TRUE - the current festivities will blow over and be off the headlines within 2 weeks at most
9. Scandal: The incumbent administration is untainted by major scandal. TRUE
10. Foreign/military failure: The incumbent administration suffers no major failure in foreign or military affairs. TRUE
11. Foreign/military success: The incumbent administration achieves a major success in foreign or military affairs. Neutral
12. Incumbent charisma: The incumbent party candidate is charismatic or a national hero. FALSE - 3
13. Challenger charisma: The challenging party candidate is not charismatic or a national hero. TRUE
= total of 3 False, vs. 6 False required if Biden is to be predicted the winner.
Not even close. The only things that could derail Trump's re-election -- and there would have to be two or more of these - are a complete economic collapse in Q3 plus either "sustained social unrest" OR war with China. Probability of two or more of these is next to zero.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
05/29/2020 9:30
Comments ||
Top||
#13
I keep hearing hospitals are laying off, but my wife works at two of the big hospital chains in San Diego and neither (Scripps and Kaiser) is laying off as far as I can tell. They had a large number of contractors who got limited hours as the thing ramped up but who are being hired again as they shift back to normal.
Maybe LA, or other hospital chains in SD were hit bad but it really seems over-blown from my viewpoint.
[UK METRO] A prosector investigating the death of an unarmed black man whose neck was crushed during an encounter with police has said the officers involved may not face criminal charges. Expectation management in action.
Hennepin County Attorney Michael Freeman made the comments at a press conference giving updates on the My 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis Thursday.
He spoke of his shock at Floyd’s horrific death and a video which saw the dying man proclaim ’I can’t breathe.’ Freeman said he and other law enforcement agencies were working hard to establish the facts of the case, then added: ’But there is other evidence that does not support a criminal charge.’ He refused to disclose further information when asked by reporters. Freeman said the video of Floyd’s final moments while a police officer was stood on his neck was ’graphic, horrible and terrible’ and added that his job is to ’prove a violation of criminal statute.’ "neck crushed" "stood on his neck" Hyperbole much?
The video has sparked a nationwide outcry, and seen two nights of rioting in Minneapolis, with further unrest expected on Thursday evening. The FBI, the district attorney for Minnesota and other officials said they were working hard to try and bring and appealed for more eyewitnesses to Floyd’s arrest to help them do so successfully at Thursday’s press conference.
#6
Putting 200lbs of pressure on the neck restricts 1) the air way. In the leathal form of jiu jitsu the hand can deliver a force to the neck that breaks the tiny bones around the air way resulting in a collapsed air way in the neck resulting in suffication, 2) enough pressure on the corated arteries in the neck to stop blood flow to the brain. After the heart has stopped pumping blood to the brain as a result of a mio-cardial infarction (s)?, aka heart attack, first responders have only 6 minutes to get blood flow started to the brain again before irreversible brain damage occurs, 3) spinal cord damage. Excessive pressure to the neck can pinch the nerves causing paralysis to every thing below the neck including the heart and lungs.
There are two ways to accomplish all three, 1) putting 200 pounds of pressure on the neck by another person's knee and a concrete surface, 2) hanging a person by the neck with a rope until dead.
#7
The neck section of the spine consïsts of seven bones C1-C7. One of the first things a paramedic will do for an accident victim who sustained any kind of head injury is put a cervical collar around the neck to prevent any of those bones from rlicing the spinal cord if any of them were fractured when the head injury occured. Neck trauma is a very dangerous thing.
#8
One law enforcement officers opinion & comment:
Police SOP's generally mandate that once a subject is under control and handcuffed, he or she is either sat up or is placed in the back of a patrol car. If placed in the rear seat of a car (preferable), they were to be sat up and belted, not laid face down. These protocols were to PREVENT exactly what happened in MN. People die when placed in "positional asphyxia" positions. The knee on the neck is a technique used on a resisting subject PRIOR to handcuffing, never afterwards, for obvious reasons.
The cop in MN is going to be charged (and probably convicted) of 2nd degree murder, possibly manslaughter. He was so wrong.
Having said all that, I would like to know what happened between the time he was handcuffed and sat against the building and when he was in the position with the knee on the neck. Strange. I would guess that he resisted being placed in the rear of the patrol car and was wrestled to the ground.
#20
By the way, apparently this cop was invesitaged 17 times for various things and Klobachar had something to do with the latest free pass he got. So her career is probably done no matter what the details are.
Also the perp and the cop apparently worked at the same nightclub. Cop provided external security, perp was a bouncer at times. No evidence they actually knew each other though. Possible just a strange coincidence.
#22
So a local pig was getting involved in Secret Service matter, I suppose. In any case, the heavy-handed pigs use eventually lethal force on hardly a non-violent accusation, much like the poor man in NYC, who allegedly was selling boot-leg cigarettes. That pig in MN won't hang, though.
#24
I'm with the other guys here who say that George Floyd's lack of perfection as a human being shouldn't have been a death sentence. Killed over a fake Jackson? Because maybe he said something rude to Chauvin? To hell with that.
#25
Sounds like they have a history together? Doesn't excuse, but could explain
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/29/2020 16:41
Comments ||
Top||
#26
It was a lynching. By the police. He was cuffed, controlled, and should have been placed in the vehicle. Putting pressure on the trachea, and on the carotid artery can cause hypoxia, which induces a panic reaction that police may wrongly interpret as "resisting", and apply pressure harder and longer than needed. These police should all be kicked off the force for contributing to manslaughter, and the cop on the neck should be tried and jailed as a felon. Good cops are being stained by turds like this one.
Posted by: Marilyn Tojo7566 ||
05/29/2020 18:17
Comments ||
Top||
#27
So a local pig
That pig in MN
If you called a cop a pig to my face those would be the last words that would come through your pointy teeth Clem.
Quite frankly I'm shock the other board members haven't called you out. How old f-ing old are you?
#34
All right, that will do. Everyone back away to your own corners.
Remember that we’re all on the same side here, waiting together to see what further will be revealed that may change what we think about what happened and the parties involved.
Also, much as we love our police, just as we love our troops, there are a few bad’uns who made it through the process, blackening the reputation of the rest.
#36
Fwiw - this is my only comment on Mr. Floyd's unfortunate death - I agree with #26 Marilyn Tojo's post.
At the same time I agree that law enforcement officers shouldn't be referred to with barnyard epithets, porcine or otherwise. Back to your festivities.
#38
what happened between the time he was handcuffed and sat against the building and when he was in the position with the knee on the neck.
An interesting bit of data, no doubt. Using my psychotic powers, I predict that we will learn the deceased, being unhappy with his circumstances due to either outstanding warrants or previous encounters, decided to get physical with the cops. This decision led to him being pinned face down on the ground.
We will also learn that an autopsy shows the gentleman died from some previous condition and *not* from being asphyxiated or a broken neck.
Will the civil authorities regain control of Minneapolis by the weekend?
Answer hazy. Ask again later.
[JUSTTHENEWS] Attorney General William Barr has asked John Bash, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas, to review the practice of "unmasking" during the 2016 presidential election.
The probe was announced Wednesday night by Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec on Fox News.
Barr has asked Bash to focus on the unmasking, amid U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut John Durham’s larger review of the federal government’s Russia collusion investigation.
"Unmasking" is a term used by the U.S. intelligence community to refer to revealing the identity of U.S. citizens whose communications are being monitored.
That practice came to light during the recent release of declassified information that showed several B.O. regime officials sought to learn the identity of Michael Flynn, a member of the 2016 Trump presidential campaign and Trump's first National Security Adviser, whose communications were monitored during the Russia collusion probe.
Flynn, a retired Army lieutenant general, pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI in connection to the probe. But revelations about the probe in the recently released documents have resulted in the Justice Department asking a federal court to drop the Flynn case.
[ALMASDARNEWS] The pro-government Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of... i media the fate of the Minister of Defense Muhammad al-Muqdashi, Chief of Staff Saghir Aziz, and a number of senior army leaders after a missile attack targeted the "Sahn al-Jin" camp in the Marib Governorate.
A local official outlet said the Ansarallah group targeted the camp with a ballistic missile, resulting in a powerful blast at a meeting with high-ranking defense officials.
The report confirmed the death of several soldiers, including one of the sons of the chief of the General Staff, and a nephew of him, both of whom are officers, and wounding others.
The Ansarallah forces have not yet grabbed credit for the attack, while no official statement has been issued by the pro-government Ministry of Defense either.
The Saudi-backed Minister of Defense had previously escaped a similar attack that targeted the headquarters of the ministry in Marib Governorate last year.
The government army forces control most parts of Marib Governorate, while the Ansarallah forces control one of the governorates’ districts near the administrative capital.
The Ansarallah forces are now preparing for a major attack on this governorate, as they attempt to fully expel the pro-government troops from northwestern Yemen.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/29/2020
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[22 views]
Top|| File under: Houthis
For the first time in two months, the Syrian and Russian air forces launched airstrikes over the eastern region of the Homs Governorate.
According to reports, the Russian and Syrian air forces targeted the Islamic State’s (ISIS/ISIL/IS/Daesh) positions in the Badiya Al-Sham region, which is primarily desert terrain along the administrative border of Deir Ezzor and Homs.
At the same time, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and their allies from the National Defense Forces (NDF) and Palestinian-led Jerusalem Brigade (Liwaa Al-Quds) launched a heavy attack on the Islamic State’s positions between the towns of Al-Sukhnah and Al-Shoulah.
The Syrian Arab Army and their allies have been forced to increase their presence in eastern Homs and western Deir Ezzor, following the Islamic State’s attacks in several areas inside these governorates.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/29/2020
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[27 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
This is Part 2 in a series. Last week, Part 1 discussed How Fear, Groupthink Drove Unnecessary Global Lockdowns.
[RealClearPolitics] How Media Sensationalism, Big Tech Bias Extended Lockdowns.
Epidemiologists created faulty lockdown models. The media promoted fear. Politicians assumed worst-case scenarios, and big tech suppressed dissenting views. This is how people’s fears grew disproportional to reality and how seemingly short-term lockdowns stretched into months.
DID YOU KNOW?
As of May 20 the CDC estimates that coronavirus has an overall infection fatality rate of 0.26%. The CDC further estimates that people under age 50 have a 99.97% survival rate.
COVID-19 hospitalizations dropped 38% within three weeks of reopening in Georgia. Some schools in Montana and Idaho have been reopened for weeks with no drama. Wisconsin had all of its lockdown restrictions struck down by the state Supreme Court on May 13 and 10 days later hospitals there were treating around 400 known COVID-19 patients across the entire state of 5.8 million people.
New York City has had fewer than 100 total deaths from COVID-19 cases without preexisting conditions.
If any of this sounds surprising, you’re not alone, and it’s probably a result of the reporting bias most of the media has adopted during this pandemic. I understand the media needs to create sensation for more clicks and advertising money, but some outlets have displayed such an imbalance in reporting that they can no longer be taken as an impartial source of information.
[Dhaka Tribune] Twenty-six Bangladeshis are among the 30 migrants colonists killed by the family of a Libyan people trafficker in Dire Revenge for his death. Libya's internationally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) said in a statement on Thursday that the attack took place in the town of Mizda, reports Rooters.
Life lesson: Don’t go to Libya to be trafficked to Europe. The Turkey route is probably safer.
Bangladesh officials said that they were trying to get in touch with its mission in Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... "We are trying to contact with the labour counselor [in Libya] to get the details. It seems they were kidnapped before the killing," Joint Secretary Nasreen Jahan of the expatriates’ welfare ministry told the Dhaka Tribune.
The GNA interior ministry said in a statement that 26 Bangladeshi and four African migrants colonists had been killed and that 11 injured survivors were taken to a hospital in Zintan, according to the Rooters report.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/29/2020
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: Human Trafficking
#1
Bangladesh is one of the world’s largest exporters of manpower. The U.N. migration agency estimates there are 24,000 Bangladeshi migrants in Libya - the largest number of people from Asia and 4% of the entire migrant population.
[Rudaw] 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) forces of Evil will take advantage of the recent US drawdown in Iraq and Syria to increase attacks on "the crusaders", ISIS front man Abu Hamza al-Qurashi said in an audio statement published Thursday.
In the 33-minute recording released on messaging app Telegram, titled "The Crusaders Will Know Who Will Win in the End", Qurashi claimed the recent wave of attacks is only the start of a much broader campaign to come.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife ||
05/29/2020
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[12 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
[Indian Express] Highly placed sources told The Indian Express that a detailed analysis of satellite images has shown extensive deployment of towed artillery and mechanised elements on the Chinese side, bringing Indian deployments within striking distance.
As Delhi and Beijing turn to their working mechanism at the level of diplomats to reduce military tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, there’s evidence of the Chinese having deployed towed artillery and mechanised elements on their side of the LAC opposite the Galwan valley.
Highly placed sources told The Indian Express that a detailed analysis of satellite images has shown extensive deployment of towed artillery and mechanised elements on the Chinese side, bringing Indian deployments within striking distance.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
05/29/2020
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[28 views]
Top|| File under: Commies
#1
Just creating an external threat for the rubes and rubettes back home. It’s what dictators do.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
05/29/2020 0:37
Comments ||
Top||
[RADIOSHABELLE] Somali National Army (SNA) on Tuesday killed seven al-Shabaab ...... the personification of Somali state failure... gunnies in an operation in the central region of Hiran, a military commander said.
Mohamud Hassan Ibrahim, commander of SNA’s 22 Unit section 27, told news hounds that government forces conducted an operation inflicting casualties on the hard boys.
The commander said the operation was a planned one, aiming at destroying the terrorist group.
The last incident came barely a day after Jubaland forces killed four al-Shabaab gunnies in an intense clash in Dhobley town in the country’s southern region of Lower Juba.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/29/2020
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[10 views]
Top|| File under: al-Shabaab (AQ)
According to the publication, the Turkish military transport aircraft C-130 (Hercules) have been recently monitored making their way to the North African country .
It is reported that these planes are transporting military equipment and fighters from the Syrian opposition factions to Libya.
It also landed at the Libyan city of Misrata, which has become the main receiving point for arms shipments from Turkey and Qatar.
As the military expert Yuri Liamin notes, based on the published data at the “Russian Weapons” portal, transport planes flew in the mode of switching off the transmitters and receivers, and they denied the Turkish Air Force flights.
As is well known, Turkey has deployed its forces to the Misrata area, along with its MIM-23 Hawk anti-aircraft missile systems.
Former Egyptian Assistant Foreign Minister Jamal #Bayoumi accused #Turkey, #ISIS, and other militias of draining #Libya's resources since the outbreak of the political crisis against the #LNA.
[Sudan Tribune] A Sudanese army officer and a child have been killed in cross-border attacks carried out by Æthiopian army forces and militiamen, said the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) on Thursday.
Al-Burhan speaks to the media flanked by Hamdok after the end of the mutiny of GIS forces (ST photo)In a statement extended to Sudan Tribune, Brigadier Amer Mohammed al-Hassan, SAF front man said that Æthiopian gunnies on Thursday morning sought to collect water from the Atbara River and clashed with the Sudanese troops in the area when it prevented them from taking water.
"A militiaman was maimed as a result of the exchange of fire while the assailant withdrew to a military camp of the Æthiopian army east of Barakat Nourain areas," he said before to add that they resumed their attack with the support of an Æthiopian infantry company and clashed with the Sudanese army again."
This is the first time that Sudan openly accused the Æthiopian army of involvement in the attacks against Sudanese farmers in the border areas. In the past, Sudanese official used to accuse armed gangs of these attacks.
Al-Hassan said the Æthiopian troop killed a captain and maimed six other army members including a first lieutenant. He further said that the Æthiopian forces used machine guns, sniper rifles and RPG guns.
The military front man further said that the Æthiopian army spinners killed a child and maimed three civilians during the festivities which continued until the afternoon.
Eyewitnesses from Barakat Nourain area told Sudan Tribune that two children were killed and dozens of civilians were maimed. They added that civilians fled the border areas as a result of the fighting between the two sides.
The Æthiopian army did not issue a statement about these attacks.
Army generals from both sides held recently a series of meetings in Khartoum and agreed to establish a coordination mechanism to prevent cross border attacks.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/29/2020
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[16 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Sudan
[THEBAGHDADPOST] Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhmi praised the efforts of the intelligence and counter-terrorism services that led to the killing of the terrorist Moataz al-Jubouri.
The front man for the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Brigadier Yahya Rasoul, said in a statement received by the Iraqi News Agency (INA): "The Prime Minister, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Mustafa al-Kadhmi, thanks and appreciates the efforts of the National Intelligence Service and the Counter-Terrorism Service for their high coordination in exchanging the information that led To the killing of the terrorist Moataz Noman Abdul Naif Najm al-Jubouri al-Makani (Haji Tayseer), who is the so-called governor of Iraq and the assistant leader of ISIS gangs for all states affairs and responsible for planning and coordinating external terrorist operations.
He added, "He was targeted by an air strike by the international coalition aircraft, according to Iraqi intelligence, and by the follow-up of members of the security services of this terrorist for a period of not long."
[Sudan Tribune] The Sudanese Congress Party (SCoP) has voiced its support to the position of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement led by Abdel Aziz al-Hilu (SPLM-N al-Hilu) calling to include the secular state in the stalled grinding of the peace processor in Juba.
The talks between the two sides for peace in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan states are deadlocked because the government refuses to discuss the matter at the peace venue saying the decision on this fundamental issues should be endorsed by a comprehensive constitutional conference not at the negotiating table with one group.
The SCoP which is part of the Forces for Freedom and Change supporting the transitional government however issued a position paper last week about the "Current Political Situation in Sudan" where it publicly backed the position of the SPLM-N al-Hilu.
"We affirm the fairness and soundness of the position put forward by the SPLM-N about the need to address the relationship between religion and the state in a way that clearly differentiates between them," said the centre-left party before to stress that it is a "necessity of building the citizenship- state"
The left-centre party nonetheless stressed that this measure should be adopted within a package that includes emphasizing the unity of Sudan.
The SPLM-N al-Hilu calls in its position paper to include the secular state and the right to self-determination for the Blue Nile and South Kordofan while the whole political forces reject this option.
For its part, the SPLM-N on Wednesday welcomed the position of the SCoP and called on its leadership to work together to promote this idea.
"While we commend this courageous and patriotic stance, we call on the Sudanese Congress Party to establish a joint work to consolidate and promote these values and guiding principles as a basis for achieving unity in diversity and political stability," said Amar Daldoum SPLM-N al-Hilu Secretary-General.
He also called on the political forces to take advantage of the opportunity created by December Revolution to address the root cause of the Sudanese crisis and build a secular, democratic, decentralized state based on "freedom, justice, and equality".
The Sudanese government and the SPLM-N Agar are finalizing peace talks and expected to sign an initial peace agreement on 20 June in Juba.
The SPLM-N Agar calls for self-rule for the Two Areas.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/29/2020
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[14 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Sudan
[RADIOSHABELLE] A bigwig with Somali police force was among two killed in a car kaboom in Mogadishu, the Somali capital on Thursday morning, local authorities said.Abdishakur Hussein, the police officer, and another occupant bit the dust after an improvised bomb concealed in their car went off around Muna hotel.
Al-Shabaab ...... the personification of Somali state failure... has immediately grabbed credit for the attack, which becomes the third of its kind in the capital within this month. Gen Ali Gaab escaped two similar attacks.
Mogadishu has been relatively calm in the past as the police stepped up measures to avert the frequent al-Shabaab boom-mobiles in the seaside capital that hosts the government.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/29/2020
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11 views]
Top|| File under: al-Shabaab (AQ)
#Rwanda’s High Court sentences a former mayor to life in prison for his role in the country’s 1994 genocide, which included leading attacks that resulted in the deaths of around 25,000 ethnic Tutsis in his town.https://t.co/LtrUBccsPp
— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) May 29, 2020
Posted by: Fred ||
05/29/2020
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[8 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
“Wheels of justice grind slow but grind fine” ST
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
05/29/2020 12:05
Comments ||
Top||
[ALMASDARNEWS] The head of the Russian reconciliation center, Rear Admiral Oleg Zhuravlev, revealed on Wednesday evening that the terrorist group behind the attack on the Ottoman Turkish Army vehicle in Idlib was a foreign jihadist faction that is operating inside the governorate.According to Zhuravlev, the Russian military learned that the terrorist group behind the attack was the Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP). ...the Al Qaeda-linked Uighur jihadi group from western China formerly known as the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) and other names. It claims to want a caliphate in Xinjiang, and according to China committed 200+ jihadi attacks causing over 600 casualties between 1990 and 2001. In 1998 they moved their headquarters to Kabul under the protection of the Taliban, then after 9/11 moved to North Waziristan under the protection of Pakistan branch of the Taliban (TTP). There is a second branch in Syria, allied with Al Nusra and Turkey. Also, a TIP man sits on Al Qaeda’s executive leadership council, and another is emir of Al Qaeda’s military force in Pakistan’s FATA. This may explain why China feels so strongly about the need to correct the thinking of their countrymen who remained behind...
"According to the information received by the Russian Centre for the Reconciliation of Warring Parties, the holy warriors of the Turkestan Islamic Party were involved in the attack, which activated IEDs during the movement of the Ottoman Turkish military convoy near the ammunition depot of the terrorist group", Zhuravlev said.
Zhuravlev said the roadside kaboomexploded along the M-4 Highway (Aleppo-Latakia Highway) at 10:40 A.M.; he said they were conducting their daily patrol when the earth-shattering kaboom happened.
"One Ottoman Turkish soldier who received multiple shrapnel wounds as a result of the earth-shattering kaboom and was evacuated to The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor... , died", Zhuravlev went on to say.
He did not reveal how the Russian military obtained this information.
The Ottoman Turkish Ministry of Defense later confirmed the death of their soldier, while adding that another was hospitalized for minor wounds.
[NY Post] A married couple was executed by firing squad in North Korea after being caught trying to flee with their 14-year-old nephew, according to a report.
The husband and wife, from Ryanggang province near China, were trying to escape earlier this month despite the country’s strict coronavirus quarantine, sources told Radio Free Asia.
It is believed the couple, thought to be in their 50s, were trying to bring their teen nephew back to his parents in South Korea, according to the report.
"The boy’s father, who escaped to South Korea, had asked his sister to bring his son to him," a resident of Ryanggang, who requested to stay anonymous, told the outlet.
But the source said border security has been tightened due to the country’s quarantine measures, making the attempted escape an "extremely dangerous and risky act."
The couple was tortured into confessing their escape plans and executed by a firing squad, while their nephew was spared due to his age, according to the report.
"The supreme leadership has ordered that those who attempt to flee the country during the emergency period must be sternly punished. There’s no way they could have avoided the firing squad because they attempted to defect to South Korea," the source said.
Another resident of Ryanggang confirmed that the story has been spreading by word of mouth around the region, the report said.
"As people hear this shocking news, they are expressing their anger at the authorities, saying there’s nothing wrong with trying to escape from North Korea, especially when it is so hard to make ends meet due to the coronavirus crisis," the second source said.
North Korean reports have suggested that the coronavirus crisis has been under control, but experts have raised doubts and speculated that Kim Jong Un has been hiding from public life to prevent himself from being infected from the virus.
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/29/2020
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[14 views]
Top|| File under: Commies
[Dhaka Tribune] A consignment of heroin was recovered from two baby food and daily essentials parcels of a courier service from Dhaka.
The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) seized the parcels of heroin weighing 1.6kg and worth Tk2 crore.
Besides, two persons, Soibur Rahman, 32, and Nazma Akter, 28, were detained in Dhaka on Thursday afternoon in connection with the incident.
RAB-2 Superintendent of Police Muhammed Mohiuddin Faruqe said the duo had been living in Dhaka’s Ashulia area, passing themselves off as a married couple, despite the fact that they were not married to each other.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/29/2020
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: Narcos
China’s National People’s Congress endorses controversial new law to ban all “activities” in Hong Kong that endanger China’s national security at the closing session of its annual parliamentary meeting in Beijing. https://t.co/cbRYCXjrbJ
[Rudaw] Two Ottoman Turkish-backed Syrian opposition groups have reportedly engaged in "fierce" festivities in the northeast Syrian border town of Ras al-Ain, also known by the Kurdish name Sari Kani.
The infighting occurred between Suqour al-Shamal and the 20th Division, a group associated with al-Hamza Division, according to the UK-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). Both are components of the Ottoman Turkish-based Syrian National Army, the largest coalition of Syrian rebel groups opposed to the regime of Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor. If he'd stuck with it he'd have had a good practice by now... "All [of the festivities] are part of ongoing campaigns against undisciplined groups in the area," General Yousif Mohammed Abu Khalid of the Syrian National Army told Rudaw English.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife ||
05/29/2020
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[22 views]
Top|| File under: Sublime Porte
#1
Appears to be Sari Kani private rodeo. Please pass the popcorn and continue to monitor via orbiting platforms.
Hat tip to the Orange Man for avoiding another muslim klusterfok.
[BREITBART] Thursday on Hugh Hewitt’s nationally syndicated radio show, Sen. Lindsey Graham ...soft-spoken senator from South Carolina, former best buddy of John Maverick McCain. Since McCain's demise, Graham has become more outspoken, more Republican and more of a supporter of President Trump. The speech he gave in support of Brett Kavanaugh was downright manly and really cheesed off the Dems... (R-SC), the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, told listeners he planned to call a number of ex-B.O. regime officials to testify before his committee.
Among those are former FBI Director JamesThe spine of the FBI is the rule of law Comey The disgraced, except in his own mind, former head of the FBI... , former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe, former CIA Director John Brennan ...director of the CIA under the Obama administration. One of the deeper dwelling denizens of the Deep State, probably the guy who lit the match that launched the Russiagate coup attempt... and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. Graham added he did not know if former National Security Advisor Susan Rice and former Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes would be called to testify before his committee but said he was deferring to Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, to investigate matters pertaining to the period between the 2016 presidential election and inauguration.
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/29/2020 9:19
Comments ||
Top||
#6
We do have a primary in SC on June 9. So Lindsey has to act like a conservative for a while.
Posted by: Tom ||
05/29/2020 13:08
Comments ||
Top||
#7
It all depends on the questions and how hard they are going to go after these criminals. Hard questions, and contempt with incarceration must be the terms. Either that or "Plead the 5th"
Posted by: Marilyn Tojo7566 ||
05/29/2020 18:09
Comments ||
Top||
[BREITBART] Former Vice President Joe Foreign Policy Whiz Kid Biden ...We hold these truths to be self-evident. All men and women created ... by the — you know — you know, the thing... is backtracking on the idea that his eventual running mate will be a woman of color.
Biden, who is facing criticism after appearing to claim that African Americans considering voting for President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... "ain’t black," told CNN’s Dana Bash on Tuesday during an interview that he was not ready to promise to put a woman of color on the ticket despite rumors in recent weeks that he was heading in that direction.
"Look, I’m not going to get into that now because we haven’t gotten there yet," the former vice president said when asked if his running mate would be a woman of color. "There are women of color under consideration and there are women from every part of the country under consideration." "I've got binders of wymyns"
"There’s a lot of really qualified women that are ready to be president, but I’m not making that commitment," Biden added.
The former vice president’s declaration comes as speculation about who will be his running mate has increased in recent weeks. Biden, himself, has only stoked such talk. Earlier this year, Biden promised that his running mate would be a woman, then followed that up by asserting that whoever he ultimately chose would have to be "ready to be president on a moment’s notice."
While the former vice president has engaged in such discussion publicly, his allies within the Democrat camp have been actively pushing for a woman of color. The effort largely stems from the outsize influence black voters have on the Democrat primary and the general election. That influence was seen at the outset of the presidential primaries this year when Biden’s campaign flopped in the first two early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire. Although most political analysts were quick to write off his White House ambitions after those defeats, Biden rallied his campaign by scoring a landslide win in South Carolina thanks to his longstanding support among black voters, who made up nearly two-thirds of the state’s primary electorate.
#7
It's shaping up to be a loser ticket. Other than Boxcar Abrams (who has never had a job), not many people are interested in leaving their 'day job' for a losing ticket.
The brutal murder of three Chinese factory bosses in #Zambia, allegedly killed by disgruntled employees, has rekindled tensions over #China’s strong presence in the country.https://t.co/63COyukYZR
— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) May 28, 2020
Posted by: Fred ||
05/29/2020
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[12 views]
Top|| File under: Commies
[BREITBART] Thursday, during an interview with TMZ, Rep. The Ageless and Downright Brilliant Comrade Maxine Impeach 45! Waters ...U.S. Representative for California's 43rd congressional district, serving since 1991, a total of 28.49214 years. A member of the Democratic Party, she is the most senior of the twelve black women currently serving in the United States Congress, and a member and former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. Before becoming a member of Congress she served in the California Assembly, to which she was first elected back when Disco was in flower, in 1976, which would make it 43.49009 years. She has been a politician for virtually all her adult life. If she was a little brighter she'd be a Communist... (D-CA) accused President Donald Trump ...the Nailer of NAFTA... of "dog-whistling" which creates an environment that leads to a police officer "enjoying" the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Waters said, "I’m reflecting of all the killings of young black men in particular but of course black woman as well, at the hands of police and at the hands if white supremacists. I’m thinking about the way that the president conducts himself in a way he’s dog-whistling. And I think that they are feeling that they can get away with this kind of treatment." I hold Maxine (along with Rev. Al and their seedy ilk) responsible for the killing of every single white, Hispanic, Asian, and Indian in the country.
[THEGATEWAYPUNDIT] A Paterson NAACP leader said the recent city council vote-by-mail election was allegedly so flawed that the results should be thrown out and a new election ordered.
"Invalidate the election. Let’s do it again," said Rev. Kenneth Clayton said amid reports more that 20 percent of all ballots were disqualified, some in connection with voter fraud allegations...
...Rev. Clayton said the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) will soon be filing a written complaint to Gov. Phil Murphy — who ordered the vote-by-mail only election — and State Attorney General Grubir Grewal.
Paterson activist Ernest Rucker said his experience this election is an example of the kind of corruption that allegedly took place. Rucker said he never received a ballot but that election records show someone mailed in a ballot in his name...
...Murphy ordered elections vote-by-mail in an attempt to keep people safe during the coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague) ...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men... crisis. In the upcoming primary, the governor will allow one in-person voting site per town.
In addition to apparent problems with the vote count in Paterson, NBC New York has shown video of ballots left out in building lobbies, of one voter handling many ballots, and reported on postal workers reporting finding hundreds of ballots at a time stuffed in mailboxes in Paterson — and even in a neighboring town, Haledon...
#3
Just one more example of how voting should proceed non-stop until the "correct" outcome is achieved.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/29/2020 12:08
Comments ||
Top||
#4
I honestly agree with the NAACP leader... provided the next election allows for absolute no vote by mail except for certified absentee ballots, and in person voting is universally available again. This is a scam of enormous proportions.
[IsraelTimes] Minnesota Governor Tim Walz called in the National Guard as a maimed Minneapolis braced for more violence Thursday, one day after rioting over the death of a handcuffed black man in police custody reduced parts of one neighborhood to a smoking shambles, with burned buildings, looted stores and angry graffiti demanding justice.
The unrest ravaged several blocks in the Longfellow neighborhood, with scattered rioting reaching for miles across the city. It was the second consecutive night of violent protests following the death of George Floyd, who gasped for breath during a Monday arrest in which an officer kneeled on his neck for almost eight minutes. In footage recorded by a bystander, Floyd can be heard pleading that he can’t breathe until he slowly stops talking and moving.
Another protest was announced for Thursday evening near county offices downtown. Some stores in Minneapolis and the suburbs planned to close early, fearing more strife. The city shut down its light-rail system and planned to stop all bus service "out of concern for the safety of riders and employees," a statement said.
St. Paul front man Steve Linders said authorities have been dealing with unrest in roughly 20 different areas throughout the city.
Protests also spread to other US cities. In Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party,, hundreds of people protesting Floyd’s death blocked a Los Angeles freeway and shattered windows of California Highway Patrol cruisers. Memphis police blocked a main thoroughfare after a racially mixed group of protesters gathered outside a police precinct. The situation intensified later in the night, with police donning riot gear and protesters standing shoulder-to-shoulder in front of officers stationed behind a barricade.
The 46-year-old Floyd died as police arrested him outside a convenience store after a report of a counterfeit bill being passed. The US Attorney’s Office and the FBI in Minneapolis said Thursday they were conducting "a robust criminal investigation" into the death and making the case a priority. The announcement came a day after US President Donald Trump ...The tack in the backside of the Democratic Party... tweeted that he had asked an investigation to be expedited.
#1
Floyd had been sentenced to five years in prison in 2009 for aggravated assault stemming from a robbery where Floyd entered a woman’s home, pointed a gun at her stomach and searched the home for drugs and money, according to court records
Model citizen he was. I'm glad the rap sheet was published.
#13
After recent outbreaks of fascism across the US, my sympathy for police has gone from low to zero. Looting and rioting is stupid, but outright revolt... perhaps would not be a bad idea.
“Redneck” parking lot Rooftop Koreans. They agree with the protesters, disagree with the looting:
These guys say they support the protests but not the looting. Showed up to help this tobacco store owner stop people from breaking in pic.twitter.com/x2FMQiQwVK
In 6 months to a year, expect local news stories on companies not rebuilding stores, a lack of jobs, and high prices. Connecting all these dots will be left as an exercise for the reader.
12-@newsisrael13: Hezbollah's Golan operations headed by "Hajj Hashem." Hezbollah operational unit, led by Abu Hussein Sajed, also acting there to establish infrastructure to attack Israel
Taha Ismail al-Qamudi Belaid, a #ISIS fighter fighting for the #GNA , killed in armed clashes against the Libyan army #LNA in the Wadi al-Rabi` axis today. pic.twitter.com/gK9xbMLcXZ
#GNA terrorist Field commander Muhammad Mukhtar Al-Dalaa Al-Misrati killer by the #LNA’s Lions of 128 infantry in the Wadi Al-Rabi'a axis. #ليبياpic.twitter.com/UPbVxeZKaA
#GNA militia member from misrata Adel Risa killed by the #LNA today in #Tripoli. Adel is wanted for four accounts of kidnapping and blackmails. And the The Gargour massacre .#Libyapic.twitter.com/od4jLO1Krx
#GNA militia leader Muhammad Abdullah Karsem (Al-Barduz) from Misrata killed today by the Libyan Army #LNA . That makes it 10 GNA commanders killed today in #Tripoli .#Libyapic.twitter.com/xSiLCLwv61
According to the 128th brigade operations room 13 Syrian #Terrorists 9 Libyan #GNA militia commanders died in a attempt to save these two after they were surrounded in Wadi ALRabi Axis #Tripoli today Viva #LNA#Libyahttps://t.co/p1nug12XBf
Killed by the #LNA military official (Abu al-King al-Jasem) was born in April 1973 and a resident of Homs Syria. Field commander of the "Sultan Suleiman Shaah Brigade" loyal to #Turkey He came to #Libya in December 2019 to fight for the expired #GNA for $ 2,000 pic.twitter.com/dTfVsysMZ5
[Rudaw] Four people guarding a power transmission tower in Daquq, south of Kirkuk, ... a thick stew of Arabs, Turkmen, Kurds, and probably Antarcticans, all of them mutually hostile most of the time... were kidnapped by unidentified button men on Wednesday, according to local officials, who believe they are being held to extort money from their families.
Among those kidnapped is Dilan Mofq, a 23-year-old ethnic Kurd and teaching graduate, who was working as a guard for a monthly salary of 250,000 dinars ($205).
His father, Mofaq Rashid, says the kidnappers have called him asking for a $150,000 ransom in return for his son’s release.
"During Eid [al-Fitr], he [Dilan] went back to work. I asked him not to go, but he said he had to," Rashid told Rudaw on Thursday.
"At 12am [on Wednesday], their boss called me saying there is a roaring of cycle of violences in the region, let them remain vigilant. I therefore called my son warning him of the movements. He replied; ’dad, we are awake’," he said.
"After a few minutes, I called him back, but he never replied. During the daylight, we went to the spot where we found that they along their weapons and cycle of violences had been kidnapped," he added.
No group has grabbed credit for the abduction nor did the families specifically accuse 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) faceless myrmidons of taking their sons.
ISIS faceless myrmidons have relied heavily on kidnap and ransom to obtain money, regularly establishing fake checkpoints. The fate of many civilians kidnapped by the group remains unknown.
Residents of Daquq have repeatedly called on Baghdad to send troops to secure the district against ISIS remnants operating in the area.
Rashid says they are trying to trace the whereabouts of their sons through tribal leaders and other social figures.
He said the kidnappers already warned them that they must not inform security forces if they pay the ransom for the release of their sons.
According to data Rudaw’s Hiwa Hussamedin received from Daquq local authorities, unidentified button men in the region have kidnapped 12 people in the past month alone.
Ramazan Talabani, the chieftain of Yangija village, says they have previously been able to secure the release of kidnapped individuals by paying ransoms.
"When the Iraqi Federal Police were here, five workers at a petrol station were kidnapped. We released them on ransom," Talabani said, without explaining when the exchange occurred. "Therefore, we are trying to speak to them to know what they really want."
Talabani hopes to find a solution to free the hostages because "by using force, we cannot do anything against them."
Saad Harbiya, commander of Kirkuk Operations Command, downplayed the spate of abductions, saying the security of the region is "under control".
"Thanks be to God, the security of the region is under control. Our forces are ready and playing a good role in their duties," Harbiya told Rudaw.
Many Kurds in Daquq have previously abandoned their homes, fearing the resurgence of ISIS. Iraqi security forces are only present inside the cities and larger towns of southern and western Kirkuk, leaving swathes of the countryside undefended.
Disputed territories claimed by both Erbil and Baghdad in the provinces of Kirkuk, Nineveh, Diyala, and Salahadin have become a hotbed for the bully boyz group’s activities.
[ToloNews] Sources within the Afghan government and the Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... said an "unannounced ceasefire" has been in place since May 27 and will remain in effect for the next several days, but reports indicate that the three festivities occurred in Zabul, Farah and Parwan over the last 24 hours.
The Eid ceasefire--from May 24 to May 26-- was announced by the Taliban and reciprocated by the Afghan government, and, according to figures provided by the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, civilian casualties dropped by 80 percent.
There were reports of two security incidents in each of the three days of Eid, which was significantly less than recent averages.
According to the AIHRC, before the ceasefire, up to 30 Afghans were killed and maimed as a result of war and violence in the country on a daily basis.
Zabul in the south, Farah in the west and Parwan in the center of Afghanistan have witnessed festivities between government forces and the Taliban in the last 24 hours, according to officials and local sources.
Meanwhile, ...back at the pond, the enormous newt was trying to decide if Gloria was edible... the Taliban has claimed that an Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... by Afghan forces in Zabul has claimed civilians’ lives.
A former Taliban commander, Sayed Akbar Agha, said the group announced the Eid ceasefire on it's own, it was not part of "an agreement."
Siahgerd district in Parwan witnessed Taliban attacks on Wednesday evening that continued until Thursday morning, according to the provincial governor’s spokesperson Wahida Shahkar.
"The Taliban attacked the local army’s outpost in Siahgerd district at 2am and seven members of the local army were martyred and two of them were taken by the Taliban and one of them was maimed," she said.
According to Dadullah Qane, a member of the Farah Provincial Council, the Taliban attacked the northern parts of the city of Farah on Wednesday evening.
"Any side who intentionally attacks civilians is disrespecting their countrymen," Qane said.
But the north of the country has faced no clash in the last five days, according to security officials.
"Fortunately, there wasn’t any movement in the areas under Shaheen 209's responsibility and the ceasefire has been observed so far," said Mohammad Haneef Rezaee, a front man for Shaheen 209 Corps.
The Taliban's Saturday night announcement of an Eid ceasefire prompted President Ashraf Ghani ...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money... on Sunday to pledge the release of 2,000 Taliban prisoners for Eid.
The US-Taliban agreement calls for 5,000 Taliban detainees to be released by the Afghan government, and 1,000 security force members to be released by the Taliban.
900 Taliban prisoners were released since the Eid ceasefire was called, and more releases are planned.
On Thursday night the Taliban released 80 members of Afghan forces in Baghlan and Kunduz, said Suhail Shaheen, a front man of the group.
[ToloNews] "At least seven Afghan forces were killed and one was wounded after the Taliban attacked a security checkpoint in northern Parwan province on Wednesday night," said Wahida Shahkar, a spokeswoman for the provincial governor.
The Taliban attacked the security checkpoint In Seyagerd district and clashed with Afghan security forces, according to Shahkar.
“The Taliban also suffered casualties but there is no exact information about the number,” she said.
In the meantime, a security source said that at least 10 security forces were killed, and “the Taliban torched the bodies.”
[AMGREATNESS] Robert Mueller’s hard-charging former "pit bull" Andrew Weissmann plans to participate in an upcoming fundraiser for Democrat presidential candidate Joe Foreign Policy Whiz Kid Biden ...I had the great honor of being arrested with our UN Ambassador on the streets of Soweto, trying to get to see him on Robbens Island... , effectively ending his television career at NBC News. The network’s policy reportedly requires that employees avoid activities "that may create the appearance of a conflict of interest."
"If the fundraiser goes forward, I’m withdrawing from MSNBC so I can be in compliance with their policy," Weissmann told the Washington Free Beacon on Friday.
Weissmann joined MSNBC as a legal analyst in November, offering advice to House Democrats during their unsuccessful impeachment gambit against President Trump.
He told the Free Beacon that when he notified the network about his plan to headline the June 2 fundraiser for Biden, he understood that the activity was prohibited by his contract.
"I knew what I was getting into and what the consequences would be," Weissmann said. "They wanted me to adhere to their policy."
The Free Beacon had previously reported on Weissmann’s fundraising plans, noting that the political activity would have violated the network’s longstanding policies.
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.
...cryptocommie mayor of New York and for some reason a Dem candidate for president in 2020. Corrupt and incompetent, his qualifications for office seem to consist of being married to a black woman, with whom he honeymooned in Cuba. He has a preppy-looking son named Dante, whose Divine Comedy involved getting his back hair up when a police car drove past him slowly. New Yorkers voted for him, so they deserve him...
[CNN] CNN's 
[Babylon Bee] KENTON, WA—A gunman was released from police custody on Thursday after it was determined by experts that the people he had shot were victims of COVID-19 and not his psychotic bloodlust-induced blind-firing rage-spree death-binge through downtown Kenton last week with three AR-15's, seventeen uzis, and one bazooka and zero clothes on. "Our apologies," said officers as they unlocked the man's cuffs and let him walk free, snickering and shaking like a lunatic with drool hanging from his chin.
[AEI Blog] The map above (click to enlarge) shows three geographical regions of the US by counties that each account for one-third of the COVID-19 deaths as of about May 8:
...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men...
[American Thinker] What is the stock market telling us about the November election?
...... the personification of Somali state failure...
[THEBAGHDADPOST] Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhmi praised the efforts of the intelligence and counter-terrorism services that led to the killing of the terrorist Moataz al-Jubouri.
...... the personification of Somali state failure...
...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor...
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
The disgraced, except in his own mind, former head of the FBI...
...
...U.S. Representative for California's 43rd congressional district, serving since 1991, a total of 28.49214 years. A member of the Democratic Party, she is the most senior of the twelve black women currently serving in the United States Congress, and a member and former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. Before becoming a member of Congress she served in the California Assembly, to which she was first elected back when Disco was in flower, in 1976, which would make it 43.49009 years. She has been a politician for virtually all her adult life. If she was a little brighter she'd be a Communist...
...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men...
...The tack in the backside of the Democratic Party...
...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 
...
...
