A gunman is among the 'multiple fatalities' after a mass shooting broke out at an online gaming tournament in Florida that was partially captured on a horrifying livestream.
Local media are reporting that four people are dead and 11 have been injured in the shooting at the Jacksonville Landing complex in Jacksonville on Sunday afternoon.
The Jax Sheriff's Office confirmed there were multiple fatalities and injuries and said one suspect was dead at the scene. It is unclear if there are any other suspects.
The shooting broke out during the Madden NFL online gaming tournament, which was being hosted at the Chicago Pizza restaurant.
Witnesses have said the shooter was a player who had just lost in the tournament. One witness told CNN he saw the gunman shoot multiple people before killing himself.
#2
I was doing LAN party gaming pre-decent internet. Took over most of the house. Star-craft, unreal, quake, Counter-strike.
Was one of the first on ADSL in the UK and we had a NT server running NAT for the USB internet connection, and we owned (until the opposition caught up)!
[PJ] In a study called "Money, Work, and Marital Stability," Harvard sociology professor Alexandra Killewald made an interesting discovery: "husbands’ lack of full-time employment is associated with higher risk of divorce." Killewald ‐ who studies how gender shapes "the mutual relationships between family circumstances and work outcomes in the United States" ‐ glumly concludes from her research that "the husband breadwinner norm persists."
When asked recently by Steve Calechman of fatherly.com to speculate as to why husbands not working might contribute to higher divorce rates, Killewald talked about the harmful effects of this gender expectation. "If the expectation [to work] is from him, he could become depressed, drink more, and do other unhelpful behaviors for the marriage," Killewald said. "It’s also possible that wives expect husbands to work full-time and when they don’t, they think that’s a signal about not being a good husband," she continued. Her final speculation (none of these scenarios were backed by any research) was that "other people around the couple could have opinions about him being out of work and that could affect the stability [of the marriage]."
What Killewald doesn’t say, of course, is that men who aren’t working might become depressed because men, as a general rule, don’t find as much inherent fulfillment in homemaking as women do. What she also didn’t say was that women, as a general rule, aren’t attracted to men who don’t exhibit professional ambition and drive, and a desire to provide for the family. I mean, if we’re just speculating, we might as well throw a little realism into the mix too, right?
Interestingly, Killewald’s research indicated that the amount of money the husband makes does not play into this statistic. "It’s about something about work itself," Killewald explains (we can just imagine her shaking her head in mystification about what this could be).
Dr. Lisa Neff, a researcher at the University of Texas' Austin Marriage Project, conducted a study that found that "what reduces men's stress is feeling competent," while this was not a factor for women. Another study, out of Oxford University, found that "a man’s happiness is tied to whether he can beat his parents' academic achievements," while a woman’s happiness was not. Men are happier when they are working. But women’s happiness was not as directly tied to this kind of success. This is important because, while feminists like Killewald want us to believe that these "gender norms" are harmful to society, happiness studies indicate that men and women are simply made happier by different things. Work is very important to men’s happiness, whereas women, in general, can find happiness elsewhere.
#3
If arguing over Family Finances is one, if not the leading causes of divorce then this should be obvious. A lousy breadwinner is not a recipe for marital bliss.
#2
Unfortunately, get used to seeing these types roll out from the left...ill-informed, selectively educated in left leaning colleges, lack of depth, and no understanding of life outside the "bubble"
#4
Which means, ultimately, that Ocasio-Cortez is not even a socialist, no matter how much she might want to call herself that. She is a big government statist who believes in little more than confiscatory taxes, bloated spending, and a government program for every problem in America.
Ironically, this makes her that which she least wants to be: a boring, fairly typical liberal, the likes of which we have seen in this country for a hundred years. Not new. Not trendy. Not fresh. She is essentially a 28 year old Walter Mondale.
Poor Walter! I thought he was smarter than that.
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/26/2018 12:04
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#5
It's not who she is, there are plenty like her. It's how many who are willing to support her.
#6
She is santa clause, she thinks she can magically give out stuff to the people and that stuff will magically somehow not cost any money. She's an idiot.
#7
The Wizard of Oz: Why,anybody can have a brain. That's a very mediocre commodity. Every pusillanimous creature that crawls on the Earth or slinks through slimy seas has a brain. Back where I come from, we have universities, seats of great learning, where men go to become great thinkers. And when they come out, they think deep thoughts and with no more brains than you have. But they have one thing you haven't got: a diploma.
[Business Insider SA] The agency behind an advert which made use of historically inaccurate information which it presented as fact, has apologised, withdrawn the campaign, and returned the Gold Loerie award it won at last weekends’ prestigious industry "Oscars".
TBWA Hunt Lascaris issued a statement on the sources used in "Past and Present" Campaign created for the Apartheid Museum at Gold Reef City.
"TBWA Hunt Lascaris confirms that it inadvertently took some of the sources believed to be trustworthy and used them in its recent award-winning ’Past and Present’ campaign at face value and should have dug deeper."
It highlights the significant risks associated with using contentious, unverified material in a social media age. The agency admits its own internal investigation showed several of the quotes it used "appear to be in question as to their true authenticity."
The advert juxtaposes audio of racist things allegedly said by US President Donald Trump and apartheid-era prime minister Hendrik Verwoerd. Three are attributed to Trump and four to Verwoerd. Actors’ voices were used to illustrate some of the supposed quotes.
#1
Animals and animal parts are the third most smuggled items (after drugs and cash). The reason is because we have created a huge black market - and thus huge profits - by banning their legal trade.
Elephant ivory is a great example. Zoos have too many bull elephants. You don't need very many for breeding programs. They need a lot of space (they must be kept separately from each other or they'll fight) and are expensive to feed. Those problems could be solved by buying up a couple hundred square miles of Kansas and letting them roam free. Fun for the tourists. No poachers. No cages. Pay for it all by humanely harvesting the ivory. Also, by creating a legal market you take pressure off wild populations. No point poaching if there isn't much profit.
Except that you can't, because sale of the ivory is banned, even from captive bred animals. So instead zoos are euthanizing the animals and poor African countries are using scarce resources to engage in gun battles with well armed and financed poachers. What a mess.
#9
I like the similar story of using trackers on zebra. When poachers show up the Rhinos aren't afraid so they are easy targets but the zebras scatter. The rangers no use the zebras to know when poachers are about. Took them to long to figure it out but I'm glad they did.
[Daily Caller] Following former Trump attorney Michael Cohen’s plea deal and the conviction of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, many Democrat lawmakers and Trump critics have called for a delay in the confirmation of Supreme Court justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh. What they’ve forgotten, it seems, is that both justices nominated by former President Bill Clinton were confirmed while he was under investigation.
SOME LAWMAKERS CLAIMED THAT HEARINGS SHOULD BE POSTPONED.
SOME SAID THAT, IN LIGHT OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS, THEY WOULD NOT EVEN MEET WITH KAVANAUGH.
But what no one seemed to recall was that when former President Bill Clinton nominated Ruth Bader Ginsburg to fill the seat left vacant by Justice Byron White in 1993, Clinton was under criminal investigation. Her confirmation was nearly unanimous ‐ 96-3 ‐ just 42 days later.
A year later in 1994, Clinton was under subpoena when Justice Harry Blackmun retired. In spite of that, he nominated Justice Stephen Breyer ‐ who was confirmed with a vote of 87-9 and no significant delays.
[American Thinker] There is no question that the Middle East Arab-Israeli oil situation is one of the world's most enduring and vexing problems. Almost every economically significant country in the world has a major stake in how this scenario plays out, and most countries orient and arrange a large part of their foreign policy and energy strategy with Middle East considerations front and center in their planning.
What if the United States had been presented with the opportunity to circumvent the Mideast Jewish-Arab oil crisis before it had a chance to metastasize into the worldwide scourge it is today? The opportunity did, in fact, present itself in 1945. Unfortunately, the United States ‐ under Franklin D. Roosevelt ‐ failed to capitalize on it, and thus the world today lives in constant danger caused by the flashpoint of those seemingly unending, unsolvable regional tensions.
The missed opportunity was the result of FDR's mishandling of his historic meeting with King Abdel Aziz ibn Saud of Arabia on Great Bitter Lake in the Suez Canal on February 14, 1945. FDR's actions here essentially created the 70-plus-year economic and political tensions and conflicts regarding oil that continue to afflict international relationships and define the national security and oil acquisition strategy of virtually every developed country in the world today. Most of the damaging international energy-related circumstances in the present-day world were set in motion by FDR's actions at that meeting.
Roosevelt knew that as America entered the post-WWII era, it would no longer be able to provide itself with enough oil-based fuel to meet its growing economic and military needs. Saudi Arabia, with its vast, largely untapped oil fields, was a key part of America's post-WWII economic puzzle. America needed to get there first, to be regarded by the Saudis as their trusted friend and ally, in order to receive favorable treatment and obtain prioritized access to Saudi oil, in preference over the other major WWII victors, like the Soviets, China, and Britain.
#3
Some believe the 'free stuff' programs began under FDR. Might explain his achieving a 4th (albeit unfinished) term in office. Others believed in the 1950's and 60's that, had he lived, he'd still have been president.
Similar to Clinton, with the assistance of loyal staff and a fawning media, FDR masked his 'physical' disability.
#5
Yes, he passed away in Warm Springs, GA. The museum and residence are interesting, but not very. The real treat is the Bullock House, now on main street. If you want to beat the 'Baptists to the buffet' on Sunday, you've better get there before 11:30.
[Townhall] In his new film, Death of a Nation, conservative commentator Dinesh D’Souza exposes the Democrats’ "big lie" that conservatives are fascists and racists.
In the film that is igniting a national conversation about the long-hidden history of the Democratic Party, D’Souza argues that the policies of Democrats and progressives are the intellectual heirs of slavery and genocide, and that their policies helped inspire Nazi Germany and the Holocaust.
In an exclusive interview with Townhall, D’Souza laid out his case.
One of the most striking things revealed in the film is that the Democratic Party was behind slavery, is linked to the Ku Klux Klan and has a long history of racism, and yet Democrats and progressives today say Republicans are racist. What is going on here?
D’Souza: Progressives have dominated the telling of the American narrative. Progressives are the ones who write the history books. Progressives are the ones who typically make the films. I’m sort of a stray dog in that field.
Now, these guys have gone to great lengths to camouflage the crimes of the Democratic Party and pin them on someone else. And that someone else varies. It could be just generically America. It could be generically the white man. And it could be, and frequently is, the South.
Now, this is a historical distortion. When (President Abraham) Lincoln named what he called the four bad guys of slavery, three out of four were northern Democrats.
And then after the Civil War, the Democrats lost the slave plantations so they had to come up with something new and so they invented white nationalism, or what we call today, white supremacy.
The Democratic Party used white nationalism as the glue to hold the party together, especially in the South.
#2
Today they use the boogeyman of "white nationalism" to hold their party together. They create the problem and profit from opposition to it at the same time.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
08/26/2018 12:39
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#3
Ironically they now also employ 'black nationalism' by creating the BLM and aligning with (if not sponsoring) the New Black Panthers. And lets not forget La Rasa (which literally means 'the race'... Didn't we hear someting very like that in 1930-40 Germany???)
#5
The left is unmoved by facts. The issue is to get the center to watch the movie and absorb things. The other issue is how big is the center at this point.
[UK's Independent] A network of Russian-linked Twitter accounts have been disseminating divisive content about Mollie Tibbetts' death in an apparent attempt to divert attention from explosive news surrounding Donald Trump and his former associates.
Almost immediately after a guilty verdict was announced in the trial of Paul Manafort, the president’s former campaign chairman convicted on eight counts of bank and tax fraud charges, there was a flurry of activity among hundreds of pro-Kremlin Twitter accounts believed to be controlled by Russian government influence operations. Those accounts began posting thousands of tweets about Ms Tibbetts, the 20-year-old University of Iowa student who had been missing for nearly five weeks.
Police had a major break in her case on Tuesday when surveillance footage led them to Cristhian Bahena Rivera, a 24-year-old suspect who brought authorities to a cornfield where they located a body believed to be Ms Tibbetts.
The discovery also coincided with groundbreaking news about Michael Cohen, the president’s former personal lawyer and "fixer" who plead guilty on Tuesday to eight counts of fraud and campaign finance violations.
#1
Almost immediately after a guilty verdict was announced
Some would say that was a 'secondary derivative'.
Were such an event believable the action should have begun during the runup to the trial then continued to it's conclusion.
As it is the trial verdict is an undiluted frozen moment in time fixated in our memories by the sudden transition in media emphasis.
[Harper Publishing - 2002] From the flap: In search of "the best America there ever was." bestselling author and award-winning journalist Bob Greene finds it in a small Nebraska town few people pass through today - a town where Greene discovers the echoes of the most touching love story imaginable: a love story between a country and it's sons.
During World War II, American soldiers from every city and walk of life rolled through North Platte, Nebraska on troop trains en route to their destinations in Europe and the Pacific. The tiny town, wanting to offer the servicemen warmth and support, transformed its modest railway depot into the North Platte Canteen.
Every day of the year, every day of the war, the Canteen- staffed and funded entirely by local volunteers - was open from A.M. until the last troop train of the day pulled away after midnight. Astonishingly, this remote plains community of only 12,000 people provided welcoming words, friendship, and baskets of food and treats to more than six million GIs by the time the war ended.
In this poignant and heartwarming eyewitness history, based on interviews with North Platte residents and the soldiers who once passed through, Bob Greene tells a classic, lost-in-the-mists-of-time American story of a grateful honoring its brave and dedicated sons.
#3
I've read it and it is a wonderful story that brought tears a couple of times. We also suspecy my FIL may have stopped there on 2 "government business" trips to Angel Island from his farm in Wisconsin.
[The Federalist] "There is no God in this book." So begins "Suicide of the West," Jonah Goldberg’s contribution to the recent flurry of discussion about the legacy of the Enlightenment. Unfortunately, there’s not much of the Enlightenment in the book, either.
If Steven Pinker’s "Enlightenment Now" treated the philosophical movement of the 18th century as if it were just a precursor to the contemporary center-left consensus, Goldberg’s defense of the Enlightenment ends up being mostly a rehearsal of boilerplate 20th-century American conservatism, including the fact that God does not actually stay out of the book.
The comparison is a more interesting one than I expected, because much of the book reads like an answer to the question, "What if Steven Pinker were a conservative?" Goldberg relies to a surprising degree on modern anthropology and on evolutionary psychology’s speculative parsing of the mentality of the cave man. This is reminiscent of Pinker’s reductive "scientism," but Goldberg gives it a somewhat different twist. He concludes that anthropology and evolutionary psychology reveal human nature to be inherently tribal, irrational, violent, cruel, obsessed with status, and oriented around rule by a strongman. Basically, it’s all "Lord of the Flies" ‐ which is, in fact, one of the examples he cites. In that novel, he explains, "The beast is not ’something you could hunt and kill,’ because the real beast resides inside all of the children themselves. That internal beast is human nature. It cannot be killed; it can only be tamed. And even then, constant vigilance is required."
This insistence that primitivism is natural and civilization is unnatural leaves Goldberg occasionally sounding like the Unfrozen Caveman Intellectual: "Beneath the layers of outward civilization lurks our more primal self, who finds the world around us complicated and artificial." Your modern ways frighten and confuse me.
#1
The fact that some rich guys prop up idiots like Goldberg, Kristol, Earickson, Shapiro et al is proof of Riverboat Slim's dictum that "Suckers aren't supposed to have money."
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
08/26/2018 6:28
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#3
Well, your Founders knew that civilization is unnatural - that's why they placed so many guards and limitations on your government. However, not being familiar with China, they did not anticipate the rise of the bureaucratic state.
#4
It must eat him up to know he doesn't matter anymore.
He'll make a nice living as the gimp for some rich donor who wants cheap intellectual adornments, and other "conservative" commentariat sites will continue to throw traffic his way per their bosses' orders.
But he knows deep down inside that most of us have tuned him out.
#8
Goldberg's "Miracle of the Enlightenment" gives much of the credit for economic growth to the rule of law and the credit of the rule of law to the western respect for sacred text. The sacred text allows the taming of the caveman.
There is nothing particularly 'dark' about this.
It is interesting that the rise of the economies of Japan, China and India are also coincident to the respect for the rule of law but not to the sacred texts of the west. Goldberg would probably claim that this is why their economic rise was delayed by centuries but that's just a guess.
Posted by: lord garth ||
08/26/2018 19:16
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[Breitbart] Kennesaw State University has cut four of the five cheerleaders who took a knee during the playing of the national anthem last year, according to reports.
The school newspaper, the Sentinel, noted that four of the five kneelers did not make the cut for the 2018 football season. KSU’s athletic department reported that 91 women tried out for the 52 spots on the various cheer squads, up from 61 applicants last year. The department also noted that three other members of last year’s teams also did not make the cut for this year.
"Similar to all KSU sports teams, multi-year spots on rosters are not guaranteed, and all student-athletes must earn their position on a team," a letter from the KSU athletic department stated according to the school’s paper.
The five cheerleaders made national news last year when they joined in with the NFL’s protests against the country during the playing of the national anthem. Their protests earned them the nickname "The Kennesaw Five."
#1
I hope this fine Georgia school survives the legal onslaught that will surely follow.
Government consolidated (socialized) school districts manned by unionized bureaucrats, and massive fleets of expensive Blud Birds really are the solution.
#1
It is an hour long but it gets very interesting as he goes through the timeline of the Quoran and points out that not only does Mohammed need a lear jet to do all the things it says he did- but also that Mecca is actually not mecca but everything points instead to Petra.
#2
It is clear from what is being discussed that the Quran is an invention to promote a political agenda and they played fast and loose with their writings and their history to erect this myth of mohammed, the kabah, mecca, and the visitations of the "angel" who was most certainly a satanic demon.
It is also clear that we Christians and Jews do not worship the same God as muslims. Their god is a pagan god the locals worshipped for centuries before mohammed.
It is also clear that they appropriated bits and pieces of the Book of Genesis possibly from stories told by travelers passing through the region from Judea.
I spent quite a time reading the Quran and comparing it to the Bible. The Quran is obviously a bastardized compilation of early Judeochristian teachings and local pagan stories mixed with messages delivered by a demon to a merchant
#3
It is clear from what is being discussed that the Quran is an invention to promote a political agenda and they played fast and loose with their writings and their history to erect this myth of mohammed, the kabah, mecca, and the visitations of the "angel" who was most certainly a satanic demon.
#5
What alpha, omega, et cetera
Slouched southward to Mecca from Petra?
Our elders and bettors
Had broken their fetters:
The unread undead of la letra!
No offense intended to any soul in Christendom... just riffing on #3.
France on Friday condemned the approval of 1,000 new housing units for Judea and Samaria by the Supreme Planning Council of the Civil Administration, reported Yediot Aharonot.
A statement issued by the French Embassy in Israel stated that the construction of the housing units, which causes the demolition and evacuation of Palestinian homes in Area C, harms a future Palestinian state.
#1
Hmmm...you and Germany transferred back and forth Alsace Lorraine more than once. Didn't seem to stop either from building during their time of ownership (by conquest).
h/t Instapundit
The left has a deep-seated death wish. By which I don’t mean they’re presenting themselves in the wrong light or whatever, I mean an actually bonafide death wish. They hate themselves, they hate the civilization that created them. They wish both would die.
They try to disguise this, of course, most of all to themselves, hence their endless panics about how Trump is going to put them in camps, or whatever the latest faddish fear is. But it’s there.
You know in the seventies, when Iran declared war on us, took our people as hostage and Jimmy ‐ Smiler ‐ Carter did not immediately pound them into the dirt and sacrificed more of our people in an ill-planned attempt to spring them.
Then there was 9/11. How long did it take for the lefties to go from shocked horror to "we deserved it" or "we deserve this because of how evil we are?"
I know some that made the flip in 24h. And one who started saying the attack didn’t matter anyway, because more people die every week in the highways of America.
And then they turned to worry OBSESSIVELY about "Islamophobia."
Some of my lefty acquaintances went to hold hands around the local mosque to "protect" it. From whom? I don’t know.
Note that they still have not a single bad word to say about Islam. If they judged it as they judge Christianity, they wouldn’t shut up about the way they treat American gays. Pretty much twenty-four seven.
But no. The Jihadis would kill most of the left’s hard-core partisans, and so they love, love, love Islam, the more aggressive the better.
Death Wish.
...Yesterday, we saw yet another manifestation of this. Faced with the murder of a young woman in Texas by an illegal immigrant, the left swung into action asking for more, harder, please.
Elizabeth ‐ Fake Feather bonnet ‐ Warren did the equivalent of saying "but that’s not important right now. The big problem is that they’re separating families at the border and we need to do something about that."
...Who, faced with the murder of a citizen by an illegal immigrant thinks the problem is that we are too harsh on illegal immigrants? Who, but someone with a strong death wish.
She wasn’t alone either. When I said the left swung into action, I mean the left swung into action, in a manner similar to what they did after 9/11.
...What happened to "caring" so much that they regulate how we drive and our medicines and everything so we "can't get hurt"? Whatever happened to "even one is too many?"
Who would ignore the fact that the man was here illegally? That people who come here illegally know they’re breaking the law and that they’ll have to live outside the law here? That the people are willing to do that might be acting out of desperation, sure, but they also have to be comfortable with breaking the law and living outside the law. Does this predispose them to further break the law? H*ll it’s a miracle they don’t all break the law.
...an illegal immigrant killing a woman who is out jogging alone is not a surprise. It’s happened before. Will happen again.
And sure, she might have been killed by one of our home-grown crazies. Of course, she could. But she wasn’t. She was killed by an intruder who had no business being there.
...There is only one explanation for the left’s reaction to these incidents: The left has a death wish.
Now I think about it, it also explains the left’s idolization of Che Guevara, who liked to murder students, black people, gay people ‐ the groups the left claims to favor and many of whom support it ‐ as well, of course, as puppies and kids and other people the left claims to protect.
It explains why they loved Mao, including his skanky poems. Oh, and they thought Lenin and Stalin were great too.
The left has a death wish.
Born in the wealthiest, strongest nation on Earth, one where the poor live like the middle class of other countries (and the rich of many) these crazy people were told that wealth is a finite pie and that if you have excess others must have a lack. And they’re too dumb to figure out the finite pie thing is a ridiculous lie. (No? How much wealth do you think there was in the world in caveman days?)
They feel guilty all the time. They hate themselves, their nation and everything that allows them to be well taken care of. They obsess about this night and day.
They’d eat a bullet, only they’re way too cowardly, so they run after anyone who shows any intent to kill them, idolizing them and begging for death.
They don’t really believe the right in this country wants to kill them. If they did, they’d lick our feet.
Instead, they resent us and hate us because we insist on defending the country and not letting bad guys come in and make it a sh*thole like other sh*tholes. This makes us evil and bad because we don’t want to give away all we have and live in misery or be killed by scum.
This is the real cause of their unhinged hatred of their domestic opponents. And their mad love for murderous foreigners.
The left has a death wish. It wants to commit suicide by criminal. Which would be great if they were only trying to kill themselves.
#1
The left has a death wish. It wants to commit suicide by criminal.
No they don't. They want you dead so they can take power. The only death wish is against you, by their hand or someone else. You are their enemy, whether you acknowledge it or not.
#2
There's a mechanism in engineering called "negative (or positive) feedback." When a system approaches the limits of it's capabilities, a dose of negative feedback is provided to move it in the "opposite" direction. With positive feedback, the impetus is to move it farther in the dangerous direction, quickly leading to a cloud of smoke and a shower of nuts and bolts. What we're seeing these days is a case of rampant positive feedback. The echo chambers of big Left media, twitter, FB, etc. provide all the feedback required to move behavior farther and farther to toward the failure point.
#3
There are two factions to the left. The politicians want power, the voters have a death wish and vote for the folks most likely to bring that about. I don't see a contradiction.
#1
God be with Ye... Goodbye. A chapter in American Politics ends with him and it is ironic that "...his good friend Teddy Kennedy also died on this day in 2009."
Six-term Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), 81, passed away in Sedona, Ariz., nine years to the day that his friend Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) passed away from the same kind of brain cancer,
#7
...McCain told AZ Governor Doug Ducey (following McCain's diagnosis)that he would retire if and only if Ducey appointed Cindy McCain to the seat. Ducey didn't even blink and said no; McCain told him to go fark himself and that was that.
That's how McCain's service to his country ended.
I will always, always honor John McCain's service and his courage as a POW. I cannot in any way support his behavior as a Senator. I wish his family comfort in this awful time, and I truly hope the Senator passed without pain or suffering. But for those who will be running their mouths and keyboards over the next few days, spare us the platitudes.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
08/26/2018 7:45
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#8
He stopped treatments but never resigned from the Senate. He lived that "with my last breath I stab at thee" thing. America deserves much better.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
08/26/2018 7:45
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#9
Both born to the purple, well-bred,
Two faces of one brazen head,
Ted's wild roamin' nose
And John's Hornblower pose:
The blue and the red. The undead.
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/26/2018 8:40
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#12
#7 - Mike - AMEN
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/26/2018 8:41
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#13
History aside, the Founding Fathers would puke at the idea of hereditary seats in any part of government. If Ducey does not have the rocks to tell the McCain clan that the foot in the door is gone now, then Arizona deserves whatever it gets. The rest of the country does not.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
08/26/2018 8:44
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#15
Think of how wonderful the legacy legislators have been. Jean Carnahan, Murky Murkowski, Jessuh Jackson Jr., on and on. We need a skip two generations law for all public office.
Could you imagine Meggie Moo in the Senate?
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
08/26/2018 8:49
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#16
John F. Di Leo:
“I have lost a number of beloved people to brain cancer. All cancers are hard to deal with, brain cancer being particularly rough because the nature of the brain causes so many such cancers to be inoperable. So we begin a post, or obit, or whatever this is, by stressing that we know the pain of the disease, and we don't mean to minimize the pain of such suffering.
But this is about a political figure, so we should really be able to assume that the above goes without saying, and instead get to the important stuff.
We've had over half a year - about three quarters of one, if memory serves - to prepare for this day. We've known John McCain was close to the end since last autumn, so we could work on finding the right words for talking about both his suffering and his eventual death.
John McCain was, in many ways, the walking illustration of the concept of a missed opportunity. Scion of a respected military family, his naval career was a disaster. Imprisoned in Hanoi for years, patriots have had to spend fifty years trying to speak of him with the same level of respect we have for such other heroes there as the great Jeremiah Denton. When we would speak of one and leave McCain out of the list, others would be there to remind us that McCain was in that same sad club, leaving us to endure the same discomfort again and again, in trying to tactfully say that we didn't believe he really belonged to that same sad club after all....
When he entered politics, he appeared to side with the right, and he carefully managed to ensure that his voting record always looked conservative. McCain died with a lifetime ACU rating of 81%, which isn't bad... but it's deceptive. He always made sure to vote right on most unimportant bills to keep his voting record conservative, but then he would pick just one or two huge issues - massive issues - and take a very public position in opposition to the right position, This enabled him to do two things that he truly loved doing: to call himself a "maverick" for bucking his party on an important issue so he could get liberal media acclaim, and to truly stab in the back the people on the right side. He only did this on the biggest, most important issues. Federal judges... campaign finance regulations... immigration policy... obamacare... he didn't oppose the conservative agenda very often - only when he could personally really do massive damage to it.
And when you talk about missed opportunities, will there ever be a better example than his ghastly 2008 campaign for the White House? The man actually said, while running for president, that he didn't really understand economics at all. Yes, out loud. Of course he lost. He didn't try. He practically threw the race (some actually believe he intentionally did throw the race, though I doubt that)... Obama didn't understand economics better than McCain did, but Obama was at least bright enough not to tell the electorate that.
John McCain was an almost thoroughly destructive force in the Republican party for at least the past 20 years. Many would argue he was destructive all the way back to his early races.
I have never been a fan of legally mandated term limits, but John McCain is truly the poster child for them. If he had retired 20 years ago, his memory would have at least been a generally positive one. But today, after these past 20 years of shenanigans, his memory is almost entirely negative. He was so bold, so loud, so omnipresent thanks to his pals in the media, that whenever he did one of his big liberal gestures, we all saw it. We couldn't miss it.
So no, I'm not shedding tears tonight. At least, not any more than the tears I've shed for 20 years, over one of the greatest injustices in history: the fact that the great Jeremiah Denton only got 6 years in the Senate, and his cellmate John McCain undeservedly got 31.
McCain could have redeemed himself, at least partially, last year, if he had announced his retirement concurrent with the diagnosis, enabling his governor to appoint a good successor so that votes wouldn't be missed in this tight-as-nails senate. But he didn't. He chose to hold the seat, unable to actually cast votes, in order to deny the party a reliable vote in such a delicate time.
As always, we pray that John McCain died in what we Christians call a state of grace; we hope that he will enjoy the blessings of Paradise eventually. It is not ours to judge where he is headed, or how long it will take for him to get there.
But we do have the right to judge how he spent his career on this earth, and to judge whether we should think of him as a positive role model for our children.
And the answer is a simple one, in this case:
No, John McCain is no role model.
John McCain, R.I.P.”
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/26/2018 10:13
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#17
Masterful assessment, thank you for saying so well.
#20
There are two very strong republicans running this term. The Gov needs to pick one and send her to DC, the second one will get all the red votes and we will finally serve well in the senate...
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
08/26/2018 12:52
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#21
What makes a man, Mr Lebowski?
Posted by: Regular joe ||
08/26/2018 12:53
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#22
Senator Schumer is moving to name the Senate Office Building after McCain (it is now named for Russell of GA).
So instead of S.O.B. Russell it will be S.O.B. McCain.
somehow, I think John McCain would get a kick out of that
you can say a lot about McCain and object to his judgements and his instincts but, deep down he obviously loved his country sincerely and generously
frankly, I don't see that many current US Senators about whom I could say that
Posted by: lord garth ||
08/26/2018 12:59
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#23
It is being reported that Mr. McCain specifically excluded President Trump from attending his funeral.
Since Mr. Trump will have a few spare hours, I would like to invite him to my place for a well-done steak and catsup, a combination that although a personal anathema, I would be proud to serve.
#24
Hell, he, Mr Trump can come to my house.
I'll even break out the good paper plates, plastic spoons and even sneak in a few of the dreaded plastic straws.
We can sit on my front porch, sip drinks with our plastic straws and watch the liberal media heads explode. Kind of a 4th of July. what fun!
#25
McCain loved his country? Uh no? He was (I love using the past tense here) a globalist piece of shit through and through. Recordings exist of him broadcasting propaganda for the Communists while he was a POW. He supported the invasion of Iraq.
Soros, die next. Globalists need more body blows.
Posted by: Herb McCoy ||
08/26/2018 14:07
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#30
Recordings exist of him broadcasting propaganda for the Communists while he was a POW.
I'm willing to give people a pass on stuff done or said under duress. Someone with a hot soldering iron and a little time on their hands could eventually make you say "Hillary for President". Given that he went over there to drop bombs and not sit on an NVA anti-aircraft gun, I'd let it slide. He has enough to answer for without it.
#36
I could have gone all year, no, years without hearing about Pappy and Joe. I had no idea. None. McCain I could just blow off, waste of skin that he was. And someone said Fred was not well? Not happy here.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
08/26/2018 17:26
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@Anomolous Sources
Interesting, but maybe a bit over the top. But I do like my steak rare.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
08/26/2018 17:41
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#38
@European Conservative: Myself as well, but we always cook for the guest.
#46
And what's the beef with Pappy, please? A little off in his prediction re the Iranian boom (50-something months and counting?), but I can't hold that against him.
[ALMASDARNEWS] The battle for the al-Safa Mountain in the Sweida Governorate has turned into a blood bath after several days of intense festivities between the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and Islamic State (ISIS).
Backed by heavy Arclight airstrikes and artillery, the Syrian Arab Army’s 1st, 3rd, and 10th divisions made anther push to liberate the al-Safa Mountain this weekend.
According to a military source in Sweida city, the Syrian Arab Army managed to fracture the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're 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 the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... ’s positions at the key hilltop of Tal Abu Ghanam.
The source said that the Syrian Arab Army advanced more than 2km past the Islamic State’s lines, while also killing more than 20 terrorist combatants and seizing two large caches of weapons.
However, some people cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go... the Syrian Arab Army would also suffer heavy casualties during this advance, as the Islamic State refused to surrender any of these areas without a fight.
The Syrian Arab Army is now attempting to secure these recently liberated areas before the Islamic State prepares to launch a big counter-offensive.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2018
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[ALMASDARNEWS] The Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're 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 the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS) launched a major counter-offensive, overnight, in the eastern countryside of the Sweida Governorate, a Syrian military source told al-Masdar News this morning.
According to the military source, the Islamic State stormed the Syrian Arab Army’s positions at the southwestern axis of the al-Safa Mountain; this would result in a fierce battle that is still ongoing at the moment.
The source said that the Islamic State managed to drive back the Syrian Arab Army troops from several points they liberated on Friday.
In addition to driving back government forces, the Islamic State also killed and maimed more than 40 members from the Syrian Arab Army and National Defense Forces (NDF).
While ISIS lost more than 30 fighters during the previous battle, they were able to regroup and restore several crucial points they lost to the Syrian Arab Ary.
Intense festivities are now ongoing between the Syrian Arab Army and Islamic State at the southwestern and northeastern axes of the al-Safa Mountain.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2018
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#1
guessing that the 'Syrian Arab Army' is no more than 40% Syrian at this point
the actual casualties suffered by this Army may be even less than 40% as much of the front line are, per various sources, Shia recruits from Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, etc.
Posted by: lord garth ||
08/26/2018 12:05
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[DAWN] Three senators belonging to the Fata region joined the ruling Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... party on Saturday, read a statement issued by the PTI’s central media department.
Senator Aurangzeb Khan, Senator Sajjad Hussain Turi and Senator Mirza Mohammad Afridi separately met Prime Minister Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who ain't the brightest knife in the national drawer... at his Banigala residence and expressed their confidence in PTI’s manifesto and said the party would bring a change in the country.
The premier welcomed their decision to join the PTI. Defence Minister Pervez Khattak and Senator Haji Fida were also present during the meetings.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2018
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The Yemeni national army backed by the Arab coalition, detonated six mines planted by the Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ... militias in the international waters of the Red Sea.
A military source in the naval unit in the fifth zone of the Yemeni army said that the military naval teams were able to find six mines near the sea port of Habel in Hajjah governorate, and detonated them, despite the attempt by Houthis to hide them at two meters deep down in the sea.
The Houthis are trying to disrupt navigation in the Red Sea by trying to plant mines that threaten international shipping.
On Thursday, the Arab coalition said that they had thwarted a planned attack by the Houthis who attempted to use a booby-trapped boat on the shores of the port city of Hodeidah.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2018
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[AlAhram] Egyptian police have killed four holy warriors who attempted to carry out an attack on a security checkpoint on the coastal highway of North Sinai's El-Arish, MENA state news agency reported on Saturday, citing an informed source.
The source said that the attackers were armed with heavy weapons, including a rocket-propelled grenade launcher.
Some of the holy warriors involved in the attack managed to flee the scene. ... as though they had never been... leaving behind 10 explosive charges that they had planned to use in the attack.
The attackers left behind four automatic weapons, 30 magazines, a number of RPG missiles, three boom belts, a camera, a Motorola communication device and hand grenades, according to the source.
The incident comes amid Egypt's ongoing Operation Sinai 2018, launched on 9 February "to implement the plan of comprehensive confrontation of terrorist and criminal elements and organizations in North and Central Sinai, and in other areas in the Nile Delta and desert areas west of the Nile Valley," according to the Armed Forces.
Local media published pictures of at least two men, one lying on an asphalt road and another on the sand, and separate photographs of weapons found on them, including four AK-47 assault rifles, one RPG launcher, gun magazines and what appeared as suicide belts.
Kirkuk (IraqiNews.com) Three police personnel, including an officer, were maimed in a bomb kaboom, southwest of Kirkuk, ... a thick stew of Arabs, Turkmen, Kurds, and probably Antarcticans, all of them mutually hostile most of the time... a security source from the province said on Saturday.
In remarks to AlSumaria News, the source said, "a bomb, went off targeting a patrol for the Federal Police in al-Gharib village in Hawija town, leaving three personnel, including a police colonel, maimed."
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source said, "troops cordoned off the kaboom scene and prevented approaching. The maimed were transferred to nearby hospital for treatment."
[KhaamaPress] The US forces based in Afghanistan have carried out a series of Arclight airstrikes targeting the hideouts of the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're 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 the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group in eastern Kunar province ... which is right down the road from Chitral. Kunar is Haqqani country..... of Afghanistan.
The 201st Silab Corps of the Afghan Military in the East said the latest airstrikes were carried out in Manogi and Narang district.
The source further added that five hard boyz of the terror group were killed after their hideouts were targeting by the unmanned aerial vehicles.
The security situation in eastern Kunar province has started to deteriorate sharply during the recent months amid growing insurgency activities by the Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... and ISIS bad boys.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
08/26/2018
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Anbar (IraqiNews.com) ‐ Two Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're 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 the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... members disguising themselves as paramilitary forces were nabbed Please don't kill me! Saturday in Fallujah city in Anbar, a security source was quoted as saying.
The source told BasNews website that "intelligence reports led security forces to arrest two Islamic State members inside a house in al-Shohada district in southern Fallujah."
"The two were wearing badges of the pro-government Popular Mobilization Forces when they were arrested," the source pointed out, adding that a huge sum of money, government IDs and official documents were seized inside the house.
"The security forces transferred the pair into the detention center in Ramadi for interrogation," the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, added.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
08/26/2018
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[KhaamaPress] An kaboom has taken place in Jalalabad city, the bustling provincial capital of Nangarhar The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country.. province in East of Afghanistan.
Provincial governor’s front man Ataullah Khogyani confirmed the incident has taken place close to a sit-in camp belonging Jawid Zaman whose name was removed from the parliamentary elections.
The provincial public health officials are saying that the dead bodies of two people have been shifted to the hospital along with four others who have sustained injuries in the kaboom.
No individual or group has so far grabbed credit behind the incident.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] At least 27 people are being held by ISIS in southern Syria, Human Rights Watch said Saturday as it deplored the hostage-taking as a "war crime".
The group of mostly women and kiddies were kidnapped by ISIS during a massive July 25 assault on the Druze community in Sweida, in which the forces of Evil killed more than 250 people.
They are being held by ISIS to use as leverage in negotiations with the Syrian government and its ally Russia, according to HRW.
"Hostage-taking is a war crime," the rights group said.
"Civilian lives should not be used as bargaining chips," said its deputy Middle East director Lama Fakih.
Of more than 30 people taken hostage in the July offensive, at least two have since died.
A 19-year-old male student was beheaded and a video circulated of the killing, which was not released on the krazed killers' usual channels.
Later in August a 65-year-old woman died, with ISIS reporting she had been unwell.
Additionally, two women were able to escape after being kidnapped from their home, a family member told HRW.
Villagers provided the names of at least 27 people who remain in ISIS captivity, with children as young as seven among them, according to activists in Sweida province.
The province is the heartland of Syria's Druze minority, followers of an offshoot of Shiite Islam who are are despised as heretics by the forces of Evil of ISIS.
ISIS is seeking the release of forces of Evil captured by the government in the neighboring province of Daraa, the Britannia-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said earlier this month.
The forces of Evil currently hold less than three percent of Syria, after losing swathes of territory to government forces backed by Russian firepower.
But ISIS has proven it is still able to launch deadly attacks, with eight pro-government fighters killed and more than 60 maimed in an overnight raid in Sweida province.
The attack brought to 54 the number of pro-government fighters killed in the past month, while 147 forces of Evil have been killed, the Observatory said.
Since the civil war erupted in Syria in 2011, more than 350,000 people have been killed and millions have fled their homes.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2018
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[RADIOSHABELLE] The al-Qaeda-affiliated Somalia-based Islamic krazed killer group has claimed a kaboom in a town in central Somalia on Friday.
In a statement on pro-Al-Shabaab ... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda... media outlets, the holy warriors said they have killed two peacekeepers from Djibouti, who were serving under the AU Mission in Somalia [AMISOM].
The attack which was used a remote-controlled landmine planted on a key road struck a military convoy carrying Djiboutian forces en route to Jalalaqsi town in Hiran region.
The AU mission is yet to comment on the al-Shabaab claim.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2018
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This means exactly the opposite of what it looks like. Read on, dear Reader.
[AnNahar] Hizbullah ...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory... has reportedly "received an official request" from the Syrian leadership that its troops "should remain in Syria for an additional period of time," even after the end of fighting in the north-west and north-east regions, al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Saturday.
The paper said the party "has made internal arrangements to organize this stay on the basis that it will extend over a long period of time."
Hizbullah will "play a role assisting the Syrian authorities in accomplishing the civil reconciliation accompanied by the return of the displaced from Leb," it pointed out.
The party "will also have a role in organizing the situation along the Lebanese-Syrian border," it said.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Iran faced new protests on Saturday, with hundreds of truck drivers gathering in front Mashhad city hall in Khorasan province, in protest against the increase in shipping tariff, low fares and the high cost amid the collapse of the economy.
Also in Esfahan city, truck drivers protested against the low wages and the increase in prices of spare parts
"OUR STATE IS A CENTER FOR THIEVES"
In Ahwaz, hundreds of workers from the companies in the National Steel Group erupted into the streets to protest against delay in their salaries for months, chanting "Our country is the thieves’ center. It has become a model in the world."
The past few days have witnessed protests and strikes by workers, the unemployed and different segments of Iranian society against high prices and inflation amid the continuing collapse of the local currency.
On Friday, workers at the sugar cane complex in Hifat Tabah, northwest of Ahwaz, continued to protest against the non-payment of salaries, workers’ entitlements and insurance.
In the city of Yasuj, in central Iran, owners of kiosks in Friday’s public market gathered on Tuesday in front of the municipality to protest the closure of their stalls, saying that around 4,000 citizens get their income to support their families from selling their goods in this market.
In the city of Chagadak, in the province of Bushehr, southern Iran, hundreds of citizens gathered at night in front of the Water Authority to protest the lack of drinking water in the province, while the water shortage crisis started since 20 days ago.
On Thursday night, citizens gathered in the city of Mariwan to protest against corruption in the municipality as waste fills the streets, burning the garbage containers in protest.
WARNING OF A SEVERE WAVE OF INFLATION
For his part, the former Under-Secretary of the Iranian Economy Ministry, Hussein Samsami, warned that the country will witness a severe wave of inflation in the coming months.
ISNA news agency quoted the former official as saying that "The inflation caused by the establishment of the secondary market for the currency has now started, and the prices of products such as milk, steel, iron, wood and many other materials have doubled," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2018
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#1
Never mind, the Europeans are working overtime to make sure these methods don't work and Iran keeps its government of fascist theocrats.
Posted by: Herb McCoy ||
08/26/2018 1:17
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The protests are happening everywhere but Tehran, where the police enjoy busting heads: Even in Qom:
The weekend of August 4th-5th saw the fifth and sixth continuous days of protests and clashes with Khomeiniist regime security forces across almost all of Iran. Kazeroun, scene of protest civil disobedience earlier this summer, exploded again, and most notably, large demonstrations have started in Qom, a sacred Shia city, home of the largest hawzeh (seminary) in Iran and to many mullahs, and the birthplace of the 1978-79 Khomeiniist “revolution.”
[Jpost] If Israel has a case to make, the Trump White House is willing to listen.
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... ’s decision to appoint Ambassador John Bolton to serve as his National Security Advisor indicated clearly that Trump is advancing a national security strategy far different from those of his predecessors.
On and off for decades, Bolton has held some of the most senior foreign policy positions in the US government. And throughout his long career in foreign policy, Bolton has been the bane of the foreign policy elites. In part this owes to his extraordinary successes. After 15 years of fruitless and often half-hearted US efforts to repeal UN General Assembly Resolution 3379 from 1975 that branded Zionism as racism, as assistant secretary of state, Bolton got the job done in 1991.
As Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs in the George W. Bush administration, Bolton created and implemented the Proliferation Security Initiative. The PSI was the most successful counter-proliferation program the US has undertaken in recent years.
As UN Ambassador in 2005 and 2006, Bolton dismantled the corrupt UN Human Rights Commission. He opposed the formation of its successor, the equally corrupt Human Rights Committee, saying, "We want a butterfly. We don’t intend to put lipstick on a caterpillar and call it a success."
Bolton’s record of success engendered jealousy among many members of the Washington establishment. But they were more irked by his refusal to go along to get along. Bolton’s stubborn insistence on basing US policies on reality, rather than ideology or fashion has made him the bête noire of the foreign policy establishment.
Trump’s decision to appoint a man who insists on operating on the basis of realities on the ground ‐ even when they are inconvenient and make foreign policy professionals and queasy allies angry or nervous ‐ speaks volumes about his approach to foreign policy and the goals he has set for his administration.
Long considered ‐ rightly ‐ one of Israel’s best friends in Washington, Bolton has distinguished himself throughout the years by his conviction that Israel is the US’s most powerful and vital ally in the Middle East. So it isn’t surprising that during his visit to Israel this week, one of his biggest headline-grabbing quotes was one where he seemed to reject the country’s hope of securing US recognition of its illusory sovereignty over the Golan Heights.
Speaking to Rooters Tuesday, Bolton said, "I’ve heard the idea [of US recognition of Israeli illusory sovereignty over the Golan Heights] being suggested but there’s no discussion of it, no decision within the US government."
He added, "Obviously we understand the Israeli claim that it has annexed the Golan Heights ‐ we understand their position ‐ but there’s no change in the US position for now."
In a conversation with this writer Wednesday morning at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, Bolton emphasized that he had said, "for now."
"I said, ’US recognition of Israel’s annexation of the Golan is not on the table, for now.’"
His clarification was not a diplomatic feint.
There are two aspects of the Trump White House’s relationship with Israel that distinguish it from its predecessors. Unlike his predecessors, but like Bolton, Trump relates to Israel as a key US ally and a partner. Trump’s predecessors generally viewed Israel as a supplicant.
Trump and his advisors are willing to listen to Israel’s positions objectively. They don’t assume, as many of their predecessors did, that their Israeli counterparts are hustling them.
When Bolton says the administration hasn’t changed its policy regarding Israeli illusory sovereignty in the Golan Heights, he’s inviting Israel to make its case. Why is it important for the US to change its policy? How would such a move improve the strategic balance of forces on the ground? Why is it in the US’s interests to act in this way?
If Israel has a case to make, the Trump White House is willing to listen.
[KhaamaPress] The Afghan Air Force carried out Arclight airstrikes as part of the ongoing ’Nejat Operations’ in southeastern Ghazni province of Afghanistan, leaving at least 18 snuffies dead.
The 203rd Thunder Corps of the Afghan Military in the Southeast said the operations are being conducted under the leadership of Thunder Corps commander Gen. Dadan Lawang.
According to a statement released by the Thunder Corps, at least 18 snuffies were killed after coming under airstrikes in Moqor district during the ongoing operations.
The statement further added that a Humvee armored personnel carrier captured by the Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... was also destroyed along with some weapons and munitions.
According to Thunder Corps, two commanders of the Nusrat Group of the Taliban were also among those killed.
Ghazni is among the relatively volatile provinces in southeastern parts of the country where the Talibs and terrorist belonging to the other groups are actively operating in some of its districts.
[Tolo] The Ministry of Interior (MoI) on Saturday said the Afghan cops are on high alert in Ghazni city and are trying to minimize security threats against the city.
The ministry’s remarks come after residents reported that festivities broke out on Thursday between security forces and forces of Evil on the outskirts of the city.
The defense ministry also said they will continue their military operations on the outskirts of the city and beyond in order to eliminate the forces of Evil and to ensure the safety of the city.
"Security measures have been taken there, our reinforcement troops are there, and in the areas where we felt there were threats we have launched operations. But our forces are on high alert in Ghazni and our operations are ongoing," interior ministry’s front man Najib Danish said.
Meanwhile a number of Ghazni residents said festivities broke out in some areas on the outskirts of the city on Thursday night and that they are worried that the situation will deteriorate.
Two weeks ago the Taliban ...Arabic for students... carried out a massive attack on the city and controlled parts of Ghazni for about four days. However, man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them... after a few days security forces pushed the Taliban back from the city.
Ghazni residents said all roads connecting Ghazni to other provinces are not completely secure and that a number of Ghazni people were not able to get back to their city to celebrate Eid.
Avizha Orzhalan said she works in Kabul, but her family lives in Jaghoori. Orzhalan said she had been extremely stressed during the siege of Ghazni as she had not been able to contact her family as all communication networks had been cut.
"Following Ghazni’s collapse, Taliban are in control of roads, they are even in control of the check posts that belonged to the people. When we go they search us and our mobiles and we are facing problems," said Orzhalan.
Meanwhile a number of residents in Ghazni districts also said they are worried about the security situation adding that festivities have flared up in the past few days in some districts.
"Khwja Omari and Khogyani districts are out of government’s control," Fazlullah, a resident of Khawja Omari said.
"Taliban have check points in Khwja Omari district and they travel past the district and police headquarter buildings," Ghulam Rasul, another resident said.
GHAZNI WAR
On August 10, Taliban launched coordinated attacks on Ghazni city, in the center of Afghanistan ‐ 148 kilometers southwest of Kabul.
The attack however lasted for five days during which Taliban took over parts of the city and clashed with Afghan cops.
During the attack, telecom services shut down and people either fled the city or took cover in their homes. However the ones who stayed behind faced a severe lack of water, food and healthcare services.
During the siege, the Afghan interior and defense ministers Wais Ahmad Barmak and Tariq Shah Bahrami held a presser in Kabul and said at least 70 police soldiers were killed in the first four days of the attack.
The defense minister also stated that Pak, Chechen and Arab hard boyz had been fighting alongside the Taliban.
On the corpse count, Bahrami said that about 200 forces of Evil had been killed.
[All Africa] Rebel violence in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo ...formerly the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Zaire, and who knows what else, not to be confused with the Brazzaville Congo aka Republic of Congo, which is much smaller and much more (for Africa) stable. DRC gave the world Patrice Lumumba and Joseph Mobutu, followed by years of tedious civil war. Its principle industry seems to be the production of corpses. With a population of about 74 million it has lots of raw material... (DRC) is escalating inside the vast country's Ebola-hit North Kivu province, putting millions at risk, the United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... refugee agency warned on Friday.
"Thousands of civilians have fled their burned-out villages, bringing reports of brutal attacks," Andrej Mahecic, spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told the regular press briefing in Geneva Friday, following reports that a case of Ebola infection and one suspected case have been found in one town in the area, Oicha, which is surrounded by gangs.
Forced displacement in this part of the country remains massive. It is estimated that more than a million people are displaced in North Kivu. This is the highest concentration of internally displaced people (IDPs) in the DRC. An estimated half a million people have been forced from their homes this year alone.
At the same briefing, Dr. Peter Salama, WHO Deputy Director-General of Emergency Preparedness and Response, said that the discovery of Ebola infection in the hard-to-reach part of eastern DRC could mark a "pivotal" point in the response to the deadly disease.
"It really was the problem we were anticipating and the problem ... we were dreading. Our teams have responded this week. They've had to reach Oicha with armed escorts... Once they reach Oicha, they are able to move within Oicha town more freely, because the town itself is a yellow zone from a security perspective," he explained.
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08/26/2018
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#1
...Now, surround that area with a solid wall of armed men, and then let Darwin do his work.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
08/26/2018 10:19
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[Ynet] Four leftist activists from the Ta’ayush organization were attacked by masked settlers, apparently from the settlement of Mitzpeh Yair. Police said the four were lightly injured and taken to the hospital. Not a psychiatric one, though
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A fatwa issued by Moslem Brüderbundholy man Youssef al- Qaradawi about the annual Hajj pilgrimage has sparked condemnation from across the Moslem world.
The Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... -based holy man tweeted that "Allah has no need for the Hajj. Any duty that He imposed is aimed at enriching his followers so that they can transcend to their maker on the spiritual, moral and psychological levels."
"Seeing Moslems feeding the hungry, treating the sick and sheltering the homeless are better viewed by Allah than spending money on the Hajj and Umrah every year," he added.
Doing the above would grant Moslems greater spiritual gratification than circumambulating around the holy Kaaba, he remarked.
Performing the annual Hajj is among the five main pillars of Islam that every able Moslem is expected to perform at least once in their life.
Commenting on Qaradawi’s controversial tweets, advisor at the Saudi royal court Saud al-Qahtani said: "Those who know the history of this mercenary will not find his fatwa unusual."
Social media activists condemned his fatwa, accusing him of trying to undermine one of Islam’s main pillars.
They also interpreted it as an attempt to lift the pressure off the authorities in Qatar after they barred their people from performing this year’s Hajj pilgrimage.
This was not the first time that the Doha regime attempts to undermine the massive efforts exerted by Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... ’s leadership and people in servicing the holy pilgrimage, they noted.
They also accused Qaradawi of seeking to spark division among Moslems and exploit religion to achieve his interests.
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08/26/2018
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[Rudaw] A pro-Kurdish former politician convicted of insulting The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... ’s president has requested asylum in Greece after illegally crossing the border, Greek authorities said Friday.
A police official said Ottoman Turkish citizen Leyla Birlik, 44, surrendered to Greek police Wednesday near the northeastern town of Alexandroupolis, and was in the process of requesting asylum in Greece. She was released pending the asylum process.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case.
Birlik, a former People’s Democratic Party, or HDP, politician was sentenced in January to 21 months’ imprisonment for insulting Ottoman Turkish President Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey... . She was freed pending appeal but banned from leaving Turkey.
Birlik had also been jugged Book 'im, Mahmoud! in 2016 along with the HDP co-leaders on separate terror-related charges. She was released pending trial but was banned from leaving the country.
An increasing number of Ottoman Turkish citizens have been crossing illegally to Greece ‐ Turkey’s historic rival ‐ since the July 2016 failed coup in Turkey and their government’s crackdown on people allegedly involved in the coup.
Greek asylum authorities say 1,839 Ottoman Turkish citizens have requested asylum in Greece so far this year ‐ more than the 1,827 Ottoman Turkish citizens who requested asylum for all of 2017.
The asylum applicants included eight Ottoman Turkish servicemen who fled to northern Greece in a military helicopter the day after the coup. Ankara is angrily demanding their extradition, alleging that they were involved in the plot.
But Greece’s Supreme Court has refused to send them back to Turkey, arguing that they would not get a fair trial and that their lives would be in danger there.
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08/26/2018
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[Ynet] The Dutch prime minister on Friday distanced his government from a Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest being organized later this year by anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders.
Wilders "is not a member of the government. The competition is not a government initiative," Prime Minister Mark Rutte said at his weekly presser.
Rutte's comments came after angry reactions in Pakistain to the proposed contest, which Wilders plans to hold in November in his right-wing Party for Freedom's heavily guarded offices at the Dutch parliament.
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) had a productive day on Friday, as their troops managed to liberate several points after a fierce battle with the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're 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 the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS).
Led by their 1st, 3rd, and 10th divisions, the Syrian Arab Army kicked off the day by storming the Islamic State’s positions at the southwestern and northeastern axes of the al-Safa Mountain.
Following an intense battle, the Syrian Arab Army was able to make a significant advance at the southwestern axis of the al-Safa Mountain.
According to a military source inside the Sweida Governorate, the Syrian Arab Army and their allies from the National Defense Forces (NDF) and Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP) were able to advance at least two kilometers deep into the Islamic State’s lines at the al-Safa Mountain.
The source added that during this advance, the Syrian Arab Army managed to kill at least 30 Islamic State bad boys, while also capturing one terrorist that was trying to escape.
The Syrian Arab Army is now preparing to launch another powerful assault on the Islamic State’s last positions along the strategic al-Safa Mountain the eastern countryside of the Sweida Governorate.
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08/26/2018
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] US 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... ’s administration is resorting to "cheap blackmail" against the Paleostinians with its decision to cut more than $200 million in aid for the West Bank and Gazoo Strip, a senior Paleostinian official said on Saturday.
A State Department official said Friday that the decision, made "at the direction of the president," came after a review of aid programs to the Paleostinian territories.
The funding would "now address high-priority projects elsewhere".
Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the Paleostine Liberation Organisation’s (PLO) executive committee, hit back, saying: "The US administration is demonstrating the use of cheap blackmail as a political tool.
"The Paleostinian people and leadership will not be intimidated and will not succumb to coercion. The rights of the Paleostinian people are not for sale," Ashrawi countered.
In January, the United States had already made drastic cuts to its contribution to the UN agency for Paleostinian refugees UNRWA.
Relations between the US administration and the Paleostinian Authority took a nosedive after Trump last December decided to recognize the disputed city of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
The Paleostinians have suspended contacts with Washington and consider that it can no longer be an impartial mediator in the Middle East grinding of the peace processor.
After the latest blow, Ashrawi insisted that the Paleostinians, living under Israeli occupation, would not be coerced into surrendering their rights.
"There is no glory in constantly bullying and punishing a people under occupation," she wrote in a statement.
"The US administration has already demonstrated meanness of spirit in its collusion with the Israeli occupation and its theft of land and resources; now it is exercising economic meanness by punishing the Paleostinian victims of this occupation."
In an initial reaction on Friday, the PLO’s representative in Washington, Husam Zomlot, said the US administration was "dismantling decades of US vision and engagement in Paleostine".
"After Jerusalem and UNRWA, this is another confirmation of abandoning the two-state solution and fully embracing (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu’s anti-peace agenda," he said.
The decision to cut Paleostinian funding comes amid a humanitarian crisis in Gazoo, which has seen a surge of violence since Paleostinian protests erupted in March.
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#1
As they shook their tiny fists in rage.
Posted by: Herb McCoy ||
08/26/2018 1:43
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[RADIOSHABELLE] A former GSU officer has denied the charge of attempting to sneak into Somalia through an illegal point while in Mandera Town for an unknown mission.
Mr. Karutha Githaiga, 33, appeared before Mandera Resident Magistrate Dancun Mtai.
The Anti-Terror Police Unit, through the State counsel Kennedy Amwayi, opposed the release of the suspect on bond.
Mr. Githaiga said he visited Mandera to eke a living.
ATPU will be investigating Mr. Githaiga’s visits to Nairobi, Voi, Lamu, Malindi, Garsen, Garissa, Elwak and Mandera, which they termed suspiciously.
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08/26/2018
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[DAWN] MITHI: The prime suspect in the murder case of a Pakistain Peoples Party activist who was nabbed Book 'im, Mahmoud! in a raid on a village near Dhoro Naro with the help of CCTV camera footage has confessed to have committed the crime "in the name of honour".
Seeta Ram, who was produced by police before news hounds at a presser here on Friday, said that he had rubbed out Chandar Sharma, information secretary of PPP Tharparkar chapter and personal secretary to PPP MNA Dr Mahesh Kumar Malani, because he had been maintaining "extramarital relations" with his wife for many months.
"I intended to kill my wife, who works as a lady health worker, and her mother as well after having killed Sharma but I could not bring myself to shed further blood," he said.
He said that he was certainly not happy about murdering a fellow human being but the man made him feel so lowly and miserable due to the alleged affair that he could not continue living like that. He would always threaten to implicate him in false cases if he objected to their "illicit relations", he said.
Tharparkar SSP Imran Quraishi said the suspect had confessed to have committed the crime for ’honour’. He said the suspect’s three-day police remand had been obtained for further investigation.
Sharma’s murder last Friday had sparked widespread protests in several areas of the province while most of the towns in the desert district observed shutdown for three days.
PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah had demanded early arrest of the killer.
Dr Anil Kumar, younger brother of Sharma, had on July 21 registered an FIR against Seeta Ram under Section 302 of Pakistain Penal Code at Mithi cop shoppe but he failed to elaborate the motive behind the murder.
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Afghanistan’s national security adviser, one of the most influential aides to 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. .. , resigned on Saturday, a move one official said could be followed by his own bid for the top job in next year’s scheduled election.
Hanif Atmar’s resignation was accepted by Ghani, presidential front man Haroon Chakhansuri told Rooters.
The front man gave no official reason for the abrupt departure, but a copy of Atmar’s resignation letter obtained by Rooters said he had developed "serious differences over policies and principles with government leadership".
A senior government official close to Atmar, who spoke on condition that his name was not used, said the former security adviser was considering running against Ghani in the 2019 vote.
"He has resigned because he is preparing to run for presidential election next year," said the official.
Atmar, 49, has been considered the second-most powerful official in Afghanistan since he became national security adviser after Ghani was sworn in as president in late 2014.
He was also minister of interior under former President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai ...A product, probably the sole product, of the Southern Alliance... before being sacked in 2010 after Taliban ...Arabic for students... bad boys’ attacked a "peace jirga" that was an early attempt at ending the now-17-year-old war with the Taliban.
The exact details of the rift with Ghani were not immediately clear, but in the past week the Afghan government declined to attend peace talks hosted by Russia that representatives of the Taliban are expected to attend.
Atmar, who began his security career with the Soviet Union-backed government in the late 1980s, is still seen as close to Russia.
Ghani on Saturday appointed 35-year-old Hamdullah Mohib, Afghan ambassador to United States, to replace Atmar as national security adviser, the presidential front man said.
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[Yahoo] A biometric facial comparison system flagged a traveler using a fake passport — less than three days after the system was installed. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection detained a traveler earlier this week after the facial recognition system brought up an ID that didn’t match the man’s passport at the Washington Dulles International Airport.
On Wednesday, the 26-year-old male was detained during the CBP’s primary inspections after arriving on a flight from Sao Paulo, Brazil. The new biometric system, which is in early testing in 14 international U.S. airports, matched the man’s face to an identity different from the passport he presented. During further examination, CBP officers found the actual ID from the Republic of Congo in his shoe.
#3
a 26-year-old man traveling from Brazil with a French passport
Upon a secondary check, he was found to be from the Republic of Congo and impersonating the man whose picture was in his passport.
Easy enough to flipflop identities between flight legs. French to RC, RC to Brazil, French to US.
So consider him a Jihadi French migrant couriering thru RC with a wash in Brazil.
The interesting twist is him carrying an alternative RC identity. One might have a set of new papers FedEx'ed to his destination, but this one was dumb or needed RC identification in BZ for an expedient pickup.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pressed new Pak Prime Minister Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who is the lightweight's lightweight... in a phone call to take "decisive action" against "terrorists" operating in Pakistain, the State Department said Thursday.
Pompeo wished Khan success in the wake of his being sworn in as prime minister in Islamabad Saturday after a victory in national elections on July 25, said State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert.
"Secretary Pompeo expressed his willingness to work with the new government towards a productive bilateral relationship," Nauert said in a statement.
He also "raised the importance of Pakistain taking decisive action against all holy warriors operating in Pakistain and its vital role in promoting the Afghan grinding of the peace processor."
Washington has pressured Pakistain for years to crack down on the branches of the Taliban ...Arabic for students... and the notorious Haqqani network operating the country, both of which have been designated as terror groups by the United States.
Ties with the US cooled in January when 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... accused Pakistain of "lies" and "duplicity" in the war on terror, suspending military assistance worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Khan has raised concerns that he will remain tolerant of the groups, willing to hold talks with the turbans and having sought support in the election from religious hardliners.
Before the election he repeatedly blamed Pakistain’s participation in the US-led anti-terror campaign for the surge in terrorism on home soil over the last decade.
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[KhaamaPress] The Russian government has renewed claims regarding the delivery of arms and munitions to the ISIS bully boyz by unidentified helicopters in northern parts of Afghanistan.
"We again draw attention to flights by ’unidentified’ helicopter in northern Afghanistan to deliver arms and munitions to the local ISIS bully boyz and the Taliban ...Arabic for students... cooperation with this terrorist group. Superficially, Afghan media and local residents claim that these flights have been recorded in the Sar-e-Pol province," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia said in a statement.
The statement further added "We note that this is happening in the direct vicinity of Central Asia states’ borders and many ISIS bully boyz in Afghanistan hail from these countries. There is no reaction to these events either from Afghan security defense and law-enforcement agencies or the command of the US/NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... contingent deployed there."
This comes as the Afghan officials had earlier rejected reports regarding the unidentified helicopters arming ISIS bully boyz in Afghanistan.
The latest claims by Russia follow amid ongoing operations against the ISIS and other krazed killer groups in several parts of the country, including key Northern provinces.
The Afghan government and security officials yet to comment regarding the latest claims of Moscow.
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08/26/2018
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Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) ‐ Ten Death Eaters of Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're 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 the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... were killed Saturday in a security operation in southern djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... , the Security Media Center announced.
"Swat ...a valley and an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistain, located 99 mi from Islamabad. It is inhabited mostly by Pashto speakers. The place has gone steadily downhill since the days when Babe Ruth was the Sultan of Swat... forces, backed by U.S.-led international coalition warplanes, carried out a preemptive security operation in al-Shoura district in southern Mosul, targeting a seven-kilometer-long cave used as a hiding place by IS holy warriors," the center was quoted by Mawzain News as saying in a statement.
"According to intelligence reports, 10 IS turbans were killed in the security operation, which was launched to dry up the resources of terrorism," added the center.
Earlier in the day, five Islamic State Death Eaters were locked away ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... in the eastern side of Mosul.
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[DAWN] In a first such event, military personnel from India and Pakistain are participating in an anti-terrorism exercise organised by the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Russia. The exercise is aimed at enhancing cooperation between member states to deal with the growing threat of terrorism and extremism.
The exercise will see tactical-level operation being carried out in an international counter-insurgency/counter-terrorism environment.
Around 3,000 soldiers from India, Pakistain, China, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan are taking part in the exercise.
The Indian contingent has 200 personnel, mainly from the infantry and other arms along with some from the Indian Air Force.
The training schedule for the Indian contingent includes target practice, house intervention drills, tactical and heliborne operations and combat conditioning, reports said.
They said the joint drills will build mutual confidence, interoperability and sharing of knowledge among troops of SCO members.
In previous editions, only Central Asian nations participated.
With India and Pakistain joining the exercise, SCO’s counter-terrorism mission has expanded to South Asia, a region in a grip of terrorism and extremism.
Former army officials loyal to the BJP were at a loss to explain why it was wrong for Mr Sidhu to hug the Pakistain army chief when contingents from the two countries were trying to sort out the menace of terrorism jointly.
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08/26/2018
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[ALMASDARNEWS] The jihadist rebels are preparing provocations with the use of chemical weapons in order to frame the Syrian government, the Russian Ministry of Defense said on Saturday morning.
The provocations are being prepared by the jihadist rebels of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (former Jabhat Fateh al-Sham ...formerly al-Nusra, the current false nose and mustache of al-Qaeda in the Levant, now something else... and Jabhat al-Nusra ...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli al-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ... ) in the Idlib province, the Russian Defense Ministry front man, Major General Igor Konashenkov, said.
The attack would be used as a pretext for US, UK and French Arclight airstrikes on Syrian targets, Konashenkov added. USS ’The Sullivans,’ an Arleigh Burke-class Aegis guided missile destroyer, has already been deployed in the Persian Gulf a couple of days ago, he said.
The destroyer has 56 cruise missiles on board, according to data from the Russian Defence Ministry.
No further details were provided regarding this alleged provocation.
The Russian Ministry of Defense made a similar claim during the East Ghouta offensive; however, the U.S. and its allies disregarded their reports in order to attack Damascus.
This claim comes as the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and their allies prepare to kickoff their long-awaited offensive in the Latakia, Idlib, and Hama governorates.
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[RADIOSHABELLE] At least two government soldiers were killed and several others maimed after heavily armed al-shabab fighters launched dawn attack on a military base in Deynunay locality in Bay region on Saturday.
Col. Abdullahi Mohammed, a soldier among the 60th battalion of Somali Army told Radio Shabelle that two soldiers on their side have been killed during the attack by al-shabab
He seized the control of the base after the government forces were overpowered in a brief shootout that occurred in the area but withdrew after an hour.
A a number of government soldiers sustained injuries after a military vehicle ferrying reinforcement forces to Deynunay was targeted with landmine kaboom near the town.
The maimed soldiers were rushed to Baidoa general hospital where they are being treated.
The situation in Deynunay, about 18Km north of Baidoa in now back to normal as government forces took over the control of the base.
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08/26/2018
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[Ynet] Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth", may have kept a low profile, but the two old rivals‐Saleh al-Arouri and Yahya Sinwar‐brought their disagreements to the discussions over the arrangement with Israel. One wants to take advantage of the momentum and maximize achievements, while the other is looking at the day after Abbas and planning the Hamas takeover of the PA.
Barring any last-minute changes, Hamas is expected to sign a ceasefire agreement with Israel next week in Cairo, after a week's break in talks because of Eid al-Adha.
Work on the main principles of the agreement has already been completed, and only a handful of minor demands are left to be ironed out.
Continued on Page 49
[DAWN] A lawyer in Lahore attempted to set himself on fire on Saturday after he was refused a district prosecutor's job even though, he claimed, he was "qualified for the post on merit".
Mohammad Bilal, who hails from Multan Home of the Multan Sultans... , poured petrol on himself outside the Lahore registry of the Supreme Court, but was stopped and taken into custody by police personnel before he could light the fire.
The lawyer was then quickly bundled into a police van and taken to the old Anarkali Police Station.
Bilal, who had turned up outside the top court with a letter addressed to Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, claimed that he was not recommended for the position of district prosecutor even though he had cleared the examination through the Punjab 1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots.... Public Service Commission and the following interview as well.
"I have been going from pillar to post to get justice," he said.
"I urge the chief justice to grant me justice," the disturbed young man had pleaded.
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[Al Jazeera] Concerns are growing over the physical and psychological health of scores of migrants colonists and refugees stranded for a 10th day aboard an Italian coastguard ship, after 16 were reportedly taken off for medical reasons.
The Diciotti vessel has been docked at the Sicilian port of Catania since Monday night, after Italia's far-right Interior Minister and co-Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini blocked its 150 passengers - mostly refugees from Eritrea ...is run by the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), with about the amounts of democracy and justice you'd expect from a party with that name. National elections have been periodically scheduled and cancelled; none have ever been held in the country. The president, Isaias Afewerki, has been in office since independence in 1993 and will probably die there of old age... - from disembarking in the absence of an agreement from other European member states to share the responsibility of relocation.
Eleven women and five men - two of whom are suspected to have tuberculosis - were given permission by Italian authorities to get off on Saturday, following an onboard visit by doctors requested by the health ministry, the interior ministry confirmed.
Red Thingy official Stefano Principato told news hounds on the dock in Catania on Saturday that beyond medical concerns, there is also worry about the psychological well-being of the migrants colonists who were rescued off the Maltese coast on August 16.
Of the 190 people originally on board the Diciotti, 27 unaccompanied children and 13 others had previously been allowed to disembark.
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[DAWN] Representatives of the divided opposition met on Saturday at incarcerated former prime minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf, then by the courts... 's opulent Murree residence to hammer out an agreement over a joint candidate for the September 4 presidential election.
PML-N's acting Secretary General Ahsan Iqbal, addressing the media after the huddle, said the opposition would announce its joint candidate for the head of state's office tomorrow (Sunday).
"It is important for Pakistain that the opposition come together and nominate a joint candidate for the office," he said.
Speaking on behalf of the opposition parties, Iqbal, while supporting the right to vote for overseas Paks, nonetheless criticised the Election Commission of Pakistain for trying to implement the electronic polling process 'in haste' before the upcoming by-polls.
"The election commission’s online system already failed during the general elections. We therefore disagree with the hasty implementation of the [electronic] system of voting for overseas Paks," Iqbal said.
Touching upon alleged "threats" received by opposition leaders, Iqbal said: " It is the duty of the government to provide security to opposition leaders, and the incumbent government should take notice of the threatening calls made to certain leaders of opposition parties."
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[DW] There is growing concern over the frequency at which unseaworthy and unserviceable ships are being dumped in Nigeria's territorial waters.
Shipwrecks have been a problem at Alpha Beach for years, with the ownership of the abandoned vessels hard to establish. Public outcry over coastal erosion caused by the abandoned ships prompted the Lagos State government to clear the shipwrecks from the beach but the problem keeps re-emerging.
The remains of the vessels are no longer there but the environmental damage they caused persists.
"We always cite the example of Alpha Beach. It no longer exists,” said Philip Jakpor of Environmental Rights Action.
"Some years ago, there were dozens of ships abandoned there and, before you knew it, the waters continue to come inland and ate up all the coconut trees on the banks. Today, those coconut trees are not there. Today, the houses that were close to the sea are no longer there,” Jakpor told DW.
LEGAL BUREAUCRACY
The owners of unserviceable ships are believed to find it more convenient to dump them in Nigeria rather than properly dispose them off. Master mariner, Captain Ezekiel Ishola, says legal bureaucracy sometimes prevents authorities from clearing the wrecks.
"If they don't declare them as wrecks nobody can touch those ships. Yes, because they have owners,” Ishola told DW.
"So, if the Nigerian Port Authority or Customs want to handle these vessels now, they must give notice that are going to take care of these ships since they have become a danger to navigation – otherwise the ship owner can come and sue,” he told DW.
Prosecutions for abandoned vessels never occur and responsibility for removing the wrecks usually falls to the government. The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency has warned the local and international shipping community of sanctions in the event of an abandon vessel in Nigeria's territory.
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[DW] Congo's election commission has excluded opposition leader Jean-Pierre Bemba and three former prime ministers from the list of approved candidates for December's presidential election.
Bemba, a former warlord, returned to the capital, Kinshasa, earlier this month to submit his candidacy for president after a decade in prison in The Hague for war crimes. He had been seen as one of the front-runners in the race to succeed incumbent Joseph Kabila.
The commission said that a separate International Criminal Court conviction for witness tampering was the reason Bemba was left off the list.
Bemba was acquitted earlier this year on appeal at the International Criminal Court of war crimes and crimes against humanity for murder, rape and pillage committed by fighters he sent to Central African Republic in 2002.
His witness tampering conviction however, still stands.
The election commission's decision was condemned by opposition parties and can be appealed before the final list is published in September.
"Once again the current regime is showing its determination to suppress the electoral process," they said in a joint statement before the commission published the list on Friday.
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
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.
[PJ] In a study called "Money, Work, and Marital Stability," Harvard sociology professor Alexandra Killewald made an interesting discovery: "husbands’ lack of full-time employment is associated with higher risk of divorce." Killewald ‐ who studies how gender shapes "the mutual relationships between family circumstances and work outcomes in the United States" ‐ glumly concludes from her research that "the husband breadwinner norm persists."
[Business Insider SA] The agency behind an advert which made use of historically inaccurate information which it presented as fact, has apologised, withdrawn the campaign, and returned the Gold Loerie award it won at last weekends’ prestigious industry "Oscars".
[BBC] A groundbreaking technique looks set to turn man's best friend into a trafficker's worst nightmare.
[Daily Caller] Following former Trump attorney Michael Cohen’s plea deal and the conviction of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, many Democrat lawmakers and Trump critics have called for a delay in the confirmation of Supreme Court justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh. What they’ve forgotten, it seems, is that both justices nominated by former President Bill Clinton were confirmed while he was under investigation.
[Townhall] In his new film, Death of a Nation, conservative commentator Dinesh D’Souza exposes the Democrats’ "big lie" that conservatives are fascists and racists.
[UK's Independent] A network of Russian-linked Twitter accounts have been disseminating divisive content about Mollie Tibbetts' death in an apparent attempt to divert attention from explosive news surrounding Donald Trump and his former associates. 
[Harper Publishing - 2002] From the flap: In search of "the best America there ever was." bestselling author and award-winning journalist Bob Greene finds it in a small Nebraska town few people pass through today - a town where Greene discovers the echoes of the most touching love story imaginable: a love story between a country and it's sons.
Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda...
...formerly the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Zaire, and who knows what else, not to be confused with the Brazzaville Congo aka 
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi...
... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey...
[DAWN] MITHI: The prime suspect in the murder case of a Pakistain Peoples Party activist who was 
...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. ..
...formerly al-Nusra, the current false nose and mustache of al-Qaeda in the Levant, now something else...
... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf, then by the courts...
