COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Friday, February 19, 2016

Erdogan Supports ISIS Looking for Any Reason to Kill Kurds


Syria: 500 Turkey-backed Sunni Arab Fighters Cross to defend Azaz from Kurds

This morning, according to the Syria Observatory and the Arabic press some 500 Sunni Arab rebels based in Turkey crossed back into Syria to help defend the town of Azaz from the YPG miitia of Syrian Kurds, which is advancing on the city. They were allowed to bring their light and heavy weapons through the official Turkish checkpoint, pointing to Turkish collusion with their covert mission.
h/t BBC.
Kurds comprise about 10 percent of Syria’s population, mainly in the northeast of the country. Most Syrians speak Arabic, but Kurds speak an Indo-European language related to English. For the most part they have not taken on the regime (though there is an anti-Assad Kurdish militia in the Aleppo region), targeting al-Qaeda, the Salafi jihadis and ISIL instead.
Kurds used to live in three unconnected cantons in the north of Syria along the Turkish border. They dream of uniting them into a contiguous Kurdish territory that they call Rojava. Although they are also mostly Sunni Muslims, the Syrian Kurds are relatively secular-minded and their main militia, the YPG or People’s Defense Units, is on the far left, urging women’s equality and a socialist economy. The Syrian Kurds have united the eastern canton of Jazeera with Kobane to its west. Now only Afrin in the far west is cut off from the other Kurdish regions.
In recent weeks, Russian airstrikes gave support to the Syrian Arab Army, Hezbollah and other pro-regime forces to break the siege on East Aleppo by al-Qaeda (the Nusra Front) and other rebel groups and to begin taking territory just north of Aleppo. 
Kurdish fighters in the northwestern canton of Afrin took advantage of this weakening of the rebel forces to move east and take several villages. They now seek control over Azaz itself, and then hope to move east so as to hook up with the other two Kurdish cantons, forming a contiguous Kurdish state along the border with Turkey, which they call Rojava. This plan infuriates Ankara, which fears separatism among its own Kurds (some 20% of the Turkish population). Just on Wednesday, a car bomb killed at least 28 in the Turkish capital, likely the work of the radical Kurdistan Workers Party, with which the Syrian YPG is vaguely affiliated. But Russia and even possibly the US do not have any problems with it, since a Rojava Kurdistan would be in a position to stop the flow of arms, ammunition and money from Turkey into Syria.
Turkey has been shelling Syrian Kurdish positions from the Turkish side of the border for the past few days, despite pressure from the Obama administration and from France to cease and desist. that shelling has proved ineffectual, failing to halt Kurdish advances against the Sunni Arab rebels (including al-Qaeda but also Muslim Brotherhood groups).
The Syrian Observatory alleged that the Sunni Arab fighters who crossed at Bab al-Salama are backed by Turkey. This allegation is at least plausible, since Turkey controls the checkpoint and it let them through.
The Observatory says the fighters are a mix of Muslim fundamentalists and secularists.
——

95 comments:

  1. Here's an article in defense of 'W' that nearly everyone will disagree with -

    February 18, 2016
    George w. Bush's Decision To Invade Iraq Was Correct
    Gene Schwimmer

    http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/02/george_w_bushs_decision_to_invade_iraq_was_correct.html


    ReplyDelete
  2. Has anyone here floated the idea that Russia bombed Ankara?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not that I recall but it might make some sense. Pooty gets his revenge without 'directly' attacking a NATO country.

      'Plausible deniability' or whatever it is called.

      Delete
    2. It makes more sense that Turkey bombed Ankara and blamed it on the Kurds.

      Delete
  3. Among the other highlights:
    -- Trump was confronted with a BuzzFeed story showing that Trump had, in 2002, said “Yeah, I guess so,” when asked about invading Iraq. Trump didn’t skip a beat in saying, “I could have said that” on Thursday before trying to wash away his old comments by saying, “By the time the war start I was against the war.”
    -- In the day’s other controversy, Trump said he would meet with Pope Francis “any time he wants” after a public spat Thursday in which the Pope suggested Trump was “not Christian” for his support for building a wall with Mexico. “He’s got an awfully big wall at the Vatican,” Trump said, adding he believed the Pope’s words had been misinterpreted and magnified by the media.

    ...

    -- Trump also continued to rail against Sen. Ted Cruz, calling him dishonest. “He holds up the Bible and then he lies.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Jack has supported the Kurds car bombing the Turks as the Turks are an occupying people of the Kurd's lands.

    Jack Hawkins is a proud supporter of those who are occupied fighting for liberation.

    Go get them tiger..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. May the Apache shoot flaming arrows at the house of Jack the Occupier.

      Delete

    2. At least "Counterfeit Bob" knows who the 1st people of Arizona are.

      He wanted to kill and butcher them, then give the meat to the 'poor'.

      BobSun Feb 23, 10:56:00 PM EST

      "The argument that they are not native is amazing in light of the fact that neither are Europeans native."

      Exactly.

      Shoot the Arizonans as well, give the meat to the poor.


      http://2164th.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-space-dump.html


      Is that "Counterfeit Bob" what a real 'death threat' looks like?

      Delete
  5. The Kurds speak an Indo-european language that sounds something like English, so I read today.

    ReplyDelete
  6. How Much of Libya Does the Islamic State Control?


    More than you think -- and it’s growing. But putting boots on the ground could only make the situation worse.

    By Issandr El Amrani
    February 18, 2016

    http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/02/18/how-much-of-libya-does-the-islamic-state-control/

    ReplyDelete
  7. Here we go - this nails the Pope -

    February 19, 2016

    'El Papa' embraces Raul Castro but calls Donald Trump anti-Christian!

    By Silvio Canto, Jr.

    Last, but not least, "El Papa" just visited Cuba. He hugged and embraced Raul Castro, a man who has executed priests, harassed religious leaders and closed Christian schools years ago. Did he call the Castro brothers UnChristian?

    Pope Francis is a good man but he needs a few people around him to protect him from himself.



    http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2016/02/el_papa_embraces_raul_castro_but_calls_donald_trump_antichristian.html#ixzz40bRjPjcG


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As I said before, he's a hypocritical Socialist Pig.
      ---

      Mom Whose Son Was Tortured to Death by Illegal Endorses Trump, Says ‘Pope Doesn’t Care About Me’

      “I don’t think I’ve ever heard the Pope say one thing about our families [families who have lost loved ones at the hands of illegal immigrants]. I’m not sure he understands the loss we have felt. Is he just ignoring that? It rubbed me the wrong way,” Wilkerson told Breitbart.

      Wilkerson’s 18-year-old son Joshua was tortured to death by a so-called DREAMER — i.e. an illegal immigrant who allegedly came to the country as a minor.


      Wilkerson further explained that she was not surprised that Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC)86%
      — who has pushed to give citizenship to DREAMers like the illegal immigrant who murdered Wilkerson’s son — endorsed Rubio. She said, “I know why he threw his vote behind Rubio. Gowdy knows that Rubio is going to get in and do what he wants to do– which is open borders. Obviously Rubio wants more immigration, no borders. That’s what his backers want and that’s the way he’s going to vote.”

      Wilkerson put forth a challenge to Gowdy and Rubio, who both have pushed for open border immigration policies: “I would tell Trey Gowdy and Marco Rubio, ‘Open your front door to anyone who wants to walk in and out. Open your front door.’”

      http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/02/18/exclusive-mom-whose-son-tortured-death-illegal-endorses-trump-says-pope-doesnt-care/

      Delete

  8. Cement Truck Caper

    Serena Shim, a U.S. citizen from Michigan and mother of two, was working for Iran's state-owned network Press TV when she was killed after the rental car she was riding in collided with a cement mixer Oct. 26 in the Turkish town of Suruc, near the Turkish-Syrian border. The accident came just days after Shim said she had been threatened by Turkish intelligence services, who accused her of being a spy.

    "I believe my daughter gave her life for the truth," Judy Poe, Shim’s mother, told FoxNews.com Friday from her home in Harrison Township, Mich. "I absolutely suspect foul play."

    Shim and Irish were inexplicably taken to hospitals over 25 miles apart from each other by Turkish military officials, not police, who ‘investigated’ the wreck. After outrage from Shim’s family, Turkish authorities — who first claimed they were unable to locate the vehicle responsible for hitting Shim and Irish — eventually produced photos of the accident, which they then claimed had been caused by a cement truck driver.
    ---
    In reality, Shim had “uncovered evidence of secret Western assistance to the Islamic State” — a particularly touchy subject for Erdoğan, as seen in the arrests of Dünbar and Gül. Her video evidence of this assistance — reportedly “proof of Islamic State terrorists using United Nations World Food Program vehicles for a convoy” into Syria, likely akin to Dünbar and Gül’s discovery — has never been recovered. Her passport and wedding ring, seized by Turkish authorities sometime after her death, have never been returned to her family.

    http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/11/07/mystery-surrounds-death-us-citizen-and-journalist-serena-shim-in-turkey.html

    http://theantimedia.org/1-journalist-dead-3-more-arrested-after-exposing-turkey-arming-syrian-extremists/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. See my comment above:

      Deuce ☂Fri Feb 19, 06:03:00 AM EST
      It makes more sense that Turkey bombed Ankara and blamed it on the Kurds.

      Delete


      I put nothing past the ass stabbers.

      Delete

    2. The PKK has not, historically, used 'suicide bombers', why did they start?

      Delete
  9. HERE WE GO AGAIN

    Turkish military vehicles have crossed into a Kurdistani area in Syria, Afrin, just over the border, a Kurdish news agency reported adding that the troops started to dig a trench near Meidan Ekbis, a town in Aleppo province.
    Dozens of Turkish military vehicles advanced 200 meters into the Syrian Kurdish region in Aleppo province on Thursday, ANHA news agency reported.

    It added that the troops started digging a trench between the towns of Sorka and Meydan Ekbis. According to the agency the construction of a concrete wall on the Syrian border in the area is ongoing as well.

    The agency posted photos of ongoing operations on its website.


    https://www.rt.com/news/332924-turkish-vehicles-cross-syria/

    ReplyDelete

  10. It seems curious that "Ordure is wasting his life away writing comments abut Jack, especially when he is so concerned with my own time management.

    As he has written, the clock is ticking, and "O"rdure spends his time writing about little ol' me.

    As Charlie Sheen said it best ...

    "Winning"

    {;-)



    ReplyDelete

  11. US Strikes ISIS Camp in Libya, Killing More Than 30

    New York Times -

    WASHINGTON - American warplanes struck an Islamic State camp in Libya early Friday, targeting a senior Tunisian operative linked to two major terrorist attacks in Tunisia last year.


    That ought to make "Counterfeit Bob" feel good.

    ReplyDelete
  12. As both Turkey and Israel take a more active role in supporting the Islamic Stae, it is important to remember why ...

    Profits from 'conflict oil' are driving both regimes to act militarily in support of the Islamic State and al-Qeada.

    Israel is the Main Purchaser of ISIS Oil
    By Enrico Braun
    Global Research, December 05, 2015

    Citing multiple sources, the Israeli business press are now reporting that Israel is the main recipient of ISIS oil:

    Kurdish and Turkish smugglers are transporting oil from ISIS controlled territory in Syria and Iraq and selling it to Israel, according to several reports in the Arab and Russian media. An estimated 20,000-40,000 barrels of oil are produced daily in ISIS controlled territory generating $1-1.5 million daily profit for the terrorist organization.

    The oil is extracted from Dir A-Zur in Syria and two fields in Iraq and transported to the Kurdish city of Zakhu in a triangle of land near the borders of Syria, Iraq and Turkey. Israeli and Turkish mediators come to the city and when prices are agreed, the oil is smuggled to the Turkish city of Silop marked as originating from Kurdish regions of Iraq and sold for $15-18 per barrel (WTI and Brent Crude currently sell for $41 and $45 per barrel) to the Israeli mediator, a man in his 50s with dual Greek-Israeli citizenship known as Dr. Farid. He transports the oil via several Turkish ports and then onto other ports, with Israel among the main destinations.

    It’s been well-established that Turkey is a major transportation hub for ISIS oil smuggling operations. But where is the oil sent? Someone has to buy it. The answer is: Israel.


    http://www.globalresearch.ca/israel-is-the-main-purchaser-of-isis-oil/5493738

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. Follow the money, it leads directly to the Zionists in Israel.
      The same people that announced they would prefer that al-Qeada operatives take power in Syria

      Delete
  13. Jack HawkinsFri Feb 19, 06:47:00 AM EST

    It seems curious that "Ordure is wasting his life away writing comments abut Jack, especially when he is so concerned with my own time management.

    As he has written, the clock is ticking, and "O"rdure spends his time writing about little ol' me.





    So when I point out that you are wasting what is left of your pathetic life searching the archives to post something from 2008 about me you come back with the above?

    You suck at this Jack...

    really

    You suck.

    LOL

    Tick tock...

    Your life is wasting away...

    And you spend far more time slandering Bob, myself and Israel than we spend on little ole you..

    and LITTLE is the truth

    You are "little"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. I've had those snippets for years, "O"rdure, just been waiting to use them.

      Seems now is as good a time as any.

      Your critical thinking always has been pathetic, little wonder you do not want it seen in public, again.

      {;-)

      Delete

    2. Microsoft "OneNote", oh the joys of technology

      Delete
  14. Jack HawkinsFri Feb 19, 07:54:00 AM EST

    I've had those snippets for years, "O"rdure, just been waiting to use them.



    Stalker.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Liar.

      you just said that you took great pleasure in going back and reading the archives.

      Now you say you "clipped" and stored, waiting for YEARS to use them.

      you sir are a fool.

      liar.

      stalker.

      criminal.

      idiot.

      Delete

    2. Sticks and stone may break my bones
      But the truth will out

      That's where you are at, "Ordure.
      Your libels and defamations have worn thin.

      Rocco Wachman deserved better.

      Delete
    3. You are funny...

      But the truth?

      It was YOU that I reported to the AZ FBI....

      LOL

      Truth?

      You would not recognize it if it slapped you in the face.

      Delete
  15. This is the type of actions that the people the Israeli would prefer to see take power in Syria are famous for ...

    Then - Hijacked Jets Destroy Twin Towers and Hit Pentagon
    New York Times

    Now - The Islamic State’s latest shock tactic: Showing children on suicide missions
    Washington Post

    That attack in Aleppo last month was one of at least 89 cases over the past year in which the Islamic State employed children or teenagers in suicide missions, according to new research that indicates the terrorist group is sending youths to their deaths in greater and greater numbers.

    The father-son sequence was memorialized in propaganda photos released last month by the Islamic State, adding to an expanding collection of online eulogies that provides insight into how the organization uses children in both combat operations and mass-casualty attacks on civilians in Iraq and Syria.


    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/02/19/%253Fp%253D95293/

    The people that do this, the ame people that Israel prefer taking power, in Syria.
    The same people that Israel and Turkey now support with military operations.



























    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The "people of the Israeli"?

      Are you for real?

      Delete
    2. Cut and paste, "O"rdure, or you will continue to misquote ...
      And that is libelous.

      This is the type of actions that the people the Israeli would prefer to see take power in Syria are famous for ...


      "people of the Israeli"?
      No where to be seen

      Delete

    3. You continually misread what is written, seeing what is not there.
      But it does provide a confirmation, of sorts.

      "Stories happen in the mind of a reader, not among symbols printed on a page.”

      ― Brandon Mull

      Delete

    4. Which is why I have urged you to find and reference the direct quotes, before you attribute statements to me.

      Your record of reading comprehension is abysmal, as is readily illustrated, above

      Delete
    5. And yet you continue to mistype and misspell yourself, you fail to use punctuation and other basic English writing tools.

      What's your excuse?

      Delete

  16. More good news

    Bush machine running on fumes
    Politico - ‎

    SUMMERVILLE, S.C. - Some of Jeb Bush's most steadfast allies think Saturday might be the end. Donors, who poured millions into his campaign and super PAC, have stopped giving - one refusing a direct request to raise $1 million this week

    ReplyDelete

  17. JERUSALEM — Hanin Zoabi, an Israeli Arab, believes Israeli Jews are colonialists who stole Palestinian land. She makes no distinction between the recent deaths of Israeli civilians and their attackers, calling both “victims of the Israeli occupation.”

    Those are typical views of Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza, as well as some Arab citizens of Israel like Zoabi. But for her to make such comments strikes many Jews as incendiary — because she is also a member of Israel's parliament, the Knesset.


    As well as the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon of South Korea.

    As well as the Catholic leadership of the Leavant
    Catholic Church in Israel blames Jewish state for current Palestinian violence
    http://www.jpost.com/Christian-News/Catholic-church-in-Israel-accuses-Israel-of-responsibility-for-current-Palestinian-violence-445375


    http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2016/02/19/arab-israel-knesset-controversy-palestinian-attacks-loyalty/80504122/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. and just a few days ago you told how Israel was an apartheid state.

      Now you quote an arab who sits in the Knesset as an elected member of the Jewish state with diametrically opposed views to the survival of said state.

      which is it Jack shit?

      Delete
    2. Every post you make Jack, you distort the truth,

      "As well as the Catholic leadership of the Leavant
      Catholic Church in Israel blames Jewish state for current Palestinian violence"

      First you should learn how to spell

      Leavant??

      No the term is NOT Leavant.

      The Levant (/ləˈvænt/; Arabic: المشرق /ʔal-maʃriq/[1][5][6][7][8][9][10]) is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the eastern Mediterranean. In its widest historical sense, the Levant included all of the eastern Mediterranean with its islands,[3] that is, it included all of the countries along the eastern Mediterranean shores, extending from Greece to Cyrenaica.[1][2] The term Levant entered English in the late 15th century from French.[3] It derives from the Italian Levante, meaning "rising", implying the rising of the sun in the east.[1][2] As such, it is broadly equivalent to the Arabic term Mashriq,[5] 'the land where the sun rises'. The western counterpart in Arabic is the Maghreb,[5] and Ponente in Italian, meaning 'west, where the sun sets'.[11]


      You distort and mislead.

      TRY again Jack "the LIAR" Hawkins.

      Delete
    3. JERUSALEM — Hanin Zoabi, an Israeli Arab, believes Israeli Jews are colonialists who stole Palestinian land. She makes no distinction between the recent deaths of Israeli civilians and their attackers, calling both “victims of the Israeli occupation.”

      Those are typical views of Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza, as well as some Arab citizens of Israel like Zoabi. But for her to make such comments strikes many Jews as incendiary — because she is also a member of Israel's parliament, the Knesset.


      She should be tried and striped of her citizenship and deported to Gaza.

      She is a traitor to Israel and as such she should be legally punished.

      Now in Gaza or the West Bank? If she was a pro-israel Arab? She'd be executed.

      Delete
  18. So Jack, you have not answered the question, when you were a paid black ops hitman, how many civilians did you murder?

    And are those charges making you nervous?

    There is no statue of limitations to actual war crimes.....

    And you are a war criminal...

    :)

    Is that why you hide?

    ReplyDelete
  19. Jack HawkinsFri Feb 19, 08:44:00 AM EST
    Cut and paste, "O"rdure, or you will continue to misquote ...
    And that is libelous.

    It's libelous to call me "O"rude or Bob a "draft dodger"

    You might want to bone up on US law better, you sound like a jackass

    ReplyDelete
  20. Jack, so how old are you now?

    72 or 75ish?

    No wife, no kids, she fled from you the moment she got the chance to escape your abuse....

    Must be pretty lonely, all by yourself, no one that cares for you, whether you live or croak...

    Rest assured we don't care...

    :)


    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. Find the quotes, "O"rdure, or as is your norm, you are just making it up as you go along

      Delete
    2. Sorry Jack, I don't JUMP because you demand it.

      We all know each other here.

      The parties have listened to each other for literally years..

      Everyone, except your master and rufus, has called you out, quoted you, and literally proved what a distorting liar you are...


      Insanity would be to try to repeating oneself and expect a different outcome.

      You lie, distort and slander.

      You libel, stalk and make mischief.

      You are anti-semitic, jew hating, zionist trashing and an around shit of a human.

      :)

      Delete
  21. Jack's mentally ill, and everyone here knows it.

    But there doesn't seem to be anything anyone here can do to help.

    ReplyDelete
  22. And some people here think these people deserve a State - Jack above all -


    February 19, 2016

    As seen on Gaza TV: Tips on how to beat your wife

    By Rick Moran


    The top spiritual leader appointed by the Palestinian Authority, Mufti Hassan Al-Laham, appears regularly on Palestinian TV talk shows discussing sharia law and how it applies to everyday life.

    Recently, the mufti talked about the finer points of beating your wife – permissable under Islamic law.

    Video


    The shocking interview with Hassan Al-Laham, who holds the title “mufti of Gaza,” came during a weekly Palestinian Authority TV program on social issues. Explaining that divorce must be a last resort in Islam, Al-Laham laid out the four steps that should come first.

    "Allah said: Warn them [the wives], and separate from them, and hit them, and bring an arbitrator from his family and an arbitrator from her family," he said.

    Al-Laham, whose title makes him the top spiritual leader appointed by the Palestinian Authority, then went into detail about how a husband should hit a wife.

    "Not hitting that will bring the police, and break her hand and cause bleeding, or hitting that makes the face ugly," he said.

    The hitting should "be like a joke," even reinforcing "the love and friendship" between the couple, he said.

    Because nothing says "I love you" like a "friendly" slap across the face.


    The segment was flagged by the nonprofit watchdog Palestinian Media Watch. Director Itamar Marcus noted that the Palestinian Authority, which appointed Al-Laham and is responsible for the television programming which is beamed by satellite throughout the Arab world, is viewed as more moderate than Hamas, the terrorist group that governs Gaza.

    “They actually think this is a moderate message – that it is okay to beat your wife,” Marcus told FoxNews.com. “This is their perception.”

    The mufti's ideas about "consensual" sex are equally bizarre:

    Video

    All in a day's programming on Palestinian TV.


    http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2016/02/as_seen_on_gaza_tv_tips_on_how_to_beat_your_wife.html#ixzz40dSuEnkw

    ReplyDelete
  23. War and the Oil Price Cycle

    Saturday, February 13th, 2016

    By Amy Jaffe, Jareer Elass
    Regions Middle East
    Keywords: Middle East, Oil price, Syrian Civil War



    Conflicts in the Middle East, including the Syrian civil war and the rise of ISIS, are raising serious new risks to regional oil facilities, making them both strategic assets and spoils of war.

    Oil has shaped international conflict for many decades. According to one estimate, between 25% to 50% of interstate wars between 1973 and 2012 have oil-related linkages. Still, the cyclical nature of oil’s contribution to global conflict is not well understood. Not only are oil prices cyclical, but the geopolitics of oil is linked inexorably to the same boom and bust price cycle. Military adventurism, proxy wars and regional pathologies in the Middle East expand and contract with the ebb and flow of massive petro-dollar accumulations and recycling related to the oil price cycle. The massive inflow of petro-dollar revenues when oil prices are high create disposable income that can be easily dispensed on regional arms races, especially since oil consuming countries like the United States and Europe are incentivized to increase arms sales to solve oil import-related trade deficits. Then as oil prices recede following the impacts of prolonged high prices, which stimulate new supplies and slowing demand through economic slowdown, substitution and conservation, social and political problems in the region reemerge. Regional governments have less resources to spend on restive populations who have become accustomed to generous hand-outs enabled by high oil prices. Job creation and visible social programs slow, dissatisfaction rises, and the consequences of economic down-cycles incite support for militants inside the borders of petro-states. Ensuing instability forces governments to use newly purchased arms, which ironically begins the cycle yet again by putting oil producing geography in the path of violence, leading to oil price spikes and disruption that drive the next boom and financing for replenishment of military equipment....

    http://jia.sipa.columbia.edu/online-articles/war-and-the-oil-price-cycle/

    ReplyDelete
  24. The Iraqi Air Force is getting a little more active.

    Iraqi warplanes kill 32 ISIS elements east of Ramadi

    (IraqiNews.com) al-Anbar – A source in the army’s Tenth Division Command said on Thursday, that 32 ISIS elements had been killed in an aerial bombing by the army’s air force east of Ramadi.

    The source said in a statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “The army’s air force, in coordination with the army’s Tenth Division, managed to bombard a number of shelters and targets belonging to ISIS on the international highway road in the area of al-Hamediyah east of Ramadi,” pointing out that, “The bombing resulted in killing 32 ISIS elements as well as the destruction of those shelters and targets.”

    Iraqinews

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 30 ISIS militants killed in aerial bombardment west of Ramadi

      (IraqiNews.com) Anbar – A source in the Joint Special Operations Command announced on Thursday, that 30 fighters of the so-called ISIS had been killed in an aerial bombardment targeted their hideout in western Ramadi (110 km west of Baghdad).

      The source said in a press statement received by IraqiNews.com, “The Iraqi Air Force aircrafts, based on accurate intelligence information, carried out an air strike on ISIS hideout in al-Bikr neighborhood in Heet District (70 km west of Ramadi), killing 30 members belonging to ISIS.”

      The source added, on condition of anonymity, “The air strike also resulted in the destruction of eight vehicles belonging to ISIS, including three car bombs.”

      Delete
    2. Security forces advance into Karmat Fallujah, kill dozens of ISIS fighters

      (IraqiNews.com) Anbar – The leadership of al-Hashed al-Shaabi in Anbar Province announced on Thursday, that the security forces advanced inside al-Karma District east of Fallujah, while indicated to the killing of dozens of ISIS fighters.

      The commander of the 1st battalion in al-Hashed al-Shaabi Col. Mahmoud al-Jumaili said in a statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “The security forces carried out a large-scale military operation on the areas of al-Karma District (19 km east of Fallujah).”

      The statement added, “The security forces advanced for three kilometers into the depth of al-Karma areas, and managed to kill dozens of ISIS members.”

      Iraqinews

      Delete
    3. Those pesky ISIS members just keep growing....

      Like whack a mole...

      Delete
  25. Air Power Vital to Counter-ISIL Success, Commander Says

    WASHINGTON, February 18, 2016 — As the U.S.-led coalition’s air campaign to counter the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Iraq and Syria brings its capabilities to the fight, joint interoperability continues to degrade the terrorist organization, the commander of U.S. Air Forces Central Command said today.

    Air Force Lt. Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., who also serves as Combined Forces Air Component commander for Operation Inherent Resolve, briefed Pentagon reporters on progress in the coalition’s counter-ISIL air operations via teleconference from an air operations center in Al Udeid, Qatar.

    The interoperability among the coalition nations is built upon “years of combined training and multilateral exercises [that have] been key to our continued success in the air campaign,” Brown emphasized.

    “There is no doubt coalition air power has and continues to dramatically degrade [ISIL’s] ability to fight and conduct operations,” he added.

    While persistent air coverage continually exploits ISIL’s weaknesses, “we are more effective today than ever before,” the general said. “We're conducting the most precise air campaign in history, and we're able to attrit [ISIL] and its capabilities any time and anywhere.”

    Targeting Areas for Defeat

    Targeting ISIL logistics, command and control and weapons manufacturing are some of the areas in which the coalition has had increased success, he said.

    “We've had notable success in targeting [ISIL’s] financial resources,” Brown said, adding that ISIL has been forced to cut its fighters’ pay as a result of strikes carried out to disrupt its illicit financial operations.

    Videos showed Air Force and Navy aircraft using precision-guided munitions in airstrikes on financial storage and distribution centers, which Brown explained were planned to minimize collateral damage and to confine risk to just a matter of minutes.

    Since the counter-ISIL campaign began about 18 months ago, the coalition has expended 519 weapons and conducted 119 strikes on bulk cash sites, gas and oil separation plants and crude oil collection points, Brown said.

    Air Power Vital to Counter-ISIL Success, Commander Says
    By Terri Moon Cronk DoD News, Defense Media Activity

    Video Player
    1 of 1 VIDEO: General Details Current Counter-ISIL Plans
    Lt. Gen. Charles Brown, Jr., commander of U.S. Air Forces Central, briefed reporters at the Pentagon, Feb. 18, 2016, with details regarding current plans to work with partner nations to counter the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant by using targeted airstrikes.

    1
    PRINT | E-MAIL | CONTACT AUTHOR
    WASHINGTON, February 18, 2016 — As the U.S.-led coalition’s air campaign to counter the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Iraq and Syria brings its capabilities to the fight, joint interoperability continues to degrade the terrorist organization, the commander of U.S. Air Forces Central Command said today.

    Air Force Lt. Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., who also serves as Combined Forces Air Component commander for Operation Inherent Resolve, briefed Pentagon reporters on progress in the coalition’s counter-ISIL air operations via teleconference from an air operations center in Al Udeid, Qatar.

    The interoperability among the coalition nations is built upon “years of combined training and multilateral exercises [that have] been key to our continued success in the air campaign,” Brown emphasized.

    “There is no doubt coalition air power has and continues to dramatically degrade [ISIL’s] ability to fight and conduct operations,” he added.

    While persistent air coverage continually exploits ISIL’s weaknesses, “we are more effective today than ever before,” the general said. “We're conducting the most precise air campaign in history, and we're able to attrit [ISIL] and its capabilities any time and anywhere.”

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Targeting Areas for Defeat

      Targeting ISIL logistics, command and control and weapons manufacturing are some of the areas in which the coalition has had increased success, he said.

      “We've had notable success in targeting [ISIL’s] financial resources,” Brown said, adding that ISIL has been forced to cut its fighters’ pay as a result of strikes carried out to disrupt its illicit financial operations.

      Videos showed Air Force and Navy aircraft using precision-guided munitions in airstrikes on financial storage and distribution centers, which Brown explained were planned to minimize collateral damage and to confine risk to just a matter of minutes.

      Since the counter-ISIL campaign began about 18 months ago, the coalition has expended 519 weapons and conducted 119 strikes on bulk cash sites, gas and oil separation plants and crude oil collection points, Brown said.

      Another video shown during Brown’s briefing demonstrated how recent United Kingdom and Saudi Arabian airstrikes used four precision-guided munitions to destroy a weapons storage facility, limiting ISIL’s ability to resupply its fighters, he said.

      The Iraqi security forces’ ability to retake the city of Ramadi from ISIL control is one example of how vital air power is in the counter-ISIL fight, Brown said, adding that airstrikes also have been critical in partner-force operations to take back Sinjar in Iraq and Hasakah, and the Tishrin Dam on the Euphrates River in Syria.

      Persistent air power has halted ISIL, and its leaders and fighters are disappearing in large numbers, the general said, adding that the enemy fears the coalition’s air power.

      “This is due to our operational reach and flexibility, our precision and lethality, and our constant presence and responsiveness,” Brown said, vowing to continue delivering airstrikes to destroy and defeat ISIL.

      Delete
    2. Russia Avoids Coalition Forces in Syria

      In Syria, where the Russians and the U.S.-led coalition already comply with a memorandum of understanding for flight safety, the Russian military has also avoided certain areas where U.S. special operators and coalition forces are deployed, Brown noted.

      The general areas in which U.S. and coalition forces operate was shared with Russia "out of an abundance of safety for our special operations," he said, adding that the Russians also shared similar information about its ground positions, such as its airfields in western Syria.

      "We have made a request, and [the Russians] have honored that request," Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said, following the briefing.

      DOD

      Delete
    3. U.S. Airstrike in Libya Targets ISIL Training Camp, Senior FacilitatorDOD

      Delete
  26. February 19, 2016

    Trump, the pope, and the Bible

    By Rabbi Aryeh Spero


    In response to Donald Trump’s call for constructing a wall at our southern border so as to stem the illegal migrations into our country, Pope Francis indicated that Mr. Trump is “not a Christian,” since, as the pope says, “Christians build bridges, not walls.”

    As a rabbi, it is not for me to decide what is Christian; however, I can speak to what the Bible says about such matters.........


    http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2016/02/trump_the_pope_and_the_bible.html#ixzz40eNpmCqf

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In Defense of Trump, Some Point (Wrongly) to Vatican Walls

      By LIAM STACKFEB. 19, 2016

      http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/20/world/europe/in-defense-of-trump-some-point-wrongly-to-vatican-walls.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0

      Delete
  27. One of the very pretty trim talking head ladies on Fox just mentioned "the tragic death of Justice Scalia".

    Dammit !!

    There was not - assuming no foul play - anything at all "tragic" about it.

    He died in his sleep. In what is known as elder years. Nine healthy children and a wife surviving. After a full life dedicated to a noble profession.

    I hate it when people misuse the word "tragic".

    ReplyDelete
  28. .

    Did EU meddle with Turkish elections?


    ANKARA, Turkey — The Turkish president’s patience was running out. His EU interlocutors were offering him 3 billion euros ($3.3 billion) for stemming the flow of Syrian refugees to Europe.

    President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reminded Jean-Claude Juncker, the EU Commission president, and Donald Tusk, the head of the EU Council, that a few months before they had given Greece 400 billion euros ($445 billion) to keep it afloat. According to the minutes of the meeting, Tusk replied that that money was not just for Greece but to support the entire eurozone. Erdogan said that a deal to constrain the refugees would support the Schengen visa-free travel agreement, another pan-European project.

    The back-and-forth continued until Juncker pointedly recalled that the EU did Erdogan a favor the previous month. “Please note,” said Juncker, “that we postponed the progress report until after the Turkish elections, and we got criticized for this delay.” In other words, the EU delayed the release of a report highly critical of Turkey’s “progress” toward meeting EU standards of governance in order to help Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party win the general elections in November.

    The revelation that the EU Commission is not above trying to influence Turkish elections appears in the minutes of the Erdogan-Tusk-Juncker meeting that took place on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Antalya on Nov. 15-16. Scans of the minutes, apparently written by EU stenographers, were published last week on a little-known Greek website...


    Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/02/turkey-european-union-minutes-meeting-officials-erdogan.html#ixzz40edF6YQa

    .

    ReplyDelete
  29. Strikes in Syria

    Attack, ground-attack, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted nine strikes in Syria:

    -- Near Abu Kamal, one strike destroyed an ISIL workover rig.

    -- Near Hasakah, four strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed five ISIL vehicles and two ISIL fighting positions.

    -- Near Hawl, one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL vehicle.

    -- Near Raqqah, one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL vehicle.

    -- Near Manbij, two strikes struck a large ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL vehicle.

    Strikes in Iraq

    Rocket artillery and fighter, attack and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 13 strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq’s government:

    -- Near Baghdadi, one strike destroyed eight ISIL rocket rails.

    -- Near Albu Hayat, one strike destroyed 13 ISIL rocket rails.

    -- Near Hit, one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit.

    -- Near Mosul, four strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and an ISIL weapons storage facility and destroyed 12 ISIL fighting positions, an ISIL excavator, and an ISIL vehicle.

    -- Near Ramadi, four strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed four ISIL staging areas.

    -- Near Sinjar, two strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and suppressed an ISIL rocket position.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. do we have any idea of the number of civilians we have killed or wounded today??

      do we care?

      I guess not...

      certainly Rufus doesn't care about the numbers WE kill of arabs.. funny why is he so concerned about israel and it's wars with hamas?

      interesting.

      Delete

    2. Yes, you Israelis have killed another three civilians in the Occupied Territories.

      Delete
  30. .

    Internment Camps: Have We Forgotten the Lesson?


    By Carl M. Cannon

    February 19, 2016

    It’s Friday, February 19, a date which will live in White House infamy. I’m borrowing Franklin D. Roosevelt’s famous phrase about December 7, 1941, in reference to an infamous action taken two months later by FDR -- on this day in 1942.

    Executive Order 9066 authorized the forced relocation of persons of Japanese descent living on the West Coast into wartime internment camps. Most of the men, women, and children covered by the edict were naturalized or American-born citizens.

    The rationale cited in Executive Order 9066 was espionage, but the true causes were wartime hysteria, overt racism, and latent jealousy over the commercial and agricultural success of Japanese immigrants (issei) and their descendants, the nisei (second-generation) and sansei (third-generation).

    From Washington state to Arizona, some 120,000 innocent people were rounded up under this order. I’ve written about this shameful chapter in American history previously. But with a presidential campaign taking place, and a leading candidate talking openly about barring Muslims from coming to this country, it seems more relevant than ever.

    * * *

    Donald Trump isn’t inventing the threat from ISIS, or from other foreign terrorist groups, or from murderous Muslim radicals living here in the United States. The San Bernardino couple who lived and worked among peaceful Southern Californians before slaughtering them at a Christmas party were a second-generation Pakistani Muslim and his immigrant bride.

    What they did and how they did it -- and the fact that this immigrant bride was a new mother -- was a frightening new front in this war we are fighting, a conflict George W. Bush inexactly labeled the “War on Terror,” and which Barack Obama seems reluctant to name at all.

    But how this nation responded two months after Pearl Harbor provides a valuable history lesson. Was the government being vigilant? Or hysterical? In this instance, the verdict has been officially rendered, although it took 46 years.

    That judgment came in the form of legislation called the Civil Liberties Act of 1988. The law, signed by President Reagan on August 10 that year, compensated all those still living who had been interned in the “relocation” camps with $20,000 and an apology from their government.

    “The legislation that I am about to sign provides for a restitution payment to each of the 60,000 surviving Japanese-Americans of the 120,000 who were relocated or detained,” Reagan said. “Yet no payment can make up for those lost years. So, what is most important in this bill has less to do with property than with honor. For here we admit a wrong; here we reaffirm our commitment as a nation to equal justice under the law...”


    [...]

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. {...}



      Reagan paid special notice in his signing statement to Norman Y. Mineta, then a member of California’s congressional delegation, one of the prime movers of the Japanese-American redress legislation.

      Reagan read aloud Mineta’s own recollection of being rounded up with his family in San Jose, California, at age 10.

      “My own family was sent first to Santa Anita Racetrack,” Mineta had written. “We showered in the horse paddocks. Some families lived in converted stables, others in hastily thrown together barracks. We were then moved to Heart Mountain, Wyoming, where our entire family lived in one small room of a rude tar paper barrack.”

      The president also paid homage to the famed Nisei regiment, focusing on the central injustice of its formation:

      “The 442nd Regimental Combat Team, made up entirely of Japanese-Americans, served with immense distinction to defend this nation, their nation,” Reagan noted. “Yet back at home, the soldiers' families were being denied the very freedom for which so many of the soldiers themselves were laying down their lives.”

      Among those soldiers was Daniel Inouye, the long-serving Democratic senator from Hawaii. Inouye, who lost an arm to a grenade while fighting in Italy, was later awarded a Medal of Honor for his valor. On the day the redress measure was enacted into law, Inouye maintained that although it was long overdue, it still should make Americans proud.

      “Very few nations are strong enough to admit they’re wrong,” he said. “America is strong enough, and we did so.”

      Inouye passed away a little more than three years ago. But my old friend Norm Mineta is still with us, and with an over-heated presidential election in full swing, I’ll give him the last word this morning.

      “What happened in the past remains in the past,” Mineta said at a 2011 dedication of the Heart Mountain Interpretive Learning Center in Wyoming. “But it's not about the past. It's about the future, because history always has the ability to repeat itself.


      .

      Delete
    2. The point being the people of the US should not place all the Muslims in the US into the terrorist column?

      It is a laudable position, as each person should be judged as an individual, not as a member of a religious or ethnic faction.

      Delete
    3. Unless they are a member of an Islamic NAZIS group.

      Then we can and should judge them

      Sorry Jack, Hamas, Hezbollah and those who you defend?

      Are terrorists and war criminals, real one...

      As you celebrate every arab stabbing of a Jew? you are not much better.

      Delete
    4. If we don't let them INTO the country, we won't be faced with THE PROBLEMS that will inevitably arise.

      Stop Moslem Immigration To USA Now !

      Delete
    5. The problem with Jack's idea above is that if one is a Moslem one subscribes to certain beliefs which are anathema to our Constitution, and our way of life.

      Thus, if one says 'I am a Moslem' one can reach certain conclusions from that statement.

      Likewise, if one says 'I am a Marxist/Leninist' one can reach certain conclusions from that statement as well.

      Delete
    6. "First we show the Poles, then everyone else"

      A revealing comment spoken by newly elected Moslem councilman to the Hamtramck, Michigan City Council in an 'unguarded moment'.

      Delete
    7. Islamic Nazis and Zionist Nazis, two sides to the same coin.

      Yahweh = Allah
      hat tip: "O"rdure

      Delete
    8. What I find interesting is that the interment was done by executive order.

      Delete
    9. What's interesting about that ?

      There was a war on.

      Who else could order it ?

      Congress could pass a law but the President would still have to execute it.

      What I wonder is if there were any law suits filed, and if so by whom, to try and stop it.

      Delete
  31. Trey Gowdy said today they have made great progress in the Benghazi investigation recently.

    The noose(s) tighten on Hillary.

    :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. Keep that light on in the window, "Counterfeit Bob" ...

      Delete
  32. Will do, Dead Beat Dad -


    Gowdy: Benghazi committee has new records, testimony — and “enormous progress”; Update: CIA records?


    posted at 2:01 pm on February 19, 2016 by Ed Morrissey

    Update: One source directed me to a Fox News interview yesterday with Gowdy for the source of the “crucial national security records” referenced in his statement. “You will hear new names that no one else has heard,” Gowdy said. “Even this past week, we got information from the CIA that no other committee of Congress has ever bothered to ask for or receive.” Hmmmmm.

    Original post follows …

    ===

    Looks like we may find out sooner rather than later what the House Select Committee on Benghazi has found about the attack that left four Americans dead, dozens more waiting for help, and the policies that left them vulnerable in the first place. In a statement yesterday, chair Trey Gowdy announced that the committee should be able to “release a report as soon as possible,” and described how this probe has succeeded in finding a much broader set of data and testimony than other previous investigations. Apparently, a very recent development has fueled Gowdy’s optimism, emphasis mine (via Cortney O’Brien):


    The Select Committee has made enormous progress this month. We interviewed a top State Department official, Patrick Kennedy, and after months and months of quiet negotiations with the White House, we finally were able to question both Susan Rice and Ben Rhodes. In addition, just last week, the committee gained access to crucial national security records we sought for nearly a year – records no other investigation has seen. While there are still witnesses to talk to and documents to review, these significant breakthroughs are big wins that will help the committee complete the most comprehensive investigation into what happened before, during and after the Benghazi terrorist attacks, and release a report as soon as possible.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What, pray tell, might those records be? And why did it take more than a year to gain access to them? The first impulse is to think this refers to Hillary Clinton’s e-mails, but those got turned over to State a year ago, and have been publicly released for months. Presumably, Congress got an advance look at those. The House formed the committee after the White House stiffed them on a subpoena for e-mails from Rhodes, but that was around two years ago. Why did it take so long for the committee to access these records, and why were they not made available immediately?

      As teases go, that seems … pretty significant. Gowdy’s reference to them as “significant breakthroughs” raises the stakes, too. Clearly he envisions a report that tells a much different story than the whitewash that the Accountability Review Board delivered in the immediate aftermath of the attacks. Gowdy also emphasized the breadth of the Select Committee probe in comparison to that and other prior investigations:


      Prior to the Select Committee’s investigation, no congressional committee had interviewed Susan Rice or Ben Rhodes about Benghazi. … So far, 59 of the 75 witnesses interviewed by the committee had never before been interviewed by Congress. The Select Committee is also the first and only Benghazi investigation to include roughly 70,000 new pages of documents – including the Secretary of State’s emails – and the first to even request access to Ambassador Chris Stevens’ emails.

      Two weeks ago, Gowdy had made similar observations. The committee managed to finally get Susan Rice, Ben Rhodes, and even Patrick Kennedy on the record, a feat that the so-called Accountability Review Board didn’t even bother to attempt. At that time, Gowdy sounded confident, but did not predict when the probe would end:


      Yesterday’s announcement brought about the usual back-and-forth between Republicans and Democrats:


      “Republicans are desperate to rehabilitate their image, and yet they continue to drag out the committee’s tenure well into the 2016 election year‎ with no end in sight,” a spokesman for committee Democrats said in a statement. “The simple truth is that the facts haven’t changed, and the core findings of the many previous investigations have stood up to the repeated and wasteful scrutiny.”

      A Republican committee aide blasted the announcement.

      “It’s very sad that the do-nothing Democrats on the committee would actually brag about how long they’ve obstructed this thorough, fact-centered investigation,” the aide said in an emailed statement. “Their deceptive announcement today is further proof they are focused solely on playing politics, undermining the committee’s work, and helping their endorsed candidate for president. It’s also bizarre for Democrats to claim they will release transcripts that Chairman Gowdy has always said he plans to release with the final report.”

      Well, one side is certainly setting up their supporters for a very big let-down when this report emerges. With as many unanswered questions about the lack of security, the lack of response, and the necessity of that station in an area that our allies had long abandoned still left hanging, though, Democrats had better hope that they can find a squirrel or two to distract people when the report finally emerges.

      http://hotair.com/archives/2016/02/19/gowdy-benghazi-committee-has-new-records-testimony-and-enormous-progress/

      Delete

    2. Yep, the Republicans certainly seem to be setting up their supporters for a very big let-down

      Delete
    3. We'll see, D.B.D. Stalker.

      It's all we can do. Wait and see what comes of it.

      Delete

    4. The public does not care about Benghazi, "Counterfeit Bob", this can be determined by the failure of "13 Hours" at the box office. Forbes, not 'left wing' publication tells the tale ...

      The movie cost $50 million to produce, and that was the box office take, too.

      Michael Bay’s 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi. The $50 million action thriller is a blow-by-blow account of the attack on a diplomatic compound in Libya that killed an ambassador and three other Americans in September of 2012. The Paramount/Viacom VIAB -1.18% Inc. release has been heavily marketed to those on the conservative side of the aisle while selling it hard on right-wing radio and television outlets. But the question worth asking is whether the hard sell to the hard right basically turned off everyone else.
      ...
      its per-screen-average for the Fri-Sun debut was a merely okay $6,250 p.s.a.


      http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2016/01/17/box-office-why-13-hours-the-secret-soldiers-of-benghazi-was-no-american-sniper/#7f23a6cf5722

      It was the worse revenue producer of current crop of war movies.

      The picture earned $16 million over the Friday-to-Sunday portion of its opening weekend, with an estimated $19m over the Fri-Mon frame. ...
      That’s under the $110m Fri-Mon opening of American Sniper (duh),
      a bit below the $37m Fri-Sun debut of Mark Wahlberg’s Lone Survivor in January of 2014,
      and actually below the $24m debut in March of 2012 of the star-less and mostly under-the-radar Act of Valor.


      No on gives a shit about Benghazi, it is history, "Counterfeit Bob", not news



      Delete
    5. Movie receipts have no bearing on what Gowdy may or may not have on Hillary, Dead Beat Dad Stalker General 'Memorial Day' rat's ass.

      Delete
    6. It does have a direct correlation, "Counterfeit Bob" to the public's lack of interest in the Benghazi story.

      It is history, not news
      No matter what Gowdy says or does, the window of opportunity has closed.

      Delete

    7. All the hype on Faux News, Trump buying seats for the crowd, none of it made a difference, no one gives a shit.

      Delete

    8. Without an indictment the GOP has got nothing on Mrs Clinton that will damage her more than she already is.

      Delete

    9. Unless the FBI Director resigns because the DoJ does not indict, after a criminal referral by the FBI, that would damage her, but nothing else will touch her.

      Nothing Gowdy does, says or publishes will make any difference.

      Delete

    10. The GOP had its opportunity, they did not capitalize upon it, because there is nothing to capitalize upon
      It was a CIA operation gone bad, four lives were lost.

      Donald Trump tells US that GW Bush had an operation go bad, subsequently lost 4,000 lives ...
      George's brother got pissed when the truth was told.
      No one else cared.

      Delete
  33. Bob's Candidate Grating Scale

    Candidates rated by how badly they grate on my nerves (listening and visual) -

    Worst First, Best Last

    Hillary Clinton
    The Bern
    Ted Cruz
    Kashich
    Jeb!/Rubio tie
    The Donald
    Dr. Ben Carson

    (current candidates only)

    ReplyDelete
  34. Ex-Black Panther freed after 43 years in solitary confinement


    Chicago (AFP) - A former Black Panther activist who spent a record 43 years in solitary confinement was freed from a US prison after decades of legal battles to prove his innocence.

    Albert Woodfox is the last of the "Angola Three" activists to taste freedom in a case which provoked outrage among rights groups.

    A federal judge had ordered Woodfox's unconditional release in June in a strongly-worded ruling that barred any further trial on charges of murdering prison guard Brent Miller.

    Woodfox twice managed to overturn his conviction for the crime, but Louisiana's attorney general had been determined to pursue a third trial and managed to bar Woodfox's release on appeal.

    He won his freedom Friday by pleading "no contest" to two lesser charges in a deal which allowed him to be released on his 69th birthday.

    "Although I was looking forward to proving my innocence at a new trial, concerns about my health and my age have caused me to resolve this case now and obtain my release with this no-contest plea to lesser charges," Woodfox said in a statement.

    "I hope the events of today will bring closure to many."

    The plea is not an admission of guilt but instead a legal maneuver in which he "does not contest that the State would present evidence at a new trial from witnesses who said he committed this crime," his lawyers said.

    - Obama pushes reforms -

    Lousiana's Attorney General Jeff Landry said in a statement that the plea deal brought "finality" and "closure" to the long drawn out case, adding that the arrangement "is in the best interest of justice."

    "Albert Woodfox, by his own plea, stands convicted of the homicide of Brent Miller. In accordance with that plea, he was sentenced to 42 years of incarceration and given credit for time served," Landry said.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. President Barack Obama's spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters Friday that the US leader is convinced that solitary confinement should be used "appropriately and sparingly."

      Obama, who recently introduced a ban on solitary confinement for juveniles in federal prisons, is pushing to introduce broader reforms to America's overcrowded correctional system -- including a drastic reduction in the practice of solitary confinement in federal prisons.

      "If our ultimate goal of our criminal justice system is to give people a second chance, after they've paid their debt to society, we're basically setting them up to fail if we don't take seriously the long-term negative consequences of prolonged solitary confinement," Earnest said.

      "The kind of reforms that the president put forward are the kind of reforms that can only be implemented in the federal prison system," he said.

      The Angola Three said they were targeted by prison officials because they spoke out against inhumane treatment and racial segregation at the notorious Louisiana prison built on a former slave plantation.

      Woodfox and Herman Wallace, who were sent to Angola for unrelated cases of armed robbery, were convicted of the Rogers murder in 1972.

      Wallace was released in 2013 and died shortly thereafter from cancer.

      Robert King, the third member of the group, spent 29 years in solitary until his conviction for a separate prison murder was overturned in 2001.

      - 'Extreme and cruel punishment' -

      Woodfox's attorney George Kendall called his client's long imprisonment "inhumane."

      "Albert survived the extreme and cruel punishment of 40 plus years in solitary confinement only because of his extraordinary strength and character," Kendall said in a statement.

      "These inhumane practices must stop. We hope the Louisiana Department of Corrections will reform and greatly limit its use of solitary confinement -- as have an increasing number of jurisdictions around the country."

      The case of the Angola Three has brought attention to the psychological toll of solitary confinement, which typically means being locked in a tiny cell for 23 hours a day.

      Researchers have found that depriving someone of visual stimulation, human interaction, sunlight or physical activity can change their brain structure in a matter of days.

      Yet many of the 80,000 people estimated to be in solitary confinement in US prisons have been there for years on end.

      "Today should also mark a pivotal new chapter in reforming the use of prolonged solitary confinement in US prisons and jails," said Jasmine Heiss, a campaigner with Amnesty International USA.

      "Moving forward, Woodfox's case must serve as a tragic reminder of the cruelty inflicted by the prison system at its most extreme."

      http://news.yahoo.com/ex-black-panther-freed-43-years-solitary-confinement-204944987.html;_ylt=AwrC0CYK3sdWNjcA.SHQtDMD;_ylu=X3oDMTBybGY3bmpvBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMyBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzcg--

      Delete
  35. :):):):)

    "I hate texting someone sober."

    Yup, feller's a 'Rufus Folk' for sure.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Replies
    1. :)
      ********

      I've noticed something odd.

      Every time Jack posts, the neighbor's dog barks.

      Delete
  37. Rubio doesn't know what he's talking about.

    He just said on Fox with Hannity that ISIS wants to bring about the return of the 12th Imam, the Mahdi, but it is the Shiits that have given themselves impossible this task, not the Sunnis.

    ReplyDelete