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."

Thursday, March 26, 2015

The beginning of an American air strike campaign in Tikrit marks an important shift in the ISIS war

LOOK OUT BELOW

03.25.15 DAILY BEAST

U.S. Backing Iran With Airstrikes Against ISIS

Iran and the U.S. say they’ve been fighting parallel wars in Iraq. But those two campaigns appear ready to become one, American officials tell The Daily Beast. 
The American-led coalition is now launching air strikes to back up Iranian and Iraqi troops in the key city of Tikrit, a U.S. official tells The Daily Beast. Those forces had previously kicked off their operation to reclaim Saddam Hussein’s from the self-proclaimed Islamic State without informing the U.S. military. But when that campaign stalled, they turned to American air power.
A U.S. defense official told The Daily Beast that U.S. conducted 15 strikes beginning at 315 p.m. EDT, targeting weapons storage facilities, barracks and road blocks set up by ISIS. All the targets were "pre-planned" the official said, suggesting an operation planned before the Iraqis formally sought approval. 
Two U.S. officials told The Daily Beast that upon receiving a formal request from the Iraqi government, the attacks began almost instantly. “The coalition has demonstrated the ability to rapidly respond to conditions on the ground,” one of the officials noted.
As the situation deteriorated in Tikrit for Iraqi forces, the U.S. military quietly laid the groundwork for expanding coalition air strikes into the central Iraq city, the U.S. officials told The Daily Beast. They moved assets and began crafting military plans for striking ISIS targets entrenched there.
By Wednesday, Iraq time, an Associated Press reporter in Tikrit reported hearing warplanes overhead—and multiple explosions below.
In an interview with Reuters that was published early Wednesday, Iraqi President Fouad Massoum said air strikes would begin soon.
“The Iraqi government along with residents of the area wanted an active contribution from the international coalition,” Massoum told Reuters. 
An American air strike campaign in Tikrit marks an important shift in the ISIS war. Iraqi officials did not engage their American counterparts before they launched the offensive on Tikrit March 1, with Iranian generals and tanks by their side. And the American military has long insisted that it wouldn’t coordinate too closely with the Iranians, even as both forces fight a common enemy in Iraq: ISIS.
The Tikrit campaign was launched with a patchwork force of 20,000 Shiite militiamen, 3,000 Iraqi troops, and a bevy of Iranian troops, tanks, weapons and missile strikes. And in the early days of the campaign, Gen. Qassem Suleiman, leader of the Iranian Quds force, was on the ground in Tikrit.
As forces quickly made their way to Tikrit in those opening moments, there were hopes that Iraq would get its biggest win against ISIS within days. Iraqi officials boasted that they were moving surprisingly fast onto the city, which is ISIS ‘s biggest stronghold in Iraq’s Saladin province. But in the last week, the campaign has stalled as Iraqi forces and militiamen confronted a city laden with explosives. In addition, a key bridge over the Tigris River leading to the city was destroyed, complicating Iraqi troop and militia movement into Tikrit.
As Iraqi troop and militia deaths rose, more Iraqi politicans suggested they needed U.S. help. On Saturday, after receiving an official request from the Iraqi government, the U.S. and the coalition began providing videos and other intelligence learned from surveillance flights to the Iraqi military, as the Wall Street Journal reported and Army Col. Steven Warren, a Pentagon spokesman, confirmed Wednesday.
So far, the U.S. had conducted 5,314 strikes against ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria through March 15, according to Pentagon statistics. U.S. officials told The Daily Beast that the heaviest resistance to expanding the American involvement to air strikes will not be from the Obama administration—which has long shrugged off the idea of cooperating militarily with Iran—but from some Shiite militia leaders who have said they can reclaim the city without American help.
“The Shiite militia leaders have been saying we don’t need American air strikes so they have been pushing back on this idea. So there is going to be an internally debate within the Iraqi state,” the adviser said.
In his interview with Reuters, Massoum acknowledged that friction, but said: “The Iraqi government alone decides and no other force decides,” referring to the Shiite militias.
The expansion of the U.S air war into Tikrit was met with mixed feelings inside the Pentagon. While some feared the implications of coming to rescue of a failed Iranian-led effort, still others welcomed the opportunity to let both Iraq and Iran know that the war in ISIS cannot be won without U.S. help.
“If this leads to the Iranians forced to concede defeat, that would be a satisfactory outcome,” one defense official expanded to The Daily Beast.
Perhaps the only comparable campaign to a potential air campaign over Tikrit was the Iraqi offensive in the northern Iraqi city of Amerli. Iraqi forces, Kurdish forces —known as peshmerga — and Shiite militiamen broke ISIS grip over that city last fall, with the help of U.S. air strikes. 
Of course, the U.S.-led coalition was helping the Tikrit campaign—albeit inadvertently—even before it started sharing intelligence. American air strikes outside of the campaign prevented ISIS from moving in reinforcements to Tikrit.  But coalition air attacks were noticeably absent from the Tikrit fighting itself. Instead, the strikes happened in the restive Sunni province of Anbar and the northern city of Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city and the biggest city ISIS holds in that country.
Either way, the request for American air power suggests the end of hopes that a ground force alone could defeat ISIS in Tikrit. Ahead could be a very different phase of the ISIS war.
UPDATE 4:31 PM: This story has been updated to note the Iraqi government's formal request for air strikes, and the beginning of American air operations over Tikrit.

161 comments:

  1. So now america helps iran genocide the Sunnis for the Iranians. Over 5400 air strikes and not one civilian killed?

    When the war crime charges are leveled against American officials dont say I didn't warn you

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ISrael prefers al-Qeada.

      Israel prefers Daesh (al-Qeada) in Syria, over the Alawites, Christians and their Kurdish allies

      Israel’s Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren told the Jerusalem Post that Israel so wanted Assad out and his Iranian backers weakened, that Israel would accept al-Qaeda operatives taking power in Syria.
      “We always wanted Bashar Assad to go, we always preferred the bad guys who weren’t backed by Iran to the bad guys who were backed by Iran.” Even if the other “bad guys” were affiliated with al-Qaeda.


      http://www.jpost.com/Syria-Crisis/Oren-Jerusalem-has-wanted-Assad-ousted-since-the-outbreak-of-the-Syrian-civil-war-326328.

      Delete
    2. ISrael flies Close Air Support for al-Qeada in Syria

      19 Jan 2015
      The strike took place near Quneitra, a town near the Syrian border with the Israeli-occupied part of the Golan Heights, in an area which is also being battled over by Assad regime forces and a variety of rebel groups including Jabhat al-Nusra, Al-Qaeda's Syrian arm.

      Although the Israeli air force has hit targets inside Syria several times since the start of the war ....


      Delete
    3. Jack you are alike a parrot, incapable of saying anything original, just repeating the same cut and paste words over and over again...

      no context, no meaning, just parroting a script.

      you are a wonderful example of an Iranian firster. How much do you get paid by Iran?

      Delete
  2. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is unbecoming, and disgraceful.

      Delete
    2. Did you make that $7,500 donation to the Special Operation Warrior Foundation, Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson?

      I truly doubt it.

      Your history of narcissism would cause anyone with eyes that see or ears that hear to know that even if you said you had, proof would be required.

      Delete
  3. A U.S. official told AFP that President Barack Obama approved the Tikrit air raids on the condition that Iraqi government forces be given a larger role in the assault.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bad News for the blog's ISIS supporters.

      Delete
    2. I would not call myself an ISIS supporter, but even the Liberal Tom Friedman now calls the creation of ISIS, in part a reaction by the Sunnis of Iranian Shia mass murder of Sunnis in Iraq and Syria.

      Iran, Hezbollah and Syria have now murdered over 300,000 civilians and made over 12 million (including iraqis) refugees.

      If you have so much hatred for Israel and it's reaction in Gaza that caused a TOTAL of 2200 deaths, 1/2 who were human shields. Why are you comfortable with Iran and it's proxies? Why no outcry for America doing over 5400 bombing runs without a mention of outcry of human deaths?

      Maybe it's because you have no standards?

      oh only one standard for Israel, no standards for anyone else.

      Good news however, the Iranians/Hezbollah/Syria? Have killed almost 15,000 palestinian men women and little screaming babies and not a PEEP of outrage by ya'll...

      LOL

      Now that's funny...

      Delete
    3. ISrael prefers al-Qeada, flies close air support for al-Qeada.

      That is not funny, not a reason to laugh.

      It is unbecoming, and disgraceful.

      But par for the course, for ISrael.

      Delete
    4. America now supports the mass murder of Palestinian civilians

      Delete
    5. That is nothing new, the US has financed the murder and subjugation of Palestinians since 1967, through the Zionist proxies that occupy Palestine.

      The tide is turning, though.

      Delete
    6. The ISraeli rends his clothes at the news ...

      Delete
  4. Did you not relay a report that Qasim Sulaimani and his core cadre had moved north to Mosul.
    Prepping for the fight, there, is now underway.

    Memorial Day may still be in the cards.
    4 July is more realistic ...
    Labor Day, a done deal.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. One thing is double-damn sure:

      They Are Dead Men Walking. :)

      Delete
    2. WASHINGTON - A US-led coalition joined Iraqi forces in staging 17 air strikes against Islamic State targets in Tikrit, the US military said in a statement on Thursday.

      Delete
  5. New York Times -

    AL RASHID AIR BASE, Iraq - Iraqi military leaders said that American-led air raids pummeled Islamic State positions in Tikrit for eight and a half hours, subsiding only at dawn on Thursday, when the Iraqi military's handful of Russian-made fighters took over.

    ReplyDelete
  6. This operation will still take another week, or so.

    These 3rd World Armies will, usually, leave a "back door" open; that way they don't have to do the down and dirty, dangerous work of rooting out the last of the dead-enders. The Iraqis didn't do that, this time.

    And, we know from experience that they're not real big on "risk-taking."

    That means the Iraqis are going to find excuses for spending many days sitting around, watching the US kill headcutters.

    But, at least, the final chapter for Daesh in Tikrit has now been written. On to Mosul. :) (or, Fallujah - or, Ramadi - whatever) :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Jack HawkinsThu Mar 26, 06:50:00 AM EDT
    ISrael prefers al-Qeada.


    Well HECK Jack, America prefers the MASS Murdering Iranian, Syrian and Hezbollahians!

    ISIS may have killed what 20,000 people? But Assad, Iran and Hezbollah are knocking upwards of 300- 400 THOUSAND

    Anyone with a reasonable mind prefers the killers who can't KILL as many..

    Why does America support and provide help to the very people who mass murdered over 10,000 Palestinian civilians?

    Wow….

    Talk about a warped world…

    America and Iran's Revolutionary Guards (and Assad's forces and Hezbollah) are now TRYING to genocide a few more hundred thousand arabs…

    I wish them success…

    Your employers, the Iranians are doing a FINE job at killing Arabs…

    Your side has murdered MORE Palestinians in 38 months than have died in all the wars between the Israelis and Arabs since 1948!

    Congrats!!!!!

    :)

    You must be so proud…

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is like arguing the merits of the Ukrainian Jew killers being better than the German Jew killers because the Ukrainians could not meet their numbers.

      Delete
  8. Ahh, the cries of anguish from the ISIS supporters are a wonderful thing. :)

    They mourn their brethren.

    It's music to the ears of free men, everywhere.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Lloyd Austin, a top US general, told US lawmakers Thursday that Shiite militias "have pulled back" from the front and that special forces and police were "clearing" Tikrit.

    A US condition for the strikes was that Iraq's government be "in charge" of all forces in the assault, he said.

    The four-star general said the offensive had been flawed because some of the forces were previously "not supervised".

    Grown-ups Now In Charge

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Underlying the complex web of loyalties behind the conflict, a senior U.S. general said Washington had demanded the withdrawal of Iran-backed Shi'ite militias fighting alongside Iraq's government before agreeing to take part.

      Two Shi'ite Muslim groups in turn said they were suspending participation in the fight in protest against the U.S. involvement.

      Warriors of God Go Away

      Delete
    2. “The Iraqi and coalition air forces conduct strikes in order to remove the enemy and then our forces advance," said General Tahsin Ibrahim Sadiq.

      Go Get'em Boys

      Delete
    3. What is the composition of the 'special forces' in the lead? Who is guiding from the ground that targeting for the air power?

      Delete
    4. Probably, to a large extent, U.S. Drones.

      Delete
    5. eh? US drones on the ground?

      Delete
    6. Ground Drones. You know, like land sharks.

      Don't be obtuse.

      There are, also, probably some Iraqis with the authority to "laser" targets.

      Delete
    7. It doesn't take a lot of skill to point a laser at a machine gun nest.

      You just have to be able to trust the operator to lase the enemy, and not his bookie.

      Delete
    8. Canadian 'advisors' have been doing it for Canadian planes. I'm curious as to the make up of the forces on the ground. I'd imagine there were some US advisors, special force advisors maybe, involved. I thought since you've been researching this pretty thoroughly that you might have read something on it... guess not.

      Delete
  10. In a development that has largely been missed by mainstream media, the Pentagon early last month quietly declassified a Department of Defense top-secret document detailing Israel’s nuclear program, a highly covert topic that Israel has never formally announced to avoid a regional nuclear arms race, and which the US until now has respected by remaining silent.

    But by publishing the declassified document from 1987, the US reportedly breached the silent agreement to keep quiet on Israel's nuclear powers for the first time ever, detailing the nuclear program in great depth.

    The timing of the revelation is highly suspect, given that it came as tensions spiraled out of control between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and US President Barack Obama ahead of Netanyahu's March 3 address in Congress, in which he warned against the dangers of Iran's nuclear program and how the deal being formed on that program leaves the Islamic regime with nuclear breakout capabilities.

    Another highly suspicious aspect of the document is that while the Pentagon saw fit to declassify sections on Israel's sensitive nuclear program, it kept sections on Italy, France, West Germany and other NATO countries classified, with those sections blocked out in the document.

    The 386-page report entitled "Critical Technological Assessment in Israel and NATO Nations" gives a detailed description of how Israel advanced its military technology and developed its nuclear infrastructure and research in the 1970s and 1980s.

    Israel is "developing the kind of codes which will enable them to make hydrogen bombs. That is, codes which detail fission and fusion processes on a microscopic and macroscopic level," reveals the report, stating that in the 1980s Israelis were reaching the ability to create bombs considered a thousand times more powerful than atom bombs.

    The revelation marks a first in which the US published in a document a description of how Israel attained hydrogen bombs.

    The report also notes research laboratories in Israel "are equivalent to our Los Alamos, Lawrence Livermore and Oak Ridge National Laboratories," the key labs in developing America's nuclear arsenal.

    Israel's nuclear infrastructure is "an almost exact parallel of the capability currently existing at our National Laboratories," it adds.

    "As far as nuclear technology is concerned the Israelis are roughly where the U.S. was in the fission weapon field in about 1955 to 1960," the report reveals, noting a time frame just after America tested its first hydrogen bomb.

    Institute for Defense Analysis, a federally funded agency operating under the Pentagon, penned the report back in 1987.

    Aside from nuclear capabilities, the report revealed Israel at the time had "a totally integrated effort in systems development throughout the nation," with electronic combat all in one "integrated system, not separated systems for the Army, Navy and Air Force." It even acknowledged that in some cases, Israeli military technology "is more advanced than in the U.S."

    Declassifying the report comes at a sensitive timing as noted above, and given that the process to have it published was started three years ago, that timing is seen as having been the choice of the American government.

    US journalist Grant Smith petitioned to have the report published based on the Freedom of Information Act. Initially the Pentagon took its time answering, leading Smith to sue, and a District Court judge to order the Pentagon to respond to the request.

    Smith, who heads the Institute for Research: Middle East Policy, reportedly said he thinks this is the first time the US government has officially confirmed that Israel is a nuclear power, a status that Israel has long been widely known to have despite being undeclared.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. When the UN declares the Middle East to be a "Nuclear Free Zone", the fact that ISrael is a nuclear rogue will become a salient point in the coming Sanctions Regime that will be imposed.

      The economic disruption caused by the closing of Ben-Gurion Airport and the destruction of SodaStream's market capitalization are both lessons learned by those opposed to the continued domination of Palestine by the Zionist colonialists from Europe.
      If and when ISrael loses it's US protection in the UN Security Council, the fat will be out of the frying pan and in the fire.

      The pieces are all coming into alignment.
      It may just be that the Jews that have Mr Obama's ear are disgusted by Sheldon.Adelson.


      Delete
    2. I wonder if israel will still have any nukes left by then? Maybe they will use them to ensure the middle east stays nuke free.

      There are some wonderful underground bunkers that would LOVE to be nuked...

      Delete
    3. Our litle "
      O"rdure has been advocating for nuclear strike against those he fears, for years now.

      Nothing has changed, except the sea..
      The tide has turned.

      If the ISraeli first strike anyone, anywhere, they will be gone.
      If not militarily, then economically.

      Delete
    4. What is "Occupation"Sat Dec 26, 07:46:00 PM EST

      Rufus: Eventually, Every Nation on Earth will have "Nukes." That's just the way it is.


      Then all the more reason to nuke those without them that are a threat asap....

      Delete
    5. Jack, once again your predictions are just that… Fancy Guesses…

      If Iran looks to be gearing up for nuclear production? Israel will strike those bunkers.

      Maybe it's time to take the gloves off and deal with your paymasters, the Iranian Mullahs, once and for all…

      How much does the Iranian Government pay you to write that Iranian firster stuff?

      Delete
  11. Ash, the US has spent a fortune training the Iraqi 'Special Forces', both during the decade of occupation and in the past six months.

    Members of the Iraqi Army are now in the lead.
    The sectarian sympathies of those soldiers is not as important as their uniform, in the eyes of the US leadership.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In Kobane, Ash, it was the introduction of the Iraqi Security Forces, from the Kurdish militias that changed the role of the Coalition airstrikes from 'Strategic' to 'Close Air Support'..
      When communication and coordination with the ground troops commenced, the tenor of the battle changed, dramatically.

      The US would not communicate nor coordinate with the Shiite militias or the Iranian advisers.
      It will with Iraqi Arm troops.

      Delete
    2. It will with Iraqi Army troops.

      Delete
  12. Obama is ensuring there will be war in the Middle East.

    Your premature celebrations foretelling the demise of Israel is comical..

    But keep laughing…

    meanwhile, I will chuckle as the Iranians, Syrians and Hezbollah continue to murder tens of thousands of palestinians and arabs all with American support.

    Must make you proud...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. there "will be war"?? There already is war and the US is in to it up to its neck, well maybe it only the armpits...

      Delete
    2. Ash, you really don't seem to understand much do you?

      Delete
  13. The Canadian parliament is currently debating extending the mission in Iraq and expanding it to include airstrikes in Syria:

    "...

    Mr. Dewar warned the risk of civilian casualties from air strikes in Syria will rise because there will be no ground support for CF-18 fighters, unlike in Iraq.

    “The U.S. has ... admitted it does not have a clear idea of the results of its bombing in Syria,” he said.

    “Even if pilots are able to identify targets, they will sometimes, inevitably, identify the wrong targets.”

    ..."

    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/waging-war-on-islamic-state-necessary-part-of-humanitarian-response-tories-say/article23631702/

    ReplyDelete
  14. "Pilot suicide is hard to prove because those so inclined often go to great lengths to cover their intentions, sometimes because insurance payouts are at stake.

    In at least three other major crashes over the past two decades – killing more than 700 passengers – deliberate pilot action is suspected.

    By comparison, the al-Qaeda hijackings of four U.S. airliners on Sept. 11, 2001, killed 226 passengers and crew members. Nineteen terrorists also died. Those attacks led to armoured cockpit doors and elaborate measures that allow pilots to thwart access to the cockpit, which apparently allowed the Germanwings co-pilot to crash his plane."

    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/suspected-cases-of-mass-homicide-by-pilots-are-rare/article23635893/

    ReplyDelete
  15. .

    I wonder if israel will still have any nukes left by then? Maybe they will use them to ensure the middle east stays nuke free.

    :o)

    "We had to burn the village to save it."

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's kind of like taking a shit while you are taking a bath, or in WiO's case, a whole bunch of shits to clean things up.

      Delete
    2. If Iran is going to launch an attack on Israel with a NUKE, how is it wrong for Israel to take them out 1st?

      If America can drop atom bombs on civilians in Japan? Why should Israel not be permitted or even cheered on in dropping nukes on fortified bunkers in Iran that contain Iranian nukes destined to be dropped on the POPULATION of Israel?

      Delete
    3. Quirk, dont quote me out of context, that's so rat like...


      What is "Occupation"Thu Mar 26, 02:42:00 PM EDT
      I wonder if israel will still have any nukes left by then? Maybe they will use them to ensure the middle east stays nuke free.

      There are some wonderful underground bunkers that would LOVE to be nuked...


      Notice the UNDERGROUND bunker part? Or did that escape you?

      Iran seeks to nuke the state of Israel and all it's people. I advocate nuking underground bunkers....

      can you not understand the difference?

      Delete
    4. .

      Sorry, my bad.

      I guess I was confused by the statement,

      I wonder if israel will still have any nukes left by then?

      Speculation is that Israel has a couple hundred bombs. If they used them all on Iran, it obviously wouldn't be just on bunkers. In fact, there might just be a big hole and a pile of sand left.

      .

      Delete
    5. IF Israel had a "couple hundred"? It would be enough to hit every arab nation 10 times.

      Islamic nations? 3-4 times each...

      that's not taking into account size.

      Regardless of this blog's pov Israel doesn't target population centers as policy. Iran and her proxies do.

      Delete
    6. quirk, it was in response to Jack drooling quote:

      Jack HawkinsThu Mar 26, 02:26:00 PM EDT
      When the UN declares the Middle East to be a "Nuclear Free Zone", the fact that ISrael is a nuclear rogue will become a salient point in the coming Sanctions Regime that will be imposed.

      The economic disruption caused by the closing of Ben-Gurion Airport and the destruction of SodaStream's market capitalization are both lessons learned by those opposed to the continued domination of Palestine by the Zionist colonialists from Europe.
      If and when ISrael loses it's US protection in the UN Security Council, the fat will be out of the frying pan and in the fire.

      The pieces are all coming into alignment.
      It may just be that the Jews that have Mr Obama's ear are disgusted by Sheldon.Adelson.

      Delete
    7. .

      You are the one who put up the post. You are the one who chose the words. You were the one that raised the issue of using nukes preemptively.

      Don't blame me for your ill-chosen words.

      .

      .

      Delete
  16. .

    In Kobane, Ash, it was the introduction of the Iraqi Security Forces, from the Kurdish militias that changed the role of the Coalition airstrikes from 'Strategic' to 'Close Air Support'..
    When communication and coordination with the ground troops commenced, the tenor of the battle changed, dramatically.


    :o)

    More nitwittery from the rat.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well. Legionnaire, it is an obvious reality.
      That you fail to acknowledge it, nuts.

      The timeline of event is clear.

      Delete
  17. Gen. Lloyd Austin, who heads U.S. Central Command, said that there now are about 4,000 Iraqi forces, commandos and police battling for the city, and with American help, he believes the campaign to retake the city will move forward.

    Helping Dead Men Achieve Dead

    ReplyDelete
  18. It's easy enough to understand what is going on, the why is harder.

    Our Napoleon of the Potomac is empowering Iran, the leadership of said country being pledged to destroy the Little Satan, Israel, and the Big Satan, the USofA.

    Southern Shia Iraq is becoming a province of Iran. We are allowing Iran to continue to enrich uranium, in underground bunkers, no less.

    Obama is pushing for the UN to declare a State of 'Palestine', which will be another apartheid Islamic state, added to the dozens already in existence. Israel is not an apartheid state. 20% of its citizens are arabs. They vote. They sit in the Knesset. To say Israel is an apartheid state is wrong, and it is cheap propaganda of the most despicable kind. Mature ration men would not say such a thing.

    Obama is downsizing our military.

    Everything he does is harmful to our country, to Canada, to Israel, to the EU.....he is a traitor to our country.

    I agree with my old girl friend's fourth husband, a retired Marine, who is of the opinion that Obama is a traitor, out to weaken our culture, the culture of the West, and destroy Israel. He is by the way, the best of her husbands, though #1 was good too, a jet fighter pilot, and a Colonel in the Air Force still. He is in the mideast as I type.

    Obama did not lift a finger, not even verbally, to support those trying to overthrow the Mullahs in that late uprising, which was led to a great degree by Iranian women.

    Iran is an apartheid state, a sexist state, a state pledged to destroy Israel, and the USofA.

    Deuce says "Iran is fighting for civilization".

    Deuce has fallen from Heaven like Satan, due to pride or vanity or something unexplainable. I can understand why he hates Lincoln, who freed the slaves. I can understand why he thought Obama was born in Kenya. I can understand why he was of the opinion that Obama's birth certificate was a computer generated fraud.

    I cannot understand why he hates Israel. He has fallen from Heaven like Satan, straight down, instantaneously. Such falls are not in time.

    It is sad to watch to watch it play out.



    ReplyDelete
  19. It is passing strange.

    Israel may end up allied with Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Kentucky takes the court in a few minutes !

    ReplyDelete
  21. Replies
    1. Think of the women, Quirk, think of the women !

      Surely a Gallant like yourself will think of the women !

      Think of Democracy !

      Think of all those Moslem apartheid countries !

      Or are you becoming Rufus, not concerned with anything outside you own backyard ?

      ;)

      "No man is an Island, entire of himself..."

      Delete
    2. .

      You parade your silliness like a crown.

      .

      Delete
    3. You're a fool.

      You need a mentor, and daily monitoring, and periodic unannounced drug tests, just like Deuce.

      Delete
  22. March 26, 2015
    Recalculating Electoral Votes
    By Bruce Walker

    Beltway pundits routinely grant Democrats in 2016 an advantage in the Electoral College.

    http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/03/recalculating_electoral_votes.html

    >>>In all three states, reliably Democrat Big Labor has been the eight-hundred-pound gorilla, but that is changing fast. Union membership, which means electoral clout, in all three states is dropping like a rock. Big Labor’s disgust with Obama’s anti-growth policies is making union support for Democrats even more problematic. If Republicans win those three states, the Electoral College total will reach 351, easily beyond the 270 to win the election.

    The Electoral College count is not a big problem for Republicans in 2016. A good candidate, a united party, and a strong program will win the electoral votes, whatever punditry dreams today.<<<

    Hey, not so fast.......

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      The American Thinker may not realize it but the GOP can't win elections with wishful thinking and empty suits.

      .

      Delete
    2. Another extremely foolish statement by an other wise intelligent man.

      The Republicans didn't overwhelm the Democrats in the last election with empty suits and wishful thinking.

      Rather, the country had gotten sick of all this shit and was seeking an (hopefully) alternative

      Delete
    3. .

      The current approval rating for Congress is 18% and falling. The GOP is in control of both houses.

      In 2014, the voters voted against Obama and his policies. In 2016, Obama isn't running. The GOP has to come up with someone that isn't an empty suit. So far, I haven't seen any of the current bunch that doesn't appear to be an empty suit. [Although I haven't seen or read up on all of them, yet.] Jeb Bush probably appeals most to the center but he has problems. The right-wing nut jobs don't have a chance.

      The current GOP lead in the House is too great for the Dems to overcome in 2016; however, unlike 2014, there are 21 GOP Senate seats open in 2016 and only 10 Democratic seats open. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Dems force a tie or even take over the Senate in 2016.

      I repeat,

      The American Thinker may not realize it but the GOP can't win elections with wishful thinking and empty suits.

      .

      Delete
    4. Knowing you are getting older by your rambling, I wish you to know, no offense intended, that I can put 'they're all dicks' on your headstone, no tax.

      If you like I can put a red marble Q on top, too.

      Let me know if I can be of help to you.

      I wish you long life, but we should all be prepared in all ways.

      $999.99 ought to handle it.

      Go to Practically Stoned@ps.com

      Thanks

      Delete
    5. Stonemason, I know Q has been dating Jen Psaki lately. This would cause anyone to ramble.

      Give the poor guy a break.

      Make it $989.99.

      The red marble Q is a nice touch.

      Delete

  23. (Reuters) - The United States and its allies staged 29 air strikes on Islamic State targets in Syria and Iraq in the latest round of daily attacks, the Combined Joint Task Force said on Thursday.

    In Iraq, the coalition conducted 17 air strikes near Tikrit, where Iraqi forces have mounted an offensive to try to oust Islamic State militants from the city. Seven air strikes were conducted against Islamic State targets in other parts of Iraq.

    In Syria, four air strikes hit Islamic State positions near the city of Kobani and one strike hit near Raqqa.


    The air strikes occurred between Wednesday and Thursday mornings.

    Need More Virgins, Boss; More Virgins

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wish the pin pricks would do some good but they'd have to be ramped up about 20x on a daily basis to begin to do so.

      Delete
    2. ISIS would not exist but for our boy president.

      After the Surge, Iraq had three years of relative peace.

      Then comes Obama, the troops get pulled out, against the advice of the Pentagon and the Generals, and the entire place goes to hell, and now southern Iraq is becoming an Iranian province.

      To call our foreign policy incoherent is misleading.

      Treasonous is much better.

      Delete
    3. March 27, 2015
      Obama's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Foreign Policy
      By Alexander Grass

      David Petraeus came out hard in a Washington Post interview against the piddling nonsense that our pedant-in-chief so often peddles when talking about the chaotic Middle East. He totally, completely rejected the supposed wisdom of the foreign policy of Obama, all without calling the president out by name.

      Petraeus stressed that Iran, not ISIS, should be viewed as the crucial security threat in the region. The message was clear and unambiguous.

      The general told us that “if Daesh is driven from Iraq and the consequence is that Iranian-backed militias emerge as the most powerful force in the country – eclipsing the Iraqi Security Forces, much as Hezbollah does in Lebanon – that would be a very harmful outcome for Iraqi stability and sovereignty, not to mention our own national interests in the region.”

      In the general’s recounting of his Iraq War travails, Petraeus places Iran firmly in the enemy camp. One of Iran’s generals, Qasem Soleimani, helped to solidify Petraeus’s opinion of the Iranian menace when he informed the American general in a telegram: “[Y]ou should be aware that I, Qasem Soleimani, control Iran’s policy for Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, and Afghanistan.”

      General Petraeus told the Post that “the point was clear: He owned the policy and the region, and I should deal with him. When my Iraqi interlocutor asked what I wanted to convey in return, I told him to tell Soleimani that he could ‘pound sand.’”

      Does anyone remember who Iran’s clients are? Obama’s recollection in particular seems to be quite spotty. Not only does the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) funnel weapons and material support to Shiite militias, but Iran also has a longstanding military presence in Iraq – one that the Iranians reference loudly and proudly, and one that predates their supposedly selfless cooperation in the effort to roll back the Islamic State. It used to be that one called any force that made its bones killing American troops “the enemy.”

      Delete
    4. Is this not the same devious death machine we were fighting in the first place? Are they not the nation that supports the Houthis’ drive across Yemen, capturing the presidential palace and seizing bases of transportation? Or how about when General Mohammad Ali Allahdadi was found amongst the dead in an Israeli attack on a Hezb’allah convoy inside Lebanon? At some point, it has to matter to us that every place that every bad guy calls home also has an Iranian general as part of the installation. When General Petraeus points all of these things out, we must assume he’s doing it not only in order to reframe pursuing cooperation with a clear enemy as being dim or wrongheaded, but also to color any negotiations happening with Iran as an exercise in futility.

      What will happen if the Iranians receive the imprimatur of the American Executive wrapped like a ribbon around any agreement the P5+1 powers achieve? Negotiations don’t even touch on the issue of developing ballistic missiles capable of reaching any number of civilian targets, in Israel or otherwise, and yet they are prematurely being hailed as a success.

      Iranian president Hassan Rouhani offered this artificial, optimistic assessment of the nuclear negotiations: “Achieving a deal is possible.” Ali Khamenei, soon after Kerry announced so much progress on the nuclear talks, offered his own: “Death to America.”

      Out of these two statements, the one backed up by the trail of bloodied American corpses courtesy of Qasam Soleimani, Imed Mugniyeh, and many other proxies of the Iranians is probably the truer one.

      Where does the White House find itself, along the chaotic array of Middle-East alliances, other than in the role of beau pursuing an indifferent Persian coquette? Well, we got a pretty good idea when White House chief of staff Denis McDonough showed up at the recent J Street conference, informing all who would listen that “an occupation that has lasted for more than fifty years must end.” McDonough is more senior than any representative dispatched by Obama to appear at AIPAC’s annual shindig.

      Palestinian rejectionism and nearly seven decades of indissoluble Arab hatred against Jews aside, Israel must surely be at fault for defending itself in 1967 and 1973, when it conquered land from Egypt and Jordan after recovering from a defensive posture, and rebuffed Arab attacks on every border. The stated goal of the Arab nations, as Gamel Abdul Nasser put it? “We will make it a decisive battle and get rid of Israel once and for all[.] ... This is the dream of every Arab.”

      Of course, we are reassured that Obama is, despite his petulance and highly motivated animosity towards Israel, a friend of the Jewish state. With friends like these...

      Delete
    5. This is all part of the inversion that the president has strenuously practiced: moving Israel and other traditional allies into the category of villain and affixing the label of partner on Iran. Former deputy national security advisor Elliot Abrams spoke of the inconsistency in “Obama’s lecturing Israel, the region’s only real democracy, two days after a totally free election,” with Abrams further offering that it “is quite amazing – considering that in June 2009, for example, he stayed dead silent while the ayatollahs crushed the Green Movement and its demands for democracy in Iran.”

      Yet, with all the focus on Israel, there is another important alliance that has fallen by the wayside. After the Muslim Brotherhood’s botched attempt at imposing universal Islamic fundamentalism in Egypt, General Al-Sisi took control in a military coup, stabilizing a nation reeling from the zealotry and incompetence of an Islamist thugocracy. Soon after, Obama punished Al-Sisi for cracking down on the Brotherhood, an organization of woman-beating church-burners. He suspended vital military aid to the country.

      Al-Sisi is the only man, really the only man at all, to call the Muslim world out on its shortcomings. He spoke of the need for "a religious revolution. Because the Islamic world is being torn, it is being destroyed, it is being lost … by our own hands.” This was a pretty unusual, even courageous statement for an Arab leader to make considering the climate in which he operates.

      Al-Sisi’s comments served as acknowledgment of a dark truth. Islam has not passed the Gates of Ijtihad, that metaphorical philosophical checkpoint where old ideas used to be swapped out for new ones, the barrier that Islam once surpassed as it sought to evolve along with human society. No more. Those gates are closed. Islam is, right now, to crib a phrase from historian Gertrude Himmelfarb, in a state of "intellectual sterility."

      What can one say about a foreign policy directed by petulance? Obama is willing to prioritize personal retribution, to set vindictiveness at the very top of his agenda. And what of the cold shoulder Al-Sisi is receiving? We have been told that this is due to the human rights violations of the new non-Islamist regime in the world’s largest Arab state. Where Egypt’s human rights violations fit on a scale that includes the chemical gassing of civilians in Syria is anybody’s guess, but Secretary of State Kerry has said he’s willing to engage in diplomacy with Bashar Al-Assad as well. Why not? Obama is already cozy enough with Assad’s sponsor, Ayatollah Khamenei, to all but promise not to harm the Syrian dictator in any U.S. air attack. So much for that red line.

      The traditional goals of the United States – prior to Obama’s shift toward pacifying Iran, and the goals of the Israeli security forces, prior to Obama’s turn against Israel, and the goals of non-Islamist strongmen in Egypt, prior to Al-Sisi falling into disfavor with Obama – all aligned. But that time is gone now, and we are left with an American president in unknowing competition for the crown of “Worst Foreign Policy President Ever.”

      http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/03/obamas_terrible_horrible_no_good_very_bad_foreign_policy.html

      Delete
    6. Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson is insane if he thinks that the existence of al-Qeada can be linked to Mr Obama.

      Delete
  24. CLEVELAND (AP) -- Like a massive, unstoppable blue wave, Kentucky hit quickly and just kept coming. There was no escape for West Virginia, no place to hide.

    The Wildcats were as advertised: too big, too strong, too everything. Just too good.

    Perfect and pulverizing.

    BOX SCORE: KENTUCKY 78, WEST VIRGINIA 39

    ReplyDelete
  25. Egypt Says It May Send Troops to Yemen to Fight Houthis

    By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICKMARCH 26, 2015
    Photo
    The site of an airstrike near the Sana airport on Thursday. Saudi Arabia and nine other countries began military operations in Yemen to counter the Houthis, who rallied against the airstrikes. Credit Khaled Abdullah/Reuters



    CAIRO — Egypt said Thursday that it was prepared to send troops into Yemen as part of a Saudi-led campaign against the Iranian-backed Houthi movement, signaling the possibility of a protracted ground war on the tip of the Arabian Peninsula.

    A day after Saudi Arabia and a coalition of nine other states began hammering the Houthis with airstrikes and blockading the Yemeni coast, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt said in a statement that the country’s navy and air force would join the campaign. The Egyptian Army, the largest in the Arab world, was ready to send ground troops “if necessary,” Mr. Sisi said.

    Egypt must “fulfill the calls of the Yemeni people for the return of stability and the preservation of the Arab identity,” he said, alluding to the specter of Iranian influence.


    His comments were one of several indications on Thursday that the antagonists on either side of the Yemeni conflict are bracing for a prolonged battle as Yemen — like Iraq, Libya and Syria — is consumed by civil conflict, regional proxy wars and the expansion of extremist groups like the Islamic State and Al Qaeda.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/27/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-houthis-yemen.html?_r=0

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As near as I can figure, it's all a part of our Napoleon on the Potomac's 'arab spring'. Except that the spring here seems to be Persian.

      Delete
    2. Spring is breaking out here. Our red tulips are beginning to bloom. This is the best kind of spring.

      Delete
  26. >>>The larger the mob, the harder the test. In small areas, before small electorates, a first-rate man occasionally fights his way through, carrying even the mob with him by force of his personality. But when the field is nationwide, and the fight must be waged chiefly at second and third hand, and the force of personality cannot so readily make itself felt, then all the odds are on the man who is, intrinsically, the most devious and mediocre — the man who can most easily adeptly disperse the notion that his mind is a virtual vacuum.

    The Presidency tends, year by year, to go to such men. As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.<<<

    H.L. Mencken


    Read more at http://www.snopes.com/politics/quotes/whitehousemoron.asp#ZVujkfc1Y1TX1SIo.99

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rufus simply isn't devious enough to be Presidential material.......but......... Quirk ?

      Hmmmmm......

      Delete
  27. Given that the modus operandi of Israeli politik constitutes one of the most exorbitant manifestations of state-initiated, institutionalized discrimination to be found anywhere in the world, and that Israeli foreign policy is continuously risking a regional war, some elaboration should be devoted to pondering the implications of virulent claims that Israel and its leadership represents Jews as a whole. Netanyahu, for example, proclaimed that

    “I went to Paris not just as the prime minister of Israel but as a representative of the entire Jewish people.”

    So what are we looking at?
    Such formulations should not be understood merely as inaccurate and even more predictable hasbara - although this is a fair characterization - but also as statements which foment anti-Semitism.

    When those who are responsible for acts of brutality and crimes against humanity (think of tactics employed by the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda) or occupation-powered apartheid (the self-appointed Jewish state) claim they represent an entire religion or ethnic grouping, there will be those who believe them. Any attempts to equalize Israeli criminal conduct with the Jewish faith and culture in all of its diversity and richness is an anti-Semitic slur which should not be tolerated in the slightest.


    This content was originally published by teleSUR at the following address:
    http://www.telesurtv.net/english/opinion/Benjamin-Netanyahus-Anti-Semitic-Rhetoric-20150326-0037.html.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. To counter anti-Semitism, all of us need to make it absolutely clear that Israeli war criminals like Netanyahu do not, by any stretch of the imagination, represent the world Jewry. He is the prime minister of the State of Israel. World Jewry did not vote for him and never will.

      Delete
  28. Citi strategist is really, really bearish on global markets

    The Globe and Mail
    Published Friday, Mar. 27 2015, 5:00 AM EDT

    ...


    Mr. King’s most recent presentation is subtitled, “ever more liquidity, ever less impact.” He argues not only that massive central bank monetary stimulus never significantly benefited the real economy, but that its effect on asset prices is now waning.


    More specifically, quantitative easing and ultra-low interest rates did not lead to job-creating business investment as intended – the benefits remained trapped in the financial system. The idea was that low rates would motivate investment and hiring, and that newly hired workers would consume more, creating a virtuous upward economic cycle. Instead we got share buybacks.

    After noting that QE programs have spread from the U.S. Federal Reserve to Europe and Japan, Mr. King writes that it is the “linkage between investment (or the lack of it) and all the stimulus which we find so disturbing. If the first $5-trillion of global QE, which saw corporate bond yields in both dollars and euros fall to all-time lows, didn’t prompt a wave of investment, what do we think a sixth trillion is going to do?”

    The strategist also points out that in the areas where capital expenditure did result from low rates – notably in commodities and technology – the economic gains were minimal. In the case of technology, companies like WhatsApp with a market cap of $19-billion (U.S.) and only 55 employees, the financial benefits stayed with the company founders. For commodities, crippling overcapacity and weaker prices mean layoffs are now rife as China’s (monetary expansion-driven) demand slows.

    ,,,"

    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/inside-the-market/citi-strategist-is-really-really-bearish-on-global-markets/article23636798/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. The Supply Side Nightmare Scenario


      Daniel Alpert, author of the new book, “The Age of Oversupply: Overcoming the Greatest Challenge to the Global Economy,” which goes on sale Thursday. In this adaptation of the first chapter, Alpert argues that not only has the world been experiencing a capital glut, but a labor glut as well.

      http://www.pbs.org/newshour/making-sense/a-supply-side-nightmare-scenar/

      Delete
    2. Via extraordinary monetary-easing measures, the developed world’s central banks have turned trillions of dollars of financial investments into so much cash that it is metaphorically bulging out of the pockets of banks and other investors. Yet it is not getting lent and it is not getting invested in new capacity. Why?

      In a nutshell, the reason that the enormous ocean of liquidity is not being deployed is that there is so much global supply and excess capacity of labor, plants, equipment, and goods and services relative to present demand that there is little reason for private-sector investment in the development of additional capacity to produce additional supply.

      What we have on our hands is a supply-side nightmare scenario.

      Delete
  29. .

    Ash, tried the fix you suggested with the browsers and it worked. Thx.

    Regarding our discussion on peer review, WaPo put out an article this morning about BioMed Central pulling 43 'fake' peer reviewed studies.

    Meanwhile, the Committee on Publication Ethics, a multidisciplinary group that includes more than 9,000 journal editors, issued a statement suggesting a much broader potential problem. The committee, it said, “has become aware of systematic, inappropriate attempts to manipulate the peer review processes of several journals across different publishers.” Those journals are now reviewing manuscripts to determine how many may need to be retracted, it said.

    Peer review is the vetting process designed to guarantee the integrity of scholarly articles by having experts read them and approve or disapprove them for publication. With researchers increasingly desperate for recognition, citations and professional advancement, the whole peer-review system has come under scrutiny in recent years for a host of flaws and irregularities, ranging from lackadaisical reviewing to cronyism to outright fraud...


    http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/03/27/fabricated-peer-reviews-prompt-scientific-journal-to-retract-43-papers-systematic-scheme-may-affect-other-journals/?tid=hp_mm&hpid=z3

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. fake peers - that's, like so internet (peer to peer - computer joke heh)

      I would hope that most journals have a vetting and authentication process for the 'peers' that are selected to do the review and that process should weed out fake peers. It looks like some journals don't...

      And that line in the wapo article about 'guaranteed integrity blah blah' is just a silly line...

      Delete

  30. A rocket salvo that killed 11 Gazan children and hit a hospital on a Muslim religious holiday was the work of Palestinian militants hitting their own people, a report has found, in a damning indictment of Hamas’s conduct during last summer’s war with Israel.
    The explosion at the Al-Shati refugee camp on July 28, which killed the children buying sweets on the first day of Eid ul Fitr, was the result of misfired rockets by Hamas, Amnesty International

    http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/middleeast/article4392976.ece




    REAL COOL!


    Congrats to Hamas on a JOB well done…

    Will Deuce have outrage at Hamas?

    Will Rat start condemning Hamas?

    Will Rufus find truth and peace now that Hamas has been exposed as a child killing machine?


    Ah, heck no, It's the JEWS fault...

    ReplyDelete
  31. Now if this aint poetic justice…



    Yemen worshipers were cursing Jews when mosque blown up
    Shiite congregants in Sana’a called for death of Israel and the US; then an IS suicide bomber killed scores


    A video recording of a deadly terrorist attack at a Shiite mosque in Yemen on Friday revealed that worshipers were chanting a slew of hateful slogans, including "Death to America", "Death to Jews" and "Death to Israel", just as a suicide bomber detonated himself, killing scores of people

    I must say that is some funny shit…

    http://www.timesofisrael.com/yemen-worshipers-were-cursing-jews-when-mosque-blown-up/


    Makes for a good Friday morning….

    More More Faster Faster..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Only a sick mind would find humor in death and misery.

      But then ISraelis are of a sick mind.

      “It is time to honestly admit that Israeli society is ill – and it is our duty to treat this disease,”

      “I’m not asking if they’ve forgotten how to be Jews, but if they’ve forgotten how to be decent human beings.
      Have they forgotten how to converse?”

      - Reuven Rivlin, President of Israel

      Delete
    2. I thought it was hilarious and I'm not a sick mind.

      rat, you are a sick mind.

      And have zero sense of humor.

      Delete
  32. A commander of Hamas' military wing – the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades – was reportedly killed Wednesday by an Egyptian army strike in the Sinai Peninsula, Sky News in Arabic reported.

    Abdallah Saeed Kashta, 25, died during a raid carried out by Egyptian forces against Islamic State-linked Welayat Sinai group.


    Last week, hundreds of Hamas supporters marched in the Gaza Strip to protest an Egyptian court's decision to declare the Islamic movement's armed wing as a banned "terrorist" group.




    Hmmm, world's LARGEST Arab nation declares HAMAS a terror group, a group that this blog's owner Deuce and his pals, Jack and Rufus supports..

    What you say? Hamas is still considered a TERRORIST group by the United States of America?

    Wow...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, our Zionist is lying, again.
      Making false statements about the positions of other commentators.

      He cannot post a single reference to a statement of support for Hamas by Jack, Rufus or Deuce.
      He could find posts that are critical of the ISraeli, but none that would verify the claim he just made.

      Hamas is a creation of ISrael. The Zionist made their bed, now they think it is lumpy.

      Delete
    2. Wow, just wow.

      The recognized Liar of the Blog, d. rat, is calling WiO a liar.

      Wow

      Delete
  33. What you say HAMAS DIGGING TUNNELS INTO EGYPT?????

    The verdict followed a complaint from a lawyer accusing the Hamas armed wing of direct involvement in "terrorist operations" in the Sinai, which borders Gaza, a court official said.

    The lawyer also accused the movement of using tunnels under the frontier between Egypt and Gaza to smuggle arms used in attacks against the police and army, the official added.

    Egypt accuses Hamas, which is close to Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, of supporting the blacklisted Egyptian movement.


    Will wonders ever cease, Hamas / GAZA has a border with EGYPT???? WHo would ever guess that since this blog advocates that israel controls Gaza?

    Egypt and Gaza SHARE a border?????

    Who knew!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ISrael's magic is gone, which is why you are here, again, "O"rdure.

      Bibi let the world know that Hamas and ISrael are moral equivalents.
      Two peas in the same Semitic pod.

      Delete
    2. Your too much fun to laugh at Jack…

      Israel's magic is rising. Keep on USING that Israeli technology every day, in your phones, computers, when you go to the hospital, use those Israel innovated meds, machines and technics, they will save even a Jew hating creep like your life…

      Meanwhile? Hamas and the Palestinians are HUMPTY DUMPTY, all the Kings men, and all The Forces, no matter what a useless body the UN has become, will ever create a Palestine out of a shit culture of death…

      LOL

      Delete
    3. SodaStream is working on a game-changing device that will carbonate almost any liquid

      As The Verge reports, “there’s a new bleeding edge in carbonation technology — the SodaStream MIX, which will debut at Milan’s Salone del Mobile next month” and will supposedly be able to “carbonate any and all liquids, from pure fruit juices to alcoholic beverages.” The Verge says that this new device will likely be a lot more expensive than your typical SodaStream and will be marketed more toward bars than average consumers.

      Nonetheless, this is something that sounds so incredibly awesome that I might really save up money just to get it. After all, I do need more vitamin C in my diet and carbonating orange juice to make it fizzy like Orangina would be a surefire way to make me drink more of it.


      Good time to BUY SodaStream stock, if you haven't already…

      Delete
    4. BTW what ave the Gazan or Palestinains invented lately?

      Oh yeah, a self detonating tunnel?

      Delete
    5. Notice that "O"rdure did not, can not provide any reference to the claims he made of other contributors supporting Hamas.

      As for SodaStream, it has recently been trading around $20 a share, based on rumors that the company would be sold. Those rumors have failed to become reality and the SodaStream shares are trading at $18.87, now.
      .
      Down about 25% from when "O"rdure made his BUY recommendation, because the company was 'under valued'.

      {;-)

      Delete
    6. Oh, I am in error ...
      "O"rdure recommended buying Sodastream on 19July 2014 at $29.11 telling us it was undervalued.
      At $18.87, it is down $10.24 or 35%

      Wonder how the new Chocolate Emporium is doing ...

      Mea Culpa.

      Delete
    7. You take such a SHORT TERM view of INVESTMENT, that's why you shovel horse shit and Warren Buffet Buys and HOLDS, you don't lose your investment if you don't sell it…

      As for Chocolate Emporium? Another one of your epic FAILURES? I have no clue, but you stalked the wrong Jew for almost a decade. You are a buffoon.

      Delete
    8. Only a person that could not qualify for a refinance would tell us that an annualized loss of market capitalization approaching 35% was inconsequential.

      George Soros, who is in the same category as Warren Buffett as an investor, did have a position in SodaStream, he sold it.

      As for Chocolate Emporium it was "O"rdure who mentioned its rebirth, after the Jewih News of Cleveland announced its demise.

      Whether or not "O"rdure i connected with that company, unimportant to its story.
      Whether it will be a Phoenix or a Zombie ... Time will tell.



      Delete
    9. "O"rdure, you did not tell us to hold SodaStream in July of 2014 when it was trading at $29.11, you recommended BUTING at that pric.

      Would it not have been much better to have waited ...
      SodaStream has been trading at $20 and below sinc October of 2014.
      Your market timing skills, they are really poor.

      Delete
  34. Jack HawkinsFri Mar 27, 11:29:00 AM EDT
    Notice that "O"rdure did not, can not provide any reference to the claims he made of other contributors supporting Hamas.


    Jack, are you not PROUD of your friends in Hamas now?

    Hard to stay supporting of terrorists eh?

    But the public record is clear.

    We all KNOW your support of the ISIS of Gaza, the Iranian Jihadists of Rafah…

    You are a terrorist supporter. That a FACT JACK, you know it, I know and of course the AZ FBI KNOWS it… :)

    Smile you are on candid camera….

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. {;-)

      "O"rdure failure to perform is legend.

      Delete
    2. "O"rdure's failure to perform is legend.

      Delete
    3. Impotence is another word for it.

      Delete
    4. Rufus said he'd fight for Hamas, if he'd been born there.

      Actually, that is true. He would have been grubbered so badly he'd do anything he was told.

      d.rat and Deuce's siding with Hamas in that dust up, which was all Israel's fault of course, of course, is well known.

      Delete
  35. As to the comment by "O"rdure ...

    Hard to stay supporting of terrorists eh?

    It is why the support which I had for Israel evaporated.
    It became clear that their terrorist activities were endemic to their society.

    As the President of ISrael said, they are a sick culture, one no longer worthy of support.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Our little "O"rdure personifies that culture of lies, deciet and misinformation.

      Making claims he cannot reference, he would appear to be as delusional as Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson.
      But I do not think that is the case. Where Robert "Draft dodger" Peterson actually belives the drivel he advocates, I think that "O"rdure knows that he is spouting lies and misinformation.

      Pure agitprop from "O"rdure, not delusional rantings.

      Delete
    2. The support you had for Israel.

      My God, what bullshit.

      I've been here all the way through and you've never said word one in support of Israel.

      The Blog's recognized Liar is lying again.

      Delete
  36. What is "Occupation"Fri Mar 27, 11:00:00 AM EDT

    What you say HAMAS DIGGING TUNNELS INTO EGYPT?????





    it seems the only way most Palis have to get to the outside is to tunnel their way. geeze what was that popular movie when I was younger?






    "The Great Escape"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. It was the only way to escape those NAZI, then, the only way to escape the NASI today.

      Delete
    2. Ash, you should learn of what you talk about.

      Hamas USES the tunnels to tax the goods going into the strip.

      It's Hamas that keeps the people locked up…

      But you know that don't you..

      Delete
    3. Hamas controls the borders?? - riiiiight!

      Delete
    4. Ash, Hamas CONTROLS it's border.

      It doesn't allow ITS people to leave.

      Learn to understand words.

      Delete
  37. .

    Harry Reid to retire in 2016. It looks like Chuck Schumer will replace him as Democratic leader in the Senate.

    Great news for Wall Street and the 1%.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  38. Haaretz - ‎

    Netanyahu decides to transfer funds that have been frozen since the Palestinians referred Israel to the International Criminal Court.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah ain't that great, nonviolent resistance to terrorism

      Delete
  39. Having cleaned the stables of some of d. rat's horse shit, I'm out the door, off to work.

    We are making great progress.

    Have a great day. The spirits soar on a wonderful spring day like this one !!

    Cheers !!

    ReplyDelete
  40. Hey, Quirk, I see you are aware that Dirty Harry Reid is not running for re-election in Nevada.

    And I will inform you as to why:

    He knows he will lose.

    Please kindly put this in your 'political calculator' and rethink your positions.

    What does this do to your prognostications ?

    (prognostication is a fancy word for predicting, which Q likes a lot, being the fancy dresser, fancy diner, fancy talker, and word smith as he is)

    ReplyDelete
  41. I am beginning to see reason to hope that enough Democrats may join the Republicans in opposing O'bozo's plan to create a nuclear armed Iran and to betray our allies Israel and others that the whole fiasco might be stopped in the Congress. In the Senate 67 votes are needed. Those votes just might be there.

    ReplyDelete
  42. The real Americans in Nevada have had a gut full of Harry's dirty corrupt ways, his making money off the backs of whores, who are, most of them, better people than he, his cuddling up to the Moslems and Obama and his mousey little high pitched voice.

    ReplyDelete
  43. USofA foreign 'policy' in the mid east can justly be compared to the recent crash of the German Airbus 320.

    Some mentally ill moron has gotten the controls and locked the pilot out, and set the course to straight downward, set to 100 feet....over the Alps.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bob, you are one seriously messed up old man.

      Delete
    2. Naive, lame brained liberal, shallow, poorly read, grubbered plumb to death, memmed, and doped up to the point of being unable to recall what others have said, even if repeated four or five times. One seriously messed up young punk.

      ;)

      Delete
    3. And, you are not even a real American.

      Delete
    4. In short, as I've often said, you need and deserve a good non-lethal mugging.

      Delete
  44. Harry Reid dropping out screams 'the Democrats are not going to retake the Senate'.

    ReplyDelete
  45. Amanda Knox has been found not guilty by the Italian appeals court. She was found not guilty in US courts earlier.

    She's a free woman.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    2. Your best comment of the day, Ash.

      If she had been found guilty by the Italian Court, an interesting legal situation would have arisen, as she was found not guilty here.

      She would argue 'double jeopardy' and fought extradition.

      I think she would have been right. Our Constitution and our Courts should rule our citizens.

      Delete
    3. What you "think" has nothing to do with reality.

      Delete
    4. Our Courts would have ruled in her favor.

      You don't "think" at all.

      Delete
    5. Which Italian court are you referring to?

      Delete
  46. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. and coalition forces conducted 10 air strikes against Islamic State fighters in Iraq during a 24-hour period, while U.S. forces led six air strikes in Syria, the U.S. military said on Friday.

    The air strikes in Syria were concentrated near Kobani, destroying five fighting positions, according to a statement.

    Three of the strikes in Iraq were near Tikrit, destroying vehicles and a potential car bomb. Forces also hit Islamic State targets near Bayji, Fallujah, Mosul, Sinjar, and Tal Afar, the statement said.

    Dead Men, Dead

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Waste of aviation fuel.

      Futile.

      You need to up the daily sorties by 20x, General.

      That might make a dent.

      Delete
    2. You're an idiot.

      We've already cut their numbers by between 1/3 to 1/2.

      At a cost of Zero lives, and very little treasure.

      Stick with chickpeas, and alfalfa.

      Delete
    3. Our performance is good enough that the Iraqi Government sent 20,000 Shiite troops home, just to have our help in Tikrit.

      Delete
    4. You are an idiot.

      The numbers of ISIS fighters is just the same as it was, maybe even more.

      Delete
    5. Stick with your Budweiser and your Jim Beam. You know something about them.

      Just don't make any more 'perdikcions' under the influence.

      Delete
  47. GDP Growth was virtually nonexistent in the first quarter (again,) and the Jobs number for March is probably going to be pretty weak, But,

    it's looking like the April number (published the first Friday in May) will be gangbusters. Gallup's Job Creation Index just jumped to the highest it's been since they started the series:

    Gallup Job Creation Index

    ReplyDelete
  48. An intelligence official told Fox News that Iran's government is fuming over the U.S. joining forces with Iraq in the fight for Tikrit -- a decision that led Iran-backed militias to stand down.

    "They are really pissed that Iraq is choosing to partner with the U.S. in the battle for Tikrit," the official said.


    The heavy involvement of Iran-backed Shiite militias in the battle for Tikrit, currently held by the Islamic State, was a big factor in the United States' initial reluctance to get involved.

    But with the U.S. launching airstrikes, Iran has threatened to order all its Shiite militias, including members of the powerful Badr Brigade, out of the area and in some cases out of Iraq, according to the official.

    "They will probably send them to Yemen," he said, referring to the widespread fighting in the unstable nation where Saudi Arabia and others are now battling Iran-backed forces for control.


    But when asked to characterize the feeling inside the Pentagon about Iran's pull-back in Tikrit, the official answered, "We are pleasantly surprised how pissed off they are."

    While the Iran-backed militias say they withdrew in protest, the Defense Department has maintained that was a precondition of U.S. involvement.

    Gen. Lloyd Austin, leader of U.S. Central Command, told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee that before airstrikes in Tikrit began, the Iraqi government agreed to preconditions stipulating the U.S. would participate as long as the Iran-backed Shiite militias withdrew from Tikrit.

    "I will not, and I hope we never, coordinate or cooperate with Shiite militias," Austin told lawmakers Thursday.

    The battle to defeat ISIS in the Sunni stronghold of Tikrit began on March 2, but stalled after three weeks, according to Pentagon officials. U.S. airstrikes against ISIS in Tikrit began Wednesday. The U.S.-led coalition announced 17 strikes by U.S. warplanes against targets in and around Tikrit.

    A spokesman for Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units, which mostly consist of Iranian-backed Shiite militias, maintained . . . .

    ReplyDelete
  49. One of the odder subplots of the health reform saga has been the almost pathetic efforts of Republicans to come up with Obamacare horror stories. You might think that given the complexity of the law and the almost unlimited resources of the propaganda machine, they’d be able to come up with someone to serve as the poster child of the law’s terrible effects on innocent Americans. As far as I know, however, we have yet to see a single credible example — all the characters featured in Koch brothers ads or GOP speeches have turned out to be potential beneficiaries of the Affordable Care Act, if only they were willing to look at their actual options.

    So Cathy McMorris Rodgers went on Facebook to ask for Obamacare horror stories — and instead got an avalanche of testimonials from people who got essential insurance and care thanks to the ACA.

    Why can’t the GOP find the horror stories it knows, just knows, must be out there? Matthew Yglesias gets at most of it by noting that Obamacare does, in fact, redistribute from the few to the many:


    [O]ne of the main things it does is raise taxes rather dramatically on a pretty small number of high-income people in order to give subsidized health insurance policies to a substantially larger number of low-income people. Indeed, this is one of the main things Republicans don’t like about it!

    But there’s a bit more to the story. Millionaires . . . . . .

    Healthcare Horrors

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Btw, This:

      "[O]ne of the main things it does is raise taxes rather dramatically on a pretty small number of high-income people in order to give subsidized health insurance policies to a substantially larger number of low-income people."

      Is what got Gruber all Grubered up; He seemed to think that he was the only one that understood this. The man is an Academic Idiot.

      Everyone understood this. It's just that, for different reasons, neither party was interested in talking about it.

      Delete
  50. Paul Krugman: Mornings in Blue America


    Conservatives have GNDS (good news derangement syndrome):

    Mornings in Blue America, by Paul Krugman, Commentary, NY Times: ...remember how Obamacare was supposed to be a gigantic job killer? Well, in the first year of the Affordable Care Act..., the U.S. economy .,, added 3.3 million jobs — the biggest gain since the 1990s. ...

    But recent job growth ... has big political implications — implications so disturbing to many on the right that they are in frantic denial, claiming that the recovery is somehow bogus. Why can’t they handle the good news? The answer actually comes on three levels: Obama Derangement Syndrome, or O.D.S.; Reaganolatry; and the confidence con.

    Not much need be said about O.D.S. It is, by now, a fixed idea on the right that this president is both evil and incompetent, that everything touched by the atheist Islamic Marxist Kenyan Democrat — mostly that last item — must go terribly wrong. When good news arrives about the budget, or the economy, or Obamacare ... it must be denied.

    At a deeper level, modern conservative ideology utterly depends on the proposition that conservatives, and only they, possess the secret key to prosperity. As a result, you often have politicians on the right making claims like this one, from Senator Rand Paul: “When is the last time in our country we created millions of jobs? It was under Ronald Reagan.”

    Actually, if creating “millions of jobs” means adding two million or more jobs in a given year, we’ve done that ... eight times under Bill Clinton, twice under George W. Bush, and three times, so far, under Barack Obama. ...

    Which brings us to the last point: the confidence con.

    One enduring puzzle of political economy is why business interests so often oppose policies to fight unemployment. After all, boosting the economy with expansionary monetary and fiscal policy is good for profits...

    As a number of observers have pointed out, however, . . . . .

    Economists View

    ReplyDelete
  51. Hamas and Egypt are on a collision course as Egypt cuts power to Gaza over unpaid bills.

    Egypt cut power to the Palestinian cities of Khan Younis and Rafiah in the southern Gaza Strip this week after residents accumulated a large electric bill and refused to pay it.

    Dozens of people demonstrated in front of the Khan Younis district headquarters of the Gaza Electricity Distribution Corporation (GEDCo) in the Gaza Strip late Monday in protest of the blackout, Palestinian Ma’an news agency reports.


    lol

    Hamas's magic is GONE

    ReplyDelete
  52. UCLA's magic is gone.

    They are getting thumped by Gonzaga.

    Unless they make a remarkable historic recovery in the next few minutes this game is in the record books.

    Gonzaga has TWO really good inside white guys. You don't see that very often these days.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gonzaga 70
      UCLA 55

      Less than 2 minutes left......

      Casino Time !

      Warning to casual readers:

      Discount by 100% anything that Ash, Rufus or d. rat might say.

      Cheers !

      Delete
    2. Discount by 75% anything Quirk might say.

      Delete
  53. Reuters - ‎

    LAUSANNE, Switzerland/ANKARA (Reuters) - Iran and major powers are close to agreement on a 2- or 3-page accord with specific numbers that would form the basis of a long-term settlement aimed at ending a 12-year standoff

    ReplyDelete