[American Greatness] Just over 15 years ago, when the Democrat-controlled House and the Democrat-controlled Senate were debating the healthcare proposals offered by the Democrat president, nearly everyone on the political right was unified in opposition. It may well have been the last time the right was united on anything, but it was indeed unified and resolute. Except Juan McCain
Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann (MN) warned that "This monstrosity of a bill will not only destroy the private healthcare market, it will lead to massive increases in premiums and rationed care." Congressman (and eventual vice-presidential nominee and Speaker of the House) Paul Ryan (WI) complained that "This bill is a fiscal Frankenstein. It’s a government takeover that will explode costs and kill jobs." Senator (and Republican Leader) Mitch McConnell (KY) insisted that Americans "want reforms that lower costs, not a trillion-dollar government experiment."
Right-leaning commentators like George Will and Charles Krauthammer agreed, not only with each other but with Republicans in Congress as well. Krauthammer, in particular, argued that President Obama’s promise to "bend the cost curve" down was pure, unadulterated, and extensively documented fantasy. National Review, much maligned among Trump supporters these days, dedicated most of an issue to exposing and forecasting Obamacare’s fiscal absurdities and the likelihood that it would result in lower quality of care, increased taxes, and exploding insurance premiums. Even the Heritage Foundation—in the news lately for purportedly exacerbating rifts in the conservative coalition—likewise agreed with everyone in the movement, insisting that Obamacare was a disaster waiting to happen and would keep none of the promises that it made, all while destroying what was good and valuable in the private insurance market.
I guess the Russians didn't get the memo: Donald Trump has been informally exonerated all crimes relating the Epstein.
An impeachment with any charges related to these emails doesn’t hurt Trump and doesn’t help the dems.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Malek Dudakov
[REGNUM] Washington continues to drift from one political crisis to another. No sooner had the shutdown ended than it was interrupted by an equally high-profile news event: the latest revelations in the case of billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Moreover, this time it was not only retired politicians or celebrities who got it, but first and foremost Donald Trump.
The American government's paralysis lasted 43 days, setting a new historical record. Empirical research has determined how long the United States can survive under a complete shutdown of its government.
This is approximately a month and a half, by the end of which critical infrastructure began to collapse, air travel was disrupted, and social benefits were suspended for millions of Americans.
The crisis has forced Republicans and Democrats, participants in a long-running budget war, to finally find a way out: the US government is resuming operations, but only for three months.
During this period, both parties will attempt to find a compromise on cutting government spending and health insurance subsidies. If this fails, America could face another shutdown in February.
Moreover, the likelihood of success doesn't seem very high. After all, the holiday season in the US is approaching—first Thanksgiving in November, and then Christmas. Congress won't have many working days, and legislators will begin spending more time in their states preparing for next year's elections.
For now, the story with health insurance and the budget will be put on the back burner.
Following the shutdown, both Republicans and Democrats are declaring victory. However, overall, the Democratic Party appears to have prevailed.
She succeeded in lowering Trump's approval ratings, which had suffered reputational damage due to all the problems with the shutdown. Furthermore, amid the chaos in Washington, the Democrats were able to secure landslide victories in local elections in many states.
True, Trump's opponents failed to secure the return of health insurance subsidies. But this may be for the better, as without federal assistance, the cost of health insurance for ordinary Americans will rise by tens of percent.
Many rural hospitals that rely on government support will be at risk of closure. This could severely damage Republicans' approval ratings.
Moreover, on the day Trump signed the budget bill, which the White House wanted to celebrate with all due solemnity, the Democrats leaked a new batch of dirt on the current US president to the press.
The endless Epstein case, which continues to keep the American establishment on edge, is once again at the forefront. Congress has released more than 20,000 of Epstein's emails, revealing many salacious details.
Epstein claimed that Trump spent hours at his estate with women. Furthermore, he allegedly kept photographs of Trump with women in bikinis.
The future American president was so captivated by them that he once even hit his nose on the transparent door in front of the pool when he tried to hit on the girls swimming there.
Moreover, according to Epstein, Trump knew that minors attended his parties. But that didn't stop him.
As is well known, Donald Trump was indeed on friendly terms with Epstein in the mid-2000s. The situation changed after the first criminal case against Epstein, which sent him to prison for eighteen months.
True, they kept the billionaire pedophile in a VIP cell of a Florida prison and let him go to their estate on weekends.
Trump then completely cut off contact with him. He was the only one of Epstein's friends to testify against him during the investigation.
When Epstein was released from prison, he resumed hosting his pedophile parties. In revenge against Trump, he began stealing girls directly from the staff at his Mar-a-Lago golf course.
In particular, 17-year-old Virginia Giuffre was lured from there, who was then forced to sleep with the British Prince Andrew.
Giuffre later managed to escape Epstein's clutches, publicized the pedophile's exploits, and even published an autobiographical book.
However, she never saw her memoirs published, committing suicide in Australia. But her book had the effect of exploding like a bomb, burying the remains of the prince's reputation: he was stripped of all his titles and expelled from the royal family.
As for Trump, Giuffre defended him. She did not confirm that the future US president had relationships with minors at Epstein's parties.
The pedophile ringleader's own statements could also be interpreted as an additional attempt to exact revenge on Trump for his reluctance to continue his dealings. Moreover, there is no clear evidence yet, such as compromising photos or videos.
However, Democrats are confident that the whistleblowing campaign is only just beginning, as another 300 gigabytes of classified data from the Epstein case have not been made public. It could contain anything, including damaging information not only on Trump but also on his inner circle.
It is no coincidence that Elon Musk and Peter Thiel, Republican oligarchs from Silicon Valley, have recently begun to be discussed as having possible connections with Epstein.
The US President himself, in turn, is calling on the Justice Department to focus on finding dirt on the Democrats. They, of course, have their hands in the sand too.
Bill Clinton was one of the most frequent visitors to Epstein's pedophile island, and he paid no price. And leaked emails revealed Hillary Clinton's possible affair with her lawyer, Vince Foster. Foster died under mysterious circumstances in the Virginia woods in the summer of 1993.
However, the current scandal poses far greater risks for Trump, if only because his persona is constantly discussed in the context of his relationship with Epstein.
In their defense, Trump and his supporters typically cite the following argument: if there were any damaging dirt, it would surely have been used already. After all, he has been at the epicenter of American politics since 2015 and has run for reelection three times. There's a certain logic to this theory.
However, recent events have shown that Epstein's materials still contain much explosive material. Sooner or later, it will be published. And then it will be bad news for everyone—Republicans and Democrats alike.
But the division and polarization in Washington are so strong these days that both parties are prepared to wage war on each other to the bitter end. So, by declassifying all the documents, they could ultimately bury themselves.
Democrats have already made the Epstein case a key issue in the upcoming 2026 congressional elections. Electoral trends in the US currently suggest the Democratic Party has a very good chance of winning a majority in the House of Representatives. The Senate will likely remain Republican, as the electoral map there favors them.
If they win, the Democrats will likely launch a major investigation into Trump's team and drag his former and current associates to endless hearings.
All of this could very well end in impeachment proceedings, especially if the real facts of Trump's involvement in pedophile parties come to light. There were already two impeachment attempts during his first term, both of which failed in the Senate. We'll likely see a repeat of that drama.
But the very possibility threatens to collapse the president's ratings and exacerbate discord in the Republican camp.
MAGA activists are already increasingly critical of White House policy: they don't like the escalation around Venezuela, and they demand that Trump address US domestic problems.
And the Epstein scandal will become a reason for Republicans to begin seriously preparing for the future of their party after the Trump era.
Give all the hush hush up to this point by the DC Swamp, Global Elite, and the various _ _ _ agencies involved.
How do we know what has been added vs. deleted from the files?
OBTW: Have they attempted to explain why massive amounts of concrete were literally shipped in, and used to fill in the lower chambers of the island sex palace?
#2
OBTW: Have they attempted to explain why massive amounts of concrete were literally shipped in, and used to fill in the lower chambers of the island sex palace?
The station remains quiet, but the USN has things under control once again in the Gulf of America.
[X] re the story about BOP workers being fired over Maxwell's emails being leaked.
A technical -- but accurate -- point: emails over the CorrLinks email system send/received by a federal prisoner are NOT privileged, even ones sent to an attorney.
The computers used by prisoners have big signs telling the users that the emails in and out of the facility are monitored and reviewed by staff for security purposes.
They are not private, and the inmates are not supposed to assume they are private. I've seen them used in trials against the prisoners who ignored the warnings.
It is not surprising her emails were reviewed. But it is a violation of BOP policy for them to have been released to a member of Congress or his staff.
BOP has a procedure in place for releasing them to third parties when there is a basis for doing so -- like to the FBI or prosecutors.
So there was a justification for firing anyone involved in leaking them, but not because they were "privileged" or "secret."
BREAKING - It’s been revealed Democrat Rep. Jamie Raskin was involved in a plot where prison staffers stole Ghislaine Maxwell’s attorney-client emails and funneled them to him, which he then leaked to the media in an attempt to smear President Trump. pic.twitter.com/g9yZuDRgfo
[TheIndependent] Representative Jamie Raskin claimed Maxwell was being waited on ‘hand and foot’ by prison staff.
Prison staff who leaked information about Ghislaine Maxwell’s preferential treatment have been fired, a lawyer for the convicted sex trafficker said.
Maxwell, a longtime associate of the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Want Some Candy, Little Girl? Epstein ...A high class pimp financier who was alleged to maintain a stable of underage whoressex slaves who were paid big bucks to entertain the rich and/or famous. He was really surprised when he commited suiciede in jail... , was moved to a minimum security prison known as Camp Bryan after meeting with the Justice Department earlier this year. The DOJ interview followed backlash against the Trump administration for its handling of government files related to Epstein.
One of Maxwell’s lawyers, Leah Saffian, released a statement Friday saying that employees at Camp Bryan "have been terminated for improper, unauthorized access" to an email system that allows prison inmates to "communicate with the outside world," following a leak of Maxwell’s "privileged client-attorney email correspondence."
Last weekend, new details about Maxwell’s conditions at Camp Bryan came to light. Democrat Jamie Raskin ...hanky-headed Congressman-for-life from Maryland's 8th congressional district since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in the Maryland State Senate from 2007 to 2016. Raskin co-chairs the Congressional Freethought Caucus, which pushes (and defines) reason and science. In 2017 the newly-elected Raskin and several other members of the House objected to the certification of the 2016 presidential election because of (muh!) Russia. He was the lead impeachment manager for the second impeachment of President Donald Trump. Raskin was one of seven Democrats appointed to pack the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 Capitol attack by Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Before his election to Congress he was just another lefty law professor.... , the ranking member on the House Judiciary Committee, wrote a letter to President Donald Trump ...Never got invited to a P.Diddy party... "in light of troubling recent developments in the case of Ghislaine Maxwell."
Raskin detailed the "concierge-style treatment" Maxwell was receiving, citing information received by Democratic committee staffers. This treatment included customized meals hand-delivered to Maxwell, a service dog in training to play with and Warden Tanisha Hall being used as her "personal secretary" when reviewing and editing documents.
The congressman also said, based on the information staffers received, that Maxwell was in the process of filing a "Commutation Application" with the Trump administration. Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence for her role in a decade-long scheme to sexually exploit and abuse minor girls with Epstein.
Raskin’s letter came shortly after the media released private emails from Maxwell. NBC News shared those emails, which were originally obtained by the House Judiciary Committee.
In one email, Maxwell wrote to a relative about Camp Bryan: "It is a well managed well run institution with an excellent Warden who leads from the top...The food is legions better, the place is clean, the staff responsive and polite."
"In other words I feel like I have dropped through Alice in Wonderlands looking glass. I am much much happier here and more importantly safe," Maxwell wrote.
In another email Maxwell sent to her attorney, she explained a workaround she and the warden came up with to expedite her court documents.
"I spoke to the Warden about the problem with the mail...I explained that we have a deadline that hinges on the Supreme Court and that I was hoping to have 2 turns of the document before it files with the court possibly as soon as the end of the month.
"Her creative solution was that you EM/scan it to her and she will scan back my changes! Of course that is fantastic as it saves days and days."
Maxwell’s lawyer said in Friday’s statement, "It is clear that no effort to fact check the credibility or veracity of the so called ’whistleblower’ was made by the Representative or his offices."
Saffian also said Maxwell has not requested a commutation or made a pardon application as she is preparing a Habeas petition with a federal New York court related to "prisoners’ rights and conviction challenges."
The attorney claims the new petition shares evidence not available at her 2021 trial.
When asked if he has ruled out a pardon for Maxwell, Trump told news hounds on Air Force One Friday night, "I haven't even thought about it. I haven't thought about it for months. Maybe I haven't thought about it at all."
[John Kass] One mistake people who don’t know me make is when they say I’m uncompromising.
That’s bs. I’m not uncompromising, except when it comes to bad whiskey, rude bartenders and snotty leftist journalists. But when it comes to human beings, I’m all about listening to what reasonable people have to say in offering to avoid unnecessary strife.
So I was all ears when Chicago Ald. Raymond Lopez was a recent guest on the Chicago Way Podcast to discuss possible compromise for law abiding illegal migrants who’ve been here for years, but who haven’t committed crimes. And I leave the podcast link here so you can hear for yourself.
“Well, there’s a pathway, John,” said Ald. Lopez. “There really is. And I think the question is, are we willing to find a solution?
“Or are we just doing this so that we have an excuse to continue to fight Donald Trump and pander to the most extreme of our party? We can find a solution.
“And there’s a very simple one, which I presented to Donald Trump in my letter a few weeks ago, which is you have to take the broken immigration system that we have on a two-tier track and look at it from that perspective.
“You have to deal with the Biden-Harris migrants separately from how you deal with the long-term undocumented who have been forgotten about since Barack Obama first took office. And we can address both simultaneously and still achieve the goals that he put out as well as finally produce on something that Democrats have long talked about, which is granting amnesty to those long-term undocumented individuals. In Chicago, mostly Mexican individuals who are those hardworking people in our communities who have been waiting for a path forward, we can grant them a pardon, grant them amnesty, grant them a path forward.”
… But then the news invaded the Lopez peace. And any chance of compromise was broken, thanks to Pritzker.
And one of Chicago’s most violent street gangs, the Latin Kings, made headlines calling for the assassination of federal agents. The Kings were doing Pritzker’s bidding.
Federal law enforcement officials suspect Mexican criminal organizations are funding a scheme to pay thousands of dollars in cash bounties for the killings of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, with payouts allegedly increasing based on an employee’s rank and actions.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Tuesday announced the alleged bounty system offers $2,000 for gathering intelligence or doxxing agents — including photos and family details — $5,000 to $10,000 for kidnapping or non-lethal assaults on standard immigration officers, and up to $50,000 for the assassination of high-ranking officials.
“Customs and Border Protection officials said Latin Kings street gang leaders have issued a “shoot on sight” order targeting agents involved in immigration operations in Chicago, NewsNation has learned.”
“Officer/agents are reminded to maintain heightened situational awareness and exercise extreme caution when conducting enforcement activities,” the agency’s internal warning said.
News of the alert comes after shots were reportedly fired at federal agents during an immigration enforcement operation in the city’s Little Village neighborhood on Saturday.
Good and decent men like Ald. Lopez think of compromise.
But shameless weasels like Pritzker and his violent radical left wing unions ruin the idea of common ground, they take over the streets, ramming I.C.E. vehicles and shooting at law enforcement isn’t about seeking common ground. It is about violent demands, like the old Confederate slave owners at Ft. Sumpter firing on union troops to protect their slave trade.
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/16/2025 00:00 PM ||
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[1825 views]
Top|| File under: Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life, & Kleptocrats
#1
Don't sugar coat it John -
They are the neo-confederates hoping to keep their slaves and profit by them as they did in the 1850s in South Carolina. But this is 2025. We didn’t compromise with slave owners then. So why are we defending narco gangs that sell little girls as sex slaves now?
For politics? I spit on their marxist politics.
We are the Americans. They are the confederacy.
There’s no compromise with them now.
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/15/2025 18:48 Comments ||
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[Clarice Feldman @ AT] If you remember the wonderful Song of the South, Br'er Rabbit begs Br'er Fox not to throw him in the bramble bushes knowing, what fox doesn’t, that he’s safe there in a place where Br'er Fox will be ensnared. After the disastrous Schumer shutdown (which I predict will add impetus to a remake of the SNAP program and the end of the Obama (Un) Affordable Care Act) the Democrats amped up their nonsense about Trump having engaged in wrongdoing with blackmailer and procurer of underaged females Jeffrey Epstein.
As you may recall, three judges, two of whom were appointed by Obama and one by Clinton, have blocked the Department of Justice from releasing the Epstein grand jury documents to the media.
Anyone with any sense at all knows that the prior administration that hamstrung Trump with so many false prosecutions and two impeachments would have long ago released any dirt they had which tied Trump to Epstein’s criminal conduct.
As you may also recall, Trump threw Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago years ago before prosecutors went after Epstein.
Still, with so much of the evidence locked up by the judiciary, the Democrats replayed their J6 Committee scenario. They selectively released what they obtained from the Epstein estate after they tampered with it and outright lied to accuse Trump of the opposite of what the emails showed.
Here’s a Courier searchable database of the 20k Epstein files already released.
The most well known of the Epstein victims, Virginia Giuffre, testified under oath and in a book she wrote before her death that Trump had never done anything improper. It seems, in fact, that he was working with the authorities to nab Epstein. Giuffre’s lawyer praised Trump for cooperating voluntarily with Giuffre’s counsel in her suit against the Epstein estate.
A bunch of things about a bunch of anti-Trump actors discussed at the link, then the conclusion:
Tired of this non-stop ankle biting and lying, Trump asked the Attorney General, the Department of Justice, and the FBI to investigate "Jeffrey Epstein’s involvement and relationship with Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, Reid Hoffman, J.P. Morgan, Chase and many other people and institutions to determine what was going on with them and him.” He added that it’s “FIND OUT” time. Bondi promptly announced she had selected SDNY United States Attorney Jay Clayton to take the lead in this.
Do you imagine this instantaneous appointment just happened -- or, like me, do you think Trump gave these malicious idiots enough rope to discredit themselves, absolve himself, and leave them in substantial legal jeopardy?
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/16/2025 07:11 ||
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[1788 views]
Top|| File under: Nut Jobs
[GEO.TV] Tackling Taliban ...Arabic for students... 2.0 is increasingly becoming a quagmire for Pakistain and the region. The failed Doha and Istanbul talks are a testament to this fact.
The question is what are the options to deal with the Afghan Taliban when friendly countries like Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... and T rkiye have remained unsuccessful in convincing them to make peace with Pakistain.
Almost simultaneous suicide kabooms in Islamabad and on Cadet College Wana on November 11th, 2025 have further increased the necessity to find a concrete answer.
The problem is compounded by the fact that Pakistain still houses millions of Afghan refugees. At the top of it, some short-sighted steps by the previous governments allowed banned TTP to take roots in the border areas.
So, what should Pakistain do next?
As we move forward, the Afghan Taliban must know that a country that has beaten arrogant India will not tolerate terrorism.
However,
a good lie finds more believers than a bad truth... ending diplomatic engagement is no option. Needless to say, in any case, these negotiations would not provide a long-lasting solution. History and geography are to blame for that.
So, how to manage the Afghan problem in a way where not only Pakistain but also the region on the lam live-in a relative peace?
Those who have any good faith about the Afghan Taliban must read twice what the interim minister of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has to say.
''Today, defending the country is no longer possible with simple weapons like Kalashnikovs. Defence now requires heavy artillery, bombs, and fighter jets, remarked Habibullah Agha while inaugurating an exhibition in Kabul.''
He did not stop here.
Apparently, he stressed for becoming self-sufficient but those who are aware of what it takes to develop sophisticated military equipment can better analyse Habibullah Agha's following statement.
''If Russia, India, Iran, or Pakistain provide you with military equipment, it's likely they won't give you something that could be used against them. Therefore, we must take matters into our own hands.''
In simple terms, this shows that the Afghan Taliban have something on their minds against all regional powers. It is despite the fact that the region has opted for a carrot approach. Even, Pakistain didn't resort to use stick until 9th October, 2025.
That is why a regional approach may be a better option; to a great extent, it was to bring them back to power.
Here, Pakistain can utilise its recently improved relations with the United States of America. Afghan Taliban still reportedly have a Doha office, established with the help of Washington eight years before the then bully boyz took over Kabul.
There were secret annexes to Doha Peace Deal. Is it time to request that the United States sift through those annexes and see how President Trump can help Pakistain?
This businessman turned politician may ask for a bargain. Nobody knows how he views Afghanistan other than that he has an eye on rare earth minerals and retaking lost Bagram Airbase to keep an eye on China.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/16/2025 00:00 ||
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[1773 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban/IEA
At the moment, President Erdogan believes he has President Trump twisted around his little finger, and that Bibi is in his black book. Pushing Turkish interests Gaza and discussions about Turkey buying a fleet of F-35s look to Yippie proofs that he is the favourite and increase the odds that he will be as stupid as Iran and its satraps Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis did starting in October 2023. On the other hand, it seems clear that Mossad has been tracking the Turkey contingent of senior Hamasniks since they arrived there, so at some point things might suddenly be exothermically interesting in that part of the world.
[AmericanThinker] The potential for a military clash between The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the decaying remnant of the Ottoman Empire... and Israel is growing. There are several colliding points, and each one of them has the potential to become a full-scale war, despite mechanisms designed to avoid conflict.
The most obvious is the Syrian front. Reports indicate that Turkey plans to help Syria’s transitional government develop a military force of approximately 200,000 personnel (approximately 10—15 divisions). Turkey has assumed the role of protector of Syria’s president, Ahmed al-Sharaa (al-Jolani, his nom de guerre). Israel, for its part, has assumed the role of protector of the Druze minority in southwestern Syria, an area that Israel seeks to demilitarize. The establishment of Ottoman Turkish army and air force bases throughout Syria might be the next step. Should al-Sharaa, with Turkey’s support, seek to forcibly subjugate the Druze or perhaps even the Kurds, festivities between Israel and al-Sharaa’s Ottoman Turkish overlords would be inevitable.
Another point of contention between Turkey and Israel will likely be Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... . Israel is adamantly opposed to Turkey being part of the Gaza International Stabilization Force (ISF), not to mention having Ottoman Turkish troops next to Israel’s borders. Ottoman Turkish president His Enormity, Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First ...Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really more important... ’s affinity toward the Paleostinian terrorist group Hamas ..a regional Iranian catspaw,... , with whom he shares the Moslem Brüderbund ideology, would, in all likelihood, not force Hamas to disarm and carry out its expulsion from Gaza. Erdogan is hoping to mobilize all Paleostinian factions against Israel and would do everything possible to keep Hamas armed and in control of Gaza. Erdogan’s positions are religious as well as geopolitical imperatives that he hopes will weaken the Jewish state, if not destroy it outright.
The Mediterranean Sea is another area of disputation between Israel and Turkey. The alliance among Cyprus, Greece, and Israel, which establishes defined territorial boundaries for oil and gas exploration, does not sit well with Ankara. Turkey considers the Mediterranean an open sea — one whose wide swaths will help to establish its expansionist ambitions. Erdogan is currently delivering heavy equipment to Gaza via the sea. Should he begin sending naval ships, that will definitely create a clash point.
Erdogan’s Turkey poses a major threat to Israel, far more of a threat than the Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran. The existential threat to Israel from Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... is primarily from its nuclear potential and readiness to use a nuclear bomb against the Jewish state. During the 12 Days’ War of June 2025, Israel and the U.S. delivered a major blow to Iran’s nuclear facilities, although not a complete setback. With the weakening of Iran and the Shia crescent due to Israel’s devastating blows to Iran’s proxies — Hezb’allah in Leb ...The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. Only one of those statements is an exaggeration.... and Hamas in Gaza — and with Iran’s loss of a free hand in Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Terror of Aleppo ... ’s Syria, Turkey is fast becoming the patron of Syria’s new jihadist president. The authoritarian and megalomaniacal Erdogan is seeking to create a Sunni-Moslem crescent around Israel and resuscitate the glory of the Ottoman Empire.
Unlike Iran, Erdogan’s Turkey is not burdened by international and Western sanctions. Moreover, Turkey is a member of NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... and has one of the group’s more potent militaries. Turkey possesses a fairly sophisticated arms manufacturing industry, particularly drones, as well as its own aircraft production — and an arsenal of over 200 American F-16 fighter jets.
Turkey is vying for America’s most advanced supersonic stealth fighter jets — the F-35 — designed as a multirole aircraft for air superiority. The Trump administration is considering selling it to Erdogan, and Donald Trump ...dictatorial for repealing some (but not all) of the diktats of his predecessor, misogynistic because he likes pretty girls, homophobic because he doesn't think gender bending should be mandatory, truly a man for all seasons... himself has repeatedly called Erdogan a "close friend." Such a sale to the Turks would offset the balance of power in the region, and Israel would find itself at a major disadvantage. It would also indicate that President Trump has chosen to side with Turkey’s authoritarian dictator over Israel’s Western democracy that shares America’s values. It would show that Trump has nominated Turkey rather than Israel as its major ally in the Middle East.
The Ottoman Turkish Gross Domestic Product (GDP), estimated in 2024 to be $ 1.307 trillion, places it among the world’s 20th largest economies. Its population in 2025 is approximately 87.7 million. Turkey’s historical enemy, Russia, has been weakened as a result of the nearly four-year war with Ukraine. Whereas Turkey meddled in the affairs of Saudi Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start... and Egypt in the past, particularly in the 2010s, the situation in 2025 is marked by a rapprochement and growing cooperation in political, economic, and security matters. Turkey is also involved in Africa; in Libya, it supports the Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... regime. It operates a large overseas military base in Somalia.
In recent times, Turkey has also extended its influence in the Caucasus region between the Black and Caspian Seas. Azerbaijan’s victory over Armenia during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict gave Turkey added prestige. Israel had supported the Azeris (Baku is the capital) with arms, whereas Russia and Iran supported Armenia.
President Donald Trump can defuse the current tense situation by making it clear to Erdogan that Israel has security interests in Syria and is protecting the safety of the Druze community, and to some extent the Kurdish minority. Furthermore, selling Erdogan the F-35 would be detrimental to Israel’s security and must not happen. Washington sale of F-35s to Turkey would result in the butchery of the Kurds in northern Syria and give Erdogan military superiority in the region, furthering his expansionist ambitions. Finally, Trump could also mediate between Ankara and Jerusalem for resumption of trade and cooperation in the energy field to avoid a confrontation in the Mediterranean Sea.
I wouldn’t bother with that last — Erdogan and his Islamlamofascists have made it clear that trade with Israel is a short term thing until they are properly conquered and their stuff taken as booty..
It’s abundantly clear that as long as the Islamist Erdogan is running Turkey, a military clash between Turkey and Israel is more than likely.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
11/16/2025 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Sublime Porte
[Rudaw] Six years have passed since the black flag of the so-called Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... disappeared from the last hill in Syria’s Baghouz. The world exhaled in relief. Yet anyone walking today through the ruins of Raqqa or the camps of Hasaka quickly realizes terror has not stopped breathing. It has only changed its form: quieter, more invisible, and psychologically deeper.
In the shadow zones of Syria and Iraq, ISIS is regrouping. There are no more large battalions or parades of the caliphate, but instead small cells, secret networks, and an ideology that survives in the human mind. While the international community has shifted its gaze to other wars, a new generation is growing up there; children who whisper their parents’ slogans before they can even read.
Terror, it becomes clear, was never merely a military project. It was—and remains—a psychological, social, and cultural phenomenon.
EMOTIONAL ROOTS OF VIOLENCE
Why do people join an organization built on cruelty and oppression, one capable of killing, torturing, and enslaving others without the faintest trace of empathy, shame, or guilt?
The answer lies not only in belief but in emotion. ISIS offers identity where none exists, community where despair reigns, and meaning where life seems worthless. The enemy - the "other"- is stripped of their humanity, reduced to an object unworthy of compassion, deserving only death, which is presented as their final deliverance.
Many young people in Syria and Iraq grow up in an endless cycle of war, poverty, and humiliation. Their world is fragmented, their future uncertain. Within this vacuum, the ideology of terror works like a drug: it promises strength, belonging, moral purity, and a simple explanation for suffering. Someone else is to blame the West, the "infidels," the traitors.
In truth, as social-psychological research shows, ISIS functions as a substitute religion for the maimed. The religious language is merely packaging; the true product is power, order, and self-justification. The organization manipulates Islamic symbols to fill deep psychological wounds. It does not offer spirituality but rather a role, the "chosen one," the "fighter," the person who finally seizes control over his destiny.
THE NEW FACE OF HORROR
Since the rise of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else ...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State... (HTS), a group with its own bloody history, chaos in parts of Syria has deepened. Wherever structures of order collapse, ISIS and other holy warrior or authoritarian movements begin to flourish again. In the provinces of Raqqa, Deir-ez-Zor, and Hasaka, attacks are increasing, assassinations, assaults on checkpoints, roadside kabooms.
But the most dangerous weapon of these organizations is not the rifle, it is their belief in themselves. In prisons across northeastern Syria, imprisoned "emirs" teach lessons on sharia and "sacred duty." In the camps of Hol and Roj, where thousands of women and kiddies from forty-eight countries live, a new generation of the caliphate is growing up.
These children are the new version of ISIS, perhaps even stronger than the old one. For them, the so-called Islamic State is not history; it is their entire world of meaning.
This is the world we continue to underestimate, not the military one, but the mental one. Terror has detached itself from geography. It now exists as a spirit, living in minds, in narratives, and in longing.
THE INVISIBLE STATE
ISIS has lost its territory but not its structure. What remains is a totalitarian idea that no longer needs a physical center. It survives as a social hierarchy, a mental order, a collective memory. The ideology has etched itself into the societies from which it once emerged.
In villages across Iraq and Syria, former members speak of "justice" and "duty," downplaying the atrocities of the past. In the camps, women claim they "only came to help." Children raise their fingers in the group’s symbolic gesture without even knowing what it means.
These scenes echo the aftermath of other totalitarian systems: the body has been defeated, but the idea lives on. It has become disembodied and that makes it so dangerous. You cannot bomb an idea.
WESTERN BLINDNESS
After 2019, many Western nations celebrated the defeat of ISIS. Yet from a psychological point of view, that victory was an illusion. Instead of understanding the roots of extremism, the world focused only on its symptoms. Military success was not followed by strategies for reintegration, education, or psychological recovery.
Today, around 8,000 fighters from nearly 50 countries remain imprisoned in Syria. Most of their home governments refuse to repatriate them. But this refusal is not protection, it is a ticking time bomb.
The camps have become schools of radicalization. Every generation growing up there without hope carries the seed of a new movement. Those who believe the problem is far away are deceiving themselves. Terrorism behaves like a virus, it survives in any host vulnerable enough to carry it.
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF TRAUMA, IDEOLOGY
What makes ISIS and other holy warrior organizations strong is not only their organization but their ability to transform trauma into ideology. People who experience violence desperately seek meaning, and ISIS provides it through a perverse reversal of moral logic. Victims become perpetrators; perpetrators become deaders.
Within this psychological dynamic lies the core danger: ideology heals pain with new violence. Thus, each generation inherits the wounds of the previous one and fills them again with blood.
To fight terror, therefore, one must address trauma, create perspectives, and offer meaning, not as naive optimism, but as a deliberate counter-narrative to the emptiness that feeds extremism.
The fight against terror is not a battle over territory; it is a battle for the human mind. It begins in schools, in conversations, in families. It needs psychologists, teachers, and social workers; not only soldiers. Above all, it requires empathy instead of stigma. Those who see only a monster in a radicalized person fail to recognize the human being behind it, the boy who longed for belonging, the girl who sought protection.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
11/16/2025 2025-11-16 01:24 ||
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Top|| File under: Islamic State
#1
But, but, but, I been told it's just "A handful of extremists trying to hijack a great religion of Peace".
[IsraelTimes] A decade after deadly jihadist attacks in Paris, terror groups have undergone reconfiguration, losing sanctuary in Syria and Iraq and becoming most active in Africa
A decade on from deadly attacks in Gay Paree, the world’s two most notorious jihadist groups, Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... and al-Qaeda, have significantly evolved, and their branches still pose a global security threat, especially from Africa, analysts say.
With strong central leadership, the groups were once able to train and then send commandos into Europa ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... to carry out attacks such as the November 13, 2015 strikes in Gay Paree that left 130 people dead.
But today, ISIS has lost the sanctuary it once enjoyed in Syria and Iraq.
The emblematic leaders of both groups, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi for ISIS and Ayman al-Zawahiri ...Formerly second in command of al-Qaeda, now the head cheese, occasionally described as the real brains of the outfit. Formerly the Mister Big of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Bumped off Abdullah Azzam with a car boom in the course of one of their little disputes. Is thought to have composed bin Laden's fatwa entitled World Islamic Front Against Jews and Crusaders. Currently residing in the North Wazoo area assuming he's not dead like Mullah Omar. He lost major face when he ordered the nascent Islamic State to cease and desist and merge with the orthodox al-Qaeda spring, al-Nusra...> for al-Qaeda, were killed in US strikes, respectively in 2019 in Syria and 2022 in Afghanistan.
Today, "the structure of the two major command centers is considerably weakened, the leaders are little known, and probably not very involved in the direct management of the threat" they pose, said a French security source, asking not to be named.
"We are seeing a reconfiguration of this jihadist movement, with certain fronts where the franchises remain particularly active," Marc Hecker, executive director of French research center IFRI and co-author of "The Twenty Years’ War, Jihadism and Counterterrorism in the 21st Century," told AFP.
But he added that "the ultimate strategic objective, for both al-Qaeda and ISIS [the Arabic acronym for ISIS], has not changed: the establishment of a global caliphate" of Islamist rule.
’DOMINO EFFECT’
The threat to European countries has also changed, with isolated attacks inspired by jihadist movements, rather than ordered by them, becoming the most common type of atrocity.
"We have moved from a so-called projected threat... to a threat that is now typically homegrown," La Belle France’s national anti-terrorism prosecutor Olivier Christen told AFP.
He pointed in particular to "individuals who are on French soil, have never left, and do not necessarily have direct links with terrorist organizations" but are inspired by them.
The groups themselves are now most active in Africa as well as parts of Asia rather than Europe.
These groups "are far from the Western world. They operate primarily in Africa, the Middle East and Asia," added Alexandre Rodde, of the National Gendarmerie Research Centre (CRGN) and a visiting fellow at Coventry University.
Whereas in 2015, the hub for jihadism was around Iraq and Syria, the estimated number of ISIS jihadists in Syria is now between 1,000 and 1,500, according to the French security source.
This is far lower than the numbers in West Africa, in the Lake Chad region and Nigeria — estimated at 6,000 to 7,000 — or in the Sahel region ... North Africa's answer to the Pak tribal areas... , where their numbers are put at 2,500.
In the Sahel, al-Qaeda affiliate JNIM is rapidly expanding and currently threatens the survival of several regimes in the region, notably the Malian junta. It is currently suffocating the Malian economy with a blockade on fuel deliveries.
"There are increasing concerns that if Mali falls, there could be a domino effect with other governments in the region, including in Burkina Faso ...The country in west Africa that they put where Upper Volta used to be. Its capital is Oogadooga, or something like that. Its president used to be Blaise Compaoré, who took office in 1987 and was chased out in 2014. Now it's the usual army officer type guy, Captain Ibrahim Traore, running things, who's just doing a bang-up job unless he's already been deposed... and/or Niger, and worries that momentum will propel the jihadists throughout coastal west Africa," warned the Soufan Center, a US intelligence and security think tank.
Elsewhere on the continent, "Islamic State — West Africa Province (ISWAP) is a very active branch," and in the Horn of Africa, "the main actor remains the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab ... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda... ," said Hecker.
"Africa is now the epicenter of terrorism and directly threatens our interests," La Belle France’s foreign intelligence chief Nicolas Lerner told French radio this week.
’CAPACITY REDUCED’
The jihadists also benefited from the chaos following the fall last year of Syrian president Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Scourge of Qusayr... , a secular figure who was ousted by a group once affiliated with al-Qaeda.
"With the fall of Bashir al-Assad’s regime, the freedom of movement of jihadists increased," said the French security source.
"And ISIS seized this opportunity," said the source, while emphasizing there was little indication of the jihadists regaining their former supremacy in the region.
The ISIS branch in Khorasan, Afghanistan, now ruled by the Taliban ...Arabic for students... , which once gave sanctuary to al-Qaeda under the late Osama bin Laden ...... who is now among the dear departed, though not among the dearest...... , "is the most active franchise," said Rodde.
Dozens were killed in attacks by the group in the Iranian city of Kerman in January 2024 and on a concert hall outside Moscow that year.
"Its capacity to cause harm is considerably reduced," added the French security source. "The Taliban are waging a fierce and effective war against them."
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[American Greatness] Just over 15 years ago, when the Democrat-controlled House and the Democrat-controlled Senate were debating the healthcare proposals offered by the Democrat president, nearly everyone on the political right was unified in opposition. It may well have been the last time the right was united on anything, but it was indeed unified and resolute.
...hanky-headed Congressman-for-life from Maryland's 8th congressional district since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in the Maryland State Senate from 2007 to 2016. Raskin co-chairs the Congressional Freethought Caucus, which pushes (and defines) 
[John Kass] One mistake people who don’t know me make is when they say I’m uncompromising.
...Arabic for 
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State...
...The country in west Africa that they put where Upper Volta used to be. Its capital is Oogadooga, or something like that. Its president used to be Blaise Compaoré, who took office in 1987 and was chased out in 2014. Now it's the usual army officer type guy, Captain Ibrahim Traore, running things, who's just doing a bang-up job unless he's already been deposed...
