[Breitbart] A migrant of unknown legal status is back on the streets after allegedly assaulting NYPD officers in the course of resisting arrest on November 5, 2024.
The migrant had an AR-15 rifle in his backpack at the time of the incident.
FOX News identified the migrant as 2o-year-old Abraham Sosa, noting that a second migrant, Christopher Mayren, allegedly interfered when officers tried to arrest Sosa.
The AR-15 fell out of Sosa’s backpack during the altercation with officers.
Sosa and Mayren were both eventually arrested and taken into custody, at which time Sosa was found to allegedly be in possession of one of the officer’s phones.
The New York Post noted that both the migrants are back on the streets after Sosa [posted] a $25,000 bond and Mayren [was] released without bail.”
Tattoos on Mayren’s arms suggested he is linked to a Mexican cartel.
A Bronx detective told the Post, “This is crazy. You have a member of a Mexican cartel running around. That tattoo is a billboard for ‘I am a criminal. I don’t care about your laws.’”
[ShabelleMedia] In a resolute declaration, Æthiopia has affirmed its commitment to combat al-Shabaab ... an Islamic infestation centering on Somalia attempting to metastasize into Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and similar places, all ofwhich have enough problems without them... , stating that its efforts to "weaken the group will continue in any way possible" to safeguard national security, according to Ambassador Nebiat Getachew during a weekly briefing on November 14, 2024.
The Æthiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ spokesperson underscored the ongoing threat posed by the Death Eater group, saying, "Al-Shabaab remains a concern for our national security, and efforts to counter it will continue in all circumstances to prevent it from becoming a threat or allowing any footholds to resurface."
This statement comes in the wake of Somalia’s announcement that Æthiopia would be excluded from the African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... Support Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM), set to begin in January 2025. Somalia’s Defense Minister, Abdulkadir Mohammed Nur, cited Æthiopia’s recent maritime agreement with Somaliland ...Republic of Somaliland is an unrecognised sovereign state in the Horn of Africa, recognised internationally as a de jure part of Somalia. It is located in the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden with approximately 5.7 million residents as of 2021. The capital and largest city is Hargeisa. The government regards itself as the successor state to British Somaliland, which united from 1960 to 1991 with the Trust Territory of Somaliland (the former Italian Somaliland) to form the Somali Republic. Under the Siad Barre regime, Somaliadestroyed ninety percent of Hargeisa Per international law, once you're in, you gotta stay in, no matter how bad it smells.... as a violation of Somalia’s illusory sovereignty.
The AU’s peacekeeping mission, initially launched as AMISOM in 2007 to assist Somalia against al-Shabaab, transitioned into ATMIS before its scheduled conclusion in December. The new mission, AUSSOM, is designed to support Somalia until 2028 with a force of around 12,000 troops.
The tension between Æthiopia and Somalia has escalated following an agreement on January 1, 2024, between Æthiopia and the breakaway region of Somaliland, where Æthiopia seeks sea access in return for potentially recognizing Somaliland’s independence. This has led to Somalia’s firm stance against Æthiopian inclusion in the forthcoming AU mission, highlighting the complex interplay of regional politics, security, and illusory sovereignty.
Æthiopia’s Foreign Ministry insists on a strategy that not only focuses on security but also on fostering long-term regional integration, viewing its relationship with Somalia as "inseparable" despite the current diplomatic frictions.
[SaharaReporters] A new report released by the Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa (PPLAAF) has revealed that the former National Security Adviser Sambo Dasuki, invested millions of dollars in American luxury real estate.
Dasuki was previously charged with diverting billions of Naira meant for the fight against Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... holy warriors during former President Goodluck Jonathan ... 14th President of Nigeria. He was Governor of Bayelsa State from 9 December 2005 to 28 May 2007, and was sworn in as Vice President on 29 May 2007. Jonathan is a member of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP). He is a lover of nifty hats, which makes him easily recognizable unless someone else in the room is wearing a neat chapeau.Other than that he's pretty useless as the Boko Haram debacle shows... ’s administration.
The PPLAAF report stated that tens of millions allegedly misappropriated by Dasuki ended up funding luxury properties in Los Angeles, Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party,, and McLean, Virginia, a wealthy suburb of Washington, DC.
PPLAAF stated that it examined thousands of pages of property deeds, corporate filings, bank records, and court documents from both Nigeria and the U.S., tracing funds to high-end properties purchased by Dasuki’s close associates, Robert and Mimie Oshodin.
The report stated that records indicate that the Oshodins received at least $27 million from Dasuki’s office and invested similar sums in U.S. real estate.
"Our investigation shows how the fight for accountability in Nigeria is undermined when nations like the U.S. ignore corruption. It’s a grave issue when those entrusted to protect citizens siphon public money for personal luxury," stated Jimmy Kande, PPLAAF’s West Africa Director.
"The U.S. can and should do more, both morally and legally," Kande added.
Recall that in 2018 under former President Muhammadu Buhari, Nigerian authorities alerted the U.S. Department of Justice about the allegations involving Dasuki and the Oshodins, urging them to track the money trail. Despite this, the Oshodins continued to acquire and sell properties.
A new report released by the Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa (PPLAAF) has revealed that the former National Security Adviser Sambo Dasuki, Sambo Dasuki, invested millions of dollars in American luxury real estate.
Dasuki was previously charged with diverting billions of Naira meant for the fight against Boko Haram holy warriors during former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.
The PPLAAF report stated that tens of millions allegedly misappropriated by Dasuki ended up funding luxury properties in Los Angeles, California, and McLean, Virginia, a wealthy suburb of Washington, DC.
PPLAAF stated that it examined thousands of pages of property deeds, corporate filings, bank records, and court documents from both Nigeria and the U.S., tracing funds to high-end properties purchased by Dasuki’s close associates, Robert and Mimie Oshodin.
The report stated that records indicate that the Oshodins received at least $27 million from Dasuki’s office and invested similar sums in U.S. real estate.
"Our investigation shows how the fight for accountability in Nigeria is undermined when nations like the U.S. ignore corruption. It’s a grave issue when those entrusted to protect citizens siphon public money for personal luxury," stated Jimmy Kande, PPLAAF’s West Africa Director.
"The U.S. can and should do more, both morally and legally," Kande added.
Recall that in 2018 under former President Muhammadu Buhari, Nigerian authorities alerted the U.S. Department of Justice about the allegations involving Dasuki and the Oshodins, urging them to track the money trail. Despite this, the Oshodins continued to acquire and sell properties.
Dasuki, appointed National Security Adviser in 2012 under then-president Goodluck Jonathan, was tasked with coordinating the response to Boko Haram’s insurgency, which caused widespread violence and displacement in Nigeria and neighboring countries.
Nigerian authorities allege that through fake procurement deals and dubious contracts, Dasuki embezzled over $2 billion intended for the anti-terrorism campaign.
After Muhammadu Buhari took office in 2015, Dasuki was dismissed and later arrested in connection with the scandal, often called "Dasukigate."
As part of its investigation, PPLAAF said it identified multiple assets linked to the Dasukigate scandal.
Soon after Dasuki’s 2012 appointment, he began transferring large sums to the Oshodins, who were acting as legal guardians to two of his children in the U.S. During this period, the couple invested around $24 million in U.S. real estate, often coinciding with transfers from Dasuki’s office.
The largest transaction was the purchase of a $9.5 million Los Angeles mansion on the same day Dasuki’s office transferred $12 million to the Oshodins’ furniture business in Nigeria.
Court filings obtained by PPLAAF indicate that the Oshodins stored tens of millions in jewelry, including a ring valued at over $3 million, along with expensive furnishings and antiquities, in their Los Angeles mansion.
Although the Nigerian authorities informed the U.S. of the allegations in 2018, the Oshodins continued their real estate dealings and still own properties valued at $20 million in Los Angeles and McLean.
Nigeria’s investigation into the Oshodins suggests serious gaps in U.S. oversight of illicit financial flows in real estate.
Recently, the U.S. has strengthened measures to curb such flows, requiring investment advisers and real estate professionals to report all cash purchases by companies and trusts.
However,
today is that tomorrow you were thinking about yesterday... Nigeria continues to face challenges in recovering assets and prosecuting cases tied to Dasukigate, with persistent coordination and judicial delays. The Dasukigate scandal remains a critical test of Nigeria’s commitment to combat corruption.
Meanwhile,
...back at the alley, Slats grabbed for his rosco... a stately mansion worth $2.8 million in McLean, Virginia, has become the subject of intrigue after reports connected its owner to a sprawling corruption scandal involving Nigeria’s former national security adviser.
The luxurious property, nestled at the end of a private drive and featuring amenities like a climate-controlled wine cellar, sauna, and four fireplaces, seemed to blend seamlessly with the wealth of the Washington, D.C., suburbs — until questions arose about its elusive owner.
Neighbors recall that the man, who introduced himself briefly upon purchasing the home, quickly vanished, leaving the grand, nine-foot carved-wood doors tightly shut, The Washington Post reports following the report of a fresh investigation shared with it by the Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa (PPLAAF).
Within this upscale McLean neighborhood, called The Ridings, properties are typically owned by successful professionals, including a plastic surgeon, a corporate lawyer, and the CEO of a defense consulting firm, according to local property records.
Yet the man’s sudden disappearance left some neighbors wondering what was happening within the grand residence.
According to Nigerian court filings, the mansion’s owner, a family friend of Nigeria’s former national security adviser, is alleged to have been involved in laundering funds misappropriated from the Nigerian government.
The country’s authorities accuse the former security adviser of siphoning off over $2 billion, a portion of which was allegedly routed to the mansion’s owner.
U.S. properties — like the McLean mansion and other high-end residences — are suspected to be among the assets purchased to launder the misappropriated funds.
Further deepening the intrigue, the owner of the McLean property was also linked to a separate incident involving an insurance claim for jewelry theft from another luxurious property near Beverly Hills, California.
The combined allegations have painted a complex portrait of wealth and scandal, connecting the quiet Virginia neighborhood to an international web of alleged financial crime.
The Washington Post reports that the allegations against him highlight a growing global concern: the U.S. real estate market has become a refuge for corrupt officials and criminals worldwide to hide illicit funds through opaque shell companies.
Next year, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network at the U.S. Treasury Department will implement a new rule that mandates title companies and other parties to gather information on specific real estate sales, focusing on transactions where the buyer is a trust or another legal entity that pays in cash.
"With many American neighborhoods facing affordable housing crises, stopping dirty money from entering the residential real estate market is more crucial than ever," said Bradley T. Smith, the Treasury Department’s acting undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, in a statement to The Washington Post.
In reporting this story, The Washington Post received court documents, property records, and analyses from the Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa, a Gay Paree-based anticorruption group.
The Premium Times, a Nigerian news organization, was also involved in a broader investigation into real estate money laundering. The Post verified and supplemented the information independently.
To a visitor, the quiet McLean cul-de-sac would appear ordinary, with its private drive, manicured lawns, and neatly trimmed rosebushes. But behind its doors, Nigerian law enforcement officials allege, lies a story of embezzlement, corruption, and global money laundering.
In 2014, in the northeastern town of Chibok in Nigeria, forces of Evil known as Boko Haram stormed a boarding school and kidnapped 276 schoolgirls.
The incident sparked the global #BringBackOurGirls movement, supported by Reese Witherspoon, Michelle Obama, and Pope Francis
...Argentine liberation theologist, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio. He was elected pope in 2013. Rather than setting up shop in Avignon, where he belongs, the first Jesuit Pope chose to reside in the Domus Sanctae Marthae guesthouse instead of the papal apartments. That was to show how humble he is. He is big on climate change, against consumerism, and in favor of throwing a blanket over homosexual activity within the clergy. He's not real sure about the Resurrection, about Christ's divinity, and a few other things that would have gotten him burned at the stake a few hundred years ago, but he's hot for a certain South American Earth Mother Goddess... .
Meanwhile,
...back at the alley, Slats grabbed for his rosco... the kidnapping drew international attention to Boko Haram, an insurgency using violent mostly peaceful tactics to impose strict Islamic law across Nigerian society.
Bob Oshodin, an 83-year-old entrepreneur, developed his carpentry skills at a young age in Nigeria, as stated in his bio on the archived website of his furniture manufacturing company, Bob Oshodin Organization Limited.
Interestingly, Oshodin formed a lasting bond with Sambo Dasuki, and their friendship spans decades. According to Oshodin's wife, Mimie, the two became close friends after meeting while living in the United States for extended periods.
The families were close enough that the Oshodins agreed to look after two of Dasuki’s children, then teenagers, who were attending school in the United States while Dasuki served as Nigeria’s national security adviser.
It was also during this time, Nigerian officials alleged, that Dasuki illegally transferred tens of millions of dollars’ worth of Nigerian and U.S. currency from state funds to the Oshodins’ furniture company.
[KhaamaPress] German media reported that approximately 200 Afghan refugees were transferred from Islamabad, Pakistain, to Germany on Thursday.
Reports on Friday, November 15, revealed that these individuals had worked as translators or drivers for Germany during their mission in Afghanistan. Their relocation underscores Germany’s commitment to assisting those who supported their operations.
The refugees reportedly fled Afghanistan to escape the Taliban ...mindless ferocity in a turban... following NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... ’s withdrawal and sought refuge in Pakistain. This group of refugees included women and arrived at Erfurt Airport in Germany on Thursday evening.
Upon their arrival, the Afghan refugees were warmly welcomed by staff from Germany’s Federal Office for Migration and Refugees. The initiative reflects the humanitarian efforts of the German government to provide safety for at-risk individuals.
After the collapse of the previous Afghan government, the German federal government pledged to relocate 1,000 at-risk Afghans monthly to Germany. However,
there's more than one way to stuff a chicken... the process has faced significant delays, leaving many vulnerable people in uncertainty.
Reports indicate that while Germany’s Foreign Ministry had initially accepted the applications of several at-risk Afghans, subsequent security incidents led to the rejection of many applications. Afghan refugees in Pakistain were informed of these rejections through official emails.
Currently, Germany’s Interior Ministry estimates that around 3,000 at-risk Afghans are awaiting acceptance in Pakistain. Despite Germany’s commitment, the delays and rejections have added to the frustrations of those seeking safety.
Many of the organizations in the study are also involved in political movements outside of the Israel-Hamas conflict, including Queers for Palestine and BLM.
The study also found that many organizations explicitly support committing crime as a political tool.
The Capital Research Center (CRC) recently published a study entitled “Marching Towards Violence” that investigates the rise of militant left-wing anti-Semitism on the campuses of US colleges and universities, identifying more than 150 campus groups which explicitly support terrorism.
The authors listed twelve of the study’s conclusions, each of which emphasize the violent rhetoric maintained by many anti-Israel groups. In particular, the study notes that the majority of activist groups support crime as a method for achieving political goals.
“Some major groups and coalitions in the movement, including ‘mainstream’ civil society groups, directly encourage and assist criminal ‘direct actions’ such as seizing and damaging buildings,” the study concluded. “They also provide guides on how to avoid being identified and prosecuted by law enforcement.”
The study notes that these groups can broadly be separated into two categories, one composed of “Islamists, communists/Marxists, and anarchists” and the other primarily motivated by “white supremacist/nationalist ideologies.”
Study author Ryan Mauro told Campus Reform that although these two groups don’t tend to interact much, this trend may change in the near future.
”The trend is strongly in favor of consolidation between these factions,” Mauro said. “There is a realistic scenario where the U.S. is eventually faced with widespread instability or even a single uprising that composes of all the factions temporarily putting aside their differences.”
The CRC study also established that “significant militant elements within the movement are pushing the movement toward a wider and more severe campaign focused on property destruction and violence that can be credibly described as domestic terrorism.”
According to the study, most groups no longer even support a two-state solution to the Israel-Hamas conflict, instead calling for a complete and absolute obliteration of the Jewish state.
“The majority of the protesting groups seek the destruction of Israel, which fits the international legal definition of ‘genocide’—the very atrocity they purport to be trying to stop,” the study reads. “Only a tiny minority have proclaimed the goal of achieving a permanent two-state solution in which an independent Palestine and an independent Jewish state of Israel live peacefully.”
Many organizations on the list of 159 groups the study identifies as “pro-terrorism” are also involved in political advocacy that extends beyond the Israel-Hamas conflict, such as “Queers for Palestine,” “Queers Undermining Israeli Terror” (QUIT), and multiple regional arms of Black Lives Matter, including those in Chicago, Detroit, Indianapolis, and Phoenix.
Among these organizations, the study names Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) as the chief perpetrator of anti-Israel political rhetoric and action. In particular, the study notes that SJP, unlike other anti-Israel groups, claims to go beyond merely “supporting” the movement against Israel.
“That context is important for accurately understanding the text in SJP’s toolkit that declares, ‘We as Palestinian students in exile are PART of this movement, not in solidarity with this movement’ (original emphasis). The significance of this declaration cannot be overstated. SJP said it is Hamas,” the study reads. “It also refers to ‘our resistance’ when boasting about the success of Hamas’s October 7 terrorist attacks on Israel.”
#2
Time to shift resources from those praying outside abortion clinics and complaining at school board meetings to real physical threats that present themselves from the radical Left.
[NBCnews] All of the officers were involved in the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, which independent reviews have blamed on both the Trump and Biden administrations.
The Trump transition team is compiling a list of senior current and former U.S. military officers who were directly involved in the withdrawal from Afghanistan and exploring whether they could be court-martialed for their involvement, according to a U.S. official and a person familiar with the plan.
Officials working on the transition are considering creating a commission to investigate the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan, including gathering information about who was directly involved in the decision-making for the military, how it was carried out, and whether the military leaders could be eligible for charges as serious as treason, the U.S. official and person with knowledge of the plan said.
“They’re taking it very seriously,” the person with knowledge of the plan said.
The Trump transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Matt Flynn, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for counternarcotics and global threats, is helping lead the effort, the sources said. It is being framed as a review of how the U.S. first got into the war in Afghanistan and how the U.S. ultimately withdrew.
It is not clear, though, what would legally justify “treason” charges since the military officers were following the orders of President Joe Biden to withdraw all U.S. forces from Afghanistan.
A 2022 independent review by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction blamed both the Trump and Biden administrations for the chaotic U.S. withdrawal in 2021.
Trump first reached an agreement with the Taliban in 2020 to withdraw all U.S. forces from Afghanistan, roughly 13,000 troops, and release 5,000 Taliban fighters from prison. The Biden administration then completed the withdrawal and badly overestimated the ability of Afghan government forces to fight the Taliban on their own.
Trump’s choice for secretary of defense, Fox News personality Pete Hegseth, has criticized the withdrawal, saying the U.S. lost the war and wasted billions of dollars.
In his book “The War on Warriors,” Hegseth wrote, “The next president of the United States needs to radically overhaul Pentagon senior leadership to make us ready to defend our nation and defeat our enemies. Lots of people need to be fired. The debacle in Afghanistan, of course, is the most glaring example.”
Hegseth calls the withdrawal a “humiliating retreat” and says leaders at the Pentagon were not held accountable for the deadly attack at Abbey Gate, which killed 13 U.S. service members and roughly 170 Afghan civilians. Nor were they held accountable for a subsequent U.S. airstrike in Kabul that officials thought would kill the Islamic State group leader behind the suicide attack but instead killed 10 innocent Afghans, including seven children, he wrote.
“These generals lied. They mismanaged. They violated their oath. They failed. They disgraced our troops, and our nation. They got people killed, unnecessarily,” he wrote. “And, to this moment, they keep their jobs. Worse, they continue to actively erode our military and its values — by capitulating to civilians with radical agendas. They are an embarrassment, with stars still on their shoulders.”
The transition team is looking at the possibility of recalling several commanders to active duty for possible charges, the U.S. official said.
It’s not clear the Trump administration would pursue treason charges, and instead could focus on lesser charges that highlight the officer’s involvement. “They want to set an example,” said the person with knowledge of the plan.
#6
^ part of the suicide issue is the recruitment of marginal people. 'Outsiders' who never fitted into to groups or had friends try to find their 'hunting group' in the service. When they don't, usually signaled by discipline problems and they face separation, suicide is one of the outcomes.
[IsraelTimes] US President-elect Donald Trump ...Oh, noze! Not him!... is reportedly planning on reviving his "maximum pressure strategy to bankrupt Iran" as soon as he takes office, according to a report citing a national security expert familiar with the Trump transition.
The Financial Times says that Trump’s transition team is preparing executive orders targeting 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... that could be issued on his first day in office, including sanctions on Iranian oil exports.
In his first term, Trump unilaterally withdrew from the 2015 nuclear accord between Iran and Western powers and later re-imposed sanctions on Tehran. He also ordered the killing of Iranian commander, Qasem Soleimani, who led the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps’ foreign operations arm, the Quds Force.
Trump said throughout his 2024 presidential election campaign that US President Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S. I'm not working for you. Don't be such a horse's ass.... ’s policy of not rigorously enforcing oil-export sanctions has weakened Washington and emboldened Tehran.
According to the Financial Times report, the maximum pressure campaign is designed to stop Iran from being able to build up its military and continue to fund its network of proxy groups in the region, including Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... in 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... and Hezbollah in Leb ...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. 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. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... But the ultimate goal, the report stresses, will be to push Iran to negotiate a new nuclear deal.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
11/17/2024 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11135 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
So the $34+ Trillion in debt USA is going to try and bankrupt another country?
Why not start taking out the real problem and the driving force...
The Islamic Radical Leadership? It costs less $$$$, less lives and is quicker.
Just funnel in a few $$ Million to fund the various internal opposition groups.
Like the groups that rose up during the Bush, Clinton, Obama, and Biden.
But this time, this WH Admin won't turn it's back on them for various agenda reasons.
Just funnel in a few $$ Million to fund the various internal opposition groups.
Like the groups that rose up during the Bush, Clinton, Obama, and Biden.
The problem there is that since WWII and beyond, we have never ever picked the right group to back. It's been an unending string of disasters, and I wouldn't trust even a Trump Administration State Department to pick the right one.
The smartest thing would do would be The Night Of The Teheran Vespers - whack the entire upper tier of the Iranian theocracy and the Revolutionary Guard.
Then announce we'll work with (not necessarily support) whoever can keep the oil flowing. They'll be on their asses for decades.
[IsraelTimes] Paleostinians have been lining up at a desalination plant that now operates around the clock in central 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... to fill up containers of clean drinking water — a resource they have barely had any access to during the war. Unaware that Juice juice will make their pee-pees fall off?
The plant previously operated for just three to four hours a day. The Israeli military said they connected the UN-built plant in the western part of Deir al-Balah to Israel’s power grid to increase the amount of drinking water in Gaza.
News Agency that Dare Not be Named video shows people lining up at the Southern Gaza Desalination Plant, with children filling jerry cans and containers with water.
The plant, which was built by UNICEF in 2017, can desalinate 20,000 cubic meters of water per day and will provide drinking water to Khan Younis, Deir al-Balah and the Muwasi humanitarian area. The electricity provided by Israel will go only to the desalination plant.
"The amount of water will increase... it will remain available for 24 hours and life will become easier," says Muhammad Shehab, who was displaced from Gaza City.
[IsraelTimes] Individuals in Strip say Palestinians no longer cheer rocket fire and some express happiness with defeat of terror organization, but
say it’s time for Israel to end the war as well
For the first time since war broke out over a year ago, Israel’s military permitted a journalist in 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... to speak to Paleostinian civilians there last week. The result, aired by Channel 12 news on Sunday, offered a significantly filtered peek into the mindset of displaced Gazook women and kiddies from Jabalia in northern Gaza.
Against a backdrop of debris, dust and armed Israeli soldiers, some residents speaking to the channel’s Paleostinian affairs news hound Ohad Hemo vented their frustration at Hamas ..one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,... , shouting and cursing the terror group ruling Gaza for the devastation it wreaked on their lives.
"I swear I was happy when you killed [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar, who caused destruction and killed our children," one woman was filmed shouting. "God willing you’ll destroy them."
For over a year, Israeli and foreign journalists have only been able to enter Gaza from Israel under IDF oversight and were taken solely to areas devoid of civilians to document the military’s activities. CNN ...formerly the Cable News Network, now who know what it might stand for... ’s Clarissa Ward appears to have been the sole Western journalist who independently crossed into Gaza, speaking to Paleostinians inside a field hospital in December.
Hamas also strictly controls reporting out of Gaza and has threatened journalists who report on the group’s terror activities. For the past year, the only major outlet allowed by Hamas to operate inside the Gaza Strip has been Al Jazeera, which is known to have close ties with the terror group, portraying it as a "resistance movement."
To some observers, Hemo’s report appeared to be a piece of clumsy propaganda, portraying a sanitized view of Gazooks supposedly welcoming the Israelis as liberators rather than capturing a balanced view of Gazook sentiment. Many of the comments dovetailed neatly with claims the army has made of evacuating Gazook civilians expressing anger at Hamas.
Given the famine and devastation many Gazooks have gone through, some have concluded that respondents were speaking under pressure, and might have directed their rage toward Israel as well for bombing their homes had they not been speaking to an Israeli journalist in front of Israeli soldiers as they traversed an Israeli-administered evacuation zone to escape Israeli fire.
"In vain I waited for the frame to open up a bit and for Hemo to show Israelis the incomprehensible scope of destruction, which would perhaps explain why a line of desperate, tired, thirsty and hungry refugees were standing in front of his cameras, willing to say exactly what the soldiers standing outside the frame wish to hear," wrote Haaretz’s Shany Littman.
Even those on the far-right were unimpressed, complaining that the comments did not reflect their view of all Gazooks as Hamas supporters undeserving of sympathy. "Tonight in reality: the abhorrence of the propagandist media and the understanding of the Israeli public that there is not a single person [in Gaza] who is innocent," tweeted one prominent settler krazed killer in response to a promo for the report.
Yet the comments captured by Hemo did accurately reflect the view of at least some inside Gaza, according to three individuals who recently spoke with The Times of Israel. (Their names have been changed for safety.)
Polls by the Paleostinian Center for Policy and Survey Research also point to waning support for Hamas among Gazooks, with only 39 percent in the Strip reporting a positive view of the group in September, down from 64% in June.
Mark, a European aid worker managing logistics for a large humanitarian organization in Deir al-Balah, reported that when Hamas fires rockets, a rare occurrence these days, only teenagers seem to cheer on the street.
"Adults then invariably tell them there is nothing to cheer about. Every rocket that is fired causes trouble," he said. "It will elicit an Israeli reaction and bombings for the following week."
"People have come to see Hamas as a problem. I have yet to come across any adult who openly supports Hamas or claims it can bring a solution," Mark added.
Khaled, a 30-year-old Paleostinian man living in a crowded encampment for displaced Gazooks in the south of the Strip, depicted general frustration with the terror group. His conversation with The Times of Israel was facilitated by the US-based Center for Peace Communications, which has sought to broadcast the sentiments of anti-Hamas Gazooks to the world. (In January 2023, The Times of Israel published a series of shorts produced by the center.)
"People hate Hamas more and more," said Khaled, who was an opponent of the group before October 7 and has been tossed in the calaboose Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! by Hamas in the past. "What they need now is peace."
Khaled’s sentiments were echoed by Rashid, an anti-Hamas activist from Deir al-Balah who was previously tossed in the calaboose Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! by the group for his participation in the 2019 "We want to live" protest movement.
"Most people in Gaza are against Hamas; they want a future without it," he said. "One good thing about the war is that they can now curse it openly on the streets without fear of retaliation."
"There was some optimism after Sinwar’s killing, with people hopeful that a ceasefire was near and normality would return — even among some Hamas supporters," Rashid noted.
Despite the decapitation of the Hamas leadership, a ceasefire still seems elusive, extending the hardship of Gaza’s civilians. "Without an Israeli decision to end the conflict, no one can put an end to the insane situation in the Gaza Strip. Following the collapse of Hamas governance, Gaza’s future rests in Israel’s hands," Rashid said.
POWER VACUUM
While Hamas still attempts occasional attacks on IDF troops to create "victory images," as one senior IDF officer recently told The Times of Israel, conversations with Gaza civilians indicate that the group is focused solely on survival, lacking the means to control the Strip.
"They’ve lost the people entirely, along with their authority over minds and words," Rashid observed.
"Hamas has completely collapsed," Khaled concurred. "That doesn’t mean it isn’t trying to regroup. It will keep trying indefinitely."
According to Mark, Hamas’s remaining authority in the Strip consists of members of the Hamas-run Civil Defense agency in balaclavas managing traffic at some intersections with rifles.
The breakdown of its governance has forced the group underground, with the IDF reporting nearly 19,000 fighters killed. Local families and clans have since filled the power vacuum, some exerting control over entire areas through force.
Large family clans are a traditional feature of Gazook society. With the displacement of hundreds of thousands from the Strip’s north to the south, many of the clans also relocated, and tried to assert their authority over new areas or take control of certain trades, entering into pie fights with existing clans.
Gunfights between clans are not rare, Mark said, and sometimes result in casualties and deteriorate into bloody retaliatory feuds.
The chaotic situation has significantly hampered the work of aid organizations that need to deal with the clans, forcing them to negotiate with multiple chieftains, he added.
Rashid said that Hamas had allied with gangs connected to the clans, who act as its "mafia" within Gaza. These clans dominate the informal markets, where they enrich themselves by selling food and essential goods to civilians at inflated prices due to scarcity. Some clans also extort organizations and traders for payoffs in exchange for safe passage through areas they control.
Channel 12 reported in September that Hamas had raised $500 million by reselling stolen humanitarian aid, and that the money was partly used to recruit new button men.
Rashid confirmed that the terror group is attempting to recruit, but said that very few people were responding.
OVER AND OUT?
In September, then-defense minister Yoav Gallant said that Hamas was finished as a military organization, and was only engaged in guerrilla warfare.
Two months on, the situation appears largely the same.
"In central Gaza, where I live, we don’t even feel like we’re at war anymore. There’s a sense of clinical death," Rashid said. "Israel’s operations such as the ongoing one in Jabalia are merely an excuse to prolong the conflict. After all, Israel’s goal was to dismantle Hamas as a governing force, not eliminate every single Hamas member."
While predicting that Hamas would attempt to declare victory the moment the IDF leaves Gaza, Rashid believes that "the center and the south of the Strip are ready for the ’day after."
Khaled agreed that Israel had nobody left to fight, calling for the IDF to ease up on suffering Gazook civilians.
"There is no justification to prolong the war. Israel has defeated Hamas and can end the conflict now, conducting targeted operations if necessary. There is no need to maintain the pressure on the civilian population. On the contrary, Israel needs to show goodwill toward civilians by establishing safe zones," he said.
Khaled has advocated for "safe zones" within Gaza through discussions with unnamed Israeli "institutions." These zones would allow "peace-minded" civilians to administer themselves away from Hamas and clan control. "What is needed now is political will from Israel. Unfortunately, there has been no response from Israeli authorities," Khaled said.
On October 28, the Knesset passed two laws essentially barring the UN agency for Paleostinian refugees from operating in Israel, and severely curtailing its activities in Gaza and the West Bank, despite widespread international opposition.
UNRWA — short for the United Nations ...an organization conceived in the belief that we're just one big happy world, with the sort of results you'd expect from such nonsense... Relief and Works Agency for Paleostine Refugees in the Near East — provides education, healthcare and food aid to millions of Paleostinians across Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Leb ...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. 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. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... and Syria.
Mark, the aid worker in central Gaza, warned that the shutdown of UNRWA will severely disrupt relief work.
"Many assume another UN organization can just replace UNRWA, but it’s not that simple," he said. "UNRWA was massive, running schools, clinics and food distribution. Without it, these responsibilities now theoretically fall to Israel, as the occupying power."
In contrast, Khaled, who grew up in a refugee camp and attended UNRWA schools, expressed little concern over losing the agency’s aid.
"Since the start of the war, UNRWA was supposed to distribute food, but all I have ever received was one bag of flour — and I have to feed a family of ten," he said.
"We don’t want to live off aid forever," he added. "We want to live like people in the Gulf, Europa ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... or America. We want to develop a private economy, to work and be able to buy things. We don’t want to depend on UNRWA forever for a bag of flour or rice."
[IsraelTimes] Since October 7, international pressure has mounted on the PA to remove indoctrination from its curriculum, but expert says true societal shift must go beyond classrooms
During a recent visit to Ramallah, Luxembourg’s Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel confronted UN officials over the glorification of terrorism contained in school curricula administered by the agency for Paleostinian refugees.
In a video, Bettel is seen holding a textbook and challenging an official: "UNRWA is not neutral on education if they teach this. It’s in the book... If I want to defend you, help me to defend you."
Bettel’s remarks underscored longstanding concerns about the Paleostinian education system, which has been criticized for years for promoting indoctrination, antisemitism, and violence. These criticisms have resurfaced in the wake of the October 7 massacre, along with renewed concerns over the neutrality of the UN Relief and Works Agency, which provides education for nearly 550,000 Paleostinians registered as refugees, including some 300,000 children in 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... Analysts and foreign officials assert that the curriculum plays a role in radicalizing Paleostinian youth, with some pointing to the October 7 massacre as a particularly severe example of the effects of such an education.
"When we saw what happened on October 7 and those appalling acts of rape and murder and beheading and abducting of babies and the elderly, we were not surprised," said Marcus Sheff, CEO of the London and Tel-Aviv-based Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education, better known as IMPACT-se. "These horrific acts of murder and desecration of bodies require some serious indoctrination."
According to Sheff, the solution, like the problem, must also come via the classroom. Experiences from the Arab world suggest that changes in educational content can make a meaningful impact, he argued, pointing to the reliance on top-down textbook-based teaching found throughout the Mideast.
"Textbooks are uniquely authoritative in this region — critical thinking is not encouraged," Sheff said. "A whole subject is connected to a textbook. The children learn what is in their books, what is on their desks, and that is what teachers teach."
IMPACT-se has monitored school curricula globally since the late 1990s, with a particular focus on anti-Israel content in the Arab world.
The organization’s annual reports have consistently highlighted problematic content within Paleostinian school materials. This includes the systematic erasure of Israel, denial of Jewish ties to the land, and glorification of violent mostly peaceful jihad and martyrdom, or as Sheff put it, "this overriding idea that it is every young person’s job to sacrifice themselves."
Paleostinian schools in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza, including ones run by UNRWA, use textbooks and curricula drafted by the Paleostinian Authority.
But despite condemnations by the European Parliament every year for the past five years, and by lawmaking assemblies and governments across the world, the PA has resisted amending its textbooks to address these issues.
In East Jerusalem, where most non-Israeli schools follow the Paleostinian curriculum, the Jerusalem Municipality has for years attempted to censor inflammatory content by covering certain sections of textbooks with blank stickers. However,
we can't all be heroes. Somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by... Sheff noted, the stickers only piqued students’ curiosity. Students reportedly kept two sets of textbooks: a "censored" one for inspections and an "uncensored" one used in class.
The municipality subsequently opted to print its own version of the books with the offending content omitted, requiring they be used in Paleostinian schools in the city in lieu of those provided by the PA.
According to Haaretz, at the start of the current school year police occasionally searched the bags of Paleostinian students, and in some instances confiscated books that were deemed to contain inflammatory material.
The police did not immediately respond to a request for comment by The Times of Israel.
The European Parliament has conditioned future funding to the Paleostinian Authority on the removal of antisemitic material in its curriculum. But Sheff expressed concerns the PA could get aid flowing again with only a few cosmetic changes.
"We’re talking about probably close to a thousand changes in this curriculum which really need to be made," he said.
IS CHANGING TEXTBOOKS ENOUGH TO CHANGE A SOCIETY?
Some experts are skeptical that revising textbooks alone can counter deeply ingrained radicalization. Michael Milshtein, head of the Paleostinian Studies Forum at the Moshe Dayan Center at Tel Aviv University, argues that genuine change will require a more comprehensive societal shift.
"In order to promote dramatic change, you need soul searching. You need that the other side, the Paleostinians, will also have the basic desire to change things. I don’t see any of that," Milshtein told The Times of Israel.
Despite over 80 percent of Gaza schools being destroyed or converted into refugee shelters according to UN data, informal schooling is reportedly continuing, largely taking place in tents. There, teachers previously employed by Hamas ..always the voice of sweet reason... or UNRWA may continue teaching the same messages as before with little oversight, including "the legacy of Hamas and the importance of jihad and martyrdom," Milshtein explained.
"It’s not like Germany after 1945, where the whole society promoted soul-searching," Milshtein said.
"In Gaza at the moment, there is no statehood or organized regime. And society will reject any attempt at deradicalization. Bringing new teachers and changing the textbooks is very important, but it’s not enough," he said.
However,
we can't all be heroes. Somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by... some Arab countries with reform-minded regimes have begun adjusting their curricula to reduce radicalism. The UAE stands out for including Holocaust education in its curriculum since last year, while other Western-aligned Arab countries such as Morocco, 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 Frational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start... and Egypt have made strides to remove antisemitic content and de-emphasize hateful and violent mostly peaceful passages of the Koran and the hadiths from Islamic studies, according to IMPACT-se.
On the other hand, other countries in the region that foster Islamist groups, such as 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... , still lag behind, as highlighted by a recent report by the US State Department based on an IMPACT-se study.
"Countries change their curricula because they understand it’s for the good of their society, because they understand that radicalizing generation after generation is not necessarily good for them," Sheff said.
"All countries can be helped, one can be in dialogue with them. But ultimately, they make their own choices. It’s about their educational systems and their societies in the future."
[IsraelTimes] The US Treasury Department imposes sanctions on companies, individuals and vessels associated with a Syrian conglomerate that Washington says is funding Iran’s Quds Force and Yemen’s Houthis.
The Syrian conglomerate, the Al-Qatirji Company, is responsible for generating hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for the Quds Force and the Houthis through the sale of Iranian oil to Syria and China, the department says in a statement.
“Iran is increasingly relying on key business partners like the Al-Qatirji Company to fund its destabilizing activities and web of terrorist proxies across the region,” says department official Bradley Smith.
The Al-Qatirji Company had already been under sanctions for its role in facilitating the sale of fuel between the Syrian regime and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, the department says. Some 26 companies, individuals and vessels associated with the company were targeted in today’s action, it adds.
[IsraelTimes] Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi strongly has denied a reported meeting between Tehran’s United Nations envoy and billionaire Elon Musk, state TV reports.
“This was a fabricated story by American media, and the motives behind this can also be speculated,” Araqchi says.
[IsraelTimes] Iran successfully sought a meeting with Elon Musk, a US official says, in one of a series of steps apparently aimed at easing tensions with President-elect Donald Trump.
Briefed on the meeting by a foreign colleague, the US official says Iran’s UN Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani met with Musk — a Trump ally named this week to advise his administration on ways to cut the federal government — on Monday in New York.
The official adds that the discussion covered a variety of topics, most notably Iran’s nuclear program, its support for anti-Israel groups throughout the Middle East and prospects for improved relations with the United States.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a non-US governmental meeting, says no immediate decisions were taken by either side. The official adds that the Iranians sought the meeting with Musk and that it did not take place at the Iranian mission to the UN.
The Trump transition team neither confirms nor denies the meeting, which was first reported by The New York Times, and Iran’s UN mission declines to comment.
Intelligence officials have said Iran opposed Trump’s second term, seeing him as more likely to increase tension between Washington and Tehran.
48 Hour Rule. The clock started ticking at midnight Eastern Time ;-)
Social media posts on Saturday claimed Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 85, is in a coma, following an earlier New York Times report stating he's "seriously ill." Some tweets say he is dead
However, no official confirmation has been provided regarding his health deterioration. Ali Khamenei was last seen in public on November 7.
[TurkiyeToday] Reports are circulating on social media, primarily from pro-Israel accounts, alleging the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
However, these claims remain unconfirmed by Iranian authorities or credible sources. The photos shared on social media allegedly showing Ali Khamenei lying on a hospital bed are from 2014.
Some users have referenced a previous New York Times report that suggested Khamenei is suffering from a terminal illness.
However, New York Times published a correction after its first report noting that there has been no credible reports on Khamenei’s health in the last two years.
There are currently many unsourced reports claiming Ali Khamenei, the current Supreme Leader of Iran, is in a coma. Accompanying these reports are "leaked" or "unconfirmed" images - Used to give the unsourced reports credibility.
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a meeting in Jerusalem on Saturday to "do what you have to do" in order to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. My report on @axioshttps://t.co/Sy8hLx0et8
Amani, who was injured in pager explosions in Lebanon in September, briefed the Supreme Leader on his health conditions.
The Israeli regime carried out the explosions on September 17 when pagers used by Hezbollah members went off in different regions of Lebanon, leaving dozens of people dead including civilians.
One of the blasts happened near the Iranian ambassador, causing injuries to him, including to his left eye.
Amani was soon transferred to Tehran to receive medical treatment.
He is still in Tehran and will soon return to Lebanon to resume his diplomatic mission.
Posted by: badanov ||
11/17/2024 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11159 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
"He's pining for the fjords"
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/17/2024 0:13 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Set as headline. I join the vultures in waiting to discover whether or not it is true.
But in the meantime, my thanks to badanov and 3dc for pulling together a truly exhaustive roundup on the subject.
#8
possible successors to Khamenei have been maneuvering for years to line up support in the 90 member 'Assembly of Experts' and the 12 members of the Guardian Council.
if Khamenei is actually in a coma for an extended period, the Assembly of Experts is, per the Iran constitution, to designate an interim Supreme Leader.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
11/17/2024 9:22 Comments ||
Top||
#10
If this pans out: the good news just keeps on coming!
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
11/17/2024 10:36 Comments ||
Top||
#11
if Khamenei is actually in a coma for an extended period, the Assembly of Experts is, per the Iran constitution, to designate an interim Supreme Leader.
At the Vatican, they issue a puff of white smoke. In Iran they issue radioactive black clouds from various nuke sites
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/17/2024 11:18 Comments ||
Top||
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.
...Republic of Somaliland is an unrecognised sovereign state in the Horn of Africa, recognised internationally as a de jure part of Somalia. It is located in the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden with approximately 5.7 million residents as of 2021. The capital and largest city is Hargeisa. The government regards itself as the successor state to British Somaliland, which united from 1960 to 1991 with the Trust Territory of Somaliland (the former Italian Somaliland) to form the Somali Republic. Under the Siad Barre regime, Somaliadestroyed ninety percent of Hargeisa Per international law, once you're in, you gotta stay in, no matter how bad it smells....
... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...
Goodluck Jonathan
...mindless ferocity in a turban...
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
..one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,...
...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 Frational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
FM: We may make changes to nuclear program that 'nobody will like' 
Social media posts on Saturday claimed Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 85, is in a coma, following an earlier New York Times report stating he's "seriously ill." 
