Warning: Undefined array key "rbname" in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 14
Hello !
Recent Appearances... Rantburg

-Great Cultural Revolution
Construction Photos of Obama's 'Mosque' Receive Harsh Reviews: ‘Looks Like a Prison'
2025-04-22

[GatewayPundit] The shrine to Barack Obama
If you like your coverage you can keep it...
, aka the Obama library at the Obama Presidential Center (OPC), is still under construction in reliably Democrat Chicago, aka The Windy City or Mobtown
...home of Al Capone, the Chicago Black Sox, a succession of Daleys, Barak Obama, and Rahm Emmanuel...
Photos of the building made the rounds on social media recently, and the building is receiving harsh criticism, with some suggesting the barren, characterless building looks more like a prison than a library.
Built with DEI concrete. Good luck.
Biz Pac Review notes that the building, designed by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects, features an exterior wrapped in granite panels and is one of "numerous buildings on the massive 19-acre Obama Presidential Center campus, which has been priced at about $830 million by the News Agency that Dare Not be Named."
Related:
Obama Presidential Center 02/12/2025 The truth of Barack Obama's hopelessly-delayed $830 million DEI nightmare of a presidential library that may never be built
Obama Presidential Center 11/23/2021 Jeff Bezos donates $100MILLION to the Obama foundation and asks him to rename the plaza at his Chicago presidential center after late Congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis
Obama Presidential Center 08/21/2021 Supreme Court refuses to block construction of the Obama Presidential Center


Link


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Alleged Georgia shooter Colt Gray's mom says son ''not a monster'' in open letter apologizing to victims
2024-09-12
Of course he is.
[NYPOST] The mother of Georgia school shooting suspect Colt Gray apologized to the victims’ families in an open letter — all while insisting her son “is not a monster.”

“To the parents and families of those affected by the tragic events at Apalachee High School, I want to say that I am so sorry from the bottom of my heart,” Marcee Gray, Colt’s mother, wrote in the letter which she provided to CNN.

“If I could take the place of Mason and Christian, I would without a second thought,” she said, referring to the two 14-year-olds killed in the mass shooting. She later added that her “heart breaks for the 2 teachers who gave their lives while in the service of teaching and protecting our children.”

The mother continued: “We are all in a living nightmare right now, and I will personally never forgive myself for what has happened.”

“My son Colt is not a monster. He is my oldest baby. He is quiet, thoughtful, caring, funny, and extremely intelligent. Please pray for him and the rest of our family, as I am praying for all of you every moment of every day,” she wrote.

Her letter comes one week after the teen allegedly carried out the shooting that left two teachers and two students at Apalachee High School dead.

Seven others at the Winder, Georgia, school were wounded by gunshots and two more suffered other injuries in the attack, officials said.

In the days since the shooting, it has been revealed that the boy’s mother allegedly warned school officials 30 minutes before the attack.

Marcee Gray made a frantic call to the school counselor just before 10 a.m. the day of the shooting after her son texted her “I’m sorry.”

Authorities said Colt opened fire about 30 minutes after his mother’s warnings.

They said school resource officers tried to track down Colt in his classroom, but stopped a different student with a similar name instead.

Minutes later, Colt allegedly opened fire in the halls of the school.

Colt surrendered after being confronted by a school security officer and was quickly taken into custody.
[Perhaps if he had been approached by an authority figure earlier...]
He has been charged with four counts of felony murder.

His father, Colin — who allegedly bought his troubled son the AR-15 rifle used in the slaughter — was charged with involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder, and eight counts of cruelty to children.

Both the father and son made their initial court appearances on Sept. 6 and did not enter a plea. They are being held without bail, and are next scheduled to appear at Barrow County courthouse Dec. 4.

Relatives have claimed the boy had a troubled upbringing.

The alleged shooter’s mother has had multiple drug and domestic violence arrests, and her addiction ultimately cost her custody of Colt and her other children.

He lived at the time of the shooting with his father, who allegedly berated him and called him names to toughen him up, according to relatives.

“He would call Colt names to his face,” a relative of Colt’s mother told The Post. “Names that no boy wants to hear: sissy, p—y, bitch … just names that were meant to break him down and emasculate him.”
Related:
Colt Gray 09/08/2024 Texts from Georgia school shooter's mother reveal she warned of 'extreme emergency' minutes before her son opened fire
Colt Gray 09/06/2024 Authorities release first mugshots of alleged Georgia high school shooter
Colt Gray 09/05/2024 FBI Was Monitoring Georgia Apalachee High School Mass Shooter Since 2023 – And Once Again, They Dropped the Ball

Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Body of Hezbollah's Fuad Shukr found under rubble of Beirut blast
2024-08-01


[JPost] "He was flat, in several pieces, like a paste"
The body of Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr has been found in rubble in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, two security sources told Reuters on Wednesday.

Lebanon's Hezbollah said early on Wednesday its senior commander was in the building in the southern suburbs of Beirut targeted by an Israeli strike.
Of course they also claimed he was alive and well.
The IDF announced late on Tuesday it had killed Shukr, whom it named as Hezbollah's most senior commander and blamed for an attack at the weekend that left a dozen youths dead in the Golan Heights.
Related:
Fuad Shukr 07/31/2024 Fuad Shukr - on the US Most Wanted List, with a $5 million bounty on his head. Responsible for the bombing of 241 US Marines
Fuad Shukr 07/31/2024 Hezbollah is holding talks with Iran about response to Israeli airstrike in Beirut
Fuad Shukr 07/31/2024 IDF strikes Beirut: Hezbollah commander responsible for Majdal Shams strike confirmed killed

Related:
Hezbollah: 2024-07-31 Usual suspects condemn Israeli strike in Dahieh
Hezbollah: 2024-07-31 UN Special Coordinator says 'no such thing as military solution' after Dahieh strike
Hezbollah: 2024-07-31 Fuad Shukr - on the US Most Wanted List, with a $5 million bounty on his head. Responsible for the bombing of 241 US Marines
Related:
Beirut: 2024-07-31 Usual suspects condemn Israeli strike in Dahieh
Beirut: 2024-07-31 UN Special Coordinator says 'no such thing as military solution' after Dahieh strike
Beirut: 2024-07-31 Fuad Shukr - on the US Most Wanted List, with a $5 million bounty on his head. Responsible for the bombing of 241 US Marines
Link


Fifth Column
'One in a million' Photo shows bullet passing Trump
2024-07-15
[RT] The New York Times has published a photo appearing to show a bullet flying past Donald Trump
...The tack in the backside of the Democratic Party...
’s head, at the moment he was targeted by a gunman at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday. The image was captured by veteran NYT photographer Doug Mills at the campaign event in the city of Butler, where the Republican presidential hopeful was giving a speech in the run-up to the November 5 election.

Several shots were fired, killing one spectator and severely injuring two more. Trump was whisked off stage by Secret Service agents, and later moved to a “safe” place.” Security officials later reported that the 20-year-old suspected shooter, who had reportedly fired from a nearby rooftop, was shot and killed.

Mills’ photo shows what appears to be a bullet streaking through the air to the right of Trump’s head. The photographer, who has been taking pictures of US presidents for more than four decades, described his experience to colleagues at the NYT.

Mills said the event started out as a “very standard, typical rally,” with him and several other photographers standing “in what is called the buffer area just a couple feet from the former president.”

“All of a sudden, there was what I thought were three or four loud pops. At first I thought it was a car. The last thing I thought was it was a gun,” Mills recalled.

He continued to take pictures, but soon could not see the former president as Trump was surrounded by Secret Service agents from all sides, with counter-snipers appearing on the stage.

Despite looking defiant and seemingly unfazed in his photo with a raised fist high, Trump appeared “very, very shocked” the moment after, according to Mills
I'm guessing Mills has never been shot at himself, much less taken a round through his ear.
The photographer told the paper he had “never been in a more horrific scene” during his decades-long career.

Retired FBI special agent Michael Harrigan, who currently works as a consultant in the firearms industry, confirmed to the newspaper that Mills’ photo most likely captured the “bullet’s path through the air.”

While technically possible with the camera used by Mills, “catching a bullet on a side trajectory as seen in that photo would be a one in a million shot… even if one knew the bullet was coming,” the former FBI agent noted.
Link


Government by assassin: Trump shot in Butler, PA event
2024-07-13
See also here and here.
Raised fist several times, so still alive.



Eight shots fired, Trump nicked on the ear, at least one person wounded.
Link


Iraq
Al-Mandalawi condemns the attempt to assassinate MP Al-Waeli
2024-07-08
[NINANEWS] Acting Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mohsen Al-Mandalawi, condemned the attempted assassination of MP, Taqi Nasser Al-Waeli, calling for the speedy arrest of the perpetrators and bringing them to justice.

Al-Mandalawi strongly denounced, according to a statement from his media office, the cowardly assassination attempt against MP Taqi Nasser Al-Waeli and his honorable family, following an armed attack launched by criminal gangs on his house in Al-Dulai area within the capital, Baghdad.

Al-Mandalawi called on the security services, led by the Minister of Interior and the Commander of Baghdad Operations, to take urgent action to uncover the circumstances of the targeting incident, arrest the outlaw group that carried out this failed operation, and bring them to justice.”

According to the statement, the Acting Speaker of the House of Representatives called on the relevant authorities not to tolerate such crimes that would destabilize security and stability in Baghdad and all governorates, and to develop a proactive plan to arrest criminal gangs and activate the intelligence side to prevent any attack that threatens the security of the country and citizens.
Link


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Premature baby born 24 weeks early heads home after 147 days at hospital: 'Defied all odds'
2024-06-21
[NYPOST] A premature baby who was delivered 24 weeks early and weighed less than two pounds was finally sent home Wednesday after spending 147 days in the neonatal intensive care unit on Long Island.
As in she was in her fourth month.
Shyne Graham "defied all odds" when she was born six months ago — and well before her due date at NYU Langone Hospital — Long Island, said NICU nurse manager LaShon Pitter, who helped set up a heartwarming graduation for the adorable infant and her family.

"We are excited just as much as they are that the baby is going home," Pitter said on PIX 11.

Little Shyne was born a mere one pound and 11 ounces, and was forced to spend more than 20 weeks in the hospital, the hospital said.

During her stay, she had to breathe through a tube and had to overcome three infections, including strep throat and E. coli, according to the station.
Link


Government Corruption
White House makes wrong claims while accusing Post of misreporting Biden videos
2024-06-18
[NYPOST] The White House went on the offensive against The Post Monday for calling out President Biden’s frailty in a series of recent videos — only to make false statements of their own in the process.
"Who y'gonna believe? Me, or your lying eyes?"
Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre accused The Post of spreading "misinformation" about videos of the 81-year-old president at recent events with G7 world leaders and former President Barack Obama
I am the change that you seek...
."Lies! All lies!"
Those events included a Thursday video of Biden being corralled by Italian PM Georgia Meloni after a skydiving demonstration and former President Barack Obama escorting his former VP off the stage at a glitzy Hollywood fundraiser Saturday night.
Both of which appeared on Fox News, so you know they're phoney, right?
Jean-Pierre called the clips "cheap fakes", meaning to claim they were altered by humans through techniques such as zooming in and leaving out context — but also incorrectly called them "deepfakes," referring to AI-created footage with altered subjects and audio.
I'm sure she never said such a thing. The future MSNBC hostess would never lie to us!
"I think you all have called this the ’cheap fakes’ video and that’s exactly what they are, they are cheap fakes video [sic], and they are done in bad faith," the press secretary said at her regular briefing.
Related:
Georgia Meloni 05/21/2024 EU Rushes Condolences to Iran For 'Butcher of Tehran'
Georgia Meloni 06/26/2023 Conservatives Win Landslide Victory in Greece
Georgia Meloni 12/30/2022 Ukrainian Perspective: Invasion of Ukraine: December 29th, 2022

Related:
Barack Obama 06/16/2024 The Revolution Will Not Be What You Expect
Barack Obama 06/04/2024 Kunstler-The ninnies of Bidenworld...made him the outlaw that Americans revere above every other archetypal hero. the new American Robin Hood-the people's outlaw
Barack Obama 06/03/2024 Biden's Guilty Smile Reveals the Malevolent Creature Within

Related:
Karine Jean-Pierre 05/31/2024 Ukrainian Perspective: Invasion of Ukraine: May 30, 2024
Karine Jean-Pierre 05/30/2024 Ukrainian Perspective: Invasion of Ukraine: May 29, 2024
Karine Jean-Pierre 05/28/2024 Biden: US soldiers saved the world from fascism by landing on the beaches of Normandy

Link


Economy
Biden unveils latest attempt to kill off gas cars
2024-06-09


[Daily Mail, Where America Gets Its News] The Transportation Department told automakers they have eight years to squeeze another 16 miles per gallon out of their cars if they want to stay in business - while the fuel efficiency of their trucks will have to double.

Friday's edict came just weeks after the EPA slashed the limits on tailpipe emissions as part of the White House pledge to ensure that more than half of all new vehicles sold are electric by 2032.

But the administration admitted last week that just seven EV charging stations have been built since a $5-billion program was signed off in 2021.

'That's just pathetic,' Sen Jeff Merkley (D-Ore) told a Senate hearing on Wednesday. 'Something is terribly wrong and it needs to be fixed.'
Related:
Transportation Department: 2023-07-23 Buttigieg says DOT investigating why Delta Air Lines passengers remained on plane in extreme heat
Transportation Department: 2023-02-15 Republican slams Pete Buttigieg for being more worried about racism in construction than the Ohio train derailment: J.D. Vance demands answers for terrified residents forced to flee their homes
Transportation Department: 2022-09-16 Planes, trains and automobiles: Biden administration is a hub of transportation woes
Related:
Fuel efficiency 04/09/2023 Re-Engined B-52 To Be Designated The B-52J
Fuel efficiency 12/27/2020 Cambridge MA To Mandate 'Climate Change' Stickers At Gas Stations
Fuel efficiency 02/16/2019 U.S. transport official and Attorney General Barr former associate is top candidate to replace Rosenstein

Link


Africa Horn
Somali Military Court Executes Three Men for Murder of Two Brothers
2024-06-07

[SHABELLEMEDIA] In a significant move aimed at curbing the rising incidents of Dire Revenge killings in central Somalia, a military court in Galmudug
...a semiautonomous region in central Somalia, bordering Puntland on the north. Galmudug is not trying to obtain international recognition as a separate nation, but rather considers itself autonomous within the larger Somali federalism, for what that's worth...
State executed three men in a public square in Dhusamareb town on Thursday.

The execution comes after the court found the three men guilty of murdering Dr. Ahmed Hassan Osman and his younger brother, Koran teacher Liban Hassan Osman, in the Ilix area of the Galgadud region in December 2023.

The three executed men, Nur Abdi Mohammed, Shucaib Mohammed Farah, and Bile Abdullahi Hassan, were sentenced to death on February 27 this year after being found guilty of the crime.

The court determined that they had deliberately killed the two brothers, prompting their execution as a measure to address the increasing incidents of Dire Revenge killings in the region.

The execution of the three men has been met with mixed reactions, with some members of the community expressing support for the move as a necessary step to maintain law and order, while others have raised concerns about the use of the death penalty
and the need for a more comprehensive approach to addressing the root causes of such violence.

The Somali government, through its military court system, has been actively working to address the issue of Dire Revenge killings, which have been on the rise in central Somalia in recent months.
Related:
Dhusamareb: 2024-02-17 Somalia inks MoU with US for the building of five military bases
Dhusamareb: 2023-10-24 Al-Shabaab suicide bomb leaves six soldiers dead
Dhusamareb: 2023-10-21 Conflicts in Somalia takes a toll on citizens. Honest.
Related:
Galgadud: 2024-03-16 Somali Govt forces vacate grounds recovered from Al-Shabaab
Galgadud: 2024-03-16 Ethiopian troops control 60% of Somalia, says General Birhanu Jula
Galgadud: 2024-02-19 Somali and foreign forces target Al-Shabaab bases with airstrikes
Link


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Feral yoots assault, attempt to rob Uber driver at gunpoint while filming attack
2024-04-14
[NYPOST] A group of teens attacked an Uber driving while filming him, breaking his nose and gashing his head.

The brazen kids — who appear to be between 11 and 17 years old — recorded the Brooklyn beatdown with a cell phone, said the driver, who asked not to be identified because he fears retribution.

“One was punching me and the other one had a gun,” the victim said. “He said. . .‘Give me everything – give me all the money.’”

The driver had arrived on Alabama Avenue in East Flatbush to pick up a female fare named Precious around 7 p.m. Sunday and noticed a group of teens across the street, he said. He asked if they knew his fare and they said no, he recalled.

When he turned his head to look for his client — he was suddenly punched in the face through his open window.

“I didn’t see them — a surprise punch,” he said.

Two of the alleged teen suspects were captured on video at the scene.

He got out of his car “to fight back” and “noticed that one of them was filming,” said the victim.

At that point, a brawl broke out and he ended up on the ground, where one of the punks hit him in the head with the scooter, he said.

The attackers scattered after a neighbor came outside and called 911. The neighbor also found the phone the kids used and saw a video of the victim on the device.

As he waited for an ambulance, two of the kids returned, “looking for the phone,” the driver said.

“The party’s over, the police are coming,” the driver yelled, sending them scurrying. “I don’t know if they intended to rob me or if it was just to make a TikTok video.”

The NYPD released photos of the pint-sized suspects.

The photos of the alleged muggers appear to be from inside a building.

The fare, Precious, said she was shocked by what happened and shot video of the kids as they returned to the scene.

“I’m so heartbroken that these kids are doing that,” the 28-year-old from Nigeria said.
Link


Fifth Column
‘We Should Salute Them': Hezbollah Leader Expresses Gratitude for American Anti-Israel Activists
2024-03-16
[Algemeiner] Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Wednesday praised Americans who are putting pressure on US President Joe Biden to limit support for Israel because they are helping the Lebanese terrorist group’s cause.

“Today, what many people demonstrating in America are doing … Of course, we should salute them and be grateful to them,” Nasrallah said in remarks translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).

In his speech, the terrorist leader highlighted the importance in his view of anti-Israel activism in the US.

Nasrallah went on to praise Democrats in America who are threatening not to vote for Biden in this year’s US presidential election due to his support for Israel in its war against the Hamas terrorist group in Gaza.

“The Arabs, the Muslims, and the non-Muslims, from among the other free Americans — Christians and others — in the Democratic Party who wrote to Biden: ‘We are uncommitted to vote for you.’ These people are very influential at this stage,” Nasrallah said.

These Americans are so important, Nasrallah explained, because Biden “is not afraid of the world, the international community, God, history, or anything. Biden now is afraid of one thing only — that his policy and actions in Gaza will lead him to lose the presidential elections. This is why he keeps debating, denying, and playing games.”

More than that, Nasrallah seemed to see an opening to help his cause, saying, “If the pressure and opposition [to Biden] in America continues, this may also open a door for hope.”

Both Hamas and Hezbollah are backed by Iran, which provides the Islamist terrorist groups with arms, funds, and training.

In its 1985 manifesto, Hezbollah wrote, “Our struggle will end only when this entity [Israel] is obliterated. We recognize no treaty with it, no cease fire, and no peace agreements, whether separate or consolidated.”

The terror group’s praise for American anti-Israel activists comes amid rising pressure in the US from segments of the Muslim community, the far left, and increasingly the mainstream left on Biden to lessen his support for Israel.

Nasrallah has not been the only voice calling for pro-Hamas and anti-Israel voices in the US to oppose Biden politically.

The day before the Democratic Party’s presidential primary in Michigan last month, Nihad Awad, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) delivered an address in which he called on voters to cast their ballots against the incumbent president.

“Our message [to Biden] is as follows: ‘Allah willing, our votes will make you lose the presidency,'” Awad said in remakrs flagged by MEMRI. “It is [also] a message to [the Democratic] Party: ‘You went too far, you listened to him, and did not draw the line, so you will lose the presidency.'”

US Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) supported the “uncommitted” campaign against Biden in Michigan and, when asked in late February, she refused to say whether she would vote for Biden in November. Tlaib has accused Biden of supporting a “genocide” against Palestinians by supporting Israel’s right to defend itself by targeting Hamas in Gaza following the terror group’s Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel.

Recent letters from Democratic lawmakers to Biden include demands to cut off aid to Israel if it proceeds with its operation in Rafah — which is Hamas’ last stronghold in Gaza. Recent polls also show that a majority of young Americans think the Hamas atrocities of Oct. 7 were justified and believe Israel should “be ended and given to Hamas and the Palestinians.”
Related:
Hassan Nasrallah: 2024-03-14 Hadi Ali Mustafa, a Hamas terrorist in Lebanon responsible for advancing Hamas' international activity goes in 4 π r2 directions at once!
Hassan Nasrallah: 2024-03-11 Hezbollah fires dozens of rockets at Israel's Meron after deadly Khirbet Selm strike kills 3 Hezbullies
Hassan Nasrallah: 2024-03-11 At least five Lebanese civilians killed in Zionist airstrike
Link



Warning: Undefined property: stdClass::$T in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 132
-12 More