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Iranian News Coverage On Their Government's Admission That They Shot Down Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752
TEHRAN – Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the commander of the IRGC Aerospace Force, said on Saturday that after he became “confident” that the Ukrainian passenger plane had been shot down erroneously by the Iranian air defense system “I wished death”. *Tehran Times:* *‘I wished death’ after realizing Ukrainian passenger plane had been mistakenly shot down: IRGC Aerospace Force chief * The passenger plane, with 179 people aboard, was mistakenly downed on Wednesday morning. It happened a few hours after Iran fired dozens of missiles at the U.S. airbase inside Iraq in retaliation for the assass... more »
US Congressman Bennie Thompson Writes Letter Re Mississippi State Pen: Apparently He Noticed He’s the Rep for Mississippi & Not MesoAmerica/SW Texas
Has Mississippi Congressman and US House Homeland Security Oversight Chair Bennie Thompson FINALLY figured out that he is supposed to … Continue reading →
Bank CEO blasts peers for not seeing inequality (per The Charlotte Observer)
With more interest and advocacy for the disenfranchised in our midst, an article by Austin Weinstein of The Charlotte Observer caught my this week called “Bank CEO blasts peers for not seeing inequality. A link to the article is below. … Continue reading →
Sultan of Oman dies, who ruled for nearly a half century.
Sultan Qaboos had his own vision for his country and on assuming power he immediately set about transforming Oman using the new oil wealth. More The post Sultan of Oman dies, who ruled for nearly a half century. appeared first on The Duran.
Heavy snowfall in Turkey – 150 village roads closed
10 Jan 2020 – While the thickness of snow in Sivas exceeded one meter (more than 3 ft), the streets became white throughout the country. Schools in Eskisehir closed due to snow, Snowfall in many cities caused difficulties for citizens. In Ankara, the streets and streets are completely white. The snow thickness has reached 10 ... Read more Heavy snowfall in Turkey – 150 village roads closed The post Heavy snowfall in Turkey – 150 village roads closed appeared first on Ice Age Now.
Weekend reads: 800 retractions from Russia; paying to publish in Vietnam; a retraction involving Facebook, political misinformation, and Teen Vogue
Before we present this week’s Weekend Reads, a question: Do you enjoy our weekly roundup? If so, we could really use your help. Would you consider a tax-deductible donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: Crossfit being awarded $4 million in sanctions ina case stemming … Continue reading Weekend reads: 800 retractions from Russia; paying to publish in Vietnam; a retraction involving Facebook, political misinformation, and Teen Vogue
US Senate Democrats Will Not Support Measure Praising U.S. Military For Soleimani Killing
*Washington Free Beacon*: *Senate Dems Won’t Support Measure Praising U.S. Military for Soleimani Killing* Not a single Democratic member of the Senate has lent their support to a Republican-driven congressional effort to praise the U.S. military and intelligence community members who helped carry out the successful strike that killed Iranian terror leader Qassem Soleimani. Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) and 42 of his GOP colleagues in the Senate earlier this week forwarded a resolution honoring American military and intelligence community members who helped conduct the raid that kille... more »
IT'LL BE EVEN MORE EMBASSIES NEXT WEEK
President Trump has gotten specific -- in his fashion -- about the alleged threat General Qasem Soleimani posed to U.S. interests. President Trump said on Friday that a senior Iranian general killed by a U.S. drone strike had been planning attacks on four U.S. embassies, a claim made to justify the decision but that was at odds with intelligence assessments from senior officials in Trump’s administration. Trump said this to Laura Ingraham in a Fox News interview. Trump expanded on comments from a day earlier, when he initially told reporters that Soleimani’s forces “were looking to ... more »
How the Battle of the Philippine Sea Shattered Imperial Japan's Carriers for Good
*Warfare History Network* *History, Asia* [image: See page for author [Public domain]] A decisive victory. *Key point: *Without carriers, Tokyo could not project power or properly defend its homeland. The other invasion also began on June 6, 1944. By virtue of the International Date Line, the two invasions sailed on different days, but both sortied within the same 24-hour period. One invasion involved 127,000 U.S. soldiers and Marines and 535 ships and landing craft. The second invasion had 10 times that number. One invasion was headed for Normandy in France. The “other” invasio... more »
If You Live in Russia You Can Buy Crazy Military Grade Rifles and Bullets
*Charlie Gao* *Security, * And this new bullet is really dangerous. While not the strictest in the world, Russian gun laws are notorious among Russian gun owners for their five-year waiting period. While a regular gun license is moderately easy to acquire for a law-abiding citizen with a good record of mental health, this license only allows a citizen to own smoothbore firearms—generally shotguns of various types. While shotguns are generally useful outdoors guns for most hunting and animal self-defense tasks, they are less than ideal for longer-range hunting or target shooting.... more »
Why Japan Turned To Kamikaze Pilots To Terrorize The Allies In World War II
*Warfare History Network* *Security, Asia* A desperate strategy. *Key point: *Pilots did not have to be highly trained to undertake suicide missions. The deliberate crashing into enemy targets by Japanese aviators did not begin at the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands. The first suicide attack against American shipping took place at Pearl Harbor, over eight months earlier, when a bomber crashed into the seaplane tender Curtiss and set her on fire. Attacks of this kind, including the crashes into *Hornet* and the destroyer *Smith*, were known as kesshi, “dare to die tactics.” Skip-bo... more »
Forget The Scrapyard: The Navy's Iowa-Class Battleships Almost Became Modern City-Killers
*Kyle Mizokami* *Security, * A crazy plan. *Key point:* With a crew of nearly 2,000 each, the ships’ high personnel costs made them prohibitively expensive to run in an all-volunteer navy. In the early 1980s, four *Iowa-class fast battleships* originally built during World War II—Iowa, Missouri, New Jersey and Wisconsin—were taken out of mothballs and returned to active duty. Nearly 900 feet long and displacing close to 60,000 tons, the battlewagons could fire a nine-gun broadside sending 18 tons of steel and explosives hurtling towards their targets. The battleships were moder... more »
World War I Hell: How the Battle of the Somme Produced 1 Million Casualties
*Warfare History Network* *History, Europe* [image: By Ernest Brooks - This is photograph Q 2486 from the collections of the Imperial War Museums (collection no. 1900-09), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=119588] A terrible, avoidable war. *Key point: *Old tactics combined with new weapons caused World War I to be an especially bloody affair. In February 1916, Allied military leaders met at Chantilly, in the Picardy region of France to discuss grand strategy as World War I entered its second full year. British and French commanders agreed to underta... more »
A truly remarkable tale of the Naep!
*SATURDAY, JANUARY 11, 2020Plus Rachel's latest con:* The December 30 Washington Post told a remarkable story on the Metro section's front page. We'll grant you that the story was framed to advance a current tribal truism. That doesn't mean that the story isn't remarkable. It doesn't mean that we can't use the story to illustrate other important points. The piece was written by Hannah Natanson. She graduated from Harvard this past June, having prepped at Georgetown Day before that. At the Post, this qualified her to become "a reporter covering education and K-12 schools in Virgini... more »
Guest Post By Chris Larson-- Why Milwaukee Matters
*-by State Senator Chris Larson* There’s an old adage in politics, "as goes Wisconsin, so goes the country." In 2016, Trump became the first Republican candidate to win in Wisconsin since Ronald Reagan in 1984. In 2018, Wisconsin re-elected the country’s first openly LGBTQ Senator-- Tammy Baldwin-- by approximately 11%. Wisconsin’s status as a swing state is well known, but what is less known is Milwaukee’s strong history of progressive politics. Two Milwaukee Mayors-- Emil Seidel, who served from 1910-1912 and Dan Hoan, who served from 1916-1940-- were nicknamed the "Sewer Social... more »
Official ISIS Newspaper ‘Thanks God’ for Trump Killing Iran’s General Soleimani
*Patrick Henningsen* | Unfortunately, this bitter irony may take a bit longer to filter through into the collective consciousness of American society.
The Continued Failure of Liberalism/Progressivism
because the numbers don’t lie. EXCERPT: “The Census Bureau and IRS last week also released state population growth and income migration data for 2018 that show the exodus from high-tax to low-tax states is accelerating. Four states have lost population since 2010 including West Virginia (-3.3%), Illinois (-1.2%), Vermont (-0.3%) and Connecticut (-0.2%), but 10 experienced declines last year. New York was the biggest loser as a net 180,000 people left for better climes. Over the last decade New York has lost more of its population to other states (7.2%) than any other save Alaska (8%... more »
My latest on procedures for the impeachment trial
https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/477816-congressional-leaders-have-been-shadow-boxing-on-impeachment In short, both Democrats and fair-minded Republicans should be singing the praises of the Senate's standing rules on impeachment trials -- which have the important virtue of having been established to cover all impeachments rather than any particular one -- rather than imagining that a badly fractured Senate could (or should) agree on one-off procedures for this impeachment. @DavidASuper1
US Special Operations Releases Photos Showing Qassem Soleimani's Personal Effects And Twisted Wreckage After The Drone Strike Killed Him In Baghdad
Some of the items Soleimani was carrying when he died. His phone is partially visible at the top left. *Daily Mail:* *Photos taken by US Special Operations show Qassem Soleimani's personal effects and twisted wreckage after drone strike killed him in Baghdad* * New photos show aftermath of January 3 drone strike at Baghdad International Airport * Quds Forces leader Qassem Soleimani and nine others were killed in two cars hit by US drone missiles * Photos show burning wreckage and some of Soleimani's personal effects after the strike Photos taken by U.S. Special Operations forces ... more »
NH: No, Again, To Federal Charter Money
A month ago, the Granite State's Joint Legislative Fiscal Committee said, "No, thanks" to an offer of $46 million from the feds to be used in doubling the number of New Hampshire charter schools from 28 to 55. The money was to come from the federal Charter School Program, a grant program that has come under fire due to a recent pair of studies showing massive waste and fraud by recipients of CSP money. The legislature was concerned that doubling the number of charter schools would harm public schools and existing charters. But that, it turns out, was not the end of it. This frickin... more »
Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan is re-elected based on pro-independence and the Hong Kong effect
Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan is re-elected based on pro-independence and the Hong Kong effect Chika Mori and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Tsai Ing-wen was re-elected based on her opposition to China’s approach to Taiwan and Hong Kong respectively. Hence, the Hong Kong effect boosted her chances of winning the election and holding the […]
Think you may have to lay off cannabis employees? There are ways to avoid it
Marijuana businesses in the United States and Canada were forced to let go hundreds of cannabis employees in 2019. Here are some steps to avoid layoffs. Think you may have to lay off cannabis employees? There are ways to avoid it is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs
Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen is the woman China can't topple
China's Government has made little effort to conceal its dislike of Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen, and her landslide re-election is a massive blow to Xi Jinping, writes Bill Birtles.
Boeing sacks chief executive after crisis, but still gives him $90 million in compensation
Just In - 12 hours ago
He may have been sacked in the wake of two crashes, but Boeing's former chief executive will still walk away with $90 million in compensation.
Mental health services boost delivers $76 million for fire-affected communities
The Government announces free counselling for bushfire victims, extra Medicare and tele-health consultations and the expansion of headspace in a move to support communities damaged by the "unprecedented" blazes.
Bernie Sanders says he's better than you so he can spew CO2
Bernie Sanders, a man who loves Communism so much he honeymooned in the Soviet Union, has declared that while we're facing the end of human life due to climate change, slight exaggeration, he'll be using a private jet to fly between Iowa and DC so that he can pretend to be honest about impeachment while telling voters that Trump is Satan incarnate. But the real lesson is that all the sacrifices that Democrats like Bernie and AOC want you to make allegedly to avert climate catastrophe don't apply to them. AOC says we should stop flying, stop eating beef, and stop driving cars. But ... more »
Pictures From On The Ground Reveal In Ain Al-Assad Airbase Shows The Damage Following Iran's Missile Attack
Iraqi sites published photos that they said were leaked from inside the Al-Asad base, in Anbar Province, after the Iranian missile strike, in retaliation for the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad. [Arabi21] Middle East Monitor: *Leaked pictures from Ain Al-Assad Airbase following Iranian attacks* The pictures show severe damage of the airbase, which hosts US forces. Iraqi news websites have published leaked pictures from inside the US Ain Al-Assad Airbase in the Iraqi governate of Al Anbar, following the Iranian missile strike, Arabi21.com reported on Friday. T... more »
The Curse Of Soleimani
Apparently, Mohammed was a computer science genius. He was planning after graduating from the University of Toronto to return to Iran, where a position in one of the Revolutionary Guards cyber units awaited him. — Mike (@Doranimated) January 11, 2020 *WNU Editor:* No comment necessary.
Iranian forces remain on high alert for potential US attack: report
BEIRUT, LEBANON (3:00 P.M.) – The Iranian Armed Forces and their Iraqi allies are high alert in Syria, Iraq, and Iran, as they suspect a new wave of attacks by the U.S. military, the Fars News Agency said on Friday. “Sources close to the Resistance Front said the resistance groups are preparing for pending response […] Source: AMN - Al-Masdar News | المصدر نيوز - The Arab Source
Oman names new sultan after death of long-time leader
Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, Oman’s Minister of Heritage and Culture, has succeeded Qaboos bin Said al-Said as the country’s monarch, the government confirmed. Omani newspaper Al-Watan reported that the official, who is Qaboos’ cousin, had taken the oath to become the country’s Sultan. Similarly, the sultanate’s Al-Roya newspaper reported that the culture minister had […] Source: AMN - Al-Masdar News | المصدر نيوز - The Arab Source
Russian Air Force launches rare attack on Idlib city
BEIRUT, LEBANON (2:30 P.M.) – The Russian Air Force launched a rare attack on Idlib city today, following an agreement with the Turkish Armed Forces to implement a ceasefire along the designated demilitarized zone in northwestern Syria. According to a Syrian military source in the Hama Governorate, the Russian Air Force carried out the airstrike […] Source: AMN - Al-Masdar News | المصدر نيوز - The Arab Source
US will not withdraw troops from Iraq despite Baghdad’s demands
BEIRUT, LEBANON (2:30 P.M.) – The U.S. is willing to discuss “recommitting to strategic partnership” with Iraq but not a troop withdrawal, the U.S. State Department announced, after the country’s prime minister told Washington to “prepare a mechanism” for pull back. In a statement on Friday, the State Department Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said that the […] Source: AMN - Al-Masdar News | المصدر نيوز - The Arab Source
President Trump: Iran Was Targeting Four US Embassies
*Daily Mail:* *Donald Trump claims Qassem Soleimani was planning to blow up 'PROBABLY four' U.S. embassies before he was killed in a drone strike after Mike Pompeo says U.S. did NOT know 'where or when'* * President Trump told Laura Ingraham that there were 'probably four' U.S. embassies being threatened by Iranian general Qassem Soleimani * I can reveal that I believe it probably wouldn've been four embassies,' the president told the Fox News Channel host * The president specified the Baghdad embassy as one of the targets, as the complex had already been attacked by Iranian-bac... more »
Iran's shooting down of the airliner was probably unintentional
Back in 1988 a US ship accidentally shot down an Iranian airliner, Iran Air flight 655. The crew made an honest mistake given that the Iranians had been shooting at the USS Vincennes's helicopter, and that the plane didn't respond to multiple attempts to contact it. Post event analysis concluded that the crew was in the mindset of Iran attacking it, not surprising given that Iranian speedboats had fired warning shots at a US helicopter, and that they honestly thought that the airliner was an Iranian F-14 coming to attack them. The shooting down of an Ukraine airliner by the Iranian... more »
Cop Accused of Sexually Harassing A Dozen Women Gets Full Retirement, Keeps Police License
[image: sexual harassment]A Mesa, Arizona police officer who was at the center of an ongoing sexual harassment scandal was allowed to retire with full benefits after serving 20 years on the force. His victims were subordinates under his direct supervision as well as other non-LEA members of society.
Yes, Cops Can Legally Lie To You, It’s So Bad that One Cop’s Lie Made a Man Kill Himself
[image: lie]Cops across the country can legally lie to citizens to obtain evidence, trick them, get a false confession, and in one case, drive a man to suicide.
Israeli human rights violations during Jan 2-8, 2020
Israeli forces injure 5 Palestinians, including child; invade West Bank 133 times, abduct 109 civilians, including 17 minors; destroy 9 homes; beat people; etc. If Palestinians had done this to Israelis, it would be headlines in US newspapers... The post Israeli human rights violations during Jan 2-8, 2020 appeared first on If Americans Knew Blog.
From Resistance to Assistance: Little Pushback to Trump’s Iran Assassination
Corporate media like to present themselves as holding the current administration to account, in reality they offer little meaningful resistance to its foreign policy adventures. The post From Resistance to Assistance: Little Pushback to Trump’s Iran Assassination appeared first on If Americans Knew Blog.
Joe Biden hates coal workers
I've been programing computers since 1972. I've written books, including a Dummies title, and articles about computer programming. But there's no way in the world I could be a good hard working coal miner. Does that make we a worse person than a coal miner? No. Interestingly the converse is also probably true; few coal workers would be interested in coding not because they're stupid but because the sort of person who enjoys coding isn't, in most cases, the sort of person who can mine coal. Yet Joe Biden blissfully told the 50,000 coal miners that he's going to eliminate their job... more »
Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. - Ben Jenkins rightly calls out Australia's right-wing government and media for caring not a whit for the people seeing their country go up in flames: If you were holding out hope that the cynical and partisan way we currently talk about climate change can’t possibly hold in the face of actual climate disasters — when it’s undeniably manifested itself in unbreathable air and burning homes and smoldering coastline — let go of that hope now. These fires have shown the status quo to be a stubborn thing, possibly an immovable one. It’s rooted f... more »
Hillary Clinton asked foreigners to interfere in 2016 to help her get elected
Not surprisingly Democrats and the #FakeNews media pretend that asking a foreign national to get dirt on an American Presidential candidate from Russia isn't foreign interference since that's what Hillary Clinton did. Hillary Clinton used cut outs to conceal the fact that she paid a British citizen to pay Russians citizens, some of whom were allegedly high ranking government officials, for dirt, which we now know was all made up, about Trump. Given the control that Putin has over Russia and the claim that Putin wanted Trump to be elected--which is probably deep state dishonesty rath... more »
Your List of Kel-Tec's 5 Deadliest Guns
*Charlie Gao* *Security, * We know what you're looking for. *Key Point:* Kel-Tec is new and it's going to stick around. *Who Is Kel-Tec?:* Kel-Tec is one of the most polarizing companies in the American gun industry, known for making exotic designs at cheap prices, but also with quality control issues. They are undoubtedly successful though, with an ever-increasing catalog of products and with demand for some of their products often outstripping their supply. The current corporation, full name Kel-Tec CNC, Inc. was founded by George Kellgren in 1995 after some false starts earl... more »
China's South China Sea Military Bases Are More Than They Seem
*Kyle Mizokami* *Security, Asia* China’s military outposts in the South China Sea are a breach of Beijing’s agreement to not militarize the sea. *Key point: *In any military confrontation with the United States, China’s at-sea outposts would almost certainly be quickly rolled back by waves of airstrikes and cruise missile attacks, devastating People’s Liberation Army facilities and stranding the personnel manning them. In recent years the People’s Republic of China has laid claim to ninety percent of the South China Sea, buttressing this claim by creating artificial islands with... more »
These Are the 5 Iranian Leaders You Should Know About
*Fred Lucas* *Politics, Middle East* [image: https://pictures.reuters.com/archive/RUSSIA-SECURITY--UP1EE440O4IZ5.html] What are they planning? Tensions between the United States and Iran seem to be deescalating again, but the countries clearly are still at loggerheads. Much media attention has been focused in recent days on President Donald Trump and his national security team, including Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Trump ordered the U.S. drone strike in Iraq early Friday that killed Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, 62, whom some commenta... more »
The U.S. Navy Wants to Bring Back the Legendary World War II Higgins Boats
*Michael Peck* *Security, * The Higgins Boats of World War II were operated by men, not robots. But automated or not, their twenty-first-century successors may prove just as useful. From Omaha Beach to Iwo Jima, the great amphibious invasions of World War II were made possible by a humble plywood boat. Known more prosaically as the Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel (LCVP), the Higgins Boat was the nautical donkey of World War II. The brainchild of New Orleans boatmaker Andrew Jackson Higgins, the shallow-draft boats had a bow ramp that lowered to allow a rifle platoon, or a vehi... more »
Meet Richard Gatling: The Man Who Invented The World's Most Feared Gun
*Warfare History Network* *Security, * The Gatling gun. *Key point:** *Richard Gatling’s legacy did not die with him. Richard Gatling was born in Hertford County, NC, on December 12, 1818. His father was a prosperous farmer and inventor, and the son was destined to inherit the “invention bug.” After three of his sisters died at a young age from disease, Richard Gatling decided to study medicine, and graduated from the Ohio Medical College in Cincinnati in 1850. He moved to Indianapolis the same year, and in 1854 married the daughter of a prominent local physician. There is no ... more »
Your Air Force Never Wants To Battle These Five Air Defense Missiles
*Kyle Mizokami* *Security, * The world's best. *Key point: *There are two ways we could measure overall air defense missile lethality: by number of aircraft actually shot down, and by estimated effectiveness. The use of ground-based missiles to engage planes and defend air space is a relatively recent phenomenon. First explored by Germany in World War II, all the major powers quickly raced to develop them in the postwar period. The first confirmed kill by a surface-to-air missile was in 1959. The size and scope of surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems, which restrict vehicle-mou... more »
Ashwatch
For fans of 'Literally a Communist' Ash Sarkar, you'll be pleased to learn that the BBC invited her onto another of its flagship programmes this week - Radio 4's *Any Questions*? I have a question: Why?
Iran Admits to Accidentally Shooting Down Ukrainian Jetliner
It would be interesting to examine, in detail, who the Iranian students and Iranian Canadians on board were and their … Continue reading →
The House declares that Iranian terrorism should go unpunished
In a non-binding resolution the Democrats in the House, and 3 Republicans, declared that Trump should: *"...terminate the use of United States Armed Forces to engage in hostilities in or against Iran” unless Congress declares war or enacts “specific statutory authorization” for the use of armed forces."* What would that mean if it were binding? It would mean that if Iran continued to kill Americans Trump couldn't retaliate in any way unless he could convince the Democrat majority in the House, you know the ones who objected to killing Soleimani and who supported Obama giving Iran $... more »
New Video From Iran Emerges Showing The Missile That Was Fired At Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752
#BREAKING New footage shows the moment which the missile fired in the direction of the Ukrainian plane in #Iran pic.twitter.com/FyKXv1V53A — Guy Elster (@guyelster) January 11, 2020 *Sputnik*: *Alleged Video of Moment Missile Fired at Doomed Ukrainian Plane Released* On Saturday, the Iranian Guards Corps Troops announced they had taken down Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737 plane en route from Tehran to Kiev, mistaking it for a missile. At the same time Ukrainian authorities have called on Iran to take full responsibility for the incident that claimed 176 lives. A new vi... more »
Iran: Nothing Is Forgotten, Nothing Is Forgiven
President Trump’s credibility is so low that it is difficult to contest the perception that he blundered into the recent confrontation with Iran by ordering the killing of Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Quds Force. Many analysts point finger at US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for persuading Trump […]
To A Teacher At The End Of A Discouraging Week
It just sucks. You spend the time and effort (and maybe money) to create a lesson that you hope will be engaging and provide your students an exciting, maybe even fun, break from routine. And it bombs. More than once. Not only do your students not appreciate it, but they bitch about it. Sure, these are students who generally bitch and moan about everything (that's partly why you went an extra mile for them), but this still feels like you stayed up late to bake someone a beautiful cake and they just took a bite, spit it out, and threw the rest back in your face. It feels personal, bu... more »
Tweets For Today
Presidents of Ukraine, Iran to discuss downed plane -Ukrainian official https://t.co/waGWUNnt1G pic.twitter.com/csNLsfqOnj — Reuters (@Reuters) January 11, 2020 #IRGC Aerospace commander: I wish I had died and I wouldn't have seen such an incident (#Ukranian plane crash)... I was in western Iran and it was after the missile strike at US base has been carried out. pic.twitter.com/m2o7f1Op9I — Abas Aslani (@AbasAslani) January 11, 2020 With more sanctions being applied, how much longer can @khamenei_ir manage the economic collapse of Iran? Regime can either fight to keep its econom... more »
Iran: Communication Jamming Led to Missile Fire
*Today, Iran is acknowledging they unintentionally shot down the plane.* *I'm glad they are taking responsibility for this error. It's the right thing to do.* *Obviously, there are many unanswered questions. A few I'm asking..* *Why was this plane in flight considering all that had occurred? * *Why did the plane turn around, as has been reported? * *Why deviate from planned course? * *And who was jamming communications? * *Because communications being jammed is very possible, very likely, given the circumstances* *Link* *The Iranian missile operator who shot down a Ukrainian passenge... more »
"Fukushima Update 1/11/20: 20,865.75 Hiroshima Bombs Today, More Tomorrow"
*"Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.”* - Shiva ◆ *Updated 1/11/20: Fukushima Equals 20,865.75 Hiroshima Bombs Today, More Tomorrow; There is No Place On Earth to Escape the Rad: *The 3 melted-through cores of the destroyed reactors, now melted together into a single "corium" totaling over *600 tons*, at Fukushima *daily* release the radioactive equivalent of 6.45 Hiroshima bombs directly into the atmosphere and the Pacific Ocean. As of 1/4/20 - 3,235 days since the disaster began - this equals the detonation of *20,865.75 *Hiroshima atomic bombs and it is still going st... more »
Picture Of The Day
People stand near the wreckage after a Ukrainian plane carrying 176 passengers that crashed near Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran on 8 January 2020. © AFP 2019 / Rohhollah Vadati / ISNA *WNU Editor:* The above picture came from this photo-gallery .... *This Week in Pictures: 4-10 January* (Sputnik). The entire photo-gallery of the past week is one of the best that I have seen in a long time from Sputnik. The one that caught my eye was Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad at a Damascus cathedral on 7 January 2020.
Iran Admits Shooting Down Ukrainian Passenger Jet
From Patriot Powerline After multiple denials, and demands for proof from foreign entities – accusing them of spreading “psychological warfare” lies, President Hassan Rouhani has admitted Iran accidentally shot down the Ukrainian jetliner that took off from Tehran’s international airport amid this week’s tensions. In a pair of tweets, Rouhani admitted that “Armed Forces’ internal investigation has concluded that regrettably missiles fired due to human error caused the horrific crash of the Ukrainian plane & death of 176 innocent people,” adding that “The Islamic Republic of Iran dee... more »
Democracy in Focus: A post-austerity state
Lowering the voting age. Restoring and entrenching the powers of local government, including the power to build public housing. Ensuring that people are able to fulfil their potential (including outlawing many of the practices of the gig economy that drive its workers to suicide). Establishing a proportional election system, so that voters have a real choice and their votes make a difference.
Big Pharma: Dangling Life Over the Dying
9 January 2020 — New Eastern Outlook (Gunnar Ulson – NEO) – There are very few who have yet to come to the realization that Western pharmaceutical corporations and the health care systems they have created, control, manipulate and exploit represent not only a particular pinnacle of corruption, but also threaten rather than preserve the health … Continue reading Big Pharma: Dangling Life Over the Dying
UK: Welfare Weekly 11 January 2020
11 January 2020 — Welfare Weekly Up to 2,000 terminally ill people have died awaiting DWP benefit decisions Read more Citizens Advice demands ‘fundamental overhaul’ of Universal Credit system Read more Unsecured debt hits new peak of £14,540 per household, says TUC Read more SNP: Tories must “wake up” to … Continue reading UK: Welfare Weekly 11 January 2020
Turkey's Assyrian Community Says Arrest of Priest 'Second Brunson Case'
Assyrian International News Agency - 14 hours ago
Assyrian Associations Federation Chairman Evgil Türker said the arrest of Sefer Bileçen, an Assyrian priest known in his community as Father Aho who was the sole caretaker of the Mor Yakub Monastery in Turkey's southeastern proivnce of Mardin, was outside the bounds of sanity and called for his release.
Untitled
From Jenna Orkin Images from Australia FIRESTARTER Firefighter charged with starting 17 blazes in Australia while on bail ‘for serious sex offences’ tracked by ankle tagThe Evangelicals Who Pray for War With Iran Report: Israeli F-35 Strike Against Iranian Target in Syria Kills Eight Transporting nuclear wastes across Australia in the age of bushfiresTrump takes credit for decline in cancer deaths. The American Cancer Society says he's wrong MacDill Air Force Base briefly locked down, authorities searching for suspect Jeffrey Epstein: Jail CCTV erased by 'technical errors' 'America... more »
Spend time with adults? Is he crazy?
I think adults who write about children have bad memories. 63 years ago I didn’t have any of these qualities when I entered college. And based on what I read on Facebook and other blogs, many of my contemporaries have not learned along the way. Basic math? Still struggling with that. “What do [entering college students] need? Academically, they need to be able to read analytically and write clear literate prose. They need to be able to recognize an argument and formulate one of their own. They need to be able to analyze and apply ideas from one source to a problem in another... more »
The Ongoing Tragedy
Iran has admitted that the Ukrainian 737 airliner was unintentionally shot down. Tony Burman writes that the admission is just another in a series of violent acts and missed opportunities: To an astonishing extent, the story of the past four decades of Iranian-U.S. relations is one of selective memory and missed opportunity — by each side. An example of selective memory occurred this week in a sharp exchange between the country’s two presidents, Donald Trump and Hassan Rouhani. Trump warned Iran that the U.S. had identified 52 Iranian sites, some “important to Iran and Iranian cu... more »
Lisa on popular comedian's show
Progressive comedian Graham Elwood talks with Lisa Savage, a Green Independent running for US Senate in Maine. Graham is based in Los Angeles. There were lots of great comments after the video. Here are a few of them: - That analogy about spending 70% of your money on security is brilliant! - Green jobs "for our climate, our economy and for our souls" Tell it Lisa! - I didn't think I'd see a Green in the Senate in my lifetime.. I'm 62, it's looking like I might. - Hopefully everyone watching this would give Lisa their #1 vote and the corporate Dem the... more »
Barbarism Versus Civilization
The nihilists and barbarians can in no time destroy a civilization which has been developed from several centuries of intellectual, political, and cultural efforts. An act of creation is an arduous undertaking which can go on for several centuries, but the act of destruction is something that can be accomplished in a few days of thoughtless mayhem. The pace at which nihilism and barbarianism devastate is much faster than the pace at which civilization creates.
Just One More Thing
*Not BBC-related in the slightest, but here's a story I read a few morning ago on the Twitter. I'm posting it here as it's very entertaining. It comes from stand-up comedian Ignacio Lopez and it's a true story. Enjoy! * ******* Witnessed the most amazing thing on the train to Edinburgh yesterday. A guy boarded in Wigan & sat opposite me. He went to sleep for an hour. When he woke up he bought a sandwich, ate it & went back to sleep. (This isn’t a maths test, you don’t need to know the distance/speed). Later, the train guard is walking through, checking tickets, and gently wakes th... more »
'Much-loved' firefighter and father of two killed working on Victorian blaze
Just In - 15 hours ago
The "tragic loss" of Forest Fire Management Victoria worker Bill Slade in an incident near Omeo brings the state's death toll for the current horrific fire season to four.
Why France's World War I Chauchat Is The Worst Machine Gun Ever Built
*Kyle Mizokami* *Security, * Very unreliable. *Key point: *Despite its many flaws, substantial improvements weren’t incorporated into new models until after the war. One day at the auction house, someone left a pile of guns on the ground. This was not at all unusual. At the very bottom, wrapped in moving blankets, was a pile of scrap metal. I parted the blanket gently to expose more of whatever I was seeing — gently because the metal had a patina of dirty age and I didn’t want to stick myself. I saw an aluminum tube from a bicycle and a coiled spring. A crescent-shaped piece of... more »
Springfield's SAINT AR-15: The Best AR-15 Variant?
*Mark Episkopos* *Security, Americas* Not bad. *Key Point:* The SAINT is designed around reliable all-around performance at a reasonable cost. The AR-15 has long been the dominant semi-automatic rifle platform in the U.S., prized for its unparalleled modability and component diversity. The AR-15 platform’s immense popularity has spawned a fiercely competitive consumer market, with firearms manufacturers constantly searching for ways to innovate a better price-to-performance ratio. This competition has been especially good for a growing segment of first-time shoppers seeking a w... more »
These 5 Armies, Air Forces, And Navies Are Kings Of The Land, Air, and Sea
*Kyle Mizokami* *Security, * They can't be beaten, except by each other. *Key point:* America dominates these categories. The world, thanks to the march and diffusion of technology, is getting smaller. Travel by airplane at high rates of speed, modern maritime transport and faster and faster transit on the ground thanks to high-speed rail and highways that cover almost every part of the globe mean people can get to points a,b and c faster than ever before. Modern telecommunications mean we can communicate with any willing participant in almost any part of the globe, in real tim... more »
Why Russia's Su-57 Stealth Fighter Crashed
*Sebastien Roblin* *Security, * Is the program in trouble? On December 24, 2019, a sleek-looking Su-57 stealth fighter designated Blue 01 took to the skies for an engine test flight from Dzemgi airport in eastern Russia. Manufacturer Sukhoi had already built ten T-50 prototype aircraft for Russia’s PAK FA stealth fighter program, and had even twice deployed them to Syria for combat tests. But this eleventh aircraft, designated Blue 01, was the first production model Su-57 stealth fighter (codenamed the ‘Felon’ by NATO) to roll off the assembly line at Komsomolsk-on-Amur in Rus... more »
Why Did Nazi Germany Bomb Neutral Ireland During World War II?
*Warfare History Network* *History, Europe* [image: Frankreich.- Verband von Bombern Heinkel He 111 H-2 der 7./KG 1 im Anflug über dem Kanal (vorne V4+IR); PK KBK Lw4] Oops? The south of Ireland, officially known as Eire and often referred to by many residing there as the “Free State,” declared its neutrality when World War II erupted suddenly in September 1939. The Irish would remain neutral throughout the war but were universally viewed as far more sympathetic and helpful to the Allies than the Axis. Despite their formal neutrality, the Irish experienced a number of aerial bomb... more »
Introducing the Steyr HS 50: The Deadliest .50 Caliber Sniper Rifle on Earth?
*Charlie Gao* *Technology, * Let's find out. .50 caliber sniper rifles have seen incredible proliferation in the twenty-first century. They are used in almost every hot zone around the world, from the Middle East to Ukraine. But in the Middle East, one rifle stands out from the pack. The Austrian Steyr HS 50 and various copies of it are by far the most common, beating out American Barretts, Serbian M93s, and other Chinese .50 caliber rifles. But how did a rifle made in Western/Central Europe end up being so popular in the Middle East? The story of the HS 50 may provide clues to ... more »
How Exercise Can Help You Hold off Dementia
*Jennifer J Heisz* *Health, Americas* [image: https://pictures.reuters.com/archive/GLOBAL-AGE--RC183048A270.html] Here's what we know. *Key point: *Some exercise, even late in life, is better than none and offers great protective benefits. For the first time in human history, older people outnumber younger people. This has created unique health challenges. Dementia may be one of the scariest — a debilitating condition that erases memories; a condition without a cure. But dementia does not have to be your fate. Exercise protects our memories from being erased and our latest rese... more »
Meet the Qiam Missile Iran Used to Blast a U.S. Airbase
*Sebastien Roblin* *Security, Middle East* Just how powerful is it? For thirty intense minutes at 1:30 AM local time, the skies over Iraq were lit by streaks of fiery light as at least sixteen ballistic missiles streaked from launch sites in Iran (video here) to target two military bases in Iraq occupied by Iraqi, U.S. and other international forces. Tehran’s promised violent retaliation for the U.S.’s killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani was on its way. Five missiles raced towards a base in Erbil in northern Iraq. However, four appeared to malfunction, leaving only one t... more »
One Of These 10 Handguns Is The Best For Defending Your Property
*Gun News Daily* *Technology, Americas* Which is right for you? *Key point: *While rifles are more accurate and shotguns more powerful, handguns are more than accurate enough for close to mid-range encounters If you’re looking for an *effective home-defense weapon*, handguns are one of the most popular choices. *Why do so many people go with the handgun, especially when there are far more powerful guns available?* Their compact size makes it easy to store a handgun right next to your bed in a handgun safe specifically designed for getting your gun quickly in life or death situa... more »
Steel Beast: Can a 100,000 Ton Aircraft Carrier Make Crazy Turns?
*Mark Episkopos* *Security, Americas* [image: The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln transits the Indian Ocean in this U.S. Navy handout photo dated January 18, 2012.] Crazy tight ones, it turns out. The USS Abraham Lincoln is objectively not the most nimble vehicle in the Pentagon’s arsenal. At 1,092 feet long, 252 feet wide and nearly 100,000 tons of naval engineering expertise, the nuclear-powered Nimitz-class aircraft carrier wasn’t designed to chase Russian submarines or blow up Somali pirates, but to serve as a floating hub for American airpower across the p... more »
Spurious Thinking: Why You're More Susceptible To Misinformation Than You Think
Online misinformation works, or so it would seem. One of the more interesting statistics from the 2019 UK general election was that 88% of advertisements posted on social media by the Conservative Party pushed figures that had already been deemed misleading by the UK’s leading fact-checking organization, Full Fact. And, of course, the Conservatives won the election by a comfortable margin. read more
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