Korean Herald Reports Tunnel Disaster At N. Korean Nuke Test Site–200+ Dead

As many as 200 N. Koreans killed in tunnel collapse at nuclear test site: report

 

 

By Yonhap

    A tunnel under construction at North Korea’s nuclear test site collapsed and as many as 200 workers could have been killed, a Japanese news report said Tuesday.

About 100 people were trapped inside when the unfinished tunnel at the North’s Punggye-ri nuclear test site collapsed, and an additional 100 people could have been killed while trying to rescue those trapped as a second collapse occurred, Japan’s TV Asahi reported.

The report didn’t provide further details, such as when the accident happened.

Experts have warned that the North’s nuclear test site must have become fatigued and unstable from six nuclear tests, including last month’s latest and most powerful one, that a collapse could happen at any time.

Kim Jong-un. Yonhap

On Monday, the chief of South Korea’s weather agency Korea Meteorological Administration, Nam Jae-cheol, said during a parliamentary meeting that another nuclear blast could trigger a collapse of the North’s mountainous test site and a leak of radioactive materials.

Once Again, US Spec. Forces Killed In Mali Under Suspicious Circumstances

SEE: Special Ops US Commandos Found Dead In Mali With Moroccan Prostitutes ]

Two Navy SEALs under investigation in death of Green Beret in Mali

 

• By Luis Martinez

U.S. Army

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Logan Melgar of Lubbock, Texas, died in Mali on June 4, 2017. His death is being investigated as a homicide.

Two members of the Navy’s elite SEAL Team Six are under investigation in the death of an Army Green Beret in Mali this past June, according to U.S. officials. The death is being investigated by the Navy’s Criminal Investigative Service.

On June 4, Army Staff Sgt. Logan J. Melgar was found dead in his room in embassy housing in Bamako, Mali.

U.S. officials confirm that two Navy SEALS are under investigation for Melgar’s death, and that the SEALS belong to the elite SEAL Team Six.

U.S. Department of State  The U.S. Embassy Bamako, Mali is seen in an undated photo posted to the State Department website.

One official said the death is being investigated as a homicide and that investigators are looking into Melgar’s suspected asphyxiation.

An investigation was immediately launched by the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division. That investigation was transferred to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service on September 25.

“NCIS can confirm we are investigating the death of SSGT Melgar but beyond that, NCIS does not discuss the details of ongoing investigations,” said Ed Buice, an NCIS spokesman.

A U.S. official said Melgar’s death is being investigated as a homicide.

The news of the investigation into Melgar’s death was first reported by the New York Times.

Melgar’s death was not publicly announced by the Pentagon at the time of his death. Not every military fatality overseas is required to be disclosed publicly by the Pentagon. Typically the rule of thumb is that fatalities are required to be announced for named operations, such as Operation Inherent Resolve.

Melgar was part of a small group of U.S. military personnel working in Bamako, Mali in support of the U.S. Embassy. The Lubbock, Texas, native enlisted in the Army in January 2012 as an 18X. In 2013, he started his Special Forces training, and was assigned to the 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) in 2016, after he’d completed the Special Forces Qualification and Special Forces Engineer courses.

Melgar conducted two deployments to Afghanistan as an engineer sergeant.

 

Hekmatyar’s deputy Nabi Ahmadi kidnapped from Peshawar

[SEE: Now, the Hekmatyar Option.—February 24, 2010]

[Hekmatyar and “Islamic State of Afghanistan” (Taliban) Allegedly Dealing With ISIL for Post-2014–Sept. 26, 2014]

Afghan deputy governor Nabi Ahmadi kidnapped from Peshawar

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PESHAWAR: Unidentified gunmen abducted Muhammad Nabi Ahmadi, the deputy governor of Afghanistan’s Kunar province, in Dabgari area of Peshawar on Friday.

“At first we thought that he was somewhere nearby when he didn’t respond to our calls,” newly appointed Afghan Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Consul General Moeen Mrastyal told The Express Tribune on the phone on Saturday.

READ MORE:   US Senate blocks attempt to repeal US Military authority in Afghanistan war

“We then informed the Kabul government and also the Pakistani high-ups about him,” he added.The consul general said the governor had arrived in Peshawar on Thursday and scheduled an appointment with a doctor in Dabggari the next day.

READ MORE:   11 US Army soldiers hit in a Afghan Taliban explosive trap

“There, he was abducted by unidentified gunmen and we still haven’t heard anything about him,” he added.

Mrastyal said he was in regular touch with the K-P law-enforcement agencies and had also informed the K-P governor about the abduction. “We hope that he will rescued soon.”

READ MORE:   USA special envoy on Afghan-Pak Richard Olson meets General Raheel Sharif in GHQ

Ahmadi’s abduction was confirmed by officers at the Shah Qabool police station.

The officers said they were trying to locate the governor and rescue him.

Last year, former Afghan governor Sayed Fazlullah Wahidi was rescued in Mardan, two weeks after he was abducted in Islamabad.

India’s first wheat shipment leaves Iran’s Chabahar port for Afghanistan

 

 

Sushma Swaraj and her Afghan counterpart Salahuddin Rabbani flagged off the shipment of wheat from India to Afghanistan via video conferencing

The Chabahar port on Iran’s coast serves as a crucial junction for trade among India, Afghanistan and Iran. Photo: Reuters

New Delhi: India on Sunday sent its first consignment of wheat for Afghanistan to be shipped through the Chabahar port in Iran, seen as a “landmark” move to operationalise the strategic transit route.

External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and her Afghan counterpart Salahuddin Rabbani flagged off the shipment of wheat from India to Afghanistan via video conferencing, the ministry of external affairs (MEA) said.

“The shipment of wheat is a landmark moment as it will pave the way for operationalisation of the Chabahar port as an alternate, reliable and robust connectivity for Afghanistan,” it said in a statement.

On the occasion, Swaraj reiterated India’s continued commitment to support reconstruction, capacity building and socio-economic development of Afghanistan, including under the framework of the New Development Partnership that she had jointly announced with Rabbani last month during the meeting of India-Afghanistan Strategic Partnership Council.

“She also renewed commitment to work closely with regional and international partners to bring peace, security, stability and prosperity in Afghanistan,” the MEA said. It said the Chabahar port in Iran will open up new opportunities for trade and transit from and to Afghanistan and enhance trade and commerce between the three countries and the wider region.

“The two foreign ministers welcomed the fact that this is the first shipment that would be going to Afghanistan through the Chabahar port after trilateral agreement on establishment of international transport and transit corridor was signed during the visit of the prime minister of India to Iran in May 2016,” the MEA said.

Six more wheat shipments will be sent to Afghanistan over the next few months. Swaraj and Rabbani also reaffirmed their commitment to continue their cooperation for the benefit and prosperity of the people of Afghanistan and the region. India and Iran have already expressed commitment for early completion of the work on the Chabahar Port project.

Chabahar port, located in the Sistan-Balochistan province on the energy-rich Persian Gulf nation’s southern coast, lies outside the Persian Gulf and can be easily accessed from India’s western coast, bypassing Pakistan. The port is likely to ramp up trade between India, Afghanistan and Iran in the wake of Pakistan denying transit access to New Delhi for trade with the two countries.

India has been closely working with Afghanistan to create alternate and reliable access routes, bypassing Pakistan. An air freight corridor between India and Afghanistan was also operationalised earlier this year to give a fillip to the bilateral trade relations.

The GOP Doesn’t Even Have the Courtesy to Hide Its Sociopathic Priorities

[In Trump-World, Only Christian Liberals Are Burdened w/the Poor, the sick, etc.]

 

 

By Eric Levitz@EricLevitz 

Make Oligarchy Great Again. Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

On Thursday, House Republicans decided that tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations are such an urgent necessity, it would be worth adding $1.5 trillion to the deficit to ensure their passage. Hours later, the Republican president declared the opioid epidemic a “public health emergency” — but refused to commit a single dollar of new funds to address it.

To preempt criticism of the latter point, the White House tweeted a meme:

Although the GOP has voted to add $1.5 trillion to the deficit for their tax plan, the president has actually proposed some $5.8 trillion in cuts (to be offset with unspecified loophole closures and spending cuts). According to an analysis from the Tax Policy Center, the top one percent of income earners would collect about 80 percent of that lost revenue.

So, at a time when corporate profits and income inequality are at historic highs — and drug overdoses are killing more than 50,000 Americans a year — the White House is bragging that it has treated the opioid epidemic as though it were 0.017 percent as important as tax cuts for the wealthy.

And even this is an overstatement. Note that tweet’s passive voice: The $1 billion Trump refers to here was appropriated under the 21st Century Cures Act, which was signed into law by Barack Obama last December. This administration hasn’t allocated any new funds to fight the epidemic. In fact, it spent the better part of its first year in office trying to cut $1 trillion for Medicaid, one of America’s primary sources of funding for addiction treatment.

Historically, conservatives have made an effort to hide the fact that they have priorities that almost no one in the United States would endorse. When Republicans voted against economic stimulus at a time of deep recession, or expanding affordable health insurance to low-income people in an era of widespread medical bankruptcies, or relief funding for the victims of Hurricane Sandy, they would insist that they were not indifferent to the suffering of the non-affluent, but were merely convinced that a higher national debt posed a greater threat to the unfortunate than anything else.

The House Freedom Caucus has used this rationale to deny aid to victims of natural disasters and force the government to the brink of debt default. At this very moment, they are blocking reauthorization of the $8 billion Children’s Health Insurance Program until Democrats agree to offset that money with cuts to health-care programs for adults.

And yet, on Thursday, the Freedom Caucus declined to oppose one of the largest debt increases in American history, while many of its loudest fiscal hawks voted to add $1.5 trillion to the deficit for tax cuts — which is about 187 times the amount of money they refuse to add to the deficit for children’s health care.

The mask is off. The debt never mattered. The GOP is a party owned and for sociopathic plutocrats. Republican voters may be skeptical of “big government.” They may hate bureaucracy and red tape. But approximately zero percent of them believe it’s responsible to add $1.5 trillion to the deficit for rich people’s tax cuts, but reckless to add $8 billion children’s health care. In fact, a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 75 percent of Republican voters want to prioritize deficit reduction over cutting taxes on the wealthy, while 63 percent say the same about cutting them for corporations.

In a functioning republic, a major political party wouldn’t think of spending trillions of dollars on an unpopular gift to the economic elite while refusing to commit more than $1 billion to a public-health emergency concentrated among its own voters. In the United States in 2017, the Republicans are doing just that — and don’t even feel a need to hide it.

How Did Fracked American Shale Gas Become the Solution To Puerto Rico’s Electrical Nightmare?

[SEE:  Two-person energy firm’s $300 million contract to rebuild Puerto Rico’s electrical grid ; Questions arise about Whitefish company’s Puerto Rico contract ]

Colonel Noel Zamot, Commandant of The Air Force Test Pilot School, after his Fini Flight at Edwards AFB, CA. June 13, 2012. AFFTC Aerial Photographer Christian Turner.

Puerto Rico’s painful power recovery gets a new director

 

 

Hannah Northey, Peter Behr and Blake Sobczak, E&E News reportersEnergywire

PREPA, backed by the governor, Rosselló, has called for a $470 million offshore liquefied natural gas port on the island’s south coast to receive LNG shipments from U.S. shale gas reserves.

Whitefish Energy Holdings LLC shared images yesterday of work on power towers and lines in Manati, Puerto Rico. @WhitefishEnergy/Twitter

A federal emergency manager has been placed in charge of the tortuous efforts to restore electric power in Puerto Rico five weeks after Hurricane Maria struck, amid mounting criticism that the island’s bankrupt public utility has badly mismanaged the crisis.

The Puerto Rico Financial Oversight and Management Board, created by Congress to monitor restructuring of the U.S. territory’s $70 billion debt load, announced yesterday that Noel Zamot, the board’s revitalization coordinator and a retired Air Force colonel, will serve as “chief transformation officer” for the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA).

The board said Zamot’s immediate priority will be to accelerate grid reconstruction on the island, where three-quarters of the population remains without electricity, according to the San Juan government’s website.

But Zamot, born and raised in Puerto Rico, will also lead the planning of a restructured electricity grid once the emergency is over, the board said, giving him a pivotal role in what has been an intense debate between PREPA and its independent regulator, the Puerto Rico Energy Commission, over what the future grid should look like.

“Zamot will lead the transformation of PREPA and the rebuilding of the electricity sector,” the board said.

The post-hurricane repair campaign has been split between crews brought in by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, given overall charge of grid recovery by President Trump in late September, and PREPA, which rejected mutual aid assistance from mainland municipal utilities, bewildering utility executives.

Instead, PREPA signed up a small company, Whitefish Energy Holdings LLC, to mobilize and move line crews to the island, saying it chose Whitefish because the company did not require an upfront financial commitment from the bankrupt utility.

Zamot’s appointment follows demands by Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah), chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee; the committee’s top Democrat, Rep. Raúl Grijalva of Arizona; and other U.S. lawmakers for a review of the $300 million grid repair contract PREPA awarded to Whitefish (Energywire, Oct. 25).

Committee spokesman Parish Braden said the “size and unknown details of this contract raises numerous questions.” Democrats have questioned whether the choice of Whitefish was connected to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, who comes from Whitefish, Mont., and is friends with the founder of Whitefish Energy. Whitefish is a 2-year-old company that has never coordinated a major grid restoration.

Zinke told The Washington Post he had no involvement in the lucrative contract. Interior Department representatives have provided the same answer to E&E News.

The Whitefish contract has also roiled local politics, where members of the Puerto Rico Senate have vowed to investigate the contract. Yesterday, Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló asked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general to audit the Whitefish Energy contract award by the end of this month.

State of crisis

An Army Corps spokesman said its restoration work was now being closely coordinated with PREPA, but the relationship among PREPA, Whitefish and the Federal Emergency Management Agency remains in flux. FEMA, which has committed to cover 100 percent of the grid repair costs, has not yet received reimbursement requests from PREPA for work by Whitefish and other contractors, a FEMA spokesman said.

The controversy over Whitefish accelerated the search by PREPA’s critics and the White House for independent oversight of the recovery. That search was complicated by sharp political sensitivities among Puerto Rico political leaders, the utility’s labor union and many Puerto Ricans about the federal role in the island’s governance, according to people close to the issue.

For his part, Zamot became an obvious candidate for the oversight role, said Jorge Camacho, former system planning chief for the District of Columbia Public Service Commission, who assisted in damage assessments after Hurricane Irma hit Puerto Rico. Zamot met with Department of Energy officials over the past two weeks and emerged as someone who could not only guide the hurricane recovery but also the planning on future grid restructuring, Camacho said.

“DOE knew oversight was needed on the electricity rebuild,” Camacho said. “He was what we were working toward. I’m very happy,” Camacho added. “The oversight board stepped up and realized this was in the best interest of the people of Puerto Rico.”

“The [oversight] board, created under the Obama administration and appointed on a bipartisan and bicameral basis, is doing its work,” Braden said.

Puerto Rico’s beleaguered public power company owes creditors $9 billion. PREPA’s system was in a “state of crisis” before back-to-back hurricanes swept across the island and destroyed the grid, according to a report to the Puerto Rico Energy Commission by consulting firm Synapse Energy Associates, as a result of long-standing financial and operational mismanagement.

“Deferred and inadequate investment in infrastructure, a loss of key staff, and a myopic management focus on large risky bets have left PREPA with generation and transmission infrastructure literally falling apart, unnecessarily high costs, a utility operating out of compliance with commonwealth and federal law, and alternative options rapidly disappearing,” said the Nov. 23, 2016, report by Synapse authors Jeremy Fisher and Ariel Horowitz (Energywire, Sept. 29).

Most of the power generation is on the island’s south side, far from population centers around San Juan, requiring a stretched-out transmission system that was easy prey for hurricane winds. But the question of how to rebuild it — if the capital financing can be found — has split Puerto Rico’s leadership.

PREPA, backed by the governor, Rosselló, has called for a $470 million offshore liquefied natural gas port on the island’s south coast to receive LNG shipments from U.S. shale gas reserves. That would allow some oil- and coal-fired generators to convert to gas. But the energy commission has sharply criticized PREPA’s plan and restricted work on the LNG proposal, sidelining it for now while directing the utility to elevate renewable energy options.

With Puerto Rico’s recovery and rebuilding plans coming under increasing scrutiny, a group of Puerto Rico business and environmental activists has invited members of Congress and staff to a meeting tomorrow to join the debate and work toward a sustainable energy plan. The Institute for Competitiveness and Sustainable Economy of Puerto Rico framed the discussion: “PREPA, rather than rebuilding the same storm-vulnerable centralized grid it had — with generation concentrated in the south and with long south-to-north transmission corridors — would do well instead to create microgrids and integrate more distributed generation and storage into its system.”

President Trump, who met with Rosselló on Oct. 19, has promised not only to support power restoration on the stricken island but also the reconstruction of its grid.

“I know you were talking about rebuilding your electric plant long before the hurricane; you’ve been wanting to do that for a long time,” Trump said to Rosselló. “So maybe this is a reason that we can do it. And we’ll help you, and we’ll all do it together.”

Twitter: @HMNorthey Email: hnorthey@eenews.net

Are Iraqi Forces Attacking Peshmerga In Kirkuk, Or Not?–depends on who you ask

Gen. Qassem Soleimani

[Fear of Iranian general left Iraqi Kurdish oil fields deserted –Reuters]

[Iraqi Army denies claims of clashes with Kurdish Peshmerga near Syrian border—Almasdar News*

*Al-Masdar has several Syria-based correspondents, and claims sources within the Syrian military.]

15 personnel of Peshmerga, PMFs killed, injured, northwest Mosul

 

 

by Nehal Mostafa

Forces from al-Hashd al-Shaabi.

Zummar (IraqiNews.com) Fifteen people of Kurdish and Shia-led troops were killed and injured during confrontations that occurred on Thursday in northwest Mosul, an informed source said.

“The confrontations that occurred today in Zummar left two personnel killed and six others wounded of Peshmerga’s fourth brigade. They were transferred to Duhuq hospitals,” the source told Alghad Press.

“Clashes also left four personnel of al-Hashd al-Shaabi [Popular Mobilization Forces], including leaders, killed and others wounded in al-Jazrawiya village.

In related news, a Peshmerga source said chief of Kurdistan Democratic Party’s Sinjar branch was killed in artillery shelling in Zummar.

“Wahid Bakuzi was killed as artillery shelling targeted Peshmerga locations in Zummar, the source told AlSumaria News.

“Two personnel of Bakuzi’s guards were killed in the shelling,” the source, who preferred anonymity, added.

Earlier on the day, the Kurdistan Region Security Council said Iraqi troops have launched an attack against Peshmerga troops deployed in Zummar.

KRG offered on Wednesday to impose a ceasefire and resort to dialogue to defuse the military and political standoff with Baghdad.

Iraqi forces reportedly tightened their control, on the same day, over the Rabia border crossing with Syria after the withdrawal of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Moreover, troops headed toward Ibrahim al-Khalil border crossing with Turkey seeking control on it.

Did Suicide-Bombers Used In Hit Upon Ukrainian Neo-Nazi Parliamentarians?

SBU says explosion in Kyiv investigated as terrorist attack 

 

 

Five people were injured in an explosion in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, on October 25, and two of them died later, Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) spokesperson Olena Hitlianska has said.

“Investigators from the SBU’s main office in Kyiv and Kyiv region are investigating the explosion in the capital, which injured Ukrainian MP Ihor Mosiychuk and four other citizens, two of whom died. Criminal proceedings were opened under Article 258-3 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine,” she wrote on her Facebook page.

According to Hitlianska, investigators are currently considering all scenarios behind the explosion. It has already been established that unidentified people blew up a scooter when the MP was passing by.

A joint investigative team of law enforcement officers is establishing the details of the tragedy.

As reported, five people, including MP Ihor Mosiychuk and political analyst Vitaliy Bala, were injured in an explosion outside the office of the Espreso TV channel in Kyiv late on October 25. Mosiychuk’s security guard later died on his way to hospital. It was reported on October 26 that a passerby named Mykhailo had also been killed in the incident.

Pervy Old Bush Admits Repeatedly Copping A Feel, Forcing His Apologists To Go On Defense

[Medical condition may explain George H.W. Bush’s recent lapses (SEE: Old Perv Pres Losing His Cloak of Invisibility)]

Third woman accuses ex-President George H.W. Bush of groping her while posing for photo 

 

 

 

BY Elizabeth Elizalde

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

A third woman has accused former President George H.W. Bush of groping her during a photo-op in Houston three years ago.

Author Christina Baker Kline penned a first-person essay to Slate claiming Bush, in his wheelchair, touched her backside while her husband stood beside him for the shot.

The alleged groping happened after a luncheon at a private home before attending a fund-raiser for the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy in April 2014 where she was invited as a guest author.

When it came time for Kline and her husband to take a photo with Bush, she recalled how the former president complimented her.

Ex-Prez George H.W. Bush admits to patting women on rear

“You’re beautiful,” Bush reportedly said.

“Thank you,” Kline wrote.

Bush whispered to Kline if she wanted to know what’s his favorite book, and as she leaned closer to Bush, he put his arm around her back and said “David Cop-a-feel,” before squeezing her backside as the shot was taken, she wrote.

“I swiped his hand away,” the author wrote.

Heather Lind accuses ex-Prez George H.W. Bush of sexual assault

Author Christina Baker Kline has accused former President George H. W. Bush of sexual assault.

(Facebook)

“It’s right there in the official photograph. President Bush laughing at his joke (like a mischievous boy, I thought at the time); me, struggling to keep the smile on my face,” she continued. “My husband, David, on the other side of President Bush’s wheelchair, is smiling broadly. He doesn’t know what just happened.”

Kline’s claim comes after two other women accused the 93-year-old of the same behavior.

The first, 34-year-old actress

Heather Lind, said in a since-deleted Instagram post Tuesday that Bush groped her while posing for a photo four years ago.

The second, New York-actress Jordana Grolnick, told Deadspin that Bush also touched her backside during a photo and even said the “David Cop-a-Feel!” joke.

George H.W. and Barbara Bush salute Houston’s Harvey responders

Jim McGrath, Bush’s spokesman, released an apology on behalf of the former president.

“At age 93, President Bush has been confined to a wheelchair for roughly five years, so his arm falls on the lower waist of people with whom he takes pictures. To try to put people at ease, the president routinely tells the same joke — and on occasion, he has patted women’s rears in what he intended to be a good-natured manner,” the statement read.

“Some have seen it as innocent; others clearly view it as inappropriate. To anyone he has offended, President Bush apologizes most sincerely.”

Local UK newspaper warned of ‘big news’ by mystery caller 25 minutes before president shot dead

JFK files: Local UK newspaper warned of ‘big news’ by mystery caller 25 minutes before president shot dead

Tom Powell

The Cambridge News received an anonymous call before the killing National Archive/Newsmakers/Getty Images

A local newspaper in the UK received an anonymous call about “some big news” in America 25 minutes before President John F Kennedy was assassinated, newly released documents have shown.

The revelation was made in papers relating to the 1963 killing, which were authorised for release by Donald Trump late on Thursday.

A memo to the director of the FBI said the anonymous phone call was made to the senior reporter at the Cambridge News at 6.05pm on the day Kennedy was shot in Dallas, Texas.

The document, from deputy director James Angleton, said: “The British Security Service (MI-5) has reported that at 1805GMT on 22 November an anonymous telephone call was made in Cambridge, England, to the senior reporter of the Cambridge News.

“The caller said only that the Cambridge News reporter should call the American Embassy in London for some big news and then hung up.”

• Read more

What the JFK files have revealed so far

President Kennedy was shot as he rode in a presidential motorcade in Dealey Plaza at 12.30pm Central Standard Time, which is six hours behind Greenwich Mean Time.

The memo added: “After the word of the President’s death was received the reporter informed the Cambridge police of the anonymous call and the police informed MI-5.

“The important point is that the call was made, according to MI-5 calculations, about 25 minutes before the President was shot.

JFK: John F Kennedy Assassination – In pictures

“The Cambridge reporter had never received a call of this kind before and MI-5 state that he is known to them as a sound and loyal person with no security record.”

The memo added that similar anonymous phone calls “of a strangely coincidental nature” had been received by people in the UK over the past year “particularly in connection with the case of Dr Ward” – potentially a reference to Dr Stephen Ward, one of the central figures in the Profumo affair.

A copy of the memo, dated November 26 1963, was released by the National Archives in July this year, but had gone unreported until the latest batch of documents pertaining to the Kennedy assassination were released on Thursday evening.

The President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection–10/27/2017

The President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection

 

John F. Kennedy was killed on November 22, 1963. Almost 30 years later, Congress enacted the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992. The Act mandated that all assassination-related material be housed in a single collection in the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).   The resulting Collection consists of more than 5 million pages of assassination-related records, photographs, motion pictures, sound recordings and artifacts (approximately 2,000 cubic feet of records). Most of the records are open for research.

 

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What’s New Online?

• Release of 2,895 remaining documents on October 26, 2017 See also press release
• Release of 3,810 documents on July 24, 2017  See also press release
• Records Relating to Key Persons

Online Highlights

• Califano Papers
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• Eyewitness exhibit with Lady Bird Johnson’s diary on the assassination

Find answers to your research questions at History Hub 

 

 

Trump Forces Reversal of Saudi-Qatari Spat In Yemen, Al-QAP Is Screwed

[This is unbelieveable, an actual point of agreement between Saudi, Qatari, even U.S. governments on a common anti-al-Qaeda agreement for Yemen (SEE: Guantanamo and The Saudi Rehabilitation Program Behind AQAP– Intentional, or Major Fowl-UP?).  Does this mean the CIA will stop using Al-Qaeda Arabian Peninsula to fight against the Shiite al-Huthi forces?  Doesn’t this directly contradict today’s previous announcement by Saudi Prince/SecDef that Yemen War Continues to Prevent Rise of Another ‘Hezbollah’?  Has Trump derailed the little Saudi prince who would be king?]

Anti-terror partners issue joint sanctions against key terrorists and supporters

WASHINGTON: The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today imposed sanctions on eight individuals and one entity, targeting leaders, financiers, and facilitators of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria in Yemen (ISIS-Y) and Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
This action was taken in partnership with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as the co-chair of the recently established Terrorist Financing Targeting Center (TFTC), as well as all other TFTC member states: the Kingdom of Bahrain; the State of Kuwait; the Sultanate of Oman; the State of Qatar; and the United Arab Emirates. Today’s collective actions are the first taken by the TFTC since its announcement during President Trump’s visit to the region in May.
“The creation of this new Terrorist Financing Targeting Center is a major step forward in our ability to disrupt the finances and operations of terrorist organizations. For the first time, we are establishing a multinational center to focus our efforts and disrupt the financial and support networks that enable terrorists. The TFTC will be a catalyst for additional multilateral actions against terrorist financiers, and a place where member countries come together to fight against these common threats,” said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
“Through this action, we are aggressively targeting radical extremists in Yemen and the surrounding region who pose a direct threat to the security of the United States, Yemen, and the international community.”
OFAC designated all of these individuals and the entity pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, which targets terrorists and those providing support to terrorists or acts of terrorism. As a result of today’s OFAC action, all property and interests in property of these persons subject to US jurisdiction are blocked, and US persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them. In addition, all TFTC member states also designated Nayif Salih Salim Al-Qaysi, Abd Al-Wahhab Muhammad Abd Al-Rahman Al-Humayqani, Hashim Muhsin Aydarus Al-Hamid, and the Rahmah Charitable Organization, all of whom were previously designated by OFAC pursuant to E.O. 13224.
The TFTC was announced on May 21, 2017 as a bold and historic effort to expand and strengthen the seven member states’ cooperation to counter the financing of terrorism. The TFTC facilitates coordinated disruptive actions, sharing of financial intelligence information, and building member state capacity to target terrorist financing networks and related activities that pose national security threats to TFTC members.
Adil Abduh Fari Uthman Al-Dhubhani
OFAC designated Adil Abduh Fari Uthman Al-Dhubhani (Fari) for acting for or on behalf of AQAP, as well as for assisting in, sponsoring, or providing financial, material, or technological support for, or financial or other services to or in support of, AQAP and ISIS-Y.
As of early 2017, Fari, in his role as a prominent military instructor with AQAP, reportedly commanded an armed AQAP-associated group made up of approximately 2,000 fighters. Fari used his connections to conduct fundraising for AQAP throughout Taiz governorate and overseas.
As of early June 2016, Fari also served with ISIS-Y in Taiz governorate, Yemen, where his deputies, along with a large number of other ISIS-Y fighters, fought under the Sunni resistance in Taiz governorate. Fari also made payments to various Sunni militants and ISIS-Y affiliates in Taiz governorate to secure continued support for ISIS-Y activities in Taiz in late October 2016.
Radwan Muhammad Husayn Ali Qanan
OFAC designated Radwan Muhammad Husayn Ali Qanan (Qanan) for acting for or on behalf of ISIS-Y.
As of mid-2017, Qanan was a key ISIS-Y leader in Aden governorate, Yemen and was the deputy field commander for ISIS-Y. Qanan was also a regional ISIS-Y field commander in southern Yemen as of mid-2017. As of early 2016, Qanan was an ISIS-Y leader who commanded members of ISIS-Y and was responsible for assassination operations in Yemen. Qanan also received funds from multiple sources in support of his role as a senior leader in early 2016. As of late 2015, Qanan was one of the most senior officials within ISIS-Y and was operating in Aden, Yemen. Furthermore, as of early October 2015, Qanan was considered to be one of the most dangerous members of ISIS-Y who intended to target and kidnap foreigners. Furthermore, Qanan had been the ISIS-Y military emir at the beginning of the 2015 Saudi-led campaign in Yemen.
Khalid Al-Marfadi
OFAC designated Khalid Al-Marfadi (Al-Marfadi) for acting for or on behalf of, and for assisting in, sponsoring, or providing financial, material, or technological support for, or financial or other services to or in support of, ISIS-Y.
As of mid-2017, Al-Marfadi was an ISIS-Y leader in charge of the movements of ISIS-Y fighters. Furthermore, Al-Marfadi gave orders to the ISIS-Y commander of operations. Al-Marfadi was also involved in an ISIS-Y assassination cell targeting Yemeni security forces location in southern Yemen. As of mid-April 2016, Al-Marfadi, the ISIS-Y leader of Yafa, Yemen, was involved in the recruitment of fighters from Yafa for ISIS-Y, and ran a training camp in Yafa. Furthermore, as of mid-2016, Al-Marfadi was in charge of and prepared the vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices used by ISIS-Y that were fabricated and prepared in Lahij City, Lahij governorate, Yemen.
As of early 2016, Al-Marfadi was one of the individuals responsible for, or had advance knowledge of, the majority of ISIS-Y attacks in Yemen. Furthermore, Al-Marfadi was considered to be a decision maker within ISIS-Y and conducted many functions on behalf of the group. As of 2015, Al-Marfadi reportedly had approximately 50-60 ISIS-Y fighters working for him in Lahij governorate.
In addition, as of early 2016, Al-Marfadi sought to negotiate an agreement regarding ISIS-Y and AQAP joint operations in Yemen.
Sayf Abdulrab Salem Al-Hayashi
OFAC designated Sayf Abdulrab Salem Al-Hayashi (Al-Hayashi) for assisting in, sponsoring, or providing financial, material, or technological support for, or financial or other services to or in support of, AQAP.
As of 2016, Al-Hayashi was an AQAP weapons dealer who financed AQAP operations in Yemen, and had coordinated and financed shipments of weapons for AQAP leadership. As of mid-2016, he had reportedly traveled between Yemeni Governorates to meet with senior AQAP leaders whose money he handled.
In addition, as of mid-2015, Al-Hayashi facilitated a weapons deal on behalf of ISIS-Y.
Al-Hayashi moved from Al-Bayda governorate to Azzan governorate, Yemen in 1994 where he worked as an arms dealer for over 10 years. In 2005, Al-Hayashi and another individual opened a money exchange office located next to a store where he and that individual sold weapons. Al-Hayashi and this individual expanded their business, through which they traded contraband and drugs out to Mukalla, Hadramawt governorate, Sana’a, Sana’a governorate, and other areas in Yemen.
Al Khayr Supermarket
OFAC designated Al Khayr Supermarket for being owned or controlled by Al-Hayashi. As of 2016, Al-Hayashi co-owned the Al Khayr Supermarket locations in Azzan, Shabwah governorate, and Fuwwah, Hadramawt governorate, Yemen.
Abu Sulayman Al-Adani
OFAC designated Abu Sulayman Al-Adani (Al-Adani) for acting for or on behalf of ISIS-Y.
As of early March 2017, Al-Adani was the overall head of ISIS-Y, who was reportedly nominated in 2013 by Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi to be the emir of ISIS-Y and was also a reported ISIS-Y military commander as of late 2016. The State Department designated Al-Baghdadi, also known as Ibrahim Awwad Ibrahim Ali Al-Badri, as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist pursuant to E.O. 13224 on October 4, 2011.
Nashwan Al-Wali Al-Yafi’i
OFAC designated Nashwan Al-Wali Al-Yafi’i (Al-Yafi’i) for acting for or on behalf of ISIS-Y.
Al-Yafi’i was a finance leader of ISIS-Y as of early 2017. As of late-2016, Al-Yafi’i served as an ISIS-Y militant and chief financial officer for ISIS-Y in Yafi’i district, Lahij governorate, Yemen. Al-Yafi’i reported directly to ISIS-Y leader, Khalid Al-Marfadi, also designated today, and was associated with another ISIS-Y leader who propagated ISIS ideology in late 2016.
Khalid Sa’id Ghabish Al-Ubaydi
OFAC designated Khalid Sa’id Ghabish Al-Ubaydi (Ghabish) for acting for or on behalf of ISIS-Y.
As of early 2017, Ghabish transported and secured shipments of smuggled weapons to ISIS-Y secret locations and storage depots. As of late 2016, Ghabish was one of the most senior ISIS-Y members in Al-Ghaydah, Al-Mahrah governorate, Yemen, and was an ISIS-Y leader in Hadramawt governorate, Yemen. In 2014, Ghabish recruited youths to support ISIS-Y.
Bilal Ali Muhammad Al-Wafi
OFAC designated Bilal Ali Muhammad Al-Wafi (Al-Wafi) for acting for or on behalf of AQAP.
As of mid-2017, Al-Wafi was assessed to be a key member of AQAP in Taiz governorate. He was involved in the 2012 bombing of a Yemeni military parade rehearsal in Al-Sabin Square, Sanaa governorate, Yemen, where over 80 people died.

Puerto Rican Electrical Rebuild End-Up In Trump’s Pals’ Pockets?

[SEE:  Two-person energy firm’s $300 million contract to rebuild Puerto Rico’s electrical grid ]

Questions arise about Whitefish company’s Puerto Rico contract

By MACKENZIE REISS   Daily Inter Lake

 

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  Whitefish Energy CEO Andy Techmanski. (Seaborn Larson/Daily Inter Lake file)

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A Whitefish-based power company has secured a $300 million contract to restore electricity to Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurricane Maria, spurring questions from government agencies and Congress about why the 2-year-old operation from Montana was selected over larger, more experienced providers.

When Maria hit on Sept. 20, Whitefish Energy had just two employees, a spokesman told the Washington Post, and their largest contract to date was a $1.3 million agreement to repair a 4.8-mile transmission line in Arizona. A month later, Whitefish Energy announced their partnership with the government-owned utility Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, and reported they had been working with the company since Sept. 26 to repair and construct electrical transmission infrastructure on the island.

Puerto Rico’s power grid has been virtually destroyed by the storm, leaving an estimated 80 percent of residents without power weeks after the hurricane hit. Since arriving on the island, Whitefish Energy has provided daily updates of their work, along with video footage and photos of their crews in action on the company’s Facebook page. The company reported Monday that they had 280 workers on the island and has plans to mobilize an additional 700 personnel.

But the House Committee on Natural Resources is investigating the circumstances surrounding the awarding of the contract to Whitefish Energy. Communications director Parish Braden told the Daily Inter Lake on Tuesday that his agency wants to learn why the private entity was utilized as opposed to a cost-sharing agreement with other utilities.

“PREPA has stated that the upfront cost with the cost-sharing association would have been insurmountable, on the other hand, a $300 million contract somehow was,” Braden said.

Also causing concern is the state of PREPA itself, which is currently $9 billion in debt, not to mention Puerto Rico’s own dire situation — the U.S. territory filed for bankruptcy earlier this year with $72 billion of debt.

Monday, committee representatives met with an oversight board that was created to help manage the island’s debt, and will be in Puerto Rico this week to gather more information from PREPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is also working to repair the island.

Braden said the committee is working to verify that there is a “level of transparency” established to ensure that money is being spent properly, given Puerto Rico’s limited resources.

“(We’re) making sure duplicative money’s not being spent as far as work that Army Corps is doing and what PREPA is (doing),” he said. “This is a humanitarian crisis …. If you look into PREPA, there is a culture of corruption and mismanagement. Given the circumstance that they’re in now, 80 percent of the island without power …. at the end of the day, maybe this is the contract that would help expedite the work … we just don’t have the information.”

In an interview with Caribbean Business, Whitefish Energy Chief Executive Andy Techmanski defended his company’s work in Puerto Rico.

“We have mobilized hundreds of workers in a matter of weeks, we have a robust logistics team, we have about 12 people in Jacksonville, [Florida] who are managing the whole team and the people we bring in, plus the ones we have here,” he told the news outlet. “We are hiring staff and companies from here for various functions, translators, logistics personnel who know the island are helping us. And that has helped us accelerate the process.”

Techmanski is known locally for his proposal to develop a transformer manufacturing factory at the former Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. site last December. He lauded that the venture would create up to 1,000 jobs once the factory hit full production. The project would depend on $20 million in pre-odors for transformers from power companies Flathead Electric and NorthWestern Energy, before Techmanski would invest the $40 million necessary to construct the factory.

“Part of that was they wanted us to guarantee several years worth of orders ahead of time and we were reluctant to do that,” said NorthWestern Energy spokesman Butch Lacrombe. “Since then we haven’t heard much more about that.”

Lacrombe said NorthWestern has since purchased transformers through Brazlian transformer manufacturing company Comtrafo, which acquired 51 percent of Whitefish Energy last year.

The Post reported that Whitefish was one of two companies that PREPA reached out to in the wake of Hurricane Irma, which struck the commonwealth in early September, just a few weeks before Maria made landfall. After Maria hit, the other company in talks with PREPA requested $25 million to get to work, while Whitefish Energy was able to begin initial operations with less funding. Thus far, they’ve received $3.7 million to mobilize personnel and equipment, according to a copy of the contract obtained by the Inter Lake.

The contract also outlines hourly wages and supplementary employee charges. For example, hourly wages for a site supervisor are listed at $330, a project manager will earn $247 an hour and journeyman lineman will make $228 per hour. When asked for the reason behind the high wages, Whitefish Energy representative Brandon Smulyan told the Inter Lake he could not give an immediate answer.

For comparison, the national average hourly wage for a journeyman lineman is $37 per hour, according to Glassdoor.com.

“Something that we believe is really important is Whitefish Energy is down there working …. these guys are doing things every single day when other groups are still trying to plan and get things going,” Smulyan said.

The first Whitefish Energy workers had boots on the ground in Puerto Rico Oct. 2, and landed in groups of between 10 and 30 in subsequent days from all over the mainland, Braden said.

The company, founded in 2015, was designed to “scale up and down as big or as small as it needs to be,” Smulyan said Tuesday.

In addition to incurring criticism due to the size and young age of the company, Whitefish Energy has come under fire because of alleged ties to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, whose hometown is Whitefish.

Zinke’s office told the Inter Lake neither he, nor anyone in his office have taken any meetings or action on behalf of Whitefish Energy.

“The Zinkes and the Techmanskis know each other because they both live in a small town (population 6,000) where everyone knows everyone, and his son joined a friend who worked a summer job at one of their construction sites,” Interior press secretary Heather Swift stated in an email.

Democratic congressman Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona called for an investigation into the awarding of the contract, the Post reported Tuesday. He told the Post that Congress “needs to understand why the Whitefish contract was awarded and whether other, more cost-effective options were available.”

The contract between Whitefish and PREPA also outraged Luis Vega-Ramos, a member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives, who told the Daily Beast he considered Whitefish Energy “nothing more than a glorified middleman to get the real providers of the services”

“It is reprehensible that shameless profiteering is going on literally on the back of the devastated people of Puerto Rico,” he said.

Smulyan countered that the company is committed to their mission of restoring the island’s grid and has the skills necessary to do the job.

“I just think that Whitefish Energy is committed to seeing the mission through,” Smulyan said. “They were among the first on the ground and they are among the only groups out there in the field doing work every single day.”

Reporter Mackenzie Reiss may be reached at 758-4433 or mreiss@dailyinterlake.com.

Old Perv Pres Losing His Cloak of Invisibility

 

George H.W. Bush Apologizes After Actress Heather Lind Accuses Him of Sexual Assault

By Tom Porter

Former President George H.W. Bush has apologized for an “attempt at humor” after being accused of sexual assault by actress Heather Lind.

Lind, in a now-deleted Instagram post Tuesday, accused Bush, 93, of touching her from behind during a photo-op while in his wheelchair.

She said Bush’s wife, Barbara, was standing beside him during the 2014 photo-op for American Revolutionary War drama Turn: Washington’s Spies.

Actress Heather Lind poses during a photocall for the series ‘Turn’ during the MIPTV, on April 7, 2014 in Cannes, on the French Riviera. In an Instagram post she accused former president George H.W. Bush of sexual assault. VALERY HACHE/AFP/Getty Images

“I was disturbed today by a photo I saw of President Barack Obama shaking hands with George H. W. Bush in a gathering of ex-presidents organising aid to states and territories damaged by recent hurricanes,” said Lind, referring to Saturday’s benefit gig where all five living former U.S. presidents appeared on stage.

“I found it disturbing because I recognize the respect ex-presidents are given for having served. And I feel pride and reverence toward many of the men in the photo.

President George H.W. Bush arrives for the coin toss prior to Super Bowl 51 between the Atlanta Falcons and the New England Patriots at NRG Stadium on February 5, 2017 in Houston, Texas. The former president issued an apology after being accused of sexual assault by actress Heather Lind. Patrick Smith/Getty Images

“But when I got the chance to meet George H. W. Bush four years ago to promote a historical television show I was working on, he sexually assaulted me while I was posing for a similar photo.

“He didn’t shake my hand. He touched me from behind from his wheelchair with his wife Barbara Bush by his side. He told me a dirty joke.

“And then, all the while being photographed, touched me again. Barbara rolled her eyes as if to say ‘not again’.”

Lind said that after the event, security staff working for Bush told her she should not have stood next to the former president.

In a statement Jim McGrath, a spokesman for the former president, said: “President Bush would never—under any circumstance—intentionally cause anyone distress, and he most sincerely apologizes if his attempt at humor offended Ms. Lind.”

In the lengthy post, Lind said:  “We were instructed to call him Mr. President. It seems to me a President’s power is in his or her capacity to enact positive change, actually help people, and serve as a symbol of our democracy,’ the lengthy post went on.

“He relinquished that power when he used it against me and, judging from the comments of those around him, countless other women before me.”

She said that she told other members of the cast and crew on the AMC series about the alleged assault.

“My fellow cast-mates and producers helped me that day and continue to support me. I am grateful for the bravery of other women who have spoken up and written about their experiences,” she said.

“And I thank President Barack Obama for the gesture of respect he made toward George H. W. Bush for the sake of our country, but I do not respect him. #metoo.’

Lind posted the accusation under the trending #meetoo hashtag, under which women have shared experiences of sexual assault after rape allegations were leveled at Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.

Bush has vascular parkinsonism, a rare syndrome that mimics Parkinson’s disease, and has used a motorized scooter or wheelchair in recent years.

Two-person energy firm’s $300 million contract to rebuild Puerto Rico’s electrical grid

This is Google’s cache of http://www.buzzfile.com/business/Whitefish-Energy-Holdings,-LLC-406-471-4668. It is a snapshot of the page as it appeared on Oct 22, 2017

Whitefish Energy Holdings, LLC

Business Description

Whitefish Energy Holdings is located in Whitefish, Montana. This organization primarily operates in the Electric Power Line Construction business / industry within the Heavy Construction, Except Building Construction, Contractor sector. This organization has been operating for approximately 2 years. Whitefish Energy Holdings is estimated to generate $165,761 in annual revenues, and employs approximately 2 people at this single location.

Two-person energy firm’s $300 million Puerto Rico contract raises eyebrows

 

 

William Cummings

Whitefish reels in $300M Puerto Rico power contract

A small company you’ve never heard of just landed the huge task of

restoring power to Puerto Rico.

 

(Photo: Whitefish Energy)

 

A $300 million contract to help rebuild Puerto Rico’s electrical infrastructure, which was awarded to a small, two-year-old Montana company that had only two employees when Hurricane Maria struck the U.S. territory, has sparked calls for an investigation from both Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill.

In addition to its size and relative inexperience, the fact that Whitefish Energy Holdings is based in Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s hometown of Whitefish, Mont., is fueling questions about how Whitefish Energy Holdings secured the lucrative contract. The former Montana congressman’s son also had a summer job at a Whitefish construction site.

A spokesman for House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop, R-Utah, agreed that congressional review was needed. The committee has jurisdiction over Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories.

More: Five weeks after Maria most of Puerto Rico remains an island in the dark

“The size and unknown details of this contract raise numerous questions. This is one of many things the committee is taking a close look at as it continues to work with the resident commissioner, governor’s office and oversight board to ensure Puerto Rico’s recovery is robust, effective and sustained,” said Parish Braden, a spokesman for Bishop.

“Congress needs to understand why the Whitefish contract was awarded and whether other, more cost-effective options were available,” Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva, D-Ariz., the senior Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee, said in a statement.

Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said she has asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate the contract award to Whitefish Energy, which she called a “brand-new company with two employees.”

Whitefish Energy announced the contract last week but Whitefish spokesman Ken Luce said the company has been on the ground in Puerto Rico since Oct. 2.

In that time, Whitefish Energy said it has put 300 people to work, mostly subcontractors, repairing the critical power lines that run through the Island’s mountains. Twenty more workers are arriving each day, Luce said, and overall, the company plans to add 700 more.

 

President Trump and the first lady visit Puerto Rico

President Donald Trump takes a walking tour to survey hurricane damage and recovery efforts in a neighborhood in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico on Oct. 3, 2017.  Evan Vucci, AP

President Donald Trump takes a walking tour to survey hurricane damage and recovery efforts in a neighborhood in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico on Oct. 3, 2017.  Evan Vucci, AP

“Anybody in Washington who is critical of Whitefish Energy getting this contract should be asking why is nobody else getting any work done,” Luce said. “We’re getting work done every day.”

Whitefish Energy is “a two-person firm with a business model to ramp up,” Luce explained. “The majority of the industry operates the same way. You have a core group of people with expertise” who find the workers and subcontractors needed to get a given job done.

“If you want to question the business model look at 300 people working there from October 2 to today,” Luce said.

Luce also said Zinke’s friendship with CEO Andy Techmanski “had nothing whatsoever to do with the contract” and that Zinke didn’t even know about it until the deal was already done.

The Interior Department denied that Zinke played any role in the contract award.

“Neither the secretary nor anyone in his office have taken any meetings or action on behalf of this company,” the department said in a statement.

Zinke and Techmanskis know each other “because they both live in a small town where everyone knows everyone,” the statement said.

A Puerto Rican C-130 stands intact inside the hangar doors which were ripped off by Hurricane Maria. Much of on Muniz Air National Guard base suffered damage, especially the hangars. Engineers are frantically working to repair the air field on Saturday, September 23.  Richard Johnson–(1-14 HERE)

A Puerto Rican C-130 stands intact inside the hangar doors which were ripped off by Hurricane Maria. Much of on Muniz Air National Guard base suffered damage, especially the hangars. Engineers are frantically working to repair the air field on Saturday, September 23.  Richard Johnson

Maria hit the island on Sept. 20 as a Category 4 storm, killing more than 50 people and knocking out electricity to the whole island. More than a month later, only 30% of customers have power.

Luce said Whitefish had a team in Puerto Rico on Sept. 26  to meet with representatives of the beleaguered Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority. With the power still out, they poured over maps by smartphone light as the Whitefish Energy made its pitch.

Ricardo Ramos, PREPA’s director, said Whitefish was one of two companies on the government’s shortlist. The other company wanted a $25 million down payment due to the risk of working with PREPA, which filed for bankruptcy in July.

Luce agreed that PREPA’s financial troubles drove many competitors away. He said Whitefish Energy’s willingness to take the risk of dealing with the Island’s troubled power authority, coupled with the Whitefish Energy’s proficiency in rugged, mountain work landed them the deal.

Luce acknowledged that a relatively unestablished company landing this contract “would be highly unusual” were it not for those two deciding factors. He was confident that any congressional concerns about Whitefish Energy will be answered by the results on the ground.

“We respect the governor’s call for the island to be at 95% (power restored) by Christmas,” Luce said. “We are doing everything we can to meet that goal for the island.”

Contributing: The Associated Press

 

 

Drafting 1,000 Retired Pilots, B-52s Back On 24-hr Duty….Fake News, Or Just Big Balls?

[Trump is NOT FUCKING AROUND, FOLKS.  At some point in the Trump run, it is inevitable that the “war horses” of the USAF, fifty-year old B-52s will be warmed-up, with the intention of flying them into the conflict zone with full nuclear and non-nuclear payloads.  This Newsweek article posted below builds on the breaking news, or “Fake News” item which was released yesterday through Google News, on recalling 1,000 pilots ( SEE: Can USAF “Draft” 1,000 Retired Pilots?–(too many targets).]

[Preparing a Simple Fallout Shelter]

Nuclear Bombers Poised to Return to 24-Hour Alert After Trump Recalls Retired Pilots

 

 

By Graham Lanktree

 

The U.S. Air Force is preparing for nuclear armed B-52 bombers to be put back on 24-hour alert for the first time in 25 years as tensions rise between North Korea and President Donald Trump.

“I look at it more as not planning for any specific event, but more for the reality of the global situation we find ourselves in and how we ensure we’re prepared going forward,” General David Goldfein, Air Force chief of staff, told Defense One in an interview Sunday.

While the order to have the bombers on alert hasn’t been given by the heads of U.S. Strategic Command or U.S. Northern Command, Gen. Goldfein—a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff—said that in the current political climate the Air Force anticipates that it might come. “This is yet one more step in ensuring that we’re prepared,” he said of the preparations.

In recent months U.S. President Donald Trump has said military options against North Korea are on the table if Pyongyang does not end its nuclear weapons program. Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

The last time the bombers were on 24-hour alert was during the Cold War. About 40 strategic bombers armed with nuclear weapons were ready to take off at a moment’s notice from the president from 11 Strategic Air Command bases around the world. The alert was ended in 1991 by the then President George H.W. Bush after the end of the Cold War.

The prospect of returning to 24-hour alert worried former diplomats. “Very hard to understand what would justify returning to costly practice of keeping B-52s on alert, a practice abandoned by GHW Bush in 1991,” wrote Steven Pifer‏, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine and foreign service diplomat in Moscow on Twitter.

“Something’s brewing & it makes me queasy,” wrote Adam Blickstein, a former public affairs strategic planner for the Secretary of Defense, online, noting that last Friday President Trump signed an executive order so the Air Force could bring 1,000 pilots out of retirement.

Read more: North Korea says nuclear weapons are a ‘matter of life and death’ and refuses to talk to U.S.

On Sunday a spokeswoman for the Air Force said there are no plans to “recall retired pilots to address the pilot shortage.”

Over the summer President Trump threatened military action and “fire and fury like the world has never seen” against North Korea after a series of tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) by Pyongyang. The regime has also conducted underground nuclear weapons tests.

In early October Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told the Senate Armed Services Committee that while the U.S. needed to “ensure we have military options,” that Trump told him and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to pursue diplomatic efforts.

Yet during an interview with the Fox Business Network broadcast Sunday Trump said “you would be shocked to see how totally prepared we are” for military action against Pyongyang. “Would it be nice not to do that? The answer is yes. Will that happen? Who knows, who knows,” he said.

“The world is a dangerous place and we’ve got folks that are talking openly about use of nuclear weapons,” Goldfein said. “It’s no longer a bipolar world where it’s just us and the Soviet Union. We’ve got other players out there who have nuclear capability. It’s never been more important to make sure that we get this mission right.”

Can USAF “Draft” 1,000 Retired Pilots?–(too many targets)

Air Force could recall as many as 1,000 retired pilots to address serious shortage

 

 

Tom Vanden Brook and Gregory Korte, USA TODAY

The Air Force’s ranks grew during the 2016 fiscal year, so why is there still a shortage of pilots. The Air Force is currently 1,500 pilots short of the 20,300 it is mandated to have. USA TODAY

(Photo: Evan Vucci, AP)

WASHINGTON — President Trump signed an executive order Friday allowing the Air Force to recall as many as 1,000 retired pilots to active duty to address a shortage in combat fliers, the White House and Pentagon announced.

By law, only 25 retired officers can be brought back to serve in any one branch. Trump’s order removes those caps by expanding a state of national emergency declared by President George W. Bush after 9/11, signaling what could be a significant escalation in the 16-year-old global war on terror.

“We anticipate that the Secretary of Defense will delegate the authority to the Secretary of the Air Force to recall up to 1,000 retired pilots for up to three years,” Navy Cdr. Gary Ross, a Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement.

But the executive order itself is not specific to the Air Force, and could conceivably be used in the future to call up more officers and in other branches.

More: Army is accepting more low-quality recruits, giving waivers for marijuana to hit targets

The Air Force needs about 1,500 pilots more than it has. Bonus programs and other incentives have not made up the shortfall.

The Air Force has been at the forefront of the Pentagon’s battle against the Islamic State, flying most of the combat sorties in Iraq and Syria since 2014.

In June, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., labeled the pilot shortage a crisis that would prevent the Air Force from fulfilling its mission.

“This is a full-blown crisis, and if left unresolved, it will call into question the Air Force’s ability to accomplish its mission,” said McCain, chairman of the Armed Services Committee.

Richard Aboulafia, an aviation analyst and vice president of the Teal Group, said the shortage stemmed from a number of issues.

“One is competition from commercial airlines,” Aboulafia said. “Another is delays and funding shortfalls in training. And, due to military operations, utilization of the aircraft and crew has been higher than expected.”

More: A permanent emergency: Trump becomes third president to renew extraordinary post-9/11 powers

On Capitol Hill, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and a member of Armed Services Committee, said that the fight against Islamic State and al-Qaeda linked terrorists will be expanding. He spoke to reporters while speaking about the four U.S. soldiers killed Oct. 4 in Niger.

Counter-terrorism rules under President Obama had been too restrictive and ineffective, Graham said.

“The war is morphing,” Graham said. “You’re going to see more actions in Africa, not less. You’re going to see more aggression by the United States toward our enemies, not less. You’re going to have decisions made not in the White House but out in the field. And I support that entire construct.”

Last month, President Trump became the third president to renew the post-9/11 state of national emergency, which allows the president to call up the national guard, hire and fire officers and delay retirements.

Those extraordinary powers were supposed to be temporary. But even after 16 years, there’s been no congressional oversight of the emergency.

Captured ISIS Fighter Confesses Subordination To US Orders

[SEE:  If the Script Calls for Credible “Bad Guys,” Then Invent Some! 

The so-called “war on terror” has been a series of staged events since its inception, the day of the biggest staged event of all time.  The only part of the terror war which has NOT been staged for the befuddlement of the American sheeple was the original 9-week, post 9-11 war in 2001, to chase al-Qaida out of Afghanistan.  After the CIA ran out of targets there, after the Battle of Tora Bora (where Bin Laden and the Al-Q heirarchy was allowed to flee into Pakistan’s FATA Region, before the Arab leader succumbed to his wounds), the CIA and Pentagon have arranged further battles through a sort of contractual arrangement with chosen managers of new phases of the “War”, such as Pakistani dictator General Pervez Musharraf (SEE: General Gambit ), who, almost singlehandedly, breathed new life into the nearly dead Taliban, slowly nursing them back to health by late 2003, early 2004, when they started anew as the “neo-Taliban.”

The Pentagon needed a believeable 30 year/infinite war in Asia, but, in the efficiency of their post 911 wrath, they almost destroyed “al-Qaeda”, a paper-tiger enemy which they needed very badly.  Al-Qaeda was NOT rebuilt, like Musharraf did with the Taliban, it was dismembered and reprogrammed, to teach new generations of Islamist terrorists.  EVERY significant Islamist terror network since then has been founded on these little seeds of “al-Qaeda”, after first proberly “germinating” them in the torture cells of Guantanamo Bay, Bagram, or dozens of other Black Sites.  “Al-Qaeda” is now more of a process than it is an organization, patterned after the AFPAK solution…terror armies are created from Islamists, mercenaries and criminals, to be then “destroyed”, after an appropriately long TV “war” is staged, or waged.

Iraq was a clearly illegal “war” of aggression, a personal “grudge war” with Saddam Hussein, for the Bush family.  Tight control over the Western corporate media enabled the Bush Administration to hide the criminal nature of this vast series of war crimes, which proved to be incredibly easy due to the extreme gullibility of the American people.  Once again, another paper-tiger enemy, this time the Iraqi Army, quickly folded-up, leaving nothing but police work for the great coalition, after the fall of Baghdad.  But the police work became a secretive nationwide, terrorist-training operation, first producing “al-Qaeda In Iraq”, later to be transmuted into ISIS in military internment Camp Bucca in southern Iraq.

It goes on and on, as the Pentagon/CIA play-out this massive charade, and call it a “WAR”.  Wars require at least two “combatants”, NOT a superpower and a piss-ant.]

A road sign welcomes people to the town of Deir al-Zor in Syria September 20, 2017. Picture taken September 20, 2017. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki

U.S.-backed militias seize key oil field in east Syria: SDF

 “BEIRUT (Reuters) – U.S.-backed militias said they captured a major oil field in Deir al-Zor province on Sunday, pressing their offensive against Islamic State fighters in eastern Syria.”

[Why ISIS Exists: The Double Game]
[A Furnace Seal’d: The Wondrous Death Squads of the American Elite]
[Fat Pig of Qatar Financing Hollywood Production of Fall of Damascus]

William Casey, CIA Director 1981-1987

“We’ll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false.”

Breaking video: ISIS fighter admits that ISIS is forbidden to attack Kurdish forces in Deir Ezzor

 

 

By Andrew Illingworth

source

BEIRUT, LEBANON (2:50 P.M.) – A video has just been released on social media showing the interview of an ISIS fighter from Deir Ezzor who admits that the terrorist group’s forces in the region are forbidden by their commanders from attacking US-backed, Kurdish-led militias.

The interviewee, Mohammed Moussa al-Shawwakh, says that his group, tasked with defending the area around the Conoco Gas Fields, was ordered to allow Kurdish forces to enter the strategic site. The order, he says, came from a top regional emir (leader) called Abu Zaid.

The ISIS fighter’s confession goes on to mention that Kurdish-led forces were also allowed to enter other gas and oil fields in the region in order to make propaganda videos.

Mohammed finishes the interview by saying that he knows for a fact that the US is attempting to establish an alliance between Kurdish forces and ISIS in Deir Ezzor province in order to undermine government-led military efforts to liberate the region.

Trailing the MGM and Gun Stock Sales Leading To the Men Who Knew Las Vegas Massacre Was Coming

Insider Trading and Financial Anomalies Surrounding the Las Vegas Attack

  Kip Herriage -VRAletter.com

 

Insider Trading and Financial Anomalies Surrounding the Las Vegas Attack

October 7, 2017

Note: With this report, I make no claim to specific knowledge of any wrongdoing or improprieties. Instead, this report includes trading patterns, news releases and/or public record SEC filings.

We will examine the share price movements of two gun manufacturers (American Outdoor Brands and Sturm Ruger) and the share price movement of MGM (which owns Mandalay Bay). We will also examine additional financial events surrounding MGM, including what can only be referred to as massive levels of insider selling in the shares of MGM, by the CEO/Chairman and MGM officers/directors. As you’ll see, more than $200 million in MGM shares were sold in the weeks leading up to the attack.

Background. Interesting Trading Patterns in AOBC, RGR and MGM.

Over the course of my 32 years in the investment industry I have constructed a proprietary investing model that I refer to as the “VRA Trading & Investing System”. In short, its design is to track money flows in the stock market and detect sector and stock analysis/movements that then alert me as to when/where money is flowing in the markets.

For example, prior to the 2016 Presidential Elections, the VRA System noticed that the share price of gun manufacturers had begun to decline rapidly. This was one of our first financial clues that Trump might beat Clinton (Trump’s strong support of 2A). As you can see below, American Outdoor Brands (AOBC, formerly Smith & Wesson), hit a high of $31/share in August of 2016. As the bottom began to fall out, it would ultimately drop 55% in price, before hitting its low price of just over $13 on 9/11/17.

The market is referred to as a “discounting mechanism” and as such, it often predicts future events. It certainly did so in the case of the election and the share price of AOBC.

We see the same trading pattern in gun manufacturer Sturm Ruger (RGR). RGR traded as high as $73 in March of 2016 before ultimately dropping 37%, when it too bottomed within one trading day of AOBC hitting it’s lows (9/8/17). Again, my system noted the rapid decline in gun stocks, which led me to believe that Trump may in fact win the election. Remember this point; both AOBC and RGR hit their lows at the same time, just over two weeks prior to the Las Vegas shooting.

Something Changed in September

Let’s now examine the trading patterns of AOBC and RGR in detail, just over two weeks “prior” to the attack. As you can see, AOBC bottomed on 9/11/17 at $13.30 before the spike higher began. From 9/11 to just after the attack, AOBC rose 23% in price. It did so on a noticeable increase in buy-side trading volumes.

Below, we see the same chart and reaction in the shares of Sturm Ruger (RGR). From it’s 9/8/17 lows, RGR bottomed at $46.25 and then spiked to $55.90 just after the attack, for a move higher of 21%.

After falling in price from early-mid 2016 to their early September 2017 lows, the two largest publicly traded gun manufacturers bottomed, then spiked higher, at almost exactly the same time. In addition, buy-side volume increases rose sharply as well.

And, while not covered in this report (more work is needed), we also saw a spike in call option purchases in both AOBC and RGR, in the days/weeks leading up to the attack.

This final chart shows the share price of MGM (owner of Mandalay Bay) in the days leading up to the attack to present. MGM shares declined more than 10%, from 9/7/17 to recent lows. This decline occurred as some $200 million in insider selling was taking place.

Bottom line: Beginning in early-mid September to this report, gun manufactures AOBC and RGR rose in price 23% and 21% (on higher trading volumes), while the shares of MGM fell in price by 11% (as $200 million in insider selling occurred).

MGM: Heavy Levels of Insider Selling

As the SEC insider transaction reports below detail, from 9/5/17 to 9/12/17, approximately 6 million shares of MGM were sold by officers and/or directors of the company, totaling approximately $200 million in proceeds to sellers. Included in this group is the selling of approximately 450,000 shares by MGM CEO and Chairman James Murren (a seller of size since late July) and who appears to have sold more than 85% of all holdings. We also see that MGM Board member Grounds William Warwick sold 176 million shares of his MGM stock on 9/6/17.

We have no indication that MGM insiders sold these 6 million shares due to any advance knowledge of the 10/1 attack. I am not making that claim. I am simply pointing out facts that cannot be in question.

But I will make a few observations:

1) If MGM/Mandalay Bay were to lose law suits associated with this attack, the downside risks to MGM share price may be extensive.

2) We also know that MGM CEO James Murren was appointed to the Homeland Security National Infrastructure Advisory Council by President Obama in December 2013. This fact could make for some interesting depositions, as it relates to exactly what type of advanced security systems Mandalay Bay had in place, leading up to and on the night of 10/1/17.

“The National Infrastructure Advisory Council is tasked with providing the president with advice on the “security of the critical infrastructure sectors and their information systems.” The council is composed of a maximum of 30 members, appointed by the president, from private industry, academia and state and local government.”

3) I am also aware of the fact that MGM put options activity spiked as well (needs more work), beginning at the same time gun stocks were rising and MGM was falling in price.

4) For those curious about the trading in other major Las Vegas Hotel casino stocks, during this same time frame, this also needs more work. However, I can report that at the same time MGM’s share price was falling, the share prices of Las Vegas Sands (LVS) and Wynn Resorts (WYNN) were actually rising.

Closing:

In closing, let me repeat; I make no claims or assertions that anyone mentioned in this piece has done anything nefarious. They likely did not.

The question I might ask is, “Did someone else profit from the heinous acts of 10/1/17? Possibly the planners?”

Like many of you, I am interested and I am asking questions. I also remember that during 9/11/01, reports surfaced widely in the financial media that “many, many millions” in profits were made off of the purchase of put options in the shares of United Airlines and American Airlines, the two airliners that operated the four aircraft that were hijacked on 9/11 (among other well-documented reports of large put option purchases in numerous companies that had the most exposure to a shocked US economy).

There’s more…like the recent trading pattern in OSIS, which makes “detection systems” of all kinds (similar to their subsidiary “Rapiscan”, which makes the TSA body scanners that were put in place following 9/11). Many are wondering how long it might be before we are forced to walk through similar devices, as we enter hotels/casinos.

I will continue to follow this story. Should you have information that might assist in my research, you can reach me at kip@vraletter.com.

I am a proud American. I want the best for our country. Wherever the truth leads us, that is where we must go. Follow the money.

Kip Herriage

VRALetter.com

CIA Fake News About Taliban/ISIS Deal Falls Flat On Its Face In Nangarhar

[This completely disproves the US/Afghan Fake News that Taliban Chief Akhundzada (Pakistani officials accompanied Taliban leader to Helmand: Afghan general) came to Kandahar, accompanied by Pakistani ISI officials to strike a peace treaty between Taliban and ISIS.]

Civilians among dozens killed in Taliban-Daesh clashes

By Yousuf Zarifi

JALALABAD (Pajhwok): At least eight civilians and 26 militants were killed during clashes between Taliban and Daesh groups in the Khogyani district of eastern Nangarhar province.

Another four civilians and dozens of militants were wounded after the two rival groups started attacking each other six days ago, displacing about two thousands families from Wazir Tangi area, said the Nangarhar governor’s spokesman.

Attaullah Khogyani said so far 12 Daesh gunmen and 16 Taliban men had been killed and eight Daesh and five Taliban wounded during the ongoing clashes.

He said the provincial government had started surveying the displaced families, adding Governor Mohammad Gulab Mangal held an emergency meeting with donors late on Thursday night to help the displaced families.

The meeting decided to dispatch an authorized delegation with relief goods to the Khogyani district on Friday.

Khogyani said the authorities concerned had started distributing six types of food and non-food items to the displaced families.

He said the Red Crescent Society would distribute food and non-food items to 100 of the affected families today (Friday) ahead of the survey’s completion.

The two rival militant groups have so far said nothing about their latest infighting.

Pentagon’s War Crimes Grow, They Just Laid Claim To Central Syria, Where Syria’s Oil Is

[Raqqa rolls: The Islamic State takes a hit, but isn’t out ]

[Syrian Oil Ministry Announces Huge Oil and Gas find offshore, the Next Day Obama Signs Ex. Order Freezing Syrian Assets]

[Destroying the Syrian Nation For the Sake of Gas]

[Oil and Gas find offshore Syria motive for US Israeli mercenary uprising and bloodshed in Syria]

[Obama Administration Asserts Its Inherent Right To Overthrow the Syrian Government]

[Imperial Plan To Use Civil War As Gas and Oil Valve]

A fighter of Syrian Democratic Forces walks towards a clock tower in Raqqa, Syria October 18, 2017. Picture taken October 18, 2017. REUTERS/Erik De Castro

Raqqa to be part of decentralized Syria, U.S.-backed SDF says

BEIRUT (Reuters) – The Syrian city of Raqqa and surrounding province will be part of a decentralized federal Syria, the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militia that captured the city from Islamic State (IS) said on Friday.

“We pledge to protect the borders of the province against all external threats, and we confirm that the future of Raqqa province will be determined by its people within the framework of a decentralized, federal democratic Syria in which the people of the province will run their own affairs,” the SDF said in a statement formally declaring Raqqa’s capture from IS.

Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Catherine Evans

Journalist Behind Panama Papers Leak, Blown Up in Her Car In Malta

Running Commentary

Journalist Behind Panama Papers Leak, Blown Up in Her Car

Semtex explosive believed used in Caruana

Galizia murder

 

The compound [Semtex] is often used by terrorist organisations

A plastic explosive, “much more powerful” than that used in previous car bombs, is believed to have caused the blast that killed journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia on Monday.

Police sources said the sheer force of the explosion and an account by an eyewitness of what happened when the bomb went off pointed to the use of Semtex, a demolition compound often used by terrorist organisations in large-scale attacks.

The sources added that if it had indeed been Semtex, it would be a first in Malta.

It is not clear if the bomb was in the car or on the road.

Frans Sant, who lives down the road from Caruana Galizia, has described the moment her car exploded saying there was a small explosion (possibly a detonator) followed by a more powerful explosion (the main charge).

Dutch forensic experts arrived yesterday to assist in their investigation. The FBI have also been called in.

America’s Tie-Eating Puppet, Saakashvili, Inaugurates Latest U.S. “Color Revolution” From Center of Kiev, Today

In the United States made a statement on the situation with Saakashvili

Saakashvili shared his plans for a new revolution in Ukraine

Saakashvili breaks into Ukraine: the court arrested another participant

 

In the center of Kiev there are explosions

 

 

Today, October 17, in Kiev under the Rada is a rally, organized by the ex-President of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili, and from the Mariinsky Park at this time, explosions began to be heard.

Later, the correspondent of “Vesti” said that the explosions are gunshots, which are located behind the Mariinsky Palace. Is there any connection between the explosions and rallies under the Rada, while there is no confirmed information.

However, as the correspondent “Vesti” learned, these salutes are dedicated to the visit of the President of Malta to Kiev. In general, earlier, the same for Poroshenko explained the overlap of the many central streets of the capital.

Photo: “Vesti”

About what is going on at the rally near the Rada, read here from the online broadcast of “Vesti”: Saakashvili’s anti-corruption party in Kiev.

Pentagon Sponsoring Both Kurdish and Iraqi Sides In Kirkuk Dogfight

[LIVE: Iraqi forces, Shiite militia engage in fighting with Peshmerga south of Kirkuk ]

Iraq says captures positions south of Kirkuk including airbase

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraqi forces captured several positions south of Kirkuk from Kurdish fighters on Monday in their bid to regain control of the oil-rich city, which is part of a region that declared itself independent at a referendum last month.

Members of Iraqi federal forces enter oil fields in Kirkuk, Iraq October 16, 2017. REUTERS/Stringer

The territory captured included a key airbase called K1, the North Gas Company station, a nearby processing plant, a power plant and the industrial district, an Iraqi military statement said.

The Iraqi armed “forces are continuing to advance,” it said.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) did not confirm the capture of these positions but major Kurdish TV channel Rudaw said Kurdish Peshmerga forces retreated form positions south of Kirkuk.

The city of Kirkuk is under Kurdish control but the advance of Iraqi forces to the industrial zone put them in control its southern access.

Iraq launched the operation in the multi-ethnic region early on Sunday, amid an escalating crisis between the Iraqi government and the KRG over the Sept. 25 referendum.

Reporting by Maher Chmaytelli; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Sayyed Nasrallah–US Delaying Fight against ISIL, Wants a Conspirator in Baabda

Sayyed Nasrallah: US Delaying Fight

against ISIL, Wants a Conspirator in

Baabda

 

6 days ago October 8, 2017

Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah on Oct 8, 2017

Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah said the battle against ISIL in Syria’s Badia region, Deir Ezzor, Mayadeen, al-Boukamal and the Syrian-Iraqi border was inevitable and is still inevitable because the battle will only end after the terrorist group would be eradicated completely.

In a televised memorial speech Sunday afternoon marking one week since the martyrdom of Hezbollah commander Ali Al-Asheq and fighter Mohammad Nassereddine at a ceremony in the Bekaa Valley’s Al-Ain, Sayyed Nasrallah said ISIL was recently ousted from a lot of cities and towns, “and if anyone believes that the battle must stop before reaching the Syrian-Iraqi border, I tell them that ISIL’s strategy is to extend its existence, so it may attack again and would wage wars and battles against liberated villages, so they are a cancerous tumor that must be eradicated.”

“ISIL has recently tried to regain the initiative, and had it not been for the heroic confrontations that the Syrian army and resistance fighters fought, it would have been possible for the battle to take another course.”

Sayyed Nasrallah accused the US of backing ISIL terrorists and of delaying battles against it. “The US is trying to prevent and delay the battle with ISIL and only helps when its allies control liberated areas.”

“The US didn’t want the battle against ISIL in the Lebanese outskirts and pressured the Lebanese government and army, it even stopped its military aid for a period of time,” Sayyed Nasrallah said.

Hezbollah S.G. unleashed a new scheme against Iran and Hezbollah. “We are before a new scheme in the region, the Saudi-US scheme, and at the forefront of those who they want to get rid of is Iran. The problem of the US is that Iran was an essential factor in bringing down the Saudi-US scheme in the region.” There’s a new talk on a new policy in battling Hezbollah, even Russia won’t be excluded, his eminence warned, adding the US policy and sanctions, even though it affects Lebanon’s economy, won’t change anything in our position and course.

His eminence also responded to remarks voiced earlier in the day by firebrand Saudi State Minister for Gulf Affairs Thamer al-Sabhan.

“Al-Sabhan’s statement is a positive development because it acknowledges that sanctions are not the solution. He also admitted that Hezbollah is a major regional force that can only be confronted through a strict international coalition and this means that seeking Lebanese alliances to confront Hezbollah was something ineffective,” Sayyed Nasrallah said.

In a comment posted to his official Twitter account, Al-Sabhan praised the United States’ sanctions against Hezbollah and called for an international coalition against the resistance party. “The US sanctions on the terrorist militia party in Lebanon are good, but the solution will be for a strict international coalition to combat it and those who work with it, in order to achieve security and regional peace,” he said on Sunday.

Hezbollah Secretary General, however, said Hezbollah was too big to be targeted by a local coalition “and Saudi’s Al-Sabhan knows that Saudi rulers are too weak to do anything against us so he resorted to an international coalition.”

He also responded to Sabhan’s claims of being keen on regional peace and stability. “Regional peace and security can only be achieved when Saudi Arabia stops backing Wahhabist groups.” “Saudi Arabia is preventing security and peace in Yemen, Bahrain, Iraq and Pakistan. On the other hand, Hezbollah is one of the factors of regional peace and security, which are being threatened by Saudi Arabia, Israel and America behind them,” his eminence added.

“We want the elections to be held on time, we want the continuation of political dialogue and we want the government to do its job. We want it to address the financial crisis and to implement the new wage scale,” Sayyed Nasrallah said, adding the US was bothered President Michel Aoun isn’t an agent for them and doesn’t serve as a subservient to the US Embassy in Awkar, so they accuse him of being an Hezbollah agent. “Aoun represents a popular majority in Lebanon and is a real national guarantee and whatever the Americans say will change nothing.”

“The resistance axis is much stronger nowadays,” he went on to say. The hand that will extend to Lebanon will be cut off regardless where it may come from, and the conspirators against the country are doomed to fail, Sayyed Nasrallah warned.

Sayyed Nasrallah praised all supporters who marched in the tenth of Muharram and in martyrs’ farewells chanting “We won’t leave you Oh Hussein,” saying they were the true honest believers.

In his speech, Hezbollah leader noted that Martyr Al-Ashek won’t hesitate to be in the forefront of any battle, “he spent all his youth in the fronts and was a father for all fighters, he martyred while being in the front lines.” “Martyr Ali Al-Ashek was one of the commanders of the first victory in 2000 and the second one in 2006,” he said.

“Today, Bekaa villages and Hermel live in peace and security thanks for the martyrs like Nassereddine and Al-Ashek,” Sayyed Nasrallah said. He hailed those parents who drive their lone sons for Jihad and urge the resistance commanders to accept them in Hezbollah ranks, noting that he had received many letters from mothers of those sons urging me to annul the decision that prevents their sons from fighting among Hezbollah ranks because they’re the only sons of their families. “For all those who accuse us that we force youth to fight in the fronts I tell them that it’s their families who are driving them for Jihad,” his eminence said.

Source: Al-Manar Website

Israel Did It All

Las Vegas Shooting Victim Reports He Was Shot By Gunman On Ground Has Horizontal Bullet Entry Wounds

[My source for this article, The New York News Day, has been deleted from the Internet.  The original source was Neon Nettle, which is still up and running.]

Las Vegas Shooting Victim: ‘I Was Shot by

a Gunman in the Crowd’

 

Rocky Palermo

 

Man gunned down by an attacker with a machine gun in the crowd blows the whistle.

One of the victims of the Las Vegas shooting has blown the whistle to reveal that he was shot by multiple gunmen during the massacre.Rocky Palermo was shot by a gunman in the crowd during Sunday night’s mass shooting and says he has the evidence to prove it.He says there were between 3-5 active shooters firing weapons into the crowd and says there was gunfire coming from the ground as well as from above.Palermo was rushed to hospital after taking a .223 round to the pelvis and still has 30-40 pieces of bullet shrapnel still inside his body.Doctors told him the bullet was inches from paralyzing or even killing him.Mr. Palmero confirmed that his injury was caused by an attacker on the ground and that the bullet was fired at his with a horizontal trajectory and wasn’t fired down from above, although weapons were being fired from “all angles”.Oddly, Rocky says he has been trying to contact the FBI to give them his eyewitness account of what happened on that night, but his requests have been ignored by agents investigating the case.

Blast reports: Palermo — an avid hunter familiar with guns and ballistics — says the different trajectories of gunfire was extremely evident, even in the midst of chaos.He is skeptical of the information being given by authorities regarding Stephen Paddock being a “lone wolf” gunman and has a theory as to why cops don’t buy it.Further, Palermo is questioning why certain exits out of the venue were suddenly closed off just before the shooting but claims the same exits were open during the previous nights of the concert.

Palermo says he relayed his theory to the FBI during an interview while being discharged from the hospital, but has not heard any follow up since.

Aussie Witness Reports Multiple Shooters At Las Vegas Massacre

Las Vegas shooting: Queensland

eyewitness to Mandalay attack

Sally Rawsthorne, Torny Miller, Jack McKay, The Courier-Mail

• LATEST NEWS: Mandalay Bay casino Las Vegas shooting
• EYEWITNESS: ‘Holy s..t gunfire down there’

A QUEENSLAND man on holiday with a group of friends in Las Vegas has spoken about the terrifying moment he realised the hotel he was gaming in was at the centre of a bloody attack.

Pat Shaw of Tamborine, south of Brisbane, said he and his five mates, who are in the US to attend a drag racing event, were playing roulette at the Mandalay Bay casino when a stream of people started running past their table, including police officers and members of the SWAT team.

Queenslander Pat Shaw was evacuated from the Mandalay Bay Casino.

Mr Shaw told The Courier-Mail that he had heard the gunshots but hadn’t realised exactly what the sound was until he saw police enter the room.

A picture taken by Pat Shaw from the Mandalay Bay lockdown area.

“We heard it but didn’t realise (what the noise was) until all the SWAT ran past with their shields,” he said.

“As it happened we heard the staff and security say they think there is a shooter out the front and then (they said) it was up on a high level, shooting down at the Route 91 music festival.”

Mr Shaw said everyone was ordered out of the gaming area and into a secure lockdown zone where they remained for several hours.

At one point the group watched as eight police vehicles suddenly arrived in the lockdown area and medics rushed into the Mandalay Bay.

Later, after police announced that a gunman had been shot and killed by authorities, Mr Shaw and his friends were told they were able to leave the lockdown zone and return to their own hotel.

A former Gympie woman was also at the scene, The Gympie Times reports.

Jessica Nelson was partying with friends at Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas when she heard the volley of rifle fire.

“We heard two popping sounds that sounded like fireworks,” Mrs Nelson told Sunshine Coast Mix FM.

Jessica Nelson with a friend at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas.

“We then heard another lot of single shots.

“I looked at my friend Justin and the colour just drained from his face.

“He just screamed and I froze.

“Thankfully we were near an exit.”

She said the scene was horrific.

“The automatic rounds just started,” Mrs Nelson said.

“People were falling all around us. You wanted to get out of there as quickly as you could.

“Your first instinct is to just get out of sight.

“It was complete chaos.”

Brian Hodge claims he was staying in the room next to the shooter who opened fire on revellers at the Route 91 country music festival at the Mandalay Bay Casino in Las Vegas. Source: Facebook

Another Australian man staying at the Mandalay Bay Resort has spoken about his close call with the Las Vegas gunman – claiming he launched his murderous attack from the room next door.

Australian Brian Hodge, who previously worked at Jupiters Casino on the Gold Coast, claimed he was staying in the room next to the shooter on level 32 at the Las Vegas resort.

He said he managed to escape the initial horrific scenes inside the hotel but found himself forced to hide in a bush for several hours after the event.

“I got outside safely and was hiding in bushes,” Mr Hodge said.

“There were multiple people dead and multiple shooters. I was just hiding waiting for police to come get us.

Shooting on the Strip – How it Happened.

“We were hiding in the bushes outside waiting for the police.” Mr Hodge said he was staying in room 32134 while the gunman was in room 32135.

“It was a machine gun from the room next to me,” he said.

“My floor is a crime scene. They killed a security guard on my floor.”

Surfers Paradise Ultra Lounge bar co-owner Nathan Claridge, a globetrotting MC for the Vegas-based Thunder from Down Under male revue, posted video from the near the scene soon after the shooting started.

The 32-year-old had just left work from a nearby hotel when he came across people diving for cover and running from away from what sounded like machine gun fire which could be heard in the background.

Las Vegas shooting witness video

Mr Claridge, who said he shot video of the pandemonium from a car he was a passenger in, said initially it was difficult to pinpoint where the gunfire was.

He can be heard in the video saying: “Yo, what’s doing up there? Yo, where is that coming from?

“What the f..k?”

A voice can then be heard saying: “Holy s..t…gunfire down there…f..k.”

Mr Claridge posted the video to Facebook with the status saying: “Stay off the (Vegas) strip – leaving work in Vegas, multiple shooters up near Mandalay Bay at country music festival.”

Speaking to the Gold Coast Bulletin after getting safely back to his accommodation several miles away, he said: “I have never been involved in something like that before. It was nuts.

“It was surreal, it was like ‘Is this really happening?’.”

Gold Coast bar owner Nathan Claridge (left) an MC with Thunder from Down, was caught up in the Las Vegas shooting.

He and colleague Benny Cleary, of the Sunshine Coast, who was driving the car asked people if they needed help – and people shouted back at them to turn around and “just get out of there”.

Another Gold Coast woman and local business owner Jessica Winters said she and her partner Peter Tutton were locked out the back of the MGM Grand nearby after being evacuated from an internal restaurant twice.

Wendy Miller from Cooroy, on the Sunshine Coast, was also caught up in the attack.

She was at a bar in the nearby Luxor Hotel with her husband when she saw what she described as a “man of interest” run by.

“We managed to make our way back to our room…” she told The Courier-Mail.

“We are in lock down.

“Our door is dead locked and a chair against the door.”

Ms Miller said the man sprinted through her hotel after coming off an escalator from the Mandalay Bay.

“The man that they [security] were chasing was wearing a security jacket like them,” she said.

Additional reporting Ryan Keen, Sally Coates

Las Vegas Shooter Linked To Russian (Israeli)-Mafia Mob Boss In Vegas and CIA

Russia Identifies Las Vegas Shooter As CIA

Arms Pilot As Israel Probes Stolen

Weapons Flight To Nevada

 

N5343M Aircraft Registration

Aircraft Summary

Summary

2004 CIRRUS DESIGN CORP SR20
Fixed wing single engine
(4 seats / 1 engine)

Owner

VOLANT LLC
ROANOKE , VA, US
(Corporation)

Airworthiness Class

Standard/Normal

Serial Number

1402

Engine

CONT MOTOR IO-360 SER (Reciprocating)
Horsepower: 300

Weight

Less than 12,500lbs

Speed

Not defined

Mode S Code

051541026 / A6C216

Registration Details

Status

Assigned

Certificate Issue Date

2013-08-27

Airworthiness Date

2004-02-03

Last Action Date

2013-08-27

Expiration

2016-08-31

Registry Source

FAA

Registration History

Date	Owner	Location
30-Aug-2013	VOLANT LLC	ROANOKE VA
10-Dec-2010	ROGERS JOHN W	ROANOKE VA
13-Feb-2010	USH INC	LOS ANGELES CA
25-May-2007	PADDOCK STEPHEN C	MESQUITE TX
02-Jun-2006	PADDOCK STEPHEN C	HENDERSON NV

Is It Possible For One Man To Kill Or Wound Nearly 600 People In 10 Minutes?

“The first shots were fired at 10:05 p.m., according to closed-circuit television from the concert venue. The shooting continued for 10 minutes, until 10:15 p.m. Fifty-eight people were killed in the shooting, and 489 injured.”

[The above video shows what appears to be muzzle-flashes from a machine-gun on the 4th Floor of the Mandalay.]

[The above video is a composite of live videos made during the shooting…none of them appear to show ANY MUZZLE FLASHES from the Mandalay.]

[THE STENCH WHICH HAS BEEN RISING FROM THE LAS VEGAS MASS-MURDER HAS BECOME SO OVERWHELMING THAT I HAVE BEEN FORCED TO PURSUE TRUTH IN WHAT HAS BEEN, UP UNTIL NOW, CONSIDERED TO BE A FAKE NEWS SOURCE, BECAUSE OF ITS OBVIOUS CONNECTIONS TO RUSSIAN INTELLIGENCE SERVICES.  NOW, BECAUSE CIA MANIPULATION OF WESTERN NEWS MEDIA HAS MADE REAL NEWS INDISTINGUISHABLE FROM FAKE NEWS, RUSSIAN NEWS SOURCES ARE OUR ONLY POSSIBLE CHOICE FOR EVIDENCE OF CIA-POLLUTED NEWS…SORCHA FAAL REPORT ALWAYS HAS NEWS FROM RUSSIAN INTELLIGENCE SOURCES, BUT NORMALLY WITHOUT GIVING VALIDATING REFERENCES.   THE FOLLOWING REPORT ON VEGAS GIVES CONFIRMABLE REFERENCES FOR EVERY CLAIM MADE IN IT.]

 

Both of the would-be mass-murderers below are Tennesseans

Pictured: Scott A. Edmisten

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Court documents describe Johnson City man with weapons, ammo as ‘unsteady’—October 3, 2017

 

Former Tennessee officer arrested near White House with cache of weapons

 

Shock Discovery Reveals White House

Given One Week Warning Of Las Vegas

Massacre

 

WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

 

By: Sorcha Faal

An absolutely stunning new Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) report circulating in the Kremlin today states that the White House was given a one week warning about the CIA’s planned “false flag” massacre in Las Vegas when one of its plotters surrendered in Washington D.C. on Sunday, 24 September, exactly one week before this attack occurred on1 October—and with this known CIA gun runner being given a “deep cover” excuse for his arrest alleging mental illness, and his quickly being placed under the protection of US military forces at the Water Reed National Military Medical Center. [Note: Some words and/or phrases appearing in quotes in this report are English language approximations of Russian words/phrases having no exact counterpart.]

 

Site of Las Vegas ritualistic blood sacrifice occurring before the Pyramid and Sphinx

Full on view to the Las Vegas Pyramid and Sphinx overlooking the massacre site

 

According to this report, at approximately 07:00 -4 GMT (local time) on Sunday, 24 September, an American citizen named Timothy J. Bates presented himself at the White House Southwest Appointment Gate where he informed uniformed officers of the Secret Service that he needed to talk to US Navy Admiral Mike Rodgers (Director of the National Security Agency) about a planned CIA “false flag” operation being planned for later that day on innocent concert goers attending the Life Is Beautiful-2017 concert in Las Vegas, that then, in turn, would be blamed on “white supremacists”—with subsequent investigations proving that known CIA gun runner Stephen Paddock had, indeed, been planning to attack this concert.

 

Evidence confirms Stephen Paddock had rented rooms at The Ogden luxury condo building to carry out the CIA’s “false flag” attack on the Life Is Beautiful-2017concert on 24 September

 

In detailing this CIA “false flag” operation to US military forces loyal to President Trump, this report continues, Timothy Bates described how he was recruited by Stephen Paddock, in 2000, to be one of his gun runners—and whose CIA “deep cover” was established as his being a police officer for the City of Memphis, Tennessee—with Bates further noting that he worked with another of Paddock’s gun runners named Scott Edmisten, also from Tennessee—and whom the SVR reported this past week was Paddock’s highly skilled machinist used to remove serial numbers from weapons, and who was captured along with his arsenal on 2 October in Washington County, Tennessee.

 

CIA gun smuggler, 43-year-old Scott Edmisten

Weapons arsenal discovered in the vehicle of Scott Edmisten, that includes two “bump stock” equipped AR-15 semi-automatic rifles

 

Like Scott Edmisten, too, this report details, Timothy Bates had an arsenal of 20 weapons in the boot of his vehicle, including AK-47 style rifles and weapons with sound suppressors—and with his “deep cover” arrest story being that he was seeking payment of $28.7 million for his having participated in the CIA’s “Project MK Ultra” programme—and that had placed a microchip in his head that was causing him “severe headaches, shaking and convulsions”—and his then being placed in the custody of the US military for “mental evaluation”.

 

CIA gun smuggler, 37-year-old Timothy Bates

Weapons arsenal discovered in the vehicle of Timothy Bates, that includes one “bump stock” equipped AR-15 semi-automatic rifle

 

Important to note, this report explains, is that both Timothy Bates and Scott Edmisten were Stephen Paddock’s illegal gun smugglers to the Russia Mafia, who are presently embroiled in a continuing war with the Dixie Mafia for control of the CIA’s major drug smuggling routes from Mexico to the Southeastern regions of the United States—all of whom, though, were catastrophically shattered when FBI forces loyal to President Trump took down the top Russia Mafia leader in the United States, named Razhden Shulaya, whom the Obama regime had been protecting for nearly a decade—and whose 7 June capture in Las Vegas was the “ignition point” for the “Pyramid Sacrifice” massacre.

 

Feared Russia Mafia leader Razhden Shulaya taken down by FBI in Las Vegas on 7 June 2017

 

Though the CIA’s 24 September “false flag” massacre on the Life Is Beautiful-2017 in Las Vegas was able to be averted, this report continues, too numerous to count “dark web” chatter among US and British intelligence operatives clearly show that those US military and FBI forces loyal to President Trump were outmatched by their “Deep State” CIA adversaries—with the greatest fear being that a nuclear weapon device “was in play”—and that President Trump’s top aid, US Marine Lieutenant General John Kelly, who was leading the counterstrike against these CIA terrorists, had, also, been compromised after it was discovered that his phone was tapped.

“Dark Web” chatter among US and British intelligence operatives regarding Las Vegas massacre

 

The Western mainstream “fake news” propaganda media, also, this report continues, continues to be in lockstep with their CIA “master-overlords” in keeping from the American the truth about this “Pyramid Sacrifice” massacre—and that includes CBS News citing “anonymous sources” that Stephen Paddock’s girlfriend, Marilou Danley, “was concerned about his mentally stability”; NBC News citing “anonymous sources” saying Stephen Paddock’s girlfriend said that he “would lie in bed, just moaning and screaming, ‘Oh my God’”; ABC News citing “anonymous sources” claiming that Stephen Paddock “had a severe undiagnosed mental illness”; The Sun citing an “anonymous prostitute” claiming that Stephen Paddock was “obsessive and paranoid and would rant about conspiracy theories, including claiming 9/11 was an inside job by the US government”; and CNN News, basically, stating that Stephen Paddock was unknowable and no one would ever known what happened.

Standing against these “fake news” mainstream media propagandists and the CIA’s “narrative fixing” of this massacre using “anonymous sources”, however, this report notes, is an actual real live person named Lisa Crawford—who worked as a property manager in Texas for Stephen Paddock from 2006 to 2012 and knew him better than nearly everyone else—and who described Paddock as a laid-back ‘goofball’ who was cool to be with and always made everyone laugh, and who, also, “didn’t have a serious bone in his body”.

To the Stephen Paddock described by his close associate Lisa Crawford, this report concludes, shows a person well versed in CIA “deep cover” operations knowing how to create and maintain his “false/fake” persona—which is the very last thing the CIA and its “fake news” mainstream media sycophants will ever allow the American people to know the truth about.

 

Other reports in this series include:

Las Vegas Massacre Witness Kills Self And Daughter After FBI Raid—As Missing Piglets Search Continues

Trump Warns America Is In “Calm Before The Storm” As Links Between Las Vegas Shooter And CIA Grow

Russian Mafia Link To Las Vegas Massacre Confirmed As Stephen Paddock Accomplice Captured

Russia Identifies Las Vegas Shooter As CIA Arms Pilot As Israel Probes Stolen Weapons Flight To Nevada

Horrific “Pyramid Sacrifice” Massacre In Las Vegas Warned Is Chilling Message To Trump

October 8, 2017 © EU and US all rights reserved. Permission to use this report in its entirety is granted under the condition it is linked back to its original source at WhatDoesItMean.Com. Freebase content licensed under CC-BY and GFDL.

 

 

 

Russian Aerospace Forces Nearly Kill Another US-Protected Terrorist Leader Al-Jolani

[The layers of fiction surrounding Al Nusra chief Abu Mohammed Al Jolani–(updated 5/28)]

[ Russian Military Says It Might Have Killed ISIS Leader ]

Eliminated by Russia: Al-Qaeda’s Chief of

Staff in Syria

 

 

 

 

 

The Russian Defense Minister has confirmed it bombed a meeting of Al-Qaeda’s the chief of staff in Syria. 60 members (12 of which hold key positions) of the organization were killed and its commander-in-chief, Abu Mohammed al-Joulani (see photo) seriously injured.

Al-Joulani is an Al-Qaeda combatant who was a US prisoner in Camp Bucca (Iraq). Upon his release, he joined the Islamic State in Iraq, organized by the American, John Negroponte. Then he follows the organization when it relocated to Syria (his country of origin). However he does not follow the Caliph when the later breaks away from al Qaeda. The US offered 10 million dollars for his capture.

Currently there are three main jihadist coalitions in Syria:
 the pro-Turks (Free Syrian Army);
 the pro-Qatari (Hayat Tahrir al-Cham / Al-Qaeda); and
 the pro-Deep State (Daesh).

Hayat Tahrir al-Cham has denied that Abu Mohammed al-Joulani was wounded and mutilated, just like Daesh had denied the death of its caliph, Abou Bakr al-Baghdadi. The latter died on 28 May 2017, also during a Russian bombing before his voice was resuscitated in the pro-US media.

Translation
Anoosha Boralessa

Iraqi Kurdish Independence Referendum Passes, 8 Days Later, Top Opposition Leader Talibani Dies From Stroke

“A family member said Talabani’s health had taken a turn for the worse and he been transported to Germany, along with his wife and two children, before the referendum.”

“An independence referendum for Iraqi Kurdistan was held on 25 September 2017.”

“Massoud Barzani, president of the Kurdistan Region in Iraq, wants rid of the PKK. Demanding that the group leaves the Qandil Mountains is a politically calculated move. But the Iraqi Kurds are not united in this view: another leading Iraqi Kurd politician and former Iraqi president, Jalal Talabani, wants the PKK to stay.“–Barzani in a tight spot, 06.08.2015

The end of Jalalism and Barzanism!  ‎ 26.2.2012  By Hemin Ahmad — ekurd.net	Share |
Jalal Talabani, left, and Massoud Barzani, “We are fed up with you! 5 decades is enough!”: Hemin Ahmad Photo: EPA We are fed up with you! 5 decades is enough! February 26, 2012 Downtrodden nations of the world are awakening from hibernation in sequence. They finally realize how much and how long were their rights trampled on by dictators, kings and monarchs. They realize they bear no alternative but to fight for their long-negated rights on their own. They realize they have to fight for their freedom. Of course, short of external support, struggling to obtain ones intrinsic right seems more difficult, especially from ruthless, armed dictators, however, the key impetus behind any uprising primarily sets off from common people. It is the people who must want to change things, change themselves and change their fates. Ousting despotic regimes consumes time, but what even consumes more time is replacing them with all-inclusive democratic forms of governments. Most of the collapsed totalitarian c regimes have yet to be stabilized, and more unknown is even the indefinite destiny they will lastly be drifted onto. The problematic Middle East will not easily and impetuously be tamed. Global social and political developments have affected the plight of Kurds and Kurdistan, too. Apart from Iraqi Kurdistan, Kurds in other fragmented parts of Kurdistan have a long journey to traverse. Timing is of the essence. Opportunities must be seized. Kurds in Iraqi Kurdistan seem to have missed a number of prospects, mainly being due to their simplicity and baseless optimism in uncertain predictions by their hypocritical leaders. Deceptive leadership is destructive. Almost a decade has elapsed since our de facto disintegration from Iraq. The status of Kirkuk still remains in abeyance and Kirkukis continue to suffer from the hands of terrorism and economic injustice. Imperial powers have their own hidden agendas in the region. There are more essential priorities than determining the status of Kirkuk or resolving the elongated Kurdish dilemma. In partnership with colossal foreign corporations, President Massoud Barzani and Jalal Talabani families are busy lynching the blood of the poor, accumulating wealth, while the overwhelming majority of masses are starving to death. Lack of basic services, high rate of unemployment and poverty are paralyzing all of us. People are informed, but powerless. Multi-billion dollar fraud and corruption allegation cases are surfacing in Kurdistan one after another as if they are not even worth citing. The secret role of many countries in the ongoing illicit oil trade in Kurdistan is increasingly coming to light, as well. The ruling parties will not last if certain governments do not prop them up. It is disappointing that those involved will never have to account for their wrongs. It is intolerable that despite president Barzani and Talabani’s open confession of their law-breakings, they continue to maintain their posts. And yet, they boast and brag about their decency. The most ignominious is they have not gleaned any lesson from massive demonstrations taking place every year. Indeed, it is shameful that advocates of Human Rights and democracy continue endorsing dictatorship in certain countries. Massoud Barzani urges public to demonstrate patience. He foretells of promising changes in near future. Perhaps he means next decade. He has not yet been able to reclaim Kurdish disputed territories back. He has failed to unify the two administrations. As Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) president, he has not succeeded to settle his disputes with the opposition. What good news will he carry for us! His peace and patience lectures are solely meant to reduce the growing public threat against his tribal tyrannical rule. He is buying time. He is misleading us and falsifying the truths. PUK’s senior leadership is busy drawing plans how to contend with their KDP rival in expanding their hegemony and riches. PUK leadership is ineffective. Jalal Talabani started politics 30 years ago. And even in his absence, his family will continue to inherit and run his lucrative family-owned business. Kurdish politics have transformed into family business profits. The 50-50% haggle is honored for the year 2012. Estimated another 50 billion US dollars, which is sufficient to entirely eradicate poverty in Kurdistan and make every single family prosperous,http://www.ekurd.net will be poured in to the pockets of the leaders of the two ruling parties without any transparency. The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan PUK and Kurdistan Democratic Party KDP influential party-funded propaganda machines will start fabricating their usual false lies to dissuade people and defend their crimes. They will try to distort the truth. They will resort to any method to conceal the facts from international community. What happens to the future of our children does not matter. The number of homeless and jobless families in Kurdistan is on the rise. The nation’s wealth (belonging to 6 million) is embezzled and split among few hundreds. Barzani and his counterpart are full ware that their days are outnumbered. They have no choice but to let their grip and greed of power go. The demonstrations may have abated, but public’s strong thirst for genuine reform, economic equality and end to social injustice, remains stronger than ever. President Barzani and Jalal Talabani must step down. Half a century of ruling is enough. Public is fed up. Foreign countries must stop siding with truth. Others reserve the right to run for high profile government positions, as well. The world must support true democracy in Kurdistan! The older generation must retire. Sooner or later, the current dictatorial rule in Kurdistan will collapse. Kurdistan will be united by true patriots who truly care about the wellbeing and progress of the country. The end of Jalalism and Barzanaism has neared…. By Hemin Ahmad, ekurd.net Copyright © 2012 ekurd.net. All rights reserved

Did US Supply ISIS w/Coordinates Used To Kill Russian Commanding General In Deir ez-Zour, Syria

Fisk on the US sanctioned Killing of

Russian Lieutenant Asparov

 

 

Link

“I’ve never been a believer in plots but not many months ago, the US air force bombed and killed dozens of Syria’s army defenders in Deir ez-Zour”

Fisk has never been a believer in plots?! Yet he’s made a life’s work reporting on every manner of plot. What an odd claim. Let’s define plot:

a secret, (or not so secret),  plan or scheme to accomplish some purpose, especially a hostile, unlawful, or evil purpose: a plot to overthrow the government

Defining words ensures we are all on the same page. I like that idea!

So, Fisk, who has been covering the plot to destabilize and balkanize Syria while attempting to overthrow it’s government doesn’t believe in plots? Does he believe in coincidences then?
 Did he make that statement to avoid creating a perception in the mind of the reader that he is  a dreaded “conspiracy theorist”? Or was he going for cleverness?  I’m not certain what his goal was.

The death of Lieutenant General Valery Asapov in the suburbs of Deir ez-Zour as he assisted Syrian commanders in their recapture of the city – surrounded by Isis for three years, its civilian population and at least 10,000 Syrian troops resupplied by helicopter – was given little attention in the Western media. The Kurdish assault on Raqqa, with a smattering of Arabs to smother the Kurdish face of the pseudo-“Syrian Democratic Forces” militia and with the help of American air attacks, took first place in the Western Middle East news agenda. But the Russian Defence Ministry took the death of their highest-ranking officer in Syria – along with two Russian colonels – very seriously indeed. They were right. General Asapov was commander of the Russian 5th army in the Far East Russian city of Ussiriysk, not far from Vladivostok.

And how did he die? According to the Russians, he was killed under shellfire from Isis forces outside Deir el-Zour, a remarkable piece of targeting – if, indeed, Isis were working on the trajectories – for a group which usually wastes artillery shells by the hundred in order to hit their enemies. Did they know that he was visiting this particular military position? And if so, who taught them to fire so accurately? Or was this a chance success for a defeated Islamist army?

Since ISIS, the inept, is usually fighting the oh so fierce kurds & their mutual benefactors the Americans, they have no need to employ remarkable targeting skills– explaining why it is they, to quote Fisk “ wastes artillery shells by the hundred in order to hit their enemies”

So we get to the question how did they manage this remarkable strike on the Russian General?
The obvious, the only,  answer is the strike was aided by the American special ops who have been embedded with ISIS/Kurds all along-

Fisk continues:

“These questions were asked at once by the Syrian army’s high command. And by the Russians who last week accused the US military in eastern Syria of direct collaboration with the “Islamic State”. Several websites, including Global Research, took the conspiratorial view that Asapov’s death was the indirect work of US forces – who were, they said, providing free passage through Isis for the “SDF” to reach Raqaa.( Oh, yeah, KurdIShIS! You know the symbiotic entity I’ve mentioned since 2014?) I’ve never been a believer in plots but not many months ago, the US air force bombed and killed dozens of Syria’s army defenders in Deir ez-Zour. In the immediate aftermath, Isis swarmed forward and cut the city in half. Odd, isn’t it, that the US – so desperate at the time to destroy Isis in Mosul – didn’t bomb these new Isis targets as they broke through the Syrian lines after US air crews had “mistakenly” killed the Syrian troops”

“not many months ago, the US air force bombed and killed dozens of Syria’s army defenders in Deir ez-Zour”

Recall that incident?

US Airstrikes Hit Syrian Arab Army to Support ISIS – Intentionally! 62 dead, 100’s injured.

Russia Called US Twice To Stop US Airstrikes on SAA 

Clearly Fisk understands plots exist- Because plots are plans- And plots are conspiracies. They may be obfuscated, but, a sharp eye for detail makes them much easier to see. That the US supports ISIS is obvious to anyone paying attention. That the US is cooperating with the Kurds & ISIS is very clear to anyone. Including Fisk himself. He just doesn’t have the courage to say it outright. And I wish he would have because despite his spin or attempt at being clever it’s very clear that he knows, fully, that plots aka conspiracies are ongoing.   
And that ISIS and the US along with their Kurd pals are conspiring- All together.. 
A wider audience needs to understand this- Fisk could have and should have been clear. Straightforward. Forthright. Concise.

USrael

Kurds………………………ISIS

Twitter/Facebook America Has 10-Year Olds Branding Classmates As “NAZIS” For Saying Pledge of Allegiance!

[So-called “social media” will destroy this immature Nation of imbeciles, since most everyone, from the President of the United States on down, doesn’t see either the danger or the stupidity of saying whatever pops into their tiny little closed minds, no matter how emotionally distraught, imbalanced, or downright insane they were at the time of writing it out for the world to plainly see.  People, like Donald Trump and the St. Louis Congresswoman who called for his assassination (before rethinking her twit or tweet or whatever), are dangers to themselves and to those around them, even though they are blinded by ego into thinking themselves too smart to fall into their own self-made traps. 

God help us…but then, why should He care if we get what we deserve?]

10-year-old students called names after

reciting Pledge of Allegiance in class 

 

 

By Natalie Rubino

Source: WGCL

SPALDING COUNTY, GA (CBS46) –

 

Two students at a metro Atlanta elementary school say they were singled out for what they did during the Pledge of Allegiance.

Tuesday morning at Orrs Elementary School, 10-year-old Jason Newberry said he and one classmate put their hand over their heart while reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. He said when they did, others in the class called them names.

“Me and him got called KKK, Nazi, and we just kept getting bullied the whole day,” said Newberry.

Newberry said it wasn’t until his second period teacher showed them a news clip of NFL players kneeling that he realized the present controversy surrounding the flag.

The teacher made a poll on paper and passed it out to all the students to see what they thought was right or wrong about taking a knee. The teacher even told students that she would never stand for the Pledge of Allegiance and that if she did stand she would not really mean it.

A spokesperson for Spalding School District tells CBS46 the assignment was suppose to be a lesson on First Amendment Rights, but they wouldn’t say if the teacher was disciplined for her comments.

In a letter sent home to parents Wednesday, they teacher wrote the following:

I apologize for expressing my views to my students.  I recognize that while this was not a one-sided lesson, the topic itself and the expression of my views were not appropriate, my intentions were well-meaning

Parents say they plan to stand with their children Thursday morning in front of the school’s flag poll when the National Anthem is recited over the loud speaker.

Copyright 2017 WGCL-TV (Meredith Corporation).

Read more: http://www.cbs46.com/story/36468839/10-year-old-students-called-names-after-reciting-pledge-of-allegiance-in-class#ixzz4uXQlFxe9

High-Value Afghan/Pakistan Taliban Prisoner Exchange, Possibly Fazlullah For Mullah Baradar +4 More

Afghanistan confirms swap of five Taliban leaders held by Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan’s top security official on Friday confirmed his country offered exchange of prisoners and wanted repatriation of five Afghan Taliban leaders detained by Pakistan.

Hanif Atmar, Afghan national security adviser, did not mention names of the Afghan Taliban leaders in a statement posted on his official Twitter account on Friday. He, however; denied comments by Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif that Pakistan was offered to exchange Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav with a Pakistani Taliban leader involved in the 2014 attack on Army Public School in Peshawar. “[Afghan] national security adviser told me we can exchange him for the terrorist you have – Kulbhushan Jadhav,” the foreign minister had said in his comments at the Asia Society forum in New York this week. “The terrorist, who killed children in APS in Peshawar, is in Afghan custody,” he had said, without mentioning name of the terrorist.

Daily Times reported this week that Afghanistan has offered to hand over a senior leader of the outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, Mufti Khalid, in exchange of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the former deputy to Mullah Omar.

Afghan security forces had arrested Mufti Khalid in Nangarhar, who had served as spokesman for the TTP as Mohammad Khurasani, days after the brutal APS attack that had martyred nearly 150 people, almost all students.

“The two sides also discussed sanctuaries in Pakistan and exchange of top five Taliban leaders detained in Pakistan. There was no mention or reference of India or an Indian citizen,” Atmar said in his statement.

Like Kh Asif, Afghan NSA also did not disclose the names of the Afghan Taliban detainees. However, sources have confirmed to Daily Times that Mullah Baradar is on the top of the men on the Afghan list.

Baradar, who had been appointed by Mullah Omar in his life as his deputy, was arrested in February 2010 in Karachi in a joint operation by Pakistani and American security officials. Pakistan had freed around 50 senior Afghan Taliban leaders in 2013 on the request by then Afghan president Hamid Karzai to encourage them join the peace process. However, none of them later entered into talks with the Karzai regime.

Sources told Daily Times that Kabul wants custody of other Afghan Taliban detainees including Ahmadullah Muti alias Mullah Nanai, a senior Afghan Taliban leader and member of the leadership council. Mullah Nanai, who had served as intelligence chief under Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, was arrested in Balochsiatn in October last year. Sources said Taliban chief Maulvi Hibatullah had appointed Mullah Nanai as judge of the Taliban court.

Other Afghan Taliban detainees are likely to be Suleman Agha, the Taliban governor for Daykund province, and Mullah Sani, also known as Samad Sani, chief of a religious school and a well-known trader, who had links with the Taliban. They were also arrested in Balochistan in October last year, according to the Taliban sources.

Mullah Rasool could be another Taliban leader, whose extradition is being sought by Kabul, sources said. Rasool, a former member of the Taliban leadership council who now heads a Taliban breakaway faction, was arrested in March last year after he fled internal fighting in parts of southern Afghanistan. Sources said he is still in Pakistan’s custody.

Rasool, who had refused to declared allegiance to former Taliban chief Akhtar Mansoor, had formed a splinter group after the death of Mullah Omar was revealed in August, 2015. Pakistani officials had not offered any comments on the arrest of Mullah Nanai and two other leaders. However, one official had claimed that Pakistani action was aimed at exerting pressure on the Taliban to join peace process.

Pak IB Agent (Intel. Bur.) Asks ISI (Army Intelligence) To Investigate Superiors For Treason

Pak agent accuses seniors of protecting

terrorists

 

Omer Farooq Khan | TNN

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani agent has accused his own intelligence agency of protecting terror groups in a petition in the Islamabad high court, and questioned the agency for not taking any action against suspected terrorists.

Petitioner Malik Mukhtar Ahmed Shahzad, a sub-inspector in Pakistan’s Intelligence Bureau (IB), filed a petition in the Islamabad high court, requesting for a thorough investigation against his seniors by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the country’s premier intelligence body.

“The issue of connivance, complacency and involvement of official of IB and other senior bureaucrats raised in the petition may graciously be entrusted to the ISI for investigation,” the petitioner requested the court.

Shahzad, who joined the IB in 2007, has alleged that the agency did not take any action against terror organisations with roots in Uzbekistan, Iran, Syria, Afghanistan and India despite concrete evidence against them.

His petition names several Pakistan intelligence officials, including a joint director general, directors and deputy directors as conspirators in the matter. Shahzad added that the matter was even reported to the IB director general but no action was taken.

While alleging that many of his seniors were on the payroll of foreign intelligence agencies to protect terrorists, Shahzad stated, “Upon thorough intelligence gathering process, it transpired that certain high officials of the IB themselves are directly involved with the terrorist organisations having linkages with hostile enemy intelligence agencies.”

Shahzad added that he “has been running from pillar to post including approaching the prime minister to raise this issue of national security and protection of lives of the citizen of this country but in vain.”

The petition states that some IB officials had travelled to Israel and had direct links with Afghan intelligence, which, it was found later, had links to another terrorist group from Kazakhstan. It adds that some senior IB officials also facilitate Afghan nationals in getting Pakistani nationality.

“These terrorists used to disguise themselves as citrus dealers in Kot-Momin and Bhalwal, Sargodha, in Pakistan’s Punjab province. The business was a mere camouflage,” the petition said, adding that the son of joint director IB (Punjab) was dealing with the said terrorist groups.