February 27, 2017

How Putin murdered his way to the top of his Kleptocracy.

This is an eye-popping, well-sourced documentary of Putin's rise from an unemployed KGB agent to the authoritarian ruler of the world's most ruthless kleptocracy.

It is 50 minutes long, but if you only have a few minutes, watch at 16:15 through about 25:00, when it discusses the 1999 Moscow apartment bombings ("Russia's 9/11&quot that were used to justify Putin's brutal invasion of Chechnya and made Putin a national hero, while postponing elections that he was on the road to losing had they been held before the apartment bombings. It lays out the evidence that Putin's FSB (former KGB) planted the apartment bombs, not the Chechens.

And the people who tried to investigate the Moscow apartment bombings ended up dead, including Sergei Yushenkov, and Alexander Litvinenko, who was famously poisoned:

February 23, 2017

Nate Cohn: Districts like Orange County CA will decide if Dems control House.

There has been no shortage of reports that President Trump is still very popular in the bars and diners of the old industrial towns that decided the 2016 presidential election.

But if you want to meet the voters who will decide the biggest political story of the 2018 congressional elections, you might have to fly right over the blue-collar workers of Youngstown, Ohio, and go talk to the real housewives of Orange County, Calif.

It’s hard to think of a place that was less relevant to Mr. Trump’s fortunes in 2016. Mrs. Clinton’s success in Orange County, and in well-educated and Hispanic areas elsewhere in the Sun Belt, helped her win the popular vote — though there was no payoff in the Electoral College. But it’s districts like these that will decide whether the Democrats can make a serious run at control of the House.
...
Darrell Issa, who represents the California coast from southern Orange County almost to La Jolla, is probably the nation’s most vulnerable incumbent. That’s based on factors that tend to predict which districts are likeliest to be competitive — like the result of his last election (he won by just 1 point) and how the district voted in recent presidential contests.

By the same measures, the 24th-most vulnerable Republican is Dana Rohrabacher, whose district is immediately north of Mr. Issa’s — stretching up the Orange County coast from Laguna Beach to Sunset Beach. In between, Ed Royce and Mimi Walters represent the 13th- and 20th-most vulnerable districts.

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/02/22/upshot/democrats-best-bet-for-house-control-is-following-the-sun.html

February 23, 2017

Democrats Best Bet to Retake the House? Follow the Sun

There has been no shortage of reports that President Trump is still very popular in the bars and diners of the old industrial towns that decided the 2016 presidential election.

But if you want to meet the voters who will decide the biggest political story of the 2018 congressional elections, you might have to fly right over the blue-collar workers of Youngstown, Ohio, and go talk to the real housewives of Orange County, Calif.
...
Darrell Issa, who represents the California coast from southern Orange County almost to La Jolla, is probably the nation’s most vulnerable incumbent. That’s based on factors that tend to predict which districts are likeliest to be competitive — like the result of his last election (he won by just 1 point) and how the district voted in recent presidential contests.

By the same measures, the 24th-most vulnerable Republican is Dana Rohrabacher, whose district is immediately north of Mr. Issa’s — stretching up the Orange County coast from Laguna Beach to Sunset Beach. In between, Ed Royce and Mimi Walters represent the 13th- and 20th-most vulnerable districts.
...
But Orange County is not an outlier. Across the nation, the most vulnerable Republican incumbents among the 50 or so most competitive seats tend to be in relatively well-educated, metropolitan districts with above-average Hispanic populations. It’s the opposite of most of the 2016 presidential battleground states, which were whiter, less educated and far less Hispanic than the country as a whole.

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/02/22/upshot/democrats-best-bet-for-house-control-is-following-the-sun.html

February 22, 2017

Montenegro: Russia involved in attempted coup

Source: CNN

Montenegro's chief special prosecutor has told a local TV station authorities believe Russian security services were involved in a plot to kill the country's then-prime minister and overthrow the government last October.

Milivoje Katnic said Montenegro officials have evidence that Russia's Federal Security Service was involved in the failed coup, according to his statements Sunday on Atlas TV. The allegation drew an immediate rebuke and denial from Russian officials.

Katnic said the plot was an attempt to stop Montenegro from joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO.

Becoming an official member of NATO would be significant for Montenegro because, under the alliance's charter, any attack on Montenegro would be seen as an attack on all NATO members.
The ratification process for Montenegro to join NATO is in its final stages, according to NATO.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/21/europe/montenegro-attempted-coup-accusation/index.html

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Folks, this is serious. Montenegro is a tiny country, one of the countries that comprised the former Yugoslavia before it broke up. It sits on the Adriatic Sea, with excellent deep water ports that Russia would love to have. And it is only a short ferry ride across the Adriatic from the heel of the boot of Italy. We're basically talking the middle of Europe--it's that little red square on the map below:

February 21, 2017

Marine Le Pen in Lebanon row after refusing to wear headscarf

Source: CNN

France's Marine Le Pen canceled a meeting with Lebanon's Grand Mufti Tuesday after refusing to wear a headscarf.

The far-right presidential candidate is on a two-day tour of Lebanon where she is courting Franco-Lebanese votes ahead of the first round of French elections on April 23.

Le Pen told reporters that she was surprised by the requirement. But a spokesman for the Grand Mufti said Le Pen had been informed of the need to wear a head covering before the meeting.
...
Shortly after the incident, Florian Philippot, the vice president of Le Pen's Front National Party tweeted: "In Lebanon, Marine refuses to wear the veil. A beautiful message of freedom and emancipation sent to women in France and the world!"

Read more: https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2017/02/21/europe/marine-le-pen-headscarf-lebanon-grand-mufti/index.html

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I hope no one is underestimating Le Pen.

February 20, 2017

Trump lied that he "worked all weekend."

In his announcement of his new NSC pick, Trump began the announcement to the gathered press by stating he has "been working all weekend" in coming up with the McMasters pick. In fact, he played a full 18-rounds of golf today, at least.

CNN is ripping him on his hypocrisy, noting how he criticized Obama for playing golf and how Trump repeatedly said he would never play golf because he would be too busy working:

http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/20/politics/donald-trump-golfing-presidency/index.html


Rory McIlroy snitched on Trump playing golf with him today:

https://twitter.com/NoLayingUp/status/833672208916557824?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

February 20, 2017

Pro soccer player leaves field in tears after racist chants

BELGRADE, Serbia -- Partizan Belgrade midfielder Everton Luiz was in tears after persistent racist chants during his team’s victory over Rad in the Serbian league.

The Brazilian, who joined Partizan last year, played through monkey chants and other abuse, including a racist banner in the stands where Rad fans were standing.

The banner was removed after intervention from the referee.

There were scuffles between the players after the match on Sunday, when Partizan won 1-0, after Everton Luiz showed the middle finger to the Rad supporters.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/brazilian-soccer-player-everton-luiz-in-tears-after-racist-chants-in-serbia/

February 7, 2017

Yemen Raid Had Secret Target: Al Qaeda Leader Qassim Al-Rimi

Source: NBC News

The Navy SEAL raid in Yemen last week had a secret objective — the head of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, who survived and is now taunting President Donald Trump in an audio message.

Military and intelligence officials told NBC News the goal of the massive operation was to capture or kill Qassim al-Rimi, considered the third most dangerous terrorist in the world and a master recruiter.
....
After two months of military preparation increasingly focused on the opportunity to capture al-Rimi, Trump was told by Defense Secretary James Mattis and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff that his capture would be a "game changer," according to a senior White House official with direct knowledge of the discussions.

In making their case, they told Trump that they doubted that the Obama administration would have been bold enough to try it, this official said.

Read more: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/yemen-raid-had-secret-target-al-qaeda-leader-qassim-al-n717616

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I had hoped that Mattis would be the adult in the room. It is now clear that Mattis is an Obama-hating hack like the the rest of the idiots in Trump's inner circle. God help us.