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Russian warplanes target 'rebels' in Syria with relay bombings over east Damascus

Andrew Illingworth
AMN News
Thu, 22 Feb 2018 13:03 UTC
Russian Su-24 fighter plane
© Zhang Lei/ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images
TAONAN, CHINA - JULY 23: (CHINA OUT) A Russian Su-24 fighter plane on display at the Sino-Russian 'Peace Mission 2009' joint military exercise at the Taonan tactical training base, on July 23, 2009 in Jilin Province, China. Up to 1,300 army and air force personnel from each side took part in the drill, scheduled to run from July 22-26 in Khabarovsk of Russia and the Taonan tactical training base.
Russian warplanes have gone all-out over the skies of Damascus' East Ghouta region for another night, carrying out consecutive relay bombings against militant targets for hours on end.

According to military-affiliated sources, Russian airpower conducted a general strike mission across all of militant-held East Ghouta, targeting rebel tactical positions, movements and gathering points with precision weapons.

The night operation saw four to six warplanes - all airborne at the same time - deliver at least 30 strikes in relay to one another in a 'scout-designate-attack' fashion similar to how US airpower conducts itself.

The up-scaled Russian bombardment effort over East Ghouta follows the very recent reinforcement of its air group in Syria represented by the arrival of ten new warplanes (as far as visual confirmation confirms) among which are two Su-57 stealth fighters.

Comment: Russia joins Damascus' offensive on terrorist-held East Ghouta - pulverizes defenses with heavy air raids

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Light Sabers

Syria is turning into a black hole of Cold War entanglements

Alan Philps
The National
Wed, 21 Feb 2018 12:36 UTC
Syria Eastern Ghouta
© AFP
The rebel-held town of Hamouria, in the besieged Eastern Ghouta region, on the outskirts of the capital Damascus, photographed on February 21.
The chaos on the ground is providing opportunities for the Russians and Americans to come to blows, writes Alan Philps

It was only two months ago that Vladimir Putin declared victory in Syria and announced - not for the first time - that he would start withdrawing Russian forces. It was understood that Mr Putin, facing an election campaign next month, was keen to move the Syrian war to a new stage, that of diplomacy where Russian diplomats and generals would oversee a difficult peace process.

The war has indeed reached a new stage - but it is one of escalating violence and grotesque chaos as the cast of outside powers and foreign mercenaries clash in a blood-soaked scramble for power and influence. How has this come about, and when might the longed-for endgame come to pass?

The salient feature is that Russia and the US are more deeply engaged in Syria than ever. Despite their premature claim of victory, the Russians are there to stay as the leading outside power. It had been thought that the Americans might withdraw from Syria now that the Salafi-jihadists of ISIL have been defeated there and in Iraq. But Washington has made clear that the 2,000 military personnel will remain for the foreseeable future to counter Iran.


Comment: The difference is that Russia is in Syria at the invitation and permission of the legitimate Syrian government, while the US is there illegaly. The war would certainly be over if the US was not being so obnoxious.

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Pistol

13yo Ohio student sneaks rifle into school & fatally shoots himself in bathroom


RT
Fri, 23 Feb 2018 12:39 UTC
school shooting
© Rick Wilking / Reuters
A 13-year-old student has died after shooting himself in the restroom of an Ohio middle school. The teen managed to take a large-caliber rifle unnoticed all the way to school just days after a horrific school shooting in Florida.

Seventh grade student Keith Simons died on Wednesday, the day after he had shot himself inside the bathroom of Jackson Memorial Middle School.

"I have a student who shot himself in the bathroom. He has a strong pulse but I need an ambulance," a person seeming to be a school official told the 911 operator right after the incident, according to a recording circulating in local media. The 13-year-old took the 22-caliber long rifle from his mother's house and smuggled it into school by concealing it beneath his clothes, according to police. The student took a school bus, but no one noticed the gun despite the boy having multiple conversations on the way.
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Control Panel

'Addicted to guns'? PhD tries to equate owners of guns to those with gambling & alcohol addiction

Suzanne Hamner
Freedom Outpost
Tue, 20 Feb 2018 00:00 UTC
second amendment
If Renee Garfinkel truly believes the inanimate objects that require interaction with humans are capable of killing people on their own, why is she nor anyone else calling for legislation against other inanimate objects that could produce the same dopamine/endorphin addictive behavior as guns?

If you read the article at Freedom Outpost, "The History Of Mass Shootings That Need To Be Heard Before People Demand More Gun Control," several patterns were identified that occur after mass shootings, right on cue, calling for restricting further the people's right to keep and bear arms.

Now, a psychologist has penned an opinion piece at The Washington Times claiming America is addicted to guns. Renee Garfinkel, Ph.D., an author and radio host, presented her case for identifying the "gun problem" in America as an addiction similar to gambling.

Comment: Like so many other domestic policy positions, a 'liberal' perspective has been appropriated and used to serve what is, ultimately, a totalitarian agenda - at the expense of facts and a correct view of the bigger picture.

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House

Suzanne Venker: The vast majority of mass shooters come from broken homes

Suzanne Venker
Fox News
Wed, 21 Feb 2018 12:15 UTC
boys broken homes
My most recent article about the Parkland school shooting and its connection to fatherlessness prompted a tsunami of emails. In one of those emails, a man named Fritz asked what I considered to be the root of fatherlessness. I decided to write a follow-up article to answer that question.

The subject of "The Desperate Cry of America's Boys" is a difficult one. To point out that boys need their fathers is to shine a spotlight on divorce and single mothers; and that is, admittedly, uncomfortable. But there's no way to address fatherlessness comfortably.

Comment:

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Bad Guys

United Nations stealthily prepares Europe for larger illegal migrant flows, regardless of nations' interests

Rob McLean
Halsey News
Wed, 21 Feb 2018 19:20 UTC
migrants to europe
Consider the European refugee disaster of 2015-2016 and the havoc that continues to beset citizens there. Set aside for now discussion of the root cause and motivating force behind this mass-migration. The bottom line is this: Really crummy border security.

Yes, this is a generalization of a civilizational event, I get it.

So it defies logic when politicians and others advocate for open borders, easy access, and lax immigration laws. Today, US democrats continue their ludicrous claims against construction of The Wall - -a big reason Trump was elected. Clearly, the Dems are willing to risk the safety of fellow Americans for raw political power. Some things never change.

Comment:

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No Entry

Teachers go on state-wide strike in West Virginia


RT
Thu, 22 Feb 2018 19:30 UTC
Teacher's strike
© AFT-West Virginia / Facebook
Picket line near Riverside High School in Kanawha County, West Virginia, February 22, 2018
Every single public school in West Virginia is closed. Teachers across the state staged a walkout in protest against one of the lowest salaries in the country and the rising cost of healthcare.

It is the first statewide teachers' strike in almost 30 years in West Virginia. Over 270,000 students have been affected, according to the latest enrollment figures from the state Education Department.

"I never dreamed 19 years ago when I started teaching that I would have to work a second job to provide for my kids. I knew teaching wouldn't make [me] billions, but I thought it would be enough," second grade teacher Rebecca Diamond told the Huffington Post.

On Thursday, teachers and their supporters demonstrated outside the state Capitol and in other cities.

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Eggs Fried

'The US is part of the problem, not the solution': Palestinian protesters throw eggs at US politicians visiting Ramallah


PressTV
Fri, 23 Feb 2018 09:27 UTC
Palestinian police prevent demonstrators from approaching a police vehicle
© Photo by AFP
Palestinian police prevent demonstrators from approaching a police vehicle carrying members of the New York City council and civil society as they exit a building after visiting an NGO in the West Bank city of Ramallah on February 22, 2018
Palestinian demonstrators have pelted a group of US politicians visiting the occupied West Bank with eggs to show their anger at Washington's hostile policies against their nation and in favor of the Israeli regime.

On Thursday, dozens of Palestinians gathered outside a research and polling center near Ramallah, where an American delegation, including New York City Council members and civil society groups, was visiting.
"America is the head of the snake" and "Americans are not welcome in Palestine," the protesters chanted as they tried to force their way into the offices of the center. Others chanted, "Jerusalem (al-Quds) is the capital of Palestine."
Upon leaving the venue, the visitors were pelted with eggs and vegetables by the crowd of protesters, who also chased their bus. The delegation had to be evacuated from the city by Palestinian police forces.

Comment: See also: Riot police clash with Palestinian protesters in Ramallah

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Cardboard Box

400kg of flour in diplomatic mail: Six cocaine smugglers arrested in tricky Argentine-Russian anti-drug op


RT
Fri, 23 Feb 2018 08:36 UTC
The cocaine that has been found in the Russian embassy in Buenos Aires
© Argentine Ministry of Security / Reuters
The cocaine that has been found in the Russian embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina, appears in this undated handout photo provided on February 22, 2018
In an unprecedented joint Argentine-Russian police operation straight out of a Hollywood blockbuster, six people have been arrested for trying to smuggle over $60mn worth of cocaine out of Argentina through diplomatic mail.

Back on December 13, 2016, Russian Ambassador to Argentina, Viktor Koronelli, personally alerted Argentinian Minister of Security, Patricia Bullrich, of a discovery of suspicious packages in the school annex of the diplomatic mission in Buenos Aires. Argentine authorities wasted no time, dispatching a team of experts by 11pm to check the contents of the 12 suitcases discovered by the Russians.

It was the beginning of an investigation that lasted more than a year and was full of cinematic edges. After receiving confirmation at 2am that same night that the bags were full of pure cocaine, totaling some 389 kg (858 pounds), Bullrich, who accompanied a team of Argentine experts to the embassy, instructed the Gendarmerie team to run to the Central Market to buy some 400 kilos of flour. Argentine authorities knew that they only had until 6am before staff began arriving for work. The next four hours were spent by the team replacing the cocaine with flour and placing a GPS tracker inside.

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Sheeple

Groupthink drives global warming zealotry

Anthony Watts
Watts Up With That?
Tue, 20 Feb 2018 20:49 UTC
global warming groupthink
A new report published by the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF) shows that both the science and policy of the climate debate are shaped and driven by an almost flawless example of classical Groupthink.

Written by one of Britain's leading newspaper columnists Christopher Booker, the report is based on research by Professor Irving Janis, the American psychologist who is famous for his theory of "Groupthink". But as Booker explains, Janis never looked at the application of his theory outside the policy areas he was interested in:
"Janis's focus was on decision-making in the foreign policy arena. However, as soon as you look, you see that his ideas apply elsewhere. The climate debate is a case in point - all of the characteristic 'rules' of groupthink are there: warmist ideas can't be tested against reality, and so to ensure they are upheld as the truth, they have to be elevated into a 'consensus' and anyone who challenges them must be crushed. These are precisely the features that Janis used to define Groupthink."
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