Doug the Dem
Doug the Dem's Journal
National Security Adviser McMaster on Charlottesville: "Of Course it Was Terrorism"
Source: Slate
Aug. 13 2017 7:53 PM
When a car plowed into a crowd of counter-protesters in Charlottesville on Saturday, killing one person, there was lots of back-and-forth about whether that action could be classified as terrorism. For National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster though, there really isn’t much to debate. “Certainly I think we can confidently call it a form of terrorism,” McMaster said on NBC’s Meet the Press. “What terrorism is is the use of violence to incite terror and fear, and of course it was terrorism.”
McMaster espoused the same message on ABC’s This Week although he seemed to take a more careful stance, suggesting the killing was more a “criminal” act than terrorism. “I certainly think any time that you commit an attack against people to incite fear, it is terrorism. It meets the definition of terrorism,” he said. "What you see here, is a criminal act. A criminal act that may be motivated by this hatred and bigotry.”
Read more: http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2017/08/13/national_security_adviser_h_r_mcmaster_on_charlottesville_of_course_it_was.html
Okay, now kick Bannon's ass outta the White House!
What's Your Favorite Song from all the Favorite Song Threads Here?
To be honest, I haven't clicked on them, but I gotta believe Don't You Forget About Me by Simple Minds was in there somewhere!
CNN Panelist Phil Mudd Says Deep State 'Will Kill' Trump
Metaphorically, of course. Right, Phil?
CIA chief says 'nothing imminent' in US showdown with North Korea
Source: The Guardian
Sunday 13 August 2017 17.34 BST
Mike Pompeo, the CIA director, offered assurances on Sunday “nothing imminent” was happening in the US standoff with nuclear-armed North Korea but said he wouldn’t be surprised if Pyongyang conducted another missile test.
Pompeo’s remarks cap a week in which Donald Trump vowed “fire and fury” if North Korea continued to threaten the United States with nuclear weapons, and Pyongyang countered by announcing plans to test-launch missiles toward Guam.
Pressed about his “nothing imminent” statement, Pompeo said: “What I’m talking about is, I’ve heard folks talking about that we have been on the cusp of a nuclear war. No intelligence that would indicate we are in that place today.”
Pompeo said the US intelligence community has “a pretty good idea” about what’s going on in North Korea.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/13/mike-pompeo-of-cia-says-nothing-imminent-in-north-korea-crisis
You don't have to click the link. You don't need to read the whole article. Hey, I'm just trying to be helpful here: Do yourself a favor and don't click the link!
Taiwan says Chinese aircraft fly around island in weekend of drills
Source: Reuters
August 13, 2017 / 1:37 AM
TAIPEI (Reuters) - Chinese military aircraft carried out two rounds of drills around Taiwan at the weekend, flying past its southern tip and then around its north near Japan, the self-ruled island's defense ministry said.
China has been increasingly asserting itself in territorial disputes in the South and East China Seas. It is also worried about Taiwan, which it claims as its own, but which is run by a government China fears is intent on independence.
On Sunday, two Chinese military transport aircraft flew through the Bashi Channel between Taiwan and the Philippines before going up near the Japanese island of Miyako, to Taiwan's north, where they were joined by two Chinese fighter jets, and then returned home, the ministry said.
The day before, Chinese bombers and transport aircraft flew the same route, while Chinese fighters and airborne early warning aircraft flew only through the Bashi Channel, the ministry added.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-taiwan-china-idUSKBN1AT05A?il=0
China is a country to be concerned about, unlike another Asian state I could name.
PS: if you know your horror movies, then you know about posting three stories at a time.
Angela Merkel races ahead in polls with six weeks to go
Source: The Guardian
Kate Connolly in Berlin
Saturday 12 August 2017 23.54 BST
Not long ago, he was seen as a bearer of hope, not just for his own party, Germany’s Social Democrats, but for the whole of the embattled European left. He was nicknamed “Sankt Martin”, the man who had the potential to topple Angela Merkel from her throne after almost 12 years and bring a wave of fresh ideas that would reinvigorate a political landscape turned staid by her long-term presence.
Martin Schulz, 61, was even being looked to closely by Jeremy Corbyn’s advisers at a time when the Labour leader was struggling to mobilise support. They marvelled at how he had burst on to Berlin’s political stage and was inspiring a new generation of young voters, while encouraging those who had abandoned the party to return in their thousands.
Now, with six weeks to go until Germans go to the polls, Schulz is trailing Merkel miserably and already appears to be settling for a seat on the Bundestag opposition benches. “The SPD candidate is toiling hard, but no one is taking any notice,” wrote leading commentator Heribert Prantl in an editorial for the Süddeutsche Zeitung.
The polls show Schulz’s SPD trailing Merkel’s CDU/CSU alliance by about 14%, having been almost neck-and-neck just a few months ago. Polling analysts are not so much blaming Schulz’s campaign, which has seen him off on an energetic tour across Germany at the same time as Merkel has been happily relaxing in the South Tyrol, but on the strength of his opponent’s brand, the sense of reliability she exudes, and the continuity she will offer a Germany that is on an economic high.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/12/germany-election-angela-merkel-martin-schulz
Yeah, I'm an American liberal rooting for the reelection of a German conservative.
Charlottesville: Trump under fire after failing to denounce white supremacists
Source: The Guardian
Ben Jacobs and Warren Murray
Sunday 13 August 2017 05.02 BST
Donald Trump has faced bipartisan criticism after failing to explicitly condemn the role of white supremacists in clashes with counter-protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, that culminated in a car running into a crowd, killing at least one person.
The president said he condemned “hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides” on Saturday. He then repeated the phrase “on many sides” for emphasis. A White House spokesperson later amplified the president’s remarks, telling the Guardian: “The president was condemning hatred, bigotry and violence from all sources and all sides. There was violence between protesters and counter-protesters today.”
But there was strong reaction to Trump’s refusal to denounce far-right extremists who had marched through the streets carrying flaming torches, screaming racial epithets and setting upon their opponents.
The clashes started after white nationalists planned a rally around a statue of the Confederate general Robert E Lee that is slated to be removed.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/12/charlottesville-protest-trump-condemns-violence-many-sides
All sides? No, Donnie: All sides is a reference to your being removed from office.
"The f*cking Jew-lovers are gassing us!": Nazi Charlottesville marcher drops F-bomb live on Fox News
Source: RawStory
12 Aug 2017 at 16:33 ET
Fox News reporter Doug McKelway got more than he bargained for on Saturday when he attempted to interview a group of pro-Nazi marchers at the “Unite the Right” protest in Charlottesville, VA.
McKelway seemed shocked that the right-wing marchers who showed up in vintage Nazi helmets, armed with brass knuckles and carrying shields weren’t interested in having an intellectual conversation about the role of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in U.S. history.
Read more: https://www.rawstory.com/2017/08/the-fcking-jew-lovers-are-gassing-us-nazi-marcher-drops-f-bomb-live-on-fox-news/
Amazing that racists and nazis don't seem inclined to engage in debate and analysis of historical and/or current events, isn't it?
Forget the eclipse for a moment: Perseid meteor shower set to peak tonight
Source: CBC News
Updated: Aug 12, 2017 5:49 PM ET
With all the talk about the coming solar eclipse, the Perseid meteor shower — one of the year's best — has been left in the dust. But it's time to forget about the sun for a while and focus on "shooting stars."
Though we can see meteors on any given night, almost every month we're treated to a significant meteor shower. We get these as Earth plows through the debris left over from passing comets. As small cometary debris enters our atmosphere, it burns up briefly, appearing as bright streaks in the sky.
In the case of the Perseids, Earth is whizzing through particles left over from Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle, which last passed us in 1992.
The meteor shower has already begun, as it runs from mid-July to the end of August each year. But as we near the peak, which occurs on Saturday, the number of meteors per hour increases. On the peak night, you may see as many as 50 to 100 meteors per hour in a dark-sky location.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/perseid-meteor-shower-peak-1.4231217
Shooting stars, not nuclear missiles. Relax and enjoy, though the Moon will prevent you from seeing a lot of them.
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Member since: Fri May 26, 2017, 03:19 PMNumber of posts: 1,297
