Open Thread - 24 February 2016

pl

Comments

[William R. Cumming]

Virginia is one of the super-Tuesday states and will be voting next Tuesday!

[William R. Cumming]

In the civil FOIA suit involving HRC's e-mails the Judge has ordered the depositions of several of HRC's staff while at State!

[turcopolier]

WRC

Is this bad news for HC? pl

[BabelFish]

Early spring in Florida. Signs? The rain water in the street gutters is running yellow with pollen, the black tip sharks are massing just offshore, the first turtles are coming ashore to lay eggs and the pompano will be migrating up the coast soon. I'm getting my gear ready for them.

On the other hand, we haven't seen one political ad yet (he said with thanks). The primary date is March 15 and the ads can't be that far off!

[BB]

Report: Dozens of Russian generals in Syria killed after a car bomb hits their military base

http://m.jpost.com/Middle-East/Report-Dozens-of-Russian-generals-in-Syria-killed-after-a-car-bomb-hits-their-military-base-445975#article=6024MEIzNDk3OUExNDBEODE3MEQ1NjVFNjIwMzlDNTQ1Qjg=

[mbrenner]

There are reports (e.g. by a well-informed Stephen Cohen) from Moscow that Putin weathered heavy opposition in pushing ahead with the Syrian cease-fire. (He is not an absolute dictator but clearly first among a group of powerful men). His grim demeanor in his national address to the Russian people, itself a rarity, suggests that he sees high stakes. This underscores the question posed here as to why he signed onto so ambiguous a document.

Knowing nothing of Russian politics, or the intricacies of Syria's Rubik Cube, the one thought that comes to mind is that Russian Intelligence may have concluded that there were grounds to expect a Turkish invasion by an unhinged Erdogan and that Obama could not be counted on to exert himself enough to prevent it. How the cease fire might play re the Kurds is itself obscure - so the logical links are uncertain. Just one among a number of hypotheses.

[Jose]

BSHO will not prosecute her...

[SmoothieX12]

It is an absolute lie, no less than three battalions of Russian generals and one platoon of Marshals were killed. Evidently one of two Russian generalissimos is also in serious conditions.

[Valissa]

I cannot find any other news links to this event. Also why would dozens of generals be in the same place? Especially in a war zone?

[Matthew]

Bb: Dozens of "generals"? All in one place? Do they still have editors at the JPost?

[ex-PFC Chuck]

Yves Smith at Naked Capitalism had a comment in her morning Links page today and asserts that it's a big deal. It indicates the judge is annoyed with her foot dragging, and as she says it's not a good idea to PO the judge. Her link to the Financial Times piece about the matter is pay-walled so I suggest going to her Links page and either scroll down a screen or two or search "Judge orders Clinton".
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2016/02/links-22416.html

[robt willmann]

WRC,

Here is the clerk's docket entry saying that the motion for discovery was granted and that an order will be forthcoming: "Minute Entry for proceedings held before Judge Emmet G. Sullivan: Motion Hearing held on 2/23/2016 re [48] MOTION for Discovery filed by JUDICIAL WATCH, INC. The Court grants [48] Motion for Discovery. ( Plaintiff to Submit Discovery Plan To Court and Counsel by 3/15/2016. Defendant Response due by 4/5/2016. Plaintiff Replies due by 4/15/2016. Order To Be Issued. (Court Reporter SCOTT WALLACE.) (mac)"

http://www.judicialwatch.org/document-archive/jw-v-state-order-discovery-01363/

So now the requestor has to suggest a discovery plan, and then there will be a response, and a reply by the requestor / plaintiff by 15 April 2016. After that, I would guess that there will be a court order on the deposition schedule, and maybe on who will be questioned, unless the judge puts their names in the order to follow after yesterday's hearing. A court order on the schedule may not come until May, well into the Democratic primary, unfortunately.

[505thPIR]

It's trouble for HRC. Slow moving, but relentless trouble.

[Barish]

This reads like agit-prop at its finest. Anyone checked whether the footage wouldn't happen to be re-used from another incident?

Plus, all I see is a bunch of parked Toyotas and a not too vast "boom" going up. Big deal, "Free Men of Sham".

[Fred]

BB,

"dozens"? Sounds like more generals that Russian would have in Syria.

[Fred]

Jose,

I wonder just how much ink he's using for his pardon pen. She won't be the only one.

[Ishmael Zechariah]

Army researchers patent self-destructing bullet designed to save lives

http://www.networkworld.com/article/3037405/hardware/army-researchers-patent-self-destructing-bullet-designed-to-save-lives.html

Any opinions?
Ishmael Zechariah

[Grimgrin]

I've recently been watching a UK spy series called "The Sandbaggers". It's a very well written series that aired in the late 70's about then contemporary cold war spying. It's notable for how relentlessly brutal and unsympathetic its portrayal of the Secret Intelligence Service, and the intelligence community in general, actually is. I've read some reviews that suggested it as the most realistic spy series ever filmed. This, however, is a hard thing to gauge so I thought I'd ask here if anyone had seen it and could comment. The full series is available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXAXn3gfdI0 if anyone is curious.

[Poul]

Erdogan & Co seems to have play fast and loose with the facts on the Ankara bombing.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-blast-investigation-idUSKCN0VW29A

Quote:
"But the DNA report suggested the attack was carried out by Abdulbaki Somer, born in the eastern Turkish city of Van, said the security official and the state-run Anadolu news agency, which cited prosecution sources.

That matches the name given by the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK), a Kurdish militant group, when it claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement on its website on Friday.

"The DNA report has been published. We saw that it was not Necar," the security official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity because the results of the investigation have not yet been made public.

"The bomber's DNA matches that of Abdulbaki's father. It looks like the bomber was Abdulbaki Somer, that's what the report is saying," the official said."

[J]

A disaster just within the NYC area is smoldering, it's the Indian Point Energy Center Nuclear Reactor on the Hudson is leaking Radioactive Tritium into the groundwater.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/indian-point-nuclear-power-plant-called-a-disaster-waiting-to-happen/

[Valissa]

LOL... Russia attacks Sweden parody https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTbL1hH19BE

Bonus parody video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kIb_eVWRIk

[inspired by Newton's 3rd Law :)]

[VietnamVet]

Professor,

There are so many weird things going on I have this gut feeling that Vladimir Putin is the only sane world leader. Colonel Lang said that Turkey is not going to invade. The US and Russia are not going to war over Syria. He has the experience, common sense and contacts to know. I pray he is correct. But, humiliation is not rationale. The chaos that Hillary Clinton enabled in Iraq, Libya and Syria is metastasizing into Turkey. Europe is flooded with refugees.
http://www.lucify.com/the-flow-towards-europe/

The hounds of war are stalking. Donald Trump who corporate media today anointed to be her presidential opponent after the Nevada win advocates waterboarding and dipping bullets in pig’s blood. This is a howl for a world war.

[Akira]

Interview with Syrian Democratic Council (MSD) Co-President İlham Ehmed:

Do you mean the existing system in Syria will turn into a federal structure and a decision on this has already been made?

I do not want to broach this matter in detail for now. What is essential is the fight waged in Rojava and it is inevitable to achieve the democratization of Syria in line with this struggle.

Observations made during the discussions of structures that include international powers are for the formation of 3 federal regions in Syria. This is what is wanted by the peoples of Syria, and the states, parties and groups that seek a political solution in Syria. America and Russia are also of the same opinion.

http://anfenglish.com/features/ehmed-nobody-can-question-where-the-sdf-will-advance-part-i

http://anfenglish.com/features/ehmed-three-federal-regions-will-be-formed-in-syria-part-ii

https://youtu.be/C344xLEmHA8

[The Twisted Genius]

pl,

I noticed a couple of owls depicted here. I worked with one Pete K. in my early days at Defense HUMINT. His office was filled with owl memorabilia. I got a kick out of seeing him sitting in a darkened office in his high backed chair, often with a murder of crows hanging around outside his window. It was quite the sight. He grabbed me to handle Y2K for DH because he figured I knew my way around a computer. From there he grabbed me for any cyber related IC activity.

[ztommixx]

Same Nunn & Dmitri Trenin at Carnegie Moscow:

http://www.nti.org/newsroom/news/sam-nunn/

Also Judy Dempsey:

http://carnegie.ru/experts/?fa=693&type=TVRadio
and her twitter feeds.