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Disruptus asks players to look at objects and ideas and use different approaches — as determined by the roll of a die — to innovate.
Disruptus™ draws inspiration from the very important practice of 'disruptive thinking'. Disruptive thinking is one of the most powerful ways to innovate.
It has been used to create ideas and objects like digital music, and car sharing programs.
Disruptive thinking is looking at an object or idea and coming up with an entirely different way to achieve the same end.
So, in the case of car sharing, the innovators looked at the car rental industry and came up with a new approach that 'disrupted' the old conventional method.
Play multiple rounds just using just 1 innovation technique. In these cases, there is no need to use the die!
So, for example, if you are playing with younger children, then consider only playing rounds of Create2. This is great fun as children get the opportunity to create new objects and use their innate innovative skills.
You can also give yourselves 2 minutes. The judge just needs to flip the timer over again during the round.
Box Contains:
100 Image Cards
10 Innovation Canvas Cards
6 Guide Cards
1 Game Die
1 Minute Timer
1 Idea Pad


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Father: Hiram Henry WESTOVER b: 7 OCT 1850 in Stanbridge, Brome-Missisquoi Regional County Municipality, Quebec, Canada
Mother: Almira S. BUZZELL b: 1 SEP 1864 in Cherry River, Quebec, Canada
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subset: commoncrawl


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What does it mean to be happy?
Today is the UN's International Day of Happiness and in honour of that occasion, Christian Today talks to Dr Anthony Seldon, Master of Wellington College and co-founder of the pressure group Action for Happiness which lobbies Government to make the issue of the population's happiness, not just their bank balance, central to their policy decisions.
CT: How from a Christian perspective would you define happiness?
AS: There are three clear, but very different, experiences: pleasure, happiness, and joy. Pleasure is always related to material ends. Food and drink for example. It's always linked to the sensual feelings and things like that. Always personal experience.
Happiness is a much more profound sense and comes from a sense of being loved and being in relationships. It also comes from a sense of goodness, a sense of one having done a good job and being part of something.
Joy is a purely religious experience that cannot be willed, cannot be bought, and comes often when you least expect it.
Those are three very clear states in my outlook and experience.
CT: What in the Bible would you base your thinking on in particular?
AS: The key Biblical expression would come from Psalm 46:10 which says: "Be still and know that I am God."
This has been profoundly ignored over the centuries, always with bad consequences. One cannot be still and commit evil.
The experience of stillness is infinite, it just goes deeper and deeper. Man, in his or her wish to order the world as they see fit, constantly overlooks that core injunction.
In a spiritual sense, I see this stillness as making a connection to God.
CT: How does one go about seeking out this 'stillness' that you talk about? Does it begin with being physically still?
AS: Well, being physically still can help, but there have been many greatly spiritual people who have been very busy and yet have also had a great stillness about them.
Only in stillness can you have a true connection to God. In stillness there is the letting go of the ego, the individual personality, its wants and wishes. That is the constant barrier between the self and the divine.
After all, God is ever present, so the question is what is stopping us from reaching out and connecting with him. And the answer is it's because we don't want to. The ego, which is constantly wanting things, is constantly moving. That's what's stopping us from making that connection.
If we quieten our egos and learn to be still in our day to day lives, we will be acting from a deeper part of ourselves.
It is a common thing to hear from those in advancing years that they wish they'd spent more time with their children, or they wish they'd spent more time doing the things they loved. It's also common to hear people say that the anticipation of an event is often better than the event itself.
What being still does is to help us make the most of events. The people who eagerly await something, maybe a holiday, maybe a wedding, a party, a trip, all these kinds of things, they often report afterwards that the actual thing they were awaiting was somewhat unsatisfying. That is because they're completely unstill during it.
In stillness, one experiences relationships and events on a deeper level. The reason being that the mind is quieter. There's less mental chatter. People can rest more clearly on the person in front of them, or the event they're engaged with, and you can feel more present and more in the moment.
So many people rush their way through their jobs, their marriages, their children. Then they wake up at the age of 66 and think "my goodness, where did all that go? I would love to have it back!"
The experience of being still is truly immersing one's self in what one has, which is a sacred responsibility.
Through doing this, one enjoys food much more. One enjoys nature, art, music, all these sort of things, the mind enjoys them much more.
This is something we all have to work on all the time. It's certainly something I know I haven't fully grasped. In a short while I shall be off to visit my wife at the hospital and when I'm there I will be trying to be still, trying to keep my attention present, trying to not have my mind scattered.
I wouldn't want your readers to think that because I'm speaking on all this that I'm someone who has this completely perfected. It is always an ongoing process, which you get better at with time.
It's very hard work, because one has to learn to let go and undo the habits of a lifetime.
CT: You mentioned earlier that fulfilment is a part of happiness, a part of being still. Could you expand on that? What's the best way to find fulfilment in one's work?
AS: Well it has to do with working hard, being conscientious, and being valued. You see this in students and pupils in schools all the time, they're much happier when they know they've done a good job, and when they're working hard on something.
This also happens in a family when loving relationships are transitive. People might not stand up and shout that they're happy, but they will feel it. Happiness is often one of those things where when you start to think about it, it tends to suddenly evaporate, because you are removing yourself from the immediate experience.
CT: You're part of a group that lobbies for more focus in schools and the curriculum on how to be happy. How would you propose happiness be taught?
AS: I set up a group called Action for Happiness, a national group that began in April 2011. There are three of us, I'm the religious one, there is one who is semi-religious, and one who isn't religious. That group is for people of faith and people of no-faith.
We talk about a ten point code, and this isn't advocating an alternative to Christianity. I think many Christians and many church leaders will benefit from studying this list and the approach it is based on. It's all implicit or explicit in the Old and New Testaments.
One of the ten ways is to be appreciative and to value what we have. We know that optimism can be learned, and pessimism can be learned. We are much better to be around when we are optimistic, when we are energy givers rather than energy sappers.
So we help people learn how to take a more optimistic view on life and how to be more appreciative. One of the things we advocate is that everyone, before they go to sleep, thinks about three things that day that they were appreciative of.
Another point is to serve others. If we are people who devote our lives to serving others and looking after others, this will make us happier. It's not possible to be genuinely looking after others and be unhappy.
There's also one of the points that calls for a focus on looking after one's self physically. Exercise, good nutrition, things like that. I think this is an area where the Church could do more to articulate things better.
If we are eating too much or too little, or the wrong thing, if we're drinking too much, or sleeping too little or too much, we won't be happy and we won't be as good for others.
There are another seven which I could go into, but I think it would be too long right now. All of these though are either directly or indirectly Biblically referenced.
CT: You're also involved in advocating the measurement of happiness. How do you go about that?
AS: Well, this is actually the Government's doing, they're going about it via the Office for National Statistics. It's something I applaud because when governments make decisions, in the past they often haven't looked at the wellbeing of people affected by the decision, they've mostly looked at it in terms of economics.
If you're considering the happiness and wellbeing of people affected if you close down say a railway line or a bus route, a village school or a community centre, your decision may end up being different.
What people should be looking at is the impact of those decisions on a community. If they are clearly unhappy about something, one should look at that policy very carefully, and maybe not go ahead with it.
In terms of ways of measuring happiness, there are two main ways. There's simply asking them, surveys and so on. But that's very subjective so it's very difficult to be sure of.
The second way is looking at impulses in the brain, and looking for activity and patterns of activity that are known to be related to happiness. When you're happy, your body produces a different set of chemicals and the brain reacts to things in a different way compared to when you are heavy and lethargic and sad. But this is still a pretty unreliable area, and pretty impractical to do en masse.
CT: What would you say to people who criticise the search for happiness you describe as being self-centred or self-serving?
AS: I think that unhappiness and selfishness often go together. We know people can be trapped in cycles of negativity and depression.
Unhappiness in one person can ripple out into one's friends, one's family and those around them. I want to be very careful how I say this, but I know how terribly depressing it is for parents to have unhappy children.
If we then flip that on its head, if we are around people who are genuinely happy, not happy because they've taken pills or because they're drunk or they've just won the lottery or gotten a bonus. To be around people who are genuinely happy lifts others. It gives energy rather than takes it away.
Therefore if we can become happier as people, we are helping those around us. It isn't a selfish thing. It's a selfless quest.
I think it is important for all of us to find our calling, and make our journey from the ego to the soul. The soul that never wants anything for itself, that is always good, always loving, and always kind. That is what life is all about.
Happiness is the unlooked for by-product of making that journey. The deeper along that journey you go, the more you experience joy.


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The new coroner appointed to preside over an inquest into the death of a young woman in an Ontario prison has ruled that the current proceedings will be closed and the process will start anew.
Dr. John Carlisle said Friday the jury will be discharged in the current inquest into why 19-year-old Ashley Smith was able to choke herself to death in a Kitchener, Ont., facility almost four years ago.
Proceedings began in May, but have been fraught with delays, including the retirement of the coroner originally appointed to preside over the case.
"I find that the interests of fairness and the statutory objects of the Coroners Act and the inquest into the death of Ashley Smith will best be served by closing the current inquest and beginning a new one," Dr. Carlisle wrote in his decision released Friday.
"I find that, while some time may be lost in starting a new inquest it is not likely to be more than would be lost by attempting to carry on the old and may indeed be less."
No date has been selected to begin the new inquest.
Dr. Carlisle said that restarting the proceedings would avoid time lost in resolving questions surrounding his stepping in and what should happen with evidence entered prior to his start.
There had already been six days of hearings in the case, during which the jury heard from two witnesses over three days, and spent the rest of the time hearing motions and watching videos. Then, the case's original coroner, Dr. Bonita Porter, abruptly announced the proceedings would adjourn.
She said she planned to retire in November, which led to the case being handed to Dr. Carlisle.
Proceedings under Dr. Carlisle resumed Sept. 12, but were quickly adjourned when the Smith family submitted a motion challenging his jurisdiction to pick up on an inquest which started under someone else.
Smith family lawyer Julian Falconer argued that restarting the inquest would mean Dr. Carlisle wouldn't have to grapple with ruling on issues Dr. Porter had heard evidence on. He said the family wasn't opposed to Dr. Carlisle presiding over a new inquest, but just wanted to start over.
His position was opposed by at least five of the 13 parties who have standing at the hearing, who argued that such a step would move the already sluggish proceedings backward.
There have already been several delays in the process, which was originally scheduled to begin in November 2010.
Dr. Carlisle reasoned that since it has been more than four months since the jury last sat, it would likely have to rehear much of the evidence anyway.
"I find that, while there may be some marginal costs, they most likely will be offset by savings to be achieved in a new inquest," he wrote.
Ms. Smith had been in and out of custody since 2003, much of that time spent in segregation.
The inquest is examining the last 11 months of her life, when she was transferred between facilities 17 times.
It has heard Ms. Smith frequently tied various material around her neck and sometimes banged her head or cut herself, but wasn't trying to hurt herself intentionally — after being kept in near constant isolation much of the time, she did it for the stimulation.
Ms. Smith was first arrested at 13 for assault and causing a disturbance but her time behind bars ballooned with a number of in-custody incidents.


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Hi i dont know if this is the right place to post this ! But
I downloaded some themes for Nemo from https://launchpad.net/~webupd8team/+archive/themes
But i dont know how to install it :/ Can anyone help me.
Nemo Themes
Forum rules
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Before you post please read how to get help
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Re: Nemo Themes
You want to add the PPA
Code: Select all
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/themes
Mint 18
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Thanks ^_^
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Member StoriesDiscussion
Pompeo stated that the Russian presence in Syria is an attempt to "stick it" to the US. In reality, the Russian presence is because the Syrian government asked Russia for a partnership in the fight against jihadist terrorism and Russia agreed to provide this assistance.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov responded to Pompeo's statement by reminding the world that the US presence in Syria is illegal according to international law. While Russia was invited by the government of Syria, the United States has no such permission, neither from Damascus nor the United Nations.
The United States Special Forces ensure the unimpeded movement of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) through the positions of the Islamic State, as stated by the Russian Defense Ministry on Facebook.
"Without meeting any resistance from ISIS, the SDF forces are moving along the left bank of the Euphrates River towards the city of Deir ez-Zor. Aerial images, which were taken from September 8 to 12, 2017 over the positions of ISIS, recorded a large number of American armored Hummer vehicles which are used by the United States Special Forces," stated the Russian Ministry of Defense.
The Russian Ministry of Defense believes that "despite the fact that the United States troops are located in the areas adjacent to ISIS positions, they do not have any signs of combat readiness."
The Russian Defense Ministry has released aerial images allegedly showing ISIS, the SDF, and US special forces working side-by-side on the battlefield against Syrian and Russian forces in Dier ez-Zor, Syria.
The impending collapse of ISIS has touched off a race for territory in the oil-rich eastern part of Syria pitting US-backed forces against the Russian-led coalition of Syria, Iran and Hezbollah.
This is the nightmare scenario that everyone wanted to avoid. Washington and Moscow's armies are now converging on the same area at the same time greatly increasing the probability of a conflagration between the two nuclear-armed superpowers.
The only way a clash can be avoided is if one party backs down, which seems increasingly unlikely.
President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an hinted on Sept. 25 that Turkey could launch an operation to the Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) if necessary, citing a previous operation in northern Syria.
The US-led coalition fighting ISIS in Syria killed at least 84 civilians, 30 children among them, when it carried out two lethal airstrikes near Raqqa in March, HRW said, adding that "no precautions" to minimize civilian losses were taken.
"In the two deadliest attacks, the US-led coalition struck a school and a market killing at least 84 civilians," including 30 children, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a 42-page report released on Monday, adding that the coalition did not take adequate precautions to minimize civilian casualties.
"Although ISIS [Islamic State] fighters were also at these sites, the high civilian death toll raises concerns that military forces of the US-led coalition failed to take necessary precautions to avoid and minimize civilian casualties, a requirement under international humanitarian law," it added.
• The recordings of Russian drones testify that the Americans, through the Islamic State militant lines, give themselves subordinate assignments to the "Syrian Democratic Forces" which continue to move towards the city of Deir-ez-Zora on the left bank of the Euphrates\
The Ministry of Defense of Russia has released aero-recordings confirming that the United States cooperates with the Islamic state.
In particular, the footage shows that the US Commandos unit allows the passage through the combat positions of a detachment of the Islamic State to members of the "Syrian Democratic Forces (SDS)".
These forces were formed and trained by the Pentagon and the CIA, which fund and direct them.
In the statement of the RF Ministry of Defense it is pointed out and emphasizes:
Lieutenant-General Valery Asapov, of the Russian armed forces, has been killed after coming under shelling from Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) militants near Deir ez-Zor, the Russian Defense Ministry has announced.
The Russian Ministry of Defense has released aerial images which they say show US Army special forces equipment north of the town of Deir er-Zor, where ISIS militants are deployed.
By Brandon Turbeville
Even after the apparent cooling of tensions between Russia and the United States in Syria, it seems that the potential for direct military conflict between the two world powers is increasingly likely yet again. As has been typical in the Syrian conflict, the steps toward greater likelihood of confrontation is the result of the U.S. push to provoke Russia and threaten the Syrian military with repercussions for retaking Syrian territory from Daesh.
Ever since the SAA began its campaign to liberate Deir ez-Zour, the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a collection of Kurdish and Arab terrorists working under the guise of "moderates," has been racing toward Deir ez-Zour as well in order to prevent the SAA from retaking the city in full and to prevent the Syrian government from having access to its resources...
The Kurdistan independence vote scheduled for September 25 will play into Tel Aviv's hands: an independent Kurdish state would allow Israel to solve its energy issues and weaken its regional rivals Iraq and Syria, Iraqi expert told Sputnik. For his part, a Syrian general revealed what steps the Syrian Army is taking to halt Kurdish separatism.
Late afternoon today (local time) U.S. hired, equipped and advised Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters killed nine Syrian Arab Army soldiers. The soldiers were in a boat crossing the Euphrates river near Deir Ezzor city.
Two sources independently reported the incident. There is so far no official confirmation. The following assumes that the above indeed happened.
The killers were from a U.S. hired gang of Arab tribal fighters under one Ahmad Abu Khawla. He is well known as a local criminal who had earlier fought for the Islamic State (ISIS). His gang is nominally under the command of the YPK/PKK which is the main U.S. ally in north-eastern Syria. U.S. special forces are in the area as "advisors" to the various SDF groups.
Abu Khawla is officially the commander of the "Deir Ezzor military council" - a body the U.S. advisors invented as umbrella for its collection of local mercenaries.
There will be consequences for this, but most they will most probably be asymetric in nature from the Russian/Syrian military.
Here are excerpts from a 2007 report from award winning journalist Seymour Hersh. His report, published in the New Yorker under the heading "The Redirection," outlines in clear language that the conspiracy to topple the governments of Syria and Iran, specifically by sponsoring terrorist groups as mercenaries against them, was conceived and initiated during the Bush years, and began to take shape in earnest in 2007.
>>> This is the nightmare scenario that everyone wanted to avoid. Washington and Moscow's armies are now converging on the same area at the same time greatly increasing the probability of a conflagration between the two nuclear-armed superpowers. The only way a clash can be avoided is if one party backs down, which seems increasingly unlikely.>>>
What makes this attack unique is that it took place inside a so-called "de-escalation zone" and that it appears that one of the key goals of the attack was to encircle in a pincer-movement and subsequently capture a platoon of Russian military police officers deployed to monitor and enforce the special status of this zone.!>>>
While the Syrian Arab Army, the Russian aviation and Hezbollah are preparing to finish off Daesh, the Pentagon is planning a new war against Syria, this time with Kurdish troops.
Just as the mission of the Caliphate was to create a Sunnistan straddling Iraq and Syria, so the mission of « Rojava » is to create a Kurdistan straddling the two states, as the Pentagon has been publicly stating for the last four years.
Now, the Syrian Army finds themselves engaged in a Cold War-like battle with the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as they both attempt to take control of Syria's largest oil field.
In a matter of a week, both the Syrian Army and SDF have captured a large chunk of territory in Deir Ezzor, putting both of their forces within striking distance of the Al-'Omar Oil Field.
Whoever reaches the Al-'Omar Oil Field first will reap the economic and territorial benefit>>>
If the U.S. government and mainstream media are really concerned about foreign influence in American politics, they might look at Israel and other nations with much more clout than Russia, notes Robert Parry.
The core absurdity of the Russia-gate frenzy is its complete lack of proportionality.
Al-Masdar News has obtained footage showing the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) halting a US convoy in downtown Qamishli, then forcing the American armored vehicles to turn back into Kurdish-held suburbs. The video was recorded by an off-duty Syrian soldier on Tuesday and depicts the US Army trying to bypass a SAA checkpoint, only to be turned back by government troops.
Russia has warned that it will strike back if the positions of Syrian government forces in the Arab country come under attack by US-backed militants.
According to the Pentagon, US and Russian generals have held a face-to-face meeting this week about trying to avoid accidental conflict within Syria, with both sides are finding their forces increasingly in close proximity, and with contrary agendas.
According to spokesman Col. Ryan Dillon, both sides "laid down maps and graphics" suggesting an unusual increase in information sharing between the two sides. This comes amid warnings from Russia that they're prepared to retaliate against US troops if provoked.
It's not just a theoretical problem either. Russian officials warn that twice in recent days their troops have come under fire from US-backed Kurdish forces, including a time when mortars were fired at them from a position held by US troops.
Were I a military CO on the ground in Syria, I would take the Russians at their word on this.
The Russian military, in concert with Syrian forces, have pretty much retaken most of the country held under ISIS.
For a sane US military commander, or commander in chief, there can be very little realistic hope of regime change in Damascus at this point, unless the US government decides it is worth it to fight both Russia and Syrian forces on the ground, and we most likely do not have the necessary number of troops to do this here.
And the US military, at this time in its history, absolutely does not have the troop strength; the money; the manufacturing or the weaponry to accomplish this in Syria.
Therefore, henceforward, militarily, and dealing with the current state of US troop and equipment readiness (or lack thereof), I would both strongly and politely suggest that the US government needs to pick its fights very carefully.
For the third time in as many weeks Israel has reportedly bombed positions inside Syria. Syrian state media along with multiple regional outlets showed fires burning at a facility near the Damascus international airport in the early hours of Friday. Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports that like with previous attacks, Israel jets fired from over Lebanese airspace. But it appears the latest exchange was part of a tit-for-tat exchange of fire between Syria and Israel in a situation that continues to dangerously escalate.
Multiple reports are circulating that the Israeli attack was initiated after Syria's aerial defense missile system engaged and fired on an Israeli aircraft in the area. Video of what purports to show Syrian missiles firing on the aircraft circulated widely in Syrian social media and was picked up by Lebanese and Israeli news outlets. Early reports indicate that an Israeli drone was likely the target.
A Russian submarine has launched a barrage of Kalibr cruise missiles at the positions of the foreign-sponsored and Takfiri Jabhat Fatah al-Sham – previously known as the Nusra Front – militant group in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib and destroyed them only a few day after the extremists attacked a unit of Russian Military Police in the crisis-hit Arab country.
The UN Security Council on Thursday warned that a referendum on independence by Iraq's Kurdistan region was potentially destabilizing, adding its weight to international opposition to the vote.
In a unanimous statement, the 15-member council said the referendum planned for Monday could hinder efforts to help refugees return home and weaken the military campaign against the Islamic State group.
In its latest breach of international law, the U.S. is unilaterally attempting to prevent the Syrian government from reclaiming its own territory. From Reuters:
"U.S.-backed Syrian militias will not let government forces cross the Euphrates River in their bid to recover eastern Syria, their commander said on Friday, but Russia said army units had already done so near the city of Deir al-Zor."
Reuters notes that Russia is involved in this particular part of Syria>>>
MI5 estimates that 850 Brits have slipped into Iraq and Syria to fight for Islamic State – but only half have ruturned to Britain
A senior general with Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says the Takfiri Daesh terror group will be uprooted in two months.
The countries fighting Daesh will in two months celebrate its collapse, said Major General Qassem Soleimani, who commands the IRGC's Quds Force, the IRIB reported on Thursday.
"Iran, Russia, Syria, and Iraq should hold this celebration," said the general at a ceremony held in memory of an Iranian military adviser martyred in Syria.
Early on Friday, the Israeli Air Force struck a target in the Damascus International Airport, according to pro-opposition sources and the Israeli media. There are no details about the damage caused by airstrikes. Pro-Israeli sources claim that the Israeli Air Force targeted a part of the airport used for providing supplies to Hezbollah.
At the same time, reports appeared that the Syrian Air Defense Forces downed "hostile aircraft", most likely an Israeli reconnaissance drone, over the Damascus countryside.
Late on Thursday, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), supported by the US-led coalition's airpower and military advisers, seized Tabiyeh and al-Isba oil and gas fields northeast of Deir Ezzor city, according to pro-Kurdish sources.
Israeli planes have reportedly fired two missiles which hit near Damascus, targeting an ammunition facility belonging to Lebanon's Hezbollah, according to a Lebanese TV station citing "informed" sources and various social media reports on pro-Syrian webpages.
The UN is a venue for promoting world peace and stability. Trump used his General Assembly address for hostile chest-thumping, threatening North Korea, Iran, Venezuela and Syria's Bashar al-Assad – a disgraceful jingoistic display.
The only language he understands is belligerence, escalating wars he inherited from Bush/Cheney and Obama, plotting new ones, threatening possible nuclear confrontation on the Korean peninsula.
He's a national disgrace and a world menace, a rogue leader. Addresses by his counterparts and other officials representing their countries shamed him.
Russia has said its troops are prepared to fire on US positions in Syria if they come under attack by American-backed soldiers 'again'.
According to US grand strategy, as defined by Admiral Cebrowski in 2001, and published in 2004 by his assistant Thomas Barnett, all of the Greater Middle East must be destroyed except for Israël, Jordan and Lebanon.
Consequently, the imminent victory against Daesh will change nothing of the Pentagon's intentions.
No matter how bad things look now, Hillary President would have been infinitely worse!
In conclusion, what I take away from Trump's UN speech is a sense of relief for the rest of the planet and a sense of real worry for the US. Ever since the Neocons overthrew Trump and made him what is colloquially referred to as their "bitch" the US foreign policy has come to a virtual standstill.
Sure, the Americans talk a lot, but at least they are doing nothing. That paralysis, which is a direct consequence of the internal infighting, is a blessing for the rest of the planet
According to the magazine Israel-Kurd based in Erbil, the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu and Massoud Barzani, the self-appointed President of the future independent Kurdistan, have reached a secret agreement.
Tel-Aviv is committed to installing 200 000 Israelis of Kurdish origin in Kurdistan.
Current situation.
Footage has emerged showing a controversial British drone strike on a sniper in Syria last May.
The British military claimed the attack prevented a public execution, but monitors on the ground say civilians were injured.
On September 19, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and the National Defense Forces (NDF) repelled a huge attack of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda) on Ma'an in northern Hama. A fighting was also reported in Tulaysiyah, Tel Al-Aswad, Al-Qahira, Al-Zughbi and Al-Raya. In total, about 40 militants were killed. On September 20, the fighting continued in Tulaysiyah and Alqhirah.
Pro-Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) media blamed Russian attack helicopters and warplanes as well as a lack of support from the moderate opposition for the failure. Government sources describe the HTS advance as an attempt to assist anti-government forces in Deir Ezzor province.
On September 19, the SAA entered Khusham village north of Deir Ezzor city. On September 20, the SAA continued clashing with ISIS aiming to secure this important settlement. When this is done, government forces will be able to expand its control in the both eastern and western directions.
Moscow has warned the US that if militias it supports in northeast Syria again attack positions of pro-government forces backed by Russia, the Russian military will use all its force to retaliate.
Moscow has informed Washington via a special communications channel that any attempts of Syrian opposition fighters to shell Russian task force and Syrian troops will be curbed, Defense Ministry Spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on Thursday.
Servicemen of Russia's special operations forces and Syrian troops are currently working together to destroy the terrorists near Deir ez-Zor in eastern Syria, Konashenkov said.
Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have continued its drive against ISIS in Deir Ezzor countryside in a bid to capture the regions vast gas and oil fields before Syrian government forces.
Yesterday, according to General Rudskoi, an army of "moderate" decapitators, directed by their 'US Secret Service' handlers, double-crossing the Russians by violating a ceasefire agreement, launched an attack with tanks and artillery on the Syrian Government north of Hama in the de-escalation zone, in an attempt to halt the Syrian Army's successful advance.
A key part of the plan was to capture 29 Russian soldiers, which would have been a major embarrassment for Russia.
Here's where the story gets gripping.
The Syrians with beaucoup Russian support are going to take Syria back from the US and it's terrorists. Get ready for a lot of US casualties.
The US begrudges North Korea for having a few nuclear weapons while having more nuclear weapons than any country on Earth, Prof. Dan Kovalik, the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, told RT, commenting on Donald Trump's UN address. Other analysts joined the discussion.
Donald Trump delivered his first address to the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on Tuesday. The US president lashed out at North Korea, Syria and Iran in his speech.
Dan Kovalik says he doesn't think it's appropriate to speak about defending the interests of one particular nation, America, at the UN.
Russia said on Thursday it had warned the United States it would target areas in Syria where U.S. special forces and U.S.-backed militia were operating if its own forces came under fire from them, something it said had already happened twice.
The Russian Defense Ministry says that, according to their data, an offensive launched by Al Nusra terrorists and their allies in Syria was orchestrated by the US security services, aiming at derailing the Syrian Army operation near Deir ez-Zor.
"According to our intelligence data, the offensive was instigated by the US security services to stop the successful advance of the government forces to the east of the [city of] Deir ez-Zor," the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement, commenting on the incident.
U.S. airmen are rapidly developing and remixing new technologies and techniques in the fight against ISIS, but sometimes you can't beat the tried and true.
ISIS doesn't have an Air Force, but the Syrian skies are nevertheless a rapidly evolving "laboratory" for air warfare, said U.S. military leaders, who described how the U.S. is fusing cyber attacks with real bombs and using open-source intelligence to find and strike targets.
(*How's that working out?)
UN is not out to get the U.S. Rather, it has largely been America's tool since its inception, it has repeatedly covered Uncle Sam's overly-exposed butt as he (a.k.a. "the royal we") has gone around the world on a three decade-long military bender since the end of the Cold War.
And therein lies the truly pernicious part of the Trumped-up case against the U.N. … because, like so much of America's growing cult of grievance, it reflects an ever-widening gap between America's stated ideals and its self-serving behavior around the world.
Russian warplanes and Syrian forces have repelled an offensive by jihadists in a de-escalation zone in Idlib governorate in Syria. The forces killed some 850 militants and destroyed 11 tanks and other assets, Russia's General Staff reported.
Stupid is as Stupid does!
In this case, Trump told CIA Director Mike Pompeo and other officials that he wants an even more aggressive drone posture from the CIA, and granted them broad autonomy in who to kill and when. This included allowing CIA strikes in Syria, something which heretofore hadn't been mentioned.
The French president emphasized the influential role of Iran in the Syria peace process, saying no "efficient" solution could be found to the six-year-old crisis in the Arab state without the Islamic Republic.
"If we do not resolve the Syrian problem with Iran around the table, then we will not have an efficient response, because Iran today is among the powers that have an influence on the ground," Macron told reporters in New York on Tuesday, Press TV reported.
Hamza bin Laden, the son of a notorious Saudi terrorist Osama bin Laden, has called on Sunni Muslims to carry out a new jihad against the Syrian President Bashar Al Assad and his government in order to "liberate" Syria from the hands of what he described as "infidels."
A voice recording released overnight on jihadist social media accounts is purported to be that of Hamza bin Laden who is now said to be about 28 years old.
This is not as surprising as one might think when you recall that Osama Bin Laden was a CIA asset under the code name Tim Osman, and no doubt his son has been recruited to fill his father's shoes.
The evidence is mounting, that the US power-multiplied Kurdish factions are colluding with ISIS, as the Syrian Arab Army crosses the Euphrates and threatens to bring an end to international terrorism inside Syria once and for all. It is not the first time that this possibility has been demonstrated by the Kurds' military strategy on Syrian soil.
Lebanese members of Parliament united Wednesday to reject any possibility of naturalizing Syrian refugees inside Lebanon, Speaker Nabih Berri said.
Remember when Trump expressed his anguish over the "sarin gas attacks" in Syria.
Well, the whole while his own on-the-ground military advisors were telling him the story was impossible baloney.
So what did he do?
He went with the pro-war propaganda instead.
Is he an idiot? Is he a liar? Or is he just (another) presidential lightweight in over his head just doing whatever the pro-war forces want.
The Syrian Army liberating the Deir ez-Zor region from terrorists is facing strong resistance and massive fire from areas where armed opposition groups and US forces are stationed, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
The Syrian Army continues to liberate the Euphrates valley to the east of Deir ez-Zor with the help of the Russian Air Force, the statement from the ministry says, adding that the government forces have already retaken more than 60 square kilometers on the left bank of the Euphrates from Islamic State (IS, former ISIS/ISIL).
The Syrian Army, however, faces resistance not only from jihadists, but also apparently from US-backed armed opposition groups, according to the statement
Unless the US and jihadist forces fall back, this could get ugly in a heartbeat.
Does anyone but myself out there see a geopolitical arc of insanity, courtesy of the Occupied Unhinged Surveilled States of America, from the Middle East to Asia?!?
Although I have never seen it in my life time, it feels as though the OUSSA is really gearing up for a true world war, to protect the hegemony of the petrodollar.
And what scares the stuffing out of me is, those Deep Staters in the Bowels of Power do not understand that this time, it may well not work at all.
Syrian troops crossed to the eastern side of the Euphrates in Deir al-Zor on Monday, state media and a monitoring group said, increasing their presence in an area where U.S.-backed militias have also advanced.
The rival forces are conducting offensives against Islamic State and have generally stayed out of each other's way, with the river often acting as a dividing line.
However, incidents this year have raised tension between the government side, backed by Russia, and the U.S.-backed forces.
Unless there are some high level back channel negotiations between US and Russian diplomats, this could get very ugly very quickly
On September 18th, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and the Syrian Republcian Guard (SRG) officially crossed the Euphrates River using a pontoon bridge and amphibious vehicles. They then engaged ISIS terrorists on the eastern bank.
The SAA and the SRG advanced on ISIS positions in the Saqr Island and captured a major part of it, liberated the village of Sabha, and entered the villages of Marrat and Mazlum.
ISIS counter-attacked against government forces in both areas with the support of 3 VBIEDs but failed to stop the government advance.
According to the ISIS-linked news agency Amaq, about 40 SAA troops were killed in the clashes there.
A correspondent with Al-Masdar News based in Damascus has confirmed that the Syrian Amy has crossed the Euphrates which runs through Deir Ezzor on Monday. The river forms a natural demarcation line separating Syrian government forces and their allies from the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF):
The United States, Britain and other countries opposed to Syrian President Bashar Assad will not support the reconstruction of the country until there is a political transition "away from Assad," British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said Monday.
The "Friends of Syria" group, an alliance of mainly Western and Gulf Arab countries, met in New York on Monday on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly at a time when the conflict in Syria, now in its seventh year, appears to be less urgent, with attention focused on the North Korean nuclear threat and the fate of the Iran nuclear deal.
While President Trump fell just short of "fire and fury," his first address to The United Nations was very clear in its perspective on North Korea (Iran and Syria).
Says the President of the only nation to ever actually use nuclear weapons against the civilians of another country.
"According to the reports of the Syrian Army commanders, the most vicious counterattacks and massive shelling are launched from the northern [part of the region] controlled by the 'Syrian Democratic Forces' (SDF) and the US special forces that were deployed to the area to allegedly 'lend medical assistance' to these militants instead of liberating Raqqa," the Russian Defense Ministry's spokesman, Major General Igor Konashenkov, said.
The Syrian Army, fighting terrorists in the Deir ez-Zor province, has been subjected to strong counterattacks from the north where Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and US special task units are operating, the Russian Defense Ministry's spokesman Mj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said on Tuesday.
Shortly after the Russian entrance to the Syrian theatre, American media became full of stories praising the heroism of the Kurdish fighters battling against ISIS in areas such as Ayn al-Arab (Kobane) and others. From stories promoting the fighting prowess of the Kurdish brigades to cleverly created propaganda campaigns regarding female Kurdish fighters, the Western press, including the alternative media, was full of stories telling Americans that the Kurds were the real victims and the real heroes of the crisis. This propaganda campaign came about the same time that the Syrian military began making serious gains against Western-backed terrorists with the help of Russia. Thus, as America's terrorists began losing the war, America produced another "freedom fighter" poster child – the YPG.
Oilfields and a natural gas-processing plant southeast of the Deir-ez-Zor air base have come under the control of the Syrian Army, media reports.
The eyesore presidential libraries
The social justice warrior charge to purge the United States of all monuments relating in any way to the Confederacy has been rapidly expanding to include the scourge represented by all white people all through history.
Now, I would suggest that turnabout is fair play so if we are all agreeing that monuments must be destroyed to right historic wrongs, I am interested in making up my own little list based on the things that I disapprove of. As readers of this site are aware, I am a critic of illegal behavior by the United States government, to include torture, targeted assassinations by drone and starting wars without any reason to do so, so that would be a good place to start.
The war is almost over; reconstruction and nation-building are coming to the fore.
A new UN-brokered round of negotiations on Syria will kick off in October. The participants will have to live with new reality – the West has lost in Syria, Russia and its allies have won
So, is it inside-out politics that is taking place here?
President Trump shocked the political world and his own "base" when he struck a budget deal with Democrats to get emergency funding for Hurricane Harvey victims, reports ex-British diplomat Alastair Crooke.
Last week, President Trump threw a grenade into the U.S. political structure.
What would it take for you to switch sides and join the rest of mankind in what is a struggle for the survival of our species?
I asked you to name me a single successful US military intervention since WWII and you could name none. Good!
Did you notice that there was no Islamic State in Iraq before the US invasion?
I don't think that millions of murdered people, including hundreds of thousands of children, are "mistakes" (how would you react it somebody conceded to you that Hitler and Stalin made "mistakes"?). But there is something even more insidious in this notion of "mistake".
James Dorsey explains why there should be no reason for optimism that violence and instability in the Middle East, whether in Palestine, Iraq, Syria, Yemen or the Gulf states, will come to an end anytime soon.>>
The airspace over Deir Ezzor is now growing exponentially more dangerous as there are substantial rumors that the US coalition has declared a no fly zone (NFZ) over the north side of the Euphrates. In the meantime, Syrian and Russian air operations in the area will only increase with Deir Ezzor military airport's returning to full service.
The Syrian Army was capable today of crossing the Euphrates River after fully recapturing Sakr Island located to the north of Deir Ezzor Airbase.
Heavy Russian and Syrian airstrikes have pushed ISIS militants away from the eastern bank, paving the way for the government troops to set foot in the eastern bank for the first time in years.
With crossing the river, the government forces are inching closer to re-take the remaining territories under ISIS control. However, this will also put the Syrian forces face to face with the US-backed Kurdish forces; which launched its own offensive against the Islamic State in Deir Ezzor.
IF, in fact, these reports are true, things could get nasty between Russia and the US military very quickly.
Other Middle East monitoring groups as well as regional correspondents have also confirmed the breaking news which could lead to a fresh outbreak of direct hostilities between the US-SDF alliance and Syria-Russia alliance:
The Syrian Army was capable today of crossing the Euphrates River after fully recapturing Sakr Island located to the north of Deir Ezzor Airbase.
IF in fact this report of a US-military-imposed "no fly zone" is true, the excrement could hit the ventilation shaft very soon, potentially leading to a US-generated war against Russia over Syria and its oil.
The Syrian Arab Army (SAA), Hezbollah, the Iraqi Army and the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) are preparing for a joint advance on the ISIS border strongholds of al-Bukamal and al-Qaim.
On Saturday, the Iraqi Army and the PMU launched an anti-ISIS operation in the border area, liberated the border town Akashat, the H-3 station, Akashat factory and the Akashat housing complex, and secured a road linking it with the Damascus-Baghdad highway.
At the same day, the SAA and Hezbollah, supported by Liwa Fatemiyoun, Liwa Haydaryoun, Liwa al-Zainabyoun and the National Defense Forces (NDF), captured al-Rutimah, Ghizlaniah and the desert area north of Sharat al-Wa'ar.
There must be something about being named US Ambassador to the UN that brings out the inner mass murderer in people. Madeline Albright famously admitted that she thought 500,000 dead Iraqi children due to US sanctions was "worth it." John Bolton never met a disagreement he didn't want to turn into a war. Samantha Power barked about human rights while her Administration's drones snuffed out human life in unprecedented numbers. The real "butcher of the Balkans" Richard Holbrooke sold the Yugoslavia war on lies. John "Death Squad" Negroponte sold the lie that Saddam Hussein needed to be killed and his country destroyed for democracy to flourish, and so on.
Right now, Ambassador Haley behaves like the alleged adult (yet emotionally infantile) "poster child", representing every single Deep State Member in the Occupied, Unhinged Surveilled States of Amerika, who never saw a potential war into which they wouldn't love to see the US get dragged in.
The purpose of the UN is that of promoting peace, and creating ways of ratcheting down international tensions; what Ambassador Haley is attempting to do is quite the opposite, and that President trump hasn't had her sacked, for being an absolute embarrassment to the US's world credibility (if, in fact, we have any left) concerns me greatly.
In a move rebel officials say is part of the de-escalation deal reached at Astana peace talks, Turkey has begun massing troops and armored vehicles along the Syrian border. The deployments include multiple different convoys heading to different border crossings.
The vehicles were mostly armored personnel carriers, but also included some tanks. Turkey, Russia, and Iran have agreed to set up new de-escalation zones for the next six months to try to facilitate more peace talks.
Turkey is expected to control parts of the Idlib Province under this deal, which stands to be a very complicated process, both because of the large number of rival Islamist rebels packed therein, and especially because the Nusra Front says they don't intend to de-escalate.
Fingers crossed on this one.....
After lifting the blockade around Deir ez-Zor, the Syrian Army is just a step away from freeing a road to Iraq. As for Washington, it is gradually losing influence in Syria, while Moscow is boosting its military, diplomatic and humanitarian positions in the region, a Russian expert told Sputnik.
Commenting on last week's lifting of the blockade around the eastern Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor in a written interview with Sputnik, Gevorg Mirzayan, Associate Professor of the Finance University of the Russian Government, specifically pointed to the event's positive impact on the situation in Syria.
The Russian Defense Ministry denied on Sunday the Pentagon's allegations that Russian jets had attacked the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) near the Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor.
Russian aircraft in Syria target only the positions of the terrorist group Daesh, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said, commenting on the claims that Russia bombed a target near Deir ez-Zor knowing that the SDF units and US-coalition advisers were there.
Konashenkov noted that Russia has been conducting the operation along with Syrian forces in the Deir ez-Zor area for a week, adding that the US was notified of it in advance.
Russian general staff chief Gen. Valery Gerasimov and US Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Joe Dunford spent over an hour on the phone Sunday, discussing ways to improve communication and coordination in their respective military operations in Syria. This was a result of accusations by the US of a Saturday Russian airstrike hitting US-backed Kurds.
Details on the Saturday incident are still unclear. >>>
AFTER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP launched a cruise missile strike against Syria in April, his administration struggled to justify the legal basis for the attack. For months, a watchdog group has hounded the Trump administration for its legal reasoning. Under court order, the government has finally produced documents that reveal little, if anything.
The US-led coalition has admitted to carrying out an airstrike in Deir ez-Zor province, which reportedly killed at least 12 Syrian civilians. While the coalition did not acknowledge the casualties among locals, it promised to launch an investigation into the incident.
Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) operatives managed to infiltrate US military command centers and obtain documents allegedly proving collusion between Washington and ISIS terrorists in the region, a top Iranian commander claims.
The claim was made by IRGC Aerospace Force Commander Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh on Friday during a TV interview.
"We have documents showing the behavior of the Americans in Iraq and Syria. We know what the Americans did there; what they neglected and how they supported Daesh [Islamic State – IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL]," Press TV cited the commander as saying.
Syrian forces have driven the Islamic State militants out of some villages on the eastern shore of the Euphrates River and are carrying out an offensive in the eastern direction, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday.
"The storm troops of the Syrian army have driven IS militants out of a number of villages on the eastern shore of Euphrates and are carrying out an offensive in the eastern direction, broadening the foothold they seized," the ministry said.
The United States has been running a particularly reckless and transparent bluff on the world.
'We must defeat ISIS' has been the repetitive mantra bellowed from pulpits and podiums by deceitful US officials. But this bit of shameless Orwellian newspeak is coming from the very same rogue policy makers who have been the primary source of arms and largesse to that group and its sordid affiliates across Syria, Libya, Iraq and elsewhere.
Websites affiliated to the terrorist groups reported on Monday that the US Army has pulled forces back from al-Zakaf in Syria's Badiyeh (desert) region.
Syrian government troops battling Daesh (ISIL or ISIS) have crossed to the eastern bank of the Euphrates River in Deir ez-Zor for the first time since they broke a siege on parts of the eastern city earlier this month, a report said.
The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said troops crossed from the southern suburb of Jafra on Monday, AP reported.
US-backed fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces have been advancing against Daesh militants along the eastern bank of the Euphrates, while Syrian government forces and their allies are pushing from the west.
The US-led coalition fighting against Daesh terrorist group in Syria has accused Russia on Saturday of attacking the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) near the Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor.
Pentagon claimed that when Russia bombed a target near Deir ez-Zor it knew that the SDF units and coalition advisers were there.
The Tide is Turning against the Deep State NWO.
The Syrian Arab Army have achieved yet another dramatic victory this time lifting the ISIS siege of the heroic city of Deir Ezzor. For years Deir Ezzor has been surrounded by enemies and under siege first by the FSA and Al Nusra and then by ISIS. They have withstood repeated attacks by the US-NATO air force most infamously last fall when the Americans bombed Deir Ezzor right after agreeing to a ceasefire, a treacherous move that paved the way for a nearly successful ISIS offensive to capture the city. The brave defenders of Deir Ezzor withstood these endless attacks becoming a symbol of the heroic resistance of all of Syria. For years Syrians and their friends around the world have dreamed that one day this siege would be lifted. Our dreams have finally come true and faster then anyone could have imagined.
Given the history, skepticism should be the rule in Syria, not credulity. Or, as President George W. Bush once said in a different context, "fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again."
The Russian warplanes destroyed workshops for making booby-trapped vehicles of ISIS terrorists in the countryside of Hama, Homs and Deir Ezzor provinces.
Russia has rejected a request made by Israel to create a large buffer zone on the border of the Golan Heights in an attempt to keep Iranian forces and their militias around 70 kilometers away from Israeli territories, political sources in Tel Aviv have said.
Israel had asked Russia and the US not to have a presence of Iranian forces or their militias to the west of the road connecting Damascus and the city of Al-Suwayda in southwest Syria.
The Russians only promised that the Iranians and their allies would not come any closer to Israel than five kilometers from the armistice lines between those of Bashar Assad's regime and the rebels, the sources said.
Millions of dollars pledged by the international community to pay for the education of Syrian refugee children has gone missing, according to an investigation by Human Rights Watch (HRW).
In 2016, a conference in London attended by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, as well as David Cameron and John Kerry, then-UK prime minister and US secretary of state, respectively, pledged $1.4 billion to help over 1.5 million displaced Syrian children go to school to prevent the emergence of a "lost generation." The six largest donors were the European Union, the US, Germany, the United Kingdom, Norway, and Japan, and the money was due to go to Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon – the three countries hosting the most Syrian refugees.
The HRW investigation found "large discrepancies" between the money that was pledged and what was actually received by the host countries.
The US will not be satisfied as long as Syrian President Bashar Assad is in power, US Ambassador to the UN said, commenting on a major de-escalation effort brokered by Russia, Iran and Turkey without American participation.
Poor Nikki; still trying to pretend the US has a legitimate reason to be in Syria in the first place!
The parliament of the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan on Friday approved the independence referendum to be held on Sept. 25.
All the 65 lawmakers attending the session of the 111-seat regional parliament voted in favor of holding the referendum on the independence of the Kurdish region and the disputed areas.
The parliament also decided to invite relevant parties, including Kurdistan's Independent High Elections and Referendum Commission, to conduct the referendum.
According to Tariq Jowahar, parliament media advisor, the session was chaired by the deputy speaker, as Speaker Yousif Mohammed Sadiq did not attend the session since his Gorran Movement is boycotting the session along with the Kurdistan Islamic Group.
Kaka Bashar, a Kurdish lawmaker from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), said he regretted that some of the lawmakers boycotted the parliament session, particularly the Gorran Movement, and hoped they will take part in the coming session.
There will probably be a massive, bloody civil war in both Iraq and Syria, in preparation for the existence of an independent Kurdistan, but that is of no matter to those in the Bowels of Power in the Occupied Unhinged Surveilled States of Amerika; Kurdistan will concentrate the oil revenues, and the OUSSA can guarantee a Wesetern-centric government, and an absolute certainty that this oil will only be sold for US dollars.
The German government has opened a probe into an illegal Pentagon arms trafficking operation after a bombshell investigative report on the secret program went viral this week.
On Wednesday we reported on the continuing Pentagon arms pipeline to Syria which runs through Europe, the Balkans, and Caucuses, and which is based on a shady network of private contractors and altered US government paperwork. The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) produced conclusive evidence and internal memos proving that not only is the Pentagon currently involved in shipping up to $2.2 billion worth of (mostly old Soviet) weapons from private dealers to US-backed Syrian militants, but is actually manipulating paperwork such as end-user certificates in order to conceal the ultimate destinations of the weaponry (in this case Syria).
Ayelet Shaked, the Justice Minister of Israel has just threatened the Syrian government stating that Israel "will do what is necessary" if Syrian President Bashar al-Assad does not keep Iran out of Syria.
The Israeli government - who last week bombed a Syrian military outpost, killing two soldiers - have now verbally challenged the Syrian government in the form of offering an ultimatum. The threats towards Syria come a time when the Assad government forces have all but extinguished the presence of Daesh in Syria and are coming close to completely ending the war. Israel meanwhile seem to be having an anxiety attack over the current situation and have been beating hard on the drums of war.
Washington's air base in southwest Germany was used for a time to store and send weapons to Syrian rebels, according to a German news daily. If the report proves true, the US could have violated German law.
Since then several convoys of military bridging equipment have been seen on the road to Deir Ezzor. It is now obvious that the SAA will bridge the river (all regular bridges have been destroyed by U.S. bombing) and send significant forces across. New questions now are: When, where and with what aim?
As soon as the government intent became clear the U.S. pushed its local proxy forces to immediately snatch the ISIS held oilfields. In less than two days they deployed over 30 kilometers deep into the ISIS held areas north of the Euphrates. It is obvious that such progress could not have been made if ISIS had defended itself. I find it likely that a deal has been made between those two sides.
The Syrian Army's Tiger Forces are preparing to cross the Euphrates River to join other units of the pro-government forces on the Eastern bank of the river, a Russian media outlet reported a few minutes ago.
Hezbollah declared a victory in Syria as the Russian Defense Ministry announced that pro-government forces have liberated 85% of the country from militants.
"We have won in the war [in Syria]," Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Tuesday, according to the Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar. He added that "the path of the other project has failed and wants to negotiate for some gains."
The Russian military group's Chief of Staff, Lieutenant-General Aleksandr Lapin announced "To date, 85% of Syria's territory has been cleared of the militants of illegal armed groups." The general added that ISIS is still in control of about 27,000 km2 of Syria's territory.
On Saturday, the US-led coalition announced in an official statement that it will support the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Deir Ezzor Military Council (DMC) advance towards Deir Ezzor city.
The US-led coalition said that it will provide equipment, training, intelligence and logistics support, precision fires and battlefield advice for the SDF and DMC during the operation.
The US-led coalition stressed that it will support the SDF until it fully captures the Khabur River valley. This could mean that the US is not interested in capturing other areas in Deir Ezzor governorate. Kurdish sources claimed that the aim of the attack is to reach Markada town south of al-Shaddadah town just to secure the US base near al-Sahdadah.
A US-backed force battling the Islamic State group in eastern Syria accused regime and Russian warplanes on Saturday of bombing its fighters.
It marked the first time the Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of Arab and Kurdish fighters, have said they have been hit by Russia.
The SDF and Russian-backed Syrian government forces are conducting parallel but separate offensives against IS in the strategic and oil-rich eastern province of Deir Ezzor.
Regime troops are waging an assault for the provincial capital, Deir Ezzor city, while SDF fighters battle the jihadists further east across the Euphrates River.
US-backed Syrian fighters say they will not allow regime forces to cross the Euphrates River, in a statement that appears to further entrench Kurdish separatist power in the north of the country.
Would the death of one man rid every single North Korean of the hostility and hatred they harbor toward the United States when many know full well that in the early 1950s the U.S. bombed North Korea so relentlessly they eventually ran out of targets to hit — that the U.S. military killed off at least 20 percent of the civilian population?
If Kim Jong-un is removed, will North Koreans suddenly forget that nearly every North Korean alive today has a family relative that was killed by the United States in the 1950s?
The United States will not be satisfied until Syrian President Bashar Assad is removed from power, US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said on Friday.
While Donald Trump garnered praise from many anti-imperialist activists and researchers after his public announcement that he was ending the CIA's program of arming terrorists in Syria, it appears much of that praise will be short-lived. Certainly, many expected a sleight of hand from the Trump administration and the Deep State, and now evidence has surfaced showing that the U.S. government has simply shifted the focus of arming terrorists from one agency to another.
Trump never ended the Pentagon program, viewed as a much smaller initiative. However, documents recently revealed are showing that the program is officially set to continue in the arena of $2 billion over the next five or so years. Given the secrecy of the program, however, many believe the monetary value of the weapons shipments is much higher...
Haley's actions and attitudes in the UN begin to seem more and more like efforts to undermine the organization rather than reform it.
Last night, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) Tiger Forces, the Syrian Republican Guard (SRG) and their allies fully secured the Baghiliyah area from ISIS northwest of Deir Ezzor city after capturing the missiles base, the Hajjanah regiment, the radio transmitter station, the al-Jazeera university, the Saiqa Camp and the arms depots around Baghiliyah.
Separately, government forces captured the Nishan oil field, the Nishan gas station and the water pumping station east of Thurdah mount number 3 fully securing the western flank of Deir Ezzor Airport.
Southeast of Deir Ezzor, the SAA captured the Dhamn base and al-Kurum hill and deployed in about 35km from al-Mayadeen city, one of the key ISIS strongholds in the Euphrates Valley.
The Russian Aerospace Forces and the Russian Navy supported the government advance.
rt video
After a known terrorist with the Nourredine al-Zengi faction (the group responsible for beheading a twelve-year-old boy on camera), along with his compatriots in the Nusra propaganda wing known as the White Helmets snapped a picture of an injured and bewildered little boy in the back of a hospital, Little Omran Daqneesh became the "symbol of Syria's suffering" throughout the Western media. However, soon after the gullible Western public was sucked into the "Olympics of the feels," it was revealed that the photo had indeed been staged by the White Helmets looking to produce a piece of propaganda that would sufficiently tug on the heartstrings of the American public who typically have no strings to pull on when it comes to their countries' imperialist agenda...
Israel demanded a buffer zone from the border on the Golan Heights, to the west of the road connecting Damascus and the city of Al-Suwayda in southwest Syria
Once again the Syrian Air War is the testbed for the most recent Russian Air Force weapons system. This time is the turn of the MiG-29SMT.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that Israel supports the establishment of an independent Kurdistan ahead of a controversial referendum on Iraqi Kurdish independence which Baghdad rejects.
An independent Kurdistan would give Israel an ally in the region and undermine Iranian influence in Iraq.
"Israel supports the legitimate efforts of the Kurdish people to attain a state of its own," Mr Netanyahu's office said.
But, of course, he cannot possibly back the legitimate efforts of the Palestinian people to attain a state of their own!!
Forgive me, but cab anyone else smell the reeking, blatant hyprocrisy here?!?
he defeat of Islamic State in Syria is reliant on a questionable supply-line, funnelling unprecedented quantities of weapons and ammunition from Eastern Europe to some 30,000 anti-ISIS rebel fighters.
Armed with AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades fresh from state-owned production lines and stockpiles of the Balkans, Central Europe and increasingly the former Soviet Union, these US-backed troops are spearheading the battle to reclaim Raqqa, the capital of the so-called caliphate, and liberate other areas of Syria held by ISIS.
But the flow of weapons to these Pentagon-backed militia depends on misleading official paperwork, an investigation by the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN, and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, OCCRP, has uncovered.
The operation has been criticised by arms transfer experts and even worried officials in Berlin, who have seen large quantities of weapons passing through US military bases in Germany on the way to Syria.
The "good reason" is the alleged fight against ISIS in Syria; however, the "real reason" for drowning these jihadists in Soviet-era weapons is, again, still, the American goal of regime change in Damascus.
I am having a Picard double-face-palm, at warp speed, upon reading this!!
It is just a matter of time before US and Russian forces tangle in Syria; and that outcome could get very nasty, and very quickly.
The United Nations is marching ahead with its task of acting as the Anglo-Financier administrative arm of the world corporate-financier government structure with its recent "report" aimed at the Syrian government. According to Western corporate media outlets who are reporting the story with unconcealed glee, the United Nations "war crimes investigators" produced a report blaming the Syrian government for chemical weapons attacks at Khan Sheikhoun and nearly two dozen other incidents.
The United Nations team stated that there had been 33 incidents investigated; 27 were the fault of the Syrian government and perpetrators had not yet been identified in the other seven. In other words, all of the alleged chemical weapons incidents were the fault of the Syrian government except for the ones they have yet to determine.
However, there are many problems with the stance of the report, its methodology, and its purpose...
The Pentagon is on a spending spree as it scrabbles to amass vast quantities of Soviet-style weapons and ammunition. But it's running into problems sourcing them, and is using misleading legal documents to disguise their final destination: Syria.
The Pentagon allegedly bought obsolete weapons worth $71 million in the Czech Republic, Georgia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine and sent them to Syria to train and arm various groups fighting against the Syrian Army, including ISIL.
Oilfields and a natural gas-processing plant southeast of the Deir-ez-Zor airbase have come under the control of the Syrian Army, RIA Novosti reports.
It was also reported, that advance detachments of the Syrian Army have taken control of the strategically-important hills near the Karrum Mountain ridge to the southeast of the Deir ez-Zor air force base. An RT contributor on scene confirmed the information.
WATCH MORE: Syrian army secures full control of key highway linking Deir ez-Zor and Palmyra
The terrorists are resisting fiercely, bombarding the advanced detachments of the Syrian Army with mortars, heavy machine guns and sniper rifles, RIA Novosti reports.
he Syrian Arab Army (SAA), the National Defense Forces (NDF), and the Qalamoun Shield Forces (QSF) have liberated the villages of Um Rujm, 'Amudiyah, Rasm Sawwanah, Unq al-Hawa, Khan, Luwaybidah, and Darwishiyah from ISIS in the eastern countryside of Salamiyah north of the Homs-Palmyra highway.
Despite strong ISIS resistance, government troops continue developing momentum in the area. The operation was slowed down in late August because the Syrian military redeployed many units to Deir Ezzor province. However, according to pro-government sources, the entire pocket will be liberated within a few weeks.
The SAA and the Syrian Republican Guard have seized the important Rouad mountain and developed an advance in the direction of Baghiliyah on the northwestern flank of Deir Ezzor city. Government troops have also advanced against ISIS in Jafrah and al-Mariiyah.
Russia's submarines The Veliki Novgorod and The Kolpino have attacked facilities of the Islamic State (outlawed in Russia) with Kalibr cruise missiles from the eastern Mediterranean on Thursday, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
"On September 14 the submarines The Veliki Novgorod and the Kolpino (project 636.3) launched cruise missiles Kalibr against important targets of the Islamic State in Syria - command and communication centers and weapons and ammunition depots in areas southeast of the city of Deir ez-Zor," the Defense Ministry said. "Seven cruise missiles were launched from the surface position. The targets were 500 kilometers to 670 kilometers away."
With his political survival all but assured, Syria's President Bashar al-Assad and his wife, Asma, are back to acting presidential, making bread at a bakery in Hama province, checking out a dairy in Tartus, and comforting wounded soldiers at their home.
After six years of civil war, the images of a beaming, confident Assad are meant to telegraph his ability to defy predictions that his ouster was only a matter of time. But they can't paper over the fact that the Syrian leader has emerged from this power struggle much weakened, heading a country possibly broken beyond repair.
The Iranian company Mabna will sell five gas-fired power plants to the heavily damaged city of Aleppo for about $155 million.
The U.S. Department of Defense is reportedly still funneling billions of dollars' worth of Soviet-era weaponry to anti-Islamic State groups in Syria, with questionable oversight.
In a joint report published Tuesday, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) allege that the Pentagon has given up to $2.2 billion worth of weapons to groups like the Syrian Democratic Forces and the Kurdish People's Protection Units, or YPG.
The program sidesteps long-established checks on international weapons trafficking, the report alleges, and appears to be turbocharging a shadowy world of Eastern European arms dealers.
A Syrian diplomat says the US "should withdraw its military personnel, otherwise, the Syrian army will regard them as a hostile force"
Last week the Syrian Army (SAA) backed by its allies broke years-long ISIS siege of Deir Ezzor. Residents of the city were sincerely greeting liberators of the city. According to many experts, the SAA's success is an important step towards total elimination of ISIS terrorists.
This, of course, can be considered a defeat of the West and its 'partners', who had worked with the Syrian armed opposition and radical groups including ISIS hoping to oust Assad.
The real prospect of the SAA would retake control over the oil-rich territory has made the U.S.-led Coalition launch a new military operation in Deir Ezzor. Apparently, the White house makes every effort to prevent the SAA from liberating the city from ISIS fighters.
As aside, related in a different way- The US has been hit by two hurricanes and they are crying the blues and begging for money all over the place- But, clearly, priorities are very very skewed since the US obviously has multiple billions of dollars, accessible and ready to spend, to destroy other nations.
When the Syrian War began, the United States claimed to only be concerned about the innocent civilians. Now, as the war comes to an end, the ones who have suffered the most are the innocent civilians, and the victor is the same "tyrannical dictator" the U.S. has spent years trying to overthrow.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange revealed that according to a leaked cable from William Roebuck, U.S. Ambassador for Bahrain, the United States began plotting to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2006—which happens to be the same year Assad's government dropped the U.S. Dollar.
When the Islamic State siege on Deir Ezzor was broken by the Syrian Arab Army we asked:
Will the SAA cross the Euphrates at Deir Ezzor to retake the valuable oilfields east of it? Or will it stay south of the river and leave those oil fields to the Kurdish U.S. proxies in the north?
To cross the river is clearly desirable but also potentially contentious.
The hatched areas of the map show possible next aims for the U.S. proxy campaign (yellow) and the Syrian government forces (red) in their fight against ISIS (grey) and against each other.
The question in my mind is not a question of if, but when US forces connect (unpleasantly) with Russian and Syrian forces over these oil fields.
War with Russia could be triggered on many fronts, like Ukraine, Iran, or Syria; it appears that those in the Bowels of Power in the Unhinged Surveilled States of America, are thinking seriously about the best scenario to "sell' to the American people as the justification for doing this.
Unfortunately for them, however, the citizens of this country have become very war-skeptical and war-weary, and are beginning to demand of those power brokers in the USSA, that they resolve their geopolitical differences with true diplomacy, and rational, moral hard-won negotiations, rather than through bombs and bullets.
The cost, in American blood and American money, has just been far too great to continue upon this path to national economic self-destruction;and remember that no 16 year-old teenager alive today has ever lived on a planet where the USSA wasn't at war, declared or undeclared, with some other country.
After Syria threatens repercussions following airstrike attributed to Israel the state's Scientific Studies and Research Center, Israel's defense minister issues tough warning against following up on threats, warning Syria 'not to test us, because we take threats seriously.'
Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Monday issued a threatening message to President Assad's regime in Syria, saying "I strongly suggest to our neighbors in the north not to try us or make threats," while warning any confrontation would "end very badly for them."
Regarding the attack attributed to Israel in Syria, Qassem said that it was not a prelude to the war and that there was no need to blow the situation out of proportion.
Let me see if I can get my head wrapped around this; Israel attacked Syria, then told Syria it had "better not" reciprocate?!?
All Syria did, post bombing, was to register a complaint at the UN, which, as a UN member, it had every right to do!
Syria files complaint with UN against Israel following strike on military site
The Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu has held talks with the Syrian President Bashar Assad during his visit to Damascus. The two sides discussed military cooperation and joint actions against jihadists in Syria.
The US has lost in Syria.
Unlike UNSMIS, led by Norwegian General Robert Mood and based in Syria, the IICOIOS was based in Geneva, never visited Syria and was deeply compromised by its link to US diplomacy and its reliance on jihadist sources. The US Government, by then, was arming anti-government jihadist groups in Syria. Ban had thus embedded a deep conflict of interest in a nominally 'independent' UN agency.
The Abuzayd-Pinheiro group, joined by Italian lawyer Carla del Ponte, issued a series of distant reports which echoed western war propaganda against Syria. Notable amongst these were reports on the 2012 Houla massacre, a report on the 2016 liberation of Aleppo, and a recent report which seeks to blame a series of chemical weapons attacks in 2017 on the Syrian Government. Carla del Ponte, in a better moment, revealed in mid 2013 that the first use of sarin gas in Syria was by Jabhat al Nusra. But none of this appeared in the group's reports.
ISIS fighters are flaunting a modified variant of the M14 in a newly released propaganda video detailing the terror group's urban warfare tactics as it makes a last stand against the U.S.-backed coalition laying siege to its Syrian stronghold of Raqqa. The video, which shows armed drones, vehicle-borne IEDs, and other unusual armament in action against Syrian Democratic Forces in the crowded thoroughfares of the city, is yet another example of U.S. military weapons and equipment ending up in the hands of militants across the battlefields of Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria and utilized against the very Western-backed forces they were meant to strengthen.
Israel attacks Syria, then warns them not to make a fuss about it?
Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked on Monday expressed her support for the establishment of an independent Kurdistan.
During an international counter-terrorism conference in Herzliya, Israel, Justice Minister Shaked said Israel supports the Kurdistan Region's desire for independence from Iraq.
"Israel [and] the Western countries have a major interest in the establishment of the state of Kurdistan," Shaked said.
"I think that the time has come for the US to support the process [of an independent Kurdistan]," she continued.
Israel's agenda is to break up the larger Middle East nations into smaller pieces that are easier to push around.
US-led coalition warplanes bombarded, yesterday, a military convoy belonging to the Syrian army, east of Deir Ezzor.
Qasioun News reported that the international coalition warplanes bombarded a military convoy belonging to the Syrian army and allied militia, near al-Tayem oil field, east of Deir Ezzor, killing and wounding several army members, in addition to destroying armored vehicles.
Israeli army forces, on Monday, advanced for 200 meters into B'er Ajam area in the countryside of Qunaitera, inside the Syrian territory.
Qasioun News reported that the Israeli occupation forces entered the Syrian territory, backed by bulldozers, tanks and military vehicles, while now the troops are lifting the earth mounds in the vicinity of the area in which they entered.
The New York Times and other Western media have learned few lessons from the Iraq War, including how the combination of a demonized foreign leader and well-funded "activists" committed to flooding the process with fake data can lead to dangerously false conclusions that perpetuate war.
What we have seen in Syria over the past six years parallels what occurred in Iraq in the run-up to the U.S.-led invasion in 2002-03>>>
The spectacular victory this week for Syrian state forces and allies liberating Deir ez-Zor portends an end to the war. But celebrations should be tempered by the realization that the enemies of Syria will shift their agenda for conflict elsewhere.
The six-year war in Syria was never really about Syria alone. It was but a battlefield in a global war for dominance by the US and its allies. Syria was only one of many countries where the US has sought to establish its suzerainty through war for regime change.
When Russia stepped in to defend its Syrian ally at the end of 2015, that was the game-changer.>>>
The spectacular victory this week for Syrian state forces and allies liberating Deir ez-Zor portends an end to the war. But celebrations should be tempered by the realization that the enemies of Syria will shift their agenda for conflict elsewhere.
If we segregate the many protagonists in Syria's conflict, the two main rivals to emerge from the melee are the United States and Russia. Russia may have gained the upper hand in Syria. But, ironically, winning the peace in Syria may unleash wars elsewhere.
Reports that US military forces have been airlifting insurgents out of harm's way in Syria suggest that Washington is saving its terrorist assets to fight another day, perhaps in some other unfortunate country targeted for regime change.
A source has told Sputnik that US Air Force aircraft had evacuated a group of nearly two dozen Daesh (ISIS) field commanders and militants from Deir ez-Zor, eastern Syria last month. Retired US Air Force Lieut Col. Karen Kwiatkowski says this is standard operating procedure for CIA black ops looking to cover their trail after an operation.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said the demand for departure of the Syrian President Bashar Al Assad should not be a precondition for launching a political process in the country.
During Friday's press conference with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Moscow, the French foreign minister recalled that Paris had already assured that in order to launch the political process in Syria, no preconditions, including Al Assad's departure, should be set, noting that the French side does think Al Assad should be targeted by any political process.
Assad has defeated the US attempt to remove him.
Deal with it.
Deal with it.
The Russia-made Mi-8 AMTSh assault-transport helicopters were used for the first time in war on terrorism in Syria to provide back up for the government forces in their operation to lift ISIL's siege on Deir Ezzur city, a Russian media outlet reported Sunday.
The Syrian army and its allies have recaptured an oilfield from Islamic State near the eastern city of Deir al-Zor in further advances against the militants, state TV reports.
Government forces also seized part of a main highway running from Deir al-Zor down to the city of al-Mayadeen, to which many Islamic State militants have retreated, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said.
The Syrian army this week broke through Islamic State lines to reach a government-held enclave of Deir al-Zor besieged for years by the jihadists, and is fighting to reach a nearby air base which IS still surrounds.
Syria's government has rejected recent renewed allegations by a committee affiliated to the United Nations Human Rights Council that the government of Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons against its own people.
A top Syrian diplomat slammed the commission for being "politicized" and acting as a "cheap propaganda machine" that serves "the agendas of certain states."
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You can try these similar gifts instead.
Signature Decorative Platter with Pen and Easel
If you're looking for a fun way to collect guest signatures, look no further than with our Signature Decorative Platter Set. Makes an amazing keepsake for your home. Includes a porcelain platter, writing pen and easel.


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Growing Your Future--First-Year Seminar (1) First-year seminar to introduce students to the breadth of the agricultural and biological engineering profession, including bioprocessing, machinery, and natural resources.
B E 001S Growing Your Future--First-Year Seminar (1)
This first-year seminar introduces students to the university in general and to the breadth of the agricultural and biological engineering profession. Students participate in hands-on lab activities in the focus areas of the profession, including machinery systems, food and biological processing, and natural resource engineering. Through these lab activities and a group project, students learn how the profession is critical to providing a growing world population with food, fiber, fuel, and water under increasing environmental constraints. In addition to being introduced to Penn State as an academic community, students also become familiar with the resources, tools, and opportunities available to them. Through the lab activities and in-class discussions on research, internship, and international opportunities, students meet and establish relationships with faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students affiliated with the Biological Engineering and BioRenewable Systems programs.
Note : Class size, frequency of offering, and evaluation methods will vary by location and instructor. For these details check the specific course syllabus.


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EA allegedly considering two ways of re-introducing microtransactions into Star Wars Battlefront 2; Details
Nov 17, 2017 | 18 Comments
Talk about a strange crossover. Keiji Inafune's newest blue bomber, Beck, from Mighty No. 9 will be making an appearance in Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z. Yep, you read that right. Complete with his cartoony look, which somewhat fits into Yaiba's cel-shaded look.
Mighty No. 9's Beck will however be DLC from what it looks like as it's labeled as such on a screenshot. However according to the Japanese website and good old Google Translate, it says this: Collaboration costume during the game, will be shipped with the special zombie pack.
It's the first time gamers will be able to play as Beck before Mighty No. 9 launches sometime in 2015, while Yaiba launches in March 2014.


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NOTE: The Red Cross' "Give a Pint, Get a Pint" blood drive is happening this Thursday, July 11. Due to an oversight, the incorrect date was published in Wednesday's newspaper. See more details on the event below.
On Thursday, you can satisfy your sweet tooth while saving a life.
The American Red Cross, Ben & Jerry�s Ice Cream and WBTV are teaming up for the �Give a Pint, Get a Pint� blood drive. People who donate blood or platelets at one of several Charlotte-area Red Cross locations will receive free Ben & Jerry�s ice cream. Donors will also get a free T-shirt and be entered into a contest to win a trip to Hollywood.
In Gastonia, donors can stop by Ben & Jerry�s at 3908 East Franklin Boulevard between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. to give blood and take advantage of the promotion.
�This is a great way to not only give back to our community, but also give blood donors some enjoyment with our delicious ice cream,� Charles Durham, owner and operator of several Charlotte-area Ben & Jerry�s stores, said in a new release. �The Red Cross has a tremendous history of helping people locally and all over the world. What better way to work together than by hosting the �Give a Pint, Get a Pint� blood drive at such a critical time of year, when donations are typically low during the summer.�
Donors must be at least 17 years old (or 16 with parental consent) and weight at least 110 pounds. Blood can be donated every 56 days, and platelets every two weeks and up to 24 times a year. Visit redcrossblood.org for more information.


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Inspired from Bon Appetit
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon apple juice
1 tablespoon Calvados
1 cinnamon stick
1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise
3 cups 1/2 inch apple cubes (I used a combination of Granny Smith and yellow delicious)
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch
9 sheets of filo dough, defrosted
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
6 tablespoons Panko
2 tablespoons sugar
4 ounces white chocolate chopped
1/4 cup cream
1 teaspoon Frangelico
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted
Combine juice, Calvados, cinnamon and vanilla bean in a saucepan. Simmer for 3-4 minutes till reduced by half. Discard cinnamon and vanilla bean. Add apples and sugar and cook till apples are tender. Mix cornstarch in the 1 tablespoon of apple juice, then add to apples and cook till liquid boils and thickens. Allow apples to cool.
Preheat oven to 375º. Line baking sheet with parchment and set aside.
Mix the Panko and sugar in a small bowl. Set aside. Take filo out of box, cut 3-4 inches off of 9 sheets of filo (making more of a square shape than a rectangle...dimensions don't have to be exact), put the rest away for another use. Cover the 9 sheets with plastic, then a damp towel.
Place a dry kitchen towel on the counter. Place one piece of filo on the towel and brush lightly with melted butter. Repeat with second sheet of filo. After brushing the second sheet with butter, sprinkle with a scant 2 tablespoons of Panko sugar mixture, then repeat two more times, brushing and layering two sheets with butter, then sprinkling with Panko. With last 3 sheets, just layer and brush each with butter.
Spoon filling along side of filo stack closest to you, in a strip about 3 inches wide starting an inch away from one side and extending almost all the way across. Use towel to roll dough up like a jelly roll. Push any escaped apples back into strudel and place seam side down onto parchment paper lined baking sheet. Brush exposed filo with butter, then cut slashes across top on the diagonal (place where you'd be cutting slices after it's baked), cutting almost through the top crust.
Bake for about 30 minutes, till golden. While cooling make icing.
In microwave safe bowl, melt chopped white chocolate and cream stopping and stirring every 15-20 seconds till smooth. Add vanilla and Frangelico, then powdered sugar. Whisk till smooth. Place in quart ziplock bag and seal. Allow to cool. Snip off corner and drizzle over cooled strudel.
Serves 6.


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Jack Diablo Presents...
Dirty Names, Antique Animals, Screamin Eagle
Screamin Eagle
Burro Bar
100 E Adams St.
Jacksonville, FL, 32202
This event is 18 and over
Watch & Listen
Hailing from the mid Atlantic region of the U.S.A, Dirty Names (formerly The Names) have arrived with the purpose of bringing back the lost art of pure Rock and Roll with a new twist. This up and coming band is comprised of five young men who have been playing music since they could shake a rattle. Dirty Names are: Harrison Cofer on guitar, Matt Rose on drums, Kit Whitacre on guitar and Sam Wetterau on bass guitar with each member featured on vocals. The Dirty Names are currently touring the east coast, spreading their gospel and building a Rock and Roll community.
What's next for the Dirty Names? Continuing to deliver the high caliber, high energy shows that they are known for at a venue near you.
So get off your ass and go see a Dirty Names show!!!
Antique Animals is a band of misfits formed by Joseph Shuck in the summer of 2010, in Jacksonville, FL. What began as a 2 piece acoustic folk group, quickly transformed into a 6 piece band whose sound is a melting pot of alternative, folk, rock, pop, and Americana. Backed by local Jacksonville musicians Milan Algood (drums), Michael Boff (bass), Angel Garcia (keys), Daniel Hunting (guitar), and Sergio Valdes (trumpet), Shuck gives life to his songs through passionate live performance, and soulful songwriting.
In addition to playing regularly around the Jacksonville area, the band has opened for singer/songwriter Jose Gonzalez's band "Junip" in June of 2011, David Dondero in September of 2012, and the indie/punk band "Titus Andronicus" in October of 2012. Their first self-titled EP was released in June 2012, with a subsequent tour through the lower east coast.
The band grabbed the attention of Jacksonville artist, Shaun Thurston, who provides the artwork for their EP.
Though many often struggle categorizing the band's sound, some have likened them to groups like Beirut, Arcade Fire, Junip, and Radiohead. As for influences on the band itself, they range across the entire spectrum of music, though Shuck says simply, "Science…history, dreams, stories, people."
Almost as endearing as the music they play, it is the spirit with which they play it in a live setting that has gained them a strong following in the Jacksonville area. Each show has become synonymous with fun, and celebration. The music encourages you to ask questions, to reflect, and to hopefully learn.
$5.00 - $8.00
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