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Well this is interesting... We've been helpin out on our best weapons customer the Saudi's with the bombings in Yemen for years...seems the blowback's getting more advanced...

Yemen rebels claim drone attacks on major Saudi oil sites

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Drones claimed by Yemen’s Houthi rebels attacked the world’s largest oil processing facility in Saudi Arabia and a major oilfield operated by Saudi Aramco early Saturday, sparking a huge fire at a processor crucial to global energy supplies.

...

The war has become the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. The violence has pushed Yemen to the brink of famine and killed more than 90,000 people since 2015, according to the U.S.-based Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, or ACLED, which tracks the conflict.

Since the start of the Saudi-led war, Houthi rebels have been using drones in combat. The first appeared to be off-the-shelf, hobby-kit-style drones. Later, versions nearly identical to Iranian models turned up. Iran denies supplying the Houthis with weapons, although the U.N., the West and Gulf Arab nations say Tehran does.

...

In a short address aired by the Houthi’s Al-Masirah satellite news channel, military spokesman Yahia Sarie said the rebels launched 10 drones in their coordinated attack on the sites. He warned attacks by the rebels would only get worse if the war continues.

“The only option for the Saudi government is to stop attacking us,” Sarie said.

The U.S. Embassy in Riyadh said it was “unaware of any injuries to American citizens.”


Attack footage here, some serious drones...

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Lesser-evilism is war.

the hard hat is back.....

Quake felt in lower North Island
22:04, September 22nd, 2019


GEONET
Thousands of people have reported feeling the quake.

A light quake has shaken the capital tonight and been felt by more than 11,000 people.

Initial reports from GeoNet said it was magnitude 4.0, 30km's deep.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/116001 ... rth-island

Ghost Note: Didn't feel light here in the cave, we got quite a decent shake.....

How Auckward!

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You're probably wondering why I'm here
(not that it makes a heck of a lot of a difference to ya)

Rio violence: Protests as girl, eight, 'killed by police'

Protests have erupted in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro after an eight-year-old girl was allegedly killed by police, as the number of victims in operations by security forces continues to rise.



Ágatha Vitória Sales Félix was with her grandmother in a van when she was shot in the back in a poor area on Friday.

Residents said officers had targeted a motorcyclist when she was hit. Police said they had responded to an attack.

A record 1,249 people have died in such raids in Rio from January to August.

Ágatha is the fifth child to die as a result of violence blamed on the police.

Critics say the hard-line approach of conservative Governor Wilson Witzel, who came to office in January, is behind the growing number of victims in the city's poorest areas, called favelas.

On Saturday, dozens of people protested in Alemão, one of Rio's largest favelas, where Ágatha was hit on Friday night. She was sent to a hospital but died.

Some of the demonstrators carried placards saying "Lives in the favelas matter" and "Stop killing us". Other protests were planned for Sunday.

In a statement, police said officers had responded to attacks, leading to a confrontation with criminals. An investigation has been launched.

But Ágatha's family disputed this, saying officers had targeted a motorcyclist when she was hit, and there was no gunfight happening at the time.

"A guy came on a motorbike and the police asked him to stop. He didn't stop and left, he was unarmed, and the police shot. There was no confrontation, the only shot was [from the police]," the girl's uncle, Elias, told local media.

Another death for the statistics

By Hugo Bachega, BBC News

Another poor, black family in mourning in Rio; another young, innocent life lost to a tragedy that spares almost no-one in the city's favelas. And, sadly, no sign that it will make any difference.

Governor Witzel has promised to fight violence with violence, a policy that has been tried in the past and has largely failed in achieving any lasting result. As more and more people die he has insisted he is on the right track and, outside the poorest districts, many see it as the price to be paid in an effort to reduce crime.

In the favelas, obviously, it is a different story. When I visited Alemão to cover yet another death blamed on the police, residents were almost unanimous in telling me how they see trigger-happy agents as the source of most of the violence.

Ágatha's smiley face was on the front page of many newspapers in Rio. But as Ailton, her grandfather, said, she is likely to become just another statistic. Perhaps even worse, the chance that the family will ever see any justice is close to zero.

Mr Witzel has often cited a drop in homicides and other crimes as proof that his policies are working. But experts say it is not clear if this is a direct result of his approach.

Far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who also defends the use of force against suspects, has repeatedly said that "a good criminal is a dead criminal".

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-49788618

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Fifa 'assured' Iranian women will be able to attend football matches

"Women have effectively been banned from stadiums where men are playing since just after the 1979 Islamic revolution.
Earlier this month, football fan Sahar Khodayari died after being arrested for trying to go to a match disguised as a man.
Ms Khodayari, also known as the "blue girl" after the colours of her favourite team Esteqlal, feared she would be jailed. She set herself on fire outside the court and died a week later in hospital.
Her death caused widespread grief and outrage, both within and outside Iran."

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-e ... t-49787863

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You're probably wondering why I'm here
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'OK' is now a hate symbol, the ADL says
https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/26/us/adl-new-hate-symbols/index.html
Updated 8:29 AM ET, Thu September 26, 2019
Sara Sidner



Los Angeles (CNN)The "OK" hand gesture is now a hate symbol, according to a new report by the Anti-Defamation League.
The ADL added that symbol along with several others on Thursday to its long-standing database of slogans and symbols used by extremists.
The finger-and-thumb OK sign is universally known for meaning everything is all right or approval of something. But the ADL says while not everyone means it to be hateful, the sign has been co-opted by the alt-right.

The OK hand gesture and its link to white nationalism began as a hoax cooked up by users of the website 4chan, who falsely linked it to white supremacy, according to the ADL.

It was meant to bait the media or people with liberal ideals to overreact, ADL experts say, and therefore look ridiculous for condemning such an innocuous sign. But in 2019, the sign was adopted by some white nationalists.
"At least some white supremacists seem to have abandoned the ironic or satiric intent behind the original trolling campaign and used the symbol as a sincere expression of white supremacy," the ADL posted in its report.
Their experts point to Australian white supremacist Brenton Tarrant, who stands accused of massacring 51 people at two New Zealand mosques in March. Tarrant was pictured using the OK symbol during a courtroom appearance soon after his arrest. Tarrant has pleaded not guilty.
"We believe law enforcement and the public needs to be fully informed about the meaning of these images, which can serve as a first warning sign to the presence of haters in a community or school," Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL CEO said in a statement.

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that's what happens when you don't read you loose your link to higher thinking

okay.....

along with the rest of the world, locally the kids got angry about the climate and the adults joined in

Tens of thousands throng for #climatestrike NZ



Organisers estimate that 170,000 New Zealanders have joined the strike for the climate around the country. Here’s what went down.

More than 40 #climatestrike events took place this afternoon around New Zealand, as part of a global movement calling for urgent action on the climate crisis.

The core of the strike was school students, but many others joined them, with about 100 businesses supporting and joining the marches and rallies.

At parliament, an open letter signed by more than 11,000 people was presented, calling among other things for a national climate emergency to be declared.


WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND A protestor looks on during a strike to raise climate change awareness on September 27, 2019. Rallies held across New Zealand are part of a global movement for mass days of action demanding global leaders take measures to address the climate crisis.

WELLINGTON A protestor holds a placard in front of the Beehive at Parliament

thhti AUCKLAND Supporters arrive in Aotea Square

WELLINGTON Protesters walk down Lambton Quay

WELLINGTON Protesters arrive at Parliament

WELLINGTON Protestors fill Civic Square








go here for many pictures http://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/national/ ... p#image=34

you get the general idea.....

Lesser-evilism at work...

Joint US-Afghan Strike Kills 40 Civilians at Wedding
US statement says deaths probably al-Qaeda's fault

For the second time in a week, a US military operation in Afghanistan has ended with a large number of civilians dead, and US officials offering very dubious arguments as to why it wasn’t their fault.

The Sunday night attack saw US and Afghan commandos raid a house in Helmand Province, and ultimately launch airstrikes. The attack killed at least 40 civilians, including a number of children.

Instead of the Taliban building they thought they were raiding, it turns out the airstrike pounded an ongoing wedding reception. The Afghan government has already admitted to what happened, saying they are “saddened” by the deaths and want to take extra caution in the future.

Because the US is on one of those kicks where they don’t take responsibility for anything, the US statement confirmed the airstrike but denied killing civilians. They claimed the attack targeted al-Qaeda, and suggested any civilians “died from al-Qaeda weapons,” and not from the US dropping bombs on them.

This all comes just days after an incident in Nangarhar Province, where the US attacked and killed scores of civilian farm laborers who were hired for a pine nut harvest. This attack was launched even though the village in question specifically informed everyone weeks in advance that the harvest was happening, and got assurances they wouldn’t be attacked.

The US attacked, of course, killing 32 civilians, including children. The US went on to claim everyone was pretending to be harvesting pine nuts, and that it was secretly all ISIS people.

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Lesser-evilism is war.

^^^^^https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/23/asia/afghanistan-wedding-attack-intl/index.html^^^^^

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that's what happens when you don't read you loose your link to higher thinking

I'm 400 miles North closer to KU where the fire danger is so bad they shut down everyone's electricity 800,000 customers so the lines don't spark any fires during Red Flag Winds as we have had the last two days, fortunately my community is like a little island in the middle of all the blackouts I do not know if KU was affected in his new place but where he was living definitely was in the shut down zone.

I feel for those people in LA because there are a lot of homes and business's among those hills and canyons along San Fernando Valley...

Hope you guys all get through this ok!! Sending positive thoughts your direction!! Is this common practice to shut down the power during high winds? Hasn't the lack of power caused more harm than good in the long run? I've heard some conflicting info about this, so I'm curious about the perspective of someone actually living the problem.

The reason for the power shut downs is due to the Paradise fire which KU was lucky to escape alive...19000 buildings were destroyed 13,000 or those were homes (90% of the entire city), tens of thousands of people were homeless, and at least 85 people died...not mention thousands of pets and countless cattle, sheep, and horses.

The fire was started by an electrical spark from a power line and ultimately PG&E one of the largest utilities in the US had to file bankruptcy due to law suits, for this reason when Red Flag conditions (super dry with dry high winds) are reached in a County or area of the State they shut down the power to avoid another such event.

The fact that Moscow Mitch shut down the Infrastructure Bill President Obama had supported would be a major reason for the current situation since part of the multi-billion dollar fund would have went to California's aging electrical grid, in a lot of ways the Republican effort to keep the first Black President from being successful has cost many lives in many disasters that may have been adverted with an Infrastructure Bill so many years ago.

In the spring, the mudslides will put out the wildfires.
-with apologies to Johnny Carson

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That explains it pretty well. I’m just out of range of the shut offs fortunately.

Thanks, I knew bits and pieces of this, but that puts everything in better perspective. What a tragic situation.

Bathurst 1000: Scott McLaughlin holds out Shane van Gisbergen for epic victory
David Long at Bathurst·20:28, October, 13th, 2019.


Scott McLaughlin had to manage fuel while trying to stay ahead of Shane van Gisbergen.

Scott McLaughlin has become the first New Zealand main game driver to win the Bathurst 1000 since Greg Murphy in 2004.

McLaughlin held out compatriot Shane van Gisbergen in a one-lap dash to the line following a safety car. James Courtney finished the race in third position.

In what will rank as one of the most thrilling ever finishes to the Bathurst 1000s, the six-hour 27-minute race came down to just one lap as a crash by another Kiwi, Andre Heimgartner brought out a safety car to bunch up McLaughlin and van Gisbergen.

Van Gisbergen had a little poke to look for a gap on the way up the mountain, but McLaughlin never gave him a chance to take the lead.

"I can't believe I've won the bloody Bathurst 1000', McLaughlin told Murphy when interviewed straight after the race.

The victory also makes it increasingly more likely that McLaughlin will win back to back Supercars championship.

This will go down as the second time van Gisbergen has just missed out on winning the great race, also finishing second in 2016.

It took a while for the race to get going. Firstly there was there was Brodie Kostecki needing to pull over on the formation lap as a cool suit failure meant dry ice was being pumped directly into his helmet.

When they finally got the race underway, Tim Slade put his car into the wall up the mountain, so the safety car came out and it wasn't until 32 minutes after the official start time that the first real lap of racing was completed.

By lap five, McLaughlin had broken a new race lap record with a time of 2:05.619. He kept in front and had built a lead of 3.5 seconds when he came in for a pitstop on lap 17.

On lap 44 van Gisbergen had a problem with his car door not shutting and had to drive with one hand on it trying to keep it closed.

By lap 49 the order was Alex Premat (McLaughlin's co-driver), Chaz Mostert, Jamie Whincup and Cameron Waters, but with all four cars close to each other.

But on the next lap Premat buckled under the pressure of Mostert and locked up his wheels at The Chase, slipping back to third.

Then two laps later Waters went past the Frenchman, who wasn't able to keep up with the pace of the main game drivers.

After 80 of the 161 lap race the top three was James Moffat (Mostert's co-driver), Whincup and McLaughlin. However, Moffat was to lose his place, stalling at a pitstop.
With 50 laps to go the order was McLaughlin, Jamie Whincup, Fabian Coulthard, Waters and Heimgartner.

But there was drama when Jake Kostecki crashed causing a third safety car. Once more there was action in the pits, with Whincup getting ahead of McLaughlin by taking on less fuel.

The race restarted on lap 117 and it would be a struggle for all the drivers to conserve enough fuel so that they could get to the finish making just one more stop.

On lap 123 Mostert took his team-mate Waters out as he lost control of his Mustang at the Chase. Tickford team principal Tim Edwards was clearly less than impressed.

Then there were safety cars after Anton de Pasquale and Alexander Rossi had crashes, but Whincup was able to stay ahead of McLaughlin after refuelling.

Ten laps from the end Gary Jacobson's crash brought the safety car out for a penultimate time and Whincup dived in for fuel, so McLaughlin was back in the lead.

But it was going to be a shoot out between McLaughlin and van Gisbergen for the victory.

With two laps to go, there was one final twist with Heimgartner ploughing his Nissan into the wall at Forrest Elbow.

That took conserving fuel out of the equation and it came down to a one-lap dash and in it McLaughlin was able to stay in the lead.


Stuff

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/motorspor ... ic-victory

Woo hoo what a race!

thhti Auckland butcher takes out best sausage in New Zealand title
21:45, October 17th, 2019

The best sausage in New Zealand is a chicken, leek and bacon banger from Westmere Butchery in the hell hole that is Auckland.

The butchery took out the Supreme Award in the Devro Great New Zealand Sausage Competition, for the second year in a row.

Judge Annabelle White said the winning sausage was perfectly flavoured and textured with a great use of seasoning and an "unforgettable luscious after taste".


SUPPLIED
Westmere Butchery's winning chicken, leek and bacon sausage was described as perfectly flavoured and textured with a great use of seasoning and an "unforgettable luscious after taste".

"The top sausage is an extraordinarily delicious, full-bodied savoury sausage that had all the judges fighting for more, but all were in total agreement that this was the winning banger," White said.


Supplied
Dave Rossiter (centre) from Westmere Butchery in thhti Auckland was also named supreme champion in the 2018 Great New Zealand Sausage Competition.

"Even after all the judging we asked for more to be cooked. It's made me banger-obsessed and congrats to the creators."

David Rossiter, owner of Westmere Butchery, has had more than 45 years in the industry.

The journey to supreme status for the winning sausages has been a long and rigorous process. More than 90 butcheries from around New Zealand put their best snarlers forward culminating in over 500 sausages being poked, sniffed and tasted across 13 categories.

The panel of judges included butchers, foodies, chefs and industry heavyweights, who whittled entries down to the top scoring sausages over five days of tasting.

From there, gold, silver and bronze medals were awarded in each category with the 15 gold medallists then re-judged against one another to find the supreme winner.

The People's Choice Award went to Avon's Butchery in Glen Innes for their beef, garden herb and garlic sausage after a public blind-taste test of the six top scoring sausages.

The Devro New Zealand Wildcard winner was awarded to Peter Timbs Meats in Christchurch for producing the highest scoring sausage in a Devro casing, with their wild venison and black plum entry.

Stuff

https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/food ... land-title

^^^They haven't seen my sausage...

The world Saussage Championships will be held in Haute Loire France (not far from my place), in June 2020. This is serious stuff people. You Don't wanna fuck wit the Saucisson.

https://www.lebonbon.fr/lyon/news/lyon-mondial-du-saucisson-revient-dans-notre-region-pour-sa-2e-edition/

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"Welcome to the Frank Zappa Memorial Country Club & BBQ" at wgt.com 75 members and counting.

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