Random Politics & Religion #09

The real question is how is Hot Topic still in business ?

I haven't been inside a Hot Topic or Spencer's ever. I'm afraid if I go into a Hot Topic I'll leave with white makeup and some obscure band T shirt.

(CNN)Police shot and killed a 24-year-old man they say was in the final stages of a terror attack targeting a Canadian urban center during rush hour, authorities said Thursday.
The suspect, with whom police were familiar from past terror investigations, was identified as Aaron Driver, said Mike Cabana, deputy commissioner of federal policing for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Driver was killed Wednesday outside his sister's home in Strathroy, Ontario, just after entering a cab around 4:30 p.m., Cabana said. Police engaged Driver, who detonated an explosive device inside the cab, injuring the driver, he said.
It's unclear if Driver, who was wearing a backpack, was carrying the explosive on his body or elsewhere, said RCMP Assistant Commissioner Jennifer Strachan, commanding officer of the Ontario division.
Police believe Driver was planning to stage an attack within 72 hours, Cabana said.
FBI and RCMP had been monitoring Driver since at least 2014, well before he granted an interview to The Toronto Star using the name Harun Abdurahman, Cabana said. In the interview, he justified the 2014 attacks on Parliament Hill in Ottawa that left an unarmed soldier dead, and he expressed support for ISIS.
He was in contact with alleged terrorists in the months following, but police "were never able to establish the nature of the communications" because they were encrypted, the deputy commissioner said.
Police arrested Driver in June 2015 and charged him with knowingly participating in the activities of a terrorist group and a search of his computer yielded a recipe for explosives, Cabana said.
A court granted him a peace bond, requiring he maintain good behavior for a certain period, and ordered him to be electronically monitored.
He moved from Winnipeg to his sister's home in Strathroy in July 2015, Cabana said.
When the RCMP recently received information from the FBI, including "a video of a man in the final stages of an explosives attack," they reached out to law enforcement partners across the country and identified the man in the video as Driver.
In the video, a man in a black balaclava appears to be reading something to the side of the camera. He invokes "the bodies of filthy French lying in the street" and says Canada has received many warnings to stay off Muslim lands and discontinue its participation in the fight against ISIS.
"You still have a heavy debt that has to be paid," he says.
Leonard Tailleur, who represented Driver in the previous case on which he was granted the peace bond, said he hadn't spoken to Driver since February, nor has he spoken to police.
He said he was shocked to learn of his former client's death.
"He was going to get married to a gal in Toronto," the attorney said.
Regarding the previous case, he said police had intended to charge Driver with terrorism threats based on his social media postings, but Driver and police reached a peace bond settlement allowing the RCMP to monitor Driver for up to a year.
"He was allowed to live where he wanted to as long as he told the RCMP. He had a phone that they gave him, that they were able to monitor," Tailleur said.
The last Tailleur heard, he said, Driver was supposed to keep the phone until the end of August and the RCMP would continue to monitor him through December.

(CNN)Coalition forces, including American military operatives, killed a senior ISIS leader when conducting an operation on the Iraqi-Syrian border Wednesday, officials said.
Killed was Sami Jassim Mohammed Al-Jabouri, known by the nom de guerre Haji Hamad, said the Kurdistan Region Security Council. His reported death is the latest victory in the coalition's ongoing fight against the terrorist organization's financial staying power.

Jabouri was responsible for ISIS operations regarding natural resources in Iraq and Syria. He and an aide were killed in the operation. The United States has not verified Jabouri was the man killed in the mission but verified he was a key figure in ISIS oil operations.
All coalition forces returned safely, the Kurdish statement said.

A US defense official confirmed to CNN an operation against an ISIS target and said it was coordinated with the Iraq government and the Kurdistan Regional Government forces.
The Pentagon's secret expeditionary targeting force conducted a mission Thursday to capture an ISIS operative, according to the defense official. It appears the man the team went after may have killed himself rather than be captured, but that has not been verified, the official said.
ETF operations are conducted by US special operations forces and rarely acknowledged openly. But this time officials acknowledged the operation took place after the Kurds disclosed it. Jabouri was a key figure in ISIS oil operations. But the official said the mission was to capture an individual for intelligence reasons.
"We are assessing the results of the operation and will provide additional information as and when appropriate," the US official said.
The mission took place near Qaim near the Iraqi-Syrian border, where there is an ISIS presence, the official said.
The Kurds have been battling with ISIS over control of oil fields. Less than two weeks ago, Kurdish forces repelled an ISIS hostage taking at an oil field near the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk.

Kurds killed the attackers and freed the hostages, according to witnesses.
The Khabbaz oil field produces around 20,000 barrels of oil per day and is situated between areas disputed by opposing fighters from the Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga forces and ISIS.
The standoff was the second armed attack on an energy facility in the Kirkuk region Sunday, after an earlier deadly attack on a nearby gas compression facility owned by the same company.
Four staff members were killed and another was injured during that attack on the gas facility, known as AB, in the Bajwan area in northwestern Kirkuk, police Gen. Sarhad Qader said.
Meanwhile, US forces have been striking ISIS targets in Libya to further erode its territorial potential natural resources gains in north Africa.
U.S. Special Forces and surveillance flights are operating on the ground and over Libya as the West moves to boost security operations in the country to bolster Libya's increasingly desperate fight against ISIS.
It has been getting hard for ISIS to finance its war machine due to its shrinking territory and crippled oil business.


By April of this year, ISIS' monthly revenue had fallen by 30% -- down from an estimated $80 million a month in mid-2015.
ISIS has ceded more than 22% of its territory to Kurdish, Syrian and Iraqi forces over the past 19 months, according to IHS. During that time, the population living under ISIS rule has fallen from 9 million to 6 million.
To offset those losses ISIS has halved its fighters' salaries, increased taxes and fees for people remaining under its control and resorted more to such tactics as kidnapping for ransoms and smuggling stolen archeological artifacts.

ISIS is so strapped for cash it has also started giving people accused of violating Sharia law the option of paying a cash fine instead of suffering severe physical punishments, reports IHS, which monitors the conflict.

(CNN)Muslim community leaders have refused to bury one of the terrorists who killed a Catholic priest this week in northern France, according to the president of a local Muslim organization.

Adel Kermiche was one of two men who took five people hostage during morning Mass on Tuesday at a Catholic church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, before forcing the priest to his knees and slitting his throat.

The Rev. Jacques Hamel, 86, was also stabbed in the chest before he was killed at the foot of the altar, according to a nun who escaped the attack.

Mohammed Karabila, president of the local Muslim cultural association, said that neither he nor the local Imam would take part in any burial service for the 19-year-old Kermiche, who had pledged allegiance to ISIS.

Kermiche was known to authorities and even wore an electronic monitoring device during the fatal hostage incident, according to French prosecutor Francois Molins.

Kermiche and Abdel-Malik Petitjean, also 19, were shot dead by police as they ran from the 17th-century stone church.
The mayor's office will make the final decision on whether Kermiche can be buried in the town.

Bangkok (CNN)[Breaking news update, posted at 1:28 a.m. ET]
There's "no evidence" a series of bombings in Thailand are related to international terrorism, says Deputy Police Spokesman Maj. Gen. Piyapan Pingmuang.

"These incidents are different from the usual terrorism acts, they are more local sabotage on certain locations and provinces," Pingmuang said following at least eight blasts at three separate cities.
"There is no evidence that this is linked to international terrorism," Pingmuang told a news conference Friday.
He added that the blasts are not linked to the bomb attack at the Erawan Shrine in the capital, Bangkok, last year.
[Previous story, published at 01:00 a.m. ET]
Three Thai cities have been hit by at least eight explosions in a span of about 12 hours, according to police officials.
At least two people are confirmed dead and at least 15 others are injured, authorities said.
No one has claimed responsibility for the blasts -- and it's not clear if they're connected.
The series of blasts come days before the one year anniversary of the Erawan Shrine bombing, which killed 20 people.

The series of explosions started Thursday night in the resort of Hua Hin. Two bombs placed near a local bar went off within a few minutes of each other as foreign tourists were leaving to go back to their hotels, Police Lieutenant Colonel Samoer Yoosumran said.
In that incident, one woman working at a food vending cart in front of the bar was killed and at least 11 people -- mostly foreign visitors -- were injured.
Edwin Wiek, who has lived in Thailand for almost 30 years, said one bomb was near the London Bar, not far from the Hua Hin Beach.
He tweeted a photo of a planter that was blown apart in one of the blasts.

On Friday morning at least six explosions occurred in three locations.
Two more bombs went off Hua Hin, and the southern city of Surat Thani and the resort island of Phuket were each hit by twin blasts, police said.
In Surat Thani city, the explosions occurred at 8:01 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. local time, according to Chavalit, a local police captain. Those two blasts were located about 650 feet (200 meters) apart from each other.
A female municipal worker was killed and four were injured in that incident, Chanmornoi said.
Around 9 a.m. on Friday in Phuket, two bombs went off, one at Patong Beach and one at Bang La Street -- both popular tourist sites -- according to Major General Theerapol Thipcharoen, the chief of Phuket Provincial Police.
One person suffered minor injuries in the Phuket incident, Theerapol told CNN.
Back in Hua Hin at 9:05 a.m, another two bombs went off near a clock tower, a city landmark, according to Yoosumran.
"Police have tightened security," he said. "We have set up check points and inspecting bags and other things."

Hua Hin is a popular coastal resort, about 90 miles (145 kilometers) southwest of the Thai capital, Bangkok. The city is home to many international hotel chains, including the Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt.
It's also home to the Klai Kangwon Palace, the seaside residence of Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
The palace is located less than a mile (about 2 kilometers) from the bombing site.
The island of Phuket is one of Thailand's most popular destination for foreign tourists. Patong beach is lined with cafes and bars, while nearby Bang La Road is known as one of Thaliand's more raucous nightlife hotspots.

Multiple FBI investigations are underway involving potential corruption charges against the Clinton Foundation, according to a former senior law enforcement official.

The investigation centers on New York City, where the Clinton Foundation has its main offices, according to the former official who has direct knowledge of the activities.

Prosecutorial support will come from various U.S. Attorneys Offices — a major departure from other centralized FBI investigations.

The New York-based probe is being led by Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. Bharara’s prosecutorial aggressiveness has resulted in a large number of convictions of banks, hedge funds and Wall Street insiders.

The official said involvement of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York “would be seen by agents as a positive development as prosecutors there are generally thought to be more aggressive than the career lawyers within the DOJ.”

Bharara’s government biography notes that he, “has applied renewed focus on large-scale, sophisticated financial frauds by creating two new units – the Complex Frauds Unit and the complementary Civil Frauds Unit.

“The Civil Frauds Unit has collected close to $500 million in settlements since its inception, including multi-million dollar settlements with Deutsche Bank and CitiMortgage for faulty lending practices and other fraudulent conduct.”

Nicholas Biase, a spokesman for Bharara, said he would “decline comment.” Similarly, FBI spokeswoman Samantha Shero said, “we do not have a comment on investigative activity.”

Bharara is best known for securing convictions of prominent political figures, including former New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Shiver. Silver had a seemingly intractable grip on power in the state for decades. He was convicted of accepting $4 million in exchange for helping a cancer researcher and two real estate developers.

He also secured the conviction of New York Republican Majority Leader Dean Skelos, who was sentenced to five years in prison for corruption.

The former official said the investigation is being coordinated between bureau field offices and FBI managers at headquarters in Washington, D.C. The unusual process would ensure senior FBI supervisors, including Director James Comey, would be kept abreast of case progress and of significant developments.

The reliance on U.S. attorneys would be a significant departure from the centralized manner in which the FBI managed the investigation of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private server and email addresses.

That investigation was conducted with agents at FBI headquarters, who coordinated with the Department of Justice’s National Security Division (NSD).

The Clinton email probe was considered a “small cell” investigation, with FBI agents and NSD attorneys frequently conferring. Comey short-circuited that investigation in early July by announcing that “no reasonable prosecutor” would try Clinton for the “careless” handling of classified material.

“Although we did not find clear evidence that Secretary Clinton or her colleagues intended to violate laws governing the handling of classified information, there is evidence that they were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information,” he announced in a July 5 press conference.

Comey, however, wouldn’t answer questions about any ongoing FBI investigation of the Clinton Foundation.

Before a July 7 congressional hearing about his decision not to recommend prosecution of Clinton, Comey told House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Jason Chaffetz, “I’m not going to comment on the existence or nonexistence of other investigations.”

“Was the Clinton Foundation tied into this investigation?” persisted Chaffetz.

“I’m not going to answer that,” Comey replied.

In its 15 years of operations, the Clinton Foundation, formally known as the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation, has collected up to $2 billion from donors, according to The Washington Post. The donors include a wide range of the world’s wealthiest people: Eastern European tycoons, Arab Sheiks, African mining magnates, hedge fund billionaires and Wall Street firms.

WaPo reported that the couple brought in $3 billion, if you count all of their campaign contributions. “ The Clintons’ fundraising operation — $3 billion amassed by one couple, working in tandem for more than four decades — has no equal,” they reported as part of a wide-ranging investigation into the source of the couple’s funds.

In a related development, CNN reported Thursday that earlier this year, Justice Department officials in three different field offices “were in agreement a public corruption investigation should be launched” of Clinton Foundation activities.

The probe was sparked by a bank notifying the FBI of “suspicious activity” around a foreign donor to the Clinton Foundation, according to Pamela Brown, CNN’s Justice Department reporter.

The investigation, if launched, would have looked at conflicts of interest between requests by foreign donors and official acts by Hillary. CNN did not identify the bank or the foreign donor.

Brown reported the FBI and Justice Department officials met, and there was “disagreement” whether to launch such an investigation. In the end, the investigation was killed.

A separate investigation was approved involving Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who was a major director to the foundation for most if its existence.

I scanned that article a few times looking for any substantial information but couldn't find any. Journalism!

I mean, it's about an investigation that is underway. I wouldn't expect them to release the results of the investigation until after the investigation is over with.

They do this here when they're looking for someone (let's say they're looking for a mugger)

They'll say that they have a description but they don't tell the reporters what it is and instead ask the public to call if they saw anything

I know it's not the same as the article but it annoys the hell out of me when they're so vague

They have an excellent business strategy. It's called, "Be slightly less boring than the rest of the mall."

I'll admit that the article is vague.

I mean, it's about an investigation that is underway. I wouldn't expect them to release the results of the investigation until after the investigation is over with.

I'm just waiting on the usual suspects to cry "witch hunt" again.

Would you accept a "they didn't do anything wrong", or is your mind already made up no matter what the result?

I scanned that article a few times looking for any substantial information but couldn't find any. Journalism!

information of substance, I should say

(CNN)A man on a train in eastern Switzerland stabbed several passengers and poured out some kind of liquid that caught fire Saturday afternoon, leaving six people hurt -- including a 6-year-old boy, police said.
In a statement on Facebook, St. Gallen police said the 27-year-old suspect was also injured in the fire.

In addition to the child, a 17-year-old man, a 50-year-old man and three women -- ages 17, 34 and 43 -- were taken to various hospitals with injuries ranging from burns to stab wounds, police said.
Dozens of passengers were on the train when the attack occurred on the route between Buchs and Sennwald, just before the Salez Station, authorities said.
The train was heavily damaged by the fire, and regional authorities have opened an investigation into the incident.
Service has been shut down on that rail line and buses were brought in for passengers, police said.

Only if you admit your bias and cry "witch hunt"

So it is circular logic all around. The left says witch hunt since the right already has their minds made up. The right has their minds made up because the left says witch hunt.

She could get away with murder, commit it right in front of you, and even shoot one of your loved ones and you will still say she is innocent.

So waiting until the results of an investigation are out before making up my mind is the wrong way to approach things?

I'm not going to defend the things Clinton has done without knowing the facts.

But as we have seen over the past decade with Clinton, no matter what happens, the right will declare her guilty. There is no chance in their minds that she is actually innocent, just a bunch of corrupt investigators who were either bribed and/or killed for daring to come to a conclusion other than "Guilty on all counts".

Actually, that was Trump who said that about himself, but facts yo.