The terror group’s logo was daubed on the wall of a restaurant in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Chilling messages such as “convert or die” and “the caliphate is here” were also found covering the outside of Markus Samuelsson’s bakery . . .
The Arabic letter for “N” – which has been used to identify Christians and drive them out of their homes by ISIS fighters – was also painted on the restaurant.
Gothenburg is a hotbed for jihadist recruiting, terrorism expert Magnus Ranstorp described it as “the Swedish Centre for Jihadists” . . .
It was reported by local media earlier this year that at least 150 future terrorists had left the city to join ISIS in Iraq and Syria. (Read more from “‘Convert or Die’: ISIS Graffiti Jihadis Declare First European ‘Caliphate'” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-10-16 23:42:362016-04-11 10:57:16‘Convert or Die’: ISIS Graffiti Jihadis Declare First European ‘Caliphate’
Tiania Fough was boarding her connecting flight home to Oregon when she was abruptly kicked off her American Airlines (AAL) flight. During an interview with FOX Business Network’s Sandra Smith, Fough shared her side of the story.
“I start to walk on like everybody else and I’m chatting with the lady in front of me. As her and kind of four other people in front of me make their seats, there [was] one flight attendant and me… we are probably about 5 seats away from each other and he just starts yelling at me… and at that point I was just like ‘oh my gosh, what’s going on?’ and I just looked over at this guy and the flight attendant says to me, ‘I asked you three times to stay right there’ and I looked over at the guy and he goes, ‘well obviously you didn’t hear him’… There was people in front of me I had no visual sight of the man until everybody had sat down.”
The scene, captured on a cell phone from another passenger, showed Fough being scolded and suddenly being removed from the plane while crying . . .
When asked why she thought the flight attendant took issue with her she said: “there could be a lot of stuff going on in his life maybe. There was another flight attendant I guess up in the first class that I never even made contact with — I never even talked to him… He is allegedly saying that I said some profanities to him and he is trying to cover up for his buddy’s mistake of blowing up in my face and kicking me off the plane.” (Read more from “Watch: American Airlines Passenger Thrown off Plane by Flight Attendant Speaks Out” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-10-16 23:41:222016-04-11 10:57:16Watch: American Airlines Passenger Thrown off Plane by Flight Attendant Speaks Out
Before things went awry, Democratic Representative Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii had been planning to be in Las Vegas for her party’s first presidential debate. Gabbard is one of five vice chairs of the Democratic National Committee; of course she would be there. But instead of talking up her party’s prospects on the Strip earlier this week, Gabbard was in Honolulu. Her presence in Sin City was strictly virtual, and anything but boosterish: She spent debate day giving cable-news interviews via satellite, claiming that, as retribution for loudly calling for more Democratic debates than the DNC currently envisions, she was deemed unwelcome in Vegas by the committee’s chairwoman, Debbie Wasserman Schultz—who Gabbard suggested is an enemy of free speech, as well as a liar.
For most debate viewers and Democratic voters, the Gabbard flap, if it registered at all, was little more than a sideshow. But among Democratic officials and strategists, the dust-up was an embarrassing public spectacle—a boiling-over of long-simmering frustrations and resentments within the party hierarchy at a highly inopportune moment.
Of two dozen Democratic insiders with whom I spoke this week, including several DNC vice chairs, not one defended Wasserman Schultz’s treatment of Gabbard. Most called it ridiculous, outrageous, or worse. Many argued, further, that the debate plan enacted by the chairwoman is badly flawed—an assessment shared by many party activists, left-bent supporters of Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley, and those candidates themselves, all of whom see it as a naked effort to aid and comfort Hillary Clinton. And they maintained that the plan was a clear reflection of Wasserman Schultz’s management style, which many of them see as endangering Democratic prospects in 2016 and beyond.
One top Democrat who feels precisely this way is DNC Vice Chair R.T. Rybak, a former mayor of Minneapolis who, along with Gabbard, has publicly called for more debates. But Rybak’s indictment of Wasserman Schultz is more sweeping—and pointed—than that. “In the days before and after the debate I kept my mouth shut,” Rybak told me by phone on Thursday. “But I’ve begun to deeply question whether she has the leadership skills to get us through the election. This is not just about how many debates we have. This is one of a series of long-running events in which the chair has not shown the political judgment that is needed.” (Read more from “Insurrection Erupts at the Democratic National Committee” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-10-16 23:40:272016-04-11 10:57:16Insurrection Erupts at the Democratic National Committee
“We are in the throes of a deep depression, and nothing is changing,” one franchisee wrote in response to the survey by Nomura analyst Mark Kalinowski. “Probably 30% of operators are insolvent.”
Another wrote, “The CEO is sowing the seeds of our demise. We are a quick-serve fast-food restaurant, not a fast casual like Five Guys or Chipotle. The system may be facing its final days.”
More than a dozen franchisees expressed frustration with McDonald’s management, saying that CEO Steve Easterbrook’s turnaround plan — which includes initiatives like all-day breakfast and a shift to digital ordering kiosks — is a distraction from the core issues of McDonald’s, like food quality and customer service . . .
Several franchisees complained about all-day breakfast, saying that it has complicated kitchen operations and goes against Easterbrook’s repeated promises to simplify the menu.
“The system is very lost at the moment,” one franchisee wrote. “Our menu boards are still bloated, and we are still trying to be too many things to too many people. … Things are broken from the franchisee perspective.” (Read more from “McDonald’s Franchisees Say the Brand Is in a ‘Deep Depression’ and ‘Facing Its Final Days'” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-10-16 23:39:532016-04-11 10:57:16McDonald’s Franchisees Say the Brand Is in a ‘Deep Depression’ and ‘Facing Its Final Days’
How much does your smart home know about you? That was the question that Charles Givre, a data scientist at Booz Allen Hamilton, set out to answer in a recent experiment. Givre has an account on Wink, a platform designed to control, from a single screen, his Internet-connected home devices, such as door locks, window shades and LED lights. He wanted to learn what could be learned from his usage behavior. It turned out it was a little too much.
Earlier this month, at a big data conference in New York, Givre presented his results. By accessing his Wink account, he (or anyone with his login information) could identify his social media accounts, the names of his devices (like “Charles’s iPad) and his network information. An app that monitors his grill’s propane tank recorded the tank’s latitude and longitude, thus revealing the exact location of his house. From his Nest thermostat, he could figure out when his house was occupied and when it was not.
The goal of his experiment, Givre said, was not to demonstrate security flaws in his devices, but to document the wealth of information that they amass through everyday use. To access his usage history, some accounts required verification keys; others only asked for Givre’s email address and password. He wrote programs to “ping” his devices to gather new information about what was going on in his home in real time, and to find patterns there. He noted that his smart devices seemed to transmit information securely on its way to the companies’ servers, “but most of the interesting stuff was in the cloud anyway.”
As the trend toward networked “smart homes” and “connected cars” continues, security precautions are more important than ever. The Federal Trade Commission put out a report this year with best practices about how companies should notify their customers about data retention. Device makers say that customers can opt in or out of sharing their personal information with developers and third-party apps. But customers may not always be aware of just how much information their devices are collecting about them in the first place. (Read more from “Your Smart Home Knows a Lot About You” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-10-16 23:39:042016-04-11 10:57:16Your Smart Home Knows a Lot About You
Wayne Simmons claimed to be something of an American James Bond, and if you watched TV or ran his name through Google, you’d have no reason to doubt him. In his public speaking engagements and frequent appearances on Fox News, the purported former CIA operative spoke authoritatively about terrorism and clandestine intelligence operations, which he claimed he helped run for nearly three decades . . .
But according to federal prosecutors, his claims of a 27-year career with the CIA were lies, and it was only by repeating such falsehoods that Simmons was able to briefly get actual security clearances and real government contracting work in more recent years.
On Thursday, federal authorities arrested Simmons and charged him with making false statements, major fraud against the United States and wire fraud . . .
In a brief appearance in federal District Court in Alexandria on Thursday, Simmons, dressed in jeans and a button-down shirt, sighed loudly when a magistrate judge ordered him jailed in advance of a detention hearing Friday and peered back toward the audience as U.S. marshals led him away. Simmons said little during the hearing, save for a brief discussion about who was representing him in the case. The judge twice warned him not to talk, noting that prosecutors could use any comments he made against him.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Nathanson had asked the judge to detain Simmons, noting that investigators had recovered two guns when arresting him and that he had a previous federal conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm. (Read more from “He Claimed to Be Ex-CIA and Was Quoted as an Expert on Fox News – Prosecutors Say It Was a Lie” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-10-16 01:24:012016-04-11 10:57:16He Claimed to Be Ex-CIA and Was Quoted as an Expert on Fox News – Prosecutors Say It Was a Lie
As candidate for president in 2008, President Obama vowed, “I will end this war in Iraq responsibly and finish the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan.” Now, almost seven years later we know he will leave office with troops in both nations.
President Obama [announced] Thursday that the United States will keep 5,500 U.S. troops in Afghanistan when he leaves office in 2017.
Obama’s plan calls for maintaining the current force of 9,800 troops in Afghanistan through most of 2016. The pace of the withdrawals is to be determined by the military.
“This is this administration pushing this off to the next administration because the next time they have to make this decision, it will be a different president in the White House,” said retired Lt. Col. Rick Francona, a CNN military analyst. He labeled the decision “kicking this can down the road.”
In March, Obama had called for a level of 5,500 troops by the end of this year and an “embassy-only” presence by the end of 2016.
In reporting about the announcement, Fox News cited two reasons for the continued American presence in Afghanistan. (Read more from “Obama Is About to Destroy One of the Biggest Goals of His Presidency With This Announcement” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-10-16 01:23:272016-04-11 10:57:17Obama Is About to Destroy One of the Biggest Goals of His Presidency With This Announcement
Police in Michigan raided the home and office of an allegedly rogue abortion doctor Tuesday night, following the discovery of what appeared to be a dozen containers of aborted fetus parts and a powerful anesthetic in the trunk of his car.
The grisly discoveries were made after Dr. Michael Roth, an OB/GYN who has been repeatedly sued by patients and sanctioned by health authorities, asked police to retrieve items from his car, which was impounded after Roth allegedly struck a 32-year-old disabled man in West Bloomfield two weeks ago. Roth has not yet been charged in connection with the accident or the aborted remains allegedly found in his car, though local, state and federal authorities are investigating, according to the Detroit Free Press.
“We do have an opinion from the medical examiner’s office that this is remnants of conception, but there was nothing that was seen within the containers that were recognizable,” West Bloomfield Deputy Chief Curt Lawson told the Detroit Free Press.
The state Attorney General’s Office suspects Roth may be performing illegal abortions, according to Fox2, which cited sources.
Roth is listed as the primary doctor at the Novi Laser & Aesthetic Center in Novi, Mich., about 30 miles northwest of Detroit. The clinic’s website says that “with over 30 years of experience, Dr. Roth strives to provide the best possible care for his patients.” Calls placed to the Novi clinic went straight to voicemail, and a listing for Roth’s home number was disconnected. (Read more from “Grisly Find in Abortionist’s Car Leads to Search of Office, Home” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-10-16 01:21:582016-04-11 10:57:17Grisly Find in Abortionist’s Car Leads to Search of Office, Home
By Andrew Blake. Drone strikes conducted by the United States during a five-month-long campaign in Afghanistan caused the deaths of unintended targets nearly nine out of ten times, leaked intelligence documents suggest.
The apparent 10 percent success rate with regards to a specific span in America’s drone war is among the most damning revelations to surface so far as the result of a series of articles published by The Intercept on Thursday this week which rely on classified and confidential intelligence documents supplied by an unknown source.
“These docs illustrate what a video game, drained of all humanity, these drone assassinations have become,” founding editor Glenn Greenwald tweeted on Thursday.
Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor now in exile, has previously supplied journalists at the online news site with top-secret documents detailing the intelligence community’s eavesdropping efforts — the likes of which has sparked international debates concerning privacy and civil liberties implications, among other factor, as well as calls for legislative reform in the U.S. and abroad.
But the latest trove of documents — previously unpublished reports concerning suspected terrorists, signals intelligence gathering and, ultimately, the launching of often lethal drone strikes — are the apparent offerings of a new source likely to soon be scorned by the U.S. government as well. (Read more from “Obama-Led Drone Strikes Kill Innocents 90% of the Time” HERE)
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Fact Check: Obama Claims Afghan Combat Mission Over – Despite Airstrikes, Special Ops
By Jennifer Griffin and Lucas Tomlison. President Obama may be stretching when he assures the American public that combat operations in Afghanistan ended last year.
The president repeated the claim Thursday as he announced 5,500 U.S. troops would remain in Afghanistan after 2016. “Last December, more than 13 years after our nation was attacked by Al Qaeda on 9/11, America’s combat mission in Afghanistan came to responsible end,” Obama said from the White House, flanked by Vice President Biden, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Joe Dunford and Defense Secretary Ash Carter.
But this year alone, the U.S. military has carried out more than 328 airstrikes, dropping 629 bombs since January, according to U.S. Air Force Central Command. That amounts to roughly one U.S. airstrike a day since the president announced that combat operations had ended during his State of the Union address in January. So far this year, 25 U.S. service members have been killed in Afghanistan.
During his January address, Obama said U.S. troops have moved to a “support role.” He said, “Together with our allies, we will complete our mission there by the end of this year, and America’s longest war will finally be over.”
Obama backed off his pledge Thursday to end the war by the end of the year, but maintained that the combat mission is over and said the mission of those staying behind will not change. The remaining U.S. forces will be based at three air bases in Bagram, Kandahar and Jalalabad, and will only be authorized to train Afghans and hunt Al Qaeda. (Read more from this story HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-10-16 01:20:142016-04-11 10:57:19Obama-Led Drone Strikes Kill Innocents 90% of the Time
By Bill Gertz. A forthcoming report by the congressional U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission provides new details of China’s space-weapons programs, dubbed counterspace arms, that are aimed at destroying or jamming U.S. satellites and limiting American combat operations around the world.
“China is pursuing a broad and robust array of counterspace capabilities, which includes direct-ascent anti-satellite missiles, co-orbital anti-satellite systems, computer network operations, ground-based satellite jammers and directed energy weapons,” a late draft of the commission’s annual report states. “China’s nuclear arsenal also provides an inherent anti-satellite capability.”
China military planners expect to use a combination of kinetic, electronic and cyber attacks against satellites or ground support structures in a conflict.
Two direct-ascent missiles capable of hitting satellites in both lower and higher orbits are under development, the SC-19 and the DN-2. Anti-satellite missile tests were carried out as recently as last year.
The high-orbit DN-2 can hit U.S. Global Positioning Satellites but appears more suited for blowing up U.S. intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance satellites. The DN-2 could be deployed in five to 10 years. (Read more from “Inside the Ring: New Details of Chinese Space Weapons Revealed” HERE)
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Chinese Media: Military Must Be Ready to Counter US in South China Sea
By Agence France-Presse. Chinese media criticised the US on Thursday for “ceaseless provocations” in the South China Sea, with Washington expected to soon send warships close to artificial islands Beijing has built in disputed waters.
An editorial in the Global Times, which is close to China’s ruling Communist party, condemned US “coercion”, adding: “China mustn’t tolerate rampant US violations of China’s adjacent waters and the skies over those expanding islands.”
It said China’s military should “be ready to launch countermeasures according to Washington’s level of provocation”.
Tensions have mounted since China transformed reefs in the area – also claimed by several neighbouring countries – into small islands capable of supporting military facilities, a move the US says threatens freedom of navigation.
Following a meeting of American and Australian officials on Tuesday, the US defense secretary, Ash Carter, warned Beijing that Washington would continue to send its military where international law allows, including the South China Sea. (Read more from this story HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-10-16 01:18:462016-04-11 10:57:19Inside the Ring: New Details of Chinese Space Weapons Revealed
