(connection errors at src)

South Korea to Deploy ["]Anti-Piracy["] Unit to Strait of Hormuz - Report
"South Korea's Ministry of Defence also confirmed the news. The United States had previously urged South Korea to help guard oil tankers in the region."

#Breaking

"Rocket attack alarms sounding off multiple times on the #US #Baghdad Embassy Complex and Union III. Heard the booms myself on Union III. Speakers telling all to take shelter immediately." pic.twitter.com/F1lpbWm9RE

— Nafiseh Kohnavard (@nafisehkBBC) January 20, 2020

Oxygen to Be Extracted from Lunar Dust at New Facility - Reports

The first prototype oxygen facility will be attempting the same extraction process on a larger scale, it was reported by Science Alert on Monday.

The new plant could potentially provide humans with essential resources that can aid in future space missions and even provide a means for long-term existence on moon bases and colonies.
[...]
The facility, established under the European Space Agency's European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in the Netherlands, will use a method which was discovered by [Beth] Lomax and her colleagues in 2019.

archived
Is anybody out there?
on a giant rotating structure at 1G as seen in Elysium

White House appoints GOP House members to Trump's impeachment team, front row, peanut gallery

In a statement Monday evening it was announced that Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), Mike Johnson (R-La.), Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), Jim Jordan (R-N.C.), Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.), John Ratcliffe (R-Texas) and Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) would join Trump's impeachment team.
[...]
Trump's move to appoint the lawmakers comes as some key Republican allies in the Senate had warned against such appointments, warning that the addition of Republican House members would cast the Senate trial in a partisan light.

Impeachment resolution shortens trial's opening arguments to two days per side -- Generous: SCOTUS allows 1 hr., in one day.

The timeline laid out in the Kentucky Republican's Senate organizing resolution for Trump's impeachment trial , which was obtained by CNN, is a break from the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton, when the 24 hours were split over a four-day period.
Democrats oppose McConnell's schedule, which House Democratic aides said Monday was an effort to "conceal the President's misconduct in the dark of night."
"It's clear Sen. McConnell is hell-bent on making it much more difficult to get witnesses and documents and intent on rushing the trial through," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said in a statement. "On something as important as impeachment, Senator McConnell's resolution is nothing short of a national disgrace."

incidentally
S.Res.474 - A resolution to authorize representation by the Senate Legal Counsel in the case of Martin F. McMahon v. Senator Ted Cruz, et al. ...introduced by Chuckie Son of D'Amato, 16 Jan 2020.
(no jury trial)

#ADOS #ReparationsNow pic.twitter.com/KbZqNCaURq

— AfroPlex (@AfroPlexx) July 5, 2019

Happy Black History Y6 D20

Preserving the tweet that got @jaboukie insta banned, for future generations pic.twitter.com/7rPEQYCg2o

— 🌷 (@_flowerguardian) January 20, 2020

University of D'Oh - report, Fusion  center (not that one the other one)
"In the US, less advanced [BWAH!] types of facial recognition have been in use for decades."

wut: "We have much to offer African nations."

Born on third manual commentary, US-style.

Variety magazine: The New York Times' Made-for-TV Endorsement Missed the Mark (Column)
"The Times editorial board seems to want less to be a traditional media force than to have the new-media power of a decade and a half ago, to decide which Democratic candidate will be 'The Apprentice.'"

heavens-to-betsy: Someone woke up feeling militant today.

IE v FR
The pension age is now a major election issue - so where do all the parties stand?
RTE posted a somewhat informative, impartial-like feature last week.

Election 2020: FF edges ahead of FG as SF surges in new Ipsos MRBI poll

Fianna Fáil enjoys a small lead over Fine Gael following a sharp drop in support for the Government party in recent months, according to the first Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI opinion poll of the general election campaign.

With 19 days to go before the election takes place, Fianna Fáil has taken the lead over its main rival for the first time in three years, while Sinn Féin also performs very strongly in the poll.

The Green Party is also set to make gains, while Independents and smaller parties are on course to lose several Dáil seats.

The poll was taken on Thursday, Friday and Saturday of last week in the days after the election campaign began. The survey was conducted face to face among 1,200 adults at 120 locations in every constituency. The accuracy level is estimated at plus or minus 2.8 per cent.

Excluding undecided voters and those unlikely to vote, 25 per cent of respondents said they would vote for Fianna Fáil (no change), 23 per cent for Fine Gael (down six), 21 per cent for Sinn Féin (up seven), 5 per cent for Labour (down one), 8 per cent for the Green Party (no change) and 18 per cent for Independents and small parties (no change). The comparison is with the most recent Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI poll last October.

This poll is more in line with my expectations except for the surge in support for Sinn Fein - presumably because they have finally decided to re-create a N. Ireland Executive and end the deadlock with the DUP there. I remain to be convinced this will actually materialise on Feb. 8th.

For a few of reasons:

1. All previous opinion polls showed FG either well ahead or at least level with FF. I can't think of any reason that might have triggered the sudden change.
   
2. Objectively, FG have done a lot better than FF in their previous periods in office  -  see Bank Bail-out - which is less than 10 years ago, when the whole country was suddenly impoverished. Political memories seem to be even shorter than I thought.
   
3. Much as I oppose the main thrust of FG's "free market" policies, FF are no better, but even more incompetent. It is hard to name a single competent front bencher in FF other than Leader Michael Martin himself, and he is tainted by his involvement in previous administrations. FG aren't much better, but have a few semi-competant people at or near the top.
   
4. I would have expected a surge for the Greens, and perhaps some left wing parties, but not FF. That said, it could be argued that Ireland was (almost) always a FF tribe led country, with them temporarily losing out because of gross mismanagement. Maybe it's just a case of their core vote returning to them after they have completed a term of penance. That said their voter age profile has always been ageing.

That said, I haven't seen the details of the poll, the number of don't knows, crosstabs etc. I will reserve judgement until I see more polls, preferably by other pollsters.

It is also true to say that most apolitical people won't really engage till they see the TV debates and get a flavour of what the manifestos promise. I would suspect there is still a huge swathe of people who haven't made up their minds, and they may up playing it safe and voting for the status quo. Having done well on Brexit, the Varadker/Coveney team may be given a fool's pardon on the other issues they have failed on - or at least one last chance to address them.

caption this

sublinal message

Trial Memorandum and Statement of Material Facts in the impeachment trial of the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, 111 pp

v.

Trial Memorandum of Donald J. Trump, 171 pp

Trump's lawyers urge dismissal of 'flimsy' impeachment case

The brief from Trump's lawyers, filed as senators prepare to return to Washington for opening arguments, offers the most detailed look at the lines of defense they intend to use against Democratic efforts to convict the president and oust him from office over his dealings with Ukraine. It is meant as a counter to a filing two days ago from House Democrats that summarized weeks of testimony from more than a dozen witnesses in laying out the impeachment case.

EU to use ["]revamped["] 'Operation Sophia' to enforce Libyan arms embargo

The EU's chief diplomat Josep Borrell had raised eyebrows on Friday (17 January) with calls for the EU to consider sending troops to Libya to enforce a potential ceasefire on the ground.

"It's clear that the arms embargo requires high-level control and if you want to keep the ceasefire alive someone has to monitor it," Borrell reiterated upon arrival at the meeting in Brussels.

Asked about the next steps following the Berlin Conference on Libya, he stressed that "it is clear that the arms embargo requires a level of control and if you want to keep the ceasefire alive, someone has to monitor it. United Nations, African Union, or the European Union, someone has to do it."

ahh, no relation to "no-fly zone" for "normal nations"

Operation Sophia was set up in 2015 to combat [!] people smugglers operating from the Libyan coast and to also enforce a UN arms embargo on the warring parties. It was suspended as a naval mission in March 2019, after Italy objected to recused [sic] migrants being landed in its ports, and is now limited to aerial surveillance.

"Martin Luther King Jr. would want Jewish & African Americans to stand united against hate." Spare me. Far-right Wiesenthal Center presumes to say MLK would hate the same Muslim-and Black Americans that it does. Stop exploiting
MLK for yr own racist ends. [_link]

— Tikun Olam (@richards1052) January 20, 2020

Holocaust Centers made the use of "Wiesenthal" commercial for far-right issues.

'Love Letter to Capitalism and War': Progressive Scorn Follows New York Times Endorsement. "No one really gives a shit." [_link]

— Tikun Olam (@richards1052) January 20, 2020

Faltering international steps in Berlin towards peace in Libya | Libya Herald |

Speaking at a press conference after the meeting, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the truce which started in 12 January would continue and that a committee of ten military officials - five appointed by Faiez Sarraj, head of the Government of National Accord (GNA), and five appointed by the head of the Libyan National Army, Khalifa Haftar, would be set up and meet in Geneva in the coming days to work out the basis for a lasting ceasefire.

Attending the Berlin Conference which was chaired by Merkel, were Russia's President Vladimir Putin, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, French President Emmanuel Macron, Algeria's new President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, President Denis Sassou Ngueso of the Republic of Congo, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the head of foreign affairs in the Chinese communist party's politburo Yang Jiechi, UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, UN Special Envoy to Libya Ghassan Salamé, African Union Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat, European Parliament President Charles Michel, the head of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borell Fontelles and Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit.

The meeting followed a call by Putin and Erdogan on 8 January for a ceasefire which was accepted by Sarraj but initially rejected then accepted by Haftar, and on 13 January by a meeting in Moscow attended by both men which again saw Sarraj signing up to a ceasefire but not Haftar. In Berlin, neither joined in the talks, refusing to be in the same room as the other, but they were kept informed of the discussions and agreed to continue the truce while the 5+5 military committee worked for a more permanent outcome.

According to both Merkel and Guterres, the international leaders agreed that there had to be an internal Libyan political solution to the conflict.  There could be no military solution.  There had to be a return to dialogue.

- implausible criteria of inviting attendees
- unfounded absence of UN-recognized #Libyan government
- concise, weird discussions
- ambiguous outcome, decisions

Who wants the #BerlinConference tolook like a 2d #SykesPicot ?#Merkel #Sarraj #Haftar #Turkey #Erdogan #Russia #USA pic.twitter.com/IV3McoAmTP

— Mourad Teyeb (@MouradTeyeb) January 20, 2020

"No one, it seems, was able to reason with Khalifa Haftar. If the idea was for an impressive cast of big hitters to apply enough pressure to bring the 76-year-old Libyan military commander to heel, it didn't work"

Detailed Berlin backstory by Bloomberg [_link]

— Mary Fitzgerald (@MaryFitzger) January 20, 2020

○ 800,000 Bpd Offline After Haftar Affiliates Halt Exports | Oil Price Mag |
○ Oil price rises as Libyan oilfields shut down | Egypt Independent |

She was in favor of intervention:

from link: "Klobuchar supported the U.S.-NATO-led regime change war in Libya in 2011"

Bernie is the only major US political figure I know who isn't knee-jerk "Bomb 'em for their one good"

Details? I thought they only had a vote against military action in Libya (which she voted against - the bill that is).

I found it so

From your analysis up top ... this is surprising?

Yes, in 2011.  Klobuchar voted for it.

Heather Heyer's mom: I own guns and think Virginia Democrats are going too far

m'k.
They Were Her Property

• "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today"
  
• US bank holiday - "MLK Day"
  
• capitol of Virginia, beloved POTUS #3 school

Thousands rally for gun rights in Richmond, Virginia, amid heavy security

Many demonstrators, opposed to proposed gun restrictions, openly displayed military-style semiautomatic rifles. Other wore orange "Guns save lives" stickers as the crowd chanted "USA" and sang the national anthem. Signs read "Come and take it" and "Second Amendment Sanctuary."

PROGRESS!

Placing the Trident #Tryzub, constitutional national symbol & Coat of Arms of #Ukraine, in Extremism Guide produced by @TerrorismPolice for UK teachers & medical staff is beyond outrageous. No explanations acceptable. We demand Trident to be removed from Guide with official apologies pic.twitter.com/sYbjW9yrsb

— Ukraine's Emb. to UK (@UkrEmbLondon) January 19, 2020

○ McCaine and Ukraine Protest Slogan 'Beat the Zhids
○ Nazi Collaboration by Banderists in East Galicia

@Samantha

One place where Mojtaba Mirlohi [aka Muhammad Navvab Safavi] was not welcomed was Qom, the heart of Iranian Shi'ism. There, Grand Ayatollah Borujerdi saw the Fadayan as adventurers whose actions sullied the reputation of Islam as a religion of peace and reason. Thus, when Navvab and his two principal adjutants, Muhammad Vahedi and Muhammad Zolqadr, came to Qom for a gathering of the Fadayan, Borujerdi ordered his students, led by his chief bodyguard, Muhammad Lur, to drive them out of the city. This they did by throwing Navvab and his companions into the pond in front of the holy shrine of Ma'asoumah while a crowd of onlookers giggled.

From your quote:
Sepehr Zabih is a political scientist who knew the Mosaddeq era as a correspondent for Bāḵtar-e emrūz, a newspaper that reflected as much as any other Iranian nationalist thinking.

Daily evening newspaper was founded by its editor-publisher Ḥosayn Fāṭemī (1917-54), one of the principal associates of Dr. Moḥammad Moṣaddeq (q.v.) in the National Front (Jebha-ye Mellī; q.v.).

On 16 February 1951, Fāṭemī was the target of an assassination attempt by a youthful member of Fedāʾīān-e Eslām while delivering a memorial speech at the tomb of Moḥammad Masʿūd (q.v.), the assassinated editor of Mard-e emrūz.

On 30 September 1952, Fāṭemī was appointed foreign minister, a position that he held until 19 August 1953, when the Moṣaddeq government was overthrown by a CIA-engineered coup d'état.

Safavi supported the coup against Mosaddegh and "in the years immediately following the coup Navvab Safavi enjoyed a close association with the court and the government of Prime Minister General Fazlollah Zahedi." By 1955 it became clear the regime would not be instituting strict enforcement of Shariah law and Islamization of Iran, and was instead becoming more pro-Western. On 22 November, after an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate Hosein Ala', Navvab Safavi and some of his followers were arrested. Following a summary trial Safavi and three other members of Fada'iyan-e Islam were sentenced to death on 25 December and executed in the morning of 18 January 1956.

As a "martyr", Safavi became larger than in real life and an icon for political Islam. He wasn't by any means a scholar, but studied the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. Khomeini based his teachings of Islam on Egyptian scholar Sayyid Quṭb.