#SouthSudan 3 U.S. Troops Wounded as Rebels Fire on Transport Plane UPDATE: Four U.S. Casualties; Rebels Claim Overthrow of Oil Region Capital

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Damn. Just . . . damn.

KAMPALA, Uganda — Rebel fire hit two U.S. military aircraft responding to the outbreak in violence in South Sudan on Saturday, wounding three U.S. service members and heavily damaging at least one of the aircraft, officials said. …
The U.S. military aircraft were heading to Bor, the capital of the state of Jonglei and scene of some of the nation’s worst violence over the last week. One American service member was reported to be in critical condition. Officials said after the aircraft took incoming fire, they turned around and headed to Kampala, Uganda. From there the service members were flown on to Nairobi, Kenya for medical treatment, the officials said. . . .
It was not immediately known what the U.S. aircraft were doing in Bor. One official said it appeared the aircraft were Ospreys, the type of aircraft that can fly like a helicopter and a plane.
Officials at the U.S. military’s Africa Command did not immediately answer phone calls or emails on Saturday.
South Sudan’s military spokesman, Col. Philip Aguer, said that government troops are not in control of Bor, so the attack on the U.S. aircraft has to be blamed on renegade soldiers, he said.

Some of my Army son’s buddies from Fort Bragg may be in the middle of this nightmare, and it just horrifies me to think of the parents of these wounded soldiers being notified that their sons got shot because some idiot “rebel” in South Sudan decided to shoot at Americans who are only there to try to save lives.

Well, when it was announced Thursday that President Obama was sending 45 troops to South Sudan, my first comment was that I would have been more comfortable if he had sent 450. But maybe even 4,500 wouldn’t be enough, and maybe there’s no hope at all.

UPDATE: Reports from the U.S. Embassy in South Sudan:

Long story short, if there are U.S. personnel in Bor, they’re stuck there until the situation gets under control and, frankly, it looks like the situation is rapidly heading in the other direction.

UPDATE II: Sorting through the online reports:

The Associated Press reports:

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Gunfire hit a U.S. military aircraft trying to evacuate American citizens in a remote region of South Sudan that on Saturday became a battle ground between the country’s military and renegade troops, officials said. Four U.S. service members were wounded in the attack in the same region that gunfire downed a U.N. helicopter the day before.
The U.S. military aircraft was about to land in Bor, the capital of the state of Jonglei and scene of some of the nation’s worst violence over the last week, when it was hit. One American service member was reported to be in critical condition.
The U.S. military’s Africa Command said the aircraft was “participating in a mission to evacuate American citizens in Bor.” A South Sudan official said violence against civilians there has resulted in bodies “sprinkled all over town.” . . .
Two officials told The Associated Press that after the aircraft took incoming fire, they turned around and flew to Kampala, Uganda. From there the service members were flown to Nairobi, Kenya for medical treatment.

If these were V-22 Osprey, then the wounded troops are most likely Marines. Meanwhile, there is this troubling report:

The commander fourth division of South Sudan’s army in oil-producing Unity state has declared that he has deposed the governor and that his forces are no longer loyal to President Salva Kiir.
Speaking over state and private radio stations on Saturday morning Commander James Koang Chuol said he had overthrown Unity state’s acting governor, Joseph Nguen Monytuel, after he was involved in plot to assassinate him.
Koang said that the fourth division’s tank unit tried to kill him at around 7pm on Friday evening, after they were ordered to do so by governor Monytuel at the behest of senior members of the military in Juba.
Addressing the people of Unity state, Koang orderd, the state’s ministers to remain in their homes but called on civil servants to continue working as normal.
The fourth division commander said South Sudan’s president, vice president and the former caretaker governor of Unity state had fueled the fighting that has spread through the country since it began in the capital, Juba on 15 December.

Because that report comes from a Khartoum-based source, I’m taking it with a grain of salt. In a breaking news situation like this, first reports are always confused, and it’s impossible for me to tell if this is just anti-Kiir propaganda.

PREVIOUSLY:

 

#SouthSudan: Please, Pray for Peace

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It has been said by numerous observers in recent days that South Sudan is the “world’s newest nation,” and most people in America have no idea how long and how hard South Sudan fought to gain its independence from the Muslim regime in Khartoum. That the people of this newborn nation would so soon risk losing all they had fought for — well, it’s shocking beyond words.

Watching the news develop — and thanks very much to Twitchy for taking notice — I’ve been absolutely heartbroken, and trying hard not to write a long essay about this mess. Reuters reports:

The United Nations estimated on Friday that at least 11 people from the ethnic Dinka group in South Sudan were killed during an attack by thousands of armed youths from a different ethnic group on a U.N. peacekeeping base in Jonglei state.
About 2,000 ethnic Lou Nuer youths overran the U.N. base in Akobo on Thursday, killing two of the 43 Indian peacekeepers and fleeing with arms and ammunition, the United Nations said.  . . .
French U.N. Ambassador Gerard Araud, president of the U.N. Security Council for December, said there were now fears that a similar attack could occur in Bor, where several thousand armed youths had gathered near a U.N. base sheltering 14,000 civilians. The Nuer massacred Dinka in Bor in 1991.
“There were two or three thousand people with heavy weapons who were close to the camp so there was, of course, the worry about what they were going to do since it would be exactly the same scenario as what happened in Akobo,” Araud told reporters after deputy U.N. peacekeeping chief Edmond Mulet briefed the council on the situation in South Sudan.

The Associated Press reports:

Armed rebels were said to be in control of some of South Sudan’s oil fields Friday, raising questions of how long the country’s oil will flow and whether Sudan could enter the conflict.
President Salva Kiir implored his country to turn away from ethnic violence and met Friday with foreign ministers from neighbouring states, including Kenya and Ethiopia, who flew into Juba, the capital, to help calm tensions after a week of ethnic strife that is estimated to have killed hundreds.

Even if the negotiations succeed in preventing the spread of fighting, there has already been serious damage done — many tens of thousands of refugees have fled the violence — and the fragile economy of South Sudan will take months to recover. Today’s New York Times headline: “South Sudan Steps Closer to Unraveling.”

This story is developing rapidly and the next 48 to 72 hours may be crucial. You’re not likely to get much news about this crisis from the networks, so the best way to keep track of the situation is to watch the #SouthSudan hashtag on Twitter.

 


MSNBC OMFG: @ChrisLHayes and Guest @RichardKimNYC Talk About Butt Sex

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If you wonder why Chris Hayes’ ratings are so low — he gets fewer viewers (622,000) at 8 p.m. ET than either Chris Matthews at 7 p.m. (798,000) or Rachel Maddow at 9 p.m. (712,000) — this one-minute video clip from Thursday may explain a lot:

HAYES: I was a little surprised, given how vile the comments are, given the very rapidly shifting norms about how people feel about love between people of the same gender, right? That the right-wingers sort of lined up so quickly behind him.
KIM: Yeah, and you know, I think one of the really funny things about the comments was just the sort of anatomical crudeness of them. Like he said the vagina is more desireable than the anus, and it’s sort of like, has he tried the anus? Because maybe if he did, he would like it more. If you’re going to reduce something as complex as human sexuality to which orifice is better …
HAYES: That’s a great follow-up question.

Suffice to say that prime-time discussions of anal sex with Richard Kim — whose expertise on the subject I’m sure we’re all willing to stipulate — probably aren’t helping MSNBC’s ratings.

Hat tips: Weasel Zippers and Saving the Republic.

REMEMBER: Buy all your Duck Commander products through our Amazon Associates link here — A&E won’t get a cent!

 

If @PiersMorgan Hates America So Much, Why Won’t He Just Leave the Country?

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Piers Morgan is allegedly heterosexual, so it’s not a hate crime to disagree with CNN’s unpopular 9 p.m. host, whose third-place show got only 361,000 viewers Wednesday, compared to 712,000 for MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow and 2.6 million for Fox’s Megyn Kelly.

Fourteen million people watch Duck Dynasty and maybe their contract means A&E “can do everything except torture you,” but Phil Robertson’s disapproval of homosexuality was not secret. Exactly how does the network expect to benefit by banishing the stars of their most popular show in order to appease the intolerant scolds who say the “rights” of a tiny minority should trump every other consideration?

So rednecks need to be politically correct now?
Wait, before the National Association of Rednecked Persons attacks me, let me be clear that I don’t mean “redneck” as an insult. Indeed, Redneck Pride has been on the rise ever since Jeff Foxworthy got rich informing people they “might be a redneck.”
Redneck reality shows have been all the rage: “Rocket City Rednecks,” ‘‘Hillbilly Handfishin’?” and, of course, “Swamp People.” But the gold standard is “Duck Dynasty,” which follows the Robertsons, a family that struck it rich selling duck calls. It’s like a real-life version of “The Beverly Hillbillies.” All of the men look like they stepped out of the Hatfield-McCoy conflict to smoke a corncob pipe.
What all of these reality shows have in common is their shock value. . . .
But here’s a twist. Phil Robertson (who — shhh! — has a master’s degree from Louisiana Tech) gave an interview to GQ in which he said that, as a Christian, he has problems with homosexuality. He got a bit too detailed with his anatomical analysis. But his real sin was calling homosexuality a sin comparable with bestiality.

What’s all the outrage about? Could someone please check the Official Federal Analogy Guidelines, because I seem to have misplaced my copy and wouldn’t want to commit a civil rights violation by publishing a forbidden metaphor or simile. Criminalizing figures of speech enables pompous twits like Piers Morgan — who are not  actually members of victimized minorities — to act as hall monitors, pointing the accusatory finger at people who say controversial things, thus to demonstrate their moral superiority to those who do not share their umbrage.

“How dare you not condemn Phil Robertson!”

What are we permitted to say without being accused of hate?

Is it an insult to rectal sphincters to call Piers Morgan an asshole?

 

 

UPDATE: Buy all your Duck Commander products through our Amazon Associates link here — A&E won’t get a cent of that money!

 


Category: CNN

In The Mailbox: 12.20.13

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— compiled by Wombat-socho


OVER THE TRANSOM
Blackmailers Don’t Shoot: Pajama Boy And The Politics Of Image
The Looking Spoon: Finally, Pajama Boy Gets Covered
Leather Penguin: Tolerance – Radical Left Claims A Christian Scalp
Dead Republican Party: We Are All Phil Robertson Now
Michelle Malkin: GLAAD – Lethal Enforcers Of The Left’s Tolerance Mob
Twitchy: In Defense Of “Duck Dynasty” – Sarah Palin Rocks Camo, Cross, And Christmas Tree On Hannity


RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
American Power: Extreme Hardship – White House Delays Portion Of #Obamacare Individual Mandate
American Thinker: Can We Talk About Impeachment?
The Necropolitan Sentinel: Tell Me Again Who The Bigoted Fascists Are
Don Surber: Daily Scoreboard, December 19th
Jammie Wearing Fools: Racism, Straight Up – Democrat Minority Campaign Staffers Paid Significantly Less Than Whites
JustOneMinute: Just A Flesh Wound
Pat Dollard: Harry Reid Hospitalized For Observation After Potential Stroke
Protein Wisdom: Leftists Are GLAAD To Yell Squirrel! Duck!
Shot In The Dark: The Many Lies Of “Protect” MN, Part XXV – Prevention!
The Jawa Report: Indian Muslim Cleric Issues Fatwa Against Gays And Sluts, GLAAD Silent
The Lonely Conservative: Judge Rules In Favor Of Catholic Groups Over Obamacare
This Ain’t Hell: “On Behalf Of A Grateful Nation, Please Accept This Flag…”
Megan McArdle: Obamacare Initiates Self-Destruct Sequence


Deadline to submit links for this weekend’s FMJRA is tomorrow at noon.
DO IT.


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Knife-Wielding Rape Suspect Says the Voices in His Head Were Rather Specific

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Criminality and stupidity are not a particularly unusual combination, but it is a mistake to think that criminals are so stupid that they cannot pick up cultural clues. For example, decades of liberal rhetoric about the “rights” of criminals and the depiction of the mentally ill as helpless victims apparently influenced Anthony Washington’s ideas of how to avoid conviction for attempted rape:

“I was currently diagnosed with schizophrenia and I was hearing voices to do bad things … to girls,” said Washington. “To go get, um, sex.” . . .
“[The voices] told me to go over there to the college,” he said. “I followed this girl from um, the trolley station to her college…and I followed her to her class.”
Once that woman went to into a classroom, he said he went to look for another young woman to follow.
He said he went to the large, eastern parking garage and found a girl getting ready to get into a parked car.
Authorities said that’s when Washington accosted her.
“Straddled her and put a knife to her throat,” Washington said.
He said he then forced her to get into her car. He told 10News that he had planned to “rape her” next.

“Hey, I’m not responsible for putting a knife to that girl’s throat, because that’s what the voices in my head told me to do!”

Evidently, the voices in Anthony Washington’s head also told him he should give an interview to the local TV station, because the voices in his head don’t understand that whole “right to remain silent” thing.

His 18-year-old victim testified at a hearing this week:

Deputy District Attorney Nicole Roth alleges that the victim was leaning into her car shortly before 11:30 a.m. Oct. 22 at the western El Cajon campus when Anthony Jerome Washington Jr., 26, forced her into the vehicle.
The victim, who was only identified as Melissa P., testified about her frightening ordeal in court on Wednesday.
“He just kind of pushed me from my shoulders in and told me to get in the car,” she said.
Roth asked her about the terrifying moments when she came face-to-face with her attacker.
When asked if she saw anything in the defendant’s hands at the time, she responded, “A knife.”
When asked if she saw the knife before or after he pushed her, she answered, “I don’t remember … as soon as I was like on my back, I saw the knife.” . . .
As the woman struggled to free herself, student Javier Partida was driving by in his car looking for a parking space when he saw what was happening.
“Her legs were spread out under him,” he said Wednesday on the witness stand. “I started honking my horn until I got a reaction.”
That reaction was Washington walking away quickly. Partida helped the victim call for police.
Deputies assigned to patrol the college then searched the campus, found a man matching the description of the attacker nearby and took Washington into custody.
When deputies arrested Washington, he had an 8-inch kitchen knife with a 4-inch blade inside his jacket.
After being arrested, Washington allegedly confessed that he had planned to rape the student “and do whatever he had to in order to get his way,” said San Diego County sheriff’s Sgt. Vic Perry.
Judge Daniel Goldstein ruled that enough evidence was presented at Wednesday’s preliminary hearing for Washington to proceed to trial on Feb. 3.

The voices in my head just told me that Anthony Washington needs to go to prison for a long, long time.

 


A Brett Kimberlin Christmas: Unexpected Gifts From My Fellow Defendants

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‘Speedway Bomber’ Brett Kimberlin was sentenced to 50 years in 1981

“Really? Really? Can this be what it sounds like? Somebody is trying to out-crazy Stacy McCain? That’s not going to end well . . . .”
— Professor Glenn Reynolds, May 21, 2012

“It turns out that Kimberlin has been spreading lies about conservatives for almost as long as he’s been a criminal. Remember the risible story that then-Vice President Dan Quayle had been a drug user? The source was a jailbird named Brett Kimberlin. . . .
“The reporter who broke the story about Quayle wrote an entire book in 1996 on how Kimberlin had repeatedly lied to him.”
— Rosslyn Smith, May 23, 2012

“Plaintiff is a public figure because he has had an authorized biography published about him detailing his exploits. Citizen K: The Deeply Weird American Journey of Brett Kimberlin (Singer, Mark, Knopf, New York, 1996) is an authorized biography of Plaintiff Kimberlin. In it the book insinuates that the Plaintiff had an inappropriate relationship with a ten year old girl, (id. at 78.), that he was suspected in having arranged a murder-for-hire of the girl’s grandmother (at 82, 83), and that the subsequent Speedway Bombings were an attempt to distract the murder investigation (at. 89).”
— The Franklin Center, Dec. 18, 2013, Motion to Dismiss, Kimberlin v. National Bloggers Club, et al.

The Franklin Center’s concise summary of certain facts relevant to the federal RICO lawsuit is an unexpected holiday gift, and Aaron Walker explains that Franklin appears to be “re-gifting,” so to speak, by copying a similar paragraph from John Hoge’s motion to dismiss in the same lawsuit — an acceptable practice in law, and one of which I expect to avail myself if and when Brett Kimberlin ever serves me in the federal suit, which he has not yet done.

It would seem to me a self-evident fact that Brett Kimberlin has sued so many bloggers just to harass and intimidate us, but in law one must actually prove facts that may seem self-evident. Likewise, it seems self-evident that Brett Kimberlin was “notorious” or “infamous” — that he had a very bad reputation — before I ever wrote a single word about him, a fact which would tend to undermine Kimberlin’s claim that he is the victim of tortious defamation. Nevertheless, in law, one must sometimes prove facts that seem obvious, and the filings by my co-defendants provide some examples of how this might be done.

SO, HOW’S THAT “BRASS-KNUCKLES REPUTATION MANAGEMENT” WORKIN’ OUT FOR YA?

Professor Glenn Reynolds asked that question in June 2012, two days after a Maryland hearing at which Aaron Walker was arrested and handcuffed because of Kimberlin’s “harassment” claims.

Perhaps some readers have forgotten that day, but the injustice of it — the attempt by a notorious criminal to silence a law-abiding citizen — ought to be remembered. Patrick Frey coined the phrase “brass knuckles reputation management” to describe the methods by which Brett Kimberlin has sought to coerce or intimidate honest people into silence and, of course, Frey is also a defendant in the federal RICO suit, which would appear to be the ne plus ultra of these intimidation attempts. Although an attorney of some eminence himself, Frey has retained the services of attorney Ken White to handle his defense.

So if Kimberlin ever serves me in this RICO suit — John Hoge has dubbed it Kimberlin v. the Universe, et al. — the filings of my co-defendants will offer ample sources for facts and legal arguments from which I can crib. And as for The World’s Worst Pro Se Litigant™, it looks like Kimberlin is going to have a White Christmas with the blizzard of incoming court documents:

So to keep a tally, Brett has to respond to 1) a motion to dismiss the RICO suit by John Hoge, 2) a motion to require verified filings in the RICO suit by John Hoge, 3) a motion to dismiss the RICO suit by me, 4) a motion to require verified filings in the RICO suit by me, 5) a memorandum in support of Kimberlin Unmasked’s right to remain anonymous in state court, 6) a motion to dismiss the RICO suit by DB Capital Strategies, and 7) a motion to dismiss the RICO suit by the Franklin Center. And he will have to work on all of it over Christmas — I mean, he doesn’t want to default on any of that, does he?

God bless us every one!

 

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