General news thread

[Donward]

15 minutes ago, Belesarius said:

This was, apparently the first day of service on a new line. Designed to shave 10 minutes off the trip, and improve service reliability.

 

Edit/Update: 78 Passengers and 5 crew on board at the time of the crash.

 

 

Yeah, it's a good thing folks don't really ride the train since it was about 1/4 of the way full. 

 

From what I recall, that portion of track is generally reserved for freight trains. Where it derailed is about the worst place in Washington state for a train to derail in regards to blocking traffic. 

 

*Cue terrorism conspiracies in 3... 2...*

[Belesarius]

6 minutes ago, Donward said:

Yeah, it's a good thing folks don't really ride the train since it was about 1/4 of the way full. 

 

From what I recall, that portion of track is generally reserved for freight trains. Where it derailed is about the worst place in Washington state for a train to derail in regards to blocking traffic. 

70 people sent to hospital.

 

Amtrak's gonna get suuuueeeed.

 

http://www.kiro7.com/news/photos-train-details-onto-i-5-in-washington/665656801#

 

 

[Sturgeon]

10 hours ago, Donward said:

I am trying to wrap my mind around this story and that it appears to have been broken by Politico of all news outlets.

 

https://www.politico.com/interactives/2017/obama-hezbollah-drug-trafficking-investigation/

 

Assuming one-fourth of it is true, the previous Administration is the one which should be investigated for colluding with the Russkies.

 

I didn't hate the Obama administration while he was in, but since about late 2015 it has really soured with me.

 

There may be all sorts of things to complain about with the Trump presidency, but the dramatically improved transparency regarding the previous admin is not one of them.

[Ramlaen]

Gonna guess most of the deaths were in the lead engine, it’s pretty trashed.

[Belesarius]

3 minutes ago, Ramlaen said:

Gonna guess most of the deaths were in the lead engine, it’s pretty trashed.

Up to 6 dead.

 

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/12/18/amtrak-train-derails-in-washington-state-blocks-interstate-5.html

[Belesarius]

 

 

Overhead shot.

 

[Sturgeon]

21 minutes ago, Belesarius said:

 

 

Overhead shot.

 

 

such embed very wow

[Belesarius]

Working for me. Even on your quote.

 

[Donward]

10 hours ago, Collimatrix said:

 

Holy crap that is shady.  What the hell else did the Obama Administration get up to?

 

Still tip of the iceberg. This Administration is still under a year old and much of that time has been spent fighting to get Trump guys appointed while fending off lawsuits, media criticism and trying to forge a legislative agenda, that there's been time to spend poking around in the dirty laundry of the previous White House occupant is remarkable.

 

And if even one-fourth of the allegations in this multiple sourced article are correct, that dirty laundry stinks.

 

1 hour ago, Sturgeon said:

 

I didn't hate the Obama administration while he was in, but since about late 2015 it has really soured with me.

 

There may be all sorts of things to complain about with the Trump presidency, but the dramatically improved transparency regarding the previous admin is not one of them.

 

I've long wondered how much of the actions of the previous Administration were done with malice or sheer incompetence. 

 

After nine years, I still can't decide. 

[Donward]

If you're looking for overhead footage, here is this tweet with an embedded video. The train was heading south bound to Portland which - with most of the footage - means heading right to left on the pictures. It looks like the train jumped the track right as the curve of the tracks became more pronounced with the first half of the train continuing straight, the latter half the train began to crumple and those train cars toppled onto I-5.

 

 

And a closer view of the actual curve.

 

 

[Donward]

And the most probable cause of the crash. The speed limit for trains taking that curve is posted at 30mph. Reports are that the train was going 81 mph at the time of the crash.

 

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/transportation/curve-where-amtrak-train-derailed-in-washington-has-speed-limit-of-30-mph/

[Ramlaen]

And I was just joking when I told a coworker it was probably going 80 around the corner

[LoooSeR]

On 18.12.2017 at 11:50 AM, Donward said:

I am trying to wrap my mind around this story and that it appears to have been broken by Politico of all news outlets.

 

https://www.politico.com/interactives/2017/obama-hezbollah-drug-trafficking-investigation/

 

Assuming one-fourth of it is true, the previous Administration is the one which should be investigated for colluding with the Russkies.

   Hezbollah is a fucking near dog-poor organisation that have problems with equipping their troops in Syria and need SAA support (especially with AFVs) to conduct operations, where are they hiding all those billions of drug money? Are they sure that they don't just changed "Lebanese drug mafias" (which are rather powerfull because of money they have) to "Hezbollah and Iran" to push a certain narative?

 

Quote

   Drug Enforcement Administration amassed evidence that Hezbollah had transformed itself from a Middle East-focused military and political organization into an international crime syndicate that some investigators believed was collecting $1 billion a year from drug and weapons trafficking, money laundering and other criminal activities.

   1 Billion a year and Al-Muqowama still don't have serious armor (majority donated by SAA like several T-72AVs, T-55s and couple BMP-1s), artillery (presented as bunch of Unimogs with medium-claiber cannons and random old AFVs with random guns put on them, sometimes even old soviet ww2 cannons, one such trucknical was spotted during last operation in Lebanon against ISIS) or any sort of air forces.

 

Quote

They followed cocaine shipments, some from Latin America to West Africa

   Hezbollah is active in Syria, Iraq and reported advisors in Yemen. I could belive in Hezbollah involvement in weapon and drugs trafficing in Yemen, as in situation of war and general eqonomy problems, black market for such "product" become maybe one of the most reliable way to get money for involved parties, like Houthis. But Latin America? WTF?

Quote

to the innermost circle of Hezbollah and its state sponsors in Iran.

Ayatollah Khomeini personally shipped drugs to USA, and probably have weapons of mass destruction!

 

Quote

The Justice Department declined requests by Project Cassandra and other authorities to file criminal charges against major players such as Hezbollah’s high-profile envoy to Iran, a Lebanese bank that allegedly laundered billions in alleged drug profits, and a central player in a U.S.-based cell of the Iranian paramilitary Quds force.

Jesus Christ, this a Tom Clancy-level crap, with Iranian Quds cells in US preparing their evil shia things like ....? Quds is not very active even in Iraq, and it is a military forces, not some kind of Ali-Sam Mahdi Fisheri.

 

Quote

In this case, multi-ton loads of cocaine entering the United States, and hundreds of millions of dollars going to a U.S.-designated terrorist organization with vast reach.

Isn't this essentially a US policy in Syria to fund Al-Qaeda, which (at least was) considered as "terrorist" organisation?

 

Quote

   Lebanese arms dealer Ali Fayad, a suspected top Hezbollah operative whom agents believed reported to Russian President Vladimir Putin as a key supplier of weapons to Syria and Iraq, was arrested in Prague in the spring of 2014. But for the nearly two years Fayad was in custody, top Obama administration officials declined to apply serious pressure on the Czech government to extradite him to the United States, even as Putin was lobbying aggressively against it.

HAHAhahahahahaha

Putin PERSONALLY was lobbying for organisation that Ru MoD/Ru Officials have little connection with for some reason.

 

Quote

Ali Fayad (aka Fayyad). Ukraine-based arms merchant suspected of being a Hezbollah operative moving large amounts of weapons to Syria.

So Putin was lobbying for a Ukrainian arms dealer? This article becoming a B-action movie script.

 

Quote

He is now believed by U.S. officials to be back in business, and helping to arm militants in Syria and elsewhere with Russian heavy weapons.

   When Iranian and Chinese AR-15 clones and FAB Defence modes for them became Russian? Or they saw them running with AKM and PKM clones in Syria and now we are suddenly suppliers of Hezbollah through.. Ukrainians..... who wrote this shit?

 

Quote

other top Hezbollah operatives including one nicknamed the "Ghost"

 

The Ghost
One of the most mysterious alleged associates of Safieddine, secretly indicted by the U.S., linked to multi-ton U.S.-bound cocaine loads and weapons shipments to Middle East.,

Oww, now i see what this article reminds me... plot of a game

 

Quote

as well as a major supplier of conventional and chemical weapons for use by Syrian President Bashar Assad against his people.

   Great, so now somebody [Probably Putin-Russia] supplied Ghost via Ukraine and Ukrainian-based Lebanese Ali Fayad weapon dealer with Chemical weapons that Assad already had from Soviets to kill "his own people" or [insert dump PR shit here as well]

 

    Honestly, i can't read this article, it makes me vomit from how stupid it is. I don't know how corrupt was Obama administration, don't know how corrupt is current one, and i really don't care, but if they want to shit on Obama, they should have tried better that this article.

   And if anybody finished article, do they have car chases, bar shootouts and many explosions in their script?

[LoooSeR]

   Qatar bought some BP-12A ballistic missiles from China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) on WS2400 chassis. Their system is modular, SY-400 missiles have 180 range (8 missiles per vehicle in 2 launching pods) or BP-12A (2 missiles per vehicle) with up to 300 km range.

https://imp-navigator.livejournal.com/687163.html

Quote

   With a range of up to 300 km, Qatar can cover with these missiles the main facilities of the Saudi Arabian oil industry on the Persian Gulf coast, it is obvious that for the sake of this threat systems were acquired. In this case, the rocket itself can potentially fly and further than 300 km, one thing that is what was written on paper, another thing that what really company can offer to a very rich customer. Moreover, China is not a party of the MTCR, although it declared its adherence to its conditions and the desire to become a party.

 

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

[LoooSeR]

Akhmad Taysunov. Russia and Chechya slowly take over US celebraties. Beware, Nicolas Cage!

[LoooSeR]

 

Quote

Teachers who did not get their salary, organized protest in Iraqi Kurdistan Region in Sulaimani and Halabja cities and buildings of KDP, PUK, and Yekgirtu parties were set on fire.

 

[T___A]

If this is true ouch:

 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/10-000-killed-chinas-1989-tiananmen-crackdown-british-063526012.html

[Sturgeon]

1 hour ago, T___A said:

If this is true ouch:

 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/10-000-killed-chinas-1989-tiananmen-crackdown-british-063526012.html

 

Awfully good thing the PRC has gun control, or else they'd have deadly mass shootings like the US does.

[roguetechie]

They already have knife rampages pretty much just as bad... There was one awhile ago with 25 dead and unspecified numbers of wounded.

[Khand-e]

On 12/23/2017 at 12:02 PM, T___A said:

If this is true ouch:

 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/10-000-killed-chinas-1989-tiananmen-crackdown-british-063526012.html

Since I was asked my thoughts on this despite saying I don't care about this part if the forum, I'll just say that...

 

...while the TS incident did undeniably happen regrettably, this article comes off as sensationalist bullshit honestly and 10,000 out of nowhere is total bs when foreign reporters who were, you know, actally there at the time estimated 500-1000. The other half reads like cartoon villain evil shit that doesnt logically make sense for various reasons But, as we've seen with places like the former USSR/Russia, something doesn't need to be proven true for people to believe they = bad!

 

You wanted my opinion when I stay stop paging me to this forum? You got it.

[Sturgeon]

13 hours ago, Khand-e said:

 

You wanted my opinion when I stay stop paging me to this forum? You got it.

 

Nobody paged you, bub.

[Oedipus Wreckx-n-Effect]

Shooting in California. Two dead, including shooter. Self inflicted.

 

http://beta.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-long-beach-shooting-20171229-story.html

[LoooSeR]

Russia refused to issue a visa to the US senator from the "black list" (in russian)

 

Quote

   US Republican senators Ron Johnson and John Barasco refused to travel to Russia after the Russian consulate did not issue a visa to their colleague, Democrat from New Hampshire Joan Shain.

   According to the publication, the senators intended to come to Russia in January to meet "the next generation of Russian leaders and current official politicians to understand the prospects for Russian-American relations." At the same time, the delegation was aware that Shain would not be allowed to enter the country.

 

[Priory_of_Sion]

Anti-government protests in Iran are spreading

 

 

 

Protests might end up being useless if the moderates aren't able to gain power from the Ayatollah's backers and the IRGC.  Gotta wonder how shaky the relationship is between Iran's formal military and the IRGC is. 

[Donward]

3 hours ago, Priory_of_Sion said:

Anti-government protests in Iran are spreading

 

Protests might end up being useless if the moderates aren't able to gain power from the Ayatollah's backers and the IRGC.  Gotta wonder how shaky the relationship is between Iran's formal military and the IRGC is. 

 

Looks like Iranian protesters are wising up and doing this with a Republican in the White House...

 

...