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Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 2/11/2016 11:02:22 AM
	WORSE AND WORSER 02.11.16 12:01 AM ET The Cruelest Taliban Pir Agha set out to make a reputation by slaughtering the family of the man once reputed to be the most ruthless Taliban in Afghanistan. He succeeded. BY SAMI YOUSAFZAI QUETTA, Pakistan — Afghanistan has been known for some brutal characters—notorious killers, torturers, massacrers (if that’s a word) and committers of crimes against humanity, including against countless innocent Afghans. In the 1990s, Mullah Dadullah generally was regarded as the worst of the worst. He burned whole villages and seemed to think nothing of killing even infants—an offense that caused the Taliban supreme leader Mullah Omar to dismiss Dadullah in 1997. When the Taliban government was ousted by the U.S.-led military invasion in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States by Afghan-based al Qaeda, Dadullah made a comeback. In 2006, taking a page from the barbaric practices of Abu Musab al Zarqawi in Iraq, he started chopping off the heads of supposed enemies and infidels. Mullah Dadullah was killed in 2007 in a CIA-lead operation in Helmand province near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. But there is a saying in this country that cruelty will always find a replacement, and now we have a pretty good idea who that is. Mullah Dadullah’s successor in savagery is known as Pir Agha, a relatively low ranking commander of the Afghan Taliban fast becoming a symbol of terror and cruelty targeting anyone who dares to challenge or criticize the organization, or, more to the point, his branch of it. Pir Agha is head of the Taliban’s roving rapid reaction force, which was deployed recently against fighters in southern Afghanistan loyal to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the so-called caliph of the self-declared Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and spreading through Africa that is best known as ISIS. In that fight, Pir Agha distinguished himself enough to attract the attention of Mullah Mansoor, who has imposed himself as the replacement for the late Mullah Omar in the role of top Taliban leader. Mansoor appointed Pir Agha as his enforcer to fight ISIS and any group disputing his title as “Leader of the Faithful.” But Pir Agha’s first claim to ruthless fame came when he killed virtually the entire family of none other than Mullah Dadullah, including his younger brother, in Zabul province last year. “Allah kills and the cruel get rid of the cruel,” an Afghan elder there told The Daily Beast. “Who could believe that the whole family of the Taliban symbol of cruelty, Dadullah, would be killed by the cruel Pir Agha?” Muhamam Khan Kakar, another local elder, tried to negotiate his brother’s freedom from a mobile prison run by Pir Agha and met him several times. “He has a long beard, sharp long mustaches, a fat body and bloody eyes,” Muhamam Khan Kakar told The Daily Beast. “I have not seen such a horrifying character in my whole 60 years of life,” said Muhamam Khan Kakar. “He has the skin of a human on the outside, but inside he is a dangerous animal. He used to hit and kill prisoners, attacking them like a bird of prey.” “Young boys of the village at the age of 8 to 12 and elders in up to the age of 80 had their hands tied with iron chains and were thrown in the back of a truck,” Muhamam Khan told The Daily Beast. A man from the village of Solang, who did not want to give his name, said, “Our whole village was arrested by Pir Agha because Mullah Dadullah’s brother spent a night there. We were humiliated and beat up and thrown out in the middle of the night in freezing cold.” According to another villager who does not want his real name mentioned, “About 1,500 locals were arrested by Pir Agha for belonging to Mullah Dadullah’s tribe, the Kakar.” Another Afghan villager who wanted to go by the name of Amir Shah says, “At night time we tell our kids to go to sleep, and if not, ‘Pir Agah is coming and will eat you.’ The poor kids cover their heads in the blanket.” Amir Shah says. “Let me tell you what I saw when we were captured by Pir Agha. … We were in the custody of Pir Agha, a tall, fat, long-bearded Taliban commander.” During that time, someone came to Pir Agha and said a Pakistani (perhaps Burmese ) religion scholar name Mufti Abu Sar wanted to surrender to the Taliban. Mufti Abu Zar was with Chechens and Uzbeks and some others who had pledged to ISIS, but he changed his mind, came to Pir Agha and told him he was disowning the ISIS and Al Baghdadi figures. Pir Agha told him, “OK, go get your family out of the ISIS controlled villages.” Mufti Abu Zar went and, that afternoon, set out with his two wives and about nine children, including two infants, on their way to the checkpoint. “Pir Agha smiled and said, ‘OK, allow him to pass.’” Then he ordered one of this men to fire a rocket-propelled grenade meant to stop tanks at the family car which had 11 men, women and children in it. “I will hate the Taliban forever. I am so sorry, having supported the Taliban until a few months back,” said Amir Shah. “I thought they are soldiers of God. After seeing that, I think they are evil and enemies of God.” A senior Afghan Taliban leader says Pir Agha has about 1,200 Taliban fighters under his command ranging through Zabul, Urozghan, Loghar, Maidan, and Ghazni provinces. For local Afghans it is tragic that, after almost 15 years of U.S. and West European intervention, such an author of atrocities is still roaming around and seems able to do anything anywhere he likes. (The Daily Beast)
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
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Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 2/11/2016 1:30:44 PM
	Ex-employee of Israeli PM wins abuse case 17 hours ago FILE - In this Jan. 22, 2013 file photo, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stands by his wife Sara as she casts her ballot at a polling station in Jerusalem. On Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2016, an Israeli labor court ruled in favor of a former member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's housekeeping staff who had complained he was mistreated by Netanyahu's wife, Sara. The court awarded Meni Naftali NIS 170,000 (about $42,000) in damages and court costs. (AP Photo/Uriel Sinai, File) JERUSALEM (AP) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's wife mistreated and abused a former member of her housekeeping staff, a court ruled Wednesday, awarding the man $42,000 in damages in a decision that dealt an embarrassing blow to the country's first family. The Netanyahus have been widely criticized in Israel for leading a lavish lifestyle while the middle class is struggling, and Sara Netanyahu has faced accusations of abusive behavior toward household staff going back to the 1990s. The judge wrote in her ruling that "numerous testimonies presented to the court point to an atmosphere of harmful work conditions at the residence due to the behavior of Mrs. Netanyahu and her attitude toward the workers. These included irrational demands, insults, humiliation and outbursts of rage." The Jerusalem labor court awarded Meni Naftali NIS 170,000 (about $42,000) in damages and court costs. Naftali said he was subjected to abusive language and insults by Sara Netanyahu. At a press conference later in the day he thanked his supporters and said that "David has beaten Goliath." "I am sure there will be more suits," he added. In one instance, Naftali has said Sara Netanyahu called him at 3 a.m. to complain that he had bought milk in a plastic storage bag instead of a carton. In another case, he says she threw a vase of day-old flowers on the floor, scolding him that they were not fresh enough. Naftali has also claimed that Sara Netanyahu derided his ethnicity when he ordered food for them in a hotel, implying that his Middle Eastern background was somehow uncouth. Netanyahu's office had no immediate comment. It had previously rejected Naftali's allegations, calling them "outrageous." Sara Netanyahu has been a lightning rod for criticism going back to her husband's first term in the late 1990s, when she came under fire for allegedly squabbling with her staff and meddling in state affairs. Among other things, she was accused of firing a nanny for burning a pot of soup and of throwing a pair of shoes at an assistant. Since her husband returned to office in 2009, she has kept a lower profile, though she has been unable to avoid the spotlight entirely. In 2010, a former housekeeper accused her of using abusive language and forcing her to shower several times a day to ensure a "sterile" environment.
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
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Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 2/11/2016 1:42:28 PM
	Trump’s Shocking Suggestion for What to Do About North Korea’s Kim Jong-un By Rob Garver14 hours ago New Hampshire voters gave Donald Trump his first victory in the Republican presidential primary on Tuesday, and less than 12 hours later he fed red meat to the most radical among them when he speculated about assassinating the leader of North Korea on live television. Whether it’s theater or Trump’s version of throwing darts at what he calls political correctness, Trump is plainly testing the limits of presidential protocol. You can only watch so many rallies where Trump calls for bringing back torture, killing the wives and children of suspected terrorists, and banning all Muslims from entering the country without coming to some conclusions about how he would behave in the White House. Related: As Trump Comes Roaring Back, the GOP Reshuffles the Deck Trump is selling dumbed-down solutions to complex problems, all wrapped in a macho swagger so overdone it would make John Wayne blush. Don’t like immigrants? Trump will build a wall. Scared of Muslims? Trump will ban them. Worried about terrorism? Trump will kill them all. Trump’s supporters love him because he makes them feel good, but his speeches and interviews are the junk food of political discourse. Everything that comes out of his mouth is crafted to stimulate the same response as when Rocky finally gets up and pummels Apollo Creed. Related: Get Ready for Sweet Tea and Dirty Politics in South Carolina, Y’all Wednesday morning was just another example, as Trump appeared on CBS This Morning. Host Norah O’Donnell asked him what he would do about North Korea, given that the rogue state headed by dictator Kim Jong-un had recently violated a ban on missile tests and restarted a plutonium nuclear reactor. “I would get China to make that guy disappear, in one form or another, very quickly,” Trump said. Do you mean assassinate him? O’Donnell asked. “No,” Trump began, before evidently changing his mind and saying, “well, you know, I’ve heard of worse things, frankly. This guy’s a bad dude.” Watch video Let’s break this down. First, presidents of the United States, and people who want to be president, don’t talk about assassinating other world leaders, no matter how odious they happen to be. Even if we don’t always live up to our highest values, most Americans would agree that that’s not a road we want to go down. Related: Did He Really Say That? Trump Hits a New Low in New Hampshire Second, does Trump actually think he can contract out some kind of hit on Kim to Beijing? That Xi Jinping, as a favor to The Donald, is going to destabilize a nuclear power on his doorstep that has both a huge standing army and millions of starving citizens? The answer is that of course Trump doesn’t. But he does know that some of his supporters will eat up the suggestion with a spoon and ask for seconds. And he knows that suggesting it will do him no harm and might even help him with his followers. There’s a recurrent meme in the political press right now about the need to respect the anger Trump voters are experiencing and to recognize their feelings of betrayal and loss of control in a country with both a changing economy and changing demographics. But it’s getting tough to give anybody cheering for war crimes, murder and discrimination the benefit of the doubt. Are Trump supporters angry? Sure. But the measure of a person isn’t whether or not they have feelings. It’s how they act on those feelings. Martin Luther King Jr. was angry. So was Father Coughlin. But there’s a reason why history reveres one and reviles the other.
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
	+1

Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 2/11/2016 2:08:04 PM
	Death Toll In Syrian Civil War Is 470,000: The Guardian BY REUTERS ON 02/11/16 AT 5:41 AM Internally displaced Syrians queue to receive blankets near the Bab al-Salam crossing, across from Turkey's Kilis province, on the outskirts of the northern border town of Azaz, Syria, Feb. 6, 2016. PHOTO: REUTERS/OSMAN ORSAL In five years of civil war, 400,000 Syrians have been killed and another 70,000 have perished due to a lack of basics such as clean water and healthcare, the Guardian newspaper reported on Thursday. With those injured in the conflict, that amounts to more than 11 percent of the population, it said, citing the Syrian Centre for Policy Research. A U.S.-led coalition is trying to destroy Islamic State militants in Syria and wants President Bashar al-Assad to go. But Russia and Iran are propping up Assad and oppose the opponents of Assad who are being supported by the West its Arab allies such as Saudi Arabia. About 400,000 of the deaths were directly due to violence, while 70,000 died because they didn't have proper healthcare, medicine, clean water or housing. It said 1.9 million people had been wounded. Life expectancy has dropped from 70 in 2010 to 55.4 in 2015. Overall economic losses are estimated at $255 billion, the Guardian said. (INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIMES)
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
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Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 2/11/2016 2:18:47 PM
	Russia claims US planes bombed Syria's Aleppo By Eric Randolph, Valérie Leroux40 minutes ago A man drives his motorbike past damaged buildings in Harasta, east of Damascus, on February 10, 2016 (AFP Photo/Abdulmonam Eassa) View Gallery Munich (Germany) (AFP) - Russia's defence ministry on Thursday accused the United States of bombing the Syrian city of Aleppo after the Pentagon said Moscow's air strikes had destroyed two hospitals in the city. Related Stories Kerry: Russian bombs hurting Syria peace talks AFP Russia, pressed to end Syria bombing, proposes March truce Reuters Russia proposes March 1 ceasefire in Syria; US wants it now Associated Press [$$] Syrians Flee Aleppo to Escape Regime Offensive Against Rebels The Wall Street Journal Syrians mass on Turkish border as regime advances AFP La ciencia revela una crema antiarrugas mejor que LifeCell Sponsored  Moscow furiously denied the US claim, charging in return that Washington had sent ground-attack planes to bombard Aleppo. "Just before 2 pm Moscow time (1100 GMT on Wednesday), two US Air Force A-10s flew into Syrian airspace from Turkish territory," defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a statement. After reaching Aleppo by the most direct route, the US planes "conducted strikes against targets in the city," Konashenkov claimed. The Pentagon on Wednesday said that Aleppo’s two main hospitals have been destroyed by Russian and Syrian government attacks this month in the Russian-backed regime offensive, warning of an "increasingly dire" situation in the city. Russia's defence ministry said Thursday that its air force had hit 1,888 "terrorist targets" in eight regions including Aleppo, Latakia, Hama and Homs provinces over the past week. View gallery Syrian families at the Turkish Oncupinar border gate near Kilis on February 8, 2016 (AFP Photo/Bulen … However, the defence ministry spokesman insisted that the air force's closest bombing target to Aleppo on Wednesday was more than 20 kilometres (12 miles) outside the city. The ministry vehemently dismissed accusations that civilians had been targeted in the strikes, saying that "Russian aviation and Syrian government forces will never launch strikes on the civilian population." Russia said Thursday it was ready to discuss the possibility of a ceasefire in Syria as foreign ministers gathered in Munich in a bid to restart peace talks. "We are ready to discuss the modalities of a ceasefire," deputy foreign minister Gennady Gatilov told journalists in Moscow, quoted by TASS state news agency. "That is what we will talk about in Munich." US Secretary of State John Kerry warned earlier this week that Russia's bombing of opposition targets could further derail diplomatic efforts to end Syria's brutal civil war. View gallery US Secretary of State John Kerry (right) meets with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Zurich … Kerry was set to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Munich to host talks with a 17-nation contact group designed to get the talks back on track. But US frustration with Russia's bombing in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime is growing, as fears mount that the opposition will refuse to join UN-led peace talks while their cities are under fire. Russia launched a bombing campaign in the war-torn country last year at Assad's request, saying strikes are aimed against the Islamic State group and other jihadists. But the West has accused Moscow of targeting more moderate groups that oppose Assad's regime. International talks to end the five-year civil war that has killed more than 260,000 people broke down earlier this month amid accusations from the West and Syrian regime opponents that Russia's air strikes in Aleppo were targeting opposition groups and civilians. The talks were temporarily suspended until February 25, but Russian deputy foreign minister Gatilov said Thursday that they could "possibly start earlier."
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
	+1

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