THE 2016 ELECTION: It has a tabloid simplicity.

HILLARY’S PUBLIC AND PRIVATE POSITIONS VERSUS TRUMP’S PRIVATE PARTS

HILLARY’S SWORN DEPOSITION REVEALS MORE PUBLIC LIES: She can’t accuse Putin of altering these statements — they’re testimony in the case pursued by Judicial Watch. Quote: “Hillary Clinton admitted under oath this week that she doesn’t recall asking anyone for permission to use a secret server and email account during her time in the State Department, contradicting previous public pronouncements that she had received approval.” Well, honesty’s been this election’s core issue since 1808. (bumped)

PASSING A VERY OLD SNIFF TEST: Distilling olibanic acids, the scent-producing molecules of frankincense. Chemists discovered that “…previously unknown molecules explained frankincense’s distinctive smell…” For what it’s worth, 5,000 years is a common estimate for the number of years human beings have used frankincense (“the sacred resin”). 6,000 years is another.

KURDISH FIGHTERS REPORT FROM MOSUL: Via Voice of America. This report compiles wire service stories, Iraqi press releases and VOA reporting.

VERY LARGE JEWELRY: Miners in Myanmar (Burma) have uncovered a piece of jade weighing 175 tons. The picture is worth the click.

BOMBARDING MOSUL WITH LEAFLETS: Before dawn today the Iraqi Army began dropping leaflets in and around Mosul.

The leaflets carried several messages, one of them assuring the population that advancing army units and air strikes “will not target civilians” and another telling them to avoid known locations of Islamic State militants.

The Iraqi government has since announced that the attack to re-take the city has begun.

APOCALYPSE UPDATE: Syrian rebels supported by the Turkish Army have driven Islamic State fighters from the village of Dabiq, Syria. Dabiq figures prominently in ISIS propaganda. Here’s the background.

HILLARY LIED: indeed. She’s named after Sir Edmund Hillary and she was shot at by snipers in Bosnia..

A DEEPLY WORRISOME LABOR STRIKE IN A STRATEGICALLY VITAL INDUSTRY: Workers strike at two Kentucky distilleries. The reporter employs…spirited language: “The walkout soured what has been an era of smooth relations between management and labor in Kentucky’s whiskey industry, which has ridden a wave of renewed popularity in recent years.” Indeed. Once smooth whiskey relations soured.

For the record, I am pro-bourbon, pro-scotch and pro-rye.

US BUILDS A MILITARY BASE IN THE SAHARA DESERT: Construction has started on a base in Agadez, Niger. Camel caravans from Bilma still occasionally stop in Agadez. The air base has been billed as a “drone base.” Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs, “drones”) will operate from the base. But this is more than a drone base. Agadez will support US, host nation and US allies intelligence and logistical operations. The base could support multi-national peacekeeping efforts in the region (think Mali). Key quote from Jim Dunnigan’s detailed analysis of the politics, the security issues and the technology: “Agadez is closer to Chad, southern Libya and Nigeria, where American aerial surveillance is more in demand by the local governments. Agadez will also apparently support armed UAVs as well. The U.S. will continue to supply intelligence obtained by the Niger-based UAVs with Niger and other nations in the area that have intelligence sharing agreements.”

HILLARY GOT PAID $675,000 FOR THESE THREE SPEECHES: Zerohedge discusses juicy excerpts from Hillary’s Goldman Sachs speeches, including a discussion of Wikileaks. The post has links to transcripts of all three speeches.

WILL ISIS SELL OUT THE APOCALYPSE? Background on the looming battle for the Syrian town of Dabiq. More here.

THE NORMAN CONQUEST IN RETROSPECT: Daniel Hannan says 1066 was a bad year for England.

VERY VERY VERY FAST GLOBAL WARMING: Horrors. The PETM (Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum). (Aside to chemists and combat engineers: PETM, not PETN. Got to keep the acronyms straight.) During the PETM “The planet was essentially ice free, and sea levels drastically higher than now.” Golly. Was George W. Bush alive then, too? Would that Barack Obama had arrived and the rise of sea levels ceased and…According to the article, the consensus “cause d’warming” theory is volcanoes. Yeah, the unregulated lava and pumice polluters pumped hazardous awful junk into the atmosphere and over thousands of years they were almost as bad as capitalists. Over time increased CO2 levels (from the unregulated volcanoes) led to global warming. However. But…According to the article, magnetized clay particles (microtektites) indicate another environment destroying criminal did the dirty deed — a comet! Did the comet bring its own carbon? Was the comet a Republican? Until Hillary is elected, Team Hillary propagandists John Podesta and Robby Mook will swear it was. The theoretical comet strike’s theoretical result: fast carbon dioxide release, faster global warming. A lot faster than the lava and pumice polluter theory…But…but consensus!

IMPROVING SOUTH KOREA’S MISSILE DEFENSES: The US and South Korea use the term “tailored deterrence.” This is my definition of the term: South Korea and Japan are tired of North Korea’s threats and are going to invest in improved defensive systems and offensive systems. From the linked article: “In 2016 alone, the reclusive country conducted two nuclear tests and launched more than 20 ballistic missiles despite warnings by the international community.” North Korea is “the reclusive country.”

MORE ON THE REBELLION IN MOSUL: Stephen Green has a prior post up about the failed rebellion in Mosul against the Islamic State’s senior leaders.This report adds some more details. ISIS police (Diwan al-Hisba) moved against conspirators on Wednesday. Meanwhile, ISIS commanders are seeding the entire city with mines and booby traps.

AUSTRALIA’S $200 MILLION EXPERIMENTAL GREENHOUSE: Australia doesn’t need to grow tomatoes in the desert — and the article makes that point. But a greenhouse using seawater, sunlight and coconut husks is an interesting concept.

A NEW EDITION OF EMBRACE THE SUCK IS IN THE WORKS: It’s the pamphlet of military idioms and colorful acronyms — at least that’s one way to describe FUBAR. I’ll be working with Adam Bellow again, this time through Liberty Island. We’re asking veterans to contribute new favorite phrases and acronyms. Please send contributions through Liberty Island (at the link, ).

APOCALYPTIC COMBAT: In the case of Dabiq it’s attrition, not apocalypse. However, the Islamic State quotes a saying attributed to Muhammad that “the Last Hour” won’t occur until “the Romans” are defeated at Dabiq. So ISIS uses Dabiq as a propaganda pitch. Come fight for ISIS and be there at the Apocalypse. RFE’s report is a balanced assessment of the battle and the politics surrounding it. It analyzes Turkey’s intervention– in fact, the article leads with a photo of a Turkish tank company (a file photo, indicating it wasn’t taken near Dabiq). The tanks are upgraded M-60s. In 1975 my platoon rode a much older model, the M60A1. Scroll through this archive and you’ll find a picture of a Turkish M60A3 TTS.

LIFE ON A NUCLEAR ATTACK SUB: Long patrols can get a bit raunchy.

HILLARY’S FAUX PRUDE ACT: Hillary is “shocked, shocked” by Trump’s language.

THE FBI REVOLT BEGINS: A retired FBI agent says “The FBI has politicized itself, and its reputation will suffer for a long time. I hold Director Comey responsible.”

Got to say it again. Don’t let Comey put a crook in the White House.

BRITISH FRACKING: Stephen Green linked to this article this morning. I link again with reason. Almost two years ago I attended a forum on fracking. It was held in Texas. One of panelists made a couple of comments about restrictions on fracking outside the US. During Q&A a man in the audience rose and said potential shale gas fields in Britain were still being evaluated to determine if they had sufficient gas to justify “fracking” them. There had been problems with some fracking operations. However, he believed many British citizens thought tapping the gas was a good idea. He had a British accent. I approached him after the program concluded. He said there were people in Britain totally opposed to fracking but energy independence is a good thing. Many British citizens thought that, too. He had only expressed his opinion. Turns out he had an informed opinion. There had been problems in Britain. As the BBC article notes, fracking was temporarily banned. There is opposition. Wales has natural gas fields but just how large they are remains to be determined. (This report is a bit dated but lays out the possibilities.) However, the Welsh government opposes fracking and per the BBC article the UK government has devolved “fracking licences to the Welsh Government…”

REALITY INTRUDES ON THE ELITE LEFT’S WORLD OF WORDS: John Kerry threatens to charge Russia and Syria with war crimes. I guarantee Putin and Assad aren’t worried. Kerry lives in a world of words. He really thinks what he says has decisive effects. Without the will to act on the battlefield, his words are hot air. Pompous Norwegians have bestowed the Nobel Peace Prize on Juan Manuel Santos, a failed Colombian president who negotiated a flawed peace deal Colombia’s citizens rejected. Let’s agree that Colombia’s dirty war stained everyone. Former President Alvaro Uribe is a stained man, but Uribe is the leader who defeated the Communist rebels. He and the Colombian military created the military and political conditions that brought the rebels to the table. Santos didn’t. Why didn’t the Nobel committee give the prize to both Santos and Uribe? Oh, right. Santos is a socialist. Uribe is a conservative. Giving the award to Santos shows the peace prize is a joke.

UPDATE AND CLARIFICATION: One commenter is quite correct. Santos served as Minister of Defense under Uribe. My original post could be read to imply that Santos didn’t oppose the FARC. He did. That needs to be emphasized. Once negotiations started, Santos split from Uribe — Uribe was stained. Santos said he was learning from the mistakes of prior leaders. Was Santos playing good cop, bad cop? Maybe. However, Uribe argued that the deal Santos ultimately negotiated could be used to put him (Uribe) in jail. If the Nobel committee had given the prize to both Uribe and Santos I wouldn’t have griped. As for his economic inclinations, I see Santos as more left than Uribe. That may not make him a socialist, but the perception does make him more palatable to European lefty elites.

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS: In 2002 Uribe said his administration would be devoted to defeating FARC. This is a classic strategypage update, from election day 2002. “FARC has threatened to kill anyone who votes for Uribe.” Uribe didn’t rule out peace talks if the rebels stopped their attacks. They didn’t. Over the next eight years he dealt FARC defeat after defeat. Those defeats are what led to real peace negotiations. When the Santos administration announced new negotiations in August 2012 I was hopeful, even though the strategypage update at the time doesn’t sound hopeful. (August 27, 2012 post.) The initial talks were fitful. Ah. Here’s the update I was looking for. December 8, 2012. “Most Colombians want justice, and sorting that out may be the most difficult part of the negotiations.” That proved to be true. Colombians judged the deal Santos negotiated to be unjust.