Patterico's Pontifications

7/14/2016

Fox News Reports Attack In Nice, France Leaves At Least 75 People Dead

Filed under: General — Dana @ 5:51 pm



[guest post by Dana]

[Obviously, information is subject to change with time.]

Fox News is reporting that at least 75 people have been killed and 50 injured in an “apparent terror attack” in Nice, France. A truck loaded with guns and grenades was driven full speed into a large crowd of people at a Bastille Day event.

French Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet said the truck driver had been “neutralized” and an investigation would confirm whether he had acted alone. The Paris prosecutor’s office announced that it was opening an anti-terrorism investigation into the Nice attack.

The attack happened at around 10:30 p.m. local time. A local government official told Fox News that the truck was driving full speed when it hit the crowd.

Here are a few accounts from eye-witnesses:

“A fraction of a second later, an enormous white truck came along at a crazy speed, turning the wheel to mow down the maximum number of people,” he said. “I saw bodies flying like bowling pins along its route. Heard noises, cries that I will never forget.”

Allemand said people took shelter in a nearby restaurant, where he continued to hear people shouting for missing family members. He ventured out and saw bodies, blood and body parts all along the road.

“This evening, it was horror,” Allemand concluded.

[…]

Another witness, Wassim Bouhlel, told the Associated Press that he saw the truck drive into the crowd, then witnessed the driver emerge with a gun and start shooting.

“There was carnage on the road,” Bouhlel said. “Bodies everywhere.”

Reports say that bodies were scattered along the road for over a mile.

President Obama released a statement condemning “what appears to be a horrific terrorist attack in Nice, France which killed and wounded dozens of innocent civilians”.

–Dana

Cruz and Rubio on the Iran Deal, One Year Later

Filed under: General — JVW @ 12:23 pm



[guest post by JVW]

Both Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio have pieces up on National Review Online marking the one-year anniversary of President Obama’s disastrous deal with the mullas in Iran. As expected, neither Senator is particularly impressed with the progress that has been made in “containing” Iranian ambitions:

Senator Cruz:

[. . .] one year ago, the United Nations Security Council ratified the so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran and imposed it on the world. The individual legislatures of the parties involved (the United States, Great Britain, France, Germany, China, Russia, and the European Union) were not consulted — although the Iranian parliament did get a vote. So, from the American perspective at least, the [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran] has lurched into effect — unsigned, unratified and so, in fact, illegal. Its supporters insist that the deal is the only way to avoid war, and they assure the world that it will stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, at least for a while.

[. . .]

Now we are one year into the JCPOA. As many commentators have noted, the Iranian leadership’s general behavior — including ballistic-missile tests, capturing and humiliating American servicemen and women, the continuing detention of American service men and women, and the ongoing genocidal rhetoric against the United States and Israel — remains unchanged. But of course the JCPOA deliberately did not cover any of these issues. So what of their nuclear program, which it was ostensibly designed to address? The news this week has not been encouraging:

* A German Domestic Intelligence report documents Iran’s attempts to procure illicit nuclear technology in Germany. During 2015, there were 141 registered attempts to procure technology used for the development of nuclear weapons and launchers.

* The Institute for Science and International Security reported Iran’s attempt to procure tons of carbon fiber from German companies. Carbon fiber is classified as a nuclear dual-use good by the Nuclear Suppliers Group.

[. . .]

We have, of course, no visibility into any possible dealings with known proliferators such as Pakistan and North Korea. After hundreds of attempts to procure these materials in Germany, why would they would not turn to a lower-quality but more agreeable trading partner?

Senator Rubio adds:

[. . .] Meanwhile, at every opportunity, Secretary of State John Kerry and other administration officials have encouraged foreign companies to do business with Iran’s terrorist-supporting regime and have attempted to provide Iran access to the U.S. financial system. Secretary of State John Kerry often seems to be more interested in acting as Iran’s de facto trade representative than holding Iran accountable for its actions.

One of the more egregious and recent concessions from this administration was allowing Boeing to sell aircraft to Iran nominally for use as commercial passenger aircraft. Iran has a history of using its airlines to ferry fighters and cargo to terrorist groups. In fact, Boeing even markets the ease of converting passenger aircraft for cargo use.

[. . .]

On today’s anniversary, the Obama administration will try to distract the American people by claiming it has ended Iran’s nuclear-weapons program. The reality is that the Iranian threat has not disappeared. Iran appears to be continuing its efforts to build up its nuclear capability, as recent reports from the German intelligence agency indicate.

Back in 2008, candidate Barack Obama declared that he would have direct negotiations with Iran without any pre-conditions. Eight years later, he seems to have pulled off the neat trick of holding the negotiations capitulations without having any post-conditions either.

– JVW

GOP Releases Roster of Convention Speakers

Filed under: General — Dana @ 8:08 am



[guest post by Dana]

What’s perhaps more telling is who isn’t on the list: Gov. Mike Pence, who is reportedly reserving air time in August for his reelection bid in Indiana, and Sarah Palin.

Here is the list:

The Rev. Mark Burns
Phil Ruffin, Las Vegas businessman
Rep. Ryan Zinke, Montana
Pat Smith
Mark Geist, Benghazi survivor
John Tiegen, Benghazi survivor
Rep. Michael McCaul, Texas
Sheriff David Clarke
Rep. Sean Duffy, Wisconsin
Darryl Glenn, Senate candidate from Colorado
Sen. Tom Cotton, Arkansas
Karen Vaughn, mother of Navy SEAL killed in Afghanistan
Former Gov. Mike Huckabee, Arkansas
Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, New York City
Melania Trump
Sen. Joni Ernst, Iowa
Kathryn Gates-Skipper
Marcus Luttrell, retired Navy SEAL
Dana White, president of Ultimate Fighting Championship
Gov. Asa Hutchinson, Arkansas
Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, Arkansas
Former U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey
Andy Wist
Sen. Jeff Sessions, Alabama
Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn
Alex Smith
House Speaker Paul Ryan, Wisconsin
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, California
Kerry Woolard, Trump Winery general manager
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, West Virginia
Dr. Ben Carson, retired neurosurgeon and former presidential candidate
Co-Chair Sharon Day
Natalie Gulbis, professional golfer
Kimberlin Brown, actress
Antonio Sabato, Jr., actor and model
Peter Thiel, Silicon Valley investor
Lt. Col. Eileen Collins, former NASA astronaut
Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Georgia
Michelle Van Etten
Lynne Patton, Vice President of the Eric Trump Foundation
Eric Trump
Harold Hamm, oil billioniare
Rep. Chris Collins, New York
Brock Mealer
Rep. Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee
Gov. Mary Fallin, Oklahoma
The Rev. Darrell Scott
Lisa Shin, Korean-Americans for Trump
Gov. Rick Scott, Florida
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, Wisconsin
Tom Barrack, real-estate investor
Ivanka Trump
Attorney General Pam Bondi, Florida
Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Liberty University
Rabbi Haskel Lookstein
Chris Cox, National Rifle Association
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky
Tiffany Trump
Gov. Chris Christie, New Jersey
Donald J. Trump Jr.
Gov. Scott Walker, Wisconsin

Interestingly:

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who has lobbied tirelessly to be Trump’s running mate, is billed as appearing separately from the billionaire businessman’s yet-to-be-announced “nominee for vice president” on the third night of the convention.

Weirdly:

Each of the four convention nights will highlight a specific election-year theme, including an evening dedicated to the September 11, 2011, terrorist attacks on U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya. There will also be a presentation on former President Bill Clinton’s stories history of sexual misconduct, according to sources familiar with the details of next week’s convention.

And since we’re talking lists:

Untitled

–Dana

Newt: Trump and I Are Like a Couple of Pirates

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 7:58 am



As the Presumptive Con Man readies a Friday 11 a.m. announcement of his Mini-Con Man, Newtie is saying the Trumpster is like a pirate — and so is Newtie:

Look, in many ways Donald Trump is like a pirate. He’s outside the normal system, he gets things done, he’s bold, he’s actually like a figure out of a movie. In a lot of ways, my entire career has been a little bit like a pirate. I’ve taken on the establishment in both parties, [I’m] very prepared to fight in the media.

Arrrrrr.

Oh, Newtie. Don’t ever change.


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