IRAQ – The Iraqi city of Ramadi has fallen to Islamic State (IS) after government forces abandoned their positions, officials say.

The police and military made a chaotic retreat after days of intense fighting.  Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi had ordered troops to stand their ground, saying he was deploying Shia militia to the city.
Ramadi is the capital of Iraq’s largest province, Anbar, and is just 70 miles (112km) west of Baghdad.
A statement purportedly from IS said its fighters had “purged the entire city”. It said IS had taken the 8th Brigade army base, along with tanks and missile launchers left behind by troops. (more…)

More of that fundamental change we were told to expect….

(Via New York Post) Saudi Arabia will join the nuclear club by buying “off the shelf” atomic weapons from Pakistan, US officials told a London newspaper.
The Saudis — who financed much of Pakistan’s nuke program — are fearful of international efforts to keep its enemy Iran from acquiring a bomb, the Sunday Times of London reports. The Saudis think the deal, backed by President Obama, will actually accelerate Iran’s nuke push.
Saudi Arabia has talked for years about acquiring a bomb from the Pakistanis. “The House of Saud has now made the strategic decision to move forward,” a former US defense official said. (more)

This is too painful to watch…. and people wonder why the leaders of Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and Oman chose not to attend.
(Via Washington Examiner) Yesterday, two Saudi crown princes arrived to meet with President Obama at the Oval Office, after King Salman refused to meet Obama at the Gulf summit or at the White House.

White House officials should have been careful to make sure everything with the two top Saudi officials went smoothly — but instead, Obama flubbed on the deputy crown prince’s name and the name of the king who forged America’s relationship with Saudi Arabia, King Abdul Aziz ibn Saud. (more…)

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will receive the death penalty for his role in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing that killed three people and injured more than 200.
Tsarnaev was found guilty on all 30 charges in the bombing and its aftermath by the same jury in April. The jury had to unanimously agree to sentence him to the death penalty. (Story)

[…] An investigation led authorities to the four people and to raids at the Midamar Corporation, 1105 60th Ave. SW, which bills itself as a leading U.S.-based Halal food brand, and Pizza Daddy, 1539 First Ave. SE…

IOWA – […]  Three Cedar Rapids men and a woman were arrested and each had an initial appearance in U.S. District Court Tuesday. They each face two charges of delivering a package or container to a common carrier without knowledge that it contains firearms and ammunition and conspiracy.

The defendants are: Ali Herz, 50; his brother, Bassem Herz, 29; his son, Adam Herz, 22; and Sarah Zeaiter, 24, the spouse of Bassem Herz. All told U.S. District Chief Judge Linda Reade they were U.S. citizens, except Zeaiter – she was born in Lebanon. Reade also said Zeaiter was unemployed, a “student” and had no assets, according to her financial affidavit for a public defender. Her co-defendants also appeared with public defenders. (more…)

Another attack from the religion of peace, and yet “liberals” argue semantics and debate provocations with Pam Geller about freedom of speech….
(CNN) The attack on bloggers critical of Islam has taken on a disturbing regularity in Bangladesh with yet another writer hacked to death Tuesday.

Ananta Bijoy Das, 32, was killed Tuesday morning as he left his home on his way to work at a bank, police in the northeastern Bangladeshi city of Sylhet said.

Four masked men attacked him, hacking him to death with cleavers, said Sylhet Metropolitan Police Commissioner Kamrul Ahsan.

The men then ran away. Because of the time of the morning when the attack happened, there were few witnesses. But police said they are following up on interviewing the few people who saw the incident. (more…)

If, like many of us, you are deep in the weeds in your understanding of the issues around Benghazi, the 2010 Arab Spring (Tunis, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Bahrain, Yemen), or the CIA operation “Zero Footprint” in Libya and the follow-up operation in Syria, you will enjoy this interview with former Panetta/Petraeus replacement Mike Morell.
Or, if you have a cursory understanding of events, this interview might spur you toward further research.  “The Benghazi Brief” – Regardless of your current level of understanding behind events of the past 7+ years, this interview is well constructed.
Bret Baier has done his homework, and in a refreshing and surprising manner you can see how Baier is able to cut through the distracting ‘talking points’ (no pun intended), and draw out the reality of what lies behind Morell and his foundational motives.

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All y’all know what I think about this.  Listen and learn.

Snippet #1

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I can’t watch Sean Hannity any longer. His interview (‘interuptus’) style has deteriorated so much in the past two years that his show seems to be nothing but abject anxiety, and horrible one-dimensional punditry. Sean Hannity may have a good heart, and he might be a great guy, but his current TV disposition is nothing more than a modern day Morton Downy Jr. sans the cigarettes.
However, that said, Pam Geller appeared on his “set-up” last night as Sean welcomed back the prolific and ever controversial Muslim Imam Anjem Choudary. Reports are Choudary advocated for Geller’s demise: