Salisbury poisoning victim Yulia Skripal has released a statement through police in London. Yulia has insisted she is on the road to recovery. She and her father Sergei were attacked with a nerve agent on March 4.
Yulia issued a statement on Thursday saying the “entire episode is somewhat disorientating“.
“I woke up over a week ago now and am glad to say my strength is growing daily,” the 33-year-old said in the statement issued on her behalf by London police.
“I am grateful for the interest in me and for the many messages of goodwill that I have received.
“I am sure you appreciate that the entire episode is somewhat disorientating, and I hope that you’ll respect my privacy and that of my family during the period of my convalescence.”
Last week Yulia was reported to be in a stable condition after falling into a coma following the chemical attack. Moscow-based relative Viktoria Skripal told the Guardian that she had spoken to Yulia and that a statement would soon be released by Russian news agencies – “even in English.”
“She said everything is fine and she is doing OK,” Viktoria told the Guardian over the telephone. “That’s all I’m going to say.”
Viktoria also recorded the phone conversation with Yulia, which was later played on a talk show on TV network Russia-1.
Yulia appeared to suggest she will soon be discharged from hospital, and said that neither she nor her father had health problems “that could not be fixed”. When asked about her father, who is still understood to be in a critical condition, Yulia is quoted as suggesting “everything is fine, he is resting, sleeping. Everyone’s health is fine.”
Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin compared state teachers on strike to teenagers who want a better car. Educators have been on walkout for a third day over low wages and underfunding, despite lawmakers agreeing to meet some demands.
“Teachers want more,” Fallin told CBS News in an interview. “But it’s kind of like a teenager wanting a better car.” Oklahoma teacher salaries are among the lowest in the country, ranking at 49th, according to the National Education Association.
Over 30,000 teachers have walked out of schools across Oklahoma this week, protesting what they say are teacher shortages, low salaries, and under-resourced public schools.
On Tuesday, Fallin signed a bill which provides $2.9 billion of education funding including $353.5 million for teacher pay and $33 million for textbooks.
Teachers unions have rejected the bill, saying it does not provide enough funding, and have called for state tax hikes to fill the shortfall. “This legislation falls well short of fixing those problems. These measures leave millions in revenue on the table and still leave Oklahoma students among the worst funded in the nation.” Oklahoma Education Association President Alicia Priest said in a statement on Tuesday, according to News9.
Teachers in Oklahoma are demanding a $10,000 pay raise, and a $5,000 raise for other school workers, as well as more cash for school resources such as desks and textbooks.
Fallin’s remarks ramped up the increasingly acrimonious relations between lawmakers and public educators, with many teachers reacting with fury on social media to her comments.
“This is a blatant example of the disrespect shown towards Oklahoma educators,” Priest said in a video posted live on Facebook.
Teachers: the Governor thinks you’re like teenagers who want a better car. I think that tells you all you need to know about whether you should keep showing up to the Capitol. https://t.co/x5rHrfITWd
“Teachers want more,” Governor Mary Fallin said. “But it’s kind of like a teenager wanting a better car.”
Hey @GovMaryFallin – I’ll gladly give back my pay raise if it means my students have smaller class sizes and adequate resources. #oklahomateacherwalkout
The teachers’ strike continued for a third day on Wednesday as teachers assembled once again outside the state capitol. “It’s like the Arab spring, but it’s a teacher spring,” geography teacher Toni Henson told the Guardian.
On Tuesday, teachers wielding placards and signs packed the state capitol in Oklahoma City to demand more funding for public schools.
Dear OK Legislature, was it hard doing your job in overcrowded conditions? Was it frustrating for other people’s choices to impact your ability to do your job? Welcome to OUR lives. See you tomorrow! #oklaed#oklalegpic.twitter.com/XsZDsiH6so
Striking public school teachers in Oklahoma have taken over the rotunda in the state capitol, chanting “Our kids are worth more,” and “We are not leaving.” Many have just filled out their daily surveys to say they’ll continue the walkout tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/q2ximAVron
Many have used social media to highlight the lack of up-to-date textbooks, desks, and chairs in their schools.
Meanwhile, educators in Republican-controlled Kentucky also staged walkouts this week against reduced budgets and a pensions dispute.
The walkouts in Oklahoma and Kentucky follow on the heels of a nine-day teachers strike in West Virginia. Teachers and state employees won a five-percent pay increase after the state’s largest teachers’ strike in 30 years.
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Moscow does not rule out that the poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal in Britain was designed to justify the growing defense spending of NATO, among other reasons, media quoted…
Facebook says the personal information of up to 87 million users, mostly in the United States, may have been improperly shared by the US social media company with a British political consulting firm, up from a previous estimate of more than 50 million.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a conference call with reporters on Wednesday that he accepted blame for the data leak, which has angered users, advertisers and lawmakers, while also saying he was still the right person to head the company he founded.
Zuckerberg will testify about the matter next Tuesday and Wednesday during two US congressional hearings.
“When you’re building something like Facebook that is unprecedented in the world, there are going to be things that you mess up,” Zuckerberg said, adding that the important thing was to learn from mistakes.
He said the social networking service had not seen “any meaningful impact” on usage or advertisement sales since the…
UK scientists have been unable to prove Russia made the nerve agent A-234 (also known as “Novichok”) which was used to poison Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury. READ MORE: https://on.rt.com/92…
UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn says British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has offered a “misleading” account of the recent chemical attack against a former Russian double agent.
Speaking to British media about the last month attack on Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter outside a mall in Salisbury, Corbyn said Wednesday that Johnson had “eggs on his face” for saying that the government experts at the Porton Down laboratory were “categorical” that the nerve agent used in the attack was Novichok and had Russian origin.
“He (Johnson) claimed categorically, and I think he used the words 101 percent, that it had come from Russia…. Porton Down have not said that,” Corbyn said.
“They’ve said that they’ve identified it was Novichok [but] they cannot identify the source of it. And so, either the Foreign Secretary has information that he’s not sharing with Porton Down or it was a bit of an exaggeration,” the opposition leader…
New York City could be hit with a $39 billion in damage with 30 million tons of debris clogging the streets if a long-overdue earthquake hit.
The city of 8.5 million people is not thought of as a tremor hot spot, but the five boroughs are riddled with fault lines that could bring dozens of buildings down.
Because the city is so dense and littered with thousands of tall buildings, even a 5.0 magnitude earthquake nearby would cause such damage, experts fear.
New York statistically gets a quake like that every 100 years and the last one was in 1884 – making it well overdue for another.
The city also statistically gets a 6.0 about every 670 years, and a 7.0 about every 3,400 years, both of which would do massive damage.
If a 7.0 magnitude quake hit, more than 6,000 older unreinforced masonry buildings would almost certainly crumble in a huge disaster.
Labour MP Chris Williamson says Boris Johnson has damaged the UK’s reputation, after he blamed Russia unequivocally for making the poison used to attack the Skripals. Military scientists said they could not support the claims.
Following a string of tweets in which Williamson called out the foreign secretary for trying to dive head first into conflict with Russia without sufficient evidence, the Derby North MP told RT’s Bill Dod that “Johnson used this terrible incident as a smoke screen” to further his own agenda.
Williamson has called on MPs to apologize to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who demanded that all the facts be made clear before laying blame on Russia or any party. “I think Jeremy Corbyn was absolutely right to urge caution and to ask for clear evidence before we start to raise international tensions,” Williamson said.
“It seems to me that the government were indulging in political point scoring; particularly Boris Johnson who raced ahead of the evidence and used this terrible incident not so much as a smoking gun but as a smoke screen. It was very convenient for the government to use it as a way of diverting attention away from Brexit and economic policy.
“At the end of the day it is pretty clear that Boris Johnson was not telling the truth,” the Derby North MP said. “He told that German interviewer that a scientist at [government laboratory] Porton Down said that it was without a doubt that the agent had come from Russia.
“We now know from the chief executive at Porton Down that they can’t be certain where it’s come from. It seems [the Conservatives] were not just interested in moving it into a Cold War situation but many of them… [looked] in favor of a hot war.”
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A new study from Harvard University suggests the world is destined to end in much the same way it began… with a really, really, big bang.
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Theories as to how planet Earth will eventually meet its demise have ranged from nuclear war to a catastrophic meteor collision or a slow fade into darkness.
However, according to a recent study by experts at Harvard University, published in the journal Physical Review D, all it will take is a destabilization of the one particle thought to give all matter its mass – Higgs boson.
None of us are expected to make it to the grand finale – some 11 trillion years away, based on the team’s predictions – so you won’t mind if we ruin the ending. Unless, of course, you plan on being one of the lucky reincarnated ones in which case: Spoiler alert.
When that detrimental destabilization happens, the world will explode into a huge evaporating bubble of energy and, evidently, will destroy everything in the universe – yes you did read that right, all wannabe Mars colonizers will be wiped out too.
What is slightly concerning is that the physicists say the process could have already begun. Unless someone or something manages to locate the elusive “God Particle” in our infinite universe we won’t ever know when the end is nigh.
It’s also likely the sun will burn up and various other catastrophic celestial events will take place before we reach that particular doomsday.
The Jewish community is furious after Jeremy Corbyn was absorbed in fresh allegations of antisemitism. Check out http://rt.com RT LIVE http://rt.com/on-air Subscribe to RT! http://www.youtube.co…
At a recent rally in New Hampshire, Donald Trump called for the death penalty for drug traffickers as part of a plan to combat the opioid epidemic in the United States. At a Pennsylvania rally a few weeks earlier, he called for the same.
Now his administration is taking steps toward making this proposal a reality. Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a memo on March 21 asking prosecutors to pursue capital punishment for drug traffickers — a power he has thanks to legislation passed under President Bill Clinton.
Time and again, these punitive policies have proven ineffective at curbing drug deaths. That’s partly because amping up the risk factor for traffickers makes the trade all that more lucrative, encouraging more trafficking, not less.
But it’s also because these policies don’t address the true criminals of the opioid crisis: Big Pharma.
If Trump really wanted to help, he’d put the noose around drug-making and selling giants like Purdue Pharma, McKesson, Insys Therapeutics, Cardinal Health, AmerisourceBergen, and others.
The president knows this, in a way. These companies “contribute massive amounts of money to political people,” he said at a press conference in October 2017 — even calling out Mitch McConnell, who was standing beside him, for taking that money. Pharmaceutical manufacturers were “getting away with murder,” Trump complained in the same speech.
(Photo: Wikipedia Commons)
For once, he’s wasn’t wrong.
The pharmaceutical industry spends more than any other industry on influencing politicians, with two lobbyists for every member of Congress. Nine out of ten House members and all but three senators have taken campaign contributions from Big Pharma.
It’s not just politicians they shell out for.
Opioid pioneer Purdue Pharma, the creator of OxyContin, bankrolled a campaign to change the prescription habits of doctors who were wary of the substance’s addictive properties, going so far as to send doctors on all-expense-paid trips to pain-management seminars. The family that started it all is worth some $13 billion today.
From 2008 to 2012, AmerisourceBergen distributed 118 million opioid pills to West Virginia alone. That’s about 65 pills per resident. In that same time frame, 1,728 people in the state suffered opioid overdoses.
McKesson — the fifth largest company in the U.S., with profits over $192 billion — contributed 5.8 million pills to just one West Virginia pharmacy.
Meanwhile, five companies contributed more than $9 million to interest groups for things like promoting their painkillers for chronic pain and lobbying to defeat state limits on prescribing opioids.
These companies don’t stop at promoting opioids. They also spend big on stopping legislation that would actually help curb opioid use.
Insys Therapeutics, a company whose founder was indicted for allegedly bribing doctors to write prescriptions for fentanyl (a substance 50 times stronger than heroin), spent $500,000 to stop marijuana legalization in Arizona in 2016.
In response, cities and states from New York City to Ohio are suing pharmaceutical companies for their role in the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans every year. It’s time for the federal government to get behind them.
Of course, going after these companies isn’t going to eliminate opioid abuse on its own. That will take combating the root social and economic causes that lead to so many deaths of despair.
But it’s clear who the real profiteers of the opioid epidemic are. If Trump wanted to get real about curbing incentives for selling opioids, he’d turn away from street dealers and target the real opioid-producing industry.
Despite seeing it millions of times, most people are unaware of a common form of the letter ‘g’.
The lowercase ‘looptail g’ is used in most novels, newspapers and email messages, yet a new study shows a surprising number of adults don’t know what it looks like.
Many of those tested couldn’t pick out a looptail g from a lineup and a shocking number were unaware that two forms of the letter exist at all.
According to the researchers, the phenomenon likely occurs because we don’t learn to write the letter’s looptail form at school, meaning few of us commit it to memory.
The lowercase ‘looptail g’ is used in most novels, newspapers and email messages, yet a new study shows a surprising number of adults don’t know what it looks like. Many of the adults tested couldn’t pick out the correct looptail ‘g’ from this lineup (answer: Top right)
The lowercase ‘looptail g’ is used in most novels, newspapers and email messages, yet a new study shows a surprising number of adults don’t know what it looks like. Many of the adults tested couldn’t pick out the correct looptail ‘g’ from this lineup (answer: Top right)
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan are holding a joint press conference in Ankara, Turkey. Check out http://rt.com RT LIVE http://rt.com/on-air…
North Korea is less than two years away from developing missile technology that will allow it to hit targets across the UK, some British Members of Parliament have warned in a report.
The report, put together by a Commons defense select committee made up of Conservative, Labour, Scottish National Party and Democratic Unionist MPs, stated that the missile was likely to be nuclear-capable and that the UK lacked proper defenses against such threats.
“With its current rate of development, it is possible that North Korea can already strike the United Kingdom with an intercontinental ballistic missile potentially able to carry and deliver a nuclear warhead,” said the report, released Wednesday. “Within the next six to 18 months, it is almost certain to be able to achieve this capability.”
Dubbed Rash or Rational?: North Korea and The Threat It Poses, the report there was no reason for the UK to enter the ongoing standoff between North Korea…
China shoved back hard on Wednesday after the Trump administration published a 43-page collection of Chinese goods it planned to hit with new tariffs, retaliating with a list of similar duties on U.S. imports including soybeans, planes, cars, beef and chemicals.
Beijing took less than 11 hours to respond, a speed that led to a steep selloff in global markets.
President Donald Trump, though, insisted that the world’s two economic superpowers aren’t trading financial blows.
‘We are not in a trade war with China, that war was lost many years ago by the foolish, or incompetent, people who represented the U.S.,’ Trump tweeted early Wednesday.
‘Now we have a Trade Deficit of $500 Billion a year, with Intellectual Property Theft of another $300 Billion. We cannot let this continue!’
He added two hours later in another tweet: ‘When you’re already $500 Billion DOWN, you can’t lose!’
The BBC has outraged Jeremy Corbyn supporters once again with their bizarre coverage of the Labour leader. This time they used footage of him playing with a Russian doll.
Yesterday, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson was left red-faced over his claims Porton Down scientists had confirmed there was “no doubt” Russia poisoned Sergei Skripal and his daughter with nerve agent Novichok in Salisbury on March 4.
The coverage on the BBC’s News at Ten came just hours after Boris Johnson attacked Jeremy Corbyn. He tweeted with pride the UK had convinced other nations to expel Russian diplomats despite their case against Moscow imploding without evidence.
Johnson wrote: “28 other countries have been so convinced by UK case they have expelled Russians. In contrast, Jeremy Corbyn chooses to side with the Russian spin machine.”
But when Corbyn was given the chance to comment – after all, he was the one who said the government should wait for evidence – the BBC just could not play it straight.
Instead of simply playing his statement, the Beeb decided to get creative. The producers dug up footage of Corbyn playing with a Russian doll and a little girl.
The clip was played before his interview for a full 10 seconds while a BBC journalist summarized Corbyn’s stance, saying: “He said the foreign secretary had been too quick to blame Russia, when he believed other explanations could emerge.”
Having Corbyn playing with Russian dolls on @BBCNews isn’t really that subtle, is it? Christ.
FFS BBC hardly subtle! Archive film of Mr Corbyn with children and Russian dolls! Disgrace! British Biased Corporation! Owned by the right wing government!
This is not the first time the BBC has insinuated Corbyn is deeply linked with Russia. Just last month, the BBC sparked outrage on social media when discussing Corbyn’s questioning of Theresa May over the Skripal case.
Interviews were carried out on Newsnight in front of a red-tinted image of Corbyn wearing a Russian Bolshevik cap against a doctored backdrop of Moscow’s iconic St. Basil’s Cathedral.
Newsnight’s producer mocked up the red backdrop adorned with Corbyn’s face, aping the style of early Bolshevik posters, despite an MP explaining Corbyn was just asking for evidence. This time, supporters were similarly upset. Many took to social media to ask why the BBC is able to get away with it.
One man said: “In the middle of their report on Novichok the BBC show Corbyn playing with a Russian doll. Journalism is dead in the UK.”
Another joked: “Corbyn used russian dolls to smuggle smaller russian dolls into UK #MakeYourOwnCorbynSmear.”
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FFS BBC hardly subtle! Archive film of Mr Corbyn with children and Russian dolls! Disgrace! British Biased Corporation! Owned by the right wing government!
The White House has said that its mission to eradicate Islamic State in Syria is rapidly coming to an end, but has offered no timetable for withdrawal. The announcement is the latest in a long line of contradictory positions.
Following a meeting between President Donald Trump and his top national security advisers on Tuesday, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Wednesday that the US remains committed to eliminating the last pockets of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) presence in Syria, and will consult with its allies regarding future plans.
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Those future plans are up in the air, and are far less concrete than the position taken by Trump just a day earlier.
“I want to get out, I want to bring the troops back home, I want to start rebuilding our nation,” US President Donald Trump said Tuesday, during a news conference at the White House with leaders of the Baltic nations, noting that the “primary mission” of defeating the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) terrorists in Syria is “almost completed.”
The same day however, Trump also hinted that the US might be willing to stay in Syria if its Middle Eastern ally, Saudi Arabia, pays for US troop deployment.
“Saudi Arabia is very interested in our decision,” Trump said, after reportedly discussing the situation with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. “And I said, well, you know, you want us to stay? Maybe you’re going to have to pay.”
Trump’s insistence on withdrawal clashed with some of his advisers. At the meeting on Tuesday, Defense Secretary James Mattis made the case to Trump that, while IS is on the verge of defeat, a premature withdrawal would risk undoing the progress already made, NBC News quoted unnamed sources as saying.
Also, tell the US troops in Syria that they’re fighting and dying for Uncle Rex’s oil. They’ll love that. https://t.co/E26MFRkyUg
In December, Mattis spoke about the need for the US’ role in Syria to evolve. “What we will be doing is shifting from what I would call an offensive, shifting from an offensive terrain-seizing approach to a stabilizing … you’ll see more U.S. diplomats on the ground,” he said.
“A lot of very good military progress has been made over the last couple of years, but the hard part, I think, is in front of us,” General Joseph L. Votel, head of US Central Command, noted Tuesday at the US Institute of Peace.
Echoing Mattis’ sentiment, General Votel explained that the US presence in the northern part of the country will play a crucial role in “stabilizing” Syria, while “consolidating gains” and “addressing long-term issues of reconstruction.”
The deployment of several hundred US military personnel to the northern Syrian city of Manbij on Sunday – reported by Turkey’s Andalou News Agency – seemed to put paid to the idea of a quick withdrawal.
The troops were accompanied by construction equipment, and are reportedly setting up bases at the frontline between Kurdish YPG/YPK militias and Turkish forces. US support for the Kurdish militias has been a bone of contention between Washington and Ankara. The Turkish government has fought an internal campaign against the militias for three decades.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned last month that the US seems to be planning to stay in Syria for a long time to “disintegrate the Syrian state” under the pretense of fighting terrorism. The US strategy, Lavrov noted, aims “to cut a huge chunk of Syrian territory from the rest of the country while setting up puppet local authorities in that area and trying in every way to establish an autonomous entity under Kurdish authority.”
Clashes have broken out in Paris on Tuesday, during demonstrations against proposed reforms to France’s state transport system planned by President Emmanuel Macron. COURTESY: RT’s RUPTLY video…
The right-wing politics of the British “Labour anti-Semitism” smear campaign
By
Jean Shaoul
5 April 2018
The British and international media is filled with uncritical reports of Jewish protests against Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, centred on the March 26 demonstration by some 200 people outside parliament demanding that Corbyn purge the party of supposedly rampant anti-Semitism.
Little has been said about the forces behind the protests or their political objectives. However, an examination of the tendencies and prominent leaders involved makes clear that strident accusations of anti-Semitism are aimed at shifting the domestic and foreign policy not just of Labour, but of the entire British political establishment sharply to the right.
Especially critical is the effort to silence any criticism of the right-wing government of Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu and its brutal subjugation of the Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, East Jerusalem and within Israel itself, as well as its plans to draw the US into a direct military confrontation with Iran and Iran’s regional allies.
To this end, right-wing Zionists are carrying out a smear campaign against Corbyn and his supporters, with the aim whipping the Labour leader firmly into line, or, if possible, replacing him altogether.
The demonstrations and accusations are portrayed in the media as representing the “voice” of the “mainstream Jewish community.” This is a lie—and not only because it treats Jewish people as a single, monolithic bloc.
The organisations leading the attack are the Board of Deputies of British Jews (BoD) and the Jewish Leadership Council (JLC). The 250-year-old BoD is elected by the synagogues and Jewish charity organisations. But given its admission that about half of all…
Hundreds of people have staged protests in New York City to protest the police killing of an unarmed African American.
Protesters and activists gathered in the city’s Brooklyn borough on Wednesday, shortly after NYPD officers shot dead a man who was holding a metal pipe in his hands.
The shooting occurred in Crown Heights, a predominantly black neighborhood in the heart of Brooklyn, and coincided with the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination.
“You murdered him,” the protesters shouted at police officers who confronted them. Some protesters called NYPD officers “oppressors.”
“I don’t want to kill nobody, i just don’t want to die,” shouted some other protesters.
Terence Monahan, Chief of Department for the New York police, said the officers were responding to a report about a man holding an “object that appears to be a gun” at people on the street.
Four officers fired 10 shots at the man, whose name and…
The YouTube headquarters in San Bruno, California is on lockdown after reports of an active shooter on campus. Police have confirmed activity at the address, while employees described sounds…
Bayer and Monsanto have a long history of collusion to poison the ecosystem for profit. The Trump administration should veto their merger not just to protect competitors but to ensure human and planetary survival.
Two new studies from Europe have found that the number of farm birds in France has crashed by a third in just 15 years, with some species being almost eradicated. The collapse in the bird population mirrors the discovery last October that over three quarters of all flying insects in Germany have vanished in just three decades. Insects are the staple food source of birds, the pollinators of fruits, and the aerators of the soil.
The chief suspect in this mass extinction is the aggressive use of neonicotinoid pesticides, particularly imidacloprid and clothianidin, both made by German-based chemical giant Bayer. These pesticides, along with toxic glyphosate herbicides (Roundup), have delivered a one-two punch against Monarch butterflies, honeybees and birds. But rather than banning these toxic chemicals, on March 21st the EU approved the $66 billion merger of Bayer and Monsanto, the US agribusiness giant producing Roundup and the genetically modified (GMO) seeds that have reduced seed diversity globally. The merger will make the Bayer-Monsanto conglomerate the largest seed and pesticide company in the world, giving it enormous power to control farm practices, putting private profits over the public interest.
Companies kept up the hiring pace in March, adding 241,000 positions as employment in construction and manufacturing surged, according to a report Wednesday from ADP and Moody’s Analytics.
Economists surveyed by Reuters had been expecting the report to show that private payrolls had gained by 205,000.
This was the fifth straight month that the ADP/Moody’s count showed private payrolls up by at least 200,000, though March saw a slight decline from the upwardly revised 246,000 in February. On a year-over-year basis, March 2018 nearly doubled the 122,000 total from the previous year.
“The job market is rip-roaring,” Mark Zandi, Moody’s Analytics’ chief economist, said in a statement. “Monthly job growth remains firmly over 200,000, double the pace of labor force growth. The tight labor market continues to tighten.”
Job gains were broad-based, spread across both business size and sector.
A chemical weapon expert slammed claims from the UK that a ‘state actor’ must be behind the Salisbury poisoning.
Porton Down – the UK’s secretive defense laboratory – said an assessment of the nerve agent used on former double agent Sergei Skripal and daughter Yulia showed it must have been state-backed due to its complexity.
However, the mystery of what happened on March 4 grows deeper as Downing Street’s rush to blame Russia unravels. Sanctions – the toughest in 30 years – were slapped on Moscow in the incident’s aftermath. Now, as the investigation widens, it appears there is now credible doubt, despite Theresa May’s and Boris Johnson’s insistence of Russian ‘culpability.’
Scientists from Porton Down were unable to confirm that the nerve agent, identified by the UK as A-234 – also known as Novichok – was Russian-made. In an interview with Sky News, Porton Down’s chief executive, Gary Aitkenhead, said the testing team thought a state actor was “probably” behind the poisoning.
Experts from around the world, including James Tour, a synthetic organic chemist at Rice University in Houston, Texas, have slammed the claim.
The chemical warfare expert said Russia is not the only state with the information to make the substance, backing up claims by ex-British ambassador Craig Murray, who cited his own sources when claiming that more than a dozen states could know how to make Novichok.
Tour told RT: “It would be natural to pin the blame on Russia in that Russia has indeed made these as part of their weapons stockpiles. We are talking about a development that probably took place more than 30 years ago, and with the fall of the Soviet Union, the word has gotten out to many states as to how to make these things.”
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Tour also said ordinary chemists know about the deployment of chemical weapons.
He said: “Many states know about this to the point we are just chemists that talk together know about these types of things and I don’t work for a state system and I learned this just by talking with chemists from overseas – not Russian chemists either. There are chemists around the world that know this type of thing that have nothing to do with Russia.”
Moscow convenes an emergency meeting of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague, this week.
A British government spokesperson insisted that the Porton Down assessment was “only part of the intelligence picture, while Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Theresa May, among others, are accused of blaming Russia prematurely.
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The personal information of 87mn users was improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica, the social media giant has said, while also admitting that they “believe most people on Facebook” have had their data misused at some point.
Facebook’s powerful search engine allowed any users to search for accounts by typing an individual’s phone number or email to locate the required person. While convenient and efficient, the ‘Search and Account Recovery’ function likely also helped “malicious actors” gain access to the personal data of “most” of Facebook’s two billion users, the company has admitted. Unless the user changed their setting to block the built-in search function, they were vulnerable to potential misuse of their data.
“Given the scale and sophistication of the activity we’ve seen, we believe most people on Facebook could have had their public profile scraped in this way,” Mike Schroepfer, Chief Technology Officer at the company, revealed in a blog on Wednesday.
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“We’ve seen some scraping,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged on a call with reporters, following Schroepfer’s revelations.
Third parties could easily gain access to user information by mining for raw user data on the Dark Web and then feeding random phone numbers and email addresses into Facebook’s search engine. In return, Facebook algorithms produced accounts with full names of people affiliated with the phone numbers or email addresses used, Schroepfer explained in his post. In addition to utilizing the search function to their advantage, the culprits could also use Facebook’s recovery function, by impersonating legitimate users to retrieve forgotten account details.
“It is reasonable to expect… someone has accessed your information in this way,” Zuckerberg noted. “I would assume, if you had that setting turned on, that someone at some point has access to your public information in some way.”
To tackle the security loophole, Facebook notified the public that they have now “disabled” this feature and are also making changes to account recovery to reduce the risk of ‘scraping’ as well. “We built this feature, and it’s very useful. There were a lot of people using it up until we shut it down today,” Facebook’s CEO said.
The revelation comes amid the growing Cambridge Analytica scandal which broke last month. While initially it was assumed that the London-based data mining firm gained access to “only” 50 million accounts, for political targeting and psychological profiling, including during the 2016 US election campaign, on Wednesday Schroepfer revealed that Cambridge Analytica harvested data from 87 million people, including 71 million Americans.
“In total, we believe the Facebook information of up to 87 million people — mostly in the US — may have been improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica,” Schroepfer said, at a time when Facebook’s protection of private user data has come into question.
Facebook’s failure to properly shield its users has already forced thousands to terminate their social media accounts under the #DeleteFacebook campaign. As a result, Facebook’s stock has lost more than $100 billion in market value. Zuckerberg has since been called to answer questions before a British parliamentary select committee and to appear before a House panel in the US. The 33-year-old also apologized for the “breach of trust” and pledged to make changes in Facebook policy to prevent further data mishandling.
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At least 3 people are injured, after a shooting at the Youtube headquarters in San Bruno, California. According to police the female attacker has died of self-inflicted injuries. READ MORE:…
Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey was a watershed moment in filmmaking. The epic sci-fi story of extraterrestrials and higher planes of existence bridged the gap between studio pictures and art films, all because of the inimitable genius of its writer/director. Here are 12 facts about the sci-fi classic, on the 50th anniversary of its release.
1. THE BOOK AND THE MOVIE WERE DEVELOPED CONCURRENTLY.
2001: A Space Odyssey sprang from a February 1964 lunch between director Stanley Kubrick and Roger Caras, the publicist for Kubrick’s previous film Dr. Strangelove. Kubrick told Caras that for his next movie he wanted to do a movie about extraterrestrial life, which prompted Caras to suggest he get in touch with his friend, collaborator, and science fiction author, Arthur C. Clarke.
Caras introduced the two, with Clarke sending a telegram saying, “Frightfully interested in working with enfant terrible,” and soon the two were working on expanding Clarke’s short story “The Sentinel” into a movie treatment. Per Kubrick, “The novel came about after we did a 130-page prose treatment of the film at the very outset. This initial treatment was subsequently changed in the screenplay, and the screenplay in turn was altered during the making of the film. But Arthur took all the existing material, plus an impression of some of the rushes, and wrote the novel.”
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2. IT HAD A FEW ALTERNATE TITLES.
During development on the movie, Kubrick and Clarke humorously referred to their lofty project as “How the Solar System Was Won,” a play on the title of the 1962 western epic, How the West Was Won. It was never a serious title option, though in author Jerome Agel’s 1972…
We’re helping fight someone else’s war in Yemen — and the blood is on our hands.
Since March 2015, the United States has supported a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that’s intervening in a civil war in Yemen. The war has resulted in massive civilian casualties and the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.
The war has killed more than 10,000 Yemenis and wounded more than 40,000, the majority of them civilians. Over 3 million Yemenis are displaced, millions more have contracted cholera, and some 14 million are at risk right now of starving to death.
These aren’t empty statistics. They’re crimes, which we’re enabling.
American weapons — including American bombs — are helping to wage the war in Yemen. Saudi Arabia is a close U.S. ally in the Middle East, so many American lawmakers have turned a blind eye to American involvement in this humanitarian crisis of epic proportions.
“This war has created refugees, orphans, and widows,” said Senator Bernie Sanders as he took the Senate floor recently to call for an end to U.S. support for a war most Americans know nothing about.
Yemeni children endangered by fighting wait to get health care from a mobile clinic. (Photo: Julien Harneis / Flickr)
Sanders, an independent, and Senator Mike Lee, a Republican, recently co-authored a bipartisan resolution to pull the U.S. out of this three-year-old war. Unfortunately, that resolution failed in the Senate, despite significant support from outside organizations and in the House of Representatives.
Yemen’s fate hangs in the balance as the world watches heart-wrenching scenes of hospitals being bombed and stick-thin children crying because they’re hungry. There’s another major cholera outbreak, and medical officers lack enough supplies to treat people.
This isn’t the country Yemenis know and love. Yemenis and Yemeni Americans like Mokhtar Alkhanshali, a coffee merchant known the Monk of Mokha, have shared haunting stories of their lives in Yemen and the country they remember — and the war that’s taken so much from them.
We’ve been here before. The United States has given foreign allies supplies, funding, and weapons that have supported human rights atrocities around the world.
Most Americans can’t even point out Yemen on a map, but that hasn’t stopped us before. It’s not even our war, but that hasn’t stopped us before either.
We’re helping our allies in Saudi Arabia and the UAE create the most horrific humanitarian crisis on earth. And when innocent Yemenis flee, they face the prospect of being barred from the United States, where the Trump administration is still trying to enforce its travel ban against Yemen and other Muslim countries.
It’s time to end our participation in this carnage. The United States supplies a significant portion of the money, intelligence, weapons, and logistical support that fuels the Saudi-led bombing campaign. If we withdraw that support, we could potentially force our allies to abandon the war entirely.
As taxpayers, we’re complicit if we stay silent. Our lawmakers have the power to end this humanitarian crisis, and they must act before it’s too late.
The U.S. is stepping up a trade standoff with China. Washington has drawn up a list of 13-hundred Chinese products, that could be subjected to tariffs. Read more: https://on.rt.com/92h7…
Some US officials say President Donald Trump has been persuaded not to withdraw troops from Syria immediately, despite his recent announcement that the United States would “be coming out of Syria very soon.”
According to reports, top US Defense and State Department officials have adopted a totally different stance than that of Trump’s regarding the withdrawal of American troops from Syria, arguing that the US shall not leave the Arab country anytime soon as the “mission is not over.”
Trump’s advisers now have reportedly convinced him that an abrupt withdrawal from Syria could risk resurgence by the Daesh terrorist group
The White House said on Wednesday the US military mission in Syria would come to a “rapid end,” but refused to provide a timetable for a complete troop withdrawal.
The White House statement said Daesh was almost completely decimated, and that Washington would consult its allies about the American withdrawal.
While speaking to reporters on Tuesday, President Trump stated that until there is “a wall and proper security, we’re going to be guarding our border with the military.”
Trump said, “I’ve been speaking with General Mattis. We’re going to be doing things militarily. Until we can have a wall and proper security, we’re going to be guarding our border with the military. That’s a big step. We really haven’t done that before, or certainly not very much before. But we will be doing things with Mexico, and they have to do it, otherwise, I’m not going to do the NAFTA deal.”
The UK Foreign Office denies its own on-the-record claims after being undermined by government scientists. The media is ignoring reports which could help avoid a major confrontation with Russia. Welcome to post-Skripal Britain.
When Jeremy Corbyn called for more evidence to be provided about Russia’s alleged role in the poisoning of the Skripals, the howls from Parliament and much of the media were deafening. When the laboratory in charge of investigating where the nerve agent used in Salisbury came from said it couldn’t actually back up claims it was from Russia, it was the silence that was deafening.
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For some reason that’s unlikely to be reflected on, the mainstream in Britain is desperate for Russia to be found guilty. There may have been a time when avoiding confrontation with another major nation would have been the desired outcome, but that time isn’t now.
The BBC’s flagship news show Newsnight has absolutely led the way in the coverage of the Salisbury poisoning, giving any professional Russophobe that was available a comfy seat and access to camera to unload their theories. If they were lucky, they were given the chance to do it against the backdrop of a hat-wearing Jeremy Corbyn photoshopped next to the Kremlin.
So news from Porton Down that scientists could not actually confirm that the Novichok agent was from Russia would surely be the lead story. Erm… no. In fact, the story didn’t even make it anywhere into Tuesday night’s program. Newsnight did find room for a report on the rise of Ukraine’s far-right groups, four years after Moscow warned of the same, so perhaps just check back in 2022 for news from Salisbury.
Never forget, the BBC sees itself like a falling tree in the woods. If the BBC doesn’t report it, does it really happen? The story did sneak into the sidebar of the BBC’s website at least, but you’d have to squint to see it. The question should be asked, if Porton Down had announced that the Novichok definitely came from Russia, would the story have been more prominent? (Let your writer just answer that question, yes, yes it would.)
One of the reasons this admission from Porton Down is so controversial is because it undermined much of the argument made by the British government to rush to judgement. Anyone who argues that Theresa May was not insinuating that British scientists had provided the proof needed to accuse Russia is being disingenuous at best.
There is, however, no need to explore insinuations when Boris Johnson is the foreign secretary because he’ll serve it up on a plate for you with a lovely garnish. He told Germany’s Deutsche Welle, categorically, that a scientist at Porton Down had told him the nerve agent had definitely, unequivocally come from Russia.
Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott has had a security briefing on the evidence, and on Wednesday said: “Boris Johnson going on international media and saying he was 101 percent certain it was Putin. I don’t understand where he got that information from.” I think we all understand by now where Johnson gets his information from, he picks it out of his….
Sky News was the organization which got the exclusive interview with Porton Down’s chief executive, Gary Aitkenhead. A keen-eyed tweeter spotted that the Sky report at 8pm included the apparently misleading interview from Johnson, but that it had been removed by 10pm.
Hi @pkelso good story on Sky today but can you explain why at 8pm your report included Boris Johnson saying Porton Down said there was “no doubt” the source of the nerve agent was Russia, but by 10pm that part of your report had been removed? Thanks.
The journalist responsible for the report said it had been removed because of the developing nature of the story. Apparently the story had developed beyond the point where a foreign secretary possibly misleading his country into a dangerous diplomatic stand-off with Russia by misrepresenting the available evidence was important. In defense of Sky, it has now taken up the story and is running with it.
No need to worry though, because this is not the kind of story Britain’s famously independent and rabid-for-the-truth newspapers will allow to go unreported. Boris has been absolutely torn to pieces by exactly none of the mainstream press. Normally the foreign secretary only has to get out of bed to make the front pages, this time not even potentially misleading the nation is enough.
The hardest job in the Foreign Office is Boris’s translator, who is sent into battle after his mouth has run away from him. The translator’s first sentence normally begins with, “What Boris meant to say….“
Now though it’s clear that the UK Foreign Office tweeted similar claims to those made by Johnson, before deleting the post. The British ambassador in Moscow also accused Russia directly, against the evidence. Still, nothing to see here, move along, move along.
The usual suspects of the Twitterati have a new argument to confirm their bias over what they think actually happened in Salisbury. It goes along the lines of, “it’s not the scientists’ job to decide where the nerve agent came from.”
That’s a fair point to make, but the British government has made an extremely serious accusation against another state, so someone has taken on the job of deciding where it came from. Until Tuesday, most of us assumed, with some gentle nudging in that direction, that it was the scientists that had provided the information to make the claim against Moscow.
The best example I’ve found of the current climate comes from this tweet below – sorry to pick on Dan Hodges, who is used simply as an illustration.
This is what happens in the Fake News age. A video of Boris Johnson on German TV is being broadcast. It supposedly shows him claiming Porton Down said the attack was from Russia. It doesn’t. But no-one cares.
Three busses believed to be carrying the first group of expelled American diplomats have left the US Embassy in Moscow on the deadline day, early Thursday morning.
Busses and minibuses began transporting US foreign service representatives and their families to the airport at 6:30am local time, ahead of Thursday’s deadline that Moscow set for 60 American diplomats to leave the country.
Russia announced the expulsion of US diplomats and the closure of the US Consulate in St. Petersburg in late March, as a mirror response to the mass expulsion of Russian diplomats initiated by the UK and US in alleged “retaliation” to the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Britain.
Among the US diplomats being expelled, 58 are from the US Embassy in Moscow, and two officials from the General Consulate in Ekaterinburg. The diplomats will have until April 5 to leave Russia. The US General Consulate in St. Petersburg was shut down on March 31.
Welcome to brand new Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, which will see some serious action during the World Cup. But what is this city all about? Legendary Danish goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel is about…
Fifty years ago, on April 4, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. Since then, the human rights activist’s name has become synonymous with the civil rights movement of the 1960s.
Dr. King was only 24 years old when he led the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott—a major event in the history of African American Civil Rights Movement.
Only two years later in 1957, he became the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), which he helped found the same year.
As the leader of SCLC, Dr. King formed a large desegregation coalition in Albany, Georgia in 1962, and fought for equal rights.
The movement, however, was unsuccessful as it was met with a strong opposition within city officials. But King was never discouraged by the “limited success,” as he himself called it.
In 1963, he helped organize the nonviolent protests in Birmingham, Alabama, and then proceeded to arrange the March on Washington the same…
Israel last month admitted that it was responsible for bombing a building in Syria in 2007 that it says was a nuclear reactor under construction but there are strong doubts about what the building was for, argues Ted Snider.
By Ted Snider
In September 2007, in the dark of night, warplanes crossed the Syrian border and bombed a covert nuclear reactor. Recently, Israel took responsibility for the bombing mission that obliterated the Syrian reactor.
The Israeli announcement was unnecessary if it was intended to be an admission of responsibility. The origin of the bombers had never been a mystery. As early as 2008, investigative journalist Seymour Hersh began a report on the bombing with the line “Sometime after midnight on September 6, 2007, at least four low-flying Israeli Air Force fighters crossed into Syrian airspace and carried out a secret bombing mission.” Even the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) report on the bombing said that the building had been “destroyed by Israel in September 2007.”
That the nuclear reactor was bombed by Israeli planes is clear. That the building the Israeli planes bombed was a nuclear reactor is far less clear.
The Nontechnical Questions
If Syria was building a nuclear weapons program, they were doing it entirely without the knowledge of the CIA. CIA Director Michael Hayden told President Bush that the CIA knew nothing about the Syrian reactor. That the CIA missed a secret nuclear program is not impossible to believe or even entirely unprecedented. What is more unbelievable is that they missed it when it was right out in the open. The Syrians made no attempt to conceal their biggest secret. The highly sophisticated U.S. satellites missed what a commercial satellite easily picked up.
It is hard to make sense of that. In fact, it is hard to make sense of a lot of nontechnical features of the Israeli story. Even to the layman with no technical knowledge of enrichment or nuclear reactors, a number of features made no sense. Hersh picked up on these nontechnical anomalies in his early investigative report of the strike, “A Strike in the Dark.” A former State Department intelligence expert told Hersh…
Boris Johnson put his post in jeopardy after apparently lying about Russia being proven as the source of a nerve agent used in the Skripals’ poisoning – READ MORE: https://on.rt.com/92gz…
Since the moment Donald Trump was elected president of the United States, he’s been met with a resistance, including people working within the government to undermine its leader.
Polling shows that an overwhelming majority of Americans believe that a Deep State exists, and that “it’s secretly manipulating or directing national policy.”
Who are these people? Don’t they work for the president? And how is that they feel so invulnerable that they can actively seek to undermine him?
“These are career individuals who essentially have learned how to use the tools of state for their own personal political objectives,” says Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer, a former Army officer with decades of intelligence experience.
“The concept of the Deep State refers, in the popular imagination,” says award-winning investigative journalist James Rosen, “to a group of unelected officials who work within the intelligence community and have the power to frustrate or subvert a sitting president of the United States. Maybe even to evict one.”
“A lot of these people cannot be fired, and they consistently leak damaging information about” President Trump, says Saagar Enjeti, White House correspondent for The Daily Caller.
A d v e r t i s e m e n t
Watch as The Daily Caller presents an exclusive investigation into the existence and power of the Deep State.
This article was posted: Wednesday, April 4, 2018 at 9:26 am
The Labour party is calling on Boris Johnson to answer some “very serious questions” after it emerged that scientists have not been able to identify the origin of the Novichok nerve agent.
The foreign secretary previously claimed in an interview to German TV station, Deutsche Welle, that he had been told in “categorical” terms by Porton Down scientists that there was “no doubt” Russia was the source of the nerve agent used in the Salisbury poisoning of the Skripals.
Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn says Johnson now needs to answer some questions. “Where does that leave the Foreign Secretary? Egg on his face for the statement he made on German television.”
“Boris Johnson seems to have completely exceeded the information that he had been given and told the world in categorical terms what he believed had happened and its not backed up by the evidence he claimed to have got from Porton Down in the first place. Boris Johnson needs to answer some questions,” Corbyn told Sky News.
Corbyn also criticized the Foreign Office for issuing a tweet reiterating Johnson’s statement following the interview and then deleting it, Tuesday, following the announcement from Porton Down. Shadow home secretary, Diane Abbott also highlighted the decision by the Foreign Office to delete the tweet.
FCO tweet deleted. Porton Down do not say ‘produced in Russia’. Assume Foreign Secretary wishes his interview with same claims could also be deleted. https://t.co/lDioScLzz8
Meanwhile the Foreign Office is standing by its assessment that Russia is responsible for the attack. In a tweet Tuesday it said “it is not and has never been our responsibility to confirm the source of the agent.”
The Government’s assessment has been clear from the start. Our chemical analysis is a key part of the Government’s assessment, and this has not changed @skynews@UKmoments
Abbott accused the Foreign Office of misleading the public about the Porton Down novichok evidence in a statement. “It seems Boris Johnson misled the public when he claimed that Porton Down officials confirmed to him that Russia was the source of the nerve agent used in the Salisbury attack.
Those officials have made it clear they cannot identify its source, and are not able to definitively say it came from Russia or elsewhere.”
Abbot added that Johnson’s actions once again show he is unable to responsibly represent Britain on the world stage.
Shadow education secretary, Angela Rayner also called on Johnson to answer “some very serious questions,” adding “the usual bluff bluster” will not do.
What a complete mess this is, Boris Johnson and the Foreign Office have some very serious questions to answer, dismissive waving of hands and the usual bluff bluster will not do, this is an extremely serious situation… https://t.co/8hUCMCgE5S
Corbyn was attacked by the Tories and some of his own MPs for his apparent ‘weak’ response to alleged Russian aggression. Several Labour MPs condemned Corbyn’s position and accepted Theresa May’s assessment of Russian culpability.
The Labour leader took a more cautious approach to the Skripal poisoning calling for the utilisation of proper channels of international law before attributing blame.
A US Air Force F-16 jet has crashed at the Nellis Air Force Base outside of Las Vegas, during routine training on the Nevada Test and Training Range, officials said Wednesday. The pilot’s condition is unknown.
The incident occurred at 10:30am local time (17:30 GMT) on Wednesday.
Nellis Air Force Base is home to the US Air Force Warfare Center, which claims to be the largest air combat training center in the world.
Last April, a F-16 crashed several miles outside Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. The pilot managed to escape to safety using a parachute.
An Air Force investigation found the crash was caused by an improperly assembled engine.
F-16s jets cost around $22 million each. They were developed and built by General Dynamics. Current production is managed by Lockheed Martin.
This is the third crash of a US military aircraft just this week. On Tuesday, four crew members died when a Marine Corps CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter crashed during a routine training mission in California along the US-Mexico border. A Marine Corps Harrier jet also crashed in Djibouti. Its pilot ejected and has been reported in stable condition.
Legendary Danish goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel explores Nizhny Novgorod – one of the 2018 World Cup host cities. Check out http://rt.com RT LIVE http://rt.com/on-air Subscribe to RT! http://www….
Mexican lawmakers have called on President Enrique Pena Nieto to halt cooperation with the United States.
The Mexican government should suspend joint efforts “in the fight against transnational organized crime” until Trump exhibits “civility and respect that the people of Mexico deserve,” the senators said in a non-binding statement approved on Wednesday.
They further slammed the “baseless and offensive comments about Mexico and Mexicans,” according to the Associated Press.
They also dismissed stated efforts by the US president to protect the border “militarily.”
The lawmakers urged their American counterparts in US Congress to make Trump deal with Mexico “on the basis of respect and collaboration.”
President Trump said earlier in the day that he was deploying National Guard troops on the US-Mexico border.
Roughly 100 guards have already been deployed in the state of Texas and more are reportedly set to be dispatched.
I don’t mind saying that this column represents a grossly understated review of “Discrimination and Disparities,” just published by my longtime friend and colleague Dr. Thomas Sowell. In less than 200 pages, Sowell lays waste to myth after myth not only in the United States but around the globe.
One of those myths is that but for the fact of discrimination, we’d all be proportionately represented in socio-economic characteristics, such as career, income, education and incarceration. The fact of business is that there is no evidence anywhere on earth, at any time in human history, that demonstrates that but for discrimination, there would be proportionate representation in anything by race, sex, nationality or any other human characteristic. Sowell shows that socio-economic outcomes differ vastly among individuals, groups and nations in ways that cannot be explained by any one factor, whether it’s genetics, discrimination or some kind of exploitation.
A study of National Merit Scholarship finalists shows that firstborns are finalists more often than their multiple siblings combined. Data from the U.S., Germany and Britain show that the average IQ of firstborns is higher than the average IQ of their later siblings. Such outcomes challenge those who believe that heredity or one’s environment is the dominant factor in one’s academic performance. Moreover, the finding shows that if there is not equality among people born to the same parents and living under the same roof, why should equality of outcomes be expected under other conditions?
Discrimination and Dis… Thomas Sowell Best Price: $20.04 Buy New $17.63 (as of 06:40 EDT – Details)
In Chapter 2, Sowell provides evidence that people won’t take racial discrimination at…
Perhaps history’s most influential civil rights activist struggled for years to achieve racial equality. Today, 50 years since his death, that struggle continues. FULL STORY: https://www.rt.com/usa…
German state prosecutor calls for extradition of former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont
By
Ulrich Rippert
4 April 2018
The state prosecutor in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein has applied for detention pending extradition for former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont. The prosecutor deemed Spain’s extradition request to be valid and added that Puigdemont posed a flight risk.
A “careful review” of the European arrest warrant issued by the Spanish judiciary resulted in the finding that a valid extradition request has been presented, declared the prosecutor’s office. An “orderly extradition procedure” is to be expected, it continued.
The Schleswig-Holstein state prosecutor argued that the accusation of rebellion levelled against Puigdemont by the Spanish judiciary contains “in essence the accusation of carrying out the referendum on Catalan independence from Spain, which was illegal under the constitution, even though violent clashes were to be expected.” The accusation of rebellion finds its counterpart in Germany in sections 81 and 82 of the Criminal Code (high treason), the prosecutor’s office continued. A word-for-word correspondence between the German and Spanish provisions is not legally required, it added.
With this decision, the state prosecutor in Schleswig-Holstein is giving its backing to the Spanish government and adopting Madrid’s arguments. The District Court of Appeals in Schleswig must now determine whether Puigdemont’s transfer to Spain is permissible. The court has 60 days to issue a ruling. However, it is anticipated that the decision will be reached in a few days.
If the court follows the argumentation of the state prosecutor and rules Puigdemont’s extradition to be permissible, the final political decision will be in the…
With the appointments of Mike Pompeo as secretary of state and John Bolton as national security adviser, Donald Trump has signaled his preparedness by the May 12deadline to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal and ramp up pressure on North Korea if it refuses to denuclearize. The two moves would have interactive consequences: casting aside the Iran nuclear deal is likely to be read in Pyongyang as indicating that the US cannot be trusted to keep its commitments. It might also be read as a signal that should nuclear talks with Trump fail, a US attack on North Korea’s missile and nuclear sites could be in the offing.
The always precarious state of US relations with Iran, and with the Middle East as a whole, will be blown apart should Trump nix the nuclear deal. Iran is likely to immediately resume production of nuclear-weapon grade materials. US relations with its European allies will be deeply unsettled, another bitter pill will be added to relations with Russia and China (both of which endorsed the nuclear deal), the Israeli far right will be emboldened to join in pressuring (and perhaps attacking) Iran, and the Saudis and others will be encouraged to produce their own nuclear weapons.
Most important of all, ending US participation in the nuclear agreement will bring it closer to war with Iran. In John Bolton we already have a top official who is on record as favoring…
Example of How Liberal-Left Alternative Media Becomes a Conveyor Belt for US Regime Change Propaganda
As has become a standard operating procedure, an array of Western environmental NGOs, advocates of indigenous rights and liberal-left alternative media cover up the US role in attempts to overturn the anti-imperialist and anti-neoliberal governments of Rafael Correa in Ecuador and Evo Morales in Bolivia.
This NACLA article is a recent excellent example of many. Bolivia’s TIPNIS (Territorio Indígena y Parque Nacional Isiboro Secure) dispute arose over the Evo Morales government’s project to complete a road through the park, opposed by some indigenous and environmental groups.
As is NACLA modus operandi, the article says not one word about US and right-wing funding and coordination with the indigenous and environmental groups behind the TIPNIS anti-highway protests. (This does not delegitimize the protests, but it does deliberately mislead people about the issues involved).
In doing so, these kinds of articles cover up US interventionist regime change plans, be that their intention or not.
NACLA is not alone in what is in fact apologetics for US interventionism. Include the Guardian, UpsideDownWorld, Amazon Watch, so-called “Marxist” Jeffery Webber (and here), Jacobin, ROAR, Intercontinentalcry, Avaaz, In These Times, in a short list of examples. We can add to this simply by picking up any articles about the protests in Bolivia’s TIPNIS (or oil drilling…
Hillary Clinton revealed she believes things are only to get worse in the US while Donald Trump remains president.
Clinton, who was speaking at women’s club The Wing in Manhattan, urged her audience to vote in the midterms because ‘I don’t think we’ve seen the bottom yet’.
‘You can march from now until doomsday, but if you don’t elect people who agree with you nothing will change,’ she said on Tuesday night.
A huge line of women formed around the block to watch Clinton, who was still wearing a cast after breaking her wrist in India, speak at the women-only social club.
Clinton gave a wide-ranging talk to the crowd that discussed everything from Putin and Pizzagate to being ‘vilified’ by the president.
‘When you’ve been accused of everything like I have and you realize people actually believe it, it’s really depressing,’ she said.
‘I don’t want anyone to go through that. To be lied about and vilified is damaging to our body politic,’ Clinton added as she touched on Trump’s ‘lock her up’ chants.
A d v e r t i s e m e n t
‘Trump still yells lock her up. Does he think I’m president? Someone also needs to tell Fox News they can’t impeach me, it doesn’t work that way with a private citizen.’
Clinton told the crowd that it was ‘very hard’ to watch Trump be president, but that she realized it couldn’t be ‘paralyzing’.
Anti-Semitism has been weaponized to attack Jeremy Corbyn, according to Israeli-British historian Ilan Pappé. Speaking to RT, the University of Exeter professor said Corbyn is being attacked due to his Palestinian sympathies.
In an exclusive interview with RT’s London Bureau, the expatriate Israeli historian and socialist activist “totally [rejects]” allegations of anti-Semitism hurled against Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Pappé, a lifelong political activist, warned that those who are using anti-Semitism to attack Corbyn and the Jewish people around him are at risk of endangering Jews further.
“It will further ignite anti-Semitic accusations of double loyalty and will create a gulf between the universal struggle for human rights and against racism and a community that until now was identified with such causes,” he said.
The Israeli academic did say that anti-Semitism is a problem on both sides of the political spectrum… not only for the Jewish but marginalized ethnicities as well.
“There is more anti-Semitism in the right than in the Left in Britain and in Europe in general. There, anti-Semites everywhere – but all in all, the Jewish community in Britain is as prosperous and safe as it had never been before.
“It is other communities like Muslims and Polish immigrants who far more exposed to xenophobia and racism.”
The University of Exeter professor went on to refute claims that Corbyn is an anti-Semite, saying: “I have been involved with him in the past in some political activism and ever since I follow closely his political career and I could not find a shred of evidence for his anti-Semitism,” Pappé said. “He was, and is, very critical on Israel’s policies, as are many Jews including myself.”
Pappé, who is a consistent collaborator with linguist Noam Chomsky, added that accusations of anti-Semitism have been weaponized to attack Corbyn due to his sympathy to the Palestinian cause.
“The Labour party, like the Conservative party, were bastions of pro-Zionist and pro-Israeli policies for years,” he said. “It was very alarming for Israel and its lobby in the UK when this party elected as a leader someone who sympathizes with the Palestinian struggle for peace and justice.
“It is the first senior politician in western Europe to hold such views and Israel is afraid of a precedent and will do all it can to bring him down.”
Corbyn has faced an onslaught of attacks by some Jewish groups and members of his own party, accusing him of being sympathetic to anti-Semites. Last Monday, protests against the Labour leader over the issue took place in Parliament Square. One week later, Corbyn attended Passover with Jewdas, a left-wing Jewish group within his constituency, and was slammed again for taking up with ‘far-left’ Jews.
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Instead of focusing on the atrocities between the two warring peoples, the British media have instead focused on whether or not Jeremy Corbyn is hanging out with the right sort of Jew – a distraction, Pappé says, from recent actions in Gaza.
“I think the recent attacks, including the demonstration in front of the Parliament was meant to stifle the debate on Gaza,” the academic said. “So yes this will continue – the attempt to distract the public opinion attention from Gaza, where the carnage has just begun, but inventing or blowing out of proportion cases of anti-Semitism.”
Over the weekend, 17 Palestinians were killed and hundreds were wounded by Israeli forces in Gaza, according to Palestinian medics, as protesters kicked off a planned six-week demonstration demanding the right of return for Palestinian refugees.
According to Israel’s military, 17,000 Palestinians were “rioting” in six locations in the Gaza strip on Friday. The military reported that protesters were rolling burning tires at the security fence and soldiers, which it said responded “with riot dispersal means and firing towards main instigators.”
At least 500 Palestinians were injured by a mixture of live ammunition, rubber-coated steel pellets, or teargas from Israeli forces along the fence, according to reports by the Palestinian Health Ministry.
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April 4 marks the 50th anniversary of the day Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated.
Just after 6 p.m. on April 4, 1968, King was fatally shot while standing on the balcony outside his second-story room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee.
American history rightly honors King as one of its most celebrated civil rights leaders. Growing up, I remember learning about his famous “I Have A Dream” speech. In school, my teachers always highlighted him as a peaceful, non-violent protester against segregation, and a preacher who promoted messages of love and justice for all.
He was all those things. But that’s only one part of King’s legacy.
King was actually very radical about his vision of change for America. He didn’t just criticize segregation — he recognized the need for deep, structural changes to our entire economic and political system.
King identified three evils plaguing western civilization in a speech at the National Conference on New Politics in 1967. The United States, King said, is suffering from “the sickness of racism, excessive materialism, and militarism” — a sickness that “has been lurking within our body politic from its very beginning.”
Penn State Special Collections Library/Flickr
“We have diluted ourselves into believing into believing the myth that capitalism grew and prospered out of the Protestant ethic of hard work and sacrifice,” King observed. But “the fact is capitalism was built on the exploitation and suffering of black slaves and continues to thrive on the exploitation of the poor — both black and white, both here and abroad.”
King foreshadowed that if we maintain our exploitive economic and political systems, then we’d get not only racial apartheid, but economic apartheid as well.
He was right. Nearly 51 years after that speech, we’re still heading in that direction.
A recent report from the Institute for Policy Studies found that just three people — Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and Warren Buffet — own more wealth than the bottom half of the country combined. “The Forbes 400 list altogether own $2.68 trillion in wealth, more than the GDP of Britain, the world’s fifth richest country,” the report notes.
On the other end of the spectrum, one in five Americans have zero or negative wealth. The proportion grows larger when we break it down by race, rising to 30 percent of black families and 27 percent of Latino families.
As much as we cite the vision that MLK laid out for America, decades later we’ve not moved in the right direction. Within the past year alone, we’ve seen GOP tax cuts siphon wealth from middle and working class Americans to the ultra-wealthy and big corporations.
And we’ve seen a proposed federal budget that increases military spending to a historic 61 percent of discretionary spending in 2019. Housing and community programs would receive a 35 percent cut, according to the National Priorities Project.
It’s all there: racism, materialism, and militarism.
King called for a “radical redistribution of political and economic power” in order to end those three evils. Now is the time for this necessary radical change. We must channel MLK’s revolutionary spirit into an effort to reshape America’s values to ensure justice for all — “both black and white, both here and abroad.”
Documents released by the State Department under a FOIA lawsuit show that almost $9 million in US taxpayer dollars was spent on a campaign in Albania managed by a group run by billionaire George Soros.
The US Agency for International Development (USAID) funneled funds into a “Justice for All” campaign to reform the courts in Albania in 2016, which was run by Soros’s “East West Management Institute,” according to the conservative watchdog Judicial Watch. The group obtained 32 pages of State Department documents through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit.
“The Obama administration quietly spent at least $9 million in US taxpayers’ dollars in direct collusion with left-wing billionaire George Soros’ backing of a socialist government in Albania,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a statement.
Soros is a billionaire and “shouldn’t be receiving taxpayer support to advance his radical left agenda to undermine freedom here at home and abroad,” Fitton added.
The Obama admin spent at least $9 million in tax dollars in direct collusion with left-wing billionaire George Soros to back socialist gov in Albania. Outrageous that State allowed the Soros operation to help direct taxpayer funds to other groups,https://t.co/f1rc1ADKEX
Following the report’s publication, a USAID official told Fox News that the agency did not provide grants to the Open Society Foundation (OSF) in Albania.
Documents published by Judicial Watch show that this is technically true. Instead, the US Embassy in Tirana and Soros’s Open Society Foundation “each provided funding to a local organization to conduct a public opinion poll on attitudes towards the Judicial Reform effort,” according to a document from February 2017.
The first poll, mentioned in an April 2016 memo, had the OSF ask Albanians about their “knowledge, support, and expectations on justice reform.” The OSF survey showed that 91 percent of respondents support judicial reform to some degree.
“For decades, there has been broad bipartisan agreement in Washington, DC, on the need to promote democracy and human rights abroad,” a spokesperson for OSF told Fox News in a statement, adding, “Of late there has been an unfortunate and misguided effort to politicize this process.”
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Fitton and Judicial Watch were especially critical of US Ambassador to Albania Donald Lu, a holdover from the Obama administration whom they accuse of having inappropriately close ties to Soros. The embassy in Tirana, they point out, frequently asks representatives of Soros’s Open Society Foundation to “participate in technical reviews” of applications for funding the USAID receives, according to a February 2017 memo.
Judicial Watch accuses Lu of interfering in Albanian politics by backing the country’s socialist government at the expense of the opposition. In May 2017, the group said, Lu declared that the US would recognize the results of the Albanian general election even if the opposition refused to participate.
In March 2017, five Republican senators wrote to then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, asking about the reports that US taxpayer funds were spent on interfering in internal politics of countries like Albania, as well as neighboring Macedonia.
“This includes reports of diplomats playing political favorites, USAID funds supporting extreme and sometimes violent political activists, and the US government working to marginalize the moderates and conservatives in leadership roles,” Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) said at the time, adding that “this behavior is unacceptable and must be halted immediately.”
Judicial Watch has also made FOIA requests about the activities of Soros groups in Macedonia, Romania and Colombia.
Last month, the political establishment in Washington was up in arms over the Trump administration’s proposal to cut the budget for “democracy promotion” activities abroad, specifically funding for the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and its partisan adjuncts, the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the International Republican Institute (IRI).
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Words have consequences and threating actions can be very dangerous. This is the atmosphere engulfing the West’s relations with Russia. The poisoning incident in the UK has yet to be explained…
British scientists admit they are unable to identify the source of the nerve agent used to poison a former spy and his daughter in the UK. The British government swiftly moved to defend its…
Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin has been fined by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) for failing to report in a timely and accurate fashion $116,898 in independent expenditures spent in support of Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Russ Feingold during the 2016 elections, according to a settlement released by the commission.
Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin’s failures to disclose its expenditures were discovered after discrepancies were found in the group’s October 2016 quarterly report. The group had marked $133,305.04 worth of independent expenditures on that report, which covered its finances from July 1 to September 30, 2016. However, $116,898.08 of the $133,305.04 worth of expenditures the group showed in the filing was never submitted in any previous 48-hour reports, a requirement for money put towards independent expenditures.
The independent expenditures consisted of $58,449.04 Planned Parenthood Wisconsin in support of Hillary Clinton and an additional $58,449.04 disbursed on the same day in support of former Sen. Feingold (D.), who failed to recapture the Senate seat from Sen. Ron Johnson (R.).
Planned Parenthood made the expenditure on Aug. 31, 2016, but did not publicly disclose the funds in support of the candidates until it had submitted its October quarterly report to the FEC on Oct. 11—almost two months after they were required to do so.
The UK is exploiting European solidarity and behaving like a ‘mafia state’ by pushing forward warmongering accusations and excluding Russia from the Skripal poisoning probe, the former vice-president of OSCE assembly told RT.
Britain’s behavior in the Skripal poisoning scandal is “a major danger to international peace,” believes Willy Wimmer, who held the vp position with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) assembly from 1994 to 2000, and who had previously served as state secretary to Germany’s defense minister.
“I think we would call this state a mafia state because it is against all European and international rules and regulations how the British government has behaved in a criminal case with regard to another country,” Wimmer told RT.
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The UK has a history of pressing forward warmongering rhetoric, Wimmer said, recalling Britain’s decision to go to war in Iraq. “We, as Europeans, have an experience with the British. We only have to look back to Tony Blair. They lie from one war into the next one.” The long awaited Chilcot report, published in 2016, offered a damning critique of Blair, stating that he deliberately exaggerated the threat posed by the Iraqi regime and had relied on “flawed” intelligence.
“And that is why I think as long as the British don’t behave in a proper, legal, international way, I think we all should believe that this is another British lie, at least to go for war against Russia,” Wimmer added.
The former OSCE assembly vice-president said the EU’s position of standing in solidarity with the UK was standard allied behavior but warned the bloc might think twice before doing so again in the future.
“If a country asks for solidarity and for support, it is given by the others because otherwise you can’t run certain organizations like EU or NATO. What the British are doing – the government of Theresa May is exploiting this will of solidarity, which is a basic foundation of the European Union and NATO.”
“This is a blow to the European solidarity and this is a blow to the European Union as well as NATO. They will never do it again.”
The European Union previously rushed to stand by UK’s ‘belief’ that Moscow was ‘likely’ behind the Salisbury attack on March 4, despite the failure by experts at the British chemical weapons laboratory at Porton Down to link the samples of the nerve agent to Russia.
Three people were shot when Nasim Najafi Aghdam opened fire at Youtube’s HQ in California. Her videos offer a startling insight into the vegan bodybuilder’s inner world.
The 39-year-old from San Diego also went by the name of Nasime Sabz, which means “Green Breeze” in Persian. She also harbored a grudge against the video-sharing platform. On her website, which has since gone offline, she accuses YouTube of “filtering my videos to reduce views & suppress & discaurage [sic] me from making videos.”
Aghdam, who was of Persian origin, had at least four YouTube channels in English, Farsi and Turkish. All of her channels on social networks have now been suspended. However this has not stopped social media users sharing her videos, which have raised more than a few eyebrows.
“Make the lie big, Make it simple, Keep saying it, And eventually they will believe it,” says one quote posted on Aghdam’s website, which she attributes to Adolf Hitler.
She was also a determined vegan activist, who once filmed a zany music video featuring her pet rabbit to promote veganism.
On her website, Aghdam also takes aim at an unnamed force in US society which she accuses of “manipulating science,” promoting “sexual degeneration in the name of freedom….. & turning people into programmed robots.”
Three people were wounded after Aghdam opened fire at YouTube’s campus in San Bruno, California on Tuesday. She took her own life at the scene, police said.
Aghdam was “upset with the policies and practices of YouTube,” San Bruno police chief Ed Barberini said at a press conference on Wednesday. “This appears to be the motive for this incident.”
The identities of the wounded have not been made public.
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Diego, Mukha, and Vitaly visit Ekaterinburg, the ‘Gateway to Siberia’. First stop is an interactive railway museum, where they try their hands at train driving. The next day, Diego goes…
The U.S. and its allies have been successful in hiding the basis on which Russian diplomats were expelled from their countries — expelled on still-undocumented accusations that Russia’s Government was behind the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury England on March 4th. On Wednesday April 4th, the Executive Council of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said no to Russia’s proposal for an OPCW investigation into the source of the toxin that was used in the attack. 14 of the 41 OPCW countries endorsed an investigtion; 9 abstained; 17 opposed; 1 absented.
German Radio headlined “EU stands behind Russian culpability in Skripal poisoning: The European Union has maintained that Russia is probably responsible for the Novichok nerve agent attack. This comes despite the UK’s inability to pinpoint the source of the chemical.”
The issue decided by the vote is that the expulsions of Russia’s representatives to U.S.-allied countries must stand on the basis merely of the UK Government’s allegations of Russia’s guilt, without any evidence being provided to back them up.
Essentially, what was at stake in this vote is whether the public, in each of these countries, should believe Russia’s guilt without being provided any evidence that Russia is guilty. This decision by the OPCW Executive Council is yes to that.
This means that any wars that might start or increase on account of those allegations are to be considered ‘justified’ by the residents in at least the U.S.-allied nations, because those nations’ Governments say so, and because they have the power to block an OPCW examination of whatever evidence that exists regarding this matter.
Similarly, on 20 March 2003, the U.S. and a few allies invaded and destroyed Iraq on the basis of secret ‘evidence’, which the public, in these ‘democracies’, was never permitted to see, but which ‘evidence’ now is known to have been concocted.
Many instances exist in which wars have begun on the basis of attacks that were done by the Nazis, or by the U.S., or by other fascist governments, and set up in advance so as to be falsely blamed against the Government that is to be invaded: the phrase that is commonly applied to such instances is “false-flag” events. This is what is done in order to have an ‘excuse’ for invading. Of course, the expulsion of diplomats is not an invasion, but it is commonly done in preparation for one. Usually, economic sanctions precede it; then come the expulsions; then, and perhaps months or even years later, the armed invasion.
Each citizen in these countries will therefore have to make his or her own decision as regards whether or not that person’s Government is authentically a democracy, going to wars as democracies, or actually a dictatorship, which invades foreign countries on the basis of outright lies — deception of the invading country’s own public, essentially warring against its own public and not only against the invaded country. It has happened many times before; it could happen again. But this time, the targeted country would be Russia, not Iraq or another such weak nation. The implications of this could be staggering.
For the very latest and thoroughly honest information on these developing events, information that’s as reliable as possible and that’s as devoid of speculation as possible, I recommend: https://www.craigmurray.org.uk.
Seeking the truth ought to be our prime directive in our quest for knowledge, understanding, and hopefully wisdom. What Dr. Ryan T. Anderson offers to us in this impeccably researched volume is a clear-eyed search for truth and the fruit of that labor in prose that strikes the right balance of precision and readability for a wide audience.
Transgender Ideology and its powerful ally of Identity Politics seems to have become a fierce intellectual contagion wreaking havoc on its would be opponents.
If you want to begin to make sense of what’s happening, get the context of, and prepare for the struggle that is quickly engulfing our culture, then read this book.
When Harry Became Sall… Ryan T. Anderson Best Price: $20.03 Buy New $18.85 (as of 09:40 EDT – Details)
Whether it’s the infiltration of schools with the “Genderbread Person” – a perverse sexually neutral device aimed at kids to steer them into self identifying as queer or other “expressions” – or the exploitation of vulnerable children given heavy meds to torture their natural development until surgery is used causing irreversible emotional pain and physical damage. One cannot help but be heart broken for the children who become the disposable means of achieving their Transgender ideological ends.
What’s to be done? Dr. Anderson illuminates the complexity of the issues and offers a compassionate yet uncompromising way forward.
Thank you Dr. Anderson for investing so much of your time, talent, and treasure in an area of immense importance, and I imagine a book such as this will come with a significant cost to you.
Check out http://rt.com RT LIVE http://rt.com/on-air Subscribe to RT! http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=RussiaToday Like us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/RTnews Follow…
Last month saw the most gun-related background checks run by the Federal Bureau of Investigation of any March on record, documents released by the agency on Tuesday show.
With 2,767,699 checks conducted by the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) in March 2018, the month beats the previous record of 2,523,265 set in March 2016 by 244,434 checks. That represents a 9.68 percent increase.
The number of checks run through NICS in a month is considered one of the strongest indicators for how well gun sales are doing because each sale made by a federally licensed dealer, such as a gun store, is subject to a check. The state, however, is not an exact representation of gun sales due to a number of factors. For instance, the vast majority of states don’t require checks on the sale of used guns between private parties, some states use the checks in their process for issuing gun-carry permits, and sales of multiple guns during a single transaction by a dealer generally only requires a single background check.
Boris Johnson should be sacked as Britain’s foreign secretary over his response to the Skripal poisoning, political commentator John Wight told RT.
Gaffe-prone Johnson is being accused of misleading the public after he stated he had been told in “categorical” terms by Porton Down scientists that there was “no doubt” Russia was the source of the nerve agent used in the Salisbury poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia. It follows the UK defense laboratory at Porton Down, which is on the outskirts of Salisbury, announcing on Tuesday that it has been unable to confirm the “precise source” of the Novichok nerve agent that was used in the incident.
The Foreign Office has now been forced to admit that it deleted a tweet dating back to March 22, which again contained claims of Porton Down having proof of Russia’s involvement.
Speaking to RT from Edinburgh, Wight noted that while Johnson did not hold back from squarely blaming Russia over the attack, he has now gone “conspicuously quiet.”
“It’s all gone quiet where Boris Johnson and [Defence Secretary] Gavin Williamson are concerned,” Wight said. They are now trying to perpetuate the idea that “this change [Porton Down announcement] is nothing, but in fact this change is everything,” he said.
“And one of the things that should change or should’ve changed by now is the employment status of Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson. He should have fallen on his sword long before now and if we’d had a fourth estate worthy of the category of independent media they would have been clamoring for his resignation.
“But as it is they’ve been complicit, if not key, in shaping this anti-Russia narrative, the weaponing-up of 19th century Russophobic tropes and this mass hysteria, up to and including war fever. This has brought the entire media and political establishment into disrepute.”
Johnson’s approach was criticized by members of the opposition, including Diane Abbott, the shadow home secretary, who said: “It seems Boris Johnson misled the public when he claimed that Porton Down officials confirmed to him that Russia was the source of the nerve agent used in the Salisbury attack.
“Those officials have made it clear they cannot identify its source, and are not able to definitively say it came from Russia or elsewhere,” she said, according to the Independent.
“Boris Johnson is supposed to represent Britain on the world stage, but time and again he has shown he is unable to do so responsibly.”
An Air Force F-16 jet has crashed outside of Las Vegas at Nellis Air Force Base during routine training on the Nevada Test and Training Range, officials said Wednesday. The pilot’s condition is unknown.
The incident occurred at 10:30am on Wednesday.
Nellis Air Force Base is home to the U.S. Air Force Warfare Center, which claims to be the largest air combat training centre in the world.
Last April a US F-16 crashed several miles outside Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. The pilot managed to escape to safety using a parachute.
An Air Force investigation found the crash was caused by an improperly-assembled engine.
An American photojournalist says he feels betrayed by the FBI after he spent seven months held by terrorists in Syria. He claims the FBI used him to track the jihadists instead of trying to…
Visit https://democracynow.org to watch the full independent, global news hour, read the transcript, search our archive and to make a donation to support us. Democracy Now! is an independent…
This week marks the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination.
In OtherWords, my colleague Jessicah Pierre explains that the late civil rights leader’s legacy is both broader and deeper than many of us realize. Without deep changes, King predicted, we were headed not only for racial apartheid, but economic apartheid, too.
He was right, Jessicah says, calling for a new movement to revive King’s calls for economic equality.
Another ill King warned of was militarism. Given his courageous opposition to the Vietnam War, one can only imagine what he’d say about U.S. support for the outrageous Saudi-led war in Yemen. Olivia Alperstein says it’s time we all demanded more awareness and action to bring that to an end.
Also this week, my colleague Domenica Ghanem says that if the president wants to execute drug dealers, he should start with the drug industry. Jill Richardson debunks a popular anti-gun control argument. And Jim Hightower reports on some of the brazen new ways employers are trying to steal from workers.
Finally, Khalil Bendib has a funny look at the “small bug” Facebook is battling.
It’s on Us to Stop the War in Yemen / Olivia Alperstein American taxpayers are helping to fight someone else’s war in Yemen, and the blood is on our hands.
The British Foreign Office is now denying that Boris Johnston said the Military lab in Porton Down told him that Russia was responsible for the Skripal poisoning. The Foreign Office has also…
Fifty years ago, on 4 April 1968, the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated.
The night before he died, King gave another of his many evocative speeches; this one at the packed Mason Temple in Memphis. The speech included these words:
Men for years now have been talking about war and peace. Now no longer can they just talk about it. It is no longer a choice between violence and non-violence in this world, it is non-violence or non-existence. That is where we are today.
In clearly identifying this stark choice and having been inspired by Mohandas K. Gandhi’s wide-ranging social concerns, King’s concerns were also broad:
The Triple Evils of poverty, racism and militarism are forms of violence that exist in a vicious cycle. They are interrelated, all-inclusive, and stand as barriers to our living in the Beloved Community. When we work to remedy one evil, we affect all evils.
So what has changed in the past 50 years? The world has traveled a great deal further down the path of violence. So far, in fact, that nonexistence is now the most likely outcome for humanity. See “On Track for Extinction: Can Humanity Survive?”
Despite the vastly more perilous state of our planet, many people and organizations around the world are following in the footsteps of Gandhi, King and other nonviolent luminaries like Silo, and are engaged in what is effectively a last ditch stand to end the violence and put humanity on a path to…
US Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats says Washington has made its “decision” on the status of US troops in Syria after calls by President Donald Trump for the removal of American forces from the Muslim country.
“I can’t go into the details of what was decided on yesterday with our national security team and with the president, but there will be released a statement shortly relative to the decision that was made on that topic,” Coats told reporters at a gathering of the Defense Writers Group in Washington Wednesday morning.
In a statement released by the White House the “decision” was not referenced and no timeline was offered for possible withdrawal of US troops from the war-ravaged country.
“The military mission to eradicate ISIS in Syria is coming to a rapid end, with ISIS being almost completely destroyed,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in the statement. “The United States and our partners remain…
Max Boot rails against the possibility that our illegal, unnecessary war in Syria might come to an end:
If the United States leaves both Syria and Iraq, it will be an incalculable windfall for Iran, a rogue state that Trump claims to hate – but not as much as he seems to hate long-term commitments.
I doubt very much that Trump will follow through on the suggested withdrawal for a few reasons. First, his incoming Secretary of State and National Security Advisor are sure to be vehemently opposed to doing this, and Trump is more malleable than clay when the people around him know how to flatter him and speak to him in terms he understands. Second, Trump fetishizes looking “tough” and hates appearing “weak,” and the foreign policy “Blob” will work overtime to make sure that he thinks a decision to leave Syria (the correct and relatively courageous decision) would be the latter. Boot’s criticism of a decision Trump probably won’t make is presumably just one of the first of these attacks. Third, hostility to Iran is one of the few constants in Trump’s foreign policy, so we have to assume that when staying in Syria is presented to him that way he will acquiesce in staying. Trump thinks that Obama was too accommodating to Iran, and he is determined to do the opposite of whatever he thinks Obama did. Finally, Trump has proven that he is a pushover for the Saudis and Israelis, and both governments have saidthat they want the U.S. to stay for a long time. Disregarding these clients’ preferences is what Trump thinks Obama would do, and so he won’t blow them off as he should.
If Trump did withdraw US forces from Syria, it would be the only good foreign policy decision he has made thus far. The US military presence is illegal. It has no authorization from Congress, no international mandate, and our forces are in the country over the explicit objections of the recognized government. The US military presence is not needed to protect US security interests, which are not threatened by the prospect that the Syrian government might reclaim control over its own territory. No vital American interests are at stake in Syria, and therefore no American lives should be put at risk there. Staying indefinitely in Syria an attempt to oppose Iranian influence in the territory of Iran’s own ally is not only a waste of time, manpower, and resources in a dubious cause, but it is also runs roughshod over international law and the Constitution.
If Trump really had an “America First” foreign policy, leaving Syria would have been one of the first things he did, but he doesn’t and so that won’t happen on his watch.
Daniel Larison is a senior editor at The American Conservative, where he also keeps a solo blog. He has been published in the New York Times Book Review, Dallas Morning News, Orthodox Life, Front Porch Republic, The American Scene, and Culture11, and is a columnist for The Week. He…
https://democracynow.org – Schools across Oklahoma are closed today for a third day as teachers continue their strike demanding more funding for education and increased pay. Oklahoma’s public…
“Do you think he’s saying because he’s black, he cheats?”
Steve Watson Prison Planet.com April 3, 2018
A former aide to Barack Obama suggested Tuesday that President Trump’s recent description of his predecessor as “Cheatin’ Obama” might be racist.
Appearing on CNN, of course, former White House communications director Jen Psaki claimed that the President’s comments in a tweet “might have racial undertones”.
Host Jake Tapper said to Psaki “The president brought up former President Obama, your former boss… He blamed him for basically creating no border. That followed a tweet in which he called — with zero context, I didn’t know what he was talking about — he was talking about his poll numbers with Rasmussen, ‘higher than Cheatin’ Obama.’”
Thank you to Rasmussen for the honest polling. Just hit 50%, which is higher than Cheatin’ Obama at the same time in his Administration.
“I don’t know what he’s referring to, Tapper stated, prompting Psaki to respond “Given Trump’s history, you can guess that there might be racial undertones there.”
A d v e r t i s e m e n t
“He was the founder of the ‘birther’ movement. Perhaps I’m going to a very evil place with that, but history tells us that’s a possibility,” Psaki continued.
“Do you think he’s saying because he’s black, he cheats?” Tapper ludicrously asked.
“I don’t know. If he cheated, if he shouldn’t have been president. Lots of possibilities,” Psaki responded. “Beyond that one outlier poll, it tells you nothing.”
CNN has become a parody of itself with this kind of wacko analysis. However, it is a reflection of social and cultural hysteria in general. Everything is now deemed racist, sexist or some other form of ‘-ist’ if it is said by someone whose opinion is disliked by the old media.
Boris Johnson’s department has been extremely busy this week. Pretending interviews didn’t happen, slinging mud at Russia and making “informative videos.”
It’s difficult to know where to start with the creative project carried out by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) this week.
It’s made social media videos to “explain” what is happening between Russia and the UK. The short videos blame Russia for the poisoning of ex-double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury on March 4.
They go on to “explain” how Russia uses the internet, videos and government departments to push its own agenda or “fake news.”
Isn’t that exactly what the FCO just.. no, no, of course it’s not the same.
1. Inventing multiple theories
Russia is accused firstly of “inventing” multiple theories.
Well, Theresa May had two theories of her own when she accused Russia – within days – and expelled 23 diplomats from the UK. Russia poisoned Skripal – or “lost control” of a chemical weapon and someone else did it.
Someone should also tell the FCO about the British press.
This is how the Russian state is spreading disinformation following the Salisbury attack. We know the tactics they use, but they don’t change the facts. pic.twitter.com/rnCtETv7rg
Initial newspaper reports suggested the poison used was the deadly opioid fentanyl, before it turned out to be Novichok.
Then the nerve agent was spread over flowers at Sergei Skripal’s wife’s grave. Or it was in the car. Or on the front door of the house. Or in some poisoned buckwheat. That’s what inventing theories looks like.
2. Using political figures and spokespeople to suggest their narrative is credible
Russia’s politicians are accused of pushing a narrative.
A bit like Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson being rolled out onto the world stage to sling mud and make misleading accusations. But different because he’s not Russian.
3. Using bots and fake accounts to amplify info
Britain has accused Russia of invading social media to swing the Brexit vote, and now to convince the world it didn’t attack the Skripals. The FCO is using social media to amplify its point, but has now been forced to delete a tweet which said Russia was the source of the nerve agent used in Salisbury. Scientists at the government’s Porton Down lab said they’d done no such thing. That would be “fake news” if a Russian had tweeted it.
The FCO’s video explainer ends with three sentences:
“We know the tactics they use”
“But they don’t change the facts”
“It is highly likely Russia was responsible for this attack.”
Those sentences might include the following:
“We know the tactics they use” (Because they are our tactics)
“But they don’t change the facts” (Unlike our Twitter feed)
“It is highly likely Russia was responsible for this attack.” (It is highly likely we can’t prove anything.)
In the wake of recent mass shootings in the US, one man’s image begins to circulate on social media time and time again as the alleged source of the latest violence.
Despite the suspect’s true identity being revealed repeatedly, Sam Hyde continues to be painted as the ‘lone mass shooter,’ thanks to a bizarre, long-running trolling exercise dating back to 2015. Despite the number of times Hyde has appeared as the shooter, his image continues to be shared in the aftermath of each new attack, with many unaware that the person whose image they’re sharing has already been erroneously linked to countless shootings.
Who is Sam Hyde, the man behind the meme?
Hyde is an American comedian, and is part of the sketch comedy group Million Dollar Extreme (MDE). Hyde is probably best known for his 2013 TEDx talk parody, in which he pretended to be a documentary filmmaker.
The group has conducted a number of trolling pranks including one hoax in which MDE member Jan Rankowski spent two years making videos posing as ‘Jace Connors,’ a man obsessed with threatening game developer Brianna Wu. MDE had a short-lived series on Adult Swim, a channel that airs on the Cartoon Network. The show’s content saw it labelled as ’alt-right.’
Hyde’s heavy use of irony and shock tactics make it difficult to confirm his viewpoint, although his since-suspended Twitter account, @Night_Of_Fire contained nods to figures like Mike Cernovich and Alex Jones.
The origins of the Hyde meme
It isn’t clear how Hyde became a meme, but its popularity stems from the notorious message board 4Chan, where the character appears to be both hated and admired by members of the community.
An early explanation for Hyde meme comes from an article on the now-defunct white supremacist site, the Daily Stormer, dating from October 2015. The archived article, entitled, ‘Sam Hyde and Million Dollar Extreme Troll The Oregon Shooting’ refers to Hyde “and his large base of followers on Twitter” and their attempts to “grab the attention of the Main Stream [sic] Media for the purpose of a good laugh” and references Hyde being dubbed a shooter. The article goes on to say MDE’s aim is “showing how easily phony Narratives are created by the MSM and accepted by the public.” Hyde is featured in a number of Daily Stormer articles, including one urging readers to support him by buying his book which the site says is “basically the first Alt-Right book ever published.”
Multiple Mass Shootings
Hyde has been touted as the shooter in a range of attacks dating back as far as 2015, including the Oregon shooting at the Umpqua Community College, which was actually carried out by Chris Harper Mercer.
Virginia Dare, an anti-immigration foundation and website, shared a doctored image which was made to look like a Vice News tweet featuring an image of Hyde which read, “Oregon shooter identified as white supremacist Sam Hyde. Is it time to call them terrorists?”
Virginia Dare shared this image, adding, “When press thought it was a white guy, whites are to blame to #OregonShooting. Now, of course, it’s guns’ fault.”
This suggests the aim of the Hyde meme may be an attempt to trick people into propagating the false narrative by disseminating fake news. Followers of the Virginia Dare account would likely assume Vice did publish a story questioning white supremacy. However, as is often the case with 4Chan, trying to decipher the truth from the trolling can be a fruitless exercise.
The November 2015 mass shooting at the Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs also saw the Hyde meme widely circulated. The real attacker was Robert Lewis Dear. Hyde also got the blame for the December 2015 San Bernardino shooting, conducted by Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik.
Following the November 2017 church shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas, the Hyde meme went mainstream when Texas Congressman Vicente Gonzalez told CNN the shooter was Hyde, saying, “apparently his name was released as Sam Hyde, that’s the name I was given.”
The Hyde meme also extends to international attacks. In July 2016, Hyde was named as the shooter at a shopping mall in Munich. This time, many Germanized his name to make it Sam Hydeburg. The real shooter was David Sonboly. Hyde was also accused of perpetrating the Finsbury Park car ramming attack in London, England, on June 19, 2017. This attack, in fact, was carried out by Darren Osborne.
Despite a number of outlets writing about the deliberate misinformation campaign, and the many Twitter users who are now well aware of the joke, the Hyde meme continues to this day. Hyde’s image was circulated in the immediate aftermath of the February 2018 Parkland school shooting in Florida.
Hyde is just one of a number of alleged shooters whose names and images circulate online after each new attack, others include: German Youtuber DragonLord, Youtube commentator Matt Jarbo, and Marcel Fontaine, who has since sued Infowars for defamation after he was named as the Florida shooter. In this instance, his image was shared in a screenshot purportedly showing a tweet from Laguna Beach Antifa urging its members not to share the picture of him “wearing an Antifa shirt.”
While some of those who are in on the Hyde joke appear to think it’s run its course at this stage, many continue to derive amusement from continuing the meme. Hyde appeared on social media as the Youtube shooter on Tuesday.
It has been confirmed by multiple reputable sources that the shooter is white supremacist Sam Hyde. The patriarchy is just trying to defend white supremacy and hide the facts#WhitePrivilege#March4OurLives#EndGunViolence
Maybe we spread the Sam Hyde Shooter meme just for laughs when you freak out.
Or maybe we’re bringing to light the rabid ignorance and desire to use tragedy to prop up one’s own false sense of morality in a modern society populated by fucking sheep.
In some cases, the aim appears to be to get a media organization to pick up on the claim.
In the chaos of a breaking news situation, users and members of the press scour social media for updates in a developing story. This is when such memes can sow confusion and even endanger the lives of those in the area of the shooting.
RT has reached out to Sam Hyde for more information.
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
University of Wisconsin Stevens Point students, faculty stage sit-in to protest cuts to humanities
By
Jacob Crosse and Christopher Davion
4 April 2018
On Wednesday, March 21 more than 300 students and professors at University of Wisconsin Stevens Point (UWSP) marched together and occupied an administration building in response to the proposed elimination of 13 majors and demanding their right to a liberal arts education. As part of the protest, students sent the university’s chancellor and administration a letter requesting to work with the university’s administration to create alternative proposals that will not cut any humanities programs.
Students held signs, reading, “Where’s your Humanity? It’s been Cut!” Mackenzie Madison, an art student, lamented the possible loss of the nationally accredited art department, telling Wisconsin Public Radio, “I’m really infuriated. The art department is what brought me here. The art department is what defines this campus. It’s a big part of this community.”
Earlier in March, administration officials announced a proposal to eliminate 13 academic majors from UWSP’s humanities programs, a move which has drawn widespread anger from students and professors, as well as national notoriety. The proposal has been framed as a necessary cost-cutting solution to resolve the school’s projected deficit of $4.5 million over the next two years and stabilize declining enrollment.
The money to fund high quality public education, including the humanities, is readily available. The effort to slash the humanities at UWSP in order to cover a comparatively modest budget shortfall comes amid immense levels of social inequality in the United States and record profits for the wealthy. Wisconsin’s nine richest people control nearly…
UK scientists have been unable to prove Russia made the nerve agent A-234 (also known as “Novichok”) which was used to poison Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury. Scientists at the top secret…
US President Donald Trump is oblivious about international relations and is harming American interests abroad with his unconventional approach to foreign policy, particularly towards Russia and China, an American political activist says.
Trump said Tuesday he could have “a very good relationship” with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, even as the United States and many European nations have expelled more than 150 Russian diplomats.
Trump made the comments as his administration raised the prospect of a White House meeting between the US and Russian presidents, even as the United States and many European nations have expelled more than 150 Russian diplomats.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump and Putin had “discussed a bilateral meeting in the ‘not-too-distant future’” during their most recent phone conversation last month, and that the White House was among “a number of potential venues.”
The book ‘Fire and Fury’ sparks a rift between Trump and Bannon, the FBI revives scrutiny of the Clinton Foundation, and GOP Senators target the author of the Steele dossier. Best-selling author…
Sky News reports that the Chief of Britain’s Military Research Center of Porton Down says experts were unable to identify the precise source of nerve agent that was used in poisoning Sergei and Yulia Skripal.
In what can only be described as a complete and massive embarrassment to the ‘Theresa May – Boris Johnson’ hoax poisoning narrative that has been pushed by western mainstream media over the last two weeks, scientists from Porton Down have not been able to establish where the Novichok nerve agent used to poison Sergei and Yulia Skripal was made.
Gary Aitkenhead, chief executive of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) at Porton Down, told Sky News they had not been able to prove it was made in Russia.
He said: “We were able to identify it as novichok, to identify that it was military-grade nerve agent.
“We have not identified the precise source, but we have provided the scientific info to government who have then used a number of other sources to piece together the conclusions you have come to.”
He said establishing its origin required “other inputs”, some of them intelligence-based, that the Government has access too.
Mr Aitkenhead added: “It is our job to provide the scientific evidence of what this particular nerve agent is, we identified that it is from this particular family and that it is a military grade, but it is not our job to say where it was manufactured.”
However, he confirmed the substance required “extremely sophisticated methods to create, something only in the capabilities of a state actor”.
He said there is no known antidote to novichok, and that none was administered to either of the Skripals.
Porton Down’s boss would not comment on whether the lab had…
https://democracynow.org – It was 50 years ago today when Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis. He was just 39 years old. We turn now to a conversation Democracy Now! recently…
Long Pattern of Russian Malign Activity’? British journalists analyse UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office’s 22nd March ‘Salisbury Incident’ presentation Pre war expulsions of Russian diplomats…
The majority of Americans support stricter gun control laws seven weeks after the mass shooting at a high school in Florida, according to a new
The POLITICO/Morning Consult poll released Wednesday shows 66 percent of Americans prefer US gun laws to be tightened.
Just 28 percent said they oppose tougher gun control measures.
But voters have little optimism that Congress will act beyond the modest changes made in last month’s omnibus bill.
Just 8 percent say there is an excellent chance of stricter gun laws passing Congress in the next year or so. By comparison, a combined 61 percent say the chances of new gun laws passing Congress in the next year are fair or poor.
Republican in disarray over gun control?
The vast majority of self-identified Democratic voters, 85 percent, support enacting stricter gun laws. But so do a narrow majority of Republican voters, 51 percent. Among independents, support for stricter gun laws stands at 63…
The following is the transcribed text of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s final speech, delivered on April 3, 1968 at the Mason Temple in Memphis, Tennessee.
Thank you very kindly, my friends. As I listened to Ralph Abernathy and his eloquent and generous introduction and then thought about myself, I wondered who he was talking about. It’s always good to have your closest friend and associate to say something good about you. And Ralph Abernathy is the best friend that I have in the world. I’m delighted to see each of you here tonight in spite of a storm warning. You reveal that you are determined to go on anyhow.
Something is happening in Memphis; something is happening in our world. And you know, if I were standing at the beginning of time, with the possibility of taking a kind of general and panoramic view of the whole of human history up to now, and the Almighty said to me, “Martin Luther King, which age would you like to live in?” I would take my mental flight by Egypt and I would watch God’s children in their magnificent trek from the dark dungeons of Egypt through, or rather across the Red Sea, through the wilderness on toward the promised land. And in spite of its magnificence, I wouldn’t stop there.
I would move on by Greece and take my mind to Mount Olympus. And I would see Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, Euripides and Aristophanes assembled around the Parthenon. And I would watch them around the Parthenon as they discussed the great and eternal issues of reality. But I wouldn’t stop there.
I would go on, even to the great heyday of the Roman Empire. And I would see developments around there, through various emperors and leaders. But I wouldn’t stop there.
I would even come up to the day of the Renaissance, and get a quick picture of all that the Renaissance did for the cultural and aesthetic life of man. But I wouldn’t stop there.
I would even go by the way that the man for whom I am named had his habitat. And I would watch Martin Luther as he tacked his ninety-five theses on the door at the church of Wittenberg. But I wouldn’t stop there.
I would come on up even to 1863, and watch a vacillating President by the name of Abraham Lincoln finally come to the conclusion that he had to sign the Emancipation Proclamation. But I wouldn’t stop there.
I would even come up to the early thirties, and see a man grappling with the problems of the bankruptcy of his nation. And come with an eloquent cry that we have nothing to fear but “fear itself.” But I wouldn’t stop there.
Strangely enough, I would turn to the Almighty, and say, “If you allow me to live just a few years in the second half of the 20th century, I will be happy.”
Now that’s a strange statement to make, because the world is all messed up. The nation is sick. Trouble is in the land; confusion all around. That’s a strange statement. But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough can you see the stars. And I see God working in this period of the twentieth century in a way that men, in some strange way, are responding.
Something is happening in our world. The masses of people are rising up. And wherever they are assembled today, whether they are in Johannesburg, South Africa; Nairobi, Kenya; Accra, Ghana; New York City; Atlanta, Georgia; Jackson, Mississippi; or Memphis, Tennessee — the cry is always the same: “We want to be free.”
And another reason that I’m happy to live in this period is that we have been forced to a point where we are going to have to grapple with the problems that men have been trying to grapple with through history, but the demands didn’t force them to do it. Survival demands that we grapple with them. Men, for years now, have been talking about war and peace. But now, no longer can they just talk about it. It is no longer a choice between violence and nonviolence in this world; it’s nonviolence or nonexistence. That is where we are today.
And also in the human rights revolution, if something isn’t done, and done in a hurry, to bring the colored peoples of the world out of their long years of poverty, their long years of hurt and neglect, the whole world is doomed. Now, I’m just happy that God has allowed me to live in this period to see what is unfolding. And I’m happy that He’s allowed me to be in Memphis.
I can remember — I can remember when Negroes were just going around as Ralph has said, so often, scratching where they didn’t itch, and laughing when they were not tickled. But that day is all over. We mean business now, and we are determined to gain our rightful place in God’s world.
And that’s all this whole thing is about. We aren’t engaged in any negative protest and in any negative arguments with anybody. We are saying that we are determined to be men. We are determined to be people. We are saying — We are saying that we are God’s children. And that we are God’s children, we don’t have to live like we are forced to live.
Now, what does all of this mean in this great period of history? It means that we’ve got to stay together. We’ve got to stay together and maintain unity. You know, whenever Pharaoh wanted to prolong the period of slavery in Egypt, he had a favorite, favorite formula for doing it. What was that? He kept the slaves fighting among themselves. But whenever the slaves get together, something happens in Pharaoh’s court, and he cannot hold the slaves in slavery. When the slaves get together, that’s the beginning of getting out of slavery. Now let us maintain unity.
Secondly, let us keep the issues where they are. The issue is injustice. The issue is the refusal of Memphis to be fair and honest in its dealings with its public servants, who happen to be sanitation workers. Now, we’ve got to keep attention on that. That’s always the problem with a little violence. You know what happened the other day, and the press dealt only with the window-breaking. I read the articles. They very seldom got around to mentioning the fact that one thousand, three hundred sanitation workers are on strike, and that Memphis is not being fair to them, and that Mayor Loeb is in dire need of a doctor. They didn’t get around to that.
Now we’re going to march again, and we’ve got to march again, in order to put the issue where it is supposed to be — and force everybody to see that there are thirteen hundred of God’s children here suffering, sometimes going hungry, going through dark and dreary nights wondering how this thing is going to come out. That’s the issue. And we’ve got to say to the nation: We know how it’s coming out. For when people get caught up with that which is right and they are willing to sacrifice for it, there is no stopping point short of victory.
We aren’t going to let any mace stop us. We are masters in our nonviolent movement in disarming police forces; they don’t know what to do. I’ve seen them so often. I remember in Birmingham, Alabama, when we were in that majestic struggle there, we would move out of the 16th Street Baptist Church day after day; by the hundreds we would move out. And Bull Connor would tell them to send the dogs forth, and they did come; but we just went before the dogs singing, “Ain’t gonna let nobody turn me around.”
Bull Connor next would say, “Turn the fire hoses on.” And as I said to you the other night, Bull Connor didn’t know history. He knew a kind of physics that somehow didn’t relate to the transphysics that we knew about. And that was the fact that there was a certain kind of fire that no water could put out. And we went before the fire hoses; we had known water. If we were Baptist or some other denominations, we had been immersed. If we were Methodist, and some others, we had been sprinkled, but we knew water. That couldn’t stop us.
And we just went on before the dogs and we would look at them; and we’d go on before the water hoses and we would look at it, and we’d just go on singing “Over my head I see freedom in the air.” And then we would be thrown in the paddy wagons, and sometimes we were stacked in there like sardines in a can. And they would throw us in, and old Bull would say, “Take ’em off,” and they did; and we would just go in the paddy wagon singing, “We Shall Overcome.” And every now and then we’d get in jail, and we’d see the jailers looking through the windows being moved by our prayers, and being moved by our words and our songs. And there was a power there which Bull Connor couldn’t adjust to; and so we ended up transforming Bull into a steer, and we won our struggle in Birmingham. Now we’ve got to go on in Memphis just like that. I call upon you to be with us when we go out Monday.
Now about injunctions: We have an injunction and we’re going into court tomorrow morning to fight this illegal, unconstitutional injunction. All we say to America is, “Be true to what you said on paper.” If I lived in China or even Russia, or any totalitarian country, maybe I could understand some of these illegal injunctions. Maybe I could understand the denial of certain basic First Amendment privileges, because they hadn’t committed themselves to that over there. But somewhere I read of the freedom of assembly. Somewhere I read of the freedom of speech. Somewhere I read of the freedom of press. Somewhere I read that the greatness of America is the right to protest for right. And so just as I say, we aren’t going to let dogs or water hoses turn us around, we aren’t going to let any injunction turn us around. We are going on.
We need all of you. And you know what’s beautiful to me is to see all of these ministers of the Gospel. It’s a marvelous picture. Who is it that is supposed to articulate the longings and aspirations of the people more than the preacher? Somehow the preacher must have a kind of fire shut up in his bones. And whenever injustice is around he tell it. Somehow the preacher must be an Amos, and saith, “When God speaks who can but prophesy?” Again with Amos, “Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.” Somehow the preacher must say with Jesus, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me,” and he’s anointed me to deal with the problems of the poor.”
And I want to commend the preachers, under the leadership of these noble men: James Lawson, one who has been in this struggle for many years; he’s been to jail for struggling; he’s been kicked out of Vanderbilt University for this struggle, but he’s still going on, fighting for the rights of his people. Reverend Ralph Jackson, Billy Kiles; I could just go right on down the list, but time will not permit. But I want to thank all of them. And I want you to thank them, because so often, preachers aren’t concerned about anything but themselves. And I’m always happy to see a relevant ministry.
It’s all right to talk about “long white robes over yonder,” in all of its symbolism. But ultimately people want some suits and dresses and shoes to wear down here! It’s all right to talk about “streets flowing with milk and honey,” but God has commanded us to be concerned about the slums down here, and his children who can’t eat three square meals a day. It’s all right to talk about the new Jerusalem, but one day, God’s preacher must talk about the new New York, the new Atlanta, the new Philadelphia, the new Los Angeles, the new Memphis, Tennessee. This is what we have to do.
Now the other thing we’ll have to do is this: Always anchor our external direct action with the power of economic withdrawal. Now, we are poor people. Individually, we are poor when you compare us with white society in America. We are poor. Never stop and forget that collectively — that means all of us together — collectively we are richer than all the nations in the world, with the exception of nine. Did you ever think about that? After you leave the United States, Soviet Russia, Great Britain, West Germany, France, and I could name the others, the American Negro collectively is richer than most nations of the world. We have an annual income of more than thirty billion dollars a year, which is more than all of the exports of the United States, and more than the national budget of Canada. Did you know that? That’s power right there, if we know how to pool it.
We don’t have to argue with anybody. We don’t have to curse and go around acting bad with our words. We don’t need any bricks and bottles. We don’t need any Molotov cocktails. We just need to go around to these stores, and to these massive industries in our country, and say,
“God sent us by here, to say to you that you’re not treating his children right. And we’ve come by here to ask you to make the first item on your agenda fair treatment, where God’s children are concerned. Now, if you are not prepared to do that, we do have an agenda that we must follow. And our agenda calls for withdrawing economic support from you.”
And so, as a result of this, we are asking you tonight, to go out and tell your neighbors not to buy Coca-Cola in Memphis. Go by and tell them not to buy Sealtest milk. Tell them not to buy — what is the other bread? — Wonder Bread. And what is the other bread company, Jesse? Tell them not to buy Hart’s bread. As Jesse Jackson has said, up to now, only the garbage men have been feeling pain; now we must kind of redistribute the pain. We are choosing these companies because they haven’t been fair in their hiring policies; and we are choosing them because they can begin the process of saying they are going to support the needs and the rights of these men who are on strike. And then they can move on town — downtown and tell Mayor Loeb to do what is right.
But not only that, we’ve got to strengthen black institutions. I call upon you to take your money out of the banks downtown and deposit your money in Tri-State Bank. We want a “bank-in” movement in Memphis. Go by the savings and loan association. I’m not asking you something that we don’t do ourselves at SCLC. Judge Hooks and others will tell you that we have an account here in the savings and loan association from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. We are telling you to follow what we are doing. Put your money there. You have six or seven black insurance companies here in the city of Memphis. Take out your insurance there. We want to have an “insurance-in.”
Now these are some practical things that we can do. We begin the process of building a greater economic base. And at the same time, we are putting pressure where it really hurts. I ask you to follow through here.
Now, let me say as I move to my conclusion that we’ve got to give ourselves to this struggle until the end. Nothing would be more tragic than to stop at this point in Memphis. We’ve got to see it through. And when we have our march, you need to be there. If it means leaving work, if it means leaving school — be there. Be concerned about your brother. You may not be on strike. But either we go up together, or we go down together.
Let us develop a kind of dangerous unselfishness. One day a man came to Jesus, and he wanted to raise some questions about some vital matters of life. At points he wanted to trick Jesus, and show him that he knew a little more than Jesus knew and throw him off base….
Now that question could have easily ended up in a philosophical and theological debate. But Jesus immediately pulled that question from mid-air, and placed it on a dangerous curve between Jerusalem and Jericho. And he talked about a certain man, who fell among thieves. You remember that a Levite and a priest passed by on the other side. They didn’t stop to help him. And finally a man of another race came by. He got down from his beast, decided not to be compassionate by proxy. But he got down with him, administered first aid, and helped the man in need. Jesus ended up saying, this was the good man, this was the great man, because he had the capacity to project the “I” into the “thou,” and to be concerned about his brother.
Now you know, we use our imagination a great deal to try to determine why the priest and the Levite didn’t stop. At times we say they were busy going to a church meeting, an ecclesiastical gathering, and they had to get on down to Jerusalem so they wouldn’t be late for their meeting. At other times we would speculate that there was a religious law that “One who was engaged in religious ceremonials was not to touch a human body twenty-four hours before the ceremony.” And every now and then we begin to wonder whether maybe they were not going down to Jerusalem — or down to Jericho, rather to organize a “Jericho Road Improvement Association.” That’s a possibility. Maybe they felt that it was better to deal with the problem from the causal root, rather than to get bogged down with an individual effect.
But I’m going to tell you what my imagination tells me. It’s possible that those men were afraid. You see, the Jericho road is a dangerous road. I remember when Mrs. King and I were first in Jerusalem. We rented a car and drove from Jerusalem down to Jericho. And as soon as we got on that road, I said to my wife, “I can see why Jesus used this as the setting for his parable.” It’s a winding, meandering road. It’s really conducive for ambushing. You start out in Jerusalem, which is about 1200 miles — or rather 1200 feet above sea level. And by the time you get down to Jericho, fifteen or twenty minutes later, you’re about 2200 feet below sea level. That’s a dangerous road. In the days of Jesus it came to be known as the “Bloody Pass.” And you know, it’s possible that the priest and the Levite looked over that man on the ground and wondered if the robbers were still around. Or it’s possible that they felt that the man on the ground was merely faking. And he was acting like he had been robbed and hurt, in order to seize them over there, lure them there for quick and easy seizure. And so the first question that the priest asked — the first question that the Levite asked was, “If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?” But then the Good Samaritan came by. And he reversed the question: “If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?”
That’s the question before you tonight. Not, “If I stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to my job. Not, “If I stop to help the sanitation workers what will happen to all of the hours that I usually spend in my office every day and every week as a pastor?” The question is not, “If I stop to help this man in need, what will happen to me?” The question is, “If I do not stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to them?” That’s the question.
Let us rise up tonight with a greater readiness. Let us stand with a greater determination. And let us move on in these powerful days, these days of challenge to make America what it ought to be. We have an opportunity to make America a better nation. And I want to thank God, once more, for allowing me to be here with you.
You know, several years ago, I was in New York City autographing the first book that I had written. And while sitting there autographing books, a demented black woman came up. The only question I heard from her was, “Are you Martin Luther King?” And I was looking down writing, and I said, “Yes.” And the next minute I felt something beating on my chest. Before I knew it I had been stabbed by this demented woman. I was rushed to Harlem Hospital. It was a dark Saturday afternoon. And that blade had gone through, and the X-rays revealed that the tip of the blade was on the edge of my aorta, the main artery. And once that’s punctured, your drowned in your own blood — that’s the end of you.
It came out in the New York Times the next morning, that if I had merely sneezed, I would have died. Well, about four days later, they allowed me, after the operation, after my chest had been opened, and the blade had been taken out, to move around in the wheel chair in the hospital. They allowed me to read some of the mail that came in, and from all over the states and the world, kind letters came in. I read a few, but one of them I will never forget. I had received one from the President and the Vice-President. I’ve forgotten what those telegrams said. I’d received a visit and a letter from the Governor of New York, but I’ve forgotten what that letter said. But there was another letter that came from a little girl, a young girl who was a student at the White Plains High School. And I looked at that letter, and I’ll never forget it. It said simply,
“Dear Dr. King,
I am a ninth-grade student at the White Plains High School.”
And she said,
“While it should not matter, I would like to mention that I’m a white girl. I read in the paper of your misfortune, and of your suffering. And I read that if you had sneezed, you would have died. And I’m simply writing you to say that I’m so happy that you didn’t sneeze.”
And I want to say tonight — I want to say tonight that I too am happy that I didn’t sneeze. Because if I had sneezed, I wouldn’t have been around here in 1960, when students all over the South started sitting-in at lunch counters. And I knew that as they were sitting in, they were really standing up for the best in the American dream, and taking the whole nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the Founding Fathers in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
If I had sneezed, I wouldn’t have been around here in 1961, when we decided to take a ride for freedom and ended segregation in inter-state travel.
If I had sneezed, I wouldn’t have been around here in 1962, when Negroes in Albany, Georgia, decided to straighten their backs up. And whenever men and women straighten their backs up, they are going somewhere, because a man can’t ride your back unless it is bent.
If I had sneezed — If I had sneezed I wouldn’t have been here in 1963, when the black people of Birmingham, Alabama, aroused the conscience of this nation, and brought into being the Civil Rights Bill.
If I had sneezed, I wouldn’t have had a chance later that year, in August, to try to tell America about a dream that I had had.
If I had sneezed, I wouldn’t have been down in Selma, Alabama, to see the great Movement there.
If I had sneezed, I wouldn’t have been in Memphis to see a community rally around those brothers and sisters who are suffering.
I’m so happy that I didn’t sneeze.
And they were telling me –. Now, it doesn’t matter, now. It really doesn’t matter what happens now. I left Atlanta this morning, and as we got started on the plane, there were six of us. The pilot said over the public address system, “We are sorry for the delay, but we have Dr. Martin Luther King on the plane. And to be sure that all of the bags were checked, and to be sure that nothing would be wrong with on the plane, we had to check out everything carefully. And we’ve had the plane protected and guarded all night.”
And then I got into Memphis. And some began to say the threats, or talk about the threats that were out. What would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers?
Well, I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn’t matter with me now, because I’ve been to the mountaintop.
And I don’t mind.
Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!
And so I’m happy, tonight.
I’m not worried about anything.
I’m not fearing any man!
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!!
https://democracynow.org – Extended interview with Rev. James Lawson and historian Michael Honey on the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Lawson is a civil…
Music icon decimates totalitarian leftists who “supervise & censor art” by policing opinion
Paul Joseph Watson PrisonPlanet.com April 4, 2018
Alex Jones is set to give a speech at the National Press Club in Washington DC on April 10 during which he will make a statement on the raft of anti-free speech lawsuits targeting his First Amendment rights.
Numerous lawsuits have been launched on the premise of attracting media attention and defaming Alex Jones and Infowars’ reputation. While many on the left routinely celebrate the lawsuits when they are filed, those same people have been noticeably less vocal when the lawsuits collapse.
Last month, Pepe the Frog cartoon creator Matt Furie sued Infowars for copyright violation despite openly encouraging people in a 2015 interview “profit off of” his creation.
Even the left-wing Daily Beast admitted that the latest lawsuit against Infowars, brought by an individual falsely named as the Parkland shooter, is “a general attack on InfoWars and Alex Jones and their fans” and does not rest on any sound legal basis.
Ken White, a First Amendment litigator at Brown White & Osborn, said the suit was more of a PR stunt and could run afoul of Texas law.
“Texas has a very strong anti-SLAPP law. If InfoWars can frame the lawsuit as being more broadly about the content of its speech in general (or about the speech of third-party commenters, for whom InfoWars is not responsible under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act), the plaintiff faces a real risk of an anti-SLAPP ruling,” said White.
Jones will address the left’s new tactic of trying to bury Infowars under a deluge of lawsuits, which is yet another attempt to shut down free speech and is doomed to fail.
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Location and Time: The National Press Club in Washington, DC Zenger Room 9:00AM EST / 8:00AM CST 529 14th St. NW, 13th…
Ken Livingstone has said UK politics revolves around lies after Downing Street suffered a day of embarrassment in the Skripal poisoning case.
The former London mayor was interviewed after a British delegation said to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons(OPCW) it would be “perverse” to include Russia in the investigation into the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.
Livingstone said the UK “clearly doesn’t want an open and honest investigation” into what happened in Salisbury on March 4. However, politicians insist on blaming Moscow, without evidence.
“The British government has set out to blame all of this on President Putin and Russia from the very beginning,” Livingstone said.
“All the evidence coming out brings this into question. The idea it can only be Russia behind all this is nonsense. Our country has a principle you are innocent until proven guilty, but here we have our Prime Minister Theresa May on the television immediately denouncing Russia and ordering the expulsion of Russian diplomats.”
Livingstone said the UK is attempting to spread an “anti-Russia” rhetoric and NATO has seized on it. He also said the mainstream media will not challenge the ideology being spread.
The 2003 invasion of Iraq is the best-known example of America’s Government and press lying to fool its public to invade a foreign country that actually posed no threat to U.S. national security (so that America’s Defense Department was obviously America’s Aggression Department, and even its very name was a lie). However, that fraud and its resulting mega-violence were unfortunately typical, not at all exceptional, for the brutal American regime. This crucial but ugly fact will be documented here, so as to destroy (by clear facts) the lying U.S. regime’s supposed credibility — and this refers to both the Republican Party and the Democratic Party wings (and their ‘news’media), of our ruling aristocracy. (Same for America’s lapdog, UK.)
First, however: it’s important to document that both Americans and Brits were lied (and that word should be not only a noun, but also a verb, because “deceived” is far too soft a term for so heinous a consequence) into invading and occupying Iraq:
A crucial date was 7 September 2002, when George W. Bush and Tony Blair both said that a new report had just been issued by the IAEA saying that Saddam Hussein was only six months away from having a nuclear weapon. The IAEA promptly denied that it had issued any such “new report” at all, and the ‘news’ media simply ignored the denial, which the IAEA then repeated weeks later, and it again was ignored; so, the false impression, that such an IAEA report had been issued, remained in the publics’ minds, and they consequently favored invading Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein before there would be, as Condoleezza Rice warned the next day following Bush-Blair, on September 8th, a “mushroom cloud”. It was all just lies — lies that were believed by the public, at the time, and even believed by many for a long time after we invaded.
Some of these lies were derived from torturing detainees — torturing them to say what the U.S. and British regimes wanted them to say. But all were concocted by the perpetrating dictators. Like CIA Director George Tenet told his boss, George W. Bush, fooling the public into invading Iraq would be a “slam-dunk.”
Even today, many Americans still are successfully suckered into believing that torture extracts truths, instead of the desired lies, from suspects, to serve as ‘evidence’, in this ‘democracy’.
So: that’s the reality behind America’s destruction of Iraq — it was based upon lies from the Government, which were stenographically published and broadcast to the public as being truths, while the actual truths were being simultaneously hidden from the public — and the truth that the regime was lying didn’t get to reach us until we had already invaded and occupied the targeted country. That’s what happens when an evil regime fools its public, into supporting and doing its aristocracy’s invasion, at the taxpaying public’s expense, and psychopathically ignoring the massive horrors it is imposing upon the residents in the attacked country. This is psychopathy being displayed by a dictatorship — one that claims to be a ‘democracy’ and that demonizes other governments that it claims to be (and some of which, occasionally, are) dictatorships. With the ‘anti-communist’ excuse gone, only these types of lies still work; so, they’re used non-stop.
How can a news-consumer tell if a supposed ‘news’-medium is honest about Syria? Here’s a simple and reliable method: If the ‘news’-medium uses the term ‘rebels’ instead of “jihadists” or “terrorists” in order to refer to the people who are trying to overthrow and replace Syria’s Government, then you know it’s lying, because those aren’t ‘democrats’ in any sense: they are jihadists-terrorists who are aiming to establish in Syria a fundamentalist-Sunni, Wahhabist-Salafist, and rabidly anti-Shia, dictatorship there, which will be basically run by the Sauds. For example, on 2 April 2018, the BBC headlined “Uncertainty Over Rebel Deal in Ghouta” instead of “Uncertainty Over Jihadist Deal in Ghouta” or “Over Terrorist Deal,” and so the BBC is clearly a lying propaganda-outlet that cannot reasonably be believed, but whose reports one instead must independently verify before citing or quoting to others. Similarly, the prior day, the Telegraph had bannered “Ghouta ‘deal struck’ as rebel fighters evacuated” and thus made clear that it too is propaganda, not reliable news-reporting. To show how consistent these types of deception are through time, the Telegraph, on 6 March 2013, had headlined an editorial “To end the conflict in Syria, President Bashar al-Assad has to go” and called his overthrow “Our moral obligation”. And, just two days later, they bannered “US and Europe in ‘major airlift of arms to Syrian rebels through Zagreb’” — which ‘news’ would have been real news-reporting if only those ‘rebels’ (and what they actually represented) had been at all honestly described. The basic technique of propaganda is to lie in the framing of an issue. It’s so routine as to be endemic in the ‘news’-reporting in any dictatorship.
For yet another example: Any ‘news’-medium that refers to the overthrow in 2014 of Ukraine’s democratically elected Government, and its replacement by a racist-fascist (nazi) rabidly anti-Russian dictatorship, as having been not a coup but instead a ‘revolution’, is a rotten lying propaganda-medium, nothing better than that.
If the word “revolution” is used to describe the 2014 Ukraine overthrow, and the word “rebels” is used to refer to the fighters for the overthrow of Assad, not only is the medium consistently propaganda, but it is consistently pumping to precipitate World War III.
In my “The Nations that Accept Nazism Today” I documented that under Obama there were three: U.S., Ukraine, and Canada. And then in my “Trump Continues Obama’s Support of Nazism”, I documented that the number had declined to two — and now it was only U.S. and Ukraine. Those two news-reports (and my prior ones about Obama’s having backed nazism at the U.N.) were distributed free to all media, but only a few tiny media published any of them. The dictatorship needed to hide this shocking news from the public, not broadcast it to the public. The mainstream media (and some of the non-mainstream media) are fake-news media — and this comprises almost all of the ‘news’-media. On international relations, they’re just loaded with lies, and the key terms right now are, for Syria, “rebels” versus “jihadists”; and, for Ukraine, “revolution” versus “coup.”
A Detroit teenager is dead and a Houston man is gravely injured after they were shot in disturbing incidents of gun violence while filming live video on Instagram and Facebook.
Dylan Hemphill, 18, was fatally shot in a live Instagram video on Monday night, according to the Detroit Free Press. His friend accidentally pulled the trigger of a handgun while the two were recording a video in Dylan’s living room.
“It seems so surreal right now. I’m shocked, very shocked,” Hemphill’s mother Shantel told the local news outlet WXYZ-TV. “They’re close friends. They’re like brothers. I mean, I treated DeRon like he was a son of mine.”
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The teenager, whose full name has not been released, remains in police custody awaiting charges.
On Sunday, another accidental shooting was captured on Facebook Live in in Houston, Texas. Devyn Holmes, 26, was shot in the head while sitting in a car with friends and playing with two handguns.
In a bitter twist of irony, the video shows Holmes telling a female friend “You’re making me nervous,” just seconds before he was shot according to KTRK-TV, Houston. He remains in the hospital but is brain dead and on life support, according to reports. A 25-year-old woman accused of pulling the trigger is held in police custody.
It is unknown how many people witnessed the violent scenes on Facebook and Instagram, which was acquired by Facebook in 2012.
This is not the first time fatal shootings were broadcast live on social media platforms. In February, Douglas Cleveland Colson was charged with first-degree murder for gunning down a man in North Carolina, who captured his own murder on Facebook Live.
In April 2017, Steve Stephens murdered an elderly man in a pre-recorded Facebook video in Cleveland, Ohio. The unprovoked shooting launched a nationwide manhunt culminating in a dramatic chase in which Stephens shot himself and died.
Over one in three US university students say they don’t have enough money for food, with some even going entire days without eating because they cannot afford meals, according to a report.
The study, conducted by researchers at Temple University and the Wisconsin HOPE Lab, found 36 percent of college students said they had been food insecure over the past 30 days, meaning they were not eating healthy, nutritious food.
The report, titled Still Hungry and Homeless in College, also found that around one quarter of college students said they have skipped meals or cut the size of their portions because they couldn’t afford to eat properly.
“The bottom line is clear: Educational attainment in the United States is being hindered,” the report said. “Students’ basic needs must be secured if they are to learn at any level—elementary, secondary, or post-secondary.”
According the survey, just 48 percent of university students have not…
The legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., who was assassinated 50 years ago today, has been cynically exploited by corporate and political leaders who care more for the needs of their rich donors than black constituents, comments Margaret Kimberly.
By Margaret Kimberley
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the preeminent leader of the black liberation movement in the 1950s and 1960s. Millions of people engaged in the struggle against America’s shameful apartheid system but King was the most influential. His actions are remembered, his words are quoted by activists, politicians, and pundits. His birthday is a national holiday. Only the worst and most retrograde racists dare to speak ill of King.
But the lionizing is mostly a sham. In fact there are very few people who remember the importance of what King said, what he did or why and how they should replicate his work. His legacy has been subverted and is now understood only by the most conscious students of history.
Nothing illustrated this state of affairs more clearly than the use of King’s words in a Ram truck commercial broadcast during the 2018 Super Bowl football championship. Viewers were told that Ram trucks are “built to serve.”
The voice over is provided by King himself speaking exactly 50 years earlier, on February 4, 1968. The Drum Major Instinct sermon was a call to reject the ego driven desire for attention in favor of working for more altruistic pursuits. “If you want to say that I was a drum major say that I was a drum major for justice.”
The commercial’s creators deliberately ignored the portion of the sermon in which King derided the influence of advertising. He even mentioned vehicle advertising specifically. He warned that “gentleman of massive verbal persuasion” can influence people to act against their own interests. “In order to make your neighbors envious you must drive this type of car.”
A Nation Going Backwards
Corporate interests are not alone in pretending to honor King while actually attacking him. King’s legacy is severely diminished because it has been used by cynical individuals for corrupt purposes. As we commemorate the 50th anniversary of his…
As our nation debates gun rights vs. gun control, there’s a stupid argument that keeps resurfacing on the anti-gun control side. I’m not anti-gun, but I am anti-stupidity, so this is bugging me.
It’s the idea that because criminals, by their very nature, do not follow laws, we should not pass any laws limiting gun rights.
The thought goes that if we, say, require universal background checks, good, law-abiding people will follow that law, but criminals will still buy illegal guns. Therefore, why bother with the background checks?
This is ridiculous for several reasons.
First, that’s not how laws work. We don’t say, “Well, we could ban rape, but rapists would still do it anyway. I guess rape should be legal.”
Second, it could deter some people. There are some people who believe in following laws, or at least don’t want to get punished for breaking them. Even if the illegal gun buyers are unethical, many gun sellers will refuse to violate a law.
Third, not all criminals plan their crimes in advance. Some gun violence is done in a fit of passion.
glasgows/Flickr
Yes, the person premeditating murder might go get a gun in advance.
But let’s say it’s someone who would not be able to get a gun legally if there were universal background checks. Maybe they’re a convicted felon, or they have a mental illness that predisposes them to violence, or they’re a domestic abuser.
If this person flies into a murderous rage, it’s harder to get a gun quickly, because nobody can legally sell them one.
Also, some criminals aren’t very smart. Some are, but some aren’t. Even if tighter gun laws primarily kept guns out of the hands of criminals too stupid to find a way around the law, that’s still a win.
It would still save some lives. Not all. But why should we not save some lives just because we can’t save all of them?
If we cut the number of gun deaths by even 10 percent because only the very dumbest people couldn’t figure out how to get their hands on an illegal gun, we still would cut gun deaths by 10 percent.
How many mothers and fathers wouldn’t lose a child because of that?
I understand that some people oppose specific gun control measures, and some control any and all gun control measures. And that’s OK. We’re all entitled to our opinions, and we all get to vote.
But the notion that we shouldn’t make any laws at all because criminals don’t follow the laws? That’s nonsense.
We should debate the laws on their merits, pass the laws that the majority of Americans support — ideally ones that also protect the rights of law-abiding citizens — and then do our best to enforce them.
We ban murder, rape, tax evasion, intellectual property theft, burglary, and on and on. Criminals still do those things. And then, much of the time, we catch them and punish them. We do our best to keep them from committing more crimes in the future. We’d do the same with anyone who broke gun laws.
Let’s continue this debate — but retire this particular argument.
AFP — The head of the British military facility analysing the Novichok nerve agent used to poison former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter said Tuesday it has “not identified the precise source” of the substance.
Gary Aitkenhead, chief executive of the Porton Down defence laboratory, told Britain’s Sky News that analysts had identified it as military-grade Novichok, but they had not proved it was made in Russia.
“We have not identified the precise source, but we have provided the scientific info to government who have then used a number of other sources to piece together the conclusions,” he said.
“It is our job to provide the scientific evidence of what this particular nerve agent is. We identified that it is from this particular family and that it is a military grade, but it is not our job to say where it was manufactured.”
The Porton Down lab at the center of the Skripal poisoning case has a dark history of secret government-run human testing. The human trials were conducted as part of the UK’s war preparation against the Soviet Union.
The military laboratory at Porton Down was the hub of Britain’s biological weapons trials between 1939 and 1989. Ministry of Defence scientists conducted chemical experiments on at least 20,000 military personnel and more than 100 secret germ warfare tests on members of the public in preparation for a feared chemical attack from the Soviet Union.
This year, the lab was thrust back into the headlines when it was given the responsibility of determining the substance used to poison Sergei and Yulia Skripal. The lab’s chief executive has since confirmed the team are unable to identify the “precise source” of the nerve agent, and the Foreign Office has denied claiming it was from Russia – despite Boris Johnson’s assertions on just that point.
The government-run experiments on military personal seriously breached ethical standards, according to an official report released in 2006. It followed years of complaints from veterans claiming to have suffered lasting damage to their health as a result of the trials.
During the experiments Porton scientists dripped liquid nerve gas on the bare arms of 440 men and at one point tested nerve gas on eight men without the trial participants knowing what it really was. Six men were exposed to mustard gas for five consecutive days – three of whom suffered burns to their scrotums. Around 450 men had their eyes exposed to sarin nerve gas.
A 60-page government report released in 2002 detailed tests which exposed millions of people to harmful substances. The tests consisted of releasing potentially dangerous chemicals and microorganisms over vast areas of Britain – unbeknownst to the population below.
It also revealed that military personnel were instructed to tell any “inquisitive inquirer” that the trials were part of a research project into weather and air pollution.
Designed to test Britain’s vulnerability if deadly clouds were released over the country, in most cases trials used alternatives to biological weapons such as serratia marcescens bacteria or zinc cadmium sulphide, which was dropped on the public in huge amounts to mimic germ warfare.
The government insisted the chemical involved was safe, however cadmium is recognised as a cause of lung cancer and was considered a chemical weapon during World War II. Families living in the tested areas who have children born with birth defects have demanded a public inquiry.
In another trial a military ship sprayed bacteria including e.coli and bacillus globigii, which mimics anthrax, over a five to 10-mile radius along the south coast of England between 1961 and 1968, exposing more than 1 million people to the micro-organisms. In trials designed to test the vulnerability of government buildings and public transport, bacteria were released on the London Underground, traveling about 10 miles.
The report also confirmed that during World War II Porton Down produced millions of cattle cakes spiked with anthrax which could be dropped into Germany to kill livestock on a mass scale.
Ulf Schmidt, Professor of Modern History at the University of Kent, estimated in his 2015 book ‘Secret Science,’ that up to 30,000 secret chemical warfare experiments were carried out during that time period at Porton Down. It has also been claimed in most cases the military men were not given enough information to properly give consent.
The 100-year-old lab has a reported annual budget of £500 million and employs 3,000 scientists. In 2008 the Ministry of Defence awarded £3 million in compensation to 360 tested veterans without admitting liability.
New York’s Port Authority bus terminal had been partially evacuated after police say they found a “white substance” in a walkway, WCBS 880 radio reports.
The white powder was found to be non-hazardous, and terminal management declared that while there was “no immediate danger,” parts of the terminal would remain temporarily closed.
Due to police activity, the 8th and 9th avenue entrances of the Port Authority Bus Terminal’s South Wing are temporarily closed. North Wing open and operational. Updates to follow.
— PortAuthBusTerminal (@PABusTerminal) April 4, 2018
A stone’s throw from Times Square, The Port Authority Bus Terminal on 8th Avenue is one of the busiest public transport hubs in the United States.
The Terminal was shut down last December after a man detonated a homemade bomb in an underground walkway, injuring five.
There is no immediate danger at Port Authority Bus Terminal. Authorities are investigating NON-HAZARDOUS white substance dropped in South Wing. Bus operations are continuing but 8th Ave entrance to South Wing temporarily closed. We will provide updates as more info is available.
— PortAuthBusTerminal (@PABusTerminal) April 4, 2018
Outgoing US national security adviser H.R. McMaster has criticized President Donald Trump’s policy on Russia, saying Washington has “failed to impose sufficient costs,” on Moscow.
“For too long, some nations have looked the other way in the face of these threats. Russia brazenly, and implausibly denies its actions, and we have failed to impose sufficient costs,” McMaster said Tuesday during a speech at the Atlantic Council in Washington.
“The Kremlin’s confidence is growing,” he continued. “Russia has used old and new forms of aggression to undermine our open societies.”
The comments came hours after Trump, in a White House news conference with Baltic state leaders, stated, “Nobody has been tougher on Russia than I have.”
“Ideally we want to get along with Russia. Getting along with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing. Maybe we will, maybe we won’t,” Trump said. “Probably no one has been tougher to Russia than I…
On many issues — naming Scalia-like judges and backing Reagan-like tax cuts — President Trump is a conventional Republican.
Where he was exceptional in 2016, where he stood out starkly from his GOP rivals, where he won decisive states like Pennsylvania, was on his uniquely Trumpian agenda to put America and Americans first — from which the Bush Republicans recoiled.
Trump alone pledged to kill amnesty and secure the border with a 30-foot wall to halt the invasion of our country.
Trump alone pledged to end the de-industrialization of America and bring back our lost factories and lost jobs.
Trump alone pledged to end the democracy-crusading and extricate us from the endless Mideast wars into which George Bush, Barack Obama and the War Party had plunged the nation.
Nixonu2019s White Hous… Patrick J. Buchanan Best Price: $10.70 Buy New $9.93 (as of 01:15 EDT – Details)
And, upon how he delivers on these three uniquely Trumpian issues will hang his political fate and history’s assessment of whether he was a good, great or failed president.
Where this city stands is not in doubt. It is salivating to see Trump’s presidency broken, his agenda trashed, and him impeached. This city looks to Robert Mueller as the Moses of its deliverance from the tyrant whom an uncomprehending electorate imposed upon it.
While Trump’s support among his deplorables is holding — indeed, he is creeping back up in the polls — the outcome of the battle to bring him down remains in doubt.
Consider. Trump’s border wall was treated like a disposable bauble in the GOP Congress’ $1.6 trillion budget deal. Cities and whole states are declaring themselves sanctuaries for people here illegally and defying U.S. authorities’ requests for help in…
Relatives of political prisoners arrested during protests against the disputed reelection of President Juan Orlando Hernandez demand their release, in the surroundings of the Public Ministry in Tegucigalpa, on March 19, 2018. (Photo: Orlando Sierra / AFP / Getty Images)
On March 19, activists across the world carried out a day of action demanding the freedom of the more than 20 political prisoners held by the administration of Juan Orlando Hernández, who was recently re-elected president of Honduras. The activists were arrested following widespread protests against Hernández’s re-election and irregularities in the electoral process. Activists decried the failure of the Trump administration to speak out over the incarceration of opponents to the administration in Honduras.
Among those being held by the Hernández administration is Edwin Espinal, a 41-year-old internationally known Honduran activist and organizer who has been active in the movement against the dictatorship. Espinal was arrested en route to his home in Tegucigalpa on January 19, 2018, by officers from the Police Investigations Directorate (DPI), an investigative unit formed by Hernández in2015 during his first term as president.
Espinal is accused of being involved in the damage to the Marriott Hotel in Tegucigalpa during a march on January 12, 2018. He was arrested on charges of arson, property damage and use of homemade explosives. Yet, according to an article for the prestigious North American Congress on Latin America by Adrienne Pine, an associate professor of anthropology at American University, evidence suggests that the damage was caused by infiltrators from the Partido Nacional, the political party to which Hernández belongs.
The case has been plagued by irregularities. Espinal is being held in the La Tolva prison, a maximum-security prison run by the Honduran military, in spite of the fact that he is a civilian. At least 17 of the 26 current political prisoners are being held in similar…
I do not pretend to know the full stories behind the assassinations or executions of either John F. Kennedy (JFK) or Martin Luther King, Jr., the latter killed in Memphis, Tennessee, exactly 50 years ago today. Were one or both them killed by lone gunmen? By the CIA? The FBI? Organized crime? The U.S. military? Some combination of these?
There are good reasons to doubt the official stories and suspect “deep state” conspiracies in both cases. But don’t ask me for any definitive answers. I don’t have any and I doubt I ever will. (Don’t ask me about Bobby Kennedy either).
I can, however, definitively mark as absurd the messages I periodically get from purportedly left people telling me to see the killing of JFK in the same light as the murder of Dr. King—as if both iconic 1960s figures were great peoples’ leaders fighting heroically for racial equality, social justice and peace.
JFK Atop the Triple Evils
That, it can be definitively said, is nonsense. The super-wealthy corporate-liberal and proto-neoliberal JFK spent the lion’s share of his presidency on the wrong side of each of what King called “the triple evils that are interrelated”: racism, economic injustice (capitalism) and militarism. Kennedy is a false progressive idol of the highest order, something you won’t learn about on MSNBC (“MSDNC”), where Democratic Party commentator Chris Matthews lives in a seemingly permanent state of Kennedy family…
Dick Cavett: A lot of people…were astounded at how you got [alleged assassin of Martin Luther King, James Earl] Ray to change the plea [from “not guilty” to “guilty”].
Percy Foreman [Ray’s lawyer and LBJ crony]: I didn’t get him to change the plea. [Laughing] I simply told him that I thought he would be executed if he didn’t.
— The Dick Cavett Show, August 9, 1969.
A Piece of Work, and then Some!
Choose any notable event between presidents Calvin Coolidge and Richard Nixon (even beyond), such was his impact that any subsequent discussion is far from complete without significant reference to J Edgar Hoover, the long-time founding Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); chances are that its Director’s ‘fingerprints’ were all over said “event”. That said, such knowledge about one of the most iconic and consequential figures in American history has only come to pass incrementally in the ensuing years after his death in 1972.
Moreover, choose any significant individual public or political figure during that era, and the likelihood is that Hoover knew more about that person than they might’ve known about themselves. He most certainly knew much more about them than they themselves might’ve cared for anyone else to know, much less someone like Hoover.
As we will see, one such “individual” on Edgar’s radar was the iconic civil rights leader and anti-Vietnam war campaigner Dr Martin Luther King (MLK); one such…
A 32-year-old Syrian has set an apartment block alight in the German town of Leipzig. The man will be charged with arson and murder, Germany’s Bild newspaper reports.
The refugee set fire to the apartment block in the early hours of Good Friday. As a result one person died, 17 were injured and several house pets died in the fire as well.
A video shows how people were stuck on the roof of the building and had to jump down on a Fire Department cushion.
Police think the man started the fire in a rubbish bin and intentionally blocked the rear and the front exit. Neighbours say police visited the man regularly as he fought fiercely with his wife.
You have to hand it to Jewdas – despite an onslaught of negativity after Jeremy Corbyn joined it for Passover on Monday, the “radical Jewish voice for the alternative diaspora” is laughing its way through the smears.
After Labour leader Corbyn was slammed by fellow party MPs John Woodcock and Angela Smith for breaking bread with Jewdas, the group is keeping its spirits up. The MPs subsequently faced their own accusations of anti-Semitism, with many in the Jewish community accusing them of declaring that there are ‘right’ and ‘wrong Jews’ for Corbyn to hang out with.
Corbyn’s attendance at the Jewdas seber reads as a blatant dismissal of the case made for tackling anti-Semitism in Labour. #EnoughisEnough
This is deliberately baiting the mainstream Jewish community days after they pleaded with him to tackle antisemitism. And he must know that meeting them now will give his members the message that the group’s extreme views are ok. Irresponsible and dangerous https://t.co/NORQQiFq8J
In a statement released on its Facebook page, Jewdas rated Corbyn as a “10/10” guest – doesn’t get much better than that, really – wonder if his Uber rating is just as immaculate.
“While we remain opposed to the monarchy, we were delighted that the leader of Her Majesty’s Opposition, Jeremy Corbyn accepted our invitation to join the Jewdas community Seder,” Jewdas wrote. “Jeremy was a 10/10 guest and provided delicious maror from his allotment.”
A maror furor followed, with the Daily Mail reporting: “They raised a beetroot in the air and shouted f*** capitalism.” The image was too tempting and Jewdas took the opportunity to rip into the paper.
Not only did it give Corbyn an out-of-the-park guest rating, it crowned him with the supreme title for a non-Jew: “the absolute goy.”
you’re at the seyder table you realise you’ve forgotten the maror there’s a knocking at the door elijah? come early? no, just the absolute goy busting in to save the day pic.twitter.com/5EK3YV3rK5
Clearly enjoying its new-found attention, the group’s beetroot jokes continued. Quoting Rav Geoffrey, Jewdas spread the good word about that time the Israelites crossed the Red Sea brandishing a beetroot.
Rav Geoffrey explained: When the Israelites crossed the Red Sea and reached the other side, Miriam and the women raised their beetroots in the air and shouted fuck capitalism pic.twitter.com/5I0HXRpuMY
It wasn’t just Jewdas that was taking the joke and running with it. Renowned illustrator Michael Rosen used words from his famous children’s book ‘We’re going on a bear hunt’ to highlight the hypocrisy of the anti-Semitic accusations being slugged about in recent days. Jewish comedians David Baddiel and David Schneider also jumped on board to tackle the big issue with a laugh.
We’re going on a witch hunt, we’re going to catch a Corbyn. What a beautiful day. We’re not scared. Uh-uh. Jewdas! The wrong sort of Jews! . We can’t go over them, we can’t go under them, Oh no! we’ve got to tell lies about them: smirch, smirch, smirch, smirch…
“They are just Jews who disagree with other Jews… To make out that it’s somehow anti-Semitic for him to spend Seder with them just because they’re far-left is balls,” Baddiel said on Twitter.
“Boo! Corbyn needs to get out and meets some Jews!”
“‘Boo! Corbyn needs to get out and meets some Jews!’ (Corbyn spends Passover with some Jews at Jewdas) ‘Boo! Not those Jews!'” Schneider added.
Jewdas has now eclipsed the Board of Deputies of British Jews (BDBJ) as the UK Jewish organisation with the most followers on Twitter. Ironic, considering that Jewdas landed in the public eye after Corbyn attended a Passover after anti-semitism accusations were leveled at Labour from a few major Jewish groups… including BDBJ.
So what will happen next in this bizarre trip into exploring anti-Semitism in the Labour Party? Who knows – but with Jewdas active on social media, there’s no doubt that hilarity will ensue.
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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will testify before the US House Energy and Commerce Committee next week. It is expected that he will answer questions on data privacy which have arisen in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
“This hearing will be an important opportunity to shed light on critical consumer data privacy issues and help all Americans better understand what happens to their personal information online,” said Energy and Commerce Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) and the committee’s top Democrat, Frank Pallone (NJ).
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With Facebook reeling after the revelation that the social media giant knowingly allowed third parties to access user data, the hearing offers Zuckerberg an opportunity to tell Congress how his company plans to better protect user data in the future.
Since the scandal broke, Facebook’s stock has lost more than $100 billion in market value. In a statement on Facebook, and in full-page ads in major newspapers, Zuckerberg apologized for the “breach of trust” and promised to cease data-sharing with third parties.
Zuckerberg did not, however, accept a summons to appear before a British Parliament select committee, opting instead to send senior executives.
Under the terms of the 2011 agreement with the FTC, Facebook was barred from making deceptive privacy claims, and was required to receive users’ consent before sharing their data. Allowing Cambridge Analytica to access user data was “a serious breach of the FTC’s consent” agreement, said David Vladeck, the FTC head who signed the agreement with Facebook in 2011. “There will be serious consequences from this violation,” Vladeck added.
Cambridge Analytica was able to gather data on some 50 million users through 270,000 logins into an app developed by a Cambridge University professor. When users logged into the professor’s app, they shared not just their own data, but the data of their friends and contacts.
This data haul “contained enough information, including places of residence, that the company could match users to other records and build psychographic profiles,” according to the Times.
In late May of 2010, Israeli naval commandos descended onto a flotilla of six small civilian boats that aim to break the blockade of the Gaza Strip and bring humanitarian supplies to the besieged enclave. Nine civilians, eight Turks and one American citizen, were massacred. It sparked a diplomatic crisis as well as a public relations disaster for Israel. One of the key lessons Israel took from the event, and indeed a focus of its government’s investigative report, was not that Israel should not have massacred the civilians, but rather that it should have done a better job of explaining why it did so.
So early last week, well before demonstrators began to amass in Gaza for a planned protest, I could see how Israel was laying the foundation for the massacre to come, describing the march as a Hamas-organized event aimed at violent provocation. In the days before, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs circulated talking points preemptively framing the event as violent, dangerous, a cover for terror activity and an exploitation of civilians. The Israeli military sent 100 snipers down to the fence between Gaza and Israel. The stage was set for a massacre and this time, the Israelis may have thought they sufficiently prepared an international audience to justify it ahead of time.
By the time the sun had set on Friday in Gaza, 17 Palestinians were killed and hundreds of others were wounded by live ammunition. Videos emerged of unarmed protesters dodging bullets before ultimately being gunned down. International condemnations would follow, as would an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council to address the issue.
Once again, Israel had used lethal force against unarmed protesters, even as Israeli soldiers faced no imminent threat. Indeed, no Israeli soldiers were injured during the events. And it is hard to imagine how they could be. These are soldiers armed to the hilt and positioned atop dunes or in armored vehicles, behind a fence as well, firing at Palestinians from a great distance. Even if a Palestinian was throwing a stone, the chances that under these conditions such an act could cause an imminent threat to life ― the only situation that would justify the use of lethal force under international law ― are infinitesimal. Indeed, even if Palestinians were trying to climb the fence, that would not give Israel the right to use lethal force.
Why does Israel keep finding itself in these situations with the Palestinians? Some will argue that the Jewish state is in the impossible position of constantly balancing efforts to maintain its security without creating another public relations disaster. The truth is, Israel keeps finding itself in these situations because of the ongoing denial of basic rights to millions of Palestinians. This march in Gaza was a demonstration against Israel’s policy of encagement.
Pluralistic democracies that respect human rights do not find themselves resorting to using lethal force against demonstrators. That’s what apartheid states do. But Israel has sold itself to the world as something else, a beacon of liberalism and democracy. Few things expose this image as a sham as well as massive non-violent mobilizations or civil disobedience.
More than the atrocities committed or the condemnations that followed, perhaps the most important and also inspirational element of the events of last Friday was the demonstrations themselves. Tens of thousands of Palestinians congregated in disciplined, organized demonstrations at various points along the fence of the besieged Gaza Strip. People of all ages joined, songs were sung, meals were cooked, pick-up volleyball games were played. All of this, importantly, was done as a unified Palestinian front. Despite Israel’s efforts to slap a Hamas label on it, the only visible flags were Palestinian, not factional. For Palestinians, this was a vision that brought us together with great hope.
These types of events are Israel’s nightmare, not because they are violent, but precisely because they are not. Israel is well equipped to deal with violence but it fumbles every interaction with non-violent dissent because these interactions thrust Israel’s policies ― policies that deny basic rights ― onto center stage. That is why the Israeli government tried to frame the event as violent before it took place, so it could brutally crack down and dissuade Palestinians from organizing such events again.
Happening on Land Day, which commemorates the massacre of Palestinian citizens of Israel by Israeli forces during a protest against land confiscation in the Galilee in 1976, the march was an effort to assert the rights of Palestinians in Gaza in a way that tied all Palestinians together.
Israel, since it’s inception, has relied on external support, particularly from the Western world, for justification of its policies in Gaza and the West Bank. These relationships are contingent on many things, including values the West claims to hold dear like freedom, democracy, civil rights and equality. The prospect of a negotiated agreement based on two-states has allowed Israel to stave off the confrontation between the myth of these values and the reality on the ground.
But as the notion of a two-state agreement fades firmly into history, the apartheid reality becomes impossible to ignore, and further episodes where Israel will confront masses of mobilized Palestinians demanding their rights will continue to highlight this contradiction.
It is now incumbent on the international community to encourage Palestinian non-violent dissent and civil disobedience, to condemn Israel’s violent repression and then hold it accountable for such violations of law. The massacre of protesters in Gaza this past week was Palestine’s version of the Sharpeville Massacre that happened almost exactly 58 years ago in South Africa.
The international community responded then with condemnation, beginning a process that included an arms embargo and ultimately led to the end of the apartheid system. How the international community responds to this event in Gaza and ones surely to come will determine how much longer Israel will be able to get away with its separate and unequal rule over Palestinians.
One dead, three injured in shooting at YouTube HQ in Northern California
By
Norisa Diaz
4 April 2018
A female suspect is dead and three people have been hospitalized with serious wounds from a shooting at YouTube headquarters in Northern California Tuesday afternoon. San Bruno, California Police Chief Ed Barberini told reporters that the unidentified woman opened fire with a handgun Tuesday around at 12:46 p.m.
Within two minutes of the initial 911 call, police responded with a heavy presence outside the YouTube building. Arriving, they found three victims, two of whom were alongside the body of a woman believed to be the shooter, who evidently died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
A crowd had gathered outside the building and police frisked and patted down everyone individually, while closing roadways near the building to through traffic.
A senior software engineer, Zach Vorhies, reported that many were calmly leaving the building following the sounding of the fire alarm when he caught a glimpse of the shooter in a courtyard yelling, “Come get me.”
The alleged shooter has not been identified as of this writing, and no motive or other details have been provided by the authorities. Hospital officials reported that a 36-year-old man was in critical condition, one 32-year-old woman was in serious condition and one 27-year-old woman was in fair condition.
Over 1,100 people are employed at the headquarters of YouTube, a subsidiary of Google, including engineers, sales teams, advertisers and content creators.
Never missing an opportunity to promote the police, President Trump tweeted praise and thanks to “our phenomenal Law Enforcement Officers and First Responders that are currently on the scene.”
While the motive for the shooting remains unclear, what is certain is…
A British soldier who died in Syria last week was taking part in a covert mission to capture a fugitive Islamic State (formerly ISIS) leader, the Pentagon has revealed.
SAS Sergeant Matt Tonroe, 33, died alongside American soldier Master Sergeant Jonathan Dunbar, 36, last Friday, March 30. They were killed by an improvised explosive device (IED) in the northern Syrian town of Manbij, east of Aleppo. Five other American soldiers from the US Army elite Delta Force were injured in the operation.
According to Pentagon officials cited by US media, the fugitive ISIS leader was sheltering in the area when Tonroe was struck. The US military has not specified if the IED was in a building, a vehicle, or buried in the road, but confirmed that the troops were out of their vehicles when the explosion took place, CNN reports.
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“Coalition forces, in an advise, assist and accompany capacity with our partners were conducting a mission to kill or capture a known Isis member when they were struck by an improvised explosive device,” the Pentagon said, according to the Times. “This operation was part of the coalition’s mission to defeat Isis and we remain focused on our mission.”
Manbij is on the front line of territory held by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) which consists of Kurds and Arabs from eastern Syria and is dominated by the People’s Protection Units (YPG), a left-wing Kurdish militia. Turkey regards the YPG a “terrorist” extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has battled the Turkish state for three decades.
As Turkey has repeatedly threatened to attack Manbij due to its strategic importance and YPG control, it was previously thought US patrols stationed there were actually trying to show Turkey how strong a backing the Kurds had from the West. Dunbar and Tonroe’s deaths confirm that US/UK forces are still hunting the remnants of ISIS.
While many ISIS commanders have been killed, some remain on the run. One in whom the UK and US would have interest capturing is Ali Musa al-Shawakh, 44, also known as Abu Luqman. He was born in a village west of Raqqa and became the city’s “emir” or governor, as well as torturer-in-chief, in 2014. It is currently unclear if Luqman was the target of the SAS’ mission.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention is warning Americans about a drug-resistant “nightmare bacteria” that has spread to every state after more than 200 cases last year.
More than 23,000 Americans die each year from infections caused by drug-resistant germs, according to the CDC, and last year a first-of-its-kind nationwide study uncovered 221 instances of a rare antibiotic resistant (AR) “nightmare bacteria”. It mostly afflicts people either in or visiting hospitals and nursing homes.
It’s thought the number of cases is actually higher as only certain labs in each state were involved in the study, explained the CDC in a Vital Signs report released Tuesday. The health officials warn that the new and highly-resistant germs are “constantly developing and spreading.”
“Essentially, we found nightmare bacteria in your backyard,” said Dr. Anne Schuchat, Principal Deputy Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to the Associated Press. “These verge on untreatable infections.”
Early and aggressive action is key, the organizations say, to preventing the further spread of the bacteria. In an effort to prevent the germs from developing into life-threatening infections, a new CDC national lab network has been launched to improve identification of the extreme bacteria across all 50 states, five large cities and Puerto Rico. An early alarm system has also been put in place for when new cases emerge.
Along with their national containment plan, the CDC recommends the public keep their hands and any cuts on their skin clean, stay up to date with vaccinations and inform their doctor if they’ve recently received any healthcare in another country.
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Longtime American diplomat and presidential aide Dennis Ross believes that if President Donald Trump pulls out of the nuclear deal with Iran, Tehran will be the ultimate winner.
Trump has until May 12 to announce his policy towards the agreement known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which was reached between Iran and the US, the UK, France, Russia, China and Germany on July 14, 2015.
“If he withdraws, he withdraws alone. The Europeans will not join him,” Ross, a distinguished fellow at the Washington Institute, wrote in an opinion published by The Washington Post on Monday.
Political analyst Dennis Ross (File photo)
Withdrawing from the deal, Ross contended, will end Europe’s willingness to cooperate with the Trump administration to “accept a number of concessions” to stay in the accord, including possible sanctions on Iran’s missile program.
A State Department team has been working with their counterparts in…
One of the biggest bits of news on all mainstream media channels is the caravan of illegal immigrants heading toward the United States border with Mexico intending to demand entry into the country. But from this big story comes a heavy dose of irony as Mexico deports 400 marchers for entering Mexico illegally.
According to The Daily Wire, when the caravan crossed the Mexican-Guatemalan border, the group’s leaders praised Mexican officials for stepping aside and allowing them entry. “Refugee Caravan knocking down borders yesterday in Huehuetan! Immigration agents abandoned the post when they knew we were coming. The people celebrated this first little victory!” they said on Facebook.
Before setting out on the journey, the migrants were organized into groups of 10 to 15 people, and a leader was designated for each group. Five groups were then banded together in what organizers call a sector. While there are organizers from Pueblos Sin Fronteras leading the way, much of the effort to get to the US border is in the hands of the migrants themselves. –BuzzFeed
But according to CNN, in its statement, the Mexican Foreign Ministry said the caravan is mainly made up of people from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador and that around 400 caravan participants who did not enter the country of Mexico lawfully had been repatriated to their countries of origin “with the strict legal framework.”
“Under no circumstance does the government of Mexico promote illegal migration,” it said. The ministry said the circumstances of the caravan differed from those of previous years in that “the Mexican immigration authorities have proceeded to offer refuge in some cases, as well as other necessary protective measures.”
President Donald Trump took a victory lap on Tuesday following the release of a national poll that showed his approval rating hitting 50 per cent – a number higher than Barack Obama’s at the same point in his first term eight years ago.
The Rasmussen Reports daily tracking poll shows half of all Americans say Trump is doing a good job in office, while 49 per cent disagree.
‘Thank you to Rasmussen for the honest polling,’ the president tweeted. ‘Just hit 50%, which is higher than Cheatin’ Obama at the same time in his Administration.’
The president’s strong showing on Monday followed an unenviable week of chaos dominated by constant sword-rattling from alleged former Trump paramour Stormy Daniels, and the dismissal-by-tweet of his Veterans Affairs secretary David Shulkin.
Thank you to Rasmussen for the honest polling. Just hit 50%, which is higher than Cheatin’ Obama at the same time in his Administration.
Four in 10 university students have experienced some sort of unwanted sexual advances by academic staff, ranging from sexual comments to rape, new research reveals.
According to a survey of 1,839 current and former students by the National Union of Students (NUS) and campaign organization 1752 Group, 41 percent reported being subjects of unwanted sexual advances from university staff.
The study, Power in the Academy: Staff Sexual Misconduct in UK Higher Education, warns that the sector is “not currently a safe environment,” especially as, the report notes, most of the perpetrators are academic staff with “power over students’ academic success, wellbeing and career” prospects.
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Of the 1,535 respondents, 12 percent were found to have been touched in a sexual way that made them feel uncomfortable. Thirty-five current students and 30 ex-students said they had had non-consensual sexual contact, while a further 15 reported sexual assault and rape. Only a quarter of those who reported their abuse thought their institutions had done enough to prevent the harassment from reoccurring.
Hareem Ghani, NUS women’s officer, said: “For too long, these problems have been, at best, sidelined and, at worst, silenced by institutions. We need to talk about the open secrets that plague academia, to stop abuses of power wherever they happen.”
The damning research also found that women are not only twice more likely to be harassed than men, they are three times more likely to be negatively affected. One student from a top London art school told the Guardian she had attempted suicide after being bullied and groped by a female staff member.
Anna Bull, co-founder of the 1752 Group and senior lecturer at the University of Portsmouth, said: “This research draws attention to the extremely poor response of UK institutions to the sexual misconduct of their employees… institutions often do further harm to students who take the brave step of reporting such misconduct.
“There is no excuse for institutions not to act. It is particularly concerning that the majority of perpetrators of staff sexual misconduct appear to be academic staff, who, by the nature of their role, have power over students’ academic success, well-being and
Universities minister Sam Gyimah responded to the findings saying: “Violence and sexual harassment in any setting is completely unacceptable and victims should report cases to the police.
“The government expects universities to take a zero-tolerance approach to this abhorrent behaviour so that students feel confident and able to report what they have experienced,” Gyimah told the Guardian.
“Following the report from Universities UK’s sexual violence and harassment taskforce, we have asked the higher education sector to do more and implement their recommendations. We must now ensure that the work of the taskforce goes onto make a real difference to students across the country.”
If you’re a Russian immigrant in the United States — or anywhere else — don’t bother tweeting your opinions unless your English is flawless. Otherwise you’ll be branded a Kremlin-paid troll by influential American think tanks.
Eagle-eyed Ben Nimmo, a fellow at the Atlantic Council, has tweeted advice for Twitter users to help them identify “Russian troll-factory accounts” on the social media platform.
What gives the Russian trolls away, Nimmo advises, is their tendency to use imperfect English. For example, Nimmo highlights the “inability” of so-called Russian trolls to use the words ‘a’ or ‘the’ because the Russian language itself does not use definite or indefinite articles.
One thing which betrays genuine Russian troll-factory accounts is the language. Look for an inability to use “the” and “a” (Russian is one of the languages which doesn’t have them).
This means that a Russian without perfect English might say ‘There is black cat in house’ instead of ‘There is a black cat in the house’ — as a native English speaker would say. According to Nimmo, these are the “linguistic clues” that will betray your status as a Russian troll.
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Graciously, Nimmo accepts that simply using imperfect English alone may not be enough evidence to outright brand someone as a paid Kremlin agitator, but if you’ve also been tweeting certain anti-Western “narratives” or indeed articles published by RT — then it’s a sure thing.
In other words, if you’re a non-native English speaker and you tweet anything that could be perceived as being against Western foreign policy, you’re probably working for the Russian government.
Russian-born investigative journalist Yasha Levine responded to Nimmo’s tweet thread calling it “anti-immigrant crap” and explaining that most Russian immigrants he knows occasionally make mistakes like the ones described by Nimmo.
In further tweets, Levine asked Nimmo if he and his family should be “smeared as Russian propaganda bots” for making a simple linguistic mistake and noted how strange it was that this kind of anti-immigrant sentiment was now seen to be acceptable by American liberals.
What kind of anti-immigrant crap is this?
I’m a political refugee, came to the U.S. when I was 9 and I still sometimes use the wrong article. I, and just about every other immigrant I know, have been bullied and shamed because of our imperfect English.
“The fact that this kind of casual xenophobia — smearing people as propagandists employed by a foreign government because of their imperfect English — is tolerated in liberal circles is infuriating and scary,” Levine wrote.
Levine’s tweets are unlikely to make Nimmo change his mind. He has continued to obsessively tweet screenshots of accounts he suspects of being trolls or sharing ties to the Kremlin, including the account of world-renowned Ukrainian-American pianist Valentina Lisitsa.
So, shape up, Russian immigrants. Nimmo and his fellow troll hunters are on to you.
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An activist holds a Pan-African flag during a protest disrupting the Association of Chiefs of Police Conference on October 25, 2015, in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo: Sarah-Ji)
April 4 marks the historic 50th anniversary since Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. At this time, it is vital to highlight the fact that King understood the depth of state violence, noting the violent effects of government policy in many spheres.
As King said a year before his death, “I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed, without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today — my own government.”
King was indicting the very logic of racial capitalism that continues to devalue some lives over others.
It is easy to focus on “lone gunmen” or “rogue cops” as individual perpetrators of violence, and of course on one level, that is true. People pull the triggers of guns. But the problem runs deeper than that. Police have enormous power and privilege in leveraging deadly force against civilians who they see as a threat or whose lives they don’t value. The state gives them permission to use this force and condones racist violence by allowing wanton shootings to occur with impunity.
King’s anniversary will be marked in many ways around the country. In Chicago, where we live, the 16-month-old Resist, Reimagine, Rebuild (R3) Coalition and affiliated activist groups will hold a rally at the city’s Daley Center to highlight the radical legacy of King and those who fought alongside him.
We will link King’s legacy to the ways in which we can resist the rampant anti-Black state violence being perpetrated today. In Chicago and the larger Chicago area, from Zion to Elgin to the South and West Sides, we have seen numerous cases of unchecked police violence against Black people. For example, the tragic case of Decynthia Clements, who was shot by police on a freeway while inside a burning car and thought to be suicidal. There is the…
University teachers must be courageous pioneers of the new learning age (full of wonder and danger). Our task is to enable our students to acquire the knowledge, skills, sensibility and attitudes to hold their heads high and speak with clear voices in our confusing and anguished world of too much information and too little wisdom. Let me offer a few insights on the specific problems university students must overcome in the information age—if they are to achieve critical consciousness and push against the grain of endless propaganda and fake news.
Our world on speed encourages us to surf, skip lightly, bounce distractedly, and lose concentration. Winnifred Gallagher, in her book, Rapt: attention and the focused life (2009), suggests that we may be experiencing a new moral panic. Professors report that their students are often tired, insanely busy, distracted, and unfocused. “Paying attention”—the mind’s cognitive currency—is a diminishing resource. Sherry Turkle, author of Alone together: why we expect more from technology and less from each other(2011) and expert on robotics and social networking says that we now live in a “culture of distraction.” Paradoxically, the more we connect electronically, the less we converse, and the more we connect the lonelier we are. She thinks that in the “cascade of communication”—some young people send 10,000 text messages a month—we lose our “capacity for solitude, the kind that…
The Israeli army’s trigger-finger against Palestinian protesters close to the fence surrounding Gaza at the weekend, killing at least 18 and injuring hundreds more, has an explanation rooted in more than normal conceptions of security.
Even before Israel’s creation, its leaders were obssessed with demography and winning a zero-sum numerical war of attrition with the Palestinians. The consequences are still playing out to this day.
Last week, ahead of the Gaza protests, the Israeli army made an unexpected admission. It told parliamentarians that for the first time Jews are outnumbered by Palestinians living under Israeli rule, both inside Israel as citizens and in the territories under occupation.
It was a moment whose significance was not lost on Israeli legislators. Many were appalled, refusing to accept the army’s assessment that there are now half a million more Palestinians than Jews between the Mediterranean Sea and the river Jordan.
Avi Dichter, a right wing legislator and a former head of Israel’s secret police agency the Shin Bet, called the data “disconcerting”.
In 1948, when the Zionist movement saw a chance to seize control of as much of Palestine as possible, it understood that this goal could be achieved only through the ethnic cleansing of most of the native population. It was Zionism’s moment to create the “empty land” mythologised in its early slogans.
Today, the demographic successes of 1948 have been largely reversed. The…
FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel on Tuesday argued against her own agency’s recent policy rulings under the Trump administration, in light of President Donald Trump’s defense of Sinclair Broadcasting as the conservative broadcasting giant attempts to merge with Tribune Media in a $3.9 billion deal.
As I have said before, there is a troubling pattern at the @FCC. The agency’s big media policy decisions all seem custom-built for the business plan of Sinclair Broadcasting.
Critics, including Rosenworcel, are concerned that under Chairman Ajit Pai, who Trump appointed last year, the FCC is moving deliberately to allow the Sinclair-Tribune merger to go through. Known for pushing right-wing viewpoints within the stations it already owns, the broadcaster drew ire this week after a viral video showed how local anchors nationwide are forced to read the same pre-packaged scripts.
The FCC voted last November to loosen regulations meant to ensure a variety of viewpoints are disseminated via the nation’s news broadcasts, allowing broadcast companies like Sinclair to control two of the top four stations in a given market.
Rosenworcel was joined by fellow Democratic commissioner Mignon Clyburn in dissenting when the rules were eliminated, with Clyburn calling the decision “deeply flawed.”
“This is really about helping large media companies grow even larger,” she added.
As CNETpoints out, just before Sinclair announced it would seek to merge with Tribune—a move that would give Sinclair control of 42 additional stations in major markets like New York, Chicago, and Washington, D.C.—the FCC also reinstated a loophole allowing Sinclair to undercount the households it reached in order to keep its scope under the threshold of 39 percent of the nation’s homes.
The Sinclair-Tribune merger would extend the company’s reach to nearly three-quarters of households, according to the New York Times.
According to Pew Research, around 30 percent of American adults get their news from local television broadcasts. If Sinclair and Tribune do finally merge, the company will reach 70 percent of American households.
And against Rosenworcel’s wishes, the FCC also voted to adopt a framework for mobile streaming technology to which Sinclair owns numerous patents.
“Before we authorize billions for patent holders and saddle consumers with the bills, we better understand how these rights holders will not take advantage of the special status conferred upon them by the FCC,” Rosenworcel said at the time.
Speaking with the Daily Beast, the commissioner added, “We’re burning down the values of media policy in this agency in order to service this company.”
To stop Sinclair from accumulating even more power, argued John Nichols at the Nation, the company’s top advocate in the Trump administration—Ajit Pai—should be taken out of the FCC’s decision-making process regarding Sinclair.
“Pai’s machinations have been so concerning that the agency’s top internal watchdog launched an investigation into whether the chairman pushed to change media ownership rules to benefit the Sinclair-Tribune merger deal,” Nichols wrote. “This is a moment that requires a public outcry on behalf of diverse and competitive, community-focused and service-oriented local news. That outcry must, as a beginning, demand that Pai recuse himself from deliberations regarding the Sinclair-Tribune deal.”
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has acknowledged for the first time that unauthorized spying devices are being used in Washington, DC.
According to a letter obtained by The Hill, the department admitted that foreign actors or criminals are using eavesdropping devices to track cellphone activity in Washington.
The letter DHS wrote to Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) last Monday shows that they came across unauthorized cell-site simulators in the area last year.
The devices known as “stingrays” can track a user’s location data using their mobile phones and can intercept cellphone calls and messages.
“[T]he National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD) has observed anomalous activity in the National Capital Region that appears to be consistent with International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) catchers,” DHS wrote responding to specific questions Wyden sent them last November.
It said that it has knowledge of IMSI use outside the…
Dark clouds are forming over the Iran nuclear deal as the calendar marches toward a May 12 deadline set by President Trump to improve the accord or see the United States effectively withdraw from it.
When Trump extended Iran’s sanctions relief in January, he pledged it would be the last time unless European allies agree to a supplemental deal to fix what the president sees as the fundamental problems with the nuclear pact negotiated by the Obama administration.
And while negotiations with the Europeans are ongoing, hopes for a solution are increasingly fading.
“Every single day I have a new percentage about whether we’re going to get a new deal. Today is 51/49 no deal,” said Behnam Ben Taleblu, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies who favors fixing the deal instead of scrapping it.
An admission from the UK’s main defense lab has thrown Theresa May’s accusations of Russian ‘culpability’ for the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal into doubt.
British scientists at Porton Down announced that they are unable to establish the origin of nerve agent A-234 (also known as “Novichok”). Gary Aitkenhead, chief executive of the Defense Science and Technology Laboratory at Porton Down in England, told Sky News: “We were able to identify it as Novichok, to identify that it was military-grade nerve agent.
“We have not identified the precise source, but we have provided the scientific info to government who have then used a number of other sources to piece together the conclusions you have come to.”
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Russia has consistently denied being behind the attack on the Skripals in Salisbury on March 4. However, in the eyes of the UK government, their ‘culpability’ has never been in doubt.
Following the poisoning, May was unequivocal about the source of the nerve agent – giving Russia an ultimatum and demanding an explanation for the incident, stating: “Either this was a direct act by the Russian state against our country, or the Russian government lost control of this potentially catastrophically damaging nerve agent and allowed it to get into the hands of others.” When May considered that the ultimatum had not been met, the UK PM accused the Kremlin of being “culpable” for the incident.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn took a more cautious tone, calling for the proper channels of international law to be utilized before blame is attributed. Corbyn was attacked by Tories and some Labour MPs alike, for his supposedly weak stance on Russia.
May’s accusations were parroted by many of her ministers, as well as her allies in the press. None were more vocal in their attacks than Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who in an interview with the German publication Deutsche Welle relayed a conversation that he had with a Porton Down scientist, claiming that “the people from Porton Down… said there’s no doubt” that the nerve agent is Russian.
Johnson’s assertion of the laboratory’s confidence was challenged by ex-British ambassador Craig Murray, who said he had sources who stated that they had been “pressured” into blaming Russia, and that they were still unsure as to the origin. This position appears to have been vindicated following Porton Down’s statement.
The apparent discrepancy in what Johnson and the PM have claimed, contrary to the statement given from Porton Down, has already led to calls for front-bench resignations.
So what evidence was Boris Johnson going on when he said people at Porton Down told him “there’s no doubt”? This man is our Foreign Secretary, remember. What action will the Prime Minister take against him given that this now seems to be false? pic.twitter.com/hdw9dCCHgN
Boris Johnson said that Porton Down “categorically” knew the source of the nerve agent was Russia—”no doubt”. Porton Down now says it cannot know if the source was Russia. Surely this is a resignation issue for Johnson, as the UK’s chief diplomat, on a matter so serious.
Important this – even though much of HMG maintained the ‘highly likely’ line + did not suggest that origin of Salisbury Novichok had been traced to Russia, some overstated their case so there could now be a political price to pay https://t.co/aBUJUv9rNo
Further testing on the nerve agent sample will be carried out by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPWC). However, at this juncture, the UK’s assertion of Russian culpability has never looked more tenuous.
The prestigious George Washington University in the US capital is hosting a seminar on ‘Christian privilege.’ The premise that white Christians benefit from “built-in advantages” in the US has sparked fury on social media.
The ‘Excellence in Leadership’ workshop is titled ‘Christian Privilege: But Our Founding Fathers Were All Christian, Right?!’ According to the university website, it will explore how Christians have an “easier” life than non-Christians in the US and benefit from “unmerited perks from institutions and systems all across our country.”
By the end of the session, participants will be able to identify “at least three examples of Christian privilege” and “at least three ways to be an ally with a non-Christian person.”
In addition to religion, the workshop focuses on race, offering exploration of “white privilege.” It is scheduled for Thursday, April 5, just days after the Easter holiday in the US.
The class is the brainchild of trainer Timothy Kane from the Multicultural Student Services Center at George Washington University (GWU).
And if atoning for their “Christian privilege” is not enough, GWU students also have the chance to attend similar training sessions on “heterosexual privilege” and “cisgender privilege.”
GWU is one of the most prestigious universities in the US, chartered by Congress in 1821 in accordance with the wishes of the first US president to have a national university in the capital. It is located just a few blocks north of the State Department.
GWU is also expensive: undergraduate students cough up about $55,140 in tuition and fees for each academic year. The workshops are funded in part from these fees.
A fierce backlash against the seminar is brewing on Twitter, with one user lambasting it as “intolerance at its best.”
Just when we thought the idea of “white privilege” was stupid enough, the left has now coined the term “Christian privilege.” NEWSFLASH: Christians are the most persecuted religion in the world! This is just sick!
Christian Privilege, as they said, “White Christian Privilege” George Washington University attacks White Christians. Talk about intolerance at its best, talk about racially driven religious hate at its best. If you want to gain an under grad degree in hate, enroll at GWU
GWU’s upcoming diversity workshop teaches that Christians –especially white ones– “receive unmerited perks from institutions and systems all across our country.”
I thought we were putting an end to singling out & attacking religious groups. 🙄https://t.co/cC996feiaW
After rallying on Friday, stocks tanked on Monday, dropping over 450 points. In fact, it was the worst first day of the second quarter since the Great Depression.
Most analysts blamed the plunge on the escalating trade war, but Peter Schiff has a different take. He said it was just another bad day in a bear market. In fact, he said the market could have rallied because the Chinese response wasn’t as bad as it could have been. But when you’re in a bear market, all news is bad news.
As I expected, traders came back from the Passover-Easter break and started to sell. I mean, they came in almost out of the bell. No real news to blame the sell-off on. Now, they tried to blame it on Trump and the tariffs. While I agree the tariffs are a problem, there was nothing new over the weekend. Yeah, China came out and announced a couple of billion dollars worth of tariffs on some agricultural products and stuff like that, but this is nothing that wasn’t anticipated. This is no big deal. I mean anybody that didn’t think this was coming – I mean – come on! They could have done a lot worse than this. And in fact, the market could have just as easily rallied on the fact that this was such a small response … The markets could have bought if they were in a buying mood. But this is a bear market and all news is bad news.”
So, the tariffs are really just an excuse. The real reason people are selling is because they are in a selling mood.
Stocks are expensive. The bull market is over. It’s now a bear market. People want to get out. People are allocating out. Growth is slowing whether people want to acknowledge it or not.”
Nevertheless, pundits and talking heads remain optimistic – just like they were in ’07 and ’08 before the housing crash. They didn’t understand the problem…
President Donald Trump says he could have “a very good relationship” with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, even as the United States and many European nations have expelled more than 150 Russian diplomats.
“Getting along with Russia is a good thing,” Trump said Tuesday during a joint press conference with leaders of three Baltic countries most concerned about the potential for “aggression” from Moscow.
“I think I could have a very good relationship with Russia and with President Putin, and if I did, that would be a great thing. And there’s also a great possibility that that won’t happen. Who knows?”
Trump made the comments as his administration raised the prospect of a White House meeting between the US and Russian presidents.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump and Putin had “discussed a bilateral meeting in the ‘not-too-distant future’” during their most recent phone conversation last month,…
A large number of residents of the heavily-migrant populated Paris areas of La Chapelle, Goutte-d’Or and Barbès have demanded the government act to stop underage Moroccan migrant gangs, with women being routinely targetted for assault.
Paris Police Officer Says Majority Of Sex Attackers On Metro Come From North African Backgrounds https://t.co/2WhfLjBSgz
The petition, which now stands at over 1,600 signatures, asks the local government to provide measures to deal with the gangs of underage Moroccan migrants, typically aged 14 to 17, many of which are addicted to drugs Le Parisienreports.
One resident, named Mireille, claimed that the migrants had targetted her and her 15-year-old daughter saying, “The first time was a Sunday night, I saw three of these young people on the sidewalk and I felt a threat then we turned around, but right after one of them jumped to my daughter’s throat, maybe to get her collar on her, she broke free, started to cry.”
“The next day we filed a complaint, but now I’m no longer quiet in the street, and she either. It is very unfair not to be able to walk freely in this neighbourhood,” she added.
After election, Costa Rica’s ruling party announces austerity-driven “National Unity Government”
By
Andrea Lobo
4 April 2018
Costa Rica has held the first in a series of presidential elections this year in countries comprising two-thirds of the Latin American population. Votes are scheduled in Cuba, Paraguay, Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico, and Brazil under conditions in which polls indicate an overwhelming repudiation of the traditional ruling parties, with workers and youth desperately seeking an alternative to the deepening wave of social attacks and police-state, repressive rule.
In Costa Rica, the second-round election of Carlos Alvarado from the ruling Citizens’ Action Party (PAC) on Sunday was no exception. He received a surprising 60 percent of the votes against 40 percent for Fabricio Alvarado of the evangelical National Restoration Party (PRN), with the results marked by the high abstention rate of 33.5 percent, similar to that of recent years, but contrasting sharply with an average of 19 percent prior to 1997.
The electoral race was characterized by unprecedented sharp swings in polls favoring less-known political figures and directed chiefly against the right-wing oligarchic parties that traded power for over four decades, eviscerating public sector jobs and social entitlements, the PLN and PUSC.
The lack of a political alternative to the reactionary establishment parties culminated in the re-election of PAC, which promises to form a “National Unity Government” with all parties in the legislature to escalate dramatically the ongoing wave of attacks on social rights, in order to compete for investments in the midst of a sharp turn to the right by governments all across the continent and internationally.
Knife crime was coming down just a few years ago, but now London is gripped by an epidemic of attacks. Teenagers are being killed and children caught up in drive-by shootings in some of London’s most poverty-stricken boroughs.
In one week, eight people were stabbed to death, and this weekend, a girl aged 17 was shot in the chest, before dying in her mother’s arms. Knife crime experts and charities have slammed the government, which has slowly withdrawn funding and support for preventative projects. Children in the city, one group said, are suffering deep “trauma” both physically and mentally because of the attacks.
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So-called ‘postcode wars’ which were prominent in 2010/11 are returning, with neighboring boroughs and gangs fighting over territory. Ben Kinsella, 16, was stabbed to death in 2008 after being set upon by three men. That year, 21 young people were stabbed to death in London; in one 24-hour period in July alone, six people were murdered.
In the following years, campaigners ensured the government listened to parents’ fears and honored the dead by plowing cash into knife prevention work. Yet, with a fall in violent crime, experts say the money ended and now as austerity bites the problems have begun again.
Those involved in knife crime in London appear to be disproportionately young black males. However, they themselves say it is more to do with the areas they live in, rather than race.
Patrick Green, CEO of the Ben Kinsella Trust, told RT UK: “Speaking to young black men in Tottenham recently, they said to me you could put anybody in their community, red, green, orange – and it would be exactly the same.
“There were two men in their late 20s who had never been to Oxford Street, until they were in their 20s, because they were fearful of leaving Tottenham. They were afraid of leaving their area, they said they would be attacked.”
Funding across the capital, Green said, is where the focus needs to be to stop problems before they begin.
He said: “The overall violent crime figures at the time were appalling and now they are right back to where they were when Ben was murdered. In 2014, figures were significantly lower than what they are now, around 25,000. Last year about 37,500. That’s a 50 percent increase in three years.
“When you look at the approach taken around 2010/11, there was a significant amount of concern around violent crime. There was a push for preventative work and youth work. There was a recognition if you want to stop violent crime you have to stop people carrying knives in the first place. Diversion work.
“Violent crime falls and there is a perception violent crime is no longer a big issue. A lot of services which are funded to help young people start to disappear under austerity cuts.”
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The cash ended around 2014/15, and suddenly the numbers began to climb again.
Green said: “We need to be addressing the causes. If you start at poverty, this is the driver for most criminality. Knife crime across London, poverty is certainly a driver,” Green said.
“There is also a race issue between London and the rest of the country. The majority of people involved outside London are white, most of those involved inside London are black or ethnic minority groups.
“One consistent threat is deprivation, which drives drug and gangs and creates postcode wars. They carry a knife for protection and for status.”
Other activists have called for the legal framework to be addressed and punishment to resemble systems used decades ago in the UK.
Danny O’Brien from London-based Anti-Knife UK said there needs to be a tougher approach to criminality. He called for action on murders, stabbings and the carrying of knives, suggesting prisons do not work.
A national service-type arrangement is what is needed, he said.
He said: “For every knife case it is different, nobody knows what they are going to get. We have to start getting tough on young men and women carrying knives – but not prison. Custodial sentences don’t work. People come out of prison and want to take over their area again and then you get these conflicts.
“Criminalizing people doesn’t work. You get a boy given a sentence and then he can’t work, and then he has a chip on his shoulder, and then he turns to crime again. There needs to be a national service-type arrangement. There is also an issue with communities talking to the police, they don’t want to be a ‘snitch.’ There is no trust between the authorities and the communities.”
O’Brien also said rising figures in domestic violence must be addressed. Police have often claimed the rocketing figures are down to more reporting after campaigns to women to open up.
Knife crime charities and women’s services have said more must be done to protect victims of domestic violence.
Four US servicemen are presumed dead after a Marine Corps helicopter crashed over California during a routine training mission.
A Marine Corps CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter went down at approximately 2:35 pm local time in the vicinity of El Centro, during a “routine training mission.”
MEDIA RELEASE: A Marine Corps CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter from 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing crashed in the vicinity of El Centro, California, at approximately 2:35 p.m. Tuesday during a routine training mission. pic.twitter.com/7xbN9iFzsZ
At the time of the incident, four crew members were onboard the chopper, which belongs to 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing. Following an extensive search and rescue mission over the crash site, the Marine Corps confirmed that “the status of all four is presumed dead pending positive identification” of the bodies discovered.
The cause of the crash has not yet been determined. The investigation into the fatal accident remains ongoing, the statement added.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the brave service members and their families affected by this incident,” Kristopher Haugh, public affairs officer for NAF El Centro, was quoted as saying by local TV station KYMA. “We are thankful for the efforts of all who have responded to the scene and provided assistance,” he added.
Tuesday’s helicopter incident is not the first over US territory this year. In January, two US army pilots were killed after their AH-64 Apache chopper crashed during a training exercise over the Californian desert.
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US President Donald Trump is currently under investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller but not as a criminal target, according to a report.
Mueller, who is investigating possible collusion between Russia and Trump’s campaign during the 2016 presidential election, told the president’s attorneys last month that he considered Trump a subject of investigation, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday.
That means currently there is not enough evidence to bring criminal charges against the president, the newspaper quoted three anonymous sources as saying.
In addition, Mueller told Trump’s lawyers that he is preparing a report on the president’s actions while in office and possible obstruction of justice, the Post noted.
President Donald Trump (File photo)
Mueller emphasized the need to interview Trump, both to find out whether he had any corrupt intent to foil the Russia investigation and to complete this portion of his investigation,…
The massive turnout for the March for Our Lives demonstration in Washington on March 24 has given rise to hope that a new youth movement can spur a social transformation in the United States, write Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers.
By Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers
The eruption of youth protests over gun violence in schools and other issues is another indicator that the 2020s could be a decade of transformation where people demand economic, racial and environmental justice as well as peace. Students who are in their teens now will be in their twenties then. They will have experience in how protests can change political culture.
Some view the youth awakening in these protests as reminiscent of youth movements in previous generations, others are less optimistic. We cannot predict the role this generation will play, but throughout the history of mass movements, youth have been a key factor by pushing boundaries and demanding change.
One of the slogans in the actions against gun violence is “adults failed to solve the problem.” The truth is, as many youth are aware, those currently in power have failed on many fronts, e.g. climate change, wealth disparity, racial injustice, never-ending wars and militarism, lack of health care and more. These crises are coming to a head and provide the environment for transformational changes, if we act.
Beware of Democratic Party Co-option
One of the challenges youth, and older, activists face is the Democratic Party. Democrats have a long history of co-opting political movements. They are present in recent mobilizations, such as the Women’s March and March for our Lives, which both centered on voting as the most important action to take.
Big Democratic Party donors, like George and Amal Clooney, provided massive resources to the March for Our Lives. The corporate media covered the students extensively, encouraged attendance at the marches and reported widely on them.
As Bruce Dixon writes, “It’s not hard to see the hand of the Democratic party behind the tens of millions in corporate contributions and free media accorded the March For Our Lives mobilization. 2018 is a midterm election year, and November…
https://democracynow.org – At least 18 Palestinians have died in Gaza after Israeli forces opened fire Friday on a protest near the Gaza Strip’s eastern border with Israel. As many as 1700…
Italian politicians voiced outrage over an incursion by armed French customs agents, during which they raided an Italian train station to search migrants wanting to cross into France. READ…
Visit https://democracynow.org to watch the full independent, global news hour, read the transcript, search our archive and to make a donation to support us. Democracy Now! is an independent…
President Trump was warned by prominent supporters that his base of voters is increasingly fed up with the lack of a border wall and progress on reducing immigration to the U.S. over the Easter break.
According to sources who spoke to CNN, Trump met with Fox News’s Jeanine Pirro and Sean Hannity, who reportedly told the president that his supporters believe he is losing touch with his “America First” immigration agenda after signing the omnibus spending bill that did not include a single provision from the president’s 70-point list of pro-American immigration reforms.
The CNN report asserts that “multiple people” also told Trump about populist conservative columnist Ann Coulter’s recent criticisms of him because he has yet to secure funding or construction for the U.S.-Mexico border wall he has touted since 2015.
Coulter told the New York Times in an interview ahead of Easter weekend that former Trump supporters “should put the fear of God” in the president if a border wall remains unbuilt by the administration.
Ann Coulter: ‘In One Generation’ U.S. Will Be ‘South Africa,’ Trump ‘Betrayed’ Voters with ‘Paul Ryan Republicanism’https://t.co/cr6Ehc46SN
The UK and its NATO friends have attempted to “step up the Cold War” with Russia and have failed, according to Craig Murray, blogger and the UK’s ex-ambassador to Uzbekistan.
Theresa May’s Government seems to have been delivered a huge blow today, as Porton Down scientists revealed it cannot confirm Russia was behind the attack on ex-agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.
The broadcaster and human rights activist said it is an “extremely important” statement from Porton Down – the secretive military base where testing was carried out.
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Murray said “a fortnight ago sources inside the Foreign and Commonwealth Office told him they were ‘under pressure’ to say it was made in Russia” but they knew they were unable to do so.
He said: “What we have seen today is news management because the Government had to get over the hurdle the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons will shortly be telling people there is no evidence this came from Russia.
“The Government decided for damage limitation it was best Porton Down came out and said that first. We will see careful news management over the next day or two.”
Porton Down scientists said “a state” was likely to be behind the attack, because of the complexity of the agent. However, Murray said there is evidence to the contrary.
He said: “The probably in the statement is very important, there are many people including David Colum, professor of organic chemistry at Cornell University, who says it’s just not true it has to be a state and any of his senior students could make it.”
“If you watch the interview, the sentence where he says it would probably need a state to make it is tacked on to the end. If you look closely, not only has the shot changed, the camera and tripod have actually moved. I strongly suspect government handlers who would have been in that room watching him were unhappy with his interview and wanted something which implicated Russia more, so added a bit onto the end.”
Murray said a minimum of a couple of dozen states could make it. He also said this “ought to be an investigation into a serious crime” investigated appropriately to find proof.
He said: “We are told probably this and likely that, well that is not the way criminal verdicts are found.
“This quite simply feeds into a desire by NATO members in particular to step up the cold war and enhance confrontation with Russia. This has to be seen in a wider geopolitical context. Within that context the last thing the politicians care about is the truth about what happened in Salisbury.”
Sergei and Yulia remain in hospital after being found slumped on a park bench in Wiltshire on March 4. They had been exposed to nerve agent Novochik, originally developed by Russia. The UK immediately blamed Russia yet Moscow has denied any involvement.
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Deadly shootings are such a common occurrence in the US that the incident at YouTube headquarters, in which three people were injured, would not even make national news if it happened at a less prominent location, experts told RT.
Three people have been injured by gunfire at the YouTube campus in San Bruno, California, after a female shooter stormed the global headquarters of the world’s largest video sharing website on Tuesday afternoon. A 36-year-old man in a critical condition, a 32-year-old woman in a serious condition and a 27-year-old woman in a fair condition were each taken to nearby hospitals. The fourth reported victim suffered an ankle injury while fleeing the scene.
Once law enforcement agencies arrived at the scene they discovered the alleged attacker with a fatal “self-inflicted” injury. While authorities have yet to establish the motive for the attack, “the fact that the shooter is a female is extremely rare,” Jaclyn Schildkraut, Assistant Professor of Public Justice at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Oswego, told RT.
“Typically, female shooters choose locations that have opportunities that are familiar to them – school, workplaces and the like,” Schildkraut noted.
As numerous law enforcement agencies continue their investigation into the attack, local media is reporting that the shooting could have been triggered by a domestic dispute and that the primary target of the attack was the shooter’s boyfriend. Other news outlets have suggested that the attack could have been work-related.
While the story is still developing, ultimately the incident is unlikely to qualify as a “mass shooting” event under US Congress guidelines, which define “mass killings” as at least “3 or more killings in a single incident.”
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“This one does not qualify as a mass shooting because in order to qualify as a mass shooting you have to kill four people or more,” retired FBI agent Coleen Rowley told RT. “If a shooting like this had occurred in a place other than YouTube, it may not have even made national news, they are so common.”
Over the last year, a number of horrific mass shootings have shocked the US, and the trend has continued into 2018. In one of the worst school shootings massacres in US history, seventeen people were killed and seventeen more were wounded when 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz stormed Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on February 14.
Basing her opinion on her research of school and other mass shootings in the United States, Schildkraut explained that the perpetrators tend to choose “soft targets” where they are less likely to encounter any “friction” with other armed individuals. “Gun-free zones tend to be more popular among mass shooters because they are going to have less restriction or less friction for them to be able to carry out their plans,” the researcher explained.
“We have never seen a shooting at this type of prominent location in terms of being a workplace if it does turn out to be a workplace shooting,” Schildkraut continued. “Certainly, YouTube and Google are very high-profile locations. And of course, YouTube has been in the news, with the fact that the Parkland shooter had posted comments on there, being a professional shooter. So, it certainly raises suspicions [as to] whether this is a symbolic target of sorts.”
“In the United States, after 16 years of perpetual war, we are seeing this blowback in terms of all kinds of different shootings,” Rowley explained. “If we continue to have this culture that encourages war and violence we are going to see people believe that shooting somebody is the answer to their problems.”
While the Stoneman Douglas High School massacre has prompted fresh debates about gun control in the country, Rowley believes that it is nearly impossible to curb gun violence in the US, which has more than 300 million guns protected by the second amendment, which President Donald Trump has repeatedly vowed to honor.
THE SECOND AMENDMENT WILL NEVER BE REPEALED! As much as Democrats would like to see this happen, and despite the words yesterday of former Supreme Court Justice Stevens, NO WAY. We need more Republicans in 2018 and must ALWAYS hold the Supreme Court!
“I think there should be some kind of common sense restrictions on gun ownership. I think it might go a certain distance in helping to resolve some of these problems. Security can be beefed up in schools, etc., but it is not a full answer because there are all kinds of public places – concerts, marathons – where people gather,” the former FBI agent told RT.
While no set definition of a mass shooting exists, in 2015 some 333 mass shootings left 367 people dead and 1,328 injured, Business Insider related earlier this year, citing federal figures. The following year, 383 mass shootings resulted in 456 deaths and 1,537 injuries. In 2017, there were 346 mass shootings that led to 437 deaths and 1,802 injuries. Most of those shooting appear to have had nothing to do with terrorism but stemmed instead from more ‘domestic’ issues.
“In terms of whether or not [Tuesday’s YouTube shooting] qualifies as a mass shooting is certainly going to depend on the definition one is using,” Schildkraut cautioned.
Police have fired water cannon and tear gas against protesters letting off flares during a demonstration over the expulsion of environmental squatters in the French city of Nantes on Saturday….
Residents of San Bruno, California were urged by police to stay clear of YouTube headquarters on Tuesday as reports of an active shooter on the tech giant’s campus began to emerge on social media.
As broadcast footage of YouTube employees evacuating company headquarters with their hands raised started to circulate, San Bruno police confirmed that they had responded to an active shooter situation. Google, which owns YouTube, acknowledged the incident on Twitter and stated that it is cooperating with authorities.
At least three people were reportedly injured, NBC News has reported that a female suspect is dead at the scene.
One anonymous law enforcement source told the Los Angeles Times that at least two people were struck by gunfire, but it is unclear how severe their injuries may be.
“The shooter was described as a woman,” the Times added.
Several YouTube employees described on Twitter how they were barricaded inside their company’s headquarters after gunshots sparked panic across the campus and a rapid police response.
Active shooter at YouTube HQ. Heard shots and saw people running while at my desk. Now barricaded inside a room with coworkers.
Christian Christensen, professor of journalism at Stockholm University, warned that “given the location of the event,” reporters and citizens should be careful about trumpeting unconfirmed information.
“Stick to confirmed sources only and trust very, very few videos,” Christensen said. “Potential for trolling and exploitation here is big.”
Responding to the shooting on Twitter, Jaclyn Corin, a survivor of the Parkland school shooting that left 17 dead in February, tweeted:
The YouTube HQ shooting is proof that this is NOT just schools. Our country has a GUN problem. End of story.
Thousands of teachers have staged a protest rally for a second day in different parts of the US state of Oklahoma, demanding higher pay and increased education funding.
An estimated 30,000 educators walked off their jobs across the Midwestern state on Tuesday and classes for some 500,000 public school students were canceled.
Educators gathered in the state capital, Oklahoma City, chanting “fund our schools,” and “we’re not leaving.”
Teachers rally outside the state Capitol on the second day of a teacher walkout to demand higher pay and more funding for education in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, US, April 3, 2018. (Photo by Reuters)
Oklahoma’s largest teachers union has called for a $10,000 pay raise for teachers over the next three years and is also seeking an increase of $75 million in state education funding.
The president of the Oklahoma Education Association, Alicia Priest, called on all teachers to join the protest to pressure…
We have crossed the boundary that lies between Republic and Empire. If you ask when, the answer is that you cannot make a single stroke between day and night. The precise moment does not matter. There was no painted sign to say, “You now are entering Imperium.” Yet it was a very old road and the voice of history was saying: “Whether you know it or not, the act of crossing may be irreversible.” And now, not far ahead, is a sign that reads: “No U Turns.”
If you say there were no frightening omens, that is true. The political foundations did not quake; the graves of the Fathers did not fly open; the Constitution did not tear itself up. If you say people did not will it, that also is true. But if you say therefore it has not happened, then you have been so long bemused by words that your mind will not believe what the eye can see, even as in the jungle the terrified primitive, on meeting the lion, importunes magic by saying to himself, “He is not there.” That a republic may vanish is an elementary schoolbook fact.
The Roman Republic passed into the Roman Empire, and yet never could a Roman citizen have said, “That was yesterday.” Nor is the historian, with all the advantages of perspective, able to place that momentous event at any exact point on the dial of time. The Republic had a long unhappy twilight. It is agreed that the Empire began with Augustus Caesar. Several before him had played emperor and were destroyed.
The first who might have been called emperor in fact was Julius Caesar, who pretended not to want the crown and once publicly declined it. Whether he feared more the displeasure of the Roman populace or the daggers of the republicans is unknown. In his dreams he may have been seeing a bloodstained toga. His…
https://democracynow.org – This is Part 2 of our conversation about Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s role in the 1968 Memphis sanitation workers’ strike, 50 years after his assassination. We go…
The Supreme Court has issued yet another decision shielding police officers from excessive force lawsuits.
Justices issued a per curiam opinion on Monday, in Hughes v. Kisela, siding in favor of a Tuscon, Ariz. police officer who shot a woman four times after responding to a 911 call about erratic behavior.
In issuing their ruing, SCOTUS reversed a Ninth Circuit decision, which said Andrew Kisela should face a civil jury trial brought by the woman he shot, Amy Hughes. Two liberal justices dissented: Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
“Such a one-sided approach to qualified immunity transforms the doctrine into an absolute shield for law enforcement officers, gutting the deterrent effect of the Fourth Amendment,” Sotomayor wrote for the pair.
“It tells officers that they can shoot first and think later, and it tells the public that palpably unreasonable conduct will go unpunished,” she also said.
In its ruling, the majority downplayed the significance of Hughes’ Constitutional rights.
“Here, the Court need not, and does not, decide whether Kisela violated the Fourth Amendment when he used deadly force against Hughes,” they wrote. “For even assuming a Fourth Amendment violation occurred — a proposition that is not at all evident — on these facts Kisela was at least entitled to qualified immunity.”
Because the opinion was per curiam, there wasn’t an individual author assigned to the ruling.
The incident at the heart of the case occurred in May 2010. Kisela was among three officers responding to a 911 call about a woman acting erratically, cutting a tree with a kitchen knife.
When the officers arrived on the scene, they found Hughes holding a knife at her side, standing six feet from another woman; then-roommate Sharon Chadwick (Chadwick later testified she “was not the least bit threatened” by Hughes).
“Faced with these facts, the two other responding officers held their fire, and one testified that he ‘wanted to continue…
In this difficult day, in this difficult time for the United States, it is perhaps well to ask what kind of a nation we are and what direction we want to move in. [Y]ou can be filled with bitterness, with hatred, and a desire for revenge. We can move in that direction as a country, in great polarization…filled with hatred toward one another. Or we can make an effort, as Martin Luther King did, to understand and to comprehend, and to replace that violence, that stain of bloodshed that has spread across our land, with an effort to understand with compassion and love… What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence or lawlessness; but love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or they be black….”
— Robert F. Kennedy on the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Twenty-two years old and a junior at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, I was horrified that King’s death was being greeted with such glee. Then again, as hard it is to believe it today, there was rejoicing all across the country on that dark…
Drone footage showed the key motorway connecting the Syrian capital of Damascus and Eastern Ghouta after it was cleared of militants by Syrian government forces after a seven-year-long blockade…
Top Pentagon and US State Department officials have adopted a totally different policy than that of President Donald Trump regarding the withdrawal of American troops from Syria, saying that the United States will not be leaving the war-torn Arab country anytime soon as the “mission is not over.”
Addressing a forum in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, US Central Command Chief General Joseph Votel said “well over 90 percent” of land once held by the Daesh (ISIL) Takfiri terrorist group in Iraq and Syria had been recaptured, particularly in the north and eastern parts of the country, but added that the military must maintain its presence there.
“There still are some areas where they are present and that we will have to continue to operate on,” Votel said.
Speaking alongside Votel, the State Department’s senior envoy to the so-called anti-Daesh coalition, Brett McGurk, agreed that “ISIL is not finished.”
CNN on Tuesday fired back at President Trump after he went on the attack against the network in an early morning tweet.
“Once again, false. The personal political beliefs of CNN’s employees are of no interest to us,” CNN’s communications account tweeted in response to Trump.
“Their pursuit of the truth is our only concern. Also, Jeff’s last name is spelled Z-U-C-K-E-R. Those are the facts. #FactsFirst.”
The tweet came after Trump on Tuesday morning took aim at CNN’s president Jeff Zucker.
“Check out the fact that you can’t get a job at ratings challenged @CNNunless you state that you are totally anti-Trump?” Trump tweeted.
Once again, false. The personal political beliefs of CNN’s employees are of no interest to us. Their pursuit of the truth is our only concern. Also, Jeff’s last name is spelled Z-U-C-K-E-R. Those are the facts. #FactsFirst🍎
https://democracynow.org – Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated 50 years ago this week while in Memphis, where he was supporting striking sanitation workers and building support for…
The UK government’s handling of the Skripal affair has been criticized following Tuesday’s revelation that scientists have been unable to conclusively prove that Russia was the origin of the Novichok nerve agent.
Netizens, including many leading British journalists and political commentators, have roundly criticized the leading cheerleaders of the ‘Russia Did It’ camp, including PM Theresa May and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson.
“We have not identified the precise source, but we have provided the scientific info to government who have then used a number of other sources to piece together the conclusions you have come to,” Porton Down Chief Executive Gary Aitkenhead told Sky News on Tuesday.
7/ However, Boris Johnson claimed to have “asked the guy himself” if Porton Down were sure it came from Russia. “He said there’s no doubt”. This needs to be clarified.
For the avoidance of doubt – here is Boris Johnson clearly claiming that Porton Down had confirmed to him the source of the Salisbury nerve agent. Words matter. He lied. pic.twitter.com/oeuZNNxbAZ
Important this – even though much of HMG maintained the ‘highly likely’ line + did not suggest that origin of Salisbury Novichok had been traced to Russia, some overstated their case so there could now be a political price to pay https://t.co/aBUJUv9rNo
Paging Boris Johnson and Theresa May when Porton Down’s unable to establish where Novichok used to poison Sergei & Yulia Skripal was made. Let’s see your “evidence” it’s from Russia
It’s not just May and her government that have been slammed, though, with the mainstream media also criticized for peddling the government’s claims without resorting to the need for evidence.
Absolute confirmation today my FCO sources were correct and Porton Down scientists not saying substance made in Russia. Awaiting apologies from all the mainstream media “journalists” who attacked me. https://t.co/KGobx9kBDH
Porton Down CEO Gary Aitkenhead says scientists unable to prove Novichok used to poison Sergei and Yulia Skripal came from Russia or establish its country of origin. A tad embarrassing for @theresa_may? https://t.co/pV5MGIjTk2
Others have praised Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn for his hesitance in blaming Russia for the attack. Corbyn has consistently called for definitive evidence that the attack was carried out by Russia and that it was the country of the origin for the Novichok used to poison ex-double agent Sergei Skripal, as well as his 33-year-old daughter, Yulia, on March 4.
A few weeks ago the link between Novichok and Russia was down to precise forensic testing. This was used against Corbyn’s argument that we needed more evidence, as he’d argued with Iraq. Now they’re saying it’s about intelligence, not testing. But hey, we’re the cranks I guess.
The Tories have been caught red handed one more—lying, escalating tensions with a nuclear power, only for Porton Down to turn around and say ‘we don’t know if the #Novichok is Russian’.
Guess who has been vindicated (again)? Jeremy Corbyn. #Skripal
Thousands of Oklahoma teachers stormed the state capitol and refused to budge when confronted by authorities about their loud chants. The protest appears to be part of a statewide strike over teacher pay and school funding.
Over 30,000 teachers walked out of schools across Oklahoma on Monday and Tuesday, protesting what they say are teacher shortages, low salaries and under-resourced public schools.
Here’s the size of the crowd outside the capitol in Oklahoma City right now. Public school teachers are striking with the support of parents, students and superintendents, just like in WV and KY. The mood is electric. pic.twitter.com/4NPCZcCnXG
Teachers at the rally on Tuesday held signs proclaiming “Let’s Start Funding” and “Fund our Future.”
Why are people so mad at our teachers for demanding a livable wage and funding for their childdren? Why aren’t they mad at the legislatures that put us in this position in the first place!!!! I SUPPORT #oklahomateacherwalkout
Republican Governor Mary Fallin agreed last week to give teachers an average raise of $6,000 per year, or 16 percent. But this has done little to quell the discontent of teachers in the solid-red state. The teachers unions are demanding $10,000 a-year per teacher, higher pay for support staff and $200 million in education funding over the next three years.
Oklahoma teacher salaries are among the lowest in the country, ranking at 49th, according to the National Education Association.
“If I didn’t have a second job, I’d be on food stamps,” Rae Lovelace, a third-grade teacher and single mother in northwest Oklahoma, told USA Today.
In a statement released on Monday, Governor Fallin defended her offer to teachers, which she described as “the largest teacher pay raise in state history”. She added that Oklahoma is “only able to do what our budget allows”.
Recent teacher strikes have affected only Republican-controlled states thus far. Public education unions are traditionally a bastion of the Democratic party.
Oklahoma City Public Schools announced that schools will remain shut on Wednesday as protests and negotiations with legislators carry on.
The protests in Oklahoma come as Kentucky teachers also staged mass walkouts over a pensions dispute. Teachers in both states have been encouraged by the success of a nine-day teacher strike in West Virginia in March. Following the the state’s biggest teachers’ strike in 30 years, teachers and state employees won a five percent pay increase.
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Beijing is hiking up tariffs on more than 128 US imports, including fruit and pork, as part of a tit-for-tat response to US President Donald Trump’s $60 billion package of tariffs imposed…
https://democracynow.org – While Sinclair Broadcast Group is not a household name, it is one of the most powerful TV companies in the nation. It owns 173 local TV stations across the country,…
Senegal hasn’t been ruled by France for over half a century, but its former coloniser still sets the tone here. Nowadays, that’s not only true in terms of clothing, but skin color as well….
Trump Tweets “Fake News Networks” have a “sick and biased AGENDA.”
Steve Watson Prison Planet.com April 3, 2018
A new Monmouth University poll finds that over three quarters of Americans believe that the old media, that being the likes of CNN and The New York Times, regularly report ‘fake news’.
The survey asked respondents “Do you think some traditional major news sources like TV and newspapers ever report fake news stories, or not?”
A majority of 77 percent replied in the affirmative, an increase of 14 percent on last year.
Further breaking down the figures, 31 percent said the believe it happens regularly, while 46 percent said they think it happens occasionally.
Less than a quarter, just 21 percent, said they do not believe the legacy media reports fake news, a drop from 32 percent on last year’s findings.
The survey also probed further, asking “Do you think these sources report these stories on purpose in order to push an agenda or do they tend to report them more by accident or because of poor fact checking?”
Most respondents, 42 percent, said they believe it is to “push an agenda,” while 26 percent went with “poor fact checking,” and only seven percent answered “both equally.”
In addition, the survey found that 83 percent believe special interest groups are intentionally trying to implant false information into the news cycle. A further 87 percent said that they believe those interest groups have tentacles in social media sites and YouTube.
So much Fake News. Never been more voluminous or more inaccurate. But through it all, our country is doing great!
It isn’t just Conservatives who are expressing these views. Even a majority of Democrats believe the legacy media is putting out fake news. A majority of 61 percent of Democrats are in agreement, an increase from 43 percent a year ago. A…
https://democracynow.org – Fifty years ago today in Memphis, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his final sermon, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop.” Less than 24 hours later, King was…
The UK government has issued a statement in the wake of the admission by Porton Down chemical scientists that they can’t verify the Skripal attack nerve agent came from Russia. Moscow is still “assessed” to be responsible, though.
London is basing its accusations on allegations that Moscow has been researching ways to deliver nerve agents, “probably for assassination,” and on the assumption that it “views former intelligence officers as targets,” a UK Foreign Office statement says. “It is our assessment that Russia was responsible for this brazen and reckless act and, as the international community agrees, there is no other plausible explanation.”
Read more
The damage control statement comes following a Sky News interview by the head of Porton Down, a top-secret army base tasked with finding links between A-234 (which London refers to as the Soviet-engineered nerve agent Novichok) and Moscow. While the scientists said they managed to identify the chemical, they could not point to a precise source.
Still, London maintains it was Russian, because scientific results are “only one part of the intelligence picture.”
“As the Prime Minister has set out in a number of statements to the Commons since 12 March, this includes our knowledge that within the last decade, Russia has investigated ways of delivering nerve agents probably for assassination – and as part of this programme has produced and stockpiled small quantities of Novichoks (sic); Russia’s record of conducting state-sponsored assassinations; and our assessment that Russia views former intelligence officers as targets,” the Foreign Office statement says.
A Salisbury MP was quick to downplay Porton Down’s role in the investigation, saying it’s not the chemical lab’s place to determine how the chemical was delivered.
Thanks to the brilliant scientists at DSTL, Porton Down for contributing so effectively by identifying the nerve agent – how the substance came into contact with the Skripals in Salisbury will be for others to determine.
Earlier in March, UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, the author of some of the most loud-mouthed attacks on Moscow over the Skripal poisoning case, claimed he had received confirmation from Porton Down that the A-234 nerve agent had been made in Russia.
Porton Down is a military base and chemical lab some eight kilometers from Salisbury, where former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were discovered unconscious on a bench in early March. According to the UK authorities, they had been poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent. London has been insisting it’s “highly likely” Moscow was behind the poisoning, and has expelled 23 Russian diplomats in retaliation, without waiting for a result of the ongoing investigation and without producing evidence to support its claims.
Moscow has been denying any involvement in the poisoning, and has repeatedly offered its assistance in investigating it, which the UK has flatly rejected, instead demanding that Russia admits guilt.
Mark Zuckerberg has been targeted by conservative street artist Sabo, with anti-Facebook posters springing up across New York City amid the ongoing Cambridge Analytica data mining scandal.
Fake street signs reading ‘Caution, Facebook sells your data’ and posters warning ‘You can’t watch your kids 24/7, but we can’ were put up around Times Square and other busy New York locations.
Some of the posters included a picture of New York Senator Chuck Schumer, whose daughter works for the social media giant as a product marketing manager.“Chuck’s daughter is working for Zuck,” the posters read, followed by a #ZuckSchumer hashtag.
Other posters showed former congressman Anthony Weiner, who was previously involved in multiple ‘sexting’ scandals and has recently been sentenced to 21 months in prison for his Facebook communications with an underage girl.
It’s not the first time Sabo has targeted Facebook. Last year, the artist put up posters in Californian cities with the slogan ‘F**k Zuck’ in response to rumors that Zuckerberg was interested in running for president. Sabo’s Facebook page was temporarily taken down for promoting “hate speech” after that campaign.
Sabo’s latest attack on Facebook comes as Zuckerberg deals with fallout from the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which revealed that the social network allowed the British firm to use data from 50 million users for political targeting and psychological profiling.
Sabo has gone after other liberal political and media figures, including Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Lena Dunham and Meryl Streep.
Trump says he wants out of Syria. Apparently not everyone in his administration got that memo. Also, the latest twists and turns in the alleged poisoning controversy in the UK. And, RT is again…
Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital has said it is treating patients from the incident. No details were provided on their condition.
Some 1,700 people work at the YouTube HQ. Google said it was “coordinating with authorities” and would provide information as it becomes available.
Images broadcast on local TV stations showed employees leaving with their hands raised. Other footage appeared to show evacuees forming a queue before being individually frisked by police.
YouTube product manager Todd Sherman tweeted that people fled the building in panic.
We were sitting in a meeting and then we heard people running because it was rumbling the floor. First thought was earthquake. https://t.co/gmolQmRXm1
Today is Easter, an important Christian holiday. But it is not marked on the calendar that is part of the Apple software that came with my Apple computer lap top. Today is also April Fools day, and that is marked on the Apple-supplied calendar. For Apple’s programmers, April Fools Day trumps Easter.
How can it be that an American company, Apple, can remember to mark on the calendar Cinco de Mayo (May 5), Mexico’s commemoration of a Mexican army victory of the French in the Battle of Puebla in 1862, but not Easter?
Hanukkah on December 13, but not Easter?
Kwanzaa on December 26, but not Easter?
Groundhog Day on February 2, but not Easter?
St. Patrick’s Day on March 17, but not Easter?
Earth Day on April 22, but not Easter?
First Day of Ramadan Muslim holiday on May 15, but not Easter?
The Neoconservative Th… Dr. Paul Craig Roberts Best Price: $15.70 Buy New $21.58 (as of 11:10 EDT – Details)
Eid al-Fitr marking the end of Ramadan on June 15-17, but not Easter?
Eid al-Adha, the Muslim Sacrifice Feast, on August 20, but not Easter?
Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, on September 10, but not Easter?
Yom Kippur, Jewish holiday on September 19, but not Easter?
Ashura, Muslim holiday, on September 20, but not Easter?
Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights, on November 7, but not Easter?
This is how our culture is stolen and our memories are dimmed. In my day the spring holiday was known as Easter Holiday. Today it is known as Spring Break, a time for drunken and sexually promiscuous bacchanal on Florida’s beaches.
The United States was founded as a Christian nation. It did not mean that a citizen had to be a Christian or be punished or sent off in exile if they were not. It meant simply that you had to consider others and to be able…
Teachers’ rebellion spreads as tens of thousands strike in Oklahoma and Kentucky
3 April 2018
The teachers’ revolt in the United States entered a new stage on Monday as tens of thousands of teachers, students and working-class supporters took part in massive protests in Oklahoma and Kentucky. The growing wave of unrest among educators requires not only the attention and support of all workers, but their active participation.
The strike by 30,000 teachers in Oklahoma follows their rejection of a one-time pay increase of $6,000 and a miserly increase in school funding, financed largely through regressive taxes, passed by the state legislature on Thursday. The thousands of teachers protesting in Kentucky denounced the passage of a bill last week slashing pensions.
Part of the crowd at the capitol
The walkout in Oklahoma, which the unions hoped to limit to a one-day strike, will continue today. School districts throughout the state have announced that they will remain closed, with many reporting that the closures will continue at least through Wednesday. While the unions are doing everything they can to get teachers back to work, there is a powerful sentiment for the extension and expansion of the strike.
The developments in Oklahoma and Kentucky are the latest expression of a resurgence of class struggle in the United States and around the world. They follow by less than a month the nine-day strike by teachers in West Virginia and the one-day strike by teachers in Jersey City, New Jersey. On March 28, thousands of teachers rallied in Phoenix, Arizona to demand a 20 percent pay increase and more funding for public schools.
The teachers’ strikes also follow the demonstrations of hundreds of thousands of student youth last weekend.
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said Turkey is in no position to lecture the IDF on its conduct during violent clashes in Gaza. He said Israel had “the most moral army” and dismissed Ankara’s…
WASHINGTON – President Trump stated today that he plans to further militarize the US-Mexico border until a wall is built. He also called for a renewed push for immigration restrictions that would make it more difficult to apply for protection in the United States. Marselha Gonçalves Margerin, advocacy director for the Americas at Amnesty International USA, issued the following statement:
“Over the last few days, President Trump has openly dismissed the desperate situation of people fleeing violence and persecution who only want to find a safe place for themselves and their families. These proposed measures could put the lives of some of the world’s most vulnerable people in grave danger. Turning our backs on desperate families does not make anybody safer.”
Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International, added:
“Many of those seeking entry into the United States are fleeing horrific violence and death threats in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. Instead of recklessly trying to block their pathway to safety, the Trump administration has an obligation to protect all those seeking refuge and to respect their right to claim asylum. To deny them that right would be a serious violation of both US and international law.”
Read more:
USA-Mexico: Trump’s border crackdown pushes refugees into dangerous limbo (News, 15 June 2017)
An “active shooter” has stormed the YouTube headquarters in San Bruno, California, prompting terrified workers to run for their lives and leaving a number of casualties.
The YouTube offices were placed on lockdown on Tuesday and police in the city warned people to stay away from the area.
Online footage shows armed officers arriving at the campus near San Francisco, with unconfirmed reports from local media saying that the shooter was a woman.
Watch as rock star debunks fake news meant to demonize AR-15s
Prison Planet.com April 3, 2018
Ted Nugent is the original maverick, ever since he started challenging the creeping Marxism of the 1970s with the spirit of 1776.
The guitar legend was instrumental in getting Donald Trump elected in 2016 and now he sits down with Alex Jones to talk guns, conservation and the indomitable American spirit that withstands all the globalist attacks:
This article was posted: Tuesday, April 3, 2018 at 9:59 am
Boris Johnson put his post in jeopardy after apparently lying about Russia being proven as the source of a nerve agent used in the Skripals’ poisoning. On Tuesday, the Porton Down lab said that they hadn’t identified the source.
The Foreign Secretary’s statement, which is being widely shared on social media, features him telling Germany’s state broadcaster that scientists from the Porton Down laboratory were“categorical” about the Russian origin of the substance used in the alleged nerve attack.
For the avoidance of doubt – here is Boris Johnson clearly claiming that Porton Down had confirmed to him the source of the Salisbury nerve agent. Words matter. He lied. pic.twitter.com/oeuZNNxbAZ
Midway through the interview, conducted a fortnight ago, the German TV interviewer asks Johnson: “you argue that the source of this nerve agent, Novichok, is Russia. How did you manage to find it out so quickly? Does Britain possess samples of it?
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“Let me be clear with you … When I look at the evidence, I mean the people from Porton Down, the laboratory,” he replies, before the presenter interjects “So they have the samples?”
“They do. And they were absolutely categorical and I asked the guy myself, I said, “Are you sure?” And he said there’s no doubt,” Johnson replies.
On Tuesday, the chief executive of Porton Down told Sky News how his scientists were unable to link samples of the substance, allegedly used to attack Sergei and Yulia Skripal, to Russia. Gary Aitkenhead insisted that, while the experts had identified the agent as A-234 or “Novichok” they had “not identified the precise source.”
Amid online fury over Johnson’s deception, some prominent figures have sought his head. They include Guardian contributor, Hicham Yezza, who tweeted: “In a Deutsche Welle interview two weeks ago, Boris Johnson said Porton Down experts were ‘categorical’ Russia was the source of the Skripal Novichok. Today, Porton Down’s CEO has confirmed this was not true. If confirmed, Boris Johnson must resign.”
Chris Furlong, a Labour councillor, joined the chorus, throwing down a gauntlet to the Prime Minister: “Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson here lying about being told by Porton Down that the source of nerve agent was from Russia. Today they have confirmed they cannot identify its source. It’s a blatant and dangerous lie. When will you sack him Theresa May?” At the same time, Jeremy Corbyn’s biographer Alex Nunns said “Surely this is a resignation issue for Johnson, as the UK’s chief diplomat, on a matter so serious.”
Boris Johnson said that Porton Down “categorically” knew the source of the nerve agent was Russia—”no doubt”. Porton Down now says it cannot know if the source was Russia. Surely this is a resignation issue for Johnson, as the UK’s chief diplomat, on a matter so serious.
Meanwhile, Mark Urban, the diplomatic editor of Newsnight, a long-running show on BBC, pointed out how “even though much of HMG [Her Majesty’s Government] maintained the ‘highly likely’ line and did not suggest that origin of Salisbury Novichok had been traced to Russia, some overstated their case so there could now be a political price to pay.”
The Skripals, ex-double agent Sergei and his daughter, were found slumped on a park bench in Salisbury on March 4 and both the EU and US leaders have been blaming Russia for the poisoning ever since – without letting Russia see any proof behind the accusations.
The YouTube headquarters in San Bruno, California is on lockdown after reports of an active shooter on campus. Police have confirmed activity at the address, while employees described sounds of gunshots and reported an evacuation.
“We are responding to an active shooter,” the San Bruno police said on Twitter.
A photo taken from across the street shows a large police presence in the area. Another picture shows police escorting some employees out, with their hands up.
We are responding to an active shooter. Please stay away from Cherry Ave & Bay Hill Drive.
There are multiple reports that the reported shooter is female. Nothing has been officially confirmed, however. Footage from local media helicopters shows YouTube employees gathered in a parking lot outside the complex, with some being interviewed by police.
The nearby headquarters of the 23rd Regiment, US Marine Corps, has also been placed on lockdown.
“We are coordinating with authorities and will provide official information here from Google and YouTube as it becomes available,” Google, which owns the video sharing website, said in a tweet.
Re: YouTube situation, we are coordinating with authorities and will provide official information here from Google and YouTube as it becomes available.
— Google Communications (@Google_Comms) April 3, 2018
About 1,700 people work at the YouTube campus, located just off Interstate 280 south of San Francisco. One YouTube employee tweeted he “heard shots and saw people running.”
Local media have reported that at least two ambulances with victims have arrived at the San Francisco General Hospital, a major trauma center.
Active shooter at YouTube HQ. Heard shots and saw people running while at my desk. Now barricaded inside a room with coworkers.
Parkland shooting survivor turned gun-control evangelist David Hogg called on the public to boycott Fox News host Laura Ingraham’s advertisers, after she tweeted an article about his rejection…
Newly released videos have shown a police punching and choking an unarmed black man accusing him of jaywalking before using a stun gun on him.
In a series of nine videos released on Monday by the police department, a former Asheville, North Carolina police officer Christopher Hickman, can be heard admonishing Johnnie Rush for jaywalking before a remark by Rush appears to set him off.
The footage were taken from the perspective of police-issued body cameras.
“Just write him a ticket. He wants to act like a punk,” Hickman says in the videos, before apparently changing his mind. “He thinks it’s funny. You know what’s funny is you’re gonna get f‑‑‑ed up hardcore. Get on the ground.”
The city website described Hickman having used “dangerous and excessive force against Johnnie Rush” and was “quickly taken off the street,” adding he was terminated by the Asheville police department over the incident.
Fifty years ago today in Memphis, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his final sermon, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop.” Less than 24 hours later, King was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. He was just 39 years old. King was in Memphis to support striking sanitation workers. We speak to Rev. James Lawson, who invited King to come to Memphis to support the strike. At the time, Lawson was the pastor of Centenary Methodist Church in Memphis. King called Rev. Lawson “the leading theorist and strategist of nonviolence in the world.”
TRANSCRIPT
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now! I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: We turn now to the commemorations being held this week to mark the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The civil rights leader and peace activist was gunned down on April 4th, 1968, at the balcony of his hotel room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. He was just 39 years old. King was in Memphis to support striking sanitation workers. Fifty years ago tonight, on April 3rd, King spoke at the Mason Temple in Memphis. It became his final speech.
REV. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.: Well, I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficulties ahead. But it really doesn’t matter with me now, because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I don’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And he’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we, as a people, will get to the promised land! So I’m happy tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man! Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the lord!
AMY GOODMAN: Dr. Martin Luther King, speaking 50 years ago today in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 3rd, 1968. Less than 24 hours later,…
President Donald Trump promised to “make America great again”. The slogan defined his campaign and his presidency. His bluster was often forgiven because of the sentiment attached to that slogan—it inspired a hope that Trump’s policies would protect the U.S. economy and ensure that the declining standard of living of Americans would be reversed. A year into his presidency, there is little evidence of any improvement. Inequality continues to define the American economic landscape—CEOs, new government data show, can make up to a thousand times more in their salaries than their employees. It is impossible to suggest that high inequality and joblessness should be the character of a Great America. Red hats with that slogan are easy to produce, but it is a bitter pill if these are made—as they often are—in Bangladesh, China and Vietnam.
President Trump has now announced a tariff policy on aluminium and steel, which he hopes will redouble efforts by the manufacturing sector to kick-start a languid economy. Trump framed his tariff policy around the framework of national security rather than economics. Other powers, mainly China, he said, were “assaulting our country”. It was to prevent this assault that the U.S. would build a high wall around these key sectors of its manufacturing. It was clear that this was less about economics and more about politics when Trump announced speedily that “good friends”—Canada, Mexico,…
In this letter, twenty-seven writers, journalists, film-makers, artists, academics, former intelligence officers and democrats call on the government of Ecuador to allow Julian Assange his right of freedom of speech.
If it was ever clear that the case of Julian Assange was never just a legal case, but a struggle for the protection of basic human rights, it is now.
Citing his critical tweets about the recent detention of Catalan president Carles Puidgemont in Germany, and following pressure from the US, Spanish and UK governments, the Ecuadorian government has installed an electronic jammer to stop Assange communicating with the outside world via the internet and phone.
As if ensuring his total isolation, the Ecuadorian government is also refusing to allow him to receive visitors. Despite two UN rulings describing his detention as unlawful and mandating his immediate release, Assange has been effectively imprisoned since he was first placed in isolation in Wandsworth prison in London in December 2010. He has never been charged with a crime. The Swedish case against him collapsed and was withdrawn, while the United States has stepped up efforts to prosecute him. His only “crime” is that of a true journalist — telling the world the truths that people have a right to know.
Under its previous president, the Ecuadorian government bravely stood against the bullying might of the United States and granted Assange political asylum as a political refugee….
Militants from Jaysh al-Islam have agreed to leave the enclave of eastern Ghouta near Damascus, Syria. They will have to clear barricades and provide maps of minefields they had laid in the…
British scientists have said there is no concrete evidence to prove the nerve gas used to poison a former double agent in the UK was Russian-made.
“We have not identified the precise source, but we have provided the scientific info to government who have then used a number of other sources to piece together the conclusions,” Gary Aitkenhead, chief executive of the Porton Down defense laboratory, told Britain’s Sky News on Tuesday.
According to Britain’s Defense Science and Technology Laboratory, although the nerve agent required extremely sophisticated methods to create, experts have been unable to establish its country of origin.
It was, however, confirmed that the chemical was identified as military-grade Nvichok nerve agent. The findings were provided to the British government in order to use other sources to piece together a conclusion.
On March 4, former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, were found unconscious…
Over the past week, President Trump has twice emphatically stated that he intends to remove US troops from Syria and bring them home “where they belong.” He also defied his advisors by congratulating Russian President Vladimir Putin on his election victory and suggested a summit meeting at the White House. The neocons have spent the last week furiously attacking these two moves, accusing him of undermining the policies of his advisors. Strangely, they don’t seem to remember that it is the elected president who makes foreign policy, not his/her advisors. Will Trump actually defy the neocons and follow through with these two policy shifts…or will he flip-flop? Join us for today’s Ron Paul Liberty Report:
US President Donald Trump has repeated calls to withdraw American troops from war-ravaged Syria, further announcing a military protection of the border with Mexico.
During a joint White House press conference with the leaders of the Baltic States on Tuesday, the president said he would have a meeting with Defense Secretary James Mattis “in a little while” about sending US troops to the border with Mexico “until we have the wall.”
He further stated that that he is interested in withdrawal of the US army forces from Syria.
Trump also slammed “caravans” of people coming through the border with Mexico, further blasting the southern neighbor over the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
TOPSHOT – View of murals reading “In the sky there are no borders” on the US-Mexico border wall in Tijuana, Baja California, northwestern Mexico on April 2, 2018.
But to Estonia’s President Kersti Kaljulaid, Latvia’s President Raimonds Vejonis and…
The first direct statements from the lab responsible for testing the substance involved in the Skripal poisoning case sounded less certain than those of politicians, and appeared to cast doubt on the words of Boris Johnson.
What has the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) at Porton Down confirmed?
The “military-grade nerve agent” used to poison the double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia on March 4 was confirmed as a strand of Novichok, a family of chemical weapons first reportedly developed in the Soviet Union in the 1970s.
Read more
Did it reveal the origin of the substance?
“It is not our job to say where it was manufactured,”said lab chief executive Gary Aitkenhead to Sky News, adding that it requires “extremely sophisticated methods to create, something only in the capabilities of a state actor.”
Could the Novichok have come from Porton Down itself?
In response to accusations that UK itself may have been behind the attack, Aitkenhead said that “there is no way anything like that could have come from us or left the four walls of our facility.” He refused, however, to confirm or deny whether Porton Down keeps its own stocks of the nerve agent.
Does this not contradict earlier statements by UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson?
Johnson appears to have been overemphatic at best, and dishonest at worst when he said that Porton Down was “absolutely categorical” that the nerve agent had come from Russia, after “a guy” at the lab told him that “there’s no doubt” about its source.
So, why is the UK government so adamant about Russia’s involvement?
Aitkenhead suggested that the government “used a number of other sources to piece together conclusions,” implying that the UK’s stance is as much guided by recommendations from its intelligence and police investigation, as from chemical tests on their own.
What next?
The international watchdog OPCW (Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons) is conducting its own independent analysis of the samples from Salisbury provided by Porton Down.
Russia, which denies responsibility for the incident, has demanded full access to the tests conducted by the OPCW and Porton Down, saying it would recognize “only those conclusions of international and national experts that would be based on irrefutable evidence collected in compliance with all procedures of international law.”
Until the wall along the border with Mexico can be built, US troops will be deployed to prevent illegal crossings, President Donald Trump has announced.
“Until we can have a Wall and proper security, we’re going to be guarding our border with the military,” Trump said on Tuesday, at a working lunch with presidents of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania at the White House.
“We cannot have people flowing into our country illegally, disappearing, and by the way, never showing up for court,” the US president added.
No details were made available about the possible troop deployment. Trump said he had discussed the deployment with US Defense Secretary James Mattis, who was present for the talks with the Baltic leaders about bolstering the security along their borders with Russia.
Trump’s electoral promise to build a “big, beautiful Wall” along the southern US border ran into a roadblock last month, when a $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill allocated only $1.6 billion towards repairing existing border fences. Many of Trump’s supporters were outraged, accusing the president and his party of caving to opposition Democrats.
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The wall became an issue again last week, when a group called “People Without Borders” announced it was organizing a march of over 1,200 Central American migrants through Mexico and into the US. The “caravan” had set out from Guatemala and was in south-central Mexico as of Monday.
“The caravan doesn’t irritate me, the caravan makes me very sad that this could happen to the United States,” Trump said on Tuesday, accusing his predecessor Barack Obama of gutting border enforcement and describing the immigration laws enacted by Democrats as “so pathetic and so weak.”
Mexico began doing something about the caravan after Trump brought up the NAFTA free trade talks, Trump said. There were reported the group was “breaking up” in Mexico.
On Monday, the US Department of Justice set quotas for immigration judges, demanding that they process at least 700 cases per year. There are currently around 650,000 cases awaiting resolution, or 2,000 for every immigration judge.
Trump campaigned on the platform of securing the border with Mexico and reforming the US immigration system. Last year, the White House proposed an amnesty to 1.8 million immigrants in the US illegally in exchange for building the wall and abolishing “chain migration” and the diversity visa lottery. Democrats have denounced the proposal as “racist.”
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Russia has sent a list of 13 questions to the UN’s chemical weapons watchdog, the OPCW, demanding answers on its involvement in the British probe into the poisoning by a nerve agent of former…
Dr. Alan Robock responds to EPA administrator Scott Pruitt’s comments on carbon dioxide and explains CO2’s role in the warming of the atmosphere Visit http://therealnews.com for more stories…
Hawkish Republican Senators Lindsey Graham and John McCain are complete operatives of the US Deep State, which wants to keep wars going in the Middle East, says E. Michael Jones, a political analyst in Indiana.
Jones, a writer, former professor, media commentator and the current editor of the Culture Wars magazine, made the remarks in a phone interview with Press TV on Tuesday.
Graham on Sunday warned President Donald Trump against pulling American forces from Syria, saying it would lead to a re-emergence of the Daesh (ISIL) terrorist group and increased Iranian influence over the Syrian government.
“It’d be the single worst decision the president could make,” Graham, a Republican member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in an interview with Fox News.
“We got ISIL (Daesh) on the ropes. You want to let ’em off the ropes, remove American soldiers,” Graham said.
Commenting on this, Jones said, “This is completely…
Sputnik 1 was launched in October, 1957. I remember exactly where I was when the news story broke on the radio. My friend and I were being driven to a high school football game by his father, an aeronautical engineer at one of the largest manufacturers of helicopter rotor blades in the world. News of Sputnik was so important that he pulled the car to the side of the road so the three of us could listen to the lengthy newscast without distraction.
The following year in 1958, at the height of the Cold War, an unknown 23 year old American pianist won the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. Despite the tension between the two countries, the Soviets treated him graciously before he returned home to a hero’s welcome. A fine example of the “promotion of world friendship through the universal language of the arts”, which was a sentiment inscribed prominently at the venue where I met Van Cliburn less than a decade later.
At age 11 I joined the Boy Scouts. Our troop was led by an exceptional man, kind, strict, and strong, who believed that the best way for boys to learn was by doing. Every three weeks during the school year, we went on a weekend camping trip. Good weather or bad, we went.
Building fires, we were each allowed one kitchen match, whether the firewood was wet or dry; whether it was windy or not. Success was anticipated, and so usually internalized. Failure meant (marginally) good natured jeers from the others, and the next boy would test his skill and try his match.
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Occasionally on a moonlit night we’d be awakened at 1 AM, and told to collect a compass, matches, canteen, and flashlight, as we were going on a hike….
Skripal lies: Saddam, Gaddafi, Assad, latest regime change boogie man is Putin Over 20 countries to expel scores of Russian diplomats over UK spy poisoning Poisoned spy Sergei Skripal asked…
SOURCE: YONHAP North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un attended a concert in Pyongyang, marking the first time South Korean pop stars had performed in the capital for over a decade. COURTESY:…
The United States has placed a Pakistani political group on its list of foreign terrorist organizations, saying it was merely an alias for a militant group blamed for a deadly 2008 attack on the Indian port city of Mumbai.
The US State Department said in a statement on Tuesday that the Milli Muslim League (MML) had been added to the Lashkar-e Taiba (LeT)’s designations as a terrorist group.
“These designations seek to deny LeT the resources it needs to plan and carry out further terrorist attacks,” the statement read
“Make no mistake: whatever LeT chooses to call itself, it remains a violent terrorist group. The United States supports all efforts to ensure that LeT does not have a political voice until it gives up violence as a tool of influence,” it added.
The Milli Muslim League is controlled by Hafiz Saeed, who has a $10 million US bounty on his head.
Saeed is the founder of LeT which is blamed by the US and India for a four-day…
DNC vice chair for civic engagement and voter protection Karen Carter Peterson unleashed the wrath of Twitter when she tweeted “Repeal the Second Amendment” on Tuesday.
The Louisiana state senator tweeted out Justice John Paul Stevens’ op-ed from last week in The New York Times calling for repealing the Second Amendment.
The Bill of Rights is to limit government, not the people. Those rights are given to us by God, not you. You took an oath to faithfully defend the Constitution of The United States. I did too. You are in violation of that oath and WILL be removed from office.
This is a DNC Vice Chair calling for the repeal of the 2nd Amendment.
It’s going to be very hard for @Democrats to argue that a sizable portion of their party does not want to repeal/ban/confiscate firearms in the midterms.
As Jeremy Corbyn met members of a Jewish group in London, he must have looked forward to putting anti-Semitism allegations behind him. Unfortunately for the Labour leader, it turns out he met the wrong kind of Jew.
The evidence against Corbyn is, as ever, ‘damning,’ in the non-damning sense of the word. He attended a meeting of young Jewish people, in his own constituency, to celebrate Passover. When asked about the allegations following this heinous crime of meeting his own constituents, he said “anti-Semitism is a vile and evil thing in our community anywhere and at any time.” How many signs of a hate filled political leader do you need?!
I’ll tell you what, the general public is going to be utterly confused that Corbyn is now being criticised for spending time with Jews.
Much of the coverage Corbyn faces has to work pretty hard to avoid some of the more obvious truths surrounding one of the more open politicians. Here are some of the facts we know about Corbyn. He has condemned anti-Semitism within his own party, he is a socialist, a human rights activist with a long public record of fighting against racism, and he is not overly enamored with the policies of the Israeli state.
According to reports, Corbyn led prayers at the Passover event in London, stayed for four hours chatting with members of the local Jewish community and even brought some beetroot (though other tabloids report that it was devilishly spicy ‘horseradish’) from his own allotment. However, if you’re not going to get bang in line with the mainstream views on Israel, then no amount of beetroot is going to save you from accusations of anti-Semitism.
Corbyn is a figure who brings groups together. He’s managed to unite Conservatives, the Tory press and the right wing of the Labour Party against him.
The only way the media and this government will take seriously the ‘Punish a Muslim day’ threats is if we said Corbyn sent them 🙄
With that kind of opposition to face on a daily basis, Corbyn must shudder ahead of his morning media briefing; there is almost no way to predict what he’s going to be accused of on any given day. In recent months he’s been a terrorist sympathizer, a Communist spy and an anti-Semite, which all must have kept him busy.
Back in his days as a backbencher in Parliament, Corbyn was inoffensive enough for the media because he posed no obvious danger to the establishment apple cart. In fact he was extremely useful because he was always available for British media outlets to add some left-wing balance to their reports, if it happened to be the kind of day when they cared about that sort of thing.
Then came the era of Corbyn the useless. The Conservative Party and its friendly media didn’t really mind Corbyn when he became leader of the opposition, because they were convinced that anyone who wears cheap tracksuit bottoms, has a beard and cares about human rights was unlikely to pose any kind of electoral threat.
Then things got serious, because the Labour leader turned out to pose a serious electoral threat, and he came pretty close to becoming the next prime minister when Theresa May called an election, only to see her parliamentary majority vanish.
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A full frontal assault has been launched, but there’s nothing new about the tactics. When accusing Corbyn of being a Soviet spy over a meeting with a Czech agent, it was the classic Cold War rulebook that was being used.
One Tory MP went so far in his accusations that he had to apologize to Corbyn, but you always get the impression that British politicians are using the classic tactic of former US President Lyndon Johnson when accusing a political rival of an over-fondness for pigs: “Of course it ain’t true, but I want to make the son of a bitch deny it.”
The Soviet spy claims link very nicely to the current bogeyman of Russia. Corbyn has been on RT many times, which is among the worst of crimes in the current climate. His request to wait for evidence over the poisoning of the Skripals in Salisbury saw him booed from all sides.
Now we have Corbyn the anti-Semite, which carries the ultimate stigma. However, when commentators and fellow MPs are accusing someone of being an anti-Semite for enjoying a religious festival with Jewish people, and promising to combat hate crime within his own party, then it’s not the motives of Jeremy Corbyn that need to be questioned.
US Marshals arrested the designer of a Kansas waterslide that decapitated a 10-year-old child in 2016. John Schooley, 72, was arrested at Dallas Fort Worth Airport as he returned from China.
Schooley was indicted on charges of second-degree murder, aggravated battery, and aggravated endangerment of a child following the death of Caleb Schwab on the ride in a Kansas City amusement park in August 2016.
Two other individuals and two corporations have also been indicted on similar charges, and in connection with injuries sustained by 13 other persons, according to a press release from the Kansas Attorney General’s office.
The ride, named “Verruckt,” the German word for “insane,” was 168-feet tall, and was certified by Guinness World Records as the world’s tallest waterslide in 2014.
Caleb Schwab was killed when his raft became airborne and collided with overhead hoops and netting. Two women in the same raft suffered facial injuries and lacerations.
The indictment reveals that Schooley and ride co-designer Jeff Wayne Henry, also indicted, had no technical or engineering credentials. Their design “violated nearly all aspects of the longstanding industry safety standards published by ASTM. In fact, the design and operation of Verruckt complied with few, if any, of the relevant industry safety standards.”
It proceeds to allege that Henry and Schooley made a spur-of-the-moment decision to design the ride, neglected fundamental steps in the design process, and “rushed forward relying almost entirely on crude trial-and-error methods.” Routine safety inspections were overlooked, and warnings from staff about the condition of the ride were ignored.
In a statement to CNN last week, the Schlitterbahn Waterpark called Schwab’s death “tragic,” but maintained that the defendants would be proven innocent when the case goes to trial. The waterpark plans to reopen in May for its annual season.
Schooley and Henry are currently being held in Texas, pending transfer to Kansas.
My patient, a pregnant young woman, lay in her hospital bed breathing quickly and moaning. For years she had suffered from mental illness and addiction, and now was desperately ill with MRSA endocarditis, a bacterial infection of her heart.
As I examined her, listening with my stethoscope, I wondered if she and her baby would survive.
American society is desperately ill. How else can we consider the sickness of our nation’s spirit, where people would rather sell guns than provide health care and education to our children?
Every day in my clinical practice I see individuals suffering from the ravages of poverty—diseases like endocarditis, depression, addiction to opioids, HIV, tuberculosis, and diabetes.
But these illnesses do not occur in isolation. The health of people is directly connected to the health of our society.
And American society is desperately ill. How else can we consider the sickness of our nation’s spirit, where people would rather sell guns than provide health care and education to our children?
As a practicing physician with a focus on health of the poor, the fiftieth anniversary of the murder of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr is particularly poignant for me.
Dr. King was assassinated just as he was building a fusion movement, a Poor People’s Campaign and a new “Freedom Church of the Poor.” The movement was making connections between militarism, racism, and economic exploitation, and Dr. King was calling for a revolution against the structures that kept people in poverty.
If Dr. King were alive today, a half-century later, the question is what he would be saying and doing.
He would be critiquing an immoral economy which spends trillions on war and nuclear weapons but can’t find the resources to fund health and education— addiction treatment, health care for pregnant women, pre-kindergarten programs, and our public schools, parks, and libraries.
In my opinion, he would be decrying the recent Tax Cuts and Jobs Act which will threaten our children, as government spending for Medicaid and food stamps are slashed.
He would be critiquing an immoral economy which spends trillions on war and nuclear weapons but can’t find the resources to fund health and education— addiction treatment, health care for pregnant women, pre-kindergarten programs, and our public schools, parks, and libraries.
A half-century later, Dr. King would be leading the new Poor People’s Campaign—a National Call for a Moral Revival. He would be demanding a change in course, that politicians uphold the oath that they have taken to represent us on a moral agenda that lifts up the common good. And he would be leading nonviolent civil disobedience to insist that politicians develop serious proposals to address such an agenda.
If Dr. King were alive, he would also be engaging youth— who are already energized by the March for Our Lives— in the Poor People’s Campaign.
Just as the children of Birmingham mobilized to protest Bull Connor and his fire hoses and police dogs, America’s children are waking up and fighting for their survival in 2018.
But we don’t need a commemoration of the murder of Dr. King, we need a resurrection of his movement. Because shifting the moral narrative is a cultural task, we are creating new ways of helping people tell their stories, through music and the arts. To engage youth—and everyone— the Massachusetts Poor People’s Campaign has created a choir.
We will be singing this Saturday morning at 10 AM at a Mass Meeting in Quincy, Massachusetts. Saturday is a day of community building, sharing, and organizing, and we hope people who live in New England will join us.
Why am I passionate about the Poor People’s Campaign?
One weekday around 6:30 AM, my 3-year-old son sat on our living room floor playing with toy trucks before getting ready to go to preschool.
I put down my coffee cup and sang, “Woke up this morning with my mind, stayed on freedom. Woke up this morning with my mind, stayed on,” and he echoed, “freedom.”
“Woke up this morning with my mind, stayed on freedom, Hallelu, hallelu, hallelu, hallelu, hallelujah,” we sang together, call and response, and he smiled.
Tom Packalen, member of the Finnish parliament from the party “True Finns” doubts Russia’s complicity in the nerve gas attack in the British town of Salisbury and slams the Finnish authorities’ decision to expel a Russian diplomat, his blog on the website Uusi Suomi reads.
“I don’t really think that Russia is complicit in using the poisoning substances in Salisbury….Russia has no motives to do that. I can hardly imagine Russians embarking on something like that, which would lead to serious consequences for Russia and which point directly at them… The orchestrators of the attack aimed to point at Russians,” the MP stated.
Meanwhile, the poisoning plays into other countries’ hands, he pointed out.
“Great Britain is winning from this situation. Britons have been in the European spotlight due to Brexit. Now Europeans have shifted their attention to Russia. If anyone feels like debating the tough conditions of Brexit, they will presumably be considered a UK’s enemy.”
“Also, the situation is useful for Ukraine. It wants to resume or enforce the sanctions against Russia,” Packalen noted.
It is important to thoroughly study the presented evidence before taking action.
“The Western legal system frequently presupposes the assumption of innocence as long as the case is unclear. The facts which have so far been laid out do not convince me of Russia’s guilt and I think Finland’s decision to expel a diplomat is quite silly,” the MP wrote.
SOURCE: Russian MoD An updated missile-defense system was successfully tested by Russian Aerospace Forces at the Sary Shagan test range in Kazakhstan on Monday. The modernized defense system…
The numbers of casualties of U.S. wars since Sept. 11, 2001 have largely gone uncounted, but coming to terms with the true scale of the crimes committed remains an urgent moral, political and legal imperative, argues Nicolas J.S. Davies, in part two of his series.
By Nicolas J.S. Davies
In the first part of this series,I estimated that about 2.4 million Iraqis have been killed as a result of the illegal invasion of their country by the United States and the United Kingdom in 2003. I turn now to Afghan and Pakistani deaths in the ongoing 2001 U.S. intervention in Afghanistan. In part two, I will examine U.S.-caused war deaths in Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen. According to Ret. U.S. General Tommy Franks, who led the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan in reaction to 9/11, the U.S. government does not keep track of civilian casualty that it causes. “You know, we don’t do body counts,” Franks once said. Whether that’s true or a count is covered up is difficult to know.
As I explained in part one, the U.S. has attempted to justify its invasions of Afghanistan and several other countries as a legitimate response to the terrorist crimes of 9/11. But the U.S. was not attacked by another country on that day, and no crime, however horrific, can justify 16 years of war – and counting – against a series of countries that did not attack the U.S.
As former Nuremberg prosecutor Benjamin Ferencz told NPR a week after the terrorist attacks, they were crimes against humanity, but not “war crimes,” because the U.S. was not at war. “It is never a legitimate response to punish people who are not responsible for the wrong done.” Ferencz explained. “We must make a distinction between punishing the guilty and punishing others. If you simply retaliate en masse by bombing Afghanistan, let us say, or the Taliban, you will kill many people who don’t believe in what has happened, who don’t approve of what has happened.”
As Ferencz predicted, we have killed “many people” who had nothing to do with the crimes of September 11. How many people? That is the subject of this report.
The Russian postal service’s first drone delivery crashed shortly after taking off in Ulan-Ude, Russia. COURTESY: RT’s RUPTLY video agency, NO RE-UPLOAD, NO REUSE – FOR LICENSING, PLEASE,…
Immigrant mother seeks sanctuary from deportation in New York City church
By
Josh Varlin
3 April 2018
Aura Hernandez, an undocumented immigrant and mother of two, has taken sanctuary in a New York City church to prevent her deportation to Guatemala. She is threatened with deportation despite having reported to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) regularly for the past five years.
Hernandez fled Guatemala to United States in 2005 to escape an abusive relationship. US Customs and Border Protection picked her up shortly after she entered the US and detained her for three days. She charges that she was sexually abused by a Border Patrol officer while in detention before she was released.
Hernandez was issued a final order of removal in 2006, but had no knowledge of the order and did not encounter police or immigration officials until 2013. Then, according to the New York Times, “she was caught in Mamaroneck, N.Y., driving the wrong way down a street that is one-way on Sundays. The police officer, seeing she had no documents, reported her to immigration officials.”
Until February, she reported to ICE regularly without incident. When she was ordered to report to ICE on March 1 with a plane ticket to leave the US, she instead took refuge in a church. ICE now considers her a “fugitive,” according to a spokesperson.
Hernandez cites her desire to keep her family together as the reason she has turned to the New Sanctuary Coalition, which organizes sanctuary for undocumented immigrants in New York City. She has a 10-year-old son, Daniel, and a 15-month-old daughter, Camila, both of whom are US citizens by birth.
If ICE deports Hernandez, she will be forcibly separated from her children. While in the US, Hernandez cleaned houses to provide for her family.
Sinclair Broadcasting Group executive chairman David Smith has lashed out at the print media saying it is “so left wing as to be meaningless dribble” that has “no credibility.”
In emails to New York Magazine published Monday, Smith fired back after critics accused his company of pushing pro-Trump propaganda, arguing that print media “serves no real purpose.”
“I must tell that in all the 45 plus years I have been in the media business I have never seen a single article about us that is reflective of reality especially in today’s world with the shameful political environment and generally complete lack of integrity. Facts and truth have been lost for a long time and likely to never return,” Smith said.
“The print media is so left wing as to be meaningless dribble which accounts for why the industry is and will fade away,” he added. “Just no credibility.”
If Jeremy Corbyn thought he was dousing anti-Semitism accusations by spending Seder with Jewish group Jewdas, he thought wrong. His critics homed in on Jewdas’ anti-Israel views, and accused Corbyn of “baiting mainstream Jews.”
The multi-pronged attack on the Labour leader has come from Conservatives, the rival wing of the Labour Party, and Jewish groups that do not share Jewdas’ views, and has been fanned by the BBC, and newspapers across the political spectrum.
While Corbyn has offered a mild-mannered explanation (saying he had “learned a lot” during the event) Twitter has offered a stauncher defense of the Labour leader.
Jeremy #Corbyn found guilty of attending an event with the ‘wrong type of Jewish people’! Apparently, he’s only supposed to befriend Jewish groups who support extreme Israeli nationalism! #r4today
There’s a great sitcom to be made in Jeremy Corbyn doing a series of increasingly ostentatiously Jewish things, but slightly wrong, and in a way that further enrages publications willing to overlook vast swathes of multi-pronged racism on their own website.
So, if the #BBC thinks there are ‘good’ and ‘bad’ Jews, it’s only reasonable to assume they think there are ‘good’ and ‘bad’ Black people. Though, they usually use words like ‘dignified’ and ‘trouble-maker’ to describe Black people instead.
17 Palestinians were murdered over the weekend by Israeli army. But @BBC6MusicNews is running a story every 30 minutes to say Jeremy Corbyn met with the wrong sort of Jew during #Jewdas. Tragic BBC, tragic MSM and we’re all the worse off for the BS reporting.
President Donald Trump has again defended Sinclair Broadcasting after a video showing over 100 American news stations owned by the company reading from the same script went viral, with some even calling it Orwellian.
“The Fake News Networks, those that knowingly have a sick and biased AGENDA, are worried about the competition and quality of Sinclair Broadcast. The “Fakers” at CNN, NBC, ABC & CBS have done so much dishonest reporting that they should only be allowed to get awards for fiction!” read a tweet from the president on Tuesday morning.
The Fake News Networks, those that knowingly have a sick and biased AGENDA, are worried about the competition and quality of Sinclair Broadcast. The “Fakers” at CNN, NBC, ABC & CBS have done so much dishonest reporting that they should only be allowed to get awards for fiction!
Since last month, news anchors at Sinclair stations have been delivering a promo message at the request of management. The message laments “the troubling trend of irresponsible, one-sided news stories plaguing our country,” and is delivered with almost no variation from network to network.
“Unfortunately, some members of the media use their platforms to push their own personal bias and agenda to control exactly what people think… This is extremely dangerous to a democracy,”the script continues, concluding with a line urging the public to hold the station accountable, followed by a promise: “We work very hard to seek the truth and strive to be fair, balanced and factual… We consider it our honor, our privilege to responsibly deliver the news every day.”
Sinclair Broadcast Group owns some 173 television networks in the US, and the message segments were repeated as frequently as possible, giving the management almost blanket coverage in parts of America.
Rival mainstream media outlets were quick to slate Sinclair. CNN described the messages as “a promotional campaign that sounds like pro-Trump propaganda.”
MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough said: “This looks like something we would mock the Russians for doing during the days of Pravda.” Former CBS News anchor Dan Rather described the script, apparently foisted on news anchors from management above, as “Orwellian.”
News anchors looking into camera and reading a script handed down by a corporate overlord, words meant to obscure the truth not elucidate it, isn’t journalism. It’s propaganda. It’s Orwellian. A slippery slope to how despots wrest power, silence dissent, and oppress the masses.
Sinclair issued a statement on Monday, defending its decision to air the script.
“It is ironic that we would be attacked for messages promoting our journalistic initiative for fair and objective reporting, and for specifically asking the public to hold our newsrooms accountable. Our local stations keep our audiences’ trust by staying focused on fact-based reporting and clearly identifying commentary,” the statement from Sinclair SVP Scott Livingston read.
While Sinclair’s management is well understood to lean right-wing, and while media centralization and consolidation is a justified concern in the United States, Sinclair’s rival broadcasters are not exactly in a position to throw stones.
Dan Rather himself drew flak for his cheerleading of the US’ illegal invasion of Iraq in 2003. In an interview given just one week after 9/11, Rather made his case for the invasion of Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Syria and Libya, and expressed his unwavering loyalty to the president. “George Bush is the president,” said Rather. “He makes the decisions and as just one American wherever he wants me to line up just tell me where and he’ll make the call.”
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Indeed, on almost every mainstream media network, viewers were treated to non-stop pro-war views. A 2003 study by Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) found that of the over 1,600 sources cited on American news stations in the run-up to the war, 71 percent expressed pro-war views. Only 10 percent of sources expressed any dissent. Likewise, media outlets peddled the lie that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction. The New York Times apologized for its false coverage of Saddam’s weapons program in 2004.
Flashing forward to today, bias is still evident on every mainstream network, and Trump’s hammering of CNN and others is not without merit. Before the 2016 election, CNN gave debate questions in advance to Hillary Clinton’s team, and claimed that “only the media” are allowed to view Wikileaks emails. After the election, CNN continued to obsessively publish false stories linking the Trump administration with Russian interests.
Meanwhile, Project Veritas, an American conservative media watchdog, launched an investigation last year into media bias. In the “American Pravda” video series, senior figures at CNN, the New York Times, and the Washington Post admit to undercover reporters that the “Russia narrative” is false, that they pursue a biased agenda, and that they chase ratings over the truth.
Video shows a five-year-old boy taking a car for a joy ride in the Chechen Republic, Russia. Source: Chechen WhatsApp 2 Check out http://rt.com RT LIVE http://rt.com/on-air Subscribe to…
The Federal Reserve recently increased interest rates to 1.75 percent. This is the highest interest rates have been since 2008, but it still leaves rates at historic lows. While the Fed says economic growth justifies future rate increases, an honest examination of the economy suggests that future rate increases are unlikely.
The Fed’s claim that the economy is strong is based on misleading government statistics. For example, the official unemployment rate understates true unemployment by not counting those who have given up looking for work. According to John Williams of Shadow Government Statistics, the real unemployment rate is above 20 percent. Government figures also understate the rate of inflation by pretending that you are not negatively impacted by inflation if you can still buy hamburger when you cannot afford steak. Shadow Stats estimates that the real rate of inflation is as much as four times higher than the official rate.
President Trump’s tariffs will further weaken the economy. While export-driven industries, including manufacturers that rely on imported materials, will be particularly hard-hit, the tariffs combined with the inevitable retaliation from other counties will impact all sectors of the economy. A global trade war could also lead other countries to stop buying US debt instruments, increasing pressure on the Fed to keep rates low.
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Since Republicans have held control of the White House and Congress over the last year, federal spending has increased 12.9 percent. Clearly those in Congress serious about reducing government spending are few and far between. The sad fact is that both major parties are happy to increase…
Oh, this is great. The French are sending Special Forces to Manbij in northern Syria, a city held by Kurdish peshmerga backed by U.S. forces. Why? To thwart a Turkish advance on the city, backed by Turkish-allied forces in the scattershot “Syrian Free Army” created out of whole cloth by the CIA since 2011.
Ankara denounces Emmanuel Macron’s move as the “completely wrong approach,” and even support for terrorism. (For Ankara, any support for Kurdish autonomy anywhere—even if occasioned by the pragmatic desire to use reliable allies to crush ISIL—constitutes “support for terrorism.”) Deputy PM Bekir Bozdag even intimates that France could “become a target of Turkey” if it defends the Kurds.
Thus has the mega-disaster of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 not only produced chaos in the region, worsened long-standing Sunni-Shiite conflicts, exacerbated Arab-Iranian tensions, encouraged militant Kurdish nationalism, and drawn Turkey into anti-Kurdish conflict in Iraq and Syria. It has now produced a clash between NATO powers. Good job, Dubya!
Did George W. Bush ever anticipate that his gleeful destruction of Iraq would lead to a Turkish-French confrontation in Syria regarding the Kurdish question? When governments in the region (including Ankara) warned that a U.S. invasion of Iraq would destabilize the whole region, did he have any understanding of what they were talking about?
1. Before the influx of Europeans the Indians of what is now Canada lived in organized societies with exclusive possession and jurisdiction of the land. But according to the Supreme Court of Canada in Tsilhquot’in v. British Columbia, 2014 SCC 44:
[113]… Can the [provincial] legislature have intended that the vast areas of the province that are potentially subject to Aboriginal title be immune from forestry regulation? And what about the long period of time during which land claims progress and ultimate Aboriginal title remains uncertain? During this period, Aboriginal groups have no legal right to manage the forest; their only right is to be consulted, and if appropriate, accommodated with respect to the land’s use: Haida.At this stage, the Crown may continue to manage the resource in question, but the honour of the Crown requires it to respect the potential, but yet unproven claims.
[114] It seems clear from the historical record and the record in this case that in this evolving context, the British Columbia legislature proceeded on the basis that lands under claim remain “Crown land” under the Forest Act, at least until Aboriginal title is recognized by a court or an agreement. To proceed otherwise would have left no one in charge of the forests that cover hundreds of thousands of hectares and represent a resource of enormous value. Looked at in this very particular historical context, it seems clear that the…
The leaflet was commissioned by the government and included detailed instructions for people married to children covering all spheres of life, including intimacy. However, it has caused an outrage among the Swedish public, who found that it normalized such behavior instead of preventing it.
The Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare has withdrawn an information brochure targeted at “new arrivals” moving to the Nordic country while married to children after it caused an uproar among politicians and ordinary Swedes alike, Swedish national broadcaster SVT reported.
The contested brochure “Information for you [who are] married to a child” starts by stressing that marrying persons under the age of 18 is prohibited in Sweden and outlining the reasons why. A separate section specifies that having sex with someone under the age of 15 is a crime, regardless of whether it happens within wedlock or not.
“Since children under the age of 15 have an absolute right to protection from sexual acts, it is improper for you to live together if the child is under 15,” the brochure said.
The publication of the brochure in general and its wording in particular sparked furious criticism in Sweden.
“Its biggest shortcoming is that it fails to mention the word ‘prison,’ rather it gives some advice and tips on how to respond if you have a relationship our marriage laws forbid,” the leader of the Conservatives’ parliamentary group Tobias Billström said.
WARNING: GRAPHIC Security footage appears to show a 57-year-old suspect attacking the young woman, wearing the Muslim headscarf, at a hospital in the US state of Michigan. Check out http://rt.c…
US President Donald Trump has blasted the CNN president on Twitter, saying Jeff Zuker’s job is in “jeopardy.”
“Check out the fact that you can’t get a job at ratings challenged @CNN unless you state that you are totally anti-Trump? Little Jeff Zuker, whose job is in jeopardy, is not having much fun lately. They should clean up and strengthen CNN and get back to honest reporting!” the president tweeted on Tuesday morning.
Trump also denounced Zucker and “low-ratings CNN” and suggested that the news network does not hire journalists unless they state their opposition to the Trump administration.
Trump has repeatedly used the term “fake news” while referring to mainstream media reports. He has suggested that a contest be held to find out which of the “fake news” networks was most “dishonest” and “corrupt”.
Meanwhile, Zucker has hit back, arguing that Fox News has become a version of “state-run TV” for the Trump…
A Pennsylvania Planned Parenthood affiliate is calling for a Disney princess who is pro-choice and has had an abortion.
“We need a Disney princess who’s had an abortion. We need a Disney princess who’s pro-choice,” Planned Parenthood Keystone tweeted on Tuesday.
In that same tweet, Planned Parenthood Keystone also called for a Disney princess who is “an undocumented immigrant,” one that is a “union worker” and one that is trangender.
Campaigning journalist John Pilger has warned that the current propaganda war being waged by the West against Russia and China could escalate into a “real” war if it continues.
The Australian journalist and filmmaker issued the warning during an interview with RT on WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange having his internet access cut off by the Ecuadorian embassy, where he resides. The WikiLeaks editor has been unable to access the internet or receive visitors since criticizing Germany’s arrest of Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont.
“This is about a war on freedom of speech. This man is being denied the most basic right – freedom of speech,” Pilger told RT. “It’s part of a wider war against known enemies, Russia is one of them and China is another, but at the moment [it’s] on the propaganda stage,” he added.
“This is about the public’s right to know and it’s the public’s right to know what governments are doing.”
Pilger cautioned against the grave implications of the West’s current information war, as he said: “Forget about the whole idea of trade war, we’ve got the prospect of a real war unless this propaganda war is seen through. The attack on [Assange] and WikiLeaks over the years is so important because it does what journalists should be doing and that is holding great power to account,” Pilger added.
His remarks come after a Change.org petition calling for his internet to be restored was signed by more than 38,000 people. It opened with a letter signed by renowned public figures including Noam Chomsky, Vivienne Westwood, Oliver Stone and Brian Eno.
Assange has been locked up in the embassy since being accused of rape in Sweden back in 2012. While charges against him were dropped, he fears being extradited to the US for releasing a series of classified national security documents through his whistleblowing website, WikiLeaks.
Michael McFaul and his Russia-hating Twitter supporters have hit out at RT as “propaganda” – for accurately reporting a comment made by Moscow about the Skripal case.
McFaul is a former ambassador to Russia and current Stanford professor, who persistently pushes against Russia. He took to Twitter on Sunday to denounce RT for publishing an article with the headline: “UK may have staged Skripal poisoning to rally people against Russia – Moscow.” The article details a highly newsworthy statement made by Russia’s envoy to the UK, Alexander Yakovenko, concerning the poisoning of ex-double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter.
While speaking to Russia’s NTV channel, Yakovenko said that “we have very serious suspicion that this provocation was done by British intelligence,” adding: “The Britons are claiming a leading role in the so-called containment of Russia. To win support from the people and the parliament for this containment of Russia, a serious provocation was required. And the Britons may have done a really savage one to get this support.”
However, Yakovenko acknowledged that Moscow has no solid proof to back up the claim – an important detail which RT included in its report.
But apparently the headline’s ubiquitous en dash, which is used by every news outlet to attribute statements to the source of quote, didn’t stand in the way of those seeking the truth.
Incredible headline. Is this journalism or propaganda? If latter, then democracies need to have different regulations for RT than they do for news organizations. https://t.co/M4im0HiIMp
Despite the reaction from RT, McFaul’s horde of Russia-hating Twitter followers continued to send out volleys of accusations and insults directed at the site, in a display of goose-stepping unanimity of opinion that one might expect to find in a sect.
“Is RT even news hahaha. Can’t believe RT said it,” a Twitter user wrote in response to McFaul’s post. “They are not journalists, but criminals, plain and simple,” wrote another. In all, dozens of users responded with Russia-hating exuberance to McFaul’s logic-deficient tweet – even after RT’s press office response.
You’re right otherwise we’re feeding the cancer inside our country.
Sounds like some kind of odd ball propaganda…when did facist type media become so mainstream? Freedom of the press is fine but where is common sense push back?
— Independence Party (@Independence3rd) April 1, 2018
McFaul later tweeted that he accepted the criticism that RT was not making the statement in the headline itself – but was actually quoting the government.
I accept the criticism that RT was just quoting the Russian government, not making the statement itself. Fair point https://t.co/AsobklnDCE
However, even after this, his followers rejected the argument, repeating that RT was propaganda and that the headline should have been clearer; with one of the users criticizing McFaul for giving in too easily.
While attacking RT over a news headline, McFaul hinted at “different regulations” for the channel. RT, though, has already been forced to register as a “foreign agent” in the US, after numerous accusations of alleged meddling in the 2016 presidential elections – although no proof has been presented. Russia responded with mirror actions.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story did not report a follow-up tweet posted by McFaul. RT apologizes for not seeing this tweet, which should have been included in the story. We responded to McFaul on Twitter. The point of the story was to expose the confirmation bias against RT, which is oddly common among Mr. McFaul’s Twitter followers. We recommend always reading the article first to check the facts for yourself.
Haiti, battered by natural disasters, is reeling from a scandal around the revelations of abuse by international aid workers. How will it affect the humanitarian efforts of NGOs and the UN…
I was a Sinclair news director. For a few months, at least.
In 2013, I was a young news director at a struggling small station in the Midwest, having worked my way up the ranks as a producer in larger markets. I’d uprooted my family the year before and moved from the West Coast to “earn my stripes” running a newsroom. I had a small team with a handful of veterans and eager new reporters I enjoyed mentoring.
That fall, Sinclair Broadcast Group bought the station. Sinclair was not a household name at the time, but it did have a reputation in the business for being heavy-handed in station operations and for having a conservative editorial lean. The company first made national headlines when it forced all its stations to run an anti-John Kerry documentary just before the Democratic nominee lost the 2004 presidential election.
Still, I went in with an open mind. As Sinclair prepared to purchase my station, I emailed a colleague to say, “From everything I’ve seen so far, it’s not the evil empire some people think.”
It took just a few months to realize how wrong I was.
It began with the “must run” stories arriving in my inbox every morning. “Must-run” stories were exactly what the name suggests: They were a combination of pre-produced packages that would come down from corporate, along with scripts for local anchors to read. We had to air them whether we wanted to or not.
On the way to a meeting of company news directors, someone whose station had been acquired a few months earlier explained that the arrangement wasn’t that bad — you just had to bury the “must-run” corporate stories and commentary in early-morning newscasts where few viewers would see them. Shortly after that, an executive made it clear to us that the “must-run” stories were not optional and that corporate would be watching to make sure they weren’t getting buried at 5 a.m.
Sinclair knows its strongest asset is the credibility of its local anchors. They’re trusted voices in their communities, and they have often been on the air for decades before Sinclair purchased their stations.
Sinclair knows its strongest asset is the credibility of its local anchors.
The must-run stories, however, barely passed as journalism. More than one script came down that, had it come from one of my fresh-out-of-college reporters, I would have sent back for a complete rewrite. But Sinclair executives made it clear that the must-run scripts were not to be touched by producers or anchors.
I didn’t last long after that. I soon realized I would have trouble looking myself in the mirror if I put stories and commentary like that on the air. I couldn’t in good conscience ask young reporters and anchors to sign multi-year contracts knowing what they’d be forced to say on the air and face severe financial penalties if they left early.
So I quit, and once again uprooted my family in search of a company with ethical and news standards I could be proud of. I was fortunate enough to find a new position with another station group that, unlike Sinclair, had a true commitment to local journalism.
Over the course of my 14-year career in broadcasting, I worked for multiple corporate owners, large and small. I have good friends who are anchors, reporters and executives at other station groups across the country. Only Sinclair forces those trusted local journalists to lend their credibility to shoddy reporting and commentary that, if it ran in other countries, we would rightly dismiss as state propaganda.
In the four years since I left, Sinclair has doubled down on its “must-run” strategy. Segments like the Islamophobic “Terrorism Alert Desk” and commentary from Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn have started running in markets from Seattle to Washington, D.C. If the Federal Communications Commission approves Sinclair’s purchase of Tribune Broadcasting, it will get a foothold in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Denver and other major markets. I know several journalists who preemptively left Tribune stations after the sale was announced. They’re the lucky and principled ones.
When Deadspin’s genius supercut of Sinclair’s latest promo went viral last weekend, my heart broke for the anchors who were used to make the equivalent of a proof-of-life hostage video. They know what they’re being conscripted to do, but most of them have no choice in the matter. They’re trapped by contracts, by family obligations and by an industry that is struggling to stay relevant in an era of changing media habits.
The anchors who were forced to decry “fake news” put their own credibility on the line, accusing “some members of the media” of pushing “their own personal bias and agenda,” when nothing could be further from the truth. The only ones pushing a personal bias in local broadcasting today are the corporate executives at Sinclair, who leverage the trust that those anchors have developed in their communities over years and often decades of hard work.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with journalism that wears its bias on its sleeve. At some point, local news may transform into something more like the cable news landscape, with hosts who are paid to share their perspective and commentary. But that requires honesty on the part of station owners, and it requires embracing a diversity of viewpoints on the air. That’s the exact opposite of what Sinclair is doing to local broadcasting today.
During my time with Sinclair, while on a conference call with other news directors, someone asked if we could ever run local commentary during newscasts. The answer was a firm “no.” The only opinions Sinclair allows on air are the opinions that come out of headquarters, because the company will not risk giving local audiences a dissenting view.
That “no” was telling. Being afraid of a variety of viewpoints is, in the words of Sinclair’s now-infamous “must-run,” extremely dangerous to a democracy.
British capital London has overtaken America’s New York City in terms of murder, as police across the pond deal with a surge in knife crime, according to reports.
Overall, 37 people were killed in London between February and March this year compared to the 35 murders that happened in the Big Apple, according to British media.
The alarming rate has prompted London police to as for some help from New York’s Finest in fighting crime.
“New York has been able to bring down serious violence through a public health approach,” said Croydon Central Member of Parliament (MP) Sarah Jones, who heads a parliamentary committee on knife crime, told the BBC.
“We need a proper strategy that looks at all of the issues,” She added.
So far this year, London’s Metropolitan Police has investigated a total of 44 murders, 31 of which were the result of stabbings. At least eight of the murders occurred between March 14 and March 20, alarming the…
Luckily no one was injured after a truck container’s top fell on a sedan on a highway in central China. Check out http://rt.com RT LIVE http://rt.com/on-air Subscribe to RT! http://www.youtube.c…
The US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is not taking enough safety measures to protect the guns and ammunition it possesses, an official report shows. Read more
Despite vote in Parliament to stop recognizing child marriage
Paul Joseph Watson PrisonPlanet.com March 29, 2018
Swedish social services have released a brochure aimed at migrants which legitimizes child marriage, despite a vote in Parliament this week to explicitly ban the practice.
The brochure is a guide to “those who are married to children in Sweden” and has caused uproar in the Scandinavian country.
According to commentator the Angry Foreigner, a Bosnian immigrant who lives in Sweden, the brochure acknowledges child marriage but recommends migrants don’t live with or have sex with anyone under the age of 15.
“There’s no threats with prison though, or any info on consequences,” he tweeted, adding, “Ironically migrants would be punished harder for this in their home country. The sentence in Syria is 9 years in prison. In Sweden it’s just welfare.”
I should also point out the government recently voted “No” to criminalize all child marriage. Very feminist.
Ironically migrants would be punished harder for this in their home country. The sentence in Syria is 9 years in prison. In Sweden it’s just welfare. #svpol
Other Swedes contacted Infowars to express their outrage about the brochure.
“In short it says that child brides are more or less OK!” remarked one.
Earlier this week, the Swedish parliament voted to stop recognizing child marriage despite the country’s “feminist” government requesting “exemptions for special cases”.
Four children have contacted the authorities after their parents showed them Islamic State beheading videos. According to court documents, the Midlands children were taken out of school and were being “socially isolated.”
Details of the alleged “physical and emotional abuse” were heard in the High Court last week, leaving one of the children, a 10-year-old boy who suffers with learning difficulties, so traumatized he can no longer speak.
The children – three boys aged 10, 14 and 16, and the daughter, 18, all of Somali origin – alerted authorities and are now in foster care. Police intervened after the daughter emailed Childline. The 18-year-old told authorities that the children were being “kept at home, did not attend school and were kept socially isolated.” Police then subsequently traced the email to the family’s home.
According to court documents, the children were only let out of the house once every three weeks. “The children have complained that their parents expressed support for extremist violence and have expressed anti-Semitic, anti-British, homophobic and anti-white views in the home, which the children reject,” the High Court judgment says.
Justice Alison Russell ruled last week that the youngest child should move to residential care.
“There are outstanding issues of considerable seriousness in respect of allegations made by the children both as to the extent of the physical and emotional abuse within the family home and as the complaints they have made that their parents tried to brainwash them and to influence them into adopting extremist views, sometimes known as radicalization,” said the judge in her ruling.
Russell said that the parents, who cannot be named for legal reasons, “continue to deny the extent of complaints made of physical chastisement and of making the children watch inappropriate images of extremism on videos such as a beheading by Al-Shabaab, and of a rotting corpse. The children also said that (their parents) supported Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi (a leader of Islamic State/IS).”
Kellyanne Conway has denied a new claim that she is the “number-one leaker” in President Donald Trump’s White House.
Read more
In an interview on CNN’s State of the Union with Jake Tapper, author Ronald Kessler made the surprising claim that Conway, Trump’s former campaign manager, was the source of most leaks coming out of his administration.
Kessler, who is promoting his new book ‘The Trump White House: Changing the Rules of the Game,’ told Tapper that Conway leaked so much that on one occasion she forgot she was on the record, and said “mean, cutting and honestly untrue” things about former chief of staff Reince Priebus.
Conway also “dissed” the president’s daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner, who is also Trump’s senior adviser, Kessler said. “So, if you wonder why there are so many leaks out of the White House, one reason is Kellyanne Conway is the number-one leaker,” he told Tapper.
But during a Monday interview with Abby Huntsman on Fox News, Conway strongly denied she has been leaking information from the White House.
“Leakers get great press, and one day I will have my say. I really keep my counsel while I’m here,” she said. Conway also denied claims of a strained relationship with Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner. “I have a great working relationship, and a great relationship with Jared and Ivanka, had dinner with them recently at their house,” she said.
Conway said she had spoken with Trump about the accusation and that the president knows “who the leakers and the liars are and have been.”
The idea that unanimous support among member states should not be necessary for foreign policy decisions is gaining traction in the EU. The end-game is to get rid of nation-states, a former German diplomat told RT.
The concept of at least some foreign policy decisions being made by the EU without universal backing from member states was floated recently by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. He suggested the change during the Munich Security Conference last month. Some German officials have also spoken in favor of the proposed reform.
In particular, Minister of State for Europe Michael Roth told Der Spiegel that the unanimity principle exposed the Union to malign foreign influence. Juergen Hardt, an MP and foreign policy expert, suggested to the magazine that switching to a simple majority would “increase the EU’s ability to act.”
The suggestion is part of a drive within the bloc to subjugate national governments to the decisions made by Brussels, veteran German lawmaker Willy Wimmer said. Wimmer also served as state secretary for defense, and later became vice-president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
“We face critical decisions in the European Union these days. I think there is a major obstacle to the development of the EU because Brussels – mainly France and Germany – want to get rid of the nation-states,” he said. “[Bringing together nation-states] had been the founding…
After a long flight, Argentinian journalist Diego Gonzales arrives in Moscow to cover the FIFA Confederation Cup and visit the Russian cities hosting the 2018 World Cup. With the help of friend…
Hawkish US Senator Lindsey Graham has warned President Donald Trump against pulling American forces from Syria, saying it would lead to a re-emergence of the Daesh (ISIL) terrorist group and increased Iranian influence over the Syrian government.
“It’d be the single worst decision the president could make,” Graham, a Republican member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in an interview with Fox News.
“We got ISIL (Daesh) on the ropes. You want to let ’em off the ropes, remove American soldiers,” Graham said.
Trump announced on Thursday that he wants to withdraw US troops from Syria, complaining that Washington has wasted trillions of dollars in Middle East wars
But Trump’s policy shift appears to put the president at odds with US military officials, who see the fight against Daesh as far from complete.
The US has reportedly more than 2,000 troops stationed in eastern Syria, in addition to several thousand others in the Arab…
Pau d’Arco — made from the bark of a large evergreen tropical tree found in the rainforests of the Amazon, South America and Latin America1 — is a potent antiparasitic remedy with a long history of use by indigenous populations. It also has antimicrobial, antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal and anti-inflammatory properties, as well as analgesic, antioxidant, astringent and laxative effects. It’s one of the supplements I take on a daily basis for its mitochondrial, immune-boosting and antiaging benefits.
Uses and Benefits of Pau D’Arco
Traditional and indigenous medicine has used Pau d’Arco for at least 1,500 years for the treatment of wounds, aches and pains, malaria and other tropical diseases, colitis, respiratory infections, fever, inflammation, boils, ulcers and more. Many of its benefits have been traced back to blood cleansing compounds and compounds that inhibit harmful microorganisms.
Lapachol, for example, has been shown to be an effective treatment against malaria, and quercetin is a powerful antiviral. In more recent years, studies have confirmed Pau d’Arco’s ability to:2,3,4,5
Pau D’Arco Boosts Energy Production in Your Mitochondria
Interestingly, one of the ingredients in this tree bark is beta-lapachone, which is a potent catalyst for a molecule called nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+). NAD+, found in every cell in your body, is a receptor for electrons in the electron transport chain in your mitochondria. By increasing NAD+ intercellularly, Pau d’Arco helps improve mitochondrial ATP production. This is beneficial for health in general, but it’s particularly important if you’re fighting disease.
NAD+ also acts as a signaling molecule — it basically acts as a sensor for stress and disease. (For an extensive discussion on what…
Not even the latest Microsoft update could have stopped these windows from crashing! Courtesy: nur.kz Check out http://rt.com RT LIVE http://rt.com/on-air Subscribe to RT! http://www.youtube.c…
An American Muslim woman is planning to sue a hospital in Michigan, where she was brutally attacked by a patient in an apparent hate crime.
Video footage released recently of the 10 February assault shows the hijab-wearing student approach the reception desk at the hospital’s Accident and Emergency department before a grey-haired man storms into the waiting room and starts punching her right in the head.
The attacker, identified as 50-year-old John Deliz, manages to get several punches in and knocks the victim off before the hospital’s staff and other people present at the scene manage to pull her away from him.
The woman, whose identity is being kept from public for privacy reasons, has filed for legal action against the hospital for its failure to take appropriate measures to monitor the Deliz, who is said to have mental issues.
According to the victim’s lawyer said, Deliz admitted in a Detroit court that he had escaped from a “group…
CNN’s Ron Brownstein attacked Tucker Carlson on Tuesday for daring to highlight the rapid demographic changes happening across America without public discussion nor so much as a vote.
Brownstein described Tucker’s piece as a “extraordinary screed against diversity” and insisted third world immigrants on welfare are going to pay for elderly American’s pensions sometime in the future.
Tucker fired back against him and interviewed the former mayor of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, a town which went from two percent Hispanic in 2000 to majority Hispanic in 2018 only to see their tax base collapse.
Tucker Carlson discussed the massive demographic changes over the last decade in select cities in America, including Hazleton, Pennsylvania.
Carlson said Hazleton – located on the cusp of the Pocono Mountains between Allentown and Wilkes-Barre – was less than two percent Hispanic in 2000 but is now majority Hispanic.
He added that more than half of the one-time coal mining center speaks a language other than English at home.
He said a recent report in National Geographic showed many people in Hazleton and other towns like Storm Lake, Iowa, and Hamtramck, Mich. “don’t recognize their hometown.”
Carlson said people that point this fact out are often misunderstood and accused of racism, or as one television pundit characterized his previous reports: “an extraordinary screed against diversity.”
“This is how you bully people into being quiet while you permanently change your country,” he said, calling such communities “transformed forever.”
Carlson spoke to former Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta (R), now a U.S. Congressman running for Senate against incumbent Democrat Bob Casey Jr.
Barletta, who served as mayor as the changes began to occur, noted that the “English as a Second Language” funding in the…
The 10-year-old son of Prince Edward has made headlines after he was spotted driving a Land Rover at a “reasonably fast” speed during the Easter weekend at Windsor Castle.
The Queen’s grandchild, officially known as Viscount Severn, was steering the wheel of the 4×4 while attending a royal family Easter Sunday service. The monarch was present, along with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, as well as Prince Andrew and his daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, who attended with her fiancee Jack Brooksbank.
Read more
The 10-year old appears to be sitting on someone’s lap, although the identity of his chaperon is unclear. He looked cheerful as he drove at a “reasonably fast” speed, a Mail Online source said.
Under UK law, no license is needed to drive on private land. The Crown will have to decide whether Windsor Castle, one of UK’s main tourist sites, falls under this definition for the purpose of the legislation. Either way, insurance companies would refuse to pay out in the event of an accident.
An AA insurance company spokesman said: “We wouldn’t want to encourage this kind of behavior. Cars are not play things and in the wrong hands we all know that they can be the instruments of a catastrophe and great care needs to be taken.
“This is an example that people should be very cautious about following. However, when they are a bit older, a bit larger, when you get into your teens, it’s a different matter. And, provided they are under supervision, it can provide valuable experience in handling and managing a motorcar and understanding how it works and all the safety issues that go with that,” he said.
CNN has been accused of glorifying President John F. Kennedy’s notorious infidelities while promoting a new docu-series on the Kennedy family.
As part of promotions for ‘The Kennedys’, CNN tweeted a clip about JFK’s “legendary love life” — specifically his affair with actress Judy Campbell, who was also reportedly in a relationship with the head of the Chicago mafia.
CNN has been accused of hypocrisy, given the network’s harsher response to allegations of infidelity and harassment by current President Donald Trump. Trump has been accused of having an affair with porn star Stormy Daniels in 2006 and paying her off to stay quiet. He is also accused of having an affair with Playboy model Karen McDougal, also in 2006.
Watching “The Kennedys” on CNN. It’s kinda like Jesus Christ Superstar but with less singing.
If you tweet about JFK’s “legendary” love life as though it’s a positive thing, you shouldn’t be surprised when people yawn at Trump’s, err, activities.
That’s certainly an interesting way to describe having numerous affairs while president. I think we need to get Anderson Cooper on this to find out if JFK was wearing a condom. https://t.co/y3WD4NqjeE
JFK’s predatory behavior was shockingly revealed in a 2012 memoir when former White House intern Mimi Alford claimed she lost her virginity to the president in his wife Jackie Kennedy’s bedroom on her fourth day working in the press office.
“Once we were alone in his wife’s bedroom, he’d maneuvered me so swiftly and unexpectedly, and with such authority and strength, that, short of screaming, I don’t think anything would have thwarted his intentions,” Alford wrote of Kennedy.
Alford also described JFK encouraging her to perform oral sex on one of his aides.
Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro called out what he described as CNN’s double standards and said JFK “certainly would have been labeled a sexual predator in this #MeToo moment.”
Trump talks great US economy and US military budget, but the Easter Bunny in the background stole the show… Check out http://rt.com RT LIVE http://rt.com/on-air Subscribe to RT! http://www.you…
Socialist Equality Party announces California candidates in midterm elections
Statement of the Socialist Equality Party
3 April 2018
The Socialist Equality Party is running candidates in California for the US midterm congressional elections. The SEP has selected David Moore as its candidate for the US Senate and Kevin Mitchell as its candidate for the US House of Representatives from the 51st Congressional District. Moore and Mitchell will run on a socialist, anti-war and anti-capitalist program in the interests of the working class in California and around the world.
Both Moore and Mitchell have obtained ballot status and will be listed as non-party candidates in the June 5 statewide direct primary election.
David Moore, 31, is a special education teacher in Oakland. He grew up in a farming family in Ventura County. David joined the Socialist Equality Party in 2010 after seeing the enduring impact of the 2008 crisis. As a contributor to the World Socialist Web Sitehe has written extensively on the social crisis and working class struggles, including first-hand coverage of strikes by oil, transit and health care workers.
David Moore
Kevin Mitchell, 30, studied film at the University of California Riverside and was raised in Southern California. Based in San Diego, he is a writer for the WSWS and covers issues ranging from immigration to homelessness and the social crisis. He also contributes regularly to articles on film and culture. Kevin joined the Socialist Equality Party in 2007 after having been radicalized by the Iraq War and the SEP’s intervention in the 2006 midterm elections.
The SEP campaign will fight to mobilize the working class in California, throughout the US and internationally against the Democrats and Republicans and the ruling class agenda of war,…
At least 18 Palestinians have died in Gaza after Israeli forces opened fire Friday on a protest near the Gaza Strip’s eastern border with Israel. As many as 1,700 Palestinians were wounded. The deaths and injuries came as 30,000 Gaza residents gathered near the wall, as part of a planned 6-week-long nonviolent protest against the blockade of Gaza and to demand the right of return for Palestinian refugees. The protests began on Friday, March 30, known as “Land Day,” marking the anniversary of the 1976 killing of six Palestinians protesting the Israeli confiscation of Arab land. Video posted online shows unarmed Palestinians being shot in the back while taking part in Friday’s protest. Another 49 Palestinians were injured by Israeli forces on Saturday. Israel’s actions have been condemned around the world, but Israel is rejecting calls to investigate the killings. At the United Nations, the US blocked a move by the UN Security Council to open an investigation.
TRANSCRIPT
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: We begin today’s show in Gaza, where 18 Palestinians have died, after Israeli forces opened fire Friday on a protest near the Gaza Strip’s eastern border with Israel. As many as 1,700 Palestinians were wounded. The deaths and injuries came as 30,000 Gaza residents gathered near the wall as part of a planned 6-week-long nonviolent protest against the blockade of Gaza and to demand the right of return for Palestinian refugees. The protests began on Friday, March 30th, which is known as “Land Day.” The annual event marks the anniversary of the March 30th, 1976, killing of six Palestinians protesting the Israeli confiscation of Arab land. Video posted online shows unarmed Palestinians being shot in the back while taking part in Friday’s protest. Another 49 Palestinians were injured by Israeli forces on Saturday.
AMY GOODMAN: Israel’s actions have been condemned around the world, but Israel is rejecting calls to investigate the killings. Meanwhile, at the United Nations, the US blocked a move by…
It’s often repeated old news that U.S. public education is being undermined by corporate interests and elitist ideologues. Yet, this sinister trend continues at a quickening pace. How else explain our billionaire U.S. Secretary of Education, Betsy Devos, and her agenda? How else explain the school-to-prison pipeline and arming teachers? Who doesn’t know by now that we have a man-boy sociopath in the White House who doesn’t care about the millions of young people his politicking harms? Then you have those who spend countless hours digesting Fox News, Breitbart, or the Wall Street Journal, loving the direction the country has taken: why concern oneself with education? Be concerned: don’t be deceived by corporate-backed politicians and pundits who know little about the wholesome education of a young person; listen to verifiable educators in the field. Stay concerned.
Please share the following, especially the shout-outs at the end for Teaching Agency for Equity: A Framework for Conscientious Engagement, released by Routledge. I am happy to report my poem, “North American Education” appears in the closing chapter. Also, if you haven’t taken a peek yet, please visit The Teacher’s Voice (2004-2014 archived online). It’s a poetry journal I founded for teachers to express themselves. I like thinking TTV did some good for its time.
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A Modest Neoliberal Proposal
I must say, torture the little bastards for a good start. Pull their teeth out as we…
Salisbury is still suffering from the crazy Skripal/nerve agent event that took place on Sunday 4th March. Four weeks on the picture is still grim despite local efforts to encourage people to come to the city. It is after all a shopping and tourist magnet.
On 23rd March Environment Minister Michael Gove visited the city and promised government support. He said, “I know that local businesses have taken a bit of a hit understandably as a result of the events…” A ‘bit of a hit’?
Across the city, businesses have taken a 20% fall and are still far from back to normal. There has been a 90% drop in visitors to the city, with a corresponding drop in trade, particularly for those shops near the Maltings where the unconscious Skripals were found, and it is not much better now. It could take weeks for things to return to anything like it should be.
The government is providing £1 million to help faltering business, although they haven’t said when. And promises are often empty where this government is concerned. It may sound a lot but it isn’t, and Salisbury will be lobbying for more. It really should be seen as compensation for the damage done by the government in pushing its anti-Russia agenda. In a more constructive fashion, Wiltshire County Council took the decision to make all parking free within the city, even though it would lose them a lot of revenue. Did that work?
On Easter Saturday I revisited Salisbury to see for myself. This…
Thousands of African migrants in Israel will be resettled in several Western countries including Canada, Germany and Italy under a new agreement reached with the UN refugee agency, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday.
“This agreement will allow for the departure from Israel of 16,250 migrants to developed countries, such as Canada, Germany and Italy,” Netanyahu said.
He made the announcement in televised remarks after the government said it had scrapped a controversial plan to deport African migrants and replaced it with a new one that would see thousands sent to Western countries.
Netanyahu said the earlier plan to deport migrants to Rwanda and Uganda was no longer feasible.
Speaking at a press conference alongside Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, Netanyahu stressed that “legal constraints as well as political difficulties on the part of [Uganda and Rwanda]” led to the cancellation of previous deportation policies.
Under the agreement, the asylum seekers who remain in Israel will be dispersed in areas across the country outside of south Tel Aviv, where a majority of them currently reside. Netanyahu vowed to prioritize rehabilitating the neighborhoods of south Tel Aviv, alongside implementing the international agreement.
He said that his policies over the years, including the construction of a fence along the Egyptian border, had prevented an outcome in which close to a million migrants would inundate Israel and “endanger its Jewish and democratic…
On April 6, 2017, the United States bombed a Syrian airbase. The bombing was in response to a chemical attack immediately thought to be ordered by the behest of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad just two days before.
This bombing was illegal. Even the U.S. government has since repeatedly failed to legally justify it.
With the war in Syria now in a new phase, understanding why is more important than ever. ISIS is all but wiped out. The U.S. mission in Syria has become an open-ended commitment involving, among other things, regime change. The U.S. military is increasingly threatening Syria and targeting its allies. In this new phase, grasping why last year’s bombing was illegal will be useful if President Trump plans a repeat.
First, the bombing was illegal under international law because it violated the U.N. Charter. As a signatory, the United States cannot violate Syria’s “territorial integrity or political independence” unless in self-defense, per Article 51, or without Security Council authorization, per Article 2(4). Neither held here.
To fit Article 51, the Pentagon might’ve cited “collective self-defense,” which it has used to justify occasional offensive strikes against Syrian forces near U.S. bases or allies. This isn’t patently absurd. (Only a little absurd: unlike the usual self-defense argument, this one involves the “victim” invading the “aggressor.”) Regardless, the rationale last April was not self-defense, but to “deter the regime from using chemical weapons again.”
What of domestic U.S. legal bodies? The April strikes were also illegal under domestic law because the U.N. Charter is a U.S.-ratified treaty.
Our own constitution’s Article VI says such treaties are “supreme law of the land.” To override the treaty prohibition, Congress would have to pass a statute authorizing the attack.
Contrary to the administration’s rationale, the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) is such a statute, but doesn’t apply here because Syria is neither al Qaeda nor an “associated force.”
The War Powers Resolution of 1973 (WPR) also couldn’t justify the strikes. The WPR gives the president power to initiate war without Congress only for defensive reasons (section 2(c)). And other sections unequivocally avoid “granting any authority to the President,” which “he would not have had in the absence of this joint resolution.”
To be sure, defenders have their strongest argument in the U.S. Constitution. But even there, the strikes were unconstitutional.
The Constitution only grants to the president the power as commander in chief to “suppress insurrections and repel invasions.” Yet without an…
Courtesy: Russian Beyond https://goo.gl/UA86Wa Maybe Russia can’t boast luxury-class supercars, but for some reason, it’s really good at designing the wheels on paper Check out http://rt.com…
The administration of US President Donald Trump has slammed China after it imposed retaliatory tariffs against the United States on a number of goods.
Beijing has imposed fresh tariffs of up to 25 percent on 128 US products such as frozen pork, wine, and certain fruits in response to Trump’s decision to slap duties on aluminum and steel imports.
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has warned that the United States will itself suffer from the protectionist policies that it has adopted in trade relations with China.
Following the Chinese announcement, US stocks plunged sharply and Asian shares traded lower as fears of a trade war between the US and China rise. The S&P 500 Index fell 2.2 percent, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.9 percent.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 opened down about 1.5 percent on Tuesday. The Shanghai Composite was down by 1 percent and the Hang Seng down by 0.6 percent in afternoon trading.
Evidence submitted by the British government in court today proves, beyond any doubt, that Boris Johnson has been point blank lying about the degree of certainty Porton Down scientists have about the Skripals being poisoned with a Russian “novichok” agent.
Yesterday in an interview with Deutsche Welle Boris Johnson claimed directly Porton Down had told him they positively identified the nerve agent as Russian:
You argue that the source of this nerve agent, Novichok, is Russia. How did you manage to find it out so quickly? Does Britain possess samples of it?
Let me be clear with you … When I look at the evidence, I mean the people from Porton Down, the laboratory …
So they have the samples …
They do. And they were absolutely categorical and I asked the guy myself, I said, “Are you sure?” And he said there’s no doubt.
I knew and had published from my own whistleblowers that this is a lie. Until now I could not prove it. But today I can absolutely prove it, due to the judgement at the High Court case which gave permission for new blood samples to be taken from the Skripals for use by the OPCW. Justice Williams included in his judgement a summary of the evidence which tells us, directly for the first time, what Porton Down have actually said:
The Evidence 16. The evidence in support of the application is contained within the applications themselves (in particular the Forms COP 3) and the witness statements. 17. I consider the following to be the relevant parts of the evidence. I shall identify the witnesses only by their role and shall summarise the essential elements of their evidence. i) CC: Porton Down Chemical and Biological Analyst Blood samples from Sergei Skripal and Yulia Skripal were analysed and the findings…
Half of American voters approve of President Donald Trump’s job performance, according to the latest survey by conservative pollster Rasmussen.
Read more
Trump’s approval numbers have hovered in the low to mid-40s for much of the last year, but have rallied in recent months. His overall job approval rating is now ahead of where Barack Obama’s was at this stage of his presidency.
These latest numbers come just hours after the president took to Twitter to blast Mexico for failing to do its part in stopping migration from Central America. In a series of tweets, Trump declared DACA “dead,” called again for a border wall, and seemed to mix up Mexico’s northern and southern borders.
Trump’s stance on gun control also appears to have struck a chord with the public. Following an op-ed by a retired Supreme Court Justice calling for the repeal of the Second Amendment, Trump’s vocal pro-gun response found favor with Americans. Despite anti-gun marches and round-the-clock television coverage, Rasmussen reported that most Americans outright reject repeal of the amendment.
THE SECOND AMENDMENT WILL NEVER BE REPEALED! As much as Democrats would like to see this happen, and despite the words yesterday of former Supreme Court Justice Stevens, NO WAY. We need more Republicans in 2018 and must ALWAYS hold the Supreme Court!
Economic factors also played their part in the president’s ascent in the polls. The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell late March to 215,000, the lowest level since 1973. Trump’s long-promised tax-cuts, introduced last November, caused his approval numbers to rebound from almost their lowest point ever, 37 percent at the start of the year.
While the Republican Party played its part in making Trump’s tax reforms a reality, establishment figures within the party have often opposed the president’s plans. Last month, House Speaker Paul Ryan spoke out against Trump’s plans to introduce punitive tariffs on steel imports.
Most Republican voters, however, side with Trump over GOP lawmakers. In another poll taken last October, 57 percent of Republican voters said that the party should be more like the president. Only 33 percent believed that Trump should be more like his party’s senators. In addition, 38 percent believed that Republican senators were a bigger obstacle for Trump than Democrat ones.
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In what comes as a surprise to absolutely no one following the current administration, today EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt issued a redetermination of the appropriateness of the EPA’s vehicle regulations through 2025 and found that they should be made less stringent. In doing so, he is overturning thousands of pages of hard evidence, and the consequences will be limiting consumer choice, increasing emissions, and undercutting the economy.
This decision is not based on evidence
Last year, I pointed out the strong body of evidence supporting the previous administration’s determination that the standards are appropriate. The justification for today’s action is considerably slimmer. Rather than pointing to the fact that these standards are cost-effective for consumers, that we have the technology to meet and exceed these standards by 2025, and that these standards have tremendous positive impacts on the economy, the ideologues currently at the EPA have decided to ignore this evidence and misconstrue how the standards work.
Unfortunately, here’s a fact that is unavoidable: transportation is the leading source of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States. With more vehicles traveling further each day, it’s critical to ensure that those vehicles are using less fuel. If the EPA completely rolls back the regulations, as some have signaled, that will mean an additional half billion tons of global warming emissions just from the vehicles sold between 2022-2025. Doing so would make achieving hitting our obligations under the Paris Climate Accord a virtual impossibility, significantly damaging our ability to hold global warming to 2 degrees Celsius.
Of course, burning more oil isn’t just bad for the environment—it’s bad for national security and terrible for the nation’s pocketbook.
This decision is not good for consumers
These standards have been increasing the availability of more fuel-efficient vehicles in every single class of vehicle—that’s how they were designed. That means that whether a consumer is looking to buy a small car or a giant pick-up, they are going to save money the moment they drive off the lot thanks to fuel savings that more than compensate for any costs associated with fuel-saving technologies. This decision will now limit those savings and put manufacturers back in the driver’s seat, effectively determining what consumers are allowed to buy.
Unfortunately, the only way that we have gotten more efficient vehicles on the market for consumers is with strong efficiency standards. The last time we saw a market shift towards SUVs and pick-ups, it happened under flattened vehicle efficiency standards—the result was that new vehicles averaged worse fuel economy and produced more emissions. And that increased fuel use hit American consumers especially hard once gas prices started to rise again.
This decision is bad for business
At the turn of the millennium, manufacturers were selling gas guzzlers at a tremendous clip—but in doing so, they entirely neglected investment in their car fleet. As soon as gas prices began to rise again, sales of these largest vehicles fell, as Americans clamored for more efficient options. And when it came to the Detroit Three, those efficient choices simply weren’t there, sales plummeted, and taxpayers had to bail out the industry. The actions the industry has taken to push the administration to weaken these rules is setting us up for a repeat of history.
Moreover, by putting more of consumers’ hard-earned dollars into the tank to pay for gas instead of being able to reinject that into the economy, this action will cost jobs. An independent analysis released this week shows that the economy is slated to grow by more than $16 billion, creating 265,000 jobs by 2035, if the standards are held today, a large chunk of which are explicitly created in automotive manufacturing and its supply chain. Suppliers themselves are well aware of the benefits these rules have provided and the negative consequences of a rollback—unlike automakers, they have also been willing to step out and support strong standards.
This decision relinquishes leadership on climate back to the states
Under the Clean Air Act, California has the authority to set more stringent vehicle emissions standards, and states have the right to adopt these standards. Prior to the federal EPA standards, California and 13 other states adopted strong emissions standards for passenger vehicles through 2025 and hold a waiver from the EPA to maintain those standards. However, because those rules are so similar to the ones currently on the books, they had been willing to accept as compliance with those rules compliance with the federal program.
Today’s action by Administrator Pruitt completely undermines the promise of a single national program by weakening the federal program. The states understand the technical and economic evidence that shows manufacturers can achieve strong standards in 2025—and they face the consequences of global warming if they do not. They have therefore signaled that they will no longer follow the federal program. These states make up more than 1/3 of the new vehicle market, ensuring that folks in California and New York are going to have more efficient vehicle choices than those back in Detroit or Pruitt’s home state of Oklahoma.
This decision is a disaster of the automakers’ making
We’ve seen lip service given by automakers about not wanting a rollback of the standards, but this is nothing but puffery as they try to distance themselves from an unpopular administration that has given them exactly what they asked for. Too-late claims about needing to act on climate change ring hollow given the industry’s continued efforts to undermine the nation’s strongest climate policy at every turn—if automakers truly wanted to act on climate, they would support the rules as they stand, not beg the administration to change them.
Inevitably, what this means is that the Administration is angling for a court battle over its technically unjustifiable standards, creating uncertainty in the process. Of course, this is nothing new—the Pruitt administration has found itself at the center of a number of lawsuits for failing to adequately uphold the mission of the agency to protect public health and the environment.
This decision is not the end of the line
The industry is now facing complete uncertainty—exactly the situation that the previous administration sought to avoid by finalizing the rules in 2017. But by pushing for a new rule as they have, the auto industry can only blame itself for this chaos. And unfortunately, it would be the rest of us that will have to bear the cost, not only by paying more at the pump but by dealing with the ensuing impacts on the climate from veering away from the sustainable pathway we need to be on in 2025 and beyond.
The one sliver of hope is that this action is just the first step in the process, which means there is still time to right this wrong. The administration’s next step will be to propose what it would set as a replacement for the cost-effective standards now on the books—giving an opportunity for stakeholders and the public writ large to weigh in.
In responding to that proposal, the industry needs to stand up for the science and protect the environment, or they’ll remain guilty of using an ideological administration to ignore the facts, costing the public deeply. And you can bet the public will be watching—and hopefully giving the agency and the industry a piece of its mind.
A chimpanzee escaped from a circus and decided to go for a stroll in Krasnodar, Russia. COURTESY: RT’s RUPTLY video agency, NO RE-UPLOAD, NO REUSE – FOR LICENSING, PLEASE, CONTACT http://ruptly.tv…
So, it looks like we now have another actor getting involved in Syria by putting boots on the ground. On March 29, French President Emmanuel Macron vowed to send troops to Manbij in support of the US-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The goal is to block Turkish advances into the region, and this move will be coordinated with the US military. According to the president, the troops will be sent “very quickly.”
This announcement was made during a time of Turkish threats to drive the Kurds out of Syria’s northern regions. On March 29, President Macron conducted talks with a delegation consisting of Kurdish, Arab, and Christian representatives of Syria’s Kurdish territories. It was the first time Rojava officials had met with the French leader. According to him, between the warring parties. This offer to mediate has already been rejected by Turkey, which sees the SDF as a security threat.
France has always supported the US-led coalition. Officially the announced deployment to Manbij will be pursuing the goal of doing away with the Islamic State (IS), not deterring Turkey. But since the jihadists are no longer a factor with any influence in Syria, Macron’s words sound like a flimsy pretext. However, sending French troops to Manbij would reinforce the American forces there and block any potential Turkish offensive. Or is France about to take over for the US in Syria, since President Trump has stated that American forces will be leaving Syria “very soon”? “Let the other people take care of it now,” he added.
His statement contradicts the public position taken by other American top officials, but that’s what the commander-in-chief said. And what “other people” was he talking about? Did the president mean NATO…
The White House is reviewing Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt’s activities after reports he paid below the market rate to live in a condo owned by a lobbyist who deals with issues overseen by the agency, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing an unnamed White House official.
Pruitt has declined to comment on the rental arrangement reported last week and a spokesman for the agency on Friday defended his conduct and said the lease agreement was in line with federal ethical regulations.
The Journal quoted the official as saying the purpose of the inquiry was to “dig a little deeper.” Another White House official said few people were coming to Pruitt’s defense, the newspaper said, although there is no sign yet that his position is in jeopardy.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
ABC News and Bloomberg News reported last week that during his first six months in Washington…
Former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont said he is “not a criminal” in the first interview since his arrest. The exiled leader reaffirmed the region’s campaign for independence, saying…
While conservatives are giddy over the return of Roseanne scoring huge in the ratings, Ben Shapiro says the show redefines Trump supporters “as blue collar leftists rather than conservatives.”
Roseanne’s character is pro-gay-marriage, pro-abortion, feminist, and pro-transgenderism — and the implication is that she is a good person because of these views. The real difference between Trump voters and Hillary voters are economic in nature, not cultural.
This was the original concept of the Roseanne character. I interviewed Marcy Carsey, the woman behind the original Roseanne, for my book Primetime Propaganda. Carsey called herself a Democrat who grew up in an Eisenhower Republican household, and said that she understood Republicans, but that the show was written about working women: “A working-class heroine to represent the difficult lives that so many millions of women were leading.” Roseanne featured one of television’s earliest same-sex weddings, the title character considering abortion, the title character asking her virgin daughter to use birth control, her daughter Darlene using pot, speed, and acid, and the title character routinely and vulgarly describing genitalia.
Television hasn’t featured a respectful depiction of a typical Republican-voting woman in decades. And Roseanne isn’t it. Roseanne could just as easily have been a Bernie supporter as a Trump supporter, because she is a class heroine, not a cultural one — and the Left believes that the only path to unity between Right and Left is to cast out the cultural right. That’s what Roseanne does implicitly.
The first two episodes make this absolutely clear… Roseanne’s grandson is a cross-dressing seven-year-old — and every character accepts this as no problem in and of itself. The only problem with a seven-year-old boy wearing…
President Donald Trump has once again urged US lawmakers to immediately enact stricter immigration laws and build a wall on the southern border to prevent “caravans” of illegal immigrants from entering the US.
Over the past two days, Trump has been bombarding his Twitter followers with messages urging Congress to use the ‘nuclear option’ if necessary, in order to pass a law that would curb the flight of illegal immigration to the United States. The messages blaming Latin American countries for taking advantage of US immigration laws intensified on Monday.
Honduras, Mexico and many other countries that the U.S. is very generous to, sends many of their people to our country through our WEAK IMMIGRATION POLICIES. Caravans are heading here. Must pass tough laws and build the WALL. Democrats allow open borders, drugs and crime!
“Honduras, Mexico and many other countries that the US is very generous to, sends many of their people to our country through our WEAK IMMIGRATION POLICIES,” Trump tweeted Monday night. “Caravans are heading here. Must pass tough laws and build the WALL.”
Border Patrol Agents are not allowed to properly do their job at the Border because of ridiculous liberal (Democrat) laws like Catch & Release. Getting more dangerous. “Caravans” coming. Republicans must go to Nuclear Option to pass tough laws NOW. NO MORE DACA DEAL!
Monday night’s Tweet was the latest in a series of messages Trump began posting on Easter Sunday, accusing Mexico of doing “very little, if not NOTHING” to prevent illegals from crossing into the US. While urging US lawmakers to reform the existing immigration practices, Trump called on the Mexican authorities to do more to halt the “caravans” of migrants coming from other Latin American countries.
“Mexico has the absolute power not to let these large ‘Caravans’ of people enter their country. They must stop them at their Northern Border, which they can do because their border laws work, not allow them to pass through into our country, which has no effective border laws,” Trump said in a statement issued earlier in the day.
Mexico is doing very little, if not NOTHING, at stopping people from flowing into Mexico through their Southern Border, and then into the U.S. They laugh at our dumb immigration laws. They must stop the big drug and people flows, or I will stop their cash cow, NAFTA. NEED WALL!
To beef up concern over border security, Trump unleashed a barrage of messages criticizing the “dumb immigration laws” in the US. “As ridiculous as it sounds, the laws of our country do not easily allow us to send those crossing our Southern Border back where they came from. A whole big wasted procedure must take place. Mexico & Canada have tough immigration laws, whereas ours are an Obama joke,” Trump said in another tweet.
As ridiculous as it sounds, the laws of our country do not easily allow us to send those crossing our Southern Border back where they came from. A whole big wasted procedure must take place. Mexico & Canada have tough immigration laws, whereas ours are an Obama joke. ACT CONGRESS
The Mexican Foreign Ministry rejected Trump’s accusations, noting on Monday evening that caravans in southern Mexico are still subject to the administrative migratory procedure of the country. The ministry also rejected claims that it promotes illegal migration and noted that, ultimately, it is the US authorities that determine whether to allow the migrants into the United States.
“It will be the competent authorities of the United States that decide if it is the case, whether to authorize the entry to their territory of the caravan members,” the ministry said, according to El Universal. The ministry also said it did not foster illegal migration “under any circumstances,” as cited by Reuters.
Trump’s warning about “caravans” of illegals marching towards the country’s borders was accompanied by a tweet declaring that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy is “dead.”
DACA is dead because the Democrats didn’t care or act, and now everyone wants to get onto the DACA bandwagon… No longer works. Must build Wall and secure our borders with proper Border legislation. Democrats want No Borders, hence drugs and crime!
“DACA is dead because the Democrats didn’t care or act, and now everyone wants to get onto the DACA bandwagon… No longer works. Must build Wall and secure our borders with proper Border legislation. Democrats want No Borders, hence drugs and crime!” the Republican president said.
After he considered blocking the bill, due to a lack of funding for the Mexican border wall and because 800,000 DACA immigrants aren’t even mentioned in the legislation, Trump eventually signed the $1.3 trillion spending bill on March 23 to avoid a government shutdown. Trump, who tried to end the DACA program last September, allegedly wanted $25 billion in long-term wall funding in exchange for protection of the ‘Dreamers.’ While the bill allocated $1.6 billion for Mexican border security, the sum will not be enough to erect the 700 miles of the wall the US president has envisioned.
Exclusive: Donald Trump’s appointment of war hawk John Bolton is a cause for concern, Daniel Lazare writes, but what is perhaps an even bigger concern is that both major U.S. political parties are dominated by war hawks.
By Daniel Lazare
John Bolton is a hawk’s hawk, a militarist who never saw a U.S. war of aggression he didn’t like. The best thing one can say about his appointment as national security adviser is that Trump will probably ignore him the way he does all his other advisers and fire him six months down the road. If so, the sky won’t fall right away. But make no mistake – it will soon.
Former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton speaking at the 2015 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland. Photo: Gage Skidmore
Rarely has war fever in Washington been deeper and more broad-based. Everybody’s jumping on board – liberals and conservatives, Republicans and Democrats, human-rights advocates and neoconservatives. With the 2018 midterms fast approaching, it seems that the only choice voters will have is between a military conflict from column A and one from column B. Which will it be – the clash with Putin that liberals are talking themselves into? Or the showdown with Iran that Bolton has long advocated?
It’s a choice between cyanide and arsenic. One moment, Trump is threatening “Little Rocket Man” Kim Jong Un with “fire and fury” while, in the next, the New York Times is demanding that he take off the gloves with regard to the Kremlin. The title of a Timeseditorial on Friday, March 15, said it all: “Finally, Trump Has Something Bad to Say About Russia.”
It blasted the Orange-Haired One for being slow to impose sanctions in retaliation “for the Kremlin’s interference in the 2016 election” – still unproven, by the way – and of holding off “for reasons that have never been made completely clear.” This last point was rich considering how often the Times denounces Trump as a “Siberian candidate” that Russia installed in the White House to do its bidding. The editorial slammed Putin as “an authoritarian leader” who “has paid little or no price for his…
Israel announced a deal with the U.N. on Monday to resettle African migrants in Western nations, but hours later put the agreement on hold.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had announced the deal on national TV, saying Israel agreed to cancel the planned expulsion of tens of thousands of African migrants. He said the deal with the United Nations called for sending half of them to Western nations and allowing the rest to remain in Israel.
Late Monday, Netanyahu said he was “suspending” the deal in order to discuss the arrangement Tuesday with Israeli residents of south Tel Aviv areas with large migrant populations.
“After meeting with the representatives, I will re-examine the agreement again,” he said.
Under the deal, roughly half of the 35,000 migrants living in Israel would be resettled in the West. But the rest would stay in Israel.
The migrant community is concentrated in south Tel Aviv, angering longtime Israeli residents of the working-class area. Israeli hard-liners had criticized the deal for allowing so many Africans to remain.
The late-night turnaround threw into limbo the surprise agreement, which had finally offered a solution to an issue that has divided Israel for a decade. The deportation plan had been widely criticized at home and abroad, even by some of Israel’s closest supporters.
“It’s a good agreement,” Netanyahu told reporters earlier in the day. “It enables us to solve this problem in a way that serves, protects the interests of…
US President Donald Trump has suggested meeting Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Washington, DC. Trump made the offer during a phone call between the two leaders, Russian presidential aide…
NPR‘s headline (3/30/18) employs the passive voice: 16 Palestinians killed by whom?
NPR, as FAIR has noted throughout the years (e.g., 8/14/01, 11/01, 2/5/02, 11/15/12, 10/10/14), takes a default pro-Israel line when reporting on the affairs of Israel/Palestine. Its correspondents almost always live in West Jerusalem or in Israel proper, are rarely Palestinian or Arab, and they work consistently to deflect blame for Israeli violence—either shifting blame onto Palestinian victims or dispersing it through false parity.
A segment from Friday (All Things Considered, 3/30/18) on Israel’s killing of Gaza protesters provides a case study in this process. NPR host Ari Shapiro set up the segment, an interview with reporter Daniel Estrin, by blaming the 17 dead and hundreds of injured Palestinians on “the militant group Hamas,” framing Israel as totally defensive. From the very first line, blame is deflected from the Israeli military:
Today saw some of the most violent clashes in years between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli troops.
We do not have one party’s snipers opening fire on another, unarmed party; we have “violent clashes”—a term, as FAIR (8/12/17) has noted before, that implies symmetry of forces and is often used to launder responsibility. The whitewashing got worse from there:
Tens of thousands of people in Gaza answered the militant group Hamas’ call to protest.
Palestinians have no organic reasons for wanting to protest the occupation of their homes; the whole thing was a top-down decree from “the militant group” Hamas.
They threw rocks and firebombs near the border fence with Israel. On the other side, Israeli troops assembled.
This conveys the impression the Israeli military was just sitting around, minding its own business, when it was aggressively attacked by hundreds of Palestinians, then responded to this assault.
The “firebombs” claim is repeated later in the piece by Estrin himself: “Israel responded to Palestinians throwing rocks, firebombs, burning tires.” This isn’t qualified with “according to the IDF” or “the Israeli government”—even though as of now, there’s no independent evidence firebombs were used, much less used before any sniper fire from Israel.
The issue isn’t trivial: The matter of first blood when it comes to the Palestinian/Israeli “conflict” is a crucial one (FAIR.org, 12/8/17); framing Israel as always responding to threats, rather than inflicting aggressive violence on an occupied people, is a critical difference. And subtle framing devices like “clashes,” distorting timelines of who did what, or morphing IDF claims of “firebombs” into fact are how media keep this myth alive, and further delegitimize Palestinian resistance. (It should be borne in mind that opposition to occupation, even armed opposition, is a right guaranteed by international law.)
When FAIR pointed out to Estrin on Twitter that he had reported the “firebombs” as fact and not a claim by the IDF, he responded, “I reported the firebombs as an Israeli claim.” When FAIR showed evidence he and host Shapiro had done the opposite, Estrin deflected: “Be kind; it’s live radio.”
“Explain why this violence broke out today,” host Shapiro asked. It’s not a massacre or an attack or “firing on protesters,” as it is when official US enemies do it; it’s simply “violence breaking out.”
Estrin again took care to re-establish Hamas as the “driving force” and guilty party:
And it was billed as an independent Palestinian protest campaign. But actually Hamas, which controls Gaza, was a driving force.
This effectively militarized the whole of the protest, treating it not as an outpouring of popular grievances but as an operation quarterbacked by “a militant group.” This is where Estrin asserted the protesters used “firebombs” without attributing the claim to the Israeli attackers. Instead, he cited the IDF as a source on crowd size:
And according to the Israeli army, there were more than 30,000 Palestinians at six different spots along the border. Israel responded to Palestinians throwing rocks, firebombs, burning tires. Israel fired tear gas and live fire. It was the most violence in Gaza since the Gaza War in 2014.
A brief mention of the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza was thrown in, but it is blamed on an “ongoing internal Palestinian political fight” that has made the situation “even worse.” Estrin then erroneously told listeners “Hamas took control of Gaza by force a decade ago,” when Hamas actually gained power in Gaza in 2006 through an internationally recognized election. In 2007, Hamas won a civil war with US-backed Fatah, the faction it had defeated in the election, but to say Hamas “took control of Gaza by force” falsely paints it as an usurping force with no legitimate authority.
Asked what will happen next, Estrin shrugged and says more of the same, and that is it.
It’s a brief report, but a highly revealing one: Hamas is at fault, the Palestinians threw “firebombs” first, then the Israeli army “assembled.” The illegitimate Hamas astroturfed the protest, the people are being exploited. Israel just killed those 17 protesters in self-defense.
You can contact NPR ombud Elizabeth Jensen via NPR’s contact form or via Twitter: @EJensenNYC. Please remember that respectful communication is the most effective.
Western nations will host thousands of asylum seekers currently residing in Israel under a new deal that has just been reached with the UN Refugee Agency. Around half of the 39000 migrants…
Hofstra University students are fighting back against a coalition of activist groups agitating for the school to remove a statue of Thomas Jefferson from campus.
JaLoni Owens, a Hofstra student and Black Lives Matter activist, released a petition calling for the statue’s removal on March 17, proclaiming that Jefferson has been embraced as an “icon” by “white supremacist and neo-nazi organizations,” like the Ku Klux Klan.
Shortly thereafter, more than ten Hofstra student organizations, including the Democrats of Hofstra University, Queer and Trans People of Color Coalition, The Gender Identity Federation, and Young Democratic Socialists of Hofstra, jointly planned a “Jefferson Has Gotta Go!” protest for March 30, demanding the statue’s removal.
However, many students soon voiced their anger over the potential removal of the statue.
On March 27, Hofstra student Richard Caldwell released a counter-petition titled, “KEEP The Jefferson Statue at Hofstra University,” voicing support for keeping the statue on campus.
“The Thomas Jefferson statue that stands in front of the Hofstra student center has recently become a major point of controversy,” the petition states. “A petition was started and a protest planned to bring it down. However, with all due respect, this would be a mistake.”
“[F]or thousands of years, tyranny rained supreme as the most widely used form of government. Thomas Jefferson wrote the document that changed all that,” it adds. “The Declaration of Independence was written by Thomas Jefferson and put forth the idea that freedom and Democracy should ring loudest.”
A d v e r t i s e m e n t
The petition fully acknowledges Jefferson’s participation in slavery, but also recognizes his legislative efforts to “try and stymie slavery, even ending the Transatlantic slave trade.”
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has defended his company’s business model after facing stiff criticism by Apple CEO Tim Cook over the mishandling and monetization of user data amid the ongoing Cambridge Analytica scandal.
At the height of the Cambridge Analytica data mining scandal involving harvested data of 50 million Facebook users without their explicit knowledge or consent, the Chief Executive Officer of Apple Inc, Tim Cook, has attacked Zuckerberg’s business model, which the 57-year-old believes values profits over user privacy.
In an interview with MSNBC and Recode on Wednesday, Cook noted that Apple’s business model – unlike that of Facebook – depends on selling physical products instead of capitalizing on the bulk data of its customers, which is vulnerable to mishandling. When asked what would he do if he were Zuckerberg amid the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Apple’s executive replied that he “wouldn’t be in this situation.”
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On Monday, Zuckerberg hit back at Cook’s evaluation of the Facebook business model, calling it a “glib” assessment that was far away from the truth. “I find that argument, that if you’re not paying that somehow we can’t care about you, to be extremely glib and not at all aligned with the truth,” Zuckerberg told Vox in a podcast.
Claiming that Facebook strives to build a service that “helps connect everyone in the world,” including those who can’t “afford to pay,” Zuckerberg defended his money-generating enterprise. “Having an advertising-supported model is the only rational model that can support building this service to reach people,” Facebook’s CEO explained. Facebook started selling mobile advertising in 2012, which now generates the bulk of the company’s revenue.
Since the Cambridge Analytica scandal broke out last month, Facebook’s protection of private user data has come into question, forcing thousands to terminate their social media accounts under the #DeleteFacebook campaign.
As a result, Facebook’s stock has lost more than $100 billion in market value. Zuckerberg has since been called to answer questions before a British parliamentary select committee and to appear before a House panel in the US. The 33-year-old also apologized for the “breach of trust” and pledged to make changes in Facebook policy to prevent further data mishandling.
“I think we will dig through this hole, but it will take a few years,” Zuckerberg told Vox on Monday. “I wish I could solve all these issues in three months or six months, but I just think the reality is that solving some of these questions is just going to take a longer period of time.”
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It is hardly a secret that Pope Francis opposes the free market. On what grounds does he do so? Do any of these grounds have merit? What are the sources of his ideas? How similar are his views to those of previous Popes? These are among the questions addressed by the contributors to this important book. Pope Francis and the Caring Society, edited by Professor Robert M. Whaples.
The Pope maintains that the free market encourages the false ideology of “consumerism.” People under capitalism want more material goods, but their pursuit ends not in happiness but in futility. Robert M. Whaples, the editor of the volume and Professor of Economics at Wake Forest University, points out that in “[his encyclical] Laudatio si’, Francis argues that this excessive, self-destructive consumption on the part of the rich is partly the fault of markets. ‘[T]he market tends to promote extreme consumerism in an effort to sell its products, [and] people can easily get caught up in a whirlwind of needless buying and spending. . . This paradigm leads people to believe that they are free as long as they have the supposed freedom to consume.’ The market caters to people’s emptiness. ‘When people become self-centered and self-enclosed, their greed increases. The emptier a person’s heart is, the more he or she needs things to buy, own, and consume. It becomes almost impossible to accept the limits imposed by reality.’” (pp. 10-11)
The Pope has missed the target. The free market is a means by which consumers can satisfy their preferences. It does not dictate what these preferences must be. An advocate of the free market can with complete consistency favor a simple style of life. If people want more and more material goods, the market will…
This week, commemorations are being held to mark the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The civil rights leader and peace activist was gunned down April 4, 1968, on the balcony of his hotel room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. He was just 39 years old. King was in Memphis to support striking sanitation workers, who he saw as being on the front lines of fighting poverty and integral to his new initiative, the Poor People’s Campaign. “It is a crime for people to live in this rich nation and receive starvation wages,” King told people in Memphis shortly before his death. In the late 1960s, King recognized that the next phase in the quest for civil rights and equality would focus on the economic divide. We speak with William “Bill” Lucy, former secretary-treasurer with AFSCME. He played a key role in the 1968 Memphis sanitation workers’ strike. He is also president emeritus of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists. Also with us in Memphis is H.B. Crockett, one of the striking sanitation workers in 1968. He worked for the Memphis Sanitation Department for 53 years before retiring.
TRANSCRIPT
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now! I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Well, this week, commemorations are being held to mark the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The civil rights leader and peace activist was gunned down on April 4th, 1968, at the balcony of his hotel room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. He was just 39 years old.
King was in Memphis to support striking sanitation workers, who he saw as being on the front lines of fighting poverty and integral to his new initiative, the Poor People’s Campaign. In the late 1960s, King recognized that the next phase in the quest for civil rights and equality would focus on the economic divide.
REV. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.: You are demanding that this city will respect the dignity of labor. So often we overlook the work and…
It was a bit over four years ago that journalist Glenn Greenwald reported that British ‘intelligence,’ GCHQ, had developed a program to spread politically targeted disinformation over the internet. The revelation came from a presentation made to the ‘Five Eyes alliance,’ which includes the NSA and was released by Edward Snowden. In the context of Federal and commercialdata collection, revelations that Facebook data was used for ‘private’ political purposes is both more and less than meets the eye.
As was widely reportedwith less manufactured outrage at the time, the Obama administration used Facebook data in Mr. Obama’s 2012 presidential bid in approximately the same manner that Cambridge Analytica is now accused of doing. Thanks to Edward Snowden, it has been known since 2013 that the NSA was using Facebook datafor political purposes. And prior still, in 2011 the CIA reportedthat it was ‘using’ social media, some of which it had funded, toward its own ends.
There is good reason for political pushback here. A wide variety of corporate and state actors have instantiated the internet into the fabric contemporary economic and political life. With a history of bad faith and bad acts, the fantasy that the CIA, NSA and FBI serve national interests begs the question of whose nation? Past targets including the Black Panther Party, Occupy Wall Street and antiwar protestors were as (more) capable of defining American interests as…
Rim Banna passed away at the age of 51. Her death on March 24, after a decade-long battle with cancer, brought grief to Palestinians everywhere.
Rim, a Palestinian Christian from Nazareth, united the Palestinian people across political and geographic divides.
When she sang for the Homeland, nothing mattered but Palestine. Christians and Muslims, Fatah and Hamas, Gaza and Ramallah, all became one.
Through her soulful and warm voice, she imparted sorrow, yet celebrated life. Her songs ‘Fares Odeh’ and ‘Sarah’ were poetic interpretation of precious young Palestinian lives cut short by Israeli soldiers.
The butterfly will carry you to the back of a cloud The gazelle will run with you to a hollow of syamore The scent of bread will take you, a martyr, to the embrace of your mother The star said to him, “Bring me to the courtyard of my house” “Take me to the mattress of my slumber” Sleepiness climbed up my sides And settled in my head.
Music unites Palestinians when politicians fail. In fact, while for years the collective calls for ‘Palestinian unity’ has gone unheeded, Palestinian music has continued to bring Palestinians closer.
Deep-rooted Palestinian culture is what makes Palestinians who they are, a people with a unique and lucid identity, despite 70 years of exile, ethnic cleansing, sieges, numerous borders and wanton killings.
And when Rim sang, her voice penetrated through the seemingly impregnable Apartheid walls, checkpoints, military curfews…
WASHINGTON – This statement can be attributed to Mike Litt, Consumer Campaign Director at U.S. PIRG, on OMB Director and CFPB Acting Director Mick Mulvaney’s first semi-annual report of the CFPB to Congress:
“As a member of Congress, Mick Mulvaney voted to outright get rid of the Consumer Bureau. Now he is using his platform as acting director to promote his own agenda over the agency’s mission. He wants to take away the Bureau’s independence and then make it harder for it to do its job.
This is the watchdog agency that has restored fairness and competition in the marketplace after a devastating economic collapse less than ten years ago leading to a lingering recession. It has taken over 180 legal actions against companies like Wells Fargo and payday lenders, processed over 1 million consumer complaints, and returned $12 billion to over 26 million consumers.
Recommendations in today’s report, if implemented, would stop the agency from protecting consumers and prevent it from ever being effective in the future.
These are, simply put, attacks against the agency’s independence from Wall Street and industry pressure. Mr. Mulvaney wants the Consumer Bureau to be the only banking regulator that has its budget controlled by Congress. Then, he wants it to be the only agency of any sort that has to get its major rules approved by Congress.
Congress is notorious for its dependence on financial sector campaign contributions. How many consumer protections will Congress approve? How much money will Congress allocate for this watchdog? Will a future director who believes in the agency’s mission be effective if the president can fire them without cause?”
A caravan of more than 1,500 familes including men, women, and children are making their way from Central America through Mexico and are expected to arrive at the US-Mexico Border in the coming days to request refugee status.
Does this mean you’re blocking the “caravan” of invaders arriving today? You have every technology available to do so! @realDonaldTrumphttps://t.co/EQ6OyKOiEl
Border Patrol Agents are not allowed to properly do their job at the Border because of ridiculous liberal (Democrat) laws like Catch & Release. Getting more dangerous. “Caravans” coming. Republicans must go to Nuclear Option to pass tough laws NOW. NO MORE DACA DEAL!
Known as the Viacrucis Migrante 2018, the caravan began on March 25 in the state of Chiapas and is expected to reach Tijuana within a month where the members of the group are expected to request refugee status from the U.S. government. The caravan is organized by the immigrant rights group Pueblo Sin Fronteras who have been posting updates about the caravan’s journey through Mexico.
The group is reportedly made up of familes from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras who are fleeing extreme poverty and gang violence. The group has been demanding a stop to the violence.
While the group is made up primarily of individuals who could be considered undocumented by Mexican authorities, officials have stepped aside, Mexico’s El…
25 years ago: Clinton-Yeltsin summit works out plan for selloff of Russian economy
Yeltsin, left, and Clinton in 1995 at Hyde Park, New York
In an April 4, 1993 summit held in Vancouver, US President Bill Clinton offered strong political support to Russian President Boris Yeltsin, as well as more than $1 billion in aid in exchange for the guarantees on the plunder of what remained of the social wealth of the Soviet Union.
Clinton sought to prop up Yeltsin, whose government was threatened by a faction of the ex-Stalinist bureaucracy that opposed Kremlin efforts to finish off the liquidation of Soviet industry and to totally subordinate Russia to western imperialism. Matters had come to a head in preceding weeks, when Yeltsin had moved to usurp dictatorial powers, circumventing the Russian constitution and broadly threatening a coup d’etat.
All of this made him, from the perspective of Yeltsin’s western cheerleaders, like Thomas Friedman of the New York Times, a “democratic reformer.” More, however, was expected of Yeltsin in exchange for Clinton’s backing, which would include, in Friedman’s words, “loans for Russian entrepreneurs [and] funds to help the Russian government sell state-owned industries … to help promote free market skills.”
Considerable efforts were made to obscure the pecuniary nature of the “summit”—to avoid making “this meeting appear to be what it is,” according to Friedman, a groveling performance by a “Russian leader coming to the West with tin cup in hand.” Even Yeltsin admitted that if he was handed too much money “this also could be bad. It can be used … The opposition will say that we are shackled by the West.”
50 years ago: Martin Luther King, Jr., assassinated
In a stunning bit of irony — and seemingly calling herself irresponsible — Rep. Maxine Waters said Democrats are being “terribly responsible” by not talking about the possible impeachment of President Trump.
Yes, the woman who can’t stop talking about impeaching the president without a shred of evidence, is complimenting her colleagues for NOT discussing it.
Appearing on MSNBC on Tuesday, Waters was asked if her 1998 condemnation of the Republicans’ impeachment of then-President Bill Clinton over partisanship is really any different than her attacks on the current president.
“I want to tell you that the Democrats have been very very responsible and eve saying to me that I should not be calling for impeachment, let the investigation go on, let (Special Counsel Robert) Mueller connect these dots, and they have not taken a position as a Democratic caucus on this impeachment,” Waters told Ari Melber.
“And they said to me let’s just talk about our issues, let’s not talk about him, this just emboldens the Republicans who say the only reason you would want impeachment is because you don’t like him and you lost the election,” she said.
“And so Democrats have been terribly responsible and again, I’m one of just a few who have insisted that he’s unworthy, that he’s deplorable, that he’s despicable and should be impeached,” Waters declared with an ironic smile.
A d v e r t i s e m e n t
But Waters has apparently been terribly irresponsible for months by calling for Trump’s impeachment, despite the ongoing investigation and a lack of evidence.
She has called for Trump’s ouster at nearly every opportunity.
“Donald Trump is an embarrassment and a national disgrace,” she huffed in a January statement. “Members of Congress have a responsibility to the American people and our democracy to impeach him,” she said, citing…
At least two people have been killed in an incident at the Marion Municipal Airport in Indiana, after two planes collided on the runway, according to local authorities.
The deadly incident unfolded when a smaller plane that was taking off to the southeast clipped a larger plane that was landing from the north, the coroner, who was dispatched to the scene following the collision, told local WTHR 13 news.
As a result of the crash, the private jet caught fire, killing the pilot and passenger on board, the official said, adding that no injuries were sustained on the larger plane.
Photos and videos, allegedly captured by eyewitnesses at the scene, show two planes wrecked on the runway, with emergency vehicles on site.
The planes involved in the crash were a single-engine Cessna 150 and a Cessna 525 Citation Jet, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said, confirming that the smaller plane struck the business jet at 5:09 pm local time when it just touched the ground. The FAA believes that the incident could have been caused by the lack of a traffic control tower at the municipal air hub.
“Pilots using the field are expected to announce their intentions on a common radio frequency and to coordinate with one another while on the ground and in the traffic pattern,” the FAA said, according to WTHI-TV 10, a local news channel.
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The United States military says it has killed five militants by a drone strike in Somalia.
The US Africa Command (Africom) confirmed to the Associated Press Sunday that the airstrike was launched near al-Bur, according to various reports on Monday.
A vehicle carrying senior officials with the al-Shabab militant group was reportedly targeted and a woman was among the dead.
While the militant group has not officially commented on the report, media outlets close to al-Shabab reported that two civilians were killed.
The US, meanwhile, claimed that no civilians were killed in the strike.
Since last year when President Donald Trump approved expanded military efforts against the group, the US military has launched more than a dozen drone strikes against it.
Washington claims that it coordinates such drone strikes with the Somali government.
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There has been a sharp rise in the number of US drone strikes around the world since Trump…
American groups backed by conservative mega-donors Charles and David Koch are pressuring US President Donald Trump to compromise on DACA, an Obama-era program that gives immigrants protection from deportation.
Freedom Partners, Americans for Prosperity and the LIBRE Initiative released statements on Monday, criticizing President Trump over his recent comment that “DACA is dead.”
The Koch brothers are major Republican donors, who did not back Trump in the 2016 presidential election.
Trump initially called on US Congress to come up with a permanent solution last year after striking down the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA).
In this AFP file photo taken on October 5, 2017 protesters shout slogans against US President Donald Trump during a demonstration in support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), also known as Dream Act, near the Trump Tower in New York.
The groups called on the US president to come up with a…
Amazon has decided to offer a new service that seems innocent on the surface. The retailer has begun photographing packages left at homes and sending that picture to the customer’s email address to help them locate packages that may have been hidden.
It all seems so innocent. But is it? According to Natural News, Amazon’s new service is meant to help customers find where their package was left while they were at work or out running errands, especially if it was intentionally tucked behind a bush or a flower pot to keep it hidden from potential thieves. Amazon has a good reason for taking pictures of the homes packages are delivered to, but that doesn’t make it any less creepy and privacy concerns are now, once again at the forefront.
Especially considering USA Today reported that this new “feature” is being rolled out almost silently. Amazon has been quietly expanding a program over the past few months in which some of its delivery providers take a picture of where they put your package. The photo is included in the notice of delivery received by shoppers so they know when it arrived and where to look for it.
Amazon Logistics Photo On Delivery is “one of many delivery innovations we’re working on to improve convenience for customers,” Amazon spokesperson Kristen Kish said. The Photo on Delivery program has existed for at least six months, but recently Amazon updated the delivery device and app used by delivery personnel in its Amazon Logistics delivery system called Rabbit by drivers. Now, all Logistics drivers can take a photo. This has made the program more visible to a broader geographic swath of Amazon customers nationwide. It’s currently available at least in the Seattle, San Francisco, and Northern Virginia metro areas and only comprises a small portion of U.S. deliveries.
Petrol bombs have been hurled at police in Northern Ireland ahead of an unauthorised nationalist parade commemorating the 1916 Easter Rising.
Seven petrol bombs were thrown at police vehicles on Monday by youths in the Creggan area of Derry ahead of a dissident republican march from the Creggan estate to the Derry city cemetery.
Footage and images posted by journalists based in Northern Ireland show disorderly scenes. In one clip, a youth throws a petrol bomb at a police van, causing the vehicle to go up in flames.
As the driver leaves the scene, more masked youths surround the van, hurling Molotov cocktails at the police vehicle.
Stones, bottles and planks of wood were also thrown at police during the attack. Although there was damage caused to vehicles, there were no injuries reported, according to The Journal.
Republicans mark the anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising every year. Police said attempts were made to facilitate the 1916 commemoration “within the law,” but these calls were ignored.
In a statement issued by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), authorities said they will review all video footage collected and will “robustly pursue all possible enquiries to identify those involved and bring them before the courts.”
Chief Inspector Ivor Morton said that police attempted to engage with the organisers of the parade prior to the event but they declined to take part in discussions. Morton also said statements from the organisers, claiming they were informed by police if the parade would be stopped, were “patently untrue and can only be viewed as an attempt by those behind the parade as a bid to raise tensions in the area.”
“It is therefore regrettable that in raising those tensions a small number of people saw fit to attack police officers with petrol bombs in what was clearly a premeditated attack.”
The violence has been condemned by members of both the Democratic Unionist Party and nationalist party Sinn Féin. Sinn Féin vice president Michelle O’Neill condemned the violence as “very disturbing.”
Everyone has a right to remember their dead in a respectful & dignified way. Scenes from Derry today are very disturbing. Masked individuals, causing disturbance, youths throwing petrol bombs etc is far from dignified. Those responsible should be brought before the law.
Gary Middleton, a Democratic Unionist Party politician in Northern Ireland, called for an investigation into the violence. “This was an unregistered parade and today the scenes coming from the Creggan area have been totally disgraceful. People in paramilitary style uniform is wrong and the continued glorification of terrorism is abhorrent,” he said.
The scenes coming from the Creggan area have been totally disgraceful. Nobody has a desire to see the violence on display today, except for barbaric thugs intent on endangering life and property. Sad that among those that were involved in hurling petrol bombs were children. https://t.co/cl5Vw2KtkM
— Gary Middleton MLA (@Gary_Middleton) April 2, 2018
A number of arrests were also made after an unauthorised parade, led by men dressed in paramilitary-style uniforms, took place in Lurgan, Armagh, on Saturday.
The US Supreme Court has ruled in favor of an Arizona police officer who shot a woman four times in her driveway while she held a knife. The officer enjoys qualified immunity in the case, the justices said.
Officer Andrew Kisela shot Amy Hughes in 2010. Hughes was in her driveway and was approaching her roommate, Sharon Chadwick, while holding a kitchen knife. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 2016 that Hughes could file a civil rights lawsuit seeking $150,000 in damages, but the Supreme Court threw out that case on Monday.
Hughes, who has a history of bipolar disorder, had accused Kisela of using excessive force in violation of the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable searches and arrests.
The court ruled 7-2 in favor of Kisela, with liberal Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg as the two dissenting voices. In her dissent, Sotomayor wrote that Kisela’s actions were unreasonable and that he should not be shielded from liability.
“[The decision] tells officers that they can shoot first and think later, and it tells the public that palpably unreasonable conduct will go unpunished,” Sotomayor wrote.
The incident occurred when three University of Arizona police officers went to Hughes’ home after receiving a call about a woman “screaming and crying very loud”.
When the officers arrived, Hughes was approaching her roommate, Chadwick. The officers shouted at her to drop the knife, but she refused. Kisela then shot her four times. Her injuries were not life-threatening.
In affidavits, Chadwick later said that Hughes appeared non-threatening and that she did not understand what was happening when the officers ordered her to drop the knife, as she was on medication for bipolar disorder. The dispute was reportedly related to a $20 debt.
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Kisela claimed that he had seen Hughes raise her knife as she approached Chadwick, but the other officers at the scene did not. Ruling in favor of Kisela, the majority of judges wrote that the officer had “mere seconds” to assess the potential danger to Chadwick.
The ruling comes amid ongoing protests about police use of excessive force, particularly against suspects from minority communities.
There have been large protests in Sacramento, California’s capital city, since last week, over the police shooting of Stephon Clark, an unarmed black man. Police fired as many as 20 shots at Clark, thinking he had a weapon that later turned out to be his cell phone. Clark was hit eight times, once from the side and seven from the back, according to the independent autopsy commissioned by his relatives.
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The US is the world’s leader in arms sales overseas and has been for a quarter of a century. President Trump is only following in the footsteps of his predecessors in pushing US weapons overseas. He claims it’s about jobs. But what are the costs? What are the moral costs? Economic costs? Security costs? Tune in to today’s Liberty Report:
The University of Colorado-Colorado Springs is currently offering a class awarding students up to 3 academic credits for attending the White Privilege Conference.
Taught by Abby Ferber, a sociology professor who is also co-organizes the White Privilege Conference, the “Intersections of Privilege” course is meeting exclusively online except for required attendance at the annual conference, which will be held this year in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
The class is “built around the White Privilege Conference, designed to provide foundational knowledge; provide an opportunity to connect the WPC experience with research and best practices in the field; and to apply knowledge gained there,” according to its description.
Though the course description is brief, the White Privilege Conference is well-known as an annual conference dedicated to deconstructing white privilege, promoting social justice advocacy, and elevating strategies for white people to promote racial justice.
Students in the “Intersections of Privilege” class can choose from among more than 100 individual workshops during their four-day sojourn, including “Breaking the Chains of Capitalism and White Supremacy,” the “Whiteness of Law,” and another on “How Whiteness Kills.”
This year’s conference will be held April 4-7 at Grand Valley State University, which initially offered its students scholarships to cover registration costs until Campus Reform inquired about how the public…
Likewise, it was Hawking’s voice synthesizer that entranced audiences and conferred high intellect upon his utterances. He held the post of Lucasian Professor at Cambridge, the same chair held by Isaac Newton in 1663.
How Cambridge University will replace this icon is unknown but it will likely use video and audio technology to “bring him back to life again.”
Among Hawking’s predictions:
Hawking once predicted that the earth would turn into a giant ball of fire by the year 2600 and humans would need to colonize another planet or face extinction.
He also claimed that the advent of artificial intelligence could be the “worst event in the history of our civilization.”
He said humanity would not survive another 1000 years.
When speaking to the Radio Timesbefore his BBC Reith Lecture, Professor Hawking stated, “We face…
The record is clear that ‘our’ (that is, the ruling Establishment’s) intelligence agencies, such as the CIA, have lied to the public many times, and actually lie routinely — but these lies are always revealed only decades later, by historians, when it’s decades too late, because the damage was already done, decades before. Think, for example, of just two now-famous cases, Iran 1953, and Chile 1973, in both of which instances the U.S. Government ended a democracy abroad, and established a brutal dictatorship there (the Shah in Iran, and Pinochet in Chile) — but what good can a historian do, when the Government and its ‘news’-media were persistently lying, and they had fooled the U.S. public, at the time — which is all that really counted (and ever will count)? Can a historian undo the damage that the Government and its propaganda-agencies had perpetrated, by means of their lies, and coups, and invasions? Never. But this Government, and its propaganda-agents, claim to defend democracies, not to end them. Can it actually be a democracy, if it’s doing such things, and doing it time after time?
Something’s deeply wrong here. Government by deceit, cannot be a democracy. And, yet, the public still don’t get the message, that we don’t live in a democracy, even after it has (though only by implication) been delivered to us in history-books. By then, it’s no longer in the news, and so only few people really care about it. The message of history is thus not learned. The public still accepts the ongoing lies — the new lies, in the new ‘news’, to justify the new atrocities. One reason why, is that America’s historians fail their obligations: America’s historians have an obligation to the American public to state clearly that the U.S. is now a dictatorship. This is the current reality. But the myth, that this country is a democracy, continues to be spread, even by historians, who should, by now, know better.
During the period after the Soviet Union, and its communism, and its Warsaw Pact military alliance, all ended in 1991, the historical record of the U.S. and its allies (all now after the Cold War has supposedly been over) has become even worse than it was during the Cold War, and is even more clearly evil, because the ideological excuse that had formerly existed (and which was only the excuse, in most cases, such as in the cases of Iran, and of Chile) is gone. Though the ideological excuse is gone, the bad behavior has become even worse. Today’s U.S. regime is, to be frank, bloodthirsty.
Iraq in 2003 was a particularly blatant demonstration of today’s U.S.-Government’s psychopathy regarding foreign affairs. So: let’s consider this unusually clear example (hopefully, to learn a lesson from it — which still hasn’t yet been learnt):
Bill Clinton’s CIA chief George Tenet told President George W. Bush, on 21 December 2002, that convincing the American people that Saddam Hussein had WMD, weapons of mass destruction, was “a slam-dunk.” His job wasn’t to find the truth, but to authenticate the ‘evidence’ to back up the President, and Tenet did just that. The American people went for it, even though no WMD actually remained in Iraq, because the U.N. inspectors in 1998 had destroyed all of them, and because there was no indication (other than hired and coerced testimony, and especially fabrications from CIA-partnered anti-Saddam Iraqis such as Ahmed Chalabi) that there had been restored in Iraq any WMD program. A crucial date was 7 September 2002, when George W. Bush and Tony Blair both said that a new report had just been issued by the IAEA saying that Saddam Hussein was only six months away from having a nuclear weapon. The IAEA promptly denied that it had issued any such “new report” at all, and the ‘news’ media simply ignored the denial, which the IAEA then repeated weeks later, and it again was ignored; so, the false impression, that such an IAEA report had been issued, remained in the publics’ minds, and they favored invading Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein before there would be, as Condoleezza Rice warned the next day following Bush-Blair, on September 8th, a “mushroom cloud”. It was all just lies — lies that were believed by the public, at the time, and even believed by many for a long time after we invaded.
Some of these lies were derived from torturing detainees — torturing them to say what the U.S. and British regimes wanted them to say.
“We do not – I don’t talk about techniques,” Tenet replies.
“It’s torture,” Pelley says.
“And we don’t torture people.”
U.S. President Donald Trump has now appointed to lead the CIA the very same woman, Gina Haspel, who had operated, under Tenet, under Bush, the CIA “black site” in Thailand, where Abu Zubaydeh was waterboarded 83 times and otherwise tortured so that he lost his left eye. The reason why he was being tortured was in order to extract from him testimony that Saddam Hussein had been involved in 9/11, but Zubaydeh didn’t even know anything about any such matter, and tried desperately to say what he thought his torturers wanted him to say, so as to stop these tortures, but he didn’t know that they were intending to torture him until he would implicate Saddam Hussein in causing the 9/11 attacks. And so the torturing just went on and on. The CIA’s Haspel finally gave up, after deciding that he’d die if they continued any further. The problem then became to hide him from the public. So, Zubaydeh subsequently has been held incommunicado at Guantanamo since 2001, so that he can’t communicate with anyone in the outside world, and thus the crimes of George Bush and his employee George Tenet and his employee Gina Haspel, can’t be prosecuted. And, now, Trump appoints her to Tenet’s old spot, as the CIA Director. So: Bush had hired her, then protected her. Obama then protected instead of prosecuted her. And, finally, Trump now promotes her, to be the CIA’s new chief. She has demonstrated herself to be a reliable liar for whomever is her boss. Trump therefore can trust her to vouch for whatever he wants her to ‘prove’, to whatever American suckers still remain, as being suckers.
On March 27th, Ghassan Kadi, at The Saker’s blog, wrote:
When Westerners watch TV news, they hear lies. When they go to their ballot boxes, they hear false promises. When they are told that their sons and daughters are sent to fight a war in a distant country in order to protect the homeland, they are hearing fabricated stories of lies and deception.
Their politicians lie, and their media dance to the tunes of the lies of their politicians.
Who can deny any of that, without publicly becoming recognized as being a fool?
Patriotism is to the public, not to the rulers. Any rulers who expect it to be to them, instead of to the public, are simply tyrants — they are traitors, who happen to rule the public. Do we live in a dictatorship, or in a democracy? If it’s a dictatorship (such as the best available evidence shows that America is), then this, which we are now experiencing, is simply par for the course. But will we continue to accept it? Or, will we, finally, learn from history? (And, if so, then will we do it fast enough, under the prevailing circumstances?) The time to decide, and to act, could be short.
Have we had enough now, of that lying? Because, accepting just a little bit more of it, could mean the end of everything. If it’s not going to be the end of the liars, it will probably soon be the end of everything. Because this is the path that we now are on.
Even the former conservative, David Stockman, is alarmed that the U.S. regime is going insane, with its war-fever. This is not a government that represents the American public, but it does represent the people who control corporations such as Lockheed Martin. Recently, I headlined “How the Military Controls America”, and explained the root cause behind this potentially world-ending problem. Everything is unfortunately coming together in the worst possible way. It has happened before, but never during the nuclear era — this is far worse even than during the Cuban Missile Crisis, because, at that time, both superpower leaders were intelligently self-interested, and each also had authentic interest in the general welfare. That’s not true today — certainly not on the American side. But the problem isn’t only Donald Trump. Maybe he will culminate it, but he represents America’s aristocracy. That’s the source of the problem, and he is determined to be their leader. He has assembled their dream-team, which, prior to his becoming President, no one had had the nerve to place so fully in charge.
https://democracynow.org – This week, commemorations are being held to mark the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The civil rights leader and peace activist…
A motorist has attempted to hit soldiers, who were jogging near an army base in southern France, local media reported. The car then fled the scene and authorities launched a manhunt.
The incident took place in the town of Varces-Allieres-et-Risset on Thursday morning, according to local newspaper Dauphine Libere, which initially broke the story.
A group of soldiers from the 93rd Mountain Artillery Regiment had just started jogging when the vehicle rushed towards them, France Bleu said. The servicemen managed to escape by jumping into a nearby ditch.
The driver “deliberately drove” the Peugeot car into the group of soldiers, Le Dauphine said, citing its sources. BFMTV reported that the driver attempted to hit the servicemen at least twice before speeding away.
“A person tried to run down two soldiers from the 93rd Mountain Artillery Regiment in Varces, for unknown reasons,” a source close to the investigation told Reuters.
“Given the context, the incident is being taken seriously but we don’t know his motivations.”
According to witnesses, the driver “insulted” the soldiers before fleeing.
The incident in Varces comes nearly a week after the tragedy in the towns of Carcassonne and Trebes, which left four people dead. The Islamic State-inspired gunman, Redouane Lakdim, opened fire from a stolen vehicle at several jogging officers, before storming a supermarket. He was killed following a stand-off with police.
This article was posted: Thursday, March 29, 2018 at 6:48 am
The head of Britain’s largest police force said investigators must stay “impartial” and added that, despite #MeToo, “clumsy behavior between somebody who fancies somebody else is not a matter for the police.”
Cressida Dick, the Commissioner of London’s Metropolitan Police, said she “rethought” the policy of automatically believing allegations of sexual abuse, instituted in 2011 after the extent of previously ignored allegations against pedophile presenter Jimmy Savile became clear.
“Our job in respect of investigations is to be fair, to be impartial, and where appropriate to bring things to justice — and of course to support victims, but it isn’t all about victims,” she told the Times in an interview published on Monday.
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Dick, who became the first woman and LGBTQ person to head Scotland Yard when she was appointed a year ago, said she would “go on raising confidence” of victims unsure if they will be taken seriously by the police, but that officers should primarily remain truth-seekers, not counselors.
“I arrived saying very clearly to my people that we should have an open mind, of course, when a person walks in. We should treat them with dignity and respect and we should listen to them. We should record what they say. From that moment on we are investigators,” Dick said.
The victim-centered policy has resulted in several high-profile cases in which miscarriages of justice were narrowly avoided and dozens of people had their names smeared.
In one case, a man known only as ‘Nick’ accused former Prime Minister Ted Heath and other high-profile politicians, many of them dead, of running a secret ring of pedophiles that raped and killed small boys out of a house in central London in the 1970s and 80s. Following a £3 million investigation, known as Operation Midland, not only were these allegations not proven, but it was subsequently discovered that Nick himself, who has been allowed to keep his anonymity, was implicated in making and distributing underage pornographic images.
A series of rape trials have also collapsed in recent months after police failed to hand over digital evidence that would have easily exonerated the accused before the cases had gone to court. This led the Crown Prosecution Service to declare in January that it was reviewing all sexual assault and rape proceedings.
Dick was asked to comment about the spate of historical allegations of varying severity that have been aired predominantly through social media as part of the #MeToo campaign, which began with claims against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein last October.
“Speaking as a cop, opposed to a citizen, I’m interested in crime. If it’s a long time ago, or it’s very trivial, or I’m not likely to get a criminal justice outcome, I’m not going to spend a lot of resources on it,” said Dick, who added that she had no intention of bringing a police presence into “what might be a misunderstanding between two people.”
Could an independent ‘Supreme Court’ help weed out abusive and inappropriate content on Facebook? Mark Zuckerberg thinks so.
The Facebook CEO has said he wants to form an independent council, which would review content flagged as abusive on the social media platform.
In an interview with liberal journalist Ezra Klein, Zuckerberg said that Facebook employees would make the initial decisions on flagged content, based on the platform’s community guidelines, but the final decision would go to an independent team of non-Facebook employees.
“You can imagine some sort of structure, almost like a Supreme Court, that is made up of independent folks who don’t work for Facebook, who ultimately make the final judgment call on what should be acceptable speech,” he said.
Facebook already employs a team of people who review flagged content. If a post is found to be in violation of Facebook’s community rules, it is taken down and the poster can’t appeal the decision. That needs to change, Zuckerberg said.
“I think in any kind of good-functioning democratic system, there needs to be a way to appeal. And I think we can build that internally as a first step,” he said.
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Facebook has previously said it plans to double the number of employees on its safety and security team, which includes the content reviewers, by the end of 2018. In the interview, Zuckerberg admitted that Facebook had not invested enough in that side of the platform.
“I think it’s just a case where because we didn’t invest enough, I think we will dig through this hole, but it will take a few years. I wish I could solve all these issues in three months or six months, but I just think the reality is that solving some of these questions is just going to take a longer period of time,” he said.
In recent weeks, Facebook has faced a storm of criticism over the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which saw the controversial British data-mining firm use data from 50 million Facebook users on behalf of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in 2016.
The social media giant was criticized for its own bias when leaked emails between the company’s Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg and Hillary Clinton’s campaign chair John Podesta revealed that Facebook provided political research to Clinton’s presidential campaign in 2015.
We have seen a lot of hyperventilating in political circles over Donald Trump’s recently proposed tariffs on steel and aluminum. While these do not seem like well-considered policies, and are likely to do more harm than good even from the narrow standpoint of increasing manufacturing employment, they are not by themselves the horror story being presented.
Steel prices often fluctuate by 20 or 30 percent over the course of a year, as they did in 2016. If tariffs raise the price in the US by 10 percent, that would be unfortunate for downstream industries, but not exactly a catastrophe.
However, more important than the specifics of a steel tariff is the implicit assumption that the country as a whole has an interest in stronger and longer patent and copyright protection. Many pundits have attacked Trump’s focus on steel and manufacturing because they argue, we should be more concerned about protecting US corporations’ patents and copyrights overseas. This doesn’t make sense.
At the most basic level, stronger and longer patent and copyright protection means that people in other countries have to pay more money. These government-granted monopolies often allow companies to raise the price of the protected items by a factor of 10 or even a 100. In this way, they are equivalent to tariffs of several thousand percent.
Just to be clear, this is not a point that can be honestly disputed by economists. If a government barrier raises the price of a good, it doesn’t matter whether we call that barrier a “tariff” or a “patent,” the impact on the market is the same.
This means if Pfizer’s patent protection on a drug allows it to raise the price it charges for a drug in China or some other developing country by a factor of 10 over the free market price, it is equivalent to imposing a tariff of 1000 percent on the drug. The difference is that instead of the tariff revenue going to the government, it goes back to Pfizer as higher profits.
In 2014 I wrote an article titled “The Global Elite is Insane.” I want to elaborate what I explained in the earlier article so that people have a clearer sense of what we are up against in our struggle to create a world of peace, justice and ecological sustainability.
Of course, as I explained previously, it is not just the global elite that is insane. All those individuals – politicians, business people, academics, corporate media editors and journalists, judges and lawyers, bureaucrats…. – who serve the elite, including by not exposing and resisting it, are also insane. And it is important to understand this if we are to develop and implement effective strategies to resist elite violence, exploitation and destruction but also avert the now-imminent human extinction driven by their insane desire for endless personal privilege, corporate profit and political control whatever the cost to Earth’s biosphere and lifeforms (human and non-human alike).
But first, who constitutes the global elite? Essentially, it is those extremely wealthy individuals – notably including the Rothschild family, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Amancio Ortega, Mark Zuckerberg, Carlos Slim, the Walton family and the Koch brothers – as well as the world’s other billionaires and millionaires.
Testament to their secretly and long-accumulated wealth and power, a 2012 investigation concluded that rich individuals and their families…
In a major break with the Jewish lobby—which normally strictly controls public pronouncements from European Union officials—the EU’s diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini has called for an official investigation into the deadly massacre of unarmed Palestinians by Israel over the Easter weekend.
At least 17—and counting—Palestinians were shot dead and more than 1,400 wounded after Israeli army snipers, soldiers and drones attacked thousands of protesters who had flocked to a sit-in near the border fence between the Gaza Strip and the occupied Palestinian territories.
The demonstrations—which did not take place on Israeli soil—are part of a combined protest against the planned American government’s move of its embassy to Jerusalem and also part of a build-up to commemorate the mass expulsion of Palestinians from Palestine by the Jews in 1948.
Mogherini called for “an independent and transparent investigation” that “could shed light on how the Palestinians were killed during demonstrations” and would focus on the “use of live ammunition” by the Jews against the demonstrators, none of whom were armed.
In what Reuters has dubbed a massive “show of force“, dozens of Chinese warships have been observed on satellite imagery, exercising with an aircraft carrier and warplanes above the heavily-disputed South China Sea, as part of the previously noted massive military drills, which the PLA ominously said were “in preparation for war.”
The four images, provided by Planet Labs for Reuters confirms the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning joined the annual naval war drill earlier this week.
According to the Taiwan Defense & National Security ministry, late last week Taiwan sent two ships and military aircraft to shadow the Chinese aircraft carrier group through the narrow Taiwan Strait.
The images, taken on Monday by Planet Labs flock of miniature satellites, show at least forty naval vessels, submarines, and aircraft in what some military strategist “described as an unusually large display of the Chinese military’s growing naval might,” said Reuters.
Up to forty naval vessels can be seen in a line formation, while submarines flank the aircraft carrier called Liaoning labeled below.
Jeffrey Lewis, the director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS), told Reuters: “It is an incredible picture. That is the big news to me. Confirmation that, yes, the carrier participated in the exercise.”
Liaoning, a Type 001 aircraft carrier, is the first aircraft carrier commissioned into the People’s Liberation Army Navy Surface Force, a branch of the People’s Liberation Army Navy.
Some military strategists believe that China could use the carrier group and its militarized islands to defend its maritime…
The largest owner of local television stations across the United States is under fire for reportedly forcing anchors to take part in a ‘promotional campaign’ slamming national media outlets for sharing “fake-news” stories.
The conservative-leaning Sinclair Broadcasting Group is requiring anchors to read verbatim a script praising the “quality, balanced journalism” of local stations, while bemoaning the “sharing of biased and false news” by national media, according to CNN. Internal documents called the campaign an “anchor-delivered journalistic responsibility message.”
Anchors were given instructions accompanying the promotional material, including a directive to read the scripts “exactly as they are written” and to run the promotion during news time as frequently as possible to “create maximum reach and frequency.”
The anchors were also told not to wear red, blue or purple while they spoke, to avoid looking political. “The goal is to look apolitical, neutral, non-partisan yet professional,” the instructions read, according to CNN’s report.
News website Deadspin has since created a disconcerting, dystopian montage of local-news anchors reading the script word-for-word on air.
It is understood that many of the anchors forced to read the script felt uncomfortable doing so. “I felt like a POW recording a message,” one anchor said.
Los Angeles Times journalist Matt Pearce has posted screenshots on Twitter of messages from Sinclair employees, who are unhappy in their jobs but claim that they can’t quit because the company threatens to sue employees who leave before their contract is up. Contracts also prevent those who quit early from working for any other station in the same market, one former employee said.
A Sinclair journalist, who has been trying to resist from inside the newsroom — but who doesn’t have a union — explains why it’s so hard for TV anchors to refuse the Sinclair’s editorial edicts. They have contracts that penalize them if they quit. pic.twitter.com/pFGVglxAQU
President Donald Trump defended Sinclair Broadcasting in a tweet on Monday, saying national broadcasters were “among the most dishonest groups of people I have ever dealt with,” and that Sinclair channels are “far superior” to CNN and MSNBC.
So funny to watch Fake News Networks, among the most dishonest groups of people I have ever dealt with, criticize Sinclair Broadcasting for being biased. Sinclair is far superior to CNN and even more Fake NBC, which is a total joke.
Sinclair Broadcasting owns nearly 200 local television stations across America. The company is awaiting approval for a proposed $3.9-billion merger with Tribune Media, which would expand its reach even further.
Meanwhile, a new poll has found that 77 percent of Americans believe that media outlets do report ‘fake news’ at least occasionally – up from 63 percent last year. Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute, said this was bad news for American journalism. “Confidence in an independent fourth estate is a cornerstone of a healthy democracy. Ours appears to be headed for the intensive care unit,” he said.
So, while reading a suspiciously pro-Trump-sounding script attacking national media outlets might not be the best way to combat bias, it seems that a majority of Americans agree that ‘fake news’ is a problem.
Nina Turner says Kimberly Ellis’s loss to a Clinton democrat for chair of the state party by only 62 votes shows strength of Sanders movement, but makes clear corporate democrats won’t give…
Whatever else may be said about Marxism, it provided (for those who needed it) an eschatological philosophy in a post-religious world. It served more than one psychological purpose: It gave those who adhered to it the comforting feeling that they understood the inner or hidden workings of the world; that they were far superior in this understanding to those who did not adhere to it; and that they were participating in something far bigger than themselves. In short it gave them a sense, or illusion, of transcendence.
But though many Marxists claimed that the downfall of the Soviet Union did not affect their faith in the truth of their secular religion—because they said that the Soviet Union had never been a properly Marxist state in the first place—there is, in fact, no doubt that Marxism as an intellectual system was deeply discredited by the now-undeniable failure of the Soviet Union to deliver on any of its utopian promises. Marxism had, on the contrary, provided the pretext for the murder, as well as causing the miserable living conditions, of many millions of people; and it was as implausible to deny the connection of these with Marxism as it is now to deny the connection of terrorism with Islam.
But the desire for ideology did not die with its failure; on the contrary, the desire simply found its fulfillment in a variety of strange sub-ideologies. Future historians will surely find one of the strangest of these to be that of strident transsexualism.
There have probably always been transsexuals, and I remember the days when those who declared themselves such were sent to specialist clinics for various treatments and procedures. Everything was arranged in a somewhat hole-and-corner way, without the glare of publicity and the influence…
US media’s silent complicity in Israeli massacre in Gaza
2 April 2018
Major American media outlets, led by the New York Times, are treating the Israeli military’s mass killing and wounding of unarmed, peaceful Palestinian protesters in Gaza as a non-event.
On Friday, as tens of thousands of Palestinians gathered near the militarized border with Israel to protest Israeli expropriation of Palestinian land and demand the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland, Israeli troops and sharpshooters opened fire, killing at least 16 people and wounding some 1,400 more.
Millions around the world reacted with shock and horror at the scenes of deliberate murder, using live ammunition. One video showed a young man running away from the border fence who was shot in the back and killed by Israeli troops. Another showed that at least two of those killed were unarmed as they walked slowly towards the Israel border.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) deployed troops and more than 100 snipers to shoot unarmed protestors demonstrating in the towns and cities of the tiny enclave as well as the thousands who gathered at the border with Israel.
According to Hamas, the bourgeois Islamist group that controls the Palestinian enclave, only five of those killed on Friday belonged to Hamas’s military wing, the rest being civilians.
The US intervened at the United Nations Security Council to block a resolution put forward by Kuwait calling for an independent investigation into the mass shooting, and Israeli spokesmen flatly rejected any such probe, congratulating the Israeli soldiers for “defending Israeli sovereignty.”
Israel’s chief military spokesman, Brigadier General Ronen Manelis, warned that the IDF would step up its violence on the Gaza border. He added that the IDF had…
US President Donald Trump has reportedly invited Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to meet at the White House, amid escalating tensions between Washington and Moscow over a number of issues.
Trump suggested the White House as a potential venue for the summit during a March 20 phone call with the Russian leader, according to reports.
“Trump proposed to hold the first meeting in Washington, in the White House, when our presidents spoke by phone,” Putin aide Yuri Ushakov said in Moscow on Monday, according to the RIA Novosti news agency.
The White House also said that President Trump proposed the White House as a meeting venue and also offered other options.
“As the president himself confirmed on March 20, hours after his last call with President Putin, the two had discussed a bilateral meeting in the ‘not-too-distant future’ at a number of potential venues, including the White House,” said White House spokesperson Sarah…
The last few days have seen a rapid rush to the ‘safe-haven’ dollar, stalling a seemingly non-stop drop in the world’s reserve currency.
Which raises the question, is the correlation between President Trump’s approval rating and ‘king dollar’ about to reignite?
President Trump’s approval rating has been rising on average since the start of the year, and the results from the most recent presidential job approval survey by CNN shows that Donald Trump is now at an 11-month high.
Although he still has majority disapproval, 42 percent of respondents are currently giving him a thumbs up – the highest rate recorded by CNN since March 2017 where the president was on 44 percent.
Despite being criticized from some corners for his protectionist approach, Trump following through on his America First campaign promises is seemingly helping to win some voters back around.
In many ways, the road ahead is looking far from smooth for the president, but having come through scandal and controversy relatively unscathed in the past, who knows where this current wave will lead.
This article was posted: Thursday, March 29, 2018 at 6:53 am
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Doodle commemorates Islamic & Hindu holidays but not Christian festival
Paul Joseph Watson PrisonPlanet.com April 2, 2018
Google has refused to recognize Easter by failing to devote a “doodle” to the Christian holiday despite commemorating numerous other obscure events and people, leading actor James Woods to remark, “they loathe Christians”.
According to Wikipedia, “A Google Doodle is a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google’s homepages that commemorates holidays, events, achievements, and people.”
Google has previously devoted a doodle to Yuri Kochiyama, a Communist activist who once said she admired Osama Bin Laden, to recognize her would-be 95th birthday.
While occasionally ignoring Veterans Day and Memorial Day, the Silicon Valley giant routinely devotes doodles to Islamic figures and Hindu holidays. Google’s Christmas doodle has also routinely omitted Christ or any Christian related symbolism.
Over Easter Sunday and again today, there is nothing whatsoever on Google’s home page to commemorate the Christian festival.
“So Google has a doodle for every obscure “woke” person/event imaginable, but nothing for Easter?” I tweeted.
Google has devoted a “doodle” to all manner of obscure, far-left events and “progressive” icons, and fringe religious commemorations, but apparently Easter isn’t important enough to be celebrated with even a rabbit or an egg.
Millions in UK taxpayer money being spent on helping Palestinians is also funding schools teaching a curriculum that promotes martyrdom and jihad against Israel, a government minister has confirmed.
In his answers given to the UK Parliament, Minister of State for International Development Alistair Burt confirmed that British taxpayers’ money is funding the wages of some 33,000 teachers who use the new curriculum.
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Earlier last week, Burt said that “all of their [the Palestinian Authority’s] schools in the West Bank are using the revised 2017 PA curriculum. UK-funded public servants and teachers … are therefore involved,” the Sunday Times cited him as saying, adding that £20 million (US$24.6 million) was spent on supporting Palestinians last year alone.
Study material from the schools in Palestine pushes children toward violence, a review by the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se) discovered back in October 2017. It said the school program not only demonized Israel but also “provided a rationale for war.”
“The curriculum exerts pressure over young Palestinians to acts of violence in a more extensive and sophisticated manner,” IMPACT-se wrote. “The discourse is couched in terms of nationalist and religious martyrdom, across science, literature, history and religious education textbooks.” The report provides numerous illustrations supporting the claim. It describes how violence has even penetrated physics textbooks.
“A science textbook teaches Newtonian gravity through the image of a boy with a slingshot targeting soldiers, to explain power, mass, and tensile strength,” the watchdog wrote in the report. “An eleventh-grade physics textbook teaches circular motion through the use of a slingshot in another clash with IDF soldiers.”
Another textbook encourages nine-year-olds to be martyrs with a picture of students looking at their friend’s empty desk with the sign “The Martyr.” A poem in a history book meanwhile calls for violent resistance against Israel: “I vow I shall sacrifice my blood to saturate the land of the generous and will remove [uzilu] the usurper from my country will exterminate [ubidu] the remnants of the foreigners.”
Sacrifice of life is also widely encouraged, as dying is “better” than living: “Drinking the cup of bitterness with glory is much sweeter than a pleasant long life accompanied by humiliation.” Martyrdom and jihad are “the most important meanings of life,” claims one fifth grade Arabic-language textbook.
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“Giving one’s life [fida’], sacrifice, fight, jihad and struggle are the most important meanings of life, especially for a people suffering from the scourge of occupation, of siege, repression, harassment, demolition and arrest,” another page says.
The Palestinian Authority introduced the new school curriculum for grades 5-11 in August. It is the first full reform of the Palestinian curriculum since 2000.
MP Joan Ryan, chairwoman of Labor Friends of Israel, has slammed the funding of Palestinian schools that use the curriculum.
“It is absolutely appalling that UK taxpayers’ money is helping to support the teaching of a curriculum which incites violence and terrorism and spreads anti-Semitism,” she told the Sunday Times. “The government must immediately suspend all aid to the Palestinian Authority until it commits to wholesale and urgent revisions of the curriculum.”
The Department for International Development said in a statement to the newspaper: “Our support is helping around 25,000 young Palestinians go to school each year. The UK government strongly condemns all forms of violence and incitement to violence.”
Republican politicians in Virginia Beach scrambled to assure their Facebook followers that a post by an impostor group comparing anti-gun “walkout” protesters to the Nazis was in fact a hoax.
A Facebook page claiming to belong to the Republican Party of Virginia Beach published a post on Sunday – riddled with spelling mistakes and accompanied by a photo of children’s shoes at Auschwitz – that claimed the Holocaust could have been prevented if Europe’s Jews had guns.
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“To all the kids that walked out of school to protest guns. These are the shoes of Jews that gave up there (sic) firearms to Hitler. They where (sic) led into gas chambers, murdered and buried in mass graves.”
The post proceeded to warn student protesters that the same fate would befall Americans if they gave up their Second Amendment rights.
While it has since been deleted, the copycat page was verified by Facebook, and went by the name “Virginia Beach Republicans.” The party’s real page is called “Republican Party of Virginia Beach.” Reposted messages from local Republican politicians after the hoax message went viral.
Virginia Republican Senator Bill DeSteph described the post as “insensitive and offensive,” while Congressman Scott Taylor urged his followers to make sure they were following the correct page.
“Some people like to stir things and love attention and/or relevancy,” Taylor added. Neither politician mentioned the timing of the post – Sunday was April Fool’s Day.
One reply to DeSteph’s post alleges that an admin of the hoax page had previously worked as a volunteer for the senator’s campaign. Another alleges that the hoax page had three times as many followers as the official Republican Party of Virginia Beach page.
This issue of gun control has dominated US media since the Parkland school shooting in Florida last February. The “March For Our Lives” campaign, organized by a group of teenage survivors of the tragedy, brought around 500,000 people to Washington DC to protest against America’s gun laws last month.
There was something refreshing about watching former French president Nicholas Sarkozy being interrogated in a French jail. Particularly since he may soon be accused of conspiracy in the murder of my old friend, Col. Muammar Khadaffi of Libya.
Sarkozy and his former chief of staff, Claude Guéant, are being investigated for secretly accepting at least fifty million Euros from Khadaffi for his 2007 electoral campaign. Such a payment violated France’s maximum permissible limit for political donation, not to mention a ban on foreign financing of candidates and failure to report the payments. Sarko also faces investigation over secret payments from the Gulf oil states.
French political candidates often have to wade through the sewers to finance their campaigns because spending limits were set relatively low to prevent big money from buying the elections, as in the United States.
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These charges against Khadaffi and Guéant have been percolating for years with only a muted response. Sarkozy also got into hot water after he was accused of bilking large sums of cash from a senile heiress to France’s L’Oréal cosmetics company.
But three years ago, a French-Lebanese businessman told the French investigative site Mediapart that he had given suitcases with 5 million Euros (US $6.2 million) to Guéant. The former chief of staff would later claim the cash was payment for a painting he had sold to the shady Lebanese. Of course it was!
In 2007, Sarkozy became president of France. At the time, he and Khadaffi appeared to be best of friends. The Libyan leader made a gala visit to Paris, pitched his Bedouin tent on the grounds of the…
nuclear deal), the Israeli far right will be emboldened to join in pressuring (and perhaps attacking) Iran, and the Saudis and others will be encouraged to produce their own nuclear weapons.
Eric Zuesse, originally posted at 
