Friday, October 31, 2014

drones big enough to carry explosives have flown over as many as seven nuclear power plants around France

Fears raised that France's 58 nuclear reactors are unsafe from airborne attack after unidentified drones manage to fly over seven sites

The nuclear plant at Creys-Malville in Isère 
 
The nuclear plant at Creys-Malville in Isère Photo: Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images
Unidentified drones big enough to carry explosives have flown over as many as seven nuclear power plants around France in the past three weeks, it has emerged.
Electricité de France (EDF), the state-owned operator of France’s 58 nuclear reactors across 19 sites, has filed a legal complaint against persons unknown following the flights over seven sites.
Sparking fears that the country’s reactors are unsafe from airborne attack, none of the drones were intercepted and their origins remain a mystery.
It is forbidden to enter airspace within a five kilometre perimeter around nuclear sites or to fly over them at an altitude of below 1,000 metres.

Yet, on October 5, a drone flew over the nuclear plant at Creys-Malville in Isère, southeastern France. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/11197823/Mystery-drones-breach-airspace-above-French-nulcear-sites.html

Watch: Man in wheelchair dragged behind vehicle in Sunderland car park

A woman has been given a two-year driving ban after she was caught on CCTV dragging a man in a wheelchair behind a vehicle in a supermarket car park


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Why Ebola Quarantines Will Grow Larger


 


The critical reckoning over forced quarantines is still to come.
Consider this scenario.

Sometime in January or February – as the Ebola epidemic explodes out of West Africa – we’ll start experiencing larger, more frequent outbreaks in American cities. With the flu as a background to confound suspected cases of Ebola, public health departments will be hard pressed to “track and trace” all of the potential “contacts” when perhaps dozens of Ebola cases pop up in their cities.
Read More @ Forbes.com
 http://sgtreport.com/2014/10/why-ebola-quarantines-will-grow-larger-and-more-troubling/

Few have been paying attention to the “supporting actor” Boston Bombing trials now paving the way for the main act

Robel Phillipos, convicted on two counts of making false statements. (YouTube)
Robel Phillipos, convicted on two counts of making false statements. (YouTube)
Few have been paying attention to the “supporting actor” trials now paving the way for the main act in the prosecution of America’s largest terrorist act since 9/11, the Boston Bombing.
They’re worth paying attention to, for what they demonstrate about how the government is ensuring that the official story will stick all the way through to conviction.
The latest development in this blockbuster drama came during the trial and conviction of Robel Phillipos, friend of accused Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. A jury on Oct. 28 convicted him on two counts of lying to investigators, for which he now faces up to 16 years in prison.
Jurors found he’d made false statements during two interviews with the FBI within days of the April 15 bombing. Specifically, he was convicted for lying about his whereabouts on the night of April 18. Phillipos, 19, said he was “stoned out of his mind” on marijuana at the time, and that’s why he gave the conflicting statements, according to his defense attorney.
This trial fits squarely with the particular public image of the Tsarnaevs and their friends that has arisen from media coverage and the government pronouncements in it. Anyone remotely involved with the brothers is immediately judged to be part of a nest of conniving terrorist sympathizers. That’s certainly no presumption of innocence. Phillipos undoubtedly faced this added burden in his trial.
***
Taken together with a steady stream of leaks about the bombing investigation, it’s clear the government wants to ensure it will have a slam-dunk case against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev at his trial in January. Yet it doesn’t have to go the extra mile, thanks to a tried-and-true FBI method that was on display in Phillipos’ trial.

http://whowhatwhy.com/2014/10/29/boston-update-third-tsarnaev-friend-convicted-for-lying-to-feds/

The Story Changes: Ebola Is Now ‘Aerostable’ And Can Remain On Surfaces For 50 Days



When it comes to Ebola, the story that the government is telling us just keeps on changing.  At first, government officials were claiming that it was very difficult to spread the Ebola virus.  Some of them were even comparing it to HIV.  We were given the impression that we had to have "direct contact" with someone else's body fluids in order to have any chance of catching the virus.  But of course that is not true at all.  Now authorities are admitting that Ebola is "aerostable," that it can be "spread through droplets," and that it can remain on surfaces for up to 50 days.  That is far different information than we have been getting up until this point.  So that means when they were so confidently declaring that they know exactly how Ebola spreads, they were lying to us.
On October 24th, a 33 page document was released by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, and in that document it is admitted that Ebola is "aerostable." WND was one of the first news outlets to report on this…
The information was contained in a 33-page report released Oct. 24 by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, the Department of Defense's Combat Support Agency for countering weapons of mass destruction.
The agency report states "preliminary studies indicate that Ebola is aerostable in an enclosed controlled system in the dark and can survive for long periods in different liquid media and can also be recovered from plastic and glass surfaces at low temperatures for over 3 weeks."
The report says the government is seeking technologies for the "rapid disinfection" of Ebola, including an aerosol version of the virus.
"The technology must prove effective against viral contamination either deposited as an aerosol or heavy contaminated combined with body fluids," reads the solicitation document.
You can view the document for yourself right here.
So is there any difference between "aerostable" and "airborne"?
That is a very good question.
Meanwhile, the CDC has finally come out and publicly admitted that Ebola "is spread through droplets."
In other words, it can be spread by a cough or a sneeze.
On the CDC website, it now says the following
"A person might also get infected by touching a surface or object that has germs on it and then touching their mouth or nose."
Well, that certainly does not sound like "direct contact" to me.
And once someone has coughed or sneezed, the virus can live on a surface for a very long time.
In fact, authorities in the UK now tell us that Ebola can survive on a glass surface for up to 50 days
The number of confirmed Ebola cases passed the 10,000 mark over the weekend, despite efforts to curb its spread.
And while the disease typically dies on surfaces within hours, research has discovered it can survive for more than seven weeks under certain conditions.
During tests, the UK's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) found that the Zaire strain will live on samples stored on glass at low temperatures for as long as 50 days.
All of this directly contradicts what the CDC website has been telling us…
"To get Ebola, you have to directly get body fluids (like pee, poop, spit, sweat, vomit, semen, breast milk) from someone who has Ebola in your mouth, nose, eyes, or through a break in your skin or through sexual contact."
Eboa
It turns out that is not even close to the truth.
And even as Obama boldly proclaims that there will not be an Ebola pandemic in the United States, the actions that his administration is currently taking suggest otherwise.
For example, we have just learned that the federal government has ordered 250,000 hazmat suits and is sending them to Dallas
A manager with a major shipping company has exclusively revealed to Infowars that the U.S. government has ordered 250,000 Hazmat suits to be sent to Dallas, the location of the first Ebola outbreak in the United States.
The manager of the shipping company proved his credentials to Infowars by providing a photo ID and sending a verified email from the company account, but wishes to remain anonymous due to understandable fears that he could be fired for revealing the information.
"I just learned we have been asked to ship 250,000 HAZMAT suits to Dallas, TX. for the US Government. Again this is happening today, we are pulling these suits for the US Government to Dallas, TX," states the individual, who manages the drivers who work for the shipping company.
Why in the world would the Obama administration buy so many hazmat suits if everything was under control?
It doesn't make sense.
Is this Ebola outbreak much more of a potential threat than they are telling us?
Insurance companies sure seem to think so.  In fact, many of them are now specifically excluding Ebola from their policies…
Remember the promise of universal health care with Obamacare, with no refusal for 'pre-existing conditions'? It looks like your insurance company may not have to cover you if you get Ebola. U.S. and British insurance companies have begun writing Ebola exclusions into standard policies to cover hospitals, event organizers, and other businesses vulnerable to local disruptions.
While it is estimated that expenditures to treat the original Dallas Ebola patient, Thomas Eric Duncan, were approximately $100,000 an hour (though he passed anyway), it looks like insurance companies won't be footing the bill.
President Obama originally refused to set up travel restrictions in and out of West Africa, too, even though the government's latest scare tactics and the CDC's ineptitude have resulted in insurance companies creating new policies which exclude Ebola care. Renewals will also become costlier for companies opting to insure business travel to West Africa or to cover the risk of losses from quarantine shutdowns at home.
The American people deserve the truth.
I can understand the desire to keep people calm, but giving the public a false sense of security isn't going to do anyone any good, and it might end up making this crisis much, much worse.
It is important for people to know how easily this virus spreads so that they can take appropriate measures to protect themselves and their families.  Since June, approximately 400 health workers have caught this virus, and about 230 of them have died.  These workers take extreme precautions to avoid getting Ebola.  If this virus did not spread easily, this would not be happening.
So please share this article with as many people as you can.  If our politicians and the mainstream media are not going to tell us the truth, then we are going to have to keep one another informed.
Source

CDC deletes warning Ebola can spread through coughs and sneezes

  • It has replaced the old language with new guidance that says there's 'no evidence' Ebola is spread through either
  • The CDC also took down on Thursday a poster that said that Ebola can be transferred through 'droplets' on hard surfaces, like doorknobs
  • It's unclear why the CDC abruptly changed it's Ebola advisories
  • The quiet removal of information follows a public health campaign by Sen. Rand Paul to get the CDC to be 'forthright' about Ebola transfer
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has removed a warning from its website that Ebola can, in rare cases, spread from person through coughing and sneezing.
It has replaced the old language with new guidance that says there's 'no evidence' Ebola is spread through either.
According to the New York Post, the CDC also took down on Thursday a poster that said that Ebola can be transferred through 'droplets' from coughing or sneezing that land on hard surfaces, like doorknobs.
Scroll down for video 
This undated handout photo provided by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) shows a kit that travelers from Ebola-stricken West African nations will be given containing information cards and a thermometer. The CDC previously suggested that Ebola can, in rare cases, spread from person through coughing and sneezing. It now says there 'no evidence' to support that claim
This undated handout photo provided by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) shows a kit that travelers from Ebola-stricken West African nations will be given containing information cards and a thermometer. The CDC previously suggested that Ebola can, in rare cases, spread from person through coughing and sneezing. It now says there 'no evidence' to support that claim
As the Huffington Post, which discovered the shift in language, noted yesterday evening, it's unclear why the CDC abruptly changed it's Ebola advisories. However, the move came a day after the New York Post reported on the existence of the poster.  
'Droplet spread happens when germs traveling inside droplets that are coughed or sneezed from a sick person enter the eyes, nose or mouth of another person,' the fact sheet reportedly stated.
Now the page says, 'The What’s the difference between infections spread through air or by droplets? Fact sheet is being updated and is currently unavailable. Please visit cdc.gov/Ebola for up-to-date information on Ebola.'

Australian authorities sitting on $9.6 million worth of bitcoins confiscated from Silk Road drug dealer

Authorities may soon reap millions of dollars by selling more than 24,500 bitcoins confiscated from a Melbourne drug dealer.
This was the first time the state of Victoria had seized electronic currency from criminals.
The currency's volatility has seen the value of the seized asset jump from $700,000 at the time of the man's arrest to nearly $32 million shortly after it was confiscated. Today the bitcoins were worth about $9.6 million.
The assets are subject to a restraining order and would soon be forfeited to the Department of Justice and sold at auction, but not before the appeal period ends in 28 days. Proceeds would go to the state's consolidated funds.
Richard Pollard, 32, of Warrandyte, was sentenced in the County Court in Melbourne on Friday to 11 years' jail after pleading guilty to commercial trafficking.  http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/australian-authorities-sitting-on-96-million-worth-of-bitcoins-confiscated-from-silk-road-drug-dealer-20141031-11ewk4.html

Government Moves to Regulate YouTube Videos Under Campaign Finance Laws!

Anti-Obama Artist Gets Secret Service Visit For Joke Tweets

Monday, October 27, 2014

As Some Ferguson Protesters Turn On The Media, Others Cover Demonstrations Themselves

FERGUSON, Mo. -- As demonstrations have dragged on in this suburb of St. Louis since a police officer killed Michael Brown in August, some protesters have begun focusing their anger not only at the police but also at members of the media they believe have misrepresented both the 18-year-old and their movement.
Tension over how the media has covered Ferguson isn't new. Supporters of officer Darren Wilson protested outside a local news station in August after the station aired footage outside Wilson's home, and looters and some aggressive demonstrators threatened reporters during the height of the protests that same month. One poll in September even indicated that one of the only things many black and white residents of St. Louis County could agree on was that media coverage had only made the Ferguson situation worse.
But in recent weeks, as outlets have published leaked information from the grand jury that is deciding whether to charge Wilson in connection with Brown's death, many protesters have turned their ire toward reporters both online and at the scene of demonstrations in Ferguson. In addition to being upset about the leaked information and what they say is an unfair portrayal of Brown, many demonstrators disapprove of how their actions have been portrayed in the news.
On one night, some protesters agreed not to talk to any members of the media because the protesters didn't think reporters should cover the arrest of a state senator. On another night, protesters yelled and chanted at camera crews from both CNN and a local television station until the crews moved away from demonstrations outside the Ferguson Police Department.
Given the large role social media played in focusing national attention on Ferguson, it's unsurprising that Twitter has become a top source for observers and supporters of protesters.
Several prominent demonstrators have gained a significant social media following through their coverage of the protests, even tweeting while in police custody and offering first-person perspectives from within the demonstrations. Several livestreamers often broadcast from the site of demonstrations. Two Ferguson protesters -- 29-year-old Deray McKesson of Minneapolis and 25-year-old Johnetta Elsie of St. Louis -- are publishing their own newsletter on the Ferguson movement.
"We have to be our own news," Elsie told The Huffington Post. "There's no St. Louis Post-Dispatch protester edition."
Elsie said she and other protesters have decided only to speak to certain news outlets and reporters who they believe have portrayed the demonstrations fairly. She said one CNN producer tried to arrange a sit-down interview with her and McKesson and other protesters so that protesters would continue to allow CNN to broadcast from outside the Ferguson Police Department. That didn't happen, because other protesters said they wanted to see CNN's coverage treat protesters more favorably http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/27/ferguson-protesters-media_n_6057438.html?utm_hp_ref=tw

Israeli Border Policeman Shoots AP Photographer With Rubber Bullet

JERUSALEM (AP) — Two photographers, including one working for The Associated Press, were struck by rubber-coated bullets fired at close range by an Israeli border policeman.

Neither photographer was seriously hurt in Sunday's incident, which came during protests that followed the funeral of a 14-year-old Palestinian boy killed in a clash with Israeli soldiers.

It was the latest incident in which journalists have been injured by tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets fired by border police, a paramilitary unit often sent in to quell violent demonstrations.

The AP said it planned to protest to the Israeli military, police and governmen

NY Post: Obama Plans 'Secret Radical Agenda' After Midterms

President Barack Obama is holding off implementing a "secret radical agenda" until after the November 4 midterm elections when it won't hurt Democrats in the voting booth and when he hopes no one is paying attention, the New York Post says.

Paul Sperry, a Hoover Institution media fellow, writes that Obama has punted multiple issues until after the election on a range on subjects, including Obamacare, immigration, Guantanamo Bay and Cabinet appointments.

Though Obama promised his base he would "fix as much of our immigration system as I can on my own, without Congress," he now is pushing executive actions granting amnesty to until late November, Sperry writes. A recent draft solicitation for bids from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services seeks up to 34 million new green cards and work permits.

Obama has taken no action to nominate a replacement for outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder, but Sperry reports that's because he plans to nominate Labor Secretary Thomas Perez. Perez, he writes, is "someone more radical" than Holder.

Perez has falsely accused a Mississippi school district of "locking up" black students for flatulence, likened bankers to Klansmen and sabotaged a housing discrimination case before the Supreme Court to cover for his own role using "the dubious 'disparate impact' theory to shake down bankers for billions in payola for Democrat groups," Sperry wrote.

The Army's probe into Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s desertion is finished, but has yet to be released. If it clears Bergdahl, Republicans likely would use it as a campaign issue, Sperry says.http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/obama-plans-midterm-radical/2014/10/26/id/603182/

Fox News reported 'fake voting scandal' is actually very real


Fox News falsely accused of reporting "fake" voting scandal in Colorado
Fox News falsely accused of reporting "fake" voting scandal in Colorado
Fox News Channel via YouTube
The far left news outlet MSNBC and others yesterday ran with the sensationalist story that Fox News supposedly reported a “fake voting scandal” involving the ability to create bogus ballots and have them count in Colorado in this year's election. Other less scrupulous columnists on the far left then stretched this to a story of Fox News caught “lying” about the fake voting scandal, so-called. But don't be so quick to believe this, as the far left is wanting to tell us that voter fraud doesn't exist, somewhat like the days when tobacco companies used to tell us that smoking cigarettes doesn't cause cancer and that more doctors endorsed Camels over other brands of smokes.
The story, as reported on by Megyn Kelly earlier this past week on her Fox New program, The Kelly File
http://www.examiner.com/article/fox-news-reported-fake-voting-scandal-is-actually-very-real

Mexican burrito chain called Illegal Pete’s Asked to Drop ‘Illegal’ from Name

Some Colorado residents are urging a Mexican burrito chain called Illegal Pete’s to remove the “Illegal” part of its name due to the connotations it carries.
They say that the word “illegal” is used to describe undocumented immigrants, suggesting that the name is offensive.
The Coloradan newspaper reported that approximately 30 people gathered in Fort Collins Wednesday to ask the chain’s owner, Pete Turner, to change the name of the chain.
The move is part of a US-wide campaign to remove the “illegal,” or “I-word,” from “illegal immigrants,” saying the term is dehumanizing.
Turner, however, said that the name of his chain doesn’t have anything to do with immigration.
He said it is in reference to a novel that he read in college. He said he’s committed to “inclusive” business and helped pay for some of his employees to become US citizens.
“This is all very near and dear to me,” he added, according to the paper.
“Social context is hugely important,” Fort Collins immigration attorney and the meeting moderator, Kim Medina, was quoted as saying. “We’ll never get to big issues, such as immigration reform, until we can solve these smaller issues of language.”http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1044146-immigration-reform-2014-mexican-food-chain-asked-to-drop-illegal-from-name/

Where did the Deepwater Horizon oil go? Two million barrels of oil on ocean floor after BP spill

Washington (AFP) - Around two million barrels of oil from the BP spill off the US Gulf Coast in 2010 are believed to have settled on the ocean floor, according to a study Monday.
The fate of two million of the nearly five million barrels that gushed into the open waters has remained a mystery until now, said the findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a peer-reviewed US journal.
Researchers analyzed samples collected at more than 500 locations around the Macondo Well, where the leaked oil emerged, and found it had spread widely, settling down like dirt in a bathtub.
The oil was found to have spread as far as 3,200 square kilometers (1,235 square miles) from the site, and may have gone even further, the report said.
"Our analysis suggests the oil initially was suspended in deep waters and then settled to the underlying sea floor,"

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Gary Webb Was Right

"Gary Webb was no journalism hero, despite what 'Kill the Messenger' says," read the recent Washington Post op-ed headline. It's a sad sight, especially at a time when real journalism is shriveling and in retreat, including in the Washington Post news room.
Once again the paper has decided to focus on discrediting a fellow journalist instead of deepening the analysis of the story he highlighted.
Gary Webb put a spotlight on the CIA and the Reagan administrations unholy alliance with anti-communist guerrilla groups and their supporters who were involved in drug trafficking.
Webb's reporting uncovered the story of how tons of cocaine were shipped into San Francisco by supporters of the CIA-backed Contras and then distributed down to LA to a Nicaraguan named Danilo Blandon, who sold it to a street dealer from South Central, Freeway Rick Ross.
Through this connection Freeway Rick became a crack kingpin and also used his contacts with LA's Crips and Blood street gangs to help distribute crack to many other cities across the country.
This story, which is explored in my upcoming documentary, Freeway: Crack in the System, is absolutely key to understanding many of the issues we are struggling with today -- from the mass incarceration of men of color, to the militarization of cops and gangs, to the spread of gangsta rap music and culture, and ultimately to the fundamental corruption and hypocrisy at the core of the war on drugs.

FREEWAY Excerpt - Gary Webb from Blowback Productions on Vimeo.
Gary Webb sums up the story in his last major interview just days before his death. Video courtesy of documentary FREEWAY: CRACK IN THE SYSTEM premiering on Al Jazeera America in early 2015.


Gary Webb Was Right

Tension between Tel Aviv and Washington has reached crisis point, says Israeli minister

How Block the Boat is fighting the Israeli government — in California

By disrupting a key Israeli shipping company, activists intend to change Israeli policy in Gaza and the West Bank

 

This weekend, activists will attempt to block the unloading of a container ship in Oakland, California. Here's what's going on, and what's behind it.
What is Block The Boat?Block the Boat is a political campaign of nonviolent direct action against the state of Israel that bills itself as similar to the anti-apartheid movement against white South Africa — one of the first major boycotts of which also happened at the Oakland port back in 1984. By throwing sand in the gears of the Israeli economy, Block the Boat seek to change Israeli policy towards Gaza and the West Bank.
Which company is being targeted?Zim Shipping, the largest shipper in Israel and the 10th-largest shipping company worldwide. The company was outright controlled by the Israeli government for many years, and though it was privatized in 2004, the Israeli state still owns a large "golden share" in the company and regards it as a national security asset. The golden share allows Israel certain rights over the company, such as a veto power over the transfer of 35 percent or more of Zim shares, and the ability to draft Zim ships into military service.
Zim has been in some trouble since the 2008 financial crisis, which caused a glut in world shipping capacity due to ships ordered before the downturn. It had to undertake an enormous debt restructuring earlier this year, and has not been able to secure membership in any of the East-West alliances that have been constructed by major shippers in an attempt to deal with the excess capacity.
What is the objective?This weekend, protesters will attempt to block the unloading of a Zim container ship in Oakland. Through the use of public tracking data and investigative work, they have determined which berth the ship will be using, and set up a picket line there — though workers who so wish will be allowed through. According to movement organizers, they have a good relationship with the local branch of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, so they think few workers will break the picket, at least at first. (Sympathy strikes are illegal under the Taft-Hartley Act, so the union leadership can't do anything official.)
What do the protesters want?Broadly speaking, justice for Palestinians. Since 1967, Israel has occupied Palestinian lands in the West Bank and Gaza. In line with the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, they want an end to occupation, the restoration of human rights to all Arabs and Palestinians under Israeli control, and the right of return.
They also have more specific demands with respect to Gaza,http://theweek.com/article/index/270569/how-block-the-boat-is-fighting-the-israeli-government-mdash-in-california?

#Ferguson Protester + former Politician Antonio French CAUGHT in ACLU Surveillance Expose - @Patricialicious



French suppresses 1st amendment rights using the cameras in his ward

 https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B02FWYVCQAAeI0v.jpg

Read about phony, Mr Protest  for yourself
Page 14 Caught in the Web of Mass Surveillance 

ACLU PDF http://t.co/VvpdIlfnyJ

  TALKS about supporting protesting until citizens protest him.

 He is the type of politician that make people HATE politics and & distrust public servants. Petty hustler. User. Fraud


h/t
https://twitter.com/Patricialicious



Friday, October 24, 2014

Ferguson on edge as ruling in Michael Brown case looms


  1. Missouri police have been brushing up on constitutional rights and stocking up on riot gear ...

FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) - Missouri police have been brushing up on constitutional rights and stocking up on riot gear to prepare for a grand jury's decision about whether to charge a white police officer who fatally shot a black 18-year-old in suburban St. Louis.
The preparations are aimed at avoiding a renewed outbreak of violence during the potentially large demonstrations that could follow an announcement of whether Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson will face a criminal trial for the Aug. 9 death of Michael Brown.
Police and protesters have repeatedly clashed since the shooting, which prompted a national conversation about race and police tactics. Images of officers in riot gear and armored vehicles confronting protesters have drawn widespread criticism.
Many protesters want Darren Wilson indicted for murder. Grand jury proceedings are secret, but legal analysts say recently leaked information about Wilson's testimony to investigators may be an attempt to prepare the public for the possibility that he might not be charged.
The decision could be made public within the next month.

Amnesty International says police in #Ferguson committed human rights abuses. Big shocker


Press Release
October 24, 2014

Amnesty International Releases New Ferguson Report Documenting Human Rights Abuses

Following the initial protests in Ferguson, Missouri sparked by the shooting death of unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown, Amnesty International USA dispatched a human rights delegation which included observers to monitor the protests and police response. Today, the human rights organization has released a new report, On the Streets of America: Human Rights Abuses in Ferguson, documenting the human rights concerns witnessed first-hand by Amnesty International while in Ferguson from August 14-22, 2014. The report also outlines a series of recommendations that need to be implemented with regards to the use of force by law enforcement officers and the policing of protests.
This weekend, human rights activists are gathering in St. Louis for Amnesty International USA’s 2014 Midwest Regional Conference.
“What Amnesty International witnessed in Missouri on the ground this summer underscored that human rights abuses do not just happen across borders and oceans,” said Steven W. Hawkins, executive director of Amnesty International USA. “No matter where you live in the world, everyone is entitled to the same basic rights as a human being – and one of those rights is the freedom to peacefully protest. Standing on W. Florissant Avenue with my colleagues, I saw a police force, armed to the teeth, with military-grade weapons. I saw a crowd that included the elderly and young children fighting the effects of tear gas. There must be accountability and systemic change that follows this excessive force.”
What happened between Michael Brown and Officer Darren Wilson remains uncertain, due to conflicting reports. Michael Brown was unarmed and as such, it calls into question whether the use of lethal force was justified. The circumstances of the killing must be urgently clarified. Investigations must be concluded as soon as possible and must be transparent, as this case merits public scrutiny. Amnesty International’s report urges the Missouri Legislature to amend the Missouri statute that authorizes the use of lethal force, Mo. Rev. Stat. § 563.046, to ensure that the use of lethal force by law enforcement would be limited to those instances in which it is necessary to protect life.
The report also details the impact of city, county and state law enforcement and officials’ responses on the rights of individuals in Ferguson to participate in peaceful protest. Amnesty International documented a number of restrictions placed on protestors, including the imposition of curfews, designated protest areas and a “five-second” keep walking rule. Intimidation of protesters is also included in the report, which details the use of heavy-duty riot gear and military-grade weapons as well as questionable protest dispersal practices, including the use of tear gas, rubber bullets and long range acoustic devices.
“This is about accountability,” added Hawkins. “The events in Ferguson sparked a much-needed and long-overdue conversation on race and policing in America. That conversation cannot stop. In order to restore justice to Ferguson, and every community afflicted by police brutality, we must both document the injustices committed and fight to prevent them from happening again. There is a path forward, but it requires substantive actions on the local, state and federal levels.”
The mistreatment of journalists and observers is another area of focus highlighted in the report. Between August 13 and October 2, at least 19 journalists and members of the media were arrested by law enforcement while others were subjected to tear gas and the use of rubber bullets. Reporters for CNN, Al Jazeera America and other outlets report being harassed or physically threatened. Likewise, legal and human rights observers have also faced arrest for carrying out their roles.
Amnesty International makes several recommendations to local, state and federal authorities regarding both the use of lethal force and the policing of protests. The organization also renews its recommendation that the Department of Justice (DOJ) conduct an independent, transparent and impartial investigation into the death of Michael Brown; promptly implement a DOJ-led review of police tactics and practices nationwide, and release nationwide data on police shootings. Finally, the report calls for the United States Congress to pass the Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act.

Learn More

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Hillary Clinton Charges University $225,000 for Speech on High Cost of Tuition


Only Hillary Clinton can take a $225,000 speaking fee from a public university and then, in the speech, lament how high the cost of higher education is.
“Higher education shouldn’t be a privilege for those able to afford it,” she said, seeming to not grasp that one reason tuition may be high is that universities think it’s a good idea to spend nearly a quarter of a million dollars to pay a multimillionaire to speak on campus.

more at  http://www.nationalreview.com/campaign-spot/390232/clinton-charges-university-225000-speech-high-cost-tuition-jim-geraghty

Nashville Police Chief: Secret Service attempted use of fake warrant to enter home of Obama critic

Meet 5 year old Inas Khalil. She was murdered today by an Israeli settler near Ramallah, Palestine.




Jewish settler runs over two Palestinian children in West Bank, killing one

The Death of a Reporter: Serena Shim, 1984-2014.


by VIJAY PRASHAD
My twitter feed has become a memorial for the death of journalists from Iraq to Turkey. The latest tragedy was the death of Serena Shim, a US citizen who is of Lebanese origin and worked for Press TV. Last year I had met Serena in Beirut. It is commonplace for journalists to meet each other, to learn where one has been and whether there are stories out there that help give wider context and confirmation for stories that one follows. It was in that context that I met Serena, who had been covering the conflict in Ukraine, Iraq and of course Lebanon. She was a warm person, very smart and very well informed. Her bravery impressed me. Others of her ilk and of her age bracket include the fabulous Radwan Mortada (al-Akhbar) and Jenan Moussa (al-Ain). These are reporters who go into dangerous situations with no “security advisors” – I worry for them daily.
Ten days ago, Serena’s employer Press TV sent her to Turkey to cover the story of the Kobane conflict and to look into the allegations of Turkish help to the Islamic State. This is a story that takes one to Urfa, a city that is linked to Syria through the border crossing at Akçakale. At Urfa’s Balıklıgöl State Hospital, evidence for the treatment of Islamic State fighters is not camouflaged – it is there in plain sight. The Islamic State wounded from the battle of Kobane cross over for treatment here. Any journalist who covered this aspect of the war knows that Turkish intelligence (Milli İstihbarat Teşkilatı) has been mighty skittish about the story. They are quick to show up, and quick to make gestures of ill will.
On Friday, October 17, Serena went on air for Press TV. She was rattled in the broadcast. Serena said that Turkish intelligence officials had accused her of spying. She had reported that Islamic State fighters had been smuggled over the border in trucks with logos from the World Food Organization. No one had seen this before or made such allegations. It came to the heart of the suspicion of various forms of assistance being provided to the Islamic State through Turkey. Barzan Iso, a Syrian Kurdish journalist, had already reported that Qatari charities have been using the Jarabulus crossing to get aid to the Islamic State. I had also reported on this but did not have any evidence that trucks with logos from international organizations were being used for this purpose.
serena shim
From the Turkish towns of Mardin, Kilis and Urfa, the foreign jihadis made an easy transit into Syria. Until recently, Turkish authorities did not try to hide this “rat line.” Oğuzeli Airport in Gaziantep (Turkey) had come to resemble the old airport in Peshawar (Pakistan), as the bearded wonders disembarked with a glint in their eyes to join what they saw as a holy war. Pakistani intelligence had the same steel in their walk as Turkish intelligence – the parallels seemed to me more and more appropriate when a Kurdish commander told me that the Islamic State is to Turkey as the Taliban is to Pakistan.
In her last broadcast via Skype, Serena told Press TV that she had footage of the IS militants making across the border in broad daylight. The pressure from Turkish intelligence worried her. Reporters Without Borders had called Turkey the “largest prison for journalists.” Because of that she said, “I’m a little bit frightened.” She felt that the pressure had come for her forthright reports from Turkey about the war in Syria.
Two days later, on Sunday, Serena was traveling in a rental car from the border to the town of Suruç, when her car collided with a “heavy vehicle,” likely a cement mixer. The driver and truck vanished. Serena was killed. Her cameraman was injured and is now at Suruç State Hospital.
Turkish authorities say that the driver of the cement mixer has been arrested. An investigation is ongoing.
Serena’s name joins a long list of journalists killed in the war in Iraq-Syria – the Islamic State murdered Mohanad al-Akidi and Raad Mohamed al-Azzawi this month. This was in Iraq.
The Kobane fight has raised tensions in Turkey. It has threatened the “Imrali Process,” a peace negotiation between the Turkish government and the Kurdish Worker’s Party (PKK). Protests inside Turkey for action to defend Kobane resulted in the death of at least thirty people. Pressure has also come on the pro-Kurdish media. On October 2, demonstrators in the town of Diyarbakir attacked four reporters for the pro-Kurdish press – Bisar Durgut and Nihat Kutlu of the daily Azadiya Welat and Beritan Canözer and Sarya Gözüglu of JINHA. Bisar Durgut had eight stab wounds. On 14 October, in Turkey’s Adana, Kadri Bagdu was shot dead by two men on a motorcycle as he distributed the Kurdish daily papers Azadiya Welat and Ozgur Gundem.
Serena Shim, who leaves behind a family that includes her two young children, found herself chasing the truth in a highly charged situation. Evidence that Turkey is assisting the Islamic State is awkward for Ankara. It is as awkward as the evidence of collusion between al-Qaeda and the Pakistani Navy uncovered by my friend and Asia Times colleague Saleem Shahzad (1970-2011). He was killed for his fearless journalism. It is my feeling that Serena met Saleem’s fate.
Vijay Prashad is the author of No Free Left: The Futures of Indian Communism (forthcoming from LeftWord Books, New Delhi). He is a contributor to Killing Trayvons: an Anthology of American Violence.
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Stunning federal corruption case moving forward with almost no media attention

Corrupt federal prosecutors presenting false evidence in order to shake down a blameless corporation and bring in tens of millions of dollars seems like a pretty dramatic story. Especially when former prosecutors support the charge and a chief judge acts on the allegations and takes dramatic action. Yet the media silence is deafening.
Eric Holder’s Justice Department is implicated in a dramatic and shocking case of alleged corruption that is so bad that the Chief Judge of the Eastern District of California has taken what can rightly be called the “nuclear option” and recused all the judges in the district from the case because they may have been defrauded by the DoJ prosecutors.
So far, aside from the local paper, the Sacramento Bee, it is only Sidney Powell of the New York Observer, writing in the opinion pages of that publication that has paid attention to what should be a prominent national media scandal. In brief, the Sierra Pacific Industries, a lumber producer, was accused by the federal government of starting a large wildfire, and fined $55 million, and compelled to hand over title to 22,500 acres of land. The only problem is that the prosecution was allegedly corrupt, and knowingly submitted false evidence.
In an extraordinary development, Judge England, Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, ordered the recusal of all the Eastern District judges from the case because of serious allegations that the Court itself was defrauded by the government in the original prosecution. To avoid any appearance of partiality, he has referred the case to Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Alex Kozinski to appoint a judge from outside the Eastern District to handle the case going forward. Judge Kozinski has excoriated prosecutors for failing to meet their legal and ethical obligations.

more at http://www.americanthinker.com

NYPD Cops threatened with involuntary detainment in "psychiatric emergency departments" if they became whistle-blowers.

NYPD Tapes 4: The WhistleBlower, Adrian Schoolcraft
Chad Griffith
Last Halloween, three weeks after he made allegations of misconduct in Brooklyn's 81st Precinct, Adrian Schoolcraft's career in the New York City Police Department ended in rather spectacular fashion.
On October 7, Schoolcraft had sat for three hours with an inspector, a lieutenant, and three sergeants with the Quality Assistance Division—the NYPD unit that monitors the accuracy of police reports—as they questioned him about his allegations that precinct bosses had refused to take criminal complaints and had downgraded crimes. They told him they would launch a substantial investigation.
After the meeting, Schoolcraft went about his normal work as a member of the 81st Precinct. Then, on the afternoon of October 31, he felt sick and went home about an hour early. Precinct supervisors appeared at his door hours later, claiming he had violated policy and demanding that he return to work.
Schoolcraft waits for word about his status with the NYPD.
Graham Rayman
Schoolcraft waits for word about his status with the NYPD.
One of his visitors was a deputy chief, who upbraided him while sitting on the edge of his bed. On orders from that deputy chief, Schoolcraft was then thrown to the floor, handcuffed, dragged from his Queens apartment, and taken against his will to a psychiatric ward at Jamaica Hospital. His forced hospitalization lasted six days. Police officers also removed papers from his home that documented his concerns about NYPD operations. Jamaica Hospital officials charged him $7,000 for his stay—and another $86 to obtain his own medical records.
Schoolcraft has been introduced to Voice readers as the Bed-Stuy cop who secretly taped 117 roll calls at the precinct, as well as many other conversations with his fellow cops. In our series, "The NYPD Tapes," the Voice has been making these recordings public, and they show a pattern of police downgrading crimes, intimidating crime victims, and enforcing quotas for writing tickets and performing "stop-and-frisks."
Schoolcraft also had his digital recorder rolling as his superior officers threw him to the ground and hauled him off to the mental ward. Those recordings reveal that he was rational throughout the encounter, and refused medical assistance that was then forced on him.
In addition, hospital records show that the medical staff was misled by an NYPD sergeant about the events of that day, causing doctors to treat him as a psychiatric patient.

more at http://www.villagevoice.com/2010-06-15/news/adrian-school-craft-nypd-tapes-whistleblower/


Schoolcraft's fateful digital recorder.
Schoolcraft's fateful digital recorder.

Details

The Voice presents excerpts from "The NYPD Tapes: Inside Bed-Stuy's 81st Precinct."

FEBRUARY 20, 2009
"If We Like You, You Get a Certain Thing. If We Don't Like You, You Get a Certain Thing."


In this excerpt, Adrian Schoolcraft meets with Lieutenant Rafael Mascol, who makes a series of unguarded remarks about how the NYPD rates officers.


OCTOBER 31, 2009
"What is this, Russia?"


In this recorded excerpt from Schoolcraft's apartment, deputy chief Michael Marino demands that Schoolcraft, who'd gone home early feeling sick, return to the precinct. Schoolcraft refuses.


OCTOBER 31, 2009
"Son, You Got a Choice. What Is It Gonna Be?"


Deputy chief Marino demands that Schoolcraft go to the hospital. Schoolcraft refuses. He was then thrown to the floor, handcuffed, dragged from his Queens apartment, and taken against his will to a psychiatric ward at Jamaica Hospital.


NYPD Tapes: The Series
The NYPD Tapes Part 1
Inside Bed-Stuy's 81st Precinct
The NYPD Tapes, Part 2
Bed-Stuy street cops ordered: Turn this place into a ghost town
The NYPD Tapes, Part 3
A Detective Comes Forward About Downgraded Sexual Assaults

Follow continuing coverage of the NYPD Tapes here at our Runnin' Scared blog.

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Richard Gage, founder of Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth, will be hosting an AMA on Friday, October 24, at 2pm EST

Join us on October 24th for a /r/conspiracy AMA with Richard Gage of Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth.

Here's their website, ae911truth.org.

Richard Gage may not be the only person participating, but we won't know until next week if he'll be joined by anyone else.

Special thanks to /u/Lookingfortruths for the idea and /u/AE911Truth for helping us put this together.

See you Friday!

 http://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/2jl6fy/richard_gage_founder_of_architects_engineers_for/

The Imperative of Revolt








By Chris Hedges
  Protesters chant as they are arrested at the intersection of Wall Street and Broad Street in New York on Sept. 22. The protesters, many of whom were affiliated with Occupy Wall Street, were pointing to the connection between capitalism and environmental destruction. AP/Seth Wenig
TORONTO—I met with Sheldon S. Wolin in Salem, Ore., and John Ralston Saul in Toronto and asked the two political philosophers the same question. If, as Saul has written, we have undergone a corporate coup d’état and now live under a species of corporate dictatorship that Wolin calls “inverted totalitarianism,” if the internal mechanisms that once made piecemeal and incremental reform possible remain ineffective, if corporate power retains its chokehold on our economy and governance, including our legislative bodies, judiciary and systems of information, and if these corporate forces are able to use the security and surveillance apparatus and militarized police forces to criminalize dissent, how will change occur and what will it look like?
Wolin, who wrote the books “Politics and Vision” and “Democracy Incorporated,” and Saul, who wrote “Voltaire’s Bastards” and “The Unconscious Civilization,” see democratic rituals and institutions, especially in the United States, as largely a facade for unchecked global corporate power. Wolin and Saul excoriate academics, intellectuals and journalists, charging they have abrogated their calling to expose abuses of power and give voice to social criticism; they instead function as echo chambers for elites, courtiers and corporate systems managers. Neither believes the current economic system is sustainable. And each calls for mass movements willing to carry out repeated acts of civil disobedience to disrupt and delegitimize corporate power.
“If you continue to go down the wrong road, at a certain point something happens,” Saul said during our meeting Wednesday in Toronto, where he lives. “At a certain point when the financial system is wrong it falls apart. And it did. And it will fall apart again.”
“The collapse started in 1973,” Saul continued. “There were a series of sequential collapses afterwards. The fascinating thing is that between 1850 and 1970 we put in place all sorts of mechanisms to stop collapses which we can call liberalism, social democracy or Red Toryism. It was an understanding that we can’t have boom-and-bust cycles. We can’t have poverty-stricken people. We can’t have starvation. The reason today’s collapses are not leading to what happened in the 18th century and the 19th century is because all these safety nets, although under attack, are still in place. But each time we have a collapse we come out of it stripping more of the protection away. At a certain point we will find ourselves back in the pre-protection period. At that point we will get a collapse that will be incredibly dramatic. I have no idea what it will look like. A revolution from the left? A revolution from the right? Is it violence followed by state violence? Is it the collapse of the last meaningful edges of democracy? Is it a sudden decision by a critical mass of people that they are not going to take it anymore?”
This devolution of the economic system has been accompanied by corporations’ seizure of nearly all forms of political and social power. The corporate elite, through a puppet political class and compliant intellectuals, pundits and press, still employs the language of a capitalist democracy. But what has arisen is a new kind of control, inverted totalitarianism, which Wolin brilliantly dissects in his book “Democracy Incorporated.”
Inverted totalitarianism does not replicate past totalitarian structures, such as fascism and communism. It is therefore harder to immediately identify and understand. There is no blustering demagogue. There is no triumphant revolutionary party.

MORE AT  http://www.truthdig.com/report/print/the_imperative_of_revolt_20141019

Friday, October 17, 2014

Mike Rivero on the so called "suicide" of Bruce E. Ivins

American microbiologist, vaccinologist,[1] senior biodefense researcher at the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), Fort Detrick, Maryland, and the key suspect in the 2001 anthrax attacks.[2]

Monday, October 13, 2014

Israel Corp. will spin-off its "less-profitable assets", including Zim Shipping, #BlockTheBoat




(Reuters) - Israel Corp will list a company comprising some of its less profitable assets in Tel Aviv and New York and inject about $100 million into the business, it said on Monday.
Israel Corp, one of Israel's largest conglomerates, has planned to split into two companies for more than a year in an attempt to boost the value of its core businesses and attract a broader range of investors.
Under its plan, Israel Corp will continue to hold two of its most lucrative and stable companies -- potash and speciality chemicals maker Israel Chemicals (ICL) and Oil Refineries, Israel's biggest refinery.

On Monday, it detailed plans for the spin-off company, Singapore-incorporated Kenon Holdings.

 http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/13/israel-corp-ceo-idUSL6N0S826G20141013

‘The Daily Show’ Brings the Disturbing Reality of Police Shootings #Shaw #FergusonOctober #shawshooting #Ferguson #MichaelBrown #VonderrickMyers

Their report, while funny, is no laughing matter. Watch the video below to see exactly how broken this system is.

Read more at http://thefreethoughtproject.com/the-daily-show-brings-disturbing-reality-police-shootings-mainstream/#02f2Hsh4s9CXtgh2.99

LISTEN: Automated calls sent to residents telling them neighbour has deadly Ebola virus

HUNDREDS of people received an automated phone call letting them know one of their neighbours was suffering from the deadly and infectious Ebola disease. http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/522220/Ebola-automated-call-Dallas-nurse

'Ebola Crisis' Hoax CONFIRMED?? CNN+NYT Caught Red Handed!!!

The so called "Ebola Crisis" is a SCAM for the VACCINE AGENDA! SPREAD THIS VIDEO!!!!!
OFFERED FOR A WELL DESERVED DEBATE.

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Teacher’s Plastic Sword On ‘Talk Like A Pirate Day’ Caused FOUR-SCHOOL LOCKDOWN

fracas occurred in the small town of Richlands, N.C. on International Talk Like A Pirate Day — Sept. 19 (every year). Full details concerning the lockdown have only come out this week, however, according to local ABC affiliate WCTI.
Richlands Elementary School was the first school to be locked down, just after 10 a.m., after a cafeteria staffer saw a “suspicious person.”
Specifically, explains a sheriff’s office report released Wednesday, the food service worker saw the teacher dressed up as a pirate and mistook the plastic sword part of the costume as a gun.
Richlands Elementary School had been celebrating pirates all week, area NBC affiliate WITN reports. Nevertheless, the cafeteria worker called the school office about the “suspicious person.”
“Shiver me timbers!”
MORE