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Canada unveils first cannabis-dispensing machine, no ID required


RT
Wed, 07 May 2014 08:46 UTC
Image
© YouTube by user@Chuck Varabioff
The first cannabis-dispensing machine in Canada has begun operating in Vancouver, following on from the first machine installed recently in the US state of Colorado. The difference? The Canadian machine doesn't ID you.

Despite the controversy surrounding the plant and the endless bickering that has marked the discourse around it, the machine looks strangely ordinary and even less threatening than a cigarette pack, with big green leaves and certainly no indication that it contains something that is so hotly debated.

"We put it in the vending machine to cut down on theft and handling," says Chuck Varabioff, of the BC Pain Society, the dispensary where the machine was installed. "It's packaged up and sealed professionally. So you come in, you buy your product, it's fresh, it's quick and easy, and you're out of here in minutes."

The box contains a whole host of strains and flavors that are sure to trigger people's memories of films containing the plant: "Purple Kush, Bubba Kush," and a range of sativa and indica strains.

The product is sold in quantities slightly bigger than an eighth of an ounce (3.7 grams) and the machine only accepts cash.
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Bulb

European Parliament deputy from Latvia petitions European Commission to list Right Sector as terrorist organization


ITAR-TASS News Agency
Wed, 07 May 2014 08:55 UTC
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4 thousand ultra-right militants brought to Odessa — Russia’s Civic Chamber official
Tatyana Zhdanok says the Ukrainian interim government will have to finally draw a clear line between political organizations and far-right extremists

European Parliament deputy from Latvia Tatyana Zhdanok has requested fellow MPs to support her demand that the European Commission (EC) includes the radical movement Right Sector in the list of terrorist organizations, Zhdanok's press office told ITAR-TASS on Wednesday.

If the request is satisfied, bank accounts of this organization and all its members will be frozen, the radicals will not be able to enter EU countries, while governments of different countries will cooperate for political isolation and detention of the militants. However, Zhdanok believes "it is the Ukrainian interim government that is to bear the main responsibility for defeating the Right Sector, as it will have to finally draw a clear line between political organizations and far-right extremists".

"This line is now vague, and a number of state posts are occupied by radicals of fascist views, their reputation besmirched with participation in violent actions against their opponents or law enforcement authorities," Zhdanok added.

"After the appalling tragedy in Odessa, where Right Sector militants burnt 43 supporters of Ukraine's federalization alive, the need to prohibit the Right Sector became evident. And an ordinary ban on its activities is inadequate here - there is a need to defeat this extremist organization, disarming its militants, arresting activists and court trial," the deputy said.
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Dollar Gold

U.S. world government is gonna getcha: Under pressure, tax havens Switzerland and Singapore agree to share tax information


RT
Tue, 06 May 2014 08:51 UTC
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© Reuters / Arnd WiegmannBank for International Settlements (BIS) in Basel, Switzerland
Switzerland and Singapore have both agreed to share data and tax information under a groundbreaking new treaty signed by some 47 nations worldwide.

"It's clearly the end of bank secrecy abused for tax purposes," OECD tax director Pascal Saint-Amans told reporters in Paris on Tuesday

Switzerland and Singapore are renowned for their status as massive offshore financial centers. Their signing up is considered to be a giant step in an escalating battle against international tax evasion.

Switzerland has some $2 trillion in assets and more than 300 private banks. However, Singapore is a close second and a study released last year showed that experts believe that the country will soon overtake Switzerland as regulations increase in severity.
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Map

Scientologist Republic of Bulgravia: The Church of Scientology wanted a 'Balkan Holy Land'

Lily Lynch
Balkanist.net
Tue, 27 Aug 2013 07:50 UTC
Inside the Church of Scientology's secret (and aborted) mission to bring several Balkan countries under its dominion
Bulgravia poster
© Áron Birtalan
When it comes to the Church of Scientology, no fiction could ever trump reality in terms of sheer bizarreness. Perhaps nowhere is this fact more evident than in the revelation that the church had a completely delusional plan to unite the countries of Bulgaria, Greece, Albania, and the entire former Yugoslavia into a single, Scientology-controlled megastate.

Like the voice booming from Ezekiel 37:22-24 ("I will unite them into one land on the mountains of Israel. They will have one King to rule over them, and they will no longer be divided into nations or split into Kingdoms"), the followers of Dianetics and Scientology leader David Miscavige sought a Holy Land of their own. No Hollywood screenplay writer could ever imagine the totalitarian nightmare of a Hollywood Holy Land, even if that screenplay writer was a Scientologist (and we all know there are plenty of those). Let's take a look back at the terrifying, Xenu-fearing dystopia that never was, and breathe a collective sigh of relief that the only terrain Scientology controls today is Hollywood.

Comment: Scientologist leaders in Ukraine and Slovakia? The Charge of the Scientology Brigade

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Eye 1

Pentagon: We made Afghan corruption worse


RT
Wed, 07 May 2014 08:19 UTC
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© AFP Photo / Bay Ismoyo
Despite the initial belief that the United States would leave behind a competent governing body in Afghanistan, a new report by the Joint Chiefs of Staff found that the military contributed significantly to increased corruption in the country.

According to the Center for Public Integrity - a nonprofit investigative news outlet - senior military officers have filed a report with the Joint Chiefs walking through some of the Pentagon's mistakes in Afghanistan. One important takeaway from the report is that corruption by public officials was a problem even at the start of the US' presence in Afghanistan, and was made worse by American willingness to pour money into the nation without proper oversight.

"Corruption alienates key elements of the population, discredits the government and security forces, undermines international support, subverts state functions and rule of law, robs the state of revenue, and creates barriers to economic growth," the report stated.

By the end of its study, the military came away with a few important conclusions, noting that the US embrace of Afghan warlords at the start of the war helped keep in place a corrupt leadership force.

"The US' initial support of warlords, reliance on logistics contracting, and the deluge of military and aid spending which overwhelmed the absorptive capacity of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (GIRoA) created an environment that fostered corruption and impeded later [anti-corruption] efforts," the report reads.
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Cult

Scientologist leaders in Ukraine and Slovakia? The Charge of the Scientology Brigade

Wayne Madsen
Strategic Culture Fountation
Tue, 01 Apr 2014 07:30 UTC
Arseniy Yatsenyuk
© UnknownArseniy Yatsenyuk
The almost simultaneous rise to power of Arseniy Yatsenyuk as the acting prime minister of Ukraine and Andrej Kiska as president of Slovakia has prompted fears that the secretive U.S.-based Church of Scientology is making a power grab in Central and Eastern Europe.

Scientology's founder, L. Ron Hubbard, a writer of science fiction yarns, began his religious sect in 1954. Many disgruntled members of the so-called «church» later claimed that Hubbard's interest was hardly ethereal. They claimed he sought to enrich himself by misusing the tax-exemptions granted to religious organizations by the U.S. tax code. Other critics of the church charged that Hubbard was working with the Central Intelligence Agency's MK-ULTRA program and used his church as a cover for the agency's mind control operations

One thing cannot be debated about Scientology and that is the sect's propensity for secrecy surrounding its operations and ultimate goals. Whenever the sect, or «cult» as some allege, is in the news, there is an effort by Scientology's leadership to silence critics through intimidation, manipulation of social media like Wikipedia, and ensuring its members adhere to total secrecy.

Comment: Scientologist Republic of Bulgravia: The Church of Scientology wanted a 'Balkan Holy Land'

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Bomb

Footage: Huge explosion levels Aleppo Hotel in Syria


Youtube/The Telegraph
Thu, 08 May 2014 07:05 UTC
Footage purports to show moment an Aleppo hotel and several other buildings are flattened by a 'huge explosion'

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Vader

Oy Vey! Netanyahu's 'destruction of Israel' mantra

John V. Whitbeck
Al Jazeera
Sun, 04 May 2014 06:52 UTC
Bibi bomb
When, in response to the threat of potential Palestinian reconciliation and unity, the Israeli government suspended "negotiations" with the Palestine Liberation Organization on April 24 (five days before they were due to terminate in any event), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office issued a statement asserting: "Instead of choosing peace, Abu Mazen formed an alliance with a murderous terrorist organisation that calls for the destruction of Israel."

In a series of related media appearances, Netanyahu hammered repeatedly on the "destruction of Israel" theme as a way of blaming Palestine for the predictable failure of the latest round of the seemingly perpetual "peace process".

The extreme subjectivity of the epithet "terrorist" has been highlighted by two recent absurdities - the Egyptian military regime's labelling of the Muslim Brotherhood, which has won all Egyptian elections since the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak, as a "terrorist" organisation and the labelling by the de facto Ukrainian authorities, who came to power through illegally occupying government buildings in Kiev, of those opposing them by illegally occupying government buildings in eastern Ukraine as "terrorists". In both cases, those who have overthrown democratically elected governments are labelling those who object to their coups as "terrorists".
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Holly

Putin takes responsiblity for West's mess in Ukraine, unilaterally orders Russian military away from border, sets out roadmap for peace


RT
Thu, 08 May 2014 04:28 UTC
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© Reuters/Marko DjuricArmed men in Ukrainian military uniforms stand guard beside an armoured personnel carrier at a checkpoint in Mariupol, eastern Ukraine May 7, 2014.
Moscow's call on pro-federalization protesters in Ukraine to postpone the referendums was welcomed by the West and Kiev, yet they still do not recognize the need to halt the military op in southeast as a prerequisite for national dialogue and elections.

Ukraine presidential hopeful Pyotr Poroshenko (UDAR Party) has welcomed President Vladimir Putin's statements, saying that the situation significantly improved following the news from Moscow. "We have an appeal to stop an illegal referendum, Russia accepting presidential elections. I think this is great news for stabilizing the situation in eastern Ukraine," Poroshenko told reporters in Berlin.

On Wednesday, Putin called the presidential election in Ukraine, now scheduled for May 25, "a move in the right direction" adding however it would mean nothing unless all citizens of Ukraine have a full understanding of how their rights would be guaranteed afterwards.

The direct dialogue between Kiev and representatives of the southeastern regions is the "key element" of settling the conflict, Putin said, supported on this by the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Swiss President Didier Burkhalter. In order to "create the necessary conditions for this dialogue," Putin urged rescheduling of the referendum planned by anti-government protesters to determine the future of southeastern Ukraine.
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Star of David

Sanctions against Israel hijacked by the "western left" - detrimental to long-term Palestinian interests?


5Pillarz.com
Fri, 25 Apr 2014 16:17 UTC
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© 5Pillarz.comDoes BDS sideline armed resistance, which many Palestinians remain committed to?
The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement - which calls for a commercial, cultural and political boycott of Israel - is championed by most pro-Palestinian activists as a major asset in the struggle against the Zionist entity.

Israel itself is becoming incresingly vocal in its condemnation of it which has led many to conclude that Tel Aviv considers it as a major threat.

But Kashif Iqbal, a masters student at SOAS, argues that BDS has been hijacked by the "western left" and has become very detrimental to long-term Palestinian interests.

Not only does BDS accept the terms of the Zionists, it seems to spend most its time trying to "look innocent" according to Western and Zionist norms. Hence the people behind the movement spend more time condemning Palestinians for being "anti semitic" or "homophobic" than they do condemning Zionist policies - I remember one of the movement's latest articles claiming that the struggle must be against homophobia within in the movement as much as it is against Israeli occupation!
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