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French leading telecom company Orange convicted over employee suicides, former CEO sentenced to prison

Nicolas Vaux-Montagny
Associated Press
Fri, 20 Dec 2019 00:00 UTC
Former France Telecom CEO Didier Lombard
© AP Photo/Michel Euler
Former France Telecom CEO Didier Lombard arrives at Paris' courthouse. French telecommunications powerhouse Orange is facing a potentially landmark court ruling Friday on whether it was responsible for dozens of employee suicides.
France's leading phone and internet provider Orange was found guilty Friday of a string of employee suicides and its former CEO was sentenced to prison, in a landmark ruling against a major European telecommunications player.

Orange was ordered to pay around 3.5 million euros ($3.8 million) in fines and damages to scores of families, employees and others party to the case, over suicides and other problems in the 2000s while the company was shedding thousands of jobs.

Emotion gripped families and friends of those who had killed themselves as judges read out the lengthy verdict — relief, but also renewed grief as they revisited their loss.

Orange, which was called France Telecom at the time, is France's first big company to be tried on a charge of institutionalized "collective moral harassment," so the ruling could open up the possibility for other companies to face similar legal challenges.

Comment: While we won't comment on the judiciousness of this decision, we note that this is something that would never happen in the anglosphere. There really is a marked cultural difference between the 'western West' and the 'eastern West'.

See also:

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Cross

#Resistance has 'come to Christ' moment after influential evangelical magazine pens scathing article supporting impeachment


RT
Fri, 20 Dec 2019 14:36 UTC
Trump at church
© Reuters / Jonathan Ernst
An incense-bearer passes by President Donald Trump and the first lady at a Christmas Eve church service at the National Cathedral in Washington.
Critics of US President Donald Trump have found an unlikely ally in Christianity Today - a popular evangelical magazine - after its top editor wrote a blistering column calling for the commander-in-chief's removal from office.

Taking aim at the president for "profoundly immoral" conduct, the magazine's editor-in-chief Mark Galli insisted impeachment was the right move, getting behind a Democrat-led effort still unfolding in Washington.

"This president has dumbed down the idea of morality in his administration," Galli wrote. "He has hired and fired a number of people who are now convicted criminals [and] admitted to immoral actions in business and his relationship with women."

"We believe the impeachment hearings have made it absolutely clear... that President Trump has abused his authority for personal gain and betrayed his constitutional oath."

Comment: Perhaps Trump should respond by removing Christianity Today's tax privileges on the grounds that they are politically motivated.

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Star of David

Elite New York school is rocked by anti-Semitism claims after swastikas daubed on walls

Morgan Phillips
Fox News
Fri, 20 Dec 2019 16:58 UTC
Fieldston school
Jewish parents at an elite New York private school are outraged over what they say is growing anti-Semitism on campus and an apathetic administration that refuses to address the issue.

Parents at the $52,993-a-year Fieldston School in New York City recently told Tablet Magazine they've experienced a bias that has been escalating since 2015. Each of the episodes, they claim, has been downplayed or ignored by school leadership; meanwhile, much attention is devoted to similar bias incidents against students of color or groups identifying by gender or ethnicity.

Many Jewish families at Fieldston's main campus in the Riverdale neighborhood in the Bronx trace the problem back to the school's Affinity Group program, which rolled out in 2015. The new mandatory part of the curriculum asked parents of students in third through fifth grades to tell their children they would need to select a group based on how that student defined their identity.

Over the course of a semester, parents were told students would be segregated into groups based on a single selection from a set of options: African American or Black, Asian or Pacific Islander, Latino, Multiracial, White, or "Not Sure," which consisted of "a cross-racial dialogue group" designed to make "your child feel more comfortable," according to Tablet.
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Syringe

Western countries top WADA's latest list of sports doping countries, NOT Russia


RT
Fri, 20 Dec 2019 16:29 UTC

Comment: More evidence that Western liberals are leading a racist cultural war against Russians.


Lance Armstrong

"I'm a cyclist, I'm a winner. Things are gonna change, I can feel it."
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has published its annual Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs) report revealing the countries with the most doping violations in 2017 - with Italy, France and the USA topping the list.

The report says that a total of 1,804 doping cases were recorded in 2017, indicating 13.1% increase of violations in comparison with figures registered in 2016.


Comment: Clearly, it's a growing problem GLOBALLY.


"1,459 of the ADRVs came out of Adverse Analytical Findings (AAFs), commonly known as 'positive' results. The remainder were derived from investigations and evidence-based intelligence into 317 violations committed by athletes and 28 by athlete support personnel," WADA said.

Out of almost 2,000 detected doping cases, the majority of violations fell within endurance and power-demanding sports: bodybuilding, athletics and cycling.

The newly published list is topped by cycling power-house Italy, which has 51 out of 171 cases recorded in the bicycle racing sport.

Comment: And that doesn't take into account WADA's legal doping loophole, which is used almost exclusively by Western athletes:

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Handcuffs

Cyprus police arrest 3 employees of Israeli-owned firm on spying charges


Haaretz
Thu, 19 Dec 2019 11:51 UTC
The probe was launched in November after reports that a van crammed with sophisticated surveillance technology was used to spy on people on the island
surveilance van
© Yiannis Kourtoglou/ Reuters
A van confiscated in the city of Larnaca is seen parked in the Police Headquartes in Nicosia, Cyprus November 17, 2019.
Cyprus police on Thursday arrested three employees of a high-tech surveillance equipment company owned by an Israeli former intelligence officer amid a probe of the firm's business activities.

Police said the two men and one woman, ages 30, 35 and 41, were under investigation for suspected breaches of private communication and personal data laws.

They face 13 possible charges, including conspiracy to commit a criminal act and obtaining registration under false pretenses, Cyprus police said.

All three are due to appear in court on Friday for a custody hearing.

Police launched a probe of the company, Cyprus-registered WiSpear, following reports that alleged a van supposedly crammed with sophisticated surveillance technology was used to spy on people on the east Mediterranean island nation.

Comment: From an article in CTECH from last October, we learn that other people have grievances against Dillian's nefarious business deals:
A business squabble between several partners at a small cybersecurity startup called Senpai Technologies Ltd. led them to approach retired Israeli colonel Tal Dillian, a well-known investor and key figure in the Israeli tech industry, for help in resolving the dispute. The partners did not imagine Dillian would make matters much worse, so much so that they all ended up in court.

In a lawsuit filed with Tel Aviv district court earlier this week, Jonathan Lampert, Eric Banoun, and Roy Shloman allege that their partners Guy David and Omri Raiter ״stole״ the company they founded together. They further claim via their legal representation, Eran Spindel of Spindel & Co., that Dillian, who entered the picture only recently, was the one who completed their ousting and stripped them of their monetary compensation.

According to the filing, the relationship between the plaintiffs and their partners started four years ago, when Lampert, Banoun, and Shloman joined David and Raiter to found cyber intelligence company Senpai. It was decided that David will receive a 35% stake in the company and serve as its CEO and Raiter will also receive 35% and serve as the chief technology officer. Shloman, Lampert, and Banoun were each to receive 9%, with Shloman set to serve as vice president of sales position and the other two having no official role but agreeing to scout for clients and partnerships.

The plaintiffs allege that while they had done their part, bringing in deals worth $10 million, David and Raiter were plotting to take over the company, hiding information and leading to the "evaporation" of those millions without granting the other three access to the financial reports. The plaintiffs further allege that shortly after Senpai was formed, Raiter set up a private company of his own in Cyprus and transferred some of Senpai's business under its control without the knowledge or approval of the other partners.

Shloman, Lampert, and Banoun have stated in the lawsuit that after a long stalemate with the defendants, they offered David and Raiter two options: full transparency, or bringing in a new shareholder who will acquire part of the company and treat all partners objectively and fairly. The second option was selected. Shloman, Lampert, and Banoun offered to bring in Rayzone Group Ltd., which will invest according to a company valuation of $15 million to $20 million. David and Raiter refused and offered Dillian instead.

Dillian held several positions in the Israeli infantry before being appointed to head the intelligence corps' tech unit. During his tenure, a military police investigation was opened against him due to financial irregularities, which eventually led to his retirement. The offer to add him as an investor surprised Shloman, Lampert, and Banoun, they said. According to the lawsuit, Banoun and Dillian were previously acquainted, having been partners at Circles Technologies, and the three already contacted him with a similar offer and were turned down. Understanding they were outmaneuvered, they allegedly agreed to sell Dillian their shares according to a company valuation of $12 million. Lampert was to receive $1.2 million, while Shloman and Banoun agreed to exchange their stock for shares of Dillian's cybersecurity company Intellexa Ltd.

Shloman received notice about his termination in May. The three were supposed to receive their compensation in June, but that never happened. The lawsuit quotes a Whatsapp conversation where Dillian asked Banoun to get Lampert "off his back." The company is bankrupt and insolvent, it is worth nothing on the market, Dillian is cited as saying. After writing that he is infusing the company with money to ensure its survival, Dillan allegedly told Banoun that "someone should explain to Jonathan (Lampert) that I am doing him a favor."

The three then discovered Senpai was listed on Intellexa's website as part of its group. After unsuccessful attempts to contact the representation of David, Raiter, and Dillian, the three were notified at the beginning of October that Senpai's operations were frozen. They were also told that their shares will be diluted unless they infuse the company with money.

In their lawsuit, Shloman, Lampert, and Banoun state that they do not know whether the decision to defraud them was premeditated or decided upon after Dillian was added as an investor, but that they believe he has taken part in a scheme with David and Raiter with the intention of divesting Senpai of its operations.
See also,

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Yellow Vest

France's transport unions reject holiday truce if pension reforms are not cancelled


Malay Mail
Wed, 18 Dec 2019 09:37 UTC
France Rail
© AFP / Christophe Archambault
French trade unions failed yesterday to achieve the big surge in support they had hoped for in street protests to pressure President Emmanuel Macron to ditch his pension reform, and said there would be no strike truce during Christmas.

France's transport networks were crippled and schools shut on a thirteenth day of strikes, but there was not the pick-up in faltering momentum that union chiefs had hoped for in nationwide protests, even as private-sector workers joined in.

In Paris, police fired tear gas and charged to disperse demonstrators from the Place de la Nation, though there was none of the rioting and looting that marked the "yellow vest" protests against high living costs late last year.

Comment: See also: France's nationwide strikes enter 7th day, protesters not ready to back down in the face of Macron's controversial pension reform

And check out SOTT radio's:

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NPC

2019 - The Year of Manufactured Hysteria

CJ Hopkins
Consent Factory, Inc
Wed, 18 Dec 2019 06:45 UTC
hysteria
Well, it looks like we've somehow managed to survive another year of diabolical Putin-Nazi attacks on democracy.

It was touch-and-go there for a while, especially coming down the home stretch, what with Jeremy Corbyn's desperate attempt to overthrow the UK government, construct a British version of Auschwitz, and start rounding up and mass-murdering the Jews.

That was certainly pretty scary ... but then, the whole year was pretty scary.

The horror began promptly in early January, when Rachel Maddow revealed that Putin was projecting words out of Trump's mouth in real-time, i.e., literally using Trump's head like a puppet, or one of those Mission Impossible masks. And that was just the tip of the iceberg, as, despite the best efforts of Integrity Initiative, Bellingcat, and other such establishment psyops, Internet-censoring sites like NewsGuard, and an army of mass hysteria generators, Putin's legion of Russian "influencers" was continuing to maliciously influence Americans, who were probably also still under attack by brain-eating Russian-Cubano crickets!

While Resistance members were still wrapping their heads in anti-cricket aluminum foil, Putin (i.e., Russian Hitler) ordered Trump (i.e., Russian-asset Hitler) to launch a coup in Venezuela (i.e., Russian Hitler's South American ally), probably to distract us from "Smirkboy Hitler" and his acne-faced gang of MAGA cap-wearing Catholic high-school Hitler Youth, who were trying to invade and Hitlerize the capital. Or maybe the coup was meant to distract us from the un-American activities of Bernie Sanders, who had also been deemed a Russian asset, or a devious "Kremlin-Trump operation," or was working with Tulsi Gabbard to build an army of blood-drinking Hindu nationalists, genocidal Assadists, and American fascists to help the Iranians (and the Russians, of course, and presumably also Jeremy Corbyn) frontally assault the State of Israel and drive the Jews into the sea.
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Eye 1

Epstein will never face justice but victims could still get some relief, judge says

Jay Weaver and Julie K. Brown
Miami Herald
Mon, 16 Sep 2019 01:12 UTC
Jeffrey Epstein
© Miami Herald
Sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in his New York jail cell. The medical examiner ruled it a suicide.
Two women who in February convinced a judge that South Florida federal prosecutors violated the rights of Jeffrey Epstein's underage sex victims a decade earlier aren't eligible for any major relief, according to a new ruling issued Monday.

The relief they wanted was to have the original charges against Epstein restored.

The reason they won't get that: Epstein, 66, died last month.

But U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra left open the possibility that another request by the victims could be fulfilled. They want to meet with prosecutors and get an explanation for why the U.S. Attorney's Office in South Florida didn't seek a sex trafficking indictment against Epstein and why they kept the status of the case secret from the victims.

Attorneys for the victims had wanted Epstein's decade-old non-prosecution agreement with the feds formally rescinded because it protected not just the wealthy investor but also people close to him who were suspected of recruiting underage girls for sex at his Palm Beach mansion. And because the victims were deliberately kept in the dark.

Comment: See also:

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Bullseye

Testimonies from the Syrian people: "What does the American government have against us?"

Janice Kortkamp and Mark Taliano
Global Research
Wed, 18 Dec 2019 00:00 UTC
Syrian Arab Army
© Mideast Discourse
Rania Akhrass "if death will come in 5 years or 7 or 10 I would urge it to come now because they have ripped us up of all hopes for any foreseen future... they have killed us while we are still breathing, they have taken any shred of dignity pushing us to strive for our daily bread ... I wonder what else they may ask for if we keep compromising ...."

1. Ayham Al-Shaer: I wonder what does the American Government have against the Syrian people and for what reason we are being punished?!

We've never been a threat to anyone, never hated anyone and certainly never been against Americans.

Now about the petrol crisis, we had a harsh winter, but we managed to overcome the cold. Now we face lack of Gasoline and most cars stay in queues for about two days on Gas stations to get about 20 liters a week.

2. حياة عواد : I do not understand this American intransigence ... Why do they want to kill us? We love our country and we do not want to leave it. My young son lost this 20 year old damned war Why does America support terrorism to earn money at the expense of people? The killing of my son I accused him is the one who helped the terrorists and killed our children and today we are counting on the top of our lives Yes, gasoline is the main source of movement Mechanisms, factories and cars ... Also heating Thousands of children have been hurt because of the cold and the children of their sons ... The livelihoods of people working on cars and engines Small and electricity .... why not talk The American people as long as they sleep in democracy ... Hands for living in dignity in our country We have not attacked you ... Let us live in peace ... ...

Thank you janice...
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Red Flag

More hypocrisy and censorship disguised as advice for 'combating disinformation'

Nebojsa Malic
RT
Fri, 20 Dec 2019 01:56 UTC
thought police
© Unknown
There is actually some good advice in the Democratic National Committee's five suggestions for avoiding "disinformation" online. Too bad it's buried in hypocrisy and promotion of literal disinformation shops, grifters and frauds.

On Tuesday, as Democrats launched their final impeachment push in the House of Representatives, the DNC posted a set of recommendations to its followers to protect themselves from "disinformation." While the jokes about flogging the dead horse of 'Russiagate' write themselves at this point, some of the advice offered is actually quite solid.

For instance, it makes perfect sense to actively seek out information from multiple sources. The DNC spoils it, however, by insisting the sources have to be "authoritative." As in what, approved by the Party? Well, no, merely by the self-appointed gatekeepers such as MediaBiasFactCheck and NewsGuard.

Comment: See also

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