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Disgraceful cop tricks autistic student into selling weed - corrupt court denies family justice

Justin Gardner
Free Thought Project
Mon, 04 Jan 2016 14:02 UTC
Jesse Snodgrass
Simply put, the War on Drugs is a war on people. One of the more despicable ways in which it manifests is the manipulation of vulnerable school kids by undercover cops. These "drug stings," better known as entrapment, typically prey on special needs students who have a hard time making friends.

The case of Jesse Snodgrass, a student at Chaparral High School with autism, bipolar disorder and social problems, recently gained attention again when a Riverside County Superior Court Judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by Jesse's family against the school district.
"The suit alleged that the Temecula Valley Unified School District had breached its mandatory duties by allowing a deputy from the Riverside County Sheriff's Department to manipulate Snodgrass - a friendless student who had bipolar disorder, trouble keeping up with conversations and a history of being bullied - as part of an undercover drug sting."

Comment: What kind of world is it when cops have nothing better to do than entrap special needs children and then arrest them on felony drug charges ensuring that their futures are ruined?

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Che Guevara

The Chavez legacy: By popular demand Venezuela passes law banning GMOs

William Camacaro, Frederick B. Mills, Christina M. Schiavoni
Counterpunch
Fri, 01 Jan 2016 00:00 UTC
Farmer, Cooperativa Aracal in the State of Yaracuy.
© Fred Mills
Farmer, Cooperativa Aracal in the State of Yaracuy.
The National Assembly of Venezuela, in its final session before a neoliberal dominated opposition takes the helm of legislative power on January 5, passed one of the most progressive seed laws in the world on December 23, 2015; it was promptly signed into law by President Nicolas Maduro. On December 29, during his television show, "In Contact with Maduro, number 52," Maduro said that the new seed law provides the conditions to produce food "under an agro-ecological model that respects the pacha mama (mother earth) and the right of our children to grow up healthy, eating healthy." The law is a victory for the international movements for agroecology and food sovereignty because it bans transgenic (GMO) seed while protecting local seed from privatization. The law is also a product of direct participatory democracy - the people as legislator - in Venezuela, because it was hammered out through a deliberative partnership between members of the country's National Assembly and a broad-based grassroots coalition of eco-socialist, peasant, and agroecological oriented organizations and institutions. This essay provides an overview of the phenomenon of people as legislator, a summary of the new Seed Law, and an appendix with an unofficial translation of some of the articles of the law.

Comment: Viva Venezuela! See also: Venezuela's election and the Revolution that will not be undone

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Star of David

Sickening: Two 'innocent' Arab-Israelis booted from Greek plane after Jewish passengers cry 'terrorists'


RT
Tue, 05 Jan 2016 16:59 UTC
Aegean jet
© wikipedia.org
Greek company Aegean Airlines says it was forced to make two Arab-Israelis disembark from a flight, after two Jewish passengers accused them of being terrorists and incited other passengers to demand their departure.

An argument broke out between the Arab and Jewish men on Monday's return of a tourist flight to Tel Aviv from Athens, and lasted for an hour. Aegean said that their crew could not follow the row in Hebrew, but that the Jewish men appealed "very vocally and persistently" to conduct additional security checks on the Arabs.

The background check produced no red flags, and the crew returned, attempting to get the parties to simmer down, with the plane running over an hour behind schedule.
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Handcuffs

California narcotics cop responsible for putting nonviolent people in prison for drugs arrested with $2 million worth of pot

John Vibes
The Free Thought Project
Tue, 05 Jan 2016 00:00 UTC
Christopher M. Heath, CA cop busted pot
A California police officer was recently busted after driving 247 pounds of marijuana all the way across the country. Yuba County Deputy Christopher M. Heath was caught in York, Pennsylvania with a shipment of marijuana that was worth over $2 million. Heath was reportedly on vacation from his job at the Yuba County Police Department at the time of his arrest.

The York County Police Department has been cautiously silent about the investigation, and they have refused to comment on the details of the arrest, and how they became aware of the shipment.

York County District Attorney Tom Kearney admitted at a recent press conference that this arrest was a part of a large investigation that included various different police departments. Penn Township Police, West Manheim Township Police, Hanover Police, Northern York County Regional Police, York Area Regional Police, Springettsbury Township Police and the York barracks of Pennsylvania State Police were all involved in the arrest and present at the press conference.

Comment: This is hardly an isolated incident and underscores the systemic corruption within the US, particularly among those involved in the farcical war on drugs:

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Arrow Down

Whatever happened to 'Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free'? DHS begins mass deportations of Central American families


RT
Mon, 04 Jan 2016 20:08 UTC
deportation, us immigration, undocumented immigrants
© Aly Song / Reuters
The US Department of Homeland Security has made good on its late-2015 promise of mass deportations of undocumented immigrants from Central America. Immigration enforcement officers detained 121 people, mostly in Georgia, Texas and North Carolina.

Eleven families were part of the weekend deportation operation, which targeted people caught crossing the US-Mexico border after May 1, 2014. The families have been issued final orders of removal by a federal immigration court and have no further opportunities for appeal or prolonged legal action.

On Saturday, at least five families in the Atlanta area were detained, including Ana Lizeth Mejia, 30, and her 9-year-old son, according to reports. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents entered the home of Mejia's aunt, Joanna Gutierrez, claiming they were seeking a man Gutierrez did not know. After searching her home, the agents asked about Mejia, who had fled Honduras in the summer of 2014 after her brother was killed by a gang, according to the Los Angeles Times. Mejia had attended every court date, and was wearing a court-ordered ankle monitor, Gutierrez said.

"Why abuse a person who is already in the control of the court?" Gutierrez said.

Comment: The cruel treatment of these families by US authorities only underscores the psychopathic nature of the entire government and their callous disregard for those whose only crime is desiring a life free of violence, extreme poverty and hunger, as a result of this same regime's malevolent policies in Latin America.

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Handcuffs

'No one thinks of us' - Gazans speak to RT after Israel destroys 400 acres of crops


RT
Tue, 05 Jan 2016 18:44 UTC
Gaza crops
© Unknown
More than 400 acres of crops have been destroyed by the IDF near the fence surrounding Gaza, in a lethal no-go zone maintained unilaterally by Israel on the Palestinian side of the border. They say they sprayed pesticides to enable a security operation.

The no-go area is volatile and many explosives are found in it. The IDF told RT this was such a case, as it continues to patrol the area for improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and signs of border infiltrations. Israel's ground forces have also been regularly entering the Gaza Strip to clear obstructions and for other purposes.

The IDF added the spraying of the pesticides did not harm the environment, but Palestinian farmers say hundreds of acres have been laid to waste, and showed evidence of this.


Comment: The IDF's claims are A) not true and B) beside the point. The point is that they are destroying the meager livelihood of an already impoverished people whom they have been occupying and decimating for decades. To make a ridiculous statement like 'pesticides don't hurt the environment' just goes to show how racist and entitled these individuals are.


Comment: Also see: Israel repeatedly sprays crop-killing pesticides on Gaza farms

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2 + 2 = 4

Disaster? Not even close - how oil prices and Western finance will really affect Russia's economy in 2016

Alexander Mercouris
Russia Insider
Tue, 05 Jan 2016 04:17 UTC
Putin Xi
© Unknown
The year 2015 ended with further falls in oil prices.

As is now traditional, this have given rise to more predictions of disaster for Russia's economy.

This whole subject is much misunderstood. The major effect on the oil price is on interest rates - not the Russian budget, which gets all the attention.

Oil prices are anyway likely to stabilise - and even rise - before long, whilst the effect of their fall on the Russian economy is diminishing.

To explain all this it is necessary to begin with oil prices, since they are the heart of the story.

Comment: Also see: German media is stuck in an insane, anti-Putin time loop

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Ambulance

Reality check: PRCS provided emergency services to 15,379 wounded since October 1, 2015


Palestine Red Crescent Society
Fri, 01 Jan 2016 00:00 UTC
shotup ambulance
© www.revisionisthistory.org
Palestinians youths examine blood-spattered Palestinian ambulance in which two Arab medics were killed by Israeli army troops.
PRCS' Emergency Medical Teams provided emergency medical services to 15,397 persons wounded by Israeli occupation forces in the oPt since the beginning of October, including 14,035 persons in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem, and 1,344 persons in the Gaza Strip.

In the West Bank, including in occupied Jerusalem, PRCS' Emergency Medical Teams treated 983 persons who had sustained live ammunition injuries, 2,986 persons who had been hit with rubber-coated metal bullets, 9,691 persons suffering from tear gas suffocation and another 367 persons who had stumbled, were beaten or suffered from burns.

In the Gaza Strip, PRCS' teams treated 489 persons who had sustained live ammunition injuries, 140 persons who had been hit with rubber-coated metal bullets, 602 persons suffering from tear gas suffocation, 107 persons who had been beaten and six others who had been wounded during Israeli raids.

Furthermore, Israeli occupation forces and settlers assaulted PRCS' teams and ambulances 335 times since October 3rd. As a result, 147 paramedics, including several volunteers, were wounded while 94 ambulances sustained damage. Moreover, 94 different incidents in which PRCS' ambulances were denied access have been documented.

Comment: A statistical reminder: Still nothing is done; nothing is said; nothing is remedied; nothing is resolved, and none are rescued.

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Sheriff

Crazed Honolulu cop beats man for praying over a seal

Justin Gardner
The Free Thought Project
Tue, 05 Jan 2016 15:23 UTC
Jamie Kalani Rice and seal

Jamie Kalani Rice praying for a seal.
Jamie Kalani Rice, a native Hawaiian, has filed a federal complaint against Honolulu police for an unprovoked beating he received from Officer Ming Wang, which was captured on videotape.

Rice saw an endangered monk seal lying on the beach and believed it was sick, so he approached the seal and sat a few feet away from it. Rice chanted at the seal while rubbing sand on his body and throwing it in the air, attempting to use his mana (energy) for healing.

Volunteers with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recorded the encounter after asking Rice not to approach the seal. They had posted signs saying "Hawaiian Monk Seals: Please do not Disturb."

The cameraman says, "Call the police" as he films. However, Rice was clearly not trying to harm the seal, and resorting to the police was uncalled for.
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Binoculars

What will be the FED's next move in the Oregon militia standoff?

Joshua Krause
The Daily Sheeple
Tue, 05 Jan 2016 15:09 UTC
Malheur National Wildlife Refuge

Malheur National Wildlife Refuge
Ever since armed militiamen took over a federal building in the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, the one question that has been on everyone's mind is "how are the Feds going to respond to this?" Regardless of whether or not you support these people, you have to admit that the government's response hasn't been typical.

At least for now, there isn't an army of soldiers, or swat teams, or tanks, bearing down on the militia's position. As far as we know the FBI is en route, and that's pretty much it. From the accounts that have been coming out of the area, it doesn't look like a Waco situation. It doesn't look like a Bundy Ranch situation either.

Granted, this could still get really ugly at any time, but based on what government officials have said, it doesn't sound like they want that. While its hard to say what they are thinking behind the scenes, publicly they are calling for a peaceful resolution to the situation. Even the White House chimed in, referring to the standoff as a "local law enforcement matter" and refusing to label the militiamen "terrorists," before calling for a peaceful resolution.

Comment: See also:

Armed militia occupy forest reserve HQ in Oregon, call 'US patriots' to arms, Bundy bros join protest

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