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Hamas reportedly arrests Palestinian comedian who lambasted Gazan, Qatari govt's


Sputnik
Thu, 25 Apr 2019 16:55 UTC
palestinian flag
© AP Photo / Bernat Armangue
On Wednesday, Hamas security forces arrested prominent Palestinian comedian Hussam Khalaf for "misusing technology." A writer told Sputnik that while Hussam certainly had much to criticize in Hamas' administration of Gaza, suspicions that his criticisms of Qatar got him booked "are far from illegitimate."

Sources in the Hamas-governed Gaza Strip told the Jerusalem Post Thursday that Hamas security officers took Hussam in for questioning the previous day in his native town of Rafah, at the southern tip of the tiny autonomous territory.

"They took him in their car, and since then we haven't heard from him," his brother told the Post.

Khalaf, also called "The Brain," was known for criticizing both Hamas and Qatar in satirical videos posted online - something the Jerusalem Post notes is covered by the term "misusing technology."
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Cross

Why are liberals using language that denigrates the world's largest religion?

Robert Bridge
RT
Thu, 25 Apr 2019 16:37 UTC
Sri Lanka attacks Christian churches
© REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha; Global Look Press via ZUMA Press/Xinhua
Following Sri Lanka's Easter tragedy, high-ranking Democrats engaged in a game of semantics gymnastics, dancing around the name of 'Christians'. Republicans took it as proof of democratic enmity to Christianity.

In the aftermath of Sunday's carnage, which left over 350 people dead and many more injured, a group of Democratic leaders, including Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, took to Twitter to offer their condolences to friends and families of the Sri Lanka victims. If we were living in less complicated times that would have been the end of the story.

But of course these are not less complicated times. Thus, the memory of the Easter Sunday bombing victims was overshadowed by Obama and Clinton, as well as other Democratic politicians' use of the term "Easter worshippers" as opposed to the seemingly more appropriate "Christians."

"The attacks on tourists and Easter worshippers in Sri Lanka are an attack on humanity," commented the former US president.


A few hours later, Hillary Clinton tweeted out her own sympathy message, also using the strained, awkward-sounding "Easter worshippers" nomenclature. "I'm praying for everyone affected by today's horrific attacks on Easter worshippers and travelers in Sri Lanka," she commented.

Do the PC thought police have a valid objection this time?

Comment: Going by recent events, shadowy forces want to spark a 'clash of civilizations'
The one thing that the New Zealand and Sri Lankan terrorist attacks have in common other than the large number of worshipping civilians that were killed is that the perpetrators tried way too hard to have their attacks spark a "Clash of Civilizations" between Christianity and Islam. The Australian terrorist responsible for the New Zealand attacks scrawled the names of famous Balkan figures and battles associated with the wars against the Ottoman Empire onto his guns and gear before gunning down dozens of Muslims, while the Sri Lankan terrorist network specifically targeted Christians and luxury hotels during Easter in order to get the majority-Christian West's attention. Both series of terrorist attacks were deadly provocations meant to incite Christian-Islamic animosity and advance the "Clash of Civilizations" blueprint for dividing and ruling the Eastern Hemisphere in the 21st century.
See also: From Christian faith to nihilistic void

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Snakes in Suits

Pepsico suing Indian farmers for growing exclusive variety of potatoes without a license

Vijaysinh Parmar
News 18
Wed, 24 Apr 2019 14:30 UTC
pepsico sues indian farmers potatoes

Over 190 farmers, scientists, activists and unions from across the country have signed a protest letter in support of the sued individuals. “Potato-growing farmers have nothing to worry and we can’t allow such intimidation as we will fight against it in court as well as on the streets if needed,” said Ambubhai Patel, Vice President of the Bharatiya Kishan Sangh.
Farmer leaders and activists in Gujarat have launched a protest against US food and beverages giant PepsiCo after it sued nine farmers in the state for illegally growing and selling a kind of potato exclusively registered by the company. PepsiCo claims it has sole rights to grow the particular variety of tubers for the manufacture of its Lay's brand of chips.

The nine farmers belong to the Sabarkantha and Aravalli districts of Gujarat, with each holding around three to four acres of land on an average.

Last week, a commercial court in Ahmedabad had directed the farmers - Chabilbhai Patel, Vinod Patel and Haribhai Patel - to stop growing and selling the potatoes till April 26, when it will next hear the case. The court has also sought a response from the three over the company's claims of infringing on its rights.

On PepsiCo's request, the commercial court also appointed advocate Paras Sukhwani as court commissioner to conduct an inquiry into the dispute and prepare a report.

Over 190 farmers, scientists, activists and unions from across the country have signed a protest letter in support of the sued individuals. "Potato-growing farmers have nothing to worry and we can't allow such intimidation as we will fight against it in court as well as on the streets if needed," said Ambubhai Patel, Vice President of the Bharatiya Kishan Sangh.

Comment: India's farmers plan mass march to national parliament to call attention to neo-liberal-caused agrarian crisis reaching 'civilization proportions', suicide of over 300,000
Rural India is plagued by farmer suicides, child malnourishment, growing unemployment, increased informalisation, indebtedness and an overall collapse of agriculture. Those involved in farming and related activities are being driven to migrate to cities to become cycle rickshaw drivers, domestic servants, daily wage labourers and suchlike.

Hundreds of thousands of farmers in India have taken their lives since 1997 and many more are experiencing economic distress or have left farming as a result of debt, a shift to (GM) cash crops and economic liberalisation. According to this report, the number of cultivators in India declined from 166 million to 146 million between 2004 and 2011. Some 6,700 left farming each day. Between 2015 and 2022 the number of cultivators is likely to decrease to around 127 million.

[..]

From the geopolitical lending strategies of institutions like the World Bank to the opening up of food and agriculture to foreign corporations via WTO rules and the US-India Knowledge Initiative on Agriculture, there is an ongoing strategy to displace the existing system of smallholder cultivation and village-based food production with one suited to the interests of global seed, pesticide, food processing and retail corporations like Monsanto-Bayer, Cargill and Walmart.


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Snakes in Suits

First drug firm CEO to be charged in the opioid epidemic is paraded in handcuffs

Megan Sheets
Daily Mail
Wed, 24 Apr 2019 15:54 UTC
laurence doud III

Former CEO of Rochester Drug Co-operative Laurence Doud III was indicted on federal charges on Tuesday his alleged role in fueling in America's devastating opioid crisis
The former CEO of a drugs company has turned himself in to authorities after he was charged for his role in fueling America's devastating opioid epidemic.

Laurence Doud III was indicted on federal charges on Tuesday following an investigation into lax distribution of controlled substances by Rochester Drug Co-operative.

The 75-year-old became the first pharma CEO in the U.S. to face prosecution for allegedly ignoring red flags while his company delivered massive hauls of powerful painkillers to pharmacies across the country.

Doud was handcuffed before he appeared in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday.

He is now awaiting arraignment on two counts of criminal conspiracy related to drug trafficking.
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Attention

UN finally gains access to shelters at US-controlled Rukban refugee camp


Sputnik
Thu, 25 Apr 2019 14:36 UTC
Syrian Rukban refugee camp
© AP Photo / Raad Adayleh
The Rukban refugee camp lies in the US-controlled zone around its military base in At-Tanf, making it hard for humanitarian workers to access. The UN has only been able to organize two humanitarian convoys to Rukban since November 2018.
The United Nations for the first time gained access to shelters at Syria's Rukban refugee camp and called for a third humanitarian aid delivery after assessing the situation there, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Ursula Mueller said during a UNSC meeting on Wednesday.

"Today our teams accessed the shelters for the first time," Mueller said. "The deployment of a third humanitarian convoy to Rukban remains urgent - to avoid the deaths of more children."

Mueller, who is a Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, said Syrian authorities have so far refused to grant the United Nations permission to arrange another humanitarian aid delivery to the camp.

"The UN has requested access to provide life-saving assistance, but on Monday was informed by the authorities that such a convoy would not be possible," she said. "We continue to advocate for full, unimpeded and sustained access to shelters, as well as areas of origin and destination, and to people en route, to adequately support the humanitarian needs of those leaving Rukban."

The Rukban refugee camp lies in the US-controlled zone around its military base in At-Tanf, making it hard for humanitarian workers to access. The UN has only been able to organize two humanitarian convoys to Rukban since November 2018.

Comment: See also:

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Stock Down

Facebook expects up to $5 BILLION in fines from FTC over privacy violations


RT
Thu, 25 Apr 2019 00:52 UTC
Cardboard cutouts of Mark Zuckerberg
© Agence France-Presse/Saul Loeb
Cardboard cutouts of Mark Zuckerberg stand outside the US Capitol in Washington
Facebook has told investors it's probably on the hook for up to $5 billion in fines - a record-high penalty for a tech company in the US - as a Federal Trade Commission probe continues into its violations of users' privacy.

Citing "a $3.0 billion legal expense accrued in the first quarter of 2019 related to the ongoing US FTC matter" in its quarterly financial statement, Facebook later admits the penalty might be higher: "We estimate that the range of loss in this matter is $3.0 billion to $5.0 billion," the statement reads, adding that "the matter remains unresolved, and there can be no assurance as to the timing or terms of any outcome."

The FTC is investigating Facebook on charges it repeatedly and catastrophically failed to safeguard users' data, from allowing Cambridge Analytica to scrape 85 million users' information to permitting corporations like Microsoft and Netflix to access users' messages and other personal info as part of secret data sharing partnerships. Investigators have reportedly found plentiful evidence that Facebook violated a 2011 FTC agreement requiring it to get permission from users before sharing their data with third parties - and to notify the FTC when third parties have misused this data.

Comment: See also:

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Arrow Down

Absurd 'inclusivity training': NC University hosts no-whites-allowed faculty and staff listening sessions

Jennifer Kabbany
The College Fix
Wed, 24 Apr 2019 00:00 UTC
White discrimination in colleges
Wake Forest University is hosting a series of "listening sessions" for faculty and staff of color that aim to advance inclusion efforts on campus.

The listening sessions come amid ongoing racial tensions on campus, including a protest Monday at which some students decried the "white supremacy" that allegedly runs rampant at the private, North Carolina institution.

"Dear faculty and staff colleagues, this is a reminder about our upcoming listening sessions on inclusion that I am holding for faculty and staff of color over the next several weeks," stated an April 18 email from Michele Gillespie, dean of the college, to campus employees.
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Attention

Fiery train derailment forces evacuations, hazmat response in Fort Worth, US


RT
Wed, 24 Apr 2019 12:38 UTC
derailment fort worth
© Twitter / Fort Worth Fire Department
Residents living near a rail line in Fort Worth, Texas were forced to evacuate in the early hours of Wednesday after a train carrying ethanol crashed and caught fire, causing a hazmat emergency.

Four Union Pacific cars derailed at around 12:40am local time, several of which caught fire. The ethanol within the cars continued to burn for several hours and even ignited a nearby outbuilding.

It remains unclear what caused the derailment, though there were heavy thunderstorms in the area at the time, swamping emergency services with calls from residents.

Comment: It remains to be seen what caused the crash but there's a strong possibility it's related to America's crumbling infrastructure:

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Dominoes

Bayer CEO faces a shareholder reckoning over Monsanto deal

Naomi Kresege, Eyk Henning, and Bloomberg
Fortune
Wed, 24 Apr 2019 20:39 UTC
Werner Baumann
© TF-Images Getty Images
Bayer CEO Werner Baumann is on the hot seat
Bayer AG is facing mounting opposition ahead of what's shaping up to be its most contentious annual meeting in years, with influential shareholders faulting management for failing to foresee the risks of the company's biggest deal ever.

A growing number of shareholders have said they won't support executives and supervisory board members in a no-confidence vote at Friday's annual meeting in Bonn, Germany. Though the vote has no legal weight, a low enough approval rating would throw into question the future of Chief Executive Officer Werner Baumann and other leaders who orchestrated the $63 billion acquisition of U.S. agriculture giant Monsanto.

Buying Monsanto was supposed to secure Bayer's position in the rapidly consolidating agrochemicals market and deter outside forces from trying to split up the company, which sells everything from aspirin and cancer medicines to shoe inserts and soybean seeds. Instead, lawsuits linked to Monsanto's contentious weedkiller Roundup sparked the biggest and quickest loss of value in the history of Germany's blue-chip DAX Index.

"In all good conscience, we can't exculpate management if so much shareholder value is destroyed," said Ingo Speich, chief of sustainability and corporate governance at Deka Investment, one of Bayer's top-10 shareholders with a stake just shy of 1%. Deka will vote against discharging both Bayer's management and supervisory boards for their actions last year, Speich said.
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Arrow Down

Boeing woes continue: Company withdraws 2019 economic forecast due to 737 issues

Michael Sheetz
CNBC
Wed, 24 Apr 2019 16:57 UTC
Boeing crash
Boeing announced Wednesday it will pause share buybacks and is withdrawing its full year 2019 financial forecast while it works through issues surrounding its 737 Max aircraft, whose software is suspected in two deadly crashes.

Boeing said the previous guidance "does not reflect 737 MAX impacts," adding that "new guidance will be issued at a future date" because of "the uncertainty of timing and conditions" for when the 737 Max planes will return to flight. The company's presentation to shareholders noted the commercial airplane business had $1 billion in increased costs due to the 737 production line.

The company also delivered first-quarter earnings that were in line with Wall Street expectations while revenue was lighter than expected. Boeing's cash flow fell nearly 10%, to $2.8 billion this quarter from $3.1 billion the same period last year, specifically citing lower 737 aircraft deliveries.

Shares of Boeing initially fell in premarket trading after the release but bounced back, trading up more than 1% from Tuesday's close of $374.02 a share.
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