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NRA declares victory in legal battle against San Francisco's attempt to block business relations with gun rights organization

Stephanie Pagones
FOX Business
Wed, 02 Oct 2019 00:00 UTC
nra hat
The National Rifle Association declared victory in its legal battle against the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, who declared the group a "national terrorist organization," after the city's mayor announced that no municipality can stop businesses from working with them.

Mayor London Breed and Dennis J. Herrera, the city attorney, penned a formal memo to officials on Sept. 23 stating no city "department will take steps to restrict any contractor from doing business with the NRA or to restrict city contracting opportunities for any business that has any relationship with the NRA," according to an NRA press release from Monday.

Breed told FOX Business in a statement Wednesday that the country is facing "an epidemic of gun violence."

"[W]e need to hold organizations like the NRA accountable for their obstruction to real reforms to make our communities us safer," she said. "While this non-binding resolution has no force of law behind it, this doesn't take away from the fact that the NRA continues to shamefully stand in the way of every single piece of gun control legislation that can and will save lives."
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People

Poland: Swastika and anti-Semitic slur painted on wall of former Krakow Ghetto

Katarzyna Markusz
The Times of Israel
Thu, 03 Oct 2019 05:36 UTC
Vandals painted a swastika and anti-Semitic slur
© Courtesy of Jonathan Ornstein via JTA
Vandals painted a swastika and anti-Semitic slur on one of the remaining walls of the former Krakow Ghetto on Oct. 1, 2019.
'Whores Jews, get the f*** out of Poland' daubed on wall on second day of Rosh Hashanah; police say no suspects

A swastika and other graffiti were painted on the wall of the former ghetto in Krakow. "Whores Jews, get the f*** out of Poland" alongside the swastika were discovered drawn with a tar-like substance on Tuesday — the second day of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Municipal services painted over the graffiti on the same day.

Police investigated in the area of Limanowskiego Street; there are no suspects.

"While I was extremely upset to see the hateful graffiti on the ghetto wall, especially on Rosh Hashanah, the quick reaction by the city and the police reminded me why Krakow is such a good place to be a Jew," said Jonathan Ornstein, director of the Jewish Community Center of Krakow.

Comment: Acts of anti-semitic vandalism have been on the uptick in recent years - whether sincerely hateful - or manufactured to gain sympathy...

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Light Saber

Snowden rips into MSM & US politicians for hypocrisy in 'supporting whistleblowers'


RT
Thu, 03 Oct 2019 17:25 UTC
snowden
© Global Look Press / DPA / Sebastian Willnow
Edward Snowden
Surveillance whistleblower Edward Snowden took a shot at US politicians, and the media outlets covering them, for failing to consistently support those who come forward with claims of official corruption or wrongdoing.

The famed ex-National Security Agency analyst sent out the criticism in a tweet on Wednesday, arguing that a deluge of recent statements from lawmakers on the virtues of whistleblowing rang hollow in the face of their poor records on the issue. He singled out the ongoing legal case of analyst-turned-leaker Daniel Hale.

"Unbelievable that in a moment where politicians are making daily media statements about 'supporting whistleblowers,' the media is not pressing them on the case of Daniel Hale, who is being prosecuted RIGHT NOW for blowing the whistle on enormously controversial drone programs," Snowden said.

Comment: Snowden, whatever you may think of him, is 100% correct here. The war against whistleblowers runs through the whole of the U.S. government's bureaucracy.

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Pistol

'Lawful and reasonable': Hong Kong police defend cop who shot live rounds at teenage protesters


RT
Thu, 03 Oct 2019 14:57 UTC
hong kong riot
© Reuters / Jorge Silva
Riot police clash with anti-government protesters during a demonstration in Sha Tin district of Hong Kong.
The actions of an officer who shot live rounds at a teenage protester were "lawful and reasonable," the Hong Kong deputy police commissioner said, adding that there was a threat to the lives of officers.

Tuesday saw one of the most violent clashes since the Hong Kong protests erupted in mid-June over the extradition bill with mainland China. It was also the first time that the law enforcers employed live fire against the rioting crowds, often equipped with Molotov cocktails and other self-made arms. An 18-year-old student was shot in the chest from close range and now remains in hospital in a stable condition.

The officer, who pulled the trigger, did so "in line with our guidelines and international standards," Deputy Police Commissioner Ping-keung Tang insisted during a press-conference.
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Quenelle - Golden

Police and protesters clash in Iraq, as rallies against corruption & unemployment spread nationwide


RT
Wed, 02 Oct 2019 21:51 UTC
Demonstrators disperse as Iraqi police fire tear gas cannisters in Baghdad
© Reuters / Khalid al-Mousily
Demonstrators disperse as Iraqi police fire tear gas cannisters in Baghdad
Seven people have been killed and over 200 injured, as Iraqi security forces crack down on protests. Demonstrators angry over corruption and unemployment put a government building on fire in one of the cities.

Iraqi counter-terrorism troops opened fire on protesters with live ammunition and tear gas outside Baghdad airport on Wednesday, according to a Reuters report. The crowd had apparently been trying to storm the airport, prompting the heavy-handed response.

Elsewhere in the country, seven people have been killed and more than 200 injured in clashes with security forces this week.

Gunfights broke out in Nassiriya and across the country's impoverished south as demonstrators torched government buildings and demanded an end to Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi's year-old government. Angry at Iraq's soaring youth unemployment and accusing Mahdi of corruption, mobs of protesters have picketed state buildings in several cities, and blocked roads with burning tire barricades.

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Cow

Dutch farmers stage tractor protest as politicians label them climate change problem


RT
Tue, 01 Oct 2019 20:41 UTC
TRACTOR NETHERLANDS PROTEST
© AFP / ANP / Vincent Jannink
Dutch farmers blocked hundreds of miles of major roads with their tractors to protest what they say are attempts to scapegoat their industry and paint them as a "problem" that needs fixing in discussions over climate change.

Up to 10,000 farmers took to the highways in their tractors on Monday to slowly make their way to The Hague causing 620 miles (998km) of traffic jams and the worst morning commute in the country's history.

Some farmers managed to avoid the traffic by driving along the North Sea beaches to reach the city.

Comment: Just two years ago the Netherlands was praised for its innovative farming methods and its agricultural sector has the lowest environmental impact in the world. It appears as though the farmers are fed up with being demonized and approximately 80-90% of the population agrees, one protestor stating:
"They are hardworking people who are portrayed as criminals. They earn their money in an honest way with one of the most basic economic activities there is: the production of our food. Instead of being valued, they are often told that they are stupid, money-hungry and willful polluters."

See also:

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Black Magic

Federal grand jury indicts Ed Buck in 2 overdose deaths at his West Hollywood home


KTLA5
Wed, 02 Oct 2019 15:27 UTC
ed buck
© Al Seib / Los Angeles Times
Ed Buck appears in Los Angeles County court on Sept. 19, 2019.
Wealthy California political donor Ed Buck was indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury for two overdose deaths in his West Hollywood apartment and charges he provided methamphetamine to three other men, one of whom survived two overdoses.

The indictment returned in U.S. District Court charged Buck with distributing meth resulting in the deaths of Timothy Dean in January and Gemmel Moore in 2017. Buck had previously been charged in Moore's death after his arrest last month.

Buck, 65, who is white and has given hundreds of thousands of dollars to Democratic causes, preyed on vulnerable men, most of them black, some of them homeless and addicted to drugs, and pressured them to let him inject them with drugs as part of a sexual ritual, prosecutors said.

Comment:

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Syringe

'Jaw-dropping' double-standards: Russian world champ Lasitskene hits out after US star Coleman allowed to compete even after missed doping tests


RT
Wed, 02 Oct 2019 12:51 UTC
Maria Lasitskene and Christian Coleman

Maria Lasitskene Global Look Press / Petr Sznapka | Christian Coleman Global Look Press / Anke Waelischmiller
Russian world champion high jumper Maria Lasitskene has hit out at athletics chiefs over the decision to drop doping charges against US sprinter Christian Coleman, who missed three tests in a row.

The 26-year-old Russian, who won her third consecutive world title on Monday, was forced to compete under neutral status after the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) decided to extend the disqualification of the Russian Athletics Federation (RUSAF).

Russian competitors have been performing without national symbols for over four years, after the IAAF imposed a ban on the Russian athletics body over alleged doping violations.

Lasitskene, who received her gold medal at the ongoing World Champions in Doha without the backdrop of a flag or national anthem, was outraged with what she sees as double-standards over US 100m star Coleman.


Comment: Rightfully so as there is a clear political bias against Russia infecting the sports world regulating bodies these days.

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Cardboard Box

Vatican police raid top offices in financial investigation of major irregularities

Philip Pullella
Reuters
Tue, 01 Oct 2019 10:34 UTC
Vatican city
© REUTERS/Remo Casilli
FILE PHOTO: A general view of the Mass for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, led by Pope Francis at the Vatican, September 29, 2019.
Vatican police raided the offices of the Holy See's Secretariat of State and its Financial Information Authority, or AIF, on Tuesday and took away documents and electronic devices as part of an investigation of suspected financial irregularities, a Vatican statement said.

It was believed to be the first time the two departments were searched for evidence involving alleged financial crimes.

The Secretariat of State, the most powerful department in the Vatican, is the nerve center of its bureaucracy and diplomacy and the administrative heart of the worldwide Catholic Church.

The AIF, headed by Swiss lawyer Rene Bruelhart, is the financial controller, with authority over all Vatican departments.

The Vatican statement gave no details except to say that the operation was a follow-up to complaints filed in the summer by the Vatican bank and the Office of the Auditor General and were related to "financial operations carried out over the course of time".
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Bizarro Earth

Baghdad: Clashes between protesters and police erupt - water cannons, tear gas and gunshots, several people injured


RT
Wed, 02 Oct 2019 19:56 UTC
protests iraq green zone baghdad
© Reuters/Khalid al-Mousily
Iraqi Security forces use water cannons to disperse protesters at Tahrir Square in Baghdad, Iraq on October 1, 2019.
Several thousand Iraqis were protesting against unemployment and corruption in Baghdad. The rally turned chaotic as demonstrators tried to enter the government quarter, triggering a police response.

Around 3,000 people gathered in the center of the Iraqi capital on Tuesday, demanding improvement in the economic situation, and protesting widespread youth unemployment and alleged high-profile corruption cases.

The demonstrators tried to enter the 'Green Zone' - a fortified quarter with restricted access, which houses government buildings and foreign embassies. Police responded with force to disperse the crowds.
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