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All Florida law enforcement and elected officials are now expected to cooperate with ICE

Monique O. Madan & Daniel Rivero
The Miami Herald
Mon, 30 Sep 2019 19:01 UTC
Philip Stoddard mayor South Miami
© Giorgio Viera For the Miami Herald
Philip Stoddard, mayor of the City of South Miami, speaks at a press conference outside the Wilkie D. Ferguson U.S. Courthouse in Miami on Thursday, Sept. 26, 2019, before a court hearing where South Miami and immigrant rights groups seek an injunction over what they call an unconstitutional immigration law.
Advocates ask federal judges to block law that banned so-called 'sanctuary cities' in Florida

A federal judge has temporarily blocked a portion of a controversial Florida law that called on local police to cross state lines to assist federal immigration officials but left in place a provision where the officers would have to hold undocumented immigrants until the feds pick them up.

In an order issued on Monday — one day before enforcement of the new law is slated to take effect — Miami U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom shot down a small piece of the state law requiring Florida police officers to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement agencies, like U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Florida law — SB 168 — will continue to forbid sanctuary cities.

Bloom ruled that local police cannot transport undocumented immigrants across state lines at the request of the feds, saying it is strictly the job of the federal government. Her ruling can be appealed.
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Cell Phone

Judges overturn ruling: Now 4M UK iPhone users can sue Google

Ed Targett
CBR
Wed, 02 Oct 2019 00:00 UTC
Google
Decision "confirms a number of important legal principles under Data Protection law"

Consumer champion Richard Lloyd has been given the green light by the UK Court of Appeal to sue Google on behalf of four million iPhone users, for allegedly "secretly tracking their internet activity for commercial purposes".

Justices at the court, the UK's second-highest, unanimously overturned the October 2018 judgment of Justice Warby which had refused Lloyd — represented by law firm Mishcon de Reya - permission to proceed with the collective action.

The law firm described the decision as "ground breaking" for establishing a new procedural framework for mass data breach claims.

Comment: See also:

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Fire

Rouen residents rally after chem plant blaze: 'We want to know what we're breathing!'


RT
Wed, 02 Oct 2019 12:26 UTC
Rally Rouen
© Ruptly
Rally in Rouen, France
Scores of people thronged the streets of Rouen, France, demanding the authorities disclose "the truth" about a recent fire that ravaged a local chemical plant, making the air barely breathable in the contaminated area.

Joined by local union members, hundreds of anxious Rouen residents marched through the town just days after the major blaze swept through the Lubrizol chemical factory on Thursday. Some were holding banners and placards, others vented ire at the way the authorities tackled the aftermath of the massive fire.

People in Rouen allege that the government is hiding essential information from the local community. "I'm here to know the truth, to know which products we are breathing, to know why they didn't close the schools before knowing all the results," explained one woman.


Comment: See also:



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People

'March of anger': Thousands of French police protest over suicides, working conditions and pension reforms


RT
Wed, 02 Oct 2019 17:53 UTC
French police march in Paris
© Reuters/Christian Hartmann
The center of Paris was paralyzed by the largest rally of police officers in years; they say they are in total despair after being abandoned by the government.

More than 20,000 police officers of different ranks - from operatives and commissioners to administrative staff - marched from Bastille to the Republic Square in the French capital on Wednesday, according to organizers.

They chanted slogans and carried union flags and banners with messages such as: "National Police are angry" and "Hands off the cops" among others. Flares were also lit, much to the delight of the crowd.

Several officers also brought a cardboard replica of a coffin with them to the protests to commemorate their colleagues who reportedly took their own lives this year due to tough working conditions. There have already been some 52 suicides among French police officers in 2019, local media says. Meanwhile, the annual average is standing at 42.

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Stock Down

Cuban healthcare suffering under US sanctions - despite claims they only affect leadership


RT
Tue, 01 Oct 2019 17:34 UTC
che hospital
© Global Look / Jürgen Schwenkenbecher
Che Guevara watches over a Havana hospital
US sanctions are making ordinary Cubans sick, literally. Despite Washington's insistence that its sanctions hurt only the banks and government officials they target, the entire population is being deprived of lifesaving drugs.

Cuba, already under a US trade embargo since 1962, was hit with even stricter sanctions earlier this year in what the Trump administration calls an effort to pressure the country into dropping its support for the Venezuelan government of Nicolas Maduro. But the economic restrictions Washington claims are meant to punish Cuba's government are actually intensifying the suffering of its people, who are denied crucial medicines because of the blockade.

Swiss NGO MediCuba, which provides HIV, cancer and pediatric care to Cubans, found itself unable to work last month after its bank, PostFinance, halted all transfers to Cuba because of US sanctions. It was one of the last banks that processed such transactions, and foreign groups trying to operate in Cuba are left to search for another route - private institutions that charge exorbitant fees, Western Union money transfers, or even asking travelers to bring cash into the country.

While Cuba has tens of thousands of skilled physicians, even the best doctor cannot work with no resources, and the US has done its best to ensure that Cubans have as few resources as possible. Medical devices like x-ray machines are as "vintage" as the 1950s cars that have become a visual icon for visitors and parts to repair them are extremely difficult to acquire. Cuba imports 37 percent of its medicines and 85 percent of the ingredients it uses to produce medicines locally, and shortages of even common drugs like antihistamines, painkillers, contraceptives, and hypertension medications are frequent.

Comment: The sanctions themselves are criminal, as are those against Venezuela, North Korea, Iran, Syria, Russia, etc. Since they only cause damage and worsen relations with the nations in question, that must be their purpose. They fulfill no positive, diplomatic role. Opening up trade with these countries would actually have the effect of reducing tensions. But that would require some restraint on the part of the U.S. and guarantees against aggression. Good luck getting that anytime soon.

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Better Earth

Non-violent civil disobedience: What we can learn from Mahatma Gandhi

Neil Clark
RT
Wed, 02 Oct 2019 10:17 UTC
Mahatma Gandhi
© Global Look Press/Olaf Krüger
Portrait of the old Mahatma Gandhi, painting, Aga Khan Palace, Pune or Poona, Maharashtra, India, Asia
One hundred and fifty years on from the birth of Mahatma Gandhi, what lessons can we draw today about the way he helped achieve Indian independence?

He was the 'great soul', a modest, saintly man whose campaigns of 'satyagraha', non-violent civil disobedience, shook what was then the largest Empire in history to its foundations.

Gandhi took on the might of the British Empire with 'soul-force' and won. Does that prove that non-violent civil disobedience is always the way to achieve political goals?

The answer to that question is, "time and place and the international context is everything."

The British Empire today gets a pretty bad press. But if we stay cool and objective, we have to admit there was a significant difference between the way British rule in India functioned in its earlier days and how it was in the 1930s.
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Oil Well

Russian energy minister warns 'black swans' all around us can seriously weigh down oil markets


RT
Wed, 02 Oct 2019 16:29 UTC
black swans birds
© Global Look Press / Roland Weihrauch
The situation with the oil market is unpredictable, with geopolitical factors applying a lot of pressure, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Wednesday.

Speaking at the Russian Energy Week event in Moscow, he said: "Despite the fact that we see more or less stable fluctuations around the price of oil, around $50-$60 per barrel, and we've seen some more fluctuations due to the attack on the Aramco facilities that was a short period of fluctuations - so we see some kind of stability. But, nonetheless, we do not see the stability per se on the market."

The minister added that the markets are currently surrounded by "black swans" - unforeseen events that may have damaging consequences. According to the black swan theory, a completely unexpected and difficult to predict event can cause turmoil in the markets.

Comment:

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Pills

Big pharma's push to oversell ADHD meds to make you feel better about being ill


RT
Wed, 02 Oct 2019 16:11 UTC
generic drugs pills
Conditions like ADHD give big pharma many opportunities to sell products that don't heal people but make them feel less stressed about being ill, the author of a book about his own experience with the disorder told RT.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a disorder usually diagnosed in children and in some cases persists into adulthood. Sufferers generally have problems with attention span and impulse control, which affect their performance at school and may lead to being ostracized.

Comment: ADHD and many other conditions can be treated in ways that don't directly mess with brain chemistry. But then, that wouldn't be patentable or profitable.

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Card - VISA

40 States are now drowning in debt - just like the federal government

Mac Slavo
SHTFplan.com
Tue, 01 Oct 2019 00:00 UTC
national debt

Analysts say the proposal would throw the entire U.S. financial system into disarray — especially amid a pandemic-driven recession and a massive increase in the national debt.
As the United States government continues to pile up debt, most states are following in its footsteps. Total state government debt now stands at $1.49 trillion with 40 states lacking sufficient funds to pay their bills according to Truth in Accounting's (TIA) Financial State of the States report.
At the end of the fiscal year (FY) 2018, 40 states did not have enough money to pay all of their bills. This means that to balance the budget - as is supposedly required by law in 49 states - elected officials have not included the true costs of the government in their budget calculations and have pushed costs onto future taxpayers." - Financial State of the States report
Unfunded pension liabilities are the primary factor driving the pileup of state debt. According to the report, "One of the ways states make their budgets look balanced is by shortchanging public pension and OPEB (another post-employment benefit) funds. This practice has resulted in an $824 billion shortfall in pension funds and a $664.6 billion shortfall in OPEB funds."
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Marijuana

Gourmet 'cannabis oasis': America's first 'dine and dab' cafe opens in Los Angeles

Elias Marat
The Mind Unleashed
Tue, 01 Oct 2019 15:18 UTC
Cannabis oasis
This is the first venue in the U.S. where visitors can legally enjoy cannabis in public along with gourmet cuisine.

In a clear sign of the post-prohibition times we live in, the first-ever cannabis café in the United States opened Tuesday to the eager cannabis connoisseurs of Los Angeles, California.

Located in West Hollywood, Lowell Farms: A Cannabis Cafe, is the first farm-to-table restaurant and lounge exclusively devoted to highlighting cannabis cuisine. Long the talk of bud consumers across Southern California, Lowell Farms' owners and head chefs hope to forever change how we think of marijuana consumption.

On its website, Lowell Cafe announces:
"PROHIBITION IS OVER!

For over a century we've been forced to hide cannabis consumption out of public view, but that time is now over. We're proud to announce Lowell Cafe - America's first cannabis cafe serving farm fresh food, coffee, juice, and cannabis daily. Sit on our patio, order a meal, have a conversation and experience cannabis together."
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Revolt! T-shirts