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Sherlock

Senate Judiciary Committee asks FBI, DOJ to investigate 'potentially illegal' actions of Kavanaugh accuser Jeffrey Catalan


RT
Mon, 01 Oct 2018 08:48 UTC
Senate Judiciary Committee question Kavanaugh
© Win McNamee / ReutersSenate Judiciary Committee question Judge Brett Kavanaugh during his Supreme Court confirmation hearing in Washington, U.S., September 27, 2018
The Senate Judiciary Committee has asked FBI and Department of Justice investigators to open a probe into "potentially illegal" actions of one of the accusers of SCOTUS nominee Brett Kavanaugh, who has since recanted.

The man, whose name has been redacted from the committee's letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, alleged that Kavanaugh together with another man sexually assaulted a woman on a boat at Newport, Rhode Island, in 1985. The accuser said that he recognized Kavanaugh from a yearbook he saw in a TV broadcast and relayed his allegations to Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) on September 24. The claim immediately spurred an investigation by the committee.

"Committee staff took the allegations seriously and asked Judge Kavanaugh numerous questions about it under penalty of felony during an interview on September 25," the committee chairman, Chuck Grassley, wrote in a letter to the FBI and the DOJ.

In the transcript of the phone call between the committee's investigators and Kavanaugh, the judge flatly denied the newly-surfaced allegations as "completely made up" and "ridiculous."

While the name of the account's holder had been redacted from the record, he was promptly identified as Jeffrey Catalan, as his account's description and Twitter feed completely match those cited in the transcript.
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Question

Kanye West incites twitter storm by calling to abolish 13th amendment that ended slavery


RT
Mon, 01 Oct 2018 07:46 UTC
US recording artist Kanye West
© Rob Kim/Getty Images/AFP / ReutersKanye West
US rapper Kanye West, fresh from his Saturday Night Live (SNL) controversy, has stirred yet another one, suggesting in an cryptic post that the amendment that abolished slavery is itself "slavery in disguise" and should be nixed.

The recording artist, known as one of the few A-list celebrities to rally behind US President Donald Trump, has caused much bewilderment Sunday, sparking a guessing game among his fans when he suggested that it's time to abolish the 13th amendment. The amendment, which came into force in 1865, bans slavery and involuntary servitude, expect as punishment for crime.

Kanye posted the perplexing message on Instagram alongside with a photo of him sporting a signature MAGA cap.
kanye west 13th amendment
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Fire

Fire breaks out at residential tower block in Leeds, UK


RT
Mon, 01 Oct 2018 10:21 UTC
Cottingley Towers in Leeds
Smoke seen rising from Cottingley Towers in Leeds
A fire was reported at Cottingley Towers in Leeds, Yorkshire, with reports of smoke billowing from the high-rise residential building. Fire fighters are at the scene, while local transport services are avoiding the area.

The fire is said to have broken out of one upper floors in one of the twin blocks of Cottingley Towers. Smoke could be seen billowing out of a upper floor windows while fire crews, police and ambulances are currently at the scene.

A resident named David, has told LeedsLive that the Grenfell Tower fire had made residents more wary about these incidents, but that the majority of people living there remained calm.

The block was reportedly evacuated at 11.15am. There are no reports are injuries from the fire or what has caused it.

Comment: Other recent and notable building fires: See also: SOTT Exclusive: The growing threat of underground fires and explosions

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Snakes in Suits

"Digital strip-search": Travellers to New Zealand now face $5000 fine if they refuse

Craig McCulloch
Radio NZ
Mon, 01 Oct 2018 10:26 UTC
phone silhouette
Travellers who refuse to hand over their phone or laptop passwords to Customs officials can now be slapped with a $5000 fine.

The Customs and Excise Act 2018 - which comes into effect today - sets guidelines around how Customs can carry out "digital strip-searches".

Previously, Customs could stop anyone at the border and demand to see their electronic devices. However, the law did not specify that people had to also provide a password.

The updated law makes clear that travellers must provide access - whether that be a password, pin-code or fingerprint - but officials would need to have a reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing.


Comment: Which is vague enough to be abused.


"It is a file-by-file [search] on your phone. We're not going into 'the cloud'. We'll examine your phone while it's on flight mode," Customs spokesperson Terry Brown said.

If people refused to comply, they could be fined up to $5000 and their device would be seized and forensically searched.

Comment: And in response to those countries demanding such intrusive measures, people should refrain from travelling there:

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Penis Pump

Tories' £120mn post-Brexit Festival of Britain plan met with mockery and memes


RT
Sun, 30 Sep 2018 17:14 UTC
brexit union jack hat horse
© Stephen Simpson/Global Look Press
PM Theresa May's plan to host a post-Brexit 'Britain' festival has been gaining traction online since it was announced Saturday. Unfortunately for the Tories, most of the reaction has been that of savage mockery.

Unveiling the plan ahead of the Conservative's annual party conference in Birmingham, May said the Festival of Great Britain and Northern Ireland would work towards strengthening "our precious union," with a nationwide program of events to take place in 2022, once the full effects of the UK crashing out of the EU begin to be felt.

The festival will echo that of the Victorian era, the Great Exhibition of 1851, and will take place 70 years after the 1951 Festival of Britain which was organized by the post-war Labour government.

"Just as millions of Britons celebrated their nation's great achievements in 1951, we want to showcase what makes our country great today," May said upon the announcement.

Comment: See also: Also check out SOTT radio's:

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Quenelle

Thousands of Palestinians arrive in Khan al-Ahmar to protest Israeli demolition plan

Ramzy Baroud
teleSUR
Mon, 01 Oct 2018 01:24 UTC
protest Khan al-ahmar demolition bedoui
© ReutersIsraeli policemen scuffle with Palestinians in the Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar near Jericho in the occupied West Bank in July 2018.
Thousands of Palestinians are expected to reach Khan al-Ahmar on Monday to save the Bedouin village, which houses a mere population of 180 people of the Jahalin tribe, from being demolished by Israeli authority.

Last week, Israel Civil Administration ordered the inhabitants of Khan al-Ahmar either to evacuate their village voluntarily or to face demolition and forced displacement by the occupying state. This move by Israel is considered to have an agenda of cutting East Jerusalem from West Bank and expanding Israel's illegal settlements, a move which saw condemnation from the international community as well as the Palestinian leadership with President of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas condemning the action during his speech at the 73rd UNGA session.

Palestinian officials and activists say the mobilization is to stop Israeli forces from demolishing the village after the Monday deadline passes. Palestinians will be joined by foreign diplomats, mostly from European Union member states who have been called to witness the event at the village.

Comment: There is method in Israel's madness and cruelty.
[The razing of Khan al-Ahmar] would put the final piece in place for Israel to build a substantial bloc of new settler homes to sever the West Bank in two. Those same settlements would also seal off West Bank Palestinians from East Jerusalem, the expected capital of a future Palestinian state, making a mockery of any peace agreement.


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Marijuana

South Africa legalizes marijuana for private use

Phillip Schneider
Waking Times
Wed, 19 Sep 2018 23:27 UTC
marijuan south africa
Because of the unanimous ruling, South African adults can even grow their own marijuana for personal use, so long as they are not selling or distributing it.

Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo declared cannabis prohibition for use by adults in private as "unconstitutional and therefore invalid."

However, many South African government departments, including the ministries of health and justice oppose the law, claiming "objective proof of the harmful effects of cannabis," locally known as "Dagga."
"It will not be a criminal offence for an adult person to use or be in possession of cannabis in private for his or her personal consumption." - Raymond Zondo, Deputy Chief Justice
Although South African marijuana activists such as Jeremy Acton, the head of the Dagga party, believe that the ruling should have extended into the public carrying of cannabis, activists were heard chanting "weed are free now" as the South African Constitutional Court gave its ruling.
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Folder

Court finds Jehovah's Witness church guilty of covering up child sex abuse; victim awarded $35 million

Jack Burns
The Free Thought Project
Sun, 30 Sep 2018 23:09 UTC
jehovah's witness
The ultra secretive church, the Jehovah's Witnesses, have been ordered by a jury to pay $35 million dollars to the survivor of child sexual abuse. The church (better recognized in communities as the ones who always seem to knock on your doors) peddles the writings of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York. The jury determined the organization ordered Montana church leaders not to report child sexual abuse one of its members perpetrated against one of three young girls.

The church plans to appeal the verdict but the girl, who is now 21-years-old, considers the ruling a powerful victory. Her attorney, Neil Smith, told reporters:
Hopefully that message is loud enough that this will cause the organization to change its priorities in a way that they will begin prioritizing the safety of children so that other children aren't abused in the future.
Churches, church leaders, counselors, doctors, teachers and others are considered, in most states, "mandatory reporters" and are required by law to inform authorities when and if child abuse of any kind is suspected. Smith's case against the church contended the church not only failed to report but encouraged other mandatory reporters not to file a police report, and as a result, severely injured his client. The jury agreed, leveling a massive settlement against the church for protecting a pedophile.

Comment: See also:

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Attention

Man stabbed in the face on London Underground train - Latest attack in city's crime epidemic


RT
Sun, 30 Sep 2018 21:30 UTC
london underground knife attack
A man is being sought by British Transport Police after he allegedly stabbed another passenger in the face aboard a train on the London Underground following a row - the latest attack in the city's ongoing knife crime epidemic.

The attack happened shortly before 1am in the early hours of Sunday morning in a carriage traveling on the network's Central Line between Mile End and Bethnal Green stations.

Witnesses to the incident claim the victim was "stabbed in the face" following an argument with another passenger, who fled the scene after the attack

Pictures surfacing on social media show the victim with a blood-soaked sweatshirt seemingly looking at his injuries on his phone. Another image shows newspapers used to mop up blood that had gathered on the floor of the carriage.

Comment: See also:

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Heart - Black

America's shame on display: US has nothing to teach the world about justice or politics after Kavanaugh farce

Igor Ogorodnev
RT
Sun, 30 Sep 2018 20:53 UTC
Blasey Ford Kavanaugh
© ReutersChristine Blasey Ford and Brett Kavanaugh
Many outside the US watched Thursday's hearing with open-mouthed revulsion at the bad faith, lack of due process and inhumanity on display. Dysfunction in the biggest Western democracy sets a poor example to the rest of the globe.

The present does not own the monopoly on ugly scenes in Congress - the McCarthy interviews are on tape, after all. Nor do either of the parties - from Kenneth Starr's ultimately futile humiliation of Bill Clinton, to their intransigence during Obama's two terms, Republicans largely set the tone for the partisanship that reigns today.

But make no mistake about it: in the age of a hysterical and agenda-driven news media, and a social media that amplifies its worst aspects, the Kavanaugh and Ford testimonies marked a new low. And it is the Democrats that have guided the process into a high-stakes wrestling match in a toxic swamp.
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