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Thu, 21 Oct 2021
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'Paradise lost': How Israel turned the West Bank into a sewage dump for its settlements

Shatha Hammad
Middle East Eye
Wed, 21 Oct 2020 10:30 UTC
sewage
© MEE/Supplied
Residents and farmers say increasing quantities of sewage are being pumped onto their lands from the illegal settlements
Untreated wastewater has destroyed the soil of Palestinian villages, causing often ancient olive trees to die and livelihoods to be lost

Abdullah Maarouf typically tends to his olive grove at this time of year, the start of the olive harvest season in Palestine.

This year, however, 55-year-old Maarouf is forced to sit at home.

Maarouf lives in the village of Deir Ballut, in the northern governorate of Salfit, in the occupied West Bank.

He says his land was once "a paradise". Today, it has become a wastewater swamp, due to the sewage that runs from the illegal settlement of Leshem nearby.

Maarouf and his family of 50 members own 20 dunams (two hectares), home to about 400 olive trees, some of which date back to the Roman period. Their trees produce some two tonnes of olive oil each year.

Comment: Another dire snapshot of the abject misery and persecution Israel subjects the Palestinian population to. And here are just a few (of many) more:

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Family

US Marshals find 27 missing children in Virginia

Alaa Elassar
CNN
Mon, 02 Nov 2020 02:27 UTC
department of justice

The Justice Department building in Washington, DC.
A rescue operation in Virginia resulted in the recovery of 27 missing children, according to the US Department of Justice.

Deputy US Marshals led the five-day effort dubbed "Operation Find Our Children." They collaborated with the agency's Fugitive Task Force, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and state and local agencies.

The operation resulted in the rescue of 27 children and safe location of six others who were reported missing but found in the custody of their legal guardian, US Marshals said in a news release on Friday.

Comment: See also:

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USA

Pro and anti-Trump protesters clash in Beverly Hills


ABC
Sun, 01 Nov 2020 20:47 UTC
beverly hills trump rallly
Beverly Hills police declared an unlawful assembly at the site of a rally supporting President Donald Trump.

An unlawful assembly was declared by Beverly Hills police after a counter-protester reportedly got into a fight with a pro-Trump demonstrator near the Beverly Hills sign in Beverly Gardens Park, but no one was arrested, authorities said Saturday.

"Unlawful assembly has been declared near the Beverly Hills Sign. Avoid the area," BHPD announced shortly before 2:40 p.m. "Traffic is impacted. BHPD and mutual aid resources are on scene."

The unlawful assembly was declared about half an hour after police reported another demonstration at Roxbury Memorial Park at Roxbury Drive and Olympic Boulevard.

Comment:







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Light Saber

Google whistleblower & conservative influencers file lawsuit to punch Google & restore free speech

Maryam Henein
Activist Post
Fri, 30 Oct 2020 08:04 UTC
punch google
The unprecedented censorship we are facing is the biggest threat to democracy in our history. Imagine waking up to find that, without any notice, you have been deplatformed and deleted off YouTube; years of your work — poof — gone in an instant. When someone violates someone's right to speak, they violate your right to listen. This type of digital assassination is enough to make you want to punch Google in the kisser.

Censorship In An Age Of Technofascism

On October 26th, 15 YouTube content creators filed an emergency injunction against Google-owned YouTube. The federal lawsuit, which is being led by Google Whistleblower Zach Vorhies and filed by Cris Armenta and Credence Sol of ARMENTA & SOL, is seeking a temporary restraining order to restore the Plaintiffs' accounts. Vorhies was a software engineer for Google/YouTube for eight and a half years, and both Ms. Armenta and Ms. Sol have experience litigating against Google.

The suit alleges 17 claims for relief, and accuses Google of breaching the Terms of Service (TOS) and violating their First Amendment rights. The courts have now assigned Judge Beth Freeman, an Obama appointee and Berkeley undergrad, to the case.

The hearing of We The People vs Google has been set for Monday morning, November 2nd, at 9 AM PST, 11 AM CDT, and it's open to the public to listen in, but recording it is a violation of federal law. Plaintiffs invite the public to listen in.

Comment: See also:

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Bizarro Earth

Lord Sumption: 'This is how freedom dies' - The folly of Britain's coercive Covid strategy

Jonathan Sumption
The Spectator
Wed, 28 Oct 2020 09:17 UTC
lord jonathan sumption
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the British state has exercised coercive powers over its citizens on a scale never previously attempted. It has taken effective legal control, enforced by the police, over the personal lives of the entire population: where they could go, whom they could meet, what they could do even within their own homes. For three months it placed everybody under a form of house arrest, qualified only by their right to do a limited number of things approved by ministers. All of this has been authorised by ministerial decree with minimal Parliamentary involvement. It has been the most significant interference with personal freedom in the history of our country. We have never sought to do such a thing before, even in wartime and even when faced with health crises far more serious than this one.

It is customary for those who doubt the legality or constitutional propriety of the government's acts to start with a hand-wringing declaration that they do so with a heavy heart, not doubting for a moment the need for the measures taken. I shall not follow that tradition. I do not doubt the seriousness of the epidemic, but I believe that history will look back on the measures taken to contain it as a monument of collective hysteria and governmental folly. This evening, however, I am not concerned with the wisdom of this policy, but only with its implications for the government of our country. So remarkable a departure from our liberal traditions surely calls for some consideration of its legal and constitutional basis.

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NPC

When SNL gives up on you: Host scolded for 'irresponsibly' joking that not much will change under Biden


RT
Sun, 01 Nov 2020 21:31 UTC
Joe biden alone
© REUTERS / Brendan McDermid
Joe Biden
The Daily Beast pounced on comedian John Mulaney for 'inexplicably' and 'irresponsibly' joking that a Biden win won't change much in America. Apparently even comedy now has to toe the party line and speak no ill about Joe.

Mulaney, who hosted this week's Saturday Night Live episode, drew an angry rebuke from the Daily Beast for his opening monologue, or rather the specific part that compared the upcoming presidential election to an elderly man contest. Depending on the results, he said, "we might have the same elderly man or we might have a new elderly man."
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Arrow Down

Keith Ellison wields power to restrict freedom of assembly of political opponents at Minnesota Trump rally

Charlie Spiering
Breitbart
Thu, 29 Oct 2020 00:00 UTC
Keith Ellison
© Alex Wong/Getty Images
Minnesota AG Keith Ellison
The venue for President Donald Trump's political rally in Minnesota scheduled for Friday will be restricted to only 250 people after Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison put pressure on the business owners of multiple locations.

The rally was initially planned at the Rochester airport, but Ellison's office demanded a "COVID preparedness plan" from officials from the City of Rochester, Olmsted County, and the Rochester airport, as well as the Republican National Committee to ensure the event was safe.

The event was then moved to Dodge Center, prompting Ellison's office to ask the Trump campaign and the owner of the building McNeilus Steel for their "COVID Preparedness Plan."

That prompted the Trump campaign to move the event again, back to the airport.

The campaign said in a statement sent late Thursday night:
"Thanks to the free speech-stifling dictates of Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison, only the first 250 people will be admitted. Without question, Minnesota Democrats had hoped that the President would simply cancel the event, but he will not allow partisan politicians to deprive people of their First Amendment rights to gather peacefully to hear directly from the President of the United States."
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Footprints

Cartel-linked Mexican governor calls on immigrants in US to vote for Biden

Ildefonso Ortiz
Breitbart
Fri, 30 Oct 2020 00:00 UTC
Michoacán Governor Silvano Aureoles
© Aureoles Michoacán Government
Michoacán Governor Silvano Aureoles
A Mexican governor took to social media to ask people originating from his state who live in the U.S. to vote for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden in what he called an opportunity to end "a long night of racism and hate." The governor was previously accused by a top cartel boss for exchanging money for votes in his own election.

Through a video posted on Twitter, Michoacán Governor Silvano Aureoles asked "paisanas and paisanos" in the U.S. to vote in support of Biden, claiming that President Donald Trump hates migrants.
"This November 3, the U.S. is having elections that are determining for you who live and work and have family on the other side. You have an opportunity to choose a humanitarian government with a different approach that knows and understands the needs of migrants."

Comment: Biden's only 'vision' is to garner immigrant votes with empty promises.

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Red Flag

Tensions flare after Black man killed by police near Portland

Celine Castronuovo
the Hill
Sat, 31 Oct 2020 20:16 UTC
vancouver blm
© Twitter / KittyLists
Clashes among protesters erupted late Friday evening following a vigil held for a Black man shot and killed by police Thursday in a city near Portland, Ore.

According to The Associated Press, hundreds of people had gathered for a vigil in Hazel Dell, an unincorporated area of Vancouver, Wash., where family and friends say Kevin Peterson Jr., 21, was shot Thursday night.

Clark County Sheriff Chuck Atkins said in a statement Friday that a joint city-county narcotics task force was conducting an investigation in the city located about 12 miles north of Portland Thursday evening, which led to the chase of a man into the parking lot of a bank.

According to Atkins, "the man reportedly fired his weapon at the deputies. The deputies returned fire and the subject was tragically killed," adding that a firearm was later recovered at the scene.

While authorities have themselves not yet named the person who was shot Thursday, Kevin Peterson Sr. told The Oregonian/OregonLive that the person was his son, Kevin E. Peterson Jr.

On Friday, as hundreds of people gathered for a vigil, tensions erupted nearby with clashes between left- and right-wing protesters, according to the AP.

Comment: On the ground reporting:







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Bad Guys

Philadelphia stores beg thieves to leave them alone after third night of looting

Lee Brown
New York Post
Thu, 29 Oct 2020 19:24 UTC
philadelphia store looted
© Mark Makela/Getty Images
Police officers gather outside a shuttered beauty store with graffiti in Philadelphia yesterday.
Philadelphia businesses put up signs begging for looters to leave them alone as thieves ran rampant for the third night amid unrest over the police shooting death of a 27-year-old black man.

"We work here and live here," a large sign read on a boarded-up storefront in a devastated area of the City of Brotherly Love, photos show.

"It's been looted already," another store said on its boards, explaining that the Cambridge Beauty Supply store was family-run and had been in the area for 30 years.

Comment: Jim Kenny finally manned up and ordered a curfew, but didn't release the shooting footage until the National Guard was in place
The curfew will be in place until 6am Saturday, and only those who are going to work, seeking medical assistance or dropping off a mail-in ballot will be allowed to leave their homes, the city announced on Twitter. A similar curfew was imposed for Wednesday night, after Black Lives Matter protests escalated into riots that left 53 police officers wounded, dozens of businesses looted and ATMs around the city blown up on Monday and Tuesday.

The protests began after two police officers fatally shot a knife-wielding black man named Walter Wallace Jr. on Monday. Video recorded by a bystander shows the officers backpedaling as the 27-year-old Wallace moves toward them and ignores their commands to drop his knife.

Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police President John McNesby asked on Wednesday that city officials quickly release all available evidence on the shooting to "support your officers, back your officers, and let's get a handle on this thing." But Mayor Jim Kenney said on Friday that he and the Wallace family agreed to release the bodycam footage and 911 audio of police being called to the scene on November 4 "in the hope that it will provide enough time to ease tensions and release the recordings in a constructive manner."

The second curfew was ordered just as hundreds of Pennsylvania National Guard troops were setting up their positions in the city after being deployed by Governor Tom Wolf earlier this week. Kenney said the troops will be stationed at government buildings and other infrastructure and may be sent to other key areas, such as business areas, as needed. He said their presence is unrelated to Tuesday's election, and the need for their continued deployment will be reviewed on a day-to-day basis.
Philadelphia's branch of the BLM organization continued to show its tolerance and inclusiveness by burning down a Vietnamese Baptist church
On Tuesday night the BLM mob torched a Vietnam Baptist Church in Philadelphia — because racism.


Baptist Press reported:
The building of Vietnam Baptist Church in Philadelphia was burned Tuesday night (Oct. 27) during the second night of unrest in the city after the police shooting of a Black man Monday (Oct. 26).

Pastor Philip Pham received a call Tuesday night from a church member whose friend had seen the flames and seven fire trucks surrounding the church.

"I have no idea why they attacked our church," Pham said. "They burned it from the roof. They threw flammable chemicals on the roof and [flames] burned through the roof" and down through the rest of the building. He said the facility is a "total loss."

Of primary concern to Pham were three hard drives. Since before purchasing the building in 2005, Vietnam Baptist Church has served as something of a community center each weekday, providing help with immigration paperwork, taxes and even marriage counseling.


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