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Over 400 WaPo staffers write open letter to Jeff Bezos decrying shocking pay practices

Isobel Asher Hamilton
Business Insider
Fri, 15 Jun 2018 12:51 UTC
jeff bezos devil

Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, richest man in the world
More than 400 Washington Post employees have signed an open letter to Jeff Bezos asking him to treat them fairly.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos bought The Washington Post in 2013, and the petition says that unionized staff under the Washington Post Guild are "extremely grateful" that Bezos stepped in when he did. Employees are now campaigning for better pay, benefits, and job security.

"All we are asking for is fairness for each and every employee who contributed to this company's success," the petition states. "Fair wages; fair benefits for retirement, family leave and health care; and a fair amount of job security."

They released a video alongside the petition, which you can watch below:


Comment: Good luck with that! Bezos isn't known for his generosity or concern for his employees:

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Arrow Down

For the likes: Man falls to his death from waterfall in India while posing for social media photos

Sara Malm
Daily Mail
Mon, 18 Jun 2018 17:48 UTC
For the likes: Video shows Ramjan Usman Kagji, 35, climbing off the edge of the famous Gokak waterfalls in the Belagavi district of Karnataka state, southern India

For the likes: Video shows Ramjan Usman Kagji, 35, climbing off the edge of the famous Gokak waterfalls in the Belagavi district of Karnataka state, southern India
A 35-year-old man has died after falling from a 170ft high waterfall in southern India while trying to pose for a social media photo.

Video shows Ramjan Usman Kagji, from nearby Ghatprabha, climbing down the cliff face of the famous Gokak waterfalls, a popular tourist destination in the Belagavi district of Karnataka state.

He is seen making his way down towards a ledge, when he suddenly slips and falls, allegedly after his friends told him to move so they could get a better angle.

Kagji and his friends had reportedly turned up at the well-known beauty spot 'heavily drunk' on Saturday afternoon, and had been performing stunts near the edge despite being warned of the danger.

Eyewitnesses said Kagji had begun climbing down the cliff face towards the waterfall in order to pose for a picture.

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Star of David

The lies Israel tells about its "blooming desert"

Whitney Webb
MintPress News
Fri, 15 Jun 2018 16:49 UTC
IDF palestinian farmer
© Associated Press/Mohammed Ballas
A Palestinian farmer looks at Israeli army soldiers after he planted an olive trees near the West Bank town of Tubas in the Jordan valley, during a protest against the closure of land to Palestinians by the army and Jewish settlers, Tuesday, April 8, 2014.
Though the official narrative of the state of Israel claims that it has turned the land it occupies from an empty desert into a lush, agricultural wonder, the actual fate of the land following Israel's establishment in 1948 tells a very different story.

It has often been said that Israel, since its establishment in 1948, has presided over the "miracle" of making the country's "desert bloom." That heavily promoted narrative - which asserts that the Palestinians have long lacked the capacity, knowledge or desire to properly develop agriculture in the region - has often been used as a legitimizing factor in Israel's establishment. As former Israel Prime Minister Shimon Peres once said, "The country [Palestine] was mostly an empty desert, with only a few islands of Arab settlement; and Israel's [cultivated] land today was indeed redeemed from swamp and wilderness."

Were it not for Israel, the desert would have remained unproductive and fallow - or so the story goes.

Comment: Here is Palestine around 1900. A prosperous land.



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Radar

Two Russian ships armed with Kalibr missiles enter Mediterranean


South Front
Mon, 18 Jun 2018 18:39 UTC
Grad Sviyazhsk launched a Kalibr cruise missile

Grad Sviyazhsk launched a Kalibr cruise missile
Two Russian Buyan-M class missile corvettes armed with Kalibr cruise missiles have entered the Mediterranean. Grad Sviyazhsk and Velikiy Ustyug of the Caspian Fleet departed from the Russian port city of Sevastopol on June 16 and passed the Bosphorus Strait on June 17.

These missile corvettes will join a Russian naval task group, which operates near Syrian shores. They have already been involved in the anti-terrorist operation in the war-torn country. On October 7, 2015 Grad Sviyazhsk and Velikiy Ustyug launched 26 Kalibr cruise missiles at 11 terrorist targets in Syria.
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Star of David

Israeli jets bombard Gaza in response to 'explosive kites & balloons'


RT
Mon, 18 Jun 2018 16:07 UTC
israel air force palestine kites cartoon
© Carlos Latuff
Israeli Air Force jets have carried out a series of strikes on Gaza, reportedly destroying several Hamas military targets in retaliation to alleged arson attempts and "explosive kites and balloons" being launched at Israel.

"The IDF attacked nine terror targets in two military compounds and a weapons manufacturing facility belonging to the Hamas terrorist organization in the northern Gaza Strip in response to the firing of kites and explosives and incendiary attacks on Israeli territory," the army said in a statement. The IDF said that it treats the incident as terrorist acts and will continue to retaliate against such threats from the Gaza Strip against Israeli civilians.

Comment:

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People

Court says 'In the best interest of the child', three people in a polyamorous relationship recognized as legal parents of a child in Canada


RT
Mon, 18 Jun 2018 16:01 UTC
Polyamorous relationship
© Getty Images
A Canadian court has declared two men in a polyamorous relationship with a woman as legal parents of a child in the first such case in the country's history.

The Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court came up with a ruling in April, but it was only publicly announced last week. Canadian law recognizes polyamorous relationships, but bars bigamy and polygamy, in which the same person is involved in several marriages.

"Society is continuously changing and family structures are changing along with it," Justice Robert Fowler wrote in his decision. "This must be recognized as a reality and not as a detriment to the best interests of the child."

The trio from the city of St. John's have been together for three years, the Canadian Press reported. The woman in the polyamorous relationship is the mother of the child, who was born last year, while the father remains unknown. The family members haven't been identified in the decision.
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Heart - Black

Teesside man knifes himself to death after believing vest was stab proof, inquest hears


RT
Mon, 18 Jun 2018 14:41 UTC
Knife
© Nikolay Gyngazov/ Global Look Press
A man stabbed himself to death as he believed his vest was stab-proof, an inquest has heard. Jordan Easton died from self-inflicted wounds just five days after his 22nd birthday.

Easton, from Thornaby, Teesside, inflicted the fatal wound while at his friend's parents on August 23. According to Teesside Live, assistant coroner Karin Welsh said: "While in the kitchen, he took hold a knife to demonstrate it was stab-proof and sadly realized it wasn't the case."

Easton, who was described by his friends as "one-of-a-kind", was rushed to the University Hospital of North Tees in Stockton with a single stab to the chest.

"Despite the best efforts of the medical professionals, they were unable to save him," Welsh said.
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Russian Flag

Russian lawmaker claims West's sanctions policy only unite Crimeans in the face of foreign aggression


RT
Mon, 18 Jun 2018 14:47 UTC
russian sailors
© Alexey Malgavko / Sputnik
Sailors of the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol during the celebrations to mark the 235th anniversary of the Black Sea Fleet
The tightening of anti-Russian sanctions will only boost the popularity of patriotic ideology while the new generation will grow up knowing that the West cannot be trusted, says a Crimean deputy of the State Duma.

"The economy of Crimea and Sevastopol along with the views of the residents of these regions have already adjusted to the life under sanctions. As of today, the sanctions have become one of the ideologies that unite the people of Crimea and Sevastopol in the face of aggressive external forces," MP Dmitry Belik said in comments with TASS.

"The longer the West sticks to its so-called "sanctions policy" the stronger would be the solidarity of the local people and the ideological policy in the whole Russian Federation. If they are using sanctions against us this means that any sort of armistice is out of the question and the new generation of Russians would know that there are no friends among western politicians. They make rather mediocre allies as well," the lawmaker noted.

Comment: Sanctions on Russia are losing their bite

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Water

Almost half of Indians out of clean drinking water by 2030, 600 million facing shortages - study


RT
Mon, 18 Jun 2018 15:30 UTC
Carrying water jug
© Ahmad Masood / Reuters
Hundreds of millions of Indians are in need of clean water and demand may twice exceed the available supply by 2030, a government think tank has warned. 200,000 people already die annually due to drought and water contamination.

The second-largest population in the world is suffering from the worst water crisis in its history, with the situation deteriorating year by year, according to a study by the government-run National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog) think tank.

The study found 21 of the busiest cities in India, including New Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad, are expected to reach zero groundwater levels by 2020, affecting 100 million people, according to the study.

"Currently, 600 million Indians face high to extreme water stress and about [200,000] people die every year due to inadequate access to safe water," the study warned.
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Stop

Proposed EU 'Copyright Directive' could make memes and remixes illegal to share

John Vibes
The Free Thought Project
Mon, 18 Jun 2018 00:00 UTC
Memes EU copyright law
Posting memes, remixes, and other similar content could soon be banned from the web in the European Union, according to critics who are speaking out against a recently proposed copyright law.

The law, known as the "Copyright Directive," will be voted on later this month by the European Parliament, and lawmakers suggest that this will protect content creators in the internet age. However, one of the primary reasons why the internet age has brought us so much innovation and novelty is because of the fact that such a large aggregate of people are able to share their ideas and build upon the ideas of others to create something uniquely special.

Article 13 of the proposed bill calls on platform providers such as Google, Facebook, and web hosts to "take measures to ensure the functioning of agreements concluded with rights-holders for the use of their works".

This type of policy would create a slippery slope that could very quickly lead to a situation where platforms are required to add a filter for the content that is shared through them, which will restrict the ability for creators to do something as simple as creating a meme or a remix of a song.

Comment: Further reading:

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