Society's ChildS


Propaganda

Over 1,000 journalists from across the world unite in defence of Julian Assange


Morning Star
Thu, 20 Feb 2020 00:01 UTC
journalists for assange
A collage of journalists who have defended jailed WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

The WikiLeaks founder faces extradition to the US and 175 years behind bars

Journalists from nearly 100 countries have united to defend jailed Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, as he faces extradition to the US and 175 years behind bars.

A statement signed by more than 1,200 media workers warned of an unprecedented attack on press freedom as Mr Assange's court hearing begins on Monday.

Comment: It looks like some actual journalists still exist. The rest are glorified stenographers.

See also:

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Attention

Shocking study shows police chases over minor crimes kill thousands of innocent bystanders

John Vibes
The Free Thought Project
Sat, 22 Feb 2020 00:00 UTC
police chase car crashes
We've long known police officers shoot and kill on average about 1,000 citizens in the U.S. every year for a variety of reasons, none of which seem take place in other parts of the world. But we were shocked to learn just how many motorists and innocent bystanders are killed by cops every year when officers give chase to suspects. The numbers are quite staggering.

According to a recently published research study by the Fine Law Firm and 1Point21 Interactive, over 2,000 citizens over a four-year period were killed by cops as police were chasing suspect vehicles. Surprisingly, more than half of those killed were not the suspects!
An analysis by the Fine Law Firm and 1Point21 Interactive found that there were 1,699 fatal crashes involving police chases from 2014-2018, killing at least 2,005 people - 1,123 were not the driver of the fleeing vehicle.
That number might be much higher because, just as with officer involved shootings, those killed by cop statistics are not required to be reported to any federal government database anywhere. Currently, officer-involved shooting deaths are only voluntarily reported to the FBI.

We spoke to Brian Beltz, Research Lead at 1Point21 Interactive via email, who tells TFTP that this study hits home as he knew someone who died from a police chase.
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Biohazard

5 Biggest pesticide companies are making billions from 'highly hazardous' chemicals

Jordan Davidson
Ecowatch
Thu, 20 Feb 2020 12:16 UTC
pesticides
Poor people in developing countries are far more likely to suffer from exposure to pesticides classified as having high hazard to human health or the environment, according to new data that Unearthed analyzed.

The analysis shows that the world's top five pesticide makers are making billions, accounting for more than 36 percent of their income, from chemicals that are proven to hazards to humans and the environment and are contributing to the precipitous demise of bee populations, as Unearthed reported.

The researchers found that the sale of these highly hazardous pesticides (HHPs), disproportionately occurred in poorer nations, which often have fewer regulations than industrialized nations, according to The Guardian. In India, for example, sales of HHPs were nearly 60 percent, while in the UK it was just 11 percent.

The report from the investigative team at Unearthed focused on the practices of Bayer, BASF, Corteva (formerly Dow and DuPont), FMC and Syngenta, which are continuing to sell HHPs like neonicotinoids and glufosinate that have been banned in other parts of the world, according to the produce industry publication Fresh Produce Journal.

Comment: See also:

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Arrow Down

Ontario police arrest First Nations protesters amid standoff with Canada government over pipeline


RT
Mon, 24 Feb 2020 22:26 UTC
Blockade
© REUTERS/Chris HelgrenRailway blockade in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory camp, Ontario, Canada February 24, 2020.
Police in Ontario arrested 10 people and dismantled the Tyendinaga Mohawk blockade that had shut down much of Canada's rail traffic for the past two weeks, but the battle over a pipeline going through indigenous lands continues.

Mohawks set up barricades on the Canadian Pacific railway track on February 8, in solidarity with the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs over in British Columbia, who are protesting efforts to build a natural gas pipeline through the land they claim. They demand that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau order the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) out of their territory before any negotiations can begin.

Ten people were arrested on Monday morning as Ontario Provincial Police began clearing up the blockade, which had crippled Canada's freight and passenger traffic for the past two weeks. Other protesters set up short-term blockades on roads and bridges throughout Canada, including a border crossing with the US at Niagara Falls at one point.

Mohawks responded to the arrests by blocking the railway in Kahnawake and the road in nearby Kanesatake, as well as slowing down traffic on two highways heading into Montreal, Quebec.

Comment: See also:

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Ambulance

As coronavirus cases surge in Italy, EU states take measures to prevent disease from crossing the Alps

Lillo Montalto Monella
Euronews
Mon, 24 Feb 2020 17:02 UTC
Carabiniere virus checkpoint Italy
© Miguel MEDINA / AFPA carabiniere at a checkpoint near Castiglione d'Adda.
As Italy deals with a surge of confirmed cases of the COVID-19 virus, other European Union member states are considering what measures to take to prevent the disease from crossing the Alps.

Italian authorities confirmed on Monday that a fifth person had died on its soil from the novel coronavirus and that the number of cases had risen to more than 200.

The governments of Slovenia and Croatia, where no cases have been reported, convened emergency meetings on Monday. Zagreb has since announced that all travellers arriving from Italy would be monitored and that all scheduled school trips to Italy over the coming weeks would be cancelled.

The Croatian Foreign Affairs ministry also updated its travel advisory, advising its nationals to avoid visiting the northern Italian regions of Veneto and Lombardy because of the "risk of coronavirus infection".

Further east in Romania, authorities have announced that all Italian nationals from Italian regions where cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed will be quarantined for 14 days. The AP news agency reported however that people at the border are only required to fill a form.

Comment: See also:

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Stock Down

Panic mode on: Dow plunges 1000+ points on mounting fears over coronavirus spreading

Fred Imbert and Eustance Huang
CNBC
Mon, 24 Feb 2020 22:27 UTC
stock market
© REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
Stocks fell sharply on Monday as the number of coronavirus cases outside China surged, stoking fears of a prolonged global economic slowdown from the virus spreading.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 1,031.61 points lower, or 3.56%, at 27,960.80. The S&P 500 slid 3.35% to 3,225.89 while the Nasdaq Composite closed 3.71% lower at 9,221.28. It was the Dow's biggest point and percentage-point drop since February 2018. The Dow also gave up its gain for 2020 and is now down 2% for the year. The S&P 500 also had its worst day in two years and wiped out its year-to-date gain as well.

"The second-largest economy in the world is completely shut down. People aren't totally pricing that in," said Larry Benedict, CEO of The Opportunistic Trader, adding a 10% to 15% correction in stocks may be starting. He also said some parts of the market, particularly large-cap tech stocks, appear to be over-owned. "It seems like there's much more to come."
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Biohazard

Best of the Web: Don't buy China's story: Clues that coronavirus may have leaked from a lab

Steven W. Mosher
New York Post
Sat, 22 Feb 2020 11:18 UTC
coronavirus
© AFP via Getty ImagesMembers of a police sanitation team spray disinfectant as a preventive measure against the spread of the coronavirus.
At an emergency meeting in Beijing held last Friday, Chinese leader Xi Jinping spoke about the need to contain the coronavirus and set up a system to prevent similar epidemics in the future.

A national system to control biosecurity risks must be put in place "to protect the people's health," Xi said, because lab safety is a "national security" issue.

Xi didn't actually admit that the coronavirus now devastating large swaths of China had escaped from one of the country's bioresearch labs. But the very next day, evidence emerged suggesting that this is exactly what happened, as the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology released a new directive titled: "Instructions on strengthening biosecurity management in microbiology labs that handle advanced viruses like the novel coronavirus."

Comment: The media, it seems, is finally cottoning on to China's mistake. As we published last month: Did Coronavirus outbreak originate in a lab? Novel sequence in 2019-nCoV Virus genome suggests man-made cause

'The markets' are freaking out about the Coronavirus outbreak, but this is largely due to the manner in which it has been handled by the Chinese government, the WHO and other governments following their lead. At this point it seems pretty clear to us that the Coronavirus outbreak began in Wuhan, central China - location of that country's ONLY Level 4 biolab - because of an accidental release during vaccine trials, at which point it may have mutated further, leaving the Chinese authorities worried that it's only another mutation or two away from becoming truly pandemic.

As things stand, this outbreak is NOT pandemic, and the chances of it doing so are low. A death toll of 2,600 globally after 2 months is NOT a 'return of the Black Death'. This doesn't mean such is not in the cards in the not-too-distant future, but CoVid-19 is probably not it. The Chinese authorities, by their actions, gave away their culpability in causing this, and have likely given us a glimpse into how authorities the world over will attempt to contain future outbreaks.

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Oil Well

UAE makes massive new natural gas discovery: Gamechanger for both current regional relations and market futures

Vanand Meliksetian
OilPrice.com
Mon, 24 Feb 2020 21:13 UTC
Jebel Alibig gas find UAE
The Jebel Ali area will host the gas reservoir project being developed by Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The venture brings together Adnoc and Dusup.
The Persian Gulf is, without doubt, the most prominent oil and gas production area in the world. After decades of intensive exploration and production, the region still amaze persistent explorers. Even well-explored countries such as the UAE still hold surprises. The Emirates are already one of the world's largest producer and exporter of oil. In 2019 on average 2.9 million barrels per day were extracted, which generates approximately 30 percent of the country's GDP.

Despite its impressive production capacity, the UAE remains strongly dependent on imported natural gas to meet domestic demand. A third of the country's gas is provided by neighboring Qatar. The majority is exported through the Dolphin pipeline. The fraught political relations between Qatar and the UAE due the latter's support of the Saudi-led blockade create an awkward commercial relationship.

Therefore, the discovery of a massive gas field on the border of Dubai and Abu Dhabi could become a significant game-changer. Becoming self-sufficient improves the country's energy security and potentially transforms the regional geopolitical environment.
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Chart Bar

US beats China to become India's top trading partner


Business Today
Sun, 23 Feb 2020 21:23 UTC
india usa flags puzzle
The US has surpassed China to become India's top trading partner, showing greater economic ties between the two countries. According to the data of the commerce ministry, in 2018-19, the bilateral trade between the US and India stood at USD 87.95 billion.

During the period, India's two-way commerce with China aggregated at USD 87.07 billion.

Similarly, during April-December 2019-20, the bilateral trade between the US and India stood at USD 68 billion. It stood at USD 64.96 billion with China in the same period.

Trade experts believe that the trend will continue in the coming years also as New Delhi and Washington are engaged in further deepening the economic ties.

An expert said that if the countries will finalise a free trade agreement (FTA), then the bilateral trade would reach at different levels.

"FTA with US will be very beneficial for India as the US is the biggest market for domestic goods and services," Federation of Indian Export organisations Director General Ajay Sahai said.

Comment: Also in the news today:

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V

Best of the Web: 'Every journalist should feel a cold, icy hand running down their spine': Assange's extradition case examined in new RT doc


RT
Mon, 24 Feb 2020 21:04 UTC
assange
© Global Look Press / ZUMAPRESS.com/Martyn Wheatley
With Julian Assange's US extradition hearing getting under way in London, RTD's new film sheds light on why the WikiLeaks founder's landmark case may lay the path for future prosecution of journalists.

"Every journalist in the United States should feel a cold, icy hand running down their spine at the charges that had been leveled against this publisher. Because they could be next," writer Suelette Dreyfus says about Assange whose project published leaked documents exposing possible US War crimes in Iraq and letters exposing shenanigans against Bernie Sanders in 2016 by bosses within the Democratic Party.

"If Julian Assange being a publisher is put in prison for being a publisher, for no other reason than being a publisher, then we have no rules," says a Swedish journalist Johannes Wahlstrom, who worked with WikiLeaks on the documentary 'Mediastan'.
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