Society's ChildS


Quenelle - Golden

New Yorkers take to the streets in support of Palestinians resisting Israeli occupation

Jesse Rubin
Mondoweiss
Mon, 21 May 2018 00:00 UTC
New Yorkers support Gaza May 2018
© Jesse RubinNew Yorkers take to the streets in support of Gaza, May 18, 2018
New Yorkers turned Times Square into a ground for dissent Friday afternoon, taking to the streets in support of Palestinians actively resisting Israeli occupation and dispossession.

More than 200 joined the mobilization organized by NY4Palestine, to mark a confluence of somber events: seventy years of Nakba, the unprecedented move of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and Israel's recent massacre of scores of Palestinians in Gaza.

Since March 30, tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza have participated in the Great Return March, demanding their right to return to the land Zionist militias seized and in 1948 declared the state of Israel.

"All [Palestinians are] doing is demanding their right to return, a right that is recognized by the international community" said Fatin Jarar of the Al-awda Right to Return Coalition. "They have just been going on the streets and marching and the response has been outrageous, it's been brutal, it's been sickening."

Comment: March of Return: Israel's Officially Sanctioned Use of Deadly Force Against Palestinians Delivers Deadly Blow to Its Credibility

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Star of David

Palestinians regularly arrested for Facebook 'incitement' - but Israelis get away with it

Danielle Alma Ravitzki
Mondoweiss
Wed, 23 May 2018 14:18 UTC
israeli incitement facebook
© Facebook“A morning with lots of energy to slaughter Arabs!!!!”
When I first heard of Dareen Tatour's story, I had this terrible feeling deep inside. I am a musician myself, I know what it is like to express oneself through art. I imagined myself in her place, being arrested and persecuted for my art. Dareen is a Palestinian poet placed under house arrest since 2015, indicted for incitement to violence against the Israeli regime through a poem she posted on Facebook. Then it dawned on me that this could not actually happen to me, since I am a Jewish citizen of Israel, not a Palestinian. Israel has this tendency to oppress minority groups, and non-Jews specifically, through its homicidal apartheid regime. I reached out to Dareen, and we immediately connected. I met a beautiful young woman, so intelligent, so loving. We became friends immediately.

This April, after an extended legal saga of over two-and-a-half years, I joined Dareen at her final court hearing in Nazareth. Driving for hours on my way there, I had an ominous premonition. Her story is nothing but Kafkaesque, and her condemnation will most probably give rise to a wave of schadenfreude on the part of Israelis, quick to rejoice at the misfortune (and injustice) of weaker populations. When I walked into the courtroom, the judge was whispering and reciting her verdict very fast: "Dareen is convicted of incitement and support of terrorism." She said it in such a low voice, she was asked to repeat her words louder a couple of times. Her stance was that after Dareen published her poem, there were many terrorist attacks against Israeli Jews. Yet, was the judge not deliberately ignoring the numerous attacks made towards Palestinians at that same time exactly? The verdict had a strong air of discrimination, it is unjust, and it is down-right detrimental to the freedom of speech and expression. This verdict not only silences art, it criminalizes it.


Comment: It's understandable. Israel is run by a collection of rabid identity-politics-obsessed SJWs high on the fumes of an eternal victimhood, and undeclared nuclear weapons. Not a good mix.

As for Dareen's poem, this is what she wrote:
Resist, my people, resist them.
In Jerusalem, I dressed my wounds and breathed my sorrows
And carried the soul in my palm
For an Arab Palestine.
I will not succumb to the "peaceful solution,"
Never lower my flags
Until I evict them from my land.
I cast them aside for a coming time.
Resist, my people, resist them.
Resist the settler's robbery
And follow the caravan of martyrs.
Shred the disgraceful constitution
Which imposed degradation and humiliation
And deterred us from restoring justice.
They burned blameless children;
As for Hadil, they sniped her in public,
Killed her in broad daylight.
Resist, my people, resist them.
Resist the colonialist's onslaught.
Pay no mind to his agents among us
Who chain us with the peaceful illusion.
Do not fear doubtful tongues;
The truth in your heart is stronger,
As long as you resist in a land
That has lived through raids and victory.
So Ali called from his grave:
Resist, my rebellious people.
Write me as prose on the agarwood;
My remains have you as a response.
Resist, my people, resist them.
Resist, my people, resist them.
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Pistol

Accused Texas shooter's father blames bullying for son's rampage

Costas Paris
The Wall Street Journal
Mon, 21 May 2018 13:43 UTC
Santa Fe High School shooting
© SCOTT OLSON/GETTY IMAGESPictures of victims of the Santa Fe High School shooting were displayed during a prayer vigil on Sunday.
The father of the 17-year-old charged with killing 10 people at a high school in Santa Fe, Texas, said Monday that his son was a "good boy" and had been "mistreated at school."

Antonios Pagourtzis said in a brief phone interview with The Wall Street Journal that his son Dimitrios was bullied and "I believe that's what was behind" the shooting.

Dimitrios Pagourtzis is being held without bond at the Galveston County Jail after he allegedly burst into an art classroom Friday morning at Santa Fe High School armed with a shotgun and pistol and opened fire, before surrendering to police. In a probable cause statement, authorities said he admitted to the shooting.

The Santa Fe Independent School District didn't respond to requests for comment on whether Dimitrios Pagourtzis was bullied. On Saturday, it denied reports that he was bullied by high-school coaches in this small rural Texas town southeast of Houston.

Nicholas Poehl, a lawyer hired by the Pagourtzis family to represent their son, said Monday that the teen had been bullied but declined to go into specifics. He said he was still trying to ascertain details, including how school officials responded.

The elder Mr. Pagourtzis, who owns a shipping repair company based in Houston, said his family was distraught over the mass shooting.

Comment: On the one hand, the people close to a criminal are often the worst judges of character - they only see the good side, which is an image crafted by the criminal and which his loved ones are invested in believing. "Out-of-character" crime is largely, if not wholly, a myth. On the other hand, the school shooting phenomena may have a threshold explanation: with each new shooting, the threshold for the shooter's grievance gets lower and lower, to the point that something extremely trivial may inspire it. That's not to say that they had good characters to begin with - just that young men who would otherwise not engage in such a violent act are more likely to do so.

See: The best explanation for mass shootings: Social contagion

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Propaganda

MSM ignores Trump meeting with families of MS-13 victims


RT
Thu, 24 May 2018 12:34 UTC
MS 13 immigrant Trump protest
© Eduardo Munoz / ReutersSupporters of US President Donald Trump outside the immigration round table venue in Bethpage, New York, May 23, 2018
President Donald Trump pushed for tougher immigration laws in a meeting with family members of MS-13 victims, calling the gang members 'animals' again. Media outlets hostile to Trump either ignored the event or called it racist.

Flanked by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, several lawmakers and Homeland Security officials, Trump heard testimonies from parents of teens brutally killed by the Mara Salvatrucha gang in Long Island. Many of the families were themselves immigrants from Latin America.

Trump argued that "crippling loopholes" in US immigration laws have enabled the gang members and other criminals to infiltrate American communities, blasting Democrats in Congress for resisting his efforts to secure the border.

Comment: Further reading:

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Syringe

'All results were negative': FIFA anti-doping probe exonerates Russian football players

Frank Sellers
The Duran
Thu, 24 May 2018 12:34 UTC
FIFA world cup Russia
The same party line that excluded Russia from participation in the 2018 Winter Olympics was again used to dampen Russia's credibility and its team's eligibility to compete in the tournament, which Russia will be hosting.

That line is that Russia cheats by doping up its players to give them an unfair edge over that of other nation's teams in order to score victory for Russia, which would then be used as a part of Russia's propaganda to show the world how great it is.

That's the party line, anyhow. But this time it hasn't worked. This time there's no 'whistleblower', but a report that led to a probe that, like the Mueller probe which investigates alleged Russian 'collusion' with the Trump campaign, failed to turn up any evidence.

Comment: Further reading: Russia ready for the FIFA World Cup - Putin, Infantino receive their FAN IDs in Sochi

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Network

Russia & France discuss nuclear energy partnership in third-party countries, in defiance of the belligerent US


RT
Wed, 23 May 2018 10:43 UTC
pylon
© Mike Hutchings / Reuters
Russian and French power companies are considering joint nuclear projects in third-party countries, says Russia's Rosatom.The talks will take place during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum this week.

"During the 'nuclear dialogue' the sides are expected to present the joint projects on cooperation in third countries in such areas as engineering and the manufacture of nuclear power plant equipment, development of renewable energy resources and energy efficiency, the digital transformation of the energy sector and nuclear fuel cycle," Rosatom said.

Comment: As Russia and China forge ahead with mutually beneficial deals with the rest of the world, the US is fast making itself obsolete: Also check out SOTT radio's: Behind the Headlines: Atlantic Trade War? How Trump Breaking Iran Deal Could Dismantle US Empire

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Bomb

US military lacks innovation, spending is out of control, and soon it may struggle to source the necessary materials

Aaron Mehta
Defense News
Wed, 23 May 2018 09:07 UTC
Key suppliers for weapons such as the AIM-120 advanced medium-range air-to-air missile are fleeing the defense-industrial base, which could have an impact on the ability of America to wage war in the future.
© R. Nial Bradshaw/U.S. Air ForceKey suppliers for weapons such as the AIM-120 advanced medium-range air-to-air missile are fleeing the defense-industrial base, which could have an impact on the ability of America to wage war in the future.
The Pentagon plans to invest more than $20 billion in munitions in its next budget. But whether the industrial base will be there to support such massive buys in the future is up in the air - at a time when America is expending munitions at increasingly intense rates.

The annual Industrial Capabilities report, put out by the Pentagon's Office of Manufacturing and Industrial Base Policy, has concluded that the industrial base of the munitions sector is particularly strained, something the report blames on the start-and-stop nature of munitions procurement over the last 20 years, as well as the lack of new designs being internally developed.


Comment: A common trait amongst psychopathic entities is a lack of creativity.


Some suppliers have dropped out entirely, leaving no option for replacing vital materials. Other key suppliers are foreign-owned, with no indigenous capability to produce vital parts and materials ― setting up the risk that a conflict with China could rely on Chinese-made parts.

Comment: The US zombie military industrial complex is so corrupt its inefficiency has it lagging dangerously behind Russia and China, despite a spending budget many multiples more:

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Video

Alive and well: Yulia Skripal says 'returning to Russia is the long-term goal' in her first interview since attack


RT
Wed, 23 May 2018 19:28 UTC
Yulia Skripal interview
© Dylan Martinez / Reuters
In her first interview since surviving an alleged nerve agent attack, Yulia Skripal said she eventually wants to return to Russia. She has not shed any light on what happened in March in Salisbury.

"I came to the UK on the 3rd of March to visit my father, something I have done regularly in the past. After 20 days in a coma, I woke to the news that we had both been poisoned," Skripal said in a video that was recorded by Reuters. She reiterated her words in a handwritten statement.

She and her father, Sergei Skripal, a former Russian double-agent, were found unconscious on a public bench in the British city of Salisbury on March 4. The UK government immediately accused Russia of being behind their poisoning, but it has yet to provide evidence for the claim. Skripal did not comment on who she thought was to blame for her poisoning.


Comment: The Russian Embassy is still requesting direct access to Yulia Skripal as they have legitimate concerns that she is being held against her will or forced to make certain statements:
"We are glad to have seen Yulia Skripal alive and well," the Russian Embassy in the UK said in a statement. "However, the video shown only strengthens our concerns as to the conditions in which she is being held."

While the release of Yulia's interview is most welcome, it "does not discharge the UK authorities from their obligations under Consular Conventions," Russia's Embassy reminded.

"The UK is obliged to give us the opportunity to speak to Yulia directly in order to make sure that she is not held against her own will and is not speaking under pressure. So far, we have every reason to suspect the opposite," the statement reads.

Yulia's speech during the interview and the written statements in Russian and English she signed have raised multiple questions with Russian diplomats.

"Judging by quite a few elements, the text was a translation from English and had been initially written by a native English-speaker," the embassy said. "The handwritten letters signed by Yulia in Russian and English confirm this impression."


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Pistol

UK law enforcement head: Albanian mafia 'fueling surge of violent crime in London'


RT
Wed, 23 May 2018 13:30 UTC
drugs uk
© Stefan Wermuth / Reuters
Organized crime gangs, like the Albanian mafia, are "fueling the surge in violent crime in London" as a result of importing Class A drugs into Britain, leading to turf wars on the streets, claims a top UK law enforcement official.

John Coles, head of special operations at the National Crime Agency (NCA), charged with targeting high level drug gangs, claims that there is a greater propensity for gangsters to carry guns and knives, adding that social media was helping to drive the rise in London's brutal street crime.

Coles told the Evening Standard: "In my day it was face to face, part of the problem is that these threats are posted on social media and everyone sees it.

"They have no qualms or concerns about shooting someone, they are extremely violent nasty individuals."
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Evil Rays

US government employee working in China suffers brain injury after experiencing 'abnormal sensations of sound and pressure'


RT
Wed, 23 May 2018 16:54 UTC
Brain injury US worker China
© Ueslei Marcelino / ReutersThe unnamed employee assigned to Guangzhou, where an American consulate is located, first began experiencing a variety of physical symptoms from late 2017 and reported it in late March, according to the department.
A US government worker has reportedly suffered a mild brain injury after hearing an "abnormal sound" while working in China. The incident has sparked comparisons to last year's alleged 'sonic attack' on US diplomats in Cuba.

The US State Department issued a health warning to its citizens based in China outlining the mysterious case. "A US government employee in China recently reported subtle and vague, but abnormal, sensations of sound and pressure," the statement said, adding that it has informed all official staff based in the country of the case.

In a statement to RT the US State Department said it learned that the employee had symptoms similar to that of a patient with mild traumatic brain injury on May 18.

The unnamed employee assigned to Guangzhou, where an American consulate is located, first began experiencing a variety of physical symptoms from late 2017 and reported it in late March, according to the department.

Comment: Regarding the alleged 'sonic attacks' against American and Canadian diplomats in Cuba, see:

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