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NLRB rejects Damore's claim because memo 'constituted sexual harassment'

Sam Machkovec
Ars Technica
Fri, 16 Feb 2018 22:42 UTC
google lens
© shutterstock
Former Google engineer James Damore has attempted to take civil and legal action against his former employer after being fired in August, but on Thursday, a federal memo revealed that one of Damore's filings has been unequivocally denied.

The National Labor Relations Board published its memo this week, which was issued in January after Damore filed a charge against his former employer on August 8. In spite of Damore withdrawing his NLRB filing in September, the board proceeded to examine and issue its own ruling: Google "discharged [Damore] only for [his] unprotected conduct while it explicitly affirmed [his] right to engage in protected conduct." The NLRB emphasized that any charge filed by Damore on the matter should be "dismissed."

In explaining the board's reasoning, NLRB member Jayme Sophir points to two specific parts of the controversial memo circulated by Damore in August: Damore's claim that women are "more prone to 'neuroticism,' resulting in women experiencing higher anxiety and exhibiting lower tolerance for stress" and that "men demonstrate greater variance in IQ than women."

Comment: To say that Damore's statements "constituted sexual harassment" is quite a stretch and misinterpreting the memo. One would think someone from the labour board would be a bit more objective with regards to the memo. Apparently not. See also:

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Propaganda

Reports that 'scores of Russians' were killed in Syria is FAKE NEWS

Alexander Mercouris
The Duran
Fri, 16 Feb 2018 06:12 UTC
military
© Unknown
Russia denies reports of 'scores' or 'hundreds' of Russians killed in US air raid east of Euphrates

Maria Zakharova, the spokeswoman of Russia's Foreign Ministry, has vigorously denied widespread Western media reports of 'scores' or even 'hundreds' of deaths of Russian mercenaries supposedly killed in the recent US air strike in Syria against pro-Syrian government tribal fighters east of the Euphrates river.

These reports have appeared in Bloomberg, The New York Times, and The Guardian. They have been followed up by a further report by Agence France-Presse and in The Guardian, sourced to the pro-Jihadi British based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, that another fifteen Russian mercenaries were recently killed as a result of an explosion at their base in Syria's Deir Ezzor province.


Comment: SOHR is a shell propaganda outlet for Western consumption.


Zakharova's denial does not touch on the explosion at the base, but does respond in detail to the claims of 'scores' or even 'hundreds' of deaths of Russian mercenaries as a result of the earlier US air strike:
Reports about the death of dozens and even hundreds of Russian nationals are a classic example of disinformation. There were not 400, 200, 100 or even ten (who died), according to preliminary information, in a clash the cause of which is being investigated. Five people, who allegedly were Russian citizens, may have been killed. Several people suffered wounds but it requires verification, particularly as to whether all of them are Russian nationals.

Comment: See also:
Watch out for distorted data advises Kremlin on reports of Russians killed in Syria

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Biohazard

Syrian media: Turkish forces blasted Syrian Kurds with toxic gas, 6 civilians injured


RT
Fri, 16 Feb 2018 22:00 UTC
Afrin
© Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty ImagesOperation Olive Branch near Afrin
Turkish forces engaged in Operation Olive Branch against Kurdish militias in the northwest of Syria have used gas, Syrian state media SANA reports. At least six civilians have been hospitalized.

"Six people have been admitted with symptoms of suffocation as a result of the use of projectiles with poisonous gas by the Turkish regime in the town of Aranda," SANA quotes the hospital's director, Joan Mohammed. Medics are working to determine the type of gas used, Mohammed said.

Local journalist Mohammed Hassan tweeted pictures of patients, who were purported to be victims of the attack, wearing breathing masks. The hospital director said four of the victims were stable and two were in critical condition.

YPG spokesman Birusk Hasaka confirmed to Reuters that Kurds came under what appears to be a chemical attack during Turkey's offensive on a village, saying that the symptoms of the six people affected are consistent with exposure to a gas poisoning.


Comment: Turkey has been waiting for this opportunity to let loose on the Kurds. But as in the past, we should be wary of accusations until proven to be true.
See also:

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Arrow Up

Russian men's hockey team conquers US 4-0 in Pyeongchang Winter Olympics


RT
Sat, 17 Feb 2018 19:39 UTC
Russian hockey players
© Alexander Vilf / Sputnik
The Russian men's hockey team, which is competing under a neutral flag at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, delivered a crushing 4-0 defeat to Team USA.

The Olympic Athletes from Russia took the lead in the middle of the opening period at the Gangneung Hockey Centre, with Nikolay Prokhorkin beating US goalie Ryan Zapolski. Prokhorkin then struck again to make it 2-0 for the Red Machine early in the second 20 minutes.

Former NHL star Ilya Kovalchuk dashed any American hopes for a comeback, netting his team's third goal in the last second of the period. And it was Kovalchuk who settled the final 4-0 score less than 30 seconds into the third period.

The win allowed the Russian team to climb to first place in Group B of the tournament, and guarantees a spot in the playoffs. Oleg Znarok's men have 6 points with one game remaining in the group stages, while Slovenia, the US, and Slovakia are all tied with 4 points.
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Bad Guys

Dossier reveals UN employees were responsible for 60,000 rapes over the last decade and has 3,300 pedophiles working for them

Matt Agorist
The Free Thought Project
Fri, 16 Feb 2018 19:03 UTC
UN report pedophiles
An outright frightening dossier released by a former senior United Nations official reveals that United Nations employees have carried out over 60,000 rapes in just the last decade. What's more, the dosser estimates that the organization currently employs at least 3,300 pedophiles.

In just ten years, under the guise of rendering aid, the United Nations has literally been raping and pillaging countries across the world. The problem has gotten so out of hand that it prompted the former UN insider, Andrew Macleod, to blow the whistle and hand over the evidence to Britain's Department for International Development (DFID) Secretary Priti Patel.

According to the exclusive report by the Sun, the dossier reveals that on top of the 3,300 pedophiles working for the organization, thousands more "predatory" sex abusers specifically target aid charity jobs to get close to vulnerable women and children.

According to Macleod, anyone who's attempted to blow the whistle on the horrifyingly rampant abuse is silence and fired.
Sharing his dossier with The Sun, Prof MacLeod last night warned that the spiralling abuse scandal was on the same scale as the Catholic Church's.

Comment: The "UN" is more than anything 'un' involved with peace and more interested in terrorizing and abusing those they are supposed to protect. However, they are not the only ones. It is a systemic problem where those in positions of power exploit the weak and defenseless and now are working to normalize pedophilia. See also:

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Map

Israeli journalist poses as Syrian refugee, travels to Germany, 'joins' Islamists to prove a point


RT
Sat, 17 Feb 2018 19:18 UTC
Zvi Jecheskeli
© Channel 10Perfect camouflage: Zvi Jecheskeli as Sheikh Khaled Abu Salaam aka Abu Hamsa
Prominent Israeli journalist Zvi Jecheskeli, who went undercover as a devout Muslim, has revealed how easy it may be for Islamists to pass through Germany's borders and become a "Syrian refugee."

Jecheskeli spent several years risking his life to film a documentary on the role and influence of the Muslim Brotherhood in the streets of Germany, France, Britain and Turkey. While the organization is legal in some countries and has affiliated political parties, it's outlawed as a terrorist group in others, including Russia, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

Infiltrating the ranks of the Muslim Brotherhood is a challenge indeed, as the group is "known for its distrust" of outsiders, whom they would "never" allow a glimpse into their plans, Jecheskeli told Die Welt.

His five-part series, entitled "False Identity," recently began airing on Israeli Channel 10. The Israeli intelligence service, Mossad, kept close taps on Jecheskeli and wired him with secret cameras and microphones in order to rescue him in case of emergency.

Comment: The German refugee program is a complete joke, as Jecheskeli makes clear. Anyone can come with virtually no background check, get free benefits, and with no responsibility to integrate into the country that makes their new home. This is how a nation self-destructs.

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Attention

Red Cross president to RT: Libyan crisis festers, but media has moved on


RT
Sat, 17 Feb 2018 19:43 UTC
Men walk past the ruins of a building
© Ahmed Jadallah / ReutersMen walk past the ruins of a building that was destroyed during clashes between Libyan forces and Islamic State militants, in Sirte, Libya
Although Libya has fallen out of headlines and been replaced by conflicts in Syria and Yemen, it is still plagued by fighting and a humanitarian crisis, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) told RT.

"Fighting is continuing," ICRC president Peter Maurer said. "Libya is one of the countries with the largest percentage of displaced populations and therefore the humanitarian needs are important - particularly in health services, water, and economic support for displaced populations."

Although news coverage of the situation in Libya has dwindled in favor of conflicts in other countries throughout the region, Maurer stressed the importance of keeping Libya in the media, as locals and migrants are facing an "appalling" situation in the country.
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Pistol

UPDATES: Former student Nicolas de Jesus Cruz blamed for Florida school shooting

Kyra Gurney, David Smiley And Connie Ogle
Miami Herald
Wed, 14 Feb 2018 23:44 UTC
parkland school shooting
An American nightmare unfolded Wednesday afternoon at a North Broward high school after a former student came onto campus and opened fire, killing 17.

Details are beginning to emerge amid a flurry of police activity at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, where students puzzled at the sound of a fire alarm going off just before dismissal were launched into a panic when gunfire punctuated the din. As teachers and students fled hallways and hid under desks, a former student who teachers and parents say was known to be dangerous came onto campus and unloaded, leaving a trail of bodies and stunned confusion in his wake.

Nicolas de Jesus Cruz, 19, has been taken into police custody. The Broward Sheriff's Office is reporting 17 dead, and is still working to clear all the buildings at the massive school, home to about 3,200 students.

They have yet to name a motive for the shooting, which they say doesn't immediately appear to have been prompted by any confrontation.

Comment: UPDATE: RT reports:
A user with the name 'Nikolas Cruz' - the name of the shooter who killed 17 people in a Florida high school on Wednesday - posted a comment under a documentary on a 1966 mass shooting, saying he wanted to do the same.

"I am going to what he did," (sic) the now-deleted comment read. It was posted under a Discovery UK documentary about the 1966 Texas University shooting, in which a former marine shot dead 18 and injured over 30 others from atop the main building tower at the University of Texas at Austin.
cruz school shooter post
The chilling comment came nine months before Wednesday's Florida school shooting, with the suspect identified as 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz. Seventeen people were killed and over a dozen injured.

Other students at the school, cited by various US media outlets, said Cruz had kept a stockpile of guns, and suggested the attack was carefully planned. Cruz reportedly triggered school fire alarms intentionally to get students and teachers to exit classrooms, maximizing the casualties.

It is not immediately clear whether the Nikolaz Cruz YouTube account, with nine subscribers and no publicly visible video uploads, belonged to the shooter, but it was suspended for "violent content" hours after the Florida shooting, apparently following the discovery of the comment.
Breitbart adds:
A YouTuber named Ben Bennight emailed the FBI tip-line in September after he noticed a comment left by a "Nikolas Cruz" on one of his videos. The comment read, "I'm going to be a professional school shooter."

Bennight lives in Mississippi and says he was "immediately" contacted by the local FBI office. He met with agents the following day. "That was the last I heard from them," he told BuzzFeed.

In the wake of the arrest of 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz for the murders of 17 people in Wednesday's school shooting in Parkland, FL, Bennight was again contacted by the FBI.

According to BuzzFeed, Special Agent Ryan Furr left the following voice mail: "I think we spoke with you in the past about a complaint that you made about someone making a comment on your YouTube channel. I just wanted to follow up with you on that and ask you a question with something that's come up, if you wouldn't mind giving me a ring."

Bennight says he was again visited by the FBI agents Wednesday and asked if he knew Cruz. When he told the agents he did not, they left.

As of this writing, there is no confirmation that the Nikolas Cruz who left that YouTube comment is the same Nikolas Cruz arrested for Wednesday's shooting massacre.
UPDATE: The FBI has begun an review of its handling of the tip provided in response to the YouTube comment reported on above. They had multiple warnings:
Seven months ago, Cruz wrote, "I am going to kill law enforcement one day they go after the good people," in the comments section of a video clip from the NatGeo show "Alaska State Troopers: Armed and Dangerous" that was posted on YouTube.

Then six months ago, he commented on a YouTube video titled, "Antifa Gun Club," writing, "Im going watch them sheep fall f*ck antifa i wish to kill as many as i can."

Cruz's Instagram account also contained questionable content, including a number of photos of him brandishing guns and knives, and showing off small animals and rodents he had killed.


Former classmates have said they were not surprised by the shooting or the fact that Cruz is the suspect. Joshua Charo told the Miami Herald that Cruz fit the description of a disgruntled student who would carry out a mass shooting.

"I can't say I was shocked," Charo said. "From past experiences, he seemed like the kind of kid who would do something like this."

John Crescitelli shared the same sentiment, saying his son had warned him about Cruz before. "If you were to pick one person you might predict in the future would shoot up a school or do this, it would be this kid," he said.

Family members of Nikolas Cruz also claimed that he has been taking medication for depression and emotional issues for several months. Given the social media posts and comments from the individual who has been described as a "troubled teen," it is becoming clear that the FBI should have seen the warning signs months ago.
More on Cruz's background:
The people who knew Cruz described him as a troubled teenager who was adopted when he was young and then was forced to move in with a friend after both of his adopted parents died. Jim Lewis, an attorney for the family that gave Cruz a place to live after his mother died in November, told The Washington Post that they knew Cruz was depressed, but they believed he taking steps to manage his depression.

Family member Barbara Kumbatovich told the Herald, "she believed Nikolas Cruz was on medication to deal with his emotional fragility." She was a sister-in-law of Lynda Cruz, the suspect's mother, and she also told the Sun-Sentinel that she believes Nikolas has been on medications for several months.

"I know she had been having some issues with them, especially the older one. He was being a problem. I know he did have some issues and he may have been taking medication. [He] did have some kind of emotional or difficulties," Kumbatovich said. "[Lynda] kept a really close handle on both boys. They were not major issues, as far as I know, just things teenagers do like not coming home on time, maybe being disrespectful."

Janine Kartiganer, a former neighbor, also described Crus as "very troubled," and said, "He wore a hoodie and always had his head down. He looked depressed."

An anonymous relative added another description, telling the Sentinel that they believed Cruz has been diagnosed with autism.


The leader of a local white nationalist group, Republic of Florida, whose goal is the creation of a white ethnostate, has confirmed that Cruz was a member of the group:
Jordan Jereb, leader of the Republic of Florida (ROF) group, told AP that Cruz "acted on his own behalf of what he just did and he's solely responsible for what he just did."

Jereb also said Cruz had "trouble with a girl" and he believed that it wasn't a coincidence the attack was carried out on Valentine's Day.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) said on Thursday that they called the ROF after self-described group members claimed Cruz was one of them on the discussion forum 4chan. Jereb confirmed that Cruz was associated with the group, having been "brought up" by another member, according to the ADL.
See also: Update: It turns out that AP might have been too quick to jump on the "Cruz is a white nationalist" story.

As for law enforcement's previews knowledge of Cruz, Florida police have reportedly been called to his home 39 times over the past 8 years:
Broward County Sheriff's deputies were called to Cruz's home at least 39 times since 2010, Fox 61 reported. The Associated Press later added that the sheriff's office said it received approximately 20 calls about Cruz over the past few years.

It is not clear whether some of the 20 calls they received overlapped with the 39 times sheriff's deputies visited Cruz's home or if they were separate incidents.


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Passport

ICE grants reprieve to father of young son battling leukemia - allowed to stay in US for one year

Caitlin Yilek
Washington Examiner
Tue, 13 Feb 2018 14:22 UTC
Ice deportation son leukemia
© Associated Press/Anita SnowJesus Berrones (pictured right, seated) holds his five-year-old son, Jayden, as his wife, Sonia, looks on at the Shadow Rock United Church of Christ in Phoenix, where he has sought sanctuary to avoid deportation back to his native Mexico. Jayden was diagnosed with leukemia in 2016 and is undergoing a three-year course of chemotherapy.
An illegal immigrant has been granted a one-year stay of deportation as his 5-year-old son battles leukemia.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement granted Jesus Armando Berrones-Balderas, who lives in Arizona with his pregnant wife and five children, a one-year stay on a humanitarian basis.

His lawyer, Garrett Wilkes, told CNN that Berrones checked in with ICE every six months until he was told he would be deported in January. He then sought refuge in a Phoenix church to avoid being deported.
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TV

'Hate fatigue': CNN's viewership drops 30%

John Nolte
Breitbart
Thu, 15 Feb 2018 18:15 UTC
cnn hosts
Massive layoffs, a cancerous fake news crisis, and the humiliating (and expensive) implosion of its digital platform, appear to be the least of CNN's problems. Because on top of all that, when compared to last year, the far-left cable channel has lost -30 percent of its primetime viewers and -23 percent of its total day viewers.

The viewership problems for the anti-Trump outlet are breathtaking, especially when compared to its competition. Throughout the week of February 5, CNN could only scrape together an average 674,000 total day viewers. During the all-important primetime hours, CNN averaged only 888,000 viewers.

Those numbers not only put CNN in last place behind MSNBC and Fox News, it puts the 24/7 Trump-hating channel in last place by a country mile.

In total day, the openly left-wing MSNBC averaged 972,000 viewers (compared to CNN's paltry 674,000). Fox News, however, nearly beat both CNN and MSNBC combined with 1.529 million average viewers.

During primetime, MSNBC smoked CNN by nearly a million viewers - 1.747 million (compared to CNN's 888,000). Fox beat both MSNBC and CNN combined with a whopping 2.605 million.

Comment: In the free market of ideas, CNN has been weighed and measured, and found wanting. Can't say they don't deserve it...

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