Society's ChildS


Star of David

Top Israeli court hears first major challenge to IDF's live fire against unarmed civilians in Gaza

Israeli soldiers gaza
© Israeli Defense ForceIsraeli snipers seen on the border with Gaza during the Great March of Return, March 30, 2018
Human rights groups argue the army's open-fire regulations violate international law. The government claims the use of deadly force is justified - even against unarmed demonstrators.

Israel's High Court of Justice heard on Monday a major challenge to the IDF's rules of engagement, which permit the use of live fire against demonstrators who pose no danger to human life.

Monday's session saw opening arguments in two petitions submitted by several prominent human rights organizations - one by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), Yesh Din, Gisha, and HaMoked: Center for the Defence of the Individual and one by Adalah and Al Mezan Center for Human Rights - in the wake of deadly violence against mostly unarmed Palestinian demonstrators in Gaza over the past month.

Network

Exxon moving forward with $15billion natural gas project with Rosneft despite anti-Russian sanctions

oil tanker
© Natalia Kolesnikova / AFP
ExxonMobil is reportedly proceeding with a $15-billion liquified natural gas (LNG) project with Russian oil giant Rosneft, despite having been forced to withdraw from some collaborative undertakings due to anti-Russia sanctions.

The project is unaffected by such sanctions, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing industry sources with knowledge of the issue.

Earlier this year, Exxon said that it had decided to withdraw from most of its joint oil and gas exploration activities with Rosneft, giving in to the pressure of US and EU sanctions against Russia's energy industry. The decision, Exxon said, was made last year, after Washington imposed additional sanctions on Russia for its alleged involvement in the 2016 presidential elections. The withdrawal process will begin this year.

Exxon will be withdrawing from joint ventures struck in 2013 and 2014, the group said in a SEC filing, while the LNG project-Far East LNG-is planned to use gas from the Sakhalin-1 oil and gas producing joint venture that was signed back in 1996.

Heart - Black

Cop suspended after footage showing him kicking handcuffed man lying on the ground in the head goes viral

cop kicking man head
A police officer in Miami has been suspended from duty after a video showing him delivering a running kick to the head of a man prone and in handcuffs surfaced on social media.

Officer Mario Figueroa was taken off duty Thursday after footage of the arrest was shared widely on Facebook. Captured by onlooker Lisa Harrell, the 51-second video shows suspect David Vladim Suazo lying face down on the ground as an officer approaches and places handcuffs on him. Figueroa then appears from the left of the screen and delivers a kick to Suazo's head before pinning him to the ground.

Suazo, 31, was arrested and charged with vehicle theft, fleeing a police officer, reckless driving, driving with a suspended license, leaving the scene of an accident and resisting an officer without violence.

In a statement, Miami Police Chief Jorge R. Colina said that the department "received a video of an incident involving one of my officers." "The video depicts a clear violation of policy," he added.

Colina confirmed that the officer had been suspended and that the Miami-Dade State Attorney's office had been contacted.


Megaphone

Russian athletes banned from Olympics exonerated of charges, McLaren report exposed as misrepresentation

athletes
© Eddie Keogh / Reuters
A major revelation in the CAS decision is that Richard McLaren, whose reports have formed the basis for banning Russians from the last two Olympics, has qualitatively changed his claim against Russian athletes.

Last year, the Disciplinary Commission of the International Olympic Committee (IOC DC) issued rulings that 44 Russian athletes were guilty of Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs) at the Sochi 2014 Olympics.

Many of these athletes had been preparing intensely for the upcoming PyeongChang Winter Olympics. Some 39 Russian athletes quickly filed appeals to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), claiming their innocence. The hearings proceeded rapidly.

Bizarro Earth

School superintendent placed on leave after being caught on CCTV defecating on school playing field every day

football field
© Google Maps
When a New Jersey school installed CCTV to find the person responsible for the human feces found daily on its playing fields, staff couldn't have expected the footage to reveal the school superintendent as the secret defecator.

But that's exactly what happened after Thomas Tramaglini, 42, was spotted dropping a deuce on the football field and track at Holmdel High School in the Kenilworth School District in the early hours of Monday morning. Tramaglini, who following his arrest was given a paid leave of absence from his $147,000 a year job, has been superintendent of the district since 2015, according to NJ.com.

School officials set up the surveillance system after receiving complaints from coaches about the daily appearance of human feces on the playing fields. Tramaglini, who was pictured running in the area before the incident, has been charged with lewdness, public defecation and dumping of litter.

"Earlier today, we learned of municipal court charges facing our current superintendent of schools in Holmdel, NJ," Kenilworth Public Schools said in a statement published to Facebook. "Given the nature of those charges, he asked for and was granted a paid leave of absence."

Eye 2

Ex-Trump aide Michael Caputo warns: Investigations intended as 'punishment strategy' to deter future Trump-like candidates

Michael Caputo
© Yana Paskova for The New York Times
Michael Caputo, a former Trump campaign aide, said that he doesn't think anybody should work on a Republican campaign ever again, unless they are compensated for any legal fees that may come out of it.

Speaking out Wednesday evening, Caputo also said he believes there is a "punishment strategy" to "destroy" Trump and deter any other billionaires in the future from thinking about running for president.

Just out of an interview with special counsel Robert Mueller, Caputo told Fox News' Tucker Carlson he's certain that federal investigators are fixated on collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Caputo said he firmly believes there was never any collusion.

Comment: Caputo had more to say abut the Mueller team interview:
In Caputo's closing statement obtained by the Washington Examiner, he said the panel's investigation "forced" his family out of their home and "crushed" his children due to mounting legal costs associated with the inquiry.

"Today, I can't possibly pay the attendant legal costs and live near my aging father, raising my kids where I grew up," Caputo said. "Your investigation and others into the allegations of Trump campaign collusion with Russia are costing my family a great deal of money - more than $125,000 - and making a visceral impact on my children."

Caputo accused members of the Senate Intelligence Committee of working together and contributing to the "swamp" - a term often used by President Trump to describe the bureaucracy in Washington, D.C.

This point Caputo illustrated by arguing Daniel Jones, a former Senate Intelligence staffer to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., was one of two sources in a recent McClatchy report about Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen - a report that Cohen himself denies.

"But who is McClatchy's second source? It couldn't be Dan; he was the first source ... So who could it be - perhaps one of his former Senate Intelligence colleagues? I mean, you're all in this together. You're the swamp."

Caputo called for an "investigation of the investigators" and said he wanted to know who was "coordinating this attack on President Donald Trump."

"Forget about all the death threats against my family. I want to know who cost us so much money, who crushed our kids, who forced us out of our home, all because you lost an election," Caputo said. "I want to know because God damn you to hell."

Caputo's interview before the panel lasted approximately three hours, according to the Buffalo News. Caputo said that he was asked about approximately 20 people affiliated with the Trump campaign and whether he was aware if they had been in touch with Russian officials.

"My answer for each of them was the same," Caputo said. "There was none."



Question

Illinois Police: Several drivers reporting their car windows being shattered by unknown objects along Interstate

Shattered car window
© WCCUIllinois State Police said several drivers are reporting their car windows shattered by unknown objects.
Illinois State Police said several drivers are reporting their car windows being shattered by unknown objects along Interstate 74 between Champaign and Ogden.

Officials continue investigating the multiple incidents that started about four days ago.

State police said they still don't know who is behind the events or what the objects were that shattered the windows.

Just like hundreds of other drivers, Urbana resident Humberto Sanchez uses I-74 to travel home from work every day.

But he said yesterday, a loud boom shook his car. An object shattered the back window of his van on the driver's side-the side where usually his three-year-old daughter sits.

X

Stop cultural appropriation: Appreciating other cultures must be stopped, 1 innocent prom girl's dress at a time

Cultural appropriation
In Case You Missed It, a young girl called Keziah posted pictures on social media of her Chinese style prom dress, leading to a stream of anger from people who clearly don't have better things to worry about.

The rage on Twitter was caused by outrage over what has become known as Cultural Appropriation. People with a more nuanced view on life tend to call it cultural appreciation.

Comment: There you have it folks..."blah blah blah".


Black Magic

Ponerized society: Poll shows that Israelis overwhelmingly support shooting of Palestinian protestors

Palestinian shot
The Israelis overwhelmingly back the shooting of peaceful Palestinian protesters at Gaza border and the US President Donald Trump's plans to relocate the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Occupied Jerusalem, a new poll found out.

The poll, conducted by Tel Aviv University and the Israel Democracy Institute, shows that the majority of the Israelis strongly back the shooting attacks carried out by the occupation army against Palestinian protesters along Israel's border with the blockaded Gaza Strip.

Eighty-three percent of Israelis say they support the shooting policy.

Comment: This is a very sad state of affairs not only for the Palestinians who see no way out but to peaceably protest their suffering, but for Israel's society as a whole. Because if the poll mentioned is close to accurate (and there is much to support the idea that it is) it means that such a widespread pathology that exists in Israel will only bring about its own destruction at the hands of those who do have the power to strike back.


Eye 2

Western 'negotiating' tactics in Syria & Iran prove there's no chance for North Korean peace

north south korea peace
Pyongyang and Seoul meet
There is a saying in geopolitics that peace summits are generally a perfect time to prepare for war. This thinking stems from the military philosophy of Sun Tzu, who believed that when a nation is weak it is important to appear strong, and when a nation is at its most dangerous it is important to appear weak or "diplomatic." Sun Tzu also often praised the virtues of distraction and sleight of hand, not only in war, but in politics as well.

I would note that Sun Tzu and the Eastern "sleight of hand" methodology is not only a mainstay of Chinese as well as North Korean thought, but also required reading for Western covert intelligence agencies. It is important to fully understand this methodology when examining the East vs. West paradigm, because almost everything you see and hear when it comes to relations with countries like China and North Korea is theater. Their governments have hidden schemes, our governments have hidden schemes and the globalists manipulating both sides have plans that trump everything else.

Keep all of this in mind when you hear about the sudden and almost inexplicable announcements of peace summits with North Korea in May or June between Pyongyang and the Trump administration.