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Immigration and Customs Enforcement accused of hiding details of prison locations to hide reliance on contractors

Charles S. Clark
Government Executive
Tue, 19 Dec 2017 11:58 UTC
ICE Processing Center
© David Zalubowski/AP
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, working at the epicenter of the Trump administration's crackdown on illegal immigration, has released incomplete data on its detention facilities that muddies the costs and the agency's reliance on private contractors, according to critics at two nonprofits.

The Detention Watch Network and the Center for Constitutional Rights, following years of litigation and Freedom of Information Act requests, in late November released a previously unpublished spreadsheet of 201 ICE facilities. They have housed, on average this year, 35,929 people, 73 percent of them in facilities run by contractors, the groups said.

ICE has long had a map of facilities on its website, but "they're only pretending to give the full list," Mary Small, policy director for the Detention Watch Network, told Government Executive. She said the ICE website map shows 112 locations and is out of date, while the July 2017 spreadsheet reveals 201, along with other key information on which ICE has not been transparent, in her view.

Comment: Also on ICE's reliance on private contractors:

Trump Administration looking for help in hiring 26,000 new immigration enforcement personnel

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Attention

Ten conspiracy theories that were proven to be real in 2017

Matt Agorist
The Free Thought Project
Wed, 20 Dec 2017 11:10 UTC
conspiracy theorist
In 2013, Professor Lance Dehaven-Smith-in a peer-reviewed book published by the University of Texas Press-showed that the term "conspiracy theory" was developed by the CIA as a means of undercutting critics of the Warren Commission's report that President Kennedy was killed by Oswald. The use of this term was heavily promoted in the media by the CIA. And-up until recently-it has served its purpose.

Now, however, in 2017, those who were once called "conspiracy theorists" are being vindicated as they watched instance after instance get exposed all year long. To be clear, we are not talking about outlandish, unprovable, and off the wall theories that completely lack evidence. We are talking about well-researched cases that were deliberately dismissed and ridiculed by the mainstream as a means of oppressing the information and protecting the establishment.

Ironically enough, 2017 is the year the conspiracy theorists were proven right as the mainstream media and government began pushing wild conspiracy theories without evidence to back them up.

To show just how vindicated the well-informed are, below is a list of the top 10 conspiracy theories that were proven as real in 2017.
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Family

Denmark will accept maximum of only 500 refugees a year under UN program

Julie Astrid Thomsen
Reuters
Wed, 20 Dec 2017 11:12 UTC
refugees in Germany
Copenhagen - Denmark will no longer automatically accept a quota of refugees under a U.N. resettlement programme after passing a law on Wednesday that enables the government to determine how many can enter each year.

Since 1989, Denmark has agreed to take 500 refugees a year selected by the United Nations under a programme to ease the burden on countries that neighbour war zones.

But after the European migration crisis in 2015 brought almost 20,000 claims for asylum, Denmark has refused to take any U.N. quota refugees.

Under the new law, the immigration minister will decide how many refugees will be allowed under the U.N. programme, with 500 now the maximum except in an "exceptional situation".

Comment: Don't miss: The Truth Perspective: Weapons of Mass Migration: Interview with Michael Springmann on Europe's Migrant Crisis

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Better Earth

California legalizes Cannabis giving hope to 500,000 convicted during prohibition

Rachel Blevins
Free Thought Project
Wed, 20 Dec 2017 12:00 UTC
Because Cali Legalized Weed, 500,000 ‘Convicts’ Get a Second Chance at Freedom
While hundreds of thousands of Americans have had their lives ruined by cannabis convictions after they were labeled as felons and forced to spend years in prison, as many as 500,000 people could see their convictions cleared under a new provision in California.

Recreational cannabis sales will become legal in California on Jan. 1, and a report from the Washington Post noted that as a result, the state will give anyone convicted of a felony for cannabis "the opportunity to have their criminal records cleared or the charges sharply reduced."

This change in policy could have a significant effect on California's population, as records show that around 500,000 people were arrested for cannabis between 2006 and 2015. The Drug Policy Alliance noted that the half-a-million arrests were spread out with thousands occurring each year, and that "Black and Latino Californians are arrested for marijuana offenses at disproportionately high rates."

Comment: The threat Cannabis posed to Big Business and the numerous benefits prohibition afforded the corrupt US establishment meant the criminalisation of cannabis was a conspiracy from the very beginning. It enabled them to target certain populations which provided easy fodder for the prison industrial complex; it's use as a powerful medicine spans thousands of years and, due to its natural status, it could not be patented so it came in direct competition to Big Pharma's profits; it's also a cheaper and faster growing rival to wood for making paper and cotton, and in recent years it has also been used to make highly efficient and effective concrete. Also check out SOTT Radio's: The Health & Wellness Show: The Highs and Lows of Cannabis as Medicine

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Pistol

Mexican journalist executed while watching son's Christmas pageant

Ildefonso Ortiz and Brandon Darby
Breitbart
Wed, 20 Dec 2017 10:27 UTC
Gumaro Pérez Aguilando Mexican journalist murdered
© Revista Proceso
A group of unknown gunmen stormed a Mexican elementary school's Christmas pageant and executed a veteran journalist watching his son's performance.

The murder took place at the Aguirre Cinta elementary school in the southern city of Acayucan, Veracruz, Revista Proceso reported. Longtime journalist Gumaro Perez Aguilando had gone to the school to see his son's Christmas pageant when a team of gunmen walked up to him and opened fire in front of other parents and students.

Comment: Revista Proceso puts the figure of murdered Mexican journalists in 2017 at 18. In the last seven years, 22 have been murdered in the state of Veracruz alone.

The unbearable climate of violence and insecurity has led to a situation in which the Congress has approved a law that grants police powers to the police. Read: Is Mexico Heading Towards a Military Dictatorship?

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Wedding Rings

European Court of Justice rules that Islamic instant divorce isn't legal in EU


RT
Wed, 20 Dec 2017 19:43 UTC
Global Look Press
Islamic instant divorces are not legal under EU law, the European Court of Justice ruled Wednesday.

Sharia courts in some countries allow private divorces, including the "triple talaq" divorce, where a man can divorce a woman by saying "talaq" [divorce in Arabic] three times. The triple talaq is not mentioned in Islamic law or the Koran and most Islamic countries have banned the practice.

The case centered on a couple living in Germany who got married in Syria in 1999, DW reports. In 2013, the husband ended the marriage using the triple talaq method in a Sharia court in Latakia, Syria. The wife agreed to the divorce in writing, but later contested it in Germany, after the husband sought its recognition in a Munich court.
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Cowboy Hat

REPORT: Fed agency committed 'militaristic' operation against Nevada rancher

TIM PEARCE
The Daily Caller
Mon, 18 Dec 2017 17:16 UTC
Cliven Bundy
© CNNNevada rancher Cliven Bundy
An investigation into the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) handling of the 2014 Nevada standoff with rancher Cliven Bundy revealed "incredible bias," widespread misconduct and likely illegal actions by the BLM.

Prosecutors shared the report with the Bundys' defense attorneys, prompting a petition to Judge Gloria Navarro for a mistrial, or for the case to be dismissed altogether, The Oregonian reports. Navarro's judgement is expected to come down Wednesday.

"It's time for our men to go home and start making a living for their families," Carol Bundy, Cliven Bundy's wife, told The Daily Caller News Foundation. "We're two years behind. We've got a lot of catching up to do."

Comment: The Bundy Trial and why it should matter to you - A conversation with John Lamb

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Stock Down

Americans' approval of Hillary Clinton reaches 25-year low

Melissa Quinn
Washington Examiner
Tue, 19 Dec 2017 21:48 UTC
hillary clinton
© AP Photo/Matt Rourke
The public's image of Hillary Clinton is the worst it's ever been since Gallup started tracking her favorability more than two decades ago, according to a new poll.

Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, has a favorable rating of 36 percent, according to the poll from Gallup released Tuesday. Sixty-one percent of adults have an unfavorable view of Clinton, a new high.

The current favorable rating for the former secretary of state is a new low, and the worst it's been since 1992 when Gallup first began tracking the public's image of Clinton just before she became first lady.

Clinton's previous low came at the end of August/early September during last year's presidential campaign, when just 38 percent of adults polled had a positive image of her.

Her favorable rating also hit 38 percent in April 1992, according to Gallup.

Comment: If the Kill Bot wants her popularity to increase, maybe she can just quit writing books, cease all public appearances, and check herself in to the nearest law-enforcement authority. If she does that, we're sure many Americans would be willing to give her a boost in the polls.

Americans like Melania: 54% approval rating, up 17 points since January
melania
© Greg Nash


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USA

Naïveté: When Russians were Americanophiles

Anatoly Karlin
The Unz Review
Mon, 18 Dec 2017 18:37 UTC
At the tail end of the Cold War, there was an incredible atmosphere of Americanophilia throughout the USSR, including amongst Russians.
Russia approve America
Blue - approve of USA; orange - disapprove.
Around 75%-80% of Russians approved of the United States around 1990, versus <10% disapproval.

By modern standards, this would have put Russia into the top leagues of America fans, such as Poland, Israel, and the United Kingdom. It was also around 10%-15% points higher than contemporary US approval of Russia.

The blogger genby dug up a VCIOM poll from 1990 asking Russians - that is, Russians within the RSFSR, i.e. the territory of the modern day Russian Federation - what they thought about Americans.

The poll was redone in 2015, keeping the same questions, which allows a direct comparison between the two dates.

Comment: The 'geopolitcal foothold in Eastern Europe' was gained by NATO deception, led by the U.S. And no, it really wasn't a good long-term play. The West is bringing about its own downfall.

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Sheriff

Sanity prevails: Texas police sergeant fired for ordering rookie to tase woman who called 911 over domestic dispute (VIDEO)


RT
Wed, 20 Dec 2017 05:17 UTC
Fort Worth TX cop tases woman domestic dispute
© Inside FWPD / YouTube
A police sergeant has been fired for ordering a rookie to use a taser on a woman who called 911 over a domestic dispute. The officer's actions only "escalated the situation" instead of defusing it, the police chief said.

A 22-year-veteran, Sgt. Kenneth Pierce was placed on "indefinite suspension" from the Fort Worth Police Department after an internal review of the body cam video which captured the August arrest. A woman had called the police over a domestic dispute with her boyfriend, but she herself ended up being tased and arrested.

"We are built on a foundation of being problem-solvers. Pierce responded in an opposite manner, and he escalated the situation endangering everyone involved including his fellow officers," Fort Worth police chief Joel Fitzgerald said in a statement.

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