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Major free speech victory: Federal Court rejects law in Kansas that punishes supporters of Israel boycott

Glenn Greenwald
The Intercept
Wed, 31 Jan 2018 12:06 UTC
Israeli security forces and Palestinian protesters
Israeli security forces and Palestinian protesters confront each other in Jerusalem’s Old City on Dec. 15, 2017.
A federal judge on Tuesday ruled that a Kansas law designed to punish people who boycott Israel is an unconstitutional denial of free speech. The ruling is a significant victory for free speech rights because the global campaign to criminalize, or otherwise legally outlaw, the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement has been spreading rapidly in numerous political and academic centers in the U.S. This judicial decision definitively declares those efforts - when they manifest in the U.S. - to be a direct infringement of basic First Amendment rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.

The enjoined law, enacted last year by the Kansas legislature, requires all state contractors - as a prerequisite to receiving any paid work from the state - "to certify that they are not engaged in a boycott of Israel." The month before the law was implemented, Esther Koontz, a Mennonite who works as a curriculum teacher for the Kansas public school system, decided that she would boycott goods made in Israel, motivated in part by a film she had seen detailing the abuse of Palestinians by the occupying Israeli government, and in part by a resolution enacted by the national Mennonite Church.

The resolution acknowledged "the cry for justice of Palestinians, especially those living under oppressive military occupation for fifty years"; vowed to "oppose military occupation and seek a just peace in Israel and Palestine"; and urged "individuals and congregations to avoid the purchase of products associated with acts of violence or policies of military occupation, including items produced in [Israeli] settlements."
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Dollars

Russia to dump US dollar in currency settlements with Iran


RT
Mon, 12 Feb 2018 10:47 UTC
Iranian money
© Behrouz Mehri / AFP
Moscow and Tehran are continuing talks on using national currencies in trade, according to Russia's Ambassador to Iran Levan Dzhagaryan. He told TASS that "central banks" working groups have met several times.
"As far as we can understand, negotiations are underway," Dzhagaryan said. "We hope that in 2018 we shall achieve progress and will be able to use widely the favorable conditions we may have if we manage to approach final decisions," he added.
Last year, during the visit of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to Moscow, the two sides agreed to continue cooperation aimed at stabilizing the global energy market and ensuring sustainable economic development. They said they will be working on favorable conditions for using national currencies in settlements. Moscow and Tehran have also discussed developing inter-bank cooperation between the two countries and ensuring an increase in trade and investments.

Putin and Rouhani also focused on the potential creation of a free-trade zone between Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union, which consists of Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Rouhani told journalists that such a trade zone could significantly improve the trade situation and "create new conditions" in regional trade.

Comment: By continuing to 'shoot itself in the foot', the US is rapidly bringing itself to its knees.

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Star of David

Germany 2017: Average of four anti-Semitic crimes per day and still counting


RT
Mon, 12 Feb 2018 09:42 UTC
mouth stitched Israel
© Israel Thought Control
Germany saw an average of four anti-Semitic crimes per day in 2017, according to preliminary government data cited by the Tagesspiegel newspaper. The final tally is expected to be even higher.

Police registered a total of 1,453 crimes which targeted Jews last year, according to the figures. That number consisted of 32 acts of violence, 160 instances of property damage, and 898 cases of incitement.

A right-wing motive was behind 1,377 of the cases, or 95 percent of the total, according to police. Authorities attributed 33 of the crimes to foreign-born anti-Semites, not including Islamists.

Furthermore, 25 of the crimes were "religiously motivated," with some involving either foreign-born or German Muslims with extremist beliefs. Police were unable to divine a political motive in 17 of the cases, while one case of incitement was found to have a left-wing motive.

The data were compiled following an inquiry from Bundestag vice president and Left party lawmaker Petra Pau. However, the number is expected to rise as data provided by German federal states is not final, according to Tagesspiegel.

Comment: Does Germany keep count of slurs and slanders towards other nationalities or ideologies? And, in such detail? Isn't it time to put aside this over-sensitivity mechanism and allow those offended to drop the crutch and grow up? Then, sentiments aside, a crime is truly a crime.

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Jet5

Al Qaeda leader commends Israeli strike on Syria


Arutz Sheva
Sun, 11 Feb 2018 19:19 UTC
Saleh Al-Hamwi
© YoutubeSaleh Al-Hamwi
A former leader of Syria's Al Qaeda branch commended Israel for striking Syria on Saturday, after the Assad regime shot down an Israeli F-16I fighter jet.

On Saturday, the IAF identified an unmanned Iranian aircraft [ a drone] entering [entered] Israeli airspace. The aircraft remained in Israeli airspace for a minute and a half before being shot down. In response, four IAF F-16I [fighter jets] attacked the drone's control center deep in Syria. While they were operating, Syria fired dozens of surface-to-air missiles, hitting one of the F-16I fighters, forcing the pilot and navigator to eject once they reached Israeli territory.

Meanwhile, the IAF responded to the attack on the F-16 by beginning a large-scale operation against Iranian targets in Syria, destroying at least four sites and additional facilities as Syria fired surface-to-air missiles towards the planes, activating Israel's air raid sirens on the northern border.

The strikes were praised by Saleh Al-Hamwi, a founder of Syria's Jabhat Al Nusra. Jabhat Al Nusra, or Nusra Front, is an Al-Qaeda offshoot in Syria and are one of the Assad regime's opponents in the bloody civil war.

Comment: Al-Hamwi's hindsight is 20/20.

An Iranian drone allegedly crossed into Israeli territory where it was promptly shot down by an IDF helicopter. The Israeli Air Force then retaliated for the incursion by dispatching its fighter jets to hit government and Iranian targets in Syria, only for one of its F-16s to crash to the ground after coming under heavy anti-aircraft fire. See: Israeli airstrikes in Syria - was it 'a dialogue by fire'?

According to The Times of Israel:
Hamwi was a founder of the Nusra Front in 2012. In July 2015, the jihadist group said it dismissed him for not falling in line with the group's internal politics. He is now reportedly affiliated with the hardline Islamist group Ahrar il-Sham.

During Israel's widespread retaliatory offensive on Saturday in Syria, the IDF said, it hit four Iranian positions and eight Syrian sites, causing significant damage.

Israel also said it destroyed the Syrian military's main command and control bunker in its most devastating assault in the country in decades.

Saturday's exchange marked Israel's most serious engagement in neighboring Syria since fighting there began in 2011. The events also seemingly marked the first direct combat between Israel and Iran.


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Snakes in Suits

When shall it stop? Conservatives vowed to cut spending but keep on spending

Lesley Clark, Brian Murphy
McClatchy
Fri, 09 Feb 2018 05:33 UTC
Rand Paul
© APKentucky Senator Rand Paul
Tea party Republicans arrived in Washington seven years ago with a clear, loud message from angry voters: Slash spending. But once again, spending is going way up.

"Part of our job right now (is) that we keep pounding that Republicans still stand for fiscal responsibility," said Rep. Mark Walker, R-N.C., who chairs the House Republican Study Committee, a coalition of conservatives.

But he was on the losing side as the House early Friday cleared a massive two-year spending package that President Donald Trump quickly signed into law. Sixty-seven Republicans voted against the two-year budget plan that became law Friday, but 167 voted yes.

The bill could add as much as $320 billion to the debt over the next 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office, and push the fiscal 2019 deficit past $1.2 trillion, according to the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a research group. The deal included about $100 billion in offsets, not enough to assuage many conservatives.
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X

Syria: Over 136 people killed in Eastern Ghouta according to fake monitoring groups

Zena Tahhan
Al Jazeera
Wed, 07 Feb 2018 00:00 UTC
Child, father
© Anadolu/Diaa Al Din
Russian and Syrian government forces have killed at least 136 civilians over the past 48 hours in Eastern Ghouta, a suburb of the capital Damascus, according to residents and monitoring groups.

On Monday, 30 civilians were killed in air raids; on the following day, 80 more were killed, and on Wednesday, another 26 were killed. At least 22 children and 21 women were among the dead.

"Scenes of entire buildings, housing whole families crashing down with the residents - women, children and men still inside - have become a frequent image," Abu Salem al-Shami, a resident and activist, told Al Jazeera by phone from Eastern Ghouta, an area that has been under opposition control since 2013.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based monitoring group, says Tuesday marked the "largest massacre in Syria" since April's chemical attack on Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib province when more than 80 people were killed.

Comment: This report is a typical example of disinformation from numerous fake Soros 'humanitarian monitor organizations', whose purpose is to color the truth by distorting and falsifying numbers and circumstances to help further regime change in synch with imperialist movements and neocon ambitions. The aim: public outrage, a demand for 'corrective' military action, convenient justification for action or reaction. Two of these organizations are: SNHR and SOHR, mentioned above.

Revealing: SNHR [Syrian Network for Human Rights/SN4HR]
"The SN4HR website has no information on who funds the group, and its website ownership information is hidden from public view but shows that it is hosted in the US."

The organisation identifies itself as an outgrowth of "the revolution in Syria" (clearly a partisan organization, see at the very bottom of their home page) claims to be 'a trusted source' that supplies information about the Syria Conflict to all leading human rights organisations, charities and government departments including the UN, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and even the US State Department.

"The network's database and archives are considered as a reliable source and reference for international and local media outlets, and international organizations and agencies working in the field of human rights."

Note that when readers go to visit the Syrian Network For Human Rights (sn4hr.org), they will see at bottom right of the their home page a statement which shows they are a "coalition" member of ICR2P (responsibilitytoprotect.org), part of a larger web of western-backed "soft power" front organisations, based out of New York City.

What we are seeing here is a covert attempt by the US and its allies to cloak their 'regime change' and geopolitical hegemony goals and objects underneath a public relations veil of 'humanitarianism' through an intricate web of human rights and 'progressive' organisations.

According to Sourcewatch: "The Responsibility to Protect-Engaging Civil Society (R2PCS) project is housed at the Institute for Global Policy (IGP) in New York. IGP is associated with the World Federalist Movement (WFM)." Funding for ICRtoP is delivered by a number of dubious soft power sources including the International Crisis Group, who in turn is financed by George Soros and the Open Society Institute, the Ford Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.


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Bad Guys

Doping doctor Rodchenkov says more than 20 nations use banned substances for Olympics


RT
Mon, 12 Feb 2018 20:40 UTC
Olympics
© Kim Hong-Ji / Reuters
World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) informant Grigory Rodchenkov, who has accused Russia of state-sponsored doping, says that athletes from at least 20 other countries are currently benefiting from using banned substances.

Former Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory chief Rodchenkov, who claims the tampering of doping samples of Russian athletes took place under his supervision at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, recently spoke to CBS journalist Scott Pelley for the program 60 Minutes, which was aired on Sunday.

After once again confessing to playing the key role in the Sochi "doping scheme," which in his words was backed by Russian President Vladimir Putin himself, Rodchenkov discussed the doping situation in the global Olympic movement.

Comment: Of course other countries are benefiting from doping. This is pretty standard fare understood by most in the Olympic world. And yet Russia has been the only country singled out. Don't worry though, it still has nothing to do with politics.

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Radar

US-backed Kurdish-led forces in eastern part of Syria say "we're coming for you Assad" as they battle the Syrian Arab Army

Paul Antonopoulos
Fort Russ
Mon, 12 Feb 2018 00:00 UTC
Kurdish-led forces
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have been filmed fighting with Syrian government forces in eastern Syria.

The video released, and republished by Eastern Mediterranean News, shows a fighter of the SDF's Deir Ezzor Military Council saying "We are coming for you O Bashar (al-Assad)" in reference to the president of Syria.

The latest video and battles come as a commander of the US-backed SDF announced the intention of fighting the Syrian Army in the eastern desert province of Deir Ezzor. The video and details can be found here.

The SDF are led by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG). Despite the YPG battling Turkish-led forces in northwest Syria and calling for the help of the Syrian Army, their comrades in eastern Syria continually provoke a situation against government forces, most likely under the directions of US command.

The YPG in Afrin who are battling Turkish-led forces host no illegal US military bases or personnel unlike their eastern comrades.

Comment: This particular faction of the Kurds still, apparently, don't know who its real enemies are, see:

Pete Escobar: Have you betrayed your Kurd today?

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Arrow Down

Paid by the industry: Woman dragged out of hearing for exposing Big Energy donations (VIDEO)


RT
Mon, 12 Feb 2018 18:14 UTC
Court
© House of Delegates / YouTube
A candidate for the West Virginia House of Delegates was dragged out of a hearing after listing the donations received by state lawmakers from fossil fuel companies. She was testifying on a bill on oil and gas drilling rules.

Lissa Lucas was criticizing a proposed bill, HB 4268, which would allow oil and gas companies to drill on private land with the consent of just 75 percent of the landowners. Energy companies are currently required to have 100 percent approval from landowners before they can extract gas and minerals from land.

As part of her testimony, she read out the list of names of lawmakers who received sizeable donations from fossil fuel companies. Her testimony elicited a less than warm reception from the legislature.

"The people who are going to be speaking in favor of this bill are all going to be paid by the industry ... the people who are going to be voting on this bill are often also paid by the industry," Lucas said.
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Info

Ankara's Mayor Mustafa Tuna: Ankara renames US embassy street after Turkish Operation Olive Branch


Sputnik
Mon, 12 Feb 2018 20:20 UTC
US Embassy in Ankara
© AP Photo/ Burhan OzbiliciUS Embassy in Ankara
The street in Ankara where the US Embassy is located will be named in honor of the Olive Branch operation carried out by Turkish forces and their allied Syrian opposition units in the northern Syrian district of Afrin, Ankara's Mayor Mustafa Tuna said.

"We signed a request to rename Nevzat Tandogan Street, where the US embassy is located, as Olive Branch Street. The initiative will be introduced for consideration at Ankara's municipal assembly today," Mustafa Tuna wrote on his Twitter page.

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