Society's ChildS

Megaphone

Financial whistleblower: CIA is behind the Panama Papers leak


RT
Wed, 13 Apr 2016 16:39 UTC
mossack fonseca office
© Ed Grimaldo / AFPPolice stand guard outside the Mossack Fonseca law firm offices in Panama City during a raid on April 12, 2016
Financial whistleblower Bradley Birkenfeld, who helped expose American tax evaders hiding assets in Swiss banks, has little doubt the Panama leaks scandal was crafted and orchestrated by the CIA.

In an exclusive interview from Munich, Birkenfeld told CNBC on Tuesday that the leak of over 11 million documents from Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca is most likely not a whistleblower job, but rather an "intelligence agency operation."

"The CIA I'm sure is behind this, in my opinion," Birkenfeld said, citing as evidence selective management of the information exposed to the public domain that "doesn't hurt the US in any shape or form."

"The very fact that we see all these names surface that are the direct quote-unquote enemies of the United States: Russia, China, Pakistan, Argentina... and we don't see one US name. Why is that? Quite frankly, my feeling is that this is certainly an intelligence agency operation," CNBC cited Birkenfeld as saying.

"That's wrong. And there's something seriously sinister behind this," Birkenfeld said.
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Eye 2

It's OK when we do it: 11 examples of Americans going for revenge after 9/11


RT
Wed, 13 Apr 2016 16:25 UTC
dubya
© Jason Reed / ReutersFormer US President George W Bush
The teenage brother of Paris attack "mastermind" Abdelhamid Abaaoud has reportedly left Syria to "avenge" his death, but while this new information is portrayed as a threat, the same was not the case for those vengeful relatives of 9/11 victims who joined the US military and took it out mostly on Muslims on the other side of the world.

Following the attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001, relatives seeking revenge was often portrayed as an act of patriotism - with more killing considered a valid way to honor those already killed.

1. George Walker from Savannah, Georgia enrolled after his uncle was killed during the World Trade Center attacks.

2. Army Sgt. Edwin Morales, photographed during the 2015 service at the World Trade Center memorial, says he joined because his firefighter cousin Ruben "Dave" Correa was killed.
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Bandaid

Making amends: North Carolina governor makes concessions on some aspects of anti-LGBT law


Rt
Wed, 13 Apr 2016 00:09 UTC
Gov. McCrory
© Office of Governor Pat McCrory / YouTube
North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory made a concession on a controversial new law known as House Bill 2 in an executive order signed Tuesday. Employment policy will now cover discrimination claims related to sexual orientation and gender identity.

House Bill 2 (HB2) is commonly known as the "bathroom bill" that limits anti-discrimination protections for the LGBT community and requires transgendered individuals use the bathrooms corresponding to their birth gender, not their identified gender. The law also prevented local governments from creating their own ordinances and legal protections for transgender people.

Comment: See also: NY Governor and NYC mayor ban nonessential travel to North Carolina as protest over anti-LGBT law
  • PayPal withdraws North Carolina investment project over anti-LGBT legislation


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Evil Rays

Everything is super swell at Johnson & Johnson, except for the cancer-causing baby powder

James Corbett
The International Forecaster
Tue, 12 Apr 2016 18:36 UTC
Baby powder
Today let's talk about Johnson & Johnson. You know, the iconic health care and pharmaceutical company? A beloved brand that's trusted around the world but as American as apple pie.

Baby powder? What does baby powder have to do with it?

The name Johnson & Johnson probably brings to mind consumer health products like Neutrogena, Bengay, Band-Aid, Rogaine, and Listerine, or pharmaceuticals like Tylenol, Motrin, Sudafed, Benadryl and Imodium.

What are you talking about? What baby powder story? Look, I'm trying to report on an upstanding company here!

As I was saying, you probably know their famous health products and pharmaceuticals, but did you know they also manufacture medical devices? That's right, Johnson & Johnson devices are used to treat a wide range of conditions, from cardiovascular disease and arrhythmia to hernias and sinusitis.

Alright, look, enough with the baby powder. Technically it's talcum, alright. Talcum. And yes, it's carcinogenic. But it's no big deal, OK?

Well, I'm here today to tell you that Johnson & Johnson's future is so bright you've got to wear shades! Just ask expert stock pickers like The Motley Fool. They'll tell you that J&J has outperformed the S&P 500 all year long. And over the last 5, 10 and 45 years, too!
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Books

Russian school may open in Houston, Texas


ITAR-TASS
Wed, 13 Apr 2016 07:36 UTC
Houston Independent School District
A Russian school may be opened in the US state of Texas, the chairperson of Russian Civic Chamber's commission on developing public diplomacy and supporting compatriots abroad told TASS on Tuesday.

"The Houston Independent School District addressed us with the initiative to open a Russian-language primary school both for our compatriots and American children, who wish to study the Russian language," Elena Sutormina said. "We back the idea and will ask the Rossotrudnichestvo [the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States, Compatriots Living Abroad, and International Humanitarian Cooperation] to help us implement the project."

The agency's head, Lyubov Glebova, announced a program on opening Russian schools abroad last year.

On Monday, the Civic Chamber launched the Compatriots Club for Russians living abroad.

"The club is supposed to preserve the Russian culture and traditions and promote our country's interests abroad," Sutormina said.
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Bad Guys

Black protestor struck in face by Trump supporter at NY rally

Michael Allen
Opposing Views
Tue, 12 Apr 2016 00:00 UTC
trump rally violence
A black protester was struck in the face twice by a supporter of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during a rally at the Times Union Center on April 11, in Albany, New York (video below).

"Is there anything more fun than a Trump rally?" Trump asked the crowd during his speech, but down on the floor of the arena, Mike Caraher (spelling of his last name is approximate) smacked an unidentified black protester in the face for booing, notes Times Union.


Comment: This is a 'love fest'? Trump sees no violence at his rallies


"I have my personal rights and my personal space," Caraher told the newspaper after the rally. "They're going to start yelling about some bulls---, I'll snatch your a-- up."

In the video, Caraher pushed past another Trump supporter and lunged towards the black protester.

Comment: Radicalization? Hatred and violence among Trump supporters

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Che Guevara

40,000 Verizon workers set to strike Wednesday - decry company's 'shameful' greed

Deirdre Fulton
Common Dreams
Mon, 11 Apr 2016 23:06 UTC
verizon workers strike
© Matthew Bednarik/flickr/cc
"Verizon wants to force through changes that would make it easier to uproot workers and hurt our communities," said Betsy Derr, a customer service representative and CWA member in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, who's worked at Verizon for over 16 years.
"If Verizon gets its way, we're allowing corporate CEOs to rewrite the rules in their favor yet again," writes Jobs With Justice organizer

In what has the potential to be the largest work stoppage in the country in recent years, up to 40,000 Verizon workers from Massachusetts to Virginia will go on strike at 6 am on Wednesday, unless the company "reconsiders its shameful, and I do mean shameful, demands," Communications Workers of America (CWA) president Chris Shelton has warned.

In a call with reporters on Monday, Shelton said, "nobody wants to go on strike."

But after trying for ten months to reach a fair contract, "we have to take a stand now for our families and every American worker," explained Myles Calvey, IBEW Local 2222 business manager and chairman of T-6 Verizon New England.

Comment: Verizon is behaving like any other neo-capitalist company. Profits above all and those that create them be damned.

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Coffee

Better late than never: Paul Mason warns political journalists: 'You have no real idea what is going on'

Martin Belam
The Guardian
Fri, 08 Apr 2016 15:45 UTC
Paul Mason
© Graham Turner for the Guardian Paul Mason: โ€˜The European political elite is trying its utmost to suppress and get rid of the first left government in Europe.โ€™
Ex-Channel 4 News economics editor tells International Journalism Festival that making a film about Greece gave him new insight into reporters' knowledge

Paul Mason has warned political and economic journalists that most of the time they have no real idea what is going on.

Speaking at the International Journalism Festival in Perugia, Mason said he was now in a position to see both sides of political and economic reporting. "And I think we need to understand that we [journalists] generally know very little about what is really happening."

He specifically questioned whether journalists covering Labour in the UK had any understanding of what was actually happening within the party.

This lesson, he said, was one of the key things he learnt from covering last year's Greek crisis very closely, in the process of making the documentary This is a Coup.

The film-making team were granted unprecedented access in 2015 to the inside workings of the Alexis Tsipras government during pivotal moments of Greece's ongoing economic crisis. Mason said that, having been on the inside, he could see "there were times when we would sit among other journalists, and we would realise they had no idea what's going on. They were really good, and it's not their fault, but they had no idea what was going on."

He had some sympathy for the plight of the press pack in Brussels: "If you are one of those poor people who have to report Brussels, you'll know how difficult it is, even for the guys with the press passes, to get the story. They just get handed effectively a series of semi-leaks and spun information."

Comment: While the fact that journalists 'have no real idea what is going on' comes as no surprise to those who have paying attention and connecting the dots for years, it is notable that this seems to have come as somewhat of a revelation to Paul Mason. The mainstream media is immersed in a system based on lies and manipulation, so much so that they simply can't see the elephant in the room. It seems that it's not until you escape its influence (in Paul Mason's case, leaving Channel 4 News), that you are able to finally see it for what it is.

See also:

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Eye 2

Youth pastor admits to sexually abusing teenage church member

Travis Gettys
Raw Story
Tue, 12 Apr 2016 19:36 UTC
Robert Jerez
Robert Jerez
An Arizona youth pastor admitted to sexually abusing a teenage church member over about two months.

Robert Jerez, a youth pastor at Grace Walk Community Church in Phoenix, was charged with nine counts of sexual conduct and one count of sex abuse, reported The Arizona Republic.

The 15-year-old girl revealed the relationship to a church employee, who reported it last week to police.

The church's lead pastor said he was "very angry" about the allegations against Jerez, who is married with two children. "It's brought a sense of shock," said Pastor Joe Calloway. "Nobody saw this coming, nobody believed this was something that could possibly happen."

The teen told police that she had sex with the 35-year-old Jerez, who is known as "Pastor Tony," more than 10 times since November and exchanged nude photos by text message.
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V

Democracy Spring: Hundreds of protesters arrested for non-violent sit-in and march on the US capitol


RT
Tue, 12 Apr 2016 19:09 UTC
Democracy Spring protesters
© Mark Wilson / Getty Images / AFPDemocracy Spring protesters participate in a sit-in at the U.S. Capitol to protest big money in politics, April 11, 2016 in Washington, DC.
Hundreds of Americans, many of whom are elderly, marched in support of political reform in Washington, DC, taking part in a sit-in and risking arrest as they pushed for fairer elections. RT's "Redacted Tonight" host Lee Camp was detained as he reported from the scene.

Already, multiple arrests have been made, according to reports from those on the ground near the demonstrations.

According to RT's correspondents, police have started releasing some of the protesters.

The sit-in comes one day after more than 400 people were arrested for participating in what has been been termed the "Democracy Spring" movement. The organization has planned for 10 days of demonstrations and mass sit-ins at the US capitol, with day two highlighting efforts from older Americans who want to see change.


Comment: This event was completely blacked out by the US mainstream media. The Young Turks covered the event:



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