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Light Saber

'I can no longer stay silent': Michael Jordan speaks out on police shootings

Dan Devine
Yahoo News
Mon, 25 Jul 2016 00:00 UTC
Michael Jordan
For years, Michael Jordan has taken criticism from those who'd wished one of the most famous, visible, wealthy and powerful athletes in the world would use his considerable public profile and influence to speak out on social issues affecting the African American community. For years, the six-time NBA champion and basketball legend's legacy of on-court success has been counterbalanced by four non-quoted words — "Republicans buy sneakers, too" — often used to call Jordan onto the carpet for failing "to embrace the leverage he possessed as the nation's most iconic athlete across the 1990s."

Well, now, the Hall of Famer and Charlotte Hornets owner has chosen to speak.

In an essay for The Undefeated published Monday, the 53-year-old Jordan makes his voice heard in the wake of the recent unrest in the country following the police killing of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, La., the police killing of Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, Minn., the killing of five police officers by a lone gunman at an otherwise peaceful Black Lives Matter protest in Dallas, the police shooting of North Miami behavioral therapist Charles Kinsey as he lay on his back with his hands thrust in the air trying to coax an autistic patient back into a mental health center, and all the protests and demonstrations that have followed.
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Robot

Like robots: U.S. media go collectively nuts over Trump's NY Times NATO remarks

Dean Parker
Russia Insider
Fri, 22 Jul 2016 00:00 UTC
the Borg
...not unlike the Borg

Comment: Not that we take anything anti-establishment Trump says with any seriousness, since he has no credibility whatsoever. But, it is interesting to note how the mechanical arms of Empire, i.e. the U.S. media - go after him (and Putin of course) with such a vengeance after he makes a few remarks about the U.S. not getting paid by member nations of NATO. In fact, he sounds just like a mafia boss "no pay, no protection". And this from the guy who's notorious about not paying his bills. The real story here though is the media's reaction.


Full meltdown mode all over the orthodox US press from the most-established ("namiest") brands to the newest and hippest.

How a Trump presidency could destabilize Europe - Anne Applebaum - The Washington Post:
But now it is 2016, truth is stranger than fiction, and we finally have a presidential candidate, Donald Trump, with direct and indirect links to a foreign dictator, Vladimir Putin, whose policies he promotes.
Trump would wreck, not restore, America's standing in the world - Editorial Board - The Washington Post:
This is an extraordinary willingness to question 70 years of bedrock political consensus on U.S. foreign policy — one that includes Mr. Obama, who has dispatched U.S. troops to defend the Baltics.
Trump proves he's a Putin lapdog - Jennifer Rubin - The Washington Post:
Trump continued on, promising to advance the "America First" mantra — an isolationist dog-whistle recalling Charles Lindbergh's opposition in the 1930s to fighting Hitler.

Comment: See also: Presenting 'Putin's useful idiots': Anyone who disagrees with the establishment

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Attention

Nonstop violence: Suicide car bomb kills at least 14, wounds 30 in Iraqi eastern Diyala province


NRT
Mon, 25 Jul 2016 00:45 UTC
Baghdad suicide bomb
© REUTERS/Khalid al-Mousily
At least 14 people were killed and 30 wounded on Monday (July 25) after an explosion in Iraq's eastern Diyala province.

A bomb-laden vehicle targeted a checkpoint in al-Khalis, located 60 kilometers (37.5 miles) north of the country's capital city Baghdad.

ISIS has stepped up attacks in central Iraq in the weeks since it suffered defeat at the hands of Iraqi security forces backed by the U.S.-led Coalition in Fallujah.

Following the security forces' victory, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi warned Iraqis, and especially Baghdad's residents, to be extra vigilant and report any suspicious activity.

Before the Diyala attack, a suicide bomber detonated an explosive belt near a checkpoint in Baghdad's Kadhimiya neighborhood on Sunday (July 24), killing at least six people and wounding as many as 20 others.
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Better Earth

British Muslims top generosity charts with £100 million in Ramadan donations


RT
Mon, 25 Jul 2016 22:04 UTC
child's cupped hands
© Navesh Chitrakar / Reuters
British Muslims are the most generous charity-givers, according to the UK's Charity Commission, which says Muslims gave about £100 million to charities over the month of Ramadan alone.

The news confirms Muslims' reputation as being the most generous religious group when it comes to charitable donations. The Charity Commission's Nick Donaldson described the £100 million as being the equivalent of £38 in donations per second, and spoke of "numerous people giving single donations of up to £30,000."

The Muslim Charities Forum, which consists of 14 UK charities, raised £45 million over Ramadan. The UK Muslim charity sector consists of about 2,500 charities in total.

According to a report by the National Philanthropy Council, Muslim charities raise £542 million each year. A 2013 ICM and Just Giving report found British Muslims give more than twice as much to charity than the average Briton.

According the Charity Commission, one Muslim charity estimated the proceeds of its donations gathered last Ramadan helped an estimated 1 million people.

From soup kitchens in the UK to helping those affected by Somaliland's drought, the donations were used to do good around the world.
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Newspaper

French news outlet calling for Hollande to 'join hands with Russia' to tackle radicalism


Sputnik
Mon, 25 Jul 2016 21:31 UTC
Hollande and Jean-Yves Le Drian
© REUTERS/ Ian Langsdon/Pool
Russia saved the world from Nazism during World War II, and now it is reaching out to the West, offering help in the fight against terrorism and Europe should accept otherwise it's facing a new war it might not survive, French news outlet Boulevard Voltaire wrote.

In 1939, when the Second World War broke out, France wasn't prepared and it was the Soviet people who suffered major sacrifices necessary for the liberation of the whole world, according to Boulevard Voltaire.

The publication further said that now Moscow is warning so that the scenario doesn't repeat itself.

We must cease to be satisfied with words; the author wrote saying that, "Today again, together with the Russian people we have the same enemies. It is radical Islamism and neo-liberal globalism. At first glance, it's different things but in reality we are talking about two hands of the same monster — a tumor on the body of the modern world, multinational elites who own the money," wrote the publication.


Comment: Indeed, both come from the same pathological source.

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People

CNN/ORC poll shows Trump outflanks Hillary after Republican convention


RT
Mon, 25 Jul 2016 21:37 UTC
Donald Trump
© Aaron P. Bernstein / Reuters
If the US presidential elections were held this week, Donald Trump would win, according to research published ahead of the Democratic National Convention. The Republican gathering that confirmed Trump's nomination ended last week.

Trump has managed to move ahead of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton with 48 percent of support against 45 percent in a head-to-head matchup, a CNN/ORC poll released on Monday showed. In a four-way race that also involved Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson and Green Party nominee Jill Stein, Trump leads with 44 percent.

The poll involved interviewing 1,001 adult Americans via telephone by ORC International on July 22-24. The error margin is plus or minus 3 percent, according to the information accompanying the poll.
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Pocket Knife

BREAKING: 19 killed, 45 injured as knife-wielding man goes on rampage at medical facility near Tokyo


RT
Mon, 25 Jul 2016 21:33 UTC
Map of Japan
A man was arrested after killing 19 people and injuring 45 others in a stabbing rampage at a facility for the disabled in Japan's Kanagawa Prefecture near Tokyo, local media reported, citing authorities.

Twenty of the injured are in critical condition, the national fire department, which also performs emergency medical care, has said.

A 20-year-old man was arrested by police after the attack, national broadcaster NHK reported. He was said to be holding a knife.
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Attention

Nitrous oxide kills newborn, leaves second critical in hospital negligence


RT
Mon, 25 Jul 2016 17:24 UTC
Baby dies from nitrous oxide
© Damir Sagolj / Reuters
One baby has died and another is in a critical condition after being mistakenly administered nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, instead of oxygen at a hospital in Sydney, Australia.

The newborns were being treated at Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital when they were accidentally given the gas, which had been incorrectly installed in a neo-natal resuscitation unit.

The babies were administered the gas, which is both colorless and odorless, in June and July.

Although the oxygen and nitrous oxide tanks advertised on the manufacturer's website differ in color - one is black, the other light blue - the error was spotted only on Thursday after concerns were raised by a pediatrician following the death of one of the infants, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
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Handcuffs

Oklahoma sheriff arrested after allegations of selling, using drugs; forcing intoxicated women to dance, strip in his home


RT
Mon, 25 Jul 2016 15:38 UTC
Joe Russell
© NewOK
A 62-year-old sheriff from Oklahoma has been accused of turning his own home into a drug den where his son dealt methamphetamine, while it is also believed he helped to cover up a missing person's case in which another family member is the main suspect.

Sheriff Marion 'Joe' Russell has been the long arm of the law in Love County in southern Oklahoma on the Texan border since 2000, but this may not be the case for much longer. A grand jury is accusing him of corruption, housing a fugitive and neglect of duty.

The evidence that has been compiled against Russell does not make for good reading. His own son, George 'Willie' Russell, has already admitted to federal charges of methamphetamine distribution and is awaiting sentencing.

"There has been drug use for a number of years in Willie's house that he shares with the sheriff, drug purchases, drug sales ... and that has been going on with no consequences," FBI Special Agent Steve West said, according to the Oklahoma-based publication NewsOK, while also adding that Willie used his father's police vehicle to peddle the drug.

Sheriff Russell is also accused of harboring a fugitive for a number of weeks in 2015. Sara Bamburg, who had four warrants for her arrest, was dating his son Willie at the time and according to the affidavit, "willfully maintained a dwelling where drugs are kept," the Daily Beast reported.

Comment: Read Brently Kopopolous' latest SOTT Focus for more on the state of 'law enforcement' in the U.S. and horrific stories of police brutality:

Police State Roundup: Cops assault, rape, and shoot civilians - lie about it - and get away with it

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Pistol

Man pulls gun, threatens father inside Kentucky movie theater after child kicks his seat

Ambert Ruch
KFVS 12
Sun, 24 Jul 2016 23:53 UTC
Cinemark Theatre in Paducah, KY
© Cinema Treasures
An Illinois man is accused of pulling a gun inside a Paducah, Kentucky movie theater on Saturday morning, July 23. Paducah police say they will seek charges against the man.

According to police, they were called to the Cinemark Theater on Hinkleville Road at around 11:50 a.m. on Saturday after a fight broke out inside the theater. A man told one of the officers that he and his son were sitting behind another man and the son was kicking the back of the man's seat.

According to witnesses, the man got up and cursed at the boy, asking if he was going to continue kicking his seat. Police say the boy's father broke in and a fight began between the two men. They say as the father got the upper hand in the fight, witnesses told them the other man pulled a gun and said, "What the [expletive] are you going to do now?"

According to police, other people in the theater saw the gun and began running for the exit. Three men, including theater employees and patrons, escorted the man from the theater and were outside with him when police arrived.
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