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Keep on truckin'! Brazilian truckers show power of workers after strikes humiliate Temer

Alistair Farrow
Socialist Worker
Tue, 05 Jun 2018 11:20 UTC
Truckers strike
© BlackRose-RosaNegra/Twitter
Strikes by truck drivers in Brazil have brought a right wing government to its knees
A truck drivers' strike in Brazil has shown how repressive governments can be humbled.

The drivers forced the country's right wing government, and president Michel Temer, to their knees after ten days of stoppages and blockades.

The O Estado de S Paulo newspaper estimated the strike cost the Brazilian private sector almost £7 billion. In total, over 500 roadblocks were erected. The army was called in, but was largely ineffective.

On top of this, oil workers struck for three days from last Wednesday in support of the truck drivers. They shut down multiple oil refineries run by the state oil company Petrobras. The strikes came after Petrobras hiked prices in an effort to make the sector more profitable and leave the door open for privatisation.

Petrobras CEO Pedro Parente had earmarked over £15 billion in assets to be sold off between 2018 and 2021. That agenda is up in the air after Parente was forced to quit on Friday of last week.

Temer was forced to offer truckers concessions on prices and other benefits to end the strike.
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Bullseye

Morrissey decries 'shocking' treatment of Tommy Robinson and warns about free speech implications in UK court case


RT
Wed, 06 Jun 2018 16:49 UTC
tommy robinson
© Joel Goodman / Global Look Press
Former Smiths frontman Morrissey has thrown his support behind jailed EDL founder Tommy Robinson. He also praised Anne Marie Waters far-right 'For Britain' party, known for its anti-Islamic views.

Morrissey caused quite a stir after telling digital debate platform Tremr that the treatment of Tommy Robinson by the UK criminal justice system infringes on free speech.

"Anne Marie Waters seeks open discussion about all aspects of modern Britain, whereas other parties will not allow diverse opinion...she doesn't read from a script, she believes in British heritage, freedom of speech, and she wants everyone in the UK to live under the same law.

"I find this compelling, now, because it's very obvious that Labour or the Tories do not believe in free speech. I mean, look at the shocking treatment of Tommy Robinson."
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Black Magic

Indiana teacher forced to resign over refusal to use 'preferred' pronouns

Brianna Heldt
Townhall
Thu, 07 Jun 2018 15:04 UTC
John Kluge resignation pronouns
© Photo provided byJohn Kluge
John Kluge
After teaching orchestra in Brownsburg Community Schools for four years, 28-year-old John Kluge is being forced to resign.

The reason?

He refuses to call transgender students by their preferred names, versus the names they were given at birth.

"I really do care for all of my students," Kluge said, "which is why I don't want to be compelled to speak in such a way that I believe I'll be encouraging them in something that's dangerous."

The school district stipulates that students must have written permission from both a parent and a doctor to make the name switch. At that point, the name is officially changed in school records, and teachers and administrators are required to refer to them as such.

Comment: Dr. Jordan Peterson's prophecy is coming to pass.

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Sherlock

Juanita Broaddrick on Bill Clinton and why there is a #MeToo Movement - and why it cut her out

Virginia Kruta
The Daily Caller
Mon, 04 Jun 2018 13:46 UTC
Juanita Broaddrick
© Associated Press
Juanita Broaddrick
Juanita Broaddrick told The Daily Caller on Monday that without President Bill Clinton, there may have been no #MeToo movement at all - and that Clinton is the reason that she has effectively been shut out of that movement.

Broaddrick's initial interview with NBC's Lisa Myers was supposed to run just 10 days after it was taped, but was held for nearly six weeks - until after the impeachment of President Clinton - and then run against the Grammy Awards.

Broaddrick said that Myers explained the delay by saying, "The good news is, you're credible. The bad news is, you're very credible." She spoke to another NBC producer (whose name she will not reveal) who reportedly told her that, "You know, Andy Lack plays golf with Bill Clinton nearly every weekend..."

Comment:

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Eye 2

More persecution of family of murdered Palestinian medic Razan al-Najjar - cousin shot dead in Khan Younis, Israel refuses to release body

James Wright
The Canary
Tue, 05 Jun 2018 14:47 UTC
netanyahu Razan al-Najjar.
Razan al-Najjar.Israel's government has raised the middle finger to the family of deceased Palestinian medic Razan al-Najjar. On 1 June, an Israeli sniper killed the 21-year-old paramedic as she tried to help a wounded person.

Adding insult to injury

But now, Israel's military has also killed Razan's cousin and neighbour Ramzi al-Najjar. The Israeli army is keeping Ramzi's body and refusing to send it back to the family, according to local Palestinian media. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) say that's because Ramzi was carrying an axe and attempting to breach the border fence in southern Gaza.

Ramzi's sister said that she was "saddened and angered" by Razan's death. Thousands gathered for the funeral of the young paramedic, as prayers spilled out into the streets and surrounding buildings.
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Handcuffs

Lawyer jailed in Switzerland for false allegations about Russian business clients to British and US agencies


RT
Thu, 07 Jun 2018 13:41 UTC
handcuffs
© Arman Zhenikeyev / Getty Images
Matthew Parish, a lawyer from Geneva, has been sentenced to two months in a Swiss jail for libel and breaking attorney-client privilege after two Russian oil traders accused him of blackmailing them.

According to a criminal complaint filed against Parish by Murat Seitnepesov and Konstantin Ryndin last month, the lawyer made public false allegations to make them pay a heavily padded bill of more than 720,000 Swiss francs ($730,000). Later, the bill reportedly swelled to 898,000 francs ($910,000). The traders accuse their former lawyer of libel by telling British and US security agencies that they had violated sanctions on Iran.

"Intent on reaching the widest possible audience, Mr Parish has cast doubt on the complaint's probity by accusing them of having committed serious criminal offenses, which is clearly not the case," the complaint says.

Comment: The anti-Iran/Russia propaganda has reached such extremes that it has now become profitable for corrupt people.

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Heart - Black

NPR promotes Israeli claims about Gaza massacre and leaves out medic's killing - prefers to 'talk about art'

Philip Weiss
Mondoweiss
Thu, 07 Jun 2018 13:36 UTC
Scott Simon
© National Public Radio
Scott Simon, host of NPR weekend show
We have written before about the Netflix series Fauda, which glamorizes undercover Israeli security forces in the occupation. The show has gotten a red carpet from the New Yorker and other Israel supporters in the media.

Well on Saturday morning, NPR highlighted Fauda as "a fan favorite in 190 countries around the world." Host Scott Simon interviewed co-creator/star Lior Raz. "He brings personal experience as an IDF undercover agent to the table," Simon said.

The NPR host did have the moral/professional strength to ask Raz about the killings in Gaza. And Raz lied and told him to move on. Here's the exchange:
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Handcuffs

Turkey: 22 university students go on trial over 'terror propaganda'


France 24
Wed, 06 Jun 2018 12:59 UTC
demonstration Turkey
© AFP
People demonstrate outside the Caglayan courthouse in Istanbul with banners reading "Freedom for Bogazici"
Istanbul - Twenty-two students from a prestigious Istanbul university went on trial Wednesday on charges of spreading "terror propaganda" for staging an action on the campus opposing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's military campaign in Syria.

Fourteen of the students have been held in jail since their initial detention in March when police stormed students' dormitories at Bogazici University, in a case that has outraged activists.

Dozens gathered outside the main Istanbul courthouse as the trial got underway, unfurling banners such as "freedom for Bogazici" and "a right to education cannot be blocked".

The accused face jail terms of up to five years if convicted on charges of propaganda for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Doguscan Aydin Aygun, lawyer for the students, told AFP.

Comment: Clearly, those were mere anti-war protests and had nothing to do with terrorism. And since Syria did not invite Turkey to enter its territory, the operation can be accurately described as an 'occupation' which uses 'illegitimate force'. This, of course, does not justify the actions of the PKK/YPG - but the students were not supporting them either. Is Erdogan such a snowflake that he can't take a little freedom of speech?

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Handcuffs

Trump commutes drug offender's life sentence after Kardashian meeting

Cortney O'Brien
Town Hall
Thu, 07 Jun 2018 12:57 UTC
Kim Kardashian White House
Kim Kardashian West appears to have made an impression on President Trump after visiting the White House this week with a plea for her friend, who was serving a life sentence for a nonviolent drug offense. Just a few days after his meeting with Kardashian, Trump announced he is commuting Alice Johnson's sentence.

"Ms. Johnson has accepted responsibility for her past behavior and has been a model prisoner over the past two decades," the White House said in a statement Wednesday. "Despite receiving a life sentence, Alice worked hard to rehabilitate herself in prison, and act as a mentor to her fellow inmates. Her Warden, Case Manager, and Vocational Training Instructor have all written letters in support of her clemency. According to her Warden, Arcala Washington-Adduci, 'since [Ms. Johnson's] arrival at this institution, she has exhibited outstanding and exemplary work ethic. She is considered to be a model inmate who is willing to go above and beyond in all work tasks.' While this Administration will always be very tough on crime, it believes that those who have paid their debt to society and worked hard to better themselves while in prison deserve a second chance."

Johnson, a 63-year-old great-grandmother, has been serving her sentence in federal prison in Aliceville, Alabama since 1996 for her first time offense. Kardashian was moved by Johnson's story and asked for her release during a meeting with the president.
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Eye 1

Grave robbers and vandals plague Miami's historic cemeteries

Linda Robertson
Miami Herald
Wed, 06 Jun 2018 08:16 UTC
graveyard vandalism
© Emily Michot
Damage done by vandals to a child's grave at the Lincoln Memorial Park cemetery in Brownsville. Nearby Evergreen Memorial Park Cemetery, was recently vandalized when graves were broken into and bones removed. Damage to graves and trespassing by drug addicts and Santeria worshippers who deposit offerings are ongoing problems at Miami's oldest graveyards.
At first glance, a tree branch appears to have fallen into the coffin. The lid has been pried off, leaving the contents roasting, naked, in the Miami sun.

"No, that's a leg bone. See where the foot used to be?" said Arthur Kennedy, bending down to take a closer look at the smooth, brown, contoured tibia.

Kennedy would know. He's not a forensic scientist but he is a cemetery caretaker - who lives in the middle of a cemetery - and he's recently seen more bones than he cares to remember.

Comment:

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