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Fri, 05 Nov 2021
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Megaphone

Captured Syrian Militant details how US Instructors supervised their weapons training

Syrian militant, Abdullah al-Mishuat
© Sputnik . Screenshot
The militant group got apprehended by Syrian government forces after running into a minefield while on a mission.

A new video showing the questioning of a Syrian militant who was recently captured by Syrian government forces in the vicinity of Palmyra, in western Syria, shows him revealing that their firearms training was supervised by American instructors.

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Star of David

Illegal squatters pitch tent, fence off lands in northern Jordan Valley

settler outpost Jordan valley
© Palestinian Information Cener
Israeli illegal settlers set up another outpost on Palestinian land in the Jordan Valley
A horde of extremist Jewish settlers on Tuesday erected a tent and fenced swaths of land in the east of Ein al-Hilweh area in the northern Jordan Valley.

Local official Mahdi Daraghmeh said that settlers had deployed several tents and fenced dozens of dunums of land in the areas of Biyoudh and Umm Kharrouba in the east of Ein al-Hilweh area during the last two days.

Thousands of dunums of land had already been appropriated by Jewish settlers in different areas of the northern Jordan Valley.
israel control west bank jordan valley

Israel control over the West Bank as of 2014. It has only tightened since then

Comment: The Zionists are already plotting the next round of land theft:
The Israeli occupation authority (IAO) on Wednesday morning carried out land surveying in al-Hamma area in the northern Jordan Valley.

Local official Omar Faqha said that the IOA started in the morning to map carry out surveying and mapping in al-Hamma, with no known reason.

It was not the first time the IOA carried out such activity in the region, but it happened on a large scale this time.

The Jordan Valley makes up 30 percent of the occupied West Bank and constitutes half of its agricultural land.

According to B'Tselem, the valley is home to 65,000 Palestinians and 11,000 illegal Israeli settlers.



Sheriff

Maryland Police's new Toy: A look at an 'Electronic Lasso' Police are using to take down suspects

In Maryland, the Landover Hills Police Department recently ordered the weapon for every officer
Bolarap
Police in the D.C. area and around the world are testing a new kind of electronic lasso designed to take down a suspect without hurting them.

It's called a BolaWrap and looks a little like something Wonder Woman or Spider-Man might have dreamed up. A handheld device that looks like a Taser shoots cord as far as 25 feet that wraps around a suspect's legs.

In Maryland, the Landover Hills Police Department recently ordered the weapon for every officer. Police in D.C., Maryland and Virginia are looking at the devices too.

Megaphone

132 people detained in Moscow during unauthorized protest against recently approved constitutional amendments

Russia
© Reuters / Evgenia Novozhenina
A law enforcement officer stands guard during a protest against amendments to Russia's Constitution in Moscow, Russia on July 15, 2020.
Moscow police detained over a hundred demonstrators who held an unapproved rally on Wednesday evening. They were protesting against constitutional changes passed in a national vote earlier this month.

Those present were particularly opposed to a new clause re-setting presidential term limits - this could potentially allow Vladimir Putin to run for president two more times and stay in the Kremlin until 2036. A similar event was also held in St. Petersburg, Russia's second-largest city.

Between 200 to 300 people gathered at Pushkin Square in central Moscow on Wednesday evening, according to estimates from Kommersant newspaper.

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Attention

Boy, 16, grows breasts after being given estrogen for behavioral disorder while in L.A. juvenile hall, suit alleges

juvenile detention los angeles
© Christina House / For The Times
Juvenile hall in Los Angeles in 2014.
A 16-year-old boy being held at a Los Angeles County juvenile hall developed enlarged breasts after he was prescribed estrogen to treat a behavioral disorder, a move that baffled doctors who said the treatment defied medical logic, according to a lawsuit filed last month.

The teen, whose identity is being withheld because of his age, was diagnosed with oppositional defiant disorder, or ODD, two days after he was arrested and housed at Eastlake Juvenile Hall in June 2019, the lawsuit said. Medical records reviewed by The Times show that the teen's testosterone levels were "slightly high" when the doctor who diagnosed him prescribed daily doses of estrogen.

Estrogen regulates the development of female sexual characteristics and reproduction. Men produce the hormone at much lower levels.

Brick Wall

NXIVM members dancing for Raniere outside federal prison

Keith Raniere courtroom artist sketch
© Elizabeth Williams/AP
In this courtroom artist's sketch, defendant Keith Raniere, center, sits with attorneys Paul DerOhannesian, left, and Marc Agnifilo during closing arguments at Brooklyn federal court, Tuesday, June 18, 2019 in New York. A federal prosecutor said Raniere used his NXIVM organization to "tap into a never-ending flow of women and money." Attorneys for the defendant say he had no criminal intent and that his sexual encounters with followers were consensual.
Former members of group say "Kay Rose" rallies are meant for cult-like group's leader.

Outside Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center, a group of people dance every night to support federal inmates, including one in particular: Kay Rose.

There is, however, no inmate by that name in the Brooklyn facility — or anywhere else in the federal prison population, for that matter. But "Kay Rose" shares the initials of someone who has spent the past two years in the downstate lockup: Keith Raniere, the leader of the formerly influential and now shattered organization known as NXIVM.

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Blue Planet

Moscow's reaction to restoration of Hagia Sophia as mosque reminds us Russia is ultimately part of Western world

Sophia Cathedral
© Reuters / Murad Sezer; AFP / Natalia Kolesnikova
Hagia Sophia (L); Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow
For all the talk about 'Eurasianism' and Russia's 'unique civilization' the reality is the country is fundamentally European and Christian. The response to Turkey making the Hagia Sophia a mosque again reinforces the point.

In recent years an old buzzword has gained new popularity among what Russians call 'politologists' - that class of pundits and academics who engage in public discussion on political issues. The word in question is 'civilizations', and its use reflects a growing desire to distinguish Russia from the West by claiming some essential difference between the two.

The concept of civilizations has proven particularly attractive among those of a conservative bent and allows them to make a couple of important claims. The first is that the world comprises not different countries all moving toward some common goal founded upon universally valid values and institutions, but rather unique civilizations each of which is progressing along its own separate path. The second is that Russia itself is such a civilization.

Comment: See also: Turkey's Hagia Sophia: 'like turning Saint Peter's into a mosque'


Attention

Ellen DeGeneres questioned for Wayfair partnership amid conspiracy theory

Ellen DeGeneres Wayfair
© Wayfair/Getty Images
Ellen Degeneres
Ellen DeGeneres has been roped into a conspiracy theory that accuses Wayfair of acting as a front for human trafficking by selling pricey cabinets named after people.

The talk show celebrity was questioned on Twitter for her Wayfair collection that allegedly included a five-figure pillow but really sells for far less. Social media users questioned the talk show host and if she had any involvement with the alleged child trafficking conspiracy theory.

"@TheEllenShow please explain why you're selling pillows on Wayfair for over 10k with missing children's names on them? Are you part of #wayfairtrafficking???" one user asked on social media.

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Attention

Florida Department of Health says some labs have not reported negative COVID-19 results

Orlando Health
After FOX 35 News noticed errors in the state's report on positivity rates, the Florida Department of Health said that some laboratories have not been reporting negative test result data to the state.

Countless labs have reported a 100 percent positivity rate, which means every single person tested was positive. Other labs had very high positivity rates. FOX 35 News found that testing sites like one local Centra Care reported that 83 people were tested and all tested positive. Then, NCF Diagnostics in Alachua reported 88 percent of tests were positive.

How could that be? FOX 35 News investigated these astronomical numbers, contacting every local location mentioned in the report.

The report showed that Orlando Health had a 98 percent positivity rate. However, when FOX 35 News contacted the hospital, they confirmed errors in the report. Orlando Health's positivity rate is only 9.4 percent, not 98 percent as in the report.

The report also showed that the Orlando Veteran's Medical Center had a positivity rate of 76 percent. A spokesperson for the VA told FOX 35 News on Tuesday that this does not reflect their numbers and that the positivity rate for the center is actually 6 percent.

Comment: More fudging of the numbers to give the impression that things are 'out of control' and that the '2nd wave' is coming any minute now...






Cell Phone

BBC journalists are becoming addicted to 'toxic' Twitter, bosses say

bbc building

Some BBC journalists have been warned over their use of social media, with some even disciplined for breaking social media guidelines .
BBC journalists are becoming addicted to Twitter amid fears their desire to 'go viral' is undermining impartiality rules, the corporations head of standards said yesterday.

David Jordan said journalists have sometimes failed to uphold BBC guidelines on social media which has become 'toxic'.

Some journalists have been disciplined by senior staff over their use of social media amid complaints they have 'overstepped the mark'.

Comment: This seems to be a change of tone from the BBC. Many of their recent policy decisions seem to have been taken directly from woke Twitter. The fact that they're pulling back, saying enough is enough, may actually be a good sign. We won't be holding our breath, however.

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