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Returning Russian pilots get hero's welcome after a job well done in Syria

russian pilot welcome home
Russian Pilots Returning From Syria Get a Hero's Welcome
International Business Times relays a Russian report:

The pilots were met by a large, flag-carrying delegation of senior officers as well as their wives and children after they touched down at an aerodrome near the southern Russian city of Voronezh. Some of the pilots were carried on the shoulders of their fellow soldiers, while others were given flowers and balloons.

The head of Russia's air force, Gen. Viktor Bondarev, was present among the welcoming party and told pilots all their bombs had been on target, according to state-owned news agency RIA Novosti.

Comment:


Better Earth

Turning to conscience: How an Israeli made the decision to be critical of Zionism

Jonathan Ofir
Jonathan Ofir
"What brought you to be critical of Israel?"

In the past few years I have been asked several times (the latest time a few days ago), what it was that brought me to have critical views about Israel. The question has often pointed specifically to my service in the Israeli Defense Forces, and what those experiences may have caused.

I'm 43 today. My significant turnaround in terms of looking at Israeli history and current practices began around 2007, after over 12 years of living in Denmark. It's not really that dramatic a story as you might think. It might even be disappointing.

My army service was mostly as a musician - I was given the title of 'Distinguished Musician' and allowed to continue my violin career, whilst occasionally playing concerts for soldiers, mostly classical music and mostly for officers. Yet, as a kibbutznik I had a societal conditioning which was very militaristic, and at a point I actually felt it was shameful to just play Bach and Mozart whilst my peers were combat soldiers. At a point I felt so bad about it that I volunteered for a combat unit, an elite one no less - I went through the sifting test, the two-day physical ordeal that you go through when you want to get into these combat units. Whoever survives it can go on. Then I did the basic training of four months, but regretted it deeply after a few months. Even though I had anticipated that I would miss playing the violin, the deprivation became visceral.

Comment: Israel has been built on, grown, and perpetuated by a mountain of lies that is a dangerous to those people in neighboring countries as it is to Israel's citizens themselves. The Israeli government and military's overt and covert brutality has reached such a fever pitch in recent years, that one can only expect their "existential threat" to be fully manifested and realized - like dark magic returning to plague the conjurer - or just a mini-empire reaping what it sows.


Arrow Down

Blaming the victim: Muslim teens may be expelled from NY school for defending themselves against bullies

bullying
© Brian Snyder / Reuters
A pair of brothers at a New York school may be expelled after defending themselves against anti-Muslim bullies, who have been picking on them for the past two years.

Adam and Jameel Siam, who were born in the US, attend Williamsville East High School in western New York and claim that their complaints of harassment by fellow students have gone unanswered by school management.

"I was bullied for Osama bin Laden, I've been called a terrorist," said 16-year-old Jameel, a junior. "We've been called terrorists, go back home and make bombs in your basement or you're going to come back and shoot up the school ‒ and it's just like, people kept pushing our buttons."

Comment:


USA

5 cops disciplined after failing to act when Trump supporter sucker-punched protester

man attack protesters trump rally
The Cumberland County Sheriff's Office said that five deputies have been disciplined in connection with the assault of Rakeem Jones at a Donald Trump rally in Fayetteville on March 9.

The sheriff's office said the deputies witnessed the assault and did not take action. Three of the deputies were demoted and were also suspended without pay for five days. The other two were suspended without pay for three days. All five deputies face one year of probation.

"I applaud the sheriff's department for their work and finding the deputies responsible," said Jones.

In a statement, Sheriff Earl "Moose" Butler said the deputies faced disciplinary action for "unsatisfactory performance and failing to discharge the duties and policies of the office of the sheriff."

"The actions of the deputies and their failures to act in situations such as that which occurred during the Trump rally at the Crown Coliseum have never been and will never be tolerated under the policies of this office," Butler said in a statement.

Blackbox

San Francisco's BART cars knocked out by 'mystery glitch' again, snarls commute

BART transit knocked out glitch
© Michael Short/San Francisco ChronicleCrowds of commuters wait to board San Francisco bound trains at the MacArthur BART station in Oakland.
For the second time in a month, a mysterious power surge knocked out numerous BART cars Wednesday — puzzling agency officials who thought they had the problem under control the first time around, and making life miserable for commuters packed into shortened trains.

BART was able to repair some of the 25 or so cars that lost their propulsion systems on the Pittsburg-Bay Point line, but not all of them — raising the likelihood that many trains will be short of cars for the Thursday morning commute.

BART engineers worked into the night trying to find an answer for what is becoming a major problem for the aging rail system.

When the first round of problems began in late February, BART focused on a new electrical substation that had been installed a few months earlier near the Oakland end of the Transbay Tube. Wednesday's problems, however, happened far from there — between the North Concord and Bay Point stations.

"It's the same symptoms," said BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost. "But we don't know if it's the same cause."

Comment: There's been a fair number of problems lately attributed to electrical glitches and faults. The BART's issues are fairly minor. Could there be something affecting the Earth's fields? Just a small sample:


Pistol

Cop mistakes fellow black cop in shootout as suspect, shoots and kills officer

Jacai Colson
© AP
Jacai Colson, a Prince George's County (Mary.) cop, was killed over the weekend by friendly fire during a shootout outside PGC police headquarters. Today in a press conference, police chief Hank Stawinski said that Colson was shot not accidentally, but instead "deliberately," by a fellow officer who mistook him for one of the three suspects who participated in the offensive.

According to Stawinski, Colson, who was an undercover narcotics detective, was not in uniform and had gotten out of an unmarked vehicle at the station prior to being shot. It's also worth noting that like the three suspects—Michael, Elijah, and Malik Ford—Colson was black. But Colson, pictured above, looked nothing like the suspects, who are pictured here.

Michael Ford, 22, was the leader of the attack on the police station. While no officers aside from Colson were wounded, Ford was shot and hospitalized. While Michael Ford fired at officers, his brothers filmed the assault on their phones. In an earlier press conference, per the Washington Post, Stawinski said the brothers will face dozens of charges, including second-degree murder and first-degree attempted murder.

The Prince George's County PD has a long history of recklessly using its weapons. In a study of police shootings across the 1990s, the Washington Post found that the PCG PD had the highest rate of fatal shootings per officer of any major city or police force in America. In 2001, the same year the Post investigation was published, Ta-Nehisi Coates published a long examination of the PCG PD's history of violence against its black citizens inWashington Monthly.

Black Magic

Thanks America! All of Syria's UNESCO world heritage sites damaged or destroyed

Syrian al-Atroush mosque destruction
© Abdalrhman Ismail / Reuters A general view shows the damage at the ancient al-Atroush mosque in the old city of Aleppo, Syria January 28, 2016.
The destruction of the ancient city of Palmyra has made a real impact, but in fact each and every ancient site in Syria inscribed on the World Heritage List has suffered during the five years of conflict. RT looks back at unique landmarks shattered by military action.

Palmyra

Before Islamic State's (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) arrival, Palmyra, which means "City of Palms", was a revered open-air museum just 210 km from the Syrian capital Damascus. The unique landmark, described by UNESCO as an "oasis in the Syrian desert" was captured by Islamic State in May of 2015. Before the Syrian conflict erupted in 2011, over 150,000 tourists visited the city every year. The jewel of the ancient ruins at the UNESCO heritage site in Palmyra - the iconic Arch of Triumph - was blown up by IS extremists engaged in what has been dubbed as "cultural cleansing" of the Middle East.

"This new destruction of culture in Palmyra reflects the brutality and ignorance of extremist groups and their disregard for local communities and the Syrian people," Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, said.

Comment: In its exportation of 'freedom and democracy' the Empire of Chaos is unparalleled at leaving a wide path of death, destruction and displacement in its wake.


Newspaper

Group of homeless people sue Los Angeles for violation of civil rights and destruction of property

homeless
© Carlos Barria / Reuters
A group of homeless people are suing the City of Los Angeles and the police department for "criminalizing" their homelessness, violating their civil rights and destroying their possessions.

"We brought this suit to prevent the city from engaging in a practice of unlawfully seizing and destroying homeless people's property. It is an ongoing issue that is only increasing in frequency, which is why we brought the case," the plaintiffs' attorney Shayla Meyers told Courthouse News.

The federal civil rights lawsuit, filed in the US District Court in Los Angeles on Monday, accuses the city and the police department of wrongfully arresting homeless people and seizing their lawful shopping carts as part of a "criminalization" campaign.

Comment: If won, this lawsuit can set a precedent for more humane treatment of homeless people all over the country.


Heart - Black

Civil rights defender jailed on pot charge dies in custody after being unable to pay $100 bail

handcuffs
Last week, police, in their efforts to keep the world safe from a dangerous plant, arrested Jeffrey Pendleton for possessing a small amount of cannabis.

He was then locked in a cage last Wednesday after a Nashua District Court judge had set his bail at $100 cash. Unable to pay his extortion fee for possessing a plant that is legal in some form in 23 states, Pendleton, 26, was found dead in his cell five days later at 2:45 on Sunday.

"There appeared no indication that Mr. Pendleton was in any form of distress," said Superintendent David Dionne. The Manchester police are now investigating his death.

An autopsy was scheduled for Monday. However, the results have yet to be released publicly, leaving some questioning the circumstances of his untimely death — especially considering his outstanding history of activism against police abuse of the homeless.

Pendleton is no stranger to police in the area as he had won settlements for civil rights violations from both the Hudson and Nashua police departments last year. Pendleton won a settlement of $7,640 from Hudson after he was unlawfully arrested for standing on public property holding a sign that read, "Homeless and Struggling."

V

Flashback Italians sign petition calling for "Nuremberg for Israel" over genocide of Palestinians

rome protest
© AFP Photo / Andreas SolaroPeople hold a banner in solidarity with Palestinian people during a protest at the Pantheon in Rome.
Hundreds of Italians have signed an online petition slamming Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip as a "slow genocide" of the Palestinians and demanding a "Nuremberg trial" for Israel over the "destruction" of Palestine.

The petition was signed by 525 Italians, mainly academics, Haaretz reported. The signees say they are dismayed by the events in Gaza and accuse Israel of pursuing colonial policies and "ethnic cleansing" of the Palestinians.

The document calls for Israel to face an international tribunal, a Nuremberg-like trial, for its war crimes and the "slow genocide" of the Palestinian people. Italian activists believe that not only the Israeli military and the government, but also the entire state of Israel and "its accomplices" should be brought to trial over current events, as well as those in the past and "the foreseeable future."

The online document also blames the US for supporting Israel, and the EU for "active or passive complicity" in Israel's actions against the Palestinian people. The petition signees also accuse the United Nations of its failure to stop Israel. The Western media, according to activists, paints the events in the wrong light, justifying the Israeli offensive in Gaza as a self-defense operation.

Called 'Noi Accusiamo' (We Accuse), the petition was initially published on an academic website, Historia Magistra, but has gone viral after being re-posted on the website of left-wing newspaper Il Manifesto.