Society's ChildS


Dollars

Millions of dollars seized as 75 are charged in massive drug cartel bust

Money piles
© MassLive.com/KJN
Dozens of people across the U.S. have been charged in connection with an international conspiracy to launder tens of millions of dollars in drug money for Mexican cartels, federal prosecutors said Thursday.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in San Diego unsealed 40 indictments against defendants accused in the scheme dating to 2015. Investigators seized more than $6 million in cash as well as weapons and large quantities of drugs, including methamphetamine, heroin, fentanyl, cocaine and marijuana, officials said.

Mexican-based brokers oversaw a network of "money movers" who transported drug proceeds throughout the U.S. in boxes and duffel bags and deposited the cash into so-called funnel bank accounts, according to prosecutors. From there the funds were wired to accounts for false companies in Mexico controlled by drug suppliers, including members of the Sinaloa cartel, they said.

"By following the money, we have discovered large quantities of fentanyl, heroin and methamphetamine that are no longer destined for the streets of America," U.S. Attorney Adam Braverman said. "That's a one-two punch that takes these organizations completely out of the ring and makes our communities safer."

Radar

Russian Navy sends large warship to Syria

A Russian warship
© FNAA Russian warship has left the Black Sea for Syrian waters, a media outlet reported on Monday
The Arabic-language website of RT quoted Turkish news websites as reporting that the Russian Navy Baltic Fleet Ropucha LSTM Minsk 127 left the Black Sea for Syrian waters.

The report further said that the Minks warship is heading towards Tartus port in Syria's waters, reminding that Tartus is a Russia-run technical base in Western Syria.

Large fleets and other ships of the Russian navy have been playing a main role in transferring cargoes to Humeimim air base, Tartus naval base and the Syrian Army.

Comment: See also: Russian Navy's large cargo ship carrying a wealth of new military equipment, departs for Syria's waters


Camcorder

'Free boobs & wieners': Pranksters offer public fondling on Tokyo streets to generate social media revenue

Tokyo crowd
© BEHROUZ MEHRI / AFPA foreign tourist takes video footage of the famous Shibuya crossing in Tokyo on November 28, 2016.
Japanese authorities have begun clamping down on YouTubers who solicit groping on the street to increase their views and ad revenue. A 16-year-old girl who offered "free boobs" has been referred to prosecutors.

Tokyo police referred the student from Funabashi to prosecutors Monday for encouraging passersby to grope her by holding up a sign that read, 'free boobs,' on January 28. The girl dressed in a bunny costume and allowed roughly 20 people, both men and women, to fondle her for a period of 10 minutes before police arrived.

Meanwhile, her friends, an 18-year-old student and a 23-year-old man, filmed reactions from the passing crowds in one of the city's busiest shopping districts. The two were also referred to prosecutors for filming the stunt and breaching the peace.

Snakes in Suits

IMF advises Ukraine to hike gas prices on its already impoverished citizens

FILE PHOTO: Men make a fire on the roadside to get warm
© Gleb Garanich / ReutersFILE PHOTO: Men make a fire on the roadside to get warm
Ukraine should hike gas prices for its citizens in order to economize energy usage and fight corruption, according to an International Monetary Fund (IMF) representative in the country.

"Different gas prices are the cause for corruption. For example, you can buy gas at a lower price for households, and then sell it at a higher price for the industry, while pocketing the difference," Goesta Ljungman, IMF resident representative in Ukraine, told local media outlet NV Business.

According to Ljungman, cheap gas is most beneficial to "rich people with big houses" who consume a lot of fuel. The starting point should be the sale of gas at a market price in order to use additional revenue from wealthy households to strengthen the system of public subsidies, he said.

Comment: Yet again we see the fruits of American meddling and the ever 'sage' advice of the corrupt IMF:


Quenelle - Golden

Sanctions backfire: Russian food exports to double, needs for imports drop dramatically

cow nice
© Ilya Naymushin / Reuters
Russia is strengthening its position in the global food market with the country's agriculture sector booming. This is largely due to government policy in response to sanctions, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.

"The policy of import substitution has proved its worth in a number of sectors. Talking about agricultural produce, we can say we are self-sufficient. We expect that export potential may double by 2025," said Yevgeny Akhlashev, director of the ministry's food and processing industry department, which expects exports to reach $40 billion.

He noted that, over the past three years, Russia has dramatically reduced imports of sugar (by 73 percent), meat (by 36 percent), and cheese products (by 29 percent), while domestic production in these sectors increased considerably.

Comment: Let's not forget gas too:


People

UK pedophile ring: Hundreds of underage girls raped, sold for sex & murdered by child-grooming abusers

Child
© Rudolf / Global Look Press
A 40-year-old pedophile ring has been exposed following a probe into child abuse in the sleepy British town of Telford. More than 1,000 kids have been abused since the 1980s, and some are ready to share their horrific stories.

An investigation by the Sunday Mirror has blown the lid off four decades of child sex abuse, during which children as young as 11 were raped, beaten, or sold for sex at the hands of perverts living in the Shropshire community. Three children were murdered and two others died in tragedies linked to the Telford abuse rings.

Despite the horrors of high-profile sex rings in Rochdale and Rotherham gaining national attention, authorities in Telford repeatedly failed to address the pedophile rings rife within the their own community. In one case, a mother took a list of people she believed to be abusing her daughter to the authorities, only for her complaints to fall on deaf ears, it has been reported.

Telford MP Lucy Allan has called for a public inquiry, in line with the response to similar revelations in Rotherham. She also said what had been uncovered in her constituency was "extremely serious and shocking." She added: "There must now be an independent inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Telford so that our community can have absolute confidence in the authorities."

Comment: See also: 'Child sex capital of Britain': Police accused of failing to act on 150 pages of child sex abuse claims


Pirates

Russian MoD: Militant groups split and clash in E. Ghouta, civilians seek shelter

The view of Eastern Ghouta
© Ammar Suyleiman / AFPThe view of Eastern Ghouta
Militants groups holding Eastern Ghouta have begun fighting each other after one faction attempted to separate from the terrorists, the Russian military said. Civilians are seeking shelter and trying to escape street fighting.

The confrontations broke out a day after the Russian Defense Ministry demanded that the Failak Ar-Rahman group separated from Jabhat Al-Nusra terrorists, currently known as Jabhat Fateh Al-Sham. In exchange, the militants were offered safe passage out of the embattled suburb of Damascus.

"Open fighting between the members of illegal armed units is underway in the streets, civilians are forced to seek shelter not to accidentally become victims of hostilities," Major General Vladimir Zolotukhin told reporters on Monday.

Pills

Pharma cartel has paid $Millions in secret settlements to coverup links between antidepressants and mass shootings, suicides

Major pharmaceutical companies have spent hundreds of millions of dollars covering up lawsuits over suicides and mass murders caused by popular antidepressants.

mass shootings linked pharmaceuticals
Every time there are reports of a mass shooting, there are a number of people who automatically question whether the suspect had mental health issues or was taking prescription medications such as antidepressants.

While history has shown that the most notorious mass shooters in this century were taking antidepressants or Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) before they carried out the deadly rampages, there are a number of killings that have been linked directly to the dangerous drugs. In fact, the pharmaceutical companies behind the most popular SSRI's have paid hundreds of millions of dollars in damages:

Comment: The pharmaceutical industry is well aware of the risks inherent in many of their drugs and considers government fines and lawsuits to be nothing more than a cost of doing business.


Star of David

Flashback Israel Lobby leaning on Qatar to kill Al Jazeera film expose

Israeli lobby qatar emir
Pictured from top left: Alan Dershowitz, Malcom Hoenlein, Mort Klein, Ron Dermer, Jack Rosen, Emir of Qatar (center)
Two extraordinary events have come together to place Al Jazeera in a vise-like squeeze that may result in the death of a major TV documentary expose about the power and operations of the Israel Lobby in the U.S. The same investigative team producing this project created the remarkable four-part film, The Lobby, about the UK Israel Lobby. In that documentary, an undercover operative infiltrated the Israel Lobby and became a trusted figure among activists, leaders, MPs, and even Israeli diplomats who he filmed betraying shocking details of their efforts to derail the political career of a junior British ministers, and to spend $1-million on Israel junkets designed to convey a pro-Israel script to UK political figures.

The new documentary follows a similar script. Al Jazeera recruited someone to infiltrate various Lobby organizations based in Washington. The covert operative rented an apartment in the city and held social events and parties there to which he invited key figures in the pro-Israel community in the nation's capital. He may have even chatted up Israeli diplomats in DC as the earlier UK documentary did. News of this project has been around for months. The pro-Israel tabloid, Tablet, exposed the identity of the secret operative. Now that the groups know who the mole was they have a pretty good idea of what material he procured that would be in the aired show.

Comment: Electronic Intifada updates the story further:
The leading neoconservative think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies is functioning as an agent of the Israeli government, Al Jazeera's forthcoming investigation on the US Israel lobby will reveal.

According to a source who has seen the undercover documentary, it contains footage of a powerful Israeli official claiming that "We have FDD. We have others working on this."

Sima Vaknin-Gil, a former Israeli military intelligence officer, is said to state that the foundation is "working on" projects for Israel including "data gathering, information analysis, working on activist organizations, money trail. This is something that only a country, with its resources, can do the best."

Under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, commonly known as FARA, US organizations and individuals who work on behalf of foreign governments are required to register with the counterintelligence section of the Department of Justice.

A search on the FARA website shows that the Foundation for Defense of Democracies is not registered.

Al Jazeera's film reportedly identifies a number of lobby groups as working with Israel to spy on American citizens using sophisticated data gathering techniques. The documentary is also said to cast light on covert efforts to smear and intimidate Americans seen as too critical of Israel.

Israel lobby groups have placed intense pressure on Qatar, which funds Al Jazeera, to shelve the film, fueling speculation it may never be aired.

[...]

UAE, Israel deepening ties

Max Adelstein is said to be seen in the film stating that the lobby has helped Israel and the United Arab Emirates develop security links "all under the table."

Adelstein was an intern at Washington lobbying firm the Harbour Group. The firm's clients include the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

It received $2.2 million from the UAE and more than $300,000 from Saudi Arabia during the six months ending 30 September 2017.

Adelstein now says he works for AIPAC, Washington's most powerful Israel lobby group whose annual conference began Sunday. (Shortly after this article was published, Adelstein switched on his Facebook privacy settings and removed mention of his AIPAC role. Screenshots of his profile have been added.)

The film is said to show Adelstein boasting that ties between the United Arab Emirates and Israel are "getting so much better, and nobody knows it."

He told an undercover Al Jazeera reporter that "The governments have to coordinate on security. It's all under the table. But on trade, security, tech, medicine, there's a lot of cooperation."

According to The Electronic Intifada's source, Adelstein is seen in the undercover footage explaining that an American Jewish Committee "study tour" of the United Arab Emirates focusing on "mutual cooperation" was planned.

In January, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, a forum of Israel lobby groups whose membership includes the American Jewish Committee, announced it had sent a "large delegation" of leaders to the United Arab Emirates, where it "met with everybody at the highest levels."

The additional insight into the United Arab Emirates' cozying up to Israel lobby groups comes as the wealthy monarchy's activities in Washington are facing renewed scrutiny.

On Saturday, The New York Times reported that special counsel Robert Mueller is expanding his investigation from alleged Russian meddling in the US presidential election to "include Emirati influence on the Trump administration" through the president's son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner.

"Anti-Semitism as a smear is not what it used to be"

Jonathan Schanzer, senior vice president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, is said to be seen in the undercover footage briefing recruits on how to smear Palestine solidarity groups in the US who support the BDS movement.

According to the source, Schanzer admits to the undercover reporter that "BDS has taken everybody by surprise."

He calls the response by Israel lobby groups "a complete mess," adding, "I don't think that anybody's doing a good job. We're not even doing a good job."

According to the source, Schanzer laments that attempts to smear Students for Justice in Palestine and American Muslims for Palestine as linked to extremist Islamic terrorism have failed to gain traction.

He is also said to regret that the Israel lobby's habitual tactic of falsely alleging Palestine solidarity activists are motivated by anti-Jewish hatred is losing its impact.

"Personally I think anti-Semitism as a smear is not what it used to be," he is said to tell the undercover reporter.

Schanzer's views echo a secret report endorsed by the Israeli government and distributed to Israel lobby leaders last year. That report, a leaked copy of which was published by The Electronic Intifada, concludes that Israel's efforts to stem the growth of the Palestine solidarity movement have largely failed.

Film delayed

In October last year, Clayton Swisher, Al Jazeera's head of investigations, first announced that the Qatari satellite channel had in 2016 run an undercover journalist in the US Israel lobby.

Swisher made the announcement soon after the UK's broadcast regulator dismissed all complaints against Al Jazeera's film The Lobby.

That documentary, broadcast in January 2017, exposed Israel's covert influence campaign in the UK's ruling Conservative and opposition Labour parties. The film revealed an Israeli embassy agent plotting with a British civil servant to "take down" a government minister seen as too critical of Israel.

Although Swisher promised the US film would come out "very soon," nearly five months later it has yet to be broadcast.



Bad Guys

UK university wants their white staff to acknowledge 'their destructive role in being white'

white black students
© West Coast Surfer / Global Look Press
Are you racist? Your university says you are - even if you don't say, think, or do racist things - and it's all down to the color of your skin. Lecturers are now being told to attend seminars to deal with their own "whiteness."

British universities are encouraging lecturers to acknowledge their "white privilege," which makes them unwittingly racist. The classes teach university staff that white-skinned people enjoy greater advantages in life due to the color of their skin, and that black staff and students are discriminated against regularly.

Posters for sessions held at Bristol University said it would ask lecturers to "examine and acknowledge the destructive role of whiteness." The seminars will be hosted by the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Staff Advisory Group.

Comment: See also: Ontario Trent University to host 'It's OK to be (Against) White(ness)' event