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European public does not generally see Russia as 'major' threat

Police terrorism
© Full-tacticalRecent IS attacks in Paris and Brussels fuelled concern, but most Europeans against use of "overwhelming" military force
Most Europeans see Russia as a "minor" threat compared to Islamic State (IS), the refugee crisis or other issues, a survey suggests.

Roughly seven out of 10 people in the EU named IS, the jihadist group which recently carried out attacks in Paris and Brussels, as a "major" menace in a new study by US think tank Pew, out on Tuesday (14 June).

More than half of Europeans said climate change, economic instability and cyber-attacks were "dire" threats. A little less than half also named the number of refugees coming from Iraq and Syria as a "major" challenge.

But just one in three EU nationals put "tensions with Russia" in the same category.

Pew interviewed 11,494 people in April and May from France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, the UK and the US.

The 10 European countries account for 80 percent of the EU population and 82 percent of its combined GDP.

Pistol

New York Times says: Congress should secretly suspend Second Amendment rights

Second amendment rights
A New York Times editorial advocates for a new law allowing a secret court to take away citizens' right to own a gun at the discretion of the federal government.

Citing the Orlando terror attack that left 50 dead including the shooter and 53 wounded at a gay nightclub, the piece advocates for a "no-buy" list similar to "no-fly" lists. Under the law, suspected terrorists would not be able to buy a gun. In an attempt to ensure the integrity of the lists and preserve due process, the author proposes people only be added to this no-buy list after a secret court rules they are ineligible, similar to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court hearings where the federal government obtains permission to wiretap. Under this proposal, an American who has never been convicted of a crime could be denied their right to buy a gun simply because a secret court decided it should be that way.

The piece is written by Adam Winkler, a U.C.L.A. School of Law professor. Winkler argues the secret court is a good idea because the same kind of court is already used for government surveillance, and historically, the U.S. has committed worse rights violations such as Japanese internment camps.


Comment: What a set of arguments! The U.S. has already enacted worse laws - so this one wouldn't be so bad by comparison?


Comment: What mind-numbing page space filler from the New York Times these days. Could it be that the real and intended purpose of such a proposal is to drive up gun sales?

From: The number one driver of gun sales in America

From the White House
we hear that:
President Obama's spokesman said Thursday that the record number of Americans seeking to buy guns in recent weeks is "a tragedy" that the White House is at a loss to explain.

"The more that we see this kind of violence on our streets, the more people go out and buy guns," said White House press secretary Josh Earnest. "That is both ironic and tragic."
But what if this is all bullshit? If it is common knowledge that Obama's incessant calls for more control legislation only drive up the purchasing of guns then why keep harping on about more gun control? Could it be that the people who pull the strings behind the White House are that clueless? If this induced demand is intentional, then this begs the question: Why might the puppet masters be manipulating the masses into buying guns (not that having one used judiciously and for protection is necessarily a bad idea)?

Is it possible that the snakes in power anticipate a situation in the US where they actually want a well armed public battling the Police State apparatus and Federal forces? And if so, why? Or, a more simple explantation, the puppet masters still anticipate major social unrest and are trying to do all they can to maintain their positions via their own firepower and therefore really just want less guns available for when that happens - but are going about it in a counterproductive way?



Eye 1

National Defense Authorization Act 2017 includes draft for women & indefinite detention of American citizens

loss of freedom
© Freethoughtproject.com
The U.S. Congress has passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) 2017 with provisions that will force women to sign up for potential military draft and continues the practice of indefinite detention.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate approved a $602 billion annual defense budget that President Obama has promised to veto because the bill does not allow for the closing of the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Senate Bill 2943, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017, passed with a voteof 85 Senators in favor and 13 against.

Light Saber

Matt Damon: Whether or not life is a simulation, what we do matters

Matt Damon
It's been almost 20 years since Matt Damon's breakout role in 'Good Will Hunting' and now he's back at MIT giving a commencement address.

Saying 'I'm not running for office', he slams Donald Trump, the media and bankers.

There is a theory that everything around us is simply a simulation that beings, a lot more intelligent than us, have created.

Matt Damon, and even one of the greatest minds in modern time, the person who goes against the oil and power industry head to head, believe that there is "one in a billion chance" that reality is not a simulation.

However weird this is, it changes nothing in addition to the fact that what we do matters, it changes the outcome.

That's why it's necessary to know about the ways corporations, governments and other EGO feeding, greedy systems rob the world and shred humanity.


Attention

9 facts about society that should shock and disturb us, but instead we view as normal

traffic
When you take a moment and look around at the world, things can seem pretty messed up. Take 5 or 10 minutes and watch the 6 o'clock news.

Chances are, the entire time, all you are going to see is war, conflict, death, illness, etc.

Sure, this is part of the mainstream media's content strategy to sell drama and keep people focused on it, but besides that, it reveals something real about the current state of our world.

I believe Michael Ellner said it well in his quote: "Just look at us. Everything is backwards, everything is upside down. Doctors destroy health, lawyers destroy justice, psychiatrists destroy minds, scientists destroy truth, major media destroys information, religions destroy spirituality and governments destroy freedom."

Sheriff

Send your children to jail: Mad Sheriff Arpaio opens a summer program for kids

kids jail program
© KPHO/KTVKKids that participated in the T.O.U.G.H. Tents program in 2015.
Joe Arpaio, a relentless self-promoter who christened himself "The World's Toughest Sheriff," has invited Phoenix-area parents to send their grade school and teenage kids to jail for the summer.

"Summer Stars" is a two-day program supposedly intended to teach impressionable youngsters about the rigors of life behind bars, thereby deterring them from bad behavior. The program will be held in two sessions - June 23-24, and July 21-22 - and will be open for students from ages 8 to 18.

Arpaio's department says that the experience is "designed to show young people the realities of jail life and prevent them from getting involved in illegal activity," reports KTVK News in Phoenix. Participants will wear prisoner attire, work as inmate laborers, eat jail food, sleep in tents or bunks, and be required to follow jail regulations. Arpaio inexplicably assures parents that the temporary inmates "will have some fun, too" - which to any informed resident of Maricopa County would seem like a threat, rather than an assurance, especially to parents of children who are, or who might be mistaken to be, of Latino ancestry. After all, there is a very good chance that the senescent sheriff may soon find himself facing felony charges before a federal court for abusing people of that description.

Stormtrooper

Hollande threatens to ban protests as French anti-labor law protests grow

Police officers detain a demonstrator during clashes near the Invalides during a protest against proposed labour reforms in Paris on June 14, 2016
© Dominique Faget / AFPPolice officers detain a demonstrator during clashes near the Invalides during a protest against proposed labour reforms in Paris on June 14, 2016
President Francois Hollande has proposed to ban demonstrations in France, according to his presidential spokesman, who said that at a time when the country is plagued by terrorism, the conditions are not in place to protect "personal or public property."

"At a time when France is hosting the Euro 2016 [football tournament], when it is faced with terrorism, demonstrations can no longer be authorized if property, people and public property cannot be safeguarded," Hollande told a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, according to his spokesman Stephane Le Foll, AFP reported.

"The conditions under which a manifestation is authorized is a subject of discussion between the organizers and the authorities representing the state," Le Foll said.

"If the conditions are not in place to protect personal or public property, and as things stand now they are not, decisions are currently being made case-by-case not to allow the protests," he added.

Comment: As strikes look to increase in France, garbage and resentment pile up


Handcuffs

More than 400 people arrested for looting shops in northeastern Venezuela

Venezuela protesters
© AFP
More than 400 people were arrested after mass looting in the northern Venezuelan city of Cumana Wednesday, Luis Acuna, governor of the state of Sucre, said as quoted by local media.

The governor said that 400 people were detained in the Venezuelan city of Cumana for looting shops with many of them being underage, Globovision TV-channel reported.

Acuna also confirmed deaths of two people in Cumana on Tuesday but dismissed the allegations that people were killed during clashes. He said that the unrest in the city was caused by vandalism committed by criminal gangs.

Airplane

French vessel finds EgyptAir wreckage in Mediterranean Sea

EgyptAir A320
© AP Photo/ Thomas Ranner
An investigation committee says it has found wreckage from the EgyptAir jet that disappeared over the Mediterranean last month.

The wreckage of EgyptAir flight 804 was discovered by a French vessel, the John Lethbridge, according to Egypt's Aviation Ministry. A statement says that "several main locations of the wreckage" have been found.

Comment: More from Al Jazeera:
The John Lethbridge has been contracted by the Egyptian government from the Mauritius-based Deep Ocean Search firm to join the search for flight MS804's debris and flight data recorders.

The committee said the vessel obtained images of the wreckage located between the Greek island of Crete and the Egyptian coast, and that the next step will be drawing a map showing the wreckage location.

The John Lethbridge is equipped with sonar and other equipment capable of detecting wreckage at depths up to 6,000ft.



Handcuffs

Cops bust one of their own in Craigslist pedophile sting

Christopher Dunkes
© police handoutChristopher Dunkes, Montgomery County Police Officer and pervert.
Along with six other alleged pedophiles, a Maryland cop was arrested this week after using Craigslist and social media apps in an attempt to have sex with an undercover officer posing as a 15-year-old girl. Apprehended in the online sex sting, the Maryland cop and six other defendants face charges ranging from solicitation of prostitution to using a communication device to facilitate certain offense against children.

On June 6, the Prince William County Police Department began conducting a week-long operation using undercover cops with underage social media profiles in an attempt to deter crimes involving the sexual exploitation of minors. Although six of the suspects lived in Virginia, detectives discovered that a seventh suspect lived in Maryland and was a 2-year veteran with the Montgomery County Police Department.