Society's Child

Kosher food fight between Israeli restaurants and Jewish authorities

Jonah Mandel
Yahoo News
Fri, 24 Jun 2016 00:00 UTC

Jonathan Vadai just wanted a certificate confirming his Jerusalem restaurant as kosher, but he found himself fed up with the Israeli religious authorities overseeing the process. "I had to employ the person supervising me and pay him," 34-year-old Vadai said at Carousela, his trendy cafe in the city's quiet Rehavia neighbourhood. "Sometimes he asked that I pay under the table."

Such accusations are not unusual among Israelis, and now Vadai and others are part of an effort to break the ultra-Orthodox Jewish establishment's monopoly on kosher certificates in the country. They are embroiled in a legal battle over the issue with potentially wide-ranging implications.

The Chief Rabbinate, the Jewish religious authority overseeing the certificates, wields power over a range of issues in Israeli society in an arrangement that critics call outdated. "Israeli law gives the Chief Rabbinate a monopoly on kosher supervision, but there is lots of corruption and unjust pressures," said Aaron Leibowitz, a soft-spoken rabbi and Jerusalem city council member involved in the effort to end the monopoly.

Comment: A rabbinical mafia in collusion with the government, complete with under-the-table deals, protection fees, pressure and corruption. Is this 'kosher'?

Orlando cops were told to stand-down, not pursue Mateen for 15-20 minutes

Matt Agorist
The Free Thought Project
Thu, 23 Jun 2016 16:04 UTC

The testimony of a Belle Isle police officer was given this week allowing for the first public account of what happened inside the Pulse nightclub earlier this month. Officer Brandon Cornwell's account of what happened could explain why the death toll was so high — they were told to stand down and not to pursue the shooter.

According to Cornwell, he was one of the first seven officers on the scene. After hearing reports of shots fired, Cornwell was at the nightclub only 38 seconds later.

"Some ran towards the building, some stayed back with people running out," he said. "There was tons of people running out of the club. I grabbed my assault rifle and ran toward the club. At this point, the shooter is still actively shooting inside."

Comment: And conveniently, those pesky accomplices, whom the authorities continue to deny the existence of, managed to get away. Orlando nightclub massacre eyewitnesses: 'More than one shooter, snipers fired at police, someone blocked exits'

Cop who drove van in which Freddie Gray died found not guilty

RT
Fri, 24 Jun 2016 15:24 UTC

Officer Caesar Goodson, Jr. has been found not guilty of all charges in the death of Freddie Gray. Goodson was the driver of the police van in which Gray suffered a fatal spinal injury in April 2015, sparking riots in Baltimore, Maryland.

Of the six officers involved in Gray's arrest, Goodson faced the most serious charges, including second-degree "depraved-heart murder," second-degree assault, reckless endangerment, and misconduct in office. Like Gray, he is African-American.

A veteran of the Baltimore Police Department, Goodson chose a bench trial before Circuit Judge Barry Williams, who delivered the verdict Thursday morning. Previously, Williams acquitted Officer Edward Nero of all charges, while the prosecution of William Porter ended in a mistrial due to a hung jury.

Prosecutors have argued that Goodson intended to injure Gray by not buckling him in inside the police van, and failed to seek medical help when he realized Gray had suffered severe injuries that ultimately proved fatal.

Death by selfie: Seven students died while taking selfies in the Ganga River

Sputnik
Thu, 23 Jun 2016 15:51 UTC

Seven students were swept away in the Ganga River in the Indian city of Kanpur while taking selfies.

Seven youths were swept away when they were taking selfies along the banks of the Ganga River in Kanpur. When one of the youths fell into the river while taking a selfie others jumped in the river to save him resulting in all seven youths being swept away by the current.

It is yet another tragedy in the series of selfie deaths in a selfie-obsessed India. In fact, India has the dubious distinction of having the highest number of selfie deaths in the world. India accounts for more than 40 percent of deaths every year and it is increasing rapidly.

This new selfie craze has taken many lives in India where social media obsession is at the peak among youths. Youths risk their lives just to take selfies and get likes and attention on social media.

Russian agricultural exports have reached record high over last few months

Sputnik
Thu, 23 Jun 2016 15:35 UTC

The growth in production and export of Russian agricultural products is very strong and future prospects in the field are encouraging, experts say.

Russian agricultural sector seems to be doing great, with production and sales steadily growing over the last few months, Russian newspaper Vzglyad wrote.

"Agricultural production shows fantastic results: over last four months, we have a five percent growth in exports of agricultural products [...] and an increase of 30.5% in physical volumes of agricultural products' supplies abroad," Russia's First Deputy Minister of Economic Development Alexei Likhachev said cited by the newspaper.

Slap on the wrist: Merrill Lynch to pay $415 million for 'mishandling' customer funds

Sputnik
Fri, 24 Jun 2016 15:20 UTC

Merrill Lynch is the New York-based wealth management and investment division of Bank of America.

"The rules concerning the safety of customer cash and securities are fundamental protections for investors and impose lines that simply can never be crossed," said SEC Enforcement Division chief Andrew Ceresney. "Merrill Lynch violated these rules, including during the heart of the financial crisis, and the significant relief imposed today reflects the severity of its failures."

The SEC explained that from 2009 to 2015, Merrill Lynch mishandled customer funds that should have been deposited in a reserve account.

Merrill Lynch used the funds for "complex options trades" that freed up billions of dollars per week for the firm's own trading activity, the SEC added.

Furthermore, the firm violated the SEC's Consumer Protection Rule by failing to shield customer securities against potential claims from its creditors.

According to the SEC, Merrill Lynch held up to $58 billion per day in consumer securities in an account that was subject to liens.

If the firm had collapsed, customers would have been exposed to "significant risk and uncertainty" of getting back their own money, the SEC pointed out.

The SEC also noted it will launch an effort to find potential violations by other firms and uncover additional abuses of the Consumer Protection Rule.

Russian track and field athletes to file class action lawsuit over Rio Olympics ban

RT
Thu, 23 Jun 2016 15:13 UTC

Russian track and field athletes will file collective and possibly individual lawsuits with Lausanne arbitration court to challenge the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) decision banning them from the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Class action against the IAAF decision will be filed with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) next week, the All-Russia Athletics Federation (ARAF) Secretary General Mikhail Butov told TASS on Thursday.

"A suit or suits will be submitted to CAS next week. It is also necessary to completely determine the legal direction, but we have generally formed a group of lawyers with whom we will work," Butov said.

"I don't known whether Mike Morgan (Morgan Sports Law LLP) of the UK will be among them, so far I'd rather not disclose the names. Class actions will be filed for certain, but some individual suits are also possible," Butov said.

"We are going to have consultations with these lawyers in the coming days. Then we will make the final decision," the ARAF secretary general said.

Comment: It should be totally obvious that the International Olympic Committee is punishing Russian athletes not because of alleged doping, which is widespread in the athletic community, but for political reasons. The US government is likely pressuring the IOC not to allow Russian athletes to compete in the Olympics, as the US is engaged in a prolonged demonization campaign against Russia. The US is getting rather desperate in their anti-Russian propaganda to stoop to such petty levels of control.

Trophy hunting Swedish politician said, 'Giraffe tastiest meat I ever ate' on World Giraffe Day

RT
Wed, 22 Jun 2016 13:32 UTC

Photos of a Swedish nationalist posing with dead lions, giraffes and hippos he killed and ate have outraged social media. Speaking to Swedish media on World Giraffe Day, he said the tastiest meat he had ever tried was giraffe, a remark that horrified users.

Angelo Vukasovic, the treasurer from the Sweden Democrats party, considered nationalist and far right, has been posting the controversial photos on Facebook since October 2015. However, the pictures have only started circulating widely in recent weeks.

A window into the traumas of the Israeli Occupation of Palestine

Vijay Prashad
AlterNet
Fri, 24 Jun 2016 12:12 UTC

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has recently approved $18 million in government funds to extend illegal settlements in Palestine's West Bank. This comes on top of the $88 million that the Israeli regime already allocates for funding settlement activity.

New York's Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a decree attacking the non-violent Boycott-Divestment Sanctions (BDS) movement, which is one of the few avenues in the West to hold Israel to account against its occupation of the Palestinian lands and its illegal settlements.

But, in the United States at least, it is virtually impossible to find the mainstream media being "evenhanded" on the question of the occupation. A new film by Loretta Alper and Jeremy Earp—The Occupation of the American Mind—shows that Israeli-funded propaganda (hasbara) has effectively rendered the US media into marionettes of Israeli state policy. At the Democratic Party's platform committee, Cornel West had to make the case that the occupation is a reality. Such a fact could not be taken for granted.

In the mainstream US media, there will be no coverage of the April statement by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to the UN Security Council on Israel. Ban pointed out that not only has Israel continued to build its illegal settlements, but it has also systematically demolished Palestinian homes. By early April, the Israelis had demolished as many Palestinian homes as they had demolished in all of 2015, which means that the pace of expansion has increased. Thousands of Palestinians have been displaced by these demolitions. The future Palestinian State recedes further into the distance, a fact that the US media declines to cover.

Comment: Further reading: How Israel's oppressive and humiliating occupation affects all aspects of Palestinian life and incites violent resistance

Ukrainians gather to celebrate defeat of Nazism, demand an end to war in Donbass: "Ukraine and Russia - peace forever!"

Ollie Richardson (Translator)
Fort Russ
Fri, 24 Jun 2016 12:03 UTC

On the Day of Memory and Grief on June 22nd in Kiev, hundreds of citizens gathered in the Park of Eternal Glory, who were not afraid of being persecuted by the authorities and nationalist militants.

The elderly, veterans of the Great Patriotic War and members of their families, representatives of veterans' organizations, the Orthodox unions, and individual sympathizers gathered near the monument to the Unknown Soldier.

Many protesters wearing St George ribbons and Soviet awards brought Soviet flags. In the hands of people were posters with the eloquent slogan: "75 years of the Nazi beast aggression, 75 years since the feat of the Soviet people", "For our Soviet Motherland!", "Nobody is forgotten, nothing is forgotten!", and "Ukraine and Russia - Peace, Friendship Forever!". And all this despite a real danger to their lives, because this kind of demonstration with all these symbols and slogans infuriates Ukrainian nationalists, supported by the Kiev authorities.

And although a spontaneous rally in the Park of Eternal Glory was watched from the outside by the police, as practice shows, in case of a real attack by nationalist militants, the Ukrainian police prefers not to interfere.

Comment: Further reading: Current Ukrainian 'ceasefire' reminds Donetsk residents of the 1941 Nazi occupation

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Society's Child

Kosher food fight between Israeli restaurants and Jewish authorities

Orlando cops were told to stand-down, not pursue Mateen for 15-20 minutes

Cop who drove van in which Freddie Gray died found not guilty

Death by selfie: Seven students died while taking selfies in the Ganga River

Russian agricultural exports have reached record high over last few months

Slap on the wrist: Merrill Lynch to pay $415 million for 'mishandling' customer funds

Russian track and field athletes to file class action lawsuit over Rio Olympics ban

Trophy hunting Swedish politician said, 'Giraffe tastiest meat I ever ate' on World Giraffe Day

A window into the traumas of the Israeli Occupation of Palestine

Ukrainians gather to celebrate defeat of Nazism, demand an end to war in Donbass: "Ukraine and Russia - peace forever!"

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