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New warning issued by ACLU about campaign to silence criticism of Israel

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has issued a fresh warning about legislative efforts to "silence criticism of Israel", after Members of Congress introduced the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act last month.

In a blog post co-written by Manar Waheed, Legislative and Advocacy Counsel, and Brian Hauss, Staff Attorney, the renowned civil liberties group said the "overbreadth" of the new bill "makes it likely that it will...silence criticism of Israel that is protected by the First Amendment".

Noting that genuine anti-Jewish hate crimes is "already illegal under federal law", the ACLU highlights how the proposed legislation "defines speech that applies a 'double standard for Israel', or denies 'the Jewish people their right to self-determination' as evidence of anti-Semitism".

Comment: It's a testament to how far gone the values are of the US government that they are employing legislation to effectively silence anyone who criticizes Israel. And its further a testament to Israel's pathological and bullying nature that it would seek to make anyone having a problem with the treatment of Palestinians somehow an 'antisemite'.

The campaign to do this is so pervasive and powerful that its mind-boggling:


Black Magic

Tucson: Underground bunker suspected of child-trafficking has connections to Rothschilds, NXIVM sex cult

trafficking bunker
As we reported yesterday, a group of veterans known as Veterans on Patrol (VOP), which looks for homeless veterans around the area and offers them help to get them on their feet, spotted solar lights while on patrol and followed them until stumbling upon an underground bunker, that according to the group, is being used for child trafficking.

"The solar lights are what gave it away," said Lewis Arthur. "If we hadn't been walking on the right trail we would have never seen it, we would have walked right past it."

When the veteran group reached the site, what they found was truly ominous. Around the site, the group found trees equipped with restraints, a stroller, a crib, hair dye, and pornographic material. Inside the bunker, they found a dresser and two crates. The area inside was only big enough for children to fit inside.

Big League Politics reported that "after alerting local and federal law enforcement about the situation and receiving no help, Veterans on Patrol rallied local volunteers together to physically dig up the site."

Comment: See also:


Info

US shows off air arsenal at Sarrin Military Base in western Al-Raqqa, Syria

Two U.S. Marine MV-2 Osprey fighter jets
© http://www.afcent.af.mil
The U.S. Air Force released several photos of their troops operating inside a military base in northern Syria this week.

According to pro-opposition media, the photos were taken at the Sarrin Military Base in western Al-Raqqa.

As shown in the photos below, the base is equipped with a U.S. Marine MV-2 Osprey, C-130J Hercules cargo jet and several other military planes.

Network

How Russia's Trans-Arabian Railway could set the course for a multipolar Saudia Arabia

trans-arabian railway
The CEO of Russian Railways, the state-backed leader in this industry, announced his company's intent in participating in the Trans-Arabian Railway during last week's Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), thus drawing attention to a project that's been on the drawing board for a few years already but has failed to get off the ground. The concept is for the GCC states to tighten their non-energy economic integration with one another through a coastal railway that hugs the southern edge of the Persian Gulf and would run from Kuwait to Oman, but this vision hasn't yet been prioritized. That might change in the coming future, however, as a result of trilateral cooperation between Russia, Saudi Arabia, and China.

Jet1

US pokes the Dragon by sending B-52 bombers over South China Sea

US b-52 bomber
© Lubos Pavlicek / Global Look Press
The US military sent two nuclear-capable B-52 bombers to fly over the disputed Spratly Islands amid tensions with Beijing. The "routine" mission occurred days after a Pentagon chief said "America is to stay" in the Indo-Pacific.

The two US Boeing B-52 Stratofortress bombers took off from a Diego Garcia navy facility located on a small island in the Indian Ocean to conduct "a routine training mission" in the vicinity of the South China Sea, before returning to the base, a spokesman for the Pentagon told CNN.

The flyover took place on Tuesday, mere days after Defense Secretary Jim Mattis used his speech in Singapore to warn China against militarizing the islets. He accused Beijing of "intimidation and coercion" in the area, which starkly contrasted with the "openness"promoted by the US, and pledged its continued presence. Mattis had also reaffirmed the US intention to ensure military support of Taiwan's secessionist ambitions.

Comment: Mattis doesn't understand that this is the South China Sea, not the South United States Sea. The US has no business dictating terms in what China can or cannot do. US hubris really knows no bounds. Some basic decency, respect and humility is needed from the US, but it is very unlikely to come without some very difficult lessons.


Propaganda

Daily Mail columnist loses it after former English football player refuses to indulge in Russia bashing

Gary Lineker
Former England striker turned TV pundit Gary Lineker's refusal to join in the Russia bashing ahead of the World Cup has provoked Daily Mail columnist Dominic Sandbrook into a now familiar display of ignorance and rage.

Lineker is a much-loved figure among England fans, having scored more World Cup finals goals than any other English player. He became a television presenter after retiring, and has become known as a 'liberal voice' on Twitter.

The former striker was speaking to the Radio Times magazine about criticism surrounding the upcoming World Cup, and gave a view that probably wouldn't have seemed controversial if he wasn't talking about Russia.

Target

Prominent Ukrainian journalists question authenticity of 'Russian hit list' surrounding Babchenko affair - UPDATE

Arkady Babchenko
© Reuters
Russian dissident journalist Arkady Babchenko, whose name was not on the alleged "Russian hit list," speaks to the media on May 31 following his faked death, as a portrait of President Petro Poroshenko hangs on the wall behind him.
The leak of an alleged "Russian hit list" has stirred anxieties and raised more questions about the bizarre Ukrainian staging of journalist Arkady Babchenko's death after journalists on the list said they doubted its authenticity.

Ukraine is still reeling nearly a week after authorities here faked the contract-style killing of Babchenko, a Russian dissident journalist, as part of a controversial and elaborate ruse they claim was necessary to foil a real Russian assassination plot.

Instead of details in the bizarre case becoming clearer, they have grown murkier by the day, with authorities fingering the director of a Ukrainian arms manufacturer that provides sights to snipers of its armed forces as the organizer who hired a right-wing, anti-Russian, former monk-turned-volunteer soldier to be the shooter.

Both have claimed to have been in league with Ukraine's intelligence services, something Ukrainian officials first denied, then partly corrected, saying the would-be shooter, Oleksiy Tsimbalyuk, had indeed been working with them. The manufacturer, Borys Herman, was remanded in custody by a Kyiv court on May 31.

Comment: Previously: UPDATE: RT provides a rebuttal from Russia's Gulag Museum:
Gulag documents are "kept forever" in accordance with strict regulations, the Russian deputy minister of internal affairs said. The statement comes amid reports that prisoner records are being destroyed under a secret order.

A Russian museum studying the history of the infamous Gulag prison camps, which existed in the Soviet Union until 1960, has learned that prisoner data is being evaporated. The story was initially reported by Kommersant on Friday, and immediately picked up by other Russian and Western media outlets.

The records in question are the 'registration cards' that contained the personal data of prisoners, including movement between the camps and release date from the forced labor camp. For those who died in the Gulag, the authorities had a special file which was sent for permanent storage to the archive. The survivors' cards are often the only source of information about their fate for relatives.

One of the Gulag Museum researchers claimed that one such card is missing, according to Russian media reports citing director Roman Romanov. When the authorities of Magadan Region, Russia were asked about the record, a local branch of the internal affairs ministry said the document was destroyed under a confidential 2014 order. The document was reportedly signed by multiple Russian ministries and services, including the interior ministry, justice ministry, and defense ministry, and allowed the destruction of the cards after former convicts turn 80.

The contents of the 2014 document, as well as its exact text, has not been released. Romanov has already addressed Mikhail Fedotov, the head of the Presidential Human Rights Council, regarding the matter.

It was also raised at Friday's Human Rights Council meeting. During the session, Russian Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Igor Zubov said the registration cards are under strict regulations and are kept forever.

The head of the Gulag Museum believes that the case is just an administrative "casus," according to Lenta.ru online newspaper, who Romanov spoke with.

"What has happened in Magadan is the first such case in hundreds of similar requests," he said. In the interview, he said the museum regularly deals with such records and have been provided with all the necessary records before. Political repressions are still a very sensitive topic in Russia. There are no precise figures on how many people were imprisoned in this case. Romanov says that more than 20 million people went through the Gulag.



Arrow Up

US sanctions losing influence: Iranian crude exports continue growing despite Washington pressures

gas flare oil Iran
© Raheb Homavandi / Reuters
A gas flare on an oil production platform in the Soroush oil fields is seen in the Persian Gulf, Iran
Iran's crude oil exports hit 2.7 million bpd in May, higher than its average volumes over the past year, while the US withdrew last month from the Iran nuclear deal and re-imposed sanctions that would kick in later this year.

Last month, Iran's crude oil exports stood at 2.4 million bpd, while condensate-ultra light oil-volumes hit 300,000 bpd, the Iranian oil ministry's news service Shana reported over the weekend.

In the Iranian calendar year that ended on March 20, Iran's crude oil exports averaged 2.115 million bpd, Shana reported.

Bullseye

Lawmaker in India: Prostitutes are better workers than gov't officials, they actually do work

women's legs
© Michael Hanschke / Reuters
A lawmaker in India has made it clear that he doesn't think much of government officials, saying that prostitutes are better than them because they actually do work after getting paid.

"Prostitutes are better than government officials; at least they take money and do their work and also dance on the stage. But these officials, even after taking money, don't do their work. There is no guarantee that the work will be done," Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker Surendra Singh said at a public gathering on Wednesday, ANI news agency reported.

It comes just one day after Singh, who is known for his controversial comments, shared a message about how to deal with government officials. "If he does not agree to do his work, teach him a lesson by punching him and if he still does not agree, thrash him with shoes," he said.

Padlock

US Military bases may be used as holding facilities for migrant children separated from their parents at Mexican border

Central American migrant children
© Edgard Garrido / Reuters
Central American children riding a bus through Mexico to the US border on April 6, 2018.
US military bases could soon be used as holding facilities for migrant children that have been separated from their parents at the southern border under the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" immigration policies.

Officials from the US Department of Health and Human Services are planning to tour a number of military installations near the border in Texas in an effort to source more space to house children waiting for placements with sponsor families, NBC reported.

The installations under consideration are the Dyess Air Force Base, the Goodfellow Air Force Base, and Fort Bliss, a HHS spokesperson said.

Currently, hundreds of children are in custody at border stations in temporary facilities, which are known to lack adequate sleeping space and bedding - and nearly half of the children being held are under 12-years old.

Comment: Examining the legality of Trump's decision to separate immigrant children from their parents