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Artists place bust of Edward Snowden atop War Memorial statue in Brooklyn

Lauren McCauley
Common Dreams
Mon, 06 Apr 2015 21:50 UTC
Image
© Video/Photos: Aymann Ismail/ANIMALNewYork
While the unnamed artists acknowledge that Snowden probably won't approve of the memorial, they hope he'll understand.
Paying tribute to NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, activist artists in Brooklyn early Monday surreptitiously installed a bust of his likeness to a war memorial.

According to the publication Animal, which was given exclusive access to document the act, three unnamed New York City-based artists "hauled the 100-pound sculpture into Fort Greene Park and up its hilly terrain just before dawn. They fused it to part of the Prison Ship Martyrs Monument, a memorial to Revolutionary War soldiers."

The group said they first conceived of the project, which is named "Prison Ship Martyrs Monument 2.0," about a year ago. The statue itself was created by a "renowned sculptor on the West Coast who was sympathetic to their cause." In a statement about the artwork, the group wrote:
Fort Greene's Prison Ship Martyrs Monument is a memorial to American POWs who lost their lives during the Revolutionary War. We have updated this monument to highlight those who sacrifice their safety in the fight against modern-day tyrannies. It would be a dishonor to those memorialized here to not laud those who protect the ideals they fought for, as Edward Snowden has by bringing the NSA's 4th-Amendment-violating surveillance programs to light. All too often, figures who strive to uphold these ideals have been cast as criminals rather than in bronze. Our goal is to bring a renewed vitality to the space and prompt even more visitors to ponder the sacrifices made for their freedoms. We hope this inspires them to reflect upon the responsibility we all bear to ensure our liberties exist long into the future.

Comment: It was nice while it lasted. It is forever on the internet now.

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Passport

Get out: More US voters want deportations and curbs on immigrants


RT
Mon, 06 Apr 2015 20:43 UTC
Image
© Reuters/Jorge Dan Lopez
Illegal migrants from Guatemala, deported from the U.S., arrive at an air force base in Guatemala City, March 19, 2015.
The majority of US voters think their government should be more aggressive about deporting illegal immigrants, dislike automatic citizenship, and oppose President Obama's amnesty plan, a new survey shows.

A Rasmussen Reports nationwide phone survey found that 62 percent of likely voters polled believe the government is "not aggressive enough" in deporting illegal immigrants and should do more. This is an increase from 56 percent in last November's poll and from 52 percent last April. Only 15 percent think the current number of deportations is "about right."

Fifty-one percent of respondents disagreed that illegal immigrants with American-born children should be exempt from deportation - as proposed by the president's amnesty plan - while only 32 percent agreed. In November, those percentages were 42 and 38 respectively.

Comment: Keep people divided on issues so they don't pay attention to what the elites are doing to the world and the coming calamities.

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Newspaper

Media inflates threats with 'ISIS' plots that don't actually involve ISIS

Adam Johnson
FAIR
Wed, 01 Apr 2015 01:00 UTC
obama
© www.commdiginews.com
Our lips are sealed. That's why we have media!
Last Friday, the FBI announced another harrowing, 11th-hour capture of Americans plotting to join "ISIS" and launch attack within the United States. The case of two Illinois men, Army National Guard Specialist Hasan Edmonds and his cousin Jonas Edmonds, ostensibly involved the former going to Syria to join ISIS there while the latter stayed in the US, plotting to attack "scores" at a military base.

Right on cue, the American media publish dressed-up FBI press releases about the "disrupted" plot, complete with balaclava-wearing stock photos: "FBI Disrupts Plot to Kill Scores at Military Base on Behalf of Islamic State" was the Washington Post's headline (3/26/15).

These outlets, as usual, omitted the rather awkward fact that this "ISIS plot" did not actually involve anyone in ISIS: At no point was there any material contact between anyone in ISIS and the Edmond cousins. There was, as the criminal complaint lays out, lots of contact between the Edmond cousins and what they thought was ISIS, but at no point was there any contact with ISIS - the designated terror organization that the US is currently launching airstrikes against.

Comment: The "other" GMOs: Governmentally Manipulated Operations. Since "terrorists" aim to create fear, over and above their actual ability to generate violence, and to provoke social reactions that they can then manipulate in recruitment efforts, who would know how to utilize these methods better than the FBI and CIA? As Glen Greenwald recently said: "Why does the FBI have to manufacture its own plots if terrorism and ISIS are such grave threats?" He has a point. To answer, consider the architecture of built-in sustainability: FBI & CIA > "terrorists" > "violence" > "Media" > "evidence" > fear > heroes > funding > FBI & CIA (Duped again.)

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Dollar

Chasing the dollar or doing our own thing

Jan Lundberg
Culture Change
Wed, 01 Apr 2015 20:08 UTC
Image
© cartoon by Andy Singer
Introduction

I was thinking about a friend who got a decent job recently. In the minds of billions of people, it would seem to solve his problems for meeting his obligations. Though entry level, it's a desirable job where the workplace is pleasant. I began to reflect on his being a proud member of the working class, and how his path (however reluctant or exhilarating) generally follows middle class aspiration. It is extremely unlikely that someone in his position manages to join the exalted, glitzy, rich, tiny segment of the population, to enjoy the dream of the very easy life -- not that his value-system pushes him in that questionable direction.

Unfortunately, he is probably boxed in at the lower middle of the social pyramid, because another, very different path for working people and even the rich is not so visible or tempting. Viewed by others without much respect, or with disinterest, an alternative-lifestyle movement nevertheless exists. It would mean, for my friend and his little family, to go live differently than the vast majority of working people and the idle rich in Europe. It may be communal, centered around permaculture, or it may be more individualistic whereby enlightenment and simple living are still chosen over the prevailing gold/no gold limitation. With the alternative path on hold or deemed remote by my friend, his prospects for embarking on doing his own thing someday, beyond perhaps being able to start his own restaurant, are statistically slim. An infusion of cash from winning the lottery is even more slim, but widely dreamt about to fit yearnings, needs, and common materialist fantasies.
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People

Brawl involving hundreds breaks out in New York casino


nbcconnecticut.com
Sat, 04 Apr 2015 20:15 UTC
Image

Chairs in the air: An enormous fight broke out at a bar opening at Resorts World casino in Queens, New York
Dozens of people threw punches and chairs in a late-night brawl that broke out in a Queens casino, authorities said Saturday.

Three people were arrested and many more suffered minor injuries in the free-for-all, which broke out Friday evening shortly before 11 p.m. at Resorts World Casino, police said. One officer suffered a hand injury.

Police say hundreds of people watched and dozens participated.

A witness told NBC 4 New York that the melee started when two people argued about their place in line at a new Fat Tuesday daiquiri stand in the casino.

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Bandaid

Patsy? Worker admits to causing gas explosion in NYC that killed 2


Sputnik
Mon, 06 Apr 2015 19:28 UTC
Image
© Flickr/ Andrew Dallos
A worker at the East Village Building that collapsed and killed two people in New York last month, has confessed to an illegal siphoning operation that investigators believe caused the explosion.

The plumber told investigators that he rigged a gas supply system for the apartments, following orders of the landlord's son, Michael Hrynenko Jr., according to the New York Post.

However, authorities say, he is blaming his boss to "deflect" any fault from himself, adding that they haven't decided whether to cut a deal with him in exchange with his testimony or use it against him.


Tenants of the buildings had blamed the landlord's illegal gas siphoning operation. The landlord's attorney blamed Con Edison, since the company inspected the building half-an-hour before the explosion took place.

Investigators suspect an illegal hookup was removed from a gas line ahead of the inspection then reinstalled thirty minutes before the explosion occurred, the Post reported.

Hrynenko was at the building before the explosion and was hurt in the blast.

On March 26, an explosion ignited a massive fire that destroyed three buildings, killing two people and injuring dozens others.
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Handcuffs

Ramsey Orta imprisoned on trumped up charges after filming Eric Garner's death, rat poison now being found in food at his prison

John Vibes
The Freethought Project
Mon, 06 Apr 2015 18:58 UTC
Image

Inmates have found blue tabs in their food which prison officials have admitted was rat poison
22-year-old Ramsey Orta, the young man who filmed the NYPD killing Eric Garner, was arrested shortly after on trumped up charges. He has since been locked up at the notorious Rikers prison in New York.

Immediately following the killing of Eric Garner, Orta was stalked and targeted by police. They allegedly scrutinized Orta's daily life until they were able to find something to charge him with. Eventually, he was confronted by police who illegally searched him and arrested him for the non-violent crime of carrying an unregistered firearm.

Orta had expressed concern for his safety after his arrest because he was sure that the police were retaliating against him for exposing what they had done to Eric Garner.

While in prison, Orta has taken seemingly drastic measures to ensure that he is not killed by the gang he witnessed murder Eric Garner. Orta has been refusing to eat, as he fears that guards may poison him because he is a high-profile opponent of police brutality. Sadly, Orta's fears were well-founded. While he has been behind bars at Rikers, dozens of other inmates have reported traces of rat poison in their food, a claim that was actually recently admitted by prison officials.

It was reported by the New York Post last month that 19 different inmates were denied medical testing after bluish green pellets were found in their food. The prison admitted that these pellets were rat poison, but failed to give the inmates medical attention, and failed to offer any kind of explanation as to why the prison's food was tainted with rat poison.

Comment: The NYPD behaves much more like a criminal gang than a police force, and is excessively brutal when folks stand up to their abuses. If you can afford to throw in a few bucks to his gofundme campaign please do so.

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Phoenix

Massive explosion at chemical plant in southern China


RT
Mon, 06 Apr 2015 18:27 UTC
fujian province explosion
© YouTube video/New China TV
A massive blast occurred at a paraxylene plant in Zhangzhou City in China's Fujian Province, CCTV reported.
Importante explosion d'une usine pétrochimique à Zhangzhou, province du Fujian pic.twitter.com/mcKFRaTsUg

— Zhulin Zhang (@ZhangZhulin) April 6, 2015
#CHINA BLAST: Plant is #Tenglong Aromatic PX, encountered massive fire 2 years ago http://t.co/H19qlPqZeT pic.twitter.com/kBUqkJlPKq

— RT (@RT_com) April 6, 2015
Photos of the event revealed a fireball rising over the factory. Paraxylene, or p-Xylene, is a mildly toxic hydrocarbon used in polyester manufacturing.

Comment: Here's a sampling of other chemical plant explosions. For further explanation on these chemical plant explosions see Earth Changes and the Human Cosmic Connection.

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USA

Obama motorcade forces woman to give birth stuck in traffic


RT
Sat, 04 Apr 2015 16:59 UTC
Image
© Reuters / Jonathan Ernst
A woman gave birth while stuck in traffic on a highway in Louisville, Kentucky, and President Barack Obama is to blame. His motorcade was the cause of the traffic.

A man called 911 about 5:15 pm Thursday to report that his wife was in labor and that traffic was not moving, Louisville MetroSafe spokeswoman Jody Duncan said.

The rush-hour traffic was at a standstill moving because Interstate 65 had been shut down so that the presidential motorcade could travel from the airport to downtown Louisville. Stormy weather did not help matters, the Louisville Courier-Journal reported.

Thousands of motorists were stuck in the snarled traffic on both directions of the highway, as well as surface streets in the city, preventing emergency crews from getting to the laboring woman.
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Quenelle

New York City doorman sacked for being too nice, residents start petition to have him reinstated


RT
Mon, 06 Apr 2015 15:47 UTC
queens tower 27
© Reuters/Mike Segar
A concierge who "devoted his life" to helping his tenants at a luxury New York high-rise has been fired for - quote - being too nice. The tenants are reportedly rallying behind Ralph Body and have signed a petition to get the dream doorman reinstated.

The 41-year-old had been a concierge at the famous Queens Tower 27 ever since it opened two years ago. According to the New York Post, he always tried to make people feel pampered and responded to their every request, many of which strayed outside the responsibilities outlined in his job spec. It included everything from helping tenants with bags to taking care of their pets, even showing apartments to new tenants.

"Everything I did, somebody asked me to do, or there was a need for it," Body told The New York Post.

But even for an extravagant glass tower with $4,200 a month apartments, complete with a yoga room, gym and movie facilities, too much of a good thing can sometimes apparently not be enough.

Comment: Welcome to the USA where kindness and consideration are punished and a**holes are rewarded.

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