Military Madness - Peace Would Be Terrible for GD & America; US Generals Imitate French; Extreme Hazing for French Pilot

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This story shouldn't horrify, or even be news to anyone who has read this blog in the past several years. The American economy blossoms under war-time conditions and there are many companies that work very hard to ensure such conditions exist in many places around the globe.

‘Peace would be TERRIBLE for your company’: Code Pink confronts CEO of arms producer General Dynamics over billions in war profits

8 May, 2021 04:51

FILE PHOTO: An American soldier loads 2000-pound MK-84 bombs produced by General Dynamics onto an

aircraft elevator while on board a Navy warship. ©  Reuters / Jim Hampshire / US Navy handout

Code Pink founder and peace activist Medea Benjamin launched a blistering critique of US arms dealer General Dynamics, confronting the company’s CEO at a shareholder meeting while saying it makes billions off “global conflict.”

During an annual shareholder conference held earlier this week in Reston, Virginia, Benjamin tore into the firm for its prolific and highly profitable weapons sales to countries around the world, arguing that its bottom line depends on war and bloodshed.

“If you have a model where you need global conflict, where you need wars to be able to make money, I think there’s something fundamentally wrong with this company, and you ought to have more reflection about how you earn your billions of dollars,” she said.

Appealing to the conscience of an arms manufacturer seems like a perfect waste of time.

The worst thing for your company would be if peace broke out in the Middle East… That would be terrible for your company.

Benjamin also spoke of the “revolving door” between the weapons industry and the Pentagon, calling it an “incredible scam” on the American taxpayer while pointing to the company’s $11 billion lobbying campaign in 2020. She directly addressed former Defense Secretary General James Mattis, who sits on the company’s board, saying he embodies the military-industrial relationship, having hopped between General Dynamics and public service several times throughout his career. 

It's not every day you get to directly confront the CEO of a major weapons company and ask how they feel about a business model that thrives on conflict, destruction, war and suffering. 

— Medea Benjamin (@medeabenjamin) May 6, 2021

Citing the war in Yemen – where Saudi Arabia has carried out a six-year bombing campaign that’s killed more than 200,000 people from direct and indirect causes – Benjamin noted that munitions produced by none other than General Dynamics had been implicated in the death of civilians in the country, one of the region’s poorest. 

“I remember, having been in Yemen in 2016, the 2,000-pound General Dynamics bomb that was dropped on a marketplace and killed 97 people, including over 20 children,” she said, referring to a March 2016 Saudi strike on the village of Mastaba – one among several marketplace strikes reported throughout the war.

I wonder if you think about [the children] as well, because while they are dying, people in this company are making profits off of it.

The scathing critique was soon answered by CEO Phebe Novakovic, who accused Benjamin of passing along “potentially libelous and incorrect information,” though said she would presume her a “person of good faith” who simply spoke from a “lack of knowledge.”

It's curious that many Military Industrial CEOs are women.

Women Now Control America’s Military-Industrial Complex

“I think that’s one of the things we should talk about, because the internet is full of misinformation, including the incident you cited at the marketplace,” Novakovic said, adding “I am going to presume that you don’t know the facts, and we are perfectly willing to share them with you.”

The CEO offered no additional ‘facts’ on the marketplace bombing in question, however. The strike was investigated by Human Rights Watch and British journalists in 2016, finding fragments of MK-84 munitions produced by General Dynamics in the rubble. Twenty-five children are believed to have perished in the attack, with the United Nations later revising the total death toll from 97 to 119.

While Novakovic insisted her company makes its “best money” by preparing the US for “deterrence” and that it “works for peace,” Benjamin again raised its sales to Saudi Arabia, asking how that contributed to the national defense. The CEO simply reiterated that the firm’s role is to “support the US military and US national security policy and the preservation of peace and liberty.”

We do support the policy of the US and I happen to believe… the policy of the US is just and fair.

Possibly just and fair for American businesses and politics, but not for the rest of the world. It's amazing how a woman can get to the top of such a huge company and know nothing about American history overseas.

The head-to-head with Novakovic comes as General Dynamics sees a dramatic spike in its stock value, gaining by more than 45% over the last year and hitting a new yearly high this week after rallying for several days. The company’s stock reached its all-time peak in 2018, upon news that former President Donald Trump would withdraw from a major arms control agreement struck with Iran, drastically escalating tensions between the two countries.

As mentioned, the threat, or hope, of war breaking out is very good news to Wall Street and the Military Industrial Establishment.

So far, the letter from over a hundred generals in the French military has resulted in little or no effect on  Élysée Palace but for threats and scorn. Nevertheless, American generals decided to copy its effort to attempt to wake up Washington. Unfortunately, there are too many flaws for it to have an effect.

‘Dire situation’: Over 120 retired US generals sign letter slamming Biden govt, say nation in fight against ‘socialism & Marxism’

12 May, 2021 17:29

FILE PHOTO. © Getty Images / PeopleImages

Warning that the US is in “deep peril” from a “full-blown assault on our constitutional rights,” over 120 former top military brass have signed a letter outlining threats to its “survival,” including Biden administration policies.

There must be literally thousands of retired generals and admirals in America. 124 is not an impressive number.

The open letter, published on Monday by a group called ‘Flag Officers 4 America’, questions the result of the 2020 election, President Biden’s “mental and physical condition,” and sounds off on a number of hot-button topics, including China, the Iran nuclear deal, critical race theory, and the border wall.

According to the group’s website, the flag officers – comprising some 124 generals and admirals, many of whom have been out of uniform for decades – caution that this was a conflict “like no other time since our founding in 1776” between supporters of “socialism and Marxism” and supporters of “constitutional freedom and liberty.”

"The US has “taken a hard left turn toward socialism and a Marxist form of tyrannical government,” the letter claims, calling on Americans to “get involved” and elect political representatives who will “defend our constitutional republic” and obey the “will of the people.”

Among the notable signatories are retired Army Brig. General Donald Bolduc, currently running for a Senate seat in New Hampshire; former Army Lt. General William Boykin, one-time deputy undersecretary of defense under President George W. Bush; and retired Vice Admiral John Poindexter, who was President Ronald Reagan’s national security adviser during the Iran-Contra scandal.

Acknowledging to Politico that “retired generals and admirals normally do not engage in political actions,” the letter’s organizer, retired Major General Joe Arbuckle, said that to “remain silent would be a dereliction of duty” since the “situation facing our nation today is dire.”

“It is critical that the threats to our national security be brought to the attention of the American people and that is the main purpose of the letter,” Arbuckle told the outlet.

Among the litany of domestic threats listed in the letter are “election integrity,” using executive orders to “bypass Congress,” “open border” policies, Big Tech “censorship of free speech and expression,” loss of “jobs and energy independence” via the abandoned Keystone Pipeline and “anarchy” in certain cities.

The letter also rails against using the military as “political pawns” against “non-existent threats” – a reference to the deployment of troops around the US Capitol after the January 6 riot. It also slams the “corrosive infusion” of “political correctness” into the military through policies like the “divisive critical race theory.”

But the signatories reserved some of the harshest criticism for Biden’s capacity to lead. At 77 years, he is the oldest serving US president in history – a fact that has prompted questions about his mental and physical condition that they say “cannot be ignored.”

This is very curious since many of the generals are 77 or older themselves. They, thereby, nullify their own argument.

“He must be able to quickly make accurate national security decisions involving life and limb anywhere, day or night,” the letter notes.

While the Pentagon has refused to comment on the letter, several prominent retired military personnel have weighed in on its political tone and timing.

Among them was retired Admiral Mike Mullen, one-time chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who said the letter was full of “right-wing Republican talking points” and that it “hurts the military and by extension it hurts the country.”

While I agree with many of the points made by the generals, Mullen is correct as the tone is quite obviously Republican. Democrats will simply dismiss this as a bunch of sore losers.

“It’s out of cycle. Normally those kinds of things occur in an election,” said Mullen, who also told Politico that the missive featured only a handful of three-star generals and no four-star ones. “It’s not very senior... In our world it’s not very significant in terms of people.”

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French pilot sues after he was shot at on firing range

in extreme hazing ritual

8 May, 2021 14:30

FILE PHOTO: A Mirage 2000 fighter jet takes off during a military drill at Solenzara Air Base, Corsica,

March 17, 2016 © AFP / Pascal Pochard-Casabianca

A French military pilot has filed a legal complaint after he was subjected to a brutal hazing ritual on a Corsican airbase. The recruit says he was tied up and left on a training range as planes poured fire down around him.

The recruit, a man in his 30s, was posted to Solenzara Air Base on the island of Corsica in 2019. Arriving on the island that March, he was given no time to enjoy the balmy Corsican spring. Instead, he claims he was treated with suspicion and hostility by his new comrades, and hours after arrival was subjected to the most hair-raising hazing ritual imaginable.

Hmmm. Suspicion and hostility - could be he is a Muslim?

The man allegedly had his ankles, knees, and wrists taped together, and a hood slipped over his head, before he was loaded into the back of a pickup truck “like a potato sack,” according to La Provence. His captors then allegedly drove him onto a live-fire range and tied him to a post, where he remained trapped as fighter jets hammered targets around him with bullets and bombs.

After 20 minutes under the barrage, he was bundled back into the truck and brought back to base.

The details of the case were revealed by the man’s lawyers earlier this week, in a legal complaint brought in Marseille. “He was faced with a risk of death or serious injury due to his transport conditions and the intimidation he suffered on the firing range,” the complaint, first reported on by La Provence, reads. “The shots exerted by the fighter planes... could have injured him very seriously or killed him. Moreover, the simulated shots in his direction could have, because of an error, a safety oversight, become real.”

Photos shared with La Provence show the man bound and hooded in the truck bed,

and tied to a vertical steel beam below a pockmarked target.

The French Ministry of Defense told La Provence that an internal investigation was launched and the airmen responsible were disciplined. 

Hazing rituals are commonplace in military and law enforcement organizations worldwide, as well as US college fraternities, and the term spans everything from mild pranks to outright assault. While the pilot in Corsica underwent a horrifying ordeal, he emerged with his life, unlike a young trainee at the prestigious Saint-Cyr military academy in 2012. The recruit, Jallal Hami, drowned as he attempted to cross a swamp carrying a full load of equipment in the middle of the night, as his tormentors played Richard Wagner’s ‘Ride of the Valkyries’ over speakers.

Three of the soldiers involved were convicted of manslaughter and given suspended sentences earlier this year.

Islam - Current Day - Jihadi Imam Preaching in Prisons; Scottish Naivety Rescues Muslims; Mosque Bombing Near Kabul

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‘Prison imam’ praised bin Laden & preached destruction of ‘satanic’ Vatican in Italy – police

13 May, 2021 14:39

Illustration: © Rodnae Productions / Pexels

An inmate who acted as a prison imam in Italy has been charged with spreading terrorist propaganda after he allegedly praised the 9/11 plane hijackers and called for an attack on the Vatican.

A Moroccan man named El Allam Bouchta was preaching terrorism while leading Friday prayers in the San Michele prison in Alessandria, northwestern Italy, according to local authorities. He was an inmate at the facility between July 2020 and March 2021, police said, but is currently confined in prison in another northern city, Novara.

The police also searched the belongings of several other inmates of North African origin and a wife of a Moroccan inmate who resides in Turin.

Acting as a prison imam, the suspect allegedly called for the destruction of the “satanic” Vatican and praised the jihadist groups Al-Qaeda and Islamic State. He is also said to have hailed the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks, deceased Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, and Mohammed Atta, one of the hijackers who crashed a passenger airliner into the World Trade Center in New York, as “defenders of Islam.”

The suspect allegedly called the Jews “sworn enemies of Islam” and advocated for their extermination, as well as praising the 2020 stabbing attack near the former office of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in France, in which two people were injured.

According to la Repubblica, Bouchta was jailed in 2015 as one of the leaders of an international drug-trafficking gang. He subsequently performed the duties of an imam in several prisons across the northwestern Piedmont region before ending up in Alessandria. The paper reported that Bouchta was eventually barred from preaching after inmates he had contact with became hostile towards prison staff.

Protesters force UK immigration officers to release 2 men detained in Scotland

after crowd surrounds van 

13 May, 2021 18:24

Kenmure Street on May 13, 2021 in Glasgow, Scotland ©  Getty Images / Jeff J Mitchell

Two Muslim men detained by immigration officers in Scotland have been released from a police van to huge cheers from a 100-strong crowd who amassed around the vehicle to prevent the pair being taken away from their home in Glasgow.

An hours-long standoff between activists and dozens of police had ensued in Kenmure Street in southern Glasgow from Thursday morning, after two immigrants were taken from a flat there by immigration officers.

Police were filmed trying to remove protesters, many of whom sat in the road to stop the UK Home Office van moving, while one man even maneuvered himself underneath the vehicle.

BREAKING: Police have just tried to move in on protesters gathered around immigration enforcement van on Kensmure Street in Glasgow. @LBC@LBCNewspic.twitter.com/t6Y9pmtUiy

— Alan Zycinski (@AlanJZycinski) May 13, 2021

The Home Office action was widely condemned, including by Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who said she was “deeply concerned” by the scenes.

Later in the day, Police Scotland said in a statement that Chief Superintendent Mark Sutherland had decided to release the two men “back into their community” in order to “protect the safety, public health and wellbeing” of all those involved in both the detention and the protest.

Videos from Kenmure Street on Thursday afternoon showed the men being released from the back of the van by officers to cheers and applause from the surrounding crowd.

Later footage then appeared to show them being escorted to a local mosque by crowds who chanted “refugees are welcome here.”

The 2 men have asked to say thank you to the Glasgow crowd. @itvnewspic.twitter.com/3enE47dmXn

— Peter A Smith (@PeterAdamSmith) May 13, 2021

The men’s lawyer, Aamer Anwar, said an agreement for their release had been struck between the UK Home Office and the Scottish First Minister and Justice Secretary.

In a speech from Kenmure Street, he told the crowd the Home Office had agreed the pair could be released into his custody at the mosque, and that they would not be arrested or be subject to any further action.

An agreement has been reached thanks to @AamerAnwar and @alisonthewliss. The men being detained are being allowed to walk free. We’ve done it Glasgow💛💛💛 pic.twitter.com/tcgSHB51VY

— Cailyn McMahon (@CailynMcMahon) May 13, 2021

Scotland’s Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf said he was “angry and disgusted” at the Home Office’s action in the Muslim community on the day of Eid, saying it looked like it was “intended to provoke.”

He added that he was “pleased” Police Scotland had decided to release the men, but said the UK government’s “hostile environment” immigration policy was “not welcome in Scotland.”

It's like people in Scotland are completely unaware of the thousands of young Brit girls who have been groomed, gang-raped, drugged, and beaten by Pakistani Muslims. 

12 killed, 15 wounded in mosque bombing near Kabul

amid Friday prayers & truce with Taliban

14 May, 2021 12:43

FILE PHOTO: An Afghan police officer at a checkpoint in Kabul, Afghanistan, April 14, 2021.

© Omar Sobhani / Reuters

A bomb was detonated in a mosque near Afghanistan’s capital Kabul, killing 12, including the imam, and injuring 15. The attack took place during Friday prayers and amid a three-day truce with the Taliban.

The blast occurred at the Haji Bakhshi Mosque in the Shakar Dara district, north of Kabul, Afghan media reported, citing police. A source told TV channel TOLOnews that the bomb had been placed inside the building. Mufti Numan, the mosque's imam, was among those killed in the explosion.

So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The blast took place as the government forces and the Taliban militant group were observing a three-day truce, which came into effect on Thursday, during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr. The attack also occurred after nine people were killed in two explosions in the Kunduz and Kandahar provinces.

A particularly deadly terrorist attack happened on Saturday, when a car bomb detonated outside a girls’ school in Kabul, followed by two more explosions. Afghan First Vice President Amrullah Saleh said on Tuesday that at least 86 students were killed. The Taliban denied any involvement and condemned the blasts.

The US is on track to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan by September 11, after spending two decades there fighting the Taliban and other militant groups. This week, the Pentagon reportedly turned over the Kandahar Airfield, a major American military training hub in southern Afghanistan, to Afghan security forces.

Is This How Deep State Works? A New World Order?

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Western messaging about ‘rules-based international order’ designed to undermine UN & circumvent international law, says Russian FM

13 May, 2021 14:11

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov

Western countries are developing rules without the consent of the rest of the international community, and are both undermining and circumventing the United Nations. That’s according to Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s Foreign Minister.

Speaking on Wednesday at a joint press conference in Moscow with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Lavrov reiterated Russia’s support for the organization, and criticized those who take individual approaches, instead of using established collective decision-making mechanisms.

In particular, he noted that some countries engage in “illegitimate actions,” such as using force “without the approval by the UN Security Council,” as well as unilaterally imposing sanctions.

“We consider developing certain ‘rules’ behind the back of the greater part of the international community and then imposing them on others as universal norms unacceptable and dangerous practice,” Lavrov explained. “The ‘rules-based order’ concept promoted by our Western colleagues is unrelated to either law or universal morality.”

In his opinion, the idea of ‘rules’ causes damage to the coordinating role of the UN, and has caused an imbalance in the architecture of global governance.

Not that the UN was ever balanced. Consider that the vast majority of statements made the Security Council were condemning Israel. I'm not a fan of the UN, but replacing it with a handful of countries run by Deep State is hardly an improvement.

The Foreign Minister also expressed his support for Guterres’ attempts to resolve crises by political and diplomatic means, including through mediation. The UN Secretary-General was visiting Moscow for his annual face-to-face discussions with Russian leadership.

Wednesday was not the first time Lavrov slammed the so-called ‘rules based order.’ Last week, Lavrov accused Western countries of imposing totalitarianism in international relations by forcing their political positions on other countries. In particular, he pointed the finger at the US and the EU, accusing them of turning away from the principles of democracy and multilateralism.

In February, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova echoed the same sentiment, when she accused Western countries of resolving global problems in a private group without inviting both Russia and China.

“Our Western partners seek to resolve issues in a narrow circle and advance decisions that they are comfortable with, which will later be imposed on other members of the international community through the prism of the ‘rules-based world order’," she said.

The Media is the Message - CNN Reporter's Spectacular Naivety; Craig Murray Jailed - Is Deep State Involved? Should Anonymity on Social Media End

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‘I have some bad news’: Edward Snowden rips ex-CNN White House reporter for saying journalists don’t expect govt spying & lying

8 May, 2021 17:24

Edward Snowden speaks via video link during a conference at University of Buenos Aires Law School

Argentina, November 14, 2016. ©  REUTERS / Marcos Brindicci

American whistleblower Edward Snowden and many others mocked a former CNN White House correspondent for insinuating that US government lies and spying were unique to the Trump administration and reporters don’t expect it.

Michelle Kosinski, who worked as CNN’s White House correspondent between 2014 and 2019, claimed on Saturday that “as an American journalist, you never expect” your “own govt to lie to you,” “hide information the public has a right to know,” and “spy on your communications.”

“Trump’s unAmerican regime did all of these. No one should accept this,” she concluded.

Kosinski was quickly ridiculed, both for suggesting that American journalists were so naive and for making government surveillance and disinformation appear exclusive to former President Donald Trump’s brief administration.

Whistleblower and former CIA employee Edward Snowden – who leaked information about the National Security Agency’s mass surveillance program on civilians and had to flee the US – told Kosinski, “I’m afraid I have some bad news.”

He then posted a link to Wikipedia: Global surveillance disclosures (2013–present)

“You are hideously unqualified to be a journalist if you think this, good lord,” tweeted another person, while journalist Alan MacLeod called Kosinski’s thought process “the level of naive state worship required to get a top job in the media.”

Despite the heavy criticism, Kosinski stood by her post, claiming Trump’s “tens of thousands of outright lies, treasonous allegiances, and attacks on democracy” weren’t “equivalent” to the mass surveillance and disinformation campaigns from previous administrations.

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Former UK envoy Craig Murray seeks Supreme Court appeal after receiving 8-month sentence over his coverage of Alex Salmond trial

11 May, 2021 12:21

Craig Murray, the former British ambassador to Uzbekistan ©  AFP / CARL COURT

Former British ambassador to Uzbekistan Craig Murray has been handed an eight-month prison sentence after losing a contempt of court case stemming from his reporting on the Alex Salmond trial in 2020.

British Scholar and Diplomat Weighs in on the Western Narrative Around the Navalny Poisoning

UK's Claims Questioned: Doubts Voiced About Source of Salisbury Novichok

The World: What is Really Happening - Craig Murray

The ex-diplomat and RT contributor found himself in legal trouble after attending two days of a trial against Salmond, the former first minister of Scotland, who faced sexual assault charges brought by nine women. The High Court in Edinburgh ultimately cleared him of wrongdoing. 

Extraordinary! Nine women were all wrong about being sexually molested!

Murray published a series of tweets and blog posts as part of his coverage of the case, leading to allegations by prosecutors that Salmond’s accusers could be identified via his writings, breaching a court order barring them from being named. In March, judges concluded that Murray’s reporting could have revealed the womens’ identities, constituting a contempt of court, and scheduled his sentencing for early May. 

On Tuesday, Murray was given eight months behind bars and ordered to turn himself in within 48 hours. However, his defense counsel, Roddy Dunlop, asked for permission to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court. 

Judge Lady Dorrian agreed to delay the sentence for three weeks while Murray seeks intervention from the UK’s top court. As part of the agreement, Murray had to surrender his passport to authorities. 

Murray never actually named any of the anonymous accusers in his writings. His legal team said that he discovered who the complainants in the trial were by piecing together bits of information and sources that were available to the public. The ex-diplomat has argued that he was singled out for political reasons. After he was found guilty in March, he penned a piece titled: ‘The World Darkens a Little More: I May Have to Spend Some Time as a Political Prisoner’.

Murray’s sentencing has spawned a hashtag on Twitter, #FreeCraigMurray, with many describing the case as an affront to justice. 

Documentary filmmaker John Pilger issued a statement denouncing the court’s actions. 

“In these dark times, Craig Murray’s truth-telling is a beacon. He is owed our debt of gratitude, not the travesty of a prison sentence which, like the prosecution of Julian Assange, is a universal warning,” he wrote. 

Murray has been a vocal advocate for the WikiLeaks co-founder. 

American academic and activist Noam Chomsky hailed Murray’s “remarkable record of courage and integrity in exposing crimes of state” and said he “fully merits our deep respect and support.”

Murray himself tweeted that he was particularly dismayed by his sentencing because, during the three weeks he was granted to file an appeal, he will be prohibited from traveling to Spain to testify in a case involving CIA spying on Assange’s legal team.

For a conspiracy theorist like me, this smells rotten to the core. A judiciary that would allow a man accused of sexual assault by 9 women to walk free, would have no trouble keeping a reporter who does not follow the approved narrative from testifying against one of the world's most powerful organizations.

Anonymity in social media is responsible for myriad evils, especially against children. Is it possible to eliminate anonymity? There's no question the world would be a better place if people had to take responsibility for what they post online.

Top Russian lawmaker mulls ending internet anonymity after threatening online posts emerge from suspect in Kazan school shooting

12 May, 2021 12:16

Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Mikhail Mishustin in the State Duma of the Russian Federation after delivering a report on the work of the government for 2020, 12.05.2021, Moscow, Russia. © RIA

Russia’s most senior MP has confirmed that the country’s parliament may soon consider proposals to put an end to anonymous online accounts, in the wake of the bloody school shooting in Kazan that has claimed at least nine lives.

In a statement posted to Telegram on Tuesday, Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of the State Duma, said that parliamentarians were preparing a response to the "inhuman and brutal" atrocity.

"The world has changed greatly over the past few decades," he said. "New technologies like the internet are available to all, and they have brought not only progress, but also problems, which have turned into serious threats, especially to children. Children's health, their wellbeing – even their lives."

Volodin added that existing legislation does not go far enough "to prevent teenagers getting into online communities that distort realities and lead to violence and suicide... the tragedy in Kazan proves this."

Ilnaz Galyaviev, a 19-year old former student at School No. 175, had made a series of chilling posts online ahead of launching the attack that left seven children and two staff members dead, and more than a dozen injured. Posting on a Telegram channel he'd set up the previous week, Galyaviev claimed "I am like a God" and set out his twisted vision for how to wipe out humanity.

Volodin confirmed on Tuesday that, as part of the legislative changes being considered by MPs, "proposals have been made to move away from anonymity on the Internet, which will, according to supporters of the idea, reduce the amount of content that advocates violence or glorifies extremism many times over."

These problems, he said, "need to be discussed," but acknowledged that it is "far from a good thing that we are starting to think about this only after the tragedy has already happened."

But, at least you are starting to think about them, so much better than the rest of the western world which is nowhere near that level of conscience.

The unfettered use of untraceable online accounts for posting on social media has long proven controversial in Russia. In 2018, President Vladimir Putin said that “on one hand, anonymity on the internet must be a good thing – this is democracy – but on the other hand, this causes a lot of problems because no one knows who hides behind internet nicknames."

'Must be a good thing' - seems to indicate that he can't really find a good reason for anonymity.

In March, Roskomnadzor, the country’s digital regulator, published draft legislation that would force would-be users to upload documents like passports as well as postal addresses in order to set up new accounts. However, the agency quickly reversed the policy and retracted the proposed legislation.

Earlier that month, Roskomnadzor began slowing connection speeds on Twitter in Russia over claims the San Francisco-based firm “does not remove content that incites minors to commit suicide, [and] contains child pornography or information about the use of drugs.”

Islam - Current Day - More than 1000 Rockets from Gaza into Israel, Including 15 at Nuclear Site; Hezbollah Bankers Labelled Terrorists

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Israeli TV reports DIRECT HIT on Tel Aviv building as Palestinians launch

‘hundreds’ of rockets from Gaza 

11 May, 2021 18:06

Rockets are launched from Gaza city, controlled by the Palestinian Hamas movement, in response to an Israeli air strike

on a 12-storey building in the city, towards the coastal city of Tel Aviv, on May 11, 2021. © AFP / ANAS BABA

Palestinian militants in Gaza have fired over 100 rockets at Israel following the destruction of a residential tower block. Israeli media reported that a building in the Tel Aviv suburb of Holon has been hit.

According to regional media, at least 130 rockets have been fired from Gaza on Tuesday evening, targeting Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities. Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, launched “hundreds” of rockets, the Gaza-based Shehab news agency reported.

Palestinians said the barrage is a response to the destruction of Hanadi tower, a residential complex in Gaza, by Israeli bombardment earlier in the day.

“If the enemy persists and bombs civilian towers, Tel Aviv will be on a date with a harsh missile strike that exceeds what happened in Ashkelon,” Al-Qassam spokesman Abu Ubayda said on Tuesday, according to local media.

Hamas claimed to have killed two Israelis and injured many more in rocket strikes on Ashkelon and Ashdod earlier in the day. Meanwhile, the ministry of health in Hamas-run Gaza reported that 28 people have been killed – including 10 children – and 152 were injured in Israeli bombings as of Tuesday afternoon.

Israeli Channel 12 showed black smoke billowing over Tel Aviv, while a photo of a burning bus has also made rounds on social media. The bus was empty when it was hit.

Another rocket reportedly hit the suburb of Rishon Letzion, further south. All flights have been suspended at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport, and planes are being diverted to Cyprus, the Civil Aviation Authority said.

The government in Tel Aviv has confirmed that two people were killed in Ashkelon and more than 30 wounded across southern Israel, as the Iron Dome missile defense apparently struggled to cope with the sheer volume of rockets from Gaza.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that air strikes against Gaza will be increased in “both strength and frequency” due to the rocket barrage that began Monday.

Hamas and other groups in the Gaza Strip began launching rockets after Monday’s blaze outside the Al-Aqsa mosque on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount. A tree caught fire amid clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians protesting evictions from the Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.

How do they manage to get and hide hundreds of rockets? I thought Israeli security was better than that.

US labels seven Lebanese nationals as specially designated global terrorists

over alleged links to Hezbollah

11 May, 2021 16:15

FILE PHOTO. Members of Lebanon's Hezbollah. © Reuters / Aziz Taher

The US Treasury Department has imposed sanctions against seven people it claims are linked to Hezbollah and its financial wing, Al-Qard al-Hassan, labelling all of the individuals as “specially designated global terrorists”.

In a statement released on the Treasury website on Tuesday, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced it has blacklisted seven people for their alleged connections to Hezbollah and Al-Qard al-Hassan (AQAH). 

The sanctions target Ibrahim Ali Daher, who was described in the statement as serving as the chief of Hezbollah’s Central Finance Unit, and six others, who are accused of using personal bank accounts to cover up the Iran-backed movement’s activities.

“From the highest levels of Hezbollah’s financial apparatus to working level individuals, Hezbollah continues to abuse the Lebanese financial sector and drain Lebanon’s financial resources at an already dire time,” the US Treasury said in a statement.

Such actions demonstrate Hezbollah’s disregard for financial stability, transparency, or accountability in Lebanon.

The US has previously accused AQAH of being established to act as a “cover” for the financial activities of Hezbollah and allowing the group to present a front on the international financial system, sanctioning it in 2007.

The individuals accused have not publicly commented on the sanctions and Hezbollah has not responded to Treasury’s allegations.

Hamas’ military wing says it launched 15 rockets near

Israel’s Dimona nuclear reactor site

12 May, 2021 14:04

Israel's Iron Dome aerial defence system is activated to intercept a rocket launched from the Gaza Strip on May 12, 2021

©  AFP / EMMANUEL DUNAND

The Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, has said it fired 15 rockets towards the Israeli town of Dimona, near the country’s main nuclear reactor, after Israel pledged a tough response against Palestinian militants.

The group announced its latest rocket attack from Gaza towards Israel in a statement on Wednesday, adding that another 50 rockets had been fired towards the city of Ashdod.

Unverified footage posted to social media purported to show the rockets being fired towards Dimona. No injuries have been reported.

On Wednesday, rocket warning sirens sounded in Dimona, Ashdod, and other Israeli areas, including Ashkelon, Yavne, and Beersheba, according to the Times of Israel.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said “a barrage of rockets” had been fired from Gaza into southern Israel on Wednesday afternoon, having earlier reported that more than 1,050 were launched in the past 38 hours alone.

The airstrikes are the latest outbursts of violence amid a serious escalation between Israeli forces and Palestinian Hamas militants this week.

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said on Wednesday that the IDF would continue its air strikes on alleged Hamas targets in Gaza until there is “complete silence.”

According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, 53 people have died from the attacks in Gaza this week, including 14 children, while 320 people have been injured.

Meanwhile, six people are reported to have been killed in Israel.

I wonder if they knew which way the winds were blowing? A direct hit releasing radiation into a southeast wind could have annihilated Gaza. A west or southwest wind could have directed the radiation into diurnal winds flowing up or down the Jordan Valley. If upward, it could easily have reached Amman, Jordan.

Islam - Current Day - Dozens of School Girls Killed; Iranian Incompetence; Hungry Islamists; French Civil War; 2 Bus Bombings; Muhammad Shoots 2 Women and Kid

At least 30 killed, 50+ injured as multiple blasts rock school in Kabul

8 May, 2021 17:14

Multiple explosions have rocked a school in the Afghan capital of Kabul. At least 30 people were killed in the blasts and dozens more were injured. The majority of the victims were female students.

On Saturday, at least three blasts occurred on the premises of the Sayed-ul-Shuhada High School, located in the western part of the capital. The attack occurred when the students were leaving the school.

It was not immediately clear what caused the explosions, with local media reports suggesting the school came under rocket fire. Imagery from the scene shows a burnt-out vehicle by the school gates, apparently destroyed by the blasts.

While the school itself suffered little structural damage, many people outside the building were caught in the blasts. Footage circulating online shows multiple victims, primarily female students, lying on the ground at the school gates, with textbooks and other belongings scattered around them.

The school is attended by both boys and girls, who study in three different shifts. The second shift is dedicated to female students, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Education, Najiba Arian, told Reuters.

Local TOLO news, citing the Interior Ministry, says the blasts killed at least 30 and wounded over 50 people. So far, no armed group has claimed responsibility for the attack. The Taliban denied any involvement.

Afghanistan has seen an uptick in violence in recent weeks following US President Joe Biden's announcement that American troops – deployed in the country for two decades – will be withdrawn by September 11, and not the May 1 date agreed during Donald Trump's administration. The Taliban criticized the new deadline.

Now, who, in Afghanistan, doesn't want the American Army to leave? Besides the American Army!

Updated numbers on May 9th indicate 68 dead, mostly schoolgirls, with more than 165 hospitalized.

Fire breaks out at Iran chemical factory hours after media reports of massive blaze

near Bushehr’s nuclear power plant

8 May, 2021 14:25

FILE PHOTO. © Reuters / WANA

A large fire has erupted at a chemical plant in the Iranian city of Qazvin, with local media reporting an explosion. The incident follows an overnight blaze in the port city of Bushehr, home to Iran’s only nuclear power plant.

The fire broke out at the plant on Saturday afternoon following a small explosion at the site. Footage circulating online shows flames emerging from the facility, with a large column of billowing black smoke.

Multiple fire engines were deployed to the location to tackle the blaze. While the explosion and the fire that followed did not inflict any casualties, at least two firefighters were injured while battling the flames, local media reported.

The fire comes hours after a major blaze broke out near the port in the southwestern coastal city of Bushehr. The city houses Iran’s only nuclear power plant.

Footage circulating online shows a wall of fire raging near the port, in the immediate vicinity of a road and buildings. The fire broke out at a swampy area located on the premises of a local naval base, Iranian media reports suggested.

The Bushehr port fire did not inflict any casualties or damage any property, according to local emergency services.

Either of these could have been an Israeli attack, but is more than likely just an example of Iranian technical incompetence.

Civilians flee as Philippines soldiers dislodge 200 (hungry?) Islamist militants

who seized town market

8 May, 2021 07:44

FILE PHOTO: Philippine soldiers and policemen man a checkpoint ©  AFP / Ted Aljibe

Residents were evacuated from a Philippines town after around 200 Islamist fighters captured a local market, reportedly in order to score a meal. Gunshots were heard as the military tried to flush the militants from the area.

Members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) seized the public market of Datu Paglas, located on the southern Philippines island of Mindanao, on Saturday morning, prompting the deployment of military and police units to the area. 

The group opposes a peace agreement between Muslim rebels, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), and the central government. Some members of BIFF have also reportedly pledged allegiance to Islamic State.

Hundreds of residents fled the town, but some civilians were prevented from leaving by the militants, who used a truck to block a highway leading to the market, according to local media.

Photographs and videos posted on Twitter show villagers making a hasty exit using motorbikes, vans, and animal-drawn carts.

According to several reports, BIFF fighters reportedly opened fire as the military cordoned off the market. Purported footage of the skirmish shows soldiers taking cover near an armored vehicle as bursts of gunfire can be heard. 

Other accounts, citing military officials, said the militants fired warning shots at civilians, and that the military returned fire. The firefight reportedly did not result in any injuries. 

It’s still unclear why the militants raided the market. A military spokesman said it appears that BIFF members wanted to get food from the market, but their presence frightened residents who reported them to authorities. The militants then seized the market after fearing retaliation. 

According to local media, the fighters eventually left the market, but operations were ongoing. Troops reportedly recovered several improvised explosive devices near the highway that had been blocked. 

'Civil war is brewing in France and you know it': French military

launches another salvo at Macron with new open letter

10 May, 2021 11:44

FILE PHOTO. French soldiers from the Sentinelle security operation patrol the streets in Paris, France

on November 19, 2020. © Reuters / Benoit Tessier

A group of active French military personnel has published a new open letter to the country's president Emmanuel Macron, warning him of a "civil war" brewing in the country after all the "concessions" he's made to Islamism.

The letter, published in the conservative Valeurs Actuelles magazine late on Sunday, strikes a similar tone to the message published by the same outlet last month. Unlike the previous one, which was signed by 25 retired generals and active-duty soldiers, the new letter is anonymous and is open for signing by the general public. As of noon on Monday, it had attracted over 100,000 signatures.

The authors of the letter have described themselves as active-duty French soldiers, belonging to the younger generation of the military that saw actual combat over the past years.

"We are what the newspapers have called 'the fire generation.' Men and women, active soldiers, of all armies and of all ranks, of all opinions, we all love our country. These are our only claims to fame. And while we cannot, by law, express ourselves with our face uncovered, it is equally impossible for us to stay silent," the letter reads.

The letter accuses President Macron of making "concessions" to Islamism on French soil, while the country's military has been spilling its blood to fight against it in "Afghanistan, Mali, the Central African Republic or elsewhere."

The authors have also indicated that at least some of them have taken part in the domestic Operation Sentinelle, launched after the devastating 2015 Charlie Hebdo terrorist attacks, and witnessed certain ethno-religious communities in France completely detached from the rest of the country.

For such communities "France means nothing but an object of sarcasm, contempt or even hatred," the letter reads.

Like the previous letter, this new one warns the republic's authorities of an impending "civil war," with the very existence of France being at stake. "Once again, civil war is brewing in France and you know it perfectly well," the letter reads.

We are not talking about extending your mandates or conquering others. We are talking about the survival of our country, the survival of your country.

The authors of the letter have also voiced strong support towards the signees of the first one and harshly criticized the government's response to it.

"To encourage the army's senior officers to take a stand and expose themselves, before angrily sanctioning them as soon as they write anything other than battle reports, one must be quite perverse," the letter reads.

Cowardice, deceit, perversion: this is not our vision of the hierarchy. On the contrary, the army is, par excellence, the place where we speak the truth because we commit our lives.

The first letter, published on April 21 – on the 60th anniversary of a failed coup d'état against General Charles de Gaulle over his support in favor of independence for Algeria – caused an uproar among France's top officials. Prime Minister Jean Castex branded the message "an initiative against all of our republican principles, of honor and the duty of the army," while the military vowed to punish the active-duty signees.

At least 13 killed in two bus bombings across Afghanistan

as Taliban announces three-day Eid ceasefire

10 May, 2021 09:08

FILE PHOTO. Afghan National Army soldiers. © Reuters / Parwiz

At least 13 people were killed and almost 40 were injured overnight in two bus bombings in Afghanistan. The attacks came shortly after the Taliban announced a three-day ceasefire for the Eid al-Fitr holiday later this week.

A passenger bus was hit by a roadside bomb in the southern Afghan province of Zabul overnight, the provincial governor’s spokesman, Gul Islam Sial, said on Monday. The attack left at least 11 people dead and some 28 injured, including women and children.

In a separate incident, a minibus was hit by a blast just north of the capital, Kabul. The explosion killed two people and injured nine, the country’s Interior Ministry said. 

No militant group has claimed responsibility for either of the attacks yet.

The deadly blasts came shortly after the main adversary of the Afghan government, the Taliban, announced a three-day ceasefire for the upcoming Eid al-Fitr religious holiday. The Eid celebrations, which mark the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, are expected to begin on Wednesday or Thursday, depending on the appearance of the crescent moon.

“All Mujahideen of the Islamic Emirate are instructed to halt all offensive operations against the enemy countrywide from the first till the third day of Eid. But if the enemy conducts any assault or attack against you during these days, stand ready to robustly protect and defend yourselves and your territory,” the Taliban said in a statement.

In recent weeks, Afghanistan has seen an uptick in violence, with terrorist attacks taking place on an almost daily basis, and fighting between government forces and the Taliban intensifying.

One of the deadliest incidents in recent weeks occurred on Saturday, when unknown assailants attacked a Kabul school, detonating at least three bombs as pupils were leaving the facility. At least 68 people were killed by the blasts and more than 160 injured, with the vast majority of the victims being female students.

While the Afghan government was quick to blame the Taliban for the incident, the group strongly denied its involvement, condemning the school attack and pointing a finger at the Islamic State terrorist group instead.

The spike in violence follows the announcement by US President Joe Biden, who pledged to withdraw American combat troops from the country by September 11, after two decades of deployment. The announcement has been criticized by the Taliban, which urged Washington to stick to the May 1 deadline agreed under then-President Donald Trump instead.

New York police ID suspect in Times Square shooting, say he meant to shoot his brother when 4yo girl & two women were hit

10 May, 2021 01:11

(L) Suspect's mughot released by the NYPD; New York's Times Square on May 8, 2021. © REUTERS/Jeenah Moon

New York police have identified the suspected gunman in a shooting on Saturday at Times Square that injured a four-year-old girl and two women as Farrakhan Muhammad, saying he was aiming at his brother but hit the bystanders.

The 31-year-old suspect’s identity was first disclosed by several New York media outlets on Sunday. The NYPD then released a wanted poster naming Farrakhan Muhammad. The gunman was seen on surveillance video after Saturday's shooting, and he was reportedly identified when detectives were investigating a fatal stabbing at a Midtown Manhattan hotel hours later.

The detectives spotted a man hanging around near the hotel who looked almost identical to the alleged Times Square gunman. When they began to question him and noted his resemblance to the shooter, the man said, "I'm his brother."

He went on to tell officers that his brother was aiming at him when the shooting occurred, the New York Post reported. Police said Muhammad and his brother were among a group of men arguing when Muhammad pulled out his gun and started shooting.

He missed his intended target, allegedly hitting a four-year-old girl from Brooklyn, a 43-year-old New Jersey woman and a 23-year-old Rhode Island tourist who was visiting New York with her husband and toddler for Mother's Day weekend. The Rhode Island woman, Wendy Magrinat, told NBC4 News that she heard an argument behind her just before the gunshots.

"I told my husband, 'Let's move a bit forward,' because he had our two-year-old in his hands," she said. "At the same moment I told him that, the shots fired. I walked a little bit and then I started screaming, asking for help." Magrinat was shot in the leg. She said doctors elected not to remove the bullet because the surgery would do more damage. 

Muhammad is reportedly an illegal CD peddler. Such peddlers are known for using aggressive tactics to get money out of tourists, such as asking a visitor's name, writing the name on a CD and demanding that they buy it, as it can no longer be sold to anyone else.

Muhammad was arrested last year for assaulting a man who tried to intervene when he was harassing a couple on the street, police said. Another CD peddler was reportedly shot and killed by a police officer in Times Square in 2009. The man allegedly fled when the officer asked for his tax identification, then turned and fired a semi-automatic pistol at the cop when he was chased. The officer returned fire and killed the man.

Saturday's shooting came amid a surge in gun violence in New York City. Through May 2, there had been 416 shooting incidents in the city, up 83% from a year earlier, police data showed. The number of victims was up 79%, at 463, and murders rose 17% during the same period to 132.

Times Square ranked as the world's No. 2 tourist attraction, behind only the Las Vegas Strip, drawing 39.2 million visitors in 2019, according to World Atlas. But New York's tourism industry was ravaged by strict Covid-19 lockdowns and is projected to possibly remain below pre-pandemic levels until 2025. 

Ozzone 4-20 > Do you have the Holy Spirit? Are you working with Him to reveal Christ, to glorify Him?

 

The Holy Spirit enables us to work with the Lord, not for Him but with Him. If you are not using the Holy Spirit in your life, you are not working with the Lord; you are ignoring him. And do you expect Him to keep His promises when you ignore Him?