Mondoweiss – by Richard Falk

The following is a report by Richard Falk on “The Arab International Forum for Justice for Palestine,” held in Beirut on July 29, 2018. His report is followed by a personal account to Falk’s blogreaders of a more personal character, describing the style and manner of the gathering.

1. There was bright sunshine throughout the entire Forum thanks to the announcement that Ahed Tamimi and her mother were released on that very day, and boldly reaffirmed their abiding commitment to resistance. Continue reading “Trump’s ‘deal of the century’ is demand that Palestinians abandon their rights and dreams”

Times Union

BALLSTON SPA — A state health inspector shut down a 7-year-old boy’s lemonade stand after vendors at the nearby Saratoga County Fair complained that he appeared to be running a professional operation that competed with their stands, a state official said Monday.

Just a day after the state issued an apology to Brendan Mulvaney, the state Health Department on Monday said he’ll need a permit if he reopens his stand.  Continue reading “DOH: State closed boy’s Ballston Spa lemonade stand after Saratoga County fair vendors complained”

Chron

The man accused of killing a Houston cardiologist last month in the Texas Medical Center killed himself Friday morning  during a confrontation with police, authorities said.

Joseph James Pappas, who was charged a day earlier with the murder of Dr. Mark Hausknecht, shot himself in the head near the 8800 block of Bob White just over two weeks after the killing that shocked the city’s tight-knit medical community.   Continue reading “Suspect in Houston doctor’s slaying kills self during confrontation with HPD”

Free Thought Project – by Matt Agorist

Houston, TX — An alleged serial killer is on the loose in Texas and, according to a former friend, he is taking out the people who bullied him in high school. Joseph Pappas, a former cop in the area, has already struck and his first victim was a cardiologist named Dr. Mark Hausknecht.

According to Houston police chief Art Acevedo, Pappas is considered armed and extremely dangerous.   Continue reading “Cop Who Was Bullied in School Made Hit List, Started Killing His Former Bullies, Says Friend”

Fellowship of the Minds – by Dr. Eowyn

One of the transparency-promoting things President Trump did was to make public some previously-withheld documents related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

As described by the National Archives, while the majority (88%) of the JFK Assassination Records has been open in full and released to the public since the late 1990s, the newly-released documents include FBI, CIA, and other agency documents. The releases to date are as follows:   Continue reading “Newly released documents reveal two U.S. soldiers overheard JFK assassination plan; committed to mental institutions”

RT

A Colorado family may need a new car after a bear became trapped inside and left an unbelievable path of destruction in its wake. The bear found itself trapped inside a Subaru in Conifer, Colorado on Monday.

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office released a video showing the bear being released – and documenting the utter carnage it left behind.  Continue reading “Bear Rips Car to Shreds After Becoming Trapped Inside”

Reuters

A federal appeals court on Friday upheld the constitutionality of two California laws restricting the ability of people to buy and carry firearms, rejecting appeals by gun rights advocates.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a challenge to provisions of California’s Unsafe Handgun Act requiring that new handguns contain two features intended to limit accidental discharges, and microscopically stamp their makes, models and serial numbers onto fired shell casings.
Continue reading “U.S. appeals court rejects challenges to California gun laws”

The Acadiana Advocate – by Ben Meyers

A criminal justice expert says Avoyelles Parish law officers who wrestled a Marksville man off a tractor while serving an arrest warrant last year used too much force, needlessly escalating a confrontation that ended with the man’s death. A second expert said he doesn’t agree the officers used excessive force, but said they may have acted negligently by failing to administer aid once Armando Frank was unconscious.

A video recording of the arrest, obtained by The Advocate, shows officers growing frustrated with Frank, 44, after he refuses to step down from a tractor near a Walmart store along La. 1. A use-of-force expert who reviewed the 10-minute recording at the newspaper’s request says the law officers escalated the exchange by placing Frank in a choke hold and attempting to yank him off the tractor.   Continue reading “Louisiana man dies after officers put him in choke hold; experts disagree on excessive force or not”

Fox News

Amazon took down the website of a gun rights coalition Wednesday after they posted the blueprints for 3D-printed weapons online.

CodeisFreeSpeech.com was removed by Amazon Web Services after receiving a notice on the downloadable plans for “The Liberator” 3D-printed handgun, according to the New York Daily News.   Continue reading “Amazon removes gun activists’ website after 3D-printed weapons blueprints were posted”

KSFY

CANTON, S.D. (KSFY) – The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office is looking for a few more recruits to fill up its second annual citizens academy.

“We were looking for new ways and better ways to connect with the community and get our deputies involved in the community more,” said Dep. EJ Colshan.

To do that, an academy just made sense, Colshan said.   Continue reading “Lincoln Co. Sheriff’s Office looking for new ‘recruits’ for Citizens Academy”

Fox News

An Ohio police chief died from an accidental fentanyl overdose after the drugs were removed from his department’s evidence room, officials said Wednesday.

Kirkersville Police Chief James Hughes Jr. was found unresponsive in his home May 25 and pronounced dead shortly after, the Newark Advocate reported. An autopsy revealed he died from “acute intoxication by fentanyl.”   Continue reading “Ohio police chief fatally overdosed on drugs taken from evidence room, investigators say”

Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican and Democratic U.S. senators introduced legislation on Thursday to impose stiff new sanctions on Russia and combat cyber crime, the latest effort by lawmakers to punish Moscow over interference in U.S. elections and its activities in Syria and Ukraine.

The bill includes restrictions on new Russian sovereign debt transactions, energy and oil projects and Russian uranium imports, and new sanctions on Russian political figures and oligarchs.   Continue reading “U.S. senators introduce Russia sanctions ‘bill from hell’”

Yahoo News

Gun rights activist groups found a way around the temporary halting of 3D-printed gun blueprints by publishing another set of blueprints on a new website Tuesday, which they say is activity protected under the First Amendment.

“Through CodeIsFreeSpeech.com, we intend to encourage people to consider new and different aspects of our nation’s marketplace of ideas – even if some government officials disagree with our views or dislike our content – because information is code, code is free speech, and free speech is freedom,” reads a statement on the site, which was created by a variety of groups including the Firearms Policy Coalition and the Firearms Policy Foundation.    Continue reading “Gun Rights Activists Defy Court Ruling, Post 3D-Printed Gun Blueprints Online”

Army Times

WASHINGTON — Under the gun to increase the size of the force, the Army is issuing more waivers for past drug use or bad conduct by recruits, and pouring an extra $200 million into bonuses this year to attract and retain soldiers.

According to data obtained by The Associated Press, nearly one-third of all the waivers granted by the Army in the first six months of this fiscal year were for conduct and drug problems, mainly involving marijuana use. That number is significantly higher than the other three military services, and represents a steady increase over the past three years.

Continue reading “Army using drug waivers, bonuses to fill ranks”