BREAKING: Chicago Cop Who Killed Laquan McDonald Found Guilty of Murder

Some police departments are so corrupt that it will require an intervention from mythical Gods to restore them to proper functioning.  And this is universal. Crime after all is antisocial human behavior.

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thefreethoughtproject.com

By Matt Agorist

October 5, 2018

After nearly 4 years the former chicago police officer who killed Laquan Mcdonald has been found guilty of murder 

Chicago, IL – After nearly 4 years, former Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke has been found guilty of 2nd degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm after shooting and killing 16-year-old Laquan McDonald.

Van Dyke plead claimed he ‘feared for his life’ that fateful night, as the unarmed teen walked slowly down the street. However, the video of the incident was so damning that the cop was actually charged.

Surrounded by officers and suspected of breaking into cars on October 20, 2014, McDonald, was attempting to walk away from a group of Chicago cops when Officer Jason Van Dyke exited his patrol car. According to initial reports, McDonald was armed with a knife and lunged at Officer Van Dyke. Fearing for his life and the lives of his fellow officers, Van Dyke shot the teen in the chest out of self-defense.

But according to witness statements and police dashcam video, McDonald was walking away when Van Dyke opened fire. After McDonald had collapsed to the ground in a near-fetal position, Van Dyke continued firing his weapon until emptying his clip. As Van Dyke began reloading his gun, a fellow officer had to order him to cease firing at the dying teen.

McDonald’s autopsy revealed that Van Dyke shot him 16 times, including two bullets in the back, seven in his arms, two in his right leg, once on each side of his chest, and single bullets wounds to his right hand, scalp, and neck. Nine of the 16 entrance wounds had a downward trajectory. None of the five other officers at the scene fired their weapons.

Before McDonald’s family could even file a lawsuit, the city gave them a $5 million settlement on the condition that the family agreed not to publicly release the dashcam footage of the teen’s death. After suppressing the video for 13 months, the city received a court order to release the footage. The city released the dashcam video in 2015, which clearly shows McDonald did not lunge at the officers before the fatal shooting.

In May of 2015, Burger King district manager Jay Darshane accused officers of deleting the security footage after spending over three hours in the fast food restaurant on the night of the shooting. According to Darshane, the video equipment was working properly, but 86 minutes of footage, from 9:13 p.m. to 10:39 p.m., disappeared after the officers left.

Charged with first-degree murder, Van Dyke fired his first shot at 9:57 p.m. When asked if he was certain that the officers deleted the footage of the killing, Darshane answered, “Yes.”

Although 86 minutes of the surveillance video have gone missing, including the moment that McDonald was gunned down, Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez claims no one tampered with the footage.

“We had no idea they were going to sit there and delete files,” Darshane said. “I mean we were just trying to help the police officers.”

Unable to clearly explain why the 86 minutes disappeared, Police Supt. Garry McCarthy blamed the missing files on technical difficulties. At a press conference, Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez asserted that no one had tampered with the Burger King surveillance video. When asked who conducted the forensic testing, Alvarez did not appear to know the answer.

Alvarez responded, “That’s all I’m going to say on this.”

Although the police department and state’s attorney claim the officers did not delete those 86 missing minutes, remember that this information is coming from the same cops who initially lied about the shooting and the same officials who suppressed the police dashcam video for 13 months.

Below is the original news segment showing the officer sitting at the surveillance computer for several minutes.

GO HERE FOR FOOTAGE:

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The death of Laquan McDonald has been the impetus behind police reform across the country as well as in Chicago. Following the controversy surrounding his death the city of Chicago was forced to release years of police brutality videos, showing the horrifying abuse of the city’s citizens by their ostensible protectors.

Thankfully, for the sake of McDonald as well as the countless other victims of the Chicago police department, Van Dyke was finally held accountable.

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Naval blockade would mean ‘war’: Moscow slams US idea of hampering Russian trade

Dear USA, why can’t you enjoy what you have and respect other nations’ choices? What is wrong with you America?

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http://www.rt.com

30 Sep, 2018

FILE PHOTO. © Aleksandr Galperin / Sputnik

Attempts to use the US Navy to block Russia’s trade would amount to a declaration of war, a high-ranking senator commented on the US internal secretary’s idea of impeding Russia’s energy trade through a blockade.

“A US blockade of Russia would be equal to a declaration of war under international law,” said the head of the Russian Senate’s Information Policy Committee, Aleksey Pushkov, commenting on a report that US Internal Secretary Ryan Zinke suggested the US could use the navy to block Russian energy from hitting Middle East markets.

Read more

US could use Navy for ‘blockade’ to hamper Russian energy exports – Interior Secretary

Pushkov also called Zinke’s claim that trade expansion is the real reason behind Russia’s involvement in Syria “absolute nonsense.”

The very idea that Russia could potentially supply energy to the Middle East, which is literally “oozing with oil,” is absolutely detached from reality, Pushkov said. Indeed, Russia does not supply any energy to the region, which is itself a major oil exporter, and has never announced plans to do so.

The Russian senator added that Zinke’s statement is “on par” with Sarah Palin’s claim that she was qualified to talk about Russia since “they’re our next-door neighbors, and you can actually see Russia here from Alaska.” The former Alaska governor made the statement in an interview when she was the Republican vice-presidential candidate in the 2008 US election.

RT‏Verified account @RT_com

Drop the diktats, try diplomacy: Major takeaways from #Lavrov UN speech #UNGA https://on.rt.com/9ffu 

4:20 AM – 29 Sep 2018

Attempts to exert pressure on Russia “are not going to end in anything good,” a member of the Russian Senate’s Defense and Security Committee, Franz Klintsevich, told journalists, adding that they would lead “to a major scandal” at the very least, and Washington “should clearly understand it.”

Read more

India ignores US threat of sanctions as it greenlights S-400 contract with Russia – reports

Russian MPs called Zinke’s words “disturbing.” “It is unsettling that our partners once again resort to threats, sanctions and unfriendly actions instead of discussing the pressing international issues,” a member of the State Duma International Affairs Committee, Anton Morozov, said. He also said that Russia “has something to respond with” but that such actions would only lead to an escalation of tensions, and called for dialog instead.

Washington seems to be bothered by Moscow’s international trade. The Trump administration has been seeking to replace Russia as Europe’s gas supplier by boosting exports of its liquefied natural gas, even though Russian gas is a cheaper option for Europe.

US officials, including President Donald Trump himself, have repeatedly pressed Germany to pull out of the “inappropriate” Nord Stream 2 pipeline project, which is set to double Russia’s natural gas transport capacity to 110 billion cubic meters. While Moscow has repeatedly stated that it is a purely economic project, Trump claims it will make Germany a “captive” of Russia.

The US is not focusing on the energy trade alone, as it has also threatened to impose sanctions on countries buying Russian arms in what could be another example of competition between the two nations. These efforts, however, seem to be in vain as well.

Most recently, India cleared the way for the purchase of Russian frigates and air defense systems. Turkey also defied threats from the US and said it does not need anyone’s permission to buy Russia’s S-400 missile systems. Even close US ally Saudi Arabia is now in talks with Russia to purchase the same defense systems. Moscow has repeatedly denounced US attempts to hamper its trade under various pretexts as unfair competition.

Pot as Political Speech

Here in Canada, marijuana will be legal on October 17, 2018.  Our provinces will be allowed to sell and distribute marijuana. That will make our provincial leaders and civil servants dealing with marijuana ineligible for travel in the USA.  Perhaps it’s time to boycott the Barbaric States of Dumbmerica until they come to their senses.

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With permission from

http://www.counterpunch.org

by Barry Brown

September 24, 2018

In a recent Politico article about cannabis concerns along the U.S.-Canada border, a senior American border official warned that Canadians who operate or invest in legal Canadian marijuana companies could be banned for life from entering the United States.

Todd Owen, executive assistant for Field Operations told the news site that the U.S. federal government does not recognize any marijuana business as legal. In a prepared statement the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency added that “working in or facilitating the proliferation of the legal marijuana industry in US states where it is deemed legal or Canada may affect a foreign national’s admissibility to the United States.”

This raises an interesting legal question. Is investment in the marijuana industry a form of protected political speech according to U.S. law?

Can American border officials prohibit someone’s entry to the U.S. because they don’t like a person’s legal investment portfolio? Yes, they can. But is it constitutional?

In its 2010 ruling Citizens United, the U.S. Supreme Court said it was a violation of free speech to discriminate against a speaker simply because that speaker was a corporation. In the same ruling, the High Court expanded its definition of protected political speech to include corporate financing of political causes and candidates.

So what is “political speech” and would investing in a controversial and politically targeted industry such as legal marijuana qualify as protected political speech?

In 1966, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black set down the legal foundation of protected political speech in Mills v. State of Alabama. “Whatever differences may exist about interpretations of the First Amendment, there is practically universal agreement that a major purpose of that Amendment was to protect the free discussion of government affairs.”

Since then, the Court has ruled that any restriction on the offering of political ideas must have a compelling state interest.

In 1975, the High Court ruled a Virginia state law prohibiting abortion providers from advertising in newspapers was an unconstitutional restriction on Free Speech.

If these standards were fairly applied to investors and operators of Canada’s or America’s legal marijuana industry, the Border agency’s actions should be declared unconstitutional gags on Free Speech.

Justice Black reasoned that debate and discussion of government affairs and actions are clearly protected speech. The U.S. government’s actions and attitudes towards legal marijuana inside and outside its borders are clearly political. Several states have legalized medical and recreational marijuana. Therefore there is no national interest compelling the federal government to threaten foreigners who invest in, work for or operate a legal marijuana business in the U.S. or Canada.

The political motivations of the American government towards passive or active players in the legal marijuana business are clear. U.S. Border officials do not recognize the decriminalization of marijuana as legally valid whether they are located in the 9 U.S. states where pot dispensaries are currently legal, in Canada where full legalization is happening in stages or presumably in any of the other two dozen countries where the use of cannabis is legally allowed or tolerated.

American federal law classifies all cannabis as a dangerous and illegal narcotic. Anyone associated with cannabis is therefore a criminal whether they live inside or outside America and regardless of whether they’ve ever used marijuana. A foreigner who owns a share of stock, even a legal stock in a legal American company, now risks a lifetime ban from the land of the free.

America’s criminalization of marijuana began about 100 years ago. From the start, the spread of pot prohibition laws and counter-efforts to lessen penalties and decriminalize it have been overwhelmingly political. President Richard Nixon’s War on Drugs was launched as part of his political war against Blacks and liberals. Countless conservative politicians have campaigned for greater enforcement and harsher laws against marijuana users. Indeed, support for the fledgling marijuana industry and companion efforts to shut it down are inseparable from U.S. politics.

The political purpose of the federal law was clear when the Supreme Court ruled the Feds could continue to arrest and jail very sick people who used medical marijuana even when it was legal in their state. What reason other than politics would compel a court or government agency to jail sick people for taking a legally prescribed medicine?

By contrast, the legal changes to Canada’s marijuana laws began when its Supreme Court ruled the Canadian government could not justifiably stop its sick citizens from using marijuana for its scientifically-proven medical benefits.

If America’s Border agency’s efforts to keep pot investors out of the country are politically motivated, then it is a clear case of restricting commercial Free Speech. The Supreme Court has said commercially protected speech includes the free flow of money and investments to promote political ideas. The mere discussion of legal pot raises a host of political issues and divides people along political lines.

If American agents can ban a person’s entry because they bought shares in a Canadian pot company like Tilray that is legally listed on NASDAQ, where will the encroachment end? President Donald Trump has described America’s trading partners as enemies of his nation and called many foreign trading practices illegal. Could the border agency ban stockholders with investments in Canada’s hostile dairy or lumber industries?

America’s century-old federal laws against interstate commerce in the production and distribution of marijuana should not be applied for unintended purposes. Yet America’s enforcement agents have frequently used the law to target political opponents and terrorize ethnic minorities.

There is no compelling purpose to restrict the commercial free speech of Canadians and other foreigners who invest in legal companies and in particular those who own marijuana stocks bought and sold on U.S. exchanges.

Barry Brown is a writer on Canadian and American political and legal issues. He is the author of Humanity: The World Before Religion, War & Inequality.

More articles by:Barry Brown

Barry Brown is a Pulitzer Prize-nominated Canadian journalist. He is the author of Humanity: The World Before Religion, War & Inequality.

US Pledges $3.3 Billion in Military Aid to Israel, but Cuts Humanitarian Aid to Palestinians

When the USA goes down, and it will go down, like all empires full of themselves, Israel will not stand a chance of survival. Might as well relocate it to Florida and quit this military aid nonsense.

War criminals hugging

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theantimedia.com

Written by Middle East Monitor

September 20, 2018

 

MEMO) — The US House of Representatives passed two separate Israel related bills this week, endorsing what is being described as the largest aid package in American history and the appointment of an international tsar to monitor anti-Semitism and criticism of Israel worldwide.

The military aid package of $3.3 billion will be delivered to Israel over the next year. This figure is likely to increase by an additional $550 million as a result of Congress passing a $716 billion defense bill. A further $1 billion has been set aside for the US weapons stockpiles in Israel, which Israel taps into during escalations of violence against the Palestinians and Lebanon. In 2016, the US agreed to give Israel $38 billion in military aid over 10 years.

The bill passed under the cover of a media blackout and at the same time that President Donald Trump pulled humanitarian aid to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) which provides basic provisions for over five million Palestinian refugees.

In August, the bill officially called the “United States-Israel Security Assistance Authorization Act of 2018” passed a Senate vote. Representing what is believed to be the single largest military aid package in American history, according to Mintpress the astronomical sum translates into $23,000 for every Jewish family living in Israel.

In addition to the massive amount that the new legislation promises to the Israeli military, the bill will also mandate NASA to cooperate closely with the Israel Space Agency. The decision has been described as very unusual in light of the Israel’s history of espionage targeting NASA.

The second bill passed by Congress has also been largely overlooked by the media. It calls for a special government envoy to be tasked with monitoring anti-Semitism and criticism of Israel worldwide.

According to the text of the bill –the “Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism Act of 2017” – the postholder would “serve as the primary advisor to, and coordinate efforts across, the United States government relating to monitoring and combating anti-Semitism and anti-Semitic incitement that occur in foreign countries.” The envoy is expected to be given the rank of an ambassador.

Opponents of the bill have pointed to the problematic nature of it citing the Congress adoption of a definition of anti-Semitism that equates criticism of Israel with racism. It’s feared that the new appointee will clamp down on domestic and international criticism of the Israeli government in a clear attack on free speech.

Congressman Proposes Legislation to Force All Elected Officials to be Drug Tested

Illegal drug use only? Do include alcohol and anti-depressants. If you are so damaged that you can’t function without pills perhaps you should focus on healing yourself instead of pathetically trying to help others. Of course this will never happen, as most US politicians are a bunch of self-centered doofuses beyond redemption.

Source link

thefreethoughtproject.com

By Matt Agorist–

September 15, 2018

Louisiana Congressman, Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA) wants to force every single member of Congress to take regular drug tests and he wants them to pay for the tests themselves.

Higgins introduced the legislation this week which, if passed, will force all federal lawmakers to be randomly drug tested once per term for illegal drug use.

According to the legislation, titled: RANDOM DRUG TESTING OF MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND THE SENATE.

(a) In General.—Each Member of the House of Representatives and the Senate shall participate in accordance with this concurrent resolution in a program for testing for illegal use of controlled substances.

(b) Features.—The program under this concurrent resolution shall include the following features:

(1) Each Member of the House of Representatives and the Senate shall be subject to a random drug test once per term of such Member.

(2) Each confirmed positive result under the program shall be provided as follows:

(A) To the Member involved.

(B) In the case of a Member of the House of Representatives, to the Committee on Ethics of the House of Representatives for such review as may be necessary under the Rules of the House of Representatives.

(C) In the case of a Member of the Senate, to the Select Committee on Ethics of the Senate for such review as may be necessary under the Standing Rules of the Senate.

Higgins said he introduced the legislation to treat members of Congress like regular working-class citizens who Higgins thinks are drug tested on a regular basis.

“Elected officials in Washington D.C. should be subject to the same kind of random drug screenings that blue-collar, working-class Americans have to endure. Congress shouldn’t get to live by a different set of rules. This effort is about maintaining accountability and ensuring sober service to We, the People,” said Higgins in a statement.

For those who don’t remember, Clay Higgins, as Reason Magazine points out, is the same guy who last July recorded a video of himself inside a former gas chamber at the Auschwitz concentration camp. Higgins was roundly criticized at the time, not just by the usual outrage mob but also by the Auschwitz Memorial’s Twitter account. Higgins’ offense wasn’t the worst thing in the world, but it was widely seen as disrespectful and just plain dumb, especially considering that a stone engraving near the entrance to the gas chamber asked visitors to remain silent.

When questioned whether or not this drug test legislation was some political stunt, Higgins insisted that he is serious.

“This isn’t a stunt,” he told the Monroe News Star. “It’s not about shaming or embarrassing or ending members’ careers. It’s about our body adhering to the same standards almost every other working man and woman is held to on the job.”

But Higgins is way off here. Every member of of the American workforce is not subject to drug tests — thankfully. While many jobs do require random drug tests, the overwhelming majority of jobs do not.

While Washington is certainly full of criminal politicians, the idea that drug testing them is going to fix anything is pretty silly. In fact, many of them would probably do well to start using drugs like marijuana.

If members of Congress frequently engaged in smoking pot, perhaps they’d overturn the laws which require cops to lock people up for it.

If more members of Congress smoked weed, perhaps they’d be less apt to drone bombing children in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Yemen. 

Perhaps, Higgins should force Congress to take drug tests, and perhaps they should have to have at least one cannabis-positive one per year.

David Icke: The Internet Is A Scam (50 min)

I don’t care what people say, Icke might be whatever he is but he challenges our assumptions and beliefs.

What about your workers? Amazon’s Bezos gets grief for $2bn fund to help homeless and children

This shows that you can be the richest man on Earth but still be the biggest selfish doofus loser on the planet. Pay your staff and pay your taxes ye pathetic eejit. And screw  your  charity!

Source link

http://www.rt.com

14 Sep, 2018

Jeff Bezos, president and CEO of Amazon and owner of The Washington Post, September 13, 2018. © Joshua Roberts / Reuters

Amazon CEO and world’s richest man Jeff Bezos has invoked Twitter wrath for seemingly an all-around commendable cause – setting up a charity fund to fight homelessness and create a preschool network for the underprivileged.

The so-called Day One Fund will be multi-billionaire businessman’s most significant foray into philanthropy to date. The 2$ billion pledged by Bezos will be used to finance two separate funds to be created. The first one, “The Day 1 Families Fund” will provide grants to organizations and groups that help accommodate homeless families, while “The Day 1 Academies Fund” will run a network of Montessori-based nurseries in impoverished communities. Bezos was previously criticized for giving relatively little to charity.

Jeff Bezos‏Verified account @JeffBezos

8:00 AM – 13 Sep 2018

Many on Twitter, however, did not hurry to heap praise on Bezos’ new endeavor, pointing out Amazon’s practices of underpaying its workers and forcing employees to work in stuffy warehouses without air conditioning.

Night Musk‏ @BathroomCologne

Replying to @dougblandry @PaulBlu @erinscafe

It’d be way better if he’d commit to paying taxes in the first place. Or commit to providing a decent work environment. Or commit to not building a business model that priced out and destroyed mom and pop bookstores just to gather data. Dude sucks and so does his “commitment.”

12:02 PM – 13 Sep 2018

Some resorted to the same argument as US President Donald Trump, who has attacked Amazon for not paying enough taxes and using US postal office as its “delivery boy.”

Donald J. Trump‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump

I am right about Amazon costing the United States Post Office massive amounts of money for being their Delivery Boy. Amazon should pay these costs (plus) and not have them bourne by the American Taxpayer. Many billions of dollars. P.O. leaders don’t have a clue (or do they?)!

6:55 AM – 3 Apr 2018

Senator Bernie Sanders, who has been one of Amazon’s most vocal critics, last week introduced the Stop BEZOS Act, aimed at placing a tax on big companies like Amazon and Walmart so they compensate the government for the benefits it has to pay their low-income employees.

“That’s what a rigged economy is about,” Sanders said, as he introduced the bill.

Many Twitter users agreed with that reasoning. “If billionaires like Bezos were properly taxed then we wouldn’t need billionaires like Bezos to sweep in and ‘rescue’ people failed by our underfunded systems,” one wrote.

Rebecca ”Abolish ICE” Cohen‏ @GynoStar

If billionaires like Bezos were properly taxed then we wouldn’t need billionaires like Bezos to sweep in and “rescue” people failed by our underfunded systems.

1:25 PM – 13 Sep 2018

Another brought up the fact that Amazon strong-armed the Seattle city council to abandon the plan to tax the company in order to raise funds for tackling the mounting homelessness crisis.

Bonnie Castillo‏ @NNUBonnie

Jeff Bezos pledged $2 billion to a new “philanthropic fund.” Amazon owes that and more in taxes they avoided! Amazon holds BILLIONS in untaxed subsidiaries overseas. Amazon spent millions lobbying for tax reform. Amazon has received $1 BILLION in local tax breaks.

4:53 PM – 13 Sep 2018

Seattle, where Amazon has its headquarters, has been plagued by the rising number of homeless residents for the past several years. Currently more than half of the homeless population in the King County are sleeping rough on the streets, due to the lack of shelters.

Paul Blumenthal d/b/a James McMorgans LLC‏Verified account @PaulBlu

Paul Blumenthal d/b/a James McMorgans LLC Retweeted Jeff Bezos

Bezos (worth $160+b) will fund homeless charity with donations he can deduct from his taxes after forcing Seattle to repeal a tax on his company that would have funded help for homeless. Seattle, meet your feudal lord.

Paul Blumenthal d/b/a James McMorgans LLC added,

Jeff BezosVerified account @JeffBezos

9:20 AM – 13 Sep 2018

The Seattle City Council unanimously backed the proposed business tax, dubbed ‘Amazon Tax’, in May, only to back down a month later after Amazon halted the construction planning for a new high-rise in the city. The project cancellation could have potentially robbed the city of 7,000 new jobs.

While the online retail giant’s presence made Seattle the fastest-growing big city in the US, it also has taken a toll on its residents, driving up rent prices, clogging traffic and overwhelming public transportation.