US Treasury Dept: González Valencia Sisters Lead CJNG
Translated by Yaqui from: Vanguardia
Borderland Beat
October 25, 2018
The United States Department of the Treasury has designated eight women who are laundering money for the Jalisco Cartel Nueva Generación (CJNG).
The González Valencia sisters who appear as operators in the drug trafficking network led by Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, ''El Mencho '', are: Rosalinda (or Rosalía), Noemí, Berenice, Marisa Ivette, María Elena, Érika and Abigaíl; as well as his half sister Estela Valencia Farías.
In addition to money laundering, women have a leading role in the most dangerous criminal organization, since according to the United States, they are responsible for the transfer of drugs from Mexico to that country.
Rosalinda González Valencia belongs to a family originally from Aguililla, Michoacán, and is known as "La Jefa" within the New Generation Jalisco Cartel (CJNG). She is "Mencho's" wife.
She, Rosalinda, the wife of ''El Mencho'' and the person in charge of money laundering for the Jalisco Cartel New Generation.
Rosalinda, was released on September 6 after spending almost four months in prison for being the administrator of the resources of the CJNG. Reports from the authorities consider women as ''La Jefa'' ; but they also mention that their daughter Jessica Johana Oseguera González , serves as the operator of the criminal group. The heiress of "El Mencho" protected herself to avoid being arrested as happened to be her mother. ( Above photo from the night of Rosalinda's arrest )
Reports from federal authorities have identified that the 16 brothers who make up that family are the founders of that criminal organization. In total there are six men and six women, the leader of them is Rosalinda .
Among the brothers are Édgar, Arnulfo, Elvis, Mauricio, Ulises, Gerardo, Luis Ángel and José. In addition to María Elena, Érika, Berenice, Marisa Ivette and Noemí, these last ones indicated by the Department of the Treasure of the United States as responsible in the transfer of drugs to that country.
In 1996, Rosalinda Gonzalez Valencia married the man who would become the strong man of the New Generation Cartel Jalisco, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes , "El Mencho" considered by the Treasury Department as a "fugitive" from the US authorities since April 2015. The couple's children are Jessica Johanna and Rubén Oseguera González.
Rubén, "El Menchito" , was arrested in January 2014 in Zapopan, Jalisco, in possession of 25 million pesos and firearms. In that year he was released twice: the first in October, after the intervention of a judge, who determined his freedom from the federal prison located in the Altiplano, in the absence of evidence against him. After his recapture and shipment to the Cereso de Puente Grande, he was released in December of that year.
The trial of guarantees was registered under file number 38/2018 before the Sixth Unitary Court of the Third Circuit.
The daughter , ie Jessica Johanna , of "El Mencho" is accused of the crimes of organized crime and operations with resources of illicit origin. Jessica was born in Michoacán and is in the cross hairs of authorities in Mexico and the United States as she owns a series of companies allegedly used to launder the profits of the cartel.
In 2015, the US Treasury Department placed its restaurant Mizu Sushi Lounge and its Tequila brand Onze Black on the blacklist of businesses suspected of having a relationship with drug trafficking.
Oseguera González tried to defend herself against any order of apprehension, summons, presentation, appearance and reaprehension that could be issued by any of the criminal judges in the state.
The business side of Jessica also extended to the tourism sector with a tourist complex of five rest houses in the municipality of Tapalpa, Jalisco, named Las Flores Cabañas.
Jessica, appears in the organization chart of the CJNG and is now one of the new objectives of the governments of Mexico and the US.
Another woman who was a factor for the creation of the CJNG is Inés Oseguera, who had an affair with Carlos Rosales, alias ''El Tísico'' , one of the founders of La Familia Michoacana and operator of Osiel Cárdenas Guillén in Michoacán. The affair had dire consequences.
"El Tísico" and Inés Oseguera's romance with the cousin of "El Mencho" managed to seal a union between the Gulf and the Millennium cartels, but apparently the young woman cheated on her boyfriend with Armando Valencia , which provoked the violent war that ended with the exile of the González Valencia .
Osiel Cárdenas supported Rosales and put at his disposal a legion of hitmen from Los Zetas to shoot down the Valencia family, who in turn made a pact with the Sinaloa Cartel. And it was just this approach that empowered the Millennium Cartel, and gave rise to the CJNG.
Saturday, October 27, 2018
Friday, October 26, 2018
HEIL TRUMP! SIEG HEIL! AMERICA UBER ALLES!
Democrats are comparing Trump to Adolf Hitler because he said he is a nationalist
By Howie Katz
Big Jolly Times
October 25, 2018
I have on occasion criticized President Trump for some of the dumb things he has said. This is not one of those times.
President Trump has said he is a nationalist. The Democrats, with the help of the media, immediately denounced him, comparing Trump to Adolf Hitler.
Comparing Trump to Hitler is absolutely absurd and downright insulting. Trump was merely pointing out that he puts America first. Unlike Obama, Trump is not going around apologizing to countries for any grievances they might have against us.
Obama’s disgraceful apologies made him look like Neville Chamberlain who in 1938 waved a piece of paper signed by Herr Hitler while shouting, “Peace for our time.” You won’t see Trump kowtowing to any foreign leader who happens to be envious of America’s greatness.
The Democrats are also blaming Trump’s divisive rhetoric for the explosive devices mailed to the Clintons, Obamas, Eric Holder, Maxine Waters, John Brennan (mailed to CNN instead of NBC) and George Soreass.
You can hardly blame Trump for some nutjob’s idiotic and dangerous behavior. It’s not Trump’s rhetoric that’s responsible. It’s the harsh anti-Trump rhetoric by the recipients of the explosive devices that is to blame.
I’m with Trump. America uber alles!
By Howie Katz
Big Jolly Times
October 25, 2018
I have on occasion criticized President Trump for some of the dumb things he has said. This is not one of those times.
President Trump has said he is a nationalist. The Democrats, with the help of the media, immediately denounced him, comparing Trump to Adolf Hitler.
Comparing Trump to Hitler is absolutely absurd and downright insulting. Trump was merely pointing out that he puts America first. Unlike Obama, Trump is not going around apologizing to countries for any grievances they might have against us.
Obama’s disgraceful apologies made him look like Neville Chamberlain who in 1938 waved a piece of paper signed by Herr Hitler while shouting, “Peace for our time.” You won’t see Trump kowtowing to any foreign leader who happens to be envious of America’s greatness.
The Democrats are also blaming Trump’s divisive rhetoric for the explosive devices mailed to the Clintons, Obamas, Eric Holder, Maxine Waters, John Brennan (mailed to CNN instead of NBC) and George Soreass.
You can hardly blame Trump for some nutjob’s idiotic and dangerous behavior. It’s not Trump’s rhetoric that’s responsible. It’s the harsh anti-Trump rhetoric by the recipients of the explosive devices that is to blame.
I’m with Trump. America uber alles!
COACH AND GYMNAST ARRESTED FOR BANGING IN PUBLIC
by Bob Walsh
The assistant coach and a member of the women's gymnastic team from the University of Michigan were both arrested for engaging in sex in public in a parked car on October 8.
The assistant coach, Scott Vetere, 39, and the 18-year old team member were both arrested and cited for misdemeanor indecent conduct in public.
Vetere was suspended immediately as soon as the school found out because school policy strictly prohibits sexual contact between staff and team members. He resigned during an administrative review. He has not yet entered a plea on the criminal beef. He is married and has three daughters. I am sure they are all very proud of him. I also suspect he may have a problem finding work in the future, at least in this field. Stupid bastard.
The gymnast, as yet not publicly named, will be arraigned on November 5. It is not clear what penalty, if any, she faces with the school.
The penalty for the conduct by both participants is a $500 find and 6 months as a guest of the county.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Too cheap to get a motel room. That would have cost a helluva lot less than what the cost of bail and lawyers will add up to, not to speak of the coach's lost income.
The assistant coach and a member of the women's gymnastic team from the University of Michigan were both arrested for engaging in sex in public in a parked car on October 8.
The assistant coach, Scott Vetere, 39, and the 18-year old team member were both arrested and cited for misdemeanor indecent conduct in public.
Vetere was suspended immediately as soon as the school found out because school policy strictly prohibits sexual contact between staff and team members. He resigned during an administrative review. He has not yet entered a plea on the criminal beef. He is married and has three daughters. I am sure they are all very proud of him. I also suspect he may have a problem finding work in the future, at least in this field. Stupid bastard.
The gymnast, as yet not publicly named, will be arraigned on November 5. It is not clear what penalty, if any, she faces with the school.
The penalty for the conduct by both participants is a $500 find and 6 months as a guest of the county.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Too cheap to get a motel room. That would have cost a helluva lot less than what the cost of bail and lawyers will add up to, not to speak of the coach's lost income.
TRUMP DOES SOMETHING BIZARRE AND AGAIN KEEPS HIS WORD
by Bob Walsh
On Thursday President Trump ordered close to 1,000 active duty troops to the southern border in preparation of "dealing with" the army of "migrants" heading our way.
Unless a LOT of these people start getting more transportation they will NOT get here before the election. I am guessing the initial idea was to arrive about 2-3 days before our midterm in order to get maximum impact. A young, healthy male with good footwear who does not need to worry about getting food or a place to sleep can make 10 miles a day for a LONG time and 20 miles a day for a reasonable period of time. Once you add women, old folks and small children that number goes way down. Once you allow a lot of these people are wearing flip-flops or other substandard footwear that number goes way down.
A second "caravan" is allegedly being put together in central America to head our way.
I still refuse to believe that this thing is not being stage managed, though the management is obviously not so great or a lot of these people, especially women and children, would be at our border right about now. Whoever put it together clearly had a bad follow-thru or unrealistic expectations.
Right now the military being sent by Trump is, I understand, JAG lawyers, medical and technical support personnel and such. Of course I am not sure that actually putting real soldiers on the border would be helpful. Guns are USELESS if the people on the other side know you are not going to use them. It makes you look like a chump if push comes to shove and I can't imagine American soldiers are going to fire on women and children trying to cross the border illegally.
Right now it is hard to say if the immigrant invasion, the bombs, or the midterm election is going to be the big story in ten days. My GUESS is that the bomb situation will be worked out by then. Of course CNN has it figured out already. It's all Trump's fault.
On Thursday President Trump ordered close to 1,000 active duty troops to the southern border in preparation of "dealing with" the army of "migrants" heading our way.
Unless a LOT of these people start getting more transportation they will NOT get here before the election. I am guessing the initial idea was to arrive about 2-3 days before our midterm in order to get maximum impact. A young, healthy male with good footwear who does not need to worry about getting food or a place to sleep can make 10 miles a day for a LONG time and 20 miles a day for a reasonable period of time. Once you add women, old folks and small children that number goes way down. Once you allow a lot of these people are wearing flip-flops or other substandard footwear that number goes way down.
A second "caravan" is allegedly being put together in central America to head our way.
I still refuse to believe that this thing is not being stage managed, though the management is obviously not so great or a lot of these people, especially women and children, would be at our border right about now. Whoever put it together clearly had a bad follow-thru or unrealistic expectations.
Right now the military being sent by Trump is, I understand, JAG lawyers, medical and technical support personnel and such. Of course I am not sure that actually putting real soldiers on the border would be helpful. Guns are USELESS if the people on the other side know you are not going to use them. It makes you look like a chump if push comes to shove and I can't imagine American soldiers are going to fire on women and children trying to cross the border illegally.
Right now it is hard to say if the immigrant invasion, the bombs, or the midterm election is going to be the big story in ten days. My GUESS is that the bomb situation will be worked out by then. Of course CNN has it figured out already. It's all Trump's fault.
WHITES DON’T SHOOT WHITES
Suspect tried to enter predominantly black church before Louisville Kroger shooting
Associated Press
October 25, 2018
The white man accused of shooting two black people at a Louisville Kroger store had minutes earlier tried unsuccessfully to enter predominantly black First Baptist church in Jeffersontown, police chief Sam Rogers said Thursday.
Rogers continued to say he “can’t speculate on motive at this time,” but Gregory Alan Bush’s comment during the attack and actions have raised questions about whether race was a factor when he shot a grandfather in the back of the head in the store and a Veterans Affairs hospital office administrator in the parking lot.
Bush had a history of violence and mental illness, and the FBI is reviewing evidence to determine if there was any evidence of violations of federal law.
Ed Harrell was quoted by the Courier Journal as saying he was waiting on his wife in the parking lot when he heard gunshots and grabbed his revolver. As he crouched down, he said he saw the gunman walk “nonchalantly” by with a gun by his side. He said he called out to ask what was going on, and the gunman replied: “Don’t shoot me. I won’t shoot you. Whites don’t shoot whites.”
Arrest and coroner’s reports say Bush walked into the store outside Louisville, pulled a gun from his waist and shot 69-year-old Maurice Stallard, 69, in the back of the head, then kept shooting him multiple times “as he was down on the floor.” The reports say Bush then reholstered his gun, walked outside and shot 67-year-old Vicki Lee Jones in the parking lot.
Bystander video shows a white man in a distinctive neon-yellow shirt trying to drive away while an officer chases after him on foot. Many more officers converged on the scene and made the arrest on Wednesday afternoon.
Bush, 51, was jailed on $5 million bond Thursday on two counts of murder and 10 counts of felony wanton endangerment.
The coroner’s office identified the victims. Stallard is father of Kellie Watson, the chief racial equity officer for Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer.
The mayor shared his outrage Thursday over what he called an “epidemic of gun violence” that “hit close to home.”
“Somehow, a few have become so beholden to politics that they place a higher value on that than on the lives of our fellow Americans,” said Fischer, a Democrat running for re-election.
“People getting shot at a grocery store, a school, outside a church. Can’t we all agree that that is unacceptable?” Fischer said at a news conference.
Jones, a grandmother who worked for the Veterans Affairs hospital and was the mother of two sons, was remembered Thursday as “warm and giving,” by her nephew Keith Gunn. Gunn says it is hard to accept his aunt’s death “because she was one of the sweetest people you could know” with a “warm and giving” heart.
Bush’s criminal record shows he threatened his ex-wife and punched a deputy sheriff during a family court hearing years ago.
An arrest record from May 2009 says Bush became “irate” and shouted obscenities and threats at his ex-wife. When deputies tried to subdue him, he fought off attempts to handcuff him and he punched a deputy twice. He was charged with several counts, including assault, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. Bush also was marked as a “suicide risk” on the arrest sheet, which noted that his ex-wife had a protective order against him.
In 2009, Bush punched his then 78-year-old father in the face and grabbed his 74-year-old mother by the neck “and picked her up off the ground,” according to their accounts to police. Police wrote in the report that Bush’s parents are “terrified of (his) unpredictable behavior.”
In a 2003 incident, Bush was charged with menacing for following a 15-year-old into a movie theater bathroom and putting his hands around her waist. Bush told the girl he “thought we were family” and the girl pushed him away, according to the arrest record.
Prior to his attack on the Kroger customers Wednesday, Bush was caught on surveillance video trying to enter the church, Rogers said. It’s not clear why he could not gain entry.
Witnesses described the chaos from the shooting.
Eric Deacon, who identified himself as an emergency medical technician, told The Associated Press that he was in the store’s self-checkout lane when he heard the first shot, in the pharmacy area.
He said a man came around the corner and “the look on his face, he looked like he just didn’t care.”
Deacon said he saw another man in the store with a gun who appeared to be shooting at the suspect. Then Deacon went outside and saw a woman in her mid-50s or early 60s who had been hit, and tried to resuscitate her.
“She was gone, there’s nothing I could do,” Deacon said. “I think she just got caught in the crossfire.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: So much for the argument if only an armed citizen had been there. There was one inside the store who opened fire at the shooter but missed. The shooter then went on to kill an elderly woman.
The best that can be said is that the armed citizen did not hit any innocent bystanders.
Associated Press
October 25, 2018
The white man accused of shooting two black people at a Louisville Kroger store had minutes earlier tried unsuccessfully to enter predominantly black First Baptist church in Jeffersontown, police chief Sam Rogers said Thursday.
Rogers continued to say he “can’t speculate on motive at this time,” but Gregory Alan Bush’s comment during the attack and actions have raised questions about whether race was a factor when he shot a grandfather in the back of the head in the store and a Veterans Affairs hospital office administrator in the parking lot.
Bush had a history of violence and mental illness, and the FBI is reviewing evidence to determine if there was any evidence of violations of federal law.
Ed Harrell was quoted by the Courier Journal as saying he was waiting on his wife in the parking lot when he heard gunshots and grabbed his revolver. As he crouched down, he said he saw the gunman walk “nonchalantly” by with a gun by his side. He said he called out to ask what was going on, and the gunman replied: “Don’t shoot me. I won’t shoot you. Whites don’t shoot whites.”
Arrest and coroner’s reports say Bush walked into the store outside Louisville, pulled a gun from his waist and shot 69-year-old Maurice Stallard, 69, in the back of the head, then kept shooting him multiple times “as he was down on the floor.” The reports say Bush then reholstered his gun, walked outside and shot 67-year-old Vicki Lee Jones in the parking lot.
Bystander video shows a white man in a distinctive neon-yellow shirt trying to drive away while an officer chases after him on foot. Many more officers converged on the scene and made the arrest on Wednesday afternoon.
Bush, 51, was jailed on $5 million bond Thursday on two counts of murder and 10 counts of felony wanton endangerment.
The coroner’s office identified the victims. Stallard is father of Kellie Watson, the chief racial equity officer for Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer.
The mayor shared his outrage Thursday over what he called an “epidemic of gun violence” that “hit close to home.”
“Somehow, a few have become so beholden to politics that they place a higher value on that than on the lives of our fellow Americans,” said Fischer, a Democrat running for re-election.
“People getting shot at a grocery store, a school, outside a church. Can’t we all agree that that is unacceptable?” Fischer said at a news conference.
Jones, a grandmother who worked for the Veterans Affairs hospital and was the mother of two sons, was remembered Thursday as “warm and giving,” by her nephew Keith Gunn. Gunn says it is hard to accept his aunt’s death “because she was one of the sweetest people you could know” with a “warm and giving” heart.
Bush’s criminal record shows he threatened his ex-wife and punched a deputy sheriff during a family court hearing years ago.
An arrest record from May 2009 says Bush became “irate” and shouted obscenities and threats at his ex-wife. When deputies tried to subdue him, he fought off attempts to handcuff him and he punched a deputy twice. He was charged with several counts, including assault, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. Bush also was marked as a “suicide risk” on the arrest sheet, which noted that his ex-wife had a protective order against him.
In 2009, Bush punched his then 78-year-old father in the face and grabbed his 74-year-old mother by the neck “and picked her up off the ground,” according to their accounts to police. Police wrote in the report that Bush’s parents are “terrified of (his) unpredictable behavior.”
In a 2003 incident, Bush was charged with menacing for following a 15-year-old into a movie theater bathroom and putting his hands around her waist. Bush told the girl he “thought we were family” and the girl pushed him away, according to the arrest record.
Prior to his attack on the Kroger customers Wednesday, Bush was caught on surveillance video trying to enter the church, Rogers said. It’s not clear why he could not gain entry.
Witnesses described the chaos from the shooting.
Eric Deacon, who identified himself as an emergency medical technician, told The Associated Press that he was in the store’s self-checkout lane when he heard the first shot, in the pharmacy area.
He said a man came around the corner and “the look on his face, he looked like he just didn’t care.”
Deacon said he saw another man in the store with a gun who appeared to be shooting at the suspect. Then Deacon went outside and saw a woman in her mid-50s or early 60s who had been hit, and tried to resuscitate her.
“She was gone, there’s nothing I could do,” Deacon said. “I think she just got caught in the crossfire.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: So much for the argument if only an armed citizen had been there. There was one inside the store who opened fire at the shooter but missed. The shooter then went on to kill an elderly woman.
The best that can be said is that the armed citizen did not hit any innocent bystanders.
EU AND US SHOULD STOP PROVIDING FINANCIAL AID TO PALESTIINIAN POLICE STATE
Palestine: Authorities Crush Dissent
Human Rights Watch
October 23, 2018
RAMALLAH -- The Fatah-led Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Hamas authorities in Gaza routinely arrest and torture peaceful critics and opponents, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. As the Palestinian Authority-Hamas feud has deepened, each has targeted the other’s supporters.
The 149-page report, “‘Two Authorities, One Way, Zero Dissent:’ Arbitrary Arrest and Torture Under the Palestinian Authority and Hamas,” evaluates patterns of arrest and detention conditions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, 25 years after the Oslo Accords granted Palestinians a degree of self-rule over these areas and more than a decade after Hamas seized effective control over the Gaza Strip. Human Rights Watch detailed more than two dozen cases of people detained for no clear reason beyond writing a critical article or Facebook post or belonging to the wrong student group or political movement.
“Twenty-five years after Oslo, Palestinian authorities have gained only limited power in the West Bank and Gaza, but yet, where they have autonomy, they have developed parallel police states,” said Tom Porteous, deputy program director at Human Rights Watch. “Calls by Palestinian officials to safeguard Palestinian rights ring hollow as they crush dissent.”
Human Rights Watch interviewed 147 witnesses, including former detainees and their relatives, lawyers, and representatives of nongovernmental groups, and reviewed photographic evidence, medical reports, and court documents. The report reflects substantive responses to the findings from the main security agencies implicated in the underlying abuses.
Systematic arbitrary arrests and torture violate major human rights treaties to which Palestine recently acceded. Few security officers have been prosecuted and none have been convicted for wrongful arrest or torture, as far as Human Rights Watch has been able to determine.
The European Union, the United States, and other governments that financially support the Palestinian Authority and Hamas should suspend aid to the specific units or agencies implicated in widespread arbitrary arrests and torture until the authorities curb those practices and hold those responsible for abuse accountable.
“The fact that Israel systematically violates Palestinians’ most basic rights is no reason to remain silent in the face of the systematic repression of dissent and the torture Palestinian security forces are perpetrating,” said Shawan Jabarin, executive director of the Palestinian human rights organization al-Haq and a member of the Human Rights Watch Middle East and North Africa Advisory Committee.
Human Rights Watch met with the Palestinian Authority Intelligence Services in Ramallah, but was unable to accept an offer from Hamas authorities to meet in Gaza because Israel refused to grant permits for senior Human Rights Watch officials to enter the Gaza Strip for this purpose. Israeli authorities also rejected Human Rights Watch’s request for senior representatives to enter Gaza during October 2018 to present this report at a news conference.
Both authorities deny that abuses amount to more than isolated cases that are investigated and for which wrongdoers are held to account. The evidence that Human Rights Watch collected contradicts these claims.
Palestinian authorities often rely on overly broad laws that criminalize insulting “higher authorities,” creating “sectarian strife,” or “harming the revolutionary unity” to detain dissidents for days or weeks, only to release most of them without referring them to trial, but often leaving charges outstanding. Palestinian Authority security forces also held 221 Palestinians for various periods between January 2017 and August 2018 in administrative detention without charge or trial under a regional governor’s order, according to the Palestinian statutory watchdog Independent Commission for Human Rights.
A number of former Palestinian Authority detainees interviewed by Human Rights Watch had also been detained by Israel, which coordinates with Palestinian Authority forces on security issues. In Gaza, Hamas authorities sometimes condition release on the detainee signing a commitment to halt criticism or protests.
On September 27, the Independent Commission for Human Rights reported that Hamas security forces in Gaza had arrested more than 50 people affiliated with Fatah and that Palestinian Authority forces in the West Bank had detained more than 60 affiliated with Hamas, in the span of just a few days.
In the cases documented, Palestinian forces often threatened, beat, and forced detainees into painful stress positions for prolonged periods, including using cables or ropes to hoist up arms behind the back. Police often used similar tactics to obtain confessions by people detained on drug or other criminal charges. Security forces also routinely coerced detainees into providing access to their cellphones and social media accounts. These measures appear aimed at punishing dissidents and deterring them and others from further activism.
While the authorities regularly receive citizen complaints and have systems to investigate them, only a minority have resulted in a finding of wrongdoing, according to data provided by the agencies. Even fewer led to an administrative sanction or referral for criminal prosecution.
Palestinian authorities should abide by the international human rights treaties they acceded to over the last five years. Hamas authorities said in a letter to Human Rights Watch that it considered itself committed to uphold all international treaties ratified by the State of Palestine. Compliance requires Palestinian authorities to ensure that an independent body inspects detention sites and that the authorities investigate complaints credibly and impose appropriate sanctions if warranted.
The systematic practice of torture by Palestinian authorities may amount to a crime against humanity prosecutable at the International Criminal Court (ICC). Human Rights Watch has long encouraged the ICC prosecutor to open a formal probe into Israeli and Palestinian conduct in Palestine, which is a party to the ICC.
The US and European states provide support to Palestinian Authority security forces. While the US in 2018 slashed funding for health and education services for Palestinians, including all its support for the United Nations Relief Works and Agency (UNRWA), it continued to set aside funding for security forces, including allocating US $60 million in International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement (INCLE) nonlethal assistance to Palestinian Authority security forces for the 2018 fiscal year and $35 million for the 2019 fiscal year. Qatar, Iran, and Turkey financially support Hamas authorities. All of these countries should suspend assistance to agencies that routinely torture dissidents – including, for the Palestinian Authority, the Intelligence Services, Preventive Security, and Joint Security Committee, and, for Hamas, Internal Security – as long as systematic torture and other serious abuses continue.
“The attacks by both the Palestinian Authority and Hamas on dissidents and demonstrators, reporters and bloggers, are both systematic and unpunished,” Porteous said. “Governments that want to help the Palestinian people develop the rule of law should not support security forces that actively undermine it.”
Human Rights Watch
October 23, 2018
RAMALLAH -- The Fatah-led Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Hamas authorities in Gaza routinely arrest and torture peaceful critics and opponents, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. As the Palestinian Authority-Hamas feud has deepened, each has targeted the other’s supporters.
The 149-page report, “‘Two Authorities, One Way, Zero Dissent:’ Arbitrary Arrest and Torture Under the Palestinian Authority and Hamas,” evaluates patterns of arrest and detention conditions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, 25 years after the Oslo Accords granted Palestinians a degree of self-rule over these areas and more than a decade after Hamas seized effective control over the Gaza Strip. Human Rights Watch detailed more than two dozen cases of people detained for no clear reason beyond writing a critical article or Facebook post or belonging to the wrong student group or political movement.
“Twenty-five years after Oslo, Palestinian authorities have gained only limited power in the West Bank and Gaza, but yet, where they have autonomy, they have developed parallel police states,” said Tom Porteous, deputy program director at Human Rights Watch. “Calls by Palestinian officials to safeguard Palestinian rights ring hollow as they crush dissent.”
Human Rights Watch interviewed 147 witnesses, including former detainees and their relatives, lawyers, and representatives of nongovernmental groups, and reviewed photographic evidence, medical reports, and court documents. The report reflects substantive responses to the findings from the main security agencies implicated in the underlying abuses.
Systematic arbitrary arrests and torture violate major human rights treaties to which Palestine recently acceded. Few security officers have been prosecuted and none have been convicted for wrongful arrest or torture, as far as Human Rights Watch has been able to determine.
The European Union, the United States, and other governments that financially support the Palestinian Authority and Hamas should suspend aid to the specific units or agencies implicated in widespread arbitrary arrests and torture until the authorities curb those practices and hold those responsible for abuse accountable.
“The fact that Israel systematically violates Palestinians’ most basic rights is no reason to remain silent in the face of the systematic repression of dissent and the torture Palestinian security forces are perpetrating,” said Shawan Jabarin, executive director of the Palestinian human rights organization al-Haq and a member of the Human Rights Watch Middle East and North Africa Advisory Committee.
Human Rights Watch met with the Palestinian Authority Intelligence Services in Ramallah, but was unable to accept an offer from Hamas authorities to meet in Gaza because Israel refused to grant permits for senior Human Rights Watch officials to enter the Gaza Strip for this purpose. Israeli authorities also rejected Human Rights Watch’s request for senior representatives to enter Gaza during October 2018 to present this report at a news conference.
Both authorities deny that abuses amount to more than isolated cases that are investigated and for which wrongdoers are held to account. The evidence that Human Rights Watch collected contradicts these claims.
Palestinian authorities often rely on overly broad laws that criminalize insulting “higher authorities,” creating “sectarian strife,” or “harming the revolutionary unity” to detain dissidents for days or weeks, only to release most of them without referring them to trial, but often leaving charges outstanding. Palestinian Authority security forces also held 221 Palestinians for various periods between January 2017 and August 2018 in administrative detention without charge or trial under a regional governor’s order, according to the Palestinian statutory watchdog Independent Commission for Human Rights.
A number of former Palestinian Authority detainees interviewed by Human Rights Watch had also been detained by Israel, which coordinates with Palestinian Authority forces on security issues. In Gaza, Hamas authorities sometimes condition release on the detainee signing a commitment to halt criticism or protests.
On September 27, the Independent Commission for Human Rights reported that Hamas security forces in Gaza had arrested more than 50 people affiliated with Fatah and that Palestinian Authority forces in the West Bank had detained more than 60 affiliated with Hamas, in the span of just a few days.
In the cases documented, Palestinian forces often threatened, beat, and forced detainees into painful stress positions for prolonged periods, including using cables or ropes to hoist up arms behind the back. Police often used similar tactics to obtain confessions by people detained on drug or other criminal charges. Security forces also routinely coerced detainees into providing access to their cellphones and social media accounts. These measures appear aimed at punishing dissidents and deterring them and others from further activism.
While the authorities regularly receive citizen complaints and have systems to investigate them, only a minority have resulted in a finding of wrongdoing, according to data provided by the agencies. Even fewer led to an administrative sanction or referral for criminal prosecution.
Palestinian authorities should abide by the international human rights treaties they acceded to over the last five years. Hamas authorities said in a letter to Human Rights Watch that it considered itself committed to uphold all international treaties ratified by the State of Palestine. Compliance requires Palestinian authorities to ensure that an independent body inspects detention sites and that the authorities investigate complaints credibly and impose appropriate sanctions if warranted.
The systematic practice of torture by Palestinian authorities may amount to a crime against humanity prosecutable at the International Criminal Court (ICC). Human Rights Watch has long encouraged the ICC prosecutor to open a formal probe into Israeli and Palestinian conduct in Palestine, which is a party to the ICC.
The US and European states provide support to Palestinian Authority security forces. While the US in 2018 slashed funding for health and education services for Palestinians, including all its support for the United Nations Relief Works and Agency (UNRWA), it continued to set aside funding for security forces, including allocating US $60 million in International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement (INCLE) nonlethal assistance to Palestinian Authority security forces for the 2018 fiscal year and $35 million for the 2019 fiscal year. Qatar, Iran, and Turkey financially support Hamas authorities. All of these countries should suspend assistance to agencies that routinely torture dissidents – including, for the Palestinian Authority, the Intelligence Services, Preventive Security, and Joint Security Committee, and, for Hamas, Internal Security – as long as systematic torture and other serious abuses continue.
“The attacks by both the Palestinian Authority and Hamas on dissidents and demonstrators, reporters and bloggers, are both systematic and unpunished,” Porteous said. “Governments that want to help the Palestinian people develop the rule of law should not support security forces that actively undermine it.”
CHECK MICHAEL AVENATTI'S ASS INTO THE GRAYBAR HOTEL
Senate Judiciary Committee chairman asks DOJ to PROSECUTE Michael Avenatti and client who claimed Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was present for high school 'gang rapes'
Daily Mail
October 25, 2018
Sen. Chuck Grassley, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary committee, is seeking criminal charges for one of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's accusers and her attorney on the grounds that they intentionally mislead lawmakers.
Grassley accused Julie Swetnick and Michael Avenatti of wasting the committee's time with unsubstantiated 'gang rape' allegations in a lengthy referral to the Department of Justice.
Swetnick claimed that Kavanaugh attended a party where a train of men assaulted her that she later walked back. She says she can't say for certain that Kavanaugh was part of, aware of or even witnessed the alleged sexual misconduct.
Daily Mail
October 25, 2018
Sen. Chuck Grassley, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary committee, is seeking criminal charges for one of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's accusers and her attorney on the grounds that they intentionally mislead lawmakers.
Grassley accused Julie Swetnick and Michael Avenatti of wasting the committee's time with unsubstantiated 'gang rape' allegations in a lengthy referral to the Department of Justice.
Swetnick claimed that Kavanaugh attended a party where a train of men assaulted her that she later walked back. She says she can't say for certain that Kavanaugh was part of, aware of or even witnessed the alleged sexual misconduct.
LINE UP AMIGOS
The US, in cooperation with Mexico, will set up body scans at border crossings in Juárez, Chihuahua, and El Paso.
Mexico’s Reforma reports the Us and Mexico are cooperating to set up body scans at the pedestrian lanes of border crossings in Juárez, Chihuahua, and El Paso. The State Department notified possible suppliers on October 10 that it plans to purchase 14 of the scanners.
There will be two types, one that detects contraband hidden under clothing and the other that detects ingested contraband that would otherwise be detected by X-ray in a hospital.
The devices are expected to scan up to100 people per hour. Only suspicious persons will be subjected to the scanners.
This is a pilot program to see how effective the scanners will be in detecting contraband and stopping its flow into the US.
Mexico’s Reforma reports the Us and Mexico are cooperating to set up body scans at the pedestrian lanes of border crossings in Juárez, Chihuahua, and El Paso. The State Department notified possible suppliers on October 10 that it plans to purchase 14 of the scanners.
There will be two types, one that detects contraband hidden under clothing and the other that detects ingested contraband that would otherwise be detected by X-ray in a hospital.
The devices are expected to scan up to100 people per hour. Only suspicious persons will be subjected to the scanners.
This is a pilot program to see how effective the scanners will be in detecting contraband and stopping its flow into the US.
Thursday, October 25, 2018
FROM MAPLE LEAF TO MARIJUANA LEAF
Canada's new flag (left), old Canadian flag (right)
Canada Marijuana Legalization Puts Spotlight on LatAm Drug Policy
by Parker Asmann
InSight Crime
October 17, 2018
Recreational marijuana in Canada is now officially legal, and while the change is unlikely to have a significant impact on Latin America’s black market, it could trigger a shift towards more progressive international drug policies.
On October 17, Canada became the largest country in the world to fully legalize the use of recreational marijuana.
Lawmakers in the North American nation passed in June 2018 Bill-C45 before marijuana legalization officially went into effect this October. Canada is the second country in the region to legalize recreational marijuana consumption after Uruguay became the first to do so in December 2013 before beginning legal sales in December 2017. Several US states have also legalized marijuana despite federal prohibition and other countries in the region are currently debating proposals to allow for medicinal use or decriminalize personal use.
After the bill was passed, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said in a statement that it regretted Canada’s decision to legalize recreational marijuana use as it “undermines the international legal drug control framework.”
On the other hand, Canada Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould called the decision a “historic milestone” in a June tweet.
“This legislation will help protect our youth from the risks of cannabis while keeping profits out of the hands of criminals and organized crime,” she added.
Latin America Black Market Impact
Marijuana legalization in Canada is not likely to have a major effect on Latin America’s black market, particularly in Mexico and Colombia, historically two of the region’s main suppliers of marijuana in North America.
Mexican marijuana traditionally fed US market demand amid the drug’s prohibition at the federal level before states started moving towards legalization. In contrast, much of Canada’s black market marijuana comes from home growers in the country and more recently from northern US states along or near the US-Canada border, such as Washington and Oregon, that have legalized marijuana.
“Cannabis legalization in Canada will not have any significant effect on black markets in Mexico because most of the Mexican cannabis going north stays in the United States,” Lisa Sánchez, Latin America Program Manager at the Transform Drug Policy Foundation, told InSight Crime. “I’m not sure we’ll see a reduction in illicit crops or violence in Mexico.”
Organized crime groups in Latin America, particularly in Mexico, have adjusted to declining demand for marijuana north of the border as more US states legalize the drug. Criminal groups are now increasingly involved in trafficking heroin and synthetic drugs like fentanyl to meet demand for opioids in the United States, in addition to trafficking cocaine to meet US demand as coca production booms in Colombia. The amount of marijuana seized by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has also declined in recent years.
A Move Towards Changing International Drug Treaties
Marijuana legalization in Canada may not have an immediate impact on Latin America’s drug market, but it could help lead a shift towards modifying international drug treaties to be more progressive and in line with evolving global thinking on drugs, which could over time impact the region’s organized crime groups.
“Inter se modification” of international drug treaties regarding marijuana is one such option. This is when two or more countries join together and allow for the “production, trade and consumption” of marijuana for recreational purposes while “minimizing the impact” on other countries and international drug conventions, according to a March 2018 joint-report from the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), Transnational Institute (TNI) and Global Drug Policy Observatory (GDPO).
Canada has the potential to play a very important role in exploring the feasibility and desirability of this option for countries in Latin America. Its reputation as a strong global citizen could help other countries in the region make a push for more forward-thinking drug policies, according to John Walsh, WOLA’s Director for Drug Policy, who co-authored the 2018 report.
“I think different counties are coming to a similar conclusion [as Canada], that cannabis prohibition just doesn’t work for them,” Walsh said. “It’s an unworkable policy because you have a market that exists … and attempting to ban it doesn’t make it go away, but increases the harm the market generates.”
If more countries band together and opt for the inter se option to enact progressive drug policies, this wrestles the marijuana market away from illegal actors and deprives them of a revenue stream that’s been fairly easy picking so far, which could over time have an impact on their relative strength and wherewithal.
“It would be naive to think the legal regulation of cannabis alone is in and of itself going to allow governments to tame organized crime and related corruption, that takes other ingredients of effective governance,” Walsh said. “But you can also make the case that legalization provides a way for governments to deprive criminal groups of significant revenues, which might make taming organized crime easier [in the long-term].”
That said, marijuana is not at the center of organized crime groups and their proceeds as it once was. Today, organized crime groups throughout the region partake in a multitude of criminal activities, from arms and contraband trafficking to illegal gold mining and oil theft. Some of these illicit industries are potentially more profitable than the drug trade.
The Future of International Drug Policy
While marijuana legalization alone is not likely to severely weaken organized crime groups in the region, the push for legalization falls in line with calls from authorities across the world for new and more innovative policies to curb the growing global drug market. Current efforts focused on repressing production have failed to suppress the black market or protect drug users.
“Legalization is a harm reduction measure that makes problems created by the black market more manageable and safer,” Sanho Tree, the Director of the Drug Policy Project at the Institute for Policy Studies, told InSight Crime.
Reaching a global consensus to “revise or amend” the UN drug control conventions to accommodate for marijuana legalization doesn’t seem to be a “viable political option in the foreseeable future.” Walsh argues that the polarized nature of the debate makes the inter se option more attractive, and provides a “coordinated and collective response” to the global drug problem.
“Inter se is explicitly a collective response and allows room to maneuver,” Walsh said. “It was designed so countries couldn’t just turn their back on other treaty partners and leave them in the dark and not abide by commitments. There’s protection in there for other countries.”
Still, while countries in Latin America are increasingly exploring the legalization or decriminalization of some drugs, the overall consensus on the global drug problem still very much leans towards prohibition. A special session held by the UNODC in 2016 on the world drug problem revealed that the “one size fits all” UN drug conventions that were agreed upon decades ago — which critics say are outdated and in need of revision — “constitute the cornerstone of the international drug control system.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: The cartels will find it easier to traffick heroin , cocaine, meth and fentanyl because those drugs are easier to conceal than pot. Besides that, the cartels have gone into the lucrative oil business, pilfered oil that is. And then there are the kidnappings and extortion. The cartels are far from going out of business.
A TITANIC BLUNDER ?
by Bob Walsh
Work has begun again on the Titanic II, a ocean liner being financed by Clive Palmer, a rich Aussie, and being built in China.
The new ship will be substantially more massive than the original, 56,000 tons as opposed to 46,000 tons. It will be 13 feet wider in the beam and will have stabilizers. It will carry 2,400 passengers and 900 crew, very similar to the original ship. It is being built with a welded hull rather than a riveted hull like the original, and presumably with better steel. High sulfur content steel which got brittle in cold water and second-rate rivets are believed to have contributed to the demise of the original Titanic. The new vessel will also have plenty of life boats. It will also feature diesel-electric propulsion rather than steam. It should be cheaper per mile to operate and cost a mere $500 million to build.
The maiden voyage will be from Dubai to Southampton, from where it will attempt to duplicate the intended course of the original, hopefully without icebergs.
Theoretically the thing will be ready to sail in 2022. Don't hold your breath on that.
As an interesting historical note I bring to your attention Violet Jessop, who died of natural causes in 1971 at the age of 83. Ms. Jessop was a stewardess on board the Titanic and was 24 years old when the ship sank. She was a demonstrator during the evacuation, showing non-English speakers how to get into the life jackets and life boats. She boarded boat 16 and was (allegedly) given a baby to take care of.
In November of 1916 she was as stewardess with the British Red Cross on board the Britannic, sister ship to the Titanic that had been converted by the government to a hospital ship. The ship was either hit by a torpedo and hit a mine, there is no conclusive proof either way. It sank in the Aegean Sea (much nicer place to sink rather than the North Atlantic) with a loss of only 30 of the 1,066 people on board. She was nearly killed when she had to abandon her lifeboat as the ships propellers will still spinning and sucked several life boats under the stern of the boat.
She went back to work for White Star in 1920 and continued that line of work for White Star, Blue Star and the Royal Mail Line until she retired.
Work has begun again on the Titanic II, a ocean liner being financed by Clive Palmer, a rich Aussie, and being built in China.
The new ship will be substantially more massive than the original, 56,000 tons as opposed to 46,000 tons. It will be 13 feet wider in the beam and will have stabilizers. It will carry 2,400 passengers and 900 crew, very similar to the original ship. It is being built with a welded hull rather than a riveted hull like the original, and presumably with better steel. High sulfur content steel which got brittle in cold water and second-rate rivets are believed to have contributed to the demise of the original Titanic. The new vessel will also have plenty of life boats. It will also feature diesel-electric propulsion rather than steam. It should be cheaper per mile to operate and cost a mere $500 million to build.
The maiden voyage will be from Dubai to Southampton, from where it will attempt to duplicate the intended course of the original, hopefully without icebergs.
Theoretically the thing will be ready to sail in 2022. Don't hold your breath on that.
As an interesting historical note I bring to your attention Violet Jessop, who died of natural causes in 1971 at the age of 83. Ms. Jessop was a stewardess on board the Titanic and was 24 years old when the ship sank. She was a demonstrator during the evacuation, showing non-English speakers how to get into the life jackets and life boats. She boarded boat 16 and was (allegedly) given a baby to take care of.
In November of 1916 she was as stewardess with the British Red Cross on board the Britannic, sister ship to the Titanic that had been converted by the government to a hospital ship. The ship was either hit by a torpedo and hit a mine, there is no conclusive proof either way. It sank in the Aegean Sea (much nicer place to sink rather than the North Atlantic) with a loss of only 30 of the 1,066 people on board. She was nearly killed when she had to abandon her lifeboat as the ships propellers will still spinning and sucked several life boats under the stern of the boat.
She went back to work for White Star in 1920 and continued that line of work for White Star, Blue Star and the Royal Mail Line until she retired.
NOTE TO NUTTERS
by Bob Walsh
People under Secret Service protection do not open their own mail. I doubt that George Soros has opened his own mail in 50 years. I don't know what sort of arrangement CNN has but I suspect that they have some sort of decent professional operation to sort out suspicious mail, once they remove the porn for closer inspection.
So, assuming these "suspicious packages" were actually the work of somebody intending harm to the Clintons, Obamas, etc.a word of advice. You are an idiot. Get your head out of your ass.
There is, of course, a second possible explanation for these "suspicious packages." I am not enough of a conspiracy theorist to buy into it. Yet.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Those suspicious packages turned out to be explosive devices - crude pipe bombs.
People under Secret Service protection do not open their own mail. I doubt that George Soros has opened his own mail in 50 years. I don't know what sort of arrangement CNN has but I suspect that they have some sort of decent professional operation to sort out suspicious mail, once they remove the porn for closer inspection.
So, assuming these "suspicious packages" were actually the work of somebody intending harm to the Clintons, Obamas, etc.a word of advice. You are an idiot. Get your head out of your ass.
There is, of course, a second possible explanation for these "suspicious packages." I am not enough of a conspiracy theorist to buy into it. Yet.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Those suspicious packages turned out to be explosive devices - crude pipe bombs.
THE CROWN PRINCE’S STATEMENT SHOULD PUT AN END TO THE KHASHOGGI BROUHAHA
Saudi crown prince says Khashoggi's killing was 'heinous crime'
By Saphora Smith
NBC News
October 24, 2018
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said Wednesday that the killing of writer Jamal Khashoggi was a "heinous crime that cannot be justified."
"The crime was really painful to all Saudis and I believe it is painful to every human in the world," he said at a Saudi economic conference in Riyadh.
The crown prince said all perpetrators would be taken to court and that “justice will be seen in the end.”
Crown Prince Mohammed's remarks on the killing marked the first time he has spoken publicly about the scandal since Saudi Arabia acknowledged last week that Khashoggi was killed.
He was addressing the Future Investment Initiative, a glittering gathering aimed at showcasing oil-rich Saudi Arabia as a moderate, high-tech mecca.
Crown Prince Mohammed, 33, said many people were trying to use the incident to “drive a wedge” between Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
“I want to send them a message,” he said, “they will not be able to do that as long as there is a king called King Salman bin Abdulaziz and a crown prince called Mohammed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia and a president in Turkey called Erdogan.”
The crown prince spoke on a panel alongside Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Bahraini Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. Hariri temporarily resigned as prime minister during a visit to Saudi Arabia last year, prompting some Lebanese officials to accuse the kingdom of forcing his hand and detaining him in the country for days.
Crown Prince Mohammed's comments came as Saudi Arabia sought to contain a firestorm of criticism over its handling of Khashoggi's disappearance after he entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.
Late Tuesday, Saudi officials added another detail to the kingdom’s evolving explanation about the journalist’s killing. Officials told NBC News that the original plan was to hold Khashoggi against his will for up to two days in a safe house in Turkey while persuading him to return to Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia has acknowledged that Khashoggi was killed inside the consulate, but has maintained that his death was a mistake when an attempt by operatives to persuade him to return home escalated into a fatal fistfight.
Turkish authorities have disputed the Saudi's account, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan saying Tuesday that he believes Khashoggi’s murder was “premediated.”
“It appears that the squad who planned and executed the murder had been informed of Jamal Khashoggi’s visit," Erdogan added.
The Saudis have consistently maintained that the crown prince had no prior knowledge of the operation, despite the involvement of some of his top aides. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, told Fox News on Sunday that it was a “rogue operation" in which individuals exceeded their authority.
But U.S. officials told NBC News last week that American intelligence agencies believe it's inconceivable that the crown prince had no connection to his Khashoggi's death but that they still have no "smoking gun" evidence that he ordered the journalist killed.
On Tuesday, the crown prince received a standing ovation when he made an unannounced stop at the investment conference. He also appeared at an afternoon panel next to King Abdullah II of Jordan, but made no public remarks.
In recent days, a slew of businesses leaders and media companies announced that they were pulling out of the Riyadh meeting, dubbed "Davos in the Desert."
Earlier Tuesday, the Saudi king and crown prince met two of Khashoggi’s sons at the Yamama Palace in Riyadh.
The crown prince has discussed Khashoggi's disappearance with President Donald Trump by phone and has met with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin in Riyadh.
On Oct. 3, the crown prince told Bloomberg that his understanding was that the journalist had left the consulate after "a few minutes or one hour" and that Saudi Arabia was investigating through its Foreign Ministry "to see exactly what happened at that time."
“We have nothing to hide,” the crown prince was quoted as saying by Bloomberg.
Saudi Arabia's absolute monarchy is a longtime U.S. ally and considered a bulwark against Iran, but the crisis over Khashoggi's death has helped crystallize growing unease about the crown prince.
Trump said Tuesday that the effort to conceal Khashoggi's killing was the "worst cover-up ever."
Shortly after Trump's remarks, Pompeo said 21 Saudi officials deemed by the U.S to be responsible for Khashoggi’s death would have their U.S. visas revoked or be ineligible for a visa to enter the U.S.
Pompeo also said the Trump administration was looking into the possibility of slapping sanctions on some Saudi officials under the Global Magnitsky Act, which punishes human rights violators.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Crown Prince thinks many people are trying to drive a wdge between Saudi Arabia and Turkey. He’s not so smart after all. Turkey is the one driving that wedge because it wants to become the dominant power in the Middle East.
By Saphora Smith
NBC News
October 24, 2018
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said Wednesday that the killing of writer Jamal Khashoggi was a "heinous crime that cannot be justified."
"The crime was really painful to all Saudis and I believe it is painful to every human in the world," he said at a Saudi economic conference in Riyadh.
The crown prince said all perpetrators would be taken to court and that “justice will be seen in the end.”
Crown Prince Mohammed's remarks on the killing marked the first time he has spoken publicly about the scandal since Saudi Arabia acknowledged last week that Khashoggi was killed.
He was addressing the Future Investment Initiative, a glittering gathering aimed at showcasing oil-rich Saudi Arabia as a moderate, high-tech mecca.
Crown Prince Mohammed, 33, said many people were trying to use the incident to “drive a wedge” between Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
“I want to send them a message,” he said, “they will not be able to do that as long as there is a king called King Salman bin Abdulaziz and a crown prince called Mohammed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia and a president in Turkey called Erdogan.”
The crown prince spoke on a panel alongside Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Bahraini Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. Hariri temporarily resigned as prime minister during a visit to Saudi Arabia last year, prompting some Lebanese officials to accuse the kingdom of forcing his hand and detaining him in the country for days.
Crown Prince Mohammed's comments came as Saudi Arabia sought to contain a firestorm of criticism over its handling of Khashoggi's disappearance after he entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.
Late Tuesday, Saudi officials added another detail to the kingdom’s evolving explanation about the journalist’s killing. Officials told NBC News that the original plan was to hold Khashoggi against his will for up to two days in a safe house in Turkey while persuading him to return to Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia has acknowledged that Khashoggi was killed inside the consulate, but has maintained that his death was a mistake when an attempt by operatives to persuade him to return home escalated into a fatal fistfight.
Turkish authorities have disputed the Saudi's account, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan saying Tuesday that he believes Khashoggi’s murder was “premediated.”
“It appears that the squad who planned and executed the murder had been informed of Jamal Khashoggi’s visit," Erdogan added.
The Saudis have consistently maintained that the crown prince had no prior knowledge of the operation, despite the involvement of some of his top aides. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, told Fox News on Sunday that it was a “rogue operation" in which individuals exceeded their authority.
But U.S. officials told NBC News last week that American intelligence agencies believe it's inconceivable that the crown prince had no connection to his Khashoggi's death but that they still have no "smoking gun" evidence that he ordered the journalist killed.
On Tuesday, the crown prince received a standing ovation when he made an unannounced stop at the investment conference. He also appeared at an afternoon panel next to King Abdullah II of Jordan, but made no public remarks.
In recent days, a slew of businesses leaders and media companies announced that they were pulling out of the Riyadh meeting, dubbed "Davos in the Desert."
Earlier Tuesday, the Saudi king and crown prince met two of Khashoggi’s sons at the Yamama Palace in Riyadh.
The crown prince has discussed Khashoggi's disappearance with President Donald Trump by phone and has met with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin in Riyadh.
On Oct. 3, the crown prince told Bloomberg that his understanding was that the journalist had left the consulate after "a few minutes or one hour" and that Saudi Arabia was investigating through its Foreign Ministry "to see exactly what happened at that time."
“We have nothing to hide,” the crown prince was quoted as saying by Bloomberg.
Saudi Arabia's absolute monarchy is a longtime U.S. ally and considered a bulwark against Iran, but the crisis over Khashoggi's death has helped crystallize growing unease about the crown prince.
Trump said Tuesday that the effort to conceal Khashoggi's killing was the "worst cover-up ever."
Shortly after Trump's remarks, Pompeo said 21 Saudi officials deemed by the U.S to be responsible for Khashoggi’s death would have their U.S. visas revoked or be ineligible for a visa to enter the U.S.
Pompeo also said the Trump administration was looking into the possibility of slapping sanctions on some Saudi officials under the Global Magnitsky Act, which punishes human rights violators.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Crown Prince thinks many people are trying to drive a wdge between Saudi Arabia and Turkey. He’s not so smart after all. Turkey is the one driving that wedge because it wants to become the dominant power in the Middle East.
MURDERER GETS XBOX IN PRISON AFTER LEADING POLICE TO WIFE’S REMAINS
For the past eight years, Doug Stewart was likely the only person who knew the location of his estranged wife's remains
By Brad Devereaux
Kalamazoo Gazette
October 24, 2018
WAKESHMA TOWNSHIP, Michigan -- For the past eight years, Doug Stewart was likely the only person who knew the location of his estranged wife's remains.
That changed on Monday, Oct. 22, when Stewart, in prison for the murder of Venus Stewart, led police to the grave where he buried her body, according to Michigan State Police officials.
Police found remains they believe are those of Venus Stewart buried in a five-foot-deep hole at the location Doug Stewart described in Wakeshma Township, in the southern part of Kalamazoo County, Detective Sgt. Todd Petersen said.
The Michigan Department of Corrections agreed to honor some requests from the convicted murder, including providing Xbox gaming systems for use by him and other inmates at the Saginaw Correctional Facility.
Venus Stewart and Doug Stewart both grew up in the area and lived in Schoolcraft after they married in 2002. They moved to Newport News, Virginia in 2009, and Venus Stewart returned to Michigan in February 2010.
Venus Stewart was reported missing by her parents April 26, 2010.
In June 2010, Doug Stewart was arrested and charged with first-degree premeditated murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree premeditated murder in connection with Venus Stewart's disappearance and alleged killing.
Doug Stewart was convicted in 2011 with the murder of his estranged wife, Venus Stewart. He is serving life in prison, currently at the Saginaw Correctional Facility in Freeland.
Petersen, who was first assigned to work on the case as a trooper, has continued to investigate Stewart's disappearance as a detective for the better part of a decade.
He and Michigan State Police Detective First Lt. Chuck Christensen have visited Stewart at least once a year since he was imprisoned -- and more frequently recently -- traveling to state prisons in Carson City, Ionia and Saginaw.
Stewart's mood changed over the years, Petersen said. On Oct. 12, after years of claiming innocence in the murder, Stewart admitted to police that he killed his estranged wife in 2010.
Several factors contributed to the murderer's willingness to lead officers to the burial site, police said.
Both families, including the woman's daughters, wanted to know where Venus Stewart's body was, Petersen said.
"They wanted to know where there mother is at," he said.
The Michigan Department of Corrections also approved some requests for Doug Stewart in exchange for the information, Petersen said.
The Michigan Department of Corrections is adding three Xbox consoles to the veterans unit at the Saginaw Correctional Facility, where inmates with permission to use them will be allowed to play 30 minutes at a time, MDOC spokesman Chris Gautz said. He said inmates will be allowed to play sports games on the gaming consoles, which were donated. The Xbox consoles will not be connected to the internet, Gautz said.
Stewart, a U.S. military veteran, will also be allowed to participate in a program to train dogs while incarcerated, and will also be allowed to teach a class at the prison.
Gautz said the MDOC did not give Stewart a number of other things he asked for, and said the things he was given was not special treatment.
Stewart declined a request for an interview with MLive and the Kalamazoo Gazette, an MDOC official said on Oct. 23.
Petersen said he spoke with Stewart numerous times on the phone as well as in person. Stewart started talking mostly about hypothetical situations, and eventually was ready to tell them where he hid the body.
"I was skeptical right up until yesterday," Petersen said, noting that every time he talks to family members of Stewart, it drags them back to the day she disappeared.
"It was nice to be able to say, 'Hey it actually worked, and we found her,'" he said.
Detectives are still waiting for an official confirmation from the medical examiner's office identifying the remains found by police Monday.
Stewart's account of the killing differs somewhat from the version of the story presented in court on which a jury convicted him, Petersen said. That new version of events included that he killed Venus at the burial site, and in a different manner than the strangulation theory presented in court.
"I think sometimes he makes things up or embellishes things for no particular reason," Petersen said.
Interviewing Stewart was different than an interrogation or criminal suspect interview, he said.
"I'm not coming from a place as an adversary. It was more of, hey, I'm on the same side as your family," Petersen said.
Christensen said the case was at the top of the ones for which he wanted to find answers. He thanked the Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Office and St. Joseph County Sheriff's Office for assistance and using their equipment during efforts to find Stewart. Detectives are indebted to the director of the MDOC and the warden of Saginaw's prison for their help, Christensen said.
Christensen said he believes Stewart made the decision to share the information in part for his own peace of mind, and also because of pressure from both families to do the right thing.
"The truth is, without his cooperation and pointing out the location to us, we wouldn't have found it any other way," Christensen said.
The inmate was extremely nervous and anxious as he brought to police to two locations within feet of each other, where they found the remains, Christensen said.
Stewart was familiar with the location because he worked in the area cutting wood when he was 15 or 16, Christensen said.
Christensen said he sensed relief in Stewart when, after more than eight years of looking, police were standing at the site of the missing woman's grave.
Petersen said Stewart's demeanor changed over the years, from denying having any involvement in the killing, to talking about it hypothetically and dropping hints about his guilt, to admitting responsibility for her killing earlier this month.
"I think he had come to the realization that he wasn't leaving, this is what he had to deal with in his future," Petersen said.
Christensen and Petersen both said their focus all along has been on getting answers for family members.
"The family deserves to have her back," Petersen said.
By Brad Devereaux
Kalamazoo Gazette
October 24, 2018
WAKESHMA TOWNSHIP, Michigan -- For the past eight years, Doug Stewart was likely the only person who knew the location of his estranged wife's remains.
That changed on Monday, Oct. 22, when Stewart, in prison for the murder of Venus Stewart, led police to the grave where he buried her body, according to Michigan State Police officials.
Police found remains they believe are those of Venus Stewart buried in a five-foot-deep hole at the location Doug Stewart described in Wakeshma Township, in the southern part of Kalamazoo County, Detective Sgt. Todd Petersen said.
The Michigan Department of Corrections agreed to honor some requests from the convicted murder, including providing Xbox gaming systems for use by him and other inmates at the Saginaw Correctional Facility.
Venus Stewart and Doug Stewart both grew up in the area and lived in Schoolcraft after they married in 2002. They moved to Newport News, Virginia in 2009, and Venus Stewart returned to Michigan in February 2010.
Venus Stewart was reported missing by her parents April 26, 2010.
In June 2010, Doug Stewart was arrested and charged with first-degree premeditated murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree premeditated murder in connection with Venus Stewart's disappearance and alleged killing.
Doug Stewart was convicted in 2011 with the murder of his estranged wife, Venus Stewart. He is serving life in prison, currently at the Saginaw Correctional Facility in Freeland.
Petersen, who was first assigned to work on the case as a trooper, has continued to investigate Stewart's disappearance as a detective for the better part of a decade.
He and Michigan State Police Detective First Lt. Chuck Christensen have visited Stewart at least once a year since he was imprisoned -- and more frequently recently -- traveling to state prisons in Carson City, Ionia and Saginaw.
Stewart's mood changed over the years, Petersen said. On Oct. 12, after years of claiming innocence in the murder, Stewart admitted to police that he killed his estranged wife in 2010.
Several factors contributed to the murderer's willingness to lead officers to the burial site, police said.
Both families, including the woman's daughters, wanted to know where Venus Stewart's body was, Petersen said.
"They wanted to know where there mother is at," he said.
The Michigan Department of Corrections also approved some requests for Doug Stewart in exchange for the information, Petersen said.
The Michigan Department of Corrections is adding three Xbox consoles to the veterans unit at the Saginaw Correctional Facility, where inmates with permission to use them will be allowed to play 30 minutes at a time, MDOC spokesman Chris Gautz said. He said inmates will be allowed to play sports games on the gaming consoles, which were donated. The Xbox consoles will not be connected to the internet, Gautz said.
Stewart, a U.S. military veteran, will also be allowed to participate in a program to train dogs while incarcerated, and will also be allowed to teach a class at the prison.
Gautz said the MDOC did not give Stewart a number of other things he asked for, and said the things he was given was not special treatment.
Stewart declined a request for an interview with MLive and the Kalamazoo Gazette, an MDOC official said on Oct. 23.
Petersen said he spoke with Stewart numerous times on the phone as well as in person. Stewart started talking mostly about hypothetical situations, and eventually was ready to tell them where he hid the body.
"I was skeptical right up until yesterday," Petersen said, noting that every time he talks to family members of Stewart, it drags them back to the day she disappeared.
"It was nice to be able to say, 'Hey it actually worked, and we found her,'" he said.
Detectives are still waiting for an official confirmation from the medical examiner's office identifying the remains found by police Monday.
Stewart's account of the killing differs somewhat from the version of the story presented in court on which a jury convicted him, Petersen said. That new version of events included that he killed Venus at the burial site, and in a different manner than the strangulation theory presented in court.
"I think sometimes he makes things up or embellishes things for no particular reason," Petersen said.
Interviewing Stewart was different than an interrogation or criminal suspect interview, he said.
"I'm not coming from a place as an adversary. It was more of, hey, I'm on the same side as your family," Petersen said.
Christensen said the case was at the top of the ones for which he wanted to find answers. He thanked the Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Office and St. Joseph County Sheriff's Office for assistance and using their equipment during efforts to find Stewart. Detectives are indebted to the director of the MDOC and the warden of Saginaw's prison for their help, Christensen said.
Christensen said he believes Stewart made the decision to share the information in part for his own peace of mind, and also because of pressure from both families to do the right thing.
"The truth is, without his cooperation and pointing out the location to us, we wouldn't have found it any other way," Christensen said.
The inmate was extremely nervous and anxious as he brought to police to two locations within feet of each other, where they found the remains, Christensen said.
Stewart was familiar with the location because he worked in the area cutting wood when he was 15 or 16, Christensen said.
Christensen said he sensed relief in Stewart when, after more than eight years of looking, police were standing at the site of the missing woman's grave.
Petersen said Stewart's demeanor changed over the years, from denying having any involvement in the killing, to talking about it hypothetically and dropping hints about his guilt, to admitting responsibility for her killing earlier this month.
"I think he had come to the realization that he wasn't leaving, this is what he had to deal with in his future," Petersen said.
Christensen and Petersen both said their focus all along has been on getting answers for family members.
"The family deserves to have her back," Petersen said.
THE CASE OF THE VANISHING TOYOTA CAMRY
Stolen Car Recovered, Stolen Again From Chicago Police Station
By Madeline Buckley
Chicago Tribune
October 24, 2018
CHICAGO — Brien Jackson returned to a parking lot at an Orange Line station to find his 1999 tan Toyota Camry stolen.
Officers found it a few days later on the South Side. But then they lost it again.
An officer had parked the recovered car in front of the Englewood District police station where someone apparently stole it a second time. It’s still missing.
Now Jackson and his father have filed complaints with the department’s internal affairs office and with the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, saying they have not gotten a satisfactory explanation about how this happened.
“They even had the car and they still lost it somehow,” said Jackson, 23. “That’s the most frustrating to me.”
The saga began Oct. 3 when he got off an Orange Line train around 7:30 p.m. at the Pulaski station at 5106 S. Pulaski Road on the Southwest Side. After checking whether his Camry had been towed, Jackson said he reported it stolen.
Days later, Jackson said he spotted his car twice — on Oct. 6 and Oct. 7 — but with his Texas license plate replaced with a temporary Indiana tag. He snapped a photo and called police, but the car quickly disappeared and nothing came of the sightings.
Later on Oct. 7, a Chicago police officer saw the car around 7:40 p.m. in the 5900 block of South Ashland Avenue and ran a check of the temporary Indiana plates, according to an impoundment report.
The plates came back to a different car, a Honda, and the VIN didn’t match. Police arrested the driver, Alfredo Viramontes, for a false registration tag and driving without insurance, police said.
An officer drove the Toyota back to the Englewood station at 1438 W. 63rd St. to await a tow. That’s when the car disappeared again.
Chicago police Officer Laura Amezaga, a spokeswoman for the department, confirmed that the car vanished after it was parked outside the station.
Jackson didn’t know any of this had transpired until he received a letter from the city notifying him that his car was impounded for false tags and he, as the owner, was subject to fines.
Jackson requested a hearing, intending to show the police report he filed to prove the car had been stolen. Then he hoped to get his car back. When he arrived to the hearing, though, Jackson said the staff looked up the car and told him it hadn’t been impounded.
“No one seemed to know what happened to it,” he said.
The recent college graduate asked his father, D.A. Jackson, for help. The elder Jackson called officials in the district, and in Superintendent Eddie Johnson’s office.
He said police officials told him the car had disappeared from the station before the tow arrived, presumably stolen again. The car has not been recovered. “Poof, it disappears after it gets to the police district,” the father said.
He and his son said they have many questions, particularly why Brien Jackson only learned his car was found, and then taken again, when the city tried to collect fines from him.
“They were quick to send us a letter saying you’re subject to a fine, but they couldn’t even say where the car is,” the father said.
In addition to the formal complaints, the elder Jackson said he sent a letter to the superintendent demanding possession of the vehicle, noting that it was seized by the Police Department on Oct. 7.
“You could never operate a private business the way they run the city,” he said. “We’re paying all this tax money for this?”
By Madeline Buckley
Chicago Tribune
October 24, 2018
CHICAGO — Brien Jackson returned to a parking lot at an Orange Line station to find his 1999 tan Toyota Camry stolen.
Officers found it a few days later on the South Side. But then they lost it again.
An officer had parked the recovered car in front of the Englewood District police station where someone apparently stole it a second time. It’s still missing.
Now Jackson and his father have filed complaints with the department’s internal affairs office and with the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, saying they have not gotten a satisfactory explanation about how this happened.
“They even had the car and they still lost it somehow,” said Jackson, 23. “That’s the most frustrating to me.”
The saga began Oct. 3 when he got off an Orange Line train around 7:30 p.m. at the Pulaski station at 5106 S. Pulaski Road on the Southwest Side. After checking whether his Camry had been towed, Jackson said he reported it stolen.
Days later, Jackson said he spotted his car twice — on Oct. 6 and Oct. 7 — but with his Texas license plate replaced with a temporary Indiana tag. He snapped a photo and called police, but the car quickly disappeared and nothing came of the sightings.
Later on Oct. 7, a Chicago police officer saw the car around 7:40 p.m. in the 5900 block of South Ashland Avenue and ran a check of the temporary Indiana plates, according to an impoundment report.
The plates came back to a different car, a Honda, and the VIN didn’t match. Police arrested the driver, Alfredo Viramontes, for a false registration tag and driving without insurance, police said.
An officer drove the Toyota back to the Englewood station at 1438 W. 63rd St. to await a tow. That’s when the car disappeared again.
Chicago police Officer Laura Amezaga, a spokeswoman for the department, confirmed that the car vanished after it was parked outside the station.
Jackson didn’t know any of this had transpired until he received a letter from the city notifying him that his car was impounded for false tags and he, as the owner, was subject to fines.
Jackson requested a hearing, intending to show the police report he filed to prove the car had been stolen. Then he hoped to get his car back. When he arrived to the hearing, though, Jackson said the staff looked up the car and told him it hadn’t been impounded.
“No one seemed to know what happened to it,” he said.
The recent college graduate asked his father, D.A. Jackson, for help. The elder Jackson called officials in the district, and in Superintendent Eddie Johnson’s office.
He said police officials told him the car had disappeared from the station before the tow arrived, presumably stolen again. The car has not been recovered. “Poof, it disappears after it gets to the police district,” the father said.
He and his son said they have many questions, particularly why Brien Jackson only learned his car was found, and then taken again, when the city tried to collect fines from him.
“They were quick to send us a letter saying you’re subject to a fine, but they couldn’t even say where the car is,” the father said.
In addition to the formal complaints, the elder Jackson said he sent a letter to the superintendent demanding possession of the vehicle, noting that it was seized by the Police Department on Oct. 7.
“You could never operate a private business the way they run the city,” he said. “We’re paying all this tax money for this?”
OAKLAND POLICE CAN NO LONGER ASK APPLICANTS IF THEY HAVE BEEN SEXUALLY ASSAULTED
The mayor's decision came after the San Francisco Chronicle revealed Sunday that police made potential hires sign a waiver to look into an applicant's confidential records
Associated Press
October 22, 2018
OAKLAND, Calif. — Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf has ordered an end to the city's police department's policy that forced job applicants to give it access to confidential records, including records that disclosed whether they had been sexually assaulted.
Schaaf's order came after the San Francisco Chronicle revealed in a story Sunday that the department required potential hires to sign a waiver that gave background investigators access to "local criminal history information ... including if I have been a victim of sexual assault."
"Sexual assault survivors have persevered through trauma, and their resilience is a character quality we respect, honor, and welcome in Oakland," she said in a statement Sunday.
The disclosure request is on a release form for new Oakland police hires that has been in use since at least 2011, well before the #MeToo movement that started a year ago with accusations against film producer Harvey Weinstein.
Legal experts told the newspaper the inquiry was odd and potentially problematic, but they disagreed on whether it was illegal.
Oakland police officials told the newspaper candidates were not denied positions for being a sexual assault victim. Officials said they wanted the information so they could review police reports in which applicants' named might have appeared.
Schaaf also said she has ordered a thorough review of Oakland police hiring practices "to ensure no other barriers discourage the hiring of women or minority applicants."
Associated Press
October 22, 2018
OAKLAND, Calif. — Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf has ordered an end to the city's police department's policy that forced job applicants to give it access to confidential records, including records that disclosed whether they had been sexually assaulted.
Schaaf's order came after the San Francisco Chronicle revealed in a story Sunday that the department required potential hires to sign a waiver that gave background investigators access to "local criminal history information ... including if I have been a victim of sexual assault."
"Sexual assault survivors have persevered through trauma, and their resilience is a character quality we respect, honor, and welcome in Oakland," she said in a statement Sunday.
The disclosure request is on a release form for new Oakland police hires that has been in use since at least 2011, well before the #MeToo movement that started a year ago with accusations against film producer Harvey Weinstein.
Legal experts told the newspaper the inquiry was odd and potentially problematic, but they disagreed on whether it was illegal.
Oakland police officials told the newspaper candidates were not denied positions for being a sexual assault victim. Officials said they wanted the information so they could review police reports in which applicants' named might have appeared.
Schaaf also said she has ordered a thorough review of Oakland police hiring practices "to ensure no other barriers discourage the hiring of women or minority applicants."
Wednesday, October 24, 2018
RISING DEMOCRATIC CONTENDER FOR PRESIDENT IS ACCUSED OF SEXUALLY ASSAULTING MAN IN RESTROOM
Senator Cory Booker Accused of Sexual Assault in 2014 by Gay Man
By Rick Moran
PJ Media
October 21, 2018
A gay man who describes himself as a liberal Democrat is accusing New Jersey Senator Cory Booker of sexually assaulting him in 2014. Booker is considered a leading contender for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020.
The alleged victim, who wishes to remain anonymous for now, penned a lengthy open letter that was posted on Twitter. In the letter, he describes the assault that occurred in a bathroom following a meeting at his workplace, where the two met.
The letter goes into excruciating detail.
I stopped to use one of the building’s single-occupancy restrooms. Upon washing my hands prior to leaving, I hear knocking on the door. When it comes to these restrooms, it is customary to knock first in case someone is using it, even though there is an inner lock. When I opened the door, Mr. Booker was there. He smiled and very gregariously said, “Hey!” We engaged in some brief idle chitchat in the entryway and then he asked me to speak in private. What happened next, happened so fast that it was hard for me to comprehend what was going on. It was one of those surreal moments where what was happening was such a deviation and such a perversion of one’s natural daily routine that I hardly knew how to react. He pulled me into the bathroom, albeit not too forcefully, and slowly pushed me against the restroom wall. He said that “Being a hero was a serious turn-on.” He continued, “The Senate appreciates fine citizens like you. Especially this senator.” He then put his left hand on my groin, over my jeans, and began to rub. I seem to remember saying something like “What is happening?” It was a bit like having vertigo. He then used his other hand to grab my left hand with his right and pulled it over to touch him. At the same time, he disengaged from rubbing me and used his left hand to push me to my knees from my shoulder for what was clearly a move to have me perform oral sex on him. At that point, I pulled away quite violently and told him I had to go. I did not see him again before he left.
The victim says he contacted journalist Ronan Farrow, the "father of the #MeToo movement," who requested a phone conversation but never got back to him after the victim gave Farrow his number.
He also contacted a lawyer. Grabien reached out to the attorney who is mentioned in the letter:
Grabien News has reached out to the accuser’s attorney, Harmeet Dhillon, to verify he has consulted with her, as he described in the letter.
“All I can say at this time is that the man is considering his next steps and has no further comment at this time,” Dhillon told Grabien.
The victim gave his attorney the story along with some evidence. Here's what he says about that:
Once we established privileged communication, I told her my story; disclosing my real name and the details of my case. This included the precise date, location, some corroborating photographic evidence and two possible hearsay witnesses that I had told my story to subsequent to the incident. It was, at the very least, much more probative evidence than what was brought forth during the Kavanaugh debacle. Ms. Dhillon responded to me with respectful immediacy, offering candid advice and compassion tempered with pragmatism.
It should be noted that so far, major media outlets are silent on this story. It could very well be they haven't seen it. But the victim doesn't think he will get much support from the #MeToo movement anyway:
I’m not a woman. I do consider myself liberal but I no longer consider myself a Democrat. And the perpetrator of my story is a Democratic hero/2020 contender...hardly a tale that can be programmed, categorized or easily referenced by the modern American media apparatus. Especially one that caters to reductive, easy to follow narratives with a clear view of who is the good guy and who is the bad guy. So what recourse does that leave someone like me? Do I continue to engage with Ronan Farrow? I have no idea if he’s giving me the run around. Nor do I have any guarantee that his political ideology will not color his objectivity as a journalist. In light of the Ramirez story, it's clear that that is a distinct possibility.
This is from a liberal gay man, a Democrat.
I've considered the possibility that it's a hoax, in which case I would be rightfully chastised for posting on it -- just as I chastised other media outlets during the Kavanaugh hearings for printing unsubstantiated allegations from dubious sources.
But the victim raises vitally important questions. For example, are only women to be believed unconditionally about sexual assault? If so, what possible reason is there not to believe a gay man? Does a man who stands accused deserve the benefit of the doubt because of his past support of the "right" issues?
Booker's homosexuality or bisexuality is not the issue and probably wouldn't matter to many voters -- especially Democrats. What matters is the same thing that mattered about the Kavanaugh accusations: are they credible and does an assault disqualify Booker from high office?
We'll see how the #MeToo movement reacts over the next few days, but my guess is that they will soft-peddle the accusation and Booker will skate on it.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Like Brett Kavanaugh, the judge he blistered during the Senate hearings, Booker will vehemently deny the sexual assault ever took place. The mainstream pro-Democrat media will continue to ignore the story or give him a pass if it mentions it. LGBTQ Nation is already suggesting it’s fake news.
By Rick Moran
PJ Media
October 21, 2018
A gay man who describes himself as a liberal Democrat is accusing New Jersey Senator Cory Booker of sexually assaulting him in 2014. Booker is considered a leading contender for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020.
The alleged victim, who wishes to remain anonymous for now, penned a lengthy open letter that was posted on Twitter. In the letter, he describes the assault that occurred in a bathroom following a meeting at his workplace, where the two met.
The letter goes into excruciating detail.
I stopped to use one of the building’s single-occupancy restrooms. Upon washing my hands prior to leaving, I hear knocking on the door. When it comes to these restrooms, it is customary to knock first in case someone is using it, even though there is an inner lock. When I opened the door, Mr. Booker was there. He smiled and very gregariously said, “Hey!” We engaged in some brief idle chitchat in the entryway and then he asked me to speak in private. What happened next, happened so fast that it was hard for me to comprehend what was going on. It was one of those surreal moments where what was happening was such a deviation and such a perversion of one’s natural daily routine that I hardly knew how to react. He pulled me into the bathroom, albeit not too forcefully, and slowly pushed me against the restroom wall. He said that “Being a hero was a serious turn-on.” He continued, “The Senate appreciates fine citizens like you. Especially this senator.” He then put his left hand on my groin, over my jeans, and began to rub. I seem to remember saying something like “What is happening?” It was a bit like having vertigo. He then used his other hand to grab my left hand with his right and pulled it over to touch him. At the same time, he disengaged from rubbing me and used his left hand to push me to my knees from my shoulder for what was clearly a move to have me perform oral sex on him. At that point, I pulled away quite violently and told him I had to go. I did not see him again before he left.
The victim says he contacted journalist Ronan Farrow, the "father of the #MeToo movement," who requested a phone conversation but never got back to him after the victim gave Farrow his number.
He also contacted a lawyer. Grabien reached out to the attorney who is mentioned in the letter:
Grabien News has reached out to the accuser’s attorney, Harmeet Dhillon, to verify he has consulted with her, as he described in the letter.
“All I can say at this time is that the man is considering his next steps and has no further comment at this time,” Dhillon told Grabien.
The victim gave his attorney the story along with some evidence. Here's what he says about that:
Once we established privileged communication, I told her my story; disclosing my real name and the details of my case. This included the precise date, location, some corroborating photographic evidence and two possible hearsay witnesses that I had told my story to subsequent to the incident. It was, at the very least, much more probative evidence than what was brought forth during the Kavanaugh debacle. Ms. Dhillon responded to me with respectful immediacy, offering candid advice and compassion tempered with pragmatism.
It should be noted that so far, major media outlets are silent on this story. It could very well be they haven't seen it. But the victim doesn't think he will get much support from the #MeToo movement anyway:
I’m not a woman. I do consider myself liberal but I no longer consider myself a Democrat. And the perpetrator of my story is a Democratic hero/2020 contender...hardly a tale that can be programmed, categorized or easily referenced by the modern American media apparatus. Especially one that caters to reductive, easy to follow narratives with a clear view of who is the good guy and who is the bad guy. So what recourse does that leave someone like me? Do I continue to engage with Ronan Farrow? I have no idea if he’s giving me the run around. Nor do I have any guarantee that his political ideology will not color his objectivity as a journalist. In light of the Ramirez story, it's clear that that is a distinct possibility.
This is from a liberal gay man, a Democrat.
I've considered the possibility that it's a hoax, in which case I would be rightfully chastised for posting on it -- just as I chastised other media outlets during the Kavanaugh hearings for printing unsubstantiated allegations from dubious sources.
But the victim raises vitally important questions. For example, are only women to be believed unconditionally about sexual assault? If so, what possible reason is there not to believe a gay man? Does a man who stands accused deserve the benefit of the doubt because of his past support of the "right" issues?
Booker's homosexuality or bisexuality is not the issue and probably wouldn't matter to many voters -- especially Democrats. What matters is the same thing that mattered about the Kavanaugh accusations: are they credible and does an assault disqualify Booker from high office?
We'll see how the #MeToo movement reacts over the next few days, but my guess is that they will soft-peddle the accusation and Booker will skate on it.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Like Brett Kavanaugh, the judge he blistered during the Senate hearings, Booker will vehemently deny the sexual assault ever took place. The mainstream pro-Democrat media will continue to ignore the story or give him a pass if it mentions it. LGBTQ Nation is already suggesting it’s fake news.
THIS IS ACTUALLY KIND OF INTERESTING
by Bob Walsh
A remarkable ship wreck discovered a while back in the Baltic has been documented as the oldest known intact shipwreck ever found. The Greek trading ship has been carbon dated as being 2,400 years old.
The ship was laying on its side with the mast and rudder still intact on it in 6,500 feet of water. There is pretty much zero free oxygen in the water at that depth meaning organic material such as wood can be remarkably preserved.
The ship is being intensely surveyed with remote control submersible cameras.
A remarkable ship wreck discovered a while back in the Baltic has been documented as the oldest known intact shipwreck ever found. The Greek trading ship has been carbon dated as being 2,400 years old.
The ship was laying on its side with the mast and rudder still intact on it in 6,500 feet of water. There is pretty much zero free oxygen in the water at that depth meaning organic material such as wood can be remarkably preserved.
The ship is being intensely surveyed with remote control submersible cameras.
AS A PAROLE OFFICER I WORKED THE GANG INFESTED EAST SIDE OF RIVERSIDE AND I DID IT AT NIGHT BY NYSELF
45 Arrested in Crackdown on Riverside Gang Violence
NBC 3
October 20, 2018
Forty-five suspected gang members and associates have been arrested in a crackdown on gang violence in a Southern California neighborhood.
Authorities announced Friday that the joint operation by police and the California Department of Justice in the Eastside area of Riverside also resulted in seizure of 63 firearms, illegal narcotics and evidence of gang membership.
The investigation followed murders, attempted murders, drive-by shootings and assaults, which officials say occurred when gang members and associates were released from custody and began trying to regain control and power.
Riverside County prosecutors have so far filed criminal cases against 22 adults and three minors.
EDITOR’S NOTE: I didn’t need a police escort like many of today’s parole officers want before they venture into a high crime area, even in the daytime.
When I first started to work in the east side, the first place I went to was a bar frequented by gang members – the Chagollas – and introduced myself around to let them get to know me. While they did not like my position as a parole agent, and some knew me when I was a prior cop, they accepted me because they saw I was always a straight shooter.
My only escort was a concealed .32 caliber Colt revolver that came along with me.
NBC 3
October 20, 2018
Forty-five suspected gang members and associates have been arrested in a crackdown on gang violence in a Southern California neighborhood.
Authorities announced Friday that the joint operation by police and the California Department of Justice in the Eastside area of Riverside also resulted in seizure of 63 firearms, illegal narcotics and evidence of gang membership.
The investigation followed murders, attempted murders, drive-by shootings and assaults, which officials say occurred when gang members and associates were released from custody and began trying to regain control and power.
Riverside County prosecutors have so far filed criminal cases against 22 adults and three minors.
EDITOR’S NOTE: I didn’t need a police escort like many of today’s parole officers want before they venture into a high crime area, even in the daytime.
When I first started to work in the east side, the first place I went to was a bar frequented by gang members – the Chagollas – and introduced myself around to let them get to know me. While they did not like my position as a parole agent, and some knew me when I was a prior cop, they accepted me because they saw I was always a straight shooter.
My only escort was a concealed .32 caliber Colt revolver that came along with me.
SOME PEOPLE JUST CANNOT STAND PROGRESS
Class-Action Lawsuit Against Bird And Lime Filed In L.A. County, Claims Scooters Have Caused ‘Civil Unrest’
LAPPL News Watch
October 23, 2018
A class-action lawsuit over the safety of electric scooters has been filed against scooter startups Bird and Lime, a Santa Monica firm announced Monday.
The court filing was submitted to the Los Angeles County Superior Court on Friday on behalf of individuals claiming to have been harmed by the scooters. It's the first class-action lawsuit filed against the two major scooter-sharing companies, according to Costell & Cornelius Law Corporation.
The lawsuit, which also lists manufacturers Segway and Xiaomi as defendants, names nine plaintiffs. They include three people who claimed being injured by riders who crashed into them from behind and three others who said they tripped over scooters that had been left on the sidewalk.
LAPPL News Watch
October 23, 2018
A class-action lawsuit over the safety of electric scooters has been filed against scooter startups Bird and Lime, a Santa Monica firm announced Monday.
The court filing was submitted to the Los Angeles County Superior Court on Friday on behalf of individuals claiming to have been harmed by the scooters. It's the first class-action lawsuit filed against the two major scooter-sharing companies, according to Costell & Cornelius Law Corporation.
The lawsuit, which also lists manufacturers Segway and Xiaomi as defendants, names nine plaintiffs. They include three people who claimed being injured by riders who crashed into them from behind and three others who said they tripped over scooters that had been left on the sidewalk.
MEXICO INSTITUTIONAL FAILURES ALLOW CJNG TO THRIVE UNCHECKED
by Chris Dalby
InSight Crime
October 23, 2018
Unsealed US indictments against top figures in the Jalisco Cartel signal the extent to which the group has gone virtually unhindered during the administration of Mexico’s President Enrique Peña Nieto, but the US spotlight may mean its best days are behind it.
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) unveiled 15 indictments October 16 against members of the Jalisco Cartel — New Generation (Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación – CJNG). It also doubled the reward against the cartel’s top leader, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias “El Mencho”, to $10 million.
Two of the DOJ indictments concern Diego Pineda Sánchez and Carlos Parra-Pedroza, a pair who laundered over $100 million in drug proceeds between 2011 and 2014 through a network of cash-for-gold schemes.
After first being arrested, the two men were reported to have been working for the Sinaloa Cartel, according to EFE. However, the DOJ now points to a CJNG connection, showing how the cartel was able to take over or at least overlap with its rival’s US networks.
In all, the DOJ listed 14 CJNG targets but just three are in US custody. Several more, including El Mencho’s son, Rubén Oseguera González, are in prison in Mexico and extradition requests have gone unfilled for years.
InSight Crime Analysis
This attention from Washington comes after a protracted period of government and judicial oversights in Mexico, which allowed the CJNG leadership to remain largely intact as authorities focused on other targets.
During Peña Nieto’s last annual government report in September, he proudly proclaimed that 110 of 122 alleged criminals, flagged as top priorities at the start of his six-year term, had been arrested or killed.
Of the 110, just two members of the CJNG were arrested and one killed, as opposed to 33 from the Zetas and 24 from the Sinaloa Cartel. What’s more, government actions appeared to play into the hands of the CJNG, decapitating its enemies and allowing its territory to grow unchecked.
There are multiple reasons for this lack of progress against the CJNG.
Dr. Javier Oliva Posada, a professor on security and defense at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), said the Peña Nieto government was simply distracted.
“Joaquín Guzmán Loera attracted the focus of the media and police,” he said, referring to the former head of the Sinaloa Cartel, who is in a US jail awaiting trial on multiple charges.
He added that the CJNG maintained what he called “the old [cartel] structures,” avoiding local alliances that have endangered other large groups like Sinaloa.
“The fragmentation of its rivals also helped it,” he said.
Erubiel Tirado, coordinator of the National Security and Democracy program at the Ibero-American University in Mexico City, told InSight Crime that the government’s efforts against numerous cartels may have been counter-productive.
“The government’s security plans are often fought on multiple fronts against several criminal organizations,” he said.
“This means they often lose efficiency once only one cartel is left standing,” he added.
Consequently, the CJNG has been able to conquer or take over domestic and foreign drug trafficking and money laundering networks put in place by the Sinaloa Cartel, from which it emerged in 2010.
Still, the winds may be turning. Last week, US Attorney-General Jeff Sessions referred to the CJNG as “Mexico’s most powerful drug cartel.”
US frustration at inefficiencies in the Mexican court system is also surfacing. The slowness of extradition proceedings and the release of CJNG members are hindering any concerted efforts to rein the group in. This was made clear when Erick Valencia Salazar, alias “El 85,” one of the original founders of the CJNG, was released in December 2017 due to alleged irregularities in his prosecution.
Matthew G. Donahue, the US Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) regional director for North and Central America, told the Associated Press that the United States is hoping for “the cooperation that we currently have with Mexico to be a little more efficient, a little bit more aggressive.”
The DOJ indictments are but one facet of the attack on the CJNG. Accompanied by a new task force in Chicago to crack down on the cartel’s financing and continued asset takedowns the CJNG is about to face more pressure than ever.
InSight Crime
October 23, 2018
Unsealed US indictments against top figures in the Jalisco Cartel signal the extent to which the group has gone virtually unhindered during the administration of Mexico’s President Enrique Peña Nieto, but the US spotlight may mean its best days are behind it.
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) unveiled 15 indictments October 16 against members of the Jalisco Cartel — New Generation (Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación – CJNG). It also doubled the reward against the cartel’s top leader, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias “El Mencho”, to $10 million.
Two of the DOJ indictments concern Diego Pineda Sánchez and Carlos Parra-Pedroza, a pair who laundered over $100 million in drug proceeds between 2011 and 2014 through a network of cash-for-gold schemes.
After first being arrested, the two men were reported to have been working for the Sinaloa Cartel, according to EFE. However, the DOJ now points to a CJNG connection, showing how the cartel was able to take over or at least overlap with its rival’s US networks.
In all, the DOJ listed 14 CJNG targets but just three are in US custody. Several more, including El Mencho’s son, Rubén Oseguera González, are in prison in Mexico and extradition requests have gone unfilled for years.
InSight Crime Analysis
This attention from Washington comes after a protracted period of government and judicial oversights in Mexico, which allowed the CJNG leadership to remain largely intact as authorities focused on other targets.
During Peña Nieto’s last annual government report in September, he proudly proclaimed that 110 of 122 alleged criminals, flagged as top priorities at the start of his six-year term, had been arrested or killed.
Of the 110, just two members of the CJNG were arrested and one killed, as opposed to 33 from the Zetas and 24 from the Sinaloa Cartel. What’s more, government actions appeared to play into the hands of the CJNG, decapitating its enemies and allowing its territory to grow unchecked.
There are multiple reasons for this lack of progress against the CJNG.
Dr. Javier Oliva Posada, a professor on security and defense at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), said the Peña Nieto government was simply distracted.
“Joaquín Guzmán Loera attracted the focus of the media and police,” he said, referring to the former head of the Sinaloa Cartel, who is in a US jail awaiting trial on multiple charges.
He added that the CJNG maintained what he called “the old [cartel] structures,” avoiding local alliances that have endangered other large groups like Sinaloa.
“The fragmentation of its rivals also helped it,” he said.
Erubiel Tirado, coordinator of the National Security and Democracy program at the Ibero-American University in Mexico City, told InSight Crime that the government’s efforts against numerous cartels may have been counter-productive.
“The government’s security plans are often fought on multiple fronts against several criminal organizations,” he said.
“This means they often lose efficiency once only one cartel is left standing,” he added.
Consequently, the CJNG has been able to conquer or take over domestic and foreign drug trafficking and money laundering networks put in place by the Sinaloa Cartel, from which it emerged in 2010.
Still, the winds may be turning. Last week, US Attorney-General Jeff Sessions referred to the CJNG as “Mexico’s most powerful drug cartel.”
US frustration at inefficiencies in the Mexican court system is also surfacing. The slowness of extradition proceedings and the release of CJNG members are hindering any concerted efforts to rein the group in. This was made clear when Erick Valencia Salazar, alias “El 85,” one of the original founders of the CJNG, was released in December 2017 due to alleged irregularities in his prosecution.
Matthew G. Donahue, the US Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) regional director for North and Central America, told the Associated Press that the United States is hoping for “the cooperation that we currently have with Mexico to be a little more efficient, a little bit more aggressive.”
The DOJ indictments are but one facet of the attack on the CJNG. Accompanied by a new task force in Chicago to crack down on the cartel’s financing and continued asset takedowns the CJNG is about to face more pressure than ever.
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