‘Cannibal’ arrested in Spain for chopping mother into ‘thousands of pieces’ and sharing with dog

A 26-year-old man has been arrested by Spanish police after confessing to killing his mother and chopping up her body into more than 1,000 pieces before eating some of her remains, RT.com writes.

Alberto Sanchez Gomez confessed to the brutal slaying of his 66-year-old mother, Maria Soledad Gomez, after detectives came to his Madrid apartment enquiring about the woman who had been missing for a month, reports Spanish newspaper El Mundo.

Sanchez reportedly confessed to killing and dismembering his mother, cooking parts of her body and disposing of her organs in the bin. The horrifying confession led police to the grim discovery of the woman’s partial remains in six large tupperware boxes.

The police revealed details of the grisly case as it announced Gomez’s arrest on Facebook.

The former waiter also reportedly admitted eating his parent’s cooked remains as well as feeding some to his pet dog. The gruesome details were revealed on Saturday as Sanchez appeared before a magistrate court.

“The pieces are so small that it will be almost impossible to discover how he killed her. A lot of time has passed and the body is quite deteriorated”, a police source said to El Pais. The body has been transported to the Forensic Anatomical Institute for an autopsy.

It’s understood Sanchez has a history of arrests for drug-related offences and domestic violence towards his mother. He has reportedly been ordered to undergo psychiatric evaluation while being remanded in prison without bail

https://voiceofeurope.com/2019/02/cannibal-arrested-in-spain-for-chopping-mother-into-thousands-of-pieces-and-sharing-with-dog/

Govt Plans to End Short Prison Sentences Could ‘Unleash Crime Wave’

UK government plans to do away with short prison sentences could result in tens of thousands of convicts on Britain’s streets, “unleashing a crime wave” on citizens, a think tank report has warned.

Civitas’s report published Monday predicts that the government’s proposal to abandon custodial sentences of fewer than six months for certain crimes in favour of community service orders and curfews would mean approximately 34,000 criminals would be let loose, 30,000 of whom would be repeat offenders.

Earlier this month Justice Minister David Gauke said there was “a very strong case to abolish sentences of 6 months or less altogether,” marking the Conservative Party’s departure from its traditional stance on incarcerating criminals in favour of so-called “smart” justice.

While the changes would not affect those convicted of violent or sex crimes, it would mean a substantial number of burglars, thieves, fraudsters, drink-drivers, and those caught in the possession of drugs and knives not receiving time in jail.

The Civitas report, “Ending Short Prison Sentences: An amnesty for prolific thieves and burglars?”, used Ministry of Justice data from 2017 to estimate that the changes in sentencing would result in the “effective decriminalisation of shoplifting” where custodial sentences for thefts from shops would fall from an already-low 21 percent of convictions to 0.4 percent and 58 percent of burglars avoiding prison — up from 44 percent.

The report warns that it would be the “effective end” of prison for drug possession, an “even more lax approach” to drink driving, and would result in even fewer custodial sentences for those carrying knives, with the proportion of those avoiding prison rising from 70 percent to 83 percent – while the UK has seen the highest level of knife crime on record.

A London magistrate also said the proposed changes would be a “get-out-of-jail-free card” for serious offenders tried at magistrates’ courts, which can give a maximum sentence of six months.

“They [criminals] all know that the maximum that Magistrates can give is six months. So as long as they plead guilty at the last minute, even the minimum 10% discount will always mean a non-custodial sentence,” the magistrate explained.

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/02/25/govt-plans-end-short-prison-sentences-unleash-crime-wave/

The Planning of a Coup against Venezuela: Chile, September 11, 1973: The Ingredients of a Military Coup. The Imposition of a Neoliberal Agenda

Chicago Economics: Neoliberal Dress Rehearsal of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP)

The main objective of the US-supported military coup in Chile was to impose the neoliberal economic agenda. “Regime change” was enforced through a covert military intelligence operation. Sweeping macro-economic reforms (including privatization, price liberalization and the freeze of wages) were implemented in early October 1973.

Barely a few weeks after the military takeover, the military Junta headed by General Augusto Pinochet ordered a hike in the price of bread from 11 to 40 escudos, a hefty overnight increase of 264%. This “economic shock treatment” had been designed by a group of economists called the “Chicago Boys.” “While food prices had skyrocketed, wages had been frozen. From one day to the next, an entire country had been precipitated into abysmal poverty.

In 1973, I was teaching economics at the Catholic University of Chile. I lived through two of the most brutal US sponsored military coups in Latin America’s history: Chile, September 11, 1973 and less than three years later, Argentina, March 24, 1976 under Operation Condor, which initiated Argentina’s Dirty War: “La Guerra Sucia”.

And today, the Trump administration is threatening to invade Venezuela with a view to “restoring democracy”, replacing an elected president (casually described by the Western media as a “dictator”) by a US proxy, speaker of Venezuela’s National Assembly.

***

Author’s Introduction

More than forty-five years ago on September 11, 1973, the Chilean military led by General Augusto Pinochet, crushed the democratically elected Unidad Popular government of Salvador Allende.

The objective was to replace a progressive, democratically elected government by a brutal military dictatorship.

The military coup was supported by the CIA. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger played a direct role in the military plot.

Is Washington’s ongoing initiative directed against Venezuela modelled on Chile?

In early 1970s, in a note to the CIA in relation to Chile, Henry Kissinger recommended “Make the economy scream.” Visibly the same concept has been applied to Venezuela, with advanced techniques of financial warfare, which were not available in the 1970s.

Today it’s Mike Pompeo and John Bolton who are calling the shots, in tandem with the CIA.

Bolton has gone far beyond the Nixon-Kissinger agenda formulated at the height of the Cold War. Bolton refers to “The Troika of Tyranny”. The US sponsored coup against Venezuela is also directed against Cuba. And from Washington’s standpoint “after Venezuela, Cuba is next”.

“The troika of tyranny in this hemisphere—Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua—has finally met its match. In Venezuela, the United States is acting against the dictator Maduro, who uses the same oppressive tactics that have been employed in Cuba for decades.” (John Bolton)

https://www.globalresearch.ca/chile-september-11-1973-the-ingredients-of-a-military-coup-the-imposition-of-a-neoliberal-agenda/5545251

UK: Compulsory Sex Ed for Children to Feature Homosexuality, Sex Swaps and FGM

Primary school children from the age of five will be taught about gender reassignment, LGBT “families”, and other controversial topics, with parents denied an opt-out, according to reports.

Children across the country will also be taught about female genital mutilation (FGM) — with a focus on support available for victims and the fact it is illegal — under statutory guidance for headteachers unveiled Monday.

The new curriculum guidelines form part of the Conservative government’s controversial introduction of compulsory sex and relationship classes, which are set to be rolled out across all UK schools from next year.

The move has seen fierce opposition from conservative Christian, Jewish, and Muslim parents, while a petition requesting parents be allowed to opt their children out of the lessons has attracted almost 110,000 signatures.

According to the Sunday Times, the new guidance — which is the first major national update to sex education in almost 20 years — will make it illegal for parents to take their children out of the classes in secondary school.

Resources published by the Sex and Education Forum to guide schools in teaching the new content outlines supposedly age-appropriate issues to be discussed at various levels of schooling, which claims children aged nine to 10 “want to talk about” topics including masturbation, and “about how people can get diseases including HIV, from sex and how they can be prevented”.

Questions to be discussed between the ages of 11 to 13 include, “What is the difference between transvestite and trans-sexual?” and, “My religion says that being gay or having sex before is marriage is wrong, what should I think?” while at 16, pupils should be taught “how to disclose positive HIV status to a sexual partner, family and friends,” according to the document.

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/02/25/uk-sex-ed-children-fgm-lgbt/

If Truth Is Politicized, All Is Lost. Trump Grants Free Rein to the Crazed Neocons

Trump’s surrender to the neoconservatives makes it impossible for an informed person to support him. He has signed off on the coup against democracy in Venezuela, and he has placed all life at risk by pulling out of the INF treaty with Russia. Putin has publicly announced that the consequences of Washington’s reckless and irresponsible decision to junk the INF treaty will be the targeting of the missile sites in Europe and also of the American command and control centers.

As I write there is nothing on the BBC or CNN websites or anywhere else in the US print and TV media about the President of Russia’s clear statement. Trump has allowed the crazed neocons to raise the likelihood of nuclear Armageddon to near certainty, and it has gone unreported by the presstitutes.

Not only is there no evidence for Washington’s claim that Russia has violated the INF treaty, violating the treaty is not in Russia’s interests. Russian intermediate range missiles cannot reach the US. The purpose of the treaty is to keep Russia from targeting Europe by preventing US intermediate range missiles from being deployed in Europe. Washington tore up the INF treaty in order to put intermediate range missiles on Russia’s border, thus endangering Europe.

A hopeful person could perhaps reason that Trump, realizing that he is powerless to reduce tensions with Russia and to stop the wars, has decided to give free rein to the neocons in the expectation that they will so terrify Europe that Europe will break from Washington and NATO in an act of self-preservation. Perhaps Trump realizes that only the breakup of the Empire can stop the wars, and that the best way to destroy the American Empire is to give free rein to the crazed neoconservatives.

What is important is not what political party or candidate that we support, but that we support truth wherever we find it. Most people are confused about this. If truth is on Trump’s side, and you support truth, people see it as supporting Trump. This shows how politicized and emotional American thinking has become. Andrew McCabe, former acting director of the FBI, has made it clear that the FBI, the Democratic Party, US media, former CIA director John Brennan, former director of National Intelligence James Clapper, and the US Department of Justice (sic) were, and are, involved in a plot to remove President Trump from office. The fraudulent “Steele Dossier” is the basis for the fraudulent “Russiagate” investigation. A number of laws have been violated by those involved in the plot. For example, spy warrants were obtained from the FISA court under false pretense, and there is little, if any, doubt that Brennan, Comey, Rosenstein, and Mueller are guilty of sedition and conspiracy against the President of the United States. By demanding that these government officials be held accountable, we defend truth and the rule of law, not Trump.

Russiagate is a hoax, but the INF treaty and the open plot to overthrow Venezuelan democracy are not hoaxes. These, not conspiring with Putin, are the crimes for which Trump should be held accountable.

https://www.globalresearch.ca/if-truth-is-politicized-all-is-lost-trump-grants-free-rein-to-the-crazed-neocons/5669297

Venezuela Coverage Takes Us Back to Golden Age of Lying About Latin America

I was sitting in my apartment in Caracas, Venezuela, reading the online edition of Time magazine (5/19/16), which carried a report that there was not even something as basic as aspirin to be found anywhere in Venezuela: “Basic medicines like aspirin are nowhere to be found.”

I walked out of the apartment to the nearest pharmacy, four blocks away, where I found plenty of aspirin, as well as acetaminophen (generic Tylenol) and ibuprofen (generic Advil), in a well-stocked pharmacy with a knowledgeable professional staff that would be the envy of any US drugstore.

A few days after the Time story, CNBC (6/22/16) carried a claim that there was no acetaminophen to be found anywhere, either: “Basic things like Tylenol aren’t even available.” That must have taken the Pfizer Corporation by surprise, since it was their Venezuelan subsidiary, Pfizer Venezuela SA, which produced the acetaminophen I purchased. (Neither Time writer Ian Bremer nor CNBC commentator Richard Washington was in Venezuela, and there was no evidence offered that either of them had ever been there.)

I purchased all three products, plus cough syrup and other over-the-counter medications, because I doubted that anyone in the United States would believe me if I couldn’t produce the medications in their packages.

Unrelenting drumbeat of lies

In fact, I myself wouldn’t have believed anyone who made such claims without being able to produce the proof, so intense and unrelenting has been the drumbeat of lies. When the Youth Orchestra of Venezuela gave a concert in New York in early 2016, before I moved to Caracas, I went there thinking, “Gee, I hope that the members of the orchestra are all well-dressed and well-fed.” Yes, of course they were all well-dressed and well-fed!

When I mentioned this in a talk at the University of Vermont, a student told me that he’d had the same feeling when he was following the Pan American soccer championship. He wondered if the Venezuelan players would be able to play, because they’d be so weakened from lack of food. In fact, he said, the Venezuelan team played superbly, and went much further in the competition than expected, since Venezuela has historically been a baseball country, unlike its soccer-obsessed neighbors Brazil and Colombia.

Hard as it may be for followers of the US media to believe, Venezuela is a country where people play sports, go to work, go to classes, go to the beach, go to restaurants and attend concerts. They publish and read newspapers of all political stripes, from right to center-right, to center, to center-left, to left. They produce and watch programs on television, on TV channels that are also of all political stripes.

CNN was ridiculed recently (Redacted Tonight, 2/1/19) when it carried a report on Venezuela, “in the socialist utopia that now leaves virtually every stomach empty,” followed immediately with a cut to a demonstration by the right-wing opposition, where everybody appeared to be quite well-fed.

But surely that’s because most of the anti-government demonstrators were upper-middle class, a viewer might think. The proletarians at pro-government demonstrations must be suffering severe hunger.

Not if one consults photos of the massive pro-government demonstration on February 2, where people seemed to be doing pretty well. This is in spite of the Trump administration’s extreme economic squeeze on the country, reminiscent of the “make the economy scream” strategy used by the Nixon administration and the CIA against the democratic government of President Salvador Allende in Chile, as well as many other democratically elected governments.

https://www.globalresearch.ca/venezuela-coverage-takes-us-back-to-golden-age-of-lying-about-latin-america/5669492

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>>5378072

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“I’m sorry, Señora, if you don’t have medical insurance, no public hospital in this country will look at you,” said the woman at the desk. “Your only hope is to go to a private hospital, but be prepared to pay a great deal of money up front.” Luckily, she had a wealthy friend, who took her to a private hospital, and paid a great deal of money up front.

Such conditions in Colombia and other neoliberal states go unmentioned in the US corporate media, which have treated the Colombian government, long a right-wing murder-squad regime, as a US ally (Extra!, 2/09).

Well, OK, but are the reports of conditions in Venezuelan hospitals true or grossly exaggerated? “They are much better than they were ten years ago,” said a friend who works in a Caracas hospital. In fact, he said, ten years before, the hospital where he worked did not exist, and new hospitals are now being opened. One was dedicated recently in the town of El Furrial, and another was opened in El Vigia, as reported by the centrist newspaper Últimas Noticias (3/3/17, 4/27/18). The government has also greatly expanded others, like a burn center in Caracas and three new operating rooms at the hospital in Villa Cura.

Meanwhile, the government is inaugurating a new high-speed train line, The Dream of Hugo Chávez, in March (Correo del Orinoco, 2/6/19). Since the US media have never allowed reporting on any accomplishments in the years since Chávez took office in 1999, but only any alleged, exaggerated or, as noted, completely invented shortcomings, readers have to consult an alternative history. Here is one offered by a Venezuelan on YouTube (3/31/11): “Por Culpa de Chávez” (“It’s Chávez’s Fault”). Depicting new hospitals, transit lines, housing, factories and so on built under Chavismo, it might help many understand why the Maduro government continues to enjoy such strong backing from so many people.

With women in combat roles, a federal court rules male-only draft unconstitutional

A federal judge in Texas has declared that an all-male military draft is unconstitutional, ruling that "the time has passed" for a debate on whether women belong in the military.

The decision deals the biggest legal blow to the Selective Service System since the Supreme Court upheld the draft registration process in 1981. In Rostker v. Goldberg, the court ruled that a male-only draft was "fully justified" because women were ineligible for combat roles.

But U.S. District Judge Gray Miller ruled late Friday that while historical restrictions on women serving in combat "may have justified past discrimination," men and women are now equally able to fight. In 2015, the Pentagon lifted all restrictions for women in military service.

The case was brought by the National Coalition For Men, a men's rights group, and two men who argued an all-male draft was unfair.

Men who fail to register with the Selective Service System at their 18th birthday can be denied public benefits such as federal employment and student loans. Women cannot register for Selective Service.

The ruling comes as an 11-member commission is studying the future of the Selective Service System, including whether women should be included or whether there should continue to be draft registration at all. The U.S. has maintained an all-volunteer military after the draft was discontinued in 1973, but the Selective Service System was reactivated in 1980 as a contingency in case military conscription becomes necessary again.

More

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/02/24/military-draft-judge-rules-male-only-registration-unconstitutional/2968872002/

ICE Arrests Organ Traffickers after Planned Parenthood Caught Selling Baby Body Parts

Two wealthy Ecuadorian brothers who were principals in DaVinci Biosciences and DV Biologics, the California companies fined and ordered to shut down for illegally trafficking world-wide in aborted baby parts it obtained from Planned Parenthood, were arrested by ICE on February 13, 2019.

According to Law.com:

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Roberto and William Isaías on Feb. 13. ICE representative Nestor Yglesias said the brothers were “unlawfully present” in the U.S., and have been “transferred to ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations” for deportation proceedings following their arrest. Yglesias added the pair is “in agency custody pending removal proceedings.”

The arrest of Roberto and William Isaias was gratifying to Operation Rescue, which published an investigative research report on October 27, 2016 – just days before the Presidential Election that put Donald J. Trump in office – that detailed their crimes in Ecuador, dubious dealings with the Obama administration, their business with Planned Parenthood and the aborted baby body parts trade.

“We understood that this family was in the U.S. under suspicious circumstances, and that they had committed crimes in Ecuador and Southern California,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. “We had hoped that one day they would return to Ecuador so that justice could be done, but their arrests still took us by surprise.”

In 2012, Roberto and William Isaias were sentenced in abstentia to eight years in prison for running their Ecuadorian bank into the ground then presenting false balance sheets to profit from bailout funds, wiping out the life savings of thousands of families. Ecuador says the Isaias family cost the impoverished country a total of $661.5 million.

The Isaias family began dumping large amounts of campaign contributions into American political campaigns, including $90,000 to Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign. As a result, after reaching out to then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for asylum, the Isaias’ were granted expedited immigration into the U.S. Clinton’s State Department then rebuffed attempts by Ecuador to extradite them to face justice.

Once in America, the Isaias family owned and operated DaVinci Biosciences and DV Biologics, companies that contracted exclusively with Planned Parenthood of Orange County to receive aborted baby tissues and organs, which they trafficked

thewashingtonpundit.com/2019/02/23/arrests-made-after-planned-parenthood-caught-selling-baby-body-parts

Millionaire Brothers Wanted by Ecuador Are Arrested in Miami by ICE

www.nytimes.com/2019/02/15/world/americas/isaias-brothers-arrested-ecuador.html

ICE detains Ecuadorean bankers convicted of multimillion-dollar bank embezzlement

www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/article226479725.html

ICE Arrests Ecuadorean Expatriates Locked in Lengthy Legal Battle in Miami

Roberto and William Isaías were apprehended by ICE on Feb. 13. According to the bureau, the pair was “unlawfully present” in the U.S. The Isaías brothers moved to Miami in 2003 and have been fighting the Ecuador government’s accusations of fraud since 2009.

www.law.com/dailybusinessreview/2019/02/19/ice-arrests-ecuadorian-expatriates-locked-in-lengthy-legal-battle-in-miami/?slreturn=20190124082849

Convicted Foreign Baby Parts Sellers Helped Obama Campaign

December 12, 2017

GHASTLY: Ecuadorean family made millions off hearts, lungs, kidneys

www.libertyheadlines.com/convicted-foreign-baby-parts-sellers-helped-obama-campaign/

2014

Wanted by Ecuador, 2 Brothers Make Mark in U.S. Campaigns

www.nytimes.com/2014/03/12/world/americas/wanted-by-ecuador-2-brothers-make-mark-in-us-campaigns.html

Pay to Slay’: Foreign Crime Family Reached Hillary Clinton for Immigration Favors so They Could Run a Baby Parts Harvesting Business; Planned Parenthood was the source of aborted baby remains that two Isaias family businesses sold all over the world

focusonthefacts.wordpress.com/2017/05/02/dead-men-do-tell-tales-part-one-of-what-breitbart-knew-by-amy-james-and-evelyn-pringle/

I-Team: Fugitive Banker Brothers With Ties to Sen. Menendez Detained in Miami

Brothers William and Roberto Isaias, who have ties to New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez, were arrested in Miami Wednesday

www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Fugitive-Banker-Brothers-From-Ecuador-With-Ties-to-New-Jersey-US-Senator-Robert-Menendez-Detained-in-Miami-505911301.html

https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/ice-arrests-organ-traffickers-after-planned-parenthood-caught-selling-baby-body-parts/

Japan to push ahead with U.S. base relocation despite Okinawa referendum result

TOKYO (Reuters) - A majority of voters in a referendum on Okinawa opposed a plan to relocate a U.S. military base within the southern Japanese island, but the central government said on Monday it intended to press ahead with its construction plans.

Just over 70 percent of voters opposed relocating the U.S. Marines’ Futenma air base within Okinawa in Sunday’s non-binding referendum, with a turnout of 53 percent. Okinawa governor Denny Tamaki was elected on that platform in September.

Okinawa is host to the bulk of U.S. military forces in Japan, whose alliance with Washington is central to its security. Many Okinawa residents associate the bases with crime, pollution and accidents.

The governor is required to respect the outcome and notify the premier and the U.S. president if the top response was backed by more than 25 percent of eligible voters.

Tokyo’s central government and Okinawa authorities have long been at loggerheads over the plan to move the air base.

A U.S.-Japan agreement calls for moving the base, which is surrounded by schools, hospitals and shops, to a less populated area, called Henoko, on the northern part of Okinawa.

However many Okinawa residents, indignant at what they see as an unfair burden, want the base off the island altogether.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters on Monday the government was taking the results seriously, and would work to obtain the understanding of Okinawa residents, but that plans to move the base could not be deferred.

“We cannot avoid the necessity of moving Futenma, said to be the most dangerous base in the world,” Abe said, noting that two decades had passed since the agreement to do so was made.

“We can’t put this off any longer,” he said.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-japan-okinawa/japan-to-push-ahead-with-us-base-relocation-despite-okinawa-referendum-result-idUSKCN1QE06Q

Armed Human Smuggler Arrested near Migrant Caravan Group

Yuma Sector Border Patrol agents arrested an armed human smuggler with a group of Mexican migrants not far from another group of caravan migrants. It appears the smuggler attempted to use the Central American migrants as a diversion in order to bring across the Mexican nationals.

Yuma Sector Communications Center camera operators observed a group of nine people who had illegally crossed the border near San Luis, Arizona, on Tuesday. The operators notified Special Operations Detachment (SOD) agents assigned to the Yuma Sector who responded to the scene and arrested three human smugglers while other agents were tied up with a large group of Central American migrants, according to information obtained from Yuma Sector Border Patrol officials. While searching the subjects, the SOD agents found one of the smugglers with two loaded 9mm magazines in his pocket. A search of the area uncovered a loaded 9mm pistol that had been discarded.

The three suspected human smugglers were found with six Mexican nationals illegally present in the U.S. The smugglers were also Mexican nationals.

This occurred while Border Patrol agents were tied up nearby with a group of 25 Guatemalan family members and unaccompanied minors who had illegally crossed the border near San Luis. In total, the agents apprehended more than 450 migrants — mostly Central American families and unaccompanied minors, officials stated.

“Yuma Sector agents continue to be inundated with large numbers of families and juveniles who illegally cross the border and significantly tax our resources,” Yuma Sector Chief Patrol Agent Anthony J. Porvaznik, said in a written statement. “This armed smuggling attempt took place while many of our agents were distracted from their border security duties and instead dealing with groups of surrendering families.”

https://www.breitbart.com/border/2019/02/23/armed-human-smuggler-arrested-near-migrant-caravan-group/

No One Trusts the US Government, Not Even the American People

Atlantic Bridge, a German front organization set up by Washington to propagandize Germans to serve Washington, has failed in the job. The latest survey conducted by the front group shows that 85% of Germans are alienated from the US. The front group’s chairman acknowledged “the great lost of trust in the United States.” By a margin of two to one, Germans see China as a more reliable partner for Germany than the US. https://www.translatetheweb.com/?from=de&to=en&refd=www.microsofttranslator.com&rr=UC&a=https://www.atlantik-bruecke.org/vertrauen-in-der-krise/

Americans have come to the same conclusion about the US government as have Germans. The latest Gallup Poll reveals that Americans regard America’s top problem to be the US government. Twice as many respondents regard the US government to be the top problem than regard immigration, and Americans see Washington to be six times the problem that health care is. https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2019/02/23/americans-call-their-government-americas-top-problem.html

As many have concluded, the United States is not a democracy. It is an oligarchy ruled by monied private interest groups. http://rinf.com/alt-news/editorials/america-is-one-dollar-one-vote-not-really-one-person-one-vote/

There has clearly been a revolution in America. An aristocracy has overthrown the people. Democracy is dead. We live in the Oligarchy United Against the People.

https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2019/02/23/no-one-trusts-the-us-government-not-even-the-american-people/

'Whole World Has Seen Outcome of US Occupation' - Saddam Hussein's Granddaughter

Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s granddaughter Hareer Hussein Kamel lives in Jordan, where she has obtained a Canadian university degree, started her own family, and even authored a book of family memoirs and archives. However, her life hasn’t always been tranquil and peaceful, she said in an interview with Sputnik.

Iraqi Memories

The 32-year old has shared with Sputnik the details of a “cold and scary” night in 2003, when she and her family fled war-torn Iraq.

“We were in Mosul. My mother Raghad and Aunt Rana, Saddam’s second daughter, took their kids and went to Syria without delay. While we were crossing the border on foot, Syrian border guards opened fire. It was really frightening, but no one, fortunately, was hurt”, Hareer recalled, adding that having spent several days in Syria they set out to Jordan, after the Hashemite Kingdom issued an invitation for them to travel there.

She recalled that after the American occupation, the new Iraqi authorities issued a decree prohibiting potential refugees from obtaining foreign passports, with numbers of families left without documents whatsoever.

“We were hospitably welcomed by Jordan and Qatar, as well as given passports, lodging and financial support”, Hareer, who is one of Saddam’s 15 grandchildren, said adding that most of the families who fled at the time continue to live in Jordan, except those who got married, like her, or went to study abroad, which many of her young relatives made up their minds to do. Hareer remembers perfectly well how she, a teenage girl at the time, felt about her grandfather’s court procedure that the whole family followed very closely, and his subsequent execution, referring to those days as “extremely hard”.

“He was simultaneously our president, grandfather, and our favourite hero”, Hareer noted with pain, before going on:

“I think these broadcasts made it possible to show the real Saddam Hussein to the whole world, as most people had a wrong understanding of him. So, everyone saw him in the court the way our family knew him”, she added.

https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201902231072682722-us-occupation-saddam-hussein-granddaughter/

Pentagon deems US military’s new $50bn tactical vehicle ‘not operationally suitable’

The US military’s expensive new tactical vehicle, designed to partially replace the ageing Humvee, is “not operationally suitable,” the US Defense Department’s testers have concluded.

The Director of Operational Test and Evaluation for the Defense Department said in its latest annual report that all variants of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) had issues regarding their “reliability, maintenance, crew situational awareness and safety.”

The Pentagon’s testers said the high number of deficiencies meant that the vehicle was “not operationally effective for use in combat and tactical missions.”

According to the report, the close combat version of the JLTV “provides less capability to engage threats with the (Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire-guided) missiles” compared to the Humvee, which has been battle-tested in various US wars in the Middle East over the past years.

There were also issues with the missile reload process, which the report warned was “slow and difficult for crews.”

The close combat version of the vehicle was deemed the least effective version because of its lack of storage space and the Pentagon’s testers concluded that “accessing mission-essential equipment from the cargo area is a challenge,” according to the report.

The vehicle’s inefficient design also resulted in numerous “blind spots” around it that gave the crew poor visibility, thus exposing them to incoming threats.

Maintenance of the expensive vehicle also proved a challenge.

“Units cannot maintain the JLTV without support from the contractor field service representatives due to vehicle complexity, ineffective training, poor manuals, and challenges with troubleshooting the vehicle,” the report further explained.

Developed by the Oshkosh tactical vehicle producer, the JLTV program is estimated to cost the Pentagon over $53.3 billion in its lifetime – $1.1 billion for research and at least $52.3 billion for procurement. Each JLTV has an estimated cost of over $430,000.

The Pentagon is planning to buy over 54,500 JLTVs, including 49,000 for the US Army and 5,500 for the US Marine Corps. In late November, it was reported that Oshkosh had delivered more than 2,600 vehicles.

In the Pentagon’s testing terms, a vehicle is deemed “operationally effective” when it can accomplish the mission it is intended to in environments that simulate real combat situations.

https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2019/02/24/589433/US-JLTV-tactical-vehicle-Humvee-Pentagon-tests

Israeli news anchor defends anti-occupation comments despite death threats

An Israeli news anchor who has blamed the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands for turning regime troops into “animals” has defended her comments despite having received death threats from “thousands.”

Israeli Channel 13 TV anchor Oshrat Kotler had last week denounced the mistreatment of Palestinians in Israeli custody following a piece aired on the channel about five Israeli soldiers indicted for beating two handcuffed and blindfolded Palestinians — a father and his 15-year-old son.

According to the indictment, the father was hospitalized for three days after sustaining multiple broken ribs, a “severely” broken nose, and subdermal bleeding around his stomach. The son also suffered a number of wounds to his head and “significant swelling” on his face.

After the report was aired, Kotler said, “We send children to the army, to the [occupied] territories, and get back animals. That is the result of the occupation.”

Her remarks infuriated extremist Israeli politicians, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Education Minister Naftali Bennett, both demanding that the TV host apologize.

On Saturday, however, Kotler said she stood by her comments despite having been flooded with death threats, according to The Times of Isreal.

She accused Israeli politicians of taking “cynical” advantage of her comments and taking them out of context in the midst of an election campaign.

“I am sorry if I hurt anyone with my words, but I cannot see the price we pay through our children for the reality of controlling another nation,” she said, appearing to fight back tears and referring to Palestinians. “We have lived this reality for 52 years. I do not have a magic solution; I am not a politician.”

‘Thousands of death threats’

She said her comments, “spoken with great pain,” had been “directed only at the soldiers who violated the law” and not all Israeli troopers.

“Thousands threatened my life and the life of my family, and I am afraid, but I hope to find the strength to continue and express my opinion as a reporter,” she said.

Israeli NGO Peace Now backed Kotler, saying, “It is permissible and even desirable to look into the mirror from time to time and honestly admit to the damage [caused by] the occupation. Those whose children’s futures are important to them should work to end the conflict rather than maintain it, because the price is high.”

Tamar Zandberg, the leader of left-wing Meretz Party, called the attacks on Kotler “pathetic and yet predictable… shutting your eyes [to the problem] and then assailing the messenger is not a solution.”

Israeli forces have on numerous occasions been caught on camera brutally beating or killing Palestinians, with the videos going viral online and sparking widespread condemnations.

https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2019/02/24/589385/Israel-news-anchor-occupation-defense-death-threats

Israel Promotes Own Weapons With Animation Showing Destruction Of Russian S-300 Radars And Ka-50 Attack Helicopters

There is a new trend in the Israeli propganda. Now, Tel Aviv is promoting its weapons by making animations showing how they eliminate Russian military equipment.

In February, Israel Aerospace Industrie released 2 videos promoting the capabilities of Israeli-produced military equipment. One of the videos shows how a Mini Harpy tactical loitering munition destroys an apparent radar of the S-300 air defenese system.

The aforementioned videos are actively exploiting the “Russian threat” narrative as a tool to promote Israeli weapons and equipment. Another factor is a balanced military diplomatic approach employed by Moscow in the Syrian conflict. At least a part of the Tel Aviv leadership attempts to show that this approach is a sign of the Russian weakness.

https://southfront.org/israel-promotes-own-weapons-with-animation-showing-destruction-of-russian-s-300-radars-and-ka-50-attack-helicopters/

THE HUMANISM OF ANTI ZIONISM

upporting Palestine is an indication of your humanity not a sign of anti-Semitism. Opposing Zionism is not anti-Jewish or anti-Semitic.

Writing columns often involves difficult choices. What you write about reflects your opinions and priorities. Every time I sit down at my laptop to construct a column I agonise over what to write about from a huge list of worthy topics and current affairs issues.

Today I simply cannot ignore the corrosive effect of the very powerful and well financed pro-Israel lobby which is at the heart of the concerted campaigns of vilification against Jeremy Corbyn over the last four years and is responsible for the ridiculous association of Corbyn and socialists within the Labour Party with anti-Semitism.

Every newspaper, news bulletin, political TV show and newspaper review segment on Sky News, the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and other mainstream outlets associates Corbyn, his Labour Party leadership and rifts within the Labour Party with anti-Semitism. It is sickeningly inaccurate, bereft of evidence, informed by political bile and promoted by imbeciles with an agenda. That agenda is not to oppose anti-Semitism, racism or Islamophobia but to fuel popular belief that Jeremy Corbyn is an anti-Semite and a racist. The idea that a man whose whole adult life has been devoted to politically campaigning against racism, Semitism, injustice and inequality is actually a racist and anti-Semite is so pathetically untrue that the only way it can gain a morsel of traction and credibility is through a powerful and deceitful campaign of lies and distortions via the mainstream media and paid for idiots and bought off lackeys.

It is a matter of debate whether it was George Orwell or Antonio Gramsci who coined the phrase about it being ‘a revolutionary actto tell the truth during times of reaction’ but regardless of its origin let us be courageous enough to truthfully state categorically and without fear of contradiction or reprisals that Israel is a rogue nation which daily subjects the Palestinian people to brutal repression. Israel has created and developed an apartheid system of state terror which should be categorically exposed, condemned and campaigned against by any human being with a belief in democracy and freedom. The Boycott, Disinvest and Sanctions (BDS) movement works to end international support for Israel’s oppression of Palestinians and pressure Israel to comply with international law. It is a movement which deserves support but is instead attacked and even outlawed in 24 States of America.

Expressing opposition to what the Israeli state is doing to the Palestinians and supporting the increasingly popular BDS Movement does not make you an anti-Semite it makes you a compassionate human being.

https://desertpeace.wordpress.com/2019/02/25/the-humanism-of-anti-zionism/