FAA Investigating Houston Incident Involving Another Boeing 737

Update 5: South African carrier Comair has become the latest airline to ground its 737 MAX 8s.

After facing criticism for saying it would keep its Boeing 737 MAX 8 in operation (the airline just received delivery of its first 737 MAX late last month), it has apparently decided to temporarily not schedule flights using the plane. It's reportedly in talks with Boeing.

Here is the statement the airline released a few hours ago saying it would continue to monitor the investigation into the Ethiopian Airlines crash.

More

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-03-11/boeing-shares-fall-9-hundreds-737s-grounded-following-2nd-deadly-crash

Iowa Supreme Court unanimously rules Medicaid must cover gender transition surgeries

Justices agree such procedures are medically necessary

The Iowa Supreme Court unanimously ruled Friday that the state could no longer ban Medicaid recipients from receiving taxpayer-funded sex change operations, ruling that transition surgeries are medically necessary.

What are the details?

Transgender women Eerieanna Good and Carol Beal had sued the Iowa Department of Human Services for discrimination over its administrative code classifying transition-related surgeries as "cosmetic, reconstructive or plastic surgery." The code explicitly bans "surgeries for the purpose of sex reassignment."

The plaintiffs insist "gender-affirming" surgeries are "medically necessary" for them in order to treat their gender dysphoria, and a district court ruled in their favor. DHS appealed, with Assistant Attorney General Matthew Gillespie arguing that the case was not about the discrimination of transgender Iowans, but whether the state had appropriately denied coverage for surgeries intended to treat psychological conditions, the Washington Examiner reported.

The Supreme Court upheld the lower court's decision, with Justice Susan Christensen writing that the state's "bar on Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming surgical procedures discriminates against transgender Medicaid recipients in Iowa" under Iowa civil rights laws. The justice pointed to the fact that the state amended the Iowa Civil Rights Act in 2007 to add "gender identity" to the list of protected groups.

Justice Christensen also noted in the decision that Medicaid already covers the costs of some cosmetic or reconstructive procedures, such as "'[r]evision of disfiguring and extensive scars resulting from neoplastic surgery' and '[c]orrection of a congenital anomaly.' Yet, it prohibits coverage for this same procedure if a transgender individual."

Anything else?

According to the Des Moines Register, transgender surgeries can range in cost from $20,000 to $100,000, "putting it out of reach of individuals who qualify for the assistance." Now, those out-of-reach costs must be covered by taxpayers.

John Knight of the American Civil Liberties Union — who represented the plaintiffs — hailed the court's decision, saying in a statement: "The ruling means that many transgender Iowans will be able to obtain life-saving medical care that they were unable to get in the past. We are thrilled that the Iowa Supreme Court rejected the Department's effort to minimize the importance of this surgery by labeling it as cosmetic and unanimously struck down this harmful ban on necessary health care."

https://www.theblaze.com/news/iowa-supreme-court-unanimously-rules-medicaid-must-cover-gender-transition-surgeries

Rapper Charged With Terrorism for Sharing Song Critical of Police on Facebook and YouTube

“In totalitarian regimes—a.k.a. police states—where conformity and compliance are enforced at the end of a loaded gun, the government dictates what words can and cannot be used."

Weighing in on a First Amendment case that could have significant ramifications for online communications and controversial art forms, The Rutherford Institute has come to the defense of a rap artist who was charged with making terrorist threats after posting a rap song critical of police on Facebook and YouTube.

Police had been actively monitoring rapper Jamal Knox’s (a.k.a. “Mayhem Mal”) social media presence when they discovered the song titled “F**k the Police” and charged Knox and his rap partner with multiple counts of terroristic threats and witness intimidation. The Rutherford Institute’s amicus brief in Knox v. Pennsylvania, filed in conjunction with The CATO Institute, asks the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case and reject an attempt by government officials to expand the definition of “true threats,” making controversial and unpopular political or artistic expression subject to prosecution and suppression by the government.

Affiliate attorneys Ari Savitzky, Paul Vanderslice, Mark C. Fleming, James Bor-Zale, and Rauvin Johl of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr assisted The Rutherford Institute and CATO with the arguments.

“In totalitarian regimes—a.k.a. police states—where conformity and compliance are enforced at the end of a loaded gun, the government dictates what words can and cannot be used. This is exactly the scenario we’re seeing played out over and over again in America today, where ‘we the people’ are increasingly only as free to speak as a government official or corporate censor may allow,” said constitutional attorney John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute and author of Battlefield America: The War on the American People.

“Yet nowhere in the First Amendment does it permit the government to limit speech in order to avoid causing offense, hurting someone’s feelings, safeguarding government secrets, protecting government officials, insulating judges from undue influence, discouraging bullying, penalizing hateful ideas and actions, eliminating terrorism, combatting prejudice and intolerance, and the like.”

Rap artist Jamal Knox performs under the name “Mayhem Mal.” Knox teamed up with Rashee Beasley to form the rap group “Ghetto Superstar Committee.” Knox and Beasley wrote, performed and shared songs on social media sites such as Facebook and YouTube that reflected their personal experiences.

In 2012, Knox and Beasley wrote a song about being arrested by Pittsburgh police on drug and weapons charges and shared the song on Facebook and YouTube. The song, titled “F**k the Police,” contained violent lyrical rhetoric regarding the police that is typical of the rap genre and its commentary on the experiences of minorities at the hands of law enforcement. Police discovered the song while monitoring Knox and Beasley’s online activity.

Knox and Beasley were subsequently charged with multiple counts of terroristic threats and witness intimidation. At trial, Knox’s attorneys argued that the rap song and its lyrics were protected by the First Amendment and not “true threats” that can be punished criminally. The court rejected the First Amendment defense.

https://thefreethoughtproject.com/rapper-charged-terrorism-song/

Tesla's Former Head Of Global Security Ops & Investigations Is Now A Whistleblower

Update 3/11/2019 12:33PM EST - Tesla has responded, albeit vaguely, that Gouthro's allegations, despite not being public just yet, are "untrue and sensationalized".

*TESLA INC RESPONDS TO ALLEGATIONS BY SEAN GOUTHRO, ITS FORMER HEAD OF GLOBAL SECURITY OPERATIONS CENTER AND INVESTIGATIONS

*TESLA INC SAYS "GOUTHRO'S ALLEGATIONS ARE UNTRUE AND SENSATIONALIZED"

–

Attorney Stuart Meissner had been teasing last week that new "whistleblower" information on Tesla was going to be forthcoming. This morning, he unveiled what is potentially Tesla's most credible whistleblower yet: the company's former head of Global Security Operations Center & Investigations, Sean Gouthro.

The sleuths on Twitter uncovered Gouthro's responsibilities at Tesla while he was there, via his LinkedIn, which included "social media monitoring".

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-03-11/teslas-former-head-global-security-ops-investigations-now-whistleblower

Gillibrand’s Office Hit With Sexual Allegations, Aide Resigns In Protest

2020 Democratic hopeful New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, known for her vocal support of the #MeToo movement, is facing a #MeToo reckoning in her own office after a female staffer resigned citing mishandling of her sexual harassment allegations against a male staffer.

The female staffer wrote a letter to Gillibrand after she resigned and accused her of going against her public support of #MeToo in her office’s handling of the sexual harassment investigation and its aftermath.

The woman told Politico about a so-called empty gesture from Gillibrand, who hugged the woman after the investigation but before she quit and said, “We love you.”

2020 Democratic hopeful Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is facing a #MeToo reckoning in her own office after a female staffer resigned citing mishandling of her sexual harassment allegations against a male staffer.

The female staffer, who is in her mid-20s, told Politico about her experience in a story published Monday. Politico did not identify the woman.

“I trusted and leaned on this statement that you made: ‘You need to draw a line in the sand and say none of it is O.K. None of it is acceptable.’ Your office chose to go against your public belief that women shouldn’t accept sexual harassment in any form and portrayed my experience as a misinterpretation instead of what it actually was: harassment and ultimately, intimidation,” the woman wrote in a letter to Gillbrand Aug. 30, after tendering her resignation.

The woman reported that a male staffer, who was roughly ten years older than her and married, made unwanted advances toward her after he received a promotion. The male staffer, Abbas Malik, was demoted but not fired. The woman still had to work with him despite his new pattern of leaving her out of communications after she rebuffed him, she said.

Gillibrand’s office kept Malik on until last week, reported Politico. Politico took credit for the dismissal of Malik, one of the staffers Gillibrand herself was closest to:

Two weeks ago, however, POLITICO presented the office with its own findings of additional allegations of inappropriate workplace conduct by Malik. Among the claims were that he made a ‘joke’ about rape to a female colleague — a person whom the office had failed to contact last summer despite repeated urgings by Malik’s accuser to reach out to the person.

Gillibrand’s office opened a new investigation and dismissed Malik last week. Malik did not respond to requests for comment.

Gillibrand’s office responded to Politico with a lengthy statement.

https://dailycaller.com/2019/03/11/kirsten-gillibrand-metoo-senate/

Algeria's Bouteflika Declares Presidential Vote Postponement, Says Won't Run

Algeria has recently been rocked by protests against the incumbent 82-year-old president's intention to run for another term, despite being wheelchair-bound and serving at the post for about two decades.

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced that the upcoming presidential elections would be postponed, adding that he will not run for a fifth term. He promised to set up an interim body that will oversee the organisation of new elections. A new date for the elections was not specified in his address.

At the same time, the cabinet, including Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia, announced their resignation amid the wave of popular protests.

Algerians have been protesting since 22 February following Bouteflika's announcement that he would run in the 18 April election. Amid the rallies, Bouteflika, who suffered a stroke in 2013 and has since been bound to a wheelchair, pledged that if he is re-elected, to call snap vote in which he wouldn't participate as a candidate in order to ensure a transition to a new president.

Bouteflika has been in power for 20 years, but has rarely been seen in public since he suffered the stroke.

https://sputniknews.com/africa/201903111073133893-algeria-bouteflika-presidential-election/

Yellow Vests ransack MASONIC LODGE in French village as protest gets out of hand

A crowd of Yellow Vest protesters broke into and trashed a Masonic lodge in the French village of Tarbes. The ransacking has been condemned by the French government, who accused the protesters of “stupidity” and “intolerance.”

Some 450 protesters had gathered in Tarbes on Saturday for the 17th straight weekend of anti-government demonstrations. Around midnight, La Dépêche paper reported, some protesters began shouting “we’re going to the freemasons!”

A smaller crowd of protesters marched on the Masonic temple, with one battering down the door of the secretive organization’s clubhouse. More protesters pelted rocks at the building and eventually the group forced its way inside. They overturned furniture, trashed the esoteric art hanging on the walls, and stole four ceremonial swords; they gave these back later on.

Police have opened an investigation, and France’s Interior Minister Christophe Castaner condemned the vandalism.

“After the Jews, the Freemasons,” he tweeted, alluding to alleged anti-Semitism within the ranks of the protesters. “When stupidity encounters intolerance, it is the worst.” Castaner also accused the Yellow Vests of having “no other project than hatred.”

Across the country, somewhere between 28,000 and 90,000 protesters took to the streets on Saturday to voice their opposition to the policies of unpopular president Emmanuel Macron, which, they say, benefit the rich but not the majority. Some 2,000 protesters have been injured and dozens maimed in clashes with police since November.

The movement’s organizers have planned a massive demonstration for next Saturday, timed to coincide with the end of President Macron’s three-month ‘Great National Debate,’ a public forum aimed at quelling the tide of dissent in France and forging “a new contract with the nation.”

The Yellow Vests have mostly focused their attention on Macron’s economic policies, and have not singled out the Freemasons as a target. However, the Masons’ secretive nature and powerful membership have made the organization a target for popular anger in the past and has fueled countless conspiracy theories.

https://www.rt.com/news/453477-yellow-vests-masonic-lodge/

Internet Collapses in Venezuela with 80% Offline; Twitter, YouTube, SoundCloud Blocked

In the midst of a second nationwide power outage in Venezuela, the vast majority of the country is engulfed in a massive internet outage. The first electrical blackout, which swept across the nation on Thursday, left Venezuela with only two percent connectivity amid the ongoing presidential crisis. Most of the country has been offline since Thursday with limited or no connectivity being reported across large swaths of the South American nation. The NetBlocks Group, a private internet watchdog organization based in the UK, reported on Saturday that 96 percent of the country was offline:

https://pjmedia.com/trending/internet-collapses-in-venezuela-with-80-offline-twitter-youtube-soundcloud-blocked/

US Wants India to Stop Oil Trade With Venezuela - Special Envoy Abrams

Previously, Bloomberg suggested that Caracas shipped 620,000 barrels a day to India in the first half of February, which is 66% more than the average daily shipments a month earlier

US Special Envoy for Venezuela Elliott Abrams confirmed that Washington is pressing India to stop buying Venezuelan oil.

"We say you should not be helping this regime, you should be on the side of the Venezuelan people", Abrams told Reuter, adding that the White House had given the same message to other governments.

In response, Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesman Raveesh Kumar stated that New Delhi would ignore US pressure and continue its trade with Venezuela.

Addressing the political crisis in the Latin American country earlier in February, US National Security Adviser John Bolton had warned that "nations and firms that support Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's theft of Venezuelan resources will not be forgotten".

Washington introduced sanctions against Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA in January, blocking $7 billion in PDVSA assets and pressuring companies to cut ties with the firm until 11 March. The deadline, however, was later extended until 10 May.

The decision was made after opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself the country's interim president. The United States immediately recognised him as head of Venezuela, with many of its allies following the suit; however, Russia, China, Mexico, Turkey and a number of other countries have supported Nicolas Maduro as Venezuela’s only legitimate president.

https://sputniknews.com/world/201903101073106764-oil-india-venezuela-us-sanctions/

Raqqa: US Army Choppers Rescue ISIL Commanders Holding Valuable Intel

The American Army has relocated several ISIL commanders with important information on the US by conducting heliborne operations in Raqqa province.

The US-led coalition helped four senior ISIL commanders to escape Raqqa province in a heliborne operation that included six helicopters flying in al-Rafedin region in al-Tabaqa town in Southwestern Raqqa, local sources in Raqqa said.

The sources, meantime, noted that the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) had besieged the region where heliborne operations were conducted.

Meantime, the Arabic-language service of the Russian Sputnik News Agency said that the relocated ISIL terrorist commanders had previously fled to Raqqa after the Syrian and Russian armies conducted military operations to set free the city of al-Qoryatayn in Homs province.

It noted that the ISIL commanders most probably have secrets of the US Army troops with them.

In a relevant development last month, a source close to Kurdish forces said that the US Army was taking ISIL's gold treasure that is estimated to weigh around 50 tons from Eastern Syria to America.

The Kurdish-language Bas News quoted a Kurdish source as saying that the Americans have transferred tens of tons of the gold ingots they have seized from the ISIL terrorists in Baghouz region in Southeastern Deir Ezzur to their own country and only kept a small portion of the treasure to be given to the Kurdish fighters.

The source who spoke on the condition of anonymity reiterated that about 50 tons of ISIL's gold has been sent to the US from the US military base in Kobani in Northeastern Aleppo.

The report comes as the US has been using the airport in Southern Kobani for transferring consignments and military equipment in recent years.

In a relevant development also month, the US Army troops took out a sum of 40 tons of gold ingots belonging to the ISIL in heliborne operations after agreeing with the terrorist group and while Washington is preparing to announce the end of ISIL in Eastern Euphrates.

"The US troops in concordance with the ISIL terrorist group relocated big boxes packed with ISIL's gold treasure on several helicopters from al-Dashisheh region in Southern Hasaka," the SANA news agency quoted local sources in Eastern Deir Ezzur said.

The sources pointed to boxes containing 40 tons of gold ingots that the ISIL had hidden in the Eastern part of al-Shadadi city, and said that the ISIL had stolen the treasure of gold from the Iraqi city of Mosul and different parts of Syria.

The US troops reportedly took out a group of ISIL terrorist commanders from Eastern Syria in two heliborne operations in Hajin region of Eastern Deir Ezzur and al-Dashisheh in Southern Hasaka and they were directed to the place where the gold treasure was hidden.

Also last month, the London-based Syrian Observatory of Human Rights (SOHR) said the Washington-backed militants were trying to find and seize millions of dollars and at least 40 tons of gold left behind by the ISIL terrorist group.

The SOHR reported that the ISIL terrorists had stolen about 40 tons of gold and millions of dollars from the population once under their control in Iraq and Syria, which was later transferred to Eastern Euphrates in Eastern Deir Ezzur.

"The US-led coalition forces and the SDF deliberately do not target the areas under the control of the ISIL terrorists and commanders in Eastern Euphrates in Deir Ezzur as they are trying to locate this treasure by forcing the ISIL militants to speak about its location after surrendering," it quoted informed sources as saying.

They noted that part of the cash dollars and gold have been transferred from Turkey to the areas under the ISIL control by Turkish brokers and intelligence service who have close ties with the ISIL.

Meantime, an SDF Commander, Adnan Afrin, said that the ISIL is now under the siege of the SDF in an area no larger than one square kilometers in Eastern Euphrates.

In a relevant development earlier in February, a prominent Syrian military expert revealed that Washington plans to transfer the remnants of the ISIL terrorists from Eastern Euphrates to other regions through Turkey and Iraq.

The Arabic-language website of Sputnik quoted Brigadier General Mohammad Issa as saying that less than 600 ISIL militants are stationed in a 4-km/sq region in Eastern Euphrates who will be soon evacuated from the region to foreign territories.

https://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13971219000816

Subversive Statecraft Scandal Exposes Bombshell German-Designed Brexit Plan

Cast your mind back to summer last year. The Cabinet gathered at the Prime Minister’s country retreat of Chequers, on the sylvan Chiltern downs. There was very important business: Theresa May, flanked by senior civil servant Olly Robbins, presented the draft agreement for Britain’s departure from the EU. For the first time, ministers (including Brexit secretary David Davis and foreign secretary Boris Johnson) saw the proposed terms – and the extent to which May would abide by her pledge of ‘Brexit means Brexit’. The chief whip instructed that nobody could leave without consenting to the Withdrawal Agreement, unless they resigned – and must then find their way home without ministerial transport.

For Leavers in the Cabinet, it was a shocker. Scarcely anything appropriate for a renewed sovereign nation could be found in this document, which seemed an abject surrender to Messrs Barnier and Juncker. For Brexit voters, it was hard to believe that their government would consider such punitive clauses; their faith in Theresa May, until then buoyant, was shattered. And this document, we were told, was only the initial negotiating stance – it could get worse. In the morass since the referendum on 23rd June 2016, this has been the most significant subsequent event to date.

https://www.blacklistednews.com/article/71533/subversive-statecraft-scandal-exposes-bombshell-germandesigned-brexit.html

The number-one mind-control program at U.S. colleges

Here is a staggering statistic from the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI): "More than 25 percent of college students have been diagnosed or treated by a professional for a mental health condition within the past year."

Let that sink in. 25 percent.

Colleges are basically clinics. Psychiatric centers.

Colleges have been taken over. A soft coup has occurred, out of view.

You want to know where all this victim-oriented "I’m triggered" and "I need a safe space" comes from? You just found it.

It’s a short step from being diagnosed with a mental disorder to adopting the role of being super-sensitive to "triggers." You could call it a self-fulfilling prophecy. "If I have a mental disorder, then I’m a victim, and then what people say and do around me is going disturb me…and I’ll prove it."

The dangerous and destabilizing effects of psychiatric drugs confirm this attitude. The drugs DO, in fact, produce an exaggerated and distorted sensitivity to a person’s environment.

You want to know where a certain amount of violent aggressive behavior on campuses comes from? You just found it. The psychiatric drugs. In particular, antidepressants and speed-type medications for ADHD.

You want to know why so many college students can’t focus on their studies? You just found one reason. The brain effects of the drugs.

The usual variety of student problems are translated into pseudoscientific categories of "mental disorders"—and toxic drugging ensues.

A college student says to himself, "I’m having trouble with my courses. I don’t understand what my professors want. My reading level isn’t good enough. I don’t like the professors who have a political bias. I’m confused. I miss my friends back home. I feel like a stranger on campus. I’d like to date, but I don’t know where to start. There are groups on campus. Should I join one? Well, maybe I need help. I should go to the counseling center and talk to a psychologist. That’s what they’re there for. Maybe I have a problem I don’t know about…"

And so it begins.

The student is looking for an explanation of his problems. But this search will morph into: having a socially acceptable excuse for not doing well. Understand the distinction.

After a bit of counseling, the student is referred to a psychiatrist, who makes a diagnosis of depression, and prescribes a drug. Now the student says, "That’s a relief. Now I know why I have a problem. I have a mental disorder. I never knew that. I’m operating at a disadvantage. I’m a victim of a brain abnormality. Okay. That means I really shouldn’t be expected to succeed. Situations affect my mood. What people say affects my mood."

And pretty soon, the whole idea of being triggered and needing a safe space makes sense to the student. He’s heading down a slippery slope, but he doesn’t grasp what’s actually going on. On top of that, the drug he’s taking is disrupting his thoughts and his brain activity. But of course, the psychiatrist tells him no, it’s not the drug, it’s the condition, the clinical depression, which is worsening and making it harder to think clearly. He needs a different drug. The student is now firmly in the system. He’s a patient. He’s expected to have trouble coping. And on and on it goes.

Buckle up. Here is the background. Here is what psychiatry is all about—

Wherever you see organized psychiatry operating, you see it trying to expand its domain and its dominance. The Hippocratic Oath to do no harm? Are you kidding?

More

https://chimpplanet.blogspot.com/2019/03/repost-number-one-mind-control-program.html

Sara Carter stumps for Israel