Turkey must choose between remaining NATO partner or buying Russian S-400 – Pence

US Vice President Mike Pence has threatened Turkey’s future role in the NATO alliance, warning it against “reckless decisions,” like pressing ahead with the purchase of the Russian-made S-400 air defense system.

“Turkey must choose. Does it want to remain a critical partner in the most successful military alliance in history or does it want to risk the security of that partnership by making such reckless decisions that undermine our @NATO alliance?,” Pence tweeted on Wednesday, after making similar remarks at a NATO summit in Washington.

Turkey has insisted on purchasing the Russian weapons system, despite repeated warnings from the US. Even after the Pentagon halted deliveries of the fifth-generation F-35 fighter jet and related equipment to Turkey, Ankara remained defiant, with Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu telling the NATO summit that the purchase was “a done deal.”

Cavusoglu and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are currently meeting head-to-head at the summit to discuss the F-35 dispute.

The Turkish FM said that operating the two weapons systems at once “will not be a threat” to the F-35 or other NATO systems. US lawmakers and military officials have consistently warned that Turkey’s deployment of the S-400 would give the Russian system opportunity to learn how to track and spot the F-35, with potentially deadly consequences for the jet in future conflicts.

Turkey is set to receive its first S-400 batteries this July. The US has thus far failed to lure its NATO ally away from the Russian system and to Raytheon’s more expensive Patriot missile system, despite offering it to Ankara at a knock-down rate earlier this year.

Turkey has also been a vital partner in the F-35 program, which is US’ most expensive military project to date. If both sides cannot reach a deal, the US will need to find new suppliers for parts of the fighter’s fuselage, landing gear, and cockpit displays.

https://www.rt.com/news/455485-turkey-must-choose-between-remaining/

Torturer, Arms Trafficker, CIA Spy: The Story Of Nazi War Criminal Klaus Barbie

The Nazis were infamous for their cruelty and cold efficiency, and Gestapo operative Klaus Barbie was no exception. Known as the “Butcher of Lyon” for his reign of terror in Nazi-occupied Lyon, France, Barbie not only sent Jews to concentration camps but also brutally tortured French Jews and Resistance fighters. Yet despite this, Barbie managed to escape conviction at the Nuremberg Trials as World War II ended. Instead, the U.S. and West German intelligence services recruited him as a spy.

Barbie was consequently placed within the South American state of Bolivia under a new identity where he would go on to help right-wing paramilitary groups there overthrow their government, sell cocaine paste to narco-terrorists one of which may have been the King of Cocaine himself, Pablo Escobar, and, as it has been alleged, aid the CIA in tracking down and killing Ernesto “Che” Guevara, the infamous Argentine Marxist revolutionary.

Barbie’s past would catch up with him. In the end, it would be a pair of fearless French “Nazi hunters” who brought the escaped war criminal to justice.

http://www.webnewsys.com/2019/04/torturer-arms-trafficker-cia-spy-story.html

Far from only being a ruthless operative, Barbie was also a businessman. With CIA support, he ran a successful arms and cocaine-smuggling business with Friedrich Schwend, another ex-Nazi who had been Hitler’s master counterfeiter.

The conditions were now perfect for Barbie to partner with South American drug cartels. Allegedly, one of Barbie’s clients was Pablo Escobar’s infamous Medellin cartel who he most likely supplied with weapons.

But his closest ally was billionaire drug trafficker Roberto Suarez Gomez. Barbie helped Gomez to install General Luis Garcia Meza Tejada as the puppet leader of Bolivia in 1980. Never before had an entire government been funded and controlled with cocaine money. It set a dangerous new precedent that Barbie played a key role in.

Extradition And Death

However, in 1982 Tejada’s military dictatorship collapsed. By this point, Barbie was vulnerable as he had already been tracked down in the 1970s by German journalist Beate Auguste Klarsfeld. Beate and her husband Serge acted as “Nazi hunters” or individuals who tracked down former Nazi operatives to bring them to justice.

France had in fact been calling for Bolivia to extradite Barbie since 1973. But only now, with a liberal democratic government in power, was Barbie no longer protected. He was extradited back to France in 1983 and sentenced to life in prison for crimes against humanity. Finally, in September 1991, at the old age of 77, the “Butcher of Lyon” died of cancer.

Trump: Great Strides Made in ‘Ridiculous’ Afghan War

Praises NATO's promised spending hikes

Whenever President Trump is dealing with NATO issues, there is always the question of whether Trump is going to praise NATO as the greatest thing since sliced bread, mock them as a relic of the past, or somehow manage to do both at once.

Meeting NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday, Trump played up the pledges for increased military spending, while pushing for even more. He also cheered the “great strides” made in Afghanistan militarily by NATO, while terming the war ‘ridiculous.’

Trump is well known to be weary of the Afghan War, and hopeful of making a negotiated deal with the Taliban to withdraw from the nation. It’s a good thing this was known beforehand, as he did not elaborate beyond calling the war “unfortunate” and “ridiculous.”

Stoltenberg praised Trump for his “strong leadership,” while saying that some nations could disagree on the exact direction of the alliance. The two also declared their unity on withdrawing the US from the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.

https://news.antiwar.com/2019/04/02/trump-great-strides-made-in-ridiculous-afghan-war/

Former transgender activist warns of deadly, disturbing transition dangers: ‘We are manufacturing transgender kids’

A former transgender activist and a mother whose daughter identifies as transgender spoke out against the danger of pushing or encouraging transgenderism in children.

What are the details?

The two spoke at a Tuesday panel discussion at The Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. The panel, "The Medical Harms of Hormonal and Surgical Interventions for Gender Dysphoric Children," addressed the issues that come along with assisting children with a transition.

Walt Heyer, the trans activist who recently announced that the media and doctors misled him to believe that the answer to gender dysphoria was a transition, warned of the dangers to children of encouraging early transitions.

Heyer, who formerly lived as a woman, explained that many people who wish to change genders have been sexually abused as children.

"Over 50 percent of the people that I've worked with — hundreds of people that I've worked with over the last 10 years — were sexually abused boys who were abused at a young age," Heyer revealed, and noted that many of them believe that the only way to "cure" themselves is to "cut off their genitalia and become female."

"In their mind, that is their defense mechanism for sexual abuse," he said.

"We are manufacturing transgender kids," Heyer later added. "We are manufacturing their depression, their anxiety, and turned [it] into a huge industry that people are profiting from after kids' lives are completely torn apart."

What did "Elaine' say?

"Elaine," who requested to be anonymous, said that she is speaking out about transgenderism to help children, parents, and family members.

"Parents are doing everything they can to help their kids lead healthy, happy, and fulfilling lives, yet when parents seek out experts for help, they receive a one-size-fits-all narrative that has no basis in science, common sense, or compassion," Elaine added.

She added that medical professionals no longer dissuade children from believing that they are transgender and instead offer empty support.

"Their children will be at higher risk of suicide," Elaine explained. "These parents are being lied to as their children are harmed, and their families are torn apart."

"Why not help children learn to love the bodies in which they were born?" she asked.

Elaine added that the dangers of administering hormone therapy to young, underdeveloped adolescents could be high and are not concrete at this point in time.

"Girls as young as 12 are prescribed testosterone for lifetime usage, while boys are given estrogen," Elaine said. "These are serious hormonal treatments that impact brain development [and] cardiovascular health, and may increase the risk of cancer.

"There are no long-term studies to prove this is necessary, safe, or prudent," she insisted. "I am speaking out because I love my daughter, and it is because of her that I know what I told you today is true. She has been a victim of 'gender-affirming' medical procedures, and I was powerless to stop doctors from harming her. Someday, I hope she will realize that I am advocating for her health and for her future."

http://www.cuzzblue.com/2019/04/former-transgender-activist-warns-of.html

Why is Brussels terminating the 5G roll-out?

==

Brussels Becomes First Major City to Halt 5G Due to Health Effects==

Great news. A Belgian government minister has announced that Brussels is halting its 5G plans due to health effects.

The statement was made by Céline Fremault, the Minister of the Government of the Brussels-Capital Region, responsible for Housing, Quality of Life, Environment and Energy. From an interview last Friday, with L’Echo:

“I cannot welcome such technology if the radiation standards, which must protect the citizen, are not respected, 5G or not. The people of Brussels are not guinea pigs whose health I can sell at a profit. We cannot leave anything to doubt.”

– Céline Fremault, Minister of the Government (Brussels-Captial Region), responsible for Housing, Quality of Life, Environment and Energy

Ms. Fremault accurately identified that a 5G pilot project is not compatible with Belgian radiation safety standards (9 V/m, or 95 mW/m2 according to this online converter), and stated that she does not intend to make an exception. (In the Building Biology guidelines, the threshold for extreme concern is 1 mW/m2. However, many government agencies still only consider thermal effects, instead of the cumulative body of thousands of peer-reviewed scientific studies.)

Perhaps with Brussels heading up the European Union, and with one of the two major 5G appeals being addressed to the EU, officials there are better informed and motivated to protect themselves.

May support increase for Ms. Fremault and all officials who are hearing the call to sanity and prioritizing the people over the technocratic oligarchy.

2-MINUTE ACTION: To send a brief note of support to Ms. Fremault, go here; and to Brussels city councilors, go here. Encourage them of the importance to keep this ban permanent, despite industry’s forthcoming pressure.

https://takebackyourpower.net/brussels-first-major-city-to-halt-5g-due-to-health-effects/

The Brexit Desperation Rises as the Betrayal Deepens

British parliament is now worse than a joke. And they have no one to blame but themselves.

As I watch the desperation of these people, obviously loyal to the European Union first and their constituents a distant fourth or fifth – after themselves, their party and any corporate lobbyists – it’s clear they don’t have any clue as to how to get out of the mess they’ve made for themselves.

Yesterday the British parliament again took over the business from the government and again was incapable of providing any direction to that government as to what kind or type of Brexit would be acceptable.

Mike Shedlock has a good run-down of the votes themselves if you are interested in what terminal virtue-signaling looks like. Mike thinks:

There will likely be one more round of “indicative votes” and also likely May’s Deal vs No Deal or the result of the indicative vote.

There are options left. Theresa May will try to steer this to the vote she wanted all along: My Deal or No Deal.

If she can achieve that, I suspect it will pass but it is by no means certain.

I agree with the first point but the real challenge is neither of the options he lays out, there’s a bigger problem as of today. It is the latest betrayal of Brexit by Oliver Letwin and Yvette Cooper who will try and ram through a long-extension bill on Wednesday to put off Brexit for an indefinite period of time.

It will be yet another amendment of the Article 50 law that is, for all intents and purposes, a travesty of British parliamentary history since these amendments to the law have not gone through the normal review process which could easily take more time than these traitors have to stop Brexit happening on April 12th.

They are searching for a way to find a solution that involves them winning voter support while betraying Brexit. Project Fear hasn’t worked and now we’re into Project Attrition.

The problem is there is no such solution.

And the reason for that is has nothing to do with a house divided, party politics or anything else.

It’s all about them.

http://theduran.com/the-brexit-desperation-rises-as-the-betrayal-deepens/

How the Media Launders Fossil Fuel Industry Propaganda Through Branded Content

There it was in black and white ­— or black, white, and a palette of gentle greens and blues. With a headline predicting that natural gas “will thrive in the age of renewables,” the article made the case that there are limitations on solar and wind power and that — as a subhead spelled out in aquamarine type — natural gas “is part of the solution.” Why was the Washington Post weighing in on the need for continued production of this fossil fuel in the face of climate change?

Or was it? On closer inspection, the report wasn’t coming from the D.C. paper’s newsroom. Though the link takes you to a page published by WashingtonPost.com, the story is actually a publication of WP BrandStudio, the paper’s branded content platform. In other words, the article is really an advertisement, and the copy was paid for by the American Petroleum Institute. The tagline — “Content from American Petroleum Institute” — is plain to see if you’re looking for it, though easy to miss if you’re not.

It’s not surprising that the trade group representing the oil and gas industry would want to leap to the defense of natural gas now. The notion that the energy source is a “bridge fuel” that will somehow safely deliver us to wind and solar — and past the threat of climate change — has been vaporized by recent science.

The combustion of natural gas does in fact create less carbon dioxide than the burning of coal, as the API “article” notes, pointing out that “new natural gas plants emit 50 to 60 percent less carbon into the atmosphere than new coal facilities.”

But what the piece doesn’t mention is that the drilling, extraction, and transport of natural gas also releases methane. And though carbon dioxide is the best-known greenhouse gas and stays in the atmosphere longer than methane, methane traps at least 86 times more heat than carbon dioxide before it degrades.

Nor does it reference the fact that the amount of methane in the atmosphere has increased sharply in the past few years and, scientists warn, threatens to derail efforts to limit warming. While there are questions as to which of several global sources of methane — including cows, wetlands, and coal mines — is driving the recent spike in emissions, evidence has tied it to the boom of natural gas production. And that in turn has led many scientists to assail the idea that natural gas is a “greener” fuel. In fact, depending on the leakage rate during production, natural gas may be even worse for the climate than coal.

https://theintercept.com/2019/04/03/branded-content-fossil-fuel-companies/

Pro-Israeli Power Rolls over Washington

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) has just completed its annual summit in Washington. It claims that 18,000 supporters attended the event, which concluded with a day of lobbying Congress by the attendees. Numerous American politicians addressed the gathering and it is completely reasonable to observe that the meeting constituted the most powerful gathering of people dedicated to promoting the interests of a foreign nation ever witnessed in any country in the history of the world.

There are a number of things that one should understand about the Jewish state of Israel and its powerful American domestic lobby. First of all, the charge that the actions of The Lobby (referred to with capital letters because of its uniqueness and power) inevitably involves dual or even singular allegiance based on religion or tribe to a country where the lobbyist does not actually reside is completely correct by definition of what AIPAC is and why it exists. It claims to work to “ensure that the Jewish state is safe, strong and secure” through “foreign aid, government partnerships, [and] joint anti-terrorism efforts…,” all of which involve the U.S. as the donor and Israel as the recipient.

Being a citizen of a country is not just an accident of birth. It requires loyalty to the interests of that country and to one’s fellow citizens. No two countries have identical interests, something that is particularly true when one is considering Israel, an ethno-religious autocracy, and the United States, where The Lobby works assiduously to compel American government at all levels to adopt positions that are beneficial to Israel and almost invariably harmful to U.S. interests. Asserting that the two nations have nearly identical interests is little more than a fraud.

Second, there is the claim that Israel benefits American security. That is also a lie. Washington’s relationship with Israel, which is now more subservient than it ever has been, is a major liability that is and always has been damaging to both American regional and global interests. The recent decisions to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem and to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights were ill-conceived and have been condemned by the world community, including by nearly all of America’s genuine close allies.

The harm done by the Israeli connection to policy formulation in Washington and to U.S. troops based in the Middle East has been noted both by Admiral Thomas Moorer and General David Petraeus, with Moorer decrying how “If the American people understood what a grip those people have got on our government, they would rise up in arms. Our citizens certainly don’t have any idea what goes on.” Petraeus complained to a Senate Committee that U.S. favoritism towards Israel puts American soldiers based in the Middle East at risk. He was quickly forced to recant, however.

Former CIA Deputy Director Admiral Bobby Inman has also rejected the claim that Israel is a security asset by observing that

“Israeli spies have done more harm and have damaged the United States more than the intelligence agents of all other countries on earth combined… They are the gravest threat to our national security.”

Image on the right: Milchan and Netanyahu (Source: David Silverman/Getty Image via Haaretz)

https://www.globalresearch.ca/jewish-power-washington/5673479

Justice Department Alleges Conditions in Alabama Men's Prisons Violate the Constitution

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-alleges-conditions-alabama-mens-prisons-violate-constitution

Like Libya and Syria, Venezuela Is Not “Just About Oil”

Yes, the latest research confirms that Venezuela is so rich in natural resources, that it could single-handedly satisfy all global demand for oil, for over 30 years. And it has much more than oil to offer, in its Orinoco basin and in other areas of the country.

But it is not all ‘about oil’; actually, far from it.

Those who believe that what propels the spread of Western terror all over the world, are just some ‘business interests’ and legendary Western greed, are, from my point of view, missing the point.

I noticed that such individuals and analysts actually believe that ‘capitalism is responsible for everything’, and that it creates the culture of violence of which, both victims and victimizers, already became hostages to.

After working in all corners of the world, I am now more and more convinced that capitalism is actually the result of Western culture, which is predominantly based on expansionism, exceptionalism and aggression. It is also constructed on a deeply rooted desire to control and to dictate. Financial/monetary greed is just a by-product of this culture which has elevated its superiority to something that could be defined as religious, or even religiously fundamentalist.

Or in other words: belief in its own superiority is actually now the main religion in both Europe and North America.

*

What makes the Libyan, Syrian and Venezuelan scenarios so similar? Why was the West so eager to viciously attack, and then destroy these three, at the first glance, very different countries?

The answer is simple, although it is not often uttered in the West; at least not publicly:

‘All three countries stood at the vanguard of promoting and fighting with determination for such concepts as “pan-Africanism”, “pan-Arabism” and Patria Grande – essentially Latin American independence and unity.’

Gaddafi, Al-Assad and Chavez have been, regionally and internationally, recognized as anti-imperialist fighters, inspiring and giving hope to hundreds of millions of people.

Gaddafi was murdered, Chavez was most likely killed as well, and Al-Assad and his nation have been, literally and for several long years, fighting for their survival.

The current Venezuelan President Maduro, who is determinedly loyal to the Bolivarian revolutionary ideals, has already survived at least one assassination attempt, and, is now facing direct mafia-style threats from the West. At any moment, his country could get attacked, directly or through the Latin American ‘client’ states of the West.

It is because Africa, the Middle East and Latin America have been considered, and for centuries treated, as colonies. It is because whenever people stood up, they were almost immediately smashed into pieces by the iron fist of Western imperialism. And those who think that they are in control of the world by some divine design, do not want things to change, ever.

Europe and North America are obsessed with controlling others, and in order to control, they feel that they have to make sure to exterminate all opposition in their colonies and neo-colonies.

It is a truly mental state in which the West has found itself; a state which I, in my earlier works, defined as Sadistic Personality Disorder (SPD).

https://www.globalresearch.ca/like-libya-syria-venezuela-not-just-about-oil/5673488

Trump Admin Pays 10 Billion a Year To UN…It’s Time To Cut That in Half!

Recently the Council of Foreign Relations produced a report where they detailed the U.S. contribution to the United Nations and it’s endless entities, funds and programs.

The United States remains the largest donor to the United Nations, contributing more than $10 billion in 2017, roughly one fifth of the UN’s collective budget. This amount also represents roughly one-fifth of the $50 billion the United States allocates to Department of State and spends annually on foreign aid.

In 1994, Amb. John Bolton said that if the United Nations Secretariat building in New York “lost 10 stories, it wouldn’t make a bit of difference.”

Anthony Banbury, an american and a former assistant U.N. secretary general, wrote an op-ed for NY Times explaining why he resigned his job. “I was unprepared for the blur of Orwellian admonitions and Carrollian logic that govern” U.N. headquarters, he recalled:

“If you locked a team of evil geniuses in a laboratory, they could not design a bureaucracy so maddeningly complex, requiring so much effort but in the end incapable of delivering the intended result. The system is a black hole into which disappear countless tax dollars and human aspirations, never to be seen again.”

Bret Stephens, a columnist at NY Times wrote that: “The U.N. adopted what were supposed to be landmark reforms more than a decade ago. Yet the mismanagement, corruption, abuses and moral perversities remain. Iran sits on the executive board of the Commission on the Status of Women. The Syrian regime is represented on the U.N.’s Special Committee on Decolonization, dedicated to “respect for self-determination of all peoples.” In October, Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe was named a good-will ambassador by the World Health Organization, until an outcry forced the director general to think better of it.”

President Donald J. Trump, however, has raised questions about how much the United States will continue to contribute. In his 2018 budget proposal, President Trump requested cutting more than half of U.S. funding for UN programs, including all contributions to climate change programs. But Congress largely rejected Trump’s proposed cuts, instead it agreed to enforce a congressionally mandated cap on U.S. contributions to the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) that had been waived since 2001. The measure reduced U.S. contributions from 28 to 25 percent of the DPKO’s budget, which could amount to a more than $200 million decrease in 2019.

In his 2018 speech at the UN General Assembly, Trump said, “The United States is committed to making the United Nations more effective and accountable…Only when each of us does our part and contributes our share can we realize the U.N.’s highest aspirations.”

Maybe is time that John Bolton advises the President Trump to consider reducing the US contribution to UN by at least 50%.

https://saraacarter.com/trump-admin-pays-10-billion-a-year-to-un-its-time-to-cut-that-in-half/

Trudeau Ousts Two Former Cabinet Ministers Critical of His Handling of SNC-Lavalin Affair From His Party

TORONTO—Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has kicked out two former cabinet ministers who resigned over his handling of the SNC-Lavalin affair from his Liberal party caucus.

During an emergency caucus meeting on April 2, Trudeau said former Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould and former Treasury Board President Jane Philpott would no longer be allowed to sit in the legislature as Liberal members of Parliament. They will also not be allowed to run as Liberal candidates in the upcoming October federal election.

The prime minister said that his decision was based on the two legislators’ lack of confidence in the government as well as actions they’ve taken since they left cabinet earlier this year.

Both Wilson-Raybould and Philpott have been outspoken about the government’s handling of the prosecution of Canadian engineering firm SNC-Lavalin. The Montreal-based company is charged with fraud and corruption in connection with C$48 million ($36 million) payments to Libyan government officials between 2001 and 2011.

Wilson-Raybould alleges she was pressured by the prime minister and his senior staff to intervene in the criminal prosecution of the company to reduce the severity of the consequences faced by the company, citing worries over job losses and potential impact on votes for the Liberal party where the company is based.

Wilson-Raybould was shuffled from her role earlier this year. She alleges the decision was made because of her decision not to intervene in the SNC-Lavalin case. Philpott resigned from cabinet shortly afterwards, her resignation letter citing a lack of confidence with the current government over the way it handled the affair.

The allegations sparked two investigations, one by the parliamentary justice committee and another by the federal ethics commissioner. It also cost Trudeau his principal secretary, Gerald Butts, who resigned but has denied any wrongdoing, and the nation’s top bureaucrat, Michael Wernick, who will step down as clerk of the Privy Council office on April 19.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/trudeau-ousts-two-former-cabinet-ministers-critical-of-his-handling-of-snc-lavalin-affair-from-his-party_2864809.html

Second Houston-Area Chemical Plant Fire in Weeks Kills One, Injures Two

One person has died and two have been critically injured in the second fire to break out at a Houston-area chemical plant in little more than two weeks.

The fire started Tuesday at the KMCO plant in Crosby, Texas when a transfer line ignited near a tank of the flammable gas isobutylene, the Associated Press reported. Workers rushed to escape the blaze by climbing over a fence, and a cloud of black smoke billowed into the air.

"It shook everybody's house around here," Samantha Galle, who lives about a mile away from the plant, told the Associated Press.

Crosby Plant fire: arriving in the general area. Information is preliminary: schools have sheltered in place, a few pops have been heard, air seems to be moving in Southwest direction. #HouNews pic.twitter.com/jFECk4g8AJ

— Ed Gonzalez (@SheriffEd_HCSO) April 2, 2019

The incident follows a fire at an Intercontinental Terminals Company (ITC) plant in Deer Park on March 17. That fire did not injure anyone, but it did burn for several days, prompting air quality warnings.

"It is disturbing and it is problematic that we're seeing this incident in a facility, especially on the heels of ITC," Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said in a media briefing.

Media briefing on KMCO plant fire. https://t.co/ssYdsfvAtI

— HCSOTexas (@HCSOTexas) April 2, 2019

The Crosby fire was extinguished after a five-and-a-half hour battle by firefighters, according to the fire marshal's office. A shelter-in-place order for those within a mile of the fire was lifted around 3 p.m. It had included a mandate that people close windows and turn off air conditioning units, NBC News reported.

Initial U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) tests indicate that the air is safe.

"We have not seen any detections at action levels," EPA on-scene coordinator Matt Loesel told CNN.

The two workers who were injured were taken by helicopter to a hospital.

"Our hearts and prayers go out to the individuals involved, as well as our first responders, employees, and our community," KMCO president John C. Foley told CNN. "We apologize for any inconvenience to residents in the vicinity. The well-being of our people, neighbors and the environment remain our top priorities."

However, NBC News reported that the KMCO plant has a history of environmental violations:

A 2018 EPA report found violations of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, which covers the handling of hazardous materials and non-hazardous solid waste.

EPA inspections also found violations of the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts

KMCO settled with Harris County in 2009 when it was sued for discharging waste water polluted with excess levels of ammonia, zinc and copper, among other toxins.

Harris County sued KMCO again over state air and water violations in 2017.

https://www.blacklistednews.com/article/71941/second-houstonarea-chemical-plant-fire-in-weeks-kills-one-injures.html

Prosecutors drop all charges in deadly shootout involving Texas biker gangs

WACO, Texas — No one will be convicted or otherwise held accountable for the 2015 shootout between rival biker gangs in Waco restaurant parking lot that left nine people dead and at least 20 injured, prosecutors in Central Texas said Tuesday.

In a statement announcing all charges will be dropped in the deadliest biker shooting in U.S. history, McLennan County District Attorney Barry Johnson said any further effort to prosecute the case would be a "waste of time, effort and resources."

"In my opinion, had this action been taken in a timely manner, it would have, and should have, resulted in numerous convictions and prison sentences against many of those who participated in the Twin Peaks brawl," Johnson said. "Over the next three years the prior district attorney failed to take that action, for reasons that I do not know to this day."

The shooting outside a Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco on May 17, 2015, involved rival biker gangs, the Bandidos and Cossacks, and occurred as bikers from various groups were gathering to talk over matters of concern. Fights and gunfire broke out. Waco police officers monitoring the gathering also fired on the bikers, killing at least two.

https://www.blacklistednews.com/article/71938/prosecutors-drop-all-charges-in-deadly-shootout-involving-texas-biker.html

Wealthy San Franciscans Raising Money to Block Homeless Shelter is Latest Example of Rich Disintegrating Society

The irony of wealthy Silicon Valley employees trying to block a local homeless shelter, as CBS notes, is that homelessness is on the rise in the Bay Area in no small part owing to Silicon Valley itself.

SAN FRANCISCO — Residents of San Francisco’s South Beach are organizing to stop a homeless shelter in their affluent neighborhood, having crowdfunded tens of thousands of dollars in a matter of days to fight their legal battle with authorities.

A 2.3-acre vacant lot in the shadow of the Bay Bridge has been identified as a prime spot to add 200 beds to help alleviate the city’s crippling homelessness epidemic. But residents of South Beach — where the median house price is $1.49 million, according to Realtor.com — are mounting stiff resistance to the construction of the temporary shelter. They cite potential rises in crime, anti-social behavior and a drop in sanitation as their objections. This is the latest battle between the haves and have-nots in a city, state and nation gripped by a housing crisis.

A national epidemic

Ordinary Americans are increasingly finding it impossible to afford rent. One study found that you need to earn more than $100,000 per year to comfortably afford rent in California. San Francisco has the highest rents of any city in the U.S. and the world: a one-bedroom apartment costs, on average, $3,690 per month, double what Londoners and triple what Parisians must pay for similar accommodation in their infamously expensive cities. The extortionate rents have led to an increasingly common phenomenon in the Bay Area, that of the working homeless. A 2017 survey of homeless people in San Francisco found that 13 percent were in full- or part-time employment, yet could not afford accommodation. Some 240 homeless people died in the city last year.

https://www.mintpressnews.com/wealthy-san-franciscans-raising-money-to-block-homeless-shelter-is-latest-example-of-rich-disintegrating-society/256874/

Sleepwalking into an Electrosmog Nightmare: More Wireless, Electrify Everything?

If you are awoken every night at 11:45 pm, 2:45 am, and 5:45 am with a startled fight or flight response, urgent thirst, heart arrhythmias, and a feeling that your brain is on fire, you should have the right to know if your sleep disruption is being caused by the Russians, or by wireless transmission and/or dirty power pulsing through the grid.

In March of 2019, the on-line summit Depression, Anxiety and Dementia offered tools and strategies “for preventing and healing brain diseases including depression, anxiety, dementia, and Alzheimer’s.”[1] The importance of sleep was one of many lifestyle topics, and one clinician mentioned that he sometimes refers clients for a sleep evaluation, if medically indicated.

More

https://www.naturalblaze.com/2019/04/sleepwalking-into-an-electrosmog-nightmare-more-wireless-electrify-everything.html

Three Amigos: The Kushner-Netanyahu-MBS Alliance Escapes Scrutiny