Anonymous ID: 8c4817 Dec. 6, 2019, 9:11 a.m. No.7440079   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>0111 >>0146 >>0148 >>0436 >>0480

RUDY NUKES DEMOCRATS: Ukrainians Find Misuse of $5.3 BILLION in US Aid During Obama Admin

 

Oh gosh.

This wasn’t supposed to happen.

This was supposed to be Pelosi’s week to shine!

 

On Thursday Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that Democrats will move ahead on impeachment of President Trump for not giving away US taxpayer dollars quick enough to one of the world’s most corrupt nations. Democrats believe this is grounds for impeachment.

Hmm.

 

Earlier this week Rudy Giuliani met with Ukrainian officials to discuss the misuse of US funds in Ukraine and the creation of a group to fight corruption in the country.

 

Rudy Giuliani and Andrey Derkach via Facebook

 

According to a Facebook post by Ukrainian independent lawmaker Andrey Derkach Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani recently flew to Kiev to discuss the creation of a group to fight corruption.

 

In October Ukrainian Parliamentarian Andrey (Andriy) Derkach revealed in a press conference that Joe Biden was paid $900,000 for lobbying efforts from Burisma Holdings in Ukraine.

 

And now this…

On Friday Rudy Giuliani tweeted out a “Shocking Disclosure!”

 

According to Rudy’s sources — Much of the $5.3 billion in US Aid Ukraine reported as misused was given to the embassy’s favored NGO’s.

 

At the time Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, witness for the Witchunt, was the Ambassador. That embassy directed the police not to investigate.

 

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/12/rudy-nukes-democrats-ukrainians-find-misuse-of-5-3-billion-in-us-aid-during-obama-admin/

Anonymous ID: 8c4817 Dec. 6, 2019, 9:15 a.m. No.7440106   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>0148 >>0436 >>0480

Massive gas EXPLOSION rips through apartment building in Slovakia (PHOTOS, VIDEOS)

 

A massive gas explosion has ripped through an apartment building in Presov, eastern Slovakia with at least one person confirmed dead after falling from a balcony, according to police.

 

The initial explosion occurred between the ninth and twelfth floor of the building and several residents are reportedly trapped on balconies. The police said that one of the residents appears to have jumped to their death having been trapped by the blaze.

 

There are major concerns that the staircase might collapse and bring the entire building down with it. A nearby school was evacuated by authorities. “I thought it was an earthquake,” one nearby resident said.

 

https://www.rt.com/news/475196-slovakia-gas-explosion-photos/

Anonymous ID: 8c4817 Dec. 6, 2019, 9:20 a.m. No.7440152   🗄️.is 🔗kun

China’s Foreign Ministry Is Starting To "Speak Like Trump"

 

True story: when I was a young man and living abroad for extended periods, I would sometimes get pretty homesick. In order to cheer myself up I used to go to record shops and flick through Frank Zappa’s collected works; his album and track titles (Weasels Ripped My Flesh; Hot Rats; Sleep Dirt; Imaginary Diseases) always cheered me up. In what was for me a surreal environment like small-town Japan, their surrealism was extremely real and grounding. It still is to me today as things grow increasingly surreal around me again.

 

After all, we are just six trading days, including today, from the December 15 tariff deadline for a phase one trade deal. And yet nobody is worried because this morning it is the Wall Street Journal’s turn to tell us Chinese officials claim a trade deal remains on track. Of course, read the full text of the article and you see the Commerce Ministry also made 100% clear that US tariffs have to go DOWN, not just delayed, and that all the same sticking points are still there: the US won’t do that, and China won’t commit to huge agri purchases. (“Conceptual Continuity” as one Zappa album says, but “Jazz From Hell” to me.)

 

Which is also true in the case of the US Ukraine-gate scandal, where the Democrats are now writing up articles of impeachment. Of course this was always going to be an impeachment, and always on straight on party lines, and always going to a Senate trial – which will then clear Trump on the same party lines. And then there will be much further wailing and gnashing of teeth about democracy. On which note, anti-Trump Joe Biden appears to be trying to ape Trump’s 2016 electoral formula given how he responded to a question from the audience in Iowa that probed him about his son and his age: “You’re a damn liar, man. That’s not true….get your words straight. I’m not sedentary. You want to check my shape, man, let’s do pushups together here, man. Let’s run. Let’s do whatever you want to do. Let’s take an IQ test. OK?”, before apparently calling the man “fat” - though his team say “fact”. (“You Can’t Do That on Stage Anymore”: Zappa.)

 

As some might say, how pleasant it will when the Trump era is finally over and US presidential discourse can return to the hifalutin Greco-Roman rhetorical standards it used to enjoy: “They misunderestimated me”; “I think we agree, the past is over.” George W Bush. (and “Return of the Son of Shut UP ‘n Play Yer Guitar”: Zappa).

 

Also seeming to ‘speak Trump’ is China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson (@MFA_China on Twitter - the same Twitter banned in China) who just tweeted: “#China has become powerful with US money? LOL! #US investment accounts for only 4.06% of all foreign investment to China since 1987, but China’s vast market feeds & fattens up numerous US enterprises.”

 

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/chinas-foreign-ministry-starting-speak-trump

Anonymous ID: 8c4817 Dec. 6, 2019, 9:24 a.m. No.7440169   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>0189 >>0237

‘Sources say’ stories are all fake news? Trump takes aim at media’s penchant for anonymous tip-offs

 

US President Donald Trump has fired off another volley of Twitter wisdom in his endless war against ‘fake news,’ advising people to ignore stories based on information from unnamed sources.

 

“Do not believe any article or story you read or see that uses ‘anonymous sources’ having to do with trade or any other subject,” Trump tweeted on Friday. “Only accept information if it has an actual living name on it. The Fake News Media makes up many ‘sources say’ stories. Do not believe them!”

 

While some applauded the unsolicited advice, others noted that Trump has cited anonymous sources in the past, including in a 2012 tweet in which he said he had credible information that Barack Obama’s birth certificate was fake.

 

Articles citing anonymous sources have dogged Trump throughout his presidency, fueling rumors ranging from alleged conflicts within his administration to breakthroughs in trade negotiations with China. Some of the stories, later revealed to be unfounded, have even affected financial markets. The now-debunked conspiracy theory that Trump colluded with the Kremlin to win the White House was propelled by “bombshell” reports which often relied on unnamed sources and fell apart upon closer examination.

 

https://www.rt.com/usa/475199-trump-fake-news-anonymous-sources/

Anonymous ID: 8c4817 Dec. 6, 2019, 9:25 a.m. No.7440186   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>0436 >>0480

Germany: Left-wing extremists threaten to murder female AfD MP

 

Left-wing extremists threatened to murder a member of parliament from the populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) on Wednesday, leaving a wooden cross outside of her office with words reading, “Nazi whore Baum, after you no cock will crow, died on December 31st, 2019.”

 

Police in Heilbronn have confirmed the incident which occurred outside of Christina Baum’s dental office in Lauda-Königshofen, Württemberg, Spiegel Online reports.

 

“The cross was provided with various inscriptions, which contain on the one hand insults and on the other a threat to the member of parliament,” police said in a statement. The German domestic intelligence service has since taken over the investigation.

 

Baum, who has sat in the Baden-Württemberg state parliament since 2016, posted a photo of the cross on social media, writing: “The hatred of our political opponents is bearing fruit.”

 

This isn’t Baum’s first experience with left-wing extremists. In October, Baum’s campaign office in Tauberbischofsheim was attacked and suffered considerable material damage.

 

In response to the incident, AfD leader Jörg Meuthen said: “The seeds of hate being spread by governments and old parties against the AfD are daunting, and this threat to Christina Baum is just the tip of the iceberg, with attacks on AfD officials becoming more common and events of the AfD attacked, it is now apparently against life and limb of AfD politicians.”

 

“I strongly urge the old parties and parts of the media to stop their hatred and their incitement against the AfD,” Meuthen added.

 

In the third quarter of this year, the Alternative for Germany became the most frequent victim of political violence. Of the 52 attacks on party headquarters and offices that occurred, 26 were directed at the AfD.

 

https://voiceofeurope.com/2019/12/germany-left-wing-extremists-threaten-to-murder-female-afd-mp/

Anonymous ID: 8c4817 Dec. 6, 2019, 9:28 a.m. No.7440200   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>0225 >>0239 >>0436 >>0480

‘White America First’ – London Mayor Sadiq Khan Says Trump Only Cares About White People

 

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan is continuing his long-standing feud with President of the United States Donald Trump, claiming the U.S. leader only cares about “White America”.

 

Indulging in the identity politics which have become a staple of the modern Labour Party, Khan accused President Trump of being racist by suggesting that his campaign slogan “America First” really meant “White America First”.

 

The mayor also said that President Trump is the “the very opposite of what NATO is all about”.

 

“The concern we have is when President Trump talks about America First — does he really mean White America First? That’s a big concern for many of us,” Khan said in an interview with CNN.

 

Khan also said that President Trump “on many, many occasions… gives us the impression that all he cares about is White America”.

 

“When you see… the President of the USA calling people rapists because they happen to be Mexican, having a travel ban against people of my faith, that leads to huge concerns across the world,” he claimed.

 

The Pakistani-heritage mayor’s comments come in the wake of the NATO summit in London, in which Prime Minister Boris Johnson called the United States an “invaluable ally” and said the United Kingdom is “fully committed” to the defence alliance.

 

Khan criticised Johnson, calling into question President Trump’s leadership of NATO.

 

“It’s the very opposite of what NATO is all about. It’s the very opposite of what the EU is all about. The very opposite of the multilateralism that the U.S. and the UK have led on for the last 70 years,” Khan said.

 

Secretary-General of the alliance Jens Stoltenberg praised President Trump’s tough stance on getting NATO members to fulfil their spending commitments, crediting the President with securing $100 billion in additional investments from member-states.

 

In June, Sadiq Khan said that the United Kingdom should not grant the President a state visit, accusing Trump of engaging in “xenophobia, racism, and ‘otherness’ as an electoral tactic”.

 

President Trump fired back against the Labour politician, saying that Khan is a “stone-cold loser” and that he has done a “terrible job” as Mayor of London.

 

“I look at cities in Europe, and I can be specific if you’d like. You have a mayor who has done a terrible job in London. He has done a terrible job,” said Trump.

 

“Take a look at the terrorism that is taking place. Look at what is going on in London. I think he has done a very bad job on terrorism,” he added.

 

Terror attacks and violent crime, particularly knife crime, has risen sharply during Khan’s mayoralty, in part due to his re-election promise to “do all in my power” to reduce the use of stop-and-search by the Metropolitan Police, which he believed was implicitly racist.

 

Last week Khan came under fire for saying that “our strength is our diversity” following the London Bridge terrorist attack, in which Usman Khan killed two people and injured three others.

 

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/12/06/white-america-first-london-mayor-sadiq-khan-says-trump-only-cares-about-white-people/

Anonymous ID: 8c4817 Dec. 6, 2019, 9:29 a.m. No.7440217   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>0436 >>0480

Macron’s France to Create National ‘Anti-Hate’ Office

 

French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner has announced the formation of a National Anti-Hate Office.

 

The announcement of the new office, which will be part of the paramilitary gendarmes, comes after 107 graves were desecrated at the Jewish cemetery in Westhoffen this week, with swastikas were painted on many of the gravestones, Le Figaro reports.

 

Castaner said the new office would investigate the incident at the Jewish cemetery but would also look into acts against Muslims and Christians that fell within the jurisdiction of the gendarmes.

 

“It will also be responsible for supporting all actors in all territories, to make the link with the police, justice, so that the perpetrators of these despicable acts are condemned,” he added.

 

France already has an office that specialises in hate crimes, the Central Office to Fight Against Crimes Against Humanity, Genocide, and War Crimes (OCLCH), and, according to Le Figaro, many are wondering what will be different about the new gendarme office.

 

Hate crimes have been just a small part of the scope of the OCLCH, which is generally tasked with investigating serious international crimes.

 

Francis Kalifat, president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France (CRIF) welcomed the new office, saying, “it’s been months, maybe years, that I keep saying hate — whether it’s antisemitism, racism, homophobia, or even sexism — gangrene French society and we must take radical measures.”

 

“The announcement of the creation of a national office specifically dedicated to the fight against hatred can only be welcomed positively,” he added.

 

France has seen a surge in antisemitic attacks in recent years, with a report claiming that antisemitic incidents had increased by 73 per cent in 2018 alone.

 

Many Jews in some areas of France have been forced to move elsewhere due to harassment and attacks as well.

 

Anti-Christian attacks, especially church attacks, have also become increasingly frequent, with some estimating there to be at least three attacks per day.

 

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/12/06/macrons-france-to-create-national-anti-hate-office/

Anonymous ID: 8c4817 Dec. 6, 2019, 9:30 a.m. No.7440221   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>0436 >>0480

Netanyahu, Pompeo Push Forward With US-Israel Defense Pact

 

Netanyahu argues he should stay in power because of deal

 

On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met for an hour and 45 minutes on the specifics of a proposed US-Israel defense pact. The pact amounts to a more or less direct US intervention in Israeli politics, after two elections failed to end with a government formed.

 

The Trump Administration had made no bones about preferring Netanyahu over his primary political rival Benny Gantz, and the pact seems to be pandering to that fact, since Gantz is opposed to the deal.

 

Netanyahu looks to be steering heavily into this US lifeline, arguing that the deal proves he needs to stay in power, and that in the event of a rotation government with Gantz, he’d have to be first because of his “unique” ties with the US.

 

Details of the pact aren’t clear, beyond it committing the US to war to defend Israel. Those familiar with it have said the pact would in no way restrict Israel’s ability to unilaterally attack targets across the region, meaning constant Israeli attacks on targets in Syria and Iraq could continue.

 

The other important aspect, that the US is directly meddling in Israeli power-sharing talks with this plan, is something that historically the US has been reluctant to do, at least in Israel. Previously, any US government was automatically on good terms with any Israeli government, but at this point Trump has committed deeply to a relationship with Israel’s far-right.

 

https://news.antiwar.com/2019/12/05/netanyahu-pompeo-push-forward-with-us-israel-defense-pact/

Anonymous ID: 8c4817 Dec. 6, 2019, 9:31 a.m. No.7440226   🗄️.is 🔗kun

Israeli Officials Warn Annexation May Lead Jordan to Take Drastic Steps

 

Netanyahu insists he has 'full right' to annex Jordan Valley

 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is keen to annex parts of the occupied West Bank, on the grounds that the US is going to let him do so. Israeli officials, particularly military officials, are warning against one of the primary targets, the Jordan Valley.

 

The Jordan Valley, which connects the West Bank to Jordan, is something the Israeli right has long wanted to annex, as it would mean the rest of the Palestinian West Bank would never have a border with any nation other than Israel.

 

Military officials are warning that the big problem would be with Jordan itself, and that this move would further damage Israel-Jordan ties, and might force the Jordanian government to take drastic steps.

 

Netanyahu doesn’t appear to be taking these warnings seriously, however, saying that he has the “full right” to annex the Jordan Valley at any time he chooses. The possibility was apparently broached with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and while the US has not commented on it, all indications are that they are fine with Israeli annexations in general.

 

https://news.antiwar.com/2019/12/05/israeli-officials-warn-annexation-may-lead-jordan-to-take-drastic-steps/

Anonymous ID: 8c4817 Dec. 6, 2019, 9:35 a.m. No.7440247   🗄️.is 🔗kun

Czech Republic inks $125M contract for Israeli radar system

 

 

JERUSALEM — Israel and the Czech Republic has signed a $125 million government-to-government contract for advanced radar systems from Israel Aerospace Industries subsidiary Elta Systems.

 

The deal, signed by Israeli Ministry of Defense officials and their Czech counterparts during a ceremony Thursday, is for eight ELM-2084 multimission radars, a technology used for Israel’s Iron Dome and David’s Sling air defense systems as well as the Barak missile system.

 

The radars are for the Czech Mobile Air Defense Radar program. The program includes Czech businesses, whose work will make up for about 30 percent of the contract’s value.

 

Retired Brig. Gen. Yair Kulas, who currently works for the Israeli government’s International Defense Cooperation Directorate, said the agreement was monumental for Israel, likening it to a Czech arms deal that helped Israel achieve independence more than 70 years ago.

 

https://www.defensenews.com/industry/2019/12/05/czech-republic-inks-125m-contract-for-israeli-radar-system/

Anonymous ID: 8c4817 Dec. 6, 2019, 9:38 a.m. No.7440269   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>0436 >>0480

The war on drugs in Afghanistan 'has just been a total failure,' the US's top watchdog there says

 

October was the 18th anniversary of the start of the US-led war in Afghanistan, and the US is still trying to negotiate its way out of the conflict.

The two-decade war has cost the US billions of dollars and thousands of lives, and there appears to be little to show for it in Afghanistan.

Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

 

The US-led war in Afghanistan turned 18 in October, and those two decades of fighting and rebuilding appear to have yielded little progress.

 

The counternarcotics effort there, for example, “has just been a total failure,” John F. Sopko, special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, said at the Wilson Centre in Washington, DC, in November.

 

The US Drug Enforcement Administration has “done a yeoman’s task there” and the special Afghan units they have trained have “made wonderful seizures,” Sopko said. “The Afghans with the cooperation of the DEA have actually seized more drugs in Afghanistan than I believe we in the United States have seized on the Mexican border.”

 

More

https://www.businessinsider.com.au/sigar-chief-us-war-on-drugs-afghanistan-a-total-failure-2019-12?r=US&IR=T

Anonymous ID: 8c4817 Dec. 6, 2019, 9:42 a.m. No.7440295   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>0316 >>0431

Twitter Censorship Confirmed: “Shadow Banning” Is Now Written Into The Platform’s New Terms

 

Twitter has written “shadow banning” aka, censorship, into their new terms. The platform will nowintentionally “limit the visibility” of some users. Expect those who dissent from the official narrative to be the ones censored.

 

Critics have accused Twitter of censorship for quite some time now. But this time, it’s official. The company has admitted they will attempt to silence those critical of the ruling class. According to RT, the news terms will be taking effect in January of 2020. While the new terms don’t look like much to write home about, some tweaks to the language could have larger repercussions for users, limiting their reach behind the scenes without their knowledge.

 

“We may also remove or refuse to distribute any Content on the Services, limit distribution or visibility of any Content on the service, suspend or terminate users, and reclaim usernames without liability to you,” the new terms state.

 

The social media giant is telling users that it reserves the right shadow ban or “throttle” or censor certain accounts. And it is not clear on what basis will it make those decisions, although we guess (based on their past which is rife with censorship) that accounts that aren’t parroting the government’s official narrative will be on the list.

 

While Twitter has previously insisted point-blank “we do not shadow ban,” in the pre-2020 terms the company split hairs between shadow banning and “ranking” posts to determine their prominence on the site, and acknowledged deliberately down-ranking “bad-faith actors” to limit their visibility.

 

In January 2018, conservative media watchdog group Project Veritas published footage showing Abhinov Vadrevu, a former Twitter software engineer, discussing shadow banning as a “strategy” the company was at least considering, if not already using. “One strategy is to shadow ban so you have ultimate control. The idea of a shadow ban is that you ban someone but they don’t know they’ve been banned because they keep posting and no one sees their content,” Vadrevu said. “So they just think that no one is engaging with their content when in reality, no one is seeing it.”

 

The new terms will make shadow bans an official policy, all but guaranteeing continued cries of bias and censorship from the platform’s many critics will be silenced.

 

https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/twitter-censorship-confirmed-shadow-banning-is-now-written-into-the-platforms-new-terms/

Anonymous ID: 8c4817 Dec. 6, 2019, 9:44 a.m. No.7440315   🗄️.is 🔗kun

ICC prosecutor acts as Israel’s defense lawyer

 

The International Criminal Court prosecutor is again giving Israel a pass for its deadly raid on a flotilla to Gaza a decade ago.

 

Israeli soldiers fatally wounded 10 people aboard the Mavi Marmara after raiding the ship, which was part of a civilian flotilla.

 

On Monday, Fatou Bensouda declared she is standing by her 2015 decision not to open an investigation into the attack – despite the court’s judges telling her twice to reconsider.

 

In September, ICC appeals judges called Bensouda “disrespectful” and said she had treated an earlier order to reconsider the case in a “perfunctory manner.”

 

They again told her to go back and reach a new decision – the one issued on Monday.

 

Her new decision is effectively that Israel should continue to benefit from the very impunity that the ICC is supposed to end.

 

Bensouda acknowledges that “there is a reasonable basis to believe that war crimes were committed by members of the Israel Defence Forces” when they boarded the Mavi Marmara.

 

But she insists that the Israeli attack on the high seas is not “sufficiently grave” to warrant prosecution.

 

In the early hours of 31 May 2010, Israeli commandos boarded and seized the boats in international waters in the Eastern Mediterranean.

 

Israeli forces carried out a particularly violent armed attack on the largest vessel, the Mavi Marmara, killing nine persons. A 10th victim died of his injuries in May 2014.

 

At least 20 others were seriously injured aboard the Mavi Marmara.

“Procedural excuses”

 

On Thursday, lawyers for the victims accused the prosecutor of bias and vowed to appeal.

 

“With the decision, the intent is to safeguard Israel – so blatantly and flagrantly right under the international community’s nose – against any indictments of war crimes,” the lawyers state.

 

“Since the prosecutor of the ICC cannot cover up these crimes in any way, she hides behind procedural excuses.”

 

Indeed, Bensouda’s Monday decision is accompanied by a 44-page document setting out numerous procedural excuses for why she can’t pursue a case.

 

It reads more like a brief from a defense attorney for Israel rather than from a prosecutor seeking to end impunity for international crimes.

 

At points she appears to blame the victims, claiming that “persons alleged to have been wilfully killed and wilfully injured were victimized in circumstances that were at least proximate to the passengers’ violent resistance to the boarding of the Mavi Marmara by the IDF [Israeli army].”

 

https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/icc-prosecutor-acts-israels-defense-lawyer?utm_source=EI+readers&utm_campaign=41b585f066-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_e802a7602d-41b585f066-290660781

Anonymous ID: 8c4817 Dec. 6, 2019, 9:48 a.m. No.7440348   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>0436 >>0480

Kenya: Nairobi governor arrested for 'economic crimes'

 

The governor of Nairobi was arrested on Friday shortly after Kenya's chief prosecutor ordered he be detained to face charges for economic crimes.

 

Governor Mike Sonko is the latest in a string of top officials to be hauled in on corruption charges as Kenya battles to clamp down on rampant graft.

 

"EACCKenya confirms that Nairobi City County Governor Mike Sonko Mbuvi has been arrested while escaping arrest at a road block in Voi," the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) posted on Twitter.

 

@EACCKenya confirms that Nairobi City County Governor Mike Sonko Mbuvi has been arrested while escaping arrest at a road block in Voi and is being transferred to Nairobi to face charges of corruption and economic crime.

— EACC (@EACCKenya) December 6, 2019

 

Sonko and other country officials are accused by public prosecutor Noordin Haji of having benefitted from irregular procurement and payments of $3.5m (3.1 million euros).

 

Haji said he had sufficient evidence to prosecute Sonko and other county officials for "unlawful acquisition of public property, money laundering and other economic crimes."

 

"I have therefore ordered for the immediate arrest and arraignment in court of the Governor of Nairobi Hon. Mike Mbuvi Sonko and other persons," Haji said in a statement earlier on Friday.

 

When, in 2017, the ruling party chose populist Mike Sonko as its candidate for Nairobi's gubernatorial poll, it was seen as a maverick move. Sonko is a controversial politician who has spent time in jail and has had to deny allegations of illegal activities, including drug trafficking.

 

Haji said his investigation into Sonko and his officials had been challenging "because of the repeated attempts by the accused to obstruct the course of the investigations by deploying intimidation tactics".

Corruption battle

 

Kenya has for decades battled the scourge of corruption, and President Uhuru Kenyatta - like many presidents before him - has vowed to combat graft.

 

Dozens of top executives and government officials have been charged since Kenyatta's 2017 re-election, including sitting Finance Minister Henry Rotich who was in July charged over an alleged multi-million dollar corruption scandal.

 

Rotich and nearly 20 other top officials from the treasury and other departments were arrested after an investigation into the alleged loss of 21 billion Kenyan shillings ($203m) on ghost dam construction projects.

 

The finance minister, a Harvard-trained economist, pleaded not guilty to a slew of charges that included but limited to: failure to comply with guidelines relating to procurement, conspiracy to defraud the public and financial misconduct.

 

https://www.blacklistednews.com/article/75649/kenya-nairobi-governor-arrested-for-economic.html

Anonymous ID: 8c4817 Dec. 6, 2019, 9:51 a.m. No.7440365   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>0436 >>0480

RULES ARE FOR THE LITTLE PEOPLE: California campaign watchdogs say they want the ability to donate to candidates.

 

via latimes:

 

California’s campaign watchdog agency has suspended a longstanding policy banning its members from contributing to federal candidates after one commissioner donated to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential bid.

 

The decision by the Fair Political Practices Commission, which is responsible for policing campaign finance in California, is drawing criticism from some political reform advocates and former state officials who say the policy was put in place to avoid an appearance of bias in favor of political candidates whose campaigns are scrutinized by the state agency.

 

Dan Schnur, a former FPPC chairman who teaches political communication at USC and UC Berkeley, said the policy is important because “board members are entrusted with the responsibility of overseeing the state’s elections in a fair-minded and even-handed way.”

 

“Even the perception of bias undermines the credibility of the board’s decisions,” Schnur said. “If you are going to oversee state elections then you should be able to restrain yourself from partisan political involvement during your time of service.”

 

The panel voted on Sept. 19 to suspend the policy restricting donations and asked the state attorney general for an opinion on the legality and scope of the rules, which some FPPC members say violates their 1st Amendment rights.

 

“I absolutely believe that both the U.S. and the State constitutions protect my right to make political campaign contributions,” Commissioner Brian Hatch said in an email to The Times. “The issue that the making of campaign contributions is a form of political speech protected by the [U.S.] Constitution has been settled law for nearly five decades.”

 

The rot always starts at the top.

 

My experience with bureacracies is that if you want to do something, management will cite the “rules” to deny you the freedom, but when management wants to do something, somehow the rules go out the window.

 

https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/rules-are-for-the-little-people-california-campaign-watchdogs-say-they-want-the-ability-to-donate-to-candidates/

Anonymous ID: 8c4817 Dec. 6, 2019, 9:52 a.m. No.7440385   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>0396

Lost count? Israel killed 43 Palestinians in November

 

A Palestinian statistics center documented the murder of 43 Palestinians by Israeli soldiers in November. 38 of the victims were in Gaza during the Israeli escalation against the enclave.

 

Al Quds Center revealed in a statistical study issued on Monday that three martyrs were killed in Hebron, one from Jenin, one from Jerusalem, and 38 in Gaza, most of them were killed in the Israeli aggression on the enclave.

 

The study also revealed that the Israelis have killed 526 Palestinians since Trump’s announcement of occupied Jerusalem as capital of the occupation state back in December 6, 2017. The martyrs included 111 children, 22 women, 6 Palestinians with special needs, and 108 martyrs in Israeli strikes on Gaza. There were also 13 prisoners, who were killed in Israeli jails, and one Palestinian killed in an assassination in Malaysia.

 

According to the study, ‘Israel’ has killed as well 258 Palestinians in Gaza’s great return march protests, which started in March 30, 2018, including two journalists and four paramedics.

 

The Israelis have killed 111 Palestinian children following Trump’s announcement of occupied Jerusalem as capital of ‘Israel’. 69 of them were killed in Gaza’s protests, while three were fetuses, which were killed with their mothers in Israeli strikes on the besieged enclave.

 

Meanwhile, 13 Palestinian prisoners were killed in Israeli jails. The occupation state continues to withhold the bodies of 40 Palestinians, who have been killed after Trump’s announcement.

 

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