Lawmakers Introduce Bill That Would Stop Grants to Sanctuary States That Give Driver’s Licenses to Illegal Immigrants

House and Senate Republicans have introduced legislation that would block certain federal funds from sanctuary states that allow illegal immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses.

The Stop Greenlighting Driver Licenses for Illegal Immigrants Act would stop Justice Department (DOJ) grants that are a top source of federal criminal justice funding for states.

The legislation would target states that “defy federal immigration enforcement or that allow illegal aliens to get driver licenses without proof of lawful presence” and those that “prohibit or restrict a local or State government entity or official from collecting or sending to or receiving from the Department of Homeland Security immigration enforcement information.”

In Senate, the legislation is being introduced by Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn and co-sponsored by Sens. Tom Cotton, R-Ark.; Kevin Cramer, R-N.D.; Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va.; Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga.; Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Mike Rounds, R-S.D. Companion legislation is being introduced in the house by Colorado Rep. Ken Buck. His bill is co-sponsored by 21 other lawmakers.

“Tennesseans know all too well what can happen when illegal immigrants are granted driver licenses,” Blackburn said in a statement. “While Tennessee and many other states prohibit driver licenses for illegal aliens, a growing number of states are moving in the opposite direction and unleashing dangerous open borders policies. Immigrants must follow the proper federal process and obtain citizenship or lawful status before obtaining a state driver license.”

“In America, no one is above the law,” she added.

Blackburn’s office estimated that states that issued licenses to illegal immigrants received nearly $53 million that would be impacted by this new legislation during the 2019 fiscal year.

The NCSL reports that fifteen states and the District of Columbia have enacted laws to allow unauthorized immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses. These states—California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Utah, Vermont and Washington—issue a license if an applicant provides certain documentation, such as a foreign birth certificate, foreign passport, or consular card and evidence of current residency in the state.

“In 2019, New Jersey, New York and Oregon became the most recent states to enact legislation extending driver’s licenses and identification cards to those without proof of lawful presence,” their report noted.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/02/lawmakers-introduce-bill-that-would-stop-grants-to-sanctuary-states-that-give-drivers-licenses-to-illegal-immigrants/

Beijing Finally Accepts American Infectious-Disease Experts, Weighs Delay Of Annual Party Meeting

Summary:

China finally allows US experts in

Singapore reports 3 new cases, DP reports 90

Beijing weighs postponing National Congress

Japan delays Tokyo Marathon, raising concerns about the Olympics

14 Americans aboard evacuation flight found to have virus

5 virus-linked deaths rumored in Tibet

WHO reiterates that signs of slowdown in new China cases doesn't mean outbreak is slowing

• • *

Update (1030ET): For what seemed like weeks after the outbreak began, Tibet repeatedly reported that it had zero confirmed cases of the virus, even after it had spread to every other Chinese province (there are 31 in total).

Now, online rumors might shed some light on why: It's not that the virus hadn't arrived, it's that party leaders in Tibet - for whatever reason (lack of resources, a motivation to impress Beijing) - didn't report the full breadth of the problem.

Unconfirmed reports claim 5 have died in Tibet from the virus.

We wonder what the 'real' North Korea numbers are looking like?

Meanwhile, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros reiterated on Monday a sentiment he first expressed over the weekend: That though Chinese data appear to show a decline in the number of new cases, this isn't necessarily a guarantee that the virus is slowing: "Every scenario is still on the table."

More

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/14-diamond-princess-passengers-test-positive-during-flight-back-us-tokyo-marathon

The Death Of Free Speech: Zuckerberg Asks Governments For Instructions On “What Discourse Should Be Allowed”

I have written for years on the effort of European countries to expand their crackdown on free speech globally through restrictions on social media and Internet speech. It appears that Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has relented in what may prove the death knell for free speech in the West. Zuckerberg seems to relent in asking governments for regulations stipulating what speech will be permitted on Facebook and other platforms. It is the ultimate victory of France, Germany, and England in their continuing attack on free expression though hate speech laws and speech regulation.

Zuckerberg told an assembly of Western leaders Saturday at the Munich Security Conference that “There should be more guidance and regulation from the states on basically — take political advertising as an example — what discourse should be allowed?” He did add: “Or, on the balance of free expression and some things that people call harmful expression, where do you draw the line?” The problem is that his comments were received as accepting that government will now dictate the range of free speech. What is missing is the bright line rule long maintained by the free speech community.

As tragically demonstrated in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, speech regulations inevitably expand with time. The desire to silence one’s critics becomes insatiable for both governments and individuals.

Zuckerberg is facing great pressure, including from Democratic leaders in the United States, to regulate political speech and he seems to be moving away from the bright-line position against such regulation as a principle. Instead, he is accepting the fluid concept of “balanced” regulations that has always preceded expanding speech codes and criminalization:

“There are a lot of decisions in these areas that are really just balances between different social values. It’s about coming up with an answer that society feels is legitimate and that they can get behind and understand that you drew the line here on the balance of free expression and safety. It’s not just that there’s one right answer. People need to feel like, ‘OK, enough people weighed in, and that’s why the answer should be this, and we can get behind that.’”

https://jonathanturley.org/2020/02/17/the-death-of-free-speech-zuckerberg-asks-governments-for-instructions-on-what-discourse-should-be-allowed/

Russia will support Syria's fight against terrorism in Idlib despite Trump's calls to stop it – Kremlin

Moscow has vowed to continue its fight against terrorism in Syria's Idlib province alongside Damascus, even though this doesn't fit with Washington's vision for resolving the crisis.

Both the Russian Armed Forces and the country's advisers will "support the Syrian Arab Republic armed forces in their fight against terrorism," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in a briefing on February 17.

Referring to escalating terrorist attacks in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib, he said that the Russian government "still regrets that these terrorists have revitalized in Idlib."

The statement follows US President Donald Trump's recent call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, during which Trump "expressed concern over the violence in Idlib." He also praised "Turkey's efforts to prevent a humanitarian crisis" in the province, and hoped that Russia would stop supporting the Assad government, according to Deputy White House Press Secretary Judd Deere.

Tensions in the Idlib de-escalation zone have been steadily rising in recent weeks. On February 3, a Turkish armed convoy came under artillery fire, leaving five dead as a result. The tragedy occurred when the Syrian Army was conducting an operation against terrorists in the area, and was not notified of the convoy's movements, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.

Ankara retaliated, firing on known Syrian Army positions, and sending additional troops into the de-escalation zone 10 days later. In response to the troop surge, Damascus officially recognized the Armenian genocide by the Ottoman Empire.

Erdogan and Russia's President Vladimir Putin also discussed the situation on the ground in a phonecall last week. The two leaders agreed that the Sochi agreement on the Idlib de-escalation zone must be fully implemented.

https://www.rt.com/news/481016-russia-support-syria-idlib/

‘Blame it on Hamas’: IDF posts bathroom selfie of young woman, Twitter laughs at claims it's part of cyber warfare

The IDF posted what appeared to be a bathroom selfie of a young woman on its social media accounts and, while it claimed the posts were actually part of some online 4D chess with Hamas, many on Twitter simply weren’t buying it.

According to the Israeli military, the steamy selfie was, in fact, part of Operation Rebound, a joint effort between the IDF and the Shin Bet security service to take down a sophisticated ‘catfishing’ campaign by arch nemesis Hamas.

Apparently, it was the third such cyberattack by Hamas, who tricked horny IDF servicemen into downloading spyware onto their phones by posing as young Israeli women on social media, promising to send nudes.

The IDF does not believe Hamas gained any significant intelligence, though it admitted it will be checking the phones of all troops targeted as a precaution. The number of affected devices is reportedly in the “low hundreds.”

The joke sparked a flood of replies neatly summarizing the situation and alluding to the IDF’s actions in Palestine.

The head of the IDF’s operational security department, known only as Col. “Resh,” said the IDF expects Hamas to try similar subterfuge again in the future.

https://www.rt.com/news/481002-idf-catfish-blame-hamas/

Roger Stone Lead Juror, Tomeka Hart, Posted a Second Article Bashing Roger Stone in January 2019 — Lied to the Court

Juror Tomeka Hart, on the Roger Stone case, is a radical Democrat with a long list of Democrat connections. She now may be the reason that Roger Stone’s attorneys may be calling for a new trial.

Tomeka posted several attacks on President Trump and conspiracy theories about Trump and Russia.

Mike Cernovich tweeted many conflicts the juror Hart in the case had:

More

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/02/discovered-roger-stone-lead-juror-tomeka-hart-posted-a-second-article-bashing-roger-stone-in-january-2019-lied-to-the-court/

24 Killed In Brutal Terror Attack On Burkina Faso Church; Local Pastor Targeted

Gunmen killed at least 24 people and wounded 18 more during an attack on a protestant church in the village of Pansi, in the north of Burkina Faso, announced the governor of the Sahel region, Colonel Salfo Kaboré.

A group of "armed terrorists" burst into the village of Pansi, in Yagha, a volatile province near the Niger border, “and attacked the peaceful local population after having identified them and separated them from non-residents,” Colonel Salfo Kabore said in a statement sent to AFP.

The Sunday attack occurred during weekly church service, according to the AFP.

A group of "armed terrorists" burst into the village of Pansi, in Yagha province "and attacked the peaceful local population after having identified them and separated them from non-residents", Colonel Salfo Kabore said in a statement sent to AFP.

Neighbors in the nearby town of Sebba told reporters that Pansi villagers had fled there for safety.

Burkina Faso is one of the poorest countries in the world, and it's also home to a brutal jihadist insurgency which is growing across the Sahel region.

Since 2015, around 750 people have been killed in Burkina, and around 600,000 people have fled their homes as Christian churches have been attacked, amid other acts of Jihadi violence. The north of the country has a mixed population of Christians and Muslims, and for ages the two groups lived harmoniously side by side. But as radicalization and Islamic extremism have swept the area, their easy peace has come to an end.

This isn't even the first violent attack on a church this month: On Feb. 10, suspected jihadists in Sebba took seven people hostage inside the home of a pastor. Later, five bodies were found, including the body of the pastor, according to the local governor. Reports circling on twitter claim the pastor of the church attacked on Sunday was targeted by the attackers.

Due to a weak military and almost nonexistent rule of law, attacks like this happen frequently in the region. More than 4,000 people in Burkina have been killed in acts of violence perpetrated by Islamic extremist terrorists over the past year.

That's a staggering number.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/24-killed-brutal-terror-attack-burkina-faso-church-local-pastor-targeted

Outrage as Downing Street adviser backs EUGENICS, mandatory birth control and giving kids mind-altering drugs

Barely over a government-rocking reshuffle, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s office has moved onto a fresh scandal, hiring an adviser who advocates eugenics, mandatory contraception, and giving children mind-altering drugs.

Andrew Sabisky was one of the hires made by 10 Downing Street after Johnson’s chief adviser Dominic Cummings made a high-profile call to stock the office with “misfits and weirdos”.

Even the controversial Cummings might have got more than he bargained for, as it has emerged that 27-year-old Sabisky once called for a “universal contraception” program to stop the creation of a “permanent underclass,” and also said that the benefits of brain-boosting drugs were “probably worth a dead kid”.

The revelations began when the Times uncovered an interview Sabisky gave to Schools Weekly, in which he spoke in favor of giving children a dose of the cognitive-enhancement drug modafinil.

“From a societal perspective the benefits of giving everyone modafinil once a week are probably worth a dead kid once a year,” he said. The researcher, who describes himself as a “super-forecaster”, also highlighted the positives of eugenics in the controversial interview.

“Eugenics are about selecting ‘for’ good things,” he said. “Intelligence is largely inherited and it correlates with better outcomes: physical health, income, lower mental illness. There is no downside to having [a high] IQ except short-sightedness.”

Further revelations came in the Mail on Sunday, which reported that Sabisky also posted to a website run by Cummings, saying existing vaccination laws could pave the way for mandatory birth control.

"One way to get around [the problem] of unplanned pregnancies creating a permanent underclass would be to legally enforce universal uptake of long-term contraception at the onset of puberty… Vaccination laws give it a precedent, I would argue," he wrote.

He also once tweeted that “women’s sport is more comparable to the Paralympics than it is to men’s.”

The extraordinary comments have sparked an avalanche of reaction, with the opposition Labour party calling for the adviser to be sacked. MP David Lammy called Sabisky “sinister,” while Shadow Cabinet Office Minister Jon Trickett said “there are really no words” to describe the hiring.

https://www.rt.com/uk/480977-downing-street-adviser-sabisky-eugenics/

>>8163987

More stalling Q, fuck the Rabbi's get on with it

Revealed: FBI Used ‘Briefing’ with Trump, Flynn to Gather Evidence for Crossfire Hurricane Operation

The FBI under James Comey underhandedly sent a senior member of the team investigating alleged collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign to conduct a standard official FBI security briefing for presidential campaigns with then-candidate Donald Trump and his then national security advisor, Michael T. Flynn.

Unbeknownst to both Trump and Flynn, that FBI investigator memorialized that briefing, which included exchanges with Flynn and Trump, in an official document that was added to the Crossfire Hurricane case file probing the Trump campaign over unsubstantiated and ultimately discredited charges of Russian collusion.

The FBI file documenting the August 2016 briefing describes two questions asked by candidate Trump as well as comments from Trump and Flynn and exchanges with the briefer from the FBI who was not identified to either Trump or Flynn during the briefing as working on the Crossfire Hurricane team probing Flynn and other members of the Trump campaign.

James A. Baker, the former FBI general counsel, conceded that the briefer “was there on the off chance that somebody said something that might be useful.”

This means the FBI’s controversial Crossfire Hurricane probe team investigating members of the Trump campaign not only directly interfaced with Trump and Flynn without telling them but also recorded their comments in the official case file. Flynn at the time was already a target of the FBI probe.

Moreover, the FBI investigator who conducted the briefing says that he used the occasion as an opportunity to study Flynn’s behavior and mannerisms just in case the FBI needed to eventually conduct a subject interview of Flynn. Indeed, the same investigator himself was the FBI agent who conducted an in-person FBI interview with Flynn on January 24, 2017 in connection with the FBI’s investigation of Flynn.

All those details and more were contained deep inside the Justice Department’s previously released 476-page Inspector General report on the FBI’s Russia collusion investigation.

The details may take on renewed significant amid the reported decision by Attorney General William P. Barr to assigned an outside prosecutor to scrutinize the case against Flynn.

The briefing in question was a standard FBI unclassified “counterintelligence awareness” briefing routinely given to the transition teams for presidential candidates during an election cycle. The briefings were provided to both the Trump and Clinton campaigns. The briefing for Trump and his selected advisors, including Flynn, took place on August 17, 2016.

The FBI investigator told the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) that disgraced FBI agent Peter Strzok was mostly responsible for helping him prepare the briefing with Trump and Flynn.

The investigator said he prepared himself for facing Trump and Flynn in a series of mock briefings attended by both Strzok and FBI attorney Lisa Page, the infamous texting duo who were previously reportedly romantically involved.

The IG report says that Andrew McCabe, who served under Comey as the FBI’s deputy director, “acknowledged that it was possible he was part of a conversation about whether SSA 1 should handle the briefing because of his involvement with Crossfire Hurricane, but said he could not recall any such conversation.”

SSA 1 refers to the unnamed senior member of the Crossfire Hurricane team who conducted the sneaky briefing.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/02/17/revealed-fbi-set-up-briefing-with-trump-flynn-and-documented-their-thoughts-for-crossfire-hurricane-operation/

UK Professor: Only Way to Save Planet Is to ‘Let Humans Become Extinct’

Giving birth to a child is “the worst thing you can do” to the climate, says philosophy professor Patricia MacCormack of Anglia Ruskin University.

The professor, author of The Ahuman Manifesto: Activism for the End of the Anthropocene who describes herself as an “old school goth,” says that the only way to save the planet is to stop having children and allow humans to become extinct.

According to the official description of the book, MacCormack “actively embraces issues like human extinction, vegan abolition, atheist occultism, death studies, a refusal of identity politics, deep ecology, and the apocalypse as an optimistic beginning.”

Due to global overpopulation, giving birth is the worst thing you can do to the planet, MacCormack sustains, while insisting that she is not advocating wiping out the existing population but rather letting it die off.

“Far from advocating mass death, genocide or eugenics, my manifesto is antinatalist,” says MacCormack. “It boycotts human reproduction due to the damage humans have perpetrated on the Earth and its other inhabitants.”

“The manifesto simply asks that humans no longer reproduce – no life is lost, no being is mourned,” she states. “If we no longer reproduce, we can care for all inhabitants already here, human and non-human, as well as care for the Earth itself by mitigating the damage already caused. It’s an activism of care.”

A native Australian, MacCormack says her opinions have been manipulated and misunderstood.

“I simply propose people not reproduce, and it automatically translated into acts of violence,” she has said.

“So, somehow, I want to kill children, which is ridiculous. Somehow, I’m proposing eugenics or some kind of ethnic population control,” she declares, “and I think that what that shows is there is an anthropocentric — or a human — impulse to read acts of grace as, automatically, acts of violence.”

“And that says a lot more about the people not reading the book and just taking over the message,” she states.

MacCormack, who moonlights as a London DJ, said that her position can be “triggering” because it forces people to confront an idea that contradicts their fundamental view of the world.

Along with her opinions regarding the human population, MacCormack advocates overcoming “human privilege” through what she calls “abolitionist veganism,” or the notion that no sentient being should be treated as property of another.

According to MacCormack, her manifesto “questions the value of human exceptionalism, asking are humans really the ‘best’ forms of life, or should we dismantle our understanding of life as a hierarchy for a more ecological, interconnected scheme of living things?”

“There are people living in the apocalypse right now — especially non-human animals — who have born into an apocalypse. They live to suffer and then they’re murdered,” she said.

Among other climate action groups, MacCormack says that those like the protest group Extinction Rebellion have the right idea but are not going far enough.

“Even Extinction Rebellion only focus on the effect this will have on human life, when climate change is something that will affect every living being on the planet,” she states.

Anglia Ruskin University holds up MacCormack’s ideas on climate, but also underscores her expertise in feminism, queer theory, posthuman ethics, animal studies, and horror films.

“Currently she is working on a new impact case study on inclusivity in mental health and criminal justice especially in relation with issues of sexual difference and Trans rights,” the university website reads.

https://www.breitbart.com/environment/2020/02/17/uk-professor-only-way-to-save-planet-is-to-let-humans-become-extinct/

NYC man thanks Democrats following 139th arrest — and he has a very good reason: 'You can't stop me!'

When Charles Barry was arrested in Manhattan on Thursday for allegedly stealing cash from people riding the subway, he knew exactly who to thank for his impending quick release from jail.

Barry, who was arrested for the 139th time, immediately thanked Democrats as police transported him Manhattan Central Booking.

"Bail reform, it's lit! It's the Democrats! The Democrats know me and the Republicans fear me. You can't touch me! I can't be stopped!" Barry yelled, the New York Daily News reported.

"I'm famous! I take $200, $300 a day of your money, cracker! You can't stop me!" he also said.

Barry — who has served six stints in state prison and has been arrested six times since Jan. 1 of this year — was thanking Democrats because their efforts to pass bail reform last year meant that Barry would be released from jail without posting bail because the charges against him are nonviolent.

More from the Daily News:

Since the bail law took effect, Barry has been freed three times on supervised release, which did not require him to post bail. He was convicted of a minor charge of bending a MetroCard in a way that would let him on the subway for free, and sentenced to time served.

Police officials said that under the state's former bail laws, Barry would more likely have been held on bail, thereby increasing the number of days he spent in custody.

New York's bail reform law took effect on Jan 1. Critics predicted it would be a boon for habitual criminals, but criminal justice reform advocates said it would provide relief for vulnerable communities.

http://www.domigood.com/2020/02/nyc-man-thanks-democrats-following.html

BILL GATES DEMANDS: 95% Population Reduction, Control Of Big Pharma, Forced Vaccinations

https://youtu.be/T3WfRwr4Oyo

Under these circumstances, “Expect the Chinese communist government to attempt retaliation against the Zionist mafia,” CIA sources say adding:

“Watch Israel, more importantly [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu. He made an unscheduled stopover in Moscow a few weeks ago to visit Putin. The real reason; Bibi already knows the Chinese will attempt to eliminate him, as they know he is deeply involved in what took place at Wuhan and beyond. He asked for protection from Putin.”

Our FSB sources tell us he did not get it.

What is happening is not the end of the world, but rather the end of the Satanists’ control over the world’s financial system. There is now, undeniably, a black swan event taking place in the global economy and financial markets.

It is too early to say what the ripple, or should I say tsunami effect of the U.S. default would be. Nonetheless, we can be sure the U.S. Corporation won’t be able to fool the Asians with another Barack Obama house slave like they did in 2008 to end the Lehman crisis.

https://benjaminfulford.net/2020/02/17/us-corporation-fails-to-meet-payments-date-threatens-to-poison-worlds-water-supply/

Homeowner receives letter from neighbor “Your house is beautiful, we love the remodel, but that Trump flag in your window makes your house disgusting”. This is what the homeowner did in retaliation

https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/homeowner-receives-letter-from-neighbor-your-house-is-beautiful-we-love-the-remodel-but-that-trump-flag-in-your-window-makes-your-house-disgusting-this-is-what-the-homeowner-did-in-retaliation/

RINO Mitt Romney Is A TOP 20 Recipient Of Money From Soros Fund Management

A new financial report detailing where Romney has been getting his special-interest dollars may reveal why he voted against the president.

According to OpenSecrets.org, Romney has received $17,500 from Soros Fund Management, an operation founded by left-wing billionaire George Soros.

On the list of all-time total donations, Romney makes it into the top 20 list of politicians who have received money from Soros Fund Management.

He is the only Republican on the list others who have received money from Soros are former President Barack Obama, Sen. Chuck Schumer, former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, and others.

www.rightjournalism.com/rino-mitt-romney-is-a-top-20-recipient-of-money-from-soros-fund-management/

https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/rino-mitt-romney-is-a-top-20-recipient-of-money-from-soros-fund-management/

>>8164208

>>8163913

Global economic collapse incoming – Tons of shipping tankers at sea can’t unload due to pandemic

This will soon lead to a global collapse

Tankers, Tankers. Everywhere!” – Virus Causes Historic’ Traffic Jam’ Across Asian Supply Lines

The parking lot of tankers developing off the coast of not just China but other countries in the region have forced some traders to transfer crude to less expensive tankers to save on demurrage costs, over the fear cargos could be moored offshore for an extended period as an economic crisis in China unfolds.

And to summarize what we know so far: China’s economy is collapsing, crude consumption is plunging, which has forced refiners to cut runs as a glut is developing, has now led to tanker parking lots moored off the shores of many countries in Asia.

What is also known is that bunker fuel prices at major ports in Asia, including Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan, have been declining since the virus outbreak began early last month.

https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/global-economic-collapse-incoming-tons-of-shipping-tankers-at-sea-cant-unload-due-to-pandemic/

CA School Board Votes To Remove Former President's Name, Replace It with Michelle Obama

A Northern California school board voted Wednesday to rename an elementary school after former first lady Michelle Obama.

West Contra Costa Unified School District’s Board of Education will be renaming Wilson Elementary School, which had originally been named after former President Woodrow Wilson, to Michelle Obama Elementary School because it is supposedly more relatable for today’s students.

Wilson Elementary Parent Teacher Association president Maisha Cole said the students are now more inspired by the former first lady than by the former president.

“They all recognize her, they know her initiatives, healthy eating, you can do it, she’s so encouraging and we wanted somebody to embody that,” Cole told WTTV.

Of course, most of the school’s current students either hadn’t been born or were infants when the Obamas first entered the White House.

A child who is in kindergarten today may have only been 2 years old when former President Barack Obama’s term ended.

The East Bay Times reported that the school is home to roughly 430 students from kindergarten through sixth grade.

Classes are currently being held in a temporary location due to the construction of a brand new “state-of-the-art 21st century” school building at its permanent location, the outlet said.

The students are expected to be able to attend the new school this fall.

School board president Stephanie Hernandez-Jarvis expressed her excitement over the school’s new building and its name, particularly highlighting the former first lady’s “values.”

“Naming this school after Michelle Obama is a sign of the school’s rebirth,” Hernandez-Jarvis said in a statement. “We can see the new physical structure being built, but this name change sets high expectations for the students and staff as they enter a new era for this school and this school community.

“The parents and students advocated to rename their school after Michelle Obama because they believe the values our former first lady embodies and the educational, child-centered causes she champions, are representative of what we all aspire to nurture in our school communities.

“She is a role model for our children and we strive to serve our students with the same kind of love, advocacy, and courage that she served our country.”

Dawit Vazquez-Suomala, a student representative on the board, agreed.

http://www.yourdestinationnow.com/2020/02/ca-school-board-votes-to-remove-former.html

Radioactive Waste from Oil and Gas Wells Used to De-Ice Streets in 13 States. Ohio Bill Aims to Protect This

If spreading radioactive waste on American roads was no big deal, environmentalists and scientists probably wouldn’t be freaking out; and, of course, people and animals wouldn’t be getting sick and dying. So how did this practice become legal and even celebrated by elected officials?

According to a recent article published in Rolling Stone magazine:

There is no one federal agency that specifically regulates the radioactivity brought to the surface by oil-and-gas development,” an EPA representative says. In fact, thanks to a single exemption the industry received from the EPA in 1980, the streams of waste generated at oil-and-gas wells — all of which could be radioactive and hazardous to humans — are not required to be handled as hazardous waste.”

OMG.

There are many bizarre and disturbing facts revealed in this article, including a business owner bragging that he “soaks his sore feet” in his company’s radioactive concoction. Of course, that’s his choice; but according to at least one geochemist, that doesn’t mean his product is safe.

Thanks to Rolling Stone for exposing all of this and to everyone trying to stop it.

America’s Radioactive Secret

Oil-and-gas wells produce nearly a trillion gallons of toxic waste a year. An investigation shows how it could be making workers sick and contaminating communities across America

https://www.blacklistednews.com/article/76270/radioactive-waste-from-oil-and-gas-wells-used-to-deice-streets-in-13-states-ohio-bill-aims-to.html

Judge takes rare step to help serve elusive Ghislaine Maxwell with lawsuit

Jeffrey Epstein crony Ghislaine Maxwell is so impossible to find that a Manhattan judge has taken the rare step of allowing her to be served with a new lawsuit — by email, according to a federal court filing Friday.

Lawyers for Epstein sex-assault-accuser Annie Farmer had griped to federal Judge Debra Freeman that they’ve been trying to find the disgraced British socialite to serve her with the complaint, filed in November, but that she’s done such a good job of hiding that they haven’t been able to get to her, court documents show.

“Plaintiff has attempted to locate and personally serve Maxwell to no avail. Her counsel has conducted extensive public records searches and located various addresses for Maxwell,” Farmer’s lawyers wrote in a Jan. 27 motion imploring Freeman to allow them to serve Maxwell using “alternate” means.

On Wednesday, Freeman granted the motion, acknowledging that Farmer has “adequately demonstrated that personal service would be impracticable” and ordered Maxwell to be served by email and through her lawyers representing her in a lawsuit involving another key Epstein accuser, Virginia Giuffre.

https://www.blacklistednews.com/article/76271/judge-takes-rare-step-to-help-serve-elusive-ghislaine-maxwell-with.html

https://nypost.com/2020/02/14/judge-takes-rare-step-to-help-serve-elusive-ghislaine-maxwell-with-lawsuit/

US Delays New START Nuclear Talks, Hoping to Bring in China

China has shown no interest in involvement

It is increasingly less likely that the New START Treaty between the United States and Russia will be extended by the deadline for the previous version. The US has been holding off on any talks, saying they believe the next deal must also include China.

President Trump has been keen to get China in on these arms reduction talks for some time, but China has rejected the idea consistently, saying they believe the two largest nuclear powers need to work this out themselves.

It doesn’t make a lot of sense on the surface to include China, which has 280 nuclear weapons, compared to thousands each for the US and Russia. If a new New START caps the nations’ respective arsenals, it would almost certainly not impact China. Even if China’s arsenal grows at the worst-case rate of the US projections, they still won’t have an arsenal big enough to be included in this matter.

Analysts say the reason to even suggest China’s involvement would be that the US doesn’t intend to extend New START and wants to deflect blame for the death of the last arms reduction treaty.

There is no reason to think China will come on board, since they don’t stand to gain anything. The limitations only impact Russia and the US, and for China, getting thrown in the mix just adds costs for compliance, and offers nothing else.

https://news.antiwar.com/2020/02/16/us-delays-new-start-nuclear-talks-hoping-to-bring-in-china/

Save me! Lebanese man caught spying on Hezbollah begs Israel not to abandon him

‘Benjamin Philip’ says he worked for the Mossad for 9 years, helping to fight the Iran-backed Hezbollah; now he faces deportation to Lebanon and says Israel’s nowhere to be found

Benjamin Philip decided to help Israel and the Mossad fight Hezbollah in 2011, gathering intelligence on the Lebanese terror group’s activities and recruiting additional assets within the organization, including, he says, a member of one of its most elite units. His work, he says, has ruined his life and the lives of his family members in Lebanon.

After being found out as a Mossad asset and incarcerated in a Hezbollah prison for two years, Philip fled his native Lebanon in 2015, eventually winding up in East Asia, where he lived for approximately two years until he was forced to flee late last year as he was facing deportation. Now seeking asylum in Europe, he says Israel — the country he’s helped in its fight against the Iran-backed terrorist organization since 2011 — is refusing to take him in or even respond to his phone calls and emails.

The Prime Minister’s Office, which is responsible for the Mossad, refused to comment on the case.

Philip says he contacted The Times of Israel out of a sense of desperation, hoping — as a last-ditch effort — that by making his case public, he could pressure Israel and the Mossad to help him, as he says they promised to do.

Benjamin Philip is not his real name; it is a pseudonym. The Times of Israel is legally barred from publishing his true identity or any identifying details, despite Philip explicitly requesting that we name him, believing that it will help him in his effort to seek asylum, and despite the fact that Hezbollah and the Lebanese government already know who he is, having incarcerated him and indicted him, respectively.

Philip has tried to contact any Israeli official possible, emailing virtually all public email addresses for the Prime Minister’s Office, the Mossad, the military, the Foreign Ministry and nearly every other government office. In December, he received a response from the office of Israel’s ombudsman, saying, “We brought your complaint to the attention of the security forces.”

https://www.timesofisrael.com/save-me-lebanese-man-caught-spying-on-hezbollah-begs-israel-not-to-abandon-him/

Erdogan’s Long-Coming Reality Check:

It is hard to say if Erdogan is running out of choices, friends, time, or all of the above; and his stands on various issues and the contradictions he ploughs through are making his situation increasingly untenable.

For the benefit of readers who haven’t heard this before; Erdogan is juggling being a Turkish Muslim reformer who parades under the photos of Turkish secular anti-Muslim nation-builder Mustafa Kemal; an EU-aspiring member and also an aspiring global Sunni leader; an ally of Israel as well as Hamas; an Islamist who is also at odds with the Wahhabi Islamists; a nationalist Turk who wants to curb Kurdish aspirations not only in Syria and Iraq but also in Turkey; a Sunni leader who wants to restore the Sultanate and Caliphate and the fundamentalist Sunni version of anti-Shiite Islam but is also a friend of Shiite Iran; a NATO member with a special relationship with America, and a special friend and ally of Russia.

Ironically, despite all the contradictions and conflicts of interest, he has thus far managed to get away with wearing not only all those hats, but also turbans and fezzes in between. Clearly however, this maneuvering cannot last forever and, sooner or later, he is going to end up painted into a tight corner. I certainly would like to believe that he is already in this space.

Erdogan however believes that he has a mandate from God. Following his November 2015 election win, in an article titled “Erdogan the Trojan Horse of Terror” (https://thesaker.is/erdogan-the-trojan-horse-of-terror/), I wrote: “With this win, Erdogan felt invincible. For an Islamist, and this is what Erdogan is, feeling invincible takes on a whole new meaning.

This is a simplistic translation of a Quranic verse: “If God is by your side, no one can defeat you” (Quran 3:160).

Erdogan believes he is invincible because he believes that he is on a mission and that God is by his side. If he had any reason to doubt this divine role he believes he has, the November election results put that doubt to rest.”

Ironically, Erdogan is able to comprehend the contradictions of others. Whilst America for example does not give two hoots about the Syrian Kurds and is only using some vulnerable leaders to dig a wedge between the Syrian Government and the Syrian Kurdish population, Erdogan has most vehemently stated to both the Obama and Trump administrations that America cannot be an ally of Turkey and the Kurds at the same time.

Yet, this same Erdogan justifies for himself the supplying of Idlib terrorists with state-of-the-art weaponry to attack not only Syrian Army units with, but also the Russian Hmeimim Air Base. The Russians have thus far thwarted countless attempted drone attacks on the base, and if Turkey did not directly supply the weapons, it definitely facilitated their transport.

Remember that the Idlib area that is controlled by Tahrir al-Sham (formerly known as Al-Nusra) lies between the Syrian-Army controlled area and the Turkish border. It has an open highway to Turkey where all arms and fighters move freely from Turkey into Syria.

And even though Erdogan has signed an agreement with Russia to end the terrorist presence in Idlib, according to veteran Palestinian journalist Abdul Bari Atwan, he does not want to understand why Russia is fed up with him and his antics and why President Putin is refusing to meet with him. In his article written in Raialyoum https://www.raialyoum.com/index.php/——-/, Atwan argues that the Russians refuse Erdogan’s call for a new disengagement negotiation meeting and that Turkey must adhere to the existing Sochi agreement; which it has broken on several occasions by Erdogan.

https://thesaker.is/erdogans-long-coming-reality-check/