Anonymous ID: b88cfa May 7, 2020, 11:29 a.m. No.9066728   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>6753

IRS Orders The Dead To Return Stimulus Money

 

One week after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that dead people aren't eligible for stimulus check after it emerged that an unknown number of recently deceased Americans had received a $1200 tax credit as part of the coronavirus helicopter money package, the Internal Revenue Service made sure that the dead will only be allowed to vote instead of stimulating the economy, when it announced that individuals who got a $1,200 stimulus payment intended for someone who’s deceased or incarcerated should return the money. It wasn't clear how the IRS will "enforce" collecting from the dead or their relatives.

 

The $1,200 stimulus payments for adults earning as much as $75,000 and $500 for their children began hitting bank accounts in April. The IRS is still processing tens of millions more checks to be distributed in the coming weeks.

 

Instructions posted to the IRS’s website Wednesday said recipients of what the Treasury Department calls "inadvertent" payments should write void on paper checks and mail them back (sure, they'll get right on it). Even more amusing were instructions to those who received direct-deposit payments or have already cashed the payments: they should send a personal check or money order to the IRS for the amount of the payment.

 

https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/irs-orders-dead-return-stimulus-money

Anonymous ID: b88cfa May 7, 2020, 11:30 a.m. No.9066734   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>6828 >>7163 >>7312 >>7378

Trump Admin Wins in Appeals Court, Preventing Release of 250 ICE Detainees

 

A panel on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has overruled a lower court’s order to reduce the detention population of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility by the hundreds.

The Trump administration scored a major win on Tuesday after a three-judge panel ruled that detainees in the Adelanto ICE Processing Facility, a dentition center that sits northeast of Los Angeles, do need to be released en masse while a lower court ruling is being appealed, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The decision overrules a decision made by U.S. District Judge Terry Hatter on April 23. The judge had ordered the Adelanto facility to no longer accept new inmates and to reduce its detainee population by at least 250 by the end of the month.

 

Such a move, Hatter said, would allow remaining inmates and employees to properly practice social distancing amid the coronavirus pandemic. The decision pertained to a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, a progressive organization that has adamantly opposed President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda.

Attorneys for the Trump administration lodged an emergency request against Hatter’s decision one day later in a bid to prevent an immediate release of more than 200 detainees.

The Ninth Circuit panel that overruled the decision consisted of judges Barry Silverman, Jacqueline Nguyen and Daniel Collins. In a written opinion, Collins said the injunction must “state its terms specifically,” according to the Los Angeles Times.

“One of the many problems with the district court’s injunction is that it disregards the very sort of considerations that the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] says may require adaption of the guidelines in the context of a particular facility,” Collins wrote.

The Adelanto facility, one of the biggest ICE detention centers in the country, holds space for roughly 2,000 detainees but is currently holding around 1,200.

Across the country, ICE is currently detaining just shy of 29,700 foreign nationals, according to the agency’s latest data.

 

Information provided by the agency also shows that a total of 1,346 inmates have been tested for coronavirus. Of those, 674 detainees have tested positive for the disease.

The Trump administration has recently been dealt a mixed bag from the Ninth Circuit when it’s come to recent decisions regarding its immigration agenda.

On Monday, the appeals court blocked a request from the administration to deny green card applicants who can’t prove they can afford health care.

 

http://www.womensystems.com/2020/05/trump-admin-wins-in-appeals-court.html

Anonymous ID: b88cfa May 7, 2020, 11:31 a.m. No.9066756   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>7163 >>7312 >>7378

No Thanks: Trump White House Shelves CDC Guidelines for Reopening Economy and Public Places

 

The Trump White House shelved the latest CDC guidelines on how to restart public places and the economy.

 

It was the CDC along with Dr. Fauci, Dr. Birx and the White House COVID-19 Task Force who urged President Trump to shut down the record US economy in March.

 

Now we know that the model they used to scare the administration was a complete fraud and cannot be scientifically replicated.

 

Breitbart.com reported:

 

A set of detailed documents created by the nation’s top disease investigators meant to give step-by-step advice to local leaders deciding when and how to reopen public places such as mass transit, day care centers and restaurants during the still-raging pandemic has been shelved by the Trump administration.

 

The 17-page report by a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention team, titled “Guidance for Implementing the Opening Up America Again Framework,” was researched and written to help faith leaders, business owners, educators and state and local officials as they begin to reopen.

 

It was supposed to be published last Friday, but agency scientists were told the guidance “would never see the light of day,” according to a CDC official. The official was not authorized to talk to reporters and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

 

The AP obtained a copy from a second federal official who was not authorized to release it. The guidance was described in last week, prior to the White House decision to shelve it.

 

The Trump administration has been closely controlling the release of guidance and information during the pandemic spurred by a new coronavirus that scientists are still trying to understand, with the president himself leading freewheeling daily briefings until last week.

 

Traditionally, it’s been the CDC’s role to give the public and local officials guidance and science-based information during public health crises. During this one, however, the CDC has not had a regular, pandemic-related news briefing in nearly two months. CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield has been a member of the White House coronavirus task force, but largely absent from public appearances…

 

…Some of the report’s suggestions already appear on federal websites. But the guidance offered specific, tailored recommendations for reopening in one place.

 

For example, the report suggested restaurants and bars should install sneeze guards at cash registers and avoid having buffets, salad bars and drink stations. Similar tips appear on the CDC’s site and a Food and Drug Administration page.

 

But the shelved report also said that as restaurants start seating diners again, they should space tables at least 6 feet apart and try to use phone app technology to alert a patron when their table is ready to avoid touching and use of “buzzers.” That’s not on the CDC’s site now.

 

“You can say that restaurants can open and you need to follow social distancing guidelines. But restaurants want to know, ‘What does that look like?’ States would like more guidance,” said Dr. Marcus Plescia, chief medical officer of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

 

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/05/no-thanks-trump-white-house-shelves-cdc-guidelines-reopening-economy-public-places/

Anonymous ID: b88cfa May 7, 2020, 11:33 a.m. No.9066786   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>7163 >>7312 >>7378

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos Issues New Title IX Rules To Protect Free Speech, Due Process for Accused Students

 

On Wednesday, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos formally announced the new rules related to Title IX—the federal statute that governs sexual misconduct in schools—thus completing a process that began more than a year ago, when the government first unveiled its proposed changes.

 

The new rules aim to protect victims of sexual misconduct while also establishing fairer procedures for the accused. The department believes the new rules will "balance the scales of justice on campuses across America," a Department of Education spokesperson said during today's press briefing.

Justin Dillon, an attorney with the firm KaiserDillon who specializes in campus misconduct adjudication, hailed the new rules as tremendously well thought out.

 

"Nothing Betsy DeVos has done since she took office will have a more lasting effect on people's lives than this," Dillon tells Reason. "It's frankly inspiring to see how hard she and her staff have worked to get these regulations done and get them right."

 

The new rules are similar to what the Department of Education proposed in November 2018. Most notably, the government has abolished the single-investigator model, which previously permitted a sole university official to investigate an accusation of misconduct, decide which evidence to consider, and produce a report recommending an outcome. Under the new rules, the final decision maker must be a different person than the investigator, and a finding of responsibility can only be rendered after a hearing in which a representative for the accused is able to pose questions to the accuser—i.e., cross-examination.

 

Importantly, the new rules narrow the scope of actionable sexual harassment to exclude conduct that ought to be protected under the First Amendment. Obama-era guidance had defined sexual harassment as "any unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature." The new rules keep this definition but add that the conduct must be offensive to a reasonable person, severe, and pervasive. In practice, this should mean that schools will no longer initiate Title IX investigations that impugn free speech.

 

"This new rule strikes a powerful blow against campus censorship," said a Department of Education spokesperson. "Campus free speech must not be sacrificed in the misguided pursuit of any other value."

 

http://www.stationgossip.com/2020/05/education-secretary-betsy-devos-issues.html

Anonymous ID: b88cfa May 7, 2020, 11:34 a.m. No.9066805   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>7163 >>7312 >>7378

Ex interior minister of Austria denounces COVID manipulation, media scare tactics, and calls out to government to : “Wake up and take action”

 

Europe is starting to wake up, people are coming out of the closet.

 

https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/ex-interior-minister-of-austria-denounces-covid-manipulation-media-scare-tactics-and-calls-out-to-government-to-wake-up-and-take-action/

Anonymous ID: b88cfa May 7, 2020, 11:36 a.m. No.9066836   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>7068

Israeli Police Compile Car Movement Info in Massive Secret Database, Report Claims

 

The project, known as the 'Hawk-Eye' program, was said to have begun secret operations in 2014, collecting data on Israeli-owned vehicles by using smart cameras distributed across all parts of the Middle Eastern country.

 

Israel’s police forces are gathering a huge secret database on the movement of cars belonging to Israeli citizens, including those not suspected of any wrongdoing, across the country without clear oversight, The Times of Israel reported on Wednesday, citing a local news outlet.

 

According to the report, police collect video of cars recorded by means of smart LPR cameras capable of identifying license plates to determine whether the vehicle is stolen or if its driver’s license is expired.

 

The report claims that the videos are stored in a secret database for at least six months and for periods up to several years, citing a police source familiar with Hawk-Eye.

 

The aim of the surveillance program is reportedly to see where a car travels in case a driver or owner is suspected of involvement in a crime or a terror activity.

 

The report highlights that the Hawk-Eye program violates a 2012 regulation by the Justice Ministry which requires police to register such databases with the ministry and notify Israelis of their existence.

 

“What justification can there be for gathering this information when it is not regulated by any law or even an internal protocol?” asked attorney Anne Suciu of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI). “Does any cop have the authority to access that database? When they access it, is there any record of it to verify they weren’t searching their ex-wife’s car?”

 

The report claims that the database is not a subject to any form of oversight.

 

According to The Times of Israel, police in response to the report said that the use of the Hawk-Eye program has been “validated by judicial means and used in an orderly fashion when needed”.

 

https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202005071079223220-israeli-police-compile-car-movement-info-in-massive-secret-database-report-claims/

Anonymous ID: b88cfa May 7, 2020, 11:38 a.m. No.9066893   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>7052 >>7297

Government by billionaires? Cuomo names former Google CEO to join Gates & Bloomberg in drafting post-pandemic ‘reforms’

 

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has appointed ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt to lead a panel on post-pandemic “reform” of health and education systems, despite criticism for taking other billionaires with conflicts of interest on board.

 

Schmidt will head a ‘Blue Ribbon Commission’ tasked with “reimagining” New York's existing systems of healthcare and education, Cuomo announced on Wednesday during his daily coronavirus briefing. The decision to place such power in the hands of another unelected billionaire has riled critics already uneasy about the governor's post-Covid-19 plans.

 

The panel's initial priorities will be “tele-health, remote learning and broadband,” Schmidt announced, dropping into Cuomo's broadcast. The former Google exec still receives a paycheck from parent company Alphabet in an advisory capacity, raising questions of conflict of interest given Google's leading role in developing a digital contact-tracing platform for Covid-19. While Cuomo confirmed in the same presser that the state is partnering with former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg – another billionaire – in building a human contact-tracing network, any digital component will likely involve the participation of Google. At the same time, the tech giant's insatiable hunger for health data, as evinced by initiatives like Project Nightingale and Google's acquisition of Fitbit, is unlikely to sit well with New Yorkers concerned about the company's privacy record.

 

https://www.rt.com/usa/487968-cuomo-google-billionaires-education-healthcare/

Anonymous ID: b88cfa May 7, 2020, 11:39 a.m. No.9066919   🗄️.is 🔗kun

End of Russiagate? DOJ reportedly drops case against Trump adviser Flynn that started ‘witch hunt’

 

https://www.rt.com/usa/488079-doj-drops-flynn-case-trump/

Anonymous ID: b88cfa May 7, 2020, 11:41 a.m. No.9066964   🗄️.is 🔗kun

Fort Worth Child Sexual Predator Sentenced to 80 Years

 

A Fort Worth child sexual predator was sentenced Monday to 80 years in federal prison announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Erin Nealy Cox.

 

Tyrone Alexander Taylor, 42, pled guilty in October to two counts of sexual exploitation of a child and possession of a visual depiction of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

 

“This sentence, essentially a life sentence, exemplifies the seriousness of this horrible conduct – one committed against the most vulnerable among us,” stated U.S. Attorney Erin Nealy Cox. “We will continue to dedicate whatever resources necessary to bring to justice to predators who prey on and victimize children.”

 

“The FBI works with our law enforcement partners every day to ensure that children are protected from predators who seek to exploit them,” said FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge Matthew J. DeSarno. “Today’s outcome is the result of collaboration and commitment to holding a sexual predator accountable for their actions. We ask that the public continue to remain vigilant and report any suspected child exploitation to the FBI or local law enforcement.”

 

According to court documents, FBI agents launched their investigation after a computer repair business reported discovering child pornography on a hard drive owned by Taylor. After meeting with a business representative to review the images that depicted child pornography, agents took custody of the hard drive and conducted a forensic review of the device.

 

Taylor admitted the hard drive belonged to him and that it contained a number of child pornography videos and images – some as young as 9.

 

Taylor and codefendant, Shannon Nichols, sentenced in February to 50 years in federal prison, sexually victimized children by using them to create child pornography, which Taylor meticulously stored on his computer.

 

https://breaking911.com/fort-worth-child-sexual-predator-sentenced-to-80-years/

Anonymous ID: b88cfa May 7, 2020, 11:42 a.m. No.9067010   🗄️.is 🔗kun

Mueller prosecutor withdraws from Flynn case after questions surface concerning his compliance with court order

 

Brandon Van Grack, a top Justice Department prosecutor and former member of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team, is no longer handling the case of former national security adviser Michael Flynn – and he's withdrawing from other unrelated cases as well, raising questions about his future at the DOJ.

 

No explanation was given for Van Grack's abrupt withdrawal from the Flynn case, which was recorded in a brief filing with the court on Thursday. But Van Grack's removal came just days after Fox News reported that explosive, newly unsealed evidence documenting the FBI's efforts to target Flynn including a top official's handwritten memo debating whether the FBI's "goal" was "to get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired" called into question whether Van Grack complied with a court order to produce favorable evidence to Flynn.

 

Since February 2018, Van Grack who now heads the DOJ's Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) unit has been obligated to comply with D.C. District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan's standing order in the Flynn case to produce all evidence in the government’s possession “that is favorable to defendant and material either to defendant’s guilt or punishment.”

 

The order also requires the government to submit favorable defense evidence to the court, including possible "impeachment evidence" that could undermine witnesses, even if the government believes the evidence “not to be material.”

 

Van Grack has long informed Sullivan that the government’s so-called "Brady" obligations, referring to prosecutors' duty to turn over exculpatory materials to defendants, have been met. In an October 2019 filing, Van Grack denied governmental misconduct and assured the court that the government “has complied, and will continue to comply, with its discovery and disclosure obligations, including those imposed pursuant to Brady and the Court’s Standing Order.”

 

In that same October 2019 motion, Van Grack elaborated on those claims, telling Sullivan that the government had not “affirmatively suppressed evidence” or hid Brady material. He denied that the government was “aware of any information that would be favorable and material to [Flynn] at sentencing.”

 

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mueller-prosecutor-removed-from-flynn-case-after-questions-surface-concerning-his-compliance-with-court-order

Anonymous ID: b88cfa May 7, 2020, 11:45 a.m. No.9067079   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>7102 >>7125 >>7152

NASA confirms Tom Cruise is filming a movie in space

 

It’s not just a pleasure Cruise.

 

Tom Cruise is actually going to film a movie in space, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine confirmed Tuesday.

 

Deadline reported Monday that Cruise had plans to work with Elon Musk and NASA on the first Hollywood flick to ever film in space.

 

Now, NASA has confirmed that Cruise will film inside the International Space Station.

 

“We need popular media to inspire a new generation of engineers and scientists to make NASA’s ambitious plans a reality,” Bridenstine wrote in the tweet.

 

Cruise is just the man for the job. The 57-year-old actor, who famously does his own stunts, has shown an affinity for the skies in numerous projects, including the “Mission: Impossible” films. He scaled the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, in the fourth film; hung from the side of a jet plane in the fifth movie; and did a HALO jump in the sixth and most recent installment.

 

His newest aerial project, “Top Gun: Maverick,” a sequel to 1986′s “Top Gun,” has been delayed the pandemic, but Cruise’s ambitions have apparently not been put on a similar hold.

 

Bridenstine did not mention Musk, who became a father Monday, but the eccentric billionaire did respond to the NASA administrator’s tweet, writing, “Should be a lot of fun!”

 

http://www.webnewsys.com/2020/05/nasa-confirms-tom-cruise-is-filming.html

Anonymous ID: b88cfa May 7, 2020, 11:47 a.m. No.9067116   🗄️.is 🔗kun

Amazon makes $10,000 per second as shoppers shelter in place

 

Amazon recorded sales of $75.4 billion in the first three months of the year, a first-quarter record for the ecommerce giant, as many consumers stepped up their online purchases during coronavirus-fueled lockdowns.

That translates into nearly $10,000 in sales every second, according to calculations from Christopher , portfolio manager of the J. Stern & Co. World Stars Global Equity fund.

"The numbers are frankly staggering," Rossbach said in a note.

 

Amazon's North America sales rose 29%, while AWS — the company's huge cloud-computing segment — increased 33%, the company said in an earnings release Thursday. At the same time, its costs of fulfilling all those customer orders jumped 34% as it hired thousands of new workers and increased pay. Amazon posted an operating profit of $3.9 billion for the quarter, a nearly 10% drop from this period last year.

The "current crisis is demonstrating the adaptability and durability of Amazon's business as never before, but it's also the hardest time we've ever faced," Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said in a statement.

Bezos said the company would spend at least $4 billion on costs related to the COVID-19 outbreak in the coming three months, outlining an increase in personal protective equipment and pay bumps for workers, more intense cleaning of warehouses, and about $300 million to develop internal coronavirus testing capabilities.

 

http://www.stationgossip.com/2020/05/amazon-makes-10000-per-second-as.html

Anonymous ID: b88cfa May 7, 2020, 11:50 a.m. No.9067197   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>7312 >>7378

DOJ drops case against Michael Flynn, in wake of internal memo release

 

The Justice Department on Thursday dropped its case against former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, in a stunning development that comes after internal memos were released raising serious questions about the nature of the investigation that led to Flynn’s late 2017 guilty plea of lying to the FBI.

 

The announcement came in a court filing, with the department saying it is dropping the case "after a considered review of all the facts and circumstances of this case, including newly discovered and disclosed information."

 

The documents were first obtained by The Associated Press. DOJ sources confirmed the decision to Fox News.

 

The retired Army lieutenant general for months has been trying to withdraw his plea, aided by a new attorney who has aggressively challenged the prosecution’s case and conduct. But the case has been plodding through the court system with no resolution ever since his original plea, even amid speculation about whether President Trump himself could extend a pardon.

 

The DOJ decision would appear to put an end to that process.

 

Earlier Thursday, the top prosecutor on the case, Brandon Van Grack, abruptly withdrew from the case, without explanation, in a brief filing with the court.

 

Breadcrumbs were being dropped in the days preceding the decision that his case could be reconsidered. Documents unsealed a week ago by the Justice Department revealed agents discussed their motivations for interviewing him in the Russia probe—questioning whether they wanted to“get him to lie” so he'd be fired or prosecuted, or get him to admit wrongdoing. Flynn allies howled over the revelations, arguing that he was essentially set up in a perjury trap. In that interview, Flynn did not admit wrongdoing and instead was accused of lying about his contacts with the then-Russian ambassador – to which he pleaded guilty.

 

Then on Wednesday, the DOJ released a mostly unredacted version of former acting Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s August 2017 “scope memo,” outlining the authority then-Special Counsel Robert Mueller had for his investigation. That document revealed for the first time that Mueller’s authority went significantly beyond what was previously known.

 

Rosenstein’s memo was known to have authorized Mueller to probe “any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump,” and “any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation,” and “any other matters within the scope of [obstruction of justice laws].”

 

But the new document made clear that Rosenstein authorized a deep-dive criminal probe into the Trump campaign that extended well beyond Russian interference efforts.

 

The memo revealed that Mueller was, among other things, looking into whether Flynn “committed a crime or crimes by engaging in conversations with Russian government officials during the period of the Trump transition.”

 

That was an apparent reference to the Logan Act, which is an obscure statute that has never been successfully used in a criminal prosecution and was intended to prevent individuals from falsely claiming to represent the United States government abroad.

 

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/drops-doj-case-against-michael-flynn-in-wake-of-internal-memo-release

Anonymous ID: b88cfa May 7, 2020, 11:53 a.m. No.9067236   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>7312 >>7378

‘We Are Not Essential. We Are Sacrificial.’ — I’m a New York City subway conductor who had Covid-19. Now I’m going back to work.

 

When I heard that a co-worker had died from Covid-19 — the first in the Metropolitan Transportation Authority — on March 27, I thought, “It’s starting.” More deaths followed in quick succession, frequently more than once a day. Some of those people I used to see every day and fist bump.

 

On Facebook, when bad news comes, my co-workers and I express grief and offer condolences to the families. But our spontaneous response is the numb curiosity of an onlooker. We knew this was coming. We knew many among us wouldn’t make it through the pandemic.

 

Every day I see posts on the M.T.A. workers’ group pages striking a jaunty tone: “Oh Lord, here we go. I got the symptoms, see you all in 14 days. Or not.”

 

We work at the epicenter of the epicenter, with a mortality rate substantially higher than that of first responders. Common sense tells you that subway trains and platforms are giant vectors of this virus. We breathe it in along with steel dust. As a conductor, when I stick my head out of the car to perform the required platform observation, passengers in many stations are standing 10 inches from my face. At other times, they lean into the cab to ask questions. Bus drivers, whose passengers enter right in front of them, are even worse off.

 

My co-workers want doors locked on the two cars where the crew rides. Bus drivers want to let passengers enter through the back doors. We want hazard pay and family leave for child care.

 

In mid-March, a bulletin came out mandating that conductors make an announcement every 15 minutes. Wash hands, soap and water, sanitizer, elbow-sneeze. “Together we can help keep New York safe.”

 

The irony was that we didn’t have soap and water. At my terminal at that time, the restrooms were closed for three days after a water main break. Most employee restrooms are in similarly bad shape. Crew rooms are packed.

 

The M.T.A. takes stern action against workers seen without goggles or cotton knit safety gloves. Yet we had to work without protection against the coronavirus.

 

At first we were warned not to wear masks. The M.T.A. said it would panic the public. It said masks were dangerous for us. Later it said we could wear masks we bought ourselves. But by then there were few masks for sale.

 

One week after the pandemic was declared, a vice president of TWU Local 100 came to my terminal to give a talk. I rose to my feet in outrage and asked why we weren’t receiving masks. I was told healthy people didn’t need masks and that doctors needed them more. Aren’t doctors healthy? No answer. How about rubber gloves and hand sanitizer? No answer.

 

http://www.cuzzblue.com/2020/05/we-are-not-essential-we-are-sacrificial.html

Anonymous ID: b88cfa May 7, 2020, 11:56 a.m. No.9067296   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>7312 >>7333

The EU helps Israel export its colonial violence

 

 

In 2018, the Israeli defence company Elbit won a €59 million ($63.7 million) contract to provide drone surveillance systems in the Mediterranean for the EU. “Having been selected by the European Union authorities is yet another vote of confidence in the Hermes 900 by following additional contract awards for this UAS in Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Israel,” Elbit’s General Manager Elad Arahonson declared.

 

The contract can be renewed for an additional two years. On Tuesday, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor called upon the EU to cancel the contract for two main reasons. Drone surveillance provides the opportunity for transgressions of international law as it removes the obligation incumbent upon vessels to provide assistance. To cleanse the Mediterranean of refugees and violate international law, the EU has chosen Israeli technology which has already been tested on the Palestinian civilian population.

 

Former UN Special Rapporteur, and Chairman of Euro-Med Monitor’s board of trustees, Richard Falk stated: “It is outrageous for the EU to buy drones from Israel drone manufacturers considering the repressive and unlawful ways that drones have been used to oppress Palestinians living under occupation.”

 

Israel has firmly established itself as an admired violator of international law, as indicated by Arahonson’s statement which shows the global reach of the colonial entity’s military and surveillance technology. The EU, in particular, continues to exceed the parameters of its own hypocrisy when it comes to upholding the purported peacebuilding politics.

 

The body’s collaboration with Israel is outrageous in terms of human rights violations, yet this is also an extension of how the international community has normalised Israel’s colonial violence against the Palestinian people.

 

On its website, the European External Action Service states: “The European Union’s commitment to peace is not rhetorical.” Perhaps the statement would have benefited from an admission of rhetorical façade. For Israel, the inaccuracies do not matter as they work in favour of the colonial project. Palestinians, on the other hand, are trapped into a political dynamic where the Palestinian Authority continues to laud the EU as its political partner. The EU, meanwhile, is able to manipulate political outcomes for Palestinians while strengthening its ties with Israel, helping it export its surveillance technology to be used against those who the EU deems undesirable.

 

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200507-the-eu-helps-israel-export-its-colonial-violence/

Anonymous ID: b88cfa May 7, 2020, 11:58 a.m. No.9067331   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>7343

Pentagon Admits Killing 132 Civilians in 2019

 

Denies any civilian deaths in Libya or Yemen

 

A new report from the Pentagon offers specific data on civilian deaths in US military operations in 2019, admitting to having killed 132 civilians and wounded 91 others in actions across Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, and Somalia.

 

These annual reports are mandated by Congress, but that doesn’t stop the Pentagon from systematically under-reporting civilian casualties. This has been heavily true in Syria and Iraq, where high-profile attacks with well-documented civilian casualties often are missed in official reports, or with alternate death tolls of only about 10% of the actual toll.

 

The report claimed the overwhelming majority of the deaths came out of Afghanistan, where the Pentagon admitted 108 deaths. Twenty-two others were admitted in Syria and Iraq combined, with two more in Somalia.The Pentagon claimed no civilian deaths in either Libya or Yemen.

 

One of the biggest incidents in Afghanistan saw the US attack pine nut harvesters in Nangarhar, killing over 30 people in a single attack. The harvesters had gotten approval from Afghan officials for the harvest, knowing it was near combat areas, but the US still claimed those civilians were somehow in league with ISIS.

 

https://news.antiwar.com/2020/05/06/pentagon-admits-killing-132-civilians-in-2019/