Saturday, August 16, 2014

CLG: Israel and ISIL are allies: Syrian envoy, Gaza agriculture devastated by Israeli offense - UN, CDC Scientist Kept Quiet About Bird Flu Blunder - Report





News Updates from CLG
16 August 2014



Previous edition: U.S. may send troops to Iraq - White House, which Google relegated to the trash bin. Google subscribers: Google Filter Instructions for CLG Newsletter.


SWAT, police moving in on demonstrators in Ferguson, Missouri --Military-style vehicles that had previously disappeared from the streets were back. 16 Aug 2014 A SWAT team lined up across from dozens of protesters in Ferguson early Saturday commanding them via a bullhorn to get out of the street and onto sidewalks, or to go home. Bottles flew back in their direction, and looters broke into at least three stores. Security officers warned that disobeying the law would be met with arrest. Military-style vehicles that had previously disappeared from the streets were back. [More Ferguson coverage, below.]


Russia voices concern over increased US and NATO military activity near Russian border 16 Aug 2014 Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu on Friday voiced serious concern over increased U.S. and NATO military activities near the Russian border. In a telephone conversation with his U.S. colleague Chuck Hagel, Shoigu also called for an immediate ceasefire and safe corridors to deliver humanitarian aid and evacuate civilians from the combat area in eastern Ukraine. He gave a detailed assessment of Ukrainian troops' actions in the combat area. Shoigu said it was unacceptable to use combat aviation, heavy weapons, including rockets, artillery and missiles, against civilians and the region's civilian infrastructure.


Russian Defense Ministry Denies Reports Military Column Crossed Into Ukraine 15 Aug 2014 Russia's Defense Ministry has denied Kiev’s report that it "destroyed the Russian military column" which allegedly crossed into Ukraine, saying that no such column ever existed. "No Russian military column that allegedly crossed the Russian-Ukrainian border at night or during the day ever existed," said Major General Igor Konashenkov, a spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry..."Such statements - based on fantasies, or journalists' assumptions, to be precise - should not be subject for a serious discussion by top officials of any country," Konashenkov said.


Journalists killed and abducted in Eastern Ukraine 14 Aug 2014 As human rights organizations call for an end to repression against the press in Eastern Ukraine, RT recalls the journalists who were abducted, tortured or paid the ultimate price and lost their lives while reporting from the heart of the civil war. Eastern Ukraine has been dubbed a "trap for journalists" by Human Rights Watch's representative in Russia as the deepening crisis has already taken the lives of six journalists since the beginning of the year. Many more journalists have been abducted, interrogated and even tortured while caught in the crossfire in the fighting between the Ukraine Army and the militia forces of southeastern Ukraine.


Over 22,400 Sign Petition Demanding UN to Recognize Luhansk, Donetsk People's Republics 14 Aug 2014 More than 22,400 people have signed an online petition calling on the United Nations to recognize independence of people's republics of Luhansk and Donetsk. The petition has to gain 30,000 signatures to be send to the UN. As of early Thursday, almost 22,500 people have signed the petition. Since mid-April, Kiev authorities have been conducting a special military operation in the east of Ukraine to suppress the independence movement.


Israel and ISIL are allies: Syrian envoy 16 Aug 2014 Syria's ambassador to the UN says Israel allows the free flow of weapons and ISIL militants into the occupied Golan Heights and then into the rest of Syria. Bashar Ja'afari told Press TV on Friday that the ISIL Takfiri terrorists have an undeclared alliance with Israel and are engaged in a secret agreement with the [government]. The Israelis help the Takfiris infiltrate into the separation line on the Golan Heights from Jordan, where their training camps are located, the Syrian diplomat said.


UK prepares to supply arms to Kurdish forces in Northern Iraq 15 Aug 2014 The United Kingdom is prepared to supply arms to the Kurdish forces fighting the Islamic State militants in Northern Iraq. According to the BBC, France and the United States are already providing arms to the Kurds in Northern part of Iraq.


Iraq's PM Maliki gives up his post, supports his successor Abadi 14 Aug 2014 Iraq's Nouri al-Maliki has announced his resignation from the post of Prime Minister of the embattled state in a speech on state television. He said that he supported his nominated replacement in the post, [US troll] Haider al-Abadi. Nouri al-Maliki has surrendered his power in face of the ISIS onslaught in Iraq and now supports his replacement, Haider al-Abadi that was nominated by the country's president on Monday.


US drone attacks, destroys armed truck in Iraq 13 Aug 2014 U.S. military officials say a drone aircraft attacked and destroyed an armed truck operated by Islamic militants west of the village of Sinjar in northern Iraq. The U.S. Central Command said in a brief statement that the attack happened at midday Wednesday, Washington time. It said the truck that was targeted was located in the vicinity of a checkpoint operated by fighters of the Islamic State.


Gaza agriculture devastated by Israeli offense - UN 15 Aug 2014 The Israeli military operation in Gaza has devastated the enclave's food production process the UN has announced, warning that the lack of food will "severely" affect the local population and that recovery will need "significant external assistance." "The recent fighting has resulted in substantial direct damage to Gaza's 17,000 hectares of croplands as well as much of its agricultural infrastructure, including greenhouses, irrigation systems, animal farms, fodder stocks and fishing boats," the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said in a statement.


CDC Scientist Kept Quiet About Bird Flu Blunder - Report 15 Aug 2014 A government scientist who accidently mixed a deadly strain of bird flu with a tamer strain and sent the mix to other labs kept silent about the potentially dangerous lab blunder, according to an internal investigation. The accident happened in January at the headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta...Unsuspecting scientists worked with the viral mix for months before it was discovered. Earlier this summer, a lab mishandled anthrax samples and both the bird flu and anthrax labs were shut down.


Ebola Outbreak's Scale 'Vastly Underestimated' 15 Aug 2014 The number of deaths and confirmed cases of ebola in west Africa has been vastly underestimated, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said. The death toll from the outbreak currently stands at 1,069 people. There have been 1,975 confirmed, probable or suspected cases. But WHO said there is evidence that the number of reported cases underestimates the scale of the suffering.


Ebola: U.S. orders embassy families out of Sierra Leone 13 Aug 2014 The United States on Thursday told the families of its diplomats in Sierra Leone to leave the country to avoid exposure to the deadly Ebola epidemic. "The embassy recommended this step out of an abundance of caution," State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said, citing "a lack of options for routine health care services at major medical facilities due to the Ebola outbreak." The death toll from the epidemic reached 1,069 on Wednesday, according to the World Health Organization.


Ghana: 2 Ebola-like cases at Liberian Refugee camp 13 Aug 2014 An area populated by Liberian Refugees in Ghana's Central Region has recorded two Ebola-like cases. Blood samples of the patients who live within the enclave of the Buduburam camp - home to thousands of Liberian refugees for more than two decades - have been sent to the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) at the University of Ghana for testing. They are bleeding from their nostrils and mouths -- symptoms of the haemorrhagic fever that has killed more than 1,000 people in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

Call Me Ed: A Day With Edward Snowden 13 Aug 2014 It took nearly a year of work and many months of negotiation to win Snowden's cooperation. Now the first meeting was just minutes away. I've led a lot of cover shoots in my 20 years in magazines: presidents, celebrities, people I've admired, and people I've reviled. Cowboys and stateswomen. Architects and heroes. But I'd never felt pressure like this.

Grand jury indicts Gov. Rick Perry on two charges 15 Aug 2014 A grand jury has chosen to indict Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R-Koch Hairball) on Friday following an investigation into whether the governor abused his power by vetoing state funds for the Travis County District Attorney's Office last year. Gov. Rick Perry is charged with the following: --Count I - Abuse of Official Capacity, a first-degree felony --Count II - Coercion of Public Servant, a third-degree felony. Upon his indictment, Perry must turn himself in to the Travis County Jail, where he will be booked, fingerprinted and have his mug shot taken.

Ferguson police officer who fatally shot Michael Brown identified 15 Aug 2014 The police officer who fatally shot unarmed teen Michael Brown, prompting days of unrest in Ferguson, Missouri and rallies nationwide, has been identified as Darren Wilson...Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson made the announcement Friday morning, having previously refused citing concerns over the officer's safety...Jackson said that Wilson has been an officer in the police force for six years and no disciplinary action was taken against him. Wilson was treated for injuries after the shooting, Jackson said.

Darren Wilson identified as officer in Ferguson, Missouri, shooting 15 Aug 2014 Officials on Friday morning named the Ferguson police officer who allegedly murdered Michael Brown after a week of protesters calling for the name and violently clashing with police in the Missouri town. Darren Wilson has served as a police officer for six years with no prior disciplinary action taken against him, the police chief said in a press conference

NYPD threatens mass arrests at Ferguson solidarity rally --A number of arrests were made as the situation escalated 15 Aug 2014 Thousands of people are rallying in New York in solidarity with residents of Ferguson, showing support to people across the US who have been victims of police brutality. The NYPD has threatened mass arrests if people do not stop blocking traffic. The New York City Police Department has reportedly arrested at least four people during a peaceful rally intended to pay tribute to Michael Brown and others who have suffered from police brutality.


Protesters rally around NYC in solidarity with Ferguson after shooting of unarmed teen 14 Aug 2014 Protesters rallied across New York City Thursday in solidarity with Ferguson, Missouri after the shooting death of unarmed teen Michael Brown by police. The "Ferguson Day of Rage" protest was organized via social media and quickly shared with thousands. Protests were planned for Union Square, Harlem, Bedford-Stuyvesant and Jamaica but marchers also began gathering in Times Square.


Police Play "Good Cop, Bad Cop" with Ferguson: With Highway Patrol, hugs and kisses replace tear gas in Ferguson 14 Aug 2014 The heavy riot armor, the SWAT trucks with sniper posts, the hostile glares: tonight in Ferguson they were gone...A stunning change in tone radiated through the suburban streets where protests had turned violent each of the last four evenings following the police shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown...But Thursday night, when more than a thousand protesters descended on the remains of QuickTrip – which was burned during riots on Sunday – they had a new leader...The man at the front of the march, was Missouri Highway Patrol Capt. Ronald S. Johnson, a Ferguson native. [Using identity politics to mollify the populace, much like in the 2008 Presidential election.]


Missouri Highway Patrol seizes control of Ferguson 14 Aug 2014 The Missouri Highway Patrol seized control of a St. Louis suburb Thursday, stripping local police of their law-enforcement authority after four days of clashes between officers in riot gear and furious crowds protesting the death of an unarmed black teen shot by an officer. The intervention, ordered by Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, came as President Barack Obama spoke publicly for the first time about Saturday's fatal shooting of Michael Brown and the subsequent violence that shocked the nation and threatened to tear apart Ferguson, a town that is nearly 70 percent black patrolled by a nearly all-white police force.


St. Louis County Police 'taken out of' Ferguson 'situation' says Mo. Gov. 14 Aug 2014 Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon will announce that St. Louis County police will be “taken out of the situation,” says Missouri State Representative Lacy Clay, according to Bloomberg’s Jonathan Allen...According to Clay, Nixon said he was on his way to St. Louis this morning to announce the move...There is no word on what group will replace the St. Louis Country police in Ferguson. The St. Louis suburb has seen four nights of community protests and aggressive police response since Saturday, when 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed by police.


Protests again roil Ferguson, Mo., over Michael Brown shooting 13 Aug 2014 Protests racked this St. Louis suburb for a fifth straight night Wednesday as anger flared anew over the police killing of an unarmed young black man...Armored personnel carriers and officers wearing body armor and carrying assault rifles greeted demonstrators. When the crowd ignored orders to disperse, officers unleashed tear gas and rubber bullets, witnesses said...During the nighttime confrontation, protesters with shirts wrapped around their faces held signs that read, "Hands up, don't shoot," as police closed in on the crowd. The slogan has been adopted by protesters because witnesses said 18-year-old Michael Brown was running with his hands in the air when a policeman shot him to death Saturday in Ferguson.


Another witness to Brown shooting comes forward; video shows graphic scene 13 Aug 2014 According to Mitchell, Brown, Jr, began to run away after the first shot was fired..."After the shot, the kid just breaks away. The cop follows him, kept shooting, the kid's body jerked as if he was hit. After his body jerked he turns around, puts his hands up, and the cop continues to walk up on him and continues to shoot until he goes all the way down," Mitchell said.


Pentagon Gave Ferguson Police Department Military-Grade Weapons --In 2013 alone, $449,309,003.71 worth of property was transferred to law enforcement,' the agency's website states. 13 Aug 2014 The local community of Ferguson, Missouri, may not look like a war zone, but and the Pentagon has helped the police treat it like one. According to Michelle McCaskill, media relations chief at the Defense Logistics Agency, the Ferguson Police Department is part of a federal program called 1033, in which the Department of Defense distributes hundreds of millions of dollars of surplus military equipment to civilian police forces across the U.S. That surplus military equipment doesn't just mean small items like pistols or automatic rifles; towns like Ferguson could become owners of heavy armored vehicles, including the MRAPs used in Afghanistan and Iraq.


Alderman Antonio French free; says he was arrested because 'I didn't listen' 14 Aug 2014 St. Louis Alderman Antonio French says he was arrested because, "I didn't listen." French was released from the Ferguson city jail just after 7:00 a.m. Thursday..."I would call everyone in there a peacemaker, not a trouble maker. I saw some troublemakers and none of them were in that jail," French told reporter Chris Regnier...French said, "we broke no laws"...Tear gas explosion and concussion grenades filled the sky in Ferguson Wednesday night. St. Louis County police say at least 10 people were arrested including French.


Washington Post reporter arrested in Ferguson 13 Aug 2014 Wesley Lowery, a reporter for The Washington Post who has been reporting on the unrest in Ferguson, Mo., was detained Wednesday evening by police in Ferguson. He and other reporters were working in a McDonald's in Ferguson when about half a dozen police officers came into the restaurant, Lowery said. Some officers were in regular uniforms, while others were dressed in riot gear and carrying assault weapons...Lowery was directed to leave through one door, and then told to go through another, at which point his bag fell off of his shoulder. "'Okay, let's take him,'" one of the officers said, according to Lowery.


Poverty Pimp Snitch [and GOP Troll] Al Sharpton Gets Heckled in Ferguson, MO, for Showing Up 13 Aug 2014 Here's the transcript of how it all went down: Adam Sharp: "Reverend Sharpton, the term 'Snitches Get Stitches' was spray painted on the burned out QuikTrip. Since you are a federal snitch, sir, do you fear for your life?" Al Sharpton: "I'm not a snitch. (Not true.) But today I want to tell the feds about a cop that needs to go to jail." [See: The Problem With Al Sharpton (The Black Commentator) "Roger Stone, a millionaire political consultant who began his career as a 19-year-old Watergate dirty trickster, virtually took over the [Rev. Al] Sharpton campaign in the last quarter of 2003, according to reports in the New York Times (January 25), Salon ("A GOP Trickster Rents Sharpton," February 3) and New York's Village Voice ("Sleeping with the GOP," February 3). ...Roger Stone is the Hard Right storm trooper whose goons bum-rushed the Miami-Dade elections offices in 2000, shutting down the recount and setting the stage for George Bush's "selection."]


Driver tosses one-pound kitten from car window in Spokane 15 Aug 2014 (WA) A veterinarian managed to save a five-week old kitten who was thrown out of a moving vehicle along Trent. Witnesses saw someone toss the kitten from a speeding car on Thursday. Then a good Samaritan brought the cat to Dr. Tami Boettcher at Pet Savers. The kitten weighed just over one pound and was battling some serious wounds. He has severe eye trauma and a broken leg. [I want the sociopath who did this to be tossed from a speeding car, NOW.]


N.J. family watches mama bear and cubs grow up 14 Aug 2014 While many people in northern New Jersey have grown accustomed to seeing bears in residential areas, Butler resident Stanley Plewa says they're more than wildlife. "They're not dangerous," Plewa said. "They're so nice. They're a part of the whole community." This past Tuesday, Plewa took video of a mother bear and five cubs outside his Outlook Home -- but it's not the first time he's had this family wander onto his property. Back in May, Plewa took a video of the family when the five cubs were significantly smaller.


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