By Eve Mykytyn: Take $3,500 and a one-way ticket to an ‘unnamed’ African country (Rwanda or Uganda) by April 1, or face indefinite imprisonment. This is what Israel told the 40,000 African migrants who have been stuck in limbo in Israel for years. According to the Israeli government, roughly 20,000 Africans have already been expelled. On February 21, following the imprisonment of seven Eritreans who refused to leave Israel, 750 African asylum seekers detained at the Holot detention center began a hunger strike reportedly refusing both food and water. It seems that Israel has come face to face with one consequence of trying to be a ‘nation like all others’: having to cope with the difficulties of refugees who want the protection of your state without necessarily subscribing to your values. Israel calls itself the Jewish state (as opposed to a state of its citizens), and actively seeks Jewish immigrants. This has given religious identity a huge role in Israel, although Israel is largely secular. Israel has not yet become a ‘nation like all others’ in its treatment of non Jews. Its 20% Palestinian minority are second-class citizens.* The African asylum seekers and its Palestinian citizens are not the only non Jewish residents of Israel has who have the potential of conflicting with Israel’s policy of being the Jewish state.
By Sophia Agathangelou:I'll update this with details and reviews later, but for now here are some photos of the event taken with my iPhone. Suffice it to say that only gear that scored over 7/10 was even considered worth photographing and so here are some highlights.
I was very impressed with the Meze headphones that from my short listen to 'War Pigs' and 'When Doves Cry' seemed well balanced and enjoyable and that I gave an unusually high 9/10 as they were so good for much less than £500 and I was decidedly unimpressed by the general lack of big good quality speakers at the show. As usual the excuses given by exhibitors for this sad state of affairs pointed to the fact that most men [who were the overwhelming majority of visitors to the event] are hen pecked and their wives and or partners, who apparently rule the roost, prioritise form over function. Thank goodness my dad isn't one of those, otherwise I may not have grown up to have such a great appreciation for music.
Mike Buchanan: Jonathan Vernon-Smith is the only BBC presenter prepared to host substantive discussions on MGM male infant ritual genital mutilation. This was the third time Mike Buchanan has debated with Jewish proponents on his show.
corbett: Yes, America interferes in elections all the time. And yes, the Russian ad buys happened after the election. And yes, the DNC really did rig the primaries for Hillary. But if you believe the truth then you're a dirty Russian!
By MRA-UK: The well advertised collapse of many recent sexual offence cases resulting from disclosure failures has led to a review of all current cases, focussing on disclosure. You may have been encouraged by this development. Two further legal developments in the area of sexual or domestic offences have emerged today which may dampen your optimism. They relate to the recognition of the right of victims of sexual offences to sue should the police fail to respond adequately to their allegations, together with new sentencing guidelines for domestic abuse offences. Taking the matter of victims suing the police first… In 2012, two women who made allegations of rape by a taxi driver, sued the Met over their poor response when the activities of Worboys became known. In 2014 the two women were awarded damages. The police launched an appeal but in 2015 the Court of Appeal upheld the ruling. The police continued to challenge that decision. The Home Office argued that victims should not be allowed to use the Human Rights Act to sue the police in a Supreme Court test case in 2017. Today (22/2/18) the Supreme Court ruling became known: they rule against the HO and police and in favour of the right of victims to sue the police. Scotland Yard suggested the judgement would mean resources are moved away from investigating crimes such as fraud and put into sexual violence cases. I think this is inevitable, especially when coupled with the new pressure on disclosure.
Raging Golden Eagle: It's not just most men adopting the Mike Pence rule, it's a full blown case of "turnabout is fair play" that's coming their way next! Some saying about chickens coming home to roost comes to mind...
SCF: Syria’s prolonged conflict and misery going into its eighth year is no accident. It is by design. American imperialist design. First though, we note the increasing reprehensible absurdity in this conflict. Turkey, which invaded Syria nearly a month ago in violation of Syria’s sovereignty, this week accused Damascus of “terrorism” after the Syrian government sent forces to defend the northern area near Afrin under assault from Turkey. Meanwhile, US forces, again illegally occupying Syria in violation of international law, claim to be fighting terrorist militia. Yet more often than not, the Americans are affording protection to various terrorist groups. Then when Syrian state forces advance to clear the terror groups, the US claims it is acting in “self-defense” by massacring whole units of the Syrian army. Further absurdity is due to France, which has been bombing Syria illegally along with the US and Britain, warning Iranian militia, who are legally present in Syria owing to Damascus’ approval, that they have to withdraw from the country. As if the situation couldn’t get any more bizarre, Israel has carried out more than 100 air strikes on Syria, claiming that the aggression are “acts of self-defense”.
Max and Stacy discuss infrastructure projects and human migrations. They look at China where they went from almost no bullet trains a decade ago, to the longest high speed rail network in the world. In the second half, Max interviews Dan Collins of TheChinaMoneyReport.com about all the stories about China the U.S. media has missed over the past months: from the new Polar Silk Road to their venture capital market overtaking the U.S. market to cloning primates and Trump’s new National Defense Strategy elevating China to ‘economic predator’ status.
The Glass Blind Spot: Demystifying and debunking the UK Wimmin’s Equality Party’s claim that the vast majority of homeless people are women. And along the way debunking another massive feminist myth and discovering who runs the Council with the highest incidence of domestic violence in London and one of the largest homeless populations in the UK.
By Paul Craig Roberts: There are many signs of American collapse. One of the most scary is the fact that the American Civil Liberties Union no longer knows what are the civil liberties it purports to defend. Identity Politics has transformed civil rights into privileges for victim groups. Yesterday (February 22, 2018) I received a 50-state survey from the ACLU. The envelope in which the questionnaire arrived said the survey was about how “to protect civil liberties during the Trump Presidency.” However, the survey (essentially a fundraiser) did not mention a single civil liberty contained in the Bill of Rights and added as amendments to the US Constitution. Nothing about the sweeping away by the criminal Bush regime of habeas corpus with indefinite detention. No mention of the criminal Obama regime’s kill list, which swept away due process by executing US citizens on allegation alone without trial, evidence, and conviction. Nothing about the sweeping away by both criminal regimes of the prohibition against spying on citizens without warrants. No mention of the shutdown of free speech and protest or of the destruction of civil liberties by unaccountable police who brutalize, rob, and murder Americans at will. In place of civil liberties, the ACLU has Identity Politics. The ACLU “civil rights” survey is concerned with the civil rights of illegal aliens, of women to have abortions and publicly financed birth control, the “fundamental rights of LGBT people,” and Muslim bans. The civil liberties listed in the Constitution do not qualify for concern; only invented rights that are not listed in the Bill of Rights. The letter accompanying the questionnaire does mention the First Amendment and suppression of free speech “emanating from the White House.” I mean, really, the Bush and Obama regimes decimated free speech and imprisoned whistleblowers.
On February 21, following the imprisonment of seven Eritreans who refused to leave Israel, 750 African asylum seekers detained at the Holot detention center began a hunger strike reportedly refusing both food and water.
On February 21, following the imprisonment of seven Eritreans who refused to leave Israel, 750 African asylum seekers detained at the Holot detention center began a hunger strike reportedly refusing both food and water.
