– “Spread Bet” Early Market Opening Indications: Stocks Tumble, Europe Crashes (ZeroHedge, June 28, 2015)
Brian Eno: Today I saw a weeping Palestinian man holding a plastic bag of meat: it was his son
– Today I saw a weeping Palestinian man holding a plastic bag of meat: it was his son (Stop The War Coalition, June 22, 2015):
I suddenly found myself thinking that it could have been one of my kids in that bag, says Brian Eno, and that thought upset me more than anything has for a long time.
Brian Eno’s letter to America: WHY? I just don’t get it
This article was originally published on 3 August 2014. Brian Eno is an artist, musical innovator, record producer for artists ranging from David Bowie to U2 and Coldplay. He has been a consistent supporter of Stop the War Coalition since it was first founded.
Dear All of You,
I sense I’m breaking an unspoken rule with this letter, but I can’t keep quiet any more.
Today I saw a picture of a weeping Palestinian man holding a plastic carrier bag of meat. It was his son. He’d been shredded (the hospital’s word) by an Israeli missile attack – apparently using their fab new weapon, flechette bombs. You probably know what those are – hundreds of small steel darts packed around explosive which tear the flesh off humans. The boy was Mohammed Khalaf al-Nawasra. He was 4 years old.
I suddenly found myself thinking that it could have been one of my kids in that bag, and that thought upset me more than anything has for a long time.
Puget Sound Glacial Animation (Video)
– Puget Sound Glacial Animation – Video (Ice Age Now, June 27, 2015):
This is so cool! Watch as the ice advances over Seattle, Tacoma and Olympia and then retreats during the last 20,000 years.
Vashon Glaciation Animation
Animation of the Vashon Glaciation 20,000 years ago to present. Model developed by Ralph Haugerud with assistance from Harvey Greenberg, content assistance by Brian Atwater, edit and titles by Britta Johnson, and production by Amir Sheikh.
Underwater Volcanoes Heat The Ocean
– New study – Underwater volcanoes heat the seas (Ice Age Now, June 27, 2015):
Summary: Vast quantities of ocean water circulate through the seafloor, flowing through the volcanic rock of the upper oceanic crust. A new study by scientists at UC Santa Cruz, published June 26 in Nature Communications, explains what drives this global process and how the flow is sustained.
Hydrothermal siphon’ drives water circulation through seafloor
- By Tim Stephens.
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_________________________________________________________________________
About 25 percent of the heat that flows out of the Earth’s interior is transferred to the oceans through this process, according to Andrew Fisher, professor of Earth and planetary sciences at UC Santa Cruz and coauthor of the study. Much of the fluid flow and heat transfer occurs through thousands of extinct underwater volcanoes (called seamounts) and other locations where porous volcanic rock is exposed at the seafloor.
UK Met Office: The return of ‘grand solar minimum’ could affect European and eastern US winters, but wouldn’t halt global warming
H/t reader squodgy:
“They have a mantra which must be followed. A bit like when your favourite team are trailing badly in a game, you still sit there blindly convinced they’ll win.
So it is with the pre-programmed MKULTRA Global wWarming.
The evidence is we haven’t had any temperature increase in over twelve years.
Reports of increased ice cover are hidden. This year is recorded as coldest summer so far in decades.
The mini ice age predictions based on overdue maunder cycles are ignored.
So now they fudge the evidence and make illogical claims about something they cannot possibly have the knowledge or technology to know about.
Finally, the unprecedented volcanic activity, especially around the ring of fire, is spewing more sulphur and CO2 into the atmosphere than records show but nothing is said. Such activity being the most recorded precursor of mini ice ages in world history.
So they churn this confusing crap out.”
Related info:
– Plunging solar activity threatens ‘Little Ice Age’
– 94% Probability Of The Beginning Of An Ice Age
– We’re Already In A Mini-Ice Age, Says Astrophysicist
– Top Russian Scientist Predicts 100 Years Of Global Cooling
– Sun’s Ultraviolet Light Could Explain The Coming Mini Ice Age
– Britain Faces Mini Ice Age That Could Last For Decades
– Leading Scientist Warns of Ice Age: ‘Most of Europe Will Be Under Ice’
– Solar Physicist Predicts Ice Age: “SOLAR CYCLE 24 HAS NOW GONE CLEARLY BELOW DALTON LEVEL.”
– Global warning: We are actually heading towards a new Ice Age, claim scientists
– UK Met Office: The return of ‘grand solar minimum’ could affect European and eastern US winters, but wouldn’t halt global warming (The Watchers, June 26, 2015):
A return to low solar activity not seen for centuries could increase the chances of cold winters in Europe and eastern parts of the United States but wouldn’t halt global warming, according to new research led by UK’s Met office and published recently in Nature Communications. The study is among the first to look at the regional climate impacts of a possible ‘grand solar minimum’.
It’s understood the Sun’s output increases and decreases, measured by the number of sunspots on the star’s surface, over a timescale of 100 – 200 years.
Some solar physicists believe there’s an increased risk that we’re heading towards the lower end of this cycle – last seen during the so-called ‘Maunder Minimum’ which ended 300 years ago. This coincided with colder winters in the UK and Europe, with ‘frost fairs’ held numerous times on a frozen River Thames.
Almost July, and the Boston show pile is still alive
– Almost July, and the Boston show pile is still alive (Ice Age Now, June 26, 2015):
The mayor’s office has announced a contest to guess the date the snow is finally gone, the prize being a meeting with the mayor.
BTW, the pile is at sea level.
Read moreAlmost July, and the Boston show pile is still alive
Huge snow pile a sign of New Brunswick’s bad winter
– Huge snow pile a sign of New Brunswick’s bad winter (Ice Age Now, June 27, 2015):
27 June 2015 – Remember that awful winter that hit New Brunswick? Well, some of that snow hasn’t disappeared yet.
In Saint John, the remnants of some of the 20,000 truckloads of snow haven’t fully melted, as evidenced by the pile located at Long Wharf along the city’s harbor, just one of the many snow dumps used by the city.
Read moreHuge snow pile a sign of New Brunswick’s bad winter
The Secret Projects Of Israel And Saudi Arabia
– The secret projects of Israël and Saudi Arabia (Voltairenet, June 27, 2015):
The reponse by Tel-Aviv and Riyadh to the US-Iran negotiations can be found in the extension of Saudi financing of the war against Gaza in 2008 – the alliance between a colonial state and an obscurantist monarchy. While the Near East is preparing for a ten-year change in the rules of the game, Thierry Meyssan reveals here the contents of the secret negotiations between Tel-Aviv and Riyadh.
No-one in the Middle East seems to be aware that the secret agreements which should be signed on the 30th June 2015 by Washington and Teheran – on the fringe of the multilateral agreements concerning nuclear power – will probably set the rules of the game for the next ten years.
These agreements arrive at a moment when the United States have become the world’s first producers of petrol, ahead of Saudi Arabia and Russia. Consequently they do not need Middle-Eastern petrol for themselves, and are only interested in it as a means of maintaining the world market in dollars.
The Human Experiment is Probably Coming to an End
H/t reader squodgy:
Agenda 21 calls for “planet sustainability” as explained on the mysterious Georgia Stones.
But no mention is made of the incessant poisoning and destruction of our planet and its biosphere by the Capitalist based greed mongering GLOBAL CORPORATIONS.
They have raped the planet on behalf of the BANKSTERS for over two centuries.
A return to the simplistic and sustainable against the convenient would, in my opinion stop the decline, save our environment and thus ourselves within ten years.
An opportunity to take control is presenting itself as the next economic collapse is engineered……..kill all demand for the convenience goods.”
– The Human Experiment is Probably Coming to an End (Dissident Voice via Veterans Today, June 26, 2015)
Eurozone Rejects Greek Bailout Extension: All Bailout Programs Expire On June 30, Referendum Moot
– Eurozone Rejects Greek Bailout Extension: All Bailout Programs Expire On June 30, Referendum Moot (ZeroHedge, June 27, 2015):
First thing this morning, when summarizing the flurry of overnight events, we focused on today’s final gambit by Greece:
“… moments ago Varoufakis was quoted as saying he would ask the Eurogroup for a bailout extension of a few weeks to accommodate the referendum.
And the punchline: if the Eurogroup says “Oxi”, then the entire Greek gambit, which has been a bet that to Europe the opportunity cost of a Grexit is higher than folding to Greek demands, collapses.
FX Brokerages Move To “Close Only” Ahead Of Monday Open
– FX Brokerages Move To “Close Only” Ahead Of Monday Open (ZeroHedge, June 27, 2015):
First at Mayzus:
Upcoming risk – Instruments moving to ‘Close Only’ mode
Due to the uncertainty surrounding the ongoing Greek debt negotiations, and ahead of a potential announcement over the weekend that could lead to high volatility on the market, please be informed that we have decided to decrease your risks by temporarily moving all Instruments to ‘Close Only’ mode, from 22:30 GMT+3 on Friday the 26th of June 2015, until 00:30 GMT+3 on Monday the 29th of June 2015, trading terminal time.
Read moreFX Brokerages Move To “Close Only” Ahead Of Monday Open
Greek Parliament Votes In Favor Of Referendum
– Greek Parliament Votes In Favor Of Referendum (ZeroHedge, June 27, 2015):
Update: As expected, the Greek parliament has voted in favor of the referendum announced Saturday by PM Alexis Tsipras.
…
IMF Confirms Greek Referendum “Irrelevant” After Program Expires On Tuesday
– IMF Confirms Greek Referendum “Irrelevant” After Program Expires On Tuesday (ZeroHedge, June 27, 2015):
If there was any confusion if, as we warned first thing today was the biggest problem with the Greek referendum namely that next weekend there will no longer be a proposal to vote on, the IMF’s Christine Lagarde just put it to rest. As she told the BBC moments ago, the Greek government’s planned referendum on the terms of any new bailout plan will be invalid after Tuesday, when the current programme expires. As a result, the Greek people would be voting on proposals that were no longer in place.
Read moreIMF Confirms Greek Referendum “Irrelevant” After Program Expires On Tuesday
EU FinMins Admit Real Concern, Will Do ‘Whatever It Takes’ To Avoid Market Unease
– EU FinMins Admit Real Concern, Will Do ‘Whatever It Takes’ To Avoid Market Unease (ZeroHedge, June 27, 2015):
It is clear from the EU Finance Ministers’ template-like comments to the press what the real worry is in Europe (and the world). It’s not The Greeks (Schaeuble: “No other decision was possible, no problem with Greek referendum… need to see what happens next”), it’s something else:
- *SCHAEUBLE SAYS DOING EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO AVERT MARKET UNEASE
- *PADOAN: INSTRUMENTS IN PLACE TO COUNTER POSSIBLE CONTAGION
- *DIJSSELBLOEM: OUR INSTITUTIONS ARE PREPARED TO TAKE ANY ACTION
- *STUBB: “I DO NOT SEE A RISK OF CONTAGION”
- *SCHAEUBLE SAYS WE’LL DO EVERYTHING TO FIGHT CONTAGION THREAT
- *PADOAN: IF INSTABILITY, ECB HAS INSTRUMENTS TO INTERVENE
And then there’s this utter rubbish:
Read moreEU FinMins Admit Real Concern, Will Do ‘Whatever It Takes’ To Avoid Market Unease
Greek Stock Market May Not Open Monday, Greek Officials Warn
– Greek Stock Market May Not Open Monday, Greek Officials Warn (ZeroHedge, June 27, 2015):
Despite all the talk of “containment” and “Greece doesn’t matter,” not only are we told by anonymous EU officials that some banks may not open Monday but now, a Greek SEC Official has warned…
*GREEK BOURSE MAY NOT TRADE MON IF NO ELA EXTENDED: SEC OFFICIAL
Greeks just got CYNK’d (or Hanergy’d).
…
Varoufakis: Creditor Proposal Offers “No Hope,” Greece At “Historic Moment”
– Varoufakis: Creditor Proposal Offers “No Hope,” Greece At “Historic Moment” (ZeroHedge, June 27, 2015):
As Jerome Dijsselbloem fearmongers all the worst parts of the bible that are about to befall Greece, Yanis Varoufakis is explainiing the Greek decision:
- *VAROUFAKIS: CREDITOR OFFER LACKED HOPE FOR INVESTORS, CONSUMERS
- *VAROUFAKIS SAYS GREECE FIND ITSELF AT `HISTORIC MOMENT’
Adding that the decision by the Eurogroup (ex-Greece) to veto the program extension damages Europe overall, Varoufakis defiantly concluded, the Greek government has no mandate to accept a “recessionary” aid offer.
Dijsselbloem Says Greek “Program” Will Expire On Tuesday Night, Offer Won’t Exist At Referendum Time
– Dijsselbloem Says Greek “Program” Will Expire On Tuesday Night, Offer Won’t Exist At Referendum Time (ZeroHedge, June 27, 2015):
And just like that, “game theory” has become “over theory”:
- DIJSSELBLOEM SAYS REST OF EUROGROUP REGRETS GREEK REJECTION
- DIJSSELBLOEM SAYS `GREAT CONCERNS WITH CREDIBILITY’ OF GREECE
- DIJSSELBLOEM SAYS REST OF EUROGROUP REGRETS GREEK REJECTION
- DIJSSELBLOEM: SITUATION IN GREECE WILL DETERIOATE IN BETWEEN
The punchline, which as we hinted earlier, is the biggest problem with the Greek referendum – there will be no deal to vote on since the program will expireon Tuesday night, which means the offer will be pulled.
- DIJSSELBLOEM: THE PROGRAM WILL EXPIRE ON TUESDAY NIGHT
“This Is A Sad Decision”: Europe Responds To The Greek Referendum, Which Has One Massive Problem
– “This Is A Sad Decision”: Europe Responds To The Greek Referendum, Which Has One Massive Problem (ZeroHedge, June 27, 2015):
In the aftermath of yesterday’s “nuclear option” announcement by Greece, when in a dramatic after-midnight speech Greek PM Tsipras announced that Greece would hold a referendum next Sunday, the day after the US independence day, the same Greek government made it very clear how it wants the Greeks to vote.
First, it was the Greek Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis, head of the Left Platform movement of Syriza, who said in comments broadcast on state-run ERT TV that a no vote by the Greek people in July 5 referendum “will open the road for a new future for the country” adding that “the dilemma facing Greeks is “whether to live better or not. Greek people are aware of difficulties of a new starting point, they’re ready to support new national effort.”
Then the alternate health and social security minister Dimitris Stratoulis doubled down telling ERT-TV that Greeks are being given the opportunity to decide the way forward and “I’m optimistic” that they will give a “resounding” no to the “provocative” demands of the country’s creditors. The only issue is the question being put to the people in the referendum.” It got better when he said that “Greeks are being asked to vote whether the country should be a colony, or not, of creditors.”
Greek Officials Warn “Some Banks May Not Open Monday”
– Greek Officials Warn “Some Banks May Not Open Monday” (ZeroHedge, June 27, 2015):
Following Tsipras’ surprise referendum decision (and subsequent pulling of proposals by Troika the institutions), Greece’s bank jog has turned into a full sprint. ATM lines began to form at 2am, minutes after the announcement and now many ATMs are out of money and, as Bloomberg reports, some Greek banks are drastically limiting cash transactions. Despite all the reassurances that “banks will open Monday,” two senior bank executives have warned that some lenders will not be able to open Monday (unless more emergency liquidity is released). Crucially, this is not just about banks being in trouble – drained of deposits electronically – this is running out of physical banknotes, there is literally no more ‘real’ money left in Greek banks.
…
War Crimes? Us???
Uri Avnery is a longtime Israeli peace activist. Since 1948 has advocated the setting up of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. In 1974, Uri Avnery was the first Israeli to establish contact with PLO leadership. In 1982 he was the first Israeli ever to meet Yassir Arafat, after crossing the lines in besieged Beirut. He served three terms in the Israeli Parliament (Knesset), and is the founder of Gush Shalom (Peace Bloc). Visit his Website.
– War Crimes? Us??? (OpEdNews, June 26, 2015):
“WAR IS HELL!” the US general George Patton famously exclaimed.War is the business of killing the “enemy,” in order to impose your will on them.Therefore, “humane war” is an oxymoron.
War itself is a crime. There are few exceptions. I would exempt the war against Nazi Germany, since it was conducted against a regime of mass murderers, led by a psychopathic dictator, who could not be brought to heel by any other means.This being so, the concept of “war crimes” is dubious. The biggest crime is starting the war in the first place. This is not the business of soldiers, but of political leaders. Yet they are rarely indicted.
THESE PHILOSOPHICAL musings came to me in the wake of the recent UN report on the last Gaza war.
The investigation committee bent over backwards to be “balanced,” and accused both the Israeli army and Hamas in almost equal terms. That, in itself, is problematic.This was not a war between equals. On one side, the State of Israel, with one of the mightiest armies in the world. On the other side, a stateless population of 1.8 million people, led by a guerrilla organization devoid of any modern arms.
Any equating of such two entities is by definition contrived. Even if both sides committed grievous war crimes, they are not the same. Each must be judged on its own (de)merits.
THE IDEA of “war crimes” is relatively new. It arose during the 30 Years War, which devastated a large part of Central Europe. Many armies took part, and all of them destroyed towns and villages without the slightest compunction. As a result, two thirds of Germany were devastated and a third of the German people was killed.
Hugo de Groot, a Dutchman, argued that even in war, civilized nations are bound by certain limitations. He was not a starry-eyed idealist, divorced from reality. His main principle, as I understand it, was that it makes no sense to forbid actions that help a warring country [or “party”] to pursue the war, but that any cruelty not necessary for the efficient conduct of the war is illegitimate.
This idea took hold. During the 18th century, endless wars were conducted by professional armies, without hurting civilian populations unnecessarily. Wars became “humane.”
Not for long. With the French revolution, war became a matter of mass armies, the protection of civilians slowly eroded, until it disappeared entirely in World War II, when whole cities were destroyed by unlimited aerial bombardment (Dresden and Hamburg) and the atom bomb (Hiroshima and Nagasaki).
Even so, a number of international conventions prohibit war crimes that target civilian populations or hurt the population in occupied territories.
That was the mandate of this committee of investigation.
THE COMMITTEE castigates Hamas for committing war crimes against the Israeli population.
Israelis didn’t need the committee to know that. A large share of Israeli citizens spent hours in shelters during the Gaza war, under the threat of Hamas rockets.
Hamas launched thousands of rockets towards towns and villages in Israel. These were primitive rockets, which could not be aimed at specific targets — like the Dimona nuclear installation or the Ministry of Defense which is located in the center of Tel Aviv. They were meant to terrorize the civilian population into demanding a stop to the attack on the Gaza strip.
They did not achieve this goal because Israel had installed a number of “Iron Dome” counter-rocket batteries, that intercepted almost all rockets heading for civilian targets. Success was almost complete.
If they are brought before the International Court in The Hague, the Hamas leaders will argue that they had no choice: they had no other weapons to oppose the Israeli invasion. As a Palestinian commander once told me: “Give us cannons and fighter planes, and we will not use terrorism.”
The International Court will then have to decide whether a people that is practically under an endless occupation is allowed to use indiscriminate rockets. Considering the principles laid down by de Groot, I wonder what the decision will be.
That goes for terrorism in general, if used by an oppressed people that has no other means of fighting. The black South Africans used terrorism in their fight against the oppressive apartheid regime, and Nelson Mandela spent 28 years in prison for taking part in such acts und refusing to condemn them.
THE CASE against the Israeli government and army is quite different. They have a plentitude of arms, from drones to warplanes to artillery to tanks.
If there was a cardinal war crime in this war, it was the cabinet decision to start it. Because an Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip makes war crimes unavoidable.
Anyone who has ever been a combat soldier in war knows that war crimes, whether in the most moral or the most base army in the world, do occur in war. No army can avoid recruiting psychologically defective people. In every company there is at least one pathological specimen. If there are not very strict rules, exercised by very strict commanders, crimes will occur.
War brings out the inner man (or woman, nowadays). A well-behaved, educated man will suddenly turn into a ferocious beast. A simple, lowly laborer will reveal himself as a decent, generous human being. Even in the “Most Moral Army in the World” — an oxymoron if there ever was one.
I was a combat soldier in the 1948 war. I have seen an eyeful of crimes, and I have described them in my 1950 book “The Other Side of the Coin.”
THIS GOES for every army. In our army during the last Gaza war, the situation was even worse.
The reasons for the attack on the Gaza Strip were murky. Three Israeli kids were captured by Arab men, obviously for the sake of achieving a prisoner exchange. The Arabs panicked and killed the boys. The Israelis responded, the Palestinians responded, and lo — the cabinet decided on a full-fledged attack.
Our cabinet includes nincompoops, most of whom have no idea what war is. They decided to attack the Gaza Strip.
This decision was the real war crime.
The Gaza Strip is a tiny territory, overcrowded by a bloated population of 1.8 million human beings, about half of them descendents of refugees from areas that became Israel in the 1948 war.
In any circumstances, such an attack was bound to result in a large number of civilian casualties. But another fact made this even worse.
ISRAEL IS a democratic state. Leaders have to be elected by the people. The voters consist of the parents and grandparents of the soldiers, members of both regular and reserve units.
This means that Israel is inordinately sensitive to casualties. If a large number of soldiers are killed in action, the government will fall.
Therefore it is the maxim of the Israeli army to avoid casualties at any cost — any cost to the enemy, that is. To save one soldier, it is permissible to kill ten, twenty, a hundred civilians on the other side.
This rule, unwritten and self-understood, is symbolized by the “Hannibal Procedure” — the code-word for preventing at any cost the taking of an Israeli soldier prisoner. Here, too, a “democratic” principle is at work: no Israeli government can withstand public pressure to release many dozens of Palestinian prisoners in return for the release of one Israeli one. Ergo: prevent a soldier from being taken prisoner, even if the soldier himself is killed in the process.
Hannibal allows — indeed, commands — the wreaking of untold destruction and killing, in order to prevent a captured soldier from being spirited away. This procedure is itself a war crime.
A responsible cabinet, with a minimum of combat experience, would know all this at the moment it was called upon to decide on a military operation. If they don’t know, it is the duty of the army [or “military”] commanders — who are present at such cabinet meetings — to explain it to them. I wonder if they did.
ALL THIS means that, once started, the results were almost unavoidable. To make an attack without serious Israeli casualties possible, entire neighborhoods had to be flattened by drones, planes and artillery. And that obviously happened.
Inhabitants were often warned to flee, and many did. Others did not, being loath to leave behind everything precious to them. Some people flee in the moment of danger, others hope against hope and stay.I would ask the reader to imagine himself for a moment in such a situation.
Add to this the human element — the mixture of humane and sadistic men, good and bad, you find in any combat unit all over the world, and you get the picture.
Once you start a war, “stuff happens,” as the man said. There may be more war crimes or less, but there will be a lot.
ALL THIS could have been told to the UN committee of inquiry, headed by an American judge, by the chiefs of the Israeli army, had they been allowed to testify. The government did not allow them.
The convenient way out is to proclaim that all UN officials are by nature anti-Semites and Israel-haters, so that answering their questions is counter-productive.
We are moral. We are right. By nature. We can’t help it. Those who accuse us must be anti-Semites. Simple logic.
To hell with them all!
War Veterans Made Some Dark Films to Protest the British Army’s Recruitment of Child Soldiers
– War Veterans Made Some Dark Films to Protest the British Army’s Recruitment of Child Soldiers (Vice, June 23, 2015):
Daniel Campbell wakes up drenched in sweat. Every muscle in his body is tense. The dead child, the one he couldn’t save, is back. He creeps to the bathroom. The child is waiting for him. Its bloodied face stares at him accusingly from inside the mirror. He splashes cold water on his forehead and returns wearily to bed.
Daniel Campbell was a child soldier in the British Army. “I wanted to see the world and I wanted to help people,” he says, remembering the day he stepped, aged 16, into Portsmouth’s recruitment centre. And see the world he did: left with severe PTSD after tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army abandoned him as if he were a broken toy.
Almost $200 Million Donated to Representatives to Pass TPA
– Almost $200 Million Donated to Representatives to Pass TPA (OpEdNews, June 20, 2015):
Many think our government is for sale. However, by taking a look at the facts below provided by the Open Secrets, it is easy to understand where they are coming from. Looking back at Friday the 12th, the House voted on Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), the controversial bill that gives power to the executive branch to negotiate treaties. TPA limit’s Congress’ ability to better a trade deal by subjecting members of Congress to 90 days of reviewing the trade agreement, prohibiting any amendments on the implementing legislation, and giving them an up or down vote. TPA passed with a mere 219-211 vote with only 218 needed to pass. The real shocker comes from the amount of money each Representative received for a yes vote. In total, $197,869,145 was given to Representatives for a yes vote where as $23,065,231 was given in opposition.
- John Boehner (R-OH) received $5.3 million for a “yea” vote and was the highest paid legislator.
- Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) received $2.4 million for his “yea” vote.
- Paul Ryan (R-WI) received $2.4 million for a “yea” vote and came in at the third highest paid legislator.
- Pat Tiberi (R-OH) follows Paul Ryan, coming in the fourth spot having received $1.6 million for his “yea” vote.
The fifth highest paid legislator is somewhat of a “hero” in comparison to others. Representative Steny Hoyer (D-MD) received $1.6 million for a yes vote and only $282,710 for a no vote. Despite of his high contribution from those in favor of TPA, he still voted a solid nay.
We also have other hero stories.
Read moreAlmost $200 Million Donated to Representatives to Pass TPA
‘Freedom Flotilla’: Activists set sail for Gaza to break Israel blockade
Better have the Nastoichivy and the Moskva in your convoy!
– ‘Freedom Flotilla’: Activists set sail for Gaza to break Israel blockade (RT, June 27, 2015):
An international team of activists has set sail for the Gaza Strip, in a bid to break Israel’s sea blockade with four boats. It comes five years after a similar attempt finished in bloodshed.
The so-called “Freedom Flotilla III” departed from various ports in Greece on Saturday. This is the third attempt to break the Palestinian blockade, which has lasted for nine years, according to a news release on the campaign’s official webpage.
“Our strong determination is to get to our destination despite [Netanyahu’s] threats to stop us,” Arab Israeli lawmaker Basel Ghattas wrote on his Facebook page on Friday.
Read more‘Freedom Flotilla’: Activists set sail for Gaza to break Israel blockade
Churches use facial recognition software to track congregants
– Churches use facial recognition software to track congregants (RT, June 27, 2015):
Churches are joining the widening club of entities using Big Brother-style facial recognition software to track people. And they are doing so in secret, according to a producer of a specialized program designed for religious institutions.
In just four months, some 30 churches around the world, from Indonesia and India to Portugal and the US have started using facial recognition software called Churchix, says Moshe Greenshpan, the CEO of Israel- and Las Vegas-based company Face-Six that sells the technology. The program is a derivative of other products his company offers to clients, such as law enforcement, public venues and retail outlets.
Read moreChurches use facial recognition software to track congregants