Vol VII No. 753 - Part 4

ICH: Venezuela: New Coup Attempt Turns Out to Be A Dangerous Joke Click to teach Gmail this conversation is important. Inbox x ICH Newsletter ichnewseditor@outlook.com via informationclearinghouse.ccsend.com  Tue, Apr 30, 12:45 PM (3 days ago) to me View the newsletter in your browser http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/  Not For Profit - For Justice 100% Non Commercial, Fearless, Forthright & Independent  "Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them":  - Ralph Waldo Emerson  "As long as the world shall last there will be wrongs, and if no man objected and no man rebelled, those wrongs would last forever": Clarence Darrow  "It is not necessary that whilst I live I live happily; but it is necessary that so long as I live I should live honourably.": Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) German philosopher  "A man does what he must -- in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers -- and this is the basis of all human morality.": John F. Kennedy - (1917-1963) 35th US President April 30, 2019 Op-Ed Venezuela: Military Uprising in Caracas (in Development)   By Venezuelanalysis A military coup attempt is underway in Venezuela.      - Continue ====== Venezuela - Random Guyaidó's New Coup Attempt Turns Out to Be A Dangerous Joke   By Moon Of Alabama A military coup attempt is underway in Venezuela.      - Continue ====== The Fanatic Running Trump's Foreign Policy   By Daniel Larison Bolton, the National Security Advisor holds dangerous views and has appalling judgment.     - Continue ====== In case you missed it  Clinton Foundation and ISIS were funded from the same source   By John Pilger and Julian Assange Julian Assange stated that Hillary Clinton's emails show that Clinton Foundation and the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIL/ISIS) are funded from the same sources.     - Continue ====== How the Failure of Our Foreign Wars Fueled Nativist Fanaticism   By Greg Grandin For nearly two centuries, US politicians have channeled extremism outward. But the frontier is gone, the empire is faltering, and the chickens are coming home to roost..     - Continue ====== Blame Palestinians for Gaza   By Philip Giraldi Israel is the perpetual victim.     - Continue ====== The New Silk Roads reach the next level   By Pepe Escobar Beijing leadership seems to be aware that transparency is key for the global success of BRI, which is now supported by over 120 states and territories.     - Continue ====== Why Australians Should Fight To Bring Assange Home   By Caitlin Johnstone Australia is a lifeless vassal state hooked up to the US power establishment with our every orifice and resource being used to feed the corporatist empire.     - Continue     HARD NEWS MIDDLE EAST   Syrian Arab Army kills scores of Jabhat al-Nusra terrorists in Hama countryside   Turkish soldier killed by YPG in N Syria   Airstrike Hits Largest Russian Base in Syria:The attacks were caused by drones that tried to drop unguided bombs on the largest military Russian airbase in Hmeimim.   US Congress wants numbers on civilians killed in Syria:  Tomorrow is the deadline for the US Department of Defense to report to Congress how many civilians they have killed in Syria:   Yemen death toll to surpass 230,000 by end of 2019: UN report   Death and Shame in Yemen: Saudi Coalition Airstrikes Kill as Mercenaries Rape:"To Yemenis, rape is worse than death! We swear by Allah we will take revenge on Sudanese soldiers. They will not return alive to their country." - Yemeni demonstrator in Hodeida   Saudi-led coalition begins paying US back for overdue Yemen war bills: The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen has begun paying back the United States for nearly $300 million in refueling support   Pompeo defends US support for Saudis in Yemen as 'in America's best interest'   Trump: 'Saudi Arabia buys a lot, I don't want to lose them': US president reiterates support for the Saudi monarchy citing Riyadh's large purchases from American companies.   Trump working to designate Muslim Brotherhood as 'terror' group: The New York Times says Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi urged the US to take the step earlier this month.   Israel's nation-state law to unleash 'deepening apartheid'   Iran Appeals Directly To Trump: Your Advisers Dragging You Into War   AFRICA   Nigeria: 21 killed Boko Haram attack in Kuda, Adamawa state: Boko Haram fighters killed 21 people when they stormed into Kuda village in northeastern Nigeria and set it on fire, residents said on Tuesday.   Libyan air strikes kill four, wound 37 - government   Sudan protesters defiant as army warns 'no more chaos': Tensions rise in Sudan amid disagreements between protesters and military rulers over makeup of transitional council.   ASIA   22 IS militants killed, 2 captured in Afghanistan   20 Taliban militants killed, 2 others detained in Afghan Special Forces raid in Nangarhar   17 years, $900 billion and 3 presidents later, America must finally get out of Afghanistan   Indian farmers sued by PepsiCo reject any settlement:Farmers in India, who were sued by PepsiCo for planting patented potatoes, have rejected an out-of-court settlement   China sentences second Canadian to death for producing and trafficking methamphetamine.   China has an advantage over the US Navy that could mean a 'decisive' defeat for US warships in a fight at sea   Formation of China-India oil cartel threatening OPEC   China 'to help' Cambodia if EU implements trade sanctions:The EU said it would launch action because of 'severe deficiencies when it comes to human rights and labor rights'.   EUROPE   Putin says Russians and Ukrainians would benefit from shared citizenship   Opinion: George Galloway: Hypocrites for Ireland: The border that should never have been drawn   GLOBE   Global military spending 'highest since Cold War':US, China, Saudi Arabia top list of nations, as $1.82 trillion spent on defence worldwide in 2018, says think-tank.   Russia drops out of top 5 global military spenders while US and China up the ante   NASA head issues meteor warning, calls for cooperation to meet threat: According to scientific modeling systems, such events are expected to happen once every 60 years   AMERICAS   Venezuela's Guaido Claims Military Support to Take Power in Caracas   Watch: Venezuelan Major General Denies Takeover Of La Carlota Air Base   Watch Live: 'Traitor troops' stage coup attempt in Venezuela - Vice President   Guaido Allies Tricked Soldiers into Supporting Coup, Says Venezuelan Defense Minister   Venezuelan opposition leader Lopez takes refuge at Chile's embassy as coup seems failing   Watch: No Take Over of La Carlota Air Base By Defectors   LIVE UPDATES: Situation in Venezuela   VIDEOS appear to show Venezuelan military CLASH, make arrests after pro-Guaido group splits   WATCH tear gas fired on highway near Caracas air base where Guaido appeared in video with soldiers   Bolton: All Options Are on the Table Regarding Venezuela   Blackwater Founder Calling For 5,000 Mercenaries To Topple President Maduro   Russia's Putin Meets Top Security Officials as U.S. Supports 'Attempted Coup' in Venezuela   International Community, World Leaders Reject US-backed Coup in Venezuela   President Maduro Mocks US Special Envoy Abrams as 'Vice-King' of Venezuela: The Venezuelan president slammed Abrams as "an old hawk of the Cold War" during his meeting with teachers in Caracas, broadcast by the country's state TV.   Police Arrive at Venezuelan Embassy in Washington:  About 30 policemen with handcuffs arrived at the Venezuelan Embassy, which has been occupied by activists for more than two weeks, blocking the entrance from 30th Street.   Trump introduces sweeping changes to asylum in memo:Trump proposed sweeping changes to how the US treats asylum-seekers, including charging fees to file asylum applications and limiting access to work permits.   Documents Detail ICE Campaign to Prosecute Migrant Parents as Smugglers; U.S. officials decided to cut the migration off at its source: by arresting the parents and family members.   US builds migrant tent city in Texas as Trump likens treatment to 'Disneyland'   Study Suggests 15,600-Year-Old Impression Is the Oldest Human Footprint Ever Found in the Americas   Human settlements in Amazonia much older than previously thought: New evidence suggests that humans first settled in the region up to 10,000 years ago   Trump Sues Two Banks To Block Federal Investigation  : Trump, along with three of his children and seven of his companies, filed a federal lawsuit in an attemp to block the banks from complying with federal subpoenas investigating his financial dealings.   Biden: If Trump blocks investigations, Congress has no choice but to impeach him   Schumer says Trump agreed to $2T infrastructure package at White House meeting   5 Reasons To Be Concerned That The Federal Government Will Borrow $990 Billion This Year:No one seems to care that a government already over $22 trillion in debt is on schedule to borrow another $990 million this year.   Another Plan for Defense Contractors to Milk the Pentagon   Rosenstein submits resignation from Justice Department:Just a few months ago, Trump attacked Rosenstein as "totally conflicted" and retweeted an altered image that depicted the deputy attorney general behind bars   Massive breach exposes data from 80 MILLION U.S. households Security experts say hackers could also have access to your name, age and location information   Dying man to Congress: GoFundMe is not a health care plan   Minnesota Rep. Jim Hagedorn Falsely Claims No American Goes to Sleep Hungry: Ignoring the reality for the millions in his own state who struggle to put food on the table, U.S. Rep. Jim Hagedorn, R-Minn., said Tuesday that he believes no American goes to bed hungry.   Facts about poverty and hunger in America: 40 million people struggle with hunger in the United States, including more than 12 million children.   Nearly half of college students didn't have enough money for food last year   Wisconsin Dairy Farmers Going Bankrupt In Record Numbers, Blame Trump Tariffs   FBI says received vague tips ahead of deadly California synagogue shooting   Religious bigot Franklin Graham pathetically tries to backpedal after telling Pete Buttigieg he'll go to hell for being gay   Peace and Joy   Tom Feeley Cost Of War   Number Of Iraqis Slaughtered In US War And Occupation Of Iraq "1,455,590" Number of U.S. Military Personnel Sacrificed (Officially acknowledged) In America's War On Iraq:  4,801 Number Of  International Occupation Force Troops Slaughtered In Afghanistan : 3,430   Total Cost of U.S. Wars Since 2001 4.79 Trillion - Spending $1 million an hour, non-stop, 24 hours a day, you won't run out of money for 411 years. $4,795,030,149,600 Quick Links... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Our Website More About Us Contact Information ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Phone:San Diego USA 619-407-7054 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Information Clearing House, Po Box 365, Imperial Beach, CA 91933 ICH: The breathtaking weakness of the Empire! Click to teach Gmail this conversation is important. Inbox x ICH Newsletter ichnewseditor@outlook.com via informationclearinghouse.ccsend.com  Wed, May 1, 2:27 PM (2 days ago) to me View the newsletter in your browser http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/  Not For Profit - For Justice 100% Non Commercial, Fearless, Forthright & Independent  "My hope is that you will not be content to be successful in the way our society measures success; that you will not obey the rules, when the rules are unjust; that you will act out the courage that I know is in you."     - Howard Zinn - Address to Spelman College, 2005   "To engage in whatever nonviolent actions appeal to us. There is no act too small, no act too bold. The history of social change is the history of millions of actions, small and large, coming together at critical points to create a power that governments cannot suppress. We find ourselves today at one of those critical points." - Howard Zinn   "To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic, it is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness -- and if we do act, in however small a way, we don't have to wait for some grand utopian future.  The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now, as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself, a marvelous victory."   - Howard Zinn   May 01/02, 2019 Op-Ed Behold the breathtaking weakness of the Empire!   By The Saker What amazes me most, is the truly breathtakingly pathetic weakness of the clowns who launched this latest failed operation: Pompeo and Mr MAGA.  Check them out:     - Continue ====== As Venezuela Coup Fizzles, Pompeo Threatens US Attack   By Ron Paul and Daniel McAdams "Maduro is stronger today than he was yesterday" :     - Continue ====== Venezuela - Guaidó Got Snookered - White House Starts Beating War Drums   By Moon Of Alabama Guaidó has lost his credibility. Washington may still support him but in Caracas there is likely no one left who believes in him.     - Continue ====== War with Venezuela Is Unnecessary, Illegal, and Wrong   By Daniel Larison No body should die for the sake of Trump's ego or for the ambitions of hawkish senators.     - Continue ====== How the Pentagon Took Ownership of Donald Trump   By William J. Astore The U.S. military is anything but "the finest fighting force that the world has ever known."     - Continue ====== Evidence of Intent by the President to Support Wahabbism   By Phil Butler "Hey @realdonaldtrump: being Saudi Arabia's bitch is not 'America First."      - Continue ====== Sri Lanka - Candidate for a New NATO Base?   By Peter Koenig "Hey @realdonaldtrump: being Saudi Arabia's bitch is not 'America First."      - Continue ====== Watch: Israeli rabbis at military prep school are caught on video praising Hitler   By Jonathan Ofir The rabbis hail Hitler's Nazi racist ideology as "100% correct", only criticizing it for not being applied to the right people - that is, the Jews should be the master-race.     - Continue ====== Why Are Clapper and Brennan Not in Jail?   By Angelo Codevilla Those in the upper echelons of American life, whether Republicans or Democrats, have greater loyalty to the ruling class to which they belong than to any law or institution.    - Continue ====== VIPS: Extradition of Julian Assange Threatens Us All   By Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity British and U.S. intelligence are interrogating Assange, possibly employing torture tactics, without access to legal counsel at a prison reserved for terrorists.     - Continue ====== In A World Gone Crazy   Florida lawmakers approve arming teachers with guns in classrooms   By Deutsche Welle Florida's Republican-majority House of Representatives voted 65 to 47 to pass the bill.    - Continue   HARD NEWS MIDDLE EAST   Syria: Turkish-backed rebels claim they killed 4 Russian soldiers in northern Hama   Jihadists attempted to bomb Russia's Hmeimim Airbase 12 times last month   Turkish-backed rebels send massive convoy of reinforcements to stop Syrian Army's Idlib offensive   ISIS claims deadly ambushes on Syrian troops in Palmyra, Homs deserts : Islamic State (ISIS) militants on Tuesday claimedthey have killed up to 70 Syrian Arab army troops in the last month   2 IS would-be suicide bombers killed in northern Iraq   Iraqi authorities 'used torture' to force IS confessions from prisoners   Report: Women in Iraq camps being sexually assaulted   Dozens of Saudi-led Mercenaries Ambushed, Killed by Yemeni Forces   Houthi commander killed as Yemen troops halt militia advances   Germany to train Saudi soldiers despite Yemen war concerns   Saudi Arabia offered Abbas $10 billion to sell out for Trump's "peace" plan - report   Israeli Occupation Force Soldiers Have to Shoot at Palestinians.It's Israel's Way to Keep Them in Check: Israel admits it: The military is in the West Bank to protect settlements. The notion that we want peace is old fake news   Reduction of Gaza fishing zone an 'illegal collective punishment' Israeli High Court orders demolition of Palestinian homes: Israeli high court ruled 60 homes in occupied East Jerusalem should be knocked down.   Bernie Sanders: 'Israel now run by a right wing - dare I say - racist government'   Gideon Levy; Netanyahu's Israel will declare an apartheid state. Will the West do nothing?   Iran designates as terrorists all U.S. troops in Middle East   AFRICA   Libya: Over 340 Killed, 1,652 Injured Since Start of LNA Offensive on Tripoli - WHO   Five Nigerian troops, 33 MNJTF soldiers feared killed in Boko Haram attacks   Boko Haram kills 14 men near Monguno in Nigeria's Borno state   African Union gives Sudan military 60 days to hand power to civilians   Don't provoke army, Sudan opposition chief warns protesters   U.S. Footprint In Africa: Revealed: The U.S. military's 36 code-named operations in Africa   ASIA   22 Taliban militants killed, wounded in South of Afghanistan:   Taliban Appears To Be Winning Against US-backed Kabul, Finds Pentagon Watchdog   US military stops releasing Afghanistan war information   Three Pakistani Soldiers Killed in Militant Strike From Afghanistan   North Korea warns of 'undesired consequences' if no change in U.S. nuclear stance   U.S. judge orders Chinese banks to hand over North Korea records   An Awful 'Strategy' for China: Pompeo's team is developing a strategy for China based on the idea of "a fight with a really different civilization" for the first time in American history.   EUROPE   French Police clash with yellow vest protests : More than 200 arrests were made.   France needs €17bn to meet Yellow Vests' demands   UK's May sacks defence minister Williamson over Huawei leak   TV Comedian Officially Named Ukraine's New President   GLOBE   UK Parliament declares 'climate emergency'   London tubes, schools and homes 'face climate change chaos'   Climate change not top environment priority, says new EPA chief: Clean drinking water is a higher priority for the Trump administration than climate change,   Julian Assange Sentenced To 50 Weeks In Prison For Bail Breach   Julian Assange's 50-week sentence an 'outrage': WikiLeaks editor   U.S. extradition request for Julian Assange to be heard on Thursday   Pentagon fires Guantanamo prison commander for calling attention to US crimes   Fossil Points to a Vanished Human Species in Himalayas   US searches of phones, laptops at airports rising, suit says: The government has vigorously defended the searches, which rose to 33,295 in fiscal 2018   AMERICAS   Watch: Huge support for President Maduro today in Caracas   Venezuelan Military Putsch Defeated as Leopoldo Lopez Takes Refuge in Spanish Embassy   Venezuelan opposition leader seeks refuge in Spanish embassy in Caracas: Leopoldo López's move poses a diplomatic problem for Spain, which, despite recognizing Guaidó as acting president, has not broken ties with the Maduro government   Venezuelan troops seek asylum in Brazil embassy: official   'Hapless' Guaido 'worth more dead than alive' to Venezuela coup cause - Ron Paul Institute director   US Bars US Pilots And Planes From Flying Venezuelan Airspace   Uk's Labour Supports Maduro's Government   Americas bitch: German Foreign Minister pledges support for Venezuelan opposition while in Colombia   Biden Sides With Trump, Bolton, and Pompeo in Backing Venezuela Coup Effort   US Economic Bullying Devastates Venezuela: Illian Omar Denounces:Congresswoman says new economic report show U.S. President Donald Trump's sanctions on Venezuela have killed over 40,000 citizens since 2017.   Russia has NUKES in Venezuela? Fox News seemingly misrepresents guest's claim   When Nixon Told Us Invading Cambodia Would Save Civilization; Inflammatory and hysterical language was used then, as it is now, to camouflage reality.   FBI Investigating Antifa Plot To Buy Guns From "Mexican Rambo" For "Armed Rebellion At Border"   Watch: Lindsey Graham reads Peter Strzok texts calling Trump a 'f*cking idiot'   Watch: U.S. Attorney General William Barr Testifies Before Congressional Committees On Budget   Watch: Barr: Trump trying to prevent criticism of himself 'isn't a crime'   Watch: Barr: I was surprised Mueller didn't reach a decision on obstruction   Watch: Sen. Mazie Hirono claims AG William Barr 'lied,' urges him to 'resign'   Barr defends clearing Trump on obstruction, chides 'snitty' Mueller letter   Text of Robert Mueller letter to attorney general   Agreement reached to have Mueller testify on Russia probe - lawmaker   Barr won't testify before House panel Thursday   15 Questions Robert Mueller Must Answer:Why the cryptic wording on the Steele Dossier? Why wasn't Trump given an opportunity to defend himself in court?   Pigs at the trough : The U.S. Air Force is spinning toward a $4 billion financial disaster   F-35s Deployed with Wrong Spare Parts Amid Supply Chain Failures, GAO Finds:Spare parts that the U.S. Marine Corps took on its recent deployment overseas were not compatible with its fifth-generation fighters, according to a new watchdog report.   U.S. may have to stop borrowing later this year: Treasury   Endgame: Starting In 2024, All US Debt Issuance Will Be Used To Pay For Interest On Debt   Peace and Joy   Tom Feeley Cost Of War   Number Of Iraqis Slaughtered In US War And Occupation Of Iraq "1,455,590" Number of U.S. Military Personnel Sacrificed (Officially acknowledged) In America's War On Iraq:  4,801 Number Of  International Occupation Force Troops Slaughtered In Afghanistan : 3,430   Total Cost of U.S. Wars Since 2001 4.79 Trillion - Spending $1 million an hour, non-stop, 24 hours a day, you won't run out of money for 411 years. $4,795,848,397,763 Quick Links... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Our Website More About Us Contact Information ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Phone:San Diego USA 619-407-7054 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Top News: New Voting Machines Hackable, Top War Crimes Investigator's Visa Revoked, More Click to teach Gmail this conversation is important. Inbox x PEERS emaillist@peerservice.org via aweber.com  Tue, Apr 30, 3:03 AM (3 days ago) to me Join the 14,384 informed, caring subscribers to this list (two emails/week) Subscribe here The Mission of WantToKnow.info: To provide our readers with reliable, verifiable information on major cover-ups, and to serve as a call to work together for the good of all This message is also available online at this link. We're US $3,100 in the red for the year. Please support this important work and make a donation. Support us by using this amazon.com link at no extra charge to you. Dear friends, Explore below key excerpts of revealing news articles on concerns that new voting machines being introduced in the US are hackable and vulnerable to other forms of election tampering, the US revocation of the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor because of her attempts to investigate US war crimes in Afghanistan, the troubling silence of United Nations Secretary General António Guterres on human rights issues, and more. Read also wonderfully inspiring articles on Community First! Village providing housing and community to the homeless in Austin, TX, the healing power of gardens, the world's first all electric bus fleet in Shenzhen, China, and more. You can also skip to this section now. Each excerpt is taken verbatim from the major media website listed at the link provided. If any link fails, see this page. The most important sentences are highlighted. And don't miss the "What you can do" section below the summaries. By educating ourselves and spreading the word, we can and will build a brighter future. With best wishes for a transformed world, Fred Burks for PEERS and WantToKnow.info Special note (sources may be less reliable): Read an excellent essay exploring the perennial question, "what is consciousness?" For those who like UFO whistleblower Bob Dean, this talk is one of his best. Watch a revealing video showing how the war in Syria was manipulated by the power elite. And for an alternative view on Venezuela, watch the excellent reporting of courageous journalist Abby Martin. This eye-opening article describes how there may be a link between Japan's entirely voluntary vaccination policy and their having some of the healthiest children in the world. Quote of the week: "The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of those who are evil, but because of those who don't do anything about it."  ~~  Albert Einstein Video of the week: Watch an astounding 20-minute video showing how treatments proven to cure cancer have been ruthlessly suppressed. America's new voting machines bring new fears of election tampering April 22, 2019, The Guardian (One of the UK's leading newspapers) https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/apr/22/us-voting-machines-paper-ballots... For almost 17 years, states and counties around the country have conducted elections on machines that have been repeatedly shown to be vulnerable to hacking, errors and breakdowns, and that leave behind no proof that the votes counted actually match the votes that were cast. Now ... states and counties across the country are working to replace these outdated machines with new ones. The purchases replace machines from the turn of the century that raise serious security concerns. But the same companies that made and sold those machines are behind the new generation of technology, and a history of distrust between election security advocates and voting machine vendors has led to a bitter debate over the viability of the new voting equipment. The draw of the new machines, called ballot-marking devices (BMD), is the promise of a paper ballot. But there are concerns with the integrity of the paper trail a BMD would create at every stage. Many BMD models on the market print a sort of two-in-one ballot with one section to be read by machines and another to be read by humans. Barcodes – or QR codes – that represent a voter’s choices are printed on the ballot along with plain text showing, presumably, the same information in a way people can understand. When the ballot is scanned, it is the barcode that is scanned and counted, not the text that voters can read. If a barcode is printed that represents a different choice, or the scanners were hacked, voters would not know the difference. Note: Computer scientists have shown nearly every make and model of electronic voting machine to be vulnerable to hacking. For more along these lines, see concise summaries of deeply revealing elections corruption news articles from reliable major media sources. 'They think they are above the law': the firms that own America's voting system April 23, 2019, The Guardian (One of the UK's leading newspapers) https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/apr/22/us-voting-machine-private... In 2015, Maryland’s main election system vendor was bought by a parent company with ties to a Russian oligarch. The state’s election officials did not know about the purchase until July 2018, when the FBI notified them of the potential conflict. The FBI investigated and did not find any evidence of tampering or sharing of voter data. But the incident was a giant red flag ... especially as many states have outsourced vote-counting to the private sector. Democracy in the United States is now largely a secretive and privately-run affair conducted out of the public eye with little oversight. The corporations that run every aspect of American elections, from voter registration to casting and counting votes by machine, are subject to limited state and federal regulation. The companies are privately-owned and closely held, making information about ownership and financial stability difficult to obtain. The software source code and hardware design of their systems are kept as trade secrets. A small network of companies ... have near-monopolies on election services, such as building voting machines. Across the spectrum, private vendors have long histories of errors that affected elections, of obstructing politicians and the public from seeking information, of corruption, suspect foreign influence, false statements of security and business dishonesty. The computer security world has been sounding the alarm since voting machines were adopted. Now lawmakers, election officials and national security experts are joining in. Note: Computer scientists have shown nearly every make and model of electronic voting machine to be vulnerable to hacking. For more along these lines, see concise summaries of deeply revealing elections corruption news articles from reliable major media sources. U.S. Revokes Visa of I.C.C. Prosecutor Pursuing Afghan War Crimes April 5, 2019, New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/05/world/europe/us-icc-prosecutor-afghanistan.html The United States has revoked the visa of the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor because of her attempts to investigate allegations of war crimes in Afghanistan, including any that may have been committed by American forces. Ms. Bensouda, a Gambian lawyer for the court, which is based in The Hague, formally requested an investigation more than a year ago into war crimes in Afghanistan. The inquiry would mostly focus on large-scale crimes against civilians attributed to the Taliban and Afghan government forces. But it would also examine alleged C.I.A. and American military abuse in detention centers in Afghanistan in 2003 and 2004, and at sites in Poland, Lithuania and Romania, putting the court directly at odds with the United States. The United States is not a member state of the I.C.C. and does not recognize the court’s authority to prosecute Americans. In the past, though, the United States has cooperated with the court on other investigations, and Washington played a central role in establishing international criminal law at the Nuremberg trials. [Secretary of State Mike] Pompeo, in a March news briefing in Washington, said investigators “should not assume that you will still have or will get a visa, or that you will be permitted to enter the United States” if they are part of a I.C.C. investigation. “These visa restrictions will not be the end of our efforts,” Mr. Pompeo said at the time. “We are prepared to take additional steps, including economic sanctions if the I.C.C. does not change its course.” Note: For more along these lines, see concise summaries of deeply revealing news articles on corruption in government and in the intelligence community. Why the U.N. chief’s silence on human rights is deeply troubling April 24, 2019, Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/04/24/why-un-chiefs-silence-human... Halfway through his first five-year term, U.N. Secretary General António Guterres is becoming defined by his silence on human rights - even as serious rights abuses proliferate. Numerous governments have voiced concerns about China’s detention of 1 million Turkic, mainly Uighur, Muslims for forced indoctrination. Yet Guterres has not said a word about it in public. Instead, he praises China’s development prowess. Guterres has also repeatedly declined to exercise his authority to establish fact-finding missions into egregious rights violations, such as Saudi Arabia’s murder of Post contributing columnist Jamal Khashoggi, the use of chemical weapons in Syria, and the murder of two U.N. sanctions monitors in Congo. Apart from his spokesman’s feeble appeal to the United States to fulfill its legal obligations as host for the United Nations, Guterres has stayed silent on the Trump administration’s revocation of a visa for the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor over possible investigations of U.S. torture in Afghanistan. There is no doubt that Guterres is a skilled and conscientious diplomat, but his decision to suppress his voice on human rights, especially as civilians are targeted in armed conflicts, is misguided . For more than two years, Guterres offered excuses for not publicly defending human rights. He wanted to focus on internal reforms. He needed to stabilize relations with Trump. But today’s crises are too acute, the civilian victims too numerous, for Guterres to reduce his job to mediator in chief. Note: For more along these lines, see concise summaries of deeply revealing government corruption news articles from reliable major media sources. Saudi Arabia executes 37 people, crucifying one, for terror-related crimes April 24, 2019, CNN News https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/23/middleeast/saudi-executions-terror-intl/index.html Saudi Arabia has executed 37 men convicted of terror-related crimes, the kingdom's official news agency said Tuesday. One of the convicts was crucified. In Saudi Arabia, crucifixion means the body of someone executed is strung up and put on display as a deterrent to others. The majority of those executed were Shia men, according to Amnesty International, which dismissed the legal proceedings that led to the convictions as "sham trials that violated international fair trial standards which relied on confessions extracted through torture." The kingdom has repeatedly denied allegations of torture. Those executed include 11 men convicted of spying for Iran, and at least 14 others who were convicted of violent offenses related to participation in anti-government demonstration. One of the men listed in Tuesday's government statement was Abdulkareem al-Hawaj, who, according to Amnesty, was arrested at the age of 16 and convicted of offenses related to his involvement in anti-government protests. Since Prince Mohammed bin Salman first emerged onto the kingdom's political scene in 2015, he has overseen an intensified crackdown on dissent. He began his political career as defense minister and was elevated to Crown Prince in 2017. In recent years, the Crown Prince has ordered the rounding up of scores of activists, high-profile clerics, analysts, businessmen and princes, as well as women's rights defenders who were allegedly tortured. Note: How is it that this monarchy which brands famous feminists as "traitors", beheads its enemies and strings up their bodies in public display is one of the closest allies of the US? According to this ABC news article a 2010 massive arms sale to the kingdom was "the single largest sale of weapons to a foreign nation in the history of the U.S." For more along these lines, see concise summaries of deeply revealing government corruption news articles from reliable major media sources. Elizabeth Warren: Corporate executives must face jail time for overseeing massive scams April 2, 2019, Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/elizabeth-warren-its-time-to-scare... Opening unauthorized bank accounts. Cheating customers on mortgages and car loans. If you can dream up a financial scam, there’s a good chance that Wells Fargo ran it on its customers in recent years. After years of pressure, the company finally parted ways with its second chief executive in three years. But this isn’t real accountability. When a criminal on the street steals money from your wallet, they go to jail. When small-business owners cheat their customers, they go to jail. But when corporate executives at big companies oversee huge frauds that hurt tens of thousands of people, they often get to walk away with multimillion-dollar payouts. Too often, prosecutors don’t even try to hold top executives criminally accountable. They claim it’s too hard to prove that the people at the top knew about the corporate misconduct. This culture of complicity warps the incentives for corporate leaders. The executives know that, at worst, the company will get hit with a fine — and the money will come out of their shareholders’ pockets, not their own. It doesn’t have to be this way. With sustained resources and a commitment to enforcing the law, we can bring more cases under existing rules. Beyond that, we should enact the Ending Too Big To Jail Act, which I introduced last year. That bill would make it easier to hold executives at big banks accountable for scams by requiring them to certify that they conducted a “due diligence” inquiry and found that no illegal conduct was occurring on their watch. Note: The above was written by US Senator Elizabeth Warren. For more along these lines, see concise summaries of deeply revealing financial industry corruption news articles from reliable major media sources. Investors are starting to bet big on psychedelic medicine March 27, 2019, CNBC News https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/27/psychedelic-medicine-start-ups-vet-ketamine... Psychedelic medicine is having a moment. Just weeks after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Johnson & Johnson’s ketamine-like nasal spray for depression, a group of European technology investors ... got together for the largest-ever private financing round for a psychedelic medicine biotech company, ATAI. Psychedelic medicine involves research and investigations into mind-altering substances to treat mental illnesses including addiction, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. After recreational use of psychedelics became popular in the 1960s, the U.S. government classified most of them “drugs of abuse” with no real medical value. However, recent clinical studies show mounting evidence that some psychedelics can help patients with certain mental illnesses, either in combination with traditional therapies or in cases where nothing else has worked. Now health and technology investors are paying attention. German company ATAI Life Sciences announced on Tuesday that it has raised more than $40 million in new financing. The round valued the company at $240 million, according to a person familiar, making it both the biggest round and the most valuable company in the young space. ATAI is currently funding clinical trials for what it refers to as “formerly stigmatized compounds,” including psilocybin, the active compound in psychedelic mushrooms, and arketamine, a different variant of ketamine from the one Johnson & Johnson researched, as potential treatments for depression. Note: Articles like this suggest that the healing potentials of mind-altering drugs are gaining mainstream scientific credibility. Key Articles From Years Past Moon landing tapes got erased, NASA admits July 16, 2009, Reuters https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nasa-tapes/moon-landing-tapes-got-erased-nasa... The original recordings of the first humans landing on the moon 40 years ago were erased ... NASA officials said. NASA released the first glimpses of a complete digital make-over of the original landing footage that clarifies the blurry and grainy images of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walking on the surface of the moon. The full set of recordings [is] being cleaned up by Burbank, California-based Lowry Digital. NASA admitted in 2006 that no one could find the original video recordings of the July 20, 1969, landing. Since then, Richard Nafzger, an engineer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, who oversaw television processing at the ground-tracking sites during the Apollo 11 mission, has been looking for them. The good news is he found where they went. The bad news is they were part of a batch of 200,000 tapes that were degaussed - magnetically erased - and re-used to save money. “We should have had a historian running around saying ‘I don’t care if you are ever going to use them - we are going to keep them’,” he said. They found good copies in the archives of CBS news and some recordings ... in film vaults at Johnson Space Center. Lowry, best known for restoring old Hollywood films, has been digitizing these ... to make a new rendering of the original landing. And there may be some unofficial copies of the original broadcast out there somewhere that were taken from a NASA video switching center in Sydney, Australia. Note: Explore lots more verifiable information about the strange disappearance of the original moon landing tapes. Terrorist Plots, Hatched by the F.B.I. July 29, 2012, New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/29/opinion/sunday/terrorist-plots... [We've] been narrowly saved from lethal terrorist plots in recent years — or so it has seemed. A would-be suicide bomber was intercepted on his way to the Capitol; a scheme to bomb synagogues and shoot Stinger missiles at military aircraft was developed by men in Newburgh, N.Y.; and a fanciful idea to fly explosive-laden model planes into the Pentagon and the Capitol was hatched in Massachusetts. But all these dramas were facilitated by the F.B.I., whose undercover agents and informers posed as terrorists offering a dummy missile, fake C-4 explosives, a disarmed suicide vest and rudimentary training. Suspects naively played their parts until they were arrested. When an Oregon college student ... thought of using a car bomb to attack a festive Christmas-tree lighting ceremony in Portland, the F.B.I. provided a van loaded with six 55-gallon drums of “inert material,” harmless blasting caps, a detonator cord and a gallon of diesel fuel. An undercover F.B.I. agent even did the driving, with Mr. Mohamud in the passenger seat. To trigger the bomb the student punched a number into a cellphone and got no boom, only a bust. Typically, the stings initially target suspects for pure speech – comments to an informer outside a mosque, angry postings on Web sites, e-mails with radicals overseas – then woo them into relationships with informers, who are often convicted felons [or] F.B.I. agents posing as members of Al Qaeda or other groups. This is legal, but is it legitimate? Without the F.B.I., would the culprits commit violence on their own? Is cultivating potential terrorists the best use of the manpower designed to find the real ones? Note: Read the entire article to find out just how far the FBI will go to entrap incompetent individuals. To read a New York Times article showing that the 1993 World Trade Center bombing involved similar entrapment, only the bomber was not stopped by knowing FBI agents, click here. More on that available here. For reports on other crazy cases of FBI entrapment, click here and here. For reliable, verifiable information suggesting 9/11 may have been facilitated in some way click here. Inspiring Articles A suburbia for the homeless exists and they can live there forever March 28, 2019, CNN News https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/26/us/iyw-town-for-the-homeless-trnd/index.html The world looks a little brighter from the front porch of your own home. It's a sight more than 200 formerly homeless people are waking up to each morning at the Community First! Village in Austin, Texas. And they can take their time getting used to it; residents are invited to stay for the rest of their lives. Community First! Village is built and run by the nonprofit Mobile Loaves & Fishes to lift the most chronically homeless off the streets and into a place they can call home. They live in about 100 RVs and 125 micro homes arranged on streets with names like "Peaceful Path" and "Goodness Way." Heavy machinery has broken ground on the neighboring 24 acres to add another 310 housing units. When complete, Mobile Loaves and Fishes believes it will be able to provide permanent homes for approximately 40% of the chronically homeless in Austin. The 51-acre planned village was designed to create a sense of community. The homes are "micro" on purpose, providing just enough comfort and privacy but small enough to encourage the owners to step outside. There they find front porches dotted along stone-paved paths that lead to community kitchens, laundry and wash rooms, meeting halls, playgrounds, a dog park, a barber shop, an outdoor movie theater, a medical facility and a community market. New residents might initially keep to themselves, but it is hard to resist the smell of Texas barbecue on the grill, or the sight of fresh vegetables grown on site and being sliced for the community potluck dinner. Note: Explore a treasure trove of concise summaries of incredibly inspiring news articles which will inspire you to make a difference. The Healing Power of Gardens April 18, 2019, New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/18/opinion/sunday/oliver-sacks-gardens.html All of us have had the experience of wandering through a lush garden or a timeless desert, walking by a river or an ocean, or climbing a mountain and finding ourselves simultaneously calmed and reinvigorated. The importance of these physiological states on individual and community health is fundamental and wide-ranging. In 40 years of medical practice, I have found only two types of non-pharmaceutical “therapy” to be vitally important for patients with chronic neurological diseases: music and gardens. I cannot say exactly how nature exerts its calming and organizing effects on our brains, but I have seen in my patients the restorative and healing powers of nature and gardens, even for those who are deeply disabled neurologically. In many cases, gardens and nature are more powerful than any medication. My friend Lowell has moderately severe Tourette’s syndrome. In his usual busy, city environment, he has hundreds of tics and verbal ejaculations each day - grunting, jumping, touching things compulsively. I was therefore amazed one day when we were hiking in a desert to realize that his tics had completely disappeared. The remoteness and uncrowdedness of the scene, combined with some ineffable calming effect of nature, served to defuse his ticcing, to “normalize” his neurological state. The effects of nature’s qualities on health are not only spiritual and emotional but physical and neurological. I have no doubt that they reflect deep changes in the brain’s physiology, and perhaps even its structure. Note: The above is excerpted from “Everything in Its Place,” a posthumous collection of writings by Dr. Oliver Sacks. Explore a treasure trove of concise summaries of incredibly inspiring news articles which will inspire you to make a difference. Shenzhen's silent revolution: world's first fully electric bus fleet quietens Chinese megacity December 12, 2018, The Guardian (One of the UK's leading newspapers) https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/dec/12/silence-shenzhen-world-first... You have to keep your eyes peeled for the bus at the station in Shenzhen’s Futian central business district these days. The diesel behemoths that once signalled their arrival with a piercing hiss, a rattle of engine and a plume of fumes are no more, replaced with the world’s first and largest 100% electric bus fleet. Shenzhen now has 16,000 electric buses in total and is noticeably quieter for it. “We find that the buses are so quiet that people might not hear them coming,” says Joseph Ma, deputy general manager at Shenzhen Bus Group, the largest of the three main bus companies in the city. The benefits from the switch from diesel buses to electric are not confined to less noise pollution: this fast-growing megacity of 12 million... is also expected to achieve an estimated reduction in CO2 emissions of 48% and cuts in pollutants such as nitrogen oxides, non-methane hydrocarbons and particulate matter. Shenzhen Bus Group estimates it has been able to conserve 160,000 tonnes of coal per year and reduce annual CO2 emissions by 440,000 tonnes. Its fuel bill has halved. China’s drive to reduce the choking smog that envelops many of its major cities has propelled a huge investment in electric transport. Although it remains expensive for cities to introduce electric buses – one bus costs around 1.8 million yuan (£208,000) – Shenzhen was able to go all-electric thanks to generous subsidies from both central and local government. Typically, more than half of the cost of the bus is subsidised by government,” says Ma. Note: Explore a treasure trove of concise summaries of incredibly inspiring news articles which will inspire you to make a difference. Study: Running 5 Minutes a Day Could Add Years to Your Life July 29 2014, Time Magazine http://time.com/3053081/running-daily According to a new study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, running five minutes per day can reduce an individual’s risk of premature death by about three years. Researchers found that people who ran less than an hour per week also saw an increase in lifespan, not just a decrease in risk of premature death. The study took place over the course of 15 years, testing participants ranging in age from 18-100. Separate research found that running more than 20 miles per week could take years off an individual’s life, providing further evidence that less can be more with regard to exercise. According to that research, individuals who exhibit consistent but moderate workout patterns are likely to live the longest. Note: Explore a treasure trove of concise summaries of incredibly inspiring news articles which will inspire you to make a difference. We're $3,100 in the red for the year. Kindly support this important work. Donate here. What you can do: Contact your media and political representatives to inform them of the important news articles above. Urge them to study and bring publicity to this vital news. Invite them to read these articles and explore the links included. Explore an index to the most revealing major media news articles sorted by topic. Learn more about how some of the most vital news is censored by corporate major media ownership in this powerful lesson from the free Insight Course. Read excerpts of the 20 most revealing major media news articles ever reported. 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