(Video courtesy – YOUREPORTER.IT)
A strong tornado hit the Italian region of Emilia Romagna on Friday at around 1400 GMT according to Italian media, injuring 11 people and damaging several houses. Numerous fields were damaged by the strong storms and the harvest could be ruined.
RT (Russia Today) is a global news network broadcasting from Moscow and Washington studios. RT is the first news channel to break the 500 million YouTube views benchmark.
Thousands of opposition activists have gathered in central Moscow, to mark one year since mass protests that ended in violent clashes. Last year’s anti-government rallies left dozens injured, and saw hundreds of arrests – READ MORE: http://on.rt.com/cto98p
RT (Russia Today) is a global news network broadcasting from Moscow and Washington studios. RT is the first news channel to break the 500 million YouTube views benchmark.
Food rights activists from around North America will meet at the Sauk County Courthouse in this tiny town on May 20 to support Wisconsin dairy farmer Vernon Hershberger and food sovereignty. Hershberger, whose trial begins that day, is charged with four criminal misdemeanors that could land this husband and father in county jail for up to 30 months with fines of over $10,000.
The Wisconsin Department of Agricultural Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) targeted Hershberger for supplying a private buying club with fresh milk and other farm products.
DATCP has charged Hershberger with, among other things, operating a retail food establishment without a license. Hershberger repeatedly rejects this, citing that he provides foods only to paid members in a private buying club and is not subject to state food regulations. “There is more at stake here than just a farmer and his few customers,” says Hershberger, “this is about the fundamental right of farmers and consumers to engage in peaceful, private, mutually consenting agreements for food, without additional oversight.”
A little more than a year ago, food rights activists from around the country stood in support of Hershberger at a pre-trial hearing. They read and signed a “Declaration of Food Independence” that asserts inherent rights in food choice. This month after the trial each day, many of the same food rights activists plus others will gather at the Al Ringling Theater across the street from the courthouse and hear presentations by leaders in the food rights movement. Notable speakers include Virginia farmer Joel Salatin, Mountain Man show star Eustace Conway, and food rights organizer from Maine, Deborah Evans.
Hershberger, and other farmers around the country, are facing state or federal charges against them for providing fresh foods to wanting individuals. In recent months the FDA has conducted several long undercover sting operations and raids against peaceful farmers and buying clubs that have resulted in farms shutting down and consumers without access to the food they depend on.
Syria says Israel has effectively declared war, after its planes bombed targets in Damascus, the second airstrikes in as many days. Syria’s state media says Israeli rockets targeted a military research centre on the outskirts of the capital. Video footage and eye witness accounts suggest the attacks hit weapons dumps, triggering large explosions.
Syria says a number of people were killed and wounded amid widespread destruction. The Arab League has condemned the strikes and demanded the UN Security Council act to stop any more. The League say there has been a “dangerous violation of an Arab state’s sovereignty”. Article 2 of the United Nations Charter bans the use of force against the territorial integrity of any state. RT’s Gayane Chichakyan in Washington and Polly Boiko in London told RT more about the reaction coming from the UK and the US.
RT (Russia Today) is a global news network broadcasting from Moscow and Washington studios. RT is the first news channel to break the 500 million YouTube views benchmark.
On Thursday May 9th the Texas House wil be voting on two very important pieces of legislation. House Bill 149, The Liberty Preservation Act, and House Bill 1608, are scheduled for a full house vote that could create yet another battle between State and Federal authorities.
The Liberty Preservation Act nullifies certain sections of the controversial National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, which allowed for indefinite detention of American citizens without trial. The bil states:
“Sections 1021 and 1022 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 violate portions of federal law, the United States Constitution, and the Texas Constitution and, as such, are invalid and illegal in this state.”
Texas is the latest of 13 states to take on the NDAA. There are also several local, city wide efforts to nullify the unconstitutional act. While the states attempt to stay off tyranny, the case has also been taken to federal court.
Last year, Federal Judge Katherine Forrest struck down these indefinite detention powers as unconstitutional. She issued a temporary court order blocking the use of these powers. That order was revoked by the appeals court and indefinite detention powers remain while the case is currently on appeal but not decided.
When questioned on whether or not indefinite detention could still occur, President Obama’s attorneys refused to comment. This caused many to speculate that the law is still being put to use despite the judges best efforts.
According to the Texas Tenth Amendment Center’s facebook, the bill will receive a full house vote on Thursday May 9th. They warn, “the bill still can be held up by Speaker of the House Joe Straus. We seriously need your help to push this bill forward.” If the bills are not brought to vote tomorrow it could be another 2 years before they are brought to vote again.
House Bill 1608 deals with cell phone privacyy. The authors of the bill aim to determine whether Texs will respect the privacy of mobile phone geolocation data. The bill would require law enforcement to show probable cause and gain a warrant from a judge before accessing your cell phone or other digital device.
It seems ridiculous that we have to pass laws to require the government to follow its own rules and abide by the 4th amendment, but this is the situation we find ourselves in. If you believe in fighting within political channels call your Senators and demand a vote on these important topics.
The state government is one of the last areas of government where we still seem to have a legitimate effect. If you wish to wrangle the federal government down to a more manageable size I recommend fighting for change on the local and state level.
IF you support these efforts, please call and email your Rep. NOW
As many as 10000 drones could be prowling American skies by 2020, says the US Aviation Administration. And as Washington continues to boost domestic surveillance in the name of public safety, growing numbers of young Americans are choosing to get in on the action. RT’s Anastasia Churkina has the story.
RT (Russia Today) is a global news network broadcasting from Moscow and Washington studios. RT is the first news channel to break the 500 million YouTube views benchmark.
Who flies the drones America uses to take out military targets in foreign locales all over the globe? I had the chance to talk to an Air Force drone pilot operating out of Whiteman Air Force Base, and astonishingly, he admitted to me that he took part in strikes on wedding parties in Middle East & Asian countries said to harbor terrorists.
I confronted him with some of the troubling news that has emerged about the secret White House kill list and the apparent readiness to destroy the lives of innocent bystanders in pursuit of a target – women, children and elderly villagers who are all considered nothing more than “collateral damage.” Clearly, he didn’t want to hear it.
Did he, too, find these people dispensable? Did he share the cold rationale of our leaders that it is “worth it” to kill these civilians to target an enemy? I tried to find out when I saw him during a wedding I attended, all while I was deeply aware of the unsettling irony that the celebration we were attending was seen differently than the weddings, funerals and other gatherings that U.S. airstrikes have unofficially declared to be venues of war.
Perpetual wars spilling across many borders is now a foregone conclusion. The public pays it little mind. Drones take this even further, targeting individuals determined to be combatants – without a declaration of war against their country and without formal charges, allegations or complaints against those individuals.
Due process is effectively dead. The White House, the Pentagon, and the pilots who operate their predator drones have become judge, jury and executioner while the public isn’t even told who is on their kill list, or why.
How far will things go? And how far removed will their operators be from the situation? Will they retain the judgement to know when things have gone too far? Or will the lives they hover over become mere blips on a screen?
Aaron Dykes is a co-founder of TruthstreamMedia.comwhere this article first appeared. As a writer, researcher and video producer who has worked on numerous documentaries and investigative reports, he uses history as a guide to decode current events, uncover obscure agendas and contrast them with the dignity afforded individuals as recognized in documents like the Bill of Rights.
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