StandWithUs: On the Side of the [Financial] Angels | Tikun Olam - Nov. 2009 |

Eli Clifton has written a terrific piece of investigative journalism uncovering the financial sugar daddies and mommies of StandWithUs , the pro-Israel "truth squad."  He notes the irony that SWU and others like Lenny Ben David, the former political enforcer for Aipac, have called J Street to task for accepting funding from Arabs, while SWU itself accepts funding from wealthy American Jews who support the worst forms of racist attack on Muslims:

SWU's annual budget is around $3.4 million.

Among such donors are Susan Wexner, heiress to the Wexner family clothing empire, who contributed $850,000 between 2005-2008:

Wexner also made contributions to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA), and the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD).

○ The relationship between Epstein and Jewish philanthropist Wexner, explained | Times of Israel |

○ Yediot Publishes List of Bibi's Campaign Donor Prospects, 'Bibi's Foreign Legion'

A long list that includes Adelson, Ballmer, Safra, Lauder, Parelman, Sapir, Bronfman, Murdoch, Saban, Wexner ... and Donald Trump. In addition, commonality seems to be the U.S. and roots in Georgia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine and the Russian Federation.

I believe Dutroux was a separate ring of sex trafficking of children .... grim tales of abuse.

Anneke Lucas

Victoria's Secret Leslie Wexner was main source of Jeffrey Epstein's fortune.

Billionaire businessman Leslie Wexner refuses to reveal full scope of Jeffrey Epstein's alleged multimillion-dollar theft

In a letter sent to his foundation, Wexner disclosed that a $46 million donation in 2008 from Epstein, who served as Wexner's personal financial advisor for more than 15 years, to a foundation run by Wexner's wife Abigail represented only "a portion" of the funds that he recovered from Epstein.

Wexner trusted Epstein so completely that, in July 1991, Wexner gave Epstein power of attorney over his personal fortune, which as Wexner acknowledged in his letter, gave Epstein "wide latitude" to act on behalf of one of the richest men in the world.

...
Records show that between 1991 and 2006, Epstein oversaw the sale, mostly through the New York Stock Exchange, of more than $1.3 billion of company stock held by these trusts, representing a vast pool of cash largely controlled by Epstein.

Much of the money was certainly used for charitable purposes, but according to Volscho and Boyd, a potential pattern appears to emerge, one in which Epstein liquidates large amount of stock on behalf of these trusts and then, shortly after, makes large purchases for himself, including homes, planes, even a private island.

Jeffrey Epstein: International Moneyman of Mystery | NY Mag - Oct. 2002 |

Fox News edits Trump out of photo with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell at Mar-a-Lago [_link] pic.twitter.com/SEst77byQY

— Gizmodo (@Gizmodo) July 6, 2020

The leading British sprinter Bianca Williams and her partner have accused the Metropolitan Police of racial profiling after they were stopped, dragged from their car and handcuffed while their three-month-old son was on board [_link]

— The Times (@thetimes) July 5, 2020

Athlete stopped by Met police says it feels like 'being black is a crime' | The Guardian |

Team GB sprinter Bianca Williams has called on the Metropolitan Police "not to just always target the black people" after she and her partner were stopped and searched [_link] pic.twitter.com/fQOotY9VgE

— ITV News (@itvnews) July 6, 2020

THE GUARDIAN: Fury as PM accuses care homes over Covid deaths #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/F8r0ipIOpk

— Helena Wilkinson (@BBCHelena) July 6, 2020

Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in Spain (ENE-COVID): a nationwide, population-based seroepidemiological study

The findings from this nationwide seroprevalence study for SARS-CoV-2 indicate that the prevalence of IgG antibodies against this coronavirus is around 5% in Spain.
[...]
Despite the high impact of COVID-19 in Spain, prevalence estimates remain low and are clearly insufficient to provide herd immunity. This cannot be achieved without accepting the collateral damage of many deaths in the susceptible population and overburdening of health systems. In this situation, social distance measures and efforts to identify and isolate new cases and their contacts are imperative for future epidemic control.

archived ring vaccination, living lab contact tracing

Well, that plus people like me who are struggling to keep a decade-old iPhone working until the new 5G models come out, and the IoT companies who are depending on 5G for their systems to work...

Plus anybody who has had it up to here with the cable Internet providers...

Is the new French cabinet an accurate reflection of the change in the balance of power, or an indication that Macron intends to swing to the right in his re-election bid?

Spain's coronavirus antibodies study, published in The Lancet, adds evidence against herd immunity. Here's my report on it, for CNN [_link]

— Al Goodman (@algoodmanspain) July 6, 2020

Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in Spain | The Lancet |

To the next generation and little ones following my foot steps..#LoveWins pic.twitter.com/tVaV3pkdLe

— Bubba Wallace (@BubbaWallace) July 6, 2020

NASCAR driver Tyler Reddick criticizes Trump in since-deleted tweet after the president baselessly accused Bubba Wallace of noose 'hoax'

NEW: NASCAR driver Tyler Reddick fires back at Pres. Trump's call for an apology from Bubba Wallace: "We don't need an apology. We did what was right and we will do just fine without your support." [_link] pic.twitter.com/ALoZefkGhe

— ABC News (@ABC) July 6, 2020

There is nothing to apologize for when:
--Taking a perceived threat seriously
--People show support for one another
--Making policy to be more inclusive & more welcoming
--Doing what you feel is right, regardless of any perceived business consequences

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) July 6, 2020

Piracy in the Caribbean ... in the era of slavery 😎

N-TV

Schäuble, der von 2009 bis 2017 als Finanzminister maßgeblich am Management der Euro-Schuldenkrise beteiligt war, betonte, seit dieser Krise habe "auch der Letzte verstanden, dass wir eine gemeinsame Wirtschafts- und Finanzpolitik brauchen, um die Gemeinschaftswährung dauerhaft zu stabilisieren". Zugleich äußerte er die Überzeugung, "wir wären in Europa heute bedeutend weiter, wenn sich in der Griechenland-Krise 2010 die Idee durchgesetzt hätte, einen europäischen Währungsfonds aufzubauen."

Warrant and Complaint Seek Seizure of All Iranian Gasoil Aboard Four Tankers Headed to Venezuela Based on Connection to IRGC
archived Sun May 24th, 2020

Carsyn Leigh Davis

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement detailed the last two weeks of Carsyn's life in a public Medical Examiner's report.

For some reason there is a huge stigma attached to high density housing (AKA Flats) in Ireland. Everyone wants a three bed semi with gardens front and rear, even quite close to city centres. Flats have connotations of older social housing and anti-social behaviour. This is, of course, hugely inefficient in terms of land use, public transport, and utilities.

If you want to get planning permission for a once off house down the country you need a minimum site size of 1 acre, which is even more unnecessary and inefficient.  As a result, site costs are a huge proportion of total build costs.  Unlike most European cities, there aren't huge numbers of privately owned apartments (as up-market flats are called), but the numbers are slowly growing, especially as family sizes decrease and the population ages.

It's a link to a screen grab I posted on Facebook. Can you see it on FB?

COVID-19 case numbers are rising in >35 states across the nation. In the past week, new daily case totals have reached record highs. And Trump recklessly dismisses it as a result of "more testing" - no, it's the result of more COMMUNITY SPREAD.

Stats: [_link] pic.twitter.com/17Dn5l491S

— MURRAY 🗽 (@murray_nyc) July 5, 2020

Delusionary Nicholas Burns ... failed in ME policy and rejected diplomacy towards Iran.

.@RNicholasBurns wrote "My experience in government has taught me that diplomacy is most effective when it is cemented in American values and the rule of law" in his recent @HarvardMagazine article "An Indispensible Nation." READ: [_link] pic.twitter.com/C2se2GBWOk

— FutureofDiplomacy (@futurediplomacy) June 26, 2020

Stalemate in the UN Security Council. A New "Cold War" with Iran? by verchenceto @EuroTrib on March 29, 2006

East-West Schism: Destruction Process Inside Europe

From the pen of Vicky Nuland, former assistent to Dick Cheney and Hillary Clinton ... same old ...

But today's Russia is neither monolithic nor immutable. Inside the country, low oil prices, the coronavirus pandemic, and Russians' growing sense of malaise all bring new costs and risks for the Kremlin. Abroad, Putin has played a weak hand well because the United States and its allies have let him, allowing Russia to violate arms control treaties, international law, the sovereignty of its neighbors, and the integrity of elections in the United States and Europe.

Irish Independent Europe's Golden Age ...

Facebook conspiracy groups pivot from Re-Open to attacks on Black Lives Matter, while Zuck stands back and does nothing. [_link]

— Tikun Olam (@richards1052) July 6, 2020

Has @BubbaWallace apologized to all of those great NASCAR drivers & officials who came to his aid, stood by his side, & were willing to sacrifice everything for him, only to find out that the whole thing was just another HOAX? That & Flag decision has caused lowest ratings EVER!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 6, 2020

I don't either.

Johnson criticised after claiming care homes did not follow procedures during Covid crisis

"What we wanted was decent information, and to be treated as human beings," Fatima Djalo, one of the cleaners, told me.

"Cleaners are people," said Luis Eduardo Veintimilla, her colleague. "No one took any responsibility, and now they are culpable for what happened." pic.twitter.com/VmVsJX9Jy6

— Jack Shenker (@hackneylad) July 6, 2020

"It's going into work knowing you might come out with a life-threatening virus, not knowing whether you'll pass it on to your partner or child"

For those working in care homes, every day of the pandemic has meant living in fear and questioning if you've done enough. pic.twitter.com/p6c3JneitE

— Channel 5 News (@5_News) July 3, 2020

Without the Euro there would be no way we could borrow at near 0% as we can now. I agree German imposed austerity exacerbated the depression post 2008, but that is not a problem at the moment.

We can possibly grab a lot of EU financial services business from London and direct Dublin Rotterdam RoRo and container shipping capacity is being increased for agricultural and other exports. Most of our beef goes to the UK, however, and that could be difficult to re-direct to other markets if it is displaced by US/Brazilian exports to the UK.

The bigger problem will be who will sub-vent Northern Ireland to the tune of €10 Billion p.a. if the UK breaks up, as I expect it will. That is not to mention the social/political disruption that will result - only tangentially alluded to in the letter.

Both SF and the Greens did well, but not well enough to lead a left wing coalition and no-one wants to work with SF at the moment anyway. But who knows in 5 years time. The age profile of FG and particularly FF voters is getting older and older...

Had they failed to form a government this time around and a second general election been called, I would have expected it to have been a two horse race between Fine Gael and Sinn Fein, with everyone else an also ran. But in 4/5 years time? It all depends on the degree to which the economy recovers and this government deals with all the issues I highlighted in the letter.

But it does look likely that Irish politics has switched to a left/right polarity with Sinn Fein the dominant party on the left and Fine Gael more likely than Fianna Fail to become dominant on the right. It's also possible, but unlikely, that all three parties will remain at roughly equal strength in the 20-25% support range.

Its just a screen grab picture of the letter, so I so I don't understand why you can't see it!