Monday, July 13, 2015

US Army considering hollow point bullets for pistols; ammunition use would violate international law

US Army considering hollow point bullets for pistols; ammunition use would violate international law
News Updates from CLG
13 July 2015
 
Previous edition: To facilitate passage of TPP, U.S. upgrades Malaysia in annual human trafficking report - sources

Breaking: Greece debt crisis: Eurozone summit 'reaches agreement' | 13 July 2015 | Eurozone leaders have reached a "unanimous" agreement after marathon talks over a third bailout for Greece, EU President Donald Tusk has said. He said that a bailout programme was "all ready to go" for Greece, "with serious reforms and financial support". "There will not be a 'Grexit'," said European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker, referring to the fear that Greece would have to leave the euro. #ThisIsACoup

US Army considering hollow point bullets for pistols; ammunition use would violate international law --'Expanding' bullets were banned under the 1899 Hague Convention. | 10 July 2015 | In a dramatic shift for the US military, the army is considering the use of bullets that can expand and break up when striking a target to make new pistols more lethal, raising concern that doing so would violate international law. According to the Army Times, the Pentagon recently reviewed the use of "special purpose ammunition" and determined the army could look into enabling its next-generation XM-17 pistol to use various kinds, including hollow point bullets. Currently, only ball ammunition is used in the army. 

US torture doctors could face charges after report alleges post-9/11 'collusion' | 10 July 2015 | The largest association of psychologists in the United States is on the brink of a crisis, the Guardian has learned, as an independent review prepares to reveal that medical professionals lied and covered up their extensive involvement in post-9/11 torture. The revelation, puncturing years of denials, creates the potential for leadership firings, loss of licenses and even prosecutions. For more than a decade, the American Psychological Association (APA) has maintained that a strict code of ethics prohibits its more than 130,000 members to aid in the torture of detainees prisoners while simultaneously permitting involvement in military and intelligence interrogations. The group has rejected media reporting on psychologists' complicity in torture; suppressed internal dissent from anti-torture doctors; cleared members of wrongdoing; and portrayed itself as a consistent ally against abuse. Now, a voluminous independent review conducted by a former assistant US attorney, David Hoffman, is said to undermine the APA's denials in full -- and vindicate the dissenters.

Former chair of Oregon Health & Science University psychology department worked with CIA on torture - report | 11 July 2015 | A prominent retired Oregon Health & Science University psychology professor served on a CIA psychology advisory committee and played at least a limited role in helping the agency develop its post 9/11 enhanced-interrogation torture program, according to an exhaustive new report commissioned by the American Psychological Association. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks [inside job], Joseph Matarazzo, former chair of the OHSU medical psychology department, exhorted his fellow psychologists to use their expertise to help the U.S. government force information out of detainees, according to the new report. "In this environment, things are different, and the CIA is going to need some help," Matarazzo reportedly told another psychologist at a 2002 conference in Singapore. "Things may get harsh. We may need to take the gloves off."

Psychologists and C.I.A. Torture | 10 July 2015 | A 542-page report concludes that prominent psychologists worked closely with the C.I.A. to blunt dissent inside the agency over an interrogation program that is now known to have included torture. It also finds that officials at the American Psychological Association colluded with the Pentagon to make sure that the association's ethics policies did not hinder the ability of psychologists to be involved in the interrogation program.
 
Baghdad car bombs and suicide attacks kill 35 - sources | 12 July 2015 | Car bombs and suicide attacks targeting mainly Shi'ite Muslim districts of Baghdad killed 35 people on Sunday, one of the heaviest recent tolls in the Iraqi capital, which has faced a wave of bombings by Islamic State militants. The deadliest attack hit the northern Shaab neighborhood, where a car bomb followed by a suicide blast killed 19 people, security and medical sources said...More than 100 people were wounded in the three explosions.
 
At least 25 civilians killed near US base in Afghanistan | 12 July 2015 | At least 25 civilians have been killed and sixteen more wounded in a car bomb explosion in Afghanistan's eastern city of Khost, authorities say. "We counted 25 dead and sixteen wounded," a doctor at a hospital in Khost told reporters on Sunday after the blast near an American military base, where Afghan and foreign soldiers are stationed. Initial reports said that only 18 people were killed and 6 others injured, but the toll was later raised by officials.
 
'Right Sector on combat alert': Ukraine Neo-Nazis refuse to lay down arms after shootout | 12 July 2015 | [US-backed] Ukrainian Right Sector militants, blocked in on the outskirts of Mukachevo after deadly clashes with police, are refusing to lay down their arms without their leader's orders. Civilians in the area have been evacuated, as negotiations so far have failed. SWAT police and special units of the National Guard, as well as Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) agents have secured the area and blockaded members of Ukraine's ultra-nationalist Right Sector group on the outskirts of Mukachevo, which lies a stone's throw away from Hungarian and Slovakian border.
 
US ally Saudi Arabia committing war crimes daily: 10 Yemeni civilians killed in Saudi airstrike on Sana'a | 12 July 2015 | More than 10 civilians have been killed in a Saudi airstrike on a residential area in the Yemeni capital Sana'a. According to reports, the attacks were carried out in the city's Sa'awan neighborhood, early on Monday. Meanwhile, Saudi [sociopaths'] jets bombed several medical and commercial centers in the country's northwestern province of Amran. On Sunday, the kingdom's warplanes launched attacks on the northwestern Hajjah province.
 
Car bomb hits Italian consulate in Egypt | 11 July 2015 | A car bomb exploded outside the Italian Consulate in downtown Cairo early Saturday morning, significantly damaging part of the building, police said. The blast caused some injuries but no deaths, authorities said. "There's significant damage to the side of the building, a wall has collapsed and there was blood on the debris," photographer David Degner told CNN from the scene.
 
Tunisia: 1,000 arrests and 15,000 prevented from leaving in counter-terrorism operations | 10 July 2015 | Tunisia authorities have arrested 1,000 people and banned a further 15,000 from leaving the country in the wake of two terror attacks in the country. Tunisian Prime Minister Habib Essid said the suspects were detained as part of the counter-terrorism operation in the wake of the shooting at the Bardo museum in March, which left 22 people dead, and the recent Sousse beach shooting that killed 38 people, including 30 Brits. The announcement arrived a week after a state of emergency was declared in Tunisia following the Sousse shooting and after the British Foreign Office urged all remaining Brits to leave Tunisia immediately as intelligence suggests a further terrorist attack is "highly likely".
 
Indonesian pilots may have been radicalized by ISIS - report | 11 July 2015 | Authorities in Australia are concerned about the potential radicalization of two Indonesian commercial pilots, according to an intelligence report obtained by the news website The Intercept. The report, marked Australian Federal Police (AFP), profiles two Indonesian pilots who "both appear to be influenced by pro (Islamic State) elements." It details the social media behavior of the two men who the AFP believe posed potential security threats because of their knowledge of aviation and possible radicalization.
 
Petition Calls on Congress to Reveal the Secret 28 Pages for 9/11 Transparency | 10 July 2015 | On Jan. 6, 2015, Walter Jones (R-NC) and Steven Lynch (D-MA) introduced a resolution to the House of Representatives calling on President Obama to release the 28 pages from the Congressional Joint Inquiry on 9/11. The resolution is called H.RES. 14. Visibility of the 28 pages issue has risen yet again with the introduction of Senate Bill 1471 introduced by Rand Paul on June 2, 2015, as a parallel action to H.RES. 14...Furthermore, release of the pages will reveal that certain Saudi royals and charities known for funding extremist groups are being protected, regardless that they continue to jeopardize U.S. national security. In other words, funding of extremist groups is being protected while the American people are being told to fear another "9/11 type attack" -- a blatant contradiction. Sign petition here.
 
Media not allowed to observe controversial Special Operations exercise Jade Helm 15 | 08 July 2015 | Jade Helm 15, the controversial Special Operations exercise that spawned a wave of conspiracy theories about a government takeover, will open next week without any media allowed to observe it, a military spokesman said. Embedded reporters won't be permitted at any point during the exercise, in which military officials say that secretive Special Operations troops will maneuver through private and publicly owned land in several southern states. The exercise is scheduled for July 15 through September 15 and is expected to include more than 1,200 troops. For months, some protesterspeople with an IQ over 80 have said Jade Helm is setting the stage for future martial law.
 
Texans organize 'Operation Counter Jade Helm' to keep an eye on the federal troops | 11 July 2015 | When the troops land in Texas for Operation Jade Helm next week, someone will be waiting for them. Hundreds of people have organized a "Counter Jade Helm" surveillance operation across the Southwestern states and in an effort to keep an eye on the contentious military drill that's sparked many suspicious of Uncle Sam's intentions. Three groups of volunteers, about 20 folks in total, hope to monitor the SEALs, Green Berets and Air Force Special Ops in Bastrop, Big Spring and Junction when Jade Helm kicks off on July 15. With media prohibited at the drills, the volunteers could be a main source of information for the highly-anticipate seven-state exercise.
 
FBI Director Says Background Check System Failed, Allowing Alleged SC Shooter to Purchase Gun | 10 July 2015 | The FBI says its background-check system failed, mistakenly allowing the man who allegedly opened fire inside a South Carolina church last month to purchase the gun he used in the rampage. FBI Director James Comey said 21-year-old Dylann Roof of Lexington, South Carolina, "should not have been allowed" to buy the weapon that ultimately killed nine people, including the pastor of the historic Emanuel AME church. Through a database known as the National Instant Criminal Background Check System -- or "NICS" -- the FBI performs background checks for those looking to buy weapons from dealers in 30 states, including South Carolina. If FBI examiners don't respond within three business days, federal law allows the dealers to decide themselves whether to proceed with the sale.
 
Confederate flag comes down on South Carolina's statehouse grounds [Great! Now if we could only get rid of -- or even get the media to mention -- the slavery codified in Obama's secret TPP...] | 10 July 2015 | The Confederate flag on South Carolina's statehouse grounds came down during a Fridaymorning ceremony, ending its 54-year presence at the Capitol. Members from a South Carolina Highway Patrol honor guard approached the Confederate memorial, and as one turned a lever to lower the flag, the assembled large crowd burst into sustained applause and chanted "U.S.A.!" The flag will be placed in a museum. Cheers and hugs punctuated the morning.
 
Up to 170,000 chickens set to be slaughtered after suspected bird flu outbreak | 10 July 2015 | (UK) Tens of thousands of chickens are being slaughtered on a poultry farm after a suspected bird flu outbreak. A control zone has also been set up 10km around a Lancashire farm to prevent any risk of the disease spreading but up to 170,000 laying hens are expected to be humanely culled [?] as a precautionary measure. Scientists have yet to discover what strain of flu is involved. Some strains of avian influenza, particularly the H5N1 form, are known to have jumped the species barrier and resulted in more than 300 human deaths worldwide.
 
Hero conservation officer suspended for refusing to kill two orphaned bear cubs | 07 July 2015 | B.C. conservation officer Bryce Casavant has been suspended without pay for refusing to kill two black bear cubs near Port Hardy after their mother was killed for repeatedly raiding a freezer full of meat and salmon [because she was hungry]. Despite an [*insane*] order to kill the cubs too, Casavant took them to a veterinary hospital. They are now at a recovery centre run by the North Island Wildlife Recovery Association in Errington, which like Port Hardy is on Vancouver Island. Robin Campbell, the recovery centre's manager, said the conservation officer did the right thing as the cubs are not habituated to humans and can be reintroduced to the wild.
 
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