What Is Currently Going On In Baltimore?

It has been about a week since the worst of the riots in Baltimore.  What has been recently going on?

Protests have been largely celebratory since State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby announced charges against the six police officers involved in Freddie Gray’s arrest, states The Baltimore Sun.

The announcement by the city’s top prosecutor came as a shock to many in the Baltimore Police Department.

The police department officially handed over the case to Mosby’s office last week but will continue to investigate Gray’s death, Commissioner Anthony Batts said.

Gray died April 19, a week after his arrest.

Hundreds rejoiced and sang outside City Hall on Sunday, and many residents attended special worship services across the city, writes The Baltimore Sun.

Crime unrelated to the protests spiked last week, despite the additional police on duty and heavy National Guard presence.

Eight homicides and 12 shootings have been reported across the city since Tuesday.

Outside of the city, observers are looking at how the events in Baltimore will play into presidential campaigns. Former Baltimore mayor and Maryland governor Martin O’Malley said the tensions that erupted into riots last week would be central to his presidential campaign, should he decide to run for office.

The New Republice writes that members of the city’s rival gangs—the Bloods, Crips, Black Guerrilla Family (BGF)—say they’ve declared a truce and vowed to bring peace to their communities.

Many people in the city wonder what might be the long term economic impact to Baltimore after the riots destroyed some businesses, and left many outside the city with a negative image.

White House Readies Recommendations On Use of Military Force For Congress

The White House is expected to seek congressional authorization within days for military operations against the Islamic State.  This could start a political fight that could see the administration clash with members of both parties over how much authority to give the president regarding the fight with ISIS.

Barack Obama is preparing to send “specific legislative language” for what is known as an authorization for the use of military force, or AUMF, that provides federal legal backing for overseas operations, according to sources.

The White House was working to transmit its recommendations to Congress as early as Friday, although that could change. White House officials have been speaking extensively with individual lawmakers in recent days about the AUMF, in part to build support for what they deliver to Congress, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Lawmakers said they want the White House to spell out what if any limitations are appropriate in the fight against Islamic State, including whether and how combat troops are used and whether there is a time limit on the fight.

Democrats and Republicans would have different reasons for limiting authorization. Democrats would wish limit the amount of bloodshed and the use of war in foreign policy:

“We need to learn lessons from prior authorizations, and one of them clearly is we can’t do open-ended, unending authorizations,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D., Conn.) said.

Republicans would like to limit any authority the president has, in all areas:

“It’s also going to be incumbent upon the president to go out there and make the case to the American people for why we have to fight this fight,” said John Boehner (R., Ohio), adding, “It’s not going to be an easy lift.”

Whatever the White House delivers to lawmakers is unlikely to forestall a political fight that could make moving an authorization through Congress difficult. House and Senate members, sensitive to war-weary voters and wary of providing an open-ended authorization, are expected to try to limit what the White House can do, a position more hawkish lawmakers are expected to oppose.

Israeli Official Suggests Boehner Misled Netanyahu On Speech To Congress

Sources claim an Israeli official suggested Friday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been misled into thinking an invitation to address the U.S. Congress next month was fully supported by the Democrats.

Netanyahu was invited by the Republican speaker of the house, John Boehner, to address Congress on March 3, an invitation Boehner originally described as bipartisan.  The topic of his speech would supposedly be relations with Iran.

The move angered the White House, which is upset that the event comes two weeks before Israeli elections and that Netanyahu is expected to be critical of U.S. policy on Iran.  Most gatherings of this nature are organized between heads of state – not between a head of state and congress or parliament of another country.

“It appears that the speaker of Congress made a move, in which we trusted, but which it ultimately became clear was a one-sided move and not a move by both sides,” Deputy Israeli Foreign Minister Tzachi Hanegbi told 102 FM Tel Aviv Radio on Friday.

Hanegbi is a senior member of Netanyahu’s Likud party.

The interviewer asked if that meant Netanyahu had been “misled” into believing Boehner’s invitation was bipartisan, a characterization Hanegbi did not contest.

Hanegbi did not say Netanyahu would refuse the invitation.

Asked whether the prime minister should cancel or postpone the speech, Hanegbi said: “What would the outcome be then? The outcome would be that we forsake an arena in which there is a going to be a very dramatic decision (on Iran).”

There has been much criticism of Boehner by Democrats and repeated statements by Boehner and other Republicans explaining their position.

Top Democratic lawmaker Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday the event was “politicized” and she hoped it would not take place.  Also, the White House said it would not meet Netanyahu during the visit.

Netanyahu has denied seeking electoral gains or meddling in internal U.S. affairs with the speech, in which he is expected to warn world powers against agreeing to anything short of a total rollback of Iran’s nuclear program.

A Netanyahu spokesman declined to comment on Hanegbi’s comments on Friday.

Acknowledging that Democrats had been “pained” by the invitation, Hanegbi said Netanyahu and Israeli emissaries were making “a huge effort to make clear to them that this is not a move that flouts the president of the United States”.

More:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/06/israel-boehner-misled-netanyahu-congress-speech

Nuclear Power

David Pakman

What are the pros and cons of nuclear power?

What Is The Austin Peaceful Streets Project?

Video by ThisIsRadioFreedom1

Above is a video about a group called The Peaceful Streets Project.  The Peaceful Streets Project is a “watchdog” group in Austin, Texas, that keeps tabs on the police and keeps an eye out for police brutality and abuse of power.

According to their website, “The Peaceful Streets Project is an all-volunteer, grassroots effort uniting people to end the institutional violence taking place on our streets. Through community organizing and direct action tactics, the Peaceful Streets Project seeks to support communities in understanding, exercising, and standing up for our rights.”

The vision of the Austin Peaceful Streets Project is “a society free of state-sponsored institutionalized violence.”

“Through community organizing, engaging in non-political and non-violent direct action tactics, and utilizing new technologies, the Peaceful Streets Project seeks to bring about a cultural shift where individuals understand their rights and hold law enforcement officials accountable, and communities protect and serve each other.”

Nuclear Power Plants Vulnerable To Drone Attacks

The Iranian PRESS TV reported that a newly published report warns that some 16 British nuclear power plants are prone to drone hacks.

A study conducted by leading British nuclear expert reveals that 16 operational nuclear reactors are not designed to cope with threats posed by “near-cyborg technology.”

In his report which also included possible threats against French nuclear facilities, John Large warned that unmanned aircraft can navigate barriers that are dated and belong to a “different age.”

Large highly recommended the British government to read the report, warning its findings posed real and serious concerns.

The officials in London have apparently examined Large’s evidence and forwarded the report to Britain’s Office for Nuclear Regulation, but they are yet to request a copy.

There have been growing concerns over the safety of nuclear plants across Europe following mysterious drone flights over the atomic facilities in Belgium and France.

Earlier this month, a mysterious drone was spotted flying over a nuclear plant in Belgium.

Belgian authorities confirmed the incident, without giving further detail.

The mystery appearance of the unmanned aerial vehicle over the Doel power station came after one of the reactors at the nuclear facility stopped working due to sabotage.

Some 20 unknown drones have already been spotted over nuclear facilities throughout neighboring France since last month.

Canadian Politician Complains About Renewable Energy, District Has Train Powered By Renewable Energy

Canadian Politician Ron Liepert complains about renewable energy, but his political district of Calgary has a train powered by wind energy.

Truth Mashup video.

More info on Calgary’s C-Train:
http://www.calgaryjournalonline.ca/september-print-issue/environment/1327-riding-the-wind-right-through-town

Michele Bachmann Asks President Obama To Bomb Iran At Christmas Party

Michele Bachmann asked president Obama to bomb Iran at Christmas party.

Secular Talk video.

At Least 2 Deaths In West Coast Storm

A ferocious storm system pounded a huge swath of the West Coast with heavy rain, hurricane-force winds and power outages Thursday, causing at least two deaths.

In some parts of northern California, the storm produced hurricane-force winds of 78 mph and one gust of 147 mph in the Sierra.

The storm is one of the strongest to hit the West Coast in years.

Authorities in Southern Oregon say high winds toppled a tree atop a 40-year-old homeless man sleeping in a tent along the Pacific Coast Trail.

The Jackson County sheriff’s office said the man, Phillip Crosby, complained of difficulty breathing and died shortly afterward.

A teen died of storm-related injuries Thursday evening in the Portland, Ore. area after a very large tree fell onto a vehicle, apparently causing the woman who was in the car with him to swerve into another tree.

The teenage boy was pronounced dead at the scene. The woman was was seriously injured and taken to a nearby hospital.

San Francisco’s Cable Cars Halted

Power in San Francisco’s Financial District, in the heart of the city, went out shortly after 7 a.m. PT, forcing the evacuation of thousands of workers from skyscrapers over several blocks. The iconic Bank of America was darkened.

Municipal buses were abandoned on city streets because they had no power.

Traffic was gridlocked on Highway 280, the stretch of road that connects San Francisco to San Jose.

Every 15 minutes or so a National Weather Service interrupted radio reports to warn residents not to drive through flooded areas.

In San Francisco, electricity was knocked out from the Marina to the financial district and beyond. The power outages stretched over thousands of square miles, from near the Oregon border to Big Sur on California’s Central Coast.

San Francisco’s cable car system was shut down before the storm hit because of concern over the effectiveness of brakes on the aging cars in wet conditions.

Why Is Tanzania Evicting 40,000 People From Their Homes?

Tanzania plans on evicting 40,000 Maasai from their ancestral land that borders Kenya and sell the land for hunting purposes to a wealthy customer.

Last year, though, the Tanzanian government announced it wouldn’t give the 1,500 sq km wildlife corridor next to the Serengeti Park to these interests.

Now it is going back on the deal.  The Maasai have been told to leave their traditional lands by the end of next year.  They will be paid only a token fee for the inconvenience.

Kyle Kulinski discusses it.

Secular Talk video.

More:

http://www.ryot.org/tanzania-is-evicting-the-maasai-from-sacred-land/871321