ISIS Backer Joins Bundy's Militants, Hijacks Government Computers To Build Militia Website
By David

1/13/16 5:00pm

http://crooksandliars.com/2016/01/isis-backer-joins-bundys-militants-then

A militant who recently joined Ammon Bundy's armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge as the resident computer expert is a follower of Adolf Hitler and has expressed support for ISIS.

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Fry confirmed to Oregon Public Broadcasting that he had used government computers to create the website.

“I am using any computer I can use,” he said. “Their data is perfectly preserved … you can’t access any of that, it’s got encryption on it.”

During an examination of Fry's social media accounts, Oregon Public Broadcasting found that he had posted in support of the Islamic State and frequently praised Adolf Hitler.

"ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS FOR ISIS TO NUKE ISRAELHELL!" Fry wrote in November.

According to Oregon Public Broadcasting, Fry defended his support of ISIS with a rant about "government conspiracies, plots against multiple countries, Sept. 11, court records, computer viruses on Japanese computers, Fukushima and a Jewish conspiracy against the free world that involves causing nuclear meltdowns."

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Kosher Pot Coming to New York State

The Orthodox Union has certified medical marijuana products from Vireo Health as kosher.
By Stav Ziv / Newsweek
December 31, 2015



http://www.alternet.org/drugs/kosher-pot-new-york-state
December 31, 2015
Stav Ziv

Posted with permission from Newsweek


Any potential medical marijuana users in New York state who were concerned that partaking in pot for health purposes might clash with Judaism can stop shvitzing. The Orthodox Union has certified the marijuana products made by Vireo Health of New York as kosher, the latter announced Wednesday.

“Being certified kosher by the OU will not only help us serve the dietary needs of the largest Jewish community in the United States, but also combat unfortunate stigmas associated with medical cannabis,” Ari Hoffnung, Vireo’s CEO, is quoted as saying in the company’s press release announcing the certification, which applies to the company’s vaporization cartridges, oils and capsules. “Today’s announcement sends an important message to New Yorkers of all faiths and backgrounds,” he added. “Patients should never feel guilty or ashamed for using a product recommended by their physicians.”

Vireo, formerly called Empire State Health Solutions, is one of five companies approved by the state to produce and sell medical marijuana under the Compassionate Care Act, signed into law by Governor Andrew Cuomo in July 2014. New York is one of 23 states, plus the District of Columbia, that have legalized the production and use of medical marijuana for qualifying patients.

New York’s law states that eligible patients are those who have been diagnosed with “a specific severe, debilitating or life-threatening condition”—the list currently includes cancer, HIV infection or AIDS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury with spasticity, epilepsy, inflammatory bowel disease, neuropathy and Huntington's disease—accompanied by a complicating condition, like severe or chronic pain, severe nausea or seizures.

The law allows liquid, oil and capsules for oral administration as well as for vaporization, but “expressly provides that a certified medical use of marijuana does not include smoking,” according to its department of health.

In everyday English usage, the word kosher means proper or acceptable, but in the context of Judaism, it refers to specific religious laws that govern food preparation and consumption. For example, meat and dairy cannot be made or eaten together and pork and shellfish are prohibited. Kitchen and manufacturing equipment must also meet certain standards.

A broad range of foods require kosher supervision, according to the Orthodox Union, because “all units and subunits in a food item must be kosher as well. Thus, for example, a cereal may be non-kosher because it has raisins which are coated with a non-kosher, animal-based glycerin.”

OU Kosher supervises roughly 70 percent of kosher-certified foods in the U.S., including for major companies like Coca-Cola, General Mills, the Hershey Company, Kraft/Nabisco and Unilever. According to Vireo’s release, it will be the first medical cannabis company to receive a kosher certification from OU. Rabbinic field representatives visited and inspected Vireo’s cultivation and lab facilities in Perth, New York, to verify that the company would meet all kosher standards.

Many Orthodox rabbis support the use of medical marijuana (but not recreational pot), The Forward reported earlier this year. In the past, the Orthodox Union has refused to give kosher certifications to cigarette and e-cigarette companies because of the associated health risks, but OU Kosher COO Rabbi Moshe Elefant said at the time that it “would not have a problem certifying” medical marijuana.

The cannabis plant itself does not require a kosher stamp of approval, but capsules and other manufactured forms of it do. "Just as the OU gives out Kosher certificates for vitamins or for any other medical product, after an examination of the ingredients, it is possible in principle to issue kosher certificates for cannabis, as long it is solely for medical uses and in countries where it is permitted by law," Rabbi Avi Berman, executive director of OU Israel, told the Israeli site Ynet in February.

Nearly a year later, OU Kosher has signed off on Vireo’s medical cannabis products, “which were developed to alleviate pain and suffering in accordance with the New York State Compassionate Care Act,” Rabbi Menachem Genack, CEO of OU Kosher, is quoted as saying in Vireo’s release. The company plans to open four dispensaries in the state in January—in White Plains, the New York City borough of Queens, Binghamton and Albany.

“Judaism prioritizes health and encourages the use of medicine designed to improve one’s health or reduce pain,” Genack said. “Using medical cannabis products recommended by a physician should not be regarded as a chet, a sinful act, but rather as a mitzvah, an imperative, a commandment.”

Trolling 101
January 6, 2016 2:55 p.m.
PETA Trolls Oregon’s Militant Ranchers With Vegan-Jerky Delivery
By Chris Crowley

http://www.grubstreet.com/2016/01/peta-trolls-militant-ranchers-vegan-jerky.html?om_rid=AAAgmh&om_mid=_BWjry9B9Ja$8v7#

The militant ranchers who are protesting federal policies by occupying an Oregon bird sanctuary, the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, have appealed for snacks, and PETA has answered the call by trolling them with a delivery of vegan jerky. PETA being PETA, it's taking the opportunity to spin this from a story about armed citizens threatening violence and illegally taking over buildings into one about the evils of animal agriculture.

The animals-rights organization says in a blog post that the package will fashionably be "hand-delivered" to the ranchers, now calling themselves Citizens for Constitutional Freedom, by staffers with signs reading, "The End (of Animal Agriculture) Is Nigh: Get Out Now!" Twitter, predictably, reacted to PETA's preachy tweets with scorn — asking, "You for real?" — but others have gotten in on the fun, too, with Redditors planning baby food and glitter packages and The Oregonian running a joke poll on the top snacks to send ranchers with the munchies. As that publication pointed out, Ammon Bundy, one of the ringleaders of the group, said that he and his pals are so committed that they're willing to stay for years, but apparently they all forgot to ask their moms to pack their lunch boxes for the field trip.

2 PETA reps show up @ OR wildlife refuge, giving vegan jerky to protesters, asking them to stay out of animal ag. pic.twitter.com/mlrsa4IJI3
— Joe Fryer (@joefryer) January 6, 2016


[PETA]

Grand Juries: How The Tamir Rice Case Lifts The Veil On This Inherently Biased Process

January 1, 2016 by Dylan Donnelly 3 Comments

http://www.copblock.org/150762/grand-juries-how-tamir-rice-case-lifts-veil-on-inherently-biased-process-2/

This post was submitted by Vincent Rivera, Licensed Kansas Attorney

“A grand jury will indict a ham sandwich,” the saying goes. This is because, in grand juries, prosecutors enjoy zero oversight, leaving them free to present (or not present) whatever evidence they choose without any challenges, and in effect avoiding any political backlash.

For those not familiar with Grand Juries: they do not make a guilty/innocent decision. Their job is decide whether or not probable cause exists to file criminal charges.

Generally, Prosecutors impanel about 24 “grand jurors.” From there, it’s similar to a trial, the Prosecutor calls witnesses, and presents evidence. However, unlike a trial, a Grand Jury, is held in private, there is no judge, and no defense counsel. Thus, the prosecutor is allowed to present any evidence they want without interference or challenges.

Politically speaking, in high profile cases, prosecutors can “stack the deck” to avoid an indictment. Thus, when the Grand Jury fails to indict, it was the Grand Jury’s decision and not the prosecutor’s fault. This allows the prosecutors (who’re often elected) to avoid any responsibility for failing to prosecute.

In the Tamir Rice case, the Grand Jury failed to find probable cause to indict the officer. During that Grand Jury, the Prosecutor went out of their way to call in a “use of force” expert witness, who essentially “rubber stamped” Law Enforcement’s actions. Thus, in essence the Prosecutor presented a case of “justified force” to the Grand Jury and SURPRISE: no indictment.

Suggested reforms:
1) Preliminary Hearings, preform the same job as a Grand Jury in that their purpose is to determine probable cause. However, a preliminary hearing is conducted in open court, before a Judge (who makes the probable cause finding), the accused is present and represented by counsel who can cross-examine witnesses, object to evidence, call defense witnesses and make arguments to the Court.
2) Don’t use “local” prosecutors. Prosecutors work every single day with law enforcement. Moreover almost every prosecutor’s office has attorneys and or staff who are married/dating law enforcement. Clearly, this presents a conflict of interest, with the “fox guarding the hen house.”

These problems could be mitigated if States create a special group of Prosecutors, perhaps from the Attorney General’s office, who investigates all law enforcement shootings.

Why are we funding this sort of investigation looking for terrorists? All of the "domestic terrorists" we've found are of this caliber.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_TERROR_SUSPECT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-01-01-22-13-57

Bar owner: Suspect in Rochester attack plot is a panhandler


ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) -- An ex-convict arrested in a plot to carry out an attack at a bar on New Year's Eve is a panhandler who'd been a story of mental problems.

Federal authorities have said Emanuel Lutchman, 25, sought to prove he was worthy of joining the Islamic State group by leading an attack in Rochester with a machete and knives provided by an FBI informant.

After authorities announced his arrest Thursday, his father and mother described a man who'd had psychiatric troubles since childhood, had recently stabbed himself in a suicide attempt and, they said, wouldn't have conducted the attack on his own.

"The boy is impressionable," his father, Omar Lutchman, told NBC News. "First he was a Blood, then he was a Crip, then he became a Muslim. He's easily manipulated."

The father and the suspect's grandmother, Beverley Carridice-Henry, told the network Lutchman is married and has a 2-year-old son but had been having marital and money problems. He was frustrated over being unable to find work and care for his family, they said.

"He got very emotional and sick about that," Carridice-Henry told the Democrat and Chronicle of Rochester.

Authorities said in court papers that Lutchman said he received direction from an overseas Islamic State group member and planned to carry out the attack Thursday.

"I will take a life, I don't have a problem with that," the court papers quoted Lutchman as saying.

Lutchman's lawyer, Steven Slawinski, declined to comment on the allegations. Lutchman has been charged with attempting to provide material support to terrorists.

While authorities didn't identify the target, a co-owner said it was Merchants Grill, a neighborhood sports pub. The U.S. attorney's office for western New York did not return a phone call Friday seeking confirmation of that.

Lutchman lived nearby and had repeatedly come into the bar asking for money, co-owner John Page told local media. He told WHEC-TV that Lutchman had been asked to leave several times.

He "caused more trouble than positive," Page told the Democrat and Chronicle.

Lutchman was described in court papers as having a long criminal history, including a 2006 robbery conviction that led to a five-year prison sentence.

Lutchman's former stepmother, Charma Lutchman, told the Democrat and Chronicle that Lutchman spent part of his childhood living with his grandparents in New York City. She said that while young, he was struck by a car, an accident that transformed him from a happy-go-lucky boy to a more withdrawn child.

The newspaper reports Lutchman spent four months in a Rochester jail in 2015 on misdemeanor charges of petit larceny and menacing his girlfriend.

Lutchman was scheduled to appear in state court Jan. 11 on the domestic violence charges. It's likely that date will be postponed.

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This story has been corrected to show the call letters for a Rochester TV station are WHEC-TV, not WEHC-TV.

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Source: Raw Story

Entire Florida police department busted for laundering millions for international drug cartels
Justin Gardner, Free Thought Project

02 Jan 2016 at 00:44 ET



Screenshot from "License to Launder" (Miami Herald)


The village of Bal Harbour, population 2,513, may have a tiny footprint on the northern tip of Miami Beach, but its police department had grand aspirations of going after international drug traffickers, and making a few million dollars while they were at it.

The Bal Harbour PD and the Glades County Sheriff’s Office set up a giant money laundering scheme with the purported goal of busting drug cartels and stemming the surge of drug dealing going on in the area. But it all fell apart when federal investigators and the Miami-Herald found strange things going on.


The two-year operation, which took in more than $55 million from criminal groups, resulted in zero arrests but netted $2.4 million for the police posing as money launderers. Members of the 12-person task force traveled far and wide to carry out their deals, from Los Angeles to New York to Puerto Rico.

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“They were like bank robbers with badges,” said Dennis Fitzgerald, an attorney and former Drug Enforcement Administration agent who taught undercover tactics for the U.S. State Department. “It had no law enforcement objective. The objective was to make money.”

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Video at link.

The War on Drugs is the real scheme that should be investigated.

Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/2016/01/entire-florida-police-department-busted-for-laundering-millions-for-international-drug-cartels/

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A bit long but worth the time.