Yearly Archives: 2016
The Italian Mafia is Funding Terrorism By Buying Smuggled Hash From ISIS
Italian prosecutor claims that the Italian Mafia is buying hash that was smuggled by ISIS through Libya.
The Italian Mafia and an Islamic terrorist group meet up at a hash-smuggling operation… It sounds like the start of a bad joke, but unfortunately, according to the anti-Mafia and antiterrorism prosecutor, Franco Roberti, it’s the grim reality in the country of Italy. The Italian prosecutor claims that hash is being purchased by the Italian Mafia from Libya, which is being smuggled in by the Islamic terrorist sect ISIS.
The North African hash is being used a major source of income for the Islamic State, and the Italian Mafia is apparently a loyal customer. It’s quite profitable for the Mafia as well, which earns about 32 billion euros ($36.10 billion) a year through their illegal drug trades, a sizable portion of which is made up of hash and cannabis. It’s seems reasonable for Roberti to assume that ISIS is heavily involved. According to Ahmad Moussalli, a political science professor at the American University in Beirut, territorial expansion by ISIS on the Syrian border has put them in control of a vast amount of cannabis fields.
Instead of trying to crack down even more viciously on Italy’s use of cannabis and hash, which the government already spends millions on combating, Roberti has come forth with a much more level-headed approach. Instead, the prosecutor believes that the time has come for Italy to rescind their harsh marijuana laws, citing that decriminalization would negatively affect both the Mafia and the Islamic State.
The decriminalization of marijuana in Italy could help land a potentially critical blow to the funding of ISIS, which according to a recently published IHS Conflict Monitor report, has already dropped from $80 million in monthly revenue to $56 million since the middle of 2015. According to Roberti, a major portion of the terrorist cell’s revenue comes from drug trafficking, and decriminalization of marijuana in Italy could help put a major dent in that.
To Roberti, it makes sense to persecute the Mafia and the Islamic State in a similar manner, seeing as that Italian Mafia families, particularly in the south, have been long proponents of terrorist activities. The Mafia and ISIS could be more intertwined than it would seem at first glance, as both are heavily dependent on drug trafficking as a revenue source. But does Roberti have a sound argument for decriminalization? I would have to argue that he does.
“We spend a lot of resources uselessly. We have not succeeded in reducing cannabinoid trafficking. On the contrary, it’s increasing,” said Roberti. “Is it worth using investigative energy to fight street sales of soft drugs?”
Full Article – https://www.merryjane.com/news/the-italian-mafia-is-funding-terrorism-by-buying-smuggled-hash-from-isis
Prospective Jurors Refuse to Serve Under Aaron Persky, the Judge in Brock Turner Case
The East Bay Times reports that as many as ten prospective jurors have refused to serve under Aaron Persky, the judge who presided over Brock Turner’s sentencing, in a new, unrelated case.
According to the paper, one prospective juror stood up and said, “I can’t believe what you did,” referring to the six-month sentence Persky gave Turner after the ex-Stanford student was convicted of three felonies, including assault with the intent to commit rape. Another juror said, “I’m sorry, I can’t be here.” Persky’s new case is a misdemeanor stolen property case.
Each time a juror refused, Persky said “I understand,” thanked the juror and dismissed them.
Since Persky gave Turner his sentence (which will likely be reduced to three months) last week, there have been calls for his resignation and removal. Earlier this week, the Daily Dot covered two petitions for Persky’s recall, including one by Stanford professor Michele Dauber. On Sunday, Dauber shared a letterwritten by Dan Turner, Brock’s father, advocating for leniency. In that letter, Dan Turner described his son’s sexual assault on an unconscious woman as “20 minutes of action.”
Persky, who was recently reelected to the bench after running unopposed, has a history of presiding over controversial rape cases. In 2011, Persky presided over the civil case of an underage victim who alleged that she was gang-raped by multiple members of the De Anza College basketball team in 2007.
That case has shades of the Turner case: an unconscious victim, college athletes, and bystanders who intervened to end the assault, all on a college campus. Though none of the alleged De Anza rapists were ever prosecuted (a deeply controversial decision made by Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office), the victim sought recourse in civil court, suing for $7.5 million in damages.
During that civil trial, Persky made a controversial evidentiary ruling whichallowed the jury to view seven photographs of the alleged victim “partying about a year or so after the alleged gang rape. In the photos, she is scantily clad, wearing a garter belt and what appear to be fishnet stockings.” Lawyers for the defendant claimed that the photographs were a “direct contradiction” of the alleged victim’s claims. The victim, inevitably, lost the lawsuit.
Though the De Anza case didn’t go “viral,” it speaks, perhaps, to the contradictions of a judge who campaigned as tough on sexual predators and a vocal advocate of victims.
From – http://jezebel.com/prospective-jurors-refuse-to-serve-under-aaron-persky-1781618871
US to turn drug cartel founder over to Mexico
MEXICO CITY – The U.S. Embassy in Mexico says Sinaloa cartel co-founder Hector “El Guero” Palma will be turned over to Mexican authorities after his release from a U.S. prison.
The U.S. bureau of prisons says Palma will be released Saturday. Palma served five years in a Mexican prison before being extradited to the United States, where he was sentenced to 16 years for transporting 50 kilograms of cocaine.
It is unclear whether Palma still faces any charges in Mexico.
Attorney General Arely Gomez says prosecutors are looking through files for any remaining criminal cases. She said that in some cases the statute of limitations has expired.
Palma was arrested June 23, 1995 in western Mexico.
The embassy said Thursday that “the United States and Mexico enjoy strong cooperation in security.”
Ben Affleck And Jennifer Garner Marriage: Couple Is Not Calling Off Divorce
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner are continuing with plans for divorce.
By Lindsay Cronin, EnStars on Jun 09, 2016 11:07 AM EDT
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner aren’t getting back together after all.
Although the former couple has been spending tons of family time with their children, daughters Violet, 10, and Seraphina, 7, and son Samuel, 4, a source has since confirmed they have no plans to reunite romantically.
“She seems adamant about going through with it,” a friend of the actress toldPEOPLE Magazine on Thursday.
Currently, Garner is in Los Angeles with her kids as they prepare for the end of school and Affleck, who is in the midst of production on The Justice League, has returned to London from L.A., where he recently appeared at the Spike Guys’ Choice Awards.
Garner “denies that she is back with Ben,” the friend added. “She actually almost laughs when asked.”
As for when she and Affleck will officially end their marriage, it may be a while as Garner reportedly “doesn’t seem to mind at all that it’s not finalized.”
Months ago, Garner spoke out about the end of her relationship and Affleck’s alleged affair with their former nanny, Christine Ouzounian.
“I didn’t marry the big fat movie star; I married him,” Garner revealed during a candid interview with Vanity Fair in February. “And I would go back and remake that decision. I ran down the beach to him, and I would again. You can’t have these three babies and so much of what we had. He’s the love of my life. What am I going to do about that? He’s the most brilliant person in any room, the most charismatic, the most generous. He’s just a complicated guy. I always say, ‘When his sun shines on you, you feel it.’ But when the sun is shining elsewhere, it’s cold. He can cast quite a shadow.”
“We had been separated for months before I ever heard about the nanny,” Garner continued. “She had nothing to do with our decision to divorce. She was not a part of the equation. Bad judgment? Yes. It’s not great for your kids for [a nanny] to disappear from their lives.”
Sourced From – http://www.enstarz.com/articles/163005/20160609/ben-affleck-and-jennifer-garner-marriage-couple-is-not-calling-off-divorce-video.htm