** <:laff:387622602111320065> BITCOIN BLOCK CHAIN BEING USED BY PEDOPHILES TO STORE IMAGES OF CHILD PORN**
http://archive.is/AFhYP#selection-1643.0-1655.273

German researchers have discovered unknown persons are using bitcoin’s blockchain to store and link to child abuse imagery, potentially putting the cryptocurrency in jeopardy.
The blockchain is the open-source, distributed ledger that records every bitcoin transaction, but can also store small bits of non-financial data. This data is typically notes about the trade of bitcoin, recording what it was for or other metadata. But it can also be used to store links and files.
Researchers from the RWTH Aachen University, Germany found that around 1,600 files were currently stored in bitcoin’s blockchain. Of the files least eight were of sexual content, including one thought to be an image of child abuse and two that contain 274 links to child abuse content, 142 of which link to dark web services.
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https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/976488801525739520?s=20

🇺🇸 **YouTube Bans Firearms Demo Videos, Entering the Gun Control Debate**
<https://archive.fo/aOZpy>

YouTube, a popular media site for firearms enthusiasts, this week quietly introduced tighter restrictions on videos involving weapons, becoming the latest battleground in the U.S. gun-control debate.

YouTube will ban videos that promote or link to websites selling firearms and accessories, including bump stocks, which allow a semi-automatic rifle to fire faster. Additionally, YouTube said it will prohibit videos with instructions on how to assemble firearms. The video site, owned by Alphabet Inc.’s Google, has faced intense criticism for hosting videos about guns, bombs and other deadly weapons.

For many gun-rights supporters, YouTube has been a haven. A current search on the site for “how to build a gun” yields 25 million results, though that includes items such as toys. At least one producer of gun videos saw its page suspended on Tuesday. Another channel opted to move its videos to an adult-content site, saying that will offer more freedom than YouTube.

“We routinely make updates and adjustments to our enforcement guidelines across all of our policies,” a YouTube spokeswoman said in a statement. “While we’ve long prohibited the sale of firearms, we recently notified creators of updates we will be making around content promoting the sale or manufacture of firearms and their accessories.”
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🇺🇸 **Biden says he would 'beat the hell' out of Trump if in high school**
<https://archive.fo/y3Klw>

Former Vice President Joe Biden said he would "beat the hell out of" President Donald Trump if they were in high school over his crude comments about women.

"When a guy who ended up becoming our national leader said, 'I can grab a woman anywhere and she likes it' and then said, 'I made a mistake,'" Biden said Tuesday of Trump, according to video of the remarks posted on Facebook by the University of Miami College Democrats.

"They asked me would I like to debate this gentleman, and I said no. I said, 'If we were in high school, I'd take him behind the gym and beat the hell out of him,'" said Biden, getting laughter and applause from the crowd at the University of Miami.

Biden was referencing the "Access Hollywood" video that surfaced in 2016 in which Trump was heard making lewd comments about women. Trump issued an apology, calling his comments "locker room talk."

Biden said Tuesday, "I've been in a lot of locker rooms my whole life. I'm a pretty damn good athlete."
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🇺🇸 **McMaster out, Bolton in**

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🇺🇸 **Restrict gun sales, Citigroup tells its business partners**
<https://archive.fo/gUSDV>

Citigroup is imposing restrictions on firearm sales by its business partners, becoming the first major U.S. bank to take a financial stand in the growing national debate over gun control.

The New York-based bank on Thursday said it is requiring its partners to bar firearm sales to customers under age 21, as well as those who have not passed a background check.

The bank is also barring clients from selling high-capacity ammunition magazines and so-called bump stocks that enable more rapid firing.

The policy will apply company-wide to Citigroup's small business, commercial, and institutional clients that borrow funds, use banking services or raise capital through the bank.

Citigroup also is requiring similar compliance from business partners that issue co-brand or private label credit cards through the bank.
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<:thinkkike:361809126436634634> **FEDS: Man Attacked Jewish Man Who Wasn’t Actually Jewish**
<https://archive.fo/qP3QY>

An Ohio man has been indicted by a federal grand jury in the Southern District of Ohio on a charge of violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.

According to the indictment, on or about Feb. 4, 2017, outside of a restaurant located in Cincinnati, Ohio, Izmir Koch, 32, willfully caused bodily injury to a person because of that person’s perceived religion. The indictment alleges that Koch hit and kicked an individual (Victim-1), after Victim-1 represented that he was Jewish. Victim-1 is alleged to have suffered bodily injury as a result of the assault, including a fractured orbital floor.

The victim stepped outside to smoke a cigarette and meet a friend. Koch yelled out asking if anyone was Jewish, the indictment says, and the victim responded he was.

Koch punched him in the head and continued to hit and kick him while he was on the ground, the indictment says. The victim suffered bruised ribs and a fractured eye socket.

As it turned out, the victim wasn’t even really Jewish, U.S. Attorney Benjamin Glassman said.
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🇺🇸 **Paul Nehlen goes full-on 14/88; drops redpills on the JQ, Assad and white genocide in South Africa** <:swattie:348458410288873474>
https://youtu.be/1rCM-2401ko

The absolute madman!

🇺🇸 ⚠ **Trump signs $1.3 trillion spending bill into law despite being 'unhappy' about it**
<https://archive.fo/Vfd7q>

An "unhappy" President Donald Trump signed the $1.3 trillion spending bill into law Friday, his second about-face in 24 hours on the measure to keep the government open.

The president said he approved the legislation to fund the government through September for national security reasons, as it authorizes a major increase in military spending that he supports. But he stressed that he did so reluctantly.

Trump highlighted the portions of the bill he supports: the nearly $80 billion increase in defense spending, a $1.6 billion boost to border security funding and a cash injection to fight the opioid epidemic. The border money will go mostly toward surveillance technology and fencing similar to structures that already exist on the southern border. The amount of funding came in far below what the president wanted.
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🇺🇸 **President Trump signs omnibus spending bill, putting the CLOUD Act on the books in big shift for cloud data**
<https://archive.fo/5m690>

Congress tacked the CLOUD Act onto the massive spending bill Wednesday night ahead of voting on the bill Thursday, and it became official Friday morning. The CLOUD Act clarifies how the U.S. government can access data of U.S. citizens needed for law enforcement investigations that is stored on cloud servers outside the country, which was the issue in a Supreme Court case between the Department of Justice and Microsoft earlier this year.

**It also changes the way foreign governments request information from U.S. tech companies for similar investigations on their own citizens. The law calls for the executive branch of government to strike mutual legal-assistance treaties with foreign governments, who would then contact tech companies directly with their requests instead of routing through the DOJ.**Tech companies would be able to push back on those requests, but the CLOUD Act removes a layer of judicial review from the process, which critics feel gives too much power to the executive branch in terms of which countries get to be in our information-sharing club.

The bill enjoyed bipartisan support as well as widespread support from big tech companies, led by Microsoft, but privacy advocates are worried that some of the protections against signing treaties with countries with poor human-rights records are weak. Foreign governments will also be able to turn over data on U.S. citizens gathered in the course of investigating their own citizens to U.S. law enforcement without a warrant, according to the ACLU.
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🇺🇸 **BUMP STOCK BAN INCOMING**
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/977286489410240514

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<:kek:349274052919164929> **Marjory Stoneman Douglas will require students to carry only clear backpacks**
<https://archive.fo/yVwci>

When students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas return to class after spring break next week, they'll be required to carry clear backpacks.

The move is meant to ramp up security measures after last month's deadly shooting in Parkland, Florida, and a series of breaches since. "Clear backpacks are the only backpacks that will be permitted on campus," said Broward County School Superintendent Robert Runcie said in a letter sent to parents.

Tyra Hemans, 19, a senior, told CNN she supports parts of the new policy, such as the ID requirement. But she believes other security measures, such as forcing students to carry clear backpacks, don't adequately address the real problem with school safety, which she says is lax gun laws.

**"I'm not happy with it. Why are you punishing me for one person's actions?" she said.**
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🇺🇸 **Taylor Swift voices support for gun reform ahead of 'March for Our Lives'**
<https://archive.fo/I6gPb>

Taylor Swift voiced her support for Saturday's "March for Our Lives" in an Instagram post on Friday, and said that she made a donation to the campaign to "support gun reform."

"No one should have to go to school in fear of gun violence. Or to a nightclub. Or to a concert. Or to a movie theater. Or to their place of worship," the Grammy-winning pop star wrote. "I've made a donation to show my support for the students, for the March For Our Lives campaign, for everyone affected by these tragedies, and to support gun reform. I'm so moved by the Parkland High School students, faculty, by all families and friends of victims who have spoken out, trying to prevent this from happening again."

It is unclear whether Swift will participate in the march. A CNN request to her representatives was not immediately returned.

Thousands are expected to take to the streets of the nation's capital this weekend, including celebrities like George and Amal Clooney, Ariana Grande, Jennifer Hudson, Miley Cyrus and Demi Lovato.
Fall Out Boy and rapper G-Eazy are set to headline a concert Friday night in Washington, DC, that will benefit gun violence prevention groups ahead of the march
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🇺🇸 **Craigslist drops personal ads due to sex trafficking bill**
<https://archive.fo/hFYa7>

Craigslist has yanked its personal ads section in the wake of an anti-online sex trafficking bill that passed in Congress this week.

The Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act, or FOSTA, makes websites criminally liable for content that its users post, including prostitution ads and sex-trafficking content.

Craigslist — whose personals include bawdy categories such as casual encounters — said it pulled ads because it wasn’t worth running afoul of the new law.

“Any tool or service can be misused,” the website said in a statement. “We can’t take such risk without jeopardizing all our other services, so we are regretfully taking craigslist personals offline. Hopefully we can bring them back some day.”
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🇺🇸 **Trump order would ban most transgender troops from serving**
<https://archive.fo/0AHau>

President Donald Trump is issuing an order to ban transgender people from serving in the military except under “limited circumstances,” following up on his calls to ban transgender individuals from serving.

The White House says retaining troops with a history or diagnosis of “gender dysphoria” — those who may require substantial medical treatment — “presents considerable risk to military effectiveness and lethality.”

Trump received recommendations from Defense Secretary Jim Mattis in February for dealing with transgender individuals serving in the military.

Trump surprised the Pentagon’s leadership in a 2017 tweet when he declared he would reverse an Obama-era plan to allow transgender individuals to serve openly.

His push for the ban has been blocked by several legal challenges, and the Pentagon began allowing transgender recruits to seek enlistment in January.
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🇺🇸 🇮🇷 **Nine Iranians Charged With Conducting Massive Cyber Theft Campaign on Behalf of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps**
<https://archive.fo/b08rD>

An Indictment charging Gholamreza Rafatnejad, 38; Ehsan Mohammadi, 37; Abdollah Karima, aka Vahid Karima, 39; Mostafa Sadeghi, 28; Seyed Ali Mirkarimi, 34; Mohammed Reza Sabahi, 26; Roozbeh Sabahi, 24; Abuzar Gohari Moqadam, 37; and Sajjad Tahmasebi, 30, all citizens and residents of Iran, was unsealed today.

he defendants were each leaders, contractors, associates, hackers-for-hire or affiliates of the Mabna Institute, an Iran-based company that, since at least 2013, conducted a coordinated campaign of cyber intrusions into computer systems belonging to 144 U.S. universities, 176 universities across 21 foreign countries, 47 domestic and foreign private sector companies, the U.S. Department of Labor, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the State of Hawaii, the State of Indiana, the United Nations, and the United Nations Children’s Fund.

Through the defendants’ activities, the Mabna Institute stole more than 31 terabytes of academic data and intellectual property from universities, and email accounts of employees at private sector companies, government agencies, and non-governmental organizations.

The defendants conducted many of these intrusions on behalf of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s (Iran) Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), one of several entities within the government of Iran responsible for gathering intelligence, as well as other Iranian government and university clients.
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🇸🇦 **Saudi Arabia opens its airspace to Israel for first time ever as Air India flight bound for Tel Aviv ends a 70-year-old ban**
<https://archive.fo/oquWx>

Saudi Arabia opened its airspace for the first time to a commercial flight to Israel on Thursday with an Air India route flying non-stop between New Delhi and Tel Aviv - a sign of a behind-the-scenes improvement in ties between the Arab kingdom and the Jewish state.

The Air India 139 flight landed at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport after 7-1/2 hours and flew over Saudi for around three hours, marking a diplomatic shift for Riyadh that Israel says was fuelled by shared concern over Iranian influence in the region.

It comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described relations with the Arab world as the 'best ever', with common concerns over Iran drawing them closer together.

Riyadh, which does not recognise Israel, has not formally confirmed granting the Air India plane overflight rights. And while the move ended a 70-year-old ban on planes flying to or from Israel through Saudi airspace, there is as yet no indication that it will be applied for any Israeli airline.
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🇺🇸 **Trump: Border wall construction will start on Monday**
<https://archive.fo/UP0C7>

President Trump said Friday that construction of his promised border wall would start "immediately" after signing the omnibus spending bill, which included $1.6 billion in funding for the wall.

"We're going to be starting work literally on Monday," Trump said during an event Friday at the White House. "We have a lot of money coming to the border."

Although the White House requested $25 billion in funding for wall construction, lawmakers included just $1.6 billion in the final version of their omnibus. That money can only go to fencing, however, and cannot be used to build a concrete wall anywhere along the border.

"Not happy with $1.6 billion for the wall," Trump said. Still, Trump described the sum as an "initial down payment" on the wall that would allow his administration to begin building it right away. "This is short term funding, but it's immediate," Trump said.
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🇫 **Gun Maker Remington Seeks Bankruptcy Protection**
<https://archive.fo/3WJNI>

Firearms maker Remington Outdoor Co. sought bankruptcy protection Sunday, in the face of a heavy debt load, falling sales and lawsuits tied to Sandy Hook school shooting.

Remington filed for chapter 11 protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., with plans to hand over control of the company to its creditors—including Franklin Resources Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s asset-management division—in exchange for wiping much of its debt from its balance sheet.

The bankruptcy filing brings to an end private-equity backer Cerberus Capital Management LP’s investment in the gun business. The buyout firm acquired Bushmaster Firearms International in 2006, and in 2007 it paid $118 million for Remington and assumed $252 million of its debt. Cerberus later formed the Freedom Group Inc., a holding company comprised of Bushmaster, Remington and other firearms makers.
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🇷🇺 🇺🇸 **Diplomats ousted: US, Europe punish Russia over spy case**
<https://archive.fo/7sbUQ>

The United States and more than a dozen European nations kicked out Russian diplomats on Monday and the Trump administration ordered Russia's consulate in Seattle to close, as the West sought joint punishment for Moscow's alleged poisoning of an ex-spy in Britain.

Warning of an "unacceptably high" number of Russian spies in the U.S., the Trump administration said 60 diplomats would be expelled — all Russian intelligence agents working under diplomatic cover, the U.S. said. The group includes a dozen posted to Russia's mission to the United Nations who the officials said were engaged in "aggressive collection" of intelligence on American soil.

"This is the largest expulsion of Russian intelligence officers in United States history," said U.S. Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman.

The American penalties were echoed by announcements in European capitals across the continent, including those in Russia's backyard. All told, 18 countries were ousting more than 100 Russian spies, British Prime Minister Theresa May said, in addition to 23 already kicked out by the U.K.
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🤔 **Orlando nightclub shooter’s father was FBI informant, court documents say **
<https://archive.fo/ZxpBz>

The father of the 29-year-old who killed 49 people at an Orlando nightclub in the summer of 2016 was an FBI informant who came under scrutiny himself after investigators found receipts for money transfers to Turkey and Afghanistan in the wake of the mass shooting, recently filed court documents show.

The revelation came in documents filed by attorneys for the shooter’s wife, Noor Salman, who is on trial in Orlando on allegations that she aided and abetted her husband’s attack and obstructed law enforcement’s investigation into it.

“It is apparent from the Government’s belated disclosure that Ms. Salman has been defending a case without a complete set of facts and evidence that the Government was required to disclose,” defense attorneys wrote.

Seddique Mateen — the father of Omar Mateen — was an FBI informant at various points between January 2005 and June 2016, court documents say. Salman’s defense attorneys wrote that Seddique Mateen also had sent money to Turkey for a “substantial period and just one week before the attack,” and that in November 2012 an anonymous tip alleged that he was seeking to raise between $50,000 and $100,000 to help fund an attack against the government of Pakistan.
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<:thinkkike:361809126436634634> **Murder of elderly woman in Paris probed as anti-Semitic**
<https://archive.fo/ScjXU>

French authorities say the killing of an elderly Jewish woman in Paris is being investigated as an anti-Semitic murder. The woman, identified in French media as Mireille Knoll, was **stabbed at least 11 times and her body was set on fire.**

The Paris prosecutor's office said Monday two suspects have been put in custody. It said it is asking investigating judges to charge the pair with premeditated murder of a vulnerable person for anti-Semitic motives.

The office also asked for the suspects to be jailed pending trial.

Leading Jewish group CRIF said the 85-year-old woman was slain last week in Paris' eastern 11th district. The victim had reportedly escaped a round-up of Jews in Paris during World War II. The group says a neighbor who had previously made anti-Semitic statements was one of the people under arrest. They didn't confirm reports that the man was Muslim.
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🇺🇸 **Holocaust Studies Mandatory In Kentucky Schools Due To Push By Catholic Teacher**
<http://archive.fo/Sr14R>

Advocacy by a Catholic middle school teacher helped convince the Kentucky legislature to make teaching about the Holocaust mandatory in public schools.

The state Senate on Wednesday unanimously passed the Ann Klein and Fred Gross Holocaust Education Act. The House passed the bill earlier this month, the Jewish Louisville Community reported. Gov. Matt Bevin is expected to sign the legislation into law. New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Florida, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and California are states that require some measure of Holocaust and genocide education, according to the report.

*The bill requires every public middle and high school in the state to include in their curriculum instruction on the Holocaust and other acts of genocide, as defined by the U.N. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.*
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<:jew:348458300947431426> **Microsoft To Ban ‘Offensive Language’ & Monitor Your Private Account**
<https://archive.fo/PyaNy>

Microsoft is cracking down on what people say while using their services online. According to a new services agreement written by the company, the tech giant is planning to ban accounts that use “offensive language” and will go through your private data to “investigate” users.

In a March 1 release, Microsoft is warning customers using Office, Xbox, Skype, and other products that the company is prohibiting offensive language and inappropriate content starting on May 1. “Don’t publicly display or use the Services to share inappropriate content or material (involving, for example, nudity, bestiality, pornography, offensive language, graphic violence, or criminal activity),” Microsoft warns in a portion of their new codes of conduct.

Microsoft also added that the company plans on “investigating” users who are accused of violating the new policy and will block content from being sent to other people. “When investigating alleged violations of these Terms, Microsoft reserves the right to review Your Content in order to resolve the issue,” the new policy states.

Civil rights activist and law student Jonathan Corbett added that Microsoft’s May 1 agreement is just an excuse to police people’s behavior, even in private. “I can’t use Skype to have an adult video call with my girlfriend? I can’t use OneDrive to back up a document that says ‘f–k’ in it? If I call someone a mean name in Xbox Live, not only will they cancel my account, but also confiscate any funds I’ve deposited in my account?” Corbett questions in a blog post.
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🇺🇸 **Dems introduce bill to require background checks on ammunition sales**
<https://archive.fo/n8Gcu>

A pair of Democratic lawmakers are introducing legislation to require a background check for all firearm ammunition sales.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) said on Monday they had introduced the bill, known as the Ammunition Background Check Act of 2018, arguing it would help close a "loophole" in the current law.

"Ammunition sales should be subject to the same legal requirements as firearm sales, and that includes instant background checks. ... Closing this ludicrous loophole is a common-sense component of a comprehensive strategy to reduce gun violence," Blumenthal said.

Under the legislation, federally licensed sellers would run the checks for ammunition sales through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.
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🇩🇪 **Germany: ISIS Beheading Videos “Spreading Like Wildfire” Amongst Migrants in Schools**
<http://archive.fo/oya41>

In an article entitled Our schools are out of control, Heinz-Peter Meidinger told BILD that the situation in some schools was becoming chronic, with increasing numbers of violent attacks on teachers creating the need for security guards at schools with migrant populations of 70 per cent and over.

Meidinger said that the attacks on teachers were primarily driven by cultural and religious attitudes held by Arab and North African **teens who do not respect women.** 😠

Anti-Semitic attacks on Jewish children are increasing too as more migrant children carry knives and pepper spray. “A Jewish girl was threatened with death by her classmates and time and time again there are anti-Semitic attacks in Berlin,” said Meidinger.

Asked whether the circulation of an ISIS beheading video in a school in Berlin was an isolated case, Meidinger responded that such incidents were now commonplace.

“Unfortunately, these are no longer individual cases, not even among very young students at elementary schools. Such incidents now exist at many schools in Germany. One thing is certain: Cruel violent videos in social networks have long since arrived in student life. In chat forums like WhatsApp, movies like the described ISIS beheading video are spreading like wildfire,” he said.
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🇸🇦 **Spread of Wahhabism was done at request of West during Cold War – Saudi crown prince **
<http://archive.fo/RZTwB>

The Saudi-funded spread of Wahhabism began as a result of Western countries asking Riyadh to help counter the Soviet Union during the Cold War, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told the Washington Post.

Speaking to the paper, bin Salman said that Saudi Arabia's (((Western allies))) urged the country to invest in mosques and madrassas overseas during the Cold War, in an effort to prevent encroachment in Muslim countries by the Soviet Union.

He added that successive Saudi governments had lost track of that effort, saying "we have to get it all back." Bin Salman also said that funding now comes mostly from Saudi-based "foundations," rather than from the government.

The interview with the crown prince was initially held off the record. However, the Saudi embassy later agreed to led the Washington Post publish specific portions of the meeting.
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🇺🇸 **Chemotherapy-free ‘cancer vaccine’ moves from mice to human trials at Stanford**
<http://archive.fo/ZIcAU>

A recent Stanford cancer study that cured 97 percent of mice from tumors has now moved on to soliciting human volunteers for a new cutting-edge medical trial. The trial is part of a gathering wave of research into immunotherapy, a type of treatment that fights cancer by using the body's immune system to attack tumors.

"Getting the immune system to fight cancer is one of the most recent developments in cancer," (((Dr. Ronald Levy))), a Stanford oncology professor who is leading the study, told SFGATE. "People need to know that this is in its early days and we are still looking for safety and looking to make this as good as it can be."

The treatment is not a true vaccine that creates lasting immunity, but it does feature a vaccine-like injection carrying two immune stimulators that activate the immune system's T cells to eliminate tumors throughout the body. Each test subject receives a low dose of radiation plus two rounds of the injected agents, Levy said. No chemotherapy is involved.

The treatment does not work on all types of cancer, Levy said, because each type of cancer has a different set of rules regarding how it can be affected by the immune system. For the current trials, he is only looking for people with low-grade lymphoma regardless if they have been previously treated. He said Stanford is planning on running two trials by the end of the year with a total of about 35 test subjects.
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🇺🇸 **SF street fight interrupted by hit-and-run that leaves 1 man dead**
<https://archive.fo/C27VH>

A man plowed into five people with his vehicle Wednesday morning in San Francisco in a hit-and-run that left one person dead, police said.

Police initially said the incident came as a result of the driver getting into a fight with the five people around 10:30 a.m. near Illinois and 24th streets. However, officials have since revised their report to note that the pedestrians were fighting among themselves. It’s not clear if the driver was involved in the altercation.

One man died from the collision, while the conditions of the remaining four victims is not known. Authorities initially reported that four of the victims were taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.
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🇸🇦 **Saudi Prince Meets New York Rabbis in Rare Interfaith Gesture**
<https://archive.li/1zEvV>

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman met a group of religious leaders in New York, including two rabbis, a rare interfaith gesture for the de facto ruler of the conservative Islamic kingdom that allows negligible religious freedoms.

The 32-year-old heir to the throne, currently on a three-week tour of the U.S., met two Roman Catholic and three Jewish figures on Wednesday, the Saudi embassy in Washington said in a statement. Saudi Arabia enforces an austere interpretation of Sunni Islam, but Prince Mohammed has said he wants to ease the country toward “moderate Islam, open to the world and all religions.”

“The meeting emphasized the common bond among all people, particularly people of faith, which stresses the importance of tolerance, coexistence, and working together for a better future for all of humanity,” the embassy said. Although Prince Mohammed had recently met Christian figures, it marks the first time he’s announced a meeting with a Jewish religious leader.

Prince Mohammed’s meeting included Rabbi Richard Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism; Rabbi Steven Wernick, head of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism; and Allen Fagin, executive vice president of the Orthodox Union, the embassy said.

It’s not the first time a Saudi royal has met a rabbi; the late King Abdullah was photographed multiple times with New York-based Rabbi Marc Schneier.
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🇺🇸 **Scores of Girls Are Flooding The Parkland Shooter With Fan Mail**
<https://archive.li/w1r3f>

The Parkland, Florida mass shooter is receiving "stacks of fan mail and love letters" from "crazed girls," grown women and "even some men," the Florida Sun-Sentinel reports, and has no received hundreds of dollars in unsolicited contributions to help fund his prison needs.

Even creepier than the mere fact the shooter is receiving fan mail is, apparently, the letters' contents. Deputies at the Broward County jail, where the shooter is being held pending trial, report that he receives "cute greeting cards," "notes of friendship and encouragement," and plenty of lewd photos.

Some of the letters are part of coordinated letter-writing campaigns, organized on "groupie" Facebook pages dedicated to the shooter, which also sell bracelets and tee shirts members can wear to express their public support.

"There's piles of letters," Broward County Public Defender Howard Finkelstein told the paper. "I've never seen this many letters to a defendant. Everyone now and then gets a few, but nothing like this."

The shooter has not seen much of his fan mail, though. Defenders say they've kept most of his mail from him because he's on suicide watch, but also because they reserve the right to censor what he sees. So far, he's only asked for a Bible. and his lawyers have only read a handful of notes, from people offering him prayers for salvation.
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👽 **A 'Refugee Caravan' Is Headed to the U.S. and Getting Bigger Every Day**
<https://archive.fo/nNZR8>

An estimated 1,500 migrants from Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador started a month-long journey on Sunday to the United States, where they intend to seek political asylum. Organizers say the “refugee caravan” includes many women, unaccompanied minors, and entire families who are migrating through Mexico any way they can.

The migrants started their journey in Tapachula, Chiapas, near the Guatemala–Mexico border around 7 AM on Sunday. They walked, took public transportation, and hitchhiked their way to their first destination in the town of Huixtla, where many of the migrants camped outdoors. Their entire journey is more than 2,000 miles long.

Those participating in the caravan will attend workshops to prepare them to request asylum when they reach the U.S. The migrants are expected to reach U.S. points of entries in California sometime next month.
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<:jew:351904133470617610> **Israel to deport africans to western countries instead to where they came from**
https://twitter.com/AP/status/980774372829954049?s=20

🇺🇸 **YouTube shooter identified as animal rights activist who ranted about being censored by video-sharing company**
<https://archive.fo/kqb9F>

The woman behind a mass shooting at YouTube's headquarters has been identified as an animal rights activist who claimed the company censored her channel.

Nasim Aghdam, who also used the name Nasime Sabz on her Facebook, Instagram and personal website, injured three people before turning the gun on herself. Aghdam was pictured at a PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) rally in San Diego paper over the use of pigs in military training in 2009.

On her now defunct YouTube page, the 39-year-old described herself as "the Persian Azeri female vegan athlete and animal rights activist promoting VEGANISM, the healthy and humane way of living."

"Nasim is the well known and most famous animal rights activist in persian / turkish community."
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<:trump:284711336934375425> **President Trump orders National Guard to the Mexican border**
<https://archive.fo/1E7J0>

President Trump on Wednesday formally ordered the Pentagon and Homeland Security to deploy National Guard troops to the Mexican border to stem illegal crossings and drug trafficking.

“A key and undeniable attribute of a sovereign nation is the ability to control who and what enters its territory,” the president’s memo said. “The situation at the border has now reached a point of crisis. The lawlessness that continues at our southern border is fundamentally incompatible with the safety, security, and sovereignty of the American people. My administration has no choice but to act."

In an earlier tweet pledging action, Trump said: "Our Border Laws are very weak while those of Mexico & Canada are very strong. Congress must change these Obama era, and other, laws NOW! The Democrats stand in our way - they want people to pour into our country unchecked....CRIME!"
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🇺🇸 **Sex ads website Backpage.com seized by U.S. authorities: posting**
<https://archive.fo/fuXSv>

U.S. law enforcement agencies have seized the sex marketplace website Backpage.com as part of an enforcement action by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, according to a posting on the Backpage website on Friday.

A Phoenix FBI official said that there was “law enforcement activity” on Friday at the Sedona, Arizona home of Michael Lacey, one of the founders of Backpage.

Lawmakers and enforcement officials have been working to crack down on the site, which is used primarily to sell sex and is the second largest classified ad service in the country after Craigslist.

Backpage and advocacy groups have argued that the ads are free speech protected by the U.S. Constitution.

The U.S. Senate passed legislation last month making it easier for state prosecutors and sex-trafficking victims to sue social media networks, advertisers and others that fail to keep sex trafficking and other exploitative materials off their platforms.
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<:trump:284711336934375425> **Texas, Arizona deploying National Guard members to Mexican border**
<https://archive.fo/Xagx0>

Texas and Arizona announced plans Friday that both states are deploying troops to the Mexican border, just days after President Trump's order aiming to stop illegal crossings and drug trafficking.

The states would be the first to deploy troops since Trump's call for 2,000 to 4,000 National Guard members to guard the Southwest border.

Friday evening, Arizona's governor said he's planning to send about 150 troops next week, and the Texas Military Department, which oversees the state's National Guard branches, also announced its plans to deploy to the Southwest border.
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<:jones:346333940644052992> **S.C. Republicans introduce bill to consider secession over gun rights**
<https://archive.fo/T7f7b>

A group of Republican state legislators in South Carolina introduced a measure Thursday that would allow the state to secede from the United States if the federal government began to seize legally purchased firearms in the state.

The bill, which was referred to the state House Judiciary Committee on Thursday, would allow South Carolina lawmakers to debate whether to secede from the United States if the federal government were to violate the Second Amendment.

It states that "the general assembly shall convene to consider whether to secede from the United States based upon the federal government's unconstitutional violation of the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution if the federal government confiscates legally purchased firearms in this state."

The measure, introduced by GOP Reps. Mike Pitts, Jonathon Hill and Ashley Trantham, comes amid an intense debate over the nation's gun laws that was reignited in February after a deadly mass shooting in Parkland, Fla.

South Carolina became the first state to secede from the Union in the lead up to the Civil War, withdrawing in 1860.
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🇮🇹 **Roman Jews and Israeli rabbis are ‘at war’... over artichoke ** 🇮🇱
<http://archive.fo/LP10s>

A centuries-old Italian way of cooking artichokes is apparently not to the taste of Israel's top religious authority, as it has rejected the dish as non-kosher. However, Rome’s Jewish community stand up for their beloved delicacy.

The row over an ordinary vegetable made the headlines after the Chief Rabbinate of Israel denounced the artichoke as not kosher last week. The deep-friend dish, known as Carciofi alla giudia, is popular among Rome’s Jewish community. It became controversial in Israel over its alleged impurity due to the presence of worms.

These cannot be cleaned out of the vegetable in order to make it kosher, and it therefore contradicts Jewish law, the Rabbinate’s Import Division head, Rabbi Yitzhak Arazi told Haaretz.

However, Rome's Jewish community responded with reluctance to yield to this view. They argued that their type of artichokes were tighter and more compact than the Israeli one, thus making it impossible for worms to penetrate them. Rome’s Jews insisted the vegetable is perfectly orthodox and explained that their recipe requires thorough cleaning in water with lemon, as well as preparation at high temperatures, which gives the worms zero chance of survival.

The simmering conflict has been dubbed by Israeli media as the “artichoke war,” and has caused a split among Italian Jews. Those in Rome are sticking to their 600-year-old tradition of preparing artichokes, while those in Milan have reportedly banned the signature dish from their menus, puzzling their customers.

“I’m a little worried about the souls of all the people that have been eating them over the centuries, I hope nothing bad happens to them,” said Umberto Pavoncello, manager of one of the kosher restaurants in Rome, Nonna Betta, which refused to change their menus.
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