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Category: Crime

  • Crooked Lawyer Heads To Prison For Creating FAKE Lawsuits

    A prominent lawyer is headed to prison after spending years defrauding his clients. Mike Papantonio & Farron Cousins discuss more. Transcript: *This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos. Mike Papantonio:             A prominent lawyer is headed to prison after spending years defrauding his clients. God, another lawyer story. Outta California. Yeah. We just […]

    The post Crooked Lawyer Heads To Prison For Creating FAKE Lawsuits appeared first on The Ring of Fire Network.

    This post was originally published on The Ring of Fire.

  • Suspected gunman in Philippine broadcaster’s killing surrenders

    BenarNews

    Philippine police have announced the arrest of a suspect in the killing of a radio journalist who was known for criticising President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his immediate predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte.

    The suspect, identified as Joel Estorial, 39, gave himself up to the Philippine National Police (PNP) and Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos and was charged with murder two weeks after seasoned radio broadcaster Percival Mabasa (also known as Percy Lapid) was gunned down in a suburb south of Manila, officials said.

    Estorial surrendered “out of fear for personal safety following public disclosure of … CCTV footage revealing his face during the incident and naming him as [a] primary person of interest,” according to a statement from Abalos’ office.

    “This is a major breakthrough. He made an extra-judicial confession, duly assisted by counsel,” Abalos said, adding that the suspect had named three other accomplices who were subjects of “intensive follow-up operations”.

    The gun used to shoot Mabasa was recovered and “positively linked to the crime scene” by the police forensics laboratory, according to the national police.

    Estoral confessed that five others had allegedly participated in the planning and killing of the broadcaster, but he only managed to identify three.

    Mabasa, who worked for DWBL radio station, was ambushed on October 3 as he drove his car toward a gated community in Las Pinas, a suburb in southern metro Manila. He was the latest in a long line of killings targeting members of the Philippine media.

    Motive remains unknown
    However, the motive for his murder remains unknown. Abalos did not answer reporters when they asked him about this on Tuesday.

    “Just give us a few more days. We have to get the mastermind, that’s very important. The investigation is ongoing right now, there are many more details. Let’s not jeopardise them,” he said.

    The suspect in custody was presented at the press briefing, where he spoke to reporters.

    Someone from inside the country’s main prison facility, whom Estoral did not identify, had ordered a hit on Mabasa, he said. He identified two brothers and a third man as fellow accomplices in the attack.

    “I was afraid and conscience-struck for the killing of Percy Lapid,” said a handcuffed Estorial, who wore a helmet and bullet-proof vest.

    “Our arrangement was for whoever got closest to Percy would be the one to fire the fatal shot, and I was in that position. I was threatened with death if I didn’t shoot Percy at that moment, so I did,” Estorial said.

    The team was paid 550,000 pesos (US$9300) for the hit, he told reporters.

    “I hope the family forgives me. I did not want to do it, I was just forced to do so,” he said.

    Family thank police
    Mabasa’s family issued a statement Tuesday thanking the police and saying they hoped his killing would not become just another statistic among murders of Filipino journalists dating back decades.

    “We hope this development leads to the identification, arrest and prosecution of the mastermind,” the family said.

    Filipino activists light candles in memory of killed radio journalist Percival Mabasa (also known as Percy Lapid) during a demonstration in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Oct. 4, 2022. [Basilio Sepe/BenarNews]

    The Southeast Asian nation ranks among the most dangerous countries for journalists worldwide. Dozens have been killed with impunity since the dictatorship of Marcos’ late father, Ferdinand E. Marcos, more than 36 years ago.

    Mabasa’s commentaries were often bold and sharp as he sought to counter fake news spread on air as well as on social media. He had also hit out against a perceived attempt by supporters of the Marcos family to distort history and had been bitingly critical of the war on drugs by Marcos’ predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, which left thousands dead. During his six years in office, Duterte had said journalists were fair game if they were corrupt.

    The Duterte administration worked to close down broadcaster ABS-CBN Corp. and convict Maria Ressa, the chief executive of the news website Rappler who was later named a co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, on cyber libel charges.

    Jeoffrey Maitem and Mark Navales in Cotabato City, southern Philippines, and Basilio Sepe in Manila contributed to this report.

  • Businessman Nupiri arrested, charged over PNG election violence at Mendi

    PNG Post-Courier

    A Papua New Guinean businessman has been arrested and charged by police as the first of 15 “persons of interest” relating to post national election violence in the Southern Highlands Province earlier this year.

    Police have confirmed the unsuccessful candidate for the SHP regional seat, Peter Nupiri, a former chair of PNG Power and a construction business managing director, has been arrested and charged over election-related crimes.

    Police Commissioner David Manning confirmed the arrest and charging of Peter Nupiri.

    A search warrant was executed by police as confirmed by Commissioner Manning.

    “We are not time bound by the elections. If these candidates think that we are, then they are sadly misinformed,” he said.

    Police also confirmed a candidate personally presented himself to Commissioner Manning and was interviewed by the Police Special Investigation Team (SIT) to ascertain whether he was criminally responsible for crimes committed in Mendi, SHP.

    He was not charged but will be required if evidence permits.

    200 ballot boxes destroyed
    Police allege that Nupiri, 46, from Olea village, Mendi, Southern Highlands, communicated with individuals to destroy about 200 ballot boxes that were stored at the Mendi police station.

    Police allege his communication via mobile phone to several men led to the six-days violent destruction of Mendi town.

    The ballot boxes were stored at the police station after supporters had disputed the counting of the 200 plus ballot boxes.

    On August 18, several armed men allegedly entered the premises and fired several gun shots and threatened the duty officers.

    They then took control of the premises and opened the two containers where the boxes were kept and took the boxes out and destroyed the ballot boxes by setting them on fire.

    The result of the actions taken by the men led to the burning down of properties, killing of 15 people and destruction of other property.

    Republished with permission.

  • No Justice For Flint Residents – Charges Dropped Against Officials

    A judge in Michigan has dropped the criminal charges against seven officials involved in the Flint water scandal. Mike Papantonio & Farron Cousins discuss more. Transcript: *This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos.

    The post No Justice For Flint Residents – Charges Dropped Against Officials appeared first on The Ring of Fire Network.

    This post was originally published on The Ring of Fire.

  • Republicans Link Democrats To Rising Violent Crime

    Rising violent crime rates all over the country could spell doom for Democrats in November. Mike Papantonio & Farron Cousins discuss more. Transcript: *This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos. Mike Papantonio:             Rising violent crime rates all over the country could spell a problem for the Democrats in November. I saw this […]

    The post Republicans Link Democrats To Rising Violent Crime appeared first on The Ring of Fire Network.

    This post was originally published on The Ring of Fire.

  • When Police Become Judge, Jury, and Executioner

    You know, when police start becoming their own executioners, where’s it gonna end? Pretty soon, you’ll start executing people for jaywalking, and executing people for traffic violations. Then you end up executing your neighbor ‘cause his dog pisses on your lawn.

    — “Dirty Harry” Callahan, Magnum Force

    When I say that warrior cops—hyped up on their own authority and the power of the badge—have not made America any safer or freer, I am not disrespecting any of the fine, decent, lawful police officers who take seriously their oath of office to serve and protect their fellow citizens, uphold the Constitution, and maintain the peace.

    My concern rests with the cops who feel empowered to act as judge, jury and executioner.

    These death squads believe they can kill, shoot, taser, abuse and steal from American citizens in the so-called name of law and order.

    Just recently, in fact, a rookie cop opened fire on the occupants of a parked car in a McDonald’s parking lot on a Sunday night in San Antonio, Texas.

    The driver, 17-year-old Erik Cantu and his girlfriend, were eating burgers inside the car when the police officer—suspecting the car might have been one that fled an attempted traffic stop the night before—abruptly opened the driver side door, ordered the teenager to get out, and when he did not comply, shot ten times at the car, hitting Cantu multiple times.

    Mind you, this wasn’t a life-or-death situation.

    It was two teenagers eating burgers in a parking lot, and a cop fresh out of the police academy taking justice into his own hands.

    This wasn’t an isolated incident, either.

    In Hugo, Oklahoma, plain clothes police officers opened fire on a pickup truck parked in front of a food bank, heedless of the damage such a hail of bullets—26 shots were fired—could have on those in the vicinity. Three of the four children inside the parked vehicle were shot: a 4-year-old girl was shot in the head and ended up with a bullet in the brain; a 5-year-old boy received a skull fracture; and a 1-year-old girl had deep cuts on her face from gunfire or shattered window glass. The reason for the use of such excessive force? Police were searching for a suspect in a weeks-old robbery of a pizza parlor that netted $400.

    In Minnesota, a 4-year-old girl watched from the backseat of a car as cops shot and killed her mother’s boyfriend, Philando Castile, a school cafeteria supervisor, during a routine traffic stop merely because Castile disclosed that he had a gun in his possession, for which he had a lawful conceal-and-carry permit. That’s all it took for police to shoot Castile four times as he was reaching for his license and registration.

    In Arizona, a 7-year-old girl watched panic-stricken as a state trooper pointed his gun at her and her father during a traffic stop and reportedly threatened to shoot her father in the back (twice) based on the mistaken belief that they were driving a stolen rental car.

    This is how we have gone from a nation of laws—where the least among us had just as much right to be treated with dignity and respect as the next person (in principle, at least)—to a nation of law enforcers (revenue collectors with weapons) who treat the citizenry like suspects and criminals.

    The lesson for all of us: at a time when police have almost absolute discretion to decide who is a threat, what constitutes resistance, and how harshly they can deal with the citizens they were appointed to “serve and protect”—and a “fear” for officer safety is used to justify all manner of police misconduct—“we the people” are at a severe disadvantage.

    Add a traffic stop to the mix, and that disadvantage increases dramatically.

    According to the Justice Department, the most common reason for a citizen to come into contact with the police is being a driver in a traffic stop.

    On average, one in 10 Americans gets pulled over by police.

    Of the roughly 1,100 people killed by police each year, 10% of those involve traffic stops.

    Historically, police officers have been given free range to pull anyone over for a variety of reasons.

    This free-handed approach to traffic stops has resulted in drivers being stopped for windows that are too heavily tinted, for driving too fast, driving too slow, failing to maintain speed, following too closely, improper lane changes, distracted driving, screeching a car’s tires, and leaving a parked car door open for too long.

    Motorists can also be stopped by police for driving near a bar or on a road that has large amounts of drunk driving, driving a certain make of car (Mercedes, Grand Prix and Hummers are among the most ticketed vehicles), having anything dangling from the rearview mirror (air fresheners, handicap parking permits, toll transponders or rosaries), and displaying pro-police bumper stickers.

    Incredibly, a federal appeals court actually ruled unanimously in 2014 that acne scars and driving with a stiff upright posture are reasonable grounds for being pulled over. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that driving a vehicle that has a couple air fresheners, rosaries and pro-police bumper stickers at 2 MPH over the speed limit is suspicious, meriting a traffic stop.

    Equally appalling, in Heien v. North Carolina, the U.S. Supreme Court—which has largely paved the way for the police and other government agents to probe, poke, pinch, taser, search, seize, strip and generally manhandle anyone they see fit in almost any circumstance—allowed police officers to stop drivers who appear nervous, provided they provide a palatable pretext for doing so.

    Black drivers are almost two times more likely than white drivers to be pulled over by police and three times more likely to have their vehicles searched. As the Washington Post concludes, “‘Driving while black’ is, indeed, a measurable phenomenon.”

    In other words, drivers beware.

    Traffic stops aren’t just dangerous. They can be downright deadly.

    Patrick Lyoya was pulled over for having a mismatched license plate. The unarmed man was shot in the back of the head while on the ground during a subsequent struggle with a Michigan police officer.

    Reportedly pulled over for a broken taillight, Walter Scott—unarmed—ran away from the police officer, who pursued and shot him from behind, first with a Taser, then with a gun. Scott was struck five times, “three times in the back, once in the upper buttocks and once in the ear — with at least one bullet entering his heart.”

    Samuel Dubose, also unarmed, was pulled over for a missing front license plate. He was reportedly shot in the head after a brief struggle in which his car began rolling forward.

    Levar Jones was stopped for a seatbelt offense, just as he was getting out of his car to enter a convenience store. Directed to show his license, Jones leaned into his car to get his wallet, only to be shot four times by the “fearful” officer. Jones was also unarmed.

    Bobby Canipe was pulled over for having an expired registration. When the 70-year-old reached into the back of his truck for his walking cane, the officer fired several shots at him, hitting him once in the abdomen.

    Dontrell Stevens was stopped “for not bicycling properly.” The officer pursuing him “thought the way Stephens rode his bike was suspicious. He thought the way Stephens got off his bike was suspicious.” Four seconds later, sheriff’s deputy Adams Lin shot Stephens four times as he pulled out a black object from his waistband. The object was his cell phone. Stephens was unarmed.

    That police are choosing to fatally resolve these encounters by using their guns on fellow citizens speaks volumes about what is wrong with policing in America today, where police officers are being dressed in the trappings of war, drilled in the deadly art of combat, and trained to look upon “every individual they interact with as an armed threat and every situation as a deadly force encounter in the making.”

    Keep in mind, from the moment those lights start flashing and that siren goes off, we’re all in the same boat. Yet it’s what happens after you’ve been pulled over that’s critical.

    Trying to predict the outcome of any encounter with the police is a bit like playing Russian roulette: most of the time you will emerge relatively unscathed, although decidedly poorer and less secure about your rights, but there’s always the chance that an encounter will turn deadly.

    Survival is key.

    Technically, you have the right to remain silent (beyond the basic requirement to identify yourself and show your registration). You have the right to refuse to have your vehicle searched. You have the right to film your interaction with police. You have the right to ask to leave. You also have the right to resist an unlawful order such as a police officer directing you to extinguish your cigarette, put away your phone or stop recording them.

    However, there is a price for asserting one’s rights. That price grows more costly with every passing day.

    If you ask cops and their enablers what Americans should do to stay alive during encounters with police, they will tell you to comply, cooperate, obey, not resist, not argue, not make threatening gestures or statements, avoid sudden movements, and submit to a search of their person and belongings.

    Unfortunately, in the American police state, compliance is no guarantee that you will survive an encounter with the police with your life and liberties intact.

    Every day we hear about situations in which unarmed Americans complied and still died during an encounter with police simply because they appeared to be standing in a “shooting stance” or held a cell phone or a garden hose or carried around a baseball bat or answered the front door or held a spoon in a threatening manner or ran in an aggressive manner holding a tree branch or wandered around naked or hunched over in a defensive posture or made the mistake of wearing the same clothes as a carjacking suspect (dark pants and a basketball jersey) or dared to leave an area at the same time that a police officer showed up or had a car break down by the side of the road or were deaf or homeless or old.

    More often than not, it seems as if all you have to do to be shot and killed by police is stand a certain way, or move a certain way, or hold something—anything—that police could misinterpret to be a gun, or ignite some trigger-centric fear in a police officer’s mind that has nothing to do with an actual threat to their safety.

    Now politicians, police unions, law enforcement officials and individuals who are more than happy to march in lockstep with the police state make all kinds of excuses to justify these shootings.  However, to suggest that a good citizen is a compliant citizen and that obedience will save us from the police state is not only recklessly irresponsible, but it is also deluded.

    To begin with, and most importantly, Americans need to know their rights when it comes to interactions with the police, bearing in mind that many law enforcement officials are largely ignorant of the law themselves.

    A good resource is The Rutherford Institute’s “Constitutional Q&A: Rules of Engagement for Interacting with Police.”

    In a nutshell, the following are your basic rights when it comes to interactions with the police as outlined in the Bill of Rights:

    You have the right under the First Amendment to ask questions and express yourself. You have the right under the Fourth Amendment to not have your person or your property searched by police or any government agent unless they have a search warrant authorizing them to do so.  You have the right under the Fifth Amendment to remain silent, to not incriminate yourself and to request an attorney. Depending on which state you live in and whether your encounter with police is consensual as opposed to your being temporarily detained or arrested, you may have the right to refuse to identify yourself. Not all states require citizens to show their ID to an officer (although drivers in all states must do so).

    As a rule of thumb, you should always be sure to clarify in any police encounter whether or not you are being detained, i.e., whether you have the right to walk away. That holds true whether it’s a casual “show your ID” request on a boardwalk, a stop-and-frisk search on a city street, or a traffic stop for speeding or just to check your insurance. If you feel like you can’t walk away from a police encounter of your own volition—and more often than not you can’t, especially when you’re being confronted by someone armed to the hilt with all manner of militarized weaponry and gear—then for all intents and purposes, you’re essentially under arrest from the moment a cop stops you. Still, it doesn’t hurt to clarify that distinction.

    While technology is always going to be a double-edged sword, with the gadgets that are the most useful to us in our daily lives—GPS devices, cell phones, the internet—being the very tools used by the government to track us, monitor our activities, and generally spy on us, cell phones are particularly useful for recording encounters with the police and have proven to be increasingly powerful reminders to police that they are not all powerful.

    Knowing your rights is only part of the battle, unfortunately.

    As I point out in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People and in its fictional counterpart The Erik Blair Diaries, the danger arises when the burden of proof is reversed, “we the people” are assumed guilty, and we have to exercise our rights while simultaneously attempting to prove our innocence to trigger-happy cops with no understanding of the Bill of Rights.

    The post When Police Become Judge, Jury, and Executioner first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • When will enough be enough? Port Moresby’s struggle with ethnic war

    SPECIAL REPORT: By Miriam Zarriga in Port Moresby

    Port Moresby’s “amazing city” tag in Papua New Guinea is fast losing its varnish and appeal — its veneer of a modern metropolis tarnished by an ethnic underbelly that relishes criminal activity, racial violence and a tendency to unleash aggressive violent behavior at any opportune time.

    Last weekend’s violence which left three people dead is the fifth such “amazing act” this year, says an exasperated Police Commissioner David Manning.

    The question, raised on social media, in homes, schools, offices, among local landowners, the Motu Koitabu, and discussed in pubs and boardrooms across the city, is: “When will enough be enough?’

    When will Port Moresby truly rise above its ethnic cleansing bloodbath rituals to become the modern Amazing City of cross cultures that it professes to be, and that every peace loving Papua New Guinean wants to enjoy?

    A drug deal gone wrong has sparked a deadly ethnic war between Eastern Highlands and Hela province people living in Port Moresby.

    Yesterday, the fight was violent around the Erima, Wildlife, 8 and 9 Mile settlement areas as pitched battles raged.

    NCD Governor Powes Parkop called for calm and for peace to return, adding it is against the law to carry offensive weapons in public.

    ‘Leave it to police’ call
    Commissioner Manning also called for calm and for the warring parties to lay down their arms and let police investigate the killings.

    As of last night, three men were dead and six wounded who were being treated at the Port Moresby General Hospital.

    Last night, Gordon, Erima, Wildlife, 8 and 9 Mile were tense with police patrols keeping a close watch on those areas.

    The ethnic clash, the fifth so far this year, is putting a huge dent on the National Capital Diustrict Commission’s (NCDC) effort to promote the capital city’s image as “Amazing Moresby”.

    On social media, angry residents have taken not so kindly to the fighting with many urging the government to clamp down on ethnic groups from the Highlands by returning all settlers back to their province of origin.

    The Vagrancy Act, which enables police to evict illegal settlers in the city, was thrown out at Independence, which has led to a growing settlement population in the city.

    But fed up Motu Koitabu landowners and angry residents want the city cleaned up.

    A call for martial law
    One commentator even called for martial law to be enacted and the city cleaned of all illegal settlers.

    The flare-up between men from the Eastern Highlands and Hela provinces has sent innocent women and children scattering for cover and refuge.

    It is alleged the death of a man from Eastern Highlands during a drug deal is said to have started the fight. The police, however, cannot say much, but could only confirm that an investigation has commenced on the issue.

    The roads around Erima and 9 Mile saw men and women running with offensive weapons.

    While police tried their best to make their presence felt during the chaos, they were outnumbered as scores of men continued to fight.

    Commissioner Manning said that any ethnic clashes at other major centres in the country were “unnecessary” and “unfortunate”.

    “It is concerning how people can employ their tribal tactics and think that they can clash with other groups in the cities and towns,” he said.

    These ethnic clashes are a result of a lack of appropriate policing interventions.

    Why have settlements grown?
    Furthermore, there are a lot of discussions on why we have allowed settlements to grow in the last two to three decades and whether those settlements contribute to these ethnic clashes, he added.

    Meanwhile, NCD Governor Parkop warned city residents carrying weapons who have gone unnoticed.

    Bows and arrows, machetes, iron bars, stones and other dangerous weapons were seen publicly yesterday at the Gordon bus stop and Erima with the ethnic clash still tense with police continuously patrolling the area.

    City Manager Ravu Frank said this kind of behaviour was illegal. Unfortunately, lives have been lost. City residents have to move around freely and not be in fear of their safety.

    The parties concerned must air their grievances to police.

    Commissioner Manning said ethnic clashes were no longer restricted to rural centres and it had greater impact on everyone’s lives and gave concern to a lot of people, especially government and police when it happened in the urban environment.

    In 2022 alone, five ethnic clashes have erupted between different groups — mostly from the Highlands region.

    Miriam Zarriga is a PNG Post-Courier journalist. Republished with permission.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • 33 States Have Laws That PROTECT Sexual Abuse By Priests

    Laws on the books in 33 states protect clergy members from having to report abuse of children to authorities. Mike Papantonio & Farron Cousins discuss more. Click here to find out more about church abuse lawsuits. Transcript: *This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos. Mike Papantonio:             Laws on the books in 33 […]

    The post 33 States Have Laws That PROTECT Sexual Abuse By Priests appeared first on The Ring of Fire Network.

    This post was originally published on The Ring of Fire.

  • Americas Lawyer: Dems Enraged After Pelosi Kills Stock Trading Bill

    America’s Lawyer E25: 33 states have laws that actually shield religious leaders from having to report child abuse to authorities – and lawmakers are protecting these loopholes across the country. We’ll explain what’s happening. The United States keeps sending billions of dollars to Ukraine as our infrastructure crumbles to the ground – we’ll tell you […]

    The post Americas Lawyer: Dems Enraged After Pelosi Kills Stock Trading Bill appeared first on The Ring of Fire Network.

    This post was originally published on The Ring of Fire.

  • PNG daily Post-Courier joins fight against gender-based violence

    By Claudia Tally in Port Moresby

    The Post-Courier daily newspaper is one of 15 companies in Papua New Guinea that have pledged to fight against gender-based violence (GBV) while promoting gender equality within and outside of the workplace.

    Signing the National Capital District Commission’s “Zero Tolerance to GBV Pledge” under its GBV Strategy 2020–2022, means that as organisations, the 15 companies will partner with the NCDC to eradicate all forms of violence within the city through their employees.

    City manager Ravu Frank congratulated the organisations for taking the bold step at the signing up yesterday, noting that addressing GBV-related issues in the city required a collective effort from the municipal authority in partnership with all stakeholders.

    PNG Post-Courier
    PNG POST-COURIER

    “We came up with the NCDC GBV Strategy to raise awareness of the acts of violence against women with the view to end violent behavior against women and to regard them as equal partners in development,” he said.

    “I am glad that a good number of our contractors have shown commitment to this cause.

    “By signing the pledge all NCDC contractors agree to avoid any form of violence against women at their workplace, at home and in public.

    “All NCDC contractors will be accountable for their violent actions against women and will seriously impact their engagement with NCDC leading to the termination of their contracts.”

    Second batch of companies
    This is the second batch of companies that have contracts with the city authority to sign the GBV pledge.

    NCDC commenced implementation of the three-pillar Zero Tolerance to GBV Strategy 2020–2022 last year. The first was Walk the Talk with a compulsory signing of a pledge by NCDC staff to abstain from any form of violence.

    The engagement of contractors is part of the second pillar to involve stakeholders and partners and the third is the demand for a community free from gender-based violence.

    Hebou Construction Limited was one of the first companies to sign up.

    According to health and safety manager Larry Watson, the pledge has helped the company give back to its employees and community through promoting gender equality and ensuring that female employees get proper assistance when needed.

    In an editorial on Tuesday, the Post-Courier quoted from the first African-American President Barack Obama:

    “You can judge a nation and how successful it will be based on how it treats women and girls.”

    “And his observation, we say, is an expression of wisdom and truth,” said the newspaper.

    “No country in the world will improve itself where the culture of violence against women exists, that is what he meant in his statement.

    ‘A lot of talk’
    “In PNG there’s being a lot of talk and even action on violence against women and girls, but the message and progress has been unsatisfactory.

    “Just last week bodies of two women were discovered in the nation’s capital with preliminary examination showing that they were raped and murdered.”

    The Post-Courier said that while some might say that the two incidents were isolated, “we say its not and that despite numerous efforts by NGOs, churches and even parliamentarians on this issue, the incidences of women and girls being mistreated and murdered is slowly on the rise again.”

    The newspaper said there were three major factors in the violence and the community’s response:

    • It is a cultural issue and it is huge;
    • It is not recognised as a development issue; and
    • We’re just talking; no money and no real action

    The Post-Courier said it was time to recognise that mistreatment of women was the biggest drawback in the country’s national development.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Parkop calls for full probe into brutal murders of two Moresby women

    By Claudia Tally in Port Moresby

    Papua New Guinea’s National Capital District Governor Powes Parkop wants the city’s police to fully investigate the gruesome murder of two women in Port Moresby late last week.

    Parkop told the Post-Courier that such “despicable” brutality against womenfolk in the city and throughout the country was not welcome — and the recent crimes were not either.

    The two women were allegedly raped, murdered and dumped at different locations last week.

    One body was discovered at the 9-Mile public cemetery just outside the city and the other body at a spot along the Gordon storm-water drain in the early hours of Sunday morning.

    “I am and will continue to be appalled that such despicable crimes continue to be committed against women and girls in our city and elsewhere in our country,” Parkop said.

    “While there may be other factions contributing to these crimes, the lack of or poor respect for women and girls as equal citizens of our country remains a main cause of violence against women and girls in our country.”

    Parkop is a strong advocate of women’s rights and has initiated several programmes to promote gender equality within Port Moresby and also in the National Capital District Commission (NCDC).

    Women’s, girl’s lives ‘risky’
    “These latest killings in our city are not an exception. Lives of women and girls continue to be risky in our country as a result of continuing gender inequality. I appeal to the police to investigate and have these perpetrators arrested and charged.”

    The NCDC will continue to promote the gender equality and eliminate gender-based violence (GBV) across the city.

    “On our part in the city we continue to implement our GBV strategy which we will in fact escalate [on Wednesday] with signing of more of NCDC contractors pledging to abide by and implement the strategy with us,” Parkop added.

    Port Moresby police chief Metropolitan Superintendent Gideon Ikumu warned over the security of females in the city after the discovery of the two dead women.

    Superintendent Ikumu urged city residents — especially young girls and women — to be more considerate about their security and safety when “hanging out with friends” during social outings.

    He said such killings were a concern for police and investigations were continuing.

    Claudia Tally is a PNG Post-Courier reporter. Republished with permission.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Pathetic Prosecutors Fear Taking On Matt Gaetz

    Prosecutors at the DOJ are recommending NO charges against Matt Gaetz. Mike Papantonio & Farron Cousins discuss more. Transcript: *This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos. Mike Papantonio:             Prosecutors at the DOJ are recommending no charges against Matt Gaetz. Now, I, I tell you this, I’ve never seen anybody. I, I’ve looked, […]

    The post Pathetic Prosecutors Fear Taking On Matt Gaetz appeared first on The Ring of Fire Network.

    This post was originally published on The Ring of Fire.

  • Narcissism Writ Large

    The post Narcissism Writ Large first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • Federal Bureau of Intimidation

    In so many of the little places of everyday life in which life is lived out, somehow democracy doesn’t exist. And one of the creeping hands of totalitarianism running through the democracy is the Federal Bureau of Investigation… Because why does the FBI do all this? To scare the hell out of people… They work for the establishment and the corporations and the politicos to keep things as they are. And they want to frighten and chill the people who are trying to change things.

    — Howard Zinn, historian

    Discredit, disrupt, and destroy.

    That is how the government plans to get rid of activists and dissidents who stand in its way.

    This has always been the modus operandi of the FBI (more aptly referred to as the Federal Bureau of Intimidation): muzzle anti-government sentiment, harass activists, and terrorize Americans into compliance.

    Indeed, the FBI has a long history of persecuting, prosecuting and generally harassing activists, politicians, and cultural figures.

    Back in the 1950s and ‘60s, the FBI’s targets were civil rights activists, those suspected of having Communist ties, and anti-war activists. In more recent decades, the FBI has expanded its reach to target so-called domestic extremists, environmental activists, and those who oppose the police state.

    Back in 2019, President Trump promised to give the FBI “whatever they need” to investigate and disrupt hate crimes and domestic terrorism, without any apparent thought for the Constitution’s prohibitions on such overreach.

    That misguided pledge sheds a curious light on the FBI’s latest nationwide spree of SWAT team raids, surveillance, disinformation campaigns, fear-mongering, paranoia, and strong-arm tactics.

    For instance, just before dawn on Jan. 25, 2019, the FBI sent 29 heavily armed agents in 17 vehicles to carry out a SWAT-style raid on the Florida home of Roger Stone, one of President Trump’s longtime supporters. Stone, charged with a political crime, was taken away in handcuffs.

    In March 2021, under the pretext of carrying out an inventory of U.S. Private Vaults, FBI agents raided 1400 safe deposit boxes in Beverly Hills, seizing “more than $86 million in cash as well as gold, jewelry, and other valuables from property owners who were suspected of no crimes.”

    In April 2021, FBI agents raided Rudy Giuliani’s home and office, seizing 18 electronic devices. More than a year later, Giuliani has yet to be charged with any crimes.

    In June 2022, Jeffrey Clark, a former Justice Department official under the Trump Administration, was led out of his home in pajamas while federal law enforcement officials raided his home.

    In the summer of 2022, FBI agents wearing tactical gear including body armor, helmets and camouflage uniforms and carrying rifles raided multiple homes throughout Little Rock, Ark., including a judge’s home.

    In August 2022, more than a dozen FBI agents searched Mar-a-Lago, the winter home of Donald Trump.

    And in September 2022, 25 to 30 armed FBI agents raided the home of an anti-abortion activist, pointing guns at the family and terrorizing the man’s wife and seven children.

    Politics aside, the message is clear: this is how the government will deal with anyone who challenges its authority.

    You’re next.

    Unfortunately, while these overreaching, heavy-handed lessons in how to rule by force have become standard operating procedure for a government that communicates with its citizenry primarily through the language of brutality, intimidation and fear, none of this is new.

    The government has been playing these mind games for a long time.

    As Betty Medsger, an investigative reporter for The Washington Post, noted in 1971, the FBI was engaged in practices that had never been reported, probably were unconstitutional, and were counter to the public’s understanding of the agency’s purpose.

    The objective: target anti-government dissenters for wide-scale harassment, widespread surveillance and intimidation in order to enhance their paranoia and make them think there was an “FBI agent behind every mailbox.”

    Medsger, the recipient of stolen government files that provided a glimpse into the workings of the nation’s most powerful law enforcement agency, would later learn that between 1956 and 1971, the FBI conducted an intensive domestic intelligence program, termed COINTELPRO, intended to neutralize domestic political dissidents.

    The explicit objective, according to one FBI memo: “expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, or otherwise neutralize” perceived threats to the government’s power.

    As Congressman Steve Cohen explains, “COINTELPRO was set up to surveil and disrupt groups and movements that the FBI found threatening… many groups, including anti-war, student, and environmental activists, and the New Left were harassed, infiltrated, falsely accused of criminal activity.”

    Sound familiar? The more things change, the more they stay the same.

    Those targeted by the FBI under COINTELPRO for its intimidation, surveillance and smear campaigns included: Martin Luther King Jr., Malcom X, the Black Panther Party, Billie Holiday, Emma Goldman, Aretha Franklin, Charlie Chaplin, Ernest Hemingway, Felix Frankfurter, John Lennon, and hundreds more.

    Among those most closely watched by the FBI was King, a man labeled by the FBI as “the most dangerous and effective Negro leader in the country.” All told, the FBI collected 17,000 pages of materials on King.

    With wiretaps and electronic bugs planted in his home and office, King was kept under constant surveillance by the FBI with the aim of “neutralizing” him. He even received blackmail letters written by FBI agents suggesting that he either commit suicide or the details of his private life would be revealed to the public. The FBI kept up its pursuit of King until he was felled by a hollow-point bullet to the head in 1968.

    John Lennon, a vocal peace protester and anti-war activist, was another high-profile example of the lengths to which the Deep State will go to persecute those who dare to challenge its authority.

    Lennon was singled out for daring to speak truth to power about the government’s warmongering, his phone calls monitored and data files illegally collected on his activities and associations.

    For a while, at least, Lennon became enemy number one in the eyes of the U.S. government.

    Years after Lennon’s assassination, it would be revealed that the FBI had collected 281 pages of files on him, including song lyrics.

    J. Edgar Hoover, head of the FBI at the time, directed the agency to spy on the musician. There were also various written orders calling on government agents to frame Lennon for a drug bust. “The FBI’s files on Lennon … read like the writings of a paranoid goody-two-shoes,” observed reporter Jonathan Curiel.

    As the New York Times notes, “Critics of today’s domestic surveillance object largely on privacy grounds. They have focused far less on how easily government surveillance can become an instrument for the people in power to try to hold on to power. ‘The U.S. vs. John Lennon’ … is the story not only of one man being harassed, but of a democracy being undermined.”

    Indeed, all of the many complaints we have about government today—surveillance, militarism, corruption, harassment, SWAT team raids, political persecution, spying, overcriminalization, etc.—were present in Lennon’s day and formed the basis of his call for social justice, peace and a populist revolution. As Adam Cohen of the New York Times points out, “The F.B.I.’s surveillance of Lennon is a reminder of how easily domestic spying can become unmoored from any legitimate law enforcement purpose. What is more surprising, and ultimately more unsettling, is the degree to which the surveillance turns out to have been intertwined with electoral politics.”

    The Church Committee, the Senate task force charged with investigating COINTELPRO abuses in 1975, echoed these concerns about the government’s abuses:

    “Too many people have been spied upon by too many Government agencies and too much information has been collected. The Government has often undertaken the secret surveillance of citizens on the basis of their political beliefs, even when those beliefs posed no threat of violence or illegal acts on behalf of a hostile foreign power.”

    The report continued:

    “Groups and individuals have been harassed and disrupted because of their political views and their lifestyles. Investigations have been based upon vague standards whose breadth made excessive collection inevitable. Unsavory and vicious tactics have been employed—including anonymous attempts to break up marriages, disrupt meetings, ostracize persons from their professions, and provoke target groups into rivalries that might result in deaths. Intelligence agencies have served the political and personal objectives of presidents and other high officials.”

    Fifty years later, we’re still having this same debate about the perils of government overreach.

    For too long now, the American people have allowed their personal prejudices and politics to cloud their judgment and render them incapable of seeing that the treatment being doled out by the government’s lethal enforcers has remained consistent, no matter the threat.

    The lesson to be learned is this: whatever dangerous practices you allow the government to carry out now, rest assured, these same practices can and will be used against you when the government decides to set its sights on you.

    All of the excessive, abusive tactics employed by the government and its henchmen today will eventually be meted out on the general populace.

    At that point, when you find yourself in the government’s crosshairs, it will not matter whether your skin is black or yellow or brown or white; it will not matter whether you’re an immigrant or a citizen; it will not matter whether you’re rich or poor; it will not matter whether you’re Republican or Democrat; and it certainly won’t matter who you voted for in the last presidential election.

    At that point—when you find yourself subjected to dehumanizing, demoralizing, thuggish behavior by government bureaucrats who are hyped up on the power of their badges and empowered to detain, search, interrogate, threaten and generally harass anyone they see fit—remember you were warned.

    Frankly, as I point out in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People and in its fictional counterpart The Erik Blair Diaries, we are long past the point where we should be merely alarmed.

    These are no longer experiments on our freedoms.

    These are acts of aggression by a government that is no friend to freedom.

    The post Federal Bureau of Intimidation first appeared on Dissident Voice.

  • Trafficked Victim Placed Under House Arrest, Faces 20 Years In Prison

    A human trafficking victim has been ordered to pay the family of a rapist that she killed $150 thousand dollars. Mike Papantonio & Farron Cousins discuss more. Transcript: *This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos. Mike Papantonio:             A human trafficking victim has been ordered to pay the family of a rapist that […]

    The post Trafficked Victim Placed Under House Arrest, Faces 20 Years In Prison appeared first on The Ring of Fire Network.

    This post was originally published on The Ring of Fire.

  • 5 suspects arrested as probe continues into killing of PNG Ports chief

    By Miriam Zarriga in Port Moresby

    Papua New Guinea police have arrested five men in Goroka over their alleged involvement in the killing of PNG Ports managing director Fego Kiniafa.

    Provincial Police Commander Chief Superintendent Michael Welly said the men were in police custody and were now being questioned over the slaying of Kiniafa on the morning of September 17 — last Saturday — near Nagamiufa village outside Goroka town.

    Kiniafa and his driver were reportedly slashed with machetes after the CEO shot a Nagamiufa villager.

    Welly said investigations were continuing into the killing which sparked a tribal fight.

    In the early hours of last Saturday between 1am and 4am, it was alleged that Kiniafa, who had turned 43 on September 16 — PNG Independence Day — was with a few men near Nagamiufa village when a confrontation occurred.

    Kiniafa, from Korofeigu village in Lower Bena, is alleged to have discharged a weapon.

    The bullet hit another man.

    Several tribesmen incited
    The shooting incited several tribesmen of the injured man to attack Kiniafa, slashing him several times before leaving him.

    Details about what happened next has not been mentioned by police. However, it is believed Kiniafa was rushed to Goroka General Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

    Two days later on Monday, a 4am dawn raid was conducted at Nagamiufa village by men allegedly from Korofeigu village, Lower Bena.

    The raid on Nagamiufa caused about 400 plus women, girls and the elderly to seek refuge within the gates of the Bihute Correctional Services prison.

    Goroka Airport also shut its gates, causing several 100 passengers made up of tourists and locals to be stranded inside the terminal.

    Throughout Goroka town, businesses closed their doors, the hospital tightened its security, and schools were shut for the day as police tried to calm the situation.

    Assistant Commissioner of Police (Northern Command) Peter Guinness has confirmed with the PNG Post-Courier that two mobile squads from Mt Hagen, Western Highlands and a mobile squad from Lae, Morobe province, had been deployed in Goroka, Eastern Highlands province.

    Since Monday the situation has returned to some sort of normalcy with police continuing to keep watch.

    Investigations were ongoing.

    Miriam Zarriga is a PNG Post-Courier reporter. Republished with permission.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • America’s Lawyer: Trafficking Victim Forced To Pay Rapist’s Family $150K

    America’s Lawyer E23: Stock trading by members of Congress is out of control, and a new report shows just how bad the conflicts of interest have gotten – We’ll explain what’s happening. Pollsters are warning Democrats to not get their hopes up, even as polls provide good news for their Party. But it could all be […]

    The post America’s Lawyer: Trafficking Victim Forced To Pay Rapist’s Family $150K appeared first on The Ring of Fire Network.

  • Las Vegas Democrat Accused In Murder Investigation

    A Las Vegas reporter was murdered recently, and all evidence points to a local politician as the likely killer. Mike Papantonio & Farron Cousins discuss more. Transcript: *This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos. Mike Papantonio:             A Las Vegas reporter was murdered recently and all the evidence points to a local Democratic […]

    The post Las Vegas Democrat Accused In Murder Investigation appeared first on The Ring of Fire Network.

    This post was originally published on The Ring of Fire.

  • Slaughter goes on in Porgera mining town as PNG police plan new task force

    By Miriam Zarriga in Port Moresby

    While Papua New Guinean policing continues to be an issue in Porgera, Enga Province, the killings continue in the mining township.

    And the latest killing of a village court magistrate has added to the 70 deaths within a period of six months.

    Police Commissioner David Manning has recently announced the establishment of a specific unit to “have the sole task and responsibility of securing our major resource projects around the country”.

    “We will be taking steps to establish the unit by this week,” he said.

    In the latest killing, a village court magistrate from the Lukal area who had been actively involved in facilitating peace efforts for the ongoing tribal disputes was killed on September 17 while he was out in the garden gathering food with his wife and a female in-law.

    Unconfirmed reports state that the two women had been taken hostage and were yet to be located.

    Nine days earlier, the now deceased Lopan Wake had led the Paiam community in a staged protest calling on the government to declare a state of emergency after a man from the same Lukal village was killed.

    Haus krai blocked highway
    Frustrated family members, relatives and the Paiam community expressed their frustrations by blocking the highway and staged a haus krai for the deceased on the open road.

    They urged the government and relevant authorities to intervene and put an end to the spillover of killings of innocent people in the valley.

    Immediate family and relatives of the late magistrate Wake said they want the law and government to deal with the matter.

    Family spokesperson Kelly Yambi said there have been many spillover conflicts in Porgera that there was confusion over how to establish what tribal groups were responsible for the Lukal killings.

    “I am not sure who is really responsible for the initial tribal conflicts but all I know is that the spillover of the conflict is affecting my people and we are falling victims.

    “We signed a covenant with God and we do not want to take revenge.

    “We have buried two men already and now I will bury my brother,” Yambi said.

    Change to ‘how we do things’
    Commissioner Manning said: “As part of our restructure we now see that we need to restructure how we do things and how the police force and other agency partners secure major resource areas.

    “While the bulk of our resources are taken up in securing the projects its often for the detriment of the livelihoods of the communities that have been subjected to violent criminal activities.

    “So by setting up this new unit, it will elevate demands on the resources so that we not only adequately secure projects but continue to progress our efforts in securing our community.”

    “As soon as we establish the unit, our focus will be on reopening Porgera.

    “Without a safe and secure environment to do so the reopening of Porgera can be challenging.

    “And we are up to the task of providing the necessary support in securing not only the project but the surrounding communities before the project recommences.”

    Miriam Zarriga is a PNG Post-Courier reporter. Republished with permission.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Not over: Young generations wage fight to protect Martial Law memories

    Jairo Bolledo in Manila

    Karl Patrick Suyat, 19, has no personal experience of the tyrannical rule of late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos. But memories of the atrocities and human rights violations committed during those dark moments have transcended time.

    The year 2022 marks the 50th anniversary of Marcos’ declaration of Martial Law. But this year also saw the return of the Marcoses to power — Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is now the President of the republic and spoke yesterday at the UN General Assembly.

    Despite efforts of Martial Law survivors, human rights groups, and even academics to remind the Filipino people of the abuses of the Marcos family, Marcos Jr was still able to clinch the country’s top post.

    Fueled by outrage and anguish, Suyat thought of a way to channel his energy and still fight back despite the Marcoses’ victory — he founded “Project Gunita” (remember) along with Josiah Quising and Sarah Gomez.

    Project Gunita is a network of volunteers and members of various civil society organisations that aim to defend historical truth. They particularly push back against historical denialism and protect truths about the Martial Law years.

    Through the project, the three founders and their members created a digital archive of all materials that contain information about Marcos’ Martial Law to preserve them.

    Archiving is not new since other government offices and groups like the Bantayog ng mga Bayani Foundation and the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission, under the Commission on Human Rights, have made efforts to preserve Martial Law materials.

    But Project Gunita is born out of the spirit of volunteerism and nationalism among young Filipinos.

    From old newspapers, magazines, and books — Project Gunita members seek and buy materials, and then scan them to be preserved in the archives. The project’s archiving started right after Marcos Jr’s victory.

    Dictator Ferdinand Marcos
    Dictator Ferdinand Marcos … declared Martial Law in the Philippines on 21 September 1972 as reported in the Phlippine Daily Express three days later. Image: Wikipedia

    “Having read through the history of dictatorships, from Benito Mussolini to Adolf Hitler to Ferdinand Marcos himself, lagi’t-laging ang unang hinahabol, ang unang-unang tinatarget ng mga diktador ay ‘yong mga silid-aklatan, libraries, at ‘yong mga arkibo – the archives (always, the ones being targeted first by dictators are libraries and archives),” Suyat told Rappler.

    Suyat believes that the Marcoses won’t be content with just distorting and whitewashing the atrocities of the Marcos administration. They would eventually go after the archives to erase the truth, Suyat added.

    “The only question is when, it’s not a question of if, it’s a question of when. And I don’t want to wait until that time happens before we start to scramble around to save the archives.

    “Habang may panahon pa (while we still have time), while we can still do it, ‘di ba? (right?) Bakit hindi natin gagawin? (Why don’t we do it?).”

    Even before Marcos Jr’s victory, journalists have pointed out that his family not only revises history, but also introduces an alternative history that favours them. The Marcoses also rode on various disinformation networks to disseminate falsehoods.

    A two-part investigative story by Rappler showed how the Marcoses used social media to reclaim power and rewrite history to hide their wrongdoings.

    Passing the torch
    The personal experiences of Project Gunita founders fanned their desire to continue the fight of the generation who came before them. Suyat, who grew up in a family of Martial Law survivors, feels it is his responsibility to protect their stories.

    “I cannot allow their stories, as well as the stories of people I had gotten acquainted with later in life who are Martial Law survivors to be erased by historical denialism, that we all know is being perpetrated by the Marcos family,” Suyat told Rappler in a mix of English and Filipino.

    Josiah Quising, a co-founder of Project Gunita and a lawyer, believes that these stories should be preserved because true justice for Martial Law victims has yet to be attained.

    “It’s very frustrating ‘yong justice system sa Pilipinas and how, for decades, ay wala pa ring totoong hustisya sa mga nangyari during the Martial Law era,” Quising told Rappler. (It’s very frustrating, the justice system in the Philippines, and how, for decades, there has been no true justice for everything that happened during the Martial Law era.)

    On the inauguration of Marcos Jr, Martial Law survivors led by playwright Boni Ilagan pledged to continue guarding against tyranny.

    In the same event, they had a ceremonial passing of the torch, which symbolized the passing of hope and responsibility from Martial Law survivors to the younger generation.

    Suyat and Quising believe that their generation is equally responsible for guarding the country’s freedom — at least in their own way. They strongly believe that since the government is now being led by the dictator’s son, they cannot expect it to preserve the memories of Martial Law, so they have to step in.

    Preserving truths from generation to generation

    “Wala ka namang naririnig.
    ‘Di ka naman nakikinig
    Parang kuliling sa pandinig
    Kayong nagtataka
    Ha? Inosente lang ang nagtataka,”
    Inosente lang ang nagtataka by Bobby Balingit

    (You hear nothing. But you are not listening. Like a chime to the ear. You who wonder. What? Only the innocent wonder.)

    This song comes to Kris Lanot Lacaba’s mind whenever he hears people deny the atrocities of Martial Law. His father, Pete Lacaba, a poet and journalist, was tortured and arrested under the Marcos regime.

    As a son of a Martial Law survivor, Lacaba has heard stories of torture and violence straight from the victims themselves. He recalled that it was on the pavements of Camp Crame, where his father was imprisoned, that he learned how to walk.

    Even though decades have passed since those dark periods, he still vividly remembers how his father became a victim of Marcos’ oppressive rule.

    “Ang ginagawa ro’n, may dalawang kama tapos pinapahiga ‘yong tatay ko, ‘yong ulo niya sa isang kama, ‘yong paa niya sa isang kama. At ‘pag nahulog ‘yong kama niya ro’n eh gugulpihin pa siya lalo (What they did to my father was, there were two beds and they would tell my father to lie down, his head on one bed, and the other, on the other bed. If he fell, he would be beaten further),” Lacaba told Rappler.

    Aside from his father, his uncles Eman Lacaba and Leo Alto were both killed during Martial Law. It is extremely hard for Lacaba to respond to people who deny that human rights violations happened under Martial Law.

    Now that he has his own children, Lacaba passes on the stories of Martial Law to them so the memories would be preserved.

    “Mahirap eh, bilang magulang. Paano ba natin ikukuwento ito? Pa’no ba natin ipapamahagi ‘yong karanasan ng magulang nila at ng mga lolo’t lola nila?” Lacaba said. (It’s hard as a parent. How do we tell this story to the kids? How do we tell the kids about the experiences of their parents and grandparents?)

    He even thinks of ways to make the stories appropriate to his children.

    “So kinukuwento namin sa mga bata, ‘no? Hinahanapan namin ng paraan na maging appropriate sa age din nila ‘yong mga kuwento.” (So we tell the stories to my children. We find ways to make the stories appropriate to their age.)

    Aside from his kids, Lacaba says he would always accept invitations by schools and universities to share the Martial Law story of his family. He believes that in this way, he will not only share the truths he learned from his father, but get to listen to other stories, too.

    After all, Lacaba believes, conversation about Martial Law should reach everyone.

    Republished with permission.

  • Tense Goroka town under lockdown after brutal slaying of PNG Ports chief

    PNG Post-Courier

    Goroka town is under lockdown and remains tense as Papua New Guinea police mount a heavy presence following the brutal slaying of the PNG Ports chief executive Fego Kiniafa outside the Eastern Highlands provincial capital.

    Kiniafa was slashed to death at Nagamiufa on Saturday after he allegedly shot a Nagamiufa man.

    Four men who were with Kiniafa are alleged to have been taken hostage by Nagamiufa villagers.

    His relatives from Korofeigu, Lower Bena, are reported to have mobilised and attacked Nagamiufa village, sparking a tribal conflict that shut down businesses in Goroka and sent people scattering.

    Highway travellers were left stranded as vehicles deserted the roads between Lower Bena and Goroka, and international visitors to the just ended Goroka Show were also stranded at the new airport.

    Police reported the Lower Benas wiped out Nagamiufa village in a 4am dawn raid yesterday.

    Most people had fled in fear of the attack to neighbouring villages.

    Raid because of no arrest
    The raid allegedly occurred because there has not been any arrest made in relation to the death of Kiniafa two days after he was slashed to death near Nagamiufa village.

    PNG Ports chief Fego Kiniafa killed
    PNG Ports chief Fego Kiniafa … Goroka reported to be tense after his killing. Image: PNG Investment Conference

    Spears, guns and other weapons were used as Goroka town was deserted with businesses shut down and the Goroka General Hospital also on lockdown as security was tightened.

    Travellers wishing to travel out of the province after the EHP show were left stranded and locked inside the terminal as the airport closed its gates.

    On Saturday morning, Police Commissioner David Manning confirmed the death of Kiniafa, 43, from a confrontation near Nagamiufa village.

    EHP Police Commander Chief Superintendent Michael Welly said that the killing occurred between midnight and 6am on September 17.

    According to police reports, Kiniafa was allegedly involved in a confrontation with several suspects from the surrounding settlements around Nagamiufa village in Goroka.

    Kiniafa allegedly shot another man, and in retaliation the relatives of the man ambushed Kiniafa and his driver with bush-knives, killing them.

    Four men allegedly kidnapped
    Superintendent Welly said: “It is alleged that four men who were with Mr Kiniafa are said to have been kidnapped as well with police investigating the allegations and as well as investigating the incident on Saturday.”

    Kiniafa was found at the scene and rushed to the hospital before being pronounced dead on arrival.

    PNG Ports on Saturday afternoon released a short statement confirming Kiniafa’s death and announcing that chief operations officer Rodney Begley would manage and oversee the office of the CEO.

    Kimiafa, who turned 43 on PNG’s Independence Day — Friday, September 16 — was one of the youngest chief executives of a government entity.

    Republished with permission.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • PNG Ports chief executive killed in Highlands fight

    RNZ Pacific

    State-owned PNG Ports chief executive officer Fego Kiniafa has been killed at Nagamiufa in Goroka of Eastern Highlands Province, says Papua New Guinea’s Police Commissioner David Manning.

    A police report said he had died in a fight after an argument was started over a few bottles of beer.

    It said Kiniafa had allegedly shot and wounded the aggressor on his neck.

    Kiniafa was then killed by members of the community who retaliated.

    The situation in Goroka is reported to be tense.

    Manning told news media his officers had started an investigation into the killing.

    Board chairman Kepas Wali announced in a circular that Rodney Begley had been appointed acting CEO for the state-owned enterprise.

    Wali expressed grief and sorrow at Kiniafa’s death.

    Goroka town, Eastern Highlands, Papua New Guinea.
    Goroka town, Eastern Highlands, Papua New Guinea … an argument over “a few bottles of beer” led to the killing. Image: RNZ

  • Martial law brutality in ‘educational’ musical drama Katips touches raw nerve in NZ

    REVIEW: By David Robie

    Seven weeks ago the Philippines truth-telling martial law film Katips was basking in the limelight in the country’s national FAMAS academy movie awards, winning best picture and a total of six other awards.

    Last week it began a four month “world tour” of 10 countries starting in the Middle East followed by Aotearoa New Zealand today – hosted simultaneously at AUT South campus and in Wellington and Christchurch.

    The screening of Vincent Tañada’s harrowing – especially the graphic torture scenes – yet also joyful and poignant musical drama touched a raw nerve among many in the audience who shared tears and their experiences of living in fear, or in hiding, during the hate-filled Marcos dictatorship.

    The martial law denunciations, arbitrary arrests, desaparecidos (“disappeared”), brutal tortures and murders by state assassins in the 1970s made the McCarthy era red-baiting witchhunts in the US seem like Sunday School picnics.

    Amnesty International says more than 3200 people were killed, 35,000 tortured and 70,000 detained during the martial law period.

    Tañada has brushed off claims that the film has a political objective in an attempt to sabotage the leadership of the dictator’s son, Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos Jr, who won the presidency in a landslide victory in the May elections to return the Marcos family to the Malacañang.

    He has insisted in many interviews — and he repeated this in a live exchange with the audiences in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch — that the film is educational and his intention is to counter disinformation and to ensure history is remembered.

    Telling youth about atrocities
    Tañada, from one of the Philippines’ great political and legal families and grandson of former Senator Lorenzo Tañada, a celebrated human rights lawyer, says he wanted to tell the youth about the atrocities that happened during the imposition of martial law under Marcos.

    He wanted to tell history to those who had forgotten and those who aren’t yet aware.


    The Katips movie trailer.

    “You know, as an artist it is also our objective not just to entertain people but more important than that, we are here to educate,” he says.

    “We also want to educate the young people about the atrocities – the reality of martial law.

    “History is slowly being forgotten. We have forgotten it during the last elections and I guess we also have the responsibility to educate and let the youth know what happened during those times.”

    Katips film director and writer Vince Tañada
    Katips film director and writer Vince Tañada talking by video to New Zealand audiences in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch today. Image: David Robie/APR

    It is rare that such brutal torture scenes are seen on the big screen, and before the main screening at AUT the organisers — Banyuhay Aotearoa, Migrante Aotearoa and Auckland Philippine Solidarity — showed two shorts made by the University of the Philippines and Santo Tomas University of Manila featuring martial law survivors describing their horrifying treatment  during the Marcos years to contemporary students.

    Some of the students broke down in tears while others, surprisingly, remained impassive, sometimes with an air of disbelief.

    The film evolved from the 2016 stage musical Katips: Mga Bagong Katipunero – Katips: The New Freedom Fighters, which won Aliw Awards for best musical performance that year.

    Freedom fighter love story
    In a nutshell, Katips tells the love story of Greg, a medical student and leader of the National Unions of Students in the Philippines (NUSP), who with other freedom fighting protesters stage a demonstration against martial law on a mountainside called Mendiola.

    His professor is abducted by the state Metropol police, murdered and his body dumped in a remote location.

    The protesters begin a vigil and the police brutally suppress the protest and arrest and kidnap other freedom fighters. They are subjected to atrocious torture and their bodies dumped.

    A safehouse branded “Katips House” takes in Lara, a New York actress and the daughter of the murdered professor who is visiting Manila but doesn’t yet know about the fate of her father. Lara and Greg form an unlikely relationship and their lives are thrown into upheaval when the safehouse “mother” Alet is abducted and tortured to death.

    Greg and another protester, Ka Panyong, a writer for the underground newspaper Ang Bayan, are forced to flee into the jungle for the safety and become rebels. Both get shot while on the run, but manage to survive.

    When Greg returns to Lara at the “Katips House” during the Edsa Revolution in 1986, he finds he has a son.

    The film has a stirring end featuring the Bantayog ng mga Bayani, a memorial wall to the fallen heroes struggling against martial law– a fitting antidote to the Marcoses and their crass attempts to rewrite Philippine history.

    Ironically, the same month that Katips was released in public cinemas, another film, the self-serving Maid of Malaçanang, was launched in a bid to perpetuate the Marcos myths.

    A member of the audience poses a question to Katips film director Vince Tañada on AUT South campus
    A member of the audience poses a question to Katips film director Vince Tañada on AUT South campus today. Image: David Robie/APR

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Trump Is Getting Freaked Out As Investigators Close In Around Him

    Donald Trump’s legal problems seem to be getting worse by the day, and now he’s facing an investigation in the Senate over possible abuses of power by politicizing his Department of Justice to go after his enemies. Heather Digby Parton from Salon.com joins Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins to discuss what’s happening.

    The post Trump Is Getting Freaked Out As Investigators Close In Around Him appeared first on The Ring of Fire Network.

  • Fiji leader’s son faces domestic violence charges in Sydney

    RNZ Pacific

    The son of Fijian Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama is facing criminal charges in Australia over domestic violence-related allegations.

    Meli Bainimarama, 36, was charged in the Windsor Court in Sydney with 17 offences related to domestic violence, including five charges of assault resulting in bodily harm, stalking, common assault, and destroying or damaging property.

    The offences alleged happened between February and May of 2022 in Sydney.

    Meli Bainimarama was arrested in Queensland last week and extradited to New South Wales the next day.

    He was granted bail.

    An interim suppression order, granted last Saturday, was lifted today.

    Meli Bainimarama did not appear in person and his lawyer appeared via audio link.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • “Fall Haul” Police Sting Uncovers Trafficking Victims In Florida

    Victims of human trafficking were identified during a major prostitution sting in Florida recently. Mike Papantonio & Farron Cousins discuss more. Click here to find out more about human trafficking lawsuits. Click here to order Mike Papantonio’s legal thriller, “Inhuman Trafficking.” Transcript: *This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos. Mike Papantonio:             Victims […]

    The post “Fall Haul” Police Sting Uncovers Trafficking Victims In Florida appeared first on The Ring of Fire Network.

  • America’s Lawyer: Will Podesta Ever Go Away?

    America’s Lawyer E22: A massive sting operation uncovered several victims of human trafficking in Florida, while also exposing deviants in the school and police systems in the state. We’ll explain what happened. Employees at CNN are scared that there’s a PURGE taking place as the network tries to become more neutral. But it may be […]

    The post America’s Lawyer: Will Podesta Ever Go Away? appeared first on The Ring of Fire Network.

  • Uttar Pradesh Dalit sisters death: 6 accused arrested

    The girls were found hanging from a tree in a sugarcane field located about a kilometre away from their house on Wednesday

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • Police arrest woman in South Korea over NZ child bodies in suitcase

    RNZ News

    A woman has been arrested for the alleged murder of two young children whose remains were discovered in suitcases in Manurewa, South Auckland, last month.

    New Zealand police can now confirm that a 42-year-old woman has been arrested in South Korea.

    Counties Manukau CIB detective inspector Tofilau Fa’ amanuia Vaaelua said South Korean authorities arrested the woman today on a Korean arrest warrant on two charges of murder relating to the two young victims.

    The arrest warrant was issued by the Korean courts as a result of a request by NZ police for an arrest warrant under the extradition treaty between New Zealand and the Republic of Korea.

    He said NZ police had applied to have her extradited back to New Zealand to face the charges and had requested she remain in custody while awaiting the completion of the extradition process.

    “To have someone in custody overseas within such a short period of time has all been down to the assistance of the Korean authorities and the coordination by our NZ Police Interpol staff,” he said.

    There were a number of enquiries to be completed both in New Zealand and overseas, he added.

    Police said the children, believed to be aged between five and 10 years old, may have been hidden in the suitcases in an Auckland storage yard for several years.

    The bodies were discovered on 11 August 2022 after a Clendon Park family won an auction for abandoned goods in a storage unit, without realising what was inside.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Southern Baptist Covered Up Sex Abuse For Decades & FBI Failed Larry Nassar Victims

    It was revealed recently that the Southern Baptist Convention has been covering up allegations of sexual abuse for decades. Also, the women who were abused by Larry Nassar during their gymnastics careers are suing the FBI for failing to take action when they warned about what was happening. Mike Papantonio & Farron Cousins discuss. Transcript: *This transcript was generated […]

    The post Southern Baptist Covered Up Sex Abuse For Decades & FBI Failed Larry Nassar Victims appeared first on The Ring of Fire Network.

    This post was originally published on The Ring of Fire.