Category: The Fifth Column

(GV) – On January 22, 2018, two sisters aged 19 and 14 from the indigenous Marma community were allegedly raped by members of security forces in the Rangamati district within the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) region in southeast Bangladesh. Reportedly, a joint security team consisting of the Bangladesh Army and Bangladesh Ansar (paramilitary auxiliary force) personnel were raiding the indigenous Marma village of Orachari in Rangamati District’s Belaichari Upazila on January 22. During the raid, two stray members of the team entered a Marma home early in the morning and…

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Things To Consider When Choosing a Medical Backpack Stomp Supreme bag by Doom and Bloom For anyone to do their job properly, they’ll need the right equipment.  Imagine a carpenter having to use a steak knife as a saw, or a hunter using a catapult instead of a rifle.  The same goes for the medic.  The successful survival caregiver has spent a lot of time and energy (and some money) on accumulating a stockpile of medical supplies.  The more the better, since you don’t know how long you might have…

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(SurvivalSullivan) – All preppers should strive to be more like squirrels. Hiding your preps away from view, especially your most vital prep of all…water, is a necessity. Even if you have a big pond and/or a creek that runs through your property, never take the seemingly ample supply of water for granted. A drought or some type of contamination (accidental, environmental, or intentional) could decrease or deplete your pond or creek, and leave your family with no means of quenching their thirst after the SHTF. Collecting rainwater in barrels should…

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(EAN) – Russians are growing frustrated with poor healthcare, underfunded schools, and increasing poverty, a recent poll shows. As President Vladimir Putin prepares for his fourth term, he is making promises and boosting pensions. But he has a mixed record delivering enduring social goods. And in the past, benefits like pensions were often reversed soon after the vote. The newspaper Vedomosti highlighted common complaints in a widely shared article last year: “10 unfulfilled promises of Putin and Medvedev.” For example, the number of Russians living in poverty since Putin’s last…

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(Garrison) – In the wake of the mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, a number of businesses have moved to distance themselves from scary-looking weapons like the AR-15, from younger purchasers of weapons in general, and from organizations that don’t support laws violating the Second Amendment to the US Constitution. Whether these moves are from sincere conviction or mere concern for bottom lines, they’re provoking backlash. Retailers like Walmart and Dick’s Sporting Goods face multiple discrimination lawsuits from 18- to 21-year-olds over their corporate decisions to stop…

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(Garrison) – It’s  been James Comey. It’s been Them Russians. It’s been Barack Obama. It’s been misogyny. It’s been WikiLeaks. It’s been social media.  Hillary Clinton has tons of reasons why she lost the 2016 presidential election. And, oddly, none of those reasons are herself or her campaign. This week, the excuse is that millions of whipped women just did as they were told. Clinton dropped that one on a conference in Mumbai:  “We do not do well with white men and we don’t do well with married, white women …. …

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(HRW) – In response to President Donald Trump’s nomination of Mike Pompeo to be Secretary of State and Gina Haspel as CIA Director please find the following response from Sarah Margon, Washington Director at Human Rights Watch: “US President Donald Trump’s decision to nominate Mike Pompeo to be Secretary of State and Gina Haspel to succeed him as CIA Director is deeply troubling because of their past endorsements of torture. “During his CIA confirmation hearing on January 12, 2017, Pompeo failed to unequivocally disavow the US government’s use of torture…

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(Journalist’s Resource) – Every year, hundreds of thousands attempt to cross the southwestern border into the United States. These migrants, who largely come from Mexico, El Salvador and Guatemala, face a journey fraught with violence and danger, especially for women. But those women who attempt to leave their native countries often face certain violence at home. The promise of the migrant trail beckons, even with its perils: Border crossing guides — otherwise known as coyotes — might make their help conditional on sexual favors. Women generally are outnumbered by men…

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(Sputnik) – “Given their histories, the potential for Pompeo and Haspel to endorse abusive practices and lend support for their use abroad should convince the Senate to reject both nominations,” the release said on Tuesday. President Donald Trump announced earlier in the day he was replacing Secretary of State Rex Tillerson with current CIA Director Mike Pompeo. Gina Haspel, a CIA deputy director, was tapped to take Pompeo’s job. The advocacy group said Pompeo has not denounced the US government’s use of interrogation techniques and mass surveillance. Therefore, the Human Rights Watch warned Pompeo’s views would hurt the international community,…

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(EAN) – Most Russians would be forgiven for skipping this month’s presidential election. With less than two weeks until polls open, we can say with strong confidence that Vladimir Putin will win his fourth term in office. Officials are taking no chances to ensure turnout isn’t embarrassingly low, however, mobilizing students and workers, plastering the regions with pro-Putin materials, and seemingly handpicking the other candidates allowed to run. There are many consequences to holding stage-managed elections. Clearly they are a violation of basic political rights. But in most developed countries,…

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