Thursday, June 15, 2017

Grenfell Tower

  1. rita ora's have a big heart 😍🙏🏼❤
  2. Rita Ora goes back to 'the block she played in as a child' to help London inferno victims
  3. Total respect to for getting stuck in and helping out from following the horror
  4. so rita ora is helping the victims from the london's attack. her heart is too big for this world. i stan the right person ❤️



On the fire, Laura Tiernan (WSWS) reports:



The fire that consumed Grenfell Tower block in west London early Wednesday morning has fuelled outrage among local residents and community groups, whose warnings of serious fire hazards were repeatedly ignored by council authorities.


The catastrophic fire broke out shortly before 1:00 a.m., on the second floor of the council flats in Kensington. Flames quickly engulfed the 24-storey building that is home to an estimated 500 people.


Twelve are confirmed dead, but the death toll is expected to rise. A community worker assisting with evacuations told the Daily Mail that he believed no one on the top three floors survived. A further 74 people are being treated in six hospitals, with 18 in critical care.
Residents and eyewitnesses described harrowing scenes as those trapped inside the burning building screamed for help, waving towels, t-shirts and mobile phone flashlights to attract the attention of firefighters.


As the smoke thickened, some residents on the upper floors jumped to escape the flames. Witnesses described emergency service workers covering the victims’ bodies, some of them children, with sheets. People trapped inside called friends and loved ones. A young mother of two sent a Snapchat video message to her best friend at 2:54 a.m., begging for help before saying good-bye.


 It's a horror.

And preventable if the owners hadn't been so cheap and played fast and loose with the tenants lives.



Closing with C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"


Thursday, June 15, 2017.  And look at all that 'progess' in The Mosul Slog.




More than 100 Islamic State militants launch counterattack in Mosul after months of heavy fighting with Iraqi forces





Day 239 of The Mosul Slog and still it continues.

239 days ago, the Iraqi government finally launched an operation to liberate or 'liberate' Mosul.  The city was seized by the Islamic State in June of 2014.

239 days later and still the slog continues.


Situation in on 14 June 2017 - claims counterattack against forces south of the old city failed to capture ground







The Mosul Slog has increased the number of refugees.



The US criticizes Assad & Russia for bombing hospitals but does exactly the same in




And the destruction -- of hospitals, homes . . .


And it has increased the amount of  War Crimes.

Civilians have been harmed by Iraqi forces, disappeared by them, killed by them.

And there's the use of White Phosphorus.



US-led coalition acknowledges use of white in amid mounting criticism



It's a city still filled with people, still filled with children.

And White Phosphorus is being used.



Meanwhile in Iraq. 100,000 children threatened as conflict escalates in west via



Time to invade the US for some regime change? US using chemical weapons in Mosul & Raqqa:








In the US, many Iraqi immigrants are being threatened with deportation.






Trump pledged to protect Iraqi Christians from ISIS, now he's deporting them





Is that accurate?  Because it's being repeated.


Perspective | promised he would protect persecuted . Instead, he's sending them back to .



Niraj Waikoo (DETROIT FREE PRESS) reports:


Immigration officials today strongly defended their arrests of Iraqi immigrants over the weekend, saying the U.S. detained 114 people in metro Detroit with criminal pasts who posed security threats.
Today's statement from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was the first time officials said how many were detained in sweeping raids of Iraqi nationals targeted for deportation. Many of the detained immigrants are Christians who say they fear that deportation to Iraq would jeopardize their lives since they are a minority there and under siege.
But ICE said today the detainees have criminal pasts and already faced final removal orders from a judge.
"The operation in this region was specifically conducted to address the very real public safety threat represented by the criminal aliens arrested," Rebecca Adducci, field office director for ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Detroit, said in a statement. "The vast majority of those arrested in the Detroit metropolitan area have very serious felony convictions, multiple felony convictions in many cases. I applaud the efforts of the law enforcement personnel who, day in and day out, put their lives on the line to protect this community."



See the problem?

Donald Trump also promised to enforce immigration laws.

If you're building your coverage on one promise only and not noting the other, you're discrediting yourself at a time when journalism is already discredited.

That's not advocating for the immigrants to be removed from the country, that's saying you need to tell the truth.  And you also need to investigate ICE's claims because they're saying something doesn't make it so.


The following community sites -- plus Jody Watley, PACIFICA EVENING NEWS, GORILLA RADIO and DISSIDENT VOICE -- updated: