In June of 2020, family and friends of Hannah Fizer, 25, were shocked to learn that their beloved daughter and friend had been killed during a stop over an alleged speeding violation. Then, four months later, they learned there would be no justice and the officer who killed the unarmed woman as she sat in her vehicle—was back on the job. Since then, Fizer’s father, John Fizer, filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Pettis County seeking damages against Pettis County Deputy Jordan Schutte. The lawsuit argues the shooting was an unjustified, an excessive use of force and that Schutte did not...
EPA
COI #207: Is Biden Turning to Diplomacy with Russia and Iran?
On COI #207, Kyle Anzalone and Connor Freeman update the JCPOA talks’ recent developments and the Russians’ security proposals presented to Washington. Kyle discusses the Russians pulling 10,000 troops off the border with Ukraine and sending them back to their bases. This is potentially a show of goodwill before the upcoming talks with the U.S. next month. Kyle and Connor then cover some recent escalations that do not necessarily bode well for substantive diplomacy like the Americans flying spy planes over Ukraine not far from the separatist Donbas region. There is also talk of a...
COI #206: Libya’s Election Called Off
On COI #206, Kyle Anzalone breaks down recent developments in Libya. The election - planned for December 24th - has been called off. The Western states say they will still recognize the interim government. However, the government will likely face increasing legitimacy challenges. Migrants, attempting to flee to Europe, continue to drown off Libya's coast. Kyle updates the investigation into the assassination of Haiti's President Moise. In July, several gunmen killed Moise. His wife gave an interview to the NYT suggesting her husband was murdered for investigating Haiti's corrupt elite. ...
News Roundup 12/28/2021
Covid The CDC says people who test positive for covid but do not have symptoms only need to quarantine for five days. The CDC then recommends five days of mask-wearing. The World Bank says nearly 100 million people fell into poverty during the covid pandemic. [Link] The State Department sends over 600,000 Pfizer covid vaccines to Nepal through Covax. [Link] US News Biden extended the student loan payment freeze to May 1, 2022. [Link] Las Vegas will pay over $500,000 to Jason Funke who was shot in the back by a police officer. The officer is still employed. [Link] Cedric Lofton was killed...
Salafis Throwing Bombs: How American and British Planners Partnered With Al-Qaeda Affiliated Groups At the Start of the Syrian Civil War
Introduction In the mainstream view, al-Qaeda did not play a role in the Syria conflict until Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi dispatched his deputy, Abu Muhammad al-Jolani, to Syria in August 2011 to establish a wing of the group there, called Jabhat al-Nusra, or the Nusra Front. Additionally, al-Qaeda allegedly did not carry out any military operations until December 2011 and did not announce its establishment until January 2012. However, there is evidence that al-Qaeda affiliated militants were involved in the Syrian conflict much earlier. Saudi intelligence...
Is Virtue Signaling Vicious?
Virtue signaling—the practice of highlighting what one takes to be one’s own moral superiority, often by loudly denouncing the character and comportment, including the speech, of other people—has become a dominant mode of rhetoric throughout social media and network television. Virtue theory, in contrast, is a teleological approach to normative morality concerned with how actions affect one’s soul or character. Historians of philosophy usually trace virtue theory to Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, the first extant articulation of ideas such as that habits build character, and virtues...
For One Day, Protestors Stopped the War Machine
I’ve attended most of the major antiwar protests in Washington since 9/11. At a 2005 protest, a cop tried to whack me on the head with a wooden pole. At a 2007 protest, I snapped a picture showing George W. Bush hanging next to the U.S. Capitol. But my favorite protest was a potent little ruckus that I almost missed. On a sunny late summer day in 2013, I ambled to downtown Washington to hike with a bunch of folks who enjoyed bantering as much as I did. The route for the jaunt started on the National Mall, passing by the Smithsonian, heading toward the World War II Memorial and points...
News Roundup 12/23/21
US News US airstrikes have dropped about 54% since Biden took office. [Link] Military families in Hawaii believe they have been exposed to contaminated water for months longer than the Navy currently admits. [Link] The US sanctions three people in Brazil for supporting al-Qaeda. [Link] Covid Secret Service reports over $100 billion in covid relief funds was stolen through fraud. [Link] The US donates over 600,000 vaccine doses to Lebanon through Covax. [Link] Great Power Putin says he sees an overall positive reaction from the US to the Russian security proposal. [Link] The State...
Cop Shoots Mentally Handicapped Teenager Having Crisis After Grandmother Calls 911
As TFTP reported earlier this year, body camera video showed officers with the Loveland Police Department attack 73-year-old Karen Garner as she walked home from Walmart. The officers neglected to provide aid, and they laughed and celebrated their brutality against an elderly woman with dementia. The video evidence showed that at all levels of the Loveland police department there are sadistic and depraved officers. Now, this same department is in the news once again—this time for shooting and gravely wounding an innocent developmentally delayed teen who needed help. According to the...
Idaho Man Mistakenly Shot By Cops In His Backyard
"An Idaho police officer fatally shot a man in his own backyard Monday while searching a neighborhood for a suspect believed to be armed, officials said." This is how the cops describe the shooting: "We do not currently have the answers as to what exactly occurred during these moments," Idaho Falls police Chief Bryce Johnson said. "We do know that during this interaction, an Idaho Falls police officer discharged his service weapon firing one shot which struck the man." Of course they have to investigate to make sure all proper protocols were followed: "The Idaho Falls Police Department...