William N. Grigg

“See these fists?” Ramos gloatingly said as he snapped on a pair of latex gloves. “They’re getting ready to f**k you up.”

Manuel Ramos and Jay Cincinelli, who were among the six Fullerton, California officers involved in the July 5, 2011 gang beating of Thomas, are currently [January 2, 2014] on trial for involuntary manslaughter and second-degree murder. [Ramos now acquitted of all charges.]

Kelly Thomas wasn’t beaten to death by a thugscrum of eight police officers; he simply happened to die while they were striking, kicking, and choking him. That’s what Dr. Steven Karch would have us believe, or at least pretend to. Karch was paid handsomely to peddle puerile lies on behalf of the defense.

Thomas, who had no criminal record, was repeatedly tasered and beaten with batons while the assailants chanted the shared refrain of rapists and police officers: “Stop resisting!” At one point, Cincinelli – frustrated that Thomas didn’t simply submit and die – clubbed the victim in the face with the butt of his Taser. (“We ran out of options,” Cincinelli later explained, “so I got the end of my Taser and I … just smashed his face to hell.”) Numerous eyewitnesses testified that the attack continued long after Thomas was inert and motionless.

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Stephen Lendman

It rages in Israel. It's worse in Washington. It infests most other Western states. Despots rule most regional ones. They dominate other parts of the world. State terror harms global billions. Human torment is extreme. Sharonian evil reflects what's ongoing. More on Palestinian suffering below.

On January 13, Haaretz headlined "Former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon laid to rest in state funeral." World dignitaries were there. Showing up honored a mass murderer. Attendees did it disgracefully. They have their own dark crosses to bear. Nations represented partnered with Sharon's crimes. They support Israel's worst ones. They commit their own.

On Sunday, Sharon's body lay in state. Netanyahu, Shimon Peres and Joe Biden delivered keynote addresses. Other foreign dignitaries arrived. Countries represented included America, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Australia, Russia, the Philippines and Singapore. No Arab states were represented. Nor China, Japan, India or Turkey. None from South or Central America. Egypt was the only African one. South Africa sent no one.

No foreign dignitaries attended Yitzhak Shamir's 2012 funeral. He lay in state like Sharon. He did so in Israel's Knesset. When Menachem Begin died in 1992, tens of thousands marched to Jerusalem's Mount of Olives. No foreign dignitaries joined them. Honoring Sharon shows how low they've sunk. Some Israeli officials bristled because of too few foreign countries represented. Those coming shamed themselves.

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