A Palestinian Bedouin girl drinks from a water tank outside her family’s tent near the West Bank town of Tubas in the Jordan Valley on 6 May. Besieged Palestinian communities in the Jordan Valley have called on the international community to immediately intervene to halt Israeli military exercises in the area.: photo by Shadi Hatem / APA via The Electronic Intifada, 5 June 2015
Israeli tanks stand on agricultural land during a military training exercise in the Jordan Valley on 6 May: photo by Shadi Hatem / APA via The Electronic Intifada, 5 June 2015
Palestinians carry a wounded protester during clashes with Israeli Border Police following a demonstration marking the 67th anniversary of the Nakba outside Ofer military prison near the West Bank city of Ramallah on 15 May: photo by Shadi Hatem / APA via The Electronic Intifada, 5 June 2015
A
Palestinian artist paints a mural on the rubble of a building following
a march to mark the 67th anniversary of the Nakba in the al-Tuffah
neighborhood east of Gaza City on 16 May: photo by Ashraf Amra / APA via The Electronic Intifada, 5 June 2015
Destroyed
homes in the Shujaiya district of Gaza City on 20 May. At least 100,000
Palestinians are still living without adequate shelter more than nine
months after the end of Israel’s attack on the Gaza Strip last summer.: photo by Ashraf Amra / APA via The Electronic Intifada, 5 June 2015
Palestinian children play on the rubble of their family’s home which was destroyed by Israeli forces last summer, Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip, 28 May: photo by Nidal Alwaheidi / APA via The Electronic Intifada, 5 June 2015
A
Palestinian protester throws stones at Israeli forces during clashes
following a demonstration against the expropriation of Palestinian land
in the West Bank village of Kufr Qaddum, near Nablus, on 29 May: photo by APA via The Electronic Intifada, 5 June 2015
This week
Happening now in #Gaza
Live image from the site of explosion
i just Heard another 2 AIRSTRIKES !!
Photo by @Omar_Gaza: image via Dr. Bassel Abuwarda @DrBasselAbuwarda, 3 June 2015
I THINK THINGS HAVE SETTLED DOWN NOW
CAN I GO BACK TO SLEEP !!! PLZ !: tweet via Dr. Bassel Abuwarda @DrBasselAbuwarda, 3 June 2015
BREAKING FROM #GAZA: All Gaza strip is under attack now Many Airstrikes are hitting NORTH, MIDDLE AND SOUTH OF GAZA: image via Dr. Bassel Abuwarda @DrBasselAbuwarda, 3 June 2015
ENDLESS SUFFER, FEAR, INJUSTICE, HUMILIATION !!!: tweet via Dr. Bassel Abuwarda @DrBasselAbuwarda, 3 June 2015
Israeli forces demolished three Palestinian homes in occupied East Jerusalem: image via Dr. Bassel Abuwarda @DrBasselAbuwarda, 2 June 2015
Israeli soldiers kidnapped, on Monday at dawn, nine Palestinians in different parts of the occupied West Bank (IMEMC): image via Dr. Bassel Abuwarda @DrBasselAbuwarda, 1 June 2015
#GazaUnderAttack @UN the claimers of human rights protection. Where are they? Are they blind? RT and viral #YaAllahHelpGaza: image via sumairajamil @real_sumaira, 4 June 2015
Meanwhile in #Gaza: image via Mila Jansen @jansen_mila, 3 June 2015
This is not sunrise, Israeli warplanes strike #Gaza tonight but Muslim world is still sleeping #GazaUnderAttack again: image via Mishkaat Umair @mishkoo90, 4 June 2015
#GazaUnderAttack yet again .... No news on Main Stream Media @CNN @BBCBreaking @AP: image via Casey @Wonam6, 3 June 2015
BDS: A Growing Wave
Daily Cartoon: Israel's new government braces for #BDS tsunami: image via Haaretzcom @haaretzcom, 7 June 2015
The rise of #BDS in the American South and at HBC's is astounding: image via Max Blumenthal @MaxBlumenthal, 7 June 2015
At anti-#BDS donor summit, U.S. Jewish billionaires warn of impending "anti-Semitic tsunami": image via Haaretzcom @haaretzcom, 7 June 2015
"We will attack our attackers" - @naftalibennett on #BDS at #HC15: image via Thore Schroeder @ThoreSchroeder, 7 June 2015
Netanyahu Vows To 'Never Forgive' After @orange Boycotts Israel Deal via @MintPressNews #BDS: image via Joe Catron @jncatron, 7 June 2015
"Occupation isn't pretty"
Opinion: #Israel's problem isn't #BDS - it's the occupation: image via Haaretz @haaretzcom, 3 June 2015
Ahava products are made with pillaged mud on occupied land #BDS #Palestine: image via Stolen Beauty @BoycottAhava, 3 June 2015
Human rights organizations condemn Sheldon Adelson-led anti-BDS meeting: photo via Mondoweiss, 6 June 2013
#BDS-hit French telecom #Orange says it would get out of Zionist Entity "tomorrow" if it could: image via Abbs Winston @AbbsWinston, 7 June 2015
After @orange @srichard comments: #Orange #Israel offices today: image via Amichai Stein @AmichaiStein1, 4 June 2015
The Great Hypocrisy Behind Sheldon Adelson's Anti-#BDS Summit | @AliGharib | @jdforward: image via JewishVoiceforPeace @jvplive, 3 June 2015
Puppetmaster:
“Are you a stand-up comedian today?”
Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson said Jacobs had ‘hypnotised’ a senior company lawyer into scrutinising payments to a Macau legislator out of concern they breached US anti-bribery laws: photo by Julie Jacobson/AP via the Guardian, 4 May 2015
Sheldon Adelson laughs off allegations from 'pompous, arrogant' ex-CEO: Casino mogul rejects claims of influence-peddling in Macau and said Steven Jacobs only became important ‘when he squealed like a pig’ to the government: photo by Chris McGreal in New York for The Guardian, 4 May 2015
Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire gambling magnate and major
Republican donor, has accused the former head of his company’s Macao
casinos of “squealing like a pig to the government” with allegations of
influence-peddling and ties to organised crime.
Adelson, in his third day of testimony
to a Las Vegas court, also said Steven Jacobs, the ex-CEO of his highly
profitable Macau casinos had “hypnotised” a senior company lawyer into
scrutinising payments to a Macau legislator out of concern they breached
US anti-bribery laws.
Jacobs is suing Adelson for wrongful dismissal, claiming he was
sacked in 2010 for trying to end links to Chinese triad organised crime
groups and for curtailing large payments to the Macao legislator and
lawyer Leonel Alves.
Adelson claims Jacobs was dismissed for incompetence.
high finance and hypnotism
The court has previously heard testimony that Jacobs was a highly
regarded executive who could be expected to go on and lead Adelson’s Las
Vegas Sands company. It is claimed he fell out of favour with Adelson
after he ended Alves’ contract and sought to halt the practice of hiring
“junket” operators to bring in high rolling gamblers from China because of links to the triads.
“This Jacobs never became important until he squealed like a pig to
the government authorities and made up stories,” Adelson told the court
on Monday.
Jacobs
had refused to make a $700,000 payment to Alves who, according to court
records and documents uncovered by the Investigative Reporting Program
at UC Berkeley,
played a number of roles. They included representing the casino company
in meetings with Macao politicians and officials to apply “pressure”,
and mending Adelson’s relationships with Chinese officials who had
apparently been put off by his brusque manner.
Asked about Jacobs’ instruction to the Macau casino’s lawyer to examine the legitimacy of the contracts with Alves, Adelson said he understood that Jacobs had studied hypnotism and he believed Jacobs had hypnotised the lawyer into looking into Alves.
After Jacobs cancelled Alves’s contract, Adelson ordered him rehired.
“Are you a stand-up comedian today?”
Adelson
was asked about testimony on Thursday from his current deputy and
former head of global operations, Robert Goldstein, in which he said
that he expected Jacobs to end up running the whole company.
The 81-year-old billionaire responded: “Are you a stand-up comedian today?”
When the question was put to him again, he said: “Over my dead body.”
Adelson said Jacobs was not respected within the company.
“The people in Macau called him the emperor. He was pompous. He was arrogant. He was condescending,” he said.
However,
this view was contradicted by Goldstein’s testimony, and emails shown
to the court last week in which Adelson’s former deputy, Michael Leven,
described Jacobs as
having “saved the Titanic” by turning around the Macau casinos.
In his testimony, Goldstein also acknowledged that the Sands’ Macau
subsidiary used an alleged triad leader, Cheung Chi Tai, to run
“junkets” and bring in high rollers. He said Las Vegas Sands ended the
relationship following a Reuters report in 2010,
based on the work of UC Berkeley’s Investigative Reporting Program,
naming him as a leader of the Wo Hop To, a triad gang. The report said
that Cheung had also been named in a criminal trial in Hong Kong as “the
person in charge” of one of the VIP rooms at the Sands Macau.
"a file labelled 'outrageous'”
Adelson claimed Jacobs maintained a file labelled “outrageous” in which he collected information against the company.
“This is an evil man,” he said. “All he was good at was firing people
and saving information he could use to blackmail this company.”
Adelson kept up the verbal battles with Jacobs’ lawyer, James
Pisanelli, that marked his previous testimony and led the billionaire to
argue with the judge last week.
Pisanelli showed Adelson an email between senior Sands executives
referring to an “exorcism strategy” which the lawyer said showed Adelson
had a “secret plan” to remove Jacobs. Adelson said he had never heard
the phrase.
“I don’t know of any plan you’re talking about,” he said.
“I have
no memory whatsoever"
Adelson repeatedly said he could not recall events of five years ago.
When Pisanelli questioned his lack of memory, Adelson hit back: “I have
no memory whatsoever. You’re trying to fit the facts into your
fantasies instead of taking the facts as they are.”
On another occasion, questioned about one of his answers, Adelson
said: “Is there something about “no” you don’t understand? I could spell
it for you.”
Adelson also grew exasperated with the being shown emails from his own executives which appeared to undermine his positions.
“It seems to me to be a sign of real desperation to use other people’s emails to inquire of me,” he said.
reconstituted cheetoh and medical waste golem sheldon adelson: image via BAKOON! @BAKKOOONN, 28 May 2015
On the eve of World Environment Day, the devils dance
Pakistani rag-pickers search for recycleable items at a garbage dump on the outskirts of Lahore on Friday. World Environment Day is celebrated every year on June 5 with the objective to raise global awareness among the common people for global environmental concerns: photo by Arif Ali/AFP via FT Photo Diary, 5 June 2015
Members of the Dancing Devils of Naiguata take part in the catholic celebration of Corpus Christi in Naiguata, a neighbourhood in La Guaira, Vargas state, Venezuela: photo by Federico Parra/AFP via FT Photo Diary, 5 June 2015
![Migrants, who were found at sea on a boat, collect rainwater during a heavy rain fall at a temporary refuge camp near Kanyin Chaung jetty, outside Maungdaw township, northern Rakhine state, Myanmar June 4, 2015. Soe Zeya Tun: This shot is of a group of Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants from a boat carrying 734 people rescued off Myanmar's southern coast last week. Those on board had been at sea for more than two months, at the end with little food or water. The men in this photo were part of a group of 400 crammed into a warehouse by Myanmar police. They had arrived the day before, but while the women, children and some men had already been moved, these men were left behind. There was no sign of the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR or foreign aid agencies. Just moments before this shot, the sky opened up and the monsoon rains started coming down. The men were jostling with each other for space to catch water in their bottles and plates. The authorities were hesitant to grant us access at first, but as the morning wore on and the rains started, we were able to enter [the warehouse or the area around it?] and started photographing and speaking to migrants. Just after taking this photo, the men were loaded into buses and trucks and driven to a camp where international aid agencies were waiting. I have worked on long and difficult assignments where I have gone days without a proper shower. But for these people it has been months without enough water. Everyone was dirty and had likely washed little while at sea. I could see just how meaningful it was for them to suddenly have a chance to drink and clean themselves with whatever small amount of water they could capture. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY TEMPLATE OUT](http://blogs.ft.com/photo-diary/files/2015/06/Thirst_Reut.jpg)
Migrants, who were found at sea on a boat, collect rainwater during a heavy rain fall at a temporary refuge camp near Kanyin Chaung jetty, northern Rakhine state, Myanmar: photo by Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters via FT Photo Diary, 4 June 2015
......................An Indian rag-picker looks for recyclable material in what is
reportedly the largest rubbish tip in the state of Assam on the eve of
World Environment Day in the Boragoan area of Guwahati on Thursday: photo by Biju Boro/AFP via FT Photo Diary, 4 June 2015
A migrant, who was found at sea on a boat, arrives at a temporary shelter near Maungdaw township, northern Rakhine state, Myanmar: photo by Ye Aung Thu/AFP via FT Photo Diary, 4 June 2015
Food and Style
Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe eats a pickled plum as he meets with Miss Plum Fuyuka Baba and Miss Plum Kozue Kimoto, who are representing the Kishu Plum Organisation, at Abe’s official residence in Tokyo: photo by Toru Hanai/Reuters via FT Photo Diary, 5 June 2015
Arab_America: Sheldon Adelson To Host Secret Anti-BDS Summit for Jewish Donors #TCOT: image via Sheldon Adelson @VegasGoblinKing, 5 June 2015
Sen. Ted Cruz calls on US government to cut off funds from universities supporting the Boycott Israel (#BDS) movement: image via Israel News Flash @ILNewsFlash, 31 May 2015
My new comic is a Tale of the Zombie Apocalypse in @tnr: image via Eli Valley @elivalley, 14 May 2015
Art
Notes
Sheldon Adelson is the
owner of several casinos, hotels and a large bank account. He’s now
also the owner of a genuine George W. Bush.
The former
president-turned-amateur painter proudly gave Mr. Adelson one of his
works of art in late April, during his appearance as the keynote speaker
at a Republican Jewish Coalition conference in Las Vegas.
The painting was of
Mr. Adelson’s Singapore casino and hotel, the Marina Bay Sands, an aide
to the mogul confirmed. Mr. Adelson is the chief benefactor of the
Republican Jewish Coalition, which often holds conferences in his
Venetian hotel in Las Vegas.
The Marina Bay Sands hotel resorts in Singapore: photo by Roslan Rahman/Agence France-Presse via New York Times, 14 May 2015
For Mr. Bush, such an
offering was an overt act of appreciation. He took up painting in 2012,
and has been working to improve in his adopted craft ever since.
He has done portraits
of world leaders like President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and former
Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain. He lavished attention on a
portrait of his father, former President George Bush.
George W. Bush’s
creative side came to light after a hacker invaded a Bush family email
account and discovered photos of the paintings, and leaked them online.
Bathroom Self-Portraits: George W. Bush, 2013, image via Gawker, 8 February 2013
Eli Valley: Goblin King Funnies: Sheldon Adelson Turns Israel into 'The Walking Dead' -- The only zombie democracy in the Middle East!
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