37 VOLUME 9 |ISSUE 3 |2018
Canadian followers of these religions have fought for more
than 15 years to obtain an exemption from the Canadian
federal government. Jeffrey Bronfman, a third-generation heir
to one of Montreal’s wealthiest families, was at the heart of
the negotiations. Ironically, his great-uncle, Samuel Bronfman
made his fortune in the 1920s with the Seagram liquor
company, while alcohol was banned in the United States.
...The exemption in Canada closely follows the protocols
established under an agreement negotiated with the drug
control authorities in the United States, Bronfman writes, in an
email sent to VICE. Previously, Canadian members of the UDV
had to cross the border to participate in religious services.
‘To obtain permission from the Canadian government for
our tradition to be recognized stemmed from the need to
care for our members so that they would not have to travel
so far to practice our religion.’ In 2000, Canada Customs
intercepted a number of plants destined for Ceù do Montreal
and turned it over to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The
president of the organization, Dr. Jessica Rochester, made
an initial request for an exemption from Health Canada. On
the group’s website, she writes that the Conservative years
in Canada, from 2006 to 2015, completely froze the process.
Health Canada officially rejected her application in 2012. (Dr.
Rochester refused all our requests for an interview.) ...Jean-
Sébastien Fallu looks favourably on this new openness on
the part of the federal authorities. The professor is also the
founder of GRIP Montreal, a group that has been fighting
for two decades to obtain an exemption for the purpose of
analyzing substances. ‘Any move away from prohibition is
good news,’ he said. ‘The more exemptions are granted, the
more likely it is to facilitate our requests for the analysis of
[these] substances.’” (VICE News, 04/12/18)
Utah company that used child labor must still pay
$200,000 to compensate kids, federal appeals court rules
“A federal appeals court has upheld most of the ruling against
a company affiliated with a polygamous church [FLDS]
and which was found to have used child labor, though the
company did win one point. The contempt of court finding
against Paragon Contractors Corp. and its owner, Brian
Jessop, stands, and they still must pay $200,000 into a fund
to compensate the children who harvested pecans on a
ranch near Hurricane in 2012. But the 10th Circuit Court of
Appeals said a federal judge in Salt Lake City was wrong to
make Jessop and Paragon report to what is called a special
master—someone who would monitor their business
practices. That could be an important ruling for Jessop. Last
month, he appeared at a new court hearing where he was
accused of failing to comply with that special master. ...
Paragon and Jessop had entered into an agreement with the
U.S. Department of Labor in 2007 to not use child labor in
ways that violated the law. After hearing testimony about the
2012 pecan harvest, U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell found
Paragon and Jessop in contempt for violating the earlier
agreement. She then ordered the $200,000 be paid and that
Paragon and Jessop report their work to the special master.
...Jessop may still be in trouble for more recent business
dealings. At the hearing last month, the Labor Department
presented evidence that Paragon had folded into a new
company, called Par 2, that should inherit the child labor
restrictions imposed in 2007. Inspectors in Arizona found Par
2 building a motel. They also suspected Par 2 of employing
two 17-year-olds who were using nail guns. Federal labor
laws says no one under 18 may operate such machinery. Jeff
Matura, an attorney for Par 2, on Thursday said a judge in Salt
Lake City can still consider whether Par 2 is subject to the
order not to violate child labor laws, but questions about the
special master are moot. ‘We can’t be held in contempt for
violating something that should not have been ordered in the
first place,’ Matura said.” (Salt Lake Tribune, 03/15/18)
OZ actor claims to be God, starts cult called Galighticus
“Former Shaft and OZ actor and Wu Tang Clan graffiti artist
Gano Grills is an emerging cult leader who claims to be
God. He says he’s here on a mission to usher 144,000 people
off the planet. He claims to do exorcisms and revive the
dead. He says he’s part of a Galactic Council of 22 gods that
contains four insectoids. Women who have abortions suffer
catastrophic karmic debt, he believes.” He also believes that
“Kendrick Lamar is a ‘propagator of Lucifer’ and drinking dark
rum or Hennessy attract bad spirits. He sells training programs
for as much as $12,000. He also says Michael Jackson told him
in a meditation that he wanted the world to know he was
murdered.” (Medium, 5/29/18)
Flanders turns to imams for prisoner deradicalization
“...After the appointment of two Flemish deradicalisation
consultants, Flemish Minister of Welfare, Jo Vandeurzen
(CD &V), initiated a project called Theological Approach
to Islamic Radicalization. This project, with an allocation of
174,000 euro, is aimed at detainees on parole. … ‘Flanders is
taking the initiative to prevent #radicalisation,’ Vandeurzen
writes in a tweet. ‘Selected imams accompany ex-prisoners
on their way back to society.’ The Investigation Committee
22/3 on terrorism recommended that prisons increase
their deradicalisation programmes and training for Islamist
detainees. ‘Religious and spiritual support can also be
improved,’ it added. The committee … also asked for more
imams who are trained here and speak one of the national
languages.” (Brussels Times, 6/6/18)
Jehovah’s Witnesses parents’ legal win means child with
cancer can skip blood transfusions
“The parents of a 14-year-old boy with bone cancer won a
legal challenge against a Mesa hospital that attempted to
override their religious objections to blood transfusions.
The Arizona Court of Appeals on Tuesday ruled that a lower
court’s emergency hotline used by hospitals to authorize
medical treatment on behalf of patients is not allowed under
state law. ...While Banner Cardon’s medical-treatment plan
initially consisted of alternative therapies to fit the parents’
[Jehovah’s Witnesses] religious views, hospital staff later
Canadian followers of these religions have fought for more
than 15 years to obtain an exemption from the Canadian
federal government. Jeffrey Bronfman, a third-generation heir
to one of Montreal’s wealthiest families, was at the heart of
the negotiations. Ironically, his great-uncle, Samuel Bronfman
made his fortune in the 1920s with the Seagram liquor
company, while alcohol was banned in the United States.
...The exemption in Canada closely follows the protocols
established under an agreement negotiated with the drug
control authorities in the United States, Bronfman writes, in an
email sent to VICE. Previously, Canadian members of the UDV
had to cross the border to participate in religious services.
‘To obtain permission from the Canadian government for
our tradition to be recognized stemmed from the need to
care for our members so that they would not have to travel
so far to practice our religion.’ In 2000, Canada Customs
intercepted a number of plants destined for Ceù do Montreal
and turned it over to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The
president of the organization, Dr. Jessica Rochester, made
an initial request for an exemption from Health Canada. On
the group’s website, she writes that the Conservative years
in Canada, from 2006 to 2015, completely froze the process.
Health Canada officially rejected her application in 2012. (Dr.
Rochester refused all our requests for an interview.) ...Jean-
Sébastien Fallu looks favourably on this new openness on
the part of the federal authorities. The professor is also the
founder of GRIP Montreal, a group that has been fighting
for two decades to obtain an exemption for the purpose of
analyzing substances. ‘Any move away from prohibition is
good news,’ he said. ‘The more exemptions are granted, the
more likely it is to facilitate our requests for the analysis of
[these] substances.’” (VICE News, 04/12/18)
Utah company that used child labor must still pay
$200,000 to compensate kids, federal appeals court rules
“A federal appeals court has upheld most of the ruling against
a company affiliated with a polygamous church [FLDS]
and which was found to have used child labor, though the
company did win one point. The contempt of court finding
against Paragon Contractors Corp. and its owner, Brian
Jessop, stands, and they still must pay $200,000 into a fund
to compensate the children who harvested pecans on a
ranch near Hurricane in 2012. But the 10th Circuit Court of
Appeals said a federal judge in Salt Lake City was wrong to
make Jessop and Paragon report to what is called a special
master—someone who would monitor their business
practices. That could be an important ruling for Jessop. Last
month, he appeared at a new court hearing where he was
accused of failing to comply with that special master. ...
Paragon and Jessop had entered into an agreement with the
U.S. Department of Labor in 2007 to not use child labor in
ways that violated the law. After hearing testimony about the
2012 pecan harvest, U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell found
Paragon and Jessop in contempt for violating the earlier
agreement. She then ordered the $200,000 be paid and that
Paragon and Jessop report their work to the special master.
...Jessop may still be in trouble for more recent business
dealings. At the hearing last month, the Labor Department
presented evidence that Paragon had folded into a new
company, called Par 2, that should inherit the child labor
restrictions imposed in 2007. Inspectors in Arizona found Par
2 building a motel. They also suspected Par 2 of employing
two 17-year-olds who were using nail guns. Federal labor
laws says no one under 18 may operate such machinery. Jeff
Matura, an attorney for Par 2, on Thursday said a judge in Salt
Lake City can still consider whether Par 2 is subject to the
order not to violate child labor laws, but questions about the
special master are moot. ‘We can’t be held in contempt for
violating something that should not have been ordered in the
first place,’ Matura said.” (Salt Lake Tribune, 03/15/18)
OZ actor claims to be God, starts cult called Galighticus
“Former Shaft and OZ actor and Wu Tang Clan graffiti artist
Gano Grills is an emerging cult leader who claims to be
God. He says he’s here on a mission to usher 144,000 people
off the planet. He claims to do exorcisms and revive the
dead. He says he’s part of a Galactic Council of 22 gods that
contains four insectoids. Women who have abortions suffer
catastrophic karmic debt, he believes.” He also believes that
“Kendrick Lamar is a ‘propagator of Lucifer’ and drinking dark
rum or Hennessy attract bad spirits. He sells training programs
for as much as $12,000. He also says Michael Jackson told him
in a meditation that he wanted the world to know he was
murdered.” (Medium, 5/29/18)
Flanders turns to imams for prisoner deradicalization
“...After the appointment of two Flemish deradicalisation
consultants, Flemish Minister of Welfare, Jo Vandeurzen
(CD &V), initiated a project called Theological Approach
to Islamic Radicalization. This project, with an allocation of
174,000 euro, is aimed at detainees on parole. … ‘Flanders is
taking the initiative to prevent #radicalisation,’ Vandeurzen
writes in a tweet. ‘Selected imams accompany ex-prisoners
on their way back to society.’ The Investigation Committee
22/3 on terrorism recommended that prisons increase
their deradicalisation programmes and training for Islamist
detainees. ‘Religious and spiritual support can also be
improved,’ it added. The committee … also asked for more
imams who are trained here and speak one of the national
languages.” (Brussels Times, 6/6/18)
Jehovah’s Witnesses parents’ legal win means child with
cancer can skip blood transfusions
“The parents of a 14-year-old boy with bone cancer won a
legal challenge against a Mesa hospital that attempted to
override their religious objections to blood transfusions.
The Arizona Court of Appeals on Tuesday ruled that a lower
court’s emergency hotline used by hospitals to authorize
medical treatment on behalf of patients is not allowed under
state law. ...While Banner Cardon’s medical-treatment plan
initially consisted of alternative therapies to fit the parents’
[Jehovah’s Witnesses] religious views, hospital staff later
