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Card - VISA

Best of the Web: 'Blade Runner' was set in November 2019: Instead of seeing it as a warning, we used it as an instruction manual

blade runner
© Global Look / filmstills
The real world has caught up to the dystopian sci-fi classic Blade Runner, set in November 2019. While robots aren't quite passing for humans, they're silently taking over human jobs and roles.

The real Los Angeles of November 2019 bears more than a passing resemblance to the chilling future depicted in 'Blade Runner', where ultra-realistic androids prowl the streets pretending to be human and corporations have taken on most of the functions of government. While the US doesn't have flying cars - yet - many of the other technologies seen in the 1982 adaptation of Philip K. Dick's novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep have become reality.


Comment: On whether or not we're beset on all sides by robots passing for humans... perhaps not literally, but functionally?


Comment: Then there are the bouts of incessant rain, which most places experience regularly now. Then there's the depravity-as-mass-consumerism. Then there's the police state. All the elements of Blade Runner have come to pass, right on schedule...


MIB

Best of the Web: Manufactured terror: MI5 lifted surveillance of London Bridge terrorist weeks before attack


Comment: And they wonder why most people don't believe them anymore...


attack at London Bridge
© Getty Images / Anadolu Agency / Isabel InfantesPolice officers cordoned off London Bridge following last night terror attack at London Bridge
The suspension of priority MI5 investigations into the ringleader of the London Bridge attacks before the atrocity is a matter of "legitimate public concern", the chief coroner for England and Wales has said.

In his Prevention of Future Deaths report, published on Friday, Mark Lucraft QC also suggested that further measures should be introduced to reduce the risk of rental vehicles being used in terrorist attacks.

Eight people were killed when three terrorists led by Khuram Butt, 27, drove a van into pedestrians on London Bridge and then began stabbing people in a 10-minute rampage on 3 June 2017.

MI5 had been been investigating Butt since 2015 over concerns he wanted to stage an attack. But the investigation was suspended twice, in 2016 and again from 21 March to 4 May 2017, weeks before the attacks.

Comment: That's pretty much as good an admission you'll get from a Western government that 'Islamist terrorists' are directed by state security forces.


Pirates

Best of the Web: Russian Foreign Ministry: US is smuggling $30mn of crude monthly from occupied Syrian oil fields, violating its OWN sanctions


Comment: The silver lining to this outright plunder is that it further exposes the real motivation of Western govts in the ME and elsewhere.


us oil smuggling syra
© AFP / Delil SouleimanA Syrian man walks on as US armoured vehicles patrol the northeastern town of Qahtaniyah at the border with Turkey, on October 31, 2019.
A supposed champion of the rule of law, the US is violating its own anti-Syrian sanctions by smuggling crude from oil fields it seized from Damascus, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova has said.

Each month the US smuggles crude worth $30 million out of Syria, according to Zakharova. The fuel comes from fields in the northeastern part of the country, where the US maintains a military presence after pulling its troops back from the Syrian-Turkish border.

"A nation that repeats ad nauseam that it sticks to democratic values and rule of law in international relations, is pumping oil... under a pretense of fighting ISIL," the official said, using an outdated name for terrorist group Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL).

Comment: Pentagon chief Esper has doubled down on the U.S.' intent to steal Syrian oil:
Secretary of Defence Mark Esper has confirmed that the US plans to continue controlling Syria's oil fields, and to prevent them from falling into the hands of terrorists or "other actors".
"The mission is, as I've spoken to and I've conveyed it to the commander, and that is, we will secure oil fields to deny their access to ISIS* and other actors in the region, and to ensure that the [Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces] has continued access, because those resources are - are important, and so that the SDF -can do its mission, what it needs to do in the region," Esper said, speaking to reporters on Thursday after meeting with Australian Minister for Defence Linda Reynolds.
[...] US efforts to seize control of Syria's oil fields have been criticised by Syria and its allies. Last week, the Russian military presented intelligence materials on a $30 million a month oil smuggling scheme used by the Pentagon and the CIA which Moscow described as nothing short of "international state banditry". According to Russian intelligence, the illegal US-supervised extraction of Syrian oil was being carried out by "leading American corporations" and private military contractors, with US special forces and air power used for protection.

Oil revenues could serve as a much-needed support for rebuilding the war-torn country. Last year, Damascus estimated that rebuilding the country could require up to $400 billion in spending, and take over a decade to complete. The US and its European allies have refused to commit funding toward the reconstruction effort, even as hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees have returned home in recent years amid the lull in fighting.

This week, the United Nations called for Syria relief, with a Syrian government representative warning that the future of the Syrian peace process may be threatened by the continued illegal presence of foreign forces on Syrian territory, "the spoliation of the resources of our country and the continuing imposition of unilateral economic sanctions".
In other words, the U.S. intends to hamstring any effort made to rebuild Syria or, failing that, hopes to push the brunt of the cost onto Russia and Iran: A video posted to Twitter allegedly shows a U.S. convoy leaving a Syrian oil field:






MIB

Best of the Web: 'Thank God for the deep state': Once rejected as conspiracy theory, MSM and CIA are now embracing reality of secret govt

Deep State
In just a few short months, the US political establishment has gone from denying the existence of the 'Deep State' and calling it a conspiracy theory, to praising it as the bulwark of the Republic against President Donald Trump.

"Thank God for the 'Deep State,'" declared former CIA director John E. McLaughlin at an event this week, describing the diplomats and intelligence officers testifying before the congressional impeachment inquiry as "people who are doing their duty or responding to a higher call."

Lavishing praise on the 'whistleblower' intelligence officer whose complaint about Trump's phone call launched the impeachment probe, McLaughlin said the intelligence community is "institutionally committed to objectivity and telling the truth."


Comment: In other words, McLaughlin is a liar with no commitment to objectivity or truth. Either that, or he's just a complete idiot - and he doesn't seem to be stupid.


One would think this might be a bit rich, coming from the former deputy director of the CIA at the time of the infamous 'Iraqi WMDs' fiasco - and acting director for a time in 2004 - but McLaughlin's comments were met with applause by the crowd at George Mason University's Schar School of Policy and Government.


Fireball 4

Best of the Web: Halloween surprise! Asteroid narrowly missed Earth yesterday - Discovered as it flew by - Closest on record


Comment: Week after week, 'newly-discovered' asteroid after 'newly-discovered' asteroid, closer and closer...


Asteroid approaching Earth C0PPEV1
According to data from these early observations, the asteroid came closer to the surface of our planet (without actually colliding with our atmosphere) than any other close approach in NASA's database of known near-Earth objects.
Even space rocks are supplying jump scares on Halloween, just like your favorite horror flick.

A near-Earth asteroid currently identified as C0PPEV1 was spotted in the early morning hours Thursday by the Catalina Sky Survey, based in Arizona, and shortly thereafter by New Mexico's Magdalena Ridge Observatory and Arizona's Mt. Lemmon Steward Observatory.


Comment: Just to be clear (because the author isn't): it was only FIRST DISCOVERED at this point.


According to data from these early observations, the asteroid came closer to the surface of our planet (without actually colliding with our atmosphere) than any other close approach in NASA's database of known near-Earth objects.

Simulations show the asteroid passing above southern Africa within 3,852 miles (6,200 km) at the moment of closest approach, around 7:45 a.m. PT. To get an idea of how close this is, consider that many telecommunications satellites orbit at an altitude of 22,236 miles (35,786 km).

Comment: No, we were NOT getting pinged like this before.

In just the last couple of decades, there has been a steady increase in:
  • the number of 'new moons' acquired by the solar system's planets
  • impacts on bodies such as our Moon and Jupiter
  • meteor fireball events in our atmosphere
  • the number of asteroids/comets circulating the inner solar system
That is NOT all just 'thanks to better detection'. Standards are slipping in every other field, so there's no reason to suppose they're excelling in the other direction in just this one field...

These 'newly discovered' space rocks are buzzing by at an alarming frequency: A perfect occasion to read or re-read Witches, Comets and Planetary Cataclysms


Better Earth

Best of the Web: Trump loses more than just battle over Nordstream 2

nord stream
For the past three years the U.S. has fought the construction of the Nordstream 2 pipeline from Russia to Germany every inch of the way.

The battle came down to the last few miles, literally, as Denmark has been withholding the final environmental permit on Nordstream 2 for months.

The U.S., especially under Trump, have committed themselves to a 'whole of government approach' to stop the 55 bcm natural gas pipeline from making landfall in Germany.

I've literally documented every twist and turn of Nordstream 2 over the past few years here (check the archives), at Seeking Alpha and my former Newsletter at Newsmax.

Never once did I think this day wouldn't come where the U.S. would eventually shut the pipeline down. The reason is simple. Europe, and specifically Germany, need the gas and there is no compelling reason for Germany to cave in the end if it wants to survive the 21st century a first world economy.

Comment: See also:


NPC

Best of the Web: Fact-checking Trump's dog tweet shows once again MSM journalists don't understand memes

trump dog
© Twitter / realDonaldTrump
Content with not maintaining any credibility whatsoever, MSM decided to completely tarnish the last smidgen of integrity by losing it over a meme of US president Donald Trump giving a medal to a dog that helped kill ISIS leader.

It all began when President Donald Trump tweeted out a meme created by the Daily Wire. The image depicted him giving a medal to the brave dog that helped corner the recently deceased Islamic State leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The picture is clearly fake and is just Trump having some fun celebrating a successful military raid.

The media, missing the humor - or just wanting to manufacture yet even more outrage as that seems to be all they run on these days - jumped in to express disbelief over the photoshopped image.


Steve Herman, the White House bureau chief for the Voice of America, thought it necessary to contact the president's homestead and ask if the photo was photoshopped, even going so far as to confirm that there "was no such canine event" on the POTUS' schedule. Meanwhile, Shirish Date, the White House correspondent at the Huffington Post, boldly stated the president was "disseminating a doctored image created by a right-wing propaganda site."


Attention

Best of the Web: You have been warned: 'Woke lefties are the militant wing of neoliberalism'

Brendan O’Neill
© Sp!ked OnlineBrendan O’Neill, editor of Spiked Online
Great work man!

The business class's desire for open borders is simple to understand; they want the cheapest labour possible, from wherever. Social solidarity is irrelevant. Capital has no roots, and no inherent sense of morality. Some call these people Anywheres - I call them Nowheres. 21st century capital is really no improvement on the 19th century Atlantic slave trade, in terms of its ultimate motivation. It is rather ironic then, that opposition to open borders and mass legal & illegal immigration is regularly referred to as racist.

Comment: Brendan O'Neill is one of the growing number of voices calling out 'woke' culture for the trojan horse it is. The sad part is, through at least two generations of dumbing-down through indoctrination passed off as "education", the vociferous hordes have no idea they are being weaponized to destroy all the rights they think they are fighting for.


Camcorder

Best of the Web: Guerilla journalists sneak onto Jeffrey Epstein's 'Pedo Island'

epstein island statue
A group of guerilla journalists from We Are Change snuck onto Jeffrey Epstein's island, Little St. James, where they recorded the island's features in high-definition.

Founder Luke Rudowski and a crew were able to book a ride onto the deceased pedophile's island, where they found a series of "satanic gargoyles" and explored landmarks such as Epstein's strange cube-shaped 'temple.'

Comment: The other fellow was Jeff Berwick of DollarVigilante.

Kind of a Nothing-Burger. It seems rather obvious that anything incriminating on that island would have been removed long ago. Good for some thrill-seeking, though.

See also:


Light Saber

Best of the Web: Lavrov denounces US military's oil moves in Syria as 'arrogant & illegal' at Russian-Turkish-Iranian press event


Comment: The foreign ministers were in Geneva for the kick-off of the new Syrian constitutional committee, a process largely driven by Russia...


Cavusoglu zarif lavrov
© Reuters / Denis BalibouseTurkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Geneva, Switzerland, October 29, 2019.
The US was "arrogant" to send its troops to guard oilfields in Syria, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said, adding that it remains unclear from whom the installations need to be protected.

The actions of the Americans in Syria violate international law, as their presence in the country is "illegal," Lavrov reiterated, appearing alongside his Iranian and Turkish counterparts at a press-conference in Geneva, Switzerland.
The statement that this [US] presence is needed to protect the oil riches of Syria is arrogant. It turns out that they are being protected from Syria itself.

Comment: The U.S. is no more than a thief in the night, claiming to be a helpful, if uninvited, guest. There is no other way to put it.
The oil fields in question were traditionally used to meet domestic demands and are too small to be interesting to Washington in terms of profit, journalist and orientalist Andrey Ontikov told RT.

One clue might be in the words of US Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who said the purpose of keeping the troops in Syria is to "deny access to [IS] and any other groups that may want to seek that revenue to enable their own malign activities." (emphasis added)

This phrasing is a dead giveaway that the oil gambit is not about IS, but about blocking the government in Damascus from using its own natural resources to rebuild. Already under a blockade by the US and its EU allies, Syria desperately needs the oil to help its people survive the winter. "Malign activities" is a phrase Washington often uses in reference to Iran, a strategic partner and ally of the Syrian government.

If that sounds to you like a policy designed by someone from the Washington establishment, which has dreamed of regime change in Damascus for the past eight years and greeted Trump's decision with wailing and gnashing of teeth, you are not alone. NBC News has even named a possible culprit - retired General Jack Keane, a Fox News military analyst, who they say gave Trump a briefing about the oil fields.