Welcome to Sott.net
Fri, 05 Nov 2021
The World for People who Think

Puppet Masters
Map

Rocket

Report: Chinese missiles could cripple US Asia-Pacific forces as Washington loses military primacy


Sputnik
Mon, 19 Aug 2019 16:59 UTC
destroyer
© Sputnik / Igor Zarembo
The 104-page report also urged the US and its Pacific allies, namely Australia and Japan, to overhaul their military investment plans as well as spending and relationships in the region.

China has enough cutting-edge ballistic missile technology to destroy the United States' Western Pacific Navy fleets and military bases in a matter of "hours", a report from the University of Sydney said on Monday.

The US no longer "enjoys military primacy" in the Indo-Pacific and has an "uncertain" capacity to keep a "favourable balance of power", the report from the University's United States Studies Centre said.

Beijing could quickly topple US forces "particularly around Taiwan, the Japanese archipelago or maritime Southeast Asia" before Washington could respond, authors Ashley Townshend, Matilda Steward and Brendan Thomas-Noone warned.

Comment: And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why 'pro-democracy' riots have been taking place in HK for the last couple of months.

If you can't beat your enemy this way, come at him that way...

      Read More...
Russian Flag

Russian lawmakers create 'anti-foreign meddling' commission, will send results to PACE, OSCE


RT
Mon, 19 Aug 2019 16:52 UTC
russia coat of arms
© Sputnik / Natalia Seliverstova
Russian coat of arms on the facade of the parliament building in Moscow.
Lawmakers in Moscow are gearing up to examine reports of foreign meddling and deliver the findings to the parliamentary assemblies of the Council of Europe and the OSCE, as well as to the 'offending' countries.

On Monday, the council of the State Duma, the lower house of the nation's parliament, created a 12-person commission tasked with investigating foreign meddling in Russia's domestic affairs.

Comment:

      Read More...
Light Sabers

Beijing warns US of 'consequences' after Donald Trump approves US$8 billion sale of fighter jets to Taiwan

Lawrence Chung
South China Morning Post
Mon, 19 Aug 2019 16:53 UTC
fighter jet
© EPA-EFE
A Taiwan Air Force F-16V takes off during a drill in May
Beijing warned it would take countermeasures against Washington for selling 66 fighter jets to Taiwan after US President Donald Trump said he had approved the US$8 billion deal.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang on Monday said the sale of Lockheed Martin F-16V jets was a serious violation of the one-China principle.

"China has made numerous solemn representations to the US on the sale of F-16V jets to Taiwan," Geng said in a press conference, adding that the United States should halt the sale.

"The US has to bear all the consequences triggered by the sale," Geng said. "China will take necessary measures to defend its self-interest based on the development of the situation."
      Read More...
Satellite

Post- Brexit UK won't have access to EU's Galileo - wants 'Five Eyes' allies' support for new satellite system


Sputnik
Sun, 18 Aug 2019 16:42 UTC
Galileo satellite system
© European Space Agency/J. Huart
The Galileo satellite system
In March 2018, the European Commission in Brussels confirmed the UK after Brexit was likely to be excluded from some aspects of the Galileo project, especially relating to PRS, despite having invested more than £1 billion in the EU Global Navigation Satellite System.

The UK is reaching out to its "Five Eyes" security allies to enlist their help in building an alternative to the EU's Global Navigation Satellite System Galileo, reported The Telegraph.

According to the publication, Space Agency officials have conferred with representatives from the US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, the nations that make up the security pact.
      Read More...
Chess

Trump admin gives Huawei 90 more days to continue buying products from American companies

Bobby Allyn
NPR
Mon, 19 Aug 2019 16:44 UTC
Wilbur Ross
© Eraldo Peres/AP
U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross
The Trump administration is extending a reprieve for Huawei Technologies and U.S. companies working with the telecom giant by 90 days, the Commerce Department announced Monday.

The decision permits Huawei to continue buying products from American companies to support its existing customers. It was made in part to minimize disruption in parts of rural America that rely on relatively inexpensive Huawei equipment to carry wireless service in remote areas, Commerce officials said.

"It is another 90 days for the U.S. telecom companies," Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Fox Business Network. "Some of the rural companies are dependent on Huawei. So we're giving them a little more time to wean themselves off."

At the same time, the Trump administration is continuing to apply pressure to Huawei. Forty-six Huawei subsidiaries are being added to what is known as the Commerce Department's "Entity List," a kind of blacklist that bans U.S. companies from doing business because of national security concerns, Commerce officials said Monday.
      Read More...
Dominoes

Google, Facebook, Amazon to testify in US against French digital tax


CNBC
Wed, 14 Aug 2019 16:38 UTC
tech companies
Alphabet Google unit, Facebook and Amazon are among the companies that will testify Monday at a U.S. government hearing on the French government's digital services tax.

In July, the French Senate approved a 3% levy that will apply to revenue from digital services earned in France by companies with more than 25 million euros in French revenue and 750 million euros ($838 million) worldwide.

The U.S. Trade Representative's Office in July opened a probe into the new tax it called "unreasonable." The office could issue new tariffs on French goods or other trade restrictions after the public comment period closes on Aug. 26.

Amazon's international tax policy director Peter Hiltz said in written testimony for the USTR hearing that more than 10,000 French-based small- and medium-size businesses are selling on Amazon's online stores and notified them that certain fees will increase by 3% for sales made on Amazon.fr starting Oct. 1.
      Read More...
Attention

New evidence emerges showing why Steele, the Ohrs and TSA workers never should have become DOJ sources

John Solomon
The Hill
Thu, 15 Aug 2019 16:30 UTC
bruce ohr and chris steele

Christopher Steele, Bruce Ohr, Glenn Simpson
One of the inevitable outcomes of the Russia case will be that the Department of Justice (DOJ) almost certainly will need internal reforms.

The first reform is the most obvious, given the unraveling of the Russia collusion narrative: a new set of rules governing when the FBI can investigate or spy on a First Amendment-protected political campaign during an election.

The FBI never should have been allowed to sustain a counterintelligence investigation into Donald Trump's campaign based on hearsay from Australian diplomat Alexander Downer, who helped to arrange a $25 million Australian government donation to the Clinton Foundation, and on a "minimally" verified dossier written by British spy Christopher Steele, who was working on the Hillary Clinton opposition-research team.
      Read More...
Wolf

Sara Netanyahu flies into rage at not being welcomed aboard plane, security stops her storming cockpit


The Jerusalem Post
Mon, 19 Aug 2019 16:30 UTC
sara netanyahu
© EMIL SALMAN/POOL
Sara Netanyahu in court in the Prepared Food Affair on June 16th, 2019.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's wife, Sara Netanyahu, was furious after not being welcomed on the speakerphone on a plane by the captain of an El Al flight to Ukraine, according to Channel 12's report on Sunday.

Netanyahu rose from her seat and angrily requested to enter the cockpit, but the security guards prevented her from doing so. After a while, the captain of the plane spoke again on the loudspeaker and welcomed her.

El Al said in response to the news: "The prime minister's flight went according to plan. We were pleased to host the prime minister and Mrs. Netanyahu on our flight to Ukraine."

Comment: It perhaps sounds hard to believe, except Sara Netanyahu is pretty shameless about her seriously ugly side: Sara Netanyahu's narcissistic rage unleashed on aide: "I'm an educated woman, a psy-cho-lo-gist!" in recording from 2009 (VIDEO)

This video from RT's Ruptly shows that on her arrival to Ukraine she deliberately drops the welcome bread given to her by her hosts on the floor:

And we haven't even got into the fact that the king and queen of Israel were more than happy to visit perhaps the only country on Earth where anti-Semitism is part of the official culture...

      Read More...
Question

The return of Steve Bannon? Former aide reportedly regaining Trump's favor

Steven Nelson
The Washington Examiner
Fri, 16 Aug 2019 16:20 UTC
Steve Bannon
© Kevin Lamarque / Reuters
Steve Bannon
In the four months after he left the White House in August 2017, Steve Bannon would order reporters to the basement of the Capitol Hill townhouse known as the "Breitbart Embassy." Sometimes, the news organization's then-chairman would hustle to the third floor. President Trump was calling.

As with many Trump aides before him, Bannon was fired but remained in a wide circle of former employees and friends consulted by the president. But unlike many others, the phase didn't last long, ending in a pitiable downfall.

Bannon's influence imploded with the January 2018 release of author Michael Wolff's Fire and Fury. The former White House chief strategist had given Wolff broad access and was quoted calling Donald Trump Jr. "treasonous" for meeting a Russian hawking dirt on Hillary Clinton.

Comment: More background on Bannon's political fortunes.

      Read More...
Control Panel

Did Anthony Weiner's emails reveal a trove of incriminating information about political elites?

Joe Hoft
The Gateway Pundit
Fri, 16 Aug 2019 00:00 UTC
Anthony Weiner
Newly uncovered documents show that the Obama White House ran the Weiner email investigation. The corrupt FBI and DOJ worked with them. We raised this question in April 2018 - Why would Mueller, Comey, Hillary and the Deep State go all in to remove President Trump from office? Their actions are more like rabid dogs than sore losers. There must be something more.

The DOJ IG's report on McCabe released on Friday April 14, 2018 was a bombshell. We discovered hidden in it were pieces of information that when put into context with information released at that time indicate unimaginable corruption!

The DOJ IG's report related to the many lies made by former FBI Head Andrew McCabe is 39 pages in length. (See report here - See our summary of the report here.) One key item that was included in the IG's report was related to Anthony Weiner's emails.

Comment: If all of this is correct, don't be surprised if Weiner gets Epsteined.

See also:

      Read More...
Amazon Smile
Revolt! T-shirts