Welcome to Sott.net
Mon, 08 Nov 2021
The World for People who Think

Puppet Masters
Map

Arrow Up

US regulator slaps Facebook with largest-ever fine: $5B for privacy violations


RT
Fri, 12 Jul 2019 23:45 UTC
Facebookfined
© digitalbusinessstop.com/KJN
Facebook will pay $5 billion and submit to "government restrictions" on its treatment of users' private data under the terms of the largest-ever Federal Trade Commission settlement imposed for privacy violations, sources said.

The settlement includes "government restrictions on how Facebook treats user privacy," Reuters and the Wall Street Journal reported citing sources familiar with the matter, without specifying what those restrictions might be. The FTC only narrowly approved the fine in a vote that came down along party lines.

The fine punishes Facebook for allowing as many as 87 million users' data to fall into the possession of political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica in violation of a 2012 FTC consent decree. Under that agreement, reached after Facebook had already repeatedly violated user trust by sharing data with advertisers and app developers, the platform pledged to obtain explicit consent before serving up users' private information to third parties.

Nor was Cambridge Analytica the only violation the FTC uncovered: during the investigation, which began last March, the regulator found over 150 data-sharing partnerships with third-party corporations that saw reams of private data change hands without the knowledge or consent of the user.

Comment: See also:

      Read More...
X

Hassan Nasrallah: US wants talks with Hizballah but imposes new sanctions


RFE/RL
Sat, 13 Jul 2019 02:07 UTC
Nasrallah
© Reuters
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Lebanon's Iran-backed Hizballah movement, says the United States has been attempting to open communications with his group despite imposing new sanctions against its leaders.

The administration of President Donald Trump "is seeking to open channels of communication to Hizballah in Lebanon through mediators.... These are the American pragmatists," Nasrallah told Hizballah's Al-Manar TV on July 12, without elaborating.

In the same interview, Nasrallah said that should war break out between Washington and Tehran, U.S. ally Israel would not be considered a "neutral" country and that it could be attacked by Iran.

He said that "Iran is able to bombard Israel with ferocity and force. When the Americans understand that this war could wipe out Israel, they will reconsider," Nasrallah said. There was no immediate comment from the U.S. State Department in response to Nasrallah's remarks.

Comment: See also:

      Read More...
Star of David

Israeli TV: Claims IAEA found proof of Iran's violation of nuclear deal thanks to Mossad intel - again


Sputnik
Fri, 12 Jul 2019 15:42 UTC
Netanyahu
© CNBC.com
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu: "But, I made proof! You don't believe me?"
Last week, Tehran announced that its uranium enrichment levels would soon surpass limits set by the 2015 nuclear deal, and that it would continue to reduce its commitments under the treaty every 60 days unless other signatories meet their commitments.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has found traces of radioactive materials at a "secret atomic warehouse" which prove Iran's violation the 2015 nuclear deal, but has avoided publicising this information, Israel's Channel 13 broadcaster has reported, citing four senior Israeli officials said to be involved in the matter.

'Top Israeli sources' told Channel 13 that IAEA officials were holding back publicising information about the violations at the 'secret' site at Turquzabad, whose existence was reportedly revealed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his 2018 'Iran Lied' speech.

IAEA officials visited the Turquzabad site repeatedly by April 2019, taking samples from the site and promising to reveal their findings in June, but have yet to do so. Instead, the Jerusalem Post has alleged, the IAEA and others have been "distracted by Iran's open violations of uranium enrichment limits," including by the recent announcement by Iranian officials that Iran has begun enriching uranium beyond the 3.67 per cent limit outlined by the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear treaty.

Comment: There is a reason the IAEA has repeatedly snubbed this 'finding'. Netanyahu's 'revelation' is an elaborate Israeli fabrication staged 'as proof of Tehran's treaty violations'.

See also:

      Read More...
Card - VISA

Visa won't refuse to process payments in Russia, continue transactions despite US sanctions


RT
Fri, 12 Jul 2019 14:52 UTC
VISA/Coins
© Sputnik/Sleksey Philippov
International payment organization Visa said it is ready to comply with Russian law on the national card system to continue smooth operations in the country. The company pledged to process all transactions despite US sanctions.

The firm's press service told TASS Russia is a strategically important market for Visa. It has dismissed concerns that new provisions of the law "on the national payment system" could lead to withdrawal from the country.

"Visa is committed to its mission of ensuring smooth operation of non-cash payments for all participants of the payment system — banks, merchants (retail businesses) and consumers," the press service said, adding that it does not comment on the opinions of third parties "based on assumptions and personal view of the author."

The draft law in Russia prohibits international payment systems from refusing to process transactions in compliance with US sanctions. The Bank of Russia expressed confidence that international payment systems will continue operations in Russia.

"Amendments are aimed at ensuring conformity of the activity of all payment system operators with the Russian law. We are confident all the payment systems will work just as before. We do not see reasons for concern," the bank's press service told TASS.

Comment: See also: Visa to continue servicing international payments by building its own center in Russia

      Read More...
X

Head of US international broadcast agency blatantly lies to Congress regarding RT and Sputnik funding - facts don't matter!


RT
Fri, 12 Jul 2019 11:05 UTC
John Lansing
© RT
CEO John Lansing
The CEO of the American agency that governs international broadcasting has made a powerful, if blatantly false, sales pitch for his fight against 'Russian disinformation'... right after saying "any lie will do" for the Kremlin.

John Lansing, the CEO of the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which supervises Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, among others, raised the alarm over Washington's favorite shadowboxing opponent - 'fake news' allegedly spread by the Kremlin - at a recent House Committee on Appropriations hearing. He is worried his agency isn't getting enough government money to fight "Russian disinformation."

As the main perpetrators, he named RT and Sputnik (no surprise there). Their goal, according to Lansing, is to "destroy the very idea of an objective, verifiable set of facts," their modus operandi - "in a world where nothing is empirically truthful, any lie will do." He then set his own pants on fire by claiming that while he doesn't know for certain how much the Russian government invests in those outlets, he knows "it's more than the US government invests. "How much more? "I think it's around the 10x factor, absolutely."

Which is about a 19x factor away from the truth. USAGM's 2019 budget is $808 million. The combined 2019 budget of RT and Sputnik's media group is around $440 million - a far cry from the $8bn+ Lansing generously estimated.

      Read More...
Attention

All hail Elon's Martian technocracy!

James Corbett
Corbett Report
Sun, 14 Jul 2019 18:47 UTC
Elon's Martian Technocracy
© Corbett Report
Imagine being the real-life Tony Stark: A billionaire, jetsetting tech whiz playboy who's developing the multi-billion dollar rockets that will not only privatize space travel but help get humanity to Mars. And imagine you announce the whole thing on Twitter with a big, splashy "Occupy Mars" picture of the red planet . . .

Only to be told that you posted a picture of the moon by mistake. A red-hued "blood" moon, to be sure, but the moon nonetheless.

How embarrassing.

Luckily, the cool billionaire tech guru who's selling electric cars and building underground hyperloops and rescuing Thai children from caves (and selling Not A Flamethrowers to raise some money on the side) took it exactly how you'd expect he would: By tweeting a couple of laugh-crying emojis and a hearty "Moon too!"

What class. But then again, would you expect anything less from the man that Werner von Braun predicted would be the future leader of Mars? Of course not.

What many may have missed in the back-and-forth about the moon/Mars gaffe, however is another tweet he made about the scheme. Granted, this one is not quite so exciting to the general reader: "Accelerating Starship development to build the Martian Technocracy."

The "Martian Technocracy?" What's this? More whimsy from everybody's favorite mega-rich tech geek?

Sadly, no. In fact, what Musk's supporters might not know is that he has a very real family connection to the actual, historical Technocracy, Inc. movement/political party. which might help explain Musk's outlook, his rise to prominence, and some of his wackier (not to mention creepier) ideas on the eventual merging of humans and machines.
      Read More...
Star of David

Labour shreds BBC Panorama report depicting Party as anti-Semitic swamp


RT
Thu, 11 Jul 2019 04:03 UTC
corbyn bbc
© (L) Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn / Reuters / Peter Nicholls; (R) BBC logo / Reuters / Olivia Harris
A BBC program probing anti-Semitism in the Labour Party has sparked a furious response from the party, which denounced the report and its producer, who directed an earlier program smearing party leader Jeremy Corbyn, as biased.

An episode of BBC Panorama entitled 'Is Labour Anti-Semitic?' purported to get to the bottom of what the BBC has melodramatically described as "the anti-Semitism crisis gripping Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party." Based largely on information provided by eight former party members, the show has provoked a wave of indignation from Labour, which accused the BBC of violating its own "obligations of fairness, balance and political impartiality."

Comment: See also:

      Read More...
Question

Is this Project Mayhem or Project Epstein?

Tom Luongo
Gold Goats 'n Guns
Sun, 14 Jul 2019 16:42 UTC
trump nuclear explosion
Only Donald Trump knows.

From the moment I heard Jeffrey Epstein had been arrested I knew none of us had anything close to the real story. And, by the time this is over, I don't think we'll have anything close to the real story either.

That shouldn't, however, keep us from picking through the bread crumbs and see where they lead us. I wrote previously that I thought this story would lead to Hillary Clinton. The MAGA crowd loved that.

Regardless of whether Hillary winds up being the target is irrelevant. What I wrote the other day I still feel is the most likely situation.

Comment: More on the Dynacorp angle from Steemit author krnel:
[...]

The sex trafficking network has connections to the CIA and DynCorp. A special report on Occurrences: Foreign and Domestic identified Epstein's suspected trafficking vehicle, a small plane, which had the "same tail number as a State department Bronco used under contract by DynCorp." This is the same plane that was involved in DynCorp sex trafficking of minors in the Balkans.

Most of the business DynCorp had by 2003 came from the CIA. Wired wrote of the importance of DynCorp in 2003:
DynCorp represents nothing less than the future of national security. While outfits like Raytheon make their money developing weapons systems, DynCorp offers the military an alternative to itself. In 2002, the company took in $2.3 billion doing what you probably thought was Pentagon work. DynCorp planes and pilots fly the defoliation missions that are the centerpiece of Plan Colombia.

Armed DynCorp employees constitute the core of the police force in Bosnia. DynCorp troops protect Afghan president Hamid Karzai. DynCorp manages the border posts between the US and Mexico, many of the Pentagon's weapons-testing ranges, and the entire Air Force One fleet of presidential planes and helicopters. During the Persian Gulf War, it was DynCorp employees, not soldiers, who serviced and rearmed American combat choppers, and it's DynCorp's people, not military personnel, who late last year began "forward deploying" equipment and ammunition to the Middle East in preparation for war with Iraq.

DynCorp inventories everything seized by the Justice Department's Asset Forfeiture Program, runs the Naval Air Warfare Center at Patuxent River, Maryland, and is producing the smallpox and anthrax vaccines the government may use to inoculate everyone in the United States.
It stands to reason that the CIA was involved in sex trafficking as part of their operations at the time, possibly for their own operatives or other soldiers who had these perverted predilections. The operation may have been multi-national, with who knows how many planes trafficking girls in various areas of the world for sexual exploitation by the powerful rich or military men.

References:


      Read More...
Bad Guys

Russian envoy says OPCW report on 2018 Syria chemical 'attack' was politicized, new probe may be needed


RT
Sun, 14 Jul 2019 15:50 UTC
opcw
© Agence France-Presse
The OPCW report on the 2018 chemical "attack" in Syria's Douma is inconsistent and was clearly made to fit the pre-existing political narrative, Russia's envoy to the organization has said, adding that a new probe might be needed.

The report, released early in March, was the main topic of a large press conference held by the Russian permanent representative at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Aleksandr Shulgin, and other officials in The Hague on Friday.

The fact-finding mission into the April 7, 2018 alleged chemical incident in the Damascus suburb, Douma, said that "molecular chlorine" was likely used, and also claimed that the canisters with it were dropped from a high altitude - implying that the Syrian government was behind it.

Comment: The OPCW has lost the its reputation for impartiality over this incident. It was never the OPCW's mandate to assign blame in an incident. One must wonder what pressure was brought to bear on OPCW members to sign off on a bogus report.

      Read More...
Light Sabers

Iranian Tanker Piracy talks: Zarif insists on immediate release, Jeremy Hunt gives conditions


RT
Sat, 13 Jul 2019 00:00 UTC
navyIranian oil supertanker Grace 1 - Royal
© REUTERS/Jon Nazca/File Photo
A British Royal Navy patrol vessel guards the oil supertanker Grace 1
London vowed to "facilitate" the release of the Iranian oil tanker captured in Gibraltar if Tehran guarantees its destination is not Syria while Iran said it would continue to export oil "under any circumstances."

The UK would agree to set free the Iranian tanker the British marines seized in Gibraltar if Tehran reassures it that the vessel will not go to Syria, British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt told Iran's Mohammad Javad Zarif in a phone conversation.
      Read More...
Amazon Smile
Revolt! T-shirts