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

Puppet Masters
Map

Cards

Berlin to update national civil defense measures in response to terrorism wave


RT
Wed, 03 Aug 2016 20:12 UTC
people
© Alex Domanski / Reuters
Against the backdrop of terrorist attacks that rocked Europe - and Germany in particular - in recent months, the German government is set on updating the system of national civil defense for the first time in some 20 years, Bild reported on Thursday.

Citing excerpts from the 69-page draft version of the new document which is expected to be adopted by ministers on August 24, the newspaper reports the proposed changes cover a variety of spheres, from increasing vaccine and basic supplies storage to stocking up on chemical protective suits to be distributed among the population in case of emergency.

All German municipalities will be ordered to dig special water-wells to provide a minimum supply of drinking water for their citizens for at least two weeks, as well as purchase chlorine tablets for disinfection and organize water distribution across their land.

"[Local authorities] are responsible for setting up temporary accommodation and food-distribution places," Bild quotes the paper, adding that in case of an attack (nuclear, biological or chemical) hospitals are planned to be used as"decontamination sites."

The document reportedly addresses the creation of an "own food reserve" for the federal government, as well as increasing federal reserves of drugs and medical products. Currently, there is enough in stock for 14 days.
      Read More...
Wall Street

Follow the 'dark money': America's oligarchs support Clinton almost unanimously

Eric Zuesse
Sott.net
Thu, 04 Aug 2016 00:00 UTC
Hillary money
The results are already in, even before the official campaign-finance final figures will become available after the election.

Though a large percentage of the people funding the campaign advertising will never be made public — due to recent Supreme Court decisions allowing "dark money" — data already exist on the final product of the campaigns (including both the above-board and the dark money), which is the booked advertising time for each of the two candidates at the start of their campaigns. (Similar proportions of donations go also to get-out-the-vote and other campaign-activities; so, these booked-advertising figures correlate rather well with across-the-board funding of the two campaigns.)

Advertising rates — the charges per second of air-time — get higher and higher the later and closer to Election Day the time is booked; so, any candidate who books late is really starved for funds and has little chance of winning; any candidate who does the booking early is getting a big break from the networks and from certain other media. This discount, for early booking, magnifies even further the cash-advantage of the candidate whom the oligarchs prefer.

However, normally, both Parties' nominees have their own billionaires backing them (Republican billionaires backing the Republican nominee, and Democratic billionaires backing the Democratic nominee), and so there's a real contest, they both have a chance; but not this time: Look at the figures, and you can see that, this time around, virtually all of the oligarchs are backing only one candidate: they have united around Clinton.
      Read More...
Dollars

Trying to fill $1.3 billion hole: 'Netflix tax' goes into effect in Pennsylvania


CBS Pittsburgh
Thu, 04 Aug 2016 22:08 UTC
Netflix logo
© Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images
Netflix subscribers will have to pay more to watch movies starting today thanks to a series of new taxes.

The new taxes were part of a revenue package passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Tom Wolf to fill a $1.3 billion hole in the state's new $31.5 billion budget.

The state's existing 6-percent sales tax will now be extended to digital downloads and subscription services like Netflix and Hulu.

This also includes music, e-books, apps, online games, and ringtones.

Magazine and newspaper subscriptions, as well as digital versions of the Bible, will be exempt from the digital downloads tax.

The tax will be triggered when a customer uses an account with a Pennsylvania billing address.
      Read More...
Alarm Clock

Kerry's August 1st deadline/threat in Syria has come and gone: Al-Qaeda launches massive assault in Aleppo, fails

b
Moon of Alabama
Thu, 04 Aug 2016 21:25 UTC
syria siria
© AFP 2016/ GEORGE OURFALIAN
Early May U.S. Secretary of State Kerry set a deadline for "voluntary" regime change in Syria:
[He] said "the target date for the transition is 1st of August" in Syria or else the Assad government and its allies "are asking for a very different track." Hoping that "something happens in these next few months," he said the political transition would not include President Assad because "as long as Assad is there, the opposition is not going to stop fighting."
...
Kerry made those remarks after meeting with the UN special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura and Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov. They agreed to establish a monitoring ceasefire center in Geneva, Switzerland, ...
By the time of that statement al-Qaeda in Syria and U.S. supported insurgents had already broken the February ceasefire announced by Russia and attacked Syrian government positions in the rural area south of Aleppo city.
      Read More...
Bad Guys

Former advisor to Cameron says 'cronyism' symptomatic of Britain's 'corrupt & decaying democracy'


RT
Thu, 04 Aug 2016 20:55 UTC
David Cameron izjavio da je njegova ranija tvrdnja o broju umjerenih pobunjenika u Siriji bila pogrešna
Former Prime Minister David Cameron's rewarding of Tory donors in his resignation honors list symbolizes a "serious type of very British corruption," a past 10 Downing Street adviser says.

Cameron was accused of cronyism this week when a list nominating 48 political allies, aides and donors for honors was leaked. Those on the list include his wife Samantha's stylist and two of his former drivers.

Steve Hilton, who was Cameron's director of strategy from 2010-12, says recognition for Cameron's 'cronies' was "weird and somewhat undignified," but not corrupt.

But he says the presence of Tory and pro-EU donors showed "honors - and even places in our legislature - can be purchased for political donations" and was a symptom of a wider problem, a "corrupt and decaying democracy."

Comment: Further reading:

House of Frauds? Cameron dishes out peerages to expenses scandal MP, City banker & Tory cronies

      Read More...
Bad Guys

Large stash of US-made heavy weapons found in terrorist-held Aleppo district


RT
Thu, 04 Aug 2016 20:38 UTC
Syrian rebels with US weapons
© Ruptly
Footage has emerged online allegedly showing mortars, anti-tank missiles and grenades being uncovered along with a quantity of western (mostly US)-made weapons and ammunition in territories abandoned by terrorists in Syrian Aleppo.

The video appeared online on Thursday and purported to show the discovery of a large cache of western arms and ammunition in a house in Aleppo's eastern Bani Zaid district. The majority of the weapons appear to be of US origin and include US-made anti-tank missiles system (TOW 2A), American UN0181 missiles, as well as US-made 81mm mortars and ammunition. Some of the boxes containing weapons are labeled with the letters 'USA'.
      Read More...
Blackbox

Egypt claims they killed leader of ISIS Sinai branch suspected of downing Russian plane


RT
Thu, 04 Aug 2016 20:33 UTC
fragments of the Airbus A321
© Maxim Grigoryev / Sputnik
The Egyptian military has claimed that it killed the leader of the Sinai branch of Islamic State, suspected of downing a Russian passenger jet over Sinai in October last year.

Abu Duaa al-Ansari, the leader of the ISIS Sinai Peninsula terror group, was killed in northern Sinai, south of the coastal city of el-Arish, Egyptian officials said on Thursday.


Comment: Great, can't ask any questions now.


A Facebook post on the page of Egyptian military's spokesperson claimed that "accurate intelligence" allowed security forces to kill the jihadist.

Fox News cited intelligence sources confirming the killing of al-Ansari in a targeted airstrike.

The outlet reported the man had actively been involved in organizing attacks against the UN personnel on Sinai Peninsula.

The Egyptian military added that 45 members of the group were also eliminated during the operation.
      Read More...
Pirates

Judge rules that GOP nominee Trump must stand trial in Trump University lawsuit


RT
Wed, 03 Aug 2016 19:56 UTC
Trump
© Eric Thayer / Reuters
Republican U.S. Presidential nominee Donald Trump
Donald Trump will be forced to stand trial in an investigation over Trump University's alleged racketeering, a federal judge has ruled. However, earlier videos of the candidate's deposition won't be made public before the November election.

Judge Gonzalo Curiel on Tuesday instructed the GOP nominee to stand trial following the November election as part of the investigation into Trump University's alleged violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.

Trump University charged up $35,000 for mentorship programs, but students claim that the program fails to live up to promises are accusing the billionaire of defrauding them in the class-action lawsuit.

Curiel rejected a motion by Trump's attorneys to dismiss the case, concluding that former students who were possibly defrauded by the university had the right to ask Trump questions about whether he "knowingly participated in a scheme to defraud."

Comment: One of The Donald's many failed business ventures.

      Read More...
Dollars

New documentary reveals the depth of corruption of the Clinton Foundation and State Department's pay-for-play scheme

Jay Syrmopoulos
The Free Thought Project
Mon, 01 Aug 2016 19:57 UTC
clinton cash
© SGT report
A book hailed by the New York Times as "The most anticipated and feared book of a presidential cycle" has been turned into a full-length documentary, with even MSNBC describing the newly released documentary as "devastating" for the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign.

The feature documentary — Clinton Cash — is adapted from Peter Schweizer's New York Times best-selling book Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich, and has now been posted to YouTube for all to see exactly how the pay-for-play of the Clinton machine works.

Clinton Cash delves into how Bill and Hillary Clinton went from being self-admittedly "dead broke" after leaving the White House to building a personal fortune worth of over $150 million — with over $2 billion in donations coming into their foundation.

Not coincidentally, this newfound wealth was accumulated while Mrs. Clinton was operating as the U.S. Secretary of State. It was primarily gained through lucrative speaking fees and contracts paid for by foreign companies and Clinton Foundation donors - as well as numerous foreign governments with a vested interest in activities the State Department regulates and oversees.

Comment: More on the Clinton's dirty dealings:

      Read More...
Boat

Tensions rise: Russia backs China in S. China Sea dispute, plan joint exercises

Alexander Mercouris
The Duran
Wed, 03 Aug 2016 00:00 UTC
flags thingy
© www.uscnpm.org
Russian warships will join the Chinese navy in joint naval exercises in the disputed region in show of support by Moscow for its Chinese ally.

In the wake of the ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague purporting to decide the South China Sea dispute between China and the Philippines in the Philippines' favour, the Chinese - Russian alliance, whose very existence some people continue to deny, has bared its teeth. This has taken the form of the announcement of joint Chinese - Russian naval exercises in September in the South China Sea.

The announcement was made in Beijing and came with the usual assurances that the exercises are routine and are not aimed at any third party. No-one should take those assurances seriously. All the indications are that the exercises were hurriedly agreed by Beijing and Moscow in response to The Hague ruling. By agreeing to participate in the exercises Russia is demonstrating in the most emphatic way possible its unequivocal support for China in the dispute. As for the party against whom the exercises are aimed - or to be more precise against whom they are intended as a signal - that party is of course the US, who the Chinese suspect (correctly) of being the party that was ultimately responsible for the case in The Hague being brought at all.

The joint Chinese - Russian naval exercises in the South China Sea in fact represent a certain departure for the Chinese and the Russians. The Russians have no interests in the South China Sea and they would not be holding military exercises there were it not for the fact that the interests of their China ally in the area are being challenged.

Comment: Duterte's approach to China will have to factor regional solidarity (in order to keep China somewhat subdued) versus placating the US (its longterm meddler/protector). Supporting the US, which assuredly maneuvered the Hague decision in favor of the Philippines, will increase the US aggressiveness to enforce the decision. Supporting the solidarity of the South Asian region and working out an arrangement with China will irritate the US and increase US aggression. Russia's support of China increases US aggression. Although the Philippines 'won' this decision, it is now squarely in the middle of a geopolitical hurricane on the rise. Not a great place to be.

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