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Megaphone

Like Americans, Germany now learns of US decisions from Twitter - Foreign Minister


RT
Sun, 23 Sep 2018 14:43 UTC
twitter
© Kai Pfaffenbach / Reuters
An illustration picture shows the search tab for Twitter on a computer screen in Frankfurt, October 21, 2013
Twitter is sometimes the only way to learn of decisions made by the US, a German minister has complained. Americans are in no better position, he said - they also have to rely on White House tweets to catch up.

The level of communication between Germany and the US is now so low that Berlin has to employ Twitter to know what the White House is up to, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas lamented in a comment to DPA news agency. And this is not because Washington is overdoing it on the microblogging service, he hinted.

"We learn of certain [American] decisions via Twitter," Maas offered before embarking on a visit to the US. The top diplomat has an impression that "people in the United States also learn about White House's decisions from Twitter," and that such "does change cooperation [between the countries]."

Comment: While there is something to be said for diplomacy, in our world of stage managed politics the opportunity to read Trumps thoughts in real-time provides more insight into the machinations of international relations than mainstream propaganda outlets ever could: Also check out SOTT radio's: Behind the Headlines: The Art of The Iran no-Deal: Trump, Israel, And The End of The Atlantic Alliance

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Megaphone

US using false accusations on trade war to "intimidate" countries - China


RT
Mon, 24 Sep 2018 09:26 UTC
welding
© Reuters
Beijing has hit back at the Trump administration after new US tax hikes took effect, accusing it of "making false accusations" and of engaging in economic intimidation of other countries.

China released a fresh white paper on Monday. One of the document's six parts castigated US President Donald Trump for 'trade bullying practices,' according to state-run Xinhua.

It also said that Washington was exerting "extreme pressure" on Beijing to push forward its own interests, while pursuing "economic hegemony."
The US is "making false accusations against many countries and regions, particularly China, intimidating other countries through economic measures such as imposing tariffs."
On Monday night, a US decision to slap $200 billion worth of Chinese goods with a 10-percent import tariff officially came into effect. The tax is to be raised to 25 percent at the end of the year. Beijing did not sit idly either, retaliating with the introduction of levies on $60 billion worth of US products.

Comment: Endless trade wars and worldwide sanctions reflect just how ineffectual the US is becoming on the world stage: And check out SOTT radio's:

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Document

If you share this you might get sued - EU's new copyright law could kill the free internet

Neil Clark
RT
Thu, 20 Sep 2018 15:02 UTC
man on computer
© Xesai / Getty Images
It's basically a battle between billionaires Axel Springer SE and Google. But it is ordinary internet users who will fall victim to the EU's new copyright law, which urgently needs modification.

It's good to share. But the European Parliament clearly doesn't think so. Its new copyright legislation, passed last week, clamps down quite severely on sharing things online. The dynamism of the internet is at threat. When Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of the World Wide Web, warns us of the dangers the new law poses, we should all sit up straight and pay attention.

For a start, the legislation shifts the responsibility for the uploading of copyright material to the internet platforms themselves. Beforehand it was the job of the companies who thought their copyright was infringed to do this. Many don't bother, and are happy to see their material uploaded to sites like YouTube as they know it promotes an artist's work and boosts sales. But all that is likely to change.

Comment: See also:

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Network

China's 'Peace Ark' medical ship makes maiden visit to Venezuela - Meanwhile US vows to increase pressure on country


RT
Sun, 23 Sep 2018 15:29 UTC
Chinese Navy hospital ship
© Manaure Quintero / Reuters
Chinese Navy hospital ship Peace Ark prepares to dock at the port in La Guaira, Venezuela, September 22, 2018
A Chinese hospital vessel has moored at a port near Caracas, where its staff will be providing free medical care to Venezuelans. Recently, a similar-class ship was sent by the US to Colombia to treat refugees fleeing Venezuela.

The 'Peace Ark,' a 300-bed Chinese Navy hospital ship, has moored on Saturday at the port of La Guaira lying close to Venezuelan capital. The vessel, which was commissioned back in 2008, is said to have eight surgery rooms and a medevac helicopter.

According to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, the 'Peace Ark' will stay in Venezuela for about a week. During the stay, the Chinese commander of the ship will meet with military and political officials and inspect Venezuelan and medical facilities.

China is one of Venezuela's key allies, and the vessel's visit was seen there as a sign of Beijing's support for the crisis-hit country. Maduro himself only recently came back from a trip to China, where he sought to attract investment and new loans. Though Beijing leaders pledged to help Caracas, it made no reference to pumping more money in Venezuela's economy.

Comment: See also:

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Rocket

America's history of chemical weapons use and complicity in war crimes

Brian Kalman
Southfront
Sat, 15 Sep 2018 06:13 UTC
nikki haley

Before pointing the finger at Russia and Syria, the U.S. should answer for its own record
The world is once again witnessing the height of U.S. hypocrisy as members of the U.S. State Department ratchet up anti-Russian and anti-Syrian rhetoric surrounding the use of chemical weapons in Syria and the UK. Ambassador Nikki Haley has warned Syria, Iran and Russia that they will be held accountable for their pre-determined use of chemical weapons in Idlib on innocent civilians. No evidence was provided to support her threats. The United States carried out cruise missile strikes on two previous occasions, and each time provided no evidence to prove their assertion that the Syrian government used chemical weapons in attacking civilians, nor was any rational reason given for such an obviously irrational decision on the part of the Syrian state. No evidence has ever been provided to justify the clear international crime of aggression committed by the United States on these two earlier occasions. Now, the UK and the U.S. are both attempting to accuse the Russian government of using chemical weapons in an alleged attempted assassination of a Russian national on UK soil. Once again, no real evidence has been presented, only assertions and hearsay.

On Thursday September 13th, Assistant Secretary of State Manisha Singh declared before the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee that the United States would level the most severe of sanctions against Russia, including breaking all diplomatic ties, if Russia refused to admit its guilt in perpetrating the Skripal assassination fiasco and refused to submit to International inspections by the OPCW of its alleged chemical weapons and biological weapons programs. She stated that Russia would have to meet this requirement by an arbitrary November 4th deadline, set by the United States in accordance with a U.S. law, not an international law. H.R. 1724 - Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991 specifies in part:

Comment: See also: American forces guilty of genocide in the Korean War according to 1952 IADL report

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Star of David

Recalcitrant Israeli defense minister says Israel will continue to attack Syria after setting up Russian jet to be destroyed - because Iran


Sputnik
Sun, 23 Sep 2018 09:44 UTC
lieberman
© REUTERS / Sergei Karpukhin
Avigdor Lieberman
Russia blames Israel for the destruction of the Il-20, which cost the lives of 15 servicemen, after it emerged that around the time if its demise, Israeli fighter jets were in immediate proximity to the Russian plane.

The Russian Ministry of Defense accused the Israeli Air Force of providing misleading information about the area where planned air strikes on Syrian targets were to take place, violating an agreement with Russia, and shortly afterwards Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman stated Israel won't ditch conducting operations in Syria to thwart Iran's military presence there, despite the tragic Il-20 incident.

"We have been operating prudently and responsibly and only in cases where we've had no other choice. So nothing has changed or will change. This is our policy," Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman told the local radio station Kan in an interview published Sunday morning.

"We won't let Syria be turned into a main Iranian military facility against the Israeli state. We continue to act... and we have all the necessary means and opportunities to this end," he noted.


Comment: Translation: "we have lots of weapons and we will kill anyone we don't like, regardless of morality or international law."

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Star of David

Schmuel Rosner: Full-time NYT propagandist for Israel

Donald Johnson and Philip Weiss
Mondoweiss
Sun, 23 Sep 2018 09:00 UTC
shmuel rosner

Jewish supremacist Shmuel Rosner
The New York Times just ran a column by Shmuel Rosner calling for Palestine to become part of Jordan in order for Palestinians to obtain political rights. The column includes several swipes at Palestinians as lesser to Israeli Jews, and needing to be separated from Israel:
Since 1967, Israel hasn't been able to identify a Palestinian leadership that can be trusted to keep the peace and maintain order.... And so it has always hoped that Israel's eventual separation from Palestinians will include a guarantee of - to put it bluntly - adult supervision.

Comment: If anyone needs supervision it is the Jewish State, which is seemingly stuck at the developmental level of a three-year-old: selfish, no regard for telling the truth, and a total lack of responsibility for one's actions.


Why does the Times have this guy in its stable? The anti-Palestinian racist viewpoint is adequately represented by Bret Stephens and Thomas Friedman, but they also write about other things - Stephens wants a war with Iran, for instance and doesn't like Trump. He and Gail Collins have adorable Resistance lovefests sometimes. Thomas Friedman loves CEO's and austerity and war and occasionally even says something sensible about global warming.

But all Rosner does is talk about Israel from a far right perspective.

Comment: Better yet, people like Rosner don't just need adult supervision, they need to be institutionalized, for their own good and the good of those around them.

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People 2

Second woman accuses Kavanaugh of sex abuse - claims are even weaker than Ford's

Matt Margolis
PJ Media
Mon, 24 Sep 2018 08:36 UTC
Brett Kavanaugh
© AP Photo/Alex Brandon
As Christine Blasey Ford's accusation against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh lost all credibility, it was reasonable to assume there was a reason for all the stalling. Many believed that somewhere, somehow, leftists would find someone else to come forward with accusations of sexual misconduct against Judge Kavanaugh.

Earlier this evening The New Yorker published a story written by Ronan Farrow and Jane Meyer proving that theory correct. This story centers on Deborah Ramirez, who has come forward (or was pushed to come forward) with a claim that while she and Kavanaugh were both students at Yale, they were both at a drunken dorm party where Kavanaugh allegedly exposed himself to her.

Judge Kavanaugh has already released a statement denying the allegation. "This alleged event from 35 years ago did not happen. The people who knew me then know that this did not happen, and have said so. This is a smear, plain and simple. I look forward to testifying on Thursday about the truth, and defending my good name - and the reputation for character and integrity I have spent a lifetime - against these last-minute allegations."

Comment: The sad thing is, accusations like Ramirez's work. As in geopolitics, the new normal is "highly likely, therefore guilty" - no evidence, no trial, just guilt by accusation (e.g., the Skripals, Assad "gassing his own people", Russia "downing MH17", etc.). For example:


A pattern of accusations does not equal a pattern of conduct, you idiot.


On what possible basis is an accusation from a woman who was drunk and doesn't even remember if Kavanaugh was the 'guilty' party, "credible"? Another idiot. And another:

This kind of hyper puritan moralizing has gone over the top. On what planet is a drunken, uncertain memory of a man's genitals "deeply disturbing"? And since when is it the FBI's job to investigate every instance of drunken college students exposing themselves in the '80s?

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Jet4

Israel thinks apologies and high level personnel will absolve it of Russian jet tragedy


Sputnik
Sun, 23 Sep 2018 14:39 UTC
jet plane
© AP Photo / Ariel Schalit
Israel is guided solely by its military interests in the region, and this factor along with the lack of coordination with the Russian side led to the crash of Russia's Il-20 military plane in Syria, Egyptian military expert Adil Suleiman told Sputnik.

The Egyptian analyst noted that the tragedy was the result of a lack of coordination at the operational and tactical levels. "It was not taken seriously in full, especially by the Israeli side," Suleiman said.

"Israel does not care about anything apart from its interests, especially with regard to military operations. It is not ready to bear military losses and look weak... Israel is not interested in who is on the other side, whether it is the Syrian side, which is armed with Russian advanced weapons, or any other," he noted.

Comment: See also:

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Bad Guys

Please God, no: Trade tensions between US and China could drag on for decades

Pepe Escobar
Asia Times
Sun, 23 Sep 2018 21:03 UTC
Trade war
© iStock
We might be at the start of a decades-long trade war between China and the US.
Alibaba's Jack Ma has warned that the ongoing US-China trade war could last at least 20 years. As we'll see, it's actually more like 30 - up to 2049, the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the People's Republic of China (PRC).

Steve Bannon always boasted that President Trump was bound to conduct a "sophisticated form of economic warfare" to confront China.

The logic underpinning the warfare is that if you squeeze the Chinese economy hard enough Beijing will submit and "play by the rules."

The Trump administration plan - which is, in fact, trade deficit hawk Peter Navarro's plan - has three basic targets:
  1. Displace China from the heart of global supply chains.
  2. Force companies to source elsewhere in the Global South all the components necessary for manufacturing their products.
  3. Force multinational corporations to stop doing business in China.
The overarching concept is that unending confrontation with China is bound to scare companies/investors away.

There's no evidence South Korean or German conglomerates, for instance, would withdraw from the vast Chinese market and/or production facilities.

And even if the Flight Away from China actually happened, arguably the American economy would suffer as much, if not more, than China's.

The latest US tariff volley may lower China's GDP by only 0.9 percentage points, according to Bloomberg Economics. But China may still grow a healthy 6.3% in 2019.
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