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Gov't censorship: Australia threatens fines for social media giants enabling misinformation

Byron Kaye
Reuters
Thu, 12 Sep 2024 18:49 UTC
meta
© REUTERS
Australia said it will fine internet platforms up to 5% of their global revenue for failing to prevent the spread of misinformation online, joining a worldwide push to rein in borderless tech giants but angering free speech advocates.

The government said it would make tech platforms set codes of conduct governing how they stop dangerous falsehoods spreading, to be approved by a regulator. The regulator would set its own standard if a platform failed to do so, then fine companies for non-compliance.

The legislation, to be introduced in parliament on Thursday, targets false content that hurts election integrity or public health, calls for denouncing a group or injuring a person, or risks disrupting key infrastructure or emergency services.

The bill is part of a wide-ranging regulatory crackdown by Australia, where leaders have complained that foreign-domiciled tech platforms are overriding the country's sovereignty, and comes ahead of a federal election due within a year.

Comment: Who decides what is false or disinformation? After the coverup of the Hunter Biden laptop story, it should be clear that governments will arbitrarily decide what to censor. Australia is stepping closer to a liberal fascist government with this move.

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Star of David

IDF says there's no south Lebanon evacuation order after unauthorized flyers dropped

Emanuel Fabian
Times of Israel
Sun, 15 Sep 2024 18:23 UTC
idf flyers evacuation lebanon
© @Valqur1/XThis morning, leaflets were dropped via a drone, demanding the evacuation of areas towards the north near Al-Wazzani village in southern Lebanon.
Military says brigade commander did not have approval to distribute leaflets calling on civilians to leave area used by Hezbollah to launch attacks; flyers dropped by drone

The Israeli military clarified on Sunday that there was no evacuation recommendation given for civilians in southern Lebanon, and that flyers dropped in the southern village of Wazzani calling on residents to leave had been distributed by a brigade commander without permission.

The military said it has launched an investigation into the incident.

The flyers called on Lebanese civilians in highlighted zones close to the border to evacuate by 4 p.m. due to Hezbollah activity in the area.
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Handcuffs

Venezuela arrests Navy SEAL among several foreigners behind alleged Maduro assassination plot

Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge
Sun, 15 Sep 2024 17:46 UTC
venezuela guns
Venezuela has announced the arrest of three Americans, two Spaniards and a Czech citizen, accusing them of plotting to assassinate President Nicolas Maduro. The arrests were first announced Saturday by the country's Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, who said that one of the Americans is Wilbert Joseph Castañeda Gomez - a Navy SEAL - who state television said served in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Colombia.

Cabello alleged this was all part of another CIA plot to overthrow the Maduro government, which comes after Washington has contested the official results July 28 election which ensured the longtime strongman another six-year term as leader.

Cabello further held up rifles he claimed were used by the six foreigners as part of the anti-government plot. Below is an image circulated by state media of Gomez, who is being described as an active elite SEAL...

Comment: Previously:

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Wall Street

Why's Russia re-engaging with the IMF?

Andrew Korybko
korybko.substack.com
Fri, 13 Sep 2024 00:00 UTC
IMF LogoRusFlag
© Unknown
The relationship between Russia, the IMF, and BRICS isn't what most folks have been led to believe.

IMF Communications Director Julie Kozack confirmed during a press briefing on Thursday that the first Article IV consultations with Russia since 2021 will take place next week. She also praised BRICS expansion. Both of these caught multipolar enthusiasts off guard since they assumed that Russia wouldn't ever re-engage with the IMF, which they consider to be BRICS' rival. What follows are the exact words that she said, which will then be analyzed in the larger context of Russia's financial grand strategy:
"The IMF and all of our member countries have a mutual obligation to conduct Article IV Consultations. It's in our articles of agreement. Actually, in the case of Russia, since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the economic situation has been exceptionally unsettled, which has made it difficult to anchor Article IV Consultations, especially thinking about the outlook and policy frameworks for both the near- and the medium-term.

"Now that the economic situation is more settled, Article IV Consultations with Russia are resuming, as I said at the beginning, in line with the obligations of both the Fund and the member country.

"As part of the upcoming Article IV Consultation, the team will hold bilateral discussions with the Russian authorities. It will hold both virtual discussions from September 16th, and then the team will travel to the country for in person meetings. As is the case for all Article IV Consultations, the team will meet with a number of different stakeholders to discuss the country's economic developments, prospects, and policies. [...]
"With respect to the BRICS or any other groups of countries, our view is that improved and expanding international cooperation and deepening trade and investment ties among groups of countries should be welcomed and encouraged, provided that they aim at reducing fragmentation and reducing trade and investment costs among members. The decision to join such initiatives is a sovereign decision of each member country. And I'll leave it at that."
Readers should also be aware that Russia appointed a new Executive Director to the organization earlier this month, Ksenia Yudaeva. She's an advisor to the Bank of Russia's chief but also under US sanctions. Kozack declined to comment when asked whether Yudaeva would be allowed to serve at the IMF's headquarters in DC upon taking over her new role in November. In any case, the importance is that Russia is actively re-engaging with the IMF, and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov recently hinted at why.

Comment: The International Monetary Fund outlines its first steps with Russia:
The IMF will become the first major international financial body to send its official mission to Russia since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Aleksei Mozhin, the IMF's Russian executive director, told Reuters on Tuesday.

Mozhin said the International Monetary Fund mission would start via an online format on Sept. 16, and will continue with an IMF delegation visit to Moscow for meetings with Russian officials until Oct. 1. The IMF's last annual mission visited Russia in November 2019, before the start of the COVID pandemic. There have been no IMF missions to Russia since the start of Russia's war in Ukraine.

"We were excluded from this process under pressure from our Western 'friends' and there were no further missions in 2022-23," Mozhin said from his IMF office in Washington. The mission will be led by Argentinian Jacques Miniane.

Many Western nations raised the possibility of Russia's expulsion from the IMF in the aftermath of the Ukraine invasion, but that proved difficult because of reluctance from other members with large voting quotas such as China and India.

The IMF has been criticised by Western member states since the start of the war for providing what they say are overly optimistic outlooks for the sanctions-hit Russian economy, and warnings that any decisions about seizing frozen Russian assets should be backed with "sufficient legal support".
Excellent outline by Korybko regarding IMF's purpose and responsibilities as relates to current/future Russia and complexities of global financial concerns.

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Clipboard

Vance reveals Trump's plan for Ukraine


RT
Thu, 12 Sep 2024 21:49 UTC
VANCE
© Dia Dipasupil /Getty ImagesRepublican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance.
The Republican vice presidential candidate has outlined what peace talks with Russia might look like.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has a concrete proposal to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict, his running mate, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, has claimed.

Trump has repeatedly said he would stop the fighting "in 24 hours" if elected, most recently at Tuesday's debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democrats' candidate to succeed President Joe Biden.

Vance told former US Navy SEAL and CIA contractor Shawn Ryan, in a podcast interview:
"To end the war, you need somebody that first of all people are terrified of. You need to be worried that if Donald Trump - or God forbid, Kamala Harris - says something, that they actually mean it. But you believe it with Donald Trump, you don't believe that with Kamala Harris. That's deterrence."
Asked about what a Trump peace proposal would look like, Vance outlined a scenario he considered probable.
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Stop

Putting an end to Biden's ceasefire sabotage

Mike Whitney
The Unz Review
Wed, 11 Sep 2024 00:00 UTC
hand up
© MWCeasefire Proposal
Are Washington's Voting Rights on the UN Security Council at Risk? "...a party to a dispute shall abstain from voting."

The main obstacle to a ceasefire in Gaza is not Israel or Hamas. It's the United States. Here's what you need to know:

The Security Council approved the Biden-authored ceasefire deal on June 10, 2024. (Three months ago) US diplomats assured the other members of the Security Council that Israel supported the agreement. That claim turned out to be false. Israel does not back the deal and refuses to implement its provisions. Even so, the so-called Biden Plan passed the Council in the form of Resolution 2735. Here's a summary of the agreement:
By resolution 2735 ... the 15-member organ noted that the implementation of this proposal would enable the following outcomes to spread over three phases, the first of which would include an immediate, full and complete ceasefire with the release of hostages; the return of the remains of some hostages who have been killed; the exchange of Palestinian prisoners; withdrawal of Israeli forces from the populated areas in Gaza; the return of Palestinian civilians to their homes; and the safe and effective distribution of humanitarian assistance at scale throughout Gaza.

Adopting Resolution 2735, United Nations
There's no ambiguity here, the Council's demands are clear. Both parties to the conflict are required to implement the provisions of the resolution that are "binding" under international law.

Comment: The US and Israel have locked step. Any argument between the US and Israel is for show to buy Israel time to complete the Palestinian eradication, hammer Lebanon and lure Iran into war. For the US, it creates a reason to point the finger and absolve itself of complicity while doing exactly that. The UN Security Council has no leverage, and they both know it.

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Attention

German military 'ten years behind' Russia - report


RT
Wed, 11 Sep 2024 15:48 UTC
German tank
© Jens Buethner/Global Look Press/dpaGerman-made Tank
Bundeswehr air-defense systems and artillery stocks have plummeted due to weapons shipments to Ukraine, a new study has found.

Germany is unlikely to be able to stand up to Russia in the event of a potential conflict any time soon, a new report issued by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW) has said.

Despite promises made by Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government, the nation's military procurement system remains "cumbersome" and defense spending is "woefully inadequate," the paper released on Monday has found.

According to the IfW - one of the nation's leading economic think tanks - the German Armed Forces or Bundeswehr is still far below its capacity benchmarks from two decades ago. The number of combat aircraft at Germany's disposal has halved and the number of battle tanks has fallen from almost 2,400 to just 339. The figures presented by the institute also showed that the nation had only 12 air-defense systems.

Comment: Profit is the primary mover for military industrial providers. Use up supplies? More becomes more expensive.

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Stop

Ukraine ready for ceasefire in certain areas - Bild


RT
Sun, 15 Sep 2024 09:04 UTC
VladZ
© Kaniuka Ruslan/Global Look Press/Keystone Press AgencyVladimir Zelensky speaks to the media at the Fourth Crimea Platform Summit • September 11, 2024 • Kiev, Ukraine
The media outlet claims it is part of a strategy that Vladimir Zelensky will present to the US.

Ukraine could be ready to freeze hostilities with Russia on certain parts of the frontline, the German tabloid newspaper Bild has reported, citing what it claims to be Vladimir Zelensky's revised strategy. The Ukrainian leader's plan for the conflict also reportedly hinges on Western backers allowing Kiev to use the long-range missiles they have provided, to hit targets deep inside Russia.

Back in July, Russian President Vladimir Putin made it clear:
"Moscow was not interested in a ceasefire or some kind of pause that the Kiev regime could use to recover losses, regroup, and rearm. Russia is in favor of a complete and final end of the conflict."
A month earlier, the Russian head of state proposed an immediate ceasefire on the condition that Ukraine give legally binding guarantees that it will not seek to join NATO, and withdraw its troops from all territories claimed by Russia. Kiev and its Western backers were quick to dismiss the roadmap.

Comment: Western infighting, dwindling resources and Z's unrequited demands are gifts to Russia.

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Recycle

Moscow expels 6 British diplomats suspected of 'subversive activities'


RT
Sat, 14 Sep 2024 23:50 UTC
uk diplomat
© FSBSix people, mostly mid-level executives, showed "signs of intelligence and subversive work" according to the Russian FSB
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has released photos of six British diplomats whom Moscow has declared persona non grata over what it claims are the United Kingdom's "subversive activities" and espionage in the country.

On Friday, the FSB claimed to have obtained proof of the UK's attempts to stoke global tensions and undermine Russia's stability, alleging that it was engaged in "subversive policies" in the country to inflict a "strategic defeat" on Moscow.

In light of this, Russia terminated the accreditation of six employees of the political department of the British Embassy in Moscow, arguing that their actions "showed signs of intelligence and subversive work."

Comment: Meanwhile, unsurprisingly, the UK press went with this exposé: A new low? UK press 'exposes' Russian school for children of diplomats in London which teaches 'how to assemble kalashnikovs'

See also:

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Eye 2

Pentagon orders study for how use of nukes in E. Europe and Russia will affect global agriculture


Top War
Sat, 14 Sep 2024 23:16 UTC
Nuclear bomb test
© History.comNuclear bomb testing
The Pentagon intends to study the consequences of using nuclear weapons weapons in Europe and Russia. The US military has commissioned a third-party contractor to conduct the study. This is stated in documents from the US Department of Defense that have become publicly available.

The Pentagon has ordered a simulation of a situation involving the use of nuclear weapons in Eastern Europe and Western Russia, with the Americans particularly interested in the consequences of nuclear weapons use on the agricultural sector. As follows from the contract, the contractor must simulate a global nuclear situation, which results in the destruction of agriculture. The Pentagon also requires the contractor to expand the modeling beyond Eastern Europe and Western Russia, but with the obligatory condition of including former Eastern Bloc countries in the report.

Comment: More detail from HAL Turner radio show:
Interesting solicitation from the Army Corp of Engineers (CoE) came out on Sept 10th, with bids due for submission yesterday on Sept 12th. Purpose of solicitation was for a study on how nuclear war will effect agriculture on a worldwide basis.


It's interesting that this comes out amidst Western threats to allow Ukraine to use long-range missiles to strike inside Russia, which Putin has warned will have serious consequences.


Seems they should have thought about this years ago! But interesting they want a study on this now.

Looks like the Russia-Ukraine conflict has suddenly gotten far more serious than anyone previously thought.

From the CoE announcement:
"The US Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) intends to issue an award on a sole source basis (IAW FAR 13.106-1(b)(1)) with Terra Analytics, Inc., 966 10th Street, Boulder, Colorado 80302-7474, for the research and development of active research programs that focus on modeling impacts on the environment and the impacts of nuclear weapons on farm systems that optimizes AgriShock, a code suite for modeling the effects of nuclear weapons on agricultural systems.

The objective of this project is to build upon previous research efforts to develop and optimize AgriShock, a code suite for modeling the effects of nuclear weapons on agricultural systems. The minimum needs of this contract are that the contractor provide all personnel, equipment, facilities, supervision, and other items necessary to conduct studies that demonstrate modeling of nuclear warfare on a global scale that would lead to destruction of the agriculture systems such as farms.


This sounds more like they want tips on how best to go about destroying farming.


The contractor must be able to execute the following: 1) utilize AgriShock, code suite, to increase the geographic coverage to include former Eastern Block countries and implement software code on DoD TS/SCI level ERDC supercomputing resources; 2) update their AgriShock software code to regions beyond eastern Europe and western Russia, with regions chosen to support the ERDC mission to support the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) goals of modeling effects of nuclear events; 3) utilize the AgriShock software to incorporate aerial mapping; 4) extend the AgriShock software code by developing a beta radioisotope uptake model that reflects the manner in which a non-destructive nuclear event; and 5) ensure that the updated Agrishock software can be implemented on existing and/or new secure Linux-based ERDC HPC computing environments.[..]
Given that the Western establishment has made it quite clear that they want to shut down farming, and how this is occurring alongside the endless, suspicious, food plant fires, it seems reasonable to suppose that the data gleaned from this study will be incorporated into their plans to seize total control of the food supply: There was also a study done on the effect the West's war in Ukraine would have on the global food supply chain, and it concluded that only a few of main nodes needed to be disrupted to cause a serious stop of the supply: From fields to front lines: Satellite data reveals the impact of the war in Ukraine on global food supply

Whilst all out nuclear war seems unlikely anytime soon, the following video shows how nukes can impact the climate and farming:



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