Welcome to Sott.net
Thu, 21 Oct 2021
The World for People who Think

Puppet Masters
Map

Wolf

The Obama Deception: Why Cornel West Went Ballistic

Chris Hedges
Truthdig
Thu, 19 May 2011 02:26 UTC
Image
© AP / Pablo Martinez Monsivais
President Obama shakes hands with Princeton University professor Cornel West after speaking at the National Urban League’s 100th Anniversary Convention in Washington in July 2010.
The moral philosopher Cornel West, if Barack Obama's ascent to power was a morality play, would be the voice of conscience. Rahm Emanuel, a cynical product of the Chicago political machine, would be Satan. Emanuel in the first scene of the play would dangle power, privilege, fame and money before Obama. West would warn Obama that the quality of a life is defined by its moral commitment, that his legacy will be determined by his willingness to defy the cruel assault by the corporate state and the financial elite against the poor and working men and women, and that justice must never be sacrificed on the altar of power.

Perhaps there was never much of a struggle in Obama's heart. Perhaps West only provided a moral veneer. Perhaps the dark heart of Emanuel was always the dark heart of Obama. Only Obama knows. But we know how the play ends. West is banished like honest Kent in "King Lear." Emanuel and immoral mediocrities from Lawrence Summers to Timothy Geithner to Robert Gates - think of Goneril and Regan in the Shakespearean tragedy - take power. We lose. And Obama becomes an obedient servant of the corporate elite in exchange for the hollow trappings of authority.
      Read More...
Cult

May 21, 2011: Profiting on Doomsday?

Susanna Kim
ABC News
Tue, 17 May 2011 00:00 UTC

Wondering about the fate of your pets after Judgment Day? Well, for $135, a loving atheist will care for your animal if you're not around anymore.

Eternal Earthbound Pets offers a service to rescue and take care of pets once their owners have been taken away to the heavenly realms. Though doomsayers say this Saturday will be the latest day of reckoning that's not expected to leave animals behind either.

Bart Centre of New Hampshire, co-owner of the pet business, launched it in June 2009. He has zero belief in Judgment Day, but began to see an increase in sales inquiries in December, which, he believes, is related to Family Radio's heavy marketing campaign around the May 21 date.

The retired retail executive said he has sold 258 contracts so far.

"That's out of 40 million targeted 'rapture' believers, so it's not like we're making a billion dollars," he said.
      Read More...
Wolf

Gingrich - 'Any ad which quotes what I said Sunday is a falsehood'

David Edwards
Raw Story
Wed, 18 May 2011 10:41 UTC
Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich says that anyone that uses direct quotes from his Sunday interview about Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-WI) plan to dismantle Medicare is lying.

"I don't think right-wing social engineering is any more desirable than left-wing social engineering," Gingrich had told NBC's David Gregory Sunday. "I don't think imposing radical change from the right or the left is a very good way for free society to operate."

Now the Georgia Republican is worried that opponents might use those words against him or the Republican Party.
      Read More...
MIB

Russia says an Israeli military attache to Moscow was expelled for spying


The Washington Post
Thu, 19 May 2011 10:09 UTC
An Israeli military attache to Moscow who was expelled from the country was carrying secret information when he was detained, Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.

Vadim Leiderman was apprehended in Moscow on May 12, caught red-handed receiving classified information from a Russian citizen, the statement said. Leiderman was declared persona non grata and given 48 hours to leave the country, which he did, the statement said.

Israel's military has rejected allegations reported in the Israeli media that Leiderman was a spy.

The military said in a statement Wednesday that the officer underwent a "thorough investigation" after he returned. Israel's Channel 2 TV reported he was taken away by Russian agents during dinner. Other media reported Leiderman was having coffee with a friend before being pulled away by security agents.
      Read More...
Info

Canada: Harper's Senate picks turn off Canadians: Layton


CBC News
Wed, 18 May 2011 12:47 UTC
Image
© Chris Wattie/Reuters
Prime Minister Stephen Harper sits with Gov. Gen. David Johnston, front row centre, and members of the federal cabinet following a swearing-in ceremony at Rideau Hall, May 18, 2011.
The naming of defeated Conservative candidates to the Senate just two weeks after the election is part of what's turning people off about Ottawa, NDP Leader Jack Layton said Wednesday.

Layton attacked Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who nominated three losing Tories - including two former senators who had already stepped down from the Upper Chamber to run.

"Mr. Harper talks about Senate reform but he's doing things in the same old way, in fact even worse," Layton said.

"He's taking people who have been defeated, who have been rejected by voters.... You should earn your place in the Senate and if you can't get elected, you shouldn't be appointed to the Senate two weeks later."
      Read More...
Bizarro Earth

Medvedev Warns West of New Cold War over Missile Deal


Yahoo News
Wed, 18 May 2011 21:15 UTC
Image
© AFP/Dmitry Kostyukov
President Dmitry Medvedev speaks during his first full press conference as Russian president at the Skolkovo centre outside Moscow on May 18, 2011. Medvedev on Wednesday warned the West it would face a new Cold War if it failed to address Russia's concerns over a proposed missile defence shield for Europe
Skolkovo, Russia - President Dmitry Medvedev warned Wednesday Russia could pull out a new nuclear disarmament treaty and enter a new Cold War with the West if the two sides failed to agree on a new missile defence shield.

Medvedev told reporters that the United States' decision to push ahead with the European shield despite Russia's objections will force Moscow "to take response measures -- something that we would very much rather not do."
      Read More...
MIB

Pakistan, China premiers meet amid tension with US

Christopher Bodeen
Associated Press
Wed, 18 May 2011 20:52 UTC
Image
Beijing: Pakistan's prime minister sealed a series of agreements with China on Wednesday, highlighting Islamabad's warm ties with Beijing amid heightened tensions with Washington over the killing of Osama bin Laden.

The signing ceremony followed talks between Yousuf Raza Gilani and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao at the Great Hall of the People at the start of a visit to Beijing marking sixty years of diplomatic relations between the two nations.
      Read More...
MIB

Mandatory Mobile Phone Emergency Alert System to Launch in US


BBC
Tue, 10 May 2011 16:23 UTC
Image

A new mobile telephone emergency alert system will be launched in New York City and Washington DC by the end of the year, US officials have said.

The system will allow the federal government and local authorities to reach people on their mobile phones to warn them of imminent danger.

Messages from the US president or information about missing children would also be sent through the system.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said there would be no charge to users.
      Read More...
Eagle

Perception Management: United apologizes for reusing 9/11 flight numbers

Joan Lowy
Associated Press
Wed, 18 May 2011 16:25 UTC
Washington - United Airlines apologized Wednesday for briefly restarting use of flight numbers of two planes that crashed after being hijacked by terrorists on Sept. 11, 2001.

Spokesman Rahsaan Johnson blamed the reuse of flight numbers 93 and 175 on a "technical error." He said the airline has taken steps to have the numbers removed from its computers.

"We apologize for the error," Johnson said in an interview. "The numbers were inadvertently reinstated."

United flight 93, heading to San Francisco from Newark, N.J., crashed in Shanksville, Pa., killing all 44 people aboard. Flight 175, from Boston to Los Angeles with 65 people aboard, crashed into the south tower of the World Trade Center in New York.

Johnson said the flight numbers went back into use on Monday night. The airline had stopped using the flight numbers shortly after Sept. 11.

Comment: "You Have To Keep Repeating Things To Catapult The Propaganda" - G.W. Bush

      Read More...
Vader

Supreme Court gives police a new entryway into homes

David G. Savage
Los Angeles Times
Mon, 16 May 2011 15:17 UTC
Image
© Unknown

Washington - The Supreme Court on Monday gave police more leeway to break into residences in search of illegal drugs.

The justices in an 8-1 decision said officers who loudly knock on a door and then hear sounds suggesting evidence is being destroyed may break down the door and enter without a search warrant.

Residents who "attempt to destroy evidence have only themselves to blame" when police burst in, said Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr.
      Read More...
Amazon Smile
Revolt! T-shirts