Welcome to Sott.net
Wed, 03 Nov 2021
The World for People who Think

Puppet Masters
Map

War Whore

Marco Rubio inflames Twitter by mixing Bible verses with regime change calls

Marco Rubio
© AFP / Scott Olson
Marco Rubio
Florida Senator Marco Rubio's social media output is a real mixed bag. In between odes to regime change in Venezuela and paeans to border security, Rubio dropped in some words from the good book, to mixed reaction.

"Though nations rage and kingdoms totter, HE utters his voice and the earth melts. The LORD of hosts is with us; our stronghold is the God of Jacob," the Republican Senator tweeted, citing Psalm 46.

Amidst the "amen"s, some commenters insisted that Rubio concern himself less with Biblical affairs, and more with the various problems facing Florida.

Although Rubio seemingly finds refuge in God when "nations rage and kingdoms totter," the Florida Senator seems determined to use his own rage to totter Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from power, even if it means roping Russia into a cataclysmic conflict too.

Hourglass

UK cabinet secretary Sedwill pens 'doomsday' No Deal Brexit warning

mark sedwill brexit
© Agence-France-Presse
Cabinet Secretary Sir Mark Sedwill says leaving the EU without a deal would hamper the police and security services and lead to the return of direct rule in Northern Ireland
Britain's highest-ranking civil servant has issued a doomsday analysis of how the country would be affected by a No Deal Brexit, as MPs yet again failed to break the deadlock last night.

The House of Commons rejected all four alternative Brexit plans in another series of votes last night, leaving Britain with no clear plan just 10 days before a possible cliff-edge exit.

MPs rejected a customs union and a Norway-style agreement, dealing a blow to Remainer hopes of a soft Brexit, and also voted against a second referendum.

The customs union plan proposed by longstanding Tory Europhile Kenneth Clarke was closest to victory - losing by just three votes, 276 to 273. But MPs have now rejected 12 'indicative vote' motions and approved none, after trouncing Theresa May's withdrawal agreement three times.

Megaphone

Naming and shaming the most egregious Russiagate conspiracy theorists

Rachel Maddow
© Pinterest
Attorney General Bill Barr revealed this weekend that special counsel Robert Mueller did not find that the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government, dealing a hefty blow to a large swath of the media.

Perhaps most damaged were the individual anchors and reporters who bet their careers on proving that President Donald Trump conspired with a foreign power to steal an election. These journalists authored fake stories, gave breathless coverage to the alleged scandal and ultimately misled the public.

We've compiled a list of some of the worst offenders.

Bad Guys

More Biden woes: Closed probe into dodgy gas company doings in Ukraine could be reopened

Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko (L) and U.S. Vice President Joe Biden
© Michel Euler / Reuters
Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko (L) and U.S. Vice President Joe Biden
Two years after leaving office, Joe Biden couldn't resist the temptation last year to brag to an audience of foreign policy specialists about the time as vice president that he strong-armed Ukraine into firing its top prosecutor.

In his own words, with video cameras rolling, Biden described how he threatened Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in March 2016 that the Obama administration would pull $1 billion in U.S. loan guarantees, sending the former Soviet republic toward insolvency, if it didn't immediately fire Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin.

"I said, 'You're not getting the billion.' I'm going to be leaving here in, I think it was about six hours. I looked at them and said: 'I'm leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor is not fired, you're not getting the money,'" Biden recalled telling Poroshenko.

Comment:


Pistol

Thanks for the weapons! Ukraine 'honors' John McCain - names Kiev street after him

McCain Poroshenko Ukraine
© AFP / Ukrainian Presidential Press Service / Mikhail Palinchak
Sen. John McCain meets an armed Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in 2016
The Ukrainian capital of Kiev is to get its own 'John McCain Street,' in honor of the late US Senator whose regime-change cheerleading helped sweep President Petro Poroshenko to power in 2014.

It's not an April Fools' joke: Kiev is really getting a 'John McCain Street.' Although President Poroshenko has mused renaming the Ukrainian capital's Ivan Kudrya Street in honor of the Republican Senator before, he once again announced his plan after meeting with McCain's widow, Cindy, over the weekend.

Calling McCain "a great friend and advocate of Ukraine," he noted the "historic importance of Senator McCain's heritage in establishing and building a new independent Ukraine."

Comment: War whore McCain's honor is a slap in the face of ordinary Ukrainians suffering under the effects of the US neocon-led coup.


Propaganda

Can the EU survive its own censorship?

article 13 meme
The EU's new, comprehensive new Copyright Directive passed the European Parliament ensuring the way we use the Internet will change in the future.

And not for the better.

The controversial parts are Articles 11 and 13, the "link tax" and the "upload filter" requirements. For a good run down of how terrible these new rules are look anywhere on the internet but this article at Gizmodo (who I hope doesn't charge me a link tax for doing so!) will do.

Comment: Very good point! What is abundantly clear is that these EU bureaucrats really have no clue what they're doing and are simply lashing out in an attempt to regain control of a beast that fled the pen ages ago. Their flailing, as the above article illustrates, makes evident they really haven't thought this thing through.

See also:


TV

People will never, ever rebel as long as they're successfully propagandized

kid watching TV
Our predicament is simple to describe.

Since the dawn of civilization, powerful individuals have controlled the stories people tell themselves about who they are, who's in charge, how a good citizen behaves, what groups should be loved, what groups should be hated, and what's really going on in the world. When you study what we call history, you're mostly just reading the ancient proto-propaganda of whatever kingdom happened to win the last war during that period of time. When you study what we call religion, you're mostly reading stories that were advanced by ancient governments explaining why the people should be meek, forgiving taxpayers instead of rising up and killing their wealthy exploiters.

Comment: See also:


Star of David

Brazil postpones embassy move from Jerusalem, will open trade mission instead

Brazilian Presdient Jair Bolsonaro Benjamin Netanyahu
© KOBI GIDON / GPO
Brazilian Presdient Jair Bolsonaro and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Brazil delayed plans to relocate its embassy to Jerusalem, but announced instead that as a first step in that direction, it would open a trade mission, issuing a statement on the matter while the country's president Jair Bolsonaro was on a four-day trip to Israel.

"I welcome your decision to open a trade, technology and innovation office, an official office of the Government of Brazil, in Jerusalem," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said when he met with Bolsonaro at his home, where the two issued joint statements.

"I hope that this is a first step toward the opening in time of the Brazilian Embassy in Jerusalem," Netanyahu said. "I would like to welcome you my friend and say to you and to the entire wonderful delegation that you brought - Welcome to Jerusalem the capital of Israel!"

Comment: The Jerusalem Post reports more about the pressure Bolsonaro's under:
Bolsonaro, who is making his first visit to Israel as president, is under pressure from the Evangelical community to make good on his embassy pledge.

His country's powerful agriculture sector is opposed to moving the embassy from Tel Aviv and angering Arab nations that buy billions of dollars worth of Brazilian halal meat each year. [...]

The Brazilian president will visit Yad Vashem and the IDF's Home Front Command so he can grant an award to its rescue delegation, which assisted the Brazilians earlier this year after the collapse of a major dam there.

Along with Netanyahu, Bolsonaro will also attend the "Israel-Brazil Innovation Summit," which will bring together leading Brazilian and Israeli businesspeople.

Brazil is Israel's largest Latin American trading partner and the trip is expected to expand those ties.



NPC

Crazed Democrats begin subpoena process for Mueller report & Trump aides

Robert Mueller
© Alex Wong/Getty Images
Robert Mueller
House Democrats are taking the first steps toward issuing subpoenas for Special Counsel Robert Mueller's entire report, as well as for documents from five former associates of President Donald Trump, setting up potential legal showdowns.

The House Judiciary Committee plans to hold votes on Wednesday to authorize the subpoenas, the panel said Monday in a news release. Three days earlier, Attorney General William Barr said he would provide Congress with a redacted version of Mueller's report on his investigation into Trump and Russian election meddling by mid-April.

"Congress requires the full and complete Special Counsel report, without redactions, as well as access to the underlying evidence," Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler said in an emailed statement Monday. "Attorney General Barr has thus far indicated he will not meet the April 2 deadline set by myself and five other Committee chairs, and refused to work with us to provide the full report, without redactions, to Congress. The Attorney General should reconsider so that we can work together to ensure the maximum transparency of this important report to both Congress and the American people."

Toys

US suspends Turkey's F-35 sale over Russia's S-400 missile deal - Losing Turkish-produced parts in the process

S-400
© TASS
Turkey has said it is committed to a deal to buy S-400 missile-defense systems from Russia.
The United States says it is halting deliveries to Turkey related to the F-35 fighter-jet program in response to Ankara's decision to move ahead with the purchase of Russian air-defense system.

"Pending an unequivocal Turkish decision to forgo delivery of the S-400, deliveries and activities associated with the stand-up of Turkey's F-35 operational capability have been suspended while our dialogue on this important matter continues with Turkey," a Pentagon spokesperson said on April 1.

Washington has been warning Ankara for months that buying the S-400 system would jeopardize its planned purchase of the advanced fighter aircraft.

Comment: Sputnik reports Turkey was actually manufacturing parts for US F-35s and so their futile attempts to coerce Turkey into exclusive deals that would isolate Russia have backfired; an increasingly common occurrence:
Pentagon Working on Secondary Supply Sources for Turkish-Made F-35 Parts

The US Defence Department is searching for new sources to replace Turkish-made F-35 aircraft parts after Washington suspended activities associated with Turkey's F-35 operational capability, Pentagon spokesperson Charles Summers said in a statement.

"The United States has been clear that Turkey's acquisition of the S-400 is unacceptable," Summers said on Monday. "Therefore, the DoD has initiated steps necessary to ensure prudent program planning and resiliency of the F-35 supply chain. Secondary sources of supply for Turkish-produced parts are now in development."

The Pentagon said on Monday that the United States suspended deliveries and activities associated with Turkey's F-35 operational capability due to Ankara's decision to purchase the Russian missile defence systems.

"We very much regret the current situation facing our F-35 partnership with Turkey, and the DoD is taking prudent steps to protect the shared investments made in our critical technology," Summers said on Monday. "Our important dialogue on this matter will continue, however, until they forgo delivery of the S-400, the United States has suspended deliveries and activities associated with the stand-up of Turkey's F-35 operational capability. Should Turkey procure the S-400, their continued participation in the F-35 program is at risk."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan decided not to abandon plans to buy the Russian system despite US claims that the S-400s may compromise the security of their F-35s. Commenting on the planned purchase, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Ankara purchases Russia's S-400 Triumph anti-aircraft missile systems for its own needs and there will be no reselling. According to the Turkish official, Ankara will receive the military equipment from Moscow in July.
See also: