Welcome to Sott.net
Tue, 02 Nov 2021
The World for People who Think

Puppet Masters
Map

Chess

Venezuelan Supreme Court seeks to strip Juan Guaido's immunity


RT
Tue, 02 Apr 2019 17:44 UTC
guaido
© Reuters / Carlos Garcia Rawlins
Venezuela's Supreme Court of Justice has urged MPs to strip Juan Guaido of his immunity from prosecution, a move which could lead to criminal charges brought against the US-backed opposition leader and self-declared president.

"[The court] orders to hand a certified copy of this decision to the head of the national Constituent Assembly in order to recall the parliamentary immunity of Juan Gerardo Guaido Marquez," Supreme Court Justice (TSJ) Maikel Moreno announced on Monday, explaining that the opposition leader had violated the January 29 ban on leaving the country.

Guaido, who declared himself interim president in January, visited several Latin American neighbors in an attempt to muster support for regime change in Venezuela.

The opposition leader holds immunity as head of the National Assembly, but stands accused by Caracas of inciting violence and engaging in an illicit financial activity. In February, he travelled to Colombia to lead the so-called US humanitarian aid convoy into Venezuela.
      Read More...
Heart - Black

U.S. Supreme Court: Death row inmates not guaranteed 'painless' execution

Lawrence Hurley
Reuters
Tue, 02 Apr 2019 17:08 UTC
death row
The U.S. Constitution does not guarantee a prisoner sentenced to capital punishment "a painless death," a divided Supreme Court said on Monday, paving the way for the execution of a convicted murderer who sought to die by lethal gas rather than lethal injection because of a rare medical condition.

Russell Bucklew, 50, had argued that lethal injection might inflict undue agony by rupturing blood-filled tumors on his face, head, neck and throat caused by a congenital condition called cavernous hemangioma in violation of the Constitution's Eighth Amendment, which bars cruel and unusual punishment.

In a decision that exposed stark divisions among the justices on the death penalty, the court ruled 5-4 that Bucklew had failed to present enough evidence to pursue his request to be executed by lethal gas. The court's five conservatives were in the majority and its four liberals dissented.
      Read More...
War Whore

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


RT
Tue, 02 Apr 2019 17:01 UTC
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.
      Read More...
Hourglass

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

Jason Groves
The Daily Mail
Mon, 01 Apr 2019 16:23 UTC
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.
      Read More...
Megaphone

Naming and shaming the most egregious Russiagate conspiracy theorists

Amber Athey
The Daily Caller
Wed, 27 Mar 2019 16:28 UTC
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.
      Read More...
Bad Guys

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

John Solomon
The Hill
Mon, 01 Apr 2019 15:54 UTC
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:

      Read More...
Pistol

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


RT
Tue, 02 Apr 2019 15:36 UTC
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.

      Read More...
Propaganda

Can the EU survive its own censorship?

Tom Luongo
Gold, Goats 'n Guns
Wed, 27 Mar 2019 00:01 UTC
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:

      Read More...
TV

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

Caitlin Johnstone
caitlinjohnstone.com
Sun, 31 Mar 2019 00:01 UTC
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:

      Read More...
Star of David

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

Tovah Lazaroff
Jerusalem Post
Tue, 02 Apr 2019 09:45 UTC
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.


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