Welcome to Sott.net
Fri, 05 Nov 2021
The World for People who Think

Society's Child
Map

Mr. Potato

Daily Mail's woke fail: Reports 'nothing but sexism' about Russian military pageants... while publishing photos of Russian beauties

female russian sharp shooter women military Russia
© Sputnik / Ilya Pitalev
Few things scream 'double standards' as loudly as the Daily Mail accusing Vladimir Putin of running a sexist military in a story containing eyebrow-raising arguments and surrounded by articles that are hardly politically correct.

The Daily Mail tried its hand at being a champion of female emancipation and gender equality, producing a lengthy Russia-bashing piece. The Ruskies are now bad because they demean their brave female fighters, it seems. Their proof? The beauty pageants held for women in uniforms on the occasion of International Women's Day.

Russia's Black Sea Fleet is damned for daring to call female soldiers the "weaker sex." Women from the Airborne Troops were asked to "demonstrate their sewing skills" - a typical Russian propagation of gender stereotypes. And misogynists from the Missile Forces called their pageant 'Makeup Under Camouflage'! And so on and so forth.

Yoda

Tucker Carlson: Roger Waters speaks about why he backs Julian Assange


Comment: Tucker Carlson is one of the few brave journalists willing to speak out about Julian Assange and the threat his prosecution presents to press freedom. Here he interviews Roger Waters on why Waters has taken up Julian's cause



Comment:


Ambulance

2nd regional Italian head contracts coronavirus, all cultural facilities across the country closed

rome colosseum
© Reuters / Remo Casilli
People wearing protective masks walk past the Colosseum in Rome, Italy, February 25, 2020.
Gripped by the deadly coronavirus, which has infected thousands nationwide - a figure which now includes the head of its Piedmont region - Italy has shut down all of its cultural sites and iconic landmarks such as the Colosseum.

Those hoping to marvel at glorious reminders of the Roman Empire by visiting the Colosseum or walking among the ancient ruins of the Forum in central Rome won't be fulfilling their dreams any time soon. Those seeking to enjoy the masterpieces of the great Renaissance masters in Florence's Uffizi Gallery will have to shelve their plans for the time being, too.

In their latest move to curb the relentless spread of the novel coronavirus officially known as Covid-19, Italian authorities have decided to close all national cultural facilities, including the iconic landmarks that have made the nation famous throughout the world. The measure also spells bad news for local cinema-goers and theater-lovers, since these venues will now be closed too, according to Cultural Minister Dario Franceschini.

The official called it a "necessary and tough choice" as he announced the decision in a Twitter post. He also urged the national TV channels to fill the void left by the abrupt - if temporary - ban on cultural life by broadcasting films, plays and music. All companies managing cultural sites should "make the most" of their websites and social network accounts, the minister suggested.

Comment: Iran experienced another 49 deaths, bringing the total to 194 (over 6,500 cases overall). IranAir has suspended all flights to Europe because of "the restrictions that have been placed on [IranAir] flights by Europe for unclear reasons."

See also:


Oil Well

The political storm over green targets will be even bigger than Brexit

Greta Thunberg
© Anadolu Agency
The green establishment is emerging as the new Brussels.
Just when we thought the war was over, it is starting to dawn on some London hacks that it has only just begun. Beyond the Red Wall are rumblings of a new revolt, utterly unanticipated by No 10 and overlooked by a liberal media still shell-shocked by the election. With its drive to "green" the economy at any cost, the Tory party has seemingly decided to celebrate its populist landslide by bogging down the country in zero-carbon paternalism. And so we careen towards another People vs Establishment conflict that could be more explosive even than that sparked by the referendum.

A savvy politician like Boris Johnson can still reverse No 10's green strategy, which moved on this week from banning petrol and diesel cars to the revival of onshore wind farms. He must - all the ingredients for another seismic uprising are already simmering.

First is the drift towards disaster at the Treasury. With the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, reportedly poised to end the freeze on fuel duty for all motorists, voters are referring to zero carbon as "the new austerity".

Pirates

UK airline staff may lose pension because collapsed airline is registered in tax haven

Densham

Katherine Densham worked for the collapsed airline for 13 years
More than 1,300 Flybe staff who have lost their jobs could also lose their pensions, it has emerged.

Workers risk suffering a big shortfall in old age because the money saved for their retirement is not protected.

Former staff will also be affected. Members of the pension fund are among 2,400 stunned staff to have lost their jobs after the airline collapsed.

Their plight contrasts sharply with Flybe's wealthy owners, which include Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic, 69, and a US hedge fund.

Comment: These days, whatever happens, the banksters win and the rest of us lose:


Microscope 2

Coronavirus: Northern Italy quarantines 16 million people

Italy coronavirus quarantine
© AFP
Flights appear to be operating out of Milan's airports despite the quarantine
Italy has placed up to 16 million people under quarantine as it battles to contain the spread of coronavirus.

Anyone living in Lombardy and 14 other central and northern provinces will need special permission to travel. Milan and Venice are both affected.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte also announced the closure of schools, gyms, museums, nightclubs and other venues across the whole country.

Comment: See also:


Burka

'Don't like to see little girls in veils? Move out of Sweden': Muslim teacher & Muslim politician clash on live TV

Loubna Stensaker Goransson and Naouel Aissaoui
© SVT Play
Screenshot from the video / Loubna Stensaker Goransson and Naouel Aissaoui are debating on a headscarf ban in schools.
Two Muslim women with opposing views on a headscarf ban in schools clashed in a fierce TV debate in Sweden. The teacher told the politician that people uncomfortable with the veil should just leave the country.

The heated exchange between Naouel Aissaoui, a school teacher in the Swedish municipality of Skurup, and local politician Loubna Stensaker Goransson was over a ban on veils in public schools, which Goransson and other council officials enacted in December. The decision angered many educators, and Aissaoui is among those leading the pushback.

"Move away if it annoys you," Aissaoui said during a TV debate after her opponent said she disliked seeing little girls wearing the veil. "This is my country, too."

Comment: See also:


Magnify

Keep it simple and question: Propaganda, technology, and coronavirus

coronavirus
My father, a well-educated lawyer with a very sophisticated mind, used to advise me to "keep it simple." By simple he didn't mean simplistic. He meant fundamentally logical and to the point. So I will do that here and stick to some simple realities, now that understanding what is going on in the world has become an idiot's game played by the corporate mass media to confuse people.

I have been writing about the dangers of technology for many years. Not all technology, of course, for the pencil I am writing this with is a technology, and an amazing and underappreciated one. I am referring to the techno-scientific, digital, high-tech sort, the world of computers, cell phones, genetic engineering, biological weapons development, etc. You know, all the stuff that has made our lives better and easier.

Two of the major problems the world faces - world destruction with nuclear weapons and the poisoning of the earth's ecology and atmosphere - are the result of the marriage of science and technique that has given birth to the technological "babies" (Little Boy and Fat Man) that were used by the U.S. to massacre hundreds of thousands of Japanese and now threaten to incinerate everyone, and the chemical and toxic inventions that have despoiled the earth, air, and water and continue to kill people worldwide through America's endless war-making and industrial applications.

Comment: See also:


NPC

'Not progressive enough'? Bill Maher defending MSNBC dinosaur Chris Matthews as 'cancel culture victim' triggers fellow liberals

Bill Maher
© REUTERS/Danny Moloshok
Bill Maher at the 89th Academy Awards Vanity Fair party
Bill Maher has triggered the left by defending former MSNBC host Chris Matthews after sexual misconduct allegations, calling 'cancel culture' a "cancer on progressivism."

"MSNBC used to run this thing: this is who we are. Well, I didn't like who you were this week, and I don't think a lot of people who work there liked this either, and I think this 'cancel culture' is a cancer on progressivism," Maher said on his 'Real Time' program on Friday night when addressing Matthews leaving his long-standing post at MSNBC.

The HBO host said cancel culture is destroying the left because liberals are fighting a "two-front war" while "Republicans only have to fight Democrats."

Matthews' resignation followed a GQ essay in which Laura Bassett accused Matthews of making inappropriate comments to her when she was a guest on his show.

"Make sure you wipe this [makeup] off her face after the show. We don't make her up so some guy at a bar can look at her like this," Bassett claims Matthews said to her in a makeup room before a taping.

Comment: No matter how "left" you are, the second you step out of line they will devour you. See also:


MIB

Spying or oppo research? Blackwater boogeyman Erik Prince accused of helping Project Veritas infiltrate political campaigns & unions

Erik Prince
© REUTERS/Jeenah Moon
Erik Prince
The left is suddenly shocked to find 'opposition research' taken to a 'whole new level' amid claims that notorious Blackwater founder Erik Prince hired ex-spies to train Project Veritas agents to infiltrate liberal organizations.

Prince, the former head of Blackwater Worldwide and brother to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, recruited both ex-British and American spies to help in undercover operations run by Project Veritas, according to the report from The New York Times. Prince's activities were discovered through documents from the discovery process in a legal battle between Veritas and the American Federation of Teachers, the second largest teacher's labor union in the US.

The documents show Prince ran a 2017 operation where a former MI6 officer named Richard Seddon made copies of files and secret recordings at a Michigan office for the teacher's union. Prince also led an operation to infiltrate the 2018 congressional campaign of Democrat Abigail Spanberger. The person planted in the campaign was eventually found out and removed.