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Dollars

California city fights poverty with "no strings" guaranteed basic income of $500/month for residents

Michael Tubbs mayor Stockton
© REUTERS/Jane Ross
Michael Tubbs, the 27-year-old mayor of Stockton, sits in his office at Stockton City Hall in Stockton, California, U.S., April 24, 2018. Picture taken April 24, 2018.
Michael Tubbs, the 27-year-old mayor of Stockton, California, has a radical plan to combat poverty in his cash-strapped city: a "no strings" guaranteed basic income of $500 a month for its residents.

Starting in early 2019, Tubbs plans to provide the monthly stipend to a select group of residents as part of a privately funded 18-month experiment to assess how people use the money.

"And then, maybe, in two or three years, we can have a much more informed discussion about the social safety net, the income floor people deserve and the best way to do it because we'll have more data and research," Tubbs told Reuters.

Comment: More on Stockton's basic income experiment: Stockton, CA, attempts Universal Basic Income experiment after bankruptcy, overspending and decades of failed diversification

While on its face, it seems like a good idea, with Gawker touting "A Universal Basic Income Is the Utopia We Deserve" and the Silicon Valley technochratic elite are singing its praises (always a red flag), it's interesting to take a look at the other side of the argument.

See:


Cell Phone

Media experts made uneasy by France's fake news law

social media phone
© AFP Photo/CHANDAN KHANNA
Under the law social networks would have to introduce measures allowing users to flag up false reports.
France is the latest country attempting to fight the scourge of fake news with legislation -- but opponents say the law won't work and could even be used to silence critics.

The draft law, designed to stop what the government calls "manipulation of information" in the run-up to elections, will be debated in parliament Thursday with a view to it being put into action during next year's European parliamentary polls.

The idea for the bill came straight from President Emmanuel Macron, who was himself targeted during his 2017 campaign by online rumours that he was gay and had a secret bank account in the Bahamas.

Comment: It seems the various actors in the EU are pulling out all the stops to regain control of the narrative. The internet is clearly a beast that can't be controlled in its current form, and the powers that be are working tirelessly to try and reign it in.

See also:


Boat

Sailor pardoned by Trump is suing Obama and Comey for going easy on Hillary Clinton while sending him to prison for photographing nuclear sub

sailor Kristian Saucier
© Facebook
Former sailor Kristian Saucier is pictured with his wife Sadie (right) and baby daughter; he said as a felon, the only work he could get after his prison release was a job as a garbageman.
A former U.S. Navy seaman who spent a year in federal prison for photographing a classified area of a nuclear submarine plans to sue former President Barack Obama and fired FBI director James Comey for selectively prosecuting him.

Donald Trump issued a presidential pardon this year to Kristian Saucier, whose lawyer Ronald Daigle told Fox News on Monday that the pending lawsuit will also name the Justice Department as a defendant.

Daigle says former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was given a free pass by avoiding prosecution for mishandling classified information on her infamous private email server.

Comment: His lawsuit probably hasn't got a chance in hell of actually leading anywhere, but good on him for pointing out the hypocrisy.

See also:


Green Light

EU companies are cautious about risk of US anti-Iran sanctions

oil rig
© Wintershall
Washington's decision to rip the Iran deal up and resume restrictions against the country has put European companies at risk. Sputnik has asked 42 companies in Germany, Austria and Switzerland to weigh the pros and cons of their cooperation with the Islamic Republic of Iran in the aftermath of Donald Trump's move.

Washington's unilateral withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal, and the subsequent resumption of sanctions could complicate international trade with the Islamic Republic.

Sputnik has surveyed 42 companies in Germany, Austria and Switzerland involved in trade with Iran, asking whether they would maintain cooperation with the Islamic Republic at the expense of their business activity in the US or yield to Washington's pressure.

While the answers were different, all the companies demonstrated a cautious approach.

Comment: Also:


Dollars

Spain's oil company Repsol braves US ire with first Iran's South Pars field cargo

Repsol

A man walks past the headquarters of Spanish oil company Repsol in Madrid.


Iran's oil exports hit a new record in May which also saw the country sell its first cargo from West Karoun to Spain's Repsol, the Ministry of Petroleum's Shana news outlet reported.


National Iranian Oil Co (NIOC) exported 2.4 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil on top of 300,000 bpd of condensate, an ultra light grade of oil extracted from the giant South Pars gas field, it said.

The rise highlights Iran's resolve to fight US sanctions which are due to snap-back into place after President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the international nuclear deal with Tehran.

The first sale of West Karoun oil also indicates Tehran's decision to boost oil exports and uphold trade with the Europeans in the face of hostile US measures.

Repsol has ordered 500,000 bpd of spot cargoes of West Karoun crude which Iran is marketing as Pars oil, Reuters reported.

Comment: What is the US to do if its threats are not as intimidating as they used to? See:


Newspaper

Killer clown harasses Arnhem kids

clowns
© FACEBOOK/GAGS - THE GREEN BAY CLOWN
Gags, the Green Bay clown in Wisconsin
The Arnhem police spent Sunday afternoon searching the forest at a playground on Engelenburgstraat for a so-called killer clown. The man dressed as a scary clown harassed eight children at the playground earlier in the day. He had knives with him, according to one child. The clown wasn't found, AD reports

The man hung around the park, near the children for over three hours. "It was a killer clown", 11-year-old Naomi said, according to the newspaper. "In the beginning he just waited, but he kept coming closer and had knives with him. At one point it became scary because there were also many small children. He tried to touch us. When we ran away, he quickly went into the forest." Naomi told her friend's mom, who called the police. According to the girl, this is not the first time she's seen the man at the playground. "He comes back every few months. We now stay away from the forest."

Propaganda

The most devious form of mainstream fake news: the limited hangout

Fake news invasion
Big media attacks "fake news." Independent reporters rightly point the finger at big media as the predominant purveyor of fake news.

Here I want to comment on one of the most devious forms of MSM fake news: the limited hangout.

When necessary, news outlets will do a PARTIAL EXPOSURE of a hidden crime. The assumption is, once the story is published and broadcast, everyone will shake their heads and say, "That's terrible," and move on. The whole thing will be forgotten in a matter of days, as if the whole truth has been revealed. Limited hangout.

From media's point of view, a limited hangout means: "We won't do any further digging. We'll shut down further investigation." Vital questions won't be asked:

Why did the criminals do what they did? Why are they still at large? Who is refusing to press charges and make arrests? What deeper crimes are still secret?

The mainstream press could set their hounds loose and build a story into a huge wave. Over time, they could bring hidden players out into the open and expose them and wring confessions out of them. They could get some of these players to roll over and point to higher-level criminals. The story could achieve tsunami status, at which point the government would have to make arrests and lay on trials in open courtrooms.

But that doesn't happen. Limited hangout rules the day.

Comment: See also:


Sherlock

The agitated Mr. Skripal: Connecting more dots in the Skripal case

Zizzi restaurant Skripal
In Part 1 of this series, I stated why I believe the official narrative on the Skripal case does not appear to hold water. Firstly, the nerve agent A-234 (Novichok) can and has been produced outside Russia, in a number of places, thus disproving the claim that it must have come from Russia. Secondly, the fact that the effects experienced by the Skripals - four hours of moving freely around Salisbury, followed by no irreparable damage - do not remotely fit what the scientific literature says about that substance - almost instantaneous death or a short life with irreparable damage to the central nervous system -, makes it highly unlikely that they were indeed poisoned by it. Indeed, the burden of proof is on those making the claims to show how and why the scientific literature was wrong.

Then in Part 2, I mentioned four aspects of the case, which are undoubtedly significant, but which seem to have been ignored or forgotten. I ended that piece by saying that I hoped to discuss what I consider to be an even bigger aspect of the case; something that may well begin to join some dots together.

And this is what I intend to do in this piece. However, before I do, I should start by saying that what I am about to say is speculative. That is not to say that it is not based on facts. It is. It is based on witness testimony that appeared very early on in the case - three days after the poisoning - and which I deem to be credible since it appeared before the case became completely politicised, which is sadly what subsequently happened. I am then using that testimony to construct what I consider to be the best explanation for what the witness described. And so it is very much a theory. One based on facts, but a theory nevertheless. As such it is of course open to challenge.

Comment: More of Mr. Slane's theories on the Skripal case:


Propaganda

The establishment media has become the enemy of the state

Thomas Friedman

New York Times propaganda shill Thomas Friedman
Earlier this week during an appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman pleaded with viewers to 'vote Democrat' in the midterm elections in November.

Failure to do so, he warned, would lead to the destruction of our democracy. Or something like that.

Labeling President Donald Trump the "greatest threat to our democracy," Friedman may sound like just about every other unhinged Left-wing kook journalist in America today - and he does.

But the ongoing cacophony of the unhinged Pravda media is what really threatens our democracy.

"Look, these midterms are soon to be upon us," Friedman said, almost breathlessly. "And I have one piece of advice for people: You have to vote for a Democrat because - and I say that as someone who, you know, I have very conservative issues on a lot of things. I'm free trade. I'm pro-globalization, pro-business.

Comment: In case you were wondering the author's ironic likening of the establishment media to Pravda is pretty on point!
Pravda is a Russian broadsheet newspaper, formerly the official newspaper of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, when it was one of the most influential papers in the country with a circulation of 11 million.

[...]

The offices of the newspaper were transferred to Moscow on 3 March 1918 when the Soviet capital was moved there. Pravda became an official publication, or "organ", of the Soviet Communist Party. Pravda became the conduit for announcing official policy and policy changes and would remain so until 1991. Subscription to Pravda was mandatory for state run companies, the armed services and other organizations until 1989.



Star of David

'Likely targeted, but unlikely killed': Israeli journalist attempts to whitewash IDF sniper's murder of Palestinian medic Razan al-Najjar

Razan al-Najjar, medic killed by Israeli sniper

Razan al-Najjar, the 21 year old medic killed by an Israeli sniper on June 1, treating an injured man, undated photo from Palestine Live on twitter.
Last Friday, Palestinian Gazan medic Razan al-Najjar was killed by an Israeli sniper live round to her upper body, while attending to the wounded during Friday's Great March of Return protests near the Gaza fence. She was clearly marked with an official white uniform jacket, and at a distance of about 100 meters from the fence.

This site cited Asaf Ronel of Haaretz, who tweeted:
"It's unlikely that a sniper deliberately killed Razan al-Najjar. Her death is an expected result of repeated use of live fire by Israeli soldiers to prevent medical care in #Gaza (in addition to illegal & immoral use of snipers against unarmed protesters)".
This is somewhat confusing, and the duplicity may not be noticed at first glance. On the one hand, Ronel admits to a repeated use of live fire against medical personnel - but on the other hand, suggests that al-Najjar was not deliberately killed. What does it mean, that al-Najjar was likely targeted, yet unlikely killed?

The formulation is so confusing, that Mondoweiss editors in fact took Ronel's assertion to mean that she was not targeted. The heading to the tweet: "Ronel says al-Najjar was not likely targeted when she was killed".

But is that what Ronel is saying? Not really. He's saying that it was "unlikely" that she was "deliberately killed", while he doesn't seem to contest that she was deliberately targeted.

Comment: Murdered by an Israeli sniper, Palestinian nurse Razan Al-Najjar is just an afterthought in the Western press