Three weeks ago, we highlighted what we dubbed "the greatest piece of terrorist video propaganda in history." The clip, a 5-minute Hollywood special produced by Islamic State's al-Hayat Media (the nerve center for a labyrinthine network of "Wilayats"), begins with a glorification of the "caliphate", as an English-speaking narrator notes that ISIS' territory is now "thirty times the size of Qatar."

The graphics-laden presentation goes on to mock the US military for its high suicide rates and ineffective air campaign before presaging the "final" battle with the crusaders where the nonbelievers will "burn on the hills of Dabiq."

''Lawyer by training, shitshow by life.''

Caleb Behn introduces himself a little apologetically, shoving aside boxes of bullets and books so I can squeeze into the front seat of his gunmetal-grey Tacoma. The back seat is a tangle of rifles, clothes and more books. On the dashboard, a Yoda figure sagely nods its plastic green head.

Iran has indicated willingness to pipe its natural gas to Europe through Turkey once the sanctions against the Islamic Republic are lifted. Javad Amin Mansour, the director of Trade and Energy Affairs Negotiations Department of Iran's Foreign Ministry, has been quoted by the media as saying that a plan to the same effect is currently under study in Tehran.

"If there is demand from European markets, it is possible to transport the natural gas via Turkey. There are many factors to lead to such trade, but it is now too early to speak about those factors," the Iranian official has been quoted as saying by Anadolu news agency. "We expect the sanctions to be fully eliminated; thereafter, we can consider the marketing of natural gas, the routes and the buyers," he added.

Iran had for years pursued plans to export natural gas to Europe. A tentative scheme that was developed in cooperation with Nabucco - a consortium led by Austria's OMV - envisaged piping Iranian natural gas from the southern energy hub of Assaluyeh to Turkey and thereon to Europe. However, Nabucco eventually abandoned Iran in 2008 after complications grew the most important of which were US-engineered sanctions against the Iranian energy sector.

Monsanto promised that its latest and greatest GM crop, MON810, a genetically modified (GM) insecticidal maize banned by most of Europe, would increase yields and stop crop loss due to pests. A new report from the government of Aragon in Spain says those promises are empty. ^[1]

There is an inserted gene in the DNA of MON810 which allows the plant to make a protein that harms insects that try to eat it. The inserted gene is from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis, which produces the Bt toxin that is poisonous to insects in the Lepidoptera order, including the European Corn Borer. Three quarters of the corn grown in Aragon, Spain is currently genetically modified, but conventional varieties were tested against GM Maize varieties in 2014.

"Helen," "Zoom," and "Kayras" - the non-GM isogenic (parent) lines (plant varieties) - were compared with the GM varieties derived from each line. The genetic insert was the MON810 construct from the US company, Monsanto.

Officials from Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) announced on Saturday that a plan has been drawn up to export natural gas to Turkey and thereon to Europe. The anticipated exports could start before the end of 2016, said Bewar Hansi, an economic adviser for the KRG.

"The government of Iraqi Kurdistan plans to deliver natural gas to Turkey by late 2016. The region will export annually 10 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe via Turkey. By early 2020, the supplies may be increased to 20 billion cubic meters," Hansi has been quoted as saying by Sputnik news agency.

He added that the natural gas reserves in the region are currently estimated at about 45 billion cubic meters. Other figures released by KRG show that the region holds as much as 5.7 trillion cubic meters of natural gas.

Hansi further said that the KRG plans to build a gas pipeline to Asia across Iran. Among other projects will be the construction of three new oil refineries to supply fuel to Kurdistan and throughout Iraq, he added.

According to BP, KRG oil reserves may be 45 billion barrels, a third of the entire Iraq reserves. In July, the regional authorities announced that they have begun exporting oil independently from the Iraqi government. Earlier in late November, reports emerged that the KRG and Turkey had reached a strategic agreement over the delivery of natural gas in 2017.

"Kurdish gas will reach Europe via Turkey. The Kurdish region can fill the gap created by Russia's gas cut-off to Europe," said Jawdat Shirko, the head of KRG Parliamentary Committee for Industry and Energy.

The bulk of future gas supplies to Turkey is expected to be provided from Sulaymaniyah region which is believed to hold 80 percent of KRG's total gas reserves.

Dear Readers,

2015 is about to end, and if you have been following SOTT closely, you will be aware that it has been one heck of a year! Even before the terrible event in San Bernardino, the whole world was awakening to the fact that things have changed drastically and dramatically since the Color Revolution was created by the US/NATO in Ukraine at the end of 2013. You might want to check this article to get a broad overview of things since the false flag chemical attack in Syria in 2013.

Many people are beginning to wake up and finally ask "What the heck is going on?" As our regular readers know, by paying attention to the truth behind events as they unfold on our planet, you begin to see the world more as it is rather than as you would like it to be. That knowledge can bring you a certain sense of liberation, where you finally understand what is wrong with our world. With that understanding, you can then begin to make the choices that will change your life for the better, despite the increasing chaos all around you. As we're fond of saying, 'knowledge protects'. And that is what we wish you for the incoming year: Knowledge and awareness, and hence protection.

Without accurate knowledge, there is no hope. We are collectively facing a world that is rapidly being polarized by propaganda and covert actions both by State powers and by those in opposition to those in power. With wealth and power concentrated in the hands of a small number of apparently pathological individuals, things can only get worse.

Too many people on our planet struggle daily to secure the basics for survival and too many people are having their lives stolen away from them by this same wealthy powerful elite. We should all never, ever forget that our governments are ruled by this 1%, and that their interests are not - absolutely not - those of the masses of humanity which includes you and me. The principle of valuing life everywhere cannot be trampled underfoot in a stampede of fear created by those who do not have our best interests at heart. The ruling classes not only lie to us daily, they seem to deceive themselves if they think that what they are creating is sustainable.

We should also tell you that those of us here at SOTT who daily monitor the news in order to bring together the most complete picture of the "State of the Planet" often find it difficult to keep going in the face of the apparent lack of hope. We are painfully aware of the struggle that must take place in order to right the wrongs and set things back on a positive footing; we are also aware that it will have to be a decision of the masses, not just 10% or 20% of the people. And that is why it is so important to continue to share knowledge. As conditions across all spheres of life continue to degrade, there will inevitably be more pain and suffering. With that, there will be more and more people who, having believed the chaos would never enter their lives, find that this is not the case: chaos is coming everywhere; and that makes it ever more important that we continue to fire the lighthouse for as long as we can.

Saying goodbye to the year 2015, we'd like to tell you a little bit about our accomplishments, since you may not be aware of them all. We have reason to be proud of our stamina and perseverance, and much more reason to be thankful for you, our readers and supporters, who make it all possible. Because, frankly, if we did not receive so many messages of thanks and support, we would have no hope either! There is always much more we can do, but this year, just as we thought our plates were too full, thanks to our readers' support, and the impetus from many new volunteers around the world, we have been expanding!

The parent of an eighth-grade Muslim student at Shiloh Middle School in Gwinnett County is angry after an incident in which a teacher asked his daughter if she was carrying a bomb in her backpack.

Abdirazik Aden, who was born in Somalia, said that on Monday, his 12-year-old daughter was going to class when a teacher stopped her and asked what she had in her bookbag.

He said his daughter told her books. The unidentified teacher responded by asking, her if she had a bomb in her bag?

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel faces increased pressure to resign, as local black religious leaders called Friday for a "no confidence vote" against him for the 2014 police shooting of a 17-year-old black teenager and systemic police problems.

Religious leaders, who demanded greater transparency for incidents involving the police, said they plan to collect petition signatures that could help force the mayor's ouster.

They called for a special prosecutor to investigate the death of Laquan McDonald, who was shot 16 times by white Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke.

The release of a police video of the shooting of McDonald and the Nov. 24 filing of a murder charge against Van Dyke came more than a year after McDonald's death. That delay was blamed on Emanuel and the top local prosecutor, and has prompted more than two weeks of protests in the nation's third-largest city.

A member of McDonald's family was expected to speak at a news conference at 11:15 a.m. local time (1215 ET).

A British soldier who had his leg blown off by a bomb while serving in Iraq has taken the internet by storm after his Facebook post attacking Islamophobia went viral.

Chris Herbert, who served in the British Army in Basra, Iraq, lost his right leg when a bomb went off next to his Land Rover in 2007.

One of his comrades, Private Luke Simpson, died in the attack, while two other soldiers were also injured.

Andrew Thomas, 26, made a deadly decision to get behind the wheel after he'd been drinking on Thanksgiving night. With his 23-year-old wife, Darien Ehorn in the passenger's seat, Thomas left the Canteena Bar and was immediately pursued by Paradise police officer Patrick Feaster.

In a pursuit that barely lasted a minute, Thomas loses control of his Toyota Four-Runner, hit the median and flipped over. Tragically, Ehorn was ejected from the vehicle and died on the scene.

Officer Feaster then gets out of his vehicle, gun drawn, and as Thomas attempts to get out of the vehicle, in a likely attempt to check on his wife, the cop shoots him in the neck.

Thomas posed absolutely no threat to the officer who was 10-20 feet away from Thomas when he fired. There was no possible way the department could spin the shooting into Feaster somehow fearing for his life. So, they did something entirely different.

They claimed it was an accident.