Welcome to Sott.net
Mon, 08 Nov 2021
The World for People who Think

Society's Child
Map

Handcuffs

F-35 jet security breach reported, Brit arrested over plot to sell secrets to China


RT
Thu, 14 Jun 2018 00:00 UTC
F-35B jet
© Qian Baihua / Global Look Press
An F-35B jet.
A man has been arrested by counterterrorism police, accused of plotting to sell military secrets to the Chinese. Scotland Yard has confirmed that a man in his 70s has been arrested, suspected of breaching the Official Secrets Act.

The man was arrested on Tuesday afternoon and taken to a police station in Derbyshire. He was later released, but remains under investigation. Scotland Yard confirmed that a search warrant was executed at an address in the West Midlands. Further searches at an address in Derbyshire are ongoing.

According to The Sun, the man, understood to be a former Rolls-Royce employee, was arrested over fears that classified information about the UK's new multimillion-pound F-35 stealth fighter jets may have been passed on to China. Rolls-Royce was one of several UK companies with contracts to produce parts for the jet, which landed at RAF Marham in Norfolk last week.

Comment: See also:

      Read More...
Arrow Down

More grim news for US newspapers


Yahoo! News
Wed, 13 Jun 2018 00:00 UTC
US news papers
© AFP Photo/SAUL LOEB
It was another grim year for US newspapers, with declines in revenues and readership for the overall sector despite growth for a small number of big dailies, according to a recent survey
The troubled picture for US newspapers became even grimmer in 2017 with declines in revenue and both print and digital readership, a new research report showed Wednesday.

The newspaper industry has been declining for the past decade, and the latest drops suggest deepening woes for the sector despite a handful of large publications which have been showing signs of growth.

The Pew Research Center found total US daily newspaper circulation, print and digital combined, was 31 million for weekday and 34 million for Sunday in 2017, down 11 and 10 percent, respectively, from the previous year.

Comment: See also:

      Read More...
Megaphone

Social Justice is Popular. But the Rule of Law is Sacrosanct

Jonathan Kay
Quillette
Thu, 14 Jun 2018 00:00 UTC
Editor's note: The text that follows is adapted from the 2018 Rule of Law Lecture, delivered by Canadian Quillette editor Jonathan Kay to the Law Society of British Columbia on June 7 in Vancouver.

social Justice Warriors
© Andy Ngo
This is a speech about the interplay of law and social justice. And I can't think of a better way to start it than by praising a great lawyer who died last month at the age of 104-a black woman by the name of Dovey Johnson Roundtree.

In 1965, Ms. Roundtree represented a poor black day laborer named Raymond Crump Jr., who stood falsely accused of killing a glamorous white woman in Washington D.C. Everyone assumed Crump would hang. But in court, Roundtree saved Crump's life.

Even before that, Roundtree, did amazing things. She was one of the first female officers-of any race-in the U.S. military. And in 1952, she helped strike down racial segregation on interstate buses.

Comment:



      Read More...
Stock Up

Russia fosters powerful economic engine that lowers debt while growing foreign reserves


RT
Thu, 14 Jun 2018 23:49 UTC
Moscow International Business Center
© Safronova Alexandra / EyeEm / Getty Images
Moscow International Business Center
Despite facing years of sanctions from the US and EU, the Russian economy is growing again thanks to a winning formula of borrowing less and saving more.

The sovereign debt of Russia is a fraction of that in developed countries like the UK or US. Russia's foreign debt now stands at $525 billion, compared to $7.5 trillion in Britain, $5 trillion in France, $4.8 trillion in Germany, and an eye-watering $21 trillion in the United States.

Russia has not only managed to keep foreign debt in check, but last year also paid off the balance of debt inherited from the Soviet Union. This covers Russia and 14 currently independent countries that used to make up the USSR.
      Read More...
Bizarro Earth

'I taste like buffalo': Man claims to have cooked amputated leg into taco feast for friends


RT
Thu, 14 Jun 2018 22:57 UTC
man cooks leg
© IncrediblyShinyShart/ Imgur
An anonymous Reddit user claims to have cooked up part of his amputated leg and served it to a group of friends in a taco feast. The shocking revelation has been backed up with a series of stomach churning photos.

Reddit user IncrediblyShinyShart made the unimaginable admission in a thread entitled; 'Hi all, I am a man who ate a portion of his own amputated leg. Ask me anything.'
      Read More...
Arrow Up

McGill music student awarded $350,000 after girlfriend stalls career

Rene'Brunner
Montreal Gazette
Thu, 14 Jun 2018 21:14 UTC
McGill
© MARIE-FRANCE COALLIER / MONTREAL GAZETTE
McGill University music student Eric Abramovitz studied with some of the country's elite teachers from the age of 7.
She wrote an email posing as him, turning down a $50,000-a-year scholarship so that he wouldn't leave

McGill University music student Eric Abramovitz was among the top clarinetists in Canada. He studied with some of the country's elite teachers from the age of 7. He won first prize at the Canadian Music Competition six times. He was a featured soloist with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestre symphonique du Quebec.

In late 2013, Abramovitz applied for a full two-year scholarship to complete his bachelor's degree at the Colburn Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles. Every student at Colburn receives a full scholarship, including tuition, room and board, and money for meals and other expenses, worth roughly $50,000 a year.

If accepted, he would study under Yehuda Gilad, considered one of the best clarinet teachers on the planet. Gilad accepts two students a year out of dozens of applicants. To be chosen is virtually a guarantee of a high-paying symphony career directly out of college. After an exhaustive pre-screening process, Abramovitz flew to Los Angeles in February 2014 with his parents to do a live audition before Gilad and a committee of faculty members.
      Read More...
Shoe

Russia thrash Saudi Arabia in World Cup - Biggest opening game winning margin since 1934 - British press livid

Bryan MacDonald
RT
Thu, 14 Jun 2018 21:33 UTC
russia world cup putin

"Don't look at me. I had nothing to do with this spectacular result."
Far from events in Moscow, in Russia's most southerly large city, ninety minutes of determined and often sublime football ignited local passions as World Cup 2018 began. The UK press might resent it, but the party has started.

Krasnodar

Ten minutes before World Cup 2018 kicks off and Vanya and Misha aren't feeling confident. Despite the sweltering 34 degrees Celsius (93 F) Kuban summer heat, they are dressed in shirts and ties, and awaiting the Russia-Saudi Arabia game with emotions more akin to dread than elation.

"We've failed to win any of our last seven matches, and we're the lowest-ranked team in the competition," Misha explains. "I didn't even bother to buy a jersey: but Vanya stuck a flag on his car, he's always been a masochist."

Comment: An amazing result for a team rated worst of the tournament by FIFA.


Singer Robbie Williams had a special message for the British press at the opening ceremony.

Criticized for 'selling his soul to a dictator' for agreeing to perform, Williams changed one of the lyrics of his song to "...but I did this for free," then waved at them with this gesture:




      Read More...
Black Cat 2

RT interviews British diversity dissident Katie Hopkins: 'Putin rocks. And I love Russia because it's still Russian'


RT
Thu, 14 Jun 2018 20:39 UTC
Katie Hopkins
© John Sciulli/Getty Images
The Trump administration's Ann Coulter (L) and Katie Hopkins
Astounded that Russians describe themselves as Russian, far-right British figure Katie Hopkins talks to RT's Oksana Boyko on her thoughts about Russia, London and Sadiq Khan.

Describing St. Petersburg as a place "untouched by the myth of multiculturalism and deranged diversity," as well as somewhere she feels safer than in London, Hopkins was amazed that Russians in the city are "really Russian first" - something she found different from the UK.

Despite being told that St. Petersburg is the most multicultural city in Russia with a vibrant Muslim community, and the country is home to as many as 160 ethnic groups, Hopkins doubled down on her remarks, saying: "When you come to Russia as an outsider, and I'm an outsider, it feels Russian.

"When I talk to people on the street, they identify as Russian first. You go to the UK, you don't get any of that."

      Read More...
Arrow Up

Over a million Venezuelans moved to Colombia in just two years

Jim Wyss
Miami Herald
Wed, 13 Jun 2018 11:44 UTC
Venezuelans to Colombia
© Reuters
Almost 1 million people from Venezuela are thought to have poured into neighboring Colombia in the last two years, amid a grinding economic, social and political crisis that has rattled the region.

On Wednesday, Colombian authorities said a nationwide census found that 442,462 Venezuelans are living in the country without proper documentation and 376,572 Venezuelans are in the country legally - for a total of 819,034.

However, they also estimate that more than 160,000 Colombians who were long-term residents of Venezuela have returned in recent months.

"We're talking about more than 1 million people who have come here from Venezuela in the last 15 months," said Christian Kruger, the director of Colombia's immigration agency.

The Venezuelan exodus is being felt throughout the hemisphere. According to the International Organization on Migration, there were at least 1.6 million Venezuelans living abroad in 2017 - up from 698,000 in 2015. But Wednesday's data, and studies in Venezuelan universities and elsewhere, suggest the total number could be much higher.


Comment: And what part in this massive exodus did/does the US play?

      Read More...
Attention

Humanitarian orgs: 'Millions of lives at risk', urge Saudi-led coalition to spare Yemeni civilians


RT
Thu, 14 Jun 2018 04:02 UTC
Ship Hodeidah
© WFP Middle East
Chartered vessel carrying 25,000 tons of wheat offloading at Hodeidah Port - so far 6,000 tons have discharged.
Halting operations at the crucial Hodeidah port would have an enormous impact on people all across Yemen, humanitarian agencies have warned, urging the warring parties to spare innocent lives in their battle for the Red Sea city.
"Hodeidah is a lifeline for millions of Yemenis," Iolanda Jaquemet, a spokeswoman from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), told RT. "The assault risks exacerbating an already catastrophic situation... Should this aid not be able to flow into this port, it will put at risk millions of lives."
At dawn on Wednesday, the Saudi-led Arab coalition began the long-anticipated ground, naval, and air campaign against Houthi rebels in Hodeidah, trying to recapture the strategic port. After the first day of fighting, the coalition failed to capture the Red Sea city or to take possession of its airport. Despite the fighting, the port continues to operate, management of the port said, while the UN confirmed an aid delivery on Wednesday.

Comment: It is going to take more than arm-twisting to get the one-mentality Saudis to back off. Civilians are the first to go and last thing on their minds. Sickening. It is doubtful the hypocritical US/UK request to the UNSC will produce any results.

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