Society's ChildS


Question

The trigger for WWIII just arrived - what are the implications for Americans?

trigger for WWIII
If the year of 2024 has proven anything so far, it's that our worries about the potential outbreak of WWIII are absolutely reasonable. The skeptics making accusations of "conspiracy theory" and "doom and gloom" have been proven wrong yet again. The geopolitical atmosphere is turning sour fast.

I still don't think a lot of people realize how truly volatile the situation is globally right now. From my point of view, WWIII has already begun, at least in economic terms.

Let's not forget the fact that Ukraine is essentially a proxy for all of NATO against Russia. And, the situation in the Middle East is about to become much worse. Because of the alliances involved and the fragile nature of global energy exports there is a danger of systemic collapse should a wider war break out between Israel and multiple Arab nations. It appears that such a war is imminent.

Eye 1

Biden admin's $2.2 billion for power grid 'upgrade' will fund empowerment of artificial intelligence for surveillance state

power lines
This project sounds good on the surface but will do little to truly improve the reliability or security of the grid. It will supply AI with the power needed to surveil everyone 24/7

The U.S. Department of Energy is allocating $2.2 billion in grants for upgrades of the power grid to make it more resilient to extreme weather events and accommodate more renewable energy.

Oilprice.com reports that the jolt of federal funding will add to private-sector financing to support eight grid upgrade projects across 18 states.

According to the Biden administration, the DOE funding is expected to support the construction of more than 600 miles of new transmission lines and the upgrade of about 400 miles of existing lines so that they can carry more current.

Star of David

Best of the Web: Leaked video shows Israeli soldiers sexually assaulting Palestinian detainee

israel prison
A leaked video showing Israeli soldiers sexually assaulting a Palestinian detainee from Gaza in the notorious Israeli detention camp Sde Teiman has come to the fore.
The footage from surveillance cameras, aired by Israeli Channel 12, shows a group of Israeli reservist soldiers picking a detainee out of more than 30 others, who are all laid on the ground blindfolded. The detainee is then taken to a corner.

"It is clear that they know about the surveillance cameras, and try to hide their act with shields," the report said. "The video contains a documentation to the felony of the reservists: the act of sodomy in these circumstances."

Comment: What's particularly insidious is that these crimes against humanity are undeniable - there's now even video documentation for this particular crime - however, yet again, the 'international, rules based order', the citizens thereof, as well as Israel's population, in their silence and inaction, may be making themselves complicit. And complicity with such heinous acts does not bode well for the future of those peoples: Whom The Gods Would Destroy...

As the following posts note: the UN found no evidence of the rape or sexual assault of Israelis by Palestinians or Hamas, and Israeli officials and commentators openly laud the systematic sexual abuse and rape of Palestinians:





Light Sabers

Musk declares 'war' on advertiser cartel

Elon Musk
© Marc Piasecki/Getty ImagesFile photo: Elon Musk, June 19, 2024.
Elon Musk has filed an antitrust lawsuit against the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), alleging that it organized an illegal boycott of X (formerly Twitter). Video hosting platform Rumble has joined the complaint.

The suit, filed in Texas on Tuesday, follows last month's publication of a report by the US House of Representatives' Judiciary Committee, which found evidence that GARM conspired to demonetize and otherwise harm "disfavored platforms."

"We tried being nice for 2 years and got nothing but empty words. Now, it is war," Musk said on X, above a post from Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski announcing he would join the case.

"This is not a decision we took lightly, but it is a direct consequence of their actions," X CEO Linda Yaccarino said in an open letter to all users, calling the behavior by GARM and others "a stain on a great industry" that "cannot be allowed to continue."

Attention

Viral video reveals 14% of illegal immigrants admitting they're registered to vote

voter boxes
Undercover footage reported by the Heritage Foundation's Oversight Project from Muckracker.com reveals that 14% of illegal immigrants in a single apartment complex in Georgia admitted to being registered to vote. The video, taken by journalist Carlos Arellano, has over 21 million views as of this writing.


Comment: It doesn't matter where you look, disturbing is the norm.


Popcorn

'We'll die before enlisting': Ultra-Orthodox Israelis storm army base

israel orthodox idf
© Flash90The Haredi community's call for ultra-Orthodox Israelis to dodge draft orders has hampered Tel Aviv's enlistment efforts
Israel released a statement on 6 August condemning the storming of a military base that day by ultra-Orthodox Jews, also known as the Haredim, who were protesting a recent government decision to enlist them into the Israeli army.

"Breaking into IDF bases is a grave offensive and against the law," the Israeli army said, adding that the enlistment of Haredi Jews into the military is "a critical operational need... and we are determined to continue advancing it."

Demonstrators from the ultra-Orthodox community stormed the Tel HaShome army base in Israel earlier on 6 August during a demonstration against compulsory conscription into the Israeli military.

Comment: It's no wonder Israel is so eager to start a major Middle East conflict, because internally it's collapsing, and external support for it is crashing, and it will likely never recover its position in the world now that it has revealed its truly diabolical nature:


Control Panel

Uh-huh: Google says 'bug' kept Trump out of auto-generated search suggestions, pushed stories on Kamala Harris to users

google search censor trump
© Google
Google told House Republicans that various bugs prevented information about Donald Trump from auto-completing when users tried to search for information about the former president or the assassination attempt against him. The search engine also claimed those bugs caused searches for Trump to generate articles about Vice President Kamala Harris.

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, wrote Monday that the committee would meet with Google staff this week over concerns that "Google may now be interfering in the 2024 presidential election by censoring information about former President Donald Trump."

"Alphabet also admitted to the Committee and Select Subcommittee that Autocomplete was not showing President Trump's name in response to searches for 'President Donald' and similar terms. Alphabet claims 'that this particular issue was caused by a bug' and has been fixed by a recent update," Jordan wrote, in reference to Google's parent company.

Comment: Alphabet is getting pretty bold:


MIB

Russia: Explosion rocks military plant; huge fire breaks out at gas processor

Avangard
Three people have been killed in an explosion at a state-owned arms manufacturing site in Russia, reports say.

The blast occurred on Monday when a repair crew was dismantling a pipeline at a workshop in the Avangard site in the city of Sterlitamak, Bashkortostan, around 900 miles east of Moscow, Russian news outlet RBC reported.

The site belongs to the state corporation Rostec and produces parts for multiple launch rocket systems. The company has been sanctioned by the European Union, Switzerland and Ukraine.

The company said that the cause of the incident is being established. Russia's Investigative Committee said workers may have violated safety guidelines when cutting the pipes.

The committee said in a statement that a criminal case has been initiated into "the violation of the requirements of industrial safety of hazardous production facilities, resulting in the death of two or more persons by negligence." Newsweek has contacted Rostec and the investigative committee for comment.

Comment: The fire that occurred today:
Fire breaks out at Usinsk gas processing plant in Russia

Russian outlets RIA Novosti and TASS report.

It is noted that there were allegedly no injuries as a result of the fire. The fire was quickly extinguished.

At the same time, the Baza Telegram channel reports a fire at the Transneft oil refinery in Usinsk, Russia. Employees of the enterprise were evacuated, the cause of the fire is unknown.


Footage:



The Russians deny the fire, RBC report, citing a statement by Transneft.

"Currently, all the company's facilities are operating normally, and the fire has nothing to do with the infrastructure of Transneft-Sever," the statement says.
  • Russia reports shooting down at least 36 unmanned aerial vehicles over three regions on the night and morning of August 6. A fire broke out in the Kursk region.
Notably the sabotage against Russia is occurring alongside a surge of similar incidents in the West - although largely against the food supply chain - and it seems probable that those responsible may be linked:


Handcuffs

Moscow detains general in military park fraud case

Major-General Vladimir Shesterov
© Russian Defense MinistryFile photo: Major-General Vladimir Shesterov
Investigators have alleged that corruption at Patriot Park involved the deputy head of R&D

One of Russia's top generals has been caught up in the alleged embezzlement of state funds at Patriot Park, the country's Investigative Committee has announced.

Major General Vladimir Shesterov is the deputy chief of the Main Directorate for Research and Development at the Russian Defense Ministry. He was detained on Monday alongside Vyacheslav Akhmedov, director of the renowned military park outside Moscow.

"According to the investigation, these individuals and their accomplices were involved in the theft of budget funds allocated for the activities and functioning of the Patriot Park and the convention and exhibition center," said Investigative Committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko.

Comment:
Andrey Belousov is an economist by background and has a different perspective on some issues:
'Making mistakes is acceptable; lying is not' - new Russian defense minister in quotes
Andrey Belousov has officially become the ninth minister of defense in the history of modern Russia. He was nominated by President Vladimir Putin on May 12. The decision was unexpected, as he is the first civilian to hold the post. Belousov has never served in law enforcement agencies and spent most of his career working as an academic economist.

At the same time, Belousov is a longstanding member of the Russian political elite who has held important government positions for the past 20 years. In these years, he has demonstrated his professionalism and his unique vision of Russia's future.

To help get a better idea of who Andrey Belousov is, RT has compiled a selection of quotes from the new defense minister's recent speeches and interviews.



Eiffel Tower

Cyber attacks on museums in France, ransom demanded

hacker
© unknown
The Grand Palais, venue of the Olympics in Paris, and around 40 other museums in France were targets of a cyber attack over the weekend.

According to reports from police sources on Monday evening, cyber-criminals attacked a system that centralizes financial data for several museums in France overnight on Saturday. The attackers are reportedly demanding ransom and threatening to leak the encrypted data.

The French National Cybersecurity Agency (ANSSI) confirmed to news agency AFP that it was aware of the incident. However, it stated that it does not affect any information systems involved in the Olympic and Paralympic Games. For instance, the affected Grand Palais exhibition hall hosts events such as fencing competitions during the Games.

The Grand Palais confirmed that it was affected by a cyber-attack but did not provide details.