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FARA not 'far' enough, US lawmakers invent new ways to brand RT and Sputnik as propaganda


RT
Wed, 21 Mar 2018 17:40 UTC
RT studio
© RT
US lawmakers are suggesting new ways to brand RT and Sputnik as "propaganda," believing registration as 'foreign agents' is not enough. RT is already being censored by having its access to Capitol Hill denied.

Concerned that Americans may be watching "foreign propaganda" (or something different than what is offered on the mainstream media menu) Representatives Seth Moulton (D-MA) and Elise Stefanik (R-NY) introduced the Countering Foreign Propaganda Act.

In practice, it would force RT to do even more reporting to the US government than it currently does under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) and will also force it to broadcast every 30 minutes a message saying it is funded by, and is "under editorial control" of, a foreign government. Apparently, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will also be the arbiter of who is under editorial control and who is not, because the BBC and France 24 would not be forced to disclose the origins of their funding, according to Foreign Policy (FP) - presumably, because their messaging is simply accidentally, sort of, in line with that of the British and French governments respectively.

Comment: The US has to resort to legislation to cripple RT and Sputnik because they have no real substantiation of faulty reporting or interference. The truth of the lie has to be progressively supported by punishment and degradation, no matter how unwarranted or unfair.

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Heart - Black

Chief rabbi in Israel gets lambasted for calling African-Americans 'monkeys'


RT
Wed, 21 Mar 2018 17:01 UTC
Chief Sephardic Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef
© Reuters
Chief Sephardic Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef (left) meeting with Pope Francis.
A civil rights group dedicated to fighting anti-semitism has hit out at the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel after he reportedly labeled black people "monkeys." Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef made the comments during a religious sermon.

Yosef allegedly used derogatory phrases when talking about African-Americans during a lesson to followers last Saturday, reported Ynet News. During the speech, the rabbi appeared to specifically suggest that prayers should only be offered to black people whose parents happen to be white.

Comment: Some other wonderful sentiments voiced by rabbis that made news:

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Eye 2

Revenge? Syrian "rebels" massacre civilians in rocket attack days after Assad drives himself to Ghouta front lines

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Wed, 21 Mar 2018 19:15 UTC
damascus bombing
© Leith Fadel
Explosions light up the Damascus sky with Mt. Qasioun in the background during previous fighting in the summer of 2017.
On Tuesday evening anti-government fighters in the embattled East Ghouta suburb of Damascus launched a major attack, firing several missiles and artillery shells into a crowded shopping district of government-held Jaramana area, resulting in a civilian massacre.

The Guardian has described the attack as "one of the deadliest rebel attacks on the Syrian capital" which according to early reports took the lives of 38 civilians, including women and children. Local reporters say that number may climb higher.

And according to Middle East based Al-Masdar News, which has a correspondent on the ground close to the scene, a near simultaneous attack on the Mezzeh District of Damascus resulted in the deaths of a woman and five children.
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MIB

On spycraft and the Skripal case: When slippery eels swim with sharks they often get eaten

Gregory Sharkey
21st Century Wire
Wed, 21 Mar 2018 19:01 UTC
theresa may skripal
The attempted murder of Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, in Salisbury, last week, has provided the UK a penalty kick, as they now take on the baton from the US, in this preposterous demonisation of Russia.

Let us first examine what we know for facts: Skripal was a Russian spy who became a double agent, working for British Intelligence, in the 90s. He was arrested in 2004 by the Russian Federal Security Service and later convicted of high treason. He served four years of a eighteen year sentence, before being part of a high profile swap with the US. He has lived in the UK since 2010.

It would be fair to assume that whatever damage he did to Russia, had already been done, and that he'd never get the same access to sensitive material, directly. I know little about intelligence agencies, or how they operate. But what I know of, is the psychological profile of an average spy, double agent, or informer.

Comment:

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Book

Why celebrated author Margaret Atwood has become so hated by feminist writers

Jonathan Kay
Quillette
Thu, 15 Mar 2018 00:01 UTC
Margaret Atwood
On March 9, a University of Alberta English professor named Julie Rak headlined a speaking event that was billed as a showdown on the issue of "bad feminism." A promotional poster done up in a boxing motif included a picture of Rak on one side, and legendary Canadian author Margaret Atwood on the other.

Bad Feminism poster

The poster for Julie Rak’s speaking event held at the University of Alberta on March 9

Comment: See also:

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Bad Guys

EU approves Bayer's $62.5bn takeover of GMO & pesticide evil giant Monsanto


RT
Wed, 21 Mar 2018 17:54 UTC
Activists from the environmental organization Friends of the Earth Europe
© Eric Vidal / Reuters
Activists from the environmental organization Friends of the Earth Europe stage a 'marriage made in hell' during an action in front of the European Commission against Bayer and Monsanto in Brussels.
Germany's Bayer won EU antitrust approval on Wednesday for its multi-billion-dollar purchase of Monsanto. The mega-merger is expected to reshape the agrochemicals industry.

The deal will create a giant company with control of more than a quarter of the world's seed and pesticides market.

The European Commission said Bayer had addressed its concerns with an offer to sell a swathe of assets to boost rival BASF. Bayer pledged to sell certain seed and herbicide assets for €5.9 billion ($7.2 billion) to BASF and to give it a license to its digital farming data.

"Our decision ensures that there will be effective competition and innovation in seeds, pesticides and digital agriculture markets also after this merger," said European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager.

Comment: See also: Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine files suit against Monsanto for concealing the toxic effects of PCB chemicals
The Monsanto corporation knew that prolonged exposure to PCBs could produce 'systemic toxic effects' back in 1937! And even after the EPA ban back in the 1970's the toxicity persists. Several cities across the US have filed similar lawsuits, Seattle, Portland, San Diego, Oaklandand Berkeley. As the company clearly stated above 'we will defend ourselves aggressively' and always play dirty!
  • Monsanto's dirty dealings - chemical reform bill could grant the evil empire legal immunity for PCB pollution - As noted by The Environmental Working Group: "Slipped at the last minute into the House version, H.R. 2576, of a bill to update the broken Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 is a provision that could shield the company from liability for decades of pollution with a family of chemicals made only by Monsanto: polychlorinated biphenyls, better known as PCBs. While the insertion was so subtle many lawmakers probably did not even notice it, the implications of the Monsanto bailout clause are huge. The implications of the provision - added at the last minute - are significant enough that perhaps it should be called the "Monsanto bailout clause."
  • 'Poison Papers': Monsanto knew of grave health risks from toxic PCB chemicals it sold for years before ban - As far back as 1969, an internal policy document admitted "damage to the ecological system by contamination from PCBs," and stated that "evidence proving the persistence of these compounds and their universal presence in the environment is beyond questioning." The non-biodegradable nature of PCBs, which are still found both in water and in soil worldwide, has since turned out to be one of its most serious legacies. "Direct lawsuits are possible... because customers using the products have not been officially notified about known effects nor do our labels carry this information," read the assessment. At the end of the document, the author provides Monsanto with three solutions: Do Nothing ("poor customer relations" and "potential loss of business"), Discontinue Manufacture ("not that simple") and presumably the option the company chose: Respond responsibly by phasing out the product ("maximizing the corporate image by publicizing this fact"). "At the end of the day, Monsanto went for the profits instead of for public health and environmental safety," said Sherman.


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Bomb

Austin mail bomb suspect dies after detonating bomb inside his car as SWAT team approaches


RT
Wed, 21 Mar 2018 17:00 UTC
austin texas package bombs
© Scott Olson / AFP
FBI, ATF and local police investigate an explosion at a FedEx facility on March 20, 2018 in Schertz, Texas
The Austin bombing suspect, who has been keeping the public and authorities on high alert for days, is dead after blowing himself up in a car, police announced during a press conference.

According to Chief of Police Brian Manley, law enforcement pinpointed the person in a car in Round Rock, 27km from Austin and followed him. Police were waiting for ballistic vehicles to arrive when the man's automobile began to drive away, but soon stopped in a ditch at the side of the road.

A SWAT team then approached the vehicle, but the suspect blew himself up, injuring one of the special operators. The perpetrator was identified as a 24-year-old Mark Anthony Conditt.

Comment: See also:

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Star of David

Ahed Tamimi 'plea bargain': 8 months in jail for slapping Israeli soldier


RT
Wed, 21 Mar 2018 17:37 UTC
Ahed Tamimi
© Ammar Awad / Reuters
Palestinian teen Ahed Tamimi
Palestinian teenager Ahed Tamimi will serve eight months in prison for slapping an Israeli Defence Force soldier. The 17 year old reached a plea bargain Wednesday after serving three months in detention.

Tamimi was arrested on December 19 for assaulting an Israeli soldier after troops shot her 15-year-old cousin Mohammad Tamimi in the head at close range with a rubber bullet. Footage of the confrontation went viral and the teenager's subsequent arrest and detention has garnered international attention, with many seeing her as the poster child for Palestinian resistance against Israeli occupation.

Tamimi's trial in military court began on February 13. The Military Court of Appeal rejected a request to have the hearing in public, which Tamimi's attorney said would deprive her of a fair trial.

Comment: Considering the vindictiveness of Israeli military courts, Tamimi's sentence is light. Only the world's focus on Israel's egregious behaviour towards the Tamimi family has shielded her from a much worse fate. And yet there's this:



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House

Venezuela builds 2 million affordable homes in seven years, plans to complete additional million by 2019


teleSUR
Tue, 20 Mar 2018 00:00 UTC
Venezuela affordable housing
© Twitter / @Minhvi_Oficial
President Nicolas Maduro said the new homes belong to the Venezuelan people.
The government plans to build another million homes by 2019.

The Venezuelan government has built two million houses in seven years as part of the People's Social Protection System.

President Nicolas Maduro made the announcement in a Venezuela Housing Great Mission (GMVV) event in the new "Mirador de Caiza" housing complex in Charallave, state of Miranda, in which he also spoke of future housing plans.

Comment: Quite an accomplishment considering the continual onslaught from the US in efforts to destabilize the country: Venezuela and the revenge of the 'mad-dog' empire

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Laptop

Twitter duel over Bernie Sanders revealed network of fake bot accounts connected to Democrat Sally Albright

Paul Blumenthal
The HuffPost
Wed, 14 Mar 2018 17:20 UTC
twitter logo
© Kacper Pempel / Reuters
Someone automated dozens of accounts to amplify anti-Trump, anti-Sanders and pro-Democratic Party content.
One Democratic Party consultant said an unnamed client controlled many of these accounts.

When Russians at the Internet Research Agency interfered in U.S. politics, they created false online personas and fake political groups to amplify divisive messages that already had a homegrown American audience. It's not too far from what some U.S. political consultants are doing themselves.

Take Sally Albright, a Democratic Party communications consultant who backed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016. Unsurprisingly, Albright is vocally opposed to President Donald Trump and a big supporter of the resistance to his administration. She is also one of the loudest, most divisive voices attacking Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Clinton's onetime Democratic primary opponent, and his left-wing supporters.

Well after the primary, Albright continues to claim that Sanders is a fraud, a liar, racist and corrupt, among many other things. In one instance she declared that the policy idea of free college, as promoted by Sanders, was racist. This provoked Sanders supporters to argue back.

Trevor, a Sanders supporter who declined to provide his last name for fear of being doxxed, but goes by @likingonline on Twitter, noticed a strange pattern of behavior when Albright responded to him. Her tweets addressing him were rapidly retweeted by the same series of accounts. This created a barrage of notifications making it look as though there was an avalanche of opposition to everything he said.
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