Welcome to Sott.net
Fri, 05 Nov 2021
The World for People who Think

Society's Child
Map

Fire

Watch as dramatic backdraft engulfs firefighters in Queens, NY


Liz Robbins
Thu, 13 Dec 2018 12:00 UTC
queens backdraft
Footage of a so-called smoke explosion enveloping firefighters within seconds in Sunnyside, Queens, was additionally shocking because no one was killed.

Thick smoke from a still-young fire, which had billowed above an entire city block early Thursday morning in Sunnyside, Queens, suddenly, and ominously, was sucked back inside.

It was a telltale sign to firefighters of what was about to happen, and what they could not avoid.

A firefighter hastily put on his helmet, a half-second before the flash. The smoke then exploded into a fireball that catapulted across the street and simultaneously enveloped seven firefighters in a black curtain of dread.

Except, when the smoke cleared, they were all still standing. Alive.

Comment: See also: Towns burn after 'apocalyptic' explosions tear across Northern Massachusetts

      Read More...
Handcuffs

Indian man gets 9 years in prison for sexually assaulting woman on flight

Ed White
Associated Press
Thu, 13 Dec 2018 10:10 UTC
Indian man
An Indian man living in the U.S. on a work visa was sentenced to nine years in prison Thursday for sexually assaulting a sleeping woman during an overnight flight to Detroit.

Prabhu Ramamoorthy was in a middle seat between the victim and his wife on a Spirit Airlines flight from Las Vegas last January. The 23-year-old victim said he unzipped her pants, unbuttoned her shirt and molested her with his hands.

Prosecutors asked for a sentence of nearly 11 years, but U.S. District Judge Terrence Berg settled on a nine-year term. He said he hoped it would be "grave enough" to deter others from committing similar crimes.

A jury convicted Ramamoorthy in August . He will be deported to India after serving his sentence.
      Read More...
Arrow Down

Unbearable situation: Michigan teenager who committed suicide criticized by priest at his funeral

Toyin Owoseje
Independent
Sat, 15 Dec 2018 07:25 UTC
Catholic church
The family of a teenager who committed suicide have expressed their outrage after the priest officiating his funeral suggested he might not get into heaven.

Maison Hullibarger, an 18-year-old athlete and honors student from Temperance, Michigan died on 4 December.

Speaking to Detriot Free Press, his grieving parents said that Reverend Don LaCuesta would not stop referring to his cause of death and "called him a sinner" during the service held at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Temperance on 8 December.

Maison's father Jeff Hullibarger said it was as if Mr LaCuesta had decided it was the perfect opportunity to make his stance on suicide known.
      Read More...
Propaganda

Atmospheric science professor Cliff Mass: victim of academic political bullying


JudithCurry.com
Wed, 12 Dec 2018 00:01 UTC
angry mob pitchforks
There is a disturbing story coming out of the University of Washington surrounding Cliff Mass.

In preparing this article, I have received material from a member of the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Washington. I also ran into another member of the Department while at the AGU meeting this week, who corroborated these events. I conducted a 30 minute phone interview with Cliff Mass.

Comment: When science meets activism, science suffers. It's ironic that Mass apparently buys into the AGW narrative but is annoyed by activists and media making claims that hold no validity. Yet for an extremist, those who don't share their view, no matter how close they stand ideologically, need to be eliminated (i.e., smeared, shamed and attacked). The state of climate science is a complete circus, at this point.

See also:

      Read More...
Stock Up

Global debt hits all-time high of $184,000,000,000,000


RT
Sat, 15 Dec 2018 13:20 UTC
cash money
© Getty Images / Colin Anderson
The world's debt currently exceeds $86,000 per person on average, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The US, China, and Japan are the top three global borrowers, accounting for more than half of the global debt.

The IMF has calculated that their share of debt exceeds that of output. It stated that the emergence of China among the top ranking is, however, a relatively new development. Since the beginning of the millennium, China's share in global debt surged from less than three percent to over 15 percent, underscoring the rapid credit surge in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.


According to the IMF, global debt has reached a record high of $184 trillion in nominal terms. That's the equivalent of 225 percent of the world GDP in 2017. The debt figure is $2 trillion higher than the estimated number released by the fund in October, because it includes the debts of several countries who had not previously reported their updated data.

"By including both the sovereign and private sides of borrowing for the entire world, the GDD (Global Debt Database) offers an unprecedented picture of global debt in the post-World War II era," said the IMF. GDD is a comprehensive dataset covering public and private debt for 190 countries dating back to the 1950s.

Comment: According to the Washington-based Institute of International Finance, global debt reached $247.2 trillion by the end of March this year. In any case it's still an insane amount of money that will never be payed back. Then again the bankers aren't counting on it to be paid back - they're counting on keeping countries subservient. See also: The world's economic debt train has runaway and it spells disaster for everyone

      Read More...
Attention

At least 28 injured as tram derails and flips over in Lisbon, Portugal

Olivia Tobin
Evening Standard
Sat, 15 Dec 2018 12:50 UTC
Tram overturned in Lisbon

Tram overturned in Lisbon
At least 28 people have been injured after a tram derailed and flipped over in Portugal.

The crash happened at about 6pm on Friday night near Rua de São Domingos a Lapa in Lisbon.

The tram went off the rails on a bend at the bottom of a steep hill, according to officials.

It struck a building before it fell on its side, initially trapping about a dozen people in the wreckage and hurting others on the sidewalk.

Comment: This happened on Friday, and on Thursday: 9 dead and 46 wounded as high speed train collides with locomotive in Ankara, Turkey

Below you'll find a selection from just this year of other train crashes, derailments, as well as bridge collapses - because they all seem to be in the news more often these days:

      Read More...
Star of David

'Time to learn from the French!' 10 arrested after Yellow Vest protests spread to Israel


RT
Sat, 15 Dec 2018 12:33 UTC
Yellow Vest protests Israel
Outraged by the rising cost of living and price hikes on basic services, Israeli citizens who were inspired by the French Yellow Vest movement took to the streets of Tel Aviv demanding concessions from the government.

Wearing bright fluorescent yellow vests, symbolic of the French grassroots movement, some 600 Israeli activists blocked the Azrieli intersection and adjacent roads in the city center, accusing the government of "robbing" the people.

Concerned over the rising price of electricity, water and food, organizers stressed that the "time has come to learn from the French" and that they are "done being nice." The crowd boldly advised Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet to address their grievances before the "entire country is on fire."
      Read More...
Attention

France deploys 'tens of thousands' of police ahead of fifth wave of Yellow Vest protests


Zero Hedge
Sat, 15 Dec 2018 12:33 UTC
Yellow Vest Protests
France is set to deploy tens of thousands of police and gendarmes across the country on Saturday, including 8,000 in Paris, to deal with a fifth weekend of Yellow Vest protests - just days after three people were killed and 13 injured after a mass shooting in the eastern city of Strasbourg.

Paris police chief Michel Delpuech said authorities are on watch for "violent groups" infiltrating the protests, and that riot officers will protect landmarks such as the Arc de Triomphe and the presidential palace, reports Reuters.

"We need to be prepared for worst-case scenarios," Delpuech told RTL radio, who added that he doesn't expect businesses in the capital to suffer the same level of disruption as they have over the past three weeks, when major stores and hotels suffered a dramatic drop in business as tourists avoided the area.

Comment: RT reports more on what Paris can expect from round 5 of the Yellow Vest protests:
Paris is bracing for yet another round of Yellow Vest protests, with demonstrators taking to the streets of the capital. More than 10,000 are expected to join the march, with the slogan 'Macron resign'.

Protesters are gathering on the Champs-Élysées, which has seen four weekends of violent clashes between rioters and police.

The organizers, consisting of some 15 groups, have outlined their list of demands on Facebook, saying they will continue their action against Macron until all their demands are met.

"Our organizations support the demands of tax and social justice brought by the movement of yellow vests. They call for demonstrations Saturday, December 15, for social justice and tax, for a real democracy, for equal rights, for a true ecological transition..." the planners said in a statement, as quoted by Le Parisien.


      Read More...
Arrow Up

US debt set to hit $22 TRILLION mark as indicators point to 'another financial crisis'

Michael Snyder
The Economic Collapse
Tue, 11 Dec 2018 00:00 UTC
US debt
The rapidly exploding U.S. national debt is about to cross another critical threshold. According to the U.S. Treasury, the debt of the federal government is currently sitting at $21,854,296,172,540.94, and at our current pace we will likely hit the $22 trillion mark next month. This is a horrifying national crisis, and yet nothing is being done about it. When Barack Obama entered the White House in January 2008, the U.S. was $10.6 trillion in debt, and so that means that we have added 11.2 trillion dollars of new debt to that total in less than 11 years. Needless to say, it doesn't take a math genius to figure out that we have been adding an average of more than a trillion dollars a year to the national debt for more than a decade. But instead of getting our insatiable appetite for debt under control, Congress is actually accelerating our spending. At this point, there is no possible scenario in which this story ends well.

Meanwhile, the global financial elite are really starting to talk up the possibility of a new financial crisis.

For example, the deputy head of the IMF just said that he sees "storm clouds building"...
The storm clouds of the next global financial crisis are gathering despite the world financial system being unprepared for another downturn, the deputy head of the International Monetary Fund has warned.

David Lipton, the first deputy managing director of the IMF, said that "crisis prevention is incomplete" more than a decade on from the last meltdown in the global banking system.

"As we have put it, 'fix the roof while the sun shines'. But, like many of you, I see storm clouds building and fear the work on crisis prevention is incomplete."
      Read More...
Dollars

100 Stockton, California residents to be selected for basic income pilot program

Carlos Correa
CBS 13 - Sacramento
Wed, 12 Dec 2018 17:45 UTC
Basic Income Pilot Program in CA
© CBS13
A special letter mail carriers are delivering to hundreds of homes in Stockton will hopefully bring a little financial relief in the New Year.

The money is part of the city's basic income pilot program. Stockton is the first city in the country to launch it.

The letter 1,200 people will be receiving over the next few days does not mean people will automatically receive money but it brings them closer to potentially being selected.

Stockton dad Jose Miranda works hard to save his money, but setting aside a small portion of his paycheck every other week can be a challenge. He says his expenses just keep piling up.
      Read More...
Amazon Smile
Revolt! T-shirts