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Recently executed Iranian scientist was mentioned in Clinton's private emails

executed iranian scientist
© AP Photo/ ATN1 DK via APTN
Recently executed Iranian nuclear scientist Shahram Amiri was mentioned in emails exchanged between US Democratic Party candidate Hillary Clinton and her advisers while she was secretary of state and stored on a private server, US Senator Tom Cotton said.

On Sunday, the Iranian Supreme Court confirmed execution of nuclear physicist Amiri for revealing top secrets to the United States.

"You mentioned the Iranian scientist that was recently executed. Of course, I'm not going to comment on what he may or may not have done for the United States government. But in the e-mails that were on Hillary Clinton's private server, there were conversations among her senior advisers about this gentleman. That goes to show just how reckless and careless her decision was to put that kind of highly classified information a private server," Cotton told the CBS News broadcaster in an interview released on Monday.

Pistol

Shootout at Crimean checkpoint kills one Russian, wounds three

Crimea border
This morning in Northern Crimea, a group of saboteurs from Ukraine attempted to break through the border. The Crimean public figure Alexander Talipov wrote about the event on his blog: "A group, obviously identified, came across the checkpoint and shooting started...Then a firefight with Ukrainian radicals occurred. One Russian border guard was killed and several were wounded. The guards raised the alarm and enhanced border security was introduced."

Life News has confirmed that, as a result of the incident, one person was killed and three were wounded. The victims have been taken to a local hospital.

Comment: See also: Ukraine war about to reignite? Belligerent NATO/Ukraine threaten Russia, cry "Russian aggression" when Russia responds


Dollars

Brexit uncertainty doesn't slow UK consumer spending

brexit UK consumer spending shopping
© Peter Nicholls / ReutersShoppers walk past stores on New Bond Street in London
Britain's vote to leave the EU has had little immediate impact on people's spending habits, according to a report from Visa and Markit which showed consumer spending picked up in July.

In its first post-referendum spending report Visa said Britons spent more money on clothes, meals and trips last month as warm weather favored eating out and buying new summer clothes.

Spending picked up 1.6 percent year-on-year in July, up from a 0.9 percent increase in June. According to Visa, it was the biggest spending increase in three months, although growth was still slower than at the start of the year.

"July's data suggests UK consumer spending is holding up despite the ongoing uncertainty following the referendum, albeit at lower levels of growth than we've seen in the last couple of years," said Kevin Jenkins, Visa's managing director for Britain and Ireland.

Hotels, bars and restaurants saw year-on-year spending increase 8.9 percent last month, according to the study. Spending on clothing and footwear was up almost four percent on the year in July, recovering from a 0.2 percent fall in June.

Comment: Brexit won and the sky hasn't fallen in Britain (yet). There's still a lot of political manoeuvring in store though. But for now, it seems to suit the PTB to let everything carry on.

The US, the EU and the fallout of the Brexit vote


Wine n Glass

French tourism suffering in wake of multiple terror attacks

tourism france
© Eric Gaillard / Reuters
Overnight stays in French hotels dropped 10 percent in July compared to last year with the wealthiest travelers from outside Europe turning their backs on the country, according to French Tourism Minister Matthias Fekl.

Luxury accommodation was the worst hit as high spending tourists from the US, Asia and the Gulf States in particular cancelled their travel plans, the minister said in an interview with Journal du Dimanche on Sunday.

Visitors from the three regions "strongly reacted to the attacks and with the plush hotels suffering more," Fekl stressed. France is usually visited by 3.2 million Americans annually.

Paris and the Ile-de-France region were the most affected by the absence of well-heeled travelers with tourist stays in other regions showing a two percent upturn in the January-June period, the minister said.

Arrow Up

Revolt against Monsanto: Indian government promoting use of indigenous seed

Bt cotton, indian farmers, Monsanto cotton
Monsanto is losing millions on failed GM cotton. The company illegally pushed a form of Bt cotton into India and Africa more than a decade ago, but farmers are now pushing back by planting their own indigenous seed.

Monsanto is accused of writing laws and then breaking them to enter the market in India, but after more than 300,000 farmer deaths between 1995 and 2013, many of them attributed to Monsanto, the company is finally paying for their misdeeds. The corporation's greed is linked to farmer suicides throughout Maharashtra, considered the 'Cotton Belt' in India.

The Indian government is now actively promoting the use of indigenous seed, and has called Monsanto out for profiteering illegally on Bt cotton seed.

Monsanto has already lost nearly $75 million in royalties this year (5 billion rupees) due to the change in seed choice by farmers. Sales in India have fallen by 15 percent, and though this is a relatively small market share, it is still making a huge impact on the company's bottom line.

This could be the end of Monsanto, altogether, in India. Keshav Raj Kranthi, head of India's Central Institute for Cotton Research said:
"Just wait for the crucial three to four years to see a complete, natural turnaround. By then most farmers will give up Bt cotton and go for the indigenous variety."

Comment:
Dr. Vandana Shiva: Seeds of suicide

Patents on seeds are unjust. A patent or any intellectual property right is a monopoly granted by society in exchange for benefits. But society has no benefit in toxic, non-renewable seeds. We are losing biodiversity, we are losing nutrition, and quality of our food. Above all, we are losing our fundamental freedom to decide what seeds we will sow.

Seed as a common good has become a commodity of private companies. Unless protected and put back in the hands of our farmers, it is at risk of being lost forever.



Snakes in Suits

Virginia Mayor resigns after methamphetamine arrest

Mayor of the City of Fairfax Richard 'Scott' Silverthorne
© Fairfax Country Police DepartmentMayor of the City of Fairfax Richard 'Scott' Silverthorne.
Fairfax City Mayor Richard "Scott" Silverthorne announced that he will resign from office following his arrest last week by Virginia police for felony distribution of methamphetamine.

Silverthorne announced that he will resign effective at noon on Monday, WTTG-TV (Fox 5) reported.

On Friday, Silverthorne was arrested and charged by local police for felony distribution of methamphetamine and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.

The mayor and two other suspects allegedly distributed the drugs through a sex website, according to Virginia's Fairfax County Police.

In 2016, Silverthorne was elected to his third term as mayor. He was also employed as a substitute teacher for the Fairfax County Public Schools.

Sun

Culture insider: How ancient people escaped the summer heat

Ancient Chinese people collect natural ice in winter.
Ancient people collect natural ice in winter.
According to the Chinese solar terms, it's Major Heat now, when most parts of China experience the hottest days of the year. During the scorching summer, we modern people can enjoy cold drinks in an air-conditioned room to escape the heat. But how did ancient people cool down without these modern-day technologies?

Icehouse and ice ticket

As early as Pre-Qin Dynasty (2100-221 BC), people used natural ice to keep food fresh and make cold drinks. According to the record in the Confucian classic Zhou Rites, the Zhou royal court had a specialized department called the "ice administration" which had 80 employees. The department collected natural ice blocks each December, and then transported them to the ice house for storage.

Some senior officials were awarded ice cubes by the Zhou royal court, which was a big honor during that time. The system of granting ice lasted until the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. During the Qing Dynasty, "ice tickets" were distributed to officials instead of sending the ice directly to them.

Red Flag

Rigging an election: Professor proves electronic voting machines are ridiculously bereft of security

andrew appel, electronic vote, vote hacking
Andrew Appel
A professor from Princeton University and a graduate student just proved electronic voting machines in the U.S. remain astonishingly vulnerable to hackers — and they did it in under eight minutes.

In fact, Professor Andrew Appel and grad student Alex Halderman took just seven minutes to break into the authentic Sequoia AVC Advantage electronic voting machine Appel purchased for $82 online — one of the oldest models, but still in use Louisiana, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Virginia, Politico reported.

After Halderman picked the hulking, 250-pound machine's lock in seven seconds flat, Appel wrested its four ROM chips from a circuit board — an easy feat, considering the chips weren't soldered in place.

Once freed, Appel could facilely replace the ROM chips with his own version "of modified firmware that could throw off the machine's results, subtly altering the tally of votes, never to betray a hint to the voter," Politico's Ben Wofford explained.

Appel and a team of other so-called cyber-academics have hacked into various models of electronic voting machines in order to prove to the public the equipment is ridiculously bereft of security. Together with Ed Felten, Appel and a group of Princeton students "relentlessly hacked one voting machine after another ... reprogramming one popular machine to play Pac-Man; infecting popular models with self-duplicating malware; [and] discovering keys to voting machine locks that could be ordered on eBay."

Comment:


2 + 2 = 4

Garland Texas "Draw Mohammed" contest attackers were managed by FBI

garland texas
Two more FBI-created terrorists.
UPDATE: Readers should backtrack to CNN's 2015 coverage of the Garland, Texas shooting to see just how badly they are being deceived. As readers watch CNN's video coverage and read the article, they must keep in mind that the FBI had been in contact with the suspects for years, and encouraged them to carry out the attack.

To some the 2015 shooting in Garland Texas at a "Draw Mohammed" contest organized by state-sponsored agitators seemed all too convenient.

The protest was meant to prove Muslims were irrational and violent, and amid the protest two armed men did indeed attack, both killed by police who were already on the scene.

The event was meant to reinforce the narrative that Islam is an irrational and dangerous ideology, that Muslims pose a danger to America and the West in general, and that both Islam and Muslims should be actively resisted culturally, politically, and militarily.

It was the culmination of years of agitation through networks maintained by Washington politicians and policymakers, particularly those who have - ironically - not only engineered America's various and unending wars begun during the so-called "War on Terror," but who have also armed and funded some of the most dangerous terrorist organizations on Earth via America's Persian Gulf allies.

Now it is revealed that not only was the protest organized by politicians and organizations associated with Washington, but the shooting was as well.

Comment: Further reading: This should come as no surprise. The vast majority of so-called Islamic terrorists in the USA are radicalized and handled by FBI agents and informants. Without the FBI, the country would be a lot safer.


Star of David

Israel criminalizes conscience: Task force set up to crush foreign BDS activists

bds movement
© Revolutionary Communist Group / YouTube
Israel has formed a new joint ministerial task force to track down and deport Boycott, Divest and Sanctions (BDS) movement activists that, according to Jewish officials, delegitimize and destroy the country from within.


Comment: They've got a point. It's like of as if the apartheid South African government would have banned anti-apartheid activists. Such activities delegitimize apartheid regimes, and may eventually lead to their 'destruction'. The thing is, that's a good thing.


The BDS international activists work to end international support for what they believe is Israel's "oppression of Palestinians." BDS calls for boycotts, sanctions, and divestment from Israel. Tel Aviv, however, views the movement as a threat to its national security.


Comment: Israel as a Jewish-only apartheid regime can only be "secure" if it maintains its military occupation of Palestine and its apartheid worldview and policies.


The new task force announced Sunday by Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan and Interior Minister Arye Dery will effectively spy on hundreds of activists as well as organizations in the country. The data collected will then be used to identify foreign BDS activists and build a case against them, to deport and deny them future entry to Israel.

The task force "is a necessary step in light of the malicious intentions of delegitimizing activists who work to spread lies and twist the truth about the reality in our region," Erdan said.