Society's Child
The ship was undergoing repairs while docked at the Barents Sea port of Murmansk when fuel caught fire.
The blaze was sparked by welding in the first power section on the ship's deck, after which the fire spread to a space of 600 square meters (6,460 square feet), according to emergency services sources.
The Northern Fleet's press office later clarified that there was "a release of smoke into one of the compartments during welding works," and the source of the smoke was "localized." It added that there were no munitions on board.
However, the likelihood is that 2020 will be worse, and bloodier.
Conditions that spawned global unrest on every continent in 2019 are unlikely to recede. Rather, they are likely to worsen in the face of a slowing global economy and little sign of causes of disaffection being addressed.
Washington as Disruptor
"Production of opium in Afghanistan has 50-folded since the US occupation of the country and it has increased from 200 tons to 9,000 tons," General Momeni said in the Central city of Qom on Tuesday.
He described cultivation of opium in Afghanistan as one of the most important reasons for drug addiction in Iran, saying, "650 tons of narcotics have been discovered in Iran since the start of the current year (March 21)."
Comment: The US' involvement in drug trafficking and profiteering leads one to think that this, and the related fall out, is just one the intended consequences of its war on the Middle East:
- Afghanistan and the CIA heroin ratline
- Washington's Hidden Agenda: Afghanistan's Multibillion Dollar Heroin Trade
- Explosive new History Channel series finally exposes CIA drug trafficking conspiracy
- Come meet the CIA: Drugs, guns and money
GEDMatch, one of the world's largest repositories of genetic data, has been purchased by Verogen, an FBI-linked forensic genetics firm dedicated to exploiting the crime-solving potential of biological evidence. While GEDMatch was founded in 2010 as something of a hobby site for amateur genealogists to upload the results of personal DNA tests (the company does not conduct its own tests) and uncover unknown family relations, it has become better known in recent years for its role in solving the Golden State Killer case - which earned plaudits from law enforcement but excoriations from privacy advocates. Jumping into bed with Verogen - a company founded specifically to weaponize genetic data for law enforcement - indicates GEDMatch is going long on the genealogical panopticon.
It isn't just the 1.3 million individuals - reportedly increasing by 1,000 every day - who have profiles on GEDMatch who are potentially imperiled by the Verogen acquisition. A 2018 study found that the same DNA search that nabbed the Golden State Killer could serve up data on some 60 percent of white Americans through distant relatives (third cousins or further), with that proportion increasing exponentially as more users sign up to the database. Only about 0.5 percent of US adults are currently subscribed to GEDMatch; when that number surpasses 2 percent, the DNA dragnet will be capable of ensnaring upwards of 90 percent of white Americans.

A lawyer throws an object towards police near a vehicle set on fire outside the Punjab Institute of Cardiology in Lahore, Pakistan December 11, 2019.
The angry mob descended upon the Punjab Institute of Cardiology in Lahore on Wednesday, attacking just about everyone in sight as the lawyers ransacked hospital wards, which forced staff to leave patients unattended, some in critical condition.
The number killed in the brawl could increase from the three officially acknowledged casualties - with Pakistan's Young Doctors Association claiming that up to 12 people might have lost their lives.
I work in all corners of the planet, wherever Kafkaesque "conflicts" get ignited by Washington, London or Paris.
What I see and describe are not only those horrors which are taking place all around me; horrors that are ruining human lives, destroying villages, cities and entire countries. What I try to grasp is that on the television screens and on the pages of newspapers and the internet, the monstrous crimes against humanity somehow get covered (described), but the information becomes twisted and manipulated to such an extent, that readers and viewers in all parts of the world end up knowing close to nothing about their own suffering, and/or of the suffering of the other.
For instance, in 2015 and in 2019, I tried to sit down and reason with the Hong Kong rioters. It was a truly revealing experience! They knew nothing, absolutely zero about the crimes the West has been committing in places such as Afghanistan, Syria or Libya. When I tried to explain to them, how many Latin American democracies Washington had overthrown, they thought I was a lunatic. How could the good, tender, 'democratic' West murder millions, and bathe entire continents in blood? That is not what they were taught at their universities. That is not what the BBC, CNN or even the China Morning Post said and wrote.
Look, I am serious. I showed them photos from Afghanistan and Syria; photos stored in my phone. They must have understood that this was original, first hand stuff. Still, they looked, but their brains were not capable of processing what they were being shown. Images and words; these people were conditioned not to comprehend certain types of information.
But this is not only happening in Hong Kong, a former British colony.
Boris Johnson had been hoping for some positive press from his latest stunt, assisting on a milk round - but that all unravelled when his aide swore at the Good Morning Britain team on live television and the PM ducked into a nearby milk refrigerator in efforts to get away.
Twitter did what it does best and roundly mocked the prime minister.
CityMetric editor Jonn Elledge kicked things off by saying: "A senior Tory source tells me that, outside the liberal metropolitan bubble, the people of Britain hide in fridges all the time."
Jeremy Corbyn, campaigning in Middlesbrough, had his say - pointing out that he wasn't participating in staged photo-ops, nor hiding in fridges - and even did a passable impression of Johnson.
Comment: Two months ago at the Tory party conference, Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised UK's Good Morning Britain viewers that he would appear on the show to be interviewed by Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid. During the last day of campaigning for the party leaders ahead of the general election, correspondent Jonathan Swain attempted to talk to Boris:
It wasn't the first time the PM had avoided potentially awkward interviews during the election campaign. Here's what BBC presenter Andrew Neil had to say about Bojo's avoidance of his show:
'Where's the grilling you gave Corbyn?' UK TV breakfast show hosts slammed online for giving BoJo easy ride with 'cosy chat'
Unfortunately, behind a human interest story, the movie "For Sama" is propaganda: biased, misleading, and politically partisan.
Hiding Basic Facts about Aleppo
"For Sama" is a full length documentary with a moving personal story. It combines a story of young love and the birth of a child - Sama - in the midst of war. That makes it compelling and personal. But the movie fundamentally distorts the reality of east Aleppo in the years 2012 - 2016. While the personal narrative may be true, the context and environment is distorted and hidden. The viewer will have no idea of the reality:
* Most residents of east Aleppo did not want the militants to take over their neighborhoods. The short video, Nine Days from my Window, shows the takeover in one neighborhood. Many civilians fled the east side of Aleppo after the "rebels" took over. Those who stayed on were mostly militants (and families) plus those who had nowhere else to go or thought they could wait it out.
Comment: If this film reminds you of the propaganda piece about the White Helmets that Hollywood was championing some months ago, that it because it is probably paid for by the same Western interests for the same purpose of deceiving the Western public into demonizing the legitimate and democratically elected government of Syria.
See also:
- Hollywood promotes yet another lie: The fraud of the White Helmets
- "White Helmets" psy-ops goes to Hollywood
It is one thing for Nike to discontinue a line of sneakers because the Betsy Ross flag offended someone or for PayPal to refuse to serve as a pay conduit for a conservative organization. One may decry the narrow-minded thinking from company executives, but they are private outfits that have — and should have — the privilege of refusing to do business with certain people — and if they make a bad economic choice, the company will pay financially. And, as I pointed out in the article, corporations are not governments, which really can kill and cage people who are helpless against state-sponsored predations.
Private sector Wokeness is not limited to profit-making businesses, however, as the giants of American media now are subscribing to the same hard-left political and social theories, and this development has become a much greater problem to American society and American liberty because of the symbiotic relationship between media and government. While Google's squelching of libertarian speech within its ranks might make it unpopular with libertarians, nonetheless, the company has taken no one's freedom away.

Striking French rail workers watch as PM Edouard Philippe outlines pension reform plans
In a much-anticipated speech on Wednesday, French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe resisted protesters' demands and said he was "totally determined" to implement the "fair" plan which would replace a fragmented, but generous, system of more than 42 separate state pensions with a new universal points-based scheme.
What's in the plan?
Comment: See also:
- France paralyzed by largest general strike in decades - Hundreds of demonstrations take place against Macron's pension reforms
- Tens of thousands march in Paris in ongoing strikes against pension reform
- France's nationwide strike starts December 5th, set to be the biggest in decades
- NewsReal #26: Globalization vs Nationalism - The Hidden Causes of The Yellow Vest Protests in France
- NewsReal: Will Globalists' War on Nationalism Lead to Bloody Revolution?














Comment: See also: World in Flames: Why Are Protests Raging Around The Globe?
And check out SOTT radio's: