SOTT Focus:


USA

SOTT Focus: Why Do They Flee?

William Blum
Empire Report
Tue, 26 Jun 2018 18:58 UTC
USA illegal immigrants
The current mass exodus of people from Central America to the United States, with the daily headline-grabbing stories of numerous children involuntarily separated from their parents, means it's time to remind my readers once again of one of the primary causes of these periodic mass migrations.

Those in the US generally opposed to immigration make it a point to declare or imply that the United States does not have any legal or moral obligation to take in these Latinos. This is not true. The United States does indeed have the obligation because many of the immigrants, in addition to fleeing from drug violence, are escaping an economic situation in their homeland directly made hopeless by American interventionist policy.
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Colosseum

SOTT Focus: Laughably fake 'reconstruction' of Julius Caesar's face unveiled by Dutch archaeologist

Harrison Koehli
Sott.net
Mon, 25 Jun 2018 18:22 UTC
caesar bust reproduction
Archaeologist Tom Buijtendorp, who is promoting a new book on Julius Caesar, headed a project to recreate Caesar's bust using a 3D scan of one existing portrait, a marble bust held by the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden. Archaeologist and anthropologist Maja d'Hollosy used the scan of the marble bust (and other portraits, allegedly) to create a truly horrendous clay and silicon 'reproduction'. The bust was unveiled at an event by Buijtendorp at the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, the Netherlands, on Friday.

RT reports:
A new 3D reconstruction of Julius Caesar's head gives unprecedented insight into what the famous Roman general looked like all those years ago - including the bizarre proportions of his cranium.
...
The result is a remarkably lifelike depiction of Caesar, down to the unusual skull shape said to have been the result of his difficult birth.

"So he has a crazy bulge on his head," Buijtendorp said of his skull, HLN reports. "A doctor said that such a thing occurs in a heavy delivery. You do not invent that as an artist."
You can see the monstrosity that resulted above. The only problem is: Caesar didn't look like that.
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SOTT Logo Radio

SOTT Focus: Behind the Headlines: Mass immigration: Wall 'em out of Fortress Europe and the Trump State?


Sott.net
Sun, 24 Jun 2018 16:00 UTC
Migranti
© Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images
Mass immigration has lately commanded media attention in both North America and Europe. The issue of separating children from parents in groups of immigrants attempting to illegally enter the US has liberal elites and extreme leftists howling at the sky again, and openly threatening violence on Trump 'and anyone who votes for him'.

Across the Atlantic, Italy's new 'populist' government has begun preventing migrant ships from docking at their ports, provoking an almighty row between Mediterranean leaders, with France's Macron chastising Rome and claiming that 'there is no migrant crisis'. But as the 'populist wave' and Trump's election win clearly indicated, all is certainly not 'fine'...

This week, Joe and Niall go Behind the Headlines on what is - arguably - the most pressing issue of our times


Running Time: 01:18:28

Download: MP3

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Bullseye

SOTT Focus: White Privilege Versus Racial Paranoia

Steve Salerno
Quillette
Sat, 23 Jun 2018 00:01 UTC
black lives matter
If you are white and enjoy any level of public platform - politician, professor, policy wonk - and you use said platform to address social issues, you are certain to be accused of seeing life through the distortive prism of white privilege. Black leaders and social justice firebrands will make the allegation in the most austere terms - witness that spicy moment during a recent debate on political correctness when Michael Eric Dyson bluntly labeled his conservative adversary, Jordan Peterson, a "mean, mad white man." Even those on the Left, such as Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, have not enjoyed immunity from this charge. Privilege is framed as a condition that, once acquired, can never be cured. However, it defies credulity to propose that Dyson and other leading social justice voices are alone in seeing life for what it really is, stripped of all parochial subtexts. Common sense suggests the existence of a complementary malady afflicting the accusers: racial paranoia, one might call it.

If some are inclined to miss the unfairness around them, is it not equally possible that others see unfairness where none exists? Nowhere in the public arena do paranoia and privilege collide more explosively than on the topic of unequal treatment under the law. In making their case, black advocates uniformly cite the videotaped incidents that by now have become an eponymous part of the national conversation on race: Eric Garner, Walter Scott, Philando Castile. All gave oxygen to Black Lives Matter, and later to the NFL's take-a-knee protests. Surely videos can be dramatic exhibits in mounting a case for extrajudicial violence. What a video cannot do, of course, is show us whether excessive force is excessively applied or racially motivated. For that we must turn to facts and figures.

Comment: The current discourse around race has reached a level of absurdity rarely if ever seen previously. The SJWs are seeing the world through a completely distorted lens where 'facts' lose all meaning and simply serve an agenda.

See also:

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SOTT Logo Radio

SOTT Focus: The Truth Perspective: Diving Into the Collective Unconscious: Where Jung Went Wrong


Sott.net
Sat, 23 Jun 2018 16:00 UTC
peterson jung
Jung thought humanity shared a collective unconscious which provided the forms of myths, dreams, and fantasies. Most modern scientists reject the idea completely. But maybe they're both wrong. Jung may have gotten most of the details wrong, but there may be a kernel of truth in the idea, and while modern critics are correct to point out the holes in Jung's theory, they also throw the baby out with the bathwater in their rejection of a shared unconscious.

In addition to taking a closer look at the idea of a collective unconscious, today on the Truth Perspective we will take a brief look at Jung's method of therapy and some of its flaws. In the words of Dr. K. Dabrowski, many of Jung's notions were vague, impractical, and lacked an awareness of the multilevelness of emotional and instinctive functions.

Tune today at 12 pm EDT as we once again dive into the underworld of Jungian thought.

Running Time: 01:44:07

Download: MP3

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Chalkboard

SOTT Focus: Trade War with China - Easy to Win?

Chris Kanthan
Sott.net
Fri, 22 Jun 2018 18:27 UTC
US China trade war
Trump and his supporters are convinced that we can easily win the trade war against China. After all, we buy $500 billion worth of goods from them, and they buy only $130 billion of goods from us. So the logic goes, "they need us more than we need them!" But is it that simple? Let's analyze.
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SOTT Logo Radio

SOTT Focus: The Health & Wellness Show: Interview With Dr. Valdeane Brown - Nonlinear Dynamic Thinking With NeurOptimal Neurofeedback


Sott.net
Fri, 22 Jun 2018 15:00 UTC
neuroptimal
© Zengar
Ever heard of neurofeedback, non-linear dynamics or a "bottom-up" approach towards better health? Have you ever heard of a tool that can help with optimization of the brain's automatic or unconscious behaviour? Join us on this episode of the Health and Wellness Show as we interview Dr. Valdeane W. Brown, co-creator of NeurOptimal, and learn about our favorite brain-training tool at SOTT.net.

Dr. Valdeane W. Brown is an internationally recognized "trainer of neurofeedback trainers", who has taught and consulted widely on personal and organizational transformation. With a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and a background in math, physics, computer programming, philosophy, yoga, meditation and martial arts, Dr. Brown brings a presence and precision to his work. This is further informed by a profound sense of compassion, a facility with energy dynamics and a deep commitment to revealing the elegant simplicity inherent in learning and transformation.

Developer of the Five Phase Model and co-creator with his wife Dr. Sue Brown of the Period 3 Approach to Clinical Neurofeedback, Dr. Brown has realized his vision of a truly comprehensive training system in NeurOptimal. His vision in bringing NeurOptimal to the world is to make personal transformation effortless and available to all.

This is a unique opportunity to hear us pick the brain of one of the most interesting, forward-thinking minds of our time as he illuminates some of the latest information about the brain and the most cutting edge neurofeedback system available. Don't miss it!

Running Time: 01:51:38

Download: MP3

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Camcorder

SOTT Focus: 'Aleppo Earthquake': Russian Documentary Tells Real Story of Four Year Siege


RT
Thu, 21 Jun 2018 10:38 UTC
aleppo ruins drone
Aleppo, once Syria's thriving industrial hub, is now trying to rebuild itself from rubble. How did it happen, and why? A Russian documentary seeks answers to those questions, and tells stories of life during the siege.

Aleppo was Syria's most populous city and a vibrant industrial hub before the war. Its residents were relatively well-off, with small businesses and tourists keeping most people afloat. None of this is the case anymore.

A 2011 rebel uprising and a terrorist invasion of Aleppo brought as much damage and death as the powerful earthquake that struck the ancient Syrian city back in the 12th century, according to a thought-provoking documentary by Russian ANNA-News outlet.

Entitled Aleppo Earthquake, the film features real-life stories heard by ANNA-News war correspondents from ordinary Syrians who lived in the city during the terrorist occupation, and those who joined the Syrian army and took up arms against foreign jihadists.


Comment: Instead of actual footage and actual reports from actual journalists on the ground speaking with actual people living there, Western media projected a myth about what was happening there via props like Bana al-Abed, a child of one of the 'rebels':

Eva Bartlett: The Exploitation of Bana al-Abed in Aleppo

To this day, the Western media refuses to accept that its narratives have been blown away by real reports and documentaries like the above one.

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Eye 1

SOTT Focus: California is Full of Psychopaths, but Not as Bad as D.C., Study Finds


SFgate.com
Wed, 20 Jun 2018 20:32 UTC
six percent psychopaths
Ever feel like there's something sinister lurking behind the crunchy granola, yoga-loving, avocado-eating facade of your fellow Californians? Now there's research to back you up.

California is among the two U.S. states with the highest concentration of psychopaths, according to a working study from Southern Methodist University released on the Social Science Research network this week. The study looks at trends in personality traits across areas (the study hasn't yet gone through the full peer review process, so take the findings with a grain of salt).

The only places with more psychopaths? Connecticut (thanks, hedge funds!) and, shocker, the District of Columbia. Other highly psychopathic states include New Jersey, New York and Wyoming, while West Virginia, Vermont and Tennessee are among the least psychopathic states.

'The presence of psychopaths in District of Columbia is consistent with the conjecture found in Murphy (2016) that psychopaths are likely to be effective in the political sphere' the author writes.
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Russian Flag

SOTT Focus: Multipolar World: In World Cup, as in Life, Times They Are A-changin'

George Galloway
RT
Wed, 20 Jun 2018 18:55 UTC
russia world cup
© John Sibley / ReutersWorld Cup 2018 mascot Zabivaka, June 16, 2018
It was the dogs what done it. The picture of the "pile of canine corpses on the streets of Russia killed in the name of the world cup," I mean.

Or at least the thousands of people who had retweeted the image thought so, before it turned out the dead dogs were Pakistani, killed for public health reasons in Karachi five years before. A lie half-way around the world before the truth could get a leash on it.

It was that Pavlovian reaction which made me take the World Cup for my topic this week.

There are of course no dead dogs on the streets of Russia, the strays are comfortably in kennels for the duration. No tanks either. No racist mobs rampaging, as we'd been told to expect. No homophobic gangs gone "queer-bashing" (unlike in Mississippi). Just millions of Russians, opening their arms, their hospitality and their hearts to a multi-colored peaceful invasion of football-lovers, quickly finding out that Russia ain't what "they" said it would be.
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