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Star of David

SOTT Focus: Gaslighting for Israel: Liberal and Leftist Zionists

Andrés Perezalonso
Sott.net
Mon, 22 Jan 2018 19:41 UTC
Zionism Israel Flag
There are some zionists in Israel and the United States who consider themselves liberals. Liberalism is generally identified as a political philosophy embracing the values of liberty and equality, as well as "ideas and programmes such as freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, free markets, civil rights, democratic societies, secular governments, gender equality and international cooperation." Zionism, on the other hand, is "the national movement of the Jewish people that supports the re-establishment of a Jewish homeland in the territory defined as the historic Land of Israel (roughly corresponding to Canaan, the Holy Land, or the region of Palestine)."

Since establishing a Jewish homeland is done at the expense of the non-Jewish people already living in Palestine, who have to face either becoming second-class citizens at best (if they are assimilated into Israel proper), eviction from their homes, a permanent military occupation or genocide at worst (if they live in the West Bank or Gaza), then the term 'liberal zionism' turns out to be an oxymoron if not a logical contradiction.

Comment: For more on this topic, see Joe Quinn's excellent 2006 article: Racism, Not Defence, At the Heart Of Israeli Politics which holds true to this day.

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SOTT Focus: Behind the Headlines: Turkey Launches Military Operation Against Syrian Kurdish 'Rebels'


Sott.net
Sun, 21 Jan 2018 17:00 UTC
Turkey invasion Afrin syria
Turkey's General Staff today declared the launch of 'Operation Olive Branch', with up to 72 Turkish F-16 jets and multiple heavy artillery units targeting Syrian-Kurdish forces in the northwestern enclave of Afrin. Turkish media claims that Ankara had informed Damascus about the offensive "in writing," but Damascus says it received no such warning and has demanded that Turkish forces cease fire.

The Russian government, meanwhile, has blamed the Americans for this dangerous escalation, citing "the Pentagon's uncontrolled deliveries of modern weaponry to pro-US militants in the north of Syria, which contributed to the rapid escalation of tensions and prompted the Turkish special operation."

Indeed, this event is most likely a response to last week's announcement by the US that it was regrouping some 30,000 Syrian-Kurdish forces into a 'border force', a move that has apparently forced Turkey's hand. To find out why, and where this could lead to next, join us this Sunday on Behind the Headlines, from 12-2pm EST / 5-7pm UTC / 6-8pm CET.

Running Time: 01:30:00

Download: MP3

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Wolf

SOTT Focus: Five Feminist Lies We Take For Granted

Pierre Lescaudron
Sott.net
Sun, 21 Jan 2018 17:00 UTC
"Sexuality is to feminism what work is to Marxism... the molding, direction, and expression of sexuality organizes society into two sexes: women and men. This division underlies the totality of social relations."

Catharine MacKinnon, Toward a feminist theory of the state
McKinnon
Catharine McKinnon, one of the founders of 'radical feminism'
Some years ago I began an unexpected journey down the feminist rabbit-hole. It was in 2014 when my Grandma asked me about the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest and I found myself unable to explain who the winner was: Conchita Wurst, a man who dresses like a woman and wears make-up, but sports a beard.

In hindsight, I realize this journey was a painful process, probably because it touched something deep in me. The data I discovered were in conflict with my protective instinct, something that is deeply wired in males. While females are hardwired to nurture and care, men are wired to provide and protect.

So when a man is exposed to victimized women (as depicted by the feminist narrative), it triggers his core instinct and social duty to protect. In addition, the instinctual hijack and deep cultural values tend to inhibit any proper intellectual functioning.

The above might be one of the reasons why the victimhood of women is so central to the feminist ideology. It might also be one of the reasons why so many men blindly embrace feminist narratives.
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Pineapple

SOTT Focus: Stupid Things Vegans Say: The Word Salad of Dr. Milton Mills

Doug DiPasquale
Sott.net
Fri, 19 Jan 2018 09:33 UTC
dr. Milton Mills vegan
Sometimes vegans are funny. Well, not so much funny as, really freaking annoying. Arguments for veganism come from an emotional base, thus its logic is usually skewed, and relies on untruths and wishful thinking. This is why arguing with vegans is generally such a frustrating experience - they've made up their mind from an emotional perspective, and none of your facts are going to make a bit of a difference.

For an exercise in frustration, take a look at the Vegan Fallacies page. Note the number of unsupported statements, appeals to emotion and instances of circular reasoning. In fact, here's a fun game - go to the Your Logical Fallacy Is page and use it to analyze the Vegan Fallacies page and see how many logical fallacies you can find! Get the kids involved for some family fun!
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Fireball 2

SOTT Focus: Michigan Meteor Event: Fireball Numbers Increased Again in 2017

Niall Bradley
Sott.net
Sat, 20 Jan 2018 19:19 UTC
meteor fireball michigan
Still from a dash-cam video of the meteor fireball event over Michigan, 16 January 2018.
Another major meteor fireball event occurred in the US earlier this week. Shortly after 8pm on Tuesday evening, a bolide estimated to have been up to three meters in diameter blazed across southern Michigan before exploding somewhere high above Detroit. Though brief, the meteor caused a blinding light that briefly turned night into day across metropolitan Detroit, most of Michigan, and was seen as far away as Des Moines, Iowa and Toronto, Canada.

This one was a little different than the 'regular' fireball events occurring globally these days: people across southern Michigan also heard a powerful boom that arrived about three minutes after the white-out, and the event even registered as a magnitude 2.0 earthquake on local seismographs.
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USA

SOTT Focus: US Needs Sh*thole Countries, Not the Other Way Around

Chris Kanthan
Sott.net
Sat, 20 Jan 2018 15:01 UTC
america shining city hill
We may never know what exactly President Trump said during a meeting on immigration, but Trump supporters - including popular media figures such as Tomi Lahren - overwhelmingly relished the use of the word "sh*ithole" to describe poor nations. Why Christians would mock the poor is beyond comprehensible; from a diplomatic perspective, this is obviously wrong; and from a human perspective, it's cruel. However, there are many conservatives who seem to only understand the language of money and self-interest. They also seem to believe that America is the center of the world, but fail to comprehend how the US is extremely dependent on the rest of the world.

Haiti and Congo

Take, for example, Haiti and Congo - two sh*thole countries. These two countries can quickly threaten America's economic and national security. Haiti can cut ties with the US and strike a deal with Russia to create a military base or a missile defense system. It will be a sweet revenge for Putin who's threatened by US missile systems in Eastern Europe.
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Star

SOTT Focus: Jordan Peterson Goes International: Takes London by Storm

Douglas Murray
The Spectator
Fri, 19 Jan 2018 09:00 UTC
Jordan Peterson
Why are young Brits flocking to hear a psychology professor talk about morality?

Last Sunday night a capacity crowd of mainly young people packed into the Emmanuel Centre in London. Those who couldn't find a seat stood at the back of the hall. When the speaker entered, the entire hall rose to its feet. It was his second lecture that day, the fourth across three days of sold-out London events. For an hour and a half the audience listened to a rambling, quirky, but fascinating tour of evolutionary biology, myth, religion, psychology, dictators and Dostoyevsky. Occasionally a line would get its own burst of applause. One of the loudest came after the speaker's appeal for the sanctity of marriage and child-rearing.

Yet this was not a Christian revivalist meeting. At least not explicitly or intendedly so. It was a lecture by a 55-year-old, grey-haired, dark-browed Canadian academic who until 18 months ago was little known outside his professional field of psychology. Today, for at least one generation, Professor Jordan Peterson of the University of Toronto has become a mixture of philosopher, life-coach, educator and guru. He has the kind of passionate, youthful, pedagogical draw that the organized churches can only dream of. Anybody interested in our current culture wars, not to mention the ongoing place of religion, should head to YouTube, where his classes have been viewed by millions.

Comment: If you are still new to Peterson's ideas and wisdom, see the short documentary, Jordan Peterson: Truth in the Time of Chaos:


Also this recent television interview to get a sense of how he responds to someone who attempts to critique him:


And here's one of the talks he gave in London, about his new book 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos:



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SOTT Focus: The Health & Wellness Show: Billie Gene's not my lover, and neither is Genetic Determinism


Sott.net
Fri, 19 Jan 2018 16:00 UTC
DNA ADN
Genetic determinism is the theory that genes have a privileged level of causation for a number of diseases and, therefore, have a special status in biology. Science is desperately clinging to the idea that DNA is the sole determinant of who we are as individuals. Geneticists claim that hundreds of human diseases and attributes have genetic causes and their research is supported by numerous newspaper headlines touting the prominent role that gene therapy will have in the new dawn of medical treatments. Genetic research is well-funded and 'sexy' at the moment but it has its detractors. These skeptics have referred to the genetic determination of disease as a phantom or a mirage because the genetic variation expected to explain common diseases cannot be found!

Join us for this episode of The Health and Wellness Show where we discuss the ultimate futility of current gene research, the often-ignored epigenetics paradigm, the hubris of CRISPR gene editing technology and whether scientists even know enough about DNA to go tinkering with it.

And stay tuned for Zoya's Pet Health Segment where she highlights the opinion of a rational vegetarian on the insane ideas of vegans regarding owning pets and their diets.

Running Time: 01:25:19

Download: MP3

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Windsock

SOTT Focus: Storms Batter The Netherlands: All Five Dutch Storm Gates Closed For The First Time In History

Bahar Azizi
Sott.net
Thu, 18 Jan 2018 12:25 UTC
storm nederland
© Tineke DijkstraStrong storm on the Dutch coast. The storm led to high water levels near the shore.
When storm Eleanor was sweeping through Europe in early January, the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) issued a code orange weather warning for northwestern provinces due to powerful wind gusts. The storm caused widespread damage and chaos in the Netherlands: Trees crashed down blocking the roads, flights were canceled, and several buildings were damaged.

It also led to high water levels, which moved the Dutch infrastructure agency, Rijkswaterstaat, to simultaneously close all five flood barriers for the first time in history. These storm surge barriers are:
  • The Maeslantkering, a flood barrier on the Nieuwe Waterweg, which closes if the city of Rotterdam is threatened by floods.
  • The Hartelkering, another barrier which lies in the city of Spijkenisse. The last time this gate was closed, was in November 8th, 2007, after a storm hit the Dutch coast.
  • The five-mile-long Oosterscheldekering in the province Zeeland, south-west of the country.
  • The Hollandsche IJsselkering in the province Zuid-Holland, near the city of Rotterdam.
  • The Balgstuw Ramspol, an inflatable rubber dam, which lies between the lakes Ketelmeer and the Zwarte Meer, in the province of Flevoland.
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Magic Hat

SOTT Focus: Russiagate Circus Comes to Mexico

Andrés Perezalonso
Sott.net
Wed, 17 Jan 2018 18:14 UTC
Russia Moscow Circus
As I watched 'Russian interference' spread through Europe last year, I remember joking that Russiagate might also come to Mexico. The joke is on me now.

Weeks ago, US National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster gave a speech at the Jamestown Foundation in which he commented on the as yet unfounded claim that Russia has been meddling in democratic processes around the world. The Jamestown Foundation is D.C.'s preeminent anti-Russian 'think-tank', founded as it was in 1984 to gather all Soviet defectors for propaganda purposes against Moscow, so he was speaking to a crowd that is only too willing to believe any allegation against Russia.

"We've seen that this is really a sophisticated effort to polarize democratic societies and pit communities within those societies against each other," McMaster told the imperial gathering. He added that this is what happened in the referendum for Catalonian independence, and now "you've seen, actually, initial signs of it in the Mexican presidential campaign already."

McMaster didn't elaborate on how Russia is supposedly doing this, nor did his office at the White House return a request for comments from Reuters. That was literally all he said about Mexico. Naturally, Russia's Ambassador to Mexico Eduard Malayan called the allegation "foolish" and an attempt "to keep the subject afloat."

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