SOTT Focus:


Muffin

SOTT Focus: Behind the Headlines: Interview with David DiSalvo: What Makes Your Brain Happy and Why You Should Do the Opposite

Sott Editors
Sott.net
Sun, 13 Apr 2014 18:00 UTC
Sott Talk Radio logo
David DiSalvo is a science writer and public education specialist who writes about the intersection of science, technology and culture.

His work has appeared in Scientific American Mind, Psychology Today, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, Mental Floss, Slate, Salon, Esquire and other publications, and he is the writer behind the widely read blogs, Neuropsyched, Neuronarrative and The Daily Brain.

David has also served as a consulting research analyst and communications specialist for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and several public and private organizations in the U.S. and abroad.

His first non-fiction book, What Makes Your Brain Happy and Why You Should Do the Opposite, has been published in 10 languages. His second book, The Brain in Your Kitchen, is available in e-book format at Amazon. His latest book, Brain Changer: How Harnessing your Brain's Power to Adapt can Change your Life, is available at all major booksellers.

Running Time: 01:05:00

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USA

SOTT Focus: War Against The Weak

Robert Kirkconnell
Sott.net
Thu, 10 Apr 2014 15:05 UTC
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In researching my book American Heart of Darkness, I found persistent myths about the growth and development of the United States. From the first colony in Jamestown to the present, these myths have covered up the reality of what values and prerogatives actually drive the national direction.

First and foremost among these are the prevailing assumptions that the indigenous population of what is today 'North America' was 'primitive' and just could not 'adapt to modernization'. Further, that they were not resistant to European diseases and that this was the primary reason for their numbers having been reduced from at least 18 million to a mere 200,000 early in the 20th century.

The Native American world view was far different from that of the English speaking (and thinking) historians who wrote 'our' history. What the Native Americans experienced was the outright slaughter of their people and the theft of the land on which, and from which, they lived. Many, especially the plains Natives, did not think of land as something somebody could own. It was just there, like the wind, for all to use. Of course there were disputes over hunting territory and so forth, but these were child's play compared to what Europeans called 'war'.
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Alarm Clock

SOTT Focus: Behind the Headlines: Interview with Greg Palast

Sott Talk Radio
Sott.net
Sun, 06 Apr 2014 18:00 UTC
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Greg Palast is an investigator of corporate fraud and racketeering turned journalist, and a man that members of the 'elite' love to hate. War criminal Tony Blair labeled him a liar, a White House spokesman simply stated "we hate that sonovabitch", but to the rest of us, Palast is one of the most important investigative reporters of our time who deserves our appreciation for his untiring work in exposing the unbelieveable levels of corruption that define modern political and corporate policies.

As part of his investigation into the 2000 US Presidential election, Greg uncovered evidence that Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris, and Florida Elections Unit Chief Clay Roberts, along with the ChoicePoint corporation, rigged the ballots in 2000 and that there was widespread election fraud again in 2004.

Palast is the author of New York Times bestseller The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, as well as Democracy and Regulation: how the public can govern essential services, and Armed Madhouse; undercover dispatches from a dying regime. His documentary films include: Bush Family Fortunes, The Assassination of Hugo Chavez, Billionaires and Ballot Bandits and Vultures and Vote Rustlers.

His latest book is Vultures' Picnic: In Pursuit of Petroleum Pigs, Power Pirates and High-Finance Carnivores (2012).

A fascinating conversation with a very rare breed of human being. Don't miss it.

Running Time: 01:47:00

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Chess

SOTT Focus: Geopolitics of Empire: Mackinder's Heartland Theory and the Containment of Russia

Niall Bradley
Sott.net
Wed, 02 Apr 2014 15:17 UTC
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"What has happened in Crimea is a response to the format that made Ukrainian democracy collapse. And there is only one reason for this: the anti-Russian policy of the US and some European countries. They seek to encircle Russia in order to weaken and eventually destroy it... There is a certain transnational elite that has been cherishing this dream for 300 years."

~ Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, 19 March 2014

"History does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme."

~ Attributed to Mark Twain
What's been happening in the Ukraine recently makes little sense without seeing it in broader geopolitical and historical contexts, so in my search for a firmer understanding of what's going on, I've been consulting the history books. First off, it needs to be said that the Ukraine is historically a part of Russia. It has been "an independent nation-state" in name since 1991, but has been completely dependent on external support ever since. And most of this "support" has not been in its best interest, to say the least.

The short answer to why the U.S. hatched its hare-brained scheme to overthrow Yanukoych last November is that its real target was Russia, which stands in the way of the plans for world domination by a banking elite whose empire is centered on the U.S. The longer answer is more complex, but in the process of working towards it we discover startling historical precedent for everything that is going on today, right down to the very rationales politicians give for why they do what they do.
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Wolf

SOTT Focus: "Raw meat could be the cause of dead dogs!" - Seriously?!?

Zoran Janković, DVM
Sott.net
Mon, 31 Mar 2014 08:11 UTC
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Raw meat kills dogs? Oh REALLY...?
We live in a world where media reporting has very little to do with the truth, and everything to do with sensationalism, fear mongering and, very often, corporate and financial interests. Most of what passes for human "nutritional science" these days is not the result of objective scientific research, but rather the skewed and manipulated "findings" of scientists working for, and entirely beholden to, the food industry and the 'bottom line' of multi-national corporations.

The very same can be said when it comes to the research into the nutritional health needs of our beloved pets, after all, the largest human food manufacturer in the world, Nestle, is also the largest pet food manufacturer. In 2010 Nestlé Purina PetCare had revenues of $12.5 billion, or about 15% of total revenues for the Nestle Corporation.

Yesterday, the British broadsheet The Telegraph published an article with a rather bombastic title: Raw meat could be the cause of dead dogs, scientist warns. 'Bombastic', as in, 'high-sounding but with little meaning; inflated' is precisely what this title and entire article is.
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Airplane

SOTT Focus: Strange Coincidence? - Malaysian Airlines Plane Replica Stored at Ben Gurion Airport

Joe Quinn
Sott.net
Thu, 27 Mar 2014 06:39 UTC
By now you've probably heard about the "duplicate" Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-2H6ER. Based on the data at Planespotters.net it appears that there is a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-2H6ER being stored at Tel Aviv airport.

The missing plane had a tail number of 9M-MRO. The one at Tel Aviv has tail number 9M-MRI.
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"duplicate" Malaysia airlines plane now at Tel Aviv
Christopher Bollyn appears to have been the first to write about this latest "conspiracy", suggesting that the plane at Tel Aviv is a "duplicate" that may be used at some point in the future to carry out a "terrorist attack" masquerading as the missing Malaysia airlines plane. But this is pure speculation.
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Info

SOTT Focus: Behind the Headlines: Information theory, or why your brain is not your mind

Sott Editors
Sott.net
Sun, 23 Mar 2014 19:00 UTC
Sott Talk Radio logo
Is your brain really your mind? Is matter the only thing in the universe? Does neo-Darwinism fully explain evolution? In the last few years, we've seen several controversies erupt in the worlds of science and academia, from Rupert Sheldrake's banned TEDx talk to philosopher Thomas Nagel's infamous book Mind and Cosmos, both of which question the modern scientific worldview and its account of the origins of life, the universe, and consciousness. What should we make of it all? Does the mainstream view really explain the world as we know it, or are there better options?

Returning to SOTT Talk Radio this week is Harrison Koehli, writer and editor for Red Pill Press, to talk about his upcoming book on these topics, tentatively titled Mind Matters. The book takes a hard look at the modern scientific worldview, its inherent absurdities, the facts it ignores, and a possible way out of its seemingly insoluble problems: information theory. We'll also be discussing the recent and enigmatic disappearance of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370, and why we shouldn't exclude the possibility that it might have a paranormal explanation. Our reality may be way more paranormal than we think.

Harrison will also give some updates on new and upcoming publications from Red Pill Press.

Running Time: 02:10:00

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Question

SOTT Focus: Unelected Ukrainian Government Creates 'Facts on the Ground' - No One Protests

Joe Quinn
Sott.net
Fri, 21 Mar 2014 08:51 UTC
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The USA’s unelected man in Ukraine signs a deal with the EU
I don't understand the Ukrainian 'revolution'.

Before the Ukrainian protests kicked off last October, a general election was scheduled for 2015. As the protests grew and intensified, the elected Ukrainian president, Victor Yanukovych, agreed to bring elections forward to this year and to implement a host of measures, including reverting to the 2004 constitution, which drastically reduced Presidential power.

On paper, these changes met the vast majority of protestors' demands, and promised a new government this year, via elections. Yet just as this agreement was being signed, the violence in Kiev flared and 100 people, including policemen, were shot dead...by someone.
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Quenelle - Golden

SOTT Focus: Behind the Headlines: Vladimir Putin: 'Dictatorial Thug' or Anti-Imperialist Stalwart?

Sott Editors
Sott.net
Sun, 16 Mar 2014 19:00 UTC
putinbear
In recent weeks Russian President Vladimir Putin has gone from being a relatively obscure leader of the Russian Federation to a house-hold name around the world. As part of that process, he has been subjected to 'trial by Western media', and the judgement is conclusive: he's a 'thug' determined to reestablish the Soviet Union at the expense of the people of Ukraine who simply want some good old fashioned freedom and democracy.

But is the portrayal of Putin accurate, or even close to accurate?

From his political origins as an agent of Russia's FSB, to his nomination as Prime Minister amid 'Chechen terrorist attacks' on Russian civilians, to his current confrontation with the American Empire over Ukraine, Crimea and much more, this week we'll be delving into the details and asking the question, 'Who is Vladimir Putin?'

Running Time: 01:53:00

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Key

SOTT Focus: Why HTTPS and SSL are not as secure as you think

Scott Ogrin
ScottiesTech.Info
Wed, 12 Mar 2014 10:44 UTC
SSL
In this day and age of well-known NSA spying, everyone keeps saying that the only way to be safe is to use SSL/TLS, commonly known as "browsing with https://".

The sad reality is that HTTPS does virtually nothing to protect you from the prying eyes of alphabet soup agencies - or anybody else with enough knowledge about how these supposedly "secure" connections actually work.

It's true that connecting to web sites with SSL will certainly prevent "script kiddies" and other more winky opponents from eavesdropping on your surfing or otherwise interfering in your affairs. But as for the Real Bad Guys, forget it...

We shall begin by taking a brief dive down the rabbit hole of SSL, hopefully in a way that will make sense to even the least technically inclined among us.

This issue is, after all, so extremely important that I think everyone needs to understand what is really going on, and how web security actually works, without needing a PhD in cryptography, computer science, or engineering!
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