Brexit blather is back in the news again. To listen to politicians and media talking heads, you'd think it's all rather complicated and 'beyond the ken of mere mortals'. In reality, however, 'Brexit' is quite simple: for the last two and a half years, the British establishment has been trying to make Brexit go away.

Don't believe me? Explain why, then, that of the 650 UK Members of Parliament, about 70% come from constituencies where the majority of people voted for Brexit, while among all Members of Parliament about 70% have made it clear that they favor remaining in the EU.

In addition, the Conservative government which approved the referendum in 2015 was lead by David Cameron, who has always been against leaving the EU. His successor, Theresa May, who negotiated the pseudo-Brexit deal that would effectively keep the UK in the EU, and which was voted down yesterday by a massive majority in Parliament, is also against Brexit.

So the obvious reason why the last 2.5 years of British politics has been an utter farce, and why the British people find themselves in this current mess, is that while a majority of British citizens voted to leave the EU, a large majority of their MPs on both sides of the aisle (and the British 'establishment' itself) do not want to leave the EU and are determined to make sure it never happens. To claim otherwise would be to suggest that British politicians were as clueless about the nature of the UK's relationship with the EU as the British public. But that's not the full story.

I will proceed from what seems to be an established fact (SANA confirmed) that on the night of January 11th Israel hit one depot at Damascus international airport. I.e., material damage. 12 projectiles were fired in total. Syrian air defences worked, and by all accounts they were as effective as they were in the previous Israeli bombing run (80% accuracy approx.).

Even if Israel had hit two warehouses or a local farm in addition, then it changes absolutely nothing. What the Syrian Army lost can be replaced with little risk; Iran has seemingly supplied the Syrian Army very well and continues to do so at will.

How many times has Israel hit targets in and around Damascus and its airport since 2015? The answer is "many". And each attack resulted in more or less the same thing - small material losses. A few times troops were killed in a couple of cases, but this can hardly be described as large losses (yes, war entails human losses - shocking, isn't it?).

There is some misunderstanding in regards to why Russia sent the S-300 to Syria and upgraded the Syrian Army's air defence network, integrating it into its own network. Like with the S-400, there was the assumption that Israel would never bomb Syria again, or that a NFZ was created.

Beijing is tweaking the rules of the Western order to reflect its revitalized geopolitical and economic power, but some Americans see this as a threat to their way of life
Embedded in the now dominant US narrative of "Chinese aggression", Sinophobes claim that China is not only a threat to the American way of life, but also an existential threat to the American republic.

It's worth noting, of course, that the American way of life has long ceased to be a model to be emulated all across the Global South, and that the US walks and talks increasingly like an oligarchy.

From 'conservatives' vs 'liberals', pro-mass migration vs anti-immigration, Islam vs the West, and even men vs women, Western society appears to be in a state of increasing social conflict.

Beyond the often legitimate rationale for holding these positions lie foundational and deep psychological differences between human beings, but is it possible that 'someone' is deliberately exploiting them, ultimately against the interests of all?

Joe & Niall also discuss US Sec. of State Mike Pompeo's speech in Cairo, in which he announced a brand new US foreign policy for the Middle East. How different is it from the Obama administration's?


Running Time: 01:13:45

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France has just had its NINTH weekend of revolutionary anti-government 'yellow vest' protests. The Arc de Triomphe in Paris was again the scene of brutal police repression as protesters were kettled, charged, water-cannoned, beaten and fired upon with everything short of live rounds. There were also significant protests against government corruption in cities large and small across the country.

SOTT.net editor Niall Bradley spoke with PressTV - one of only a handful of media outlets covering the events beyond French government handouts - about the authoritarian crackdown against pro-democracy protesters.

We've all met those people who describe themselves as laid back, when in reality they're just one loud noise from a mouth frothing breakdown. So when something describes itself as having integrity, be wary.

Enter the Integrity Initiative (II), Britain's very own government-funded influence network, which is currently in the process of having its underpants revealed to the world. There's no doubting it's an initiative; the jury's out on the other bit. Some of the people behind it are alleged former spies (can you be a 'former' spy?), a calling not often linked to integrity.

There's a good chance you may not know much about the Integrity Initiative - the mainstream media is not exactly straining to tell you about it. Labour MP Chris Williamson suggests that's because a number of mainstream journalists have signed up to work with it.

The only time II briefly attracted the attention of the mainstream world was when it became clear it had been pushing conspiracies about Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's links to the Kremlin. That's not a good look for an organization which receives cash from the Foreign Office.

It starts with a question. How does a car actually work? How can I lose weight and keep it off? What are UFOs? What could I accomplish if I really applied myself? Our curiosity is peaked and we want to know more, but we're not quite sure where to start. If there's no formal education course we can take that has a syllabus all laid out, then what do we do? How do we create a plan that will guide us toward finding answers to our questions and reaching our goals?

Today on the Truth Perspective we discuss "The Science of Self-Learning" by Peter Hollins: how his practical advice for self-learning can be applied to multiple dimensions of personal development, and why self-education is so important. The difference between the reading and regurgitation that is common in schools and real intellectual curiosity. The usefulness of self-explanation in uncovering what we don't know, and how S.M.A.R.T. goals and thoughtful planning can help us learn just about anything.

We also share some of our favorite books from 2018 to hopefully help everyone on their journey of self-education, so join us as we discover how to make learning fun again.

Running Time: 01:39:36

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In a January 9, 2019 op-ed in Ottawa's Hill Times, China's Ambassador to Canada, Lu Shaye did what no other mainstream media outlet has been willing to do since the untimely arrest of Huawei's CFO Meng Wanzhou occurred while she was boarding a plane in Vancouver on December 1^st. Much dispute has arisen over the arrest and China's response, with its own arrest of two Canadians suspected of espionage in Beijing.

In an article entitled 'Why The Double Standard on Justice For Canadians, Chinese?', Ambassador Shaye cut through the noise being created by the media and Western political class by exposing the bloated Western surveillance state known as 'The Five Eyes', which he properly identified as the outgrowth of the unconstitutional Patriot Act, the NSA's Prism surveillance system which has annihilated all semblance of privacy among trans-Atlantic nations.

After describing the double standards applied by Canadian elites who have constructed a narrative that always paints China as the villain of the world while portraying the west as "free and democratic," Ambassador Shaye stated:

"These same people have conveniently ignored the PRISM Program, Equation Group, and Echelon-global spying networks operated by some countries that have been engaging in large-scale and organized cyber-stealing, and spying and surveillance activities on foreign governments, enterprises, and individuals. These people also took a laissez-faire attitude toward a country that infringes on its citizens' privacy rights through the Patriot Act. They shouted for a ban by the Five Eyes alliance countries... on the use of Huawei equipment by these countries' own enterprises."

Today on the Health and Wellness Show, we welcome back to the show Doctors of acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine Linnéa Snyder (L.Ac. MSTCM) and James Lovinsky (L.Ac. MSTCM).

Linnéa was first drawn to acupuncture after receiving it as a teenager and noticing its widespread effects. Most notably, she loves the way it balances one's nervous-system and can clear emotional build-up without the necessity of attaching or sharing about the feelings or pain. Linnéa is interested in women's health, psycho-emotional disorders and stress induced illnesses. James came upon acupuncture during a very stressful period in his life. After trying several modalities to treat his own stress-induced health concerns, he settled on acupuncture. Upon changing his career and beginning acupuncture school he realized that Chinese medicine offered many treatments that could give patients an alternative to drugs and surgery. James is interested in pain management, digestive disorders and psycho-emotional health.

Linnéa and James practice at their clinic, Opus Total Health, in West Greenwich, RI (Opus Total Health - Its your life... live it in health!). They treat patients from all walks of life with acupuncture, bodywork, Chinese herbal medicine and diet and nutrition therapy.

Join us for a fascinating discussion about acupuncture, Chinese medicine and somatic therapy. And stayed tuned for Zoya's Pet Health Segment where the topic will be human history from a cat's perspective.

Running Time: 01:23:25

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Central and eastern China experienced one of the most intense winters so far; Beijing had to endure one of the coldest Decembers on record, and heavy rains and landslides hit the Southwest, leaving 4 dead.

After the most extensive snow cover on record for the US in November, storm Diego blanketed the Southeast leaving 400,000 without power, while unusually intense snowfalls hit the Southwest, and parts of the Northeast and West.

South Korea had bitterly cold temperatures so early in the season, while heavy snowfalls hit Japan, delivering 80 inches in the district of Yamagata.

Snow also disrupted normal life in Bosnia, Romania and Bulgaria, forcing schools to close and causing power outages. Meanwhile, Austria got 55 inches of snow in just 7 days... And winter has just started!

A "swarm" of meteor fireballs streaked across the skies of Spain during the last couple of months, 3 of them made their passage in just 5 hours in December. Mexico, Texas and San Francisco also had their share of spectacular fireballs this month.

Saudi Arabia continues to be battered by hail, heavy rain and floods that have triggered greening of the desert in some parts. While flash floods displaced 45,000 people in Indonesia, and Sri Lanka was inundated by 14 inches of rainfall in one night.

Unseasonable tornadoes wreaked havoc in Florida, Washington and Illinois, while a twister in Java, Indonesia, destroyed 156 houses.

A strong eruption of the Krakatoa volcano caused a tsunami in Indonesia leaving 430 dead and 22,000 displaced, and another volcanic eruption in Vanuatu triggered a series of earthquakes that cracked open parts of the island of Ambrym.

Venezuela was also hit by earthshaking events, a 5.6 magnitude quake hit the region of Carabobo opening fissures in the ground and buildings.

Watch our summary below: