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Thomas Paine

To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead.

Sunday, December 15, 2019

15 December - Blogs I'm Following - 3 of 5

My Yahoo! - 1 of 2     2 of 2

10 pm MST

“Ideological Subversion or Active Measures;” Exploiting the Useful Idiots

co2islife at CO2 is Life - 11 hours ago
Ever wonder how 50% of the population can wholeheartedly believe in Global Warming, that Socialism is better than Capitalism, that Cuba is better than American and that President Trump colluded with the Russians? Have you ever wondered how people can be so gullible, even as adults? Have you ever wondered how CNN and other News … Continue reading "“Ideological Subversion or Active Measures;” Exploiting the Useful Idiots"

“We will make sure that we put them against the wall;” Totalitarian Greta Thunberg Time Magazine’s 2019 Person of the Year

co2islife at CO2 is Life - 11 hours ago
Greta Thunberg tells cheering crowd ‘we will make sure we put world leaders against the wall’ if they do not tackle global warming as she attends climate protest in Turin (Source) Only the Left would celebrate a mass murder. THE “HUMANIST” TERROR. Revolutionary courts and walls in Cuba (Source) The “Butcher of La Cabana” honored … Continue reading "“We will make sure that we put them against the wall;” Totalitarian Greta Thunberg Time Magazine’s 2019 Person of the Year"

No end in sight for the biofuel wars

Robert at Ice Age Now - 11 hours ago
“From my perch, ethanol, biodiesel and “advanced biofuels” make about zero energy, economic or environmental sense.” – Paul Driessen __________ “White House, EPA, Energy, Agriculture and corporate factions are still arguing among themselves and trying to get President Trump to sign off on their preferred “compromise” – over how much ethanol must be blended into ... Read moreNo end in sight for the biofuel wars The post No end in sight for the biofuel wars appeared first on Ice Age Now.

British Millionaire Killed in Mugging Attempt in Buenos Aires

Juan Martinez at The Rio Times - 11 hours ago
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - According to the British BBC, British property developer and millionaire Matthew Gibbard, 50, has been shot dead outside luxury hotel Faena in Buenos Aires after being held up by armed robbers. The attack occurred as the tourists approached the hotel, the Argentine news agency Telam said. He was transported to […] The post British Millionaire Killed in Mugging Attempt in Buenos Aires appeared first on The Rio Times.

The Good and The Bad of Jeremy Corbyn

Mousumi Roy at The Duran - 11 hours ago
Corbyn wasn’t proposing state socialism. He was planning nationalisation of key natural monopolies only - power, water, post office, transport, and broadband. More The post The Good and The Bad of Jeremy Corbyn appeared first on The Duran.

Starbucks Apologizes to Deputies Who Weren’t Served at Store

AP News at Snopes.com - 11 hours ago
Starbucks apologized to two sheriff’s deputies in California and said it would carry out an internal investigation after complaints by the sheriff that the coffee retailer’s employees refused to serve the officers.

California Governor Newsom Nixes PG&E Bankruptcy Plan

Jerri-Lynn Scofield at naked capitalism - 11 hours ago
California governor Newsom's rejection of PG&E bankruptcy plan forces the company to present an alternative before Tuesday.

NHS News Links 15 December 2019

barovsky at The New Dark Age - 11 hours ago
15 December 2019 — The New Dark Age There may be some duplication due to cross-posting and may be updated throughout the day, so please check back Misleading voters should be alarming, but for the Tories it’s simply ‘career progression’ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheCanary/~3/aGJT4QBwrzY/ General election 2019: Viral videos about the NHS dominate the digital campaign https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2019-50744503 Wither Britain … Continue reading NHS News Links 15 December 2019

5G News Links 14-15 December 2019

barovsky at The New Dark Age - 11 hours ago
15 December 2019 — The New Dark Age Opposition Led to Kalamata, Greece Joining Other European Cities in Suspending 5G Deployment http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ActivistPost/~3/zEEfQe1M2bE/opposition-led-to-kalamata-greece-joining-other-european-cities-in-suspending-5g-deployment.html AT&T Unleashes 5G in 10 More U.S. Cities Despite Warnings, Lawsuits, and Opposition http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ActivistPost/~3/zhYGo6h6cWs/att-unleashes-5g-in-10-more-u-s-cities-despite-warnings-lawsuits-and-opposition.html Hundreds of Birds Dead in North Wales. Could 5G Have Played A Role? http://fe... more »

SUNDAY SCREENING: ‘Iraq for Sale’ (2006)

21wire at 21st Century Wire - 11 hours ago
*SUNDAY SCREENING* | This week's featured documentary film curated by our editorial team.

Episode #306 – ‘A New Order?’ with guests Daniel Spaulding, Niko House and more

21wire at 21st Century Wire - 11 hours ago
*SUNDAY WIRE* | Strap yourselves in and lower the blast shield – this is your brave new world…

IG Report: Mainstream Media Now Silent on RussiaGate Lies They Helped Spread

21wire at 21st Century Wire - 11 hours ago
*21WIRE* | To any sober observer, this plot would sound like lunacy, and yet the narrative is still being preserved by US deep state and Democratic Party.

Blue America's Last Endorsement Of 2019-- Meet Liam O'Mara, Of Riverside County, California

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 12 hours ago
We hope everyone's going to have a great holiday season and a wonderful kickoff to 2020. This is going to be our last candidate endorsement of the year, although we are in the middle of the vetting process for nearly a dozen more candidates for 2020. We also want to announce the winner of our Nirvana/Pramila contest, which ended last night: Venetia R. of Seattle. In all, over 400 of you contributed around $8,000. Thanks very much. Pramila deserves that kind of continuing support; she's never let us down and she always goes the extra mile for working families. I hope you can dig de... more »

COP 25: The business of climate change

Rupert Darwall at CFACT - 12 hours ago
Companies want to speculate on and profit from carbon offsets. If they were serious about cutting emissions they'd reduce their emissions instead. The post COP 25: The business of climate change appeared first on CFACT.

Deluge Of New Leaks Further Shreds The Establishment Syria Narrative

Caitlin Johnstone at Caitlin Johnstone - 12 hours ago
It’s been a bad last 24 hours for the war propagandists. WikiLeaks has published multiple documents providing further details on the coverup within the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) of its own investigators’ findings which contradicted the official story we were all […]

Roger Harrabin’s Alarmist Bubble

Paul Homewood at NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT - 12 hours ago
By Paul Homewood https://twitter.com/RHarrabin I called out Roger Harrabin a few days ago for blatantly breaking BBC political impartiality rules on his twitter feed. So I thought I would take a closer look at his twitter. What is immediately apparent is the little alarmist bubble which he inhabits there. Apart from one reaction from […]

Red Sea Geopolitics: Six Plotlines to Watch

zvertin at Lawfare - 12 hours ago
Photo Credit: UAE Ministry of Presidential Affairs *Editor’s Note: Many of the countries bordering the Red Sea suffer a mix of violence, corruption, instability and tyranny. Compounding the problem, outside states are meddling more in an attempt to increase their influence while the Trump administration stands by. My Brookings Institution colleague Zach Vertin offers six areas to watch in the months and years to come, ranging from potential great power competition to the growing role of Gulf states in African politics.* *Daniel Byman* *** The Red Sea has long represented a criti... more »

Joe Biden Wants To Allow States And Localities To Issue Immigration Visas

David Bier at The National Interest - 12 hours ago
*David Bier* *Politics, Americas* An interesting idea. Former-Vice President and presidential candidate Joe Biden—the Democrats’ frontrunner—released his immigration plans this week, and they contain some interesting surprises. In particular, Biden states that he would allow states and localities to sponsor visas for immigrants—an idea that my colleagues and I have written of for the last several years. So far, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Rep. John Curtis (R-UT) have introduced bills to create a state-sponsored temporary worker program. But the idea is starting to gain some more... more »

Japan Felt It Had No Choice But To Attack Pearl Harbor (Was Tokyo Right?)

Warfare History Network at The National Interest - 12 hours ago
*Warfare History Network* *History, Asia* Japan needed resources and America was standing in the way. *Key point: *Japan was fighting a war for its survival. By the time the attack on Pearl Harbor plunged the United States into World War II, Japan had been preparing for an all-out offensive in the Pacific for months. Japan relied on imports of raw materials and natural resources to survive. Rubber, tin, iron, and especially oil had to be imported for Japanese industry to function. The same raw materials were also essential for the Japanese war machine. In 1894-1895, Japan defea... more »

Greta Thunberg: A Bad Choice for Time's Person of the Year?

David Harsanyi at The National Interest - 12 hours ago
*David Harsanyi* *Politics, * Has there ever been a less consequential person picked to be Person of the Year? Who better than a finger-wagging teen bereft of accomplishment, or any comprehension of basic economics or history, to be Time magazine’s Person of the Year in 2019? Greta Thunberg’s canonization is a perfect expression of media activism in a deeply unserious time. Has there ever been a less consequential person picked to be Person of the Year? I doubt it. I mean, Wallis Simpson, 1936’s Person of the Year, got King Edward VIII to abdicate the throne. Thunberg can’t even... more »

Israel's 'Iron Dome' Is Headed to Europe

Seth J. Frantzman at The National Interest - 12 hours ago
*Seth J. Frantzman* *Security, Europe* [image: An Iron Dome interceptor system is seen on an Israeli missile boat during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's tour at a navy base in Haifa, Israel, February 12, 2019. Jack Guez/Pool via REUTERS] Prague needed to modernize its air defense. Czech Republic is acquiring Israel’s famed ‘Iron Dome” Multi-Mission Radar in an agreement signed earlier this month. The agreement between the Israel Ministry of Defense and Czech Ministry of Defense will see at least eight ELM-2084 radars operational in Czech Republic in coming years as pa... more »

The Infamous Gun List: The 5 Worst Firearms to Ever Fire a Shot

Kyle Mizokami at The National Interest - 12 hours ago
*Kyle Mizokami* *Security, Americas* They certainly don't belong at the range. *Key Point:* You never want to use these. Guns are tools meant to address life or death situations, so a poorly designed or manufactured gun often earns particular scorn. The gun world has long memories of particularly bad firearms, many of which sealed the fate of brave soldiers. The rapid pace of firearms development in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries meant that few if any mistakes were repeated, but the memories of these weapons—some with lethal consequences for the owner—linger go on. Here ... more »

Rio’s Museum of Tomorrow Celebrates Four Years with Exhibition on Its History

Xiu Ying at The Rio Times - 12 hours ago
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - Inaugurated in December 2015, the Museum of Tomorrow celebrates its fourth anniversary this month in the city of Rio de Janeiro with the mark of four million visitors and, to celebrate, will inaugurate a show about its history on December 17th. It will also promote free activities for the public […] The post Rio’s Museum of Tomorrow Celebrates Four Years with Exhibition on Its History appeared first on The Rio Times.

Timely and TImeless

LL at Virtual Mirage - 13 hours ago
This is one of my favorite Obama Era retrospective memes. This is one of my favorite Congressional memes. The Squad, because you can't make this up. Self-explanatory Life at home

Israeli man finds Syrian soldier’s letter from 1973 October War

News Desk at AMN – Al-Masdar News | المصدر نيوز - 13 hours ago
BEIRUT, LEBANON (4:10 P.M.) – An Israel man reportedly found a letter belonging to a Syrian Arab Army (SAA) that dates back 46 years to the 1973 October War, the Maariv news publication reported on Sunday. According to the Maariv report, an Israel man and his son found a box belonging to the Syrian soldier […] Source: AMN - Al-Masdar News | المصدر نيوز - The Arab Source

Qatar and Turkey open joint operations base in Doha

News Desk at AMN – Al-Masdar News | المصدر نيوز - 13 hours ago
BEIRUT, LEBANON (2:30 P.M.) – Qatar has announced on Sunday the opening of the Khaled Bin Walid Base that they will share with the Turkish Armed Forces. The Qatari news agency said that the Qatari Minister of Defense, Khalid bin Muhammad Al-Attiyah, and his Turkish counterpart, Hulusi Akar, inaugurated the new headquarters of the Joint […] Source: AMN - Al-Masdar News | المصدر نيوز - The Arab Source

Lebanon will ‘pay a very heavy price’ if Hezbollah attacks Israel: Netanyahu

News Desk at AMN – Al-Masdar News | المصدر نيوز - 13 hours ago
BEIRUT, LEBANON (1:20 P.M.) – On Sunday, the Israeli caretaker Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to make Lebanon and Hezbollah “pay a very heavy price” if the aforementioned organization attacks Israel. “We heard several days ago that a senior Iranian Revolutionary Guard official was again threatening that Iran will destroy Tel Aviv,” Netanyahu said at […] Source: AMN - Al-Masdar News | المصدر نيوز - The Arab Source

Syrian attack choppers resume strikes on jihadist mountain stronghold

News Desk at AMN – Al-Masdar News | المصدر نيوز - 13 hours ago
BEIRUT, LEBANON (1:00 P.M.) – The Syrian Arab Air Force’s (SyAAF) attack choppers resumed their strikes on the jihadist mountain stronghold of Kabani this afternoon, following a brief hiatus this past weekend. According to a military report from the Latakia Governorate, the Syrian Air Force’s choppers heavily bombarded Kabani and its surroundings, as they attempted […] Source: AMN - Al-Masdar News | المصدر نيوز - The Arab Source

Lebanese security forces deploy tear gas to disperse protesters as tensions rise: video

News Desk at AMN – Al-Masdar News | المصدر نيوز - 13 hours ago
BEIRUT, LEBANON (12:35 P.M.) – Lebanese security forces deployed tear gas in an attempt to disperse protesters amid heavy clashes in downtown Beirut on Saturday. According to a report by the Lebanese Red Cross, five people were injured and transferred to a nearby hospital. Footage shows riot police firing tear gas canisters and protesters lighting […] Source: AMN - Al-Masdar News | المصدر نيوز - The Arab Source

Simulated attack repelled by Russian Iskander missile system

News Desk at AMN – Al-Masdar News | المصدر نيوز - 13 hours ago
The Iskander missile system of Russia’s Western Military District has helped to repel a conventional enemy’s attack with weapons of mass destruction at drills in the southern Astrakhan Region, the district said in a statement on Saturday. “During the exercise involving the Iskander system, service members drilled at a training ground in the Astrakhan Region […] Source: AMN - Al-Masdar News | المصدر نيوز - The Arab Source

Turkish-backed fighters destroy alleged YPG headquarters in northern Aleppo: video

News Desk at AMN – Al-Masdar News | المصدر نيوز - 13 hours ago
BEIRUT, LEBANON (12:30 P.M.) – A new video was released this past weekend that showed the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) allegedly destroying the headquarters of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) in northern Aleppo. According to the video, the SNA targeted and destroyed the YPG’s HQ inside the village of Maranez, which is located west […] Source: AMN - Al-Masdar News | المصدر نيوز - The Arab Source

"DEMOCRATS ARE DOOMED" AS CLICKBAIT

Steve M. at No More Mister Nice Blog - 13 hours ago
Roger Cohen's latest column is not as bad as its headline: *Boris Johnson and the Coming Trump Victory in 2020* The headline is clickbait. Cohen doesn't appear to believe a Trump win is foreordained -- he writes, "I still think Trump can be beaten" -- though he doesn't believe a Democrat can win "from way out left." Of course, no one in the Democratic presidential field is as "way out left" as Jeremy Corbyn, and even Cohen acknowledges that. So Democrats are still in it, right, Roger? He's gloomy. He writes: The clear rejection of Labour’s big-government socialism ... looks ominou... more »

Literary Iceland Revels In Its Annual ‘Christmas Book Flood’

Erin Elizabeth at Health Nut News - 13 hours ago
In the United States, popular holiday gifts come and go from year to year. But in Iceland, the best Christmas gift is a book — and it has been that way for decades.1 Iceland publishes more books per capita than any other country in the world, with five titles published for every 1,000 Icelanders. But […] The post Literary Iceland Revels In Its Annual ‘Christmas Book Flood’ appeared first on Health Nut News.

TSA Pulls 90yo Woman from Wheelchair, Forcibly Grope Her Breasts in Full Public View — Lawsuit

The Free Thought Project at The Free Thought Project - 13 hours ago
[image: TSA]Multiple elderly women in wheelchairs have been assaulted by the TSA, groped, and publicly humiliated all to "keep you safe."

Comey says sorry about FISA

trinko at Conversations about the obvious - 13 hours ago
Comey has admitted that the IG report is right and that "He was right, I was wrong" referring to the IG. This however creates a lot of problems for Comey. There are three options; the head of the FBI lied about how the FBI got the FISA warrants, the head of the FBI didn't keep close tabs on the most Constitutionally significant investigation in the history of the United States, or the head of the FBI picked subordinates who lied to him every step of the way. There is no way a competent or honest Comey could have not known that the FISA warrants were based entirely on the Russian ru... more »

No end in sight for the biofuel wars by Paul Driessen

Charles R. Anderson, Ph.D. at An Objectivist Individualist - 13 hours ago
*Biofuels are unsustainable in every way, but still demand – and get – preferential treatment* The Big Oil-Big Biofuel wars rage on. From my perch, ethanol, biodiesel and “advanced biofuels” make about zero energy, economic or environmental sense. They make little political sense either, until you recognize that politics is largely driven by crony-capitalism, campaign contributions and vote hustling. Even now, once again, as you read this, White House, EPA, Energy, Agriculture and corporate factions are battling it out, trying to get President Trump to sign off on their preferred “... more »

No second referendum in Scotland

George Callaghan at The Duran - 13 hours ago
There are a number of reasons why there should never be another referendum on Scotland departing the UK. More The post No second referendum in Scotland appeared first on The Duran.

Where next for the Labour Party?

George Callaghan at The Duran - 13 hours ago
Labour’s convoluted and moronic Brexit policy achieved the impossible. It alienated both Leavers and Remainers. More The post Where next for the Labour Party? appeared first on The Duran.

NATO Secretary General Targets ‘Rising China’: Why Cold War Newspeak Never Went Away

Cynthia Chung at The Duran - 13 hours ago
This western paranoia of the communist boogeyman has its roots in Churchill’s Iron Curtain speech which ushered in the Cold War. More The post NATO Secretary General Targets ‘Rising China’: Why Cold War Newspeak Never Went Away appeared first on The Duran.

Nuclear Power’s Phoenix Moment in Canada and Abroad

Matthew Ehret at The Duran - 13 hours ago
The Premiers of three provinces (Ontario, New Brunswick and Saskatchewan) announced a joint Memorandum of Understanding to build Small Modular Nuclear Reactors in order to both tackle fossil fuel emissions, as well as deal with the crisis of “green energy” More The post Nuclear Power’s Phoenix Moment in Canada and Abroad appeared first on The Duran.

Deforestation Boom in Brazilian Amazon

Serban V.C. Enache at The Duran - 13 hours ago
The Brazilian Amazon registered a 104 percent surge in deforestation last month, compared to the same month last year. The 563 km2 [217 square miles] razed area that month is also the highest number for any month of November since 2015, according to the country’s National Institute for Space Research [INPE], which provides official data […] More The post Deforestation Boom in Brazilian Amazon appeared first on The Duran.

Don’t be fooled by “no political bias” lie. Horowitz testimony crushed FBI coup (Video)

Alex Christoforou at The Duran - 13 hours ago
The Duran Quick Take: Episode 405. More The post Don’t be fooled by “no political bias” lie. Horowitz testimony crushed FBI coup (Video) appeared first on The Duran.

Where Scottish Labour met Nicola Sturgeon's forces this week

Craig at Is the BBC biased? - 13 hours ago
The whitewashed Lagangarbh Hut sitting at the base of Buachaille Etive Mor. Glencoe. A quick snap while trying to avoid the Incoming rain / snow. #glencoe #scotland pic.twitter.com/JnzYgpMZKr — Paul Bullen (@PaulBullen1) December 15, 2019

Chris Morris wails and gnashes his teeth (fact)

Craig at Is the BBC biased? - 13 hours ago
*Today's The World This Weekend featured a verbal jeremiad from BBC Reality Check's chief reporter, Chris Morris. A transcript follows:* Having spent most of my career as a foreign correspondent I've covered some pretty dodgy elections in some pretty difficult places, so that helps keep a sense of perspective. But I never thought I'd cover an election here at home and reach the end of the campaign wondering whether the truth really matters any more. But here we are. Even after victory was assured on Friday morning Boris Johnson was doubling down on his claim that the Conservatives ... more »

"The 'Trade Deal': A Pathetic Parody, Credibility Squandered"

CoyotePrime at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 13 hours ago
*"The 'Trade Deal': * *A Pathetic Parody, Credibility Squandered"* by Charles Hugh Smith "Here's a late-night TV parody of a trade deal: The agreement won't be signed by both parties, though each might sign their own version of it, and the terms of the deal will never ever be revealed to the public, which includes everyone doing any business in the nations doing the "deal." How is this "deal" not a pathetic parody of a real deal? A real deal is signed by both parties and is made public, so the business community can make informed decisions. The leaders who sign the agreement have to... more »

Cop Will Do Less Than 2 Years for On-Duty Sex Assault of 16 Women, Won’t Register as Sex Offender

Jack Burns at The Free Thought Project - 13 hours ago
[image: sexual assault]A San Diego cop who sexually assaulted over a dozen women while on duty just got off with an offensive slap on the wrist for his crimes.

Untitled

Jenna Orkin at From the Wilderness' Peak Oil Blog - 13 hours ago
From Jenna Orkin The ENTIRE Continent of Australia Facing Hottest Day EVER188 Democrats Vote for Trump’s Bloated Defense Budget Finland is winning the war on fake news. What it’s learned may be crucial to Western democracy NHS Psychologists Diagnosing "Gender Dysmorphia" Over Fears of Being Labelled "Transphobic" (SkyNews is blocking out title with a cookie notice. I'm deducing from a link) Where Is the Outrage Over the War in Afghanistan?Magic Mushrooms Pass First Hurdle as Depression Treatment Chippy calls cops after teachers act like bouncers stopping kids buying food At $28.50 a f... more »

ICYMI: Ed Forum Weekend Edition (12/15)

Peter Greene at CURMUDGUCATION - 13 hours ago
Yesterday I spent the day in Pittsburgh at the ed forum, then decorating at my in-laws, then banging out a summary. But I still have a few things for you to read from the week. Remember to share! *Common Core: The Rest of the Story* Blogger and ed historian Adam Laats fills in some gaps in the NYT history of everyone's favorite standards. *GRE Fails To Identify Successful PhD Students * Shocked. I am shocked. But the GRE isn't a great predictor of grad school success. *New Filipino Grad Requirement * Well, here's an actual cool idea. Filipino students now need to plant trees in ... more »

Sunday Morning Links

Unknown at Accidental Deliberations - 14 hours ago
This and that for your Sunday reading. - Sarah Schulman discusses the importance of sleep as a determinant of health, arguing that a safe bed is the first step toward addressing all kinds of social ills. - Laura Lynch interviews Adria Vasil about the massive amount of avoidable waste generated by a combination of online shopping and corporate brand valuation. - Thomson Reuters reports on the justified anger of the world's smaller countries in response to the climate obstruction of the wealthiest countries on the planet. And Eleanor Boyle points out that if we recognize the impor... more »

The Atheistic Religion of Environmentalism

Unknown at The Verma Report - 14 hours ago
The behavior of the atheists supports the view that the need for religion and god is hardwired in human beings. The atheists have a theological view of atheism; they have always been passionately engaged in bringing salvation to all through politics and science. When their idea of salvation through politics died with the communist disasters of the 20th century, the atheists faced the risk of being driven out of politics. To protect their political relevance they turned their eschatological hope on other issues—one of them being environmentalism, which for the atheists, is a scientif... more »

Scotland's First Minister warns Boris Johnson cannot keep country in UK against its will

Just In - 14 hours ago
Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon warns Boris Johnson he cannot keep Scotland in the United Kingdom against the country's will, after the re-elected Prime Minister opposes a request for a second independence referendum.

Editor's Note

War News Updates Editor at War News Updates - 14 hours ago
Spending some R&R with the GF today. Blogging will return later today.

U.S. Secretly Expels Chinese Diplomats Afer They Tried to Enter A Sensitive Military Base

War News Updates Editor at War News Updates - 14 hours ago
Chinese Embassy Washington DC. China.org,cn *New York Times:* *U.S. Secretly Expelled Chinese Officials Suspected of Spying After Breach of Military Base* WASHINGTON — The American government secretly expelled two Chinese Embassy officials this fall after they drove on to a sensitive military base in Virginia, according to people with knowledge of the episode. The expulsions appear to be the first of Chinese diplomats suspected of espionage in more than 30 years. American officials believe at least one of the Chinese officials, who were with their wives, was an intelligence offic... more »

‘Tis the season to say something positive

Stephen Kimber at Halifax Examiner - 14 hours ago
I had been hoping to say something positive about Stephen McNeil’s government — it is, after all, the season of speaking positively — but as soon as I began to put electronic keyboard to computer-screen praise, his government inevitably did one more something that was so bone-headed, so egregious, so cringe-worthy, I couldn’t help but […]

Arctic Fraud Approaches A Tipping Point

tonyheller at Real Climate Science - 14 hours ago
The press is reporting this week that Arctic is hot and sea ice is at a record low. Meanwhile, actual Arctic sea ice extent is the highest for the date in five years. Ocean and Ice Services | Danmarks Meteorologiske … Continue reading →

Official 53C At Bourke, NSW

tonyheller at Real Climate Science - 14 hours ago

Navy Showdown: Are American and German Submarines Superior to Russia's?

Sebastien Roblin at The National Interest - 14 hours ago
*Sebastien Roblin* *Technology, Europe* [image: Reuters] Let's stack them up. *Key point:* All of these submarines are top-of-the-line but it is unclear who would win. The German Navy was a pioneer in large-scale submarine warfare, its U-boats able to contest the United Kingdom’s superior navy in ways that German surface warships could not. While modern-day Germany no longer has the ocean-spanning naval ambitions of its predecessors, it has become a global leader in designing small, stealthy submarines that can effectively patrol littoral waters at a fraction of the cost of nucl... more »

This Antitank Rifle Helped Turn The Tide Of World War II Against Nazi Germany

Warfare History Network at The National Interest - 14 hours ago
*Warfare History Network* *History, Europe* What we know. *Key point:* Although the Boys antitank rifle rapidly became obsolete during World War II, it served its purpose as a stopgap defense against marauding Axis armor. When the first tanks appeared in World War I, they were relatively lightly armored and protected the crews only against small-arms fire. In addition, much of the armor was riveted. Projectiles striking the exterior of the armor could pop off rivet heads or flake armor from the internal surfaces, creating fragments that would fly around the vehicle interior, cau... more »

Not As Advertised

Owen Gray at Northern Reflections - 15 hours ago
Throughout the election campaign, Andrew Scheer accused Justin Trudeau of being a phoney. Trudeau, he said, was a child of privilege, whereas Scheer himself was just an ordinary working stiff. Alan Freeman writes: I can still remember the start of the English-language leaders’ debate during the election campaign when the moderator began with a softball question asking each leader how they would defend Canada’s interests and values on the international stage. When it came time for Andrew Scheer to respond, the tone suddenly changed. The Conservative leader ignored the question and ... more »

Saudi Aramaco Arrives in Deir Ezzor, Syria- American Contracts in Hand

Penny at Penny for your thoughts - 15 hours ago
*Though it is an unnamed source the news report is credible, fitting with everything written here and ignored elsewhere, about the US/Saudi involvement with the PKK/SDF in Syria.* * Deir Ezzor24* "Sources revealed to Deir Ezzor 24 network that the *Saudi International Company (Aramco) intends to invest oil fields and wells in Deir Ezzor. * According to the sources, “*Aramco” started implementing practical steps in this field, where a group of the company arrived in an official mission to al-Omar oil field in the eastern Deir Ezzor countryside. * The same sources indicated that the... more »

"But at what cost?"

Craig at Is the BBC biased? - 15 hours ago
*Newsnight*'s incoming policy editor Lewis Goodall has had his say this afternoon: 1 - Am going to write something about the cataclysm of the Lab results in next few days. But as tempting as it is to get consumed by Labour watching and recrimination (as most on here now are) we shouldn’t forget the govt hardly covered itself in glory in the conduct of the election. 2 - Didn’t commit to flagship scrutiny interview, opaque about its intentions, very misleading ads and information, breaking of long established norms during the election and in the run up to it. They won and won handsom... more »

A meeting of mind (in the BBC's defence)

Craig at Is the BBC biased? - 15 hours ago
Good news! The former editor of *The Guardian *and the present editor of the *Times Literary Supplement *agree to agree (isn't that lovely?): *Alan Rusbridger*: BBC is due to celebrate its centenary in 2022. Quite easily - still - one of the most trusted institutions in Britain, if not the world. But apparently Dominic Cummings doesn’t like it, so, whatever. *Stig Abell*: The problem is that it is hard to argue that the funding model is not anachronistic. If the BBC were to be invented today, it would not be funded by a licence on televisions. It is a small step to ignore the fact t... more »

Why would a Democrat Senator demand Ukraine walk away from a debt in 2015 …

Uriel at 'Nox & Friends - 15 hours ago
… Why didn’t the Foreign Relations Committee tell Ukraine they would represent their interests in international court or go before the United Nations to get international sanctions considering how Russia invaded Crimea at the time rather than toss more U.S. dollars down a sinkhole? … Why did they continue pouring billions of our tax dollars through Congressional aid and INF without any oversight accountability into a country that mainlined much of the money into hidden accounts without demanding those people be taken to court and their accounts frozen? Because either they were short... more »

Why Do Some Whales Have Weight Limits?

Matthew Savoca, Jeremy Goldbogen at The National Interest - 15 hours ago
*Matthew Savoca, Jeremy Goldbogen* *Environment, Americas* [image: Reuters] Whales are big but could they be bigger? Both toothed and baleen (filter-feeding) whales are among the largest animals ever to exist. Blue whales, which measure up to 100 feet (30 meters) long and can weigh over 150 tons, are the largest animals in the history of life on Earth. Although whales have existed on this planet for some 50 million years, they only evolved to be truly gigantic in the past five million years or so. Researchers have little idea what limits their enormous size. What is the pace of ... more »

Demanding Weaker Encryption To Help Law Enforcement Makes Us All Less Safe

Jim Harper at The National Interest - 15 hours ago
*Jim Harper* *Technology, * Should the government require tech companies to redesign their systems so that government agents can access encrypted communications and data? This week, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing examining a Groundhog Day issue in internet policy: Should the government require tech companies to redesign their systems so that government agents can access encrypted communications and data? Little about the hearing is available at this writing, but its title is “Encryption and Lawful Access: Evaluating Benefits and Risks to Public Safety and Priv... more »

Is Congress Set to Open U.S. Banks to Drug Cartels?

Garth Van Meter at The National Interest - 15 hours ago
*Garth Van Meter* *Politics, Americas* [image: Chemdawg marijuana plants grow at a facility in Smiths Falls, Ontario, Canada October 29, 2019. REUTERS/Blair Gable] Should we let them? Last month, the House of Representatives passed a bill known as the SAFE Banking Act, a seemingly innocuous bill offering the nascent, state-legal marijuana industry access to banks. Interestingly, many House Republicans who claim to oppose marijuana legalization voted in support of the bill. Some claimed the bill was a vote in support of the conservative principle of federalism. Others cited the ... more »

These 5 Russian Weapons Were Total Military Disasters

Michael Peck at The National Interest - 15 hours ago
*Michael Peck* *Security, Europe* Not everything can be a winner. *Key point: *There can be no innovation without experimentation. It's not usual for Russia to admit that its weapons have failed. Especially Russian media, purveyor of glorious stories of space MiGs and interplanetary tanks. Yet Russia's Sputnik News recently published an article on Russian and Soviet weapons that fizzled. "For each military vehicle that is accepted into service, there are often roughly ten others that never proved to be either effective or economically viable," Sputnik News tactfully reminded it... more »

FACT: Immigration Made America Great

Stratfor Worldview at The National Interest - 15 hours ago
*Stratfor Worldview* *History, Americas* [image: Reuters] An American experience. Pilgrim and Puritan settlers who arrived in New England in the early 17th century brought with them the tradition of Thanksgiving that was adopted by waves of immigrants who followed. This analysis first published Jan. 15, 2004, examines the role immigration has played — and continues to play — in the evolution of the United States. The United States came into being through mass movements of populations. The movements came in waves from all over the world and, depending upon the historical moment, ... more »

Do Immigrants Really Litter More?

Alex Nowrasteh, Andrew C. Forrester at The National Interest - 15 hours ago
*Alex Nowrasteh, Andrew C. Forrester* *Politics, Americas* [image: Refugees and migrants make their way inside the Moria camp, on the island of Lesbos, Greece, November 27, 2019. REUTERS/Elias Marcou] The answer may surprise you. There are very few new arguments in the immigration debate. For generations, people have batted around similar versions of the same argument in favor or against different immigration policies such as how immigrants affect wages, voting, crime, and terrorism. There are other fringe arguments that crop up now and again, but we don’t usually address them b... more »

Black Hole Sun: What You Don't Know About Your Galazy

Smadar Naoz at The National Interest - 15 hours ago
*Smadar Naoz* *Security, Americas* [image: Reuters] The supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy may have a friend. Do supermassive black holes have friends? The nature of galaxy formation suggests that the answer is yes, and in fact, pairs of supermassive black holes should be common in the universe. I am an astrophysicist and am interested in a wide range of theoretical problems in astrophysics, from the formation of the very first galaxies to the gravitational interactions of black holes, stars and even planets. Black holes are intriguing systems, and supermassive ... more »

Sale of Petrobras Shares May Yield R$24 Billion to BNDES

Richard Mann at The Rio Times - 15 hours ago
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - The National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) began the process of selling its common shares of Petrobras (with voting rights) on Thursday, December 12th. Should the bank sell all these shares in the market, it may raise up to R$24 billion (US$6 billion), based on current quotations, equivalent […] The post Sale of Petrobras Shares May Yield R$24 Billion to BNDES appeared first on The Rio Times.

Why was measles able to run rampant in a community that has a vaccination rate of 98%?… SAMOA … an interview with Hilary Butler

Pam Vernon at Rangitikei Environmental Health Watch - 15 hours ago
Holistic Health Masterclass Podcast: The measles outbreak in Samoa sets an important precedent for global public health policy. Despite high vaccination rates, this outbreak has spread like wild fire. In this episode Hilary Butler joins me to give us a view of what it’s like on the ground there. We tackle a number of pressing … Continue reading Why was measles able to run rampant in a community that has a vaccination rate of 98%?… SAMOA … an interview with Hilary Butler →

Bolsonaro’s Christmas Gift to Perpetrators of Illegal Deforestation

Pam Vernon at Rangitikei Environmental Health Watch - 15 hours ago
Originally posted on HUMAN WRONGS WATCH: Human Wrongs Watch By Danicley Aguiar* 13 December 2019(Greenpeace International)* — 2019 was a terrible year for the Amazon Rainforest – threats to its survival have intensified, but the situation can always get worse. A new Provisional Presidential Decree (PPD) 910, signed on Tuesday [12 December 2019] by President…

YouTube censors critical news, promotes Rupert Murdoch

Pam Vernon at Rangitikei Environmental Health Watch - 15 hours ago
Originally posted on Dear Kitty. Some blog: https://youtu.be/1lK7Rc4f1t4 This 14 December 2019 video from the USA is called YouTube ADMITS To Suppressing Independent News, Pushing [corporate] CNN & [Rupert Murdoch‘s] Fox News. YouTube is owned by the censoring Google corporation.

ASUS TUF is pretty good

Luboš Motl at The Reference Frame - 15 hours ago
If you're using a Windows notebook that is several years old, e.g. eight years old, you can underestimate how much progress has occurred when it comes to performance. Yes, Moore's law almost stopped if you just look at the numbers. Chipmakers are approaching the 5 nm technology which could really be the last one as we're getting close to the atomic scale and the unavoidable quantum tunneling kicks in there. Eight years ago, we were mostly buying laptops with 4 GB and now you really need 8 GB. The frequencies of microprocessors look almost the same and so do the display resolutions –... more »

The Far Left's 2019 General Election Results

Phil at All That Is Solid ... - 15 hours ago
The mainstream left got a pummelling on Thursday, and there a number of reasons for this. Some complex, some a bit more straightforward. But before continuing analysing the result and its implications, Sunday is the best day to tune in and see how our comrades on the far left did. Strap yourselves in. *Alliance for Green Socialism* Leeds North East - Celia Foote 176 (0.3%, +0.1) Leeds Wast - Mike Davis 31 (0.1%) *Communist League* Tottenham - Jonathan Silberman 42 (0.1%) Wythenshawe and Sale East - Caroline Bellamy 58 (0.1%) *People Before Profit Alliance* Belfast West - Gerry Carro... more »

The Dirty War on the NHS – ITV

barovsky at The New Dark Age - 15 hours ago
15 December 2019 — John Pilger Next week on Tuesday 17 December, John Pilger’s film about the threat the NHS will be shown on ITV – full details below. Please tell everyone you know about the film – on social media and in person. If you miss the screening on Tuesday, you can catch it again … Continue reading The Dirty War on the NHS – ITV

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