Illuminati Exposed (This is the resistance)
Yo Israel, go fuck yourself.
Boycott everything Israeli until this rogue and fake country understands the value of human rights. Relocate Israel to Florida!
Canadian stores are ordered to deshelve wines produced in settlements that carry a “made in Israel” origin tag. From here one, settler wines must me marked “made in the West Bank occupied territory.”
Source: Canada order stores to deshelve settler wines with ‘made in Israel’ label
mondoweiss.net
July 13, 2017
BDS
Canada bans ‘Product of Israel’ labels for West Bank wines
Times of Israel 13 July by Sue Surkes & Jacob Magid — Ruling singles out 2 settlement wineries, also blacklists Golan and East Jerusalem vintages; Jewish group calls decision ‘disturbing’ — Canadian food inspectors have ordered liquor stores to stop selling wines made in the West Bank, saying their label identifying them as Israeli contravenes Ottawa’s policy on the territory … News of the order emerged with the issue of a letter Tuesday from the Liquor Control Board of Ontario to liquor vendors, detailing the ruling by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency a week earlier “that ‘Product of Israel’ would not be an acceptable country of origin declaration for wine products that have been made from grapes that are grown, fermented, processed, blended and finished in the West Bank occupied territory.”
The ruling extended to wines from “any other territory occupied by Israel in 1967” that carried such a label, which would be “considered misleading,” specifically mentioning the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem and Gaza, as well as the West Bank. The CFIA is a government body that controls all marketing and sales of wine in Canada….
http://www.timesofisrael.com/canada-bans-product-of-israel-labels-for-west-bank-wines/
If you not familiar with this film, do yourself a favor by listening to it. It might blow you away! It comes with an awesome soundtrack. Elevate yourselves!
BTW: YouTube keeps taking it out under copyright rules. Watch it here for free, for now.
This show was way ahead of its time: Vaccines, chemtrails, Big Pharma, corporatism, militarization of the police, and more, was all predicted by Chris Carter long ago.
Raised by a pedophile, worked for the Rothchilds, and is bringing mandatory vaccination to France on behalf of Big Pharma. France is doomed!
Source: Germany Launches Its 62-Mile Bike Highway Which Connects 10 Cities – True Activist
The bike highway will take 50,000 cars off the road while simultaneously benefiting the environment and the health of citizens.
Credit: Yale Environment 360
Go Germany! To take 50,000 vehicles off the highways, benefit the environment and encourage the populace to be more active, the country is building a bicycle highway that connects 10 cities within its borders. The project intends to make the process of commuting via bike both safe and a fun investment of time.
The idea for the 62-mile bike highway was inspired seven years ago when a cultural project caused the closure of a road between Duisburg and Dortmund for 24 hours. On that day, three million people took to the road on bikes, skates and in regular ol’ tennis shoes. It was then the city officials knew citizens would take advantage of an eco-friendly autobahn if it was constructed.
In December of 2016, the first stretch of the bike highway opened for use between Mülheim an der Ruhr and Essen. When completed, the Radschnellweg (translation: “fast bike path”), or RS1, will link 10 cities and four universities with 62 miles of highway.
Credit: RS1
To promote safety and prevent accidents, the bike highway — along with a parallel pedestrian path — is designed to be completely separated from vehicle lanes. 13 feet in width, it’s also outfitted with tunnels and lights, as safety and accessibility issues are what keep most people from cycling to work or to a friend’s house.
As Sharable reports, Germany isn’t the first nation to invest in a bike highway. The Netherlands, for instance, built a 20-strong network of bikeways one decade ago and continues to expand it to this day. Norway, as well, will soon install a bike path to connect nine cities.
Learn more: RS1
Pastors William Lamar, from DC’s Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church, and Delman Coates, from Mount Enon Church in Maryland, claim that the soda manufacturer deceived customers of their product into believing the health risks weren’t as bad as they actually are. They claim the cost to their communities has been large.
The DC Superior Court received the pastor’s complaint Thursday. The Praxis Project, a public health group, says that the ABA and Coca Cola went through with a campaign that set out to confuse consumers about what can cause obesity, according to court documents.
The plaintiffs claim that it has been hard to protect the health of their mostly African American communities due to the fact that they are being harmed by soda, the documents show.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have released a study that proves black and Latino communities are disproportionately affected by health problems, in comparison with their white counterparts.
Diabetes, hypertension and obesity are all bigger concerns in communities of color. Soda is consumed at a higher rate in these communities and they are even exposed to advertising for these products at a higher rate, according to the CDC.
“It’s become really clear to me that we’re losing more people to the sweets than to the streets,” Coats told the Post. “There’s a great deal of misinformation in our communities, and I think that’s largely a function of these deceptive marketing campaigns.”
Coca-Cola fought back against the claims as well as another lawsuit that was filed last January by the same legal team handling this case. The earlier case was eventually withdrawn in order to be filed again with new plaintiffs.
“The allegations here are likewise legally and factually meritless, and we will vigorously defend against them,” Coca-Cola said in a statement, the Post reported.
The Praxis Project also claimed that current trends point to an outcome of half of African American and Latino children developing type 2 diabetes in their lifetimes. The suit cited the jump in the obesity rate from 9 percent in 1984 to 25 percent in January 2017.
One of the Coca-Cola ads mentioned in the January complaint was from 2013. Titled “Be OK,” it claimed that laughing for 75 seconds is one activity that could burn off the 139 calories in one of their drinks.
“People who consumed a cup of coffee a day were 12 percent less likely to die compared to those who didn’t drink coffee. This association was even stronger for those who drank two to three cups a day — 18 percent reduced chance of death.”
Source: Drinking Coffee Could Lead To A Longer Lifeer Worse Says Yet Another Peer Reviewed Medical Journal
With permission from
preventdisease.com
Joe Battaglia
July 14, 2017
Here’s another reason to start the day with a cup of joe: Scientists have found that people who drink coffee appear to live longer.
Drinking coffee was associated with a lower risk of death due to heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, and respiratory and kidney disease for African-Americans, Japanese-Americans, Latinos and whites.
People who consumed a cup of coffee a day were 12 percent less likely to die compared to those who didn’t drink coffee. This association was even stronger for those who drank two to three cups a day — 18 percent reduced chance of death.
Lower mortality was present regardless of whether people drank regular or decaffeinated coffee, suggesting the association is not tied to caffeine, said Veronica W. Setiawan, lead author of the study and an associate professor of preventive medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC.
“We cannot say drinking coffee will prolong your life, but we see an association,” Setiawan said. “If you like to drink coffee, drink up! If you’re not a coffee drinker, then you need to consider if you should start.”
The study, which will be published in the July 11 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine, used data from the Multiethnic Cohort Study, a collaborative effort between the University of Hawaii Cancer Center and the Keck School of Medicine.
The ongoing Multiethnic Cohort Study has more than 215,000 participants and bills itself as the most ethnically diverse study examining lifestyle risk factors that may lead to cancer.
“Until now, few data have been available on the association between coffee consumption and mortality in nonwhites in the United States and elsewhere,” the study stated. “Such investigations are important because lifestyle patterns and disease risks can vary substantially across racial and ethnic backgrounds, and findings in one group may not necessarily apply to others.”
Since the association was seen in four different ethnicities, Setiawan said it is safe to say the results apply to other groups.
“This study is the largest of its kind and includes minorities who have very different lifestyles,” Setiawan said. “Seeing a similar pattern across different populations gives stronger biological backing to the argument that coffee is good for you whether you are white, African-American, Latino or Asian.”
Previous research by USC and others have indicated that drinking coffee is associated with reduced risk of several types of cancer, diabetes, liver disease, Parkinson’s disease, Type 2 diabetes and other chronic diseases.
Setiawan, who drinks one to two cups of coffee daily, said any positive effects from drinking coffee are far-reaching because of the number of people who enjoy or rely on the beverage every day.
“Coffee contains a lot of antioxidants and phenolic compounds that play an important role in cancer prevention,” Setiawan said. “Although this study does not show causation or point to what chemicals in coffee may have this ‘elixir effect,’ it is clear that coffee can be incorporated into a healthy diet and lifestyle.”
About 62 percent of Americans drink coffee daily, a 5 percent increase from 2016 numbers, reported the National Coffee Association.
As a research institution, USC has scientists from across disciplines working to find a cure for cancer and better ways for people to manage the disease.
The Keck School of Medicine and USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center manage a state-mandated database called the Los Angeles Cancer Surveillance Program, which provides scientists with essential statistics on cancer for a diverse population.
Researchers from the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center have found that drinking coffee lowers the risk of colorectal cancer.
But drinking piping hot coffee or beverages probably causes cancer in the esophagus, according to a World Health Organization panel of scientists that included Mariana Stern from the Keck School of Medicine.
In some respects, coffee is regaining its honor for wellness benefits. After 25 years of labeling coffee a carcinogen linked to bladder cancer, the World Health Organization last year announced that drinking coffee reduces the risk for liver and uterine cancer.
“Some people worry drinking coffee can be bad for you because it might increase the risk of heart disease, stunt growth or lead to stomach ulcers and heartburn,” Setiawan said. “But research on coffee has mostly shown no harm to people’s health.”
Setiawan and her colleagues examined the data of 185,855 African-Americans (17 percent), Native Hawaiians (7 percent), Japanese-Americans (29 percent), Latinos (22 percent) and whites (25 percent) ages 45 to 75 at recruitment. Participants answered questionnaires about diet, lifestyle, and family and personal medical history.
They reported their coffee drinking habits when they entered the study and updated them about every five years, checking one of nine boxes that ranged from “never or hardly ever” to “4 or more cups daily.” They also reported whether they drank caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee. The average follow-up period was 16 years.
Sixteen percent of participants reported that they did not drink coffee, 31 percent drank one cup per day, 25 percent drank two to three cups per day and 7 percent drank four or more cups per day. The remaining 21 percent had irregular coffee consumption habits.
Over the course of the study, 58,397 participants — about 31 percent — died. Cardiovascular disease (36 percent) and cancer (31 percent) were the leading killers.
The data was adjusted for age, sex, ethnicity, smoking habits, education, preexisting disease, vigorous physical exercise and alcohol consumption.
Setiawan’s previous research found that coffee reduces the risk of liver cancer and chronic liver disease. She is currently examining how coffee is associated with the risk of developing specific cancers.
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This would be good news but I highly doubt that the US and France will stay out of countries they have no business being in. It’s in their genetic nature to dictate to other nations how they should live. And of course, they want the resources of said countries. We’ll see.
Summit of US and French Presidents provides final confirmation that the West’s regime change war in Syria has failed and is being abandoned.
Source: CONFIRMED: US and France abandon regime change in Syria
theduran.com
The hints and signals that have been flickering on and off from Washington and Paris since the change of governments in the US and France that the regime change attempt in Syria is being officially abandoned has now received formal confirmation.
This has come in a joint news conference by Presidents Trump and Macron following President Trump’s talks with President Macron in France.
The statement of abandonment of the regime change policy in Syria was set out in the clearest language by President Macron
Indeed, we now have a new approach in Syria, because we want results and we want to work closely together with all our partners including the United States. We have one main goal which is to eradicate terrorism, no matter who they are, we want to build an inclusive and sustainable political solution. I do not require Assad’s departure, that’s no longer a prerequisite for France. For seven years, we did not have an embassy in Damascus – and still we have no solution.
A more straightforward admission of failure in Syria than the highlighted words it would be difficult to come up with.
Inevitably some health warnings are in order. The US and France have not suddenly become converts to the cause of President Assad. As Macron’s words show, their acceptance that he will stay as President of Syria is simply a recognition of reality: that with Russia protecting him and his armies on the offensive on all fronts there is no longer the wherewithal to remove him.
It has taken six bitter years of conflict and five terrible years of war to arrive at this point. Though Trump and Macron are not to blame for this – the regime change war in Syria was not their work but the work of their predecessors – that it has taken so long and has required so much devastation and loss of life is a terrible indictment of Western policy.
Source: Mercury & Autism Relationship Confirmed in Longitudinal Study – Collective Evolution
http://www.collective-evolution.com
The international journal Science of the Total Environment has just published a compelling study from the Republic of Korea, where autism prevalence is high. The study identifies a strong relationship between prenatal and early childhood exposure to mercury and autistic behaviors in five-year-olds.
Lead author Jia Ryu and coauthors acknowledge mercury’s potential for neurotoxicity straight away but choose to characterize previous findings on the mercury-autism relationship as “inconsistent.” They attribute the seeming lack of consistency, in part, to methodological issues, especially flagging problematic cross-sectional study designs that measure autistic behaviors and mercury levels (in either blood or hair) at a single point in time. To rectify these methodological weaknesses, Ryu and coauthors report on data from a multi-region longitudinal study in the Republic of Korea called the Mothers and Children’s Environmental Health (MOCEH) study.
The ongoing MOCEH study examines environmental exposures during pregnancy and childhood and their effects on children’s growth and development. A unique feature is that it includes five different blood samples: maternal blood from early and late pregnancy; cord blood; and samples from children at two and three years of age. In addition, the study asks mothers to complete three follow-up surveys and—when their child reaches age five—the 65-item Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS), which assesses autistic behaviors.
Ryu and colleagues present available data for 458 (26%) of the 1,751 mother-child pairs originally recruited into the MOCEH study. What are their key findings?
–First, the researchers report a significant linear relationship between mercury exposure and autistic behaviors (as indicated by a scaled score called an SRS T-score). Strikingly, they find that with a doubling of blood mercury levels at four time points (late pregnancy, cord blood, and at two and three years of age), SRS T-scores are significantly higher.
–Ryu et al. also look specifically at SRS T-scores greater than or equal to 60. Sixty and above is the accepted threshold for detecting “mild to moderate” deficits of social behavior related to autism; scores of 76 or more are in the “severe” range. In these analyses, the same linear relationship holds for late pregnancy and birth (i.e., cord blood). With a doubling of blood mercury levels at these two time points, there is a 31% and 28% increase, respectively, in the risk of an SRS T-score of 60 or more.
–Finally, the researchers identify a stronger association between late-pregnancy mercury exposure and autistic behaviors in five-year-old boys versus five-year-old girls, perhaps due to mercury’s endocrine-disrupting properties.
Although the Korean study has many methodological strengths, it displays some curious omissions and contradictions. For example, the authors note, almost in passing, that they measured total mercury “instead of methylmercury,” but they discount any potential relevance of ethylmercury from thimerosal-containing vaccines. In support of this dismissive stance, they cite a 2014 meta-analysis that failed to find any “material associations” between thimerosal exposure and ASD or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). They do not mention that the authors of the meta-analysis actually urged readers to interpret their results with caution “since the number of epidemiological studies on this issue [is] limited and still at an early stage.”
stuartjeannebramhall.com
July 14, 2017
Behind America’s Infant Mortality Crisis
Al Jazeera (2013)
Film Review
Since the mid-1990s, when Bill Clinton eliminated Aid For Dependent Children (AFDC), the US has enjoyed infant mortality rates among the highest in the world. Rust belt Midwestern cities lead the US in infant mortality. The loss of steel, auto and other manufacturing to third world sweatshops has virtually crushed many of these cities, leaving massive unemployment – particularly among African Americans.
Cleveland is the US city with the highest percentage of babies dying during the first year of life – with an infant mortality greater than third world countries like North Korea, Albania, Sri Lanka and Guatemala.
Trying to identify the cause of Cleveland’s skyrocketing infant mortality, filmmakers interview African American mothers and expectant mothers and neonatal specialists. The neonatologists identify prematurity as the number one cause of infant deaths. Factors that contribute to mothers delivering prematurely include homelessness and lack of access to healthy food (or money to pay for it) and prenatal care. Ohio is one of the states where Republican legislators declined federal funds to expand Medicaid (which pays for prenatal care) to the working poor.
The neonatologists also point out the false economy of this ideological stinginess. Ohio’s Medicaid program spends hundreds of millions of dollars trying to keep premature babies alive in state-of-the-art neonatal ICUs – it would cost taxpayers far less to prevent prematurity by ensuring expectant mothers have warm housing, healthy food and prenatal care.
New research provides early evidence of general intelligence in animals.
Source: Clever crows can plan for the future like humans do
theconversation.com
Postdoctoral research associate, University of Cambridge
July 14, 2017
Professor in Comparative Cognition, University of Cambridge
Humans aren’t as unique as we used to think. Not, at least when it comes to making plans for the future. Scientists originally thought humans were the only animals that made plans but, over the past decade, studies on non-human primates and the crow family have challenged this perspective.
For example, we’ve seen that these animals are able to store tools for later use, cache food in places where it will be needed the most, and hide pieces of the sort of food they know will be running low in the future.
In all these studies, the animals had to consider what to do, where to do it and when to prepare for certain specific future events. The latest research shows that ravens can indeed anticipate the “what, where and when” of a future event on the basis of previous experiences. But unlike the previous studies, this work tested the birds in behaviour they don’t normally show in the wild. This provides evidence that they have a much more general ability to plan for the future than previously thought.
Food hoarding is common in members of the crow family (corvids) because they often eat from perishable animal carcasses, which provide lots of food but are only available for a short amount of time. To create a suitable cache of food they need to work out what to store, where to put it and when to do so.
The new study, published in the journal Science, tested the birds outside this naturally occurring behaviour, which may have evolved specifically because it gives crows a survival advantage. Some crow species are known to naturally use tools to retrieve food. So the researchers tested whether the birds could store and retrieve a tool so they could get at their food after a gap of 17 hours – something we wouldn’t expect them to do naturally. The scientists didn’t give the birds a chance to learn this behaviour first but they were still able to instantly select the tool out of a number of unnecessary items.
In another experiment, the researchers taught ravens to select a token from a number of items that they could then exchange for food. Again, the birds then showed that they could plan for the future using this new behaviour. They were able to store this token and then retrieve and use it when they were offered the chance to exchange it for food 17 hours later.
This contrasts with all of the previous studies in future planning, which have focused on naturally occurring behaviour. For example, we know that California scrub jays cache their food according to their future needs. And that bonobos, chimpanzees and orangutans select, transport and save appropriate tools for future needs.
These studies have shown that animals can plan for the future – but they left an important question open for debate. Are animals only able to plan to use abilities that have evolved to give them a specific advantage, or can they flexibly and intelligently apply planning behaviour across various actions? Most critics would say the former, as the animals were tested in naturally occurring behaviours.
But the new research provides the first compelling evidence that animal species can plan for the future using behaviour that doesn’t typically occur in nature. This supports the view that at least some cognitive abilities in animals don’t evolve just in response to specific problems. Instead, it suggests that animals can apply these behaviours flexibly across problems in a similar way to humans.
It seems that, in corvids and apes, intelligence is not a system to solve a predefined set of problems (dedicated intelligence) but rather a computational system to improvise new solutions (improvisational intelligence). But it is still unclear what this cognitive system exactly is and how it evolved.
What’s needed now is neuro-biological evidence of general intelligence in animals. We also need to investigate how flexible and improvisational behaviour evolved. Then we might be able to see how crows’ ability to plan for the future fits in with their broader cognitive powers.
Source: 5 ‘aliens’ discovered near Nazca lines in Peru – Ufologist (VIDEO, POLL) — RT Viral
Well-known Mexican Ufologist and journalist Jaime Maussan claimed on Tuesday that a total of five bodies have been discovered in the past two months, asserting that the remains possess qualities “closer to reptiles than humans.”
He explained that the bodies are over 1,700 years old, which happens to coincide with the timeframe in which the Nazca lines (geoglyphs or artworks formed by lines drawn in the earth) are believed to have been created.
Maussan included X-rays of the mummified remains in order to dispute claims made after the initial discovery in June that they were falsified or made of plaster cast.
“Nobody has proven that it is a fraud. We are going to present preliminary evidence that will determine in the eyes of the media, that these are true specimen,” he said. “And if there are still doubts that this is real, the obligation of Peruvians and the whole world is to preserve these bodies to find a true answer.”
The well-preserved ‘alien’ remains unveiled late last month allegedly measured 5 feet 6 inches (168cm) tall, had three long fingers and an elongated skull.
“Apparently the body of a baby with the same characteristics according to the first analysis could be related. However, now it is necessary to perform a DNA test to be able to determine the relationship between the two,” Maussan said. “Those are two bodies and there are three of which seem to have characteristics that are closer to reptiles than to humans. That is, we have five bodies.”
Maussan has long been criticized for hyping up the existence of extraterrestrials on Earth with dubious evidence.
British UFO author Nigel Watson described the find as “a plaster cast model,” describing it as “110 perfect fake,” as cited by The New York Post.
Watson’s theory that it’s simply a money-making scam bears weight, as attendees forked out a staggering $300 (£232) for the privilege of attending the conference and seeing the ‘aliens’ up close, according to Metro UK. It wouldn’t be the first time a hoax has earned the prankster some substantial money, and likely it won’t be the last.
The World Congress on Mummy Studies has previously described Maussan’s work as “an irresponsible organized campaign of disinformation,” as cited by Metro.
“Anything associated with Jaime Maussan a serial promoter of fake alien evidence is suspect,” it added.
Professor Konstantin Korotkov, of St. Petersburg University in Russia, believes the bodies belong to “another creature, another humanoid.”
Popular debunking website Snopes.com has also weighed in on the subject, questioning the authenticity of the find back in June. It cited the ancient practice of artificial cranial elongation as a possible explanation for the appearance of the “fossils.”
DNA sequencing and CAT scans were carried out on the remains which were allegedly from between 245 to 410AD but further tests are scheduled to be carried out in the near future, claims Maussan.
However, one extremely dedicated debunker in Peru has already analyzed the information provided and claims that the creatures’ hands are made of a mixture of bones, including children’s bones.
The detailed analysis, carried out by Rodolfo Salas-Gismondi, from the Paleontology Department of the National History Museum of Peru, and associate researcher at the American Museum of Natural History, claims that the anatomical structure of the hands does not make any evolutionary sense and is essentially “incorrect” biologically speaking.
This may just be the latest in a never-ending line of alien hoaxes preying on the naivité of sci-fi fans and conspiracy theorists just to make a quick buck but at least there’s some improved production value this time.
Source: Breaking: A Texas Pipeline Just Leaked 50,000 Gallons of Crude Oil
theantimedia.org
Written by Carey Wedler
(ANTIMEDIA) Bastrop County, TX — A crude oil pipeline spill in Bastrop County, Texas, Thursday morning released an estimated 1,200 barrels of oil — over 50,000 gallons — prompting evacuations of residents closest to the rupture.
The Longhorn Pipeline is owned and operated by Magellan Midstream Partners and runs from Crane, Texas, to Houston, according to Reuters. It transports up to 250,000 barrels a day and was under routine maintenance when the spill occurred.
Residents who live within a two-mile radius of the leak have been advised to stay indoors, according to the sheriff’s department and local emergency officials, Reuters reports. Texas ABC affiliate KVUE-ABC and the Washington Post both reported that residents within one mile of the spill were asked to evacuate.
No injuries have been reported, and Reuters reports that the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration has dispatched an inspector to the site, located just south of Shiloh Road.
Texas outlet KVUE-ABC reported that FM 20, a road in the area, has been closed in both directions, and according to Reuters,
According to a statement issued by Magellan after the incident, as cited by KVUE:
“The pipeline was immediately and safely shut down and the line segment has been isolated. Efforts are in progress to contain the crude oil release to minimize environmental impact and to ensure public safety.”
Magellan also said “Local emergency responders, Magellan representatives, clean-up crews, and environmental crews are currently on site. All appropriate federal and state agencies have been notified. Clean-up activities will be underway this morning.”
According to general information about Longhorn on the company’s website:
“Longhorn is committed to constructing, operating, and maintaining its pipeline assets in a manner that ensures the long-term safety to the public and to its employees, and that minimizes the potential for negative environmental impacts.
“Longhorn, through its Longhorn Pipeline System Integrity Plan (LPSIP), is committed to the philosophy and proactive practice of the prevention of accidents.”
Despite the company’s stated commitments, it appears their policies and procedures are lacking considering the leak occurred during routine maintenance. A Spokesman for the company, Bruce Heine, said the rupture occurred when a contractor struck a fitting. In 2013, Longhorn leaked a smaller amount of oil, also during routine maintenance.
Earlier this year, the Magellan Pipeline Company, a subsidiary of Magellan Midstream Partners, paid a settlement over three alleged Clean Water Act violations related to spills of gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel spills in Texas, Kansas, and Nebraska. The subsidiary “agreed to complete approximately $16 million of injunctive relief across its 11,000-mile pipeline system and pay a $2 million civil penalty,” according to a Department of Justice news release.
Despite multiple instances of poor handling and insufficient safety procedures, the company insists it “is committed to safe operations of our assets. We maintain the highest standards in safety to do so.”
As leaks continue to riddle communities across the country despite advocates’ suggestions that pipelines are the safest way to transport oil — in 1999, Longhorn advocates claimed it could be one of the safest lines in the country — the need for alternative forms of energy continues to become increasingly clear.
Source: Turkey “Turns Away” From NATO, Buys Russian Advanced Missile System For $2.5 Billion | Zero Hedge
Jul 14, 2017
In a move that Bloomberg has defined as “signalling a turn away from the NATO military alliance that has anchored Turkey to the West for more than six decades” Turkey agreed to pay $2.5 billion to acquire Russia’s most advanced missile defense system, a senior Turkish official told Bloomberg on Thursday. The proposed deal which was first reported here back in November 2016, has been finalized and the preliminary agreement sees Turkey receiving two S-400 missile batteries from Russia within the next year, then producing another two inside Turkey.
For Ankara, which has had a dramatic falling out with its NATO partners over the past year, the missile deal with Russia “is a clear sign that Turkey is disappointed in the U.S. and Europe,” said Konstantin Makienko, an analyst at the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, a Moscow think-tank. “But until the advance is paid and the assembly begins, we can’t be sure of anything.” Furthermore, the Russian system would not be compatible with other NATO defense systems, but just as importantly wouldn’t be subject to constraints imposed by the alliance, which prevent Turkey from deploying such systems on the Armenian border, Aegean coast or Greek border. The Russian deal would allow Turkey to deploy the missile defense systems anywhere in the country, a move which will prompt a cry of outrage from Turkey’s neighbors, especially Greece.
So what does Turkey get in exchange for $2.5 billion? First and foremost, Russia’s most advanced technology or know-how, a Turkish official quoted by Bloomberg said. Turkey wants to be able to produce its own advanced defense systems, and the Russian agreement to allow two of the S-400 batteries to be produced in Turkey would serve that aim. For Russia there is little to lose from the deal as the US most likely already has the full details of the system, however they are obviously kept secret from US NATO allies, especially someone as volatile as Turkey.
“There are a lot of different levels of technology transfer,” and any offer to Turkey would probably be limited in terms of sophistication, said Makienko, the Moscow-based analyst. For Russia, the potential risk from the transaction contained: “For Turkey to be able to copy the S-400 system, it would have to spend billions to create a whole new industry.”
According to Bloomberg, the S-400 is designed to detect, track and then destroy aircraft, drones or missiles. It’s Russia’s most advanced integrated air defense system, and can hit targets as far as 250 miles away. Russia has also agreed to sell them to China and India, both nations who are masters at reverse engineering.
As further reported, Turkey and Russia are currently sorting out technical details and it could take about one year to finalize the project, although one battery may be available earlier if Russia decides to divert it from another country. The missiles are not ready to sell off-the-shelf and Russia will have to produce the batteries before delivering them.
Most concerning for NATO, however is that the systems delivered to Turkey would not have a friend-or-foe identification system, which means they could be deployed against any threat without restriction.
Meanwhile, news of the deal are likely to strain relations between Turkey and NATO to the point of breaking, if not beyond. Disagreements between Turkey, which has the second-largest army by personnel numbers in NATO, and the U.S., the bloc’s biggest military, have also impacted business. No U.S. companies bid for a Turkish attack helicopter contract in 2006 after Turkey insisted on full access to specific software codes, which the U.S. refused to share, considering it a security risk. Turkey partnered with Italy instead in a $3 billion project to co-produce 50 attack helicopters for its army.
And now, very symbolically, it has picked the sworn enemy of NATO: Russia.
There is still a chance, however slim, that the deal will fall apart:
Turkey has reached the point of an agreement on a missile defense system before, only to scupper the deal later amid protests and condemnation from NATO. Under pressure from the U.S., Turkey gave up an earlier plan to buy a similar missile-defense system from a state-run Chinese company, which had been sanctioned by the U.S. for alleged missile sales to Iran.
That said, such an outcome is unlikely as it will be seen as caving to Erdogan’s hard-knuckled negotiating style, something a “resurgent” Europe under the new ownership of Merkel and Macron will not allow.
The concept of the Dark Web isn’t vastly different from the Surface Web. The Dark Web is full of criminal activity, but it’s also a place where dissidents and whistle-blowers can anonymously share information. In countries with restrictive internet surveillance, the Dark Web may be the only place to safely voice criticisms against government and other powerful entities.
Source: Visualizing The Dark Side Of The Web | Zero Hedge
Jul 14, 2017
The term Dark Web is evocative. It conjures up images of hitmen, illegal drugs, and pedophilia. One imagines a place where the dark side of human nature flourishes away from the eyes – and laws – of society at large.
Today’s infographic, from Cartwright King Solicitors, cuts through the mystique and provides an entertaining and practical overview of the Deep Web and the Dark Web.
Courtesy of: Visual Capitalist
Much like the ocean, the internet is divided into defined layers.
The internet most people are familiar with is called the Surface Web. Websites in this layer tend to be indexed by search engines and can be easily accessed using standard browsers. Believe it or not, this familiar part of the web only comprises less than 10% of the total data on the internet.
The next layer down, we encounter the largest portion on the internet – the Deep Web. Basically, this is the layer of the internet that is quasi-accessible and not indexed by search engines. It contains medical records, government documents, and other, mostly innocuous information that is password protected, encrypted, or simply not hyperlinked. To reach beyond this layer of the internet, users need to use Tor or a similar technology.
Tor, which stands for “The Onion Router”, is how the majority of people anonymously access the Dark Web. Tor directs internet traffic through complex layers of relays to conceal a user’s location and identity (hence the onion analogy).
In 2004, Tor was released as an open source software. This allowed the Dark Web to grow as people could anonymously access websites.
Since anonymity is sacrosanct in the deep reaches of the Internet, transactions are typically conducted using cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum. People making purchases in Dark Web markets are (understandably) concerned with privacy, so they often use a series of methods to transfer funds. Below is a common transaction flow on the Dark Web.
Tumblers are used as an extra step to ensure privacy. A conventional equivalent would be moving funds through banks located in countries with strict bank-secrecy laws (e.g. Cayman Islands, Panama).
The concept of the Dark Web isn’t vastly different from the Surface Web. There are message boards (e.g. 8chan, nntpchan), places you can buy things (e.g. Alphabay, Hansa), and blogs (e.g. OnionNews, Deep Web Radio). The rules, or rather a lack thereof, is what makes the Dark Web unique.
Anything that is illegal to sell (or discuss) on the Surface Web is available in the Dark Web. Personal information, drugs, weapons, malware, DDoS attacks, hacking services, fake accounts for social media, and contract killing services are all available for sale.
The Dark Web is full of criminal activity, but it’s also place where dissidents and whistle-blowers can anonymously share information. In countries with restrictive internet surveillance, the Dark Web may be the only place to safely voice criticisms against government and other powerful entities.
Many .onion sites are only up temporarily, so determining the true size of the Dark Web is nearly impossible. That said, Intelliagg and Darksum recently attempted to map out the Tor-based Dark Web by using a script to crawl reachable sites. They found 29,532 websites; however, 54% of them disappeared during the course of their research. Another recent study found that 87% of Dark Web sites don’t link to any other sites.
It is more accurate to view the darkweb as a set of largely isolated dark silos.
Recent changes to Tor, such as 50-character hidden service URLs, have made the Dark Web an even more untraceable place, so we may never fully know what lies beneath the surface of the internet. Based on the parts we have seen, perhaps that’s for the best.
Source: U.S. Senate Committee Approves Allowing Medical Marijuana for Veterans – TheJointBlog
thejointblog.com
July 13, 2017
The amendment was approved with a bipartisan 24 to 7 vote (with even a majority of Republicans voting in favor, 9 to 7); it’s attached to a larger spending bill that funds the VA. The amendment allows VA doctors to recommend medical cannabis to patients in states where its legal, changing current policy which prohibits “V.A. providers from completing forms seeking recommendations or opinions regarding a Veteran’s participation in a State marijuana program.”
Last year a similar amendment was passed by a 20 to 10 vote, following by a 233 to 189 vote in the House. However, the amendment was eventually removed from the larger bill it was attached to before becoming law.
According to Senator Steve Daines (R-MT), who introduced the amendment, it simply “allows the V.A. patients in states with medical marijuana programs to discuss that option with their V.A. doctor of physician”, something that is currently not allowed.
Source: Largest medical fraud takedown in American history
In total, 412 individuals will be prosecuted by his office in what’s been called the “largest health care fraud takedown operation in American history.”
On Thursday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that federal prosecutors charged more than 400 people (doctors, nurses and pharmacists) for taking part in medical fraud and opioid scams that totaled $1.3 BILLION in fraudulent billing.
“Among those charged are six Michigan doctors accused of a scheme to prescribe unnecessary opioids. A Florida rehab facility is alleged to have recruited addicts with gift cards and visits to strip clubs, leading to $58 million in false treatments and tests.
Officials said those charged in the schemes include more than 120 people involved in illegally prescribing and distributing narcotic painkillers.” 1
In 2015, more than 52,000 Americans died of overdoses. In 2016, that number rose to 59,000 Americans. Thanks to pharmaceutical companies who convinced physicians and other pharmacists that they had created drugs (like Oxycontin and Vicodin) that could treat pain but not be addictive, we are in the middle of a crisis.
Source: NASA: Over 32 Advanced Civilizations Have Collapsed Before Us, and We’re Next in Line – Anonymous
As any long-time reader of this column knows, we routinely draw from historical lessons to highlight that this time is not different.
Throughout the 18th century, for example, France was the greatest superpower in Europe, if not the world.
But they became complacent, believing that they had some sort of ‘divine right’ to reign supreme, and that they could be as fiscally irresponsible as they liked.
The French government spent money like drunken sailors; they had substantial welfare programs, free hospitals, and grand monuments.
They held vast territories overseas, engaged in constant warfare, and even had their own intrusive intelligence service that spied on King and subject alike.
Of course, they couldn’t pay for any of this.
French budget deficits were out of control, and they resorted to going heavily into debt and rapidly debasing their currency.
Stop me when this sounds familiar.
The French economy ultimately failed, bringing with it a 26-year period of hyperinflation, civil war, military conquest, and genocide.History is full of examples, from ancient Mesopotamia to the Soviet Union, which show that whenever societies reach unsustainable levels of resource consumption and allocation, they collapse.
I’ve been writing about this for years, and the idea is now hitting mainstream.
A recent research paper funded by NASA highlights this same premise. According to the authors:
“Collapses of even advanced civilizations have occurred many times in the past five thousand years, and they were frequently followed by centuries of population and cultural decline and economic regression.”
The results of their experiments show that some of the very clear trends which exist today– unsustainable resource consumption, and economic stratification that favors the elite– can very easily result in collapse.
In fact, they write that “collapse is very difficult to avoid and requires major policy changes.”
This isn’t exactly good news.
But here’s the thing– between massive debts, deficits, money printing, war, resource depletion, etc., our modern society seems riddled with these risks.
And history certainly shows that dominant powers are always changing.Empires rise and fall. The global monetary system is always changing. The prevailing social contract is always changing.
But there is one FAR greater trend across history that supercedes all of the rest… and that trend is the RISE of humanity.
Human beings are fundamentally tool creators. We take problems and turn them into opportunities. We find solutions. We adapt and overcome.
The world is not coming to an end. It’s going to reset. There’s a huge difference between the two.
Think about the system that we’re living under.
A tiny elite has total control of the money supply. They wield intrusive spy networks and weapons of mass destruction. The can confiscate the wealth of others in their sole discretion. They can indebt unborn generations.
Curiously, these are the same people who are so incompetent they can’t put a website together.
It’s not working. And just about everyone knows it.
We’re taught growing up that ‘We the People’ have the power to affect radical change in the voting booth. But this is another fairy tale.
Voting only changes the players. It doesn’t change the game.
Technology is one major game changer. The technology exists today to completely revolutionize the way we live and govern ourselves.
Today’s system is just a 19th century model applied to a 21st century society. I mean– a room full of men making decisions about how much money to print? It’s so antiquated it’s almost comical.
But given that the majority of Western governments borrow money just to pay interest on money they’ve already borrowed, it’s obvious the current game is almost finished.
When it ends, there will be a reset… potentially a tumultuous one.
This is why you want to have a plan B, and why you don’t want to have all of your eggs in one basket.
After all, why bother working so hard if everything you’ve ever achieved or provided for your children is tied up in a country with dismal fundamentals?
If you agree with me, then feel free to share this article with your friends below so they also can get a plan B in place. They’ll be glad they did.
Via sovereignman
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