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Pfizer vaccine whistleblower responds to motion to dismiss false claims suit
Pfizer cannot use the government as a shield from liability for making false claims about its COVID-19 vaccine, lawyers for a whistleblower argued in response to Pfizer's motion to dismiss a False Claims Act lawsuit. "Respondents claim fraudulent certifications, false statements, doctored data, contaminated clinical trials, and firing of whistleblowers can be ignored based on the theory that they contracted their way around the fraud," lawyers for Brook Jackson, who worked as regional director at one of the clinical trials used to develop the Pfizer vaccine, wrote in their Aug. 22 response. "A drug company cannot induce the taxpayers to pay billions of dollars for a product," they countered, "that honest data would show poses more risks than benefits, and that ignores the actual contract and the law itself." Jackson's lawsuit alleges that Pfizer and two of its subcontractors violated the False Claims Act by providing bogus clinical trial results to garner the FDA approval of its...
https://www.sott.net/article/471481-Pfizer-vaccine-whistleblower-responds-to-motion-to-dismiss-false-claims-suit

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Canada to return turbines for Russian gas
Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said on Wednesday that her government will ship the five turbines from Montreal back to Germany, despite demands from ethnic Ukrainians and Kiev's ambassador in Ottawa to hold onto them. Joly revealed that the decision was made after a request from German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who is currently visiting Canada. "That was the decision that we took," Joly said in an interview with the state broadcaster CBC. "That's exactly what Germany asked us." "Canada doesn't want to give any form of excuse to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin to continue to weaponize his flow of energy to Europe," Joly told CBC's Hannah Thibedeau.
https://www.sott.net/article/471482-Canada-to-return-turbines-for-Russian-gas

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Storms cause severe flooding in Culiacan, Mexico
Roads become lakes in Mexico! Storms Cause Severe Flooding In Culiacan. Roads become lakes in Mexico! Storms Cause Severe Flooding In Northeast Mexico. Heavy rain from thunderstorms caused severe flooding in Culiacan in Mexico's Sinaloa state on Friday, August 26 2022. Footage posted by Secretariat of Public Security of the State of Sinaloa showed widescale flash flooding at several locations in the city.
https://www.sott.net/article/471483-Storms-cause-severe-flooding-in-Culiacan-Mexico

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Storms cause severe flooding in Culiacan, Mexico
Roads become lakes in Mexico! Storms Cause Severe Flooding In Northeast Mexico. Heavy rain from thunderstorms caused severe flooding in Culiacan in Mexico's Sinaloa state on Friday, August 26 2022. Footage posted by Secretariat of Public Security of the State of Sinaloa showed widescale flash flooding at several locations in the city.
https://www.sott.net/article/471483-Storms-cause-severe-flooding-in-Culiacan-Mexico

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'Get out! F**k you!': Watch Macron get heckled by bustling crowd on visit to Algeria as he calls for new pact between nations
Emmanuel Macron, the President of France, faced a cold reaction from the crowd during his visit to Algeria this week. In a viral video, posted on August 27th, the president can be seen in the city of Oran. Macron can be seen waving to the people who gathered in downtown Oran and saying "thank you!" before getting into his car. Comment: Judging by the look on his face in the video, he seems to know he wasn't being welcomed. However, the crowd did not react cordially: according to the FranceInfo network, some people shouted "get out!", "How is Brigitte?", "fu** you!" and "France eats us," while the crowd chanted "one two three, long live Algeria!" The visit comes after an escalation of tensions between Paris and Algeria last year, which was caused by Macron's suggestion that the African nation did not exist before French colonization. He also said there would be "no repentance nor apologies" for French rule over Algeria.
https://www.sott.net/article/471484-Get-out-F-k-you-Watch-Macron-get-heckled-by-bustling-crowd-on-visit-to-Algeria-as-he-calls-for-new-pact-between-nations

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Lack of CO2 threatens Poland's food industry, including beer, meat, vegetables, and dairy
Danish brewery Carlsberg's subsidiary in Poland could cut or halt beer production due to a lack of carbon dioxide deliveries, that is becoming a problem for the food industry in the country, reported Reuters. "If deliveries of carbon dioxide (CO2) are not resumed, there will be a high probability of significant production cut or production halt," spokeswoman for Carlsberg Polska Beata Ptaszyńska-Jedynak said on Thursday. She explained that the beer industry uses carbon dioxide to keep oxygen out of beer, but that the lack of CO2 was hitting many other parts of the food industry which also uses it for refrigeration.
https://www.sott.net/article/471485-Lack-of-CO2-threatens-Polands-food-industry-including-beer-meat-vegetables-and-dairy

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Bill Maher: Hunter Biden laptop story was suppressed in 'conspiracy to get rid of' Trump
The media conspired to keep news about Hunter Biden quiet until after the 2020 election in a bid to help President Biden win, Bill Maher charged. "Hunter Biden's laptop was buried by the press, even the head of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, said that was a mistake. They buried the story," Maher told his guests comedian Rob Reiner and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota). The host then went on to reference author Sam Harris's recent podcast interview claiming a coordinated effort to suppress Hunter Biden news was "warranted."
https://www.sott.net/article/471486-Bill-Maher-Hunter-Biden-laptop-story-was-suppressed-in-conspiracy-to-get-rid-of-Trump

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Florida man arrested for trying to buy 8-year-old girl for $100,000
A Florida sex offender was arrested after he allegedly tried to "purchase" an 8-year-old girl for $100,000 at a grocery store, police said. Hellmuth Kolb, 85, approached the child's mom at a Winn Dixie in Port Orange Thursday and made the indecent proposal, according to the Port Orange Police Department. Kolb was on probation and was banned from having contact with children after trying to buy a different child in Walmart in 2018, according to WESH-TV.
https://www.sott.net/article/471487-Florida-man-arrested-for-trying-to-buy-8-year-old-girl-for-100000

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School shows video telling students not to call cops if they see a 'violently racist' attack
A high school in Denver, Colorado is under fire for showing students a video telling them not to contact the police if they witness a "violently racist or homophobic" incident. The rationale is that cops will "escalate, rather than reduce" the violence, the New York Post reports. Originally posted to YouTube in 2017 by the Barnard Center for Research on Women, the "Don't be a Bystander: 6 Tips for Responding to Racist Attacks" YouTube vid says that given the current political environment, "White supremacists and White nationalists have been emboldened, and as a result, public attacks are on the rise."
https://www.sott.net/article/471488-School-shows-video-telling-students-not-to-call-cops-if-they-see-a-violently-racist-attack

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BEST OF THE WEB: How To Grow Your Soul
Here is something all of us can do. Every day, make an effort to rejoice in the success of others: particularly success with things that you want for yourself. Think of someone and imagine him or her having a breakthrough, and find that place in yourself that makes you feel happy for that person. Pierce through the pang of jealousy. Let your love for humanity shine through and dispel the darkness of meanness: the close-mindedness, the Gollum-face, the hardened ugliness of being petty and ungrateful.
https://www.sott.net/article/471489-How-To-Grow-Your-Soul

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UK: 50,000 Ukrainian refugees facing homelessness 'disaster' next year
No new support packages offered to Homes for Ukraine sponsors as the first group of six-month placements is set to come to an end A "shocking" 50,000 Ukrainian refugees in the UK could be made homeless next year, the government has been warned, but ministers are refusing to offer a fresh package of support to offset the impending crisis. As the cost of living crisis bites and with no end in sight to the war with Russia, fears are mounting that the government's Homes for Ukraine scheme will unravel next month when refugees' initial six-month placements with hosts end without alternative accommodation in place.
https://www.sott.net/article/471490-UK-50000-Ukrainian-refugees-facing-homelessness-disaster-next-year

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Bloomberg says Russia can afford 'complete halt' in gas supplies to EU
The spike in global energy prices works entirely in Moscow's favour, analysts say Russia can shut down its natural gas exports to the EU entirely for more than a year, without inflicting significant damage on the national economy, Bloomberg has reported, citing strategists at Capital Economics. In light of the current price situation, Russia's "balance of payments is in such a strong position that, if oil prices and oil exports remain at current levels, Russia could keep gas exports to Europe at 20% of normal levels for at least three years," analysts at the consultancy said in a note seen by the agency.
https://www.sott.net/article/471491-Bloomberg-says-Russia-can-afford-complete-halt-in-gas-supplies-to-EU

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The real cost of Ukraine's de-Russification
The country's insistence on its right to exist as separate from Russia is understandable, but expunging Russian cultural and linguistic influence risks future trouble. Wars transform nations and people — leaving them, whether victorious or vanquished, "all changed, changed utterly," as Irish writer W.B. Yeats noted. Yeats was writing about the armed insurrection against British rule in Ireland during April 1916. The uprising had lasted just six days, but Ireland would never be the same. Ukraine's ongoing epic defense of its national identity, territorial integrity and sovereignty has already lasted six months, and there is no end in sight. It has left widespread devastation, with towns and buildings wrecked, families traumatized and uprooted, livelihoods upended and lives lost and mourned.
https://www.sott.net/article/471492-The-real-cost-of-Ukraines-de-Russification

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Accused Waukesha parade killer removed from court following outburst
The man accused of killing six people at the Waukesha, Wisconsin Christmas parade last year was escorted out of court Friday after going on a tirade during a pretrial hearing. Darrell Brooks, 39, went from sleeping at the defense table to yelling at Judge Jennifer Dorow and sheriff's deputies Friday morning, according to footage published by WISN-TV. "I don't care about no livestream. Just like y'all don't care. All this political," the man accused of plowing into paradegoers with an SUV last November yammered at Dorow.
https://www.sott.net/article/471493-Accused-Waukesha-parade-killer-removed-from-court-following-outburst

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11,000 year old mounds identified as oldest man-made structures in North America
Mounds located on the Louisiana State University (LSU) campus have been identified as the oldest known man-made structures in North America. The two mounds stand 20 feet tall and are coordinated in an alignment toward one of the brightest stars in the night sky. They are among more than 800 man-made structures built by indigenous people across Louisiana. Many of these mounds have been destroyed over the centuries, while the LSU campus mounds have remained preserved, listed on the National Register for Historic Places. Researchers from the University collected sediment core samples, revealing layers of ash from burned reed and cane plants, as well as remains of burned osteons that indicates that the mounds were likely used for ceremonial purposes. Comment: Wikipedia: 'osteon (plural osteons or ostea) 1. (anatomy) Any of the central canals, and surrounding bony layers, found in compact bone.'
https://www.sott.net/article/471494-11000-year-old-mounds-identified-as-oldest-man-made-structures-in-North-America

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Day-long queues for coal in Poland as soaring energy prices cause people to panic buy ahead of winter
Several weeks ago we reported that amid Europe's mindblowing gas and electricity prices, Deutsche Bank predicted that a growing number of German households will be using firewood for heating, a forecast which appears to have become self-fulfilling as German google searches for firewood ("brennholz") had since exploded off the charts: But while Germans are still "searching" merely in the virtual realm, for countless Poles the search is all too real.
https://www.sott.net/article/471495-Day-long-queues-for-coal-in-Poland-as-soaring-energy-prices-cause-people-to-panic-buy-ahead-of-winter

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This man lobbied the US to invade Iraq over 'WMDs', but had the courage to admit his mistake
Known for his aggressive inspection style and strong views regarding Iraqi compliance with their disarmament obligations, at the end of the day, David Kay showed his true grit by standing up to the world and confronting them with the fact that they all got it wrong on Iraq. By the time I arrived in New York, in mid-September 1991, weapons inspectors from the United Nations Special Commission, or UNSCOM, had been on the ground in Iraq on 16 separate occasions, starting in May. Most of the inspections had been conducted in accordance with the on-site inspection template born of the American experience in implementing the intermediate nuclear forces (INF) treaty, which had entered into force in July 1988 and represented the world's first foray into on-site inspection as a means of arms control compliance verification.
https://www.sott.net/article/471496-This-man-lobbied-the-US-to-invade-Iraq-over-WMDs-but-had-the-courage-to-admit-his-mistake

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Next PM could face £23bn autumn spend to cover £900 rise in energy bills
Ministers could face an additional £23bn price tag for covering extra household energy costs of £900 this autumn, rising to £90bn next year, a new paper by the Institute for Government has found. The paper, looking at the options for Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak in No 10, also warned the government should plan for prolonged rises in energy bills by going a lot further in making public appeals to use less gas - for example by informing consumers about the cost savings from turning down thermostats - and in committing to building more energy efficient homes to help protect consumers. No 10 and Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary and close ally of Truss, have been resisting appeals to the public to use less energy. However, the next prime minister, likely to be Truss, faces some very difficult choices on entering office on how far to subsidise energy bills. Boris Johnson's government has already spent £33bn on covering 90% of the then predicted increase in energy bills but soaring...
https://www.sott.net/article/471497-Next-PM-could-face-23bn-autumn-spend-to-cover-900-rise-in-energy-bills

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Hungary approves construction of two Russian-built nuclear reactors
Hungary has announced that the €12.5bn (£10.6bn) construction of two nuclear reactors by Russia's Rosatom will begin in the coming weeks after regulators approved the project. The war in Ukraine has not deterred Hungary's interest in the project to add to the four reactors already operating at the Paks plant outside Budapest. The fact it is moving forward is another indication of the close ties between Hungary's nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orbán, and the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. "This is a big step, an important milestone," the Hungarian foreign minister, Péter Szijjártó, said on Facebook after the national regulator issued a permit on Thursday after numerous delays. "We can now move from planning stage to construction. You'll see that at the Paks site in the coming weeks." He added it was "realistic" the reactors could enter service by 2030.
https://www.sott.net/article/471498-Hungary-approves-construction-of-two-Russian-built-nuclear-reactors

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Heavily redacted affidavit says 184 classified docs found at Trump residence
A redacted FBI affidavit used to convince a judge to approve a search warrant for former President Trump's Florida home noted that authorities found 184 classified documents in their initial review of recovered boxes in an effort that began just a few months after he left office. Authorities' concern that Trump may have additional national security information at his private residence was spurred by a review of the 15 boxes recovered by the National Archives in January. The affidavit indicates that among the 184 documents were 25 that contained top secret information, including those gained from "clandestine human sources," information prohibited from being shared with foreign governments, and information obtained by monitoring "foreign communications signals." The 28-page affidavit contains numerous redactions but indicates authorities believed "evidence, contraband, fruits of crime, or other items illegally possessed" would be found at Mar-a-Lago. Entirely redacted is a provision...
https://www.sott.net/article/471499-Heavily-redacted-affidavit-says-184-classified-docs-found-at-Trump-residence

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SOTT FOCUS: A nuclear showdown? One of the greatest 'realist' fears about the Russia-Ukraine conflict is actually groundless, and here's why
The US will not intervene directly, because it's not an existential crisis for Washington - it stands to lose little from Kiev's inevitable defeat. Fears that the Ukraine conflict is now bogged down into some sort of stalemate which risks dangerous escalation from the parties involved in order to achieve victory are misplaced. There is only one victor in the Ukraine conflict, and that is Russia. Nothing can change this reality. Renowned American intellectual John Mearsheimer has written an important article about the conflict, entitled: 'Playing with Fire in Ukraine: The Underappreciated Risks of Catastrophic Escalation'. The article paints a dark picture about both the nature of the war in Ukraine (prolonged stalemate) and probable outcome (decisive escalation by the parties involved to stave off defeat). Mearsheimer's underpinning premises, however, are fundamentally flawed. Russia possesses the strategic initiative - militarily, politically, and economically - when it comes to...
https://www.sott.net/article/471500-A-nuclear-showdown-One-of-the-greatest-realist-fears-about-the-Russia-Ukraine-conflict-is-actually-groundless-and-heres-why