Shes jailed for 16 years our guest debate whether it time fits the crime. 16 years for offending probably one of the most privileged groups in america when it came to court he did not express any regrets and justify his actions based upon his particular extremist interpretation of the Christian Faith. Hello good afternoon youre watching r. T. International now our top story this hour there has been strong reaction from berlin more scope over the latest u. S. Sanctions targeting north to the russian gas pipeline to europe thats almost complete. The German Government has regretfully taken into account that sanctions against north stream 2 and turks stream initiated by the us congress are coming into effect today after donald trump signed them off their effect german and European Companies and are tantamount to interference in our Domestic Affairs a country with 22 trillion in state dept forbids credit worthy countries from developing a real sector of their economy the american ideology of living alone has failed to stand against a global competition something thats been demonstrated again and again by the u. S. Treasury department issuing new orders for economic arrest soon they will demand that they stop breathing at once and many of their will while the e. U. Slammed washingtons punitive measures saying that it projects to any penalties against European Companies that are conducting Legal Business becomes as the main swiss contractor of north trying to pull out over washingtons tough penalties earlier Saskia Taylor gave me more details. The trumpet ministration sanctions have become a Political Tool of choice now often simply an automatic reaction to anything that the president takes issue with and this case is apparently no different because President Trump has officially signed a bill which will require him to impose sanctions on any Foreign Companies and individuals which are involved in the building of nordstrom to no money of course no no 2. 00 is a huge 11000000000. 00 pipeline over 1000 kilometers long running from russia to germany and essentially its going to flood the european continent with russian gas at a faster and cheaper rate than anything else currently available on the market but since the very beginning washington has had a bit of a problem with the project the United States commands all our European Partners who have taken a strong stand against north stream 2. And we commend others to do the same germany is totally controlled by russia because they were getting from 60 to 70 percent of their energy from russia and they knew by the way this pipeline if completed would make europe even more dependent on Russian Energy would generate billions of dollars for putin billions of dollars that would fund the Russian Military aggression. We dont want your Energy Supplies to be. So many see this bill as a last ditch attempt by the u. S. To stop trying to end its trucks the pipeline was originally due to be completed by mid 2020 but it seems theyre ahead of schedule the only 2 weeks out from it being done in fact there are any around 60 to 70 kilometers left of the pipeline to lay now one of the Many Companies which will be affected by this bill is the swiss organization. And theyve been providing vessels for the construction a couple of days ago they in fact received a very aggressive left to from the republican senator ted cruz which can only be described really as a letter of blackmail he gave them an ultimatum either you stop participating in this project or were going to freeze all your assets in the u. K. In the u. S. And were going to. Have your employees from coming into the u. S. So unfortunately they count out and and have stopped all the operations america has made it clear is concerned it says about Europes Energy Security but of the. Wild card pipelines between russia and europe run through several European Countries such as poland but to russia ukraine. This means that of course they get a very hefty transit fee for allowing these pipelines through. The baltic sea meaning that these countries will be bypassed washington maintains that this is unfair and specifically with regards to ukraine says that its somehow politically motivated its very important to note here is that just a few hours before the bill was signed into effect russia and ukraine decided that they would likely by the end of 29000. 00 sign a new 5 Year Agreement on russian transit pass a value crane to europe so that completely undermines what washington saying that somehow russia is trying to cut ukraine out of a deal and its led many to suspect that really what washington is up to is is trying to eliminate fact competition and its dominance in the. Markets especially considering that bill also impose sanctions on another russian pipeline which is tucked stream which runs through the black sea to touch so its quite a patent being established here if youre so exporting its own gas to europe as a result in europes reaction to all of this while of the e. U. And u. S. Standpoint on this issue couldnt be more different European Countries call this an economic project that benefits everyone involved russia agrees germany 5 and particular has consistently said that european and that you policy is europes business and its asked us to stop meddling so its probably on surprising that these latest sanctions were not welcomed. Professor of political economy and also jim to cross a former u. S. Diplomat say that the u. S. Is trying to prevent russia from becoming more economically integrated with europe. Well its kind of ironic that the u. S. Is saying they dont want germany and europe to be dependent on cheaper russian gas but they wanted to be dependent on more expensive american gas you see and what you see here in this latest move is that they couldnt us couldnt get germany to. Pull out of the nordstrom too so its going after Smaller Companies building some of the products of nordstrom tows kind of an act of desperation in a sense the u. S. Is getting concerned to some extent trying to keep russia from being economically more integrated with europe which is the big strategic objectives the u. S. Is trying to achieve washington policy establishment is a big dinosaur that can never admit that it sailed north stream 2 will be completed i think that this this latest round of sanctions on merseyside cessation of war is a hick up it will be finished it will go into operation but these people are washing cannot and met their policy has failed we dont know how to adjust ourselves to a reality we dont like we only have one reality that is russia is bad and i think that connects russia to europe is bad too but we must do whatever we can to try to stop it and if we cant stop it lets just make like typical. American spy agencies are not permitted to gather information on citizens with acts have warned in certain situations the u. S. Court of appeals has ruled that this can happen if a nonnational he was in egypt many being monitored abroad makes contact with an american the case was brought by an american citizen arrested in 2011 he had paid guilty to attempting to give Material Support to a terrorist organization however he did question whether it was legal for the n. S. A. To collect information on him without a warrant former intelligence official and whistleblower weemba an intelligence that the ring link does not reveal anything particularly. It doesnt made a difference in. All it was all under executive order 122 or 3 section 23 c. Which they used that been signed. Into effect since the reagan years the reagan presidency so theyve been using them as early as they were and also the use the excuse that they are unable to separate their data as an outright lie to so theyve been lying to the courts are wrong and they have the capability to sort that stuff out it just they dont want to because it gives them power over everyone the ability to look into our political opponents like they did the president drop by the n. S. A. Single mass phone and internet surveillance of the same citizens for failed by Edward Snowden a former contractor at the agency back in 2013 hes wanted in the u. S. For leaking classified information but was granted asylum by russia. The alphabet soup of Government Agencies was it carrying out all kinds of wild spying and violations of privacy it was all pretty clearly a violation of the Us Constitution or that meant that offers protection from unreasonable search and seizure however at the time the n. S. A. Tried to fight back pretty hard does the n. S. A. Collect any type of data. On millions or hundreds of millions of americans. No sir. It does not. Not wittingly 7 years on u. S. Federal courts have ruled that Edward Snowden the whistleblower who feel this apparatus of surveillance wont be able to make any money from the book that he just published the ruling argues that Edward Snowden violated his contract with the cia and the n. S. A. Because he didnt submit his book for prepublication review who dont want to see books linked to skip written especially dont want to see books like this get rid of from it is still pursuing that case point strongly theyre more focused on that of the financial censorship side of it this court ruling comes as federal courts have also ruled that it is now acceptable to monitor the communications of americans with a quote foreign interest without any procedure or warrant so while u. S. Courts have ruled that it is now acceptable to continue carrying out practices once considered to be scandalous they have come down pretty hard on the man who revealed the. Practices to the public so do americans even remember Edward Snowden we decided to ask new yorkers can you tell us who Edward Snowden is the no name doesnt ring any bells hope it werent snowden i dont know Edward Snowden is. Its. Way to 2nd snowdens not the. Not to brooks that guy adam he is the wiki leaks not like the wiki leaks guy but the guy who was working for the government here and is over in russia now now that he leaked some information he leaves office. Basically the government spying on us and watching of our things and gave a detailed report as to what the governments doing yes there was massive outrage back in 2013 when this was 1st revealed but it seems that since then this is all becoming part of the new normal in the United States what was wiretapping of civilians will continue in the United States and american leaders will also continue to boast that they have the freest country in the world were going to do we need assuming theyre incapable its in the mission that the unit and i say is incapable of collecting only targeted data off a large fine lines that theyre monitoring so i mean to be that know is not a problem even in the 99. But they decided not to do that they wanted to collect everything but theyre not saying here is that the cia the f. B. I. And the d. E a and other Law Enforcement people have access to that data to search for a common crime in the United States and they use it against u. S. Citizens in and in criminal courts without the without telling the coup or anybody else in the Court Lawyers included so theyre fundamentally violating the rights of those of us citizens and every year and they do this without any oversight whatsoever or even attempt to move or say to us in the United States of any of the intelligence these is any good anyway its just its over look kind of a conversation its not an oversight and all. Of us democrats do have an axe to grind when it comes to propaganda which is perhaps why they have released a guide on how to spot and fight it top tips to include doing what charts say and for George Orwell and how can some small. The Us Democrat Party is concerned about the information people are consuming so theyve created a handy guide to make sure you can distinguish right from wrong weve seen what happens when does information goes unchecked it threatens our democracy and makes us less safe thats why were making sure you know how to combat bots troll farms think accounts dissin from asian and propaganda its short and sweet and prepares you on how to fight fake news and use social media properly and responsibly so lets take a look actively seeking out Information Online from multiple authoritative sources firstly you should actively look for news dont just absorb but there is one caveat you should try to find only authours of sources if you cant decide what those are just use the ones approved by Fact Checkers and dont go near the blacklist speaking off Fact Checkers news guard is one plug in the list recommends its got several high ranking officials on its Advisory Board where previous cia director x. The nato secretary general to former Us Government officials and leading media figures and it marks many mainstream outlets as trustworthy despite any scandals they may have been embroiled in while r t is a big no no so change channel right now before its too late. Ask yourself who the author of online content is where they posted the information and what theyre hoping you will do with it next check is the author factuality and objectivity seem to be prioritized in the guidelines something one can argue with until they mention social Media Transparency features as one tool to help find the facts theres a link to facebooks transparency guidelines which separate the real from the fake but its fair to say not all those telomere objective truth get verified and all those verified stick to the objective truth. Rules 3 and 4 go without saying of course one should never be manipulated nor let blatant fakes go unchallenged the void to be manipulated by divisive or dishonest content if you see something untrue and social media try to inject truth into the debate and then we move on to the final and most comprehensive point educate yourself on the tactics of online manipulators as a whole list of recommendations of what to watch and read and perhaps unsurprisingly the emphasis is on democratic leaning outlets from n. B. C. To the New York Times they also have recommendations for you to watch projects launched by loyal media you can learn all about internet outrage on the right wings role in fake news controversies on a podcast by the daily New York Times enterprise also in the recommended reading list of pieces on russian interference the 26000. 00 election and trumps alleged collusion with moscow as even a special warning reserved specifically for right wing disinform ation though no mention of the same risks on the other side of the political spectrum and if youre short on time and cant read a lot theres some quick links the democrats supported social media accounts although if you do have a bit more time on your hands you can always delve into longer reports where you can mainly learn all about russias efforts to attack and destroy worldwide democracy always a classic democrat narrative it was borrowed short who said if you teach a man you will never learn or this god may go even further not teaching but telling in no Uncertain Terms where the truth apparently lies to be found only in acceptable narratives and only trustworthy sources and summing up that list George Orwells 1984 though i only lost there and hawkins our chris hedges is a Pulitzer Prize winning host of the artie chair one contact he says the d. N. C. Vice there is designed to shut down alternative. The guidelines are meant to tarnish or discredit critics of the system unfortunately because they have a megaphone and a platform its somewhat effective we now have lived with since the beginning of the trumpet ministrations so this is 3 years this is a whole demonization of russia which has been a convenient for oil to attack social critics they want those voices shut down and they have of course Facebook Twitter or you tube have created algorithms to shut us down independent of anything to do its a combined assault against critics and they use the idea of us working as foreign agents or. Influence or manipulation of a foreign power as a kind of excuse thats nothing new we saw the cold war still to come after the break president of the commission could be in trouble back home in germany after she did anything messages that had been requested as evidence for a probe into her time as the countrys defense minister thats among the stories to come just after. The world is driven by a dream shaped by. The day or thing. We fear. Understanding of shell is that its a money loser from day one. One but it doesnt matter in the u. S. Because all the creditors to lend money into the shell industry are constantly being bailed out by the central bank that prints money thats why they do it for the fees its great for the banks but its not an energy play at a spot of business its a sinkhole but here as you point out in argentina so they cant just print their way out of a losing situation and the economy is already a bit fragile they dont want to add another loser in