i. slammed washington sanctions on russia to gas pipelines in germany saying it's crossed against the nato allies and gives an angry reaction as well rounding the sanctions interference in domestic. u.s. court rules that american spy agencies can collect data on citizens without a warrant if done by accident. and a man has been sentenced to 16 years in jail after stealing and burning the flag from the us church we debate where the time it's the crime. 16 years for offending probably one of the most privileged groups in america when it came to

force he did not express any regrets justifying his actions based upon his particular extremist interpretation of the christian faith. joining is midnight here in moscow you're watching r.t. and. there's been a strong reaction from berlin over the latest u.s. sanctions that target to the russian gas pipeline to europe which is almost complete. we're looking very closely at the u.s. crossing a crucial edge of foreign policy as it starts imposing sanctions which russia has already become accustomed to against its own allies we can see the intention to make europe buy american liquefied gas and thus to slow the development of the continent's economy to undermine its capability of competing with the u.s. in the global markets washington has decided that even the closest nato allies

don't deserve mercy if the u.s. geo political and commercial ambitions are at stake. the german government has regretfully taken into account that sanctions against north stream to turks stream in this year said by the us congress they think german and european companies and tantamount to interference in our domestic affairs we request comment from the nordstrom spokesperson who told us completing the project is essential for european supply security the work will be finished as soon as possible you also slammed washington's punitive measures saying it objects to any penalties against european companies that are conducting legal business becomes as the main swiss contractor of north stream 2 pulls out of the washington stuff these. are told michael are going to far more on the story. but at the trump administration sanctions have become a political tool of choice now often simply hughes does 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 now many of course you know not soon to it is a huge 11 $1000000000.00 venture it's a pipeline over 1000 kilometers long running from russia to germany and essentially it's 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 to. 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 a new player 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 follow on russian military aggression. we don't want your energy suppliers 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 they're ahead of schedule 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. cheese and they've 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 we're going to freeze all your assets in the u.k. in the u.s. and we're 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 europe's energy security bit of the. wild card pipelines between russia and europe run through several european countries such as poland but of russia ukraine. this means that of course that 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 it's somehow politically motivated by what's 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 agreement on russian transit gas value crane to europe so that completely undermines what washington saying that somehow russia is trying to cut ukraine out of a deal and it's led many to suspect that really what washington's up to is is trying

to eliminate competition and its dominance in the e.u. . and markets especially considering the bill also impose sanctions on another russian pipeline which is tucked strain which runs through the black sea touchy so that's quite a patent being established while of the e.u. and u.s. standpoint on this issue couldn't be more different european countries call this an economic project that benefits everyone involved russia agrees germany and particular has consistently said that european and that your policy is europe's business and has asked us to stop meddling so it's probably unsurprising that these latest sanctions were not welcomed. germany's delinquent party member. thinks that the u.s. sanctions have done some serious damage to relations between berlin and washington this project is so close to completion and it's so crucial to the german economy.

that there will be a way and we will find a way to complete this project but of course the damage to the german american relations is down and. the idea that america is consciously imposing extra charity extraterritorial sanctions to hurt the german economy or to hurt the german students is now firmly implanted germany's minds from the left to the right that is absolutely outraged by the actions of the u.s. government because in germany frankly some parts of the governing party are very close to the u.s. government but they are by this decision because they know the importance of russian gas supply to the entire germany on. america's spy agencies are permitted to gather information on citizens without a warrant in certain situations the u.s. court of appeals ruled this can happen if a non-national who's just simply being monitored abroad makes contact with an

american the case was brought by an american citizen arrested in 2011 he had pleaded guilty to attempting to give the 2 real support to a terrorist organization where they question whether it was legal for the n.s.a. to collect information on him without a warrant former intelligence official and whistleblower william binney told us the ruling does not reveal anything new. it does it made no difference at all it was all under executive order $1.00 to $2.00 or 3 section $23.00 c. which they used that been signed. into effect since the reagan years the reagan presidency so they've been using that and silly as they were and also the use the excuse that they are unable to separate their data on that or as an outright lie to so they've been lying to the courts are wrong they had to keep bill of you sort that stuff out it just they don't want to because it gives them power over everyone the ability to look into our political opponents like they did the president drop.

the n.s.a.'s illegal mass phone and internet surveillance of his own citizens was revealed back in 2013 by edward snowden a former contractor at the agency is wanted in the u.s. for leaking classified information but was granted asylum by russia. 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 won't 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 didn't submit his book for prepublication review who don't want to see books like to skip written especially don't want to see books like this get rid of from it is still pursuing that case quite strongly they're more focused on 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 . these 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 now it doesn't ring any bells hope it weren't snowden i don't know edward snowden is. it's. way to 2nd snowden's not the. not to brooks that guy on his. wiki leaks not like the wiki leaks guy but the guy who was working for the government here and is over in russia now know that he leaked some information he leads. basically the government spying on us and watching of our things and gave

a detailed report as to what the government's 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 we're going to do we assume they're incapable it's an admission that the and this is incapable of collect the only targeted data of a large firearms that they're monitoring so i mean to me that now is not a problem even in the 99 he could have done that but they decided not to do that they wanted to collect everything but they're not saying here is that the cia the f.b.i. and the d. e a another 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 criminal courts without the without telling the crew or anybody else

in the court lawyers included so they're fundamentally violating the rights of those of us citizens every year and they do this without any oversight whatsoever even though that tempting oversight i know you were saying to us in the united states that many of the intelligence these is any good anyway it's just it's over look kind of a conversation it's not oversight and all. a man found guilty of committing a hate crime has been sentenced to 16 years in jail after stealing and burning a flag for me us church at all for martinez was 1st arrested in june and accused of desecrating the flag belonging to a local church in iowa earlier in the week he was also convicted of 3rd degree harassment and reckless use of fire and he's admitted he's against homosexuality but the length of his sentence has caused debate. why does the left cheer when the american flag is burning no one goes to jail for that but they do for burning an activist movements flag while he got more years than murderous get in the u.k.

unbelievable so burning a rainbow flag is hate speech bunting an american flag is freedom of speech i see. he should have been the american flag then he would have been praised statues dedicated well i think in principle people should have the ride to behead flags a flag is a symbol and people have a right to disagree with homosexuality they have a right to disagree with didn't states or britain i don't think that should be a crime per se but i would say that the flag is a bit different from the american flag because it days ignites a specific community in the same way as maybe burning a jewish flag might designate the jewish community you look at the report of what happened he was kicked out of the strip club he grabbed the flag he set it on fire outside of the strip club and started ranting about i was gonna burn down the club i was in there i don't know it sounds like maybe he was wasted i don't think i

don't think this is what they just would go around doing even if that weren't the case it still is extreme and a hate crime laws are silly anyway they should exist no a crime happened here it is absolutely 100 percent our institutionally protected speech to burn the gates of the gay pride flag in the same way that according to the supreme court's also protected speech to burn the american flag well i'm gay and much of my human rights involve supporting the human rights of l.g.b. plus people but i've got to say this sentence is excessive it is disproportionate it is not commensurate with the crime committed however there are some disturbing elements a he was not given the sentence purely for stealing the flag and for burning it there were also. accusations and claims of arson and threats to burn down all the properties namely a strip club when it came to course he did not express any regrets and indeed

justify his actions based upon his particular extremist interpretation of the christian faith now i don't believe that this flag necessarily represents the rainbow flag i don't think it. uppers and gay individuals maybe at one point attempted to but we've come to a point where the rainbow flag and all the symbolism represents an l g b t political ideology which is becoming increasingly authoritarian increasingly toxic increasingly anti-christian so people are going to have gripes about it i mean this is actually proven that people are our millennial was a study done recently that young people millennia old are less in favor of now they were a few years ago now the left in the gay lobby would say that is due to hate speech on the internet and trumps america blah blah blah no i would say the real reason is probably because this movement that is symbolized by the flag has become authoritarian and ridiculous we see it with the in same trans narrative in the

bathroom transfer people in women's sports we see it with the children with the transylvanian the drag queen story many of you can think of and this is just another example 16 years for offending probably one of the most privileged groups in america. the u.s. democrats. after this quick.

so what we've got to do is identify the threats that we have it's crazy confrontation let it be an arms race in this on off and spearing dramatic development only and going to exist i don't see how that strategy will be successful very critical time to sit down and talk. or combating us democrats have an axe to grind when it comes to propaganda which perhaps is why they've released a guide on how to spot and fit and fight it top tips included don't watch our t.v.

and do read george orwell on the stunning hawkins' delves deeper. the us democrat party is concerned about the information people are consuming so they've created a handy guide to make sure you can distinguish right from wrong we've seen what happens when dissin from ation goes unchecked it threatens our democracy and makes us less safe that's why we're making sure you know how to combat bots troll farms fake accounts dissin from ation and propaganda it's short and sweet and prepares you on how to fight fake news and use social media properly and responsibly so let's take a look actively seek out information online from multiple authoritative sources firstly you should actively look for news don't just absorb but there is one caveat you should try to find only authours of sources if you can't decide what those are just use the ones approved by fact checkers and don't go near the blacklist

speaking off fact checkers news guard is one plug in the list recommends it's got several high ranking officials on its advisory board but previous cia director x. the nato secretary general the former u.s. 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 it's too late. ask yourself who the all through online content is where they post the information and what they're hoping you will do with it next check is the author factuality and objectivity seem to be prioritized in their guidelines something one can argue with until they mention social media transparency features as one tool to help find the facts there's a link to facebook's transparency of god lines which separate the real from the fake but it's fair to say not all those telling the objective truth get verified

and all those verified stick to the objective truth rules $3.00 and $4.00 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 trying 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 wing's 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 election and trumps alleged collusion with moscow as even a special warning reserved specifically for right wing this information though no mention of the same risks on the other side of the political spectrum and if you're sure. not on time and can't read a lot there's some quick links to 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 russia's 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 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 orwell's 1984 no i only lost there because i just is the pulitzer prize winning host of the

r.t. show on contact he says the d.n.c. is advice is designed to shut down the target of these. the guidelines are meant to tarnish or discredit critics of the system unfortunately because they have a megaphone and a platform it's somewhat effective we now have lived with since the beginning of the trumpet ministrations so this is 3 years 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 you tube have created algorithms to shut us down independent of anything to do it's 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 that's nothing new we saw in the cold war. in the u.s. has been alleged the mormon church is sitting on $100000000000.00 worth of donations that it misled its members into making the whistleblower behind decline used to be a senior portfolio manager at the churches investment division he also says the church may have breached tax rules. years the mormon church has been stockpiling $1.00 to $2000000000.00. into reserve reserves inside i one c 3 non profit. and according to the whistleblower a company called and sign pink advisors is helping the church to exploit its status as a nonprofit organization to dodge taxes alleging the mormons could or a huge amount to the state the whistleblower also says members have parted with their money under false pretenses including propping up a couple of businesses and the mormon church asked members to give it 10 percent of

their income that money supposed to be for charitable educational and religious purposes but the whistleblower claims it's simply been squirreled away for the last 2 decades the church denies the accusations claims being currently circulated are based on a narrow perspective and limited information the church complies with all applicable law governing our donations investments taxes and reserves. the church of the collapse of the whistleblower is a disgruntled ex employee sinking compensation and it's a source inside the church told us the internal revenue service finished a major audit 2 years ago no problems but people we spoke to in you'll quit not surprised by the whistle blows revelations i'm not terribly surprised after all the scientology. money tax evasion what i feel like churches are corrupt there's always issues with $5.00 a one c. theories in churches and money and doing what they're doing i mean i guess it just depends i should pay definitely should pay taxes especially with the guys will have

those big houses in the jetson tax free it's not fair that they should pay something but they just don't that's constitution it's constitutional question do this a place axis more investigation more arrests and it's doing that i mean but no taxes let everybody everybody pick one and sign peak advisors it was an arm of the mormon church which proved that it was not. born acquirements which is why they got into this in the 1st place. we didn't have to reports what was going on under the i.r.s. tax law you are. and you have to use that money for such a charitable purpose but in this situation this particular and that's an arm there was a bailout ever serve they also. so those are projects where there is no charitable purposes there are not once but makes you cry so they have a storm we're getting all those are for then turns you're making

the. next day without international but with updates for you in half an hour's time . guys are special survival. customers go by your. didn't help reduce some. that's undercutting but what's good for markets it's not good for the global economy. what politicians do you should. put themselves on the line they did accept or reject. so if you want to be president. some want. to be right. it's likely. to be the. interest of those in the.

right. you're all going to jack did not exist a comedy show where americans in america covering american news are called foreign agents. as i mentioned last week the normally garbage day in publication the washington post has actually done some reporting that is not just pro-war propaganda someone's going to get fired. they reveal the trove of thousands of internal government documents that expose the catastrophic

war in afghanistan and it turns out there are tender dates between a young neo nazi and an old jewish lady that have gone better than that war. document trove reveals that senior u.s. officials failed to tell the truth about the war in afghanistan making rosy pronouncements they knew to. the false and hiding and mistake of all evidence the war had become unwinnable let me translate the washington post fancypants language us officials didn't fail to tell the truth they. failed to tell the truth sounds like the truth is a fish that they just couldn't catch their then their job we failed to catch the truth let's consider what the war in afghanistan has entailed by the military own counting an estimated 157000 people have been killed that includes

64000 afghan security forces 43000 afghan civilians 424 humanitarian aid workers 67 journalists 3800 contractors 2300 u.s. military personnel and 42000 taliban and insurgents but the u.s. military calls all kinds of people insurgents if we kill you then you're an insurgent because if you wanted insurgents who did we kill you. but even if you use the military's numbers the bad guys are winning however we don't actually know who the bad guys are in fact an unnamed former advisor to an army special forces team says it's they start i was going to come to them with a map.