Dec 162019
 
 December 16, 2019  Posted by at 10:48 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , ,


Dorothea Lange Water supply in squatter camp near Calipatria CA 1937

 

An Apology to Carter Page (Jonathan Turley)
James Comey Admits He Was Wrong for Defending FBI’s FISA Process (ET)
‘You Need Rehabilitation’: Nunes Letter Dismantles Schiff (ZH)
Schiff Wants Witnesses, Documents Introduced In Senate Impeachment Trial (CNN)
Schumer Wants Mulvaney, Bolton, Others To Testify In Impeachment Trial (R.)
Is A Trap Being Set For Trump In The Senate Trial? (MacKinnon)
Democrats Can Read Minds (Attkisson)
Eric Holder Reveals Deep State Running Scared – Kevin Shipp (USAW)
Former Spy Details Israel’s Main Motive Behind Recruiting Epstein (Webb)
China Must Buy Crazy Amount Of Farm Goods To Meet Phase One Deal Demand (CNBC)
China Races To Destroy Records On Uighur Muslim Detention Camps (AP)
Boeing Nears Decision On Cutting Or Even Halting 737 MAX Production (CNBC)

 

 

Long overdue.

An Apology to Carter Page (Jonathan Turley)

After he was acquitted in a major fraud trial, former Labor Secretary Ray Donovan asked, “Which office do I go to to get my reputation back?” The trial was ruinous for Donovan, personally and financially, and the question was a fair one. Donovan, however, at least received a trial. Former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page has never been given a fair hearing, let alone a trial, to clear his name. As the two political parties spin the results of a report by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz, one matter remains unaddressed. Someone needs to apologize to Page.

I do not know Page and have had only one conversation with him that I can recall. Indeed, my only impression of him was shaped by the image, repeated in endless media segments, of a shady character who was at worst a Russian spy and at best a Russian stooge. Page became the face and focus for the justification of the Russia collusion investigation. His manifest guilt and sinister work in Moscow had to be accepted in order to combat those questioning the allegations of Trump campaign collusion with the Russians. In other words, his guilt had to be indisputable in order for the Russia collusion investigation to be, so to speak, unimpeachable.

Ultimately, special counsel Robert Mueller found no evidence of collusion or conspiracy by Trump associates or the campaign with those Russians intervening in the election. However, Horowitz found that the FBI never had any real evidence against Page before beginning its investigation, codenamed Operation Crossfire Hurricane. Soon after the investigation was opened, it became clear that Page had been wrongly accused and was, in fact, working for the CIA, not the Russians. Page himself later said he was working with the CIA, yet the media not only dismissed his claim but was very openly dismissive while portraying him as a bumbling fool.

Read more …

Comey feels sure he’ll get away with it. After all, he’s already left the FBI. But John Durham is still digging.

James Comey Admits He Was Wrong for Defending FBI’s FISA Process (ET)

Former FBI Director James Comey admitted fault following last week’s Justice Department Inspector General’s report that detailed at least 17 serious errors during the launch of the agency’s investigation into Trump’s campaign. Comey had previously defended the FBI’s use of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) courts during the investigation, but Inspector General Michael Horowitz found that the FBI’s investigative team made errors and omissions when applying for a warrant to surveil Carter Page, a former Trump campaign aide. Horowitz, in a Senate hearing, criticized the “entire chain of command” at the FBI and Justice Department for their failures in handling the warrant. Comey was in charge of the FBI when the investigation was launched.

“He’s right, I was wrong,” Comey told “Fox News Sunday” about how the FBI used the FISA system, adding that “I was overconfident as director in our procedures.” Horowitz said the FBI’s investigation into Russian election interference and alleged connections to the Trump campaign was properly initiated, but he said there is a “low threshold” for that to happen. In the report, the inspector general said there was no documentary or testimonial evidence implying that the investigation was started due to political bias. However, when he was prodded about the bias claim during the Senate hearing, Horowitz didn’t rule it out. During a line of questioning, Horowitz replied to Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), “I think it’s fair for people to sit there and look at all of these 17 events and wonder how it could be purely incompetence.” He also said that he “agrees completely” with the assertion that someone at the FBI needs to be fired. The “culture” also needs to be “changed” at the FBI, he told senators.

[..] A number of FBI officials directly involved in preparing and signing the FISA warrants have all either left or been fired from the bureau, including Comey, Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, and Deputy Assistant Director Peter Strzok. Comey told the news outlet that Steele’s work was “not a huge part of the presentation to the court,” but he noted that “it was the one that convinced the lawyers” to move forward on the warrant. The former FBI chief claimed the Bureau didn’t intentionally commit wrongdoing, but he said there was “real sloppiness” at the FBI. “I was responsible for this,” he said. In 2018, Comey told MSNBC that the FISA process is “incredibly rigorous” and criticized Republicans of the Page FISA warrant for trying to interject politics into the process. And after the IG report was released on Dec. 6, Comey said the FBI’s investigation into Trump’s campaign “was just good people trying to protect America.”

Read more …

The most vilified Nunes was fully “rehabilitated” by Horowitz. He now calls for an intervention on Schiff. He should call for his resignation.

‘You Need Rehabilitation’: Nunes Letter Dismantles Schiff (ZH)

Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) has written perhaps the most brutal ‘I told ya so’ letter in recent memory to Adam Schiff, his Democratic rival and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. After last week’s Inspector General report on FBI FISA abuse revealed Schiff was peddling lies to the American public in a February, 2018 ‘counter-memo’ to Nunes’s now-proven claims, Schiff passed the buck – telling Fox News host Chris Wallace on Sunday that he was ‘unaware’ of certain things uncovered by the IG – while failing to admit he’s been dead wrong on an ongoing basis about a number of things. Nunes isn’t letting this go.

In a Sunday letter, he reminded Schiff that “The IG’s findings of pervasive, major abuses by the FBI dramatically contradict the assertions of your memo released on February 24, 2018, in which you claimed, “FBI and DOJ officials did not ‘abuse’ the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) process, omit material information, or subvert this vital tool to spy on the Trump Campaign.” Schiff is in clear “need of rehabilitiation,” continues Nunes, adding “I hope this letter will serve as the first step in that vital process.” “Outlining every false claim from your memo would require an extremely long letter,” Nunes continues, who then lists several key claims made by Schiff which ‘the IG report has exposed as false.’

[..] Nunes then calls out Schiff for defending Steele, who peddled his discredited, Clinton-funded dossier to the media six weeks before the 2016 US election. “As you know, your misguided validation of the FISA warrant was part of a years-long pattern in which you touted Christopher Steele’s credentials and reliability,” writes Nunes. “For example, during this committee’s March 20, 2017 open hearing, you claimed Steele “is reportedly held in high regard by U.S. Intelligence.” and proceeded to read into the congressional record numerous conspiracy theories proffered by Steele, all of which are false.”

Read more …

Who is Schiff to call for witnesses in the Senate? That‘s not his theater. Schiff must resign, like Comey if the latter still could. Schiff now says his endless former claims of “damning evidence” were made before certain facts had come to light.

That means he’s been making it up. That means he’s been lying all along. That means his claims were entirely false. He’s way past his best by date. But he should certainly be called to testify in the Senate. Under oath, which he never was in the House.

Schiff Wants Witnesses, Documents Introduced In Senate Impeachment Trial (CNN)

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff on Sunday said he would like for some witnesses to be called during the expected Senate impeachment trial against President Donald Trump and for withheld administration documents to be introduced as evidence. “I think there are any number of witnesses that should be called in the Senate trial, and many witnesses the American people would like to hear from that the administration has refused to make available,” Schiff told ABC’s “This Week.” “And perhaps of equal and if not greater importance are the thousands and thousands of documents that the administration refuses to turn over. I would hope that every senator of both parties would like to see the documentary evidence.”

The California Democrat’s remarks come ahead of an expected House floor vote this week after the House Judiciary Committee on Friday approved articles of impeachment against the President. The full House vote will set up the Senate trial, for which senators are now gearing up Schiff, who has been mentioned as a possible House impeachment manager, said the potential witnesses he has in mind are ones who have refused to talk to House impeachment investigators: Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, former national security adviser John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

The layout of the Senate trial is still under deliberation and leaders have been clear that no final decisions about strategy or structure have been made, but in interviews over the last several days, GOP senators say they are beginning to see the benefit of keeping the process short, leaving out witnesses and instead, simply laying out the facts with a presentation from House managers and the White House. “I would urge Mitch McConnell to start negotiating with Chuck Schumer to make sure that those senators have a full record,” Schiff said. “So far Majority Leader McConnell and Minority Leader Schumer have not started discussions about the outlines of the rules that will govern a trial.”

Read more …

The Dems refused for the GOP to call its witnesses in the House. But now is different?

Schumer Wants Mulvaney, Bolton, Others To Testify In Impeachment Trial (R.)

U.S. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer proposed in a letter released on Sunday that at least four witnesses including acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and former national security adviser John Bolton be subpoenaed to testify in the expected impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. In the letter to Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Schumer proposed that Mulvaney and Bolton be subpoenaed for the trial expected in January along with a Mulvaney adviser, Robert Blair, and a budget official, Michael Duffey.


[..] Schumer said the witnesses he proposed had “direct knowledge of Administration decisions” related to the charges. He said he would be open to additional witnesses, and proposed subpoenas be issued for some documents from the administration. A spokesman for McConnell said: “Leader McConnell has made it clear he plans to meet with Leader Schumer to discuss the contours of a trial soon. That timeline has not changed.” McConnell has raised the prospect of conducting a short trial without calling any witnesses.

Read more …

“He is not part of the club. He is not one of us. He can’t be controlled.”

Is A Trap Being Set For Trump In The Senate Trial? (MacKinnon)

In a speech to the American Enterprise Institute in October, former governor and U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley put her finger on the greater issue, saying in part, “President Trump is a disruptor. That makes some people very happy, and it makes some people very mad. … When I was in the administration, I served alongside colleagues who believed the best thing to do for America was to undermine and obstruct the president. Some wrote about it anonymously in The New York Times. Others just did it. They sincerely believed they were doing the right thing. I sincerely believed they weren’t. … No policy disagreement with him … justifies undermining the lawful authority that is vested in his office by the Constitution.”

What’s at stake, Haley said, “is not President Trump’s policies. What’s at stake is the Constitution.” She is correct, but does all of this go beyond Trump being a disruptor? As we have witnessed, Trump is being opposed, called out and undermined through leaks by multiple anonymous and named sources from the “deep state,” his own National Security Council, former White House staff, former and current Pentagon, State Department and diplomatic officials, members of Congress and their staffs, and basically every other agency within the federal government. There appears to be a common thread that runs through all of this opposition and stated hatred: “He is not part of the club. He is not one of us. He can’t be controlled.”

The unrelenting opposition to Trump is not based on the fictional quid pro quo with Ukraine’s president but rather a desperate need by the entrenched establishment from both political parties to maintain the status quo of their all-powerful club — aka part of the “swamp” Trump sought to drain. For Trump to be convicted in a Senate trial, 20 Republican senators would have to join forces with the 47 Democrats. We should not worry about those who openly dislike Trump, such as Sens. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Susan Collins (R-Maine) or Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska); we should worry about those in the purple states, who face tough reelection fights in 2020, and those who have continually criticized and demeaned the president in private.

Read more …

Stating the very very obvious: it’s all been about opinion and interpretation. Not a ground for impeachment.

Democrats Can Read Minds (Attkisson)

Democrats say, what Trump held out as leverage — a quid pro quo — was U.S. taxpayer-funded military aid to Ukraine. They say people died while Ukraine waited for this critical aid, and that it was released only when Trump realized he was in trouble and under investigation. And finally, they say Trump held up a White House meeting with the Ukrainian president until he would commit to announcing an investigation into Biden, in a very public interview with CNN. It’s bribery. Treason. Impeachable. The issue I have is that to prove their points, Democrats require us to believe they can read minds. President Trump said nothing about a quid pro quo during the phone call in question. He didn’t threaten to hold up aid or a White House meeting. But Democrats say that’s exactly what he meant.

President Trump didn’t make any expressions of demands in the call. But Democrats say that’s what he meant. President Trump didn’t mention the 2020 election or political dirt on the call. He spoke of getting to the bottom of any 2016 foreign election interference under the Obama administration, as Democrats and Republicans have pressed him to do. On the call, Trump spoke of his desire for Ukraine to investigate corruption and whether the Bidens may be connected to any of it. This, said Trump, particularly concerned Joe Biden’s public admission that he demanded a Ukrainian prosecutor be fired and threatened to hold up U.S. taxpayer-funded aid unless it happened within hours. (Biden says the prosecutor wasn’t working hard enough to investigate corruption; Biden’s critics say there was a conflict of interest because the prosecutor was investigating the energy company where Biden’s son was paid to sit on the board.)

But Democrats say something different than what was said was actually in President Trump’s mind: He was secretly attempting to impact the 2020 campaign. Trump didn’t mention 2020 but, Democrats say, he meant 2020 in his own mind. Trump didn’t allude to political dirt but, they say, that’s exactly what Trump was thinking about. Some of the Democrats’ witnesses stated that Trump likely wanted Ukraine’s president to publicly announce a corruption investigation to hold his feet to the fire because the Ukrainians have a habit of committing to one thing but doing another. But Democrats insist Trump had something else in his mind: Trump wanted the public announcement to embarrass and use against Biden in the 2020 campaign. The president of Ukraine has publicly stated, and put in writing, that he felt no pressure from President Trump. But Democrats say the opposite is true. After all, they can read minds.

Read more …

“The mainstream media will never come back from this because finally, through shows like this and others, the real information is coming out as to what the mainstream media has done.”

Eric Holder Reveals Deep State Running Scared – Kevin Shipp (USAW)

Former CIA officer and counter-intelligence expert Kevin Shipp says that former Obama Administration Attorney General (AG) Eric Holder gave a big Deep State panic signal when he wrote in an Op-Ed last week in the Washington Post trashing current AG William Barr and his top prosecutor John Durham. Shipp explains:

“This is very significant. We all remember that Holder was Obama’s right hand man. Eric Holder was Barack Obama’s enforcer. The fact that Holder comes out this quickly after the Inspector General (IG) Horowitz Report comes out . . . and makes this veiled threat against Durham’s reputation. The fact that Eric Holder came out and made this statement is a clear indication to me they are running scared. We have to understand it was Eric Holder that Barack Obama used to target the heads of corporations that spoke out publicly about Barack Obama. We know Holder was held in ‘Contempt of Congress.’ He spied on AP reporters, ran guns to drug cartels and blacked out the information. He spied on over a hundred journalists, and on and on we go. . . . They (Deep State) are convinced there are going to be indictments.

Secondly, there is AG Barr’s outrage over (IG) Horowitz’s report and what it did not do. He made statements that there was spying and actions by government officials that need to be criminally looked into. Barr’s outrage over this shows me that there are going to be indictments, and that he is taking this seriously. Again, when Holder comes out and puts out this bombshell in the Washington Post, which is another indication that indictments are coming. John Brennan, former Obama Administration CIA Director, is going to be at the top of the list.” Shipp thinks this will be a big nail in the coffin of the MSM. Shipp says, “The mainstream media will never come back from this because finally, through shows like this and others, the real information is coming out as to what the mainstream media has done. At the top of that list is the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN and MSNBC. . . .

Read more …

Whitney is back.

Former Spy Details Israel’s Main Motive Behind Recruiting Epstein (Webb)

Ben-Menashe revealed his understanding of why Epstein was eventually shepherded into acting as a professional sexual blackmailer on behalf of Israeli military intelligence. Per Ben-Menashe, there were concerns among Israeli intelligence figures that, following the Reagan Era, a new president would push for Israel to make peace with the Palestinians, something those officials sought to avoid by any means necessary. Thus, Ben-Menashe argues, when Bill Clinton’s candidacy in the 1992 U.S. Presidential election became clear, efforts were made to target him via sexual blackmail and Jeffrey Epstein was chosen for that purpose. Bill Clinton was eventually blackmailed by the state of Israel and his administration was also targeted by Israeli espionage as part of the “Mega” spy scandal.


Epstein’s involvement in the Clinton administration and his visits to the White House date back to Clinton’s first year in office. In addition, MintPress also asked Ben-Menashe if he was aware of Ghislaine Maxwell being directly involved with her father’s intelligence-related activities prior to his death in 1991. Ben-Menashe noted that Ghislaine accompanied her father so frequently, including on a now-infamous 1989 party on Maxwell’s yacht where Donald Trump and several key figures in the PROMIS software scandal were in attendance, that she was involved in his intelligence-related activities to some extent. However, he stopped short of saying how involved she was or what she has specifically been involved in prior to her father’s death.

Read more …

Too many soybeans?! Can China buy US produce with something else than dollars?

China Must Buy Crazy Amount Of Farm Goods To Meet Phase One Deal Demand (CNBC)

China ramping up agricultural purchases to the level that the U.S. is demanding would be a problem and Beijing would probably only do it if the market situation warranted it, analysts said. Their comments pour skepticism on the farm purchases that are part of the phase one trade deal recently announced by both countries. Calling it a “crazy amount” of agricultural buying with “market distorting powers” on a global scale, Deborah Elms, executive director of the Asian Trade Centre, said: “The ramping up of scale at that speed is going to be problematic.” She told CNBC: “I would be willing to take a bet … that we will be back at this table in relatively short order even if we get a deal, because the ability of the Chinese to actually match those purchases is going to be limited.”

U.S. and Chinese officials announced on Friday that both countries finally reached an agreement after a contentious 18-month trade war. But as part of the deal, U.S. President Donald Trump insisted that China buy more U.S. crops, saying that Beijing will purchase $50 billion worth of agriculture goods “pretty soon.” For his part, he vowed not to pursue a new round of tariffs originally set for the previous Sunday. But Elms warned that the Chinese has been “very cautious” in saying that they would buy according to market conditions and World Trade Organization restrictions. “In other words, there’s a giant red flag that says: ‘even if we promise this … be careful because if the market doesn’t support the purchases at that level, then we may not reach that target,’” she told CNBC on Monday.

That skepticism was echoed by other analysts, who also pointed out that there are limits to the amount of farm goods that China can consume. “Some of this deal rhetoric is really more about politics than reality,” said Mark Jolley, global strategist at CCB International Securities. “There’s been some people who’ve been saying the only way they would be able to meet that commitment is if they start stockpiling food — it’s going be in excess of probably what they need to buy,” he told CNBC. “It’s pretty difficult to see how they can increase the imports beyond the natural levels they have been taking.”

Read more …

A German Muslim football player for UK’s Arsenal, Mesut Özil, spoke out in defence of the Uighurs a few days ago. A livebroad cast of a game in China was cancelled. His team turned on him, afraid to lose business in China.

China Races To Destroy Records On Uighur Muslim Detention Camps (AP)

A Chinese local government is deleting data and destroying documents after classified papers were leaked offering information on its mass detention camps for Uighurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities, according to four people in contact with government employees there. They claimed regional officials in Xinjiang province are also tightening controls on information and have held high-level meetings following the leaks. Top officials deliberated how to respond in meetings at the Chinese Communist Party’s regional headquarters in Urumqi, Xinjiang’s capital, some of the people said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of fears of retribution against themselves, family members and the government workers.


The meetings began days after The New York Times published last month a cache of internal speeches on Xinjiang by top leaders including Xi Jinping, China’s president. They continued after the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists worked with news organisations to publish secret guidelines for operating detention centres and instructions on how to use technology to target people. The Chinese government has long struggled with its 11 million Uighurs, an ethnic Turkic minority native to Xinjiang, a far west province. In recent years, it has detained one million or more Uighurs and other minorities in the camps. Xinjiang officials and the Chinese foreign ministry have not directly denied the authenticity of the documents, though Urumqi Communist Party chief Xu Hairong called reports on the leaks “malicious smears and distortions”.

Read more …

Does anyone at all understand what this involves anymore? One more crash and those who decide to let the plane fly will be accused of manslaughter or worse.

Boeing Nears Decision On Cutting Or Even Halting 737 MAX Production (CNBC)

Boeing could disclose as early as Monday a decision on whether further cut or suspend production of the 737 Max amid continued uncertainty about the beleaguered plane’s return to service, The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday The company has repeatedly warned investors that it could cut output of the planes again or temporarily shut down its production line altogether if the flight ban drags on longer than it expected. Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg has said that suspending production could be “more efficient” than lowering output again.

Boeing, whose board is holding a regularly scheduled meeting in Chicago on Sunday and Monday, cut 737 Max production in April by 20% from 52 aircraft a month to 42 a month in the wake of a second fatal crash of the best-selling plane within five months. Regulators around the world responded to those crashes by grounding the aircraft. Boeing last week acknowledged that regulators aren’t likely to recertify the planes by the end of the year, as the Chicago-based manufacturer had previously forecast. A further cut or a suspension of production would further weigh on Boeing, which is facing a rising bill from the Max’s grounding. The company took a nearly $5 billion after-tax charge in the second quarter to compensate airlines hit by the flight ban.

Boeing’s shifted outlook came after the Federal Aviation Administration publicly admonished Boeing over concerns that the company “continues to pursue a return-to-service schedule that is not realistic due to delays that have accumulated for a variety of reasons,” the agency said in an email to lawmakers on Thursday. “More concerning, the Administrator wants to directly address the perception that some of Boeing’s public statements have been designed to force FAA into taking quicker action.”

Read more …

 

 

 

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Home Forums Debt Rattle December 16 2019

Viewing 14 posts - 1 through 14 (of 14 total)
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  • #52160

    Dorothea Lange Water supply in squatter camp near Calipatria CA 1937   • An Apology to Carter Page (Jonathan Turley) • James Comey Admits He Was
    [See the full post at: Debt Rattle December 16 2019]

    #52161
    John Day
    Participant

    Moon of Alabama on the circus that won’t leave town:
    ​ ​The only reason why the Senate will go the soft way and just vote the impeachment down is because a deal was made between Leader McConnell and Speaker Pelosi.
    ​ ​The deal prevented an extensive impeachment inquiry and trial that could have hurt both sides with uncertain outcome.
    ​ ​The narrowness and weakness of the impeachment resolution that can not hurt the president was in exchange for a no-fuzz process in the Senate that will not dig into Biden and will not hurt the Democrats during next year’s election.
    ​ ​That a deal was made explains why Pelosi has chosen impeachment and not censure even as polls were showing opposition to impeachment. It explains why she allowed only a narrow resolution based on weak evidence. It explains why the House agreed to Trump’s ginormous defense budget in the same week that it produced an impeachment resolution against him. It also guarantees that there would be no deeper digging by Democrats against Trump. It guarantees the he will under no circumstances be found guilty and impeached.
    ​ ​Both sides can live with the results of this narrow process. The Democrats demonstrate to their core constituency that they are willing to take on Trump. The Republicans show that they stand with their president and against the lame accusations.
    https://www.moonofalabama.org/2019/12/the-impeachment-deal-between-the-house-and-the-senate.html#more
    http://www.johndayblog.com/2019/12/smoke-screens.html
    Turkey threatens to close critical US/NATO bases if sanctioned.
    (Not mentioned, but known by all, is that the US pretty nearly killed Erdogan in that military coup attempt a few years ago, and he was saved by last-minute Russian intervention.)
    ​ ​Bottom line: It’s Turkey’s party, and it can buy missiles from Russia if it wants to. After all, placating Russia is important for an energy importer like Turkey. Russian energy subsidies can be a huge economic boon for an economy – just look at Belarus.
    ​ ​Plus, now that Erdogan has cemented his control over the levers of power in Turkey, even if his decision to re-run the mayoral elections in Istanbul didn’t turn out quite as well as he had probably hoped. He’s eager to establish Turkey as a regional power, and bending to the US on this would make him look week.
    ​ ​Of course, for the US, Erdogan’s demands present a difficult dilemma: The US and NATO need Turkey to host its bases, but they’re worried that, if the S-400 system becomes fully operational (expected in April), many worry the Russian system could be used to collect intelligence on the stealth capabilities of the F-5 fighter jet.
    https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/turkey-gives-nato-middle-finger-threatens-shutter-critical-military-bases-over

    Here’s the deal: Sweet drinks and cheap starchy foods are killing people. Cholesterol medicines are not saving them, but fresh fruit, vegetables, nuts and some omega 3 fats will. Thanks Charles. (Insulin Resistance is Futile)
    https://www.pharmaceutical-journal.com/news-and-analysis/opinion/insight/the-cholesterol-and-calorie-hypotheses-are-both-dead-it-is-time-to-focus-on-the-real-culprit-insulin-resistance/20203046.article?firstPass=false

    #52162

    Really, Charles Hugh Smith? God only knows how often I’ve said this the past god knows how many years. And people find this out now?

    A “Market” That Needs $1 Trillion in Panic-Money-Printing by the Fed to Stave Off Implosion Is Not a Market

    It was all fun and games enriching the super-wealthy but now the karmic cost of the Fed’s manipulation and propaganda is about to come due. A “market” that needs $1 trillion in panic-money-printing by the Fed to stave off a karmic-overdue implosion is not a market: a legitimate market enables price discovery.

    What is price discovery? The decisions and actions of buyers and sellers set the price of everything: assets, goods, services, risk and the price of borrowing money, i.e. interest rates and the availability of credit. The U.S. has not had a legitimate market in 12 years.

    #52163

    This does not convince me one bit. What’s in it for Trump? The “extensive impeachment inquiry” MoA talks about has already taken place, it has not been prevented. Moreover, it failed big time. So why make such a deal now? The only side that has something to lose is the Dems.

    Moon of Alabama on the circus that won’t leave town:

    ​​The only reason why the Senate will go the soft way and just vote the impeachment down is because a deal was made between Leader McConnell and Speaker Pelosi. ​The deal prevented an extensive impeachment inquiry and trial that could have hurt both sides with uncertain outcome.

    ​ ​The narrowness and weakness of the impeachment resolution that can not hurt the president was in exchange for a no-fuzz process in the Senate that will not dig into Biden and will not hurt the Democrats during next year’s election.

    #52164
    Dr. D
    Participant

    InTents

    Wow, I expect to see this at home too, but it’s still breathtaking: Corbyn, after the most savage loss in near-100 years, says, “We won the argument.” Journalist writes “Myth that Labour has lost the North”, even now being supported as fact by those-who-pretend-to-be-journalists. Labour says, “We will fight them in the streets.” Okay boys, if the whole electorate has savagely repudiated you not once but TWICE, how do you think that will go? You’re clearly in a VERY small minority. And since you’re still in a relatively free democracy, wouldn’t it be both easier and — I know you don’t care, but, LEGAL – to just win the next election? You know, with policies and votes, not brickbats? Doesn’t that rhetoric show that you KNOW you can’t win elections, and is common in such cases, will be locked out for two election cycles, possibly 30 years. And with a response like this: no apparent understanding of THAT you lost, nevermind WHY you lost, AND to lock in every losing party leader and policy forever, I think we can tell why history says you won’t get back for a while. So okay, good. I tell you not to, but it’s better for my side, and the whole country too. Lose then, I don’t care.

    So seems like Britain’s two parties are now Conservative and UKIP, as happens with these things, and is happening with a number of other countries, including my own.

    “I was overconfident as director”

    Indeed you were. You oversaw the whole thing and we have mountains of proof. Some juicy pages of of it was taken from your personal safe the day you were fired. 17 errors (there were +51 crimes) all in the same direction is a 150,000-to-one odds. What are the Chances?

    “didn’t intentionally commit wrongdoing,”

    Doesn’t matter when I do it. So ignorance of the law shouldn’t matter when you commit federal crimes either. I mean, that’s when you’re NOT railroading me and fabricating evidence to begin with.

    ‘I told ya so’ letter in recent memory to Adam Schiff,”

    I’m still waiting for all that classified evidence Schiff said Trump committed in the Mueller Report. Where’d it go? Or was that a bald-faced election-rigging lie too?

    “proceeded to read into the congressional record numerous conspiracy theories proffered by Steele, all of which are false.”

    Well in his defense, everything he’s said in the last 20 years has been false. …And most of the Congressional Record. Just as CIA director Casey planned.

    Schiff Wants Witnesses, Documents Introduced in Senate Impeachment Trial (CNN)”

    As I say every day, I have no idea what they’re thinking. The House is going to run the Senate’s trial, tell McConnell who he can talk to, who someone’s personal private lawyer can talk to, and run the Executive branch too. …And they STILL have less overreach than the U.K. Supreme Court. Anyway, I expect the Senate will respectfully disagree.

    Now on the (non) charges they haven’t passed as more Congressmen keep fleeing the party, they’ve got trouble. Obstruction is already a process crime, but let’s look into it: the House demanded oversight. The Executive said they had no purview, and worse, no committee. What should happen? Well, the present cases started BEFORE the House had even authorized an investigation, so that’s clearly a problem. Worse, WHEN the House and Executive have a disagreement about what’s authorized, they send it to the Supreme Court, which tells them who’s who. If the Executive refuses, THEN he obstructs Congress. Before then, they’re just talking. So that part stinks too, and it IS going to the Supreme Court on expedited basis, as it fully should. But they’re really, REALLY jumping the gun. I’m mean, they’re saying the government can’t legally even internally talk to itself. If you ASK THE QUESTION, you will be impeached. But that’s pretty normal. That’s all Trump did about Ukraine. “Hey there are questions here, can you tell me what’s going on? Make something up.” Nope. Opinions are treason. Minions only obey.

    Schumer Wants Mulvaney, Bolton, Others to Testify in Impeachment Trial (R.)”

    Apparently we’re having a trial??? We haven’t even had a vote. That’s how rushed and foregone it is. And why? Still don’t know, but they clearly have a clock I don’t know about. I assume the DNC primary, not that it makes any difference as they have no candidates but 10 Corbyns. = Politics, not law.

    “China Must Buy Crazy Amount of Farm Goods to Meet Phase One Deal Demand (CNBC)”

    NBC didn’t get the memo that there is more to the agreement than Ag.

    In prisons, yes it would be three states, those three states are less than 10 U.S. cities (200k/pc). This is one reason that adding a million people a year is an issue – it’s larger vote than all bottom 7 states – but also that the States should be pre-eminent (and legally are), because life in Wyoming is somewhat different than life in Staten Island and needs substantially different customs and rules. If you try it — as they have to 50 years — they will rebel. Which is the plan. See Virginia.

    Certainly I don’t know about a quid pro quo impeachment. –Hey isn’t that illegal? It makes sense, but how do you expect to clean up dozens of people who, left alone, will continue sedition and kill every member of Trump’s family when he leaves? Seems there are issues. The Senate is the place to air things, not to say that it won’t be a Warren Commission; it usually (always) is.

    #52165
    zerosum
    Participant

    Horowitz’s report
    Conclusions:

    There is no proof of wrong doing – Biden
    At the time, we did not know – democrats

    • An Apology to Carter Page (Jonathan Turley)
    • James Comey Admits He Was Wrong for Defending FBI’s FISA Process (ET)
    • ‘You Need Rehabilitation’: Nunes Letter Dismantles Schiff (ZH)
    ——-
    Time to rename, rededicate, retools, repurpose, into suicide bombers drones
    • Boeing Nears Decision On Cutting Or Even Halting 737 MAX Production (CNBC)
    ——
    Impossible ….. blackmailed by the state of Israel ….. its only quid-pro-quo …../s

    • Former Spy Details Israel’s Main Motive Behind Recruiting Epstein (Webb)

    #52166
    Maxwell Quest
    Participant

    Many of us smelled a rat as soon as Hillary started floating the “Russian asset” “Putin’s pocket” story before the election, then desperately attempted to overturn the ballot results by inciting the electoral college to switch their votes. All this done with the full cooperation of the media and their govt partner agencies.

    And what happened when we attempted to question this hastily constructed narrative among family, friends, or acquaintance? Indicating that it was unsupported by evidence and looked very much like a state-sponsored domestic coup? Well, we were shouted down with the most red-faced, mouth-foaming, emotional outbursts. Condemned for being out-of-touch, blind, Trump lovers, Russian stooges, traitors, fascists, idiots, fools!

    Then came the Mueller report… crickets! The Horowitz report… crickets! And I will make a prediction: The Barr-Durham report… crickets! I’m still waiting for my apologies, how about you?

    #52167
    Dr. D
    Participant

    Covering a little Greta today, headlines all over, “Greenland losing billions and billions (and billions and billions) in ice!!! Visit now, before it melts away!!! Example: “Greenland’s ice sheet melting seven times faster than in 1990s” https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/dec/10/greenland-ice-sheet-melting-seven-times-faster-than-in-1990s

    As you can see from this chart, via Science!™:
    Chart
    https://i2.wp.com/polarportal.dk/fileadmin/polarportal/surface/SMB_curves_LA_EN_20191202.png?w=640

    That’s right! There’s nothing whatsoever on this perfectly normal chart, but you wouldn’t know that from the headlines! Remember kids, without that Carbon Taxing and the fraud we can layer on it, we can’t replace our rapidly-failing, compounding-debt currency ($500B in the next 15 days) with a new insider-billionaire slave plantation! Just as outlined by the Technocrats in the 1930’s. And just as they call them Technocrats today.

    In fact: “Despite decades of doom-and-gloom prophecies, Greenland’s Ice Sheet is currently GAINING monster amounts of snow — 14 gigatons over the past 2 days alone (Dec 01 – Dec 02).” https://electroverse.net/greenlands-smb-gained-14-gigatons-over-the-past-2-days/

    But maybe just there, maybe back to the 90s??? Nope:

    Total
    https://i0.wp.com/electroverse.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/fmi_swe_tracker-Dec-01.jpg?resize=768%2C576&ssl=1

    I wouldn’t go nuts: confirming these trends takes time, but after 20 years of little increase, despite total non-stop CO2 with basically nobody curtailing anything, we may have leveled a substantial broadside to the AGW argument.

    But Greta says you have to travel around the world in first class, several times, using as much energy as poor rural people do in a year if you really, really care. I’m sure she’ll sell one of her $10,000 armchairs and send it to me so I can sail to Madrid and Euro around Europe just like her, poor soul. But when you permanently skip school at the age of 15, it’s generally accepted you’re not up to speed on these things.

    Okay, so if it’s not AGW because after 30 years it isn’t tracking CO2 emissions, how did it suddenly get warmer then suddenly stop? Not just here but on all planets in our solar system? Why was it colder and warmer before with uncorrelated levels of CO2? Could it be the sun? As predicted in the 70’s, and this heavy new control measure was put in place as a response?

    #52168
    Dr. D
    Participant

    Now I forgot my whole point:

    “Over 250 news outlets and journalists partnered with Columbia University School of Journalism’s flagship magazine to shape control of “climate crisis” coverage in the lead up to the United Nations climate conference. The coverage-coordination initiative included directing how much time, space and prominence should be devoted to the coverage, and asking that climate “news” be added to seemingly unrelated stories.

    “The Guardian: We Make S–t Up!”

    #52169
    Turfkiller
    Participant

    All the Automatic Russian Earth Talking points got their butt handed to them in the trial of Michael Flynn.

    “Judge denies Michael Flynn’s demands in blistering order — and finally sets a sentencing date”

    Judge denies Michael Flynn’s demands in blistering order — and finally sets a sentencing date

    #52170
    John Day
    Participant

    Ilargi, I was spooked at first, wondering how you knew Charles Hugh Smith was the “Charles” who had sent me the healthy food story (Insulin Resistance is Futile), above. Then I saw you were referring to an article of his, and yes, you two mostly agree, as do I with both of you.
    As to Pelosi and McConnel making a deal, it was a couple of months ago, not just recently. Remember when Pelosi was so against impeachment, as well she should be, knowing what “discovery” would ultimately bring, then she was OK with impeachment, because Nancy and Mitch made a deal that would let both parties look heroic to their bases, with hidden limits placed on any real risk of massive loss.

    #52173
    WES
    Participant

    I once lived in northern Labrador. My Father was a mining engineer working in the iron ore mines there.

    One day he was called to the pit. A shovel operator had uncovered a large amount of petrified wood.

    It was from tropical trees and plants. I remember as a kid spraying shelack on the samples in my Father’s office so they wouldn’t dry out. One sample was a very pretty fern leaf.

    Winter lasts 9 months there. It is just south of the tree line.

    And to think at one time it was a tropical paradise!

    It is very interesting how the global warming crowd conveniently ignores the history of the earth stored in it’s rocks. As my Father always said. The earth has warmed and cooled millions of times in it’s billion year plus history!

    #52174
    WES
    Participant

    I hope nobody is expecting justice to occur for those exposed in the deep states coup of President Trump.

    With the appointment of AG Barr, the deep state’s Gang of 8 has ensured no one will be held accountable.

    Now we are told by Barr to expect a report from Durham by next summer! That means no indictments!

    See how that works!

    #52175

    All the Automatic Russian Earth Talking points got their butt handed to them in the trial of Michael Flynn.

    As nonsensical -and untrue- as this is, it’s also funny, granted. Unfortunately, we don’t have the infrastructure to maintain separate Automatic American Earth, Automatic European Earth, Automatic Chinese Earth etc. sites.

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