Dec 172019
 
 December 17, 2019  Posted by at 10:38 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , ,


Dorothea Lange “Men on ‘Skid Row’, Modesto, California” 1937

 

Boeing Crisis Escalates As Planemaker Halts 737 Production (R.)
Judge Denies Flynn’s Requests for Exculpatory Information, Case Dismissal (ET)
What Everyone is Missing About the Afghanistan Papers (TMU)
Chinese Crypto Scammers Helped Inspire Recent Bitcoin Market Carnage (ZH)
College Enrollment Skids 8th Year in a Row, But Student Loans Skyrocket (WS)
Erdogan Threatens To Recognise Killings Of Native Americans As Genocide (Ind.)
Kudlow: US-China Deal ‘Absolutely’ Done, US Exports To China Will Double (R.)
Sacklers Took $11 Billion Out Of Purdue Pharma As Opioid Crisis Worsened (AP)
Assange Extradition Fight Could Turn On Reports He Was Spied On For CIA (G.)
Doctors Ask Government To Evacuate Assange To An Australian Hospital (SMH)

 

 

Almost no Russia/Ukrainegate today! Just a little Michael Flynn.

We’ll havt to do with Boeing, which suspended its production of … what exactly. Below is a Reuters article which I picked up late yesterday. Ita talks about 737 production being suspended, not just 737 MAX. At that same URL, a different headline and article today, which says:

Boeing’s 737 Crisis Deepens As Production Stops For First Time In Two Decades
Boeing Co said on Monday it would suspend production of its best-selling 737 MAX jetliner in January, its biggest assembly-line halt in more than 20 years, as fallout from two fatal crashes of the now-grounded aircraft drags into 2020.

Not sure what this means. Did they cut only MAX, or all models? Or was MAX the only model they were still producing? There is one other model: “Boeing said it will continue P8 production of the military version of the 737.”

Boeing Crisis Escalates As Planemaker Halts 737 Production (R.)

Boeing Co is temporarily halting 737 production in January for the first time in more than 20 years as the grounding of the planemaker’s best-selling MAX after two fatal crashes looks set to last well into 2020. Boeing, which builds the 737 south of Seattle, said it will not lay off any employees during the production freeze, though the move could have repercussions across its global supply chain and the U.S. economy. The decision, made by Boeing’s board after a two-day meeting in Chicago, follows news last week that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) would not approve the plane’s return to service before 2020.


[..] Until now Boeing has continued to produce 737 MAX jets at a rate of 42 per month and purchase parts from suppliers at a rate of up to 52 units per month, even though deliveries are frozen until regulators approve the aircraft to fly commercially again. Halting production will ease a severe squeeze on cash tied up in roughly 375 undelivered planes, but only at the risk of causing industrial problems when Boeing tries to return to normal, industry sources said. Supply chains are already under strain due to record demand and abrupt changes in factory speed can cause snags. In 1997, Boeing announced a hit of $2.6 billion including hundreds of millions to deal with factory inefficiencies after it was forced to suspend output of its 737 and 747 lines due to supply chain problems. Boeing said it will continue P8 production of the military version of the 737.

Read more …

A judge refusing access to evidence for the lawyer of an accused is always suspicious. And will be overruled by a next court. Flynn said he didn’t discuss -or didn’t recall it because he talked with so many people at the time- Obama’s expulsion of Russian diplomats in late December 2016, with Kislyak. He did tell him Russia should lay low until Trump became president. It was his job at the time to talk to people. The judge says the FBI had “sufficient and appropriate basis” to interview Flynn because the FBI was investigating the Trump campaign. But that is the same basis that Horowitz has called into serious question.

Judge Denies Flynn’s Requests for Exculpatory Information, Case Dismissal (ET)

A federal judge has denied requests by Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn to prompt the government to give him information he deems exculpatory and to dismiss the case against him. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan sided with the government in arguing that Flynn was already given all the information to which he was entitled. The judge also dismissed Flynn’s allegations of government misconduct, noting that Flynn already pleaded guilty to his crime and failed to raise his objections earlier when some of the issues he now complains about were brought to his attention. “The sworn statements of Mr. Flynn and his former counsel belie his new claims of innocence and his new assertions that he was pressured into pleading guilty,” Sullivan said in his Dec. 16 opinion.

Flynn, former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, pleaded guilty on Nov. 30, 2017, to one count of lying to the FBI. He’s been expected to receive a light sentence, including no prison time, after extensively cooperating with the government on multiple investigations. In June, he fired his lawyers and hired former federal prosecutor Sidney Powell, who has since accused the government of misconduct, particularly of withholding exculpatory information or providing it late. Powell has argued that Flynn’s previous lawyers had a conflict of interest because they testified in a related case against Flynn’s former business partner. Flynn had previously told the court he would keep the lawyers despite the conflict, but Powell said prosecutors should have asked the judge to dismiss the lawyers anyway.

Sullivan disagreed, saying Flynn failed to show a precedent that the prosecutors had that obligation. Powell also said the government had no proper reason to investigate Flynn in the first place and that it had set up an “ambush interview” with the intention of making Flynn say something it could allege was false. Sullivan disagreed again and said that previously, with the advice of his former lawyers, Flynn never “challenged the conditions of his FBI interview.”

The prosecutors argued that the FBI had a “sufficient and appropriate basis” for the interview because Flynn days earlier told members of the Trump campaign, including soon-to-be Vice President Mike Pence, that he didn’t discuss with the Russian ambassador the expulsion of Russian diplomats in late December 2016 by then-President Barack Obama. Flynn later admitted in his statement of offense that he asked, via Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergei Kislyak, for Russia to only respond to the sanctions in a reciprocal manner and not escalate the situation. The FBI was at the time investigating whether Trump campaign aides coordinated with Russian 2016 election meddling.

Read more …

Where is the outrage? h/t Tyler

What Everyone is Missing About the Afghanistan Papers (TMU)

If you need more proof that lawmakers in the U.S. couldn’t care less about America’s woeful commitment to human rights abroad—or even care about the public who vote them into office—look no further than the recent Afghanistan papers and the reaction to the publications from Congress. According to the Washington Post, the outlet had obtained 2,000 pages of notes from interviews with more than 400 generals, diplomats, and other officials directly involved in the war. The documents showed that U.S. officials were lying about the progress being made in Afghanistan, lacked a basic understanding of Afghanistan, were hiding unmistakable evidence that the war had become unwinnable, and wasted close to $1 trillion in the process.

Barely a few hours following the Post’s publication, Congress rewarded the Pentagon for its stellar efforts with a $22 billion budget increase. How can we as a society justify this? One stand-out statistic—among the many concerning ones—is the fact that before the U.S. invasion the Taliban had almost completely put to bed Afghanistan’s illicit opium trade. Since the U.S. invasion, combined with $9 billion in U.S. funding for anti-opium programs, the Taliban is not only stronger than it ever was but sits cemented in a country that now supplies 80 percent of the world’s opium. I can’t help but think this was done on purpose.

Still, it would be worth re-thinking our outrage over the Afghanistan papers and determining what exactly it is we are outraged about. Are we simply angry because top U.S. officials lied to us about the fact they weren’t winning the war, making it a less worthwhile venture? If the U.S. were winning the war, spending $1 trillion in the process, killing record numbers of civilians, ramping up night raids to terrorize local populations, committing war crimes left right and center, would that suddenly make it all okay? As long as the war is being won, right? The truth is, like most wars the U.S. finds itself prosecuting; this was yet another war based entirely on lies and misconceptions—right from the outset.

As Marjorie Cohn, professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law and president of the National Lawyers Guild famously said: “The UN Charter is a treaty ratified by the United States and thus part of U.S. law. Under the charter, a country can use armed force against another country only in self-defense or when the Security Council approves. Neither of those conditions was met before the United States invaded Afghanistan. The Taliban did not attack us on 9/11. Nineteen men—15 from Saudi Arabia—did, and there was no imminent threat that Afghanistan would attack the U.S. or another UN member country. The council did not authorize the United States or any other country to use military force against Afghanistan. The U.S. war in Afghanistan is illegal.” If that was the case in 2001, how this war has continued for close to another two decades begins to beggar belief.

Read more …

Below $7,000.

Chinese Crypto Scammers Helped Inspire Recent Bitcoin Market Carnage (ZH)

If you’re hoping to make money shorting bitcoin this holiday season, you might be in luck: Analysts say the price of a bitcoin is set to fall even further as the perpetrators of a massive Chinese crypto scheme dump their ill-gotten gains. Several of the participants in the $2 billion PlusToken scheme are dumping crypto from anonymous accounts. The sales are believed to be the reason fro bitcoin’s 50% drop since its peak in late June, which was around the time that some of the perpetrators of PlusToken were arrested in China. Unfortunately, Chinese authorities didn’t manage to nab them all, and a team of analysts at the blockchain consultancy Chainalysis are warning that the fallout isn’t over yet, according to Bloomberg.

“The largest cryptocurrency is likely to remain under pressure as perpetrators of the estimated more than $2 billion PlusToken scandal dump coins to cash out, the New York-based firm said Monday in the wake of a five-month investigation that continues to track the tokens as they filter through various blockchain ledgers. Bitcoin has tumbled almost 50% from its 2019 peak in late June, when Chinese authorities arrested multiple suspects in the pyramid scheme that promised returns as high as 600% and guaranteed that investors would be rewarded for inviting new members. Since that time, market observers have often pointed to possible sales tied to PlusToken suspects not in custody as one of many reasons for price declines.”

According to Chainalysis, PlusToken conspirators have already sold 25,000 bitcoins, and it’s believed another 20,000 (worth nearly $142 million at current prices). The coins are spread across some 8,700 anonymous bitcoin wallets.

Read more …

Fewer students, more debt. Number of male students plummets much faster than female. Does this look healthy to you?

College Enrollment Skids 8th Year in a Row, But Student Loans Skyrocket (WS)

With college costs blowing through the roof, with “luxury student housing” and not so luxury “student housing” having become asset classes – including, of course, CMBS, now in rough waters – for global investors, with textbook publishers gouging students to the nth degree, and with the monetary value of higher education questioned in more and more corners, the inevitable happened once again: College enrollment dropped for the eighth year in a row. The post-secondary student headcount – undergraduate and graduate students combined – in the fall semester of 2019 fell 1.3% from the fall semester last year, or by over 231,000 students to 17.97 million students, according to the Student Clearing House today. In the fall of 2011, the peak year, 20.14 million students had been enrolled. Since then, enrollment has dropped by 10.8%, or by 2.17 million students:

This is based on enrollment data submitted to the Student Clearing House by the schools. It does not include international students, which account for just under 5% of total student enrollment in the US. Duplicate headcounts – one student enrolled in two institutions – are removed from the data to eliminate double-counting. The 10.8% decline in enrollment since 2011 comes even as student loan balances have surged 74% over the same period, from $940 billion to $1.64 trillion:

[..] Women by far outnumbered men in total enrollment in the fall semester of 2019 with 10.63 million women enrolled and just 7.61 million men, meaning that overall there are now 40% more women in college than men: • At public four-year schools, there were 30% more women (4.51 million) than men (3.48 million) • At private non-profit four-year schools, there were 50% more women (2.32 million) than men (1.54 million) • At private for-profit four-year schools, there were more than twice as many woman (508,000) than men (241,000). • At public two-year schools, there were 38% more women (3.11 million) than men (2.26 million). Over the past three years, enrollment has declined for both men and women, but faster for men (-5.2%) than for women (-1.4%). Since 2011, enrollment has declined by 13% for men and by 9.4% for women.

Read more …

Estimates vary, but it appears that Europe’s total population in 1500 was some 60 million. North America’s was 50 million.

Erdogan Threatens To Recognise Killings Of Native Americans As Genocide (Ind.)

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to recognise the killing of Native Americans at the hand of European settlers in a tit-for-tat attack on Washington’s decision to rebuke Ankara for the Armenian genocide. The US Senate voted in favour of recognising the genocide last week, a move initially stalled by Republicans at the urging of Donald Trump – who had been due to meet with the Turkish leader at the time. However, with the bill now passed, Mr Erdogan has threatened to respond by recognising US killings of Native Americans – saying the deaths of millions of indigenous people at the hands of European settlers should also be viewed as a genocide.

Speaking on the pro-government A Haber news channel, he said: “We should oppose [the US] by reciprocating such decisions in parliament. And that is what we will do. “Can we speak about America without mentioning [Native Americans]? It is a shameful moment in US history” Around 1.5 million ethnic Armenians were killed by modern-day Turkey’s predecessor, the Ottoman Empire, in the early 20th century. But Turkey denies the killings amounted to genocide, instead marking up the deaths of Armenians and Turks as the consequences of the ongoing war. It claims a lower death toll of hundreds of thousands. While the ramifications of the US legislation are largely symbolic, its timing and the targeting of a sore spot for the Turkish state have been seen by many as a direct challenge to the Middle Eastern country’s foreign policy.

A University College London team estimates that 55 million indigenous people died following the conquest of the Americas that began at the end of the 15th century. The majority of these deaths are believed to have been caused by disease – with indigenous people unable to build immunities to diseases that had never previously crossed over the Atlantic to the Americas. War, slavery and displacement also contributed to the decline of indigenous populations.

Read more …

Yes, Larry. Of course, Larry.

Kudlow: US-China Deal ‘Absolutely’ Done, US Exports To China Will Double (R.)

The so-called Phase One trade deal between Washington and Beijing has been “absolutely completed,” a top White House adviser said on Monday, adding that U.S. exports to China will double under the agreement. “They’re … going to double our exports to China,” National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow told Fox News Channel. Under the trade agreement announced last week, Washington will reduce some tariffs on Chinese imports in exchange for Chinese purchases of agricultural, manufactured and energy products increasing by about $200 billion over the next two years.


While U.S. officials have touted the deal, Chinese officials have been more cautious, emphasizing that the trade dispute has not been completely settled. “Make no mistake about it: the deal is done, the deal is completed,” Kudlow later told reporters at the White House. “The deal is absolutely completed.” Asked if officials still planned to sign the deal the first week of January, Kudlow said: “That’s the hope.” Translations were still being worked out but he did not expect any changes to the final Phase One agreement, he added.

Read more …

“The Sacklers pocketed billions of dollars from Purdue while thousands of people died from their addictive drugs. This is the very definition of ill-gotten gains..”

“The company says the family may back out if lawsuits against family members are allowed to proceed.”

Put them in jail pending trial.

Sacklers Took $11 Billion Out Of Purdue Pharma As Opioid Crisis Worsened (AP)

The wealthy owners of OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma started taking far more money out of the company after it was fined for misleading marketing of the powerful prescription painkiller. A court filing made by the company Monday evening shows Purdue made payments totaling $10.7 billion from 2008 through 2017 for the benefit of members of the Sackler family who own the company. That includes taxes and other payments. Family members received $4.1 billion in cash over that period. By contrast, distributions for the benefit of family members from 1995 through 2007 totaled $1.3 billion. The total amount family members received from the company was made public in an October filing, but the new report offers new details on when the money was distributed.

“Today’s report confirms what we revealed in our lawsuit: The Sacklers pocketed billions of dollars from Purdue while thousands of people died from their addictive drugs. This is the very definition of ill-gotten gains,” Massachusetts’ Maura Healey, the first attorney general to sue Sackler family members, said in a statement. The Sacklers’ wealth has received intense scrutiny from Healey and 23 other states’ attorneys general, who are objecting to a plan to settle about 2,700 lawsuits against Purdue over the toll of opioids, including those filed by nearly every state.

The objecting attorneys general say that the settlement does not do enough to hold the family accountable for an opioid crisis linked to more than 400,000 deaths in the U.S. since 2000. The settlement calls for the family to contribute at least $3 billion in cash over time and give up control of the company. In all, the plan could be worth up to $12 billion over time. But the offer comes with a major catch: The company says the family may back out if lawsuits against family members are allowed to proceed. They are all on hold for now as the company’s settlement efforts play out in bankruptcy court.

Read more …

The Guardian reporting on Assange. Forever tainted.

Assange Extradition Fight Could Turn On Reports He Was Spied On For CIA (G.)

Julian Assange’s fight against extradition to the US could last years, and his argument could hinge on reports he has been illegally spied upon and his sensitive information given to the CIA. Meanwhile, more than 100 doctors from across the world have written to the Australian government, urging it to act and “protect the life of its citizen”, in a letter to be delivered to the foreign affairs minister on Tuesday, amid warnings Assange’s health continues to deteriorate. A judicial investigation by the Audiencia Nacional in Spain, the country’s national court, is acting on allegations that while Assange held asylum inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London, the Wikileaks founder was spied on, listened to and had his computer data scraped and that this information was sold to US intelligence agencies.

Speaking to the International Law Association in Sydney, Guy Goodwin-Gill, a professor of law at the University of New South Wales who has provided advice on asylum issues to the Assange legal team, said Assange’s fight against extradition would be a long contest and that allegations he was being spied on would likely form part of legal arguments he could not receive a fair trial in the US. Assange is currently being held in London’s Belmarsh prison, ahead of an extradition hearing that will begin in February. A US grand jury has indicted him on 18 charges – 17 of which fall under the Espionage Act – around conspiracy to receive, obtaining and disclosing classified diplomatic and military documents.

[..] medical doctors have banded together to urge authorities to halt any extradition plans, as well as urgently release him for medical care outside of the prison. “That we, as doctors, feel ethically compelled to hold governments to account on medical grounds speaks volumes about the gravity of the medical, ethical and human rights travesties that are taking place,” their letter, seen by the Guardian, states. “It is an extremely serious matter for an Australian citizen’s survival to be endangered by a foreign government obstructing his human right to health. It is an even more serious matter for that citizen’s own government to refuse to intervene, against historical precedent and numerous converging lines of medical advice.”

A group of Australian MPs from across party lines have gathered to discuss what can be done for Assange, with hopes of meeting with him in Belmarsh ahead of his extradition hearing.

Read more …

You’ve had many years to do this. Where were you?

Doctors Ask Government To Evacuate Assange To An Australian Hospital (SMH)

A group of doctors has asked Foreign Minister Marise Payne to evacuate Julian Assange to an Australian hospital amid claims the WikiLeaks founder’s health is rapidly deteriorating and that he “might die” in a London prison. Detailing allegations of “psychological torture” inflicted on Assange during efforts to extradite the 48-year-old to the United States, 100 medical doctors have urged Senator Payne and Prime Minister Scott Morrison to intervene. “It is an extremely serious matter for an Australian citizen’s survival to be endangered by a foreign government obstructing his human right to health,” the doctors say in a letter.

“It is an even more serious matter for that citizen’s own government to refuse to intervene, against historical precedent and numerous converging lines of medical advice. “Should Mr Assange die in a British prison, people will want to know what you, minister, did to prevent his death.” While the Australian government is highly unlikely to ask the UK government for permission to bring Assange home, there are concerns within some members of the Coalition about the asserted deterioration of his health in the months since he has been imprisoned in Belmarsh Prison on the outskirts of London. Doctors have said Assange is suffering from depression, dental issues and a serious shoulder ailment.

[..] “The term psychological torture is not a synonym for mere hardship, suffering or distress,” they said. “Psychological torture involves extreme mental, emotional and physical harm, which over time causes severe damage and disintegration of a number of critical psychological functions, involving emotions, cognitions, identity and interpersonal functioning.” They warned the physical effects of psychological torture caused susceptibility to a range of illnesses and diseases, including cancer and cardiovascular disease. “The potentially fatal medical consequences of prolonged psychological torture are inherently unpredictable, and could strike at any time. Accordingly, no doctor, no matter how senior, can offer any legitimate assurances regarding Julian Assange’s survival or medical stability while he continues to be held in Belmarsh Prison.”

Read more …

 

 

 

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Home Forums Debt Rattle December 17 2019

Viewing 16 posts - 1 through 16 (of 16 total)
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  • #52183

    Dorothea Lange “Men on ‘Skid Row’, Modesto, California” 1937   • Boeing Crisis Escalates As Planemaker Halts 737 Production (R.) • Judge Denies F
    [See the full post at: Debt Rattle December 17 2019]

    #52184
    absolute galore
    Participant

    I appreciate your mostly excellent aggregation of alternative news, as well as your justifiable criticism of mainstream media sources. That’s why it’s disheartening to see you throw up the end graphic, which appears to have zero substance. The only function it serves (unless you have reporting to back it up?) is to undermine your entire body of work here, by indulging in exactly the kind of misrepresentation and false information you accuse others of.
    https://www.politifact.com/facebook-fact-checks/statements/2019/oct/10/facebook-posts/pelosi-romney-and-kerry-dont-have-sons-working-com/

    I’m not saying this source is unbiased, but it certainly seems to debunk your graphic information, and unless you have something to back yours up to the extent that the politifact site has, you are spreading misinformation at best with this.

    #52185
    Dr. D
    Participant

    Looks positively wonderful, men clean and ready for work, well-kept buildings open for business. Here’s Skid Row today:
    Skid
    https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/391ee94/2147483647/strip/true/crop/800×450+0+0/resize/840×473!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fa6%2F8c%2F15089041ae15d6f71e08efa0b6da%2Fla-1560377368-mj67sxkra5-snap-image

    Our favorite Cait, on Jess Phillips, category: “that is not suspicious at all”:
    https://medium.com/@caityjohnstone/hot-mic-moment-exposes-insane-sleaziness-of-british-political-media-class-909bd4980ba2
    “Jess it’s just that you look very emotional, and we know you, we know you’re a normal, sane person, so it’s very confusing,” host Katherine Ryan bullshitted…”

    Yes, we usually have to say, “Hi! This is my friend Bob (comma) not a psychopath, but a normal, sane person like you and me.” A bit offputting, you think? Oh by the way, this was the media that was supposedly – and suddenly – anti Labour, and somehow suddenly, after 100 years of the BBC, pro-Johnson. Sure they were. Just like here, everyone knows the media is all pro-Trump.

    However, Cait’s article does point up where the Corbyn smears were coming from, since the British media wouldn’t listen to or give any Tory from coast to coast (i.e. now proven to be the British electorate) the time of day: the smears were coming from the LEFT, from backstabbing in his own party, not the right.

    “Phillips’ hot mic moment, and the mad scramble of the show’s perception-managing pundits to clean it up, provides us with a brief glimpse behind the phony persona that the empire’s political/media class put on for us”

    Indeed.

    Judge Denies Flynn’s Requests for Exculpatory Information, Case Dismissal (ET)”

    Well that’s pretty amazing that it’s making people cheerful to know that the prosecutors can withhold all evidence – officially – in coordination with the judge, which is contrary to 230 years of U.S. law. And people LIKE it when the accused is denied available evidence. How odd. Well, until you’re the one in the defense chair of course, then it’s like “How dare they! Muh Civil Rights wuz wronged!” I’ll just say that now, for all accused, who are presumed innocent, have access to lawyers, and by which under our system have access to all, ALL, of the prosecution’s evidence, ESPECIALLY the exculpatory parts. Those are the only ones that matter. Like Free speech, it’s only speech you don’t like, that’s hurtful, damaging, or anti-government that needs protection. Nope. We only like it when the accused do NOT have evidence, and the people have the right to do exactly what the government says.

    What Everyone is Missing About the Afghanistan Papers (TMU)”

    These papers are hilarious and should be the preview shown before every action-packed, flag-waving special Ops movie. “We had no idea what we were doing.” and “We were devoid of a fundamental understanding of Afghanistan.”
    “There was no NATO campaign plan . . . I tried to get someone to define what winning meant, even before I went over, and nobody could.”
    “Truth was rarely welcome . . . There was more room to share bad news if it was small — we’re running over kids with our [armored vehicles] . . .”
    ““If the American people knew the magnitude of this dysfunction . . . 2,400 lives lost. Who will say this was in vain?”

    Yet they didn’t stop. But why? Why if it wasn’t working and they knew it? Quote: “Another source reports that the level of graft and corruption is “fatal” to our chances.”

    Yes, fatal for the chances of people in Flint to get fresh water. But not fatal to the war machine and its profits at all. They are defended with “full faith and confidence” to this day, and we are still there, funneling that corruption to Rumsfeld’s pals. Here’s a quote: “The UN Charter is a treaty ratified by the United States and thus part of U.S. law. Under the charter, a country can use armed force against another country only in self-defense or when the Security Council approves. Neither of those conditions was met… The U.S. war in Afghanistan is illegal.

    And the U.N. wholeheartedly approves! No fake OPCW reports floated to slow US down! No sirree, quite the contrary, they create reports to speed us up! More beautiful bombs! Moar war! What was it 135 fake gas attack reports, one a week and twice in March and April? Thanks U.N., now I know why you’re a joke throughout the solar system, and we stopped funding you. YOU are the world’s pro-war machine. Right behind us and NATO, and against the American people, who have voted against it every time for 30 years with Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama, and now Trump.

    Chinese Crypto Scammers Helped Inspire Recent Bitcoin Market Carnage (ZH)”

    It’s pretty hard to tell since, like all other exchanges on planet earth, the crypto exchanges don’t sell or trade real on-chain bitcoins. Like all other markets: stock, bond, commodity, they sell unattached synthetic derivatives, probably hypothecated 300:1. But hey, if no one minds, the “Truth is in the math” folks are on board, who am I to ask for truth and legal accounting? So old-fashioned to actually have the product you’re selling.

    40% more women in college than men”

    Aside from what that means to supposed sexism and wage-gaps, or indications of total collapse of men’s prospects, I would suggest this means nobody’s getting married anytime soon, or ever. You would be assuming the woman’s larger, un-defaultable student debt, which is akin to financial malfeasance and would be crippling your children. If you married her, you should probably go to jail for child abuse. Oh and as I say every day, also totally illegal: option for bankruptcy is in the Constitution. Thanks Clinton! That and Glass-Steagal, you’re a pal! AND China WTO, AND mass incarceration of ‘Superpredators’, AND…

    Erdogan Threatens to Recognise Killings of Native Americans as Genocide (Ind.)”

    I thought everyone already recognized this. My bad. It’s reality, so clearly we have to pretend the #OppositeLand. Oh, newsflash to all you other peoples on planet earth: at some point in the past YOUR country committed genocide too. That’s how they got the land and exist today. Don’t believe me: go read some books and take a look. Also, like slavery, that was over 100 years ago: can I be worried about the slavery and genocide going on in Libya, Yemen, and Ukraine now?

    Sacklers Took $11 Billion Out of Purdue Pharma as Opioid Crisis Worsened (AP)

    Great story, bro. Nice to find a fall guy and cover for the real crime: How did the Sackler’s situation get so SO far out of line that it’s headlines in a lawsuit? Funny, ‘cause I thought opioids were all furiously overseen by government. I thought the AMA and Pharmacists kept records. I thought local law enforcement, Mueller’s FBI might take notice of 30,000 people dying and 100 prescriptions per person going through multiple towns of 2,000. I thought someone might notice when no less than three of the largest shows on streaming covered this: Narcos, Breaking Bad, and Ozark. For 20 years straight I can get needed drugs cheaper and easier down the street than from my doctor. But nobody knows a god d—ned thing. Funny ol’ world. Nope! It’s the Sacklers. The government will stop them there baddies. Trust us.

    What are the odds that, after pumping in $5B+ into Ukraine, to (illegally) use direct deadly violence to topple a sovereign government, as a war crime in direct defiance of the U.N., their treaties, and an open war crime, they worked for Ukraine, openly stealing 100% of their gold, breaking up the cashola and funneling it back out through their family via a deep web of money laundering, as the checks, banks, and organizations involved were revealed yesterday? About 100%. There’d be no point in toppling the government and killing all those people otherwise is there? “Why do you rob banks?” “It’s where the money is.” –Willie Sutton. See above. This is HOW GOVERNMENTS ACT. De-fund them to a minimum and minimize the mischief and murder they can get up to.

    Nope! The answer is more government. That’ll fix it but good.

    #52186

    Yeah, no, I didn’t check that pic. I don’t think one can easily overestimate what a cesspool Ukraine is, and how Americans have taken advantage of that. So I don’t feel really shy about using it.

    I do know that Kerry’s stepson Chris Heinz owns, with Hunter Biden, Seneca partners, which is certainly linked to Ukraine. No time to check the others right now. Checking these things has become so much harder anyway; Google only returns MSM. What I can see is Romney’s former chief adviser was on the board of Burisma (granted, not a child) before he moved on to Blackwater, and Nancy Pelosi’s son Paul imports Ukrainian oil. So, two out of three, three out of 4 with Hunter, are children linked to Ukraine, and the odd one out, Romney chief adviser, was on Burisma’s board.

    I’m not sure that qualifies as misinformation, even if they didn’t “work for” Ukraine gas companies. If Giuliani has done a proper job, we could see what’s really been going on. Not sure he’ll be allowed though.

    Tons of links here.

    #52187
    Rayner86
    Participant

    The graphic, while only partially correct, does point to the conflicting interests of the pictured parties. Pelosi and Biden’s sons were associated with Gas companies in Ukraine. Mitt Romney’s top aide from the 2012 campaign is on the board for Burisma, and Chris Heinz co-owned Rosemont Capital ( a multi-billion dollar hedge fund) with Hunter Biden until 2014 nypost.com/2018/03/15/inside-the-shady-private-equity-firm-run-by-kerry-and-bidens-kids/). The 4 Ps of corruption are present in spades: Preference, Power, Privilege and Payments. The key is this kind of corruption happens out of sight and is not talked about in the political establishment because most of them engage in it. An outsider who can’t keep his mouth shut is a threat to everybody’s gravy train, so they take a page out of Karl Marx’s book “Accuse Your Enemy Of What You Are Doing, As You Are Doing It To Create Confusion”. The graphic is not 100% correct but isn’t 100% wrong.

    #52189
    Dr. D
    Participant

    What would be the point of having illegal war crimes and illegally funding a coup in Ukraine if not for money and power? Out of the goodness of their hearts?

    A corollary is what good is it to own a media company if not to lie, and to take money and power from others to lie on their behalf? For the 2% profit margin, if any? Please. It’s a big club and you ain’t in it. You’re on the receiving end of the club.

    Don’t carry water for these provable-war-crimes psychopaths. Don’t be partisan either: we’re picking on these four, and rightfully so; what’s Kushner been up to lately? Having Israel insiders pay off his multi-billion dollar crappy business decisions? Not a word. Sauce for goose but not gander. Investigate your guy for years forever, but don’t even ASK questions about my guy. Fire them all, but as we ourselves no longer have morality, we now beg for a iron king to rule us, to tell us what is true, what our eyes see, so we can say, “Yes sir! I believe only you sir! You’re the greatest, sir!” XOXOXOXOXO

    You’re a human raised by humans. Regain your heritage and your soul. Think for yourself.

    #52190

    “illegal war crimes”

    Interesting term.

    #52191
    zerosum
    Participant

    • What Everyone is Missing About the Afghanistan Papers (TMU)
    1 trillion dollar
    —–
    • College Enrollment Skids 8th Year in a Row, But Student Loans Skyrocket (WS)
    Since 2011, enrollment has declined by 13% for men and by 9.4% for women.
    Women still hope to find their bread and butter from going to university.
    Of course, Expenses cannot go down, nor can inflation go down.
    ———
    • Kudlow: US-China Deal ‘Absolutely’ Done, US Exports To China Will Double (R.)

    Kudlow has a crystal ball that is better than everyone else looking at the future.
    ——
    • Sacklers Took $11 Billion Out Of Purdue Pharma As Opioid Crisis Worsened (AP)
    Give me a break …. lawyers and accountants are fighting over the crumbs of the elites ….
    Nobody got hurt. Opioids are pain killers. Its not the same as the Afgan war where people got hurt while fighting over $1 trillion.
    ———
    • Assange Extradition Fight Could Turn On Reports He Was Spied On For CIA (G.)

    Yes, extradite Assange to USA and make sure that he goes to trial to tell the truth about what he knows. This will result in “head” bowling balls.
    —-
    @ absolute galore
    the politifact site has not produced any facts debunking and proving that those 4 kids are innocent.
    Did you check the links given to you. Here it is again.
    https://www.tierneyrealnewsnetwork.com/post/romney-kerry-biden-mccain-pelosi-schiff-mueller-clinton-are-tied-to-sketchy-ukraine-deals

    Are you suggesting that all bank records, travel receipts, hotel receipts, restaurant receipts, employment and income tax records have been falsified?
    Are you suggesting that those four innocent children have not been to Europe and you have proof of their gainful employment in the USA with the documentation to prove it.
    What are the odds of having the children of four American elites getting an outrageous rake in the Ukraine?
    Answer:

    100%
    Since it was set up by the best lawyers, accountants and bankers, to make it opaque and legal.
    That’s what elites do for their kids. Stop being an enabler for the elites.

    ——

    #52192
    zerosum
    Participant

    Hey!
    Do you have contradicting documentation for what is being presented by the following.

    Latvian government says it flagged ‘suspicious’ Hunter Biden payments in 2016


    Latvian government says it flagged ‘suspicious’ Hunter Biden payments in 2016
    December 17, 2019

    The Latvian correspondence adds to a growing body of evidence that questions and investigations of Burisma were swirling in early 2016 just before Joe Biden used his authority as vice president to force the firing of Ukraine Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin in March 2016 by threatening to withhold $1 billion in U.S. aid.
    Shokin was overseeing a wide-ranging Ukrainian investigation of Burisma and has said he was making plans to interview Hunter Biden when he was fired by Ukraine’s president and parliament in March 2016 under pressure from Joe Biden.
    Biden and his defenders have said he forced the firing of Shokin because the Ukraine prosecutor was an ineffective corruption fighter; Shokin alleges he was dismissed because he wouldn’t end the Burisma probe.
    The Biden family has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, with Jill Biden offering the latest defense of her son this past weekend. “I know my son. I know my son’s character. Hunter did nothing wrong. And that’s the bottom line,” she told MSNBC.

    #52193
    zerosum
    Participant
    #52194
    Dr D Rich
    Participant

    I’ll connect the two for you, Afghanistan papers and physicians belatedly demanding care for Assange. Nobody listens to physicians anymore. My orders have been corrupted and disrupted by nurses, nursing assistants, technicians non-licensed secretaries and their enablers from the hospital C-suites. Any physician who doesn’t abide this arrangement is labeled either ‘disruptive physician’ to be decredentialed, delicensed and sanctioned by the state for the medical board’s current cause celebre OR that doctor has already aligned with the c-suite narcissistic malignancy.

    As for Afghanistan, how do you think the current crop of generals, admirals and military medical leaders made their present, lofty rank and office? Afghanistan.

    None of those folk will be made or even voluntarily surrender the trappings of the office, their ill-gotten gains. And no one is going to replace them with me, one of the few uniformed personnel who stood opposed to the misconduct perpetrated over nearly two decades. I was told at the time by a fellow Captain that my “stance weakened the nation”. I was rebuked publicly that the Hippocratic Oath falls secondary to some new obligation defined as a higher ethical and moral call to justice in defense of the nation. The Hippocratic Oath is a non sequitur when Title X U.S. Code already requires military medical personnel and chaplains to adhere to the Geneva Conventions. Let that sink in for a moment.
    My reply remains the same today. My stance is/was in keeping with Title X U.S. Code, the UCMJ and my oath of office.

    #52195
    zerosum
    Participant

    Fact check
    Jill Biden offering the latest defense of her son this past weekend. “I know my (step) son. I know my (step) son’s character. Hunter did nothing wrong. And that’s the bottom line,” she told MSNBC. ( MSNBC did poor fact check)
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_Biden
    She married Joe Biden in 1977, and became stepmother to his two young sons from his first marriage, Beau and Hunter, whose mother and baby sister died in a car accident in 1972. Joe and Jill Biden have a daughter, Ashley, born in 1981.
    She is Stepgrandmother of illegitimate child

    ( https://pagesix.com/2019/11/27/hunter-bidens-lunden-roberts-was-stripper-at-club-he-frequented/)
    Hunter Biden’s ‘baby mama’ Lunden Roberts was stripper at club he frequented
    By Joe Marino, Elizabeth Rosner, Sara Nathan and Bruce Golding
    November 27, 2019

    #52196
    Dr. D
    Participant

    “Latvian Government Flagged “Suspicious” Hunter Biden Payments In 2016″

    How about that? Latvia thinks it’s suspicious, Ukraine thinks it’s suspicious, Politico thinks it’s suspicious, the U.S. State Department thinks it’s suspicious, but not us! We can’t even ask the QUESTION whether it’s suspicious, even when the rest of the world tells us it is in legal affidavits, forwarded bank records, and their multiple national news reports. Nope! It’s so impossible that anyone in the U.S. is corrupt, we don’t even have to look!

    We’re a pretty exceptional nation that way.

    #52197
    WES
    Participant

    Raul:. Your Ukraine money laundering graph is 100% correct!

    The only thing wrong with the graph, is it does not show the billions of other dollars laundered to the rest of the political elites in the US, both Republican and Democrats.

    As for galore above, he has to work very hard at wilfully not knowing inconvient facts!

    #52198
    absolute galore
    Participant

    Uh, yeah. I’ll stop my enabling of the elites with my comment here on TAE.
    I’m fully on board with the Hunter Biden connection–it’s the other three connections that are unsubstantiated, and in fact the actual available information would seem to contradict that graphic. I would say it is 25% correct until proven otherwise.
    I am not a main stream media consumer. Again, my issue is, why be intemperate and blithely throw around any old thing? Isn’t that exactly the problem? From what I can see, the Biden connection is well-documented at this point. But by making unsubstantiated claims in the same context, more harm than good comes out of it because it makes it too easy for people to now dismiss the case that has been made. Beware of confirmation bias, and of doing exactly what you have a problem with other people doing, that’s all.

    #52199
    VietnamVet
    Participant

    On 27 Jun 2019 the last 737NG was delivered to Skymark Airlines of Japan. Boeing replaced safety with public relations. CNET says not to buy the latest Huawei flagship smart phone without google apps support. Both are intertwined. The Boeing 737 halt will likely slow down the GDP with most of its sales to Asia stopped if their regulators hold firm and it will start a recession. The rise of Boris Johnson indicates that global trade will continue to take hits. We shall see if the West can survive only as a service economy. Impossible if it is not an Empire anymore. This has to be the reason why globalist Democrats are so intent on getting rid of Donald Trump. They pine for the Clinton/Bush/Obama era back before the Right to Protect wars in 2014 ended it all and gave rise to a multi-polar world .

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