Jan 092020
 
 January 9, 2020  Posted by at 9:50 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , ,


John Vachon Five o’clock crowds, Chicago 1941

 

Pelosi Seeks To Limit Trump’s War Powers (USAT)
Pelosi Loses Senate Democrats On Trump Impeachment Delay (BBC)
McConnell Won’t Haggle With House Over Impeachment Trial Plan (R.)
Can You Locate Iran On A Map? Few Americans Can. (MC)
World Bank Trims 2020 Growth Forecast (R.)
Ghosn: Seeds of Renault-Nissan Crisis Were Sown By Macron (R.)
Carlos Ghosn And The Dark Corners Of Japanese Justice (G.)
Come Home, America: Stop Policing the Globe (Whitehead)
Juan Guaidó’s Surreal Regime Change Reality Show (GZ)
Hunter Biden ‘Biological And Legal Father’ Of Stripper’s Child – Judge (Fox)

 

 

“…citing ‘urgent’ concerns on Iran strategy…”

This of course cannot be about Trump alone. It has to concern an assessment of all past and future presidents too. Plus, you may be forced to change the Constitution. So future potential Democrat presidents will see their hands tied by Pelosi in 2020, and we’ll need an in-depth discussion about Obama and Hillary’s actions in Syria, Libya etc., because, again, it can’t be just about Trump. Is taking out Soleimani so much worse than raping Ghadaffi to death with a bayonet?

This is going to take a lot of time. More than the 10 months until the next election. In which Pelosi should ostensibly run if she wants to usurp the president’s powers.

 

Pelosi Seeks To Limit Trump’s War Powers (USAT)

The House will vote Thursday on a measure that would limit President Donald Trump’s ability to wage war with Iran, Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced. The Democratic House speaker said Trump’s action last week – authorizing a drone strike that killed top Iranian General Qasem Soleimani – was “provocative and disproportionate” and done without consulting Congress. Thursday’s debate will shine a spotlight on the Soleimani killing and the possibility of further escalation between the U.S. and Iran. It will also air constitutional questions about the president’s ability to order military action without congressional authorization.

“Members of Congress have serious, urgent concerns about the administration’s decision to engage in hostilities against Iran and about its lack of strategy moving forward,” Pelosi said. “To honor our duty to keep the American people safe, the House will move forward with a War Powers Resolution to limit the President’s military actions regarding Iran.” But even if the measure passes the House, which is controlled by Democrats, it will face hurdles in the GOP-controlled Senate. And Trump can veto the measure, as he did last year when Congress tried to end the American military role in Yemen.

Pelosi’s decision to move forward with the war powers measure came after Iran retaliated on Tuesday for Soleiman’s killing by launching ballistic missiles at two Iraqi airbases that house U.S. and coalition forces. Trump said that incident did not cause any American casualties and resulted in only minimal damage, as he sought to lower tensions with Iran in an address to the nation Wednesday. But Pelosi and other Democrats said they remained alarmed at the possibility of further military confrontation. “The consequences of this strike already … have been cataclysmic,” said Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Conn., a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He and others said the situation could still easily spiral out of control.

Read more …

They get worried over their seats.

Pelosi Loses Senate Democrats On Trump Impeachment Delay (BBC)

The US Congress’ most powerful Democrat is losing support among Senate allies as she holds up President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi has delayed sending the articles of impeachment to the Senate in a tussle over rules with Republicans. Senator Dianne Feinstein called on Mrs Pelosi, her fellow California Democrat and ex-neighbour, to “send it over”. The Senate’s Republican leader vowed there would be “no haggling”. Mitch McConnell said he can muster the majority of 51 votes needed among his fellow Republicans in the Senate to codify the proceedings without Democratic support. Senate Democrats said prolonging the standoff would be pointless.


“The longer it goes on the less urgent it becomes,” Senator Feinstein said on Wednesday, Bloomberg News reported. “So if it’s serious and urgent, send them over. If it isn’t, don’t send it over.” The political trial of Mr Trump cannot begin until the Democratic-controlled House sends its articles of impeachment, the charges against the president, to the Senate. Senator Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat, told Politico: “I respect the fact that [Pelosi] is concerned about the fact about whether or not there will be a fair trial, but I do think it is time to get on with it.” Senator Jon Tester, a Montana Democrat, said: “I don’t know what leverage we have. It looks like the cake is already baked.” Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, also said he believed it was time to start the Senate trial.

Read more …

“If Pelosi sought leverage over the Senate, McConnell said, “no such leverage exists … it will never exist.”

McConnell Won’t Haggle With House Over Impeachment Trial Plan (R.)

U.S. Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell said on Wednesday the Senate would not haggle with the House of Representatives over procedures for President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, adding that the Senate would make a decision on calling witnesses for the trial at the appropriate time. Speaking on the Senate floor, the Republican senator expressed exasperation that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in a letter to her fellow Democrats on Tuesday night, had indicated she would continue holding back the House-passed articles of impeachment from the Senate until she knows more about Senate plans for the impeachment trial.

McConnell did not specifically answer Pelosi’s demand, but lambasted her actions as “game-playing” and said she could not dictate the Senate’s trial proceedings. “There will be no haggling with the House over Senate procedure. We will not cede our authority to try this impeachment,” McConnell said. If Pelosi sought leverage over the Senate, McConnell said, “no such leverage exists … it will never exist.” He accused Pelosi of wanting to keep Trump “in limbo” over the trial indefinitely. The House in December charged Trump with abusing his power for personal gain by asking Ukraine to announce a corruption investigation of former Vice President Joe Biden, a leading contender for the Democratic nomination to face Trump in November’s presidential election.

It also charged the president with obstructing Congress by directing administration officials and agencies not to cooperate with the impeachment inquiry. Under the U.S. Constitution, the House brings impeachment charges, while impeachment trials are held by the Senate. But McConnell has said that Senate rules prevent the Senate from starting the trial until the House sends it the articles of impeachment, and the House has not done so.

Read more …

I like the ones who locate Iran inside the USA.

Can You Locate Iran On A Map? Few Americans Can. (MC)

As tensions between the United States and Iran rise in the aftermath of the American drone strike that killed the country’s most powerful commander, Gen. Qassem Soleimani, a new Morning Consult/Politico survey finds fewer than 3 in 10 registered voters can identify the Islamic republic on an unlabeled map.

Twenty-eight percent of registered voters were able to accurately label Iran on a map of the Middle East region, according to new Morning Consult/Politico polling conducted Jan. 4-5, before the Iranian military fired missiles at two bases in Iraq housing U.S. troops. Twenty-three percent could identify the country on a larger, also unlabeled, global map. Eight percent of voters thought Iran was Iraq on the smaller map.


The polling experiment sheds light on voters’ geographical unfamiliarity with foreign countries, even those with which the United States has been engaged in sustained conflict. Some respondents fared better than others, however.

Read more …

When will the first people stand up and say we can’t afford to grow any longer?

World Bank Trims 2020 Growth Forecast (R.)

The World Bank on Wednesday trimmed its global growth forecasts slightly for 2019 and 2020 due to a slower-than-expected recovery in trade and investment despite cooler trade tensions between the United States and China. The multilateral development bank said 2019 marked the weakest economic expansion since the global financial crisis a decade ago, and 2020, while a slight improvement, remained vulnerable to uncertainties over trade and geopolitical tensions. In its latest Global Economic Prospects report, the World Bank shaved 0.2 percentage point off of growth for both years, with the 2019 global economic growth forecast at 2.4% and 2020 at 2.5%.

“This modest increase in global growth marks the end of the slowdown that started in 2018 and took a heavy toll on global activity, trade and investment, especially last year,” said Ayhan Kose, the World Bank’s lead economic forecaster. “We do expect an improvement, but overall, we also see a weaker growth outlook.”

The latest World Bank forecasts take into account the so-called Phase 1 trade deal announced by the United States and China, which suspended new U.S. tariffs on Chinese consumer goods scheduled for Dec. 15 and reduced the tariff rate on some other goods. While the tariff rate reduction will have a “rather small” effect on trade, the deal is expected to boost business confidence and investment prospects, contributing to a pickup in trade growth, Kose said. Global trade growth is expected to improve modestly in 2020 to 1.9% from 1.4% in 2019, which was the lowest since the 2008-2009 financial crisis, the World Bank said. This remains well below the 5% average annual trade growth rate since 2010, according to World Bank data.

Read more …

Ghosn also has a French passport.

Ghosn: Seeds of Renault-Nissan Crisis Were Sown By Macron (R.)

Ex-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn said on Wednesday that a surprise corporate move, orchestrated five years ago by French President Emmanuel Macron who was then economy minister, soured relations between Renault and Nissan and contributed to his ouster. Ghosn, the former head of the car alliance, said Nissan executives and Japanese officials were shocked by a 2015 decision by the French government to increase its voting rights at Renault. “This left a big bitterness. Not only with the management of Nissan, but also the government of Japan,” Ghosn told reporters, although he did not name Macron. “And this is where the problem started.”


In April 2015, as a 37-year-old minister with then-unknown presidential ambitions, Macron ordered a rise in the state’s stake in Renault here designed to secure double voting rights. The overnight move gave the French state a blocking minority in Renault, which in turn controlled Nissan via its 43.4 percent stake in the Japanese firm. According to French and Japanese sources, that rattled the Japanese side of the Renault-Nissan alliance, which feared a national champion was falling under the control of the French government.

Read more …

Ghosn was citing a 99.4% conviction rate in Japanese cases. Why have a lawyer?

Carlos Ghosn And The Dark Corners Of Japanese Justice (G.)

Given his brash demeanour and immense wealth, Ghosn is not a sympathetic character. Indeed, he may well be guilty of financial misconduct. But he is right to shine a light into the dark corners of Japan’s justice system. Anyone familiar with the Japanese justice system would know that Ghosn’s allegations are not far-fetched. In Japan, laws are used as weapons against targeted people and not applied equally. One example of this is the “hostage justice” (hitojichi-shiho) system. Hostage justice boils down to the accused remaining in custody until they incriminate themselves by signing a confession. Often this is drawn up by prosecutors who browbeat the accused without defence counsel.

Knowing that the playing field is tilted in favour of the prosecutors and that they could spend a very long time in jail even before going to court, many innocent defendants confess. Ghosn spent more than 120 days in detention. In the late 1980s, a once high-flying company president called Hiromasa Ezoe was accused of bribery. Despite extreme pressure to confess, Ezoe defied prosecuting authorities by pleading not guilty. Over a decade of judicial purgatory later, he was effectively exonerated by receiving a suspended three-year sentence in 2003. In 2010 he published a book, Where is the Justice?, a savage indictment of a system in which the presumption of innocence is abandoned and defendants are railroaded. Ghosn may well have wanted to avoid this fate.

In Japan, the accused can be held for 23 days without charge – this is almost indefinitely renewable as judges normally give prosecutors the benefit of the doubt. In April 2019, more than 1,000 lawyers and scholars submitted a petition to the justice ministry demanding an end to this antediluvian system. The Japan Federation of Bar Associations has also long lobbied against it. The 2019 petition doesn’t mince its words, asserting that the “long-term detention in the Carlos Ghosn case has triggered surprise and criticism overseas, leading to doubts about Japan’s integrity as a democratic nation that guarantees human rights”.

Read more …

“Worldwide, the military runs more than 170 golf courses.”

Come Home, America: Stop Policing the Globe (Whitehead)

It’s time to bring our troops home. Bring them home from Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. Bring them home from Germany, South Korea and Japan. Bring them home from Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Oman. Bring them home from Niger, Chad and Mali. Bring them home from Turkey, the Philippines, and northern Australia. That’s not what’s going to happen, of course. The U.S. military reportedly has more than 1.3 million men and women on active duty, with more than 200,000 of them stationed overseas in nearly every country in the world. Those numbers are likely significantly higher in keeping with the Pentagon’s policy of not fully disclosing where and how many troops are deployed for the sake of “operational security and denying the enemy any advantage.”

As investigative journalist David Vine explains, “Although few Americans realize it, the United States likely has more bases in foreign lands than any other people, nation, or empire in history.” Don’t fall for the propaganda, though: America’s military forces aren’t being deployed abroad to protect our freedoms here at home. Rather, they’re being used to guard oil fields, build foreign infrastructure and protect the financial interests of the corporate elite. In fact, the United States military spends about $81 billion a year just to protect oil supplies around the world. The reach of America’s military empire includes close to 800 bases in as many as 160 countries, operated at a cost of more than $156 billion annually.

As Vine reports, “Even US military resorts and recreation areas in places like the Bavarian Alps and Seoul, South Korea, are bases of a kind. Worldwide, the military runs more than 170 golf courses.” This is how a military empire occupies the globe. Already, American military servicepeople are being deployed to far-flung places in the Middle East and elsewhere in anticipation of the war drums being sounded over Iran. This Iran crisis, salivated over by the neocons since prior to the Iraq War and manufactured by war hawks who want to jumpstart the next world war, has been a long time coming. Donald Trump, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton: they all have done their part to ensure that the military industrial complex can continue to get rich at taxpayer expense.

Read more …

The opposition will get rid of Guaidó, Maduro doesn’t have to do much.

Juan Guaidó’s Surreal Regime Change Reality Show (GZ)

Fistfights and screaming matches broke out at Venezuela’s National Assembly on January 5, when the legislative body was scheduled to elect its leader. But the melee was not what the corporate US media has portrayed it as. The fights weren’t between the Chavistas who support the Bolivarian Revolution and President Nicolás Maduro on one side and opposition members on the other, but rather between competing members of the opposition itself. The opposition imploded because Juan Guaidó, the former president of the National Assembly and self-declared “interim president” of the country, lost his campaign to be reelected as head of the legislature.

The Venezuelan opposition is in a state of disaster — as it has been since former President Hugo Chávez’s first election in 1998. It’s a loose and ever-changing coalition of around a dozen political parties, with differing ideologies, strategies, and constituencies. The far right, which is comprised mainly of the Voluntad Popular and Primero Justicia parties, is filled with people who have been receiving financial and logistical support from the United States for the past 20 years. In the 2002 coup against then President Chávez, the far right briefly took over, and excluded the more moderate opposition from positions of power. The moderates learned the wrong lesson: instead of challenging the US-backed right, it caved to them, acceding to their plans of regime change and undemocratic maneuvers.

But an important split occurred between the moderates and the extremists during the presidential elections in May 2018. The moderates ignored the far right’s calls for a boycott and won 3 million votes in the presidential elections, out of a voting electorate of around 15 million people (with approximately 20 million eligible voters). In September 2019, these moderate opposition figures sat down with the Maduro administration and came to a wide-ranging agreement that included a bipartisan rejection of US sanctions and the appointment of new members of the National Electoral Council.

Between them, the moderates and Chavistas now represent more than 9 million votes, accounting for a full 60 percent of likely voters and 45 percent of eligible voters. This dialogue between two important sectors of Venezuela electoral politics helps explain why September, October, and November were easily the most stable three months for Venezuela in the past year. The dialogue led directly to the events of January 5 in Caracas.

Read more …

Get out of the race, Joe, you’re muddying the field.

Hunter Biden ‘Biological And Legal Father’ Of Stripper’s Child – Judge (Fox)

Hunter Biden, the son of presidential candidate Joe Biden, is the “biological and legal father” of a child he fathered with an ex-stripper, an Arkansas judge ruled Tuesday, contradicting the younger Biden’s previous denials that he had any role in the pregnancy. In an order establishing paternity, Independence County, Ark., Circuit Judge Holly Meyer noted that the results of DNA tests indicated Biden was the father “with near scientific certainty,” and instructed the Arkansas Department of Health to issue a birth certificate listing Biden as the father of 29-year-old Lunden Alexis Roberts’ child.

Roberts, who The New York Post reported was a stripper at a Washington, D.C., club that Biden patronized, received “primary physical and legal custody” of the child. In previous filings, Roberts told the court that Hunter Biden “had no involvement in the child’s life since the child’s birth, never interacted with the child, never parented the child,” and “could not identify the child out of a photo lineup.”

Biden “shall have visitation with the child as agreed between the parties,” Judge Meyer ruled. The next hearing in the case is now set for Jan. 29 at 9:30 a.m. ET, to address “temporary child support for the minor child and other matters,” the judge wrote, adding that the parties have until Jan. 16 to comply with all “pending discovery” which is currently “past due.” Another hearing is set for the morning of March 13 to handle any remaining discovery issues, with a final hearing on May 13 to set “permanent child support for the minor child.”

Read more …

 

 

 

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Home Forums Debt Rattle January 9 2020

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  • #52602

    John Vachon Five o’clock crowds, Chicago 1941   • Pelosi Seeks To Limit Trump’s War Powers (USAT) • Pelosi Loses Senate Democrats On Trump Impeac
    [See the full post at: Debt Rattle January 9 2020]

    #52603
    V. Arnold
    Participant

    …and the band played on…

    #52604
    teri
    Participant

    Um, this “War Powers Resolution” of which they speak? Not one damn article has actually quoted the wording of the resolution. All this legislation does is limit Trump to 30 days of whatever action he might deem necessary against Iran, after which time he would have to come to Congress for approval of further action. It is basically what is in the Constitution already, further bolstered by the War Powers Act of more recent years, which state that the president can, in emergency situations, conduct war for a month and then has to come to Congress.

    What this “new” resolution offers to Trump is: if he decides he needs to bomb Iran, he can start doing so at any time, continue doing so for 30 days, and only then has to come to Congress and ask them to vote on whether he can continue doing so beyond the initial 30 days. The “new” part is that this piece of legislation takes out the “in an emergency” wording specifically in regards to Iran only.

    It’s a typical Democratic BS maneuver – throwing a fake-out bit of advertising to the voters about what they are doing to prove they stand for something, when the legislation in question doesn’t do anything like what they say it does. Actually, no, it’s worse than that, because under the Constitution Trump normally could not start a war by himself; Congress would have to declare war. With this law, Congress is saying, “If you are going to bomb Iran, we are giving you a pass on the ’emergency’ shit in the Constitution. You don’t have to tell us about it first – do whatever you want and clue us in after your initial month-long rampage.”

    Tramp can bomb Iran for 30 days, at will, with no interference from Congress, who are giving away their constitutional powers and duties with this bit of junk. It took Bush, Jr. just a couple of hours to utterly ruin Baghdad back in ’03, and that was with conventional weapons. Within days, several major cities in Iraq were razed to the ground. Now Congress is allowing Trump free rein to start with his new mini-nukes and other assorted weapons of mass destruction – imagine the speed with which he can destroy most of Iran.

    This isn’t Pelosi attempting to rewrite the Constitution (heaven forfend!) to limit a president. It is actually allowing the President more leniency in war-making decisions, as applied to Iran.

    #52605
    V. Arnold
    Participant

    Um, this “War Powers Resolution” of which they speak? Not one damn article has actually quoted the wording of the resolution. All this legislation does is limit Trump to 30 days of whatever action he might deem necessary against Iran, after which time he would have to come to Congress for approval of further action. It is basically what is in the Constitution already, further bolstered by the War Powers Act of more recent years, which state that the president can, in emergency situations, conduct war for a month and then has to come to Congress. Teri

    What I’ve learned in the last ten days is that the U.S.’s hold on it hegemon is fast coming to an end.
    What just happened with Soleimani is likely the last shot getting a pass from the rest of the planet..
    The hegemon’s days just effectively ended, IMO.
    Look for things to get very interesting from this point forward…
    Bye bye American pie……………………………..

    #52606
    Dr. D
    Participant

    Cautiously optimistic about Iran. As Iran shot up the whole town and missed everything and everyone…just like Cheeto in Syria, with his “beautiful bombs”… looks like Quds/Soulimeni were their semi-rogue agency, T asked Rouhani, “Looks like General S. is not only your CIA, but is going increasingly rogue and may make a play to take over Iran, and your job. Would you cry too much if he had an accident?” Rouhani says “Yes, take him and we, the civilian, not secret state governments will talk.” Now here’s the part where T looks serious, the only time as serious as this was during the inauguration, real danger here. Rouhani responds with the empty missile strike, hitting literally nothing. Offer accepted. Proven. Media claims they have assets (effectively terrorists) in America and worldwide and no doubt that’s true: who wouldn’t? It’s so easy a cave man could do it, yet none, zero, attacks on America, which is the easiest place in the world to hit. They took down one unimportant website.

    So that says – and in a big way – Rouhani has accepted the offer. He put down his secret state and reasserted his control, which no doubt is equally dangerous for him. We are going to talk.

    Not to be outdone, and Hollywood and much of the left is flying the flag at half mast, trying to have state funerals for Soulimeni, attacking the United States for, you know, pursuing the same authorized war we have for 20 years during which time Obama killed 5,000 children with the exact same drone strikes, the media reports, “30 U.S. servicemen killed in counter attack!!! WWIII on the way! Beautiful war! (insert orgasm here)” At which time Cheeto tweets, “All is well.” So well in fact, I’m not even going to comment. I’m going to bed and will see you tomorrow. Which he did. So since that was fake news, the 1,448th day in a row, they flipped his comment to be, not that he was responding to their fake WWIII attempt, but that he thinks being bombed is a well and good thing. Nice, but really scraping the barrel of Orange Man Bad.

    So here’s the situation: so Iran has all the oil, and Saudi has none since the U.S. burned it all for them in exchange for paper bucks and gold we already stole from them in Switzerland. The U.S. just set up a deal with the guys who HAVE the oil, at the same time the U.S. – at the moment oil independent – doesn’t NEED the petrodollar. We can’t be cut off. Iran and Saudi are mortal enemies, along with Saudi’s evil Siamese twin, Israel, the two nations (with Qatar, etc peanut gallery) who funded ISIS, the most evil, murdering, bloodthirsty regime the world has seen in the last 500 years. So doesn’t this say, IF Trump is/has a deal with Iran, AND Saudi no longer has any value but is a violent liability, THEN we are about to double-cross and cut loose Saudi Arabia? You know, like seen in the 911 re-investigation? Why else would we pull the plug on the petrodollar as we have? And IF we do that, don’t we by definition, double-cross Israel to some extent? Now Israel will wiggle out of this for sure: they have a deal for the Cyprus pipeline from Leviathan, and can pretend they didn’t know nothin’. But when half your alliance is vanished, put down, can’t say that improves your position much.

    So can you see why he might hold off and keep the 50-year deal with Saudi/MBS for an extra month or two even though they are attacking and killing Yemen’s civilians (and losing badly), UNTIL he could secure a deal with Rouhani and Iran? What would happen if he cut off Saudi first? Before we were oil independent, and before Iran was trusting enough to deal with us? What would happen if Soulimeni was still there, trying to annex Shia Iraq into Iran and use it to attack Israel? And you know, pursue these guys’ weird religion of Pence, Christian dominionist/evengelical, Iran’s return of the 12th Imam, the Mahdi, and Israel’s reinstatement of the Temple via launching WWIII? They all think war would be a great plan and the best evah.

    And can you see why, just like NoKo where the exact same thing happened, Cheeto wants to keep on sanctions until a final agreement is signed? And Russia and China seem to be completely on board: they don’t like loose cannon secret agencies either. Look at how arm’s-length Russia has been for decades with their closest, necessary ally. Why?

    So, keep an eye. Stay tuned. Iran’s secret state isn’t going to just vanish without taking a swing, but not too bad so far. ““Iran Appears to Be Standing Down.” At least until Israel can re-calibrate us fighting that war for them, down to the last West Virginian.

    Bonus question: so Rouhani made a play to re-control Iran’s secret state, the one we expect is made up of more than Iranians. For example, both Strzok and Valerie Jarrett have ties or grew up in Iran. So when they realized that Rouhani was going to purge the Revolutionary Guard and that secret-state nuclear-wanting wing of Iran, did they all get on a plane and fly to their home base, this nexus of worldwide corruption, apparent hub of the black CIA, the Ukraine? And did Iran shoot down the whole plane without comment rather than have them escape? Or is it just air defense on very high alert and an accident? Or perhaps IDF would give Iran a black eye, let the plane take off, then use tech to paint it up on military radar, knowing that would activate the air defense? We may never know, but we’ll see who squawks loudest about being allowed into the investigation: lookin’ at you, Canada’s first black PM, nation deepest in the Ukraine lobby.

    Speaking of Ukraine: “The recent gas transit deal between Russia and Ukraine, and their national gas companies Gazprom and Naftogaz respectively, has comforted Europe…”

    Looks like Russia, Ukr, U.S., and Europe all have a deal now. No more Brzezinski WWIIIs. Total, utter, complete, repudiated failure, in his lifetime so he could watch: couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.
    Media says? “Peace is war, and Iran standing down is Iran winning.” “Trump, who killed a general and paid nothing, gets a peace deal going into an election, and that means he’s losing.” Gotcha. Right.

    Bloomberg just sunk his own, very successful campaign, saying California – being the first U.S. state to fully enter third-world status – is the model he plans to export to every other state. Yeah, we just don’t have enough bankruptcy, wildfires, gang shootings, typhus, and human excrement on the streets of Des Moines. The real threat to America comes from deer hunting and 40-ounce sodas, and we’ve always wanted stop-and-frisk shakedowns. That’s the threat, not, you know, another record high in opioid overdoses and male suicides.

    Pelosi Seeks to Limit Trump’s War Powers (USAT)”

    Nah, Congress already has this power, it’s already in the Constitution. They just don’t want to use it and would have to admit all the fake, weasely wars they’ve fought for 70 years have been illegal as h—l. Just like we all said for all 70 years. So if she does, win-win for Republicans, limiting government. But at the moment the (Republican) Senate won’t, so it’s a joke.

    McConnell said, “no such leverage exists … it will never exist.

    This is entirely true. I don’t know what she thought she would get. Hope another round of DNC/CIA search could find a little more blackmail? That’s how it’s all done now.

    “Can You Locate Iran on a Map? Few Americans Can. (MC)”

    While generally true, I’m calling shenanigans as just as many dots are in the ocean with no land, and are especially in Greenland. More like American’s don’t give a crap about authority and will stick you in the eye if you make them take tests. …Kind of like when poll numbers call these same Americans. Tell them something random, just ’cause. And MC and pollsters believe it without thinking and call us stupid. Hahahaha. Keep it up, dummies. But they’re from Yale, so…

    Ghosn was citing a 99.4% conviction rate in Japanese cases. Why have a lawyer?” As Armstrong said, and equal only to us and improving on Hitler. Now Japan suddenly realized his wife is a criminal and arrest her? Yeah, that says “integrity” all over.

    “Hunter Biden ‘Biological and Legal Father’ of Stripper’s Child – Judge (Fox)”

    And pointing out that Joe’s career has lambasted deadbeat dads. Or granddads? So will any judge in Arkansas take the case? Or would “No reasonable prosecutor” dare? I mean, I feel for them; it’s not a crime. But it doesn’t show well.

    #52607
    zerosum
    Participant

    Truth or lies

    • Can You Locate Iran On A Map? Few Americans Can. (MC)
    28%
    I don’t know, I don’t care, It doesn’t matter
    72%
    I’m not making enough income to meet my expenses
    90%

    #52608
    John Day
    Participant

    http://www.johndayblog.com/2020/01/diplomacy.html
    This is a quick encapsulation:
    ​ ​Days after the assassination of General Qasem Soleimani, new and important information is coming to light from a speech given by the Iraqi prime minister. The story behind Soleimani’s assassination seems to go much deeper than what has thus far been reported, involving Saudi Arabia and China as well the U.S. dollar’s role as the global reserve currency.
    ​ ​The Iraqi prime minister, Adil Abdul-Mahdi, has revealed details of his interactions with Trump in the weeks leading up to Soleimani’s assassination in a speech to the Iraqi parliament. He tried to explain several times on live television how Washington had been browbeating him and other Iraqi members of parliament to toe the American line, even threatening to engage in false-flag sniper shootings of both protesters and security personnel in order to inflame the situation, recalling similar modi operandi seen in Cairo in 2009, Libya in 2011, and Maidan in 2014. The purpose of such cynicism was to throw Iraq into chaos.​..
    ​ Abdul-Mehdi spoke angrily about how the Americans had ruined the country and now refused to complete infrastructure and electricity grid projects unless they were promised 50% of oil revenues, which Abdul-Mehdi refused.
    ​ ​This is why I visited China and signed an important agreement with them to undertake the construction instead. Upon my return, Trump called me to ask me to reject this agreement. When I refused, he threatened to unleash huge demonstrations against me that would end my premiership.
    ​ ​Huge demonstrations against me duly materialized and Trump called again to threaten that if I did not comply with his demands, then he would have Marine snipers on tall buildings target protesters and security personnel alike in order to pressure me.
    ​ ​I refused again and handed in my resignation. To this day the Americans insist on us rescinding our deal with the Chinese.
    ​ ​After this, when our Minister of Defense publicly stated that a third party was targeting both protestors and security personnel alike (just as Trump had threatened he would do), I received a new call from Trump threatening to kill both me and the Minister of Defense if we kept on talking about this “third party”.​..
    ​[​The House of Saud ​openly ​folds it’s hand​]​
    ​ “The kingdom of Saudi Arabia was not consulted regarding the U.S. strike. In light of the rapid developments, the Kingdom stresses the importance of exercising restraint to guard against all acts that may lead to escalation, with severe consequences.​”​…
    ​ ​What clearly emerges is that the success of the operation against Soleimani had nothing to do with the intelligence gathering of the U.S. or Israel. It was known to all and sundry that Soleimani was heading to Baghdad in a diplomatic capacity that acknowledged Iraq’s efforts to mediate a solution to the regional crisis with Saudi Arabia.​..
    ​ The petrodollar is what ensures that the U.S. dollar retains its status as the global reserve currency, granting the U.S. a monopolistic position from which it derives enormous benefits from playing the role of regional hegemon.
    ​ ​This privileged position of holding the global reserve currency also ensures that the U.S. can easily fund its war machine by virtue of the fact that much of the world is obliged to buy its treasury bonds that it is simply able to conjure out of thin air. To threaten this comfortable arrangement is to threaten Washington’s global power.​..​
    ​ ​Washington would like to prevent any Eurasian integration by unleashing chaos and destruction in the region, and killing Soleimani served this purpose. The U.S. cannot contemplate the idea of the dollar losing its status as the global reserve currency. Trump is engaging in a desperate gamble that could have disastrous consequences​..​.
    ​ ​The assassination of Soleimani is the U.S. lashing out at its steady loss of influence in the region. The Iraqi attempt to mediate a lasting peace between Iran and Saudi Arabia has been scuppered by the U.S. and Israel’s determination to prevent peace in the region and instead increase chaos and instability.

    The Deeper Story Behind the Assassination of Soleimani

    Note to Self:
    “Don’t Carry Sign ​Saying Americans Die for Israeli Controlled Mideast Policy at Antiwar Rally”
    I’ve got to wonder if the heroic guy who keeps asking for an explanation is Palestinian American. “NAZI, NAZI, NAZI, NAZI, NAZI…” Thanks Eleni
    https://russia-insider.com/en/watch-zionists-pittsburgh-assault-anti-war-protesters-criticizing-israel/ri28129

    #52609
    sumac.carol
    Participant

    The conviction rate in US federal court is close to 100 percent, as bad if not worse than the Japan. The reason: defendants (mostly poor black people) are pushed to plead guilty. Shocking but true. Convection rates were under 80 percent in the 1970s but have steadily risen since then. If defendants in the US refuse to plead guilty and go to court conviction rates drop substantially.

    #52611
    tabarnick
    Participant

    “Can You Locate Iran on a Map? Few Americans Can. (MC)”

    Dr. D: absolutely right. Clearly a good number of people just picked absurd points (middle of the ocean, Texas, Greenland) and meant: you can take that geography test and shove it… I would not put much faith in it!

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