I think I'll let that savor in everyone's conscience for tonight.
There is a conscience out there right? Hello? Anyone there?
McCain, you better not sink this country for the sake of politics. I think I know you better than that.
Maybe Venezuela is our new best ally.
June 4, 2017
...What, then, (click here) are we to make of Goldman Sachs fund managers’ recent secondary-market purchase, at a steep discount, of $2.8 billion worth of bonds issued by the state-owned oil company of Venezuela; that is to say, the same government that guns down pro-democracy protesters on a near-daily basis and otherwise subjects its people to vast corruption and economic privation?...
Sanctions against Venezuela? Hm? Does anyone think there are going to be sanctions against our new best ally?
How many Goldman execs are in the White House? Who is kidding who here?
Sunday, June 04, 2017
Impeachment requires high crimes and misdemeanors. Well.
If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, it must be a duck.
A misdemeanor is a minor wrong doing. Was Trump and his buddies involved in a minor wrong doing? That is actually a question? Collusion with Russia by Tillerson and dissing NATO is not a wrong doing? Really?
Top Democrat on the Senate's Intelligence Committee says that while definitive proof of collusion is lacking, there's "a lot of smoke."
June 4, 2017
By S. V. Date
Washington – The top Democrat (click here) on the Senate panel investigating Russian interference in last year’s presidential campaign said Sunday that a major unresolved issue is how the Russians knew which states to target to help President Donald Trump.
“This is one of the questions we have to sort through,” Virginia’s Mark Warner said on CNN’s State of the Union. “It does seem strange, it appears, that Russian-paid Internet trolls who created bots were then able to put forward fake news, selective stories in a way that seemed targeted.”
He added that while he knows of no iron-clad proof of collusion between Russia and Trump’s campaign, “there is a lot of smoke.”
Crucial to Trump winning the the White House was that he carried three states ― Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania ― by a combined margin of about 76,000 votes. Polls had shown Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton leading in the trio of states, and all of them had been won by Democrats in the six presidential elections before last year’s vote....
Turkey should be careful of whom their friends are. The Kurdish region of Iraq is where all the oil fields are. The Kurdistan Regional Government is the Kurdish province of Iraq. Wow. It sounds like sovereignty is on the way. I said it and I said it; Iraq will divide into three autonomous regions. I could be completely correct.
See that name right there? Barzani? He is President of the Kurdistan Regional Government from the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iraq. Damn, I'm good. LOL. Did the Republican Congress of the USA take note of this? Russia. Russia is taking over the purchase of Iraqi oil. Amazing.
Smoking gun? What smoking gun? Russia has no problem recognizing the Kurdish Region of Iraq as a sovereign power to make contracts.
By Rudaw
Kurdish delegation headed by Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani [L] meets with the management board of the Russian oil giant Rosneft, including Chief Executive Officer Igor Schein.
St. Petersburg, Russia — A top Kurdish delegation (click here) headed by Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani has met with the management board of the Russian oil giant Rosneft, including Chief Executive Officer Igor Schein, in St. Petersburg Wednesday on the first leg of an official visit to the Russian Federation.
A statement from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) said the meeting centred on cooperation between the KRG and Rosneft in the Kurdish energy sector and broader investment in the oil industry of the Kurdistan Region.
The Kurdish delegation was invited to Russia to take part in the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on Thursday which brings together the chief executives of major Russian and international companies, and senior government officials.
Prime Minister Barzani is also scheduled to meet with the Russian President Vladimir Putin at the three-day forum.
In February, the KRG signed a pre-financed contract with Russia’s state oil company Rosneft for the export of Kurdish crude oil. The landmark deal became the first time Kurdistan Region crude oil was to ship directly to a major oil refiner, a KRG official with knowledge of the deal told Rudaw at the time.
Rosneft plans to buy the Kurdish crude until 2019.
The deal with Rosneft is of particular importance as two US oil firms relinquished interest in a number of oil fields in the Kurdistan Region in recent years.
US oil giant Exxon Mobil pulled out of half of the six exploration blocks it operated in the Kurdistan Region last December....
...Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that the KRG had negotiated a $3 billion loan deal with Rosneft which was falsely attributed to the Minister of Natural Resources Ashti Hawrami.
So, let me get this right.
Russia is taking Turkey on as an ally, while signing contracts with the Kurds of Iraq and Exxonmobile is leaving Iraq to go to Russia. So, Exxonmobile is losing money in Iraq while Russia is buying all the Kurds oil, but, is going to make money in Russia while Russia reaps profits from Exxonmobile. See, this isn't about oil, it is about a military strategy that removes USA interests while controlling the largest USA oil company in the world.
April 19, 2017
By Clifford Kraus
In 2012, Vladimir V. Putin, center, Russia’s president, met with Igor Sechin, left, the chief executive of Rosneft, and Rex W. Tillerson, who was then Exxon Mobil’s chief executive, as the two companies entered into a joint venture.
Houston — Exxon Mobil (click here) is pursuing a waiver from Treasury Department sanctions on Russia to drill in the Black Sea in a venture with Rosneft, the Russian state oil company, a former State Department official said on Wednesday. An oil industry official confirmed the account.
The waiver application was made under the Obama administration, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity, and the company has not dropped the proposal.
The proposal is now before the Trump administration at a delicate time in Russian-American relations, with rising tensions over the war in Syria and a looming congressional inquiry into reports of Russian efforts to influence the United States presidential election.
The appeal did not come up during Senate confirmation hearings for Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson, who was Exxon Mobil’s chief executive before his nomination by President Trump and was known to have a strong working relationship with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. At the time, Mr. Tillerson and other company officials said they had not lobbied against the sanctions, which were imposed on Russia in response to its military intervention in Ukraine...
No, there is no smoking gun, there is a G-D canon!
So, how is the "Strategic Oil Reserve" holding up Donald? Is Congress sure the Commander and Chief actually has a functioning military?
And Congress actually believes Comey as the most competent source of information? Really? The man that put the final nail in the coffin of the Clinton Presidency and decimated the Democratic down ballot? Congress believes him?
Does the USA Congress actually know what is going on right under their own noses? Or, are they too busy being White Supremacists that hate President Obama?
Maybe they just don't care what wheeling and dealing goes on so much as engage the American electorate in hate and dismemberment of their democracy. Ya think?
So, let me get this right.
Russia is taking Turkey on as an ally, while signing contracts with the Kurds of Iraq and Exxonmobile is leaving Iraq to go to Russia. So, Exxonmobile is losing money in Iraq while Russia is buying all the Kurds oil, but, is going to make money in Russia while Russia reaps profits from Exxonmobile. See, this isn't about oil, it is about a military strategy that removes USA interests while controlling the largest USA oil company in the world.
By Clifford Kraus
In 2012, Vladimir V. Putin, center, Russia’s president, met with Igor Sechin, left, the chief executive of Rosneft, and Rex W. Tillerson, who was then Exxon Mobil’s chief executive, as the two companies entered into a joint venture.
Houston — Exxon Mobil (click here) is pursuing a waiver from Treasury Department sanctions on Russia to drill in the Black Sea in a venture with Rosneft, the Russian state oil company, a former State Department official said on Wednesday. An oil industry official confirmed the account.
The waiver application was made under the Obama administration, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity, and the company has not dropped the proposal.
The proposal is now before the Trump administration at a delicate time in Russian-American relations, with rising tensions over the war in Syria and a looming congressional inquiry into reports of Russian efforts to influence the United States presidential election.
The appeal did not come up during Senate confirmation hearings for Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson, who was Exxon Mobil’s chief executive before his nomination by President Trump and was known to have a strong working relationship with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. At the time, Mr. Tillerson and other company officials said they had not lobbied against the sanctions, which were imposed on Russia in response to its military intervention in Ukraine...
No, there is no smoking gun, there is a G-D canon!
So, how is the "Strategic Oil Reserve" holding up Donald? Is Congress sure the Commander and Chief actually has a functioning military?
And Congress actually believes Comey as the most competent source of information? Really? The man that put the final nail in the coffin of the Clinton Presidency and decimated the Democratic down ballot? Congress believes him?
Does the USA Congress actually know what is going on right under their own noses? Or, are they too busy being White Supremacists that hate President Obama?
Maybe they just don't care what wheeling and dealing goes on so much as engage the American electorate in hate and dismemberment of their democracy. Ya think?
From RT.
4 June 2017
The recent attack in London (click here) should serve as a “wake-up call” for the international community to start taking an “honest and responsible" approach to terrorism and root out the “financial and ideological sources of violence,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry said.
Iran has condemned the London terrorist attack, which left seven dead and at least 48 injured on Saturday night, adding that the recent surge in terrorism worldwide should serve as a “wake-up call” for the international community.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi called on certain states to stop “pursuing their short-term political and economic goals, which seem to be strategic, in favor of security for their citizens as well as the entire world.”
“To uproot terror, it is necessary that they [those states] address the root causes as well as main financial and ideological sources of extremism and violence, which are clear to everyone,” Press TV quoted the spokesman as saying.
The sole way to end global terrorism, according to Qassemi, is “to play an honest and responsible part in the global wave against terrorism and extremism free from any double standard.”...
Iran is not responsible for these attacks. These were men attracted to Daesh's charismatic movement. The reason they were attracted to it, is the real question.
I would suggest the Iranian Foreign Minister Bahram Qassemi consolidate this view into a speech for the UN and address his point of view from a country frequently accused of supporting terrorist networks.
Europe has a right to be recognized internationally for it's civilization and it's importance in history.
There is no cultural divide. There is no hatred. The West and the Muslims all over the world have loved and respected each other for centuries.
June 4, 2017
By Steven Erlanger
...In a matter of minutes, (click here) the three assailants were chased down by eight armed officers who fired about 50 rounds, killing the men, who wore what appeared to be suicide vests but subsequently proved to be fake. One member of the public also sustained nonfatal gunshot wounds, the police said....
The authorities response was very fast, but, they don't read minds. They are dedicated to the safety of their citizens. There are massive numbers of armed guards in Great Britain.
June 4, 2017
By Anthony Lane
The night (click here) that a terrorist attack at London Bridge and Borough Market killed seven and injured dozens, counterterrorism forces assembled near the scene.
Now will come the hunt and arrests. We all know what is happening here. It is The West's embrace of freedom and culture that has to survive through the assault on it.
This is not about Muslims killing Europeans, it is about international killers and how to stop them. I am confident there are Muslims killed in these attacks as well. They were killed on 911, too. It is not about Muslims, it is about civilization and how we protect it.
These attacks are stated to be carried out because of Islam. That is a lie.
These are international cowards that will never claim the after life. They kill women and children and are not soldiers in a battle. They kill the elderly. They have no respect for life. They have spell binding power in the methods of fear and carnage. That is not a war. That is desperation of the leaders of these killers to continue to exist and live. They don't want to die. They send their underlings to kill while they feast.
...The assault came days before national elections this week and after the British government had downgraded the threat level to “severe” from “critical,” meaning that an attack was highly likely, but not imminent....
I am sure "critical" emergency designations tie up traffic, slow trains and makes life fairly miserable.
So what.
Such extremism is often fueled by perceived hatred by society. Segregation is an enemy and Prime Minister May is speaking out about such problems. There are still problems within Great Britain the people have to address. Are there people within the UK considered second class citizens? It needs to be addressed by society.
No segregation or other social ill is a reason for such hatred and murder. There are no excuses. The people did not deserve this. The class struggle must end and citizens of the UK and Europe must address their common enemy, from economic deprivation to education to religious acceptance such issues need to dissipate in countries of equality. These social ills provide a breeding ground for the extremism and it works. It is up to the people to eliminate the breeding ground and provide for equal opportunity for all their people.
June 4, 2017
By Steven Erlanger
...In a matter of minutes, (click here) the three assailants were chased down by eight armed officers who fired about 50 rounds, killing the men, who wore what appeared to be suicide vests but subsequently proved to be fake. One member of the public also sustained nonfatal gunshot wounds, the police said....
The authorities response was very fast, but, they don't read minds. They are dedicated to the safety of their citizens. There are massive numbers of armed guards in Great Britain.
By Anthony Lane
The night (click here) that a terrorist attack at London Bridge and Borough Market killed seven and injured dozens, counterterrorism forces assembled near the scene.
Now will come the hunt and arrests. We all know what is happening here. It is The West's embrace of freedom and culture that has to survive through the assault on it.
This is not about Muslims killing Europeans, it is about international killers and how to stop them. I am confident there are Muslims killed in these attacks as well. They were killed on 911, too. It is not about Muslims, it is about civilization and how we protect it.
These attacks are stated to be carried out because of Islam. That is a lie.
These are international cowards that will never claim the after life. They kill women and children and are not soldiers in a battle. They kill the elderly. They have no respect for life. They have spell binding power in the methods of fear and carnage. That is not a war. That is desperation of the leaders of these killers to continue to exist and live. They don't want to die. They send their underlings to kill while they feast.
...The assault came days before national elections this week and after the British government had downgraded the threat level to “severe” from “critical,” meaning that an attack was highly likely, but not imminent....
I am sure "critical" emergency designations tie up traffic, slow trains and makes life fairly miserable.
So what.
Such extremism is often fueled by perceived hatred by society. Segregation is an enemy and Prime Minister May is speaking out about such problems. There are still problems within Great Britain the people have to address. Are there people within the UK considered second class citizens? It needs to be addressed by society.
No segregation or other social ill is a reason for such hatred and murder. There are no excuses. The people did not deserve this. The class struggle must end and citizens of the UK and Europe must address their common enemy, from economic deprivation to education to religious acceptance such issues need to dissipate in countries of equality. These social ills provide a breeding ground for the extremism and it works. It is up to the people to eliminate the breeding ground and provide for equal opportunity for all their people.
Ramadan is celebrated in Great Britain and Saudi Arabia with a favorite beverage.
By Aisha Fareed
...The invention of Vimto dates to 1908, (click here) when the late John Nicolas added berries and herbs with distinctive and refreshing flavors.
The sweet British product was first produced and sold in Manchester, and later spread throughout China, India, the Arabian Gulf and Africa.
After a friend of Nicolas took the drink to India for British soldiers, Vimto soon became a registered trademark.
In 1927, it made its first appearance in the Gulf, when the first generation of traders in the Aujan family brought the product to Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah and Oman.
Vimto started to be produced in the Saudi city of Dammam, where the region’s first beverage production factory was located.
It soon became a huge success in the Middle East, especially the Arabian Gulf, and became an inseparable part of the iftar table.
More than 30 million bottles of Vimto are sold in the Middle East every year, with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE the largest markets in the region. The Gulf version of Vimto is believed to contain more sugar than in Western markets.
Even the music in the Arabic Vimto advert has become attached to Ramadan in people’s minds.
The sweet British product was first produced and sold in Manchester, and later spread throughout China, India, the Arabian Gulf and Africa.
After a friend of Nicolas took the drink to India for British soldiers, Vimto soon became a registered trademark.
In 1927, it made its first appearance in the Gulf, when the first generation of traders in the Aujan family brought the product to Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah and Oman.
Vimto started to be produced in the Saudi city of Dammam, where the region’s first beverage production factory was located.
It soon became a huge success in the Middle East, especially the Arabian Gulf, and became an inseparable part of the iftar table.
More than 30 million bottles of Vimto are sold in the Middle East every year, with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE the largest markets in the region. The Gulf version of Vimto is believed to contain more sugar than in Western markets.
Even the music in the Arabic Vimto advert has become attached to Ramadan in people’s minds.
Elect Jim Johnson for Governor of New Jersey. He is the change candidate with a history to prove it.
He is from Montclair, is 56 and brings new generational ideas. He is married with four children. He is a former US Treasury undersecretary. Any Wall Street candidate has nothing on him. Jim's experience in government secures his knowledge of governance.
"Does anyone believe that if we keep running the same playbook written by the same insiders that your lives are going to get any better? I don't. ... That old playbook got us the highest property taxes" in the nation."It got us Jon Corzine, it got us Chris Christie, Chris Christie again, and it will get us Phil Murphy unless we demand real change."
Given his knowledge and experience in government he doesn't have to have a department of so called experts to write policy. He knows where the change needs to take place and can instrument it without holding anyone's hand.
HE VALUES ETHICS! Yes, yes, yes!
Ethics reform: Johnson wants to eliminate no-bid contracts, ban political contributions from lobbyists, require greater disclosure of lobbying activity, and limit public officials to one public pension.
There may be a pension crisis, but, that doesn't mean the NJ State Pension Funds are valueless, quite the contrary. The very last person that should be leading New Jersey is another Wall Street executive. New Jersey was built by the Middle Class who invested in unions and the pension provided. The vote for Governor has to begin with the promise to fix the pension system to take away the burden from voters to young to vote right now.
January 5, 2016
By Mark J. Magyar'
Next November, (click here) New Jerseyans will be asked to vote on a constitutional amendment to require the state government to make regular quarterly pension payments, which would put the state's pension system -- and the state of New Jersey itself -- on the road to fiscal solvency within six years.
The biggest winners, if the constitutional amendment passes, are not public employees -- who will get their pensions anyway -- but all of New Jersey's taxpayers.
State laws, Supreme Court rulings and legal opinions have already established that public employees are entitled to the vested pension benefits they have earned....
...New Jersey's pension system for teachers and state government workers has a $40 billion unfunded liability that is growing exponentially and is in danger of collapse because governors and legislatures treated the pension system like a credit card that would never come due.
Over a 14-year span, Republican governors underfunded the pension system by $2.6 billion, then Democratic governors did so by $10.2 billion. The Christie administration promised to fix the problem, but instead made it worse by underfunding the pension system by $17.5 billion in its first six years -- and a projected $23.7 billion by the time the governor's term ends in January 2018
Every year that the pension system goes underfunded, the long-term cost of fixing the problem grows exponentially.
It would have cost only $1.1 billion a year to restore the pension system to full funding when Sweeney first flagged the problem in 2005. Five years later, at the end of the Corzine administration, it would have cost $2.5 billion. It would have cost over $4.5 billion by 2018 when the seven-year ramp-up to full funding was to have been completed under the bipartisan 2011 pension law....
Do not let Wall Street go near this issue. Today, Wall Street, including and especially Goldman Sachs are gamblers, not investors. Greed and not growth is the Wall Street model in the year 2017.
July 11, 2016
By Samantha Marcus
The state Supreme Court (click here) on Thursday upheld a landmark 2011 law freezing cost-of-living adjustments for retired government workers, a decision that will slowly erode the value of pensions paid to 800,000 current and former public employees.
The 6-1 ruling is a major legal victory for Gov. Chris Christie's administration, which warned that restoring the annual increases would hurl a pension system already underfunded by $59 billion closer to insolvency.
"State taxpayers have won another huge victory," Christie said. "One that spares them from the burden of unaffordable benefit increases for public employee unions."
The lawsuit filed by a group of retired prosecutors hinged on whether the legal promise not to reduce workers' pensions includes cost-of-living adjustments. Christie and state lawmakers suspended the regular increases in 2011 as part of a sweeping overhaul of employee benefits that also raised the retirement age and required workers to pay more for their pensions and health care....
Jim Johnson as Governor will be ready from inauguration to target issues that burden future generations. That readiness begins with future generations today, since, New Jersey's education is badly underfunded. The education of future generations is already compromised and New Jersey taxpayers need someone in the Governor's seat that appreciates the priorities they hold.
Is there a difference between health and good environmental policy? No. Good environmental policy insures a better quality of life with increased health capacity. Every time a jogger or runner or walker heads out the door for exercise, they will not be getting a full does of pollution, unseasonable heat, extreme freezing temperatures or ground ozone in their face and lungs to impact wellness. Yes, freezing temperatures despite the obvious, causes stress on the body and mind. If that stress is also due to high energy costs, the switch to alternative solar and wind will improve the budgets of New Jerseyites.
IT WORKS IN CALIFORNIA. It will work in New Jersey.
March 3, 2016
By Craig McCarthy
In its annual list (click here) ranking the world's richest people, Forbes has included eight New Jersey residents, all of whom have amassed a personal net worth in the billions.
Most of the people who made the cut in New Jersey, according to Forbes, are self-made men with fortunes in finance and investments.
There are more billionaires in the United States, 540, than any other country in the world, according to Forbes. Trailing the U.S. is China with 320 people who have a 10-figure fortune and Germany with 120....
It is very possible a temporary tax increase would benefit the long term for the state. Where should those taxes be increased first? There are at least eight billionaires in New Jersey who would not feel the tax increase. Promise. Stop to think about the return to the state while their lives go unchanged.
New Jersey needs a change and the person best qualified of ANY of the candidates is Jim Johnson.
He can keep his promises when no one else can because he is prepared to do so.
New Jersey needs a change and the person best qualified of ANY of the candidates is Jim Johnson.
He can keep his promises when no one else can because he is prepared to do so.
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