January 28, 2019
By Gina Heeb
The longest partial US government shutdown (click here) on record that ended Friday cost the US economy billions of dollars as it kept a fourth of federal agencies shuttered for five weeks, the Congressional Budget Office said Monday.
About 800,000 workers were furloughed or forced to work without pay after the shutdown began December 22, leading to a delay in spending and weighing on private-sector activity. The nonpartisan office estimates that shaved about $3 billion, or 0.1%, from inflation-adjusted gross domestic product in the fourth quarter and $8 billion, or 0.2%, from that of the first quarter of 2019.
While the economy will eventually make up most real gross domestic product lost during the shutdown, according to the office, about $3 billion will never be recovered....
Monday, January 28, 2019
The communists can't do it without The West and greed has no allies.
Australia (click here) is playing a role in helping China develop its rival global positioning system that will be used for guiding missiles and other military technology, according to a leading expert.
New Zealand academic Anne-Marie Brady — who says she has faced a campaign of harassment and intimidation for her research on the Chinese Communist Party — said the "BeiDou" alternative to the American-controlled GPS carries significant benefits for the Chinese military.
A tracking station in Perth has been a key factor in the global advance of the BeiDou satellite navigation system, Professor Brady said, with the Western Australian infrastructure the first to be established in the critical Pacific region.
"Australia is playing a small part in helping China to get a GPS system as effective as the US system," she told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.
"China is aiming to have a better one than the US has by 2020, and so is Russia. They need ground stations to co-ordinate their satellites and they need them in the Pacific. Their first ground station in the Pacific region was built in Perth."...
Of all places to look for stable governments, poverty will tell the tale. This is from Oxfam.
There is growing concern (click here) about increasing instability and tensions in the Pacific. In Melanesian societies, particularly Papua New Guinea/Bougainville, Solomon Islands and Fiji, instability is characterised by ethnic or tribal clashes, soaring crime rates and a deterioration in government control and accountability.
The circumstances and causes of conflict in each country are unique, but there are some common and interrelated causes....
The more poverty that exists, the greater chances of corruption and vast instability.
January 28, 2019
Tensions between China (click here) and both the Philippines and Vietnam have recently cooled, even as China increased its military activity in the South China Sea by conducting a series of naval maneuvers and exercises in March and April 2018. Meanwhile, China continues to construct military and industrial outposts on artificial islands it has built in disputed waters.
The United States has also recently stepped up its military activity and naval presence in the region, including freedom of navigation operations (FONOPs) in January and March 2018. In a speech during his November 2017 visit to Southeast Asia, President Donald J. Trump emphasized the importance of such operations, and of ensuring free and open access to the South China Sea. Since May 2017, the United States has conducted six FONOPs in the region....
It is becoming increasingly difficult to guarantee peace. Russian politics demands the fight rather than have an economy that is stable, growing and people taken care of with equality of national wealth. With Russia a regional player and communism entrenched in China, the future is still unpredictable, especially when a USA president rather isolation over allies.
Oxfam was founded in Great Britain in 1942. This is an article brought to the attention of the Free World
21 January 2019
Billionaire fortunes (click here) increased by 12 percent last year – or $2.5 billion a day - while the 3.8 billion people who make up the poorest half of humanity saw their wealth decline by 11 percent, reveals a new report from Oxfam today. The report is being launched as political and business leaders gather for the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
‘Public Good or Private Wealth’ shows the growing gap between rich and poor is undermining the fight against poverty, damaging our economies and fuelling public anger across the globe. It reveals how governments are exacerbating inequality by underfunding public services, such as healthcare and education, on the one hand, while under taxing corporations and the wealthy, and failing to clamp down on tax dodging, on the other. It also finds that women and girls are hardest hit by rising economic inequality.
Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of Oxfam International, said:
“The size of your bank account should not dictate how many years your children spend in school, or how long you live – yet this is the reality in too many countries across the globe. While corporations and the super-rich enjoy low tax bills, millions of girls are denied a decent education and women are dying for lack of maternity care.”...
The concern of the Afghan government is a peaceful transition to an Afghanistan that does not use killing to maintain fear and a divided loyalty to the country.
By Mujib Mashal
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, centre, speaks to US peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, third left, at the presidential palace in Kabul on Monday.
Kabul: American and Taliban officials (click here) have agreed in principle to the framework of a deal in which the insurgents would guarantee to prevent Afghan territory from being used by terrorists, and that could lead to a full pullout of US troops in return for larger concessions from the Taliban, the chief US negotiator said Monday.
American envoy Zalmay Khalilzad said those concessions must include the Taliban agreeing to a cease-fire and agreeing to talk directly with the Afghan government, issues that the insurgents have doggedly opposed in the past.
"We have a draft of the framework that has to be fleshed out before it becomes an agreement," Khalilzad said in an interview in Kabul. "The Taliban have committed, to our satisfaction, to do what is necessary that would prevent Afghanistan from ever becoming a platform for international terrorist groups or individuals."
He added: "We felt enough confidence that we said we need to get this fleshed out, and details need to be worked out."...
...A senior Taliban official confirmed the draft agreement on the issue of foreign troop withdrawal and that the Taliban pledge that Afghan soil would not be used against others. He said "working groups" would iron out details on the timeline of the withdrawal....
..."We want peace quickly, we want it soon, but we want it with prudence," Ghani said. "Prudence is important so we do not repeat past mistakes."...
Afghanistan has become interesting for many powers in the world. The Taliban while important to peace really isn't significant to a larger picture.One of the reasons the USA military has been content to maintain a presence in Afghanistan is it's strategic location. It is central to Pakistan, a nuclear country; Iran, a proclaimed enemy by Trump; India, an ally in chronic conflict along it's Pakistan border and in Kashmir and a neighbor to China; the former Soviet countries of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan are all of concern to the USA. To the north of these three former Soviet countries is Russia. Of course, there is the Persian Gulf and the Caspian Sea. All these countries and regions surrounding Afghanistan are of concern to the USA military.
When the USA leaves there will be capitalists highly interested in the minerals in the Afghanistan mountains. Finally, Afghanistan has a chance to have an economy different than poppies.
The economic expansion of Afghanistan demands warring parties stop their warring. I don't believe the ideologues, like the Taliban, care about the wealth in the mountains of Afghanistan and for all anyone knows there is some mining that exists that might even benefit the Taliban and perhaps the remnants of Daesh. But, as far as international concerns, currently no one expects the Taliban to be an issue after the USA leaves, because Russia and/or China will not tolerate any interference in their interests in mining.
Basically, China and/or Russia in their friendship pack, will bring about killing the interference they confront when seeking to mine the Afghan mountains. Those mountains, by the way, are their own enemy when it comes to climate and the removal of any objects mined. I haven't been in a mine in the deep winter of Afghanistan, but, they can probably be made warm enough to allow miners to be warm enough. However, removing tailings and minerals encased in rock to the harsh elements outside the mine is an entirely different story.
June 5, 2016
The mines of the rugged northeastern province of Badakhshan (click here) are one of the richest assets of the Afghan people, an extraordinary national treasure that should be a powerful resource for development.
Instead, as a two-year investigation reveals, they are a major source of conflict and grievance, supply millions of dollars of funding to armed groups, insurgents, and strongmen, and provide a tiny fraction of the benefit they should to the Afghan people. Without a coherent response, these mines – and others like them across Afghanistan – represent not just a lost opportunity, but a threat to the whole country....
Besides all the hostilities of the region that inhibit economic progress of the country of Afghanistan there are the chronic earthquakes. (click here)
| Time | Mag. / Depth | Location | Map | Source |
| Sat, 26 Jan | ||||
| Sat, 26 Jan 13:39 UTC | M 4.8 / 210 km - [info] | Hindu Kush Region, Afghanistan I FELT IT |  | GFZ |
| Tue, 22 Jan | ||||
| Tue, 22 Jan 04:33 UTC | M 3.5 / 10 km - [info] | - 4km SSW of Boshkengash, Tajikistan I FELT IT | ||
So, when the USA military assesses the reasons to leave Afghanistan they don't see any. While the USA military likes to point to better quality of life of the people of Afghanistan, that can be disputed. However, in disputing that fact, there is the reality that if the USA leaves, the Afghan people may not be any better off if there is no overriding moral authority that can hold the line on killings. If the USA leaves, will Afghanistan finally have a lasting peace or will the anarchy return with a vengeance? The countries that settle in the mountains for a feast of greed for minerals will seek to push the killing fields out of the mountains and into the cities that have no reason to entertain mines.
The current authorities of Afghanistan will have their hands full in maintaining a stable military to uphold the government. If the Afghanistan government falls after the USA is completely out of the way, the wealth of the mountains will never reach the people of Afghanistan and the poverty will return with no end in sight.
When I think of the Lapis mines, I think of Haqqani (click here).
The lapis mines are in the Badakhshan region, once one of the more stable areas in Afghanistan, even at the height of Taliban control. However, violent competition for control of the lucrative mines and their revenue, between local strong men, local MPs and the Taliban has deeply destabilised the province and made it one of the hotbeds of the insurgency. With the Taliban on the outskirts of the mines themselves, as well as controlling key roads into the mining areas, there is now a real risk that the mines could fall into their hands....
Lapis is a really obvious rock. It is easy to mine by crude methods.
18 March 2018
By Tamin Hamid
A suspected gem stone smuggler (click here) has said mines in Badakhshan’s Karan-o-Manjan district, especially those extracting Lapis Lazuli, are out of government’s control and are being mined illegally.
Speaking to TOLOnews, the man from Keshm district in Badakhshan, said he turned to smuggling after losing all his money in the construction sector three years ago.
The smuggler, who was recently apprehended by border forces at Torkham while carrying almost three kilograms of Lapis Lazuli to Pakistan, said he has smuggled a large amount of gemstones from Karan-o-Manjan mines.
The 43-year-old man said he takes them to Peshawar in Pakistan where he sells them.
“If you go to Peshawar, you can see trucks full of these stones, that have crossed at Torkham because the stones cannot be transported by air,” said the smuggler.
He said that the mines in Karan-o-Manjan district are mostly under the control of local mafia....
The making of Lapis jewelry can be crude as well. Some are very sophisticated.
This is on Etsy (click here).
Could the illegally mined Afghanistan Lapis be the next Blood Diamond?
Lapis is a really obvious rock. It is easy to mine by crude methods.
By Tamin Hamid
A suspected gem stone smuggler (click here) has said mines in Badakhshan’s Karan-o-Manjan district, especially those extracting Lapis Lazuli, are out of government’s control and are being mined illegally.
Speaking to TOLOnews, the man from Keshm district in Badakhshan, said he turned to smuggling after losing all his money in the construction sector three years ago.
The smuggler, who was recently apprehended by border forces at Torkham while carrying almost three kilograms of Lapis Lazuli to Pakistan, said he has smuggled a large amount of gemstones from Karan-o-Manjan mines.
The 43-year-old man said he takes them to Peshawar in Pakistan where he sells them.
“If you go to Peshawar, you can see trucks full of these stones, that have crossed at Torkham because the stones cannot be transported by air,” said the smuggler.
He said that the mines in Karan-o-Manjan district are mostly under the control of local mafia....
The making of Lapis jewelry can be crude as well. Some are very sophisticated.This is on Etsy (click here).
Could the illegally mined Afghanistan Lapis be the next Blood Diamond?
Typical, typical CEO fear of a woman president.
By Jim Gergaghty
The first version of the logo was based on a 16th-century “Norse” woodcut. Starbucks siren was topless and had a double fish tail. The original brown logo was used from 1971–1987.
Schultz started as Marketing Director at Starbucks in 1981. Sexist.
The first version of the logo was based on a 16th-century “Norse” woodcut. Starbucks siren was topless and had a double fish tail. The original brown logo was used from 1971–1987.
Schultz started as Marketing Director at Starbucks in 1981. Sexist.
Making the click-through worthwhile: (click here) the man who brought cappuccinos to seemingly every street corner in America announces that he’s thinking about running for president as an independent; a long list of news, sights, and comments from the Koch network’s winter meeting in Indian Wells, Calif.; and a surprising figure tries to persuade Democrats that they don’t want to nuke the filibuster if they win a majority in the Senate in 2020....
The issue with Schultz is that diversity lacked enormously under his leadership at Starbucks. Currently, 30 percent of Starbucks executive lineup is female and nine percent minority. How many were promoted by Schultz?
Schultz bio (click here)
Schultz bio (click here)
As Putin embraces Bitcoin as a national currency, the strategy is looking dim. Money laundering may be a better outcome for Russia under Putin.
By Ethel Jiang
Bitcoin, (click here) the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, was down as much as 4.8% to below $3,388 a coin early Monday, printing at its lowest level since December 17, 2018.
That was not far above $3,136, bitcoin's lowest level since September 2017. Its rivals ether (-7.21%), litecoin (-4.7%), and bitcoin cash(-8.77%) were also under pressure.
"The cryptoasset movement today is nothing more than technical," Mati Greenspan, senior market analyst at eToro, told Business Insider.
"There’s no need for overreaction here. Bitcoin is continuing to trade within the core area of support between $3,000 and $3,500, within the broader range of $3,000 - $5,000, where it’s been since November 2018."
Investors in the digital currency saw its price explode in 2017 as cryptomania swept over the world. Bitcoin began 2017 worth less than $1,000 a coin before soaring more than 2,000% to a high of $19,511. However, the year of 2018 was a different story, with the cryptocurrency's value plunging by 70%....
The Rooster
"Okeydoke"
Ann Coulter is a two faced hack.
I don't pay attention to her and Limbaugh because they are hate mongers, rarely have anything intelligent to say and thrive on attention from decent people. I do consider myself a decent person.
There were complaints from average people interviewed by journalists about Ann Coulter during the Trump government shutdown. Then, in order to get attention from the political left, which I consider a silly reference, she appeared on Bill Maher's show on HBO. She sat for the interview and not much else. Her ability to take up two political positions at once is an unfortunate ability.
Coulter's primary focus was "hard working Americans." In this particular instance, she thought the federal workers were hard working Americans. It was their best interest she believed she represented as a martyr because no one else was willing to take up such a position and solely believed she was their champion.
Her position was that by taking a hard line against the Undocumented; my word, not hers; she was advocating and protecting hard working Americans. See the Undocumented take jobs from Americans and cause low wages of Americans.
Ann Coulter has to be the most stupid commentator on the air. She obviously has never heard to the minimum wage or unions.
I don't see that a political commentator has the right to influence a USA president into a corner of ignorance and extremism. The president should be advocating a better wage for Americans through improving the minimum wage and employer sponsored benefits including vacation time for the family. A USA president should be working with facts and not extremist politicians' hate speech.
Ann Coulter has power over politics because of the extremist party called The Tea Party with it's Freedom Caucus. Donald Trump is afraid of Limbaugh and Coulter and they dictate his DECISIONS. They rank right up there with Russia in influencing this Americans' president.
Coulter can't state she is helping Americans by forcing a government shutdown while putting our country AT RISK. She cannot state she is beneficial because she believes she is positioning politics to benefit hard working Americans while closing out paychecks to the best workers and the most loyal workers in the country. This country would not be the United States of America without it's federal workers. She should at least LEARN THAT from a Coulter/Limbaugh/Russian nightmare.
The government shutdown, if it had lasted any longer, would have put Russia in a very good position of watching the American democracy crumble to it's advantage.
Understand this Ann Coulter, there is no wall that is going to stop the drug cartels or the Undocumented from crossing the USA southern border. That is a fact. Walls are a "Republican feel good feeling," but, they are worthless without a strong staff of Border Patrol in place to mitigate the crossings. The fact of the matter is without a visual component to the southern border for the Border Patrol a wall inhibits the effectiveness of the USA Border Patrol.
The issue with Coulter, Limbaugh and Russia is fear. Putin chimed in during the 2016 elections stating, "If Hillary Clinton was elected to the presidency there would be nuclear war, but, not with Trump." Putin learns and he learns that spoken fear is effective in influencing Americans. He learned from the extremist pundits of the Republican preferred media. With Putin as an ally, I would not consider the Republican preferred media as patriots and healthy for the national dialogue of an enormous democracy.
The USA has historically stood the breach. Freedom and democracy have standing in the world because of the strength and steadfastness of the USA. That is compromised when hate speech overrides the facts and truth of the political landscape. Is the extremist hate speech of Coulter and Limbaugh a threat to the USA? It has that appearance.
"Good Night, Moon"
22.3 days old moon
47.9 percent lit
January 14, 2019
By Yanan Wang
China exchanged data with NASA (click here) on its recent mission to land a Chinese spacecraft on the far side of the moon, the Chinese space agency said Monday, in what was reportedly the first such collaboration since an American law banned joint space projects with China that do not have prior congressional approval.
The space agency's deputy director, Wu Yanhua, said NASA shared information about its lunar orbiter satellite in hopes of monitoring the landing of the Chang'e 4 spacecraft, which made China the first country to land on the far side of the moon earlier this month.
China in turn shared the time and coordinates of Chang'e 4's scheduled landing, Wu told reporters during a briefing on the lunar mission. He added that while NASA's satellite did not catch the precise moment of landing, it took photographs of the area afterward.
The state-run China Daily said that was the first such form of cooperation since the 2011 U.S. law was enacted....
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