Category: zerohedge

Authored by Peter Korzun via The Strategic Culture Foundation,

The UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York is a place where world leaders are able to hold important meetings behind closed doors. Russia, China, the UK, Germany, France, and the EU seized that opportunity on Sept. 24 to achieve a real milestone.

The EU, Russia, China, and Iran will create a special purpose vehicle (SPV), a “financially independent sovereign channel,” to bypass US sanctions against Tehran and breathe life into the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which is in jeopardy. “Mindful of the urgency and the need for tangible results, the participants welcomed practical proposals to maintain and develop payment channels, notably the initiative to establish a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to facilitate payments related to Iran’s exports, including oil,” they announced in a joint statement. The countries are still working out the technical details. If their plan succeeds, this will deliver a blow to the dollar and a boost to the euro.

The move is being made in order to save the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. According to Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the SPV will facilitate payments for Iran’s exports, such as oil, and imports so that companies can do business with Tehran as usual. The vehicle will be available not just to EU firms but to others as well. A round of US sanctions aimed at ending Iranian oil exports is to take effect on November 5. Iran is the world’s seventh-largest oil producer. Its oil sector accounts for 70% of the country’s exports. Tehran has warned the EU that it should find new ways of trading with Iran prior to that date, in order to preserve the JCPOA.

The SPV proposes to set up a multinational, European, state-backed financial intermediary to work with companies interested in trading with Iran. Payments will be made in currencies other than the dollar and remain outside the reach of those global money-transfer systems under US control. In August, the EU passed a blocking statute to guarantee the immunity of European companies from American punitive measures. It empowers EU firms to seek compensation from the United States Treasury for its attempts to impose extra-territorial sanctions. No doubt the move will further damage the already strained US-EU relationship. It might be helpful to create a special EU company for oil exports from Iran.

Just hours after the joint statement on the SPV, US President Trump defended his unilateral action against Iran in his UNGA address. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned the EU initiative, stating:

“This is one of the most counterproductive measures imaginable for regional global peace and security.”

To wit, the EU, Russia, and China have banded together in open defiance against unilateral steps taken by the US. Moscow and Beijing are in talks on how to combine their efforts to fend off the negative impacts of US trade tariffs and sanctions. A planned Sept 24-25 visit by Chinese Vice-Premier Liu, who was coming to the United States for trade talks, was cancelled as a result of the discord and President Trump added more fuel to the fire on Sept. 24 by imposing 10% tariffs on almost half of all goods the US imports from China. “We have far more bullets,” the president said before the Chinese official’s planned visit. “We’re going to go US$200 billion and 25 per cent Chinese made goods. And we will come back with more.” The US has recently imposed sanctions on China to punish it for the purchase of Russian S-400 air-defense systems and combat planes. Beijing refused to back down. It is also adamant in its desire to continue buying Iran’s oil.

It is true, the plan to skirt the sanctions might fall short of expectations. It could fail as US pressure mounts. A number of economic giants, including Total, Peugeot, Allianz, Renault, Siemens, Daimler, Volvo, and Vitol Group have already left Iran as its economy plummets, with the rial losing two-thirds of its value since the first American sanctions took effect in May. The Iranian currency dropped to a record low against the US dollar this September.

What really matters is the fact that the leading nations of the EU have joined the global heavyweights — Russia and China — in open defiance of the United States.

This is a milestone event.

It’s hard to underestimate its importance. Certainly, it’s too early to say that the UK and other EU member states are doing a sharp pivot toward the countries that oppose the US globally, but this is a start – a first step down that path. This would all have seemed unimaginable just a couple of years ago – the West and the East in the same boat, trying to stand up to the American bully!

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Even as Nike stock has outperformed its benchmarks so far this year, contributing to a badly needed 9% return last year for New Jersey’s $78 billion public worker pension fund, the board supervising the fund is considering dumping its roughly $44 million stake at the behest of representatives of the state’s retired police and firefighters, who have complained that the company’s Colin Kaepernick ad campaign is deeply offensive.

New Jersey’s pension fund is among the worst-funded in the country (you can catch up on our analysis of its ongoing troubles here). Its finances are in such dire straights that even though Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy allocated $3.2 billion to the fund as part of his budget for the 2018 fiscal year – the state’s largest contribution in ages – that amount is only 60% of the full amount called for by the actuaries.

Still, NJ.com reported that Marty Barrett, a representative of retired police officers and firefighters, asked the State Investment Council to consider divesting from its Nike holdings because of the ad – a request that was readily honored, with the board voting unanimously to review its holdings, which include 311,500 equity shares valued at $26 million and 20 million principal valued at $18 million.

As Bloomberg pointed out earlier this month, four other public pension funds that manage police pensions (in Colorado, Wisconsin, Ohio and Oregon) also own Nike stock.

Barrett declared during his presentation to the council that Nike made “one of the worst business decisions of all time” when it created the ad campaign.

Nike’s use of the sports figure, whose protests of police brutality during the National Anthem drew controversy, has triggered boycotts of the brand.

Barrett said Thursday that Kaepernick’s protest disrespects members of the military and first responders who were killed on 9/11.

Nike “made one of the worst business decisions of all time” in making Kaepernick the face of its ad campaign, Barrett said.

Perhaps unsurprisingly for a blue state, New Jersey’s SIC has divested stakes in gun manufacturers and private-prison companies following pressure from left-wing groups.

But will they grant the same courtesy to police and firefighters that they did to high school students and the Latin American community? Of course, the fund’s decision to dump the stake could also dampen Nike’s banner performance this year. And once the first domino falls, others could soon follow.

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Authored by William Craddick via DisobedientMedia.com,

Two years into his Presidency, Donald Trump’s accomplishments are constantly lauded by his followers. America’s finance and business worlds are on the road to recovery and diplomatic relations with North Korea are improving so substantially that a peace accord on the peninsula may be in store down the road. ISIS, while still maintaining a global network that threatens the United States, has been routed from much of the territory they once openly occupied in the Middle East.

But Trump’s tenure has also revealed the presence of a number of flaws. He overemphasizes his economic recovery, ignores attacks on his supporters in the real and digital world, is apparently unaware that his own officials are likely waiting till the end of his administration to pursue negative foreign policy objectives, and seems unwilling to go after his former friends, business colleagues and social acquaintances. All of these factors, combined with his constant desire to be well liked by even his enemies are beginning to create the very real risk of undermining goals of the movement that elected him.

I. Overemphasis On Economy While Supporters Marginalized

While the rapid growth of American economy and a rising stock market have created wealth and opportunity, it has come at the cost of the attention President Trump gives to his constituents. While Trump’s Twitter feed is a ticker tape of Fox News headlines and recent stats about the booming economy, he very rarely, if ever tweets about violence directed towards his supporters.

Attacks or threats of attacks on members of Trump’s movement have occurred as recently as September 11th, 2018 without comment from the President. Social media giants such as Facebook and Google directly allow foreign interests such as China to take a leading role in censoring communications of any right wingers, populists or anti-war proponents. This collaboration has dire implications for US security. Trump has yet to take action against groups targeting his base outside of strong words or probes that have not yielded real solutions to these problems.

Discriminatory focus on particular topics isn’t an anomaly for Trump. He also criticizes certain criminal, terrorist or extremist groups such as ISIS or MS-13, yet never mentions others like Antifa or Mexican cartels, giving these groups more space to operate due to decreased scrutiny. A walking contradiction, Trump will intervene in a foreign country over his concern for injured children yet not take similar forceful action against rampant crime and trafficking in Sanctuary Cities such as Chicago.

The tendency to ignore the pain of his people to spotlight the economy makes for a hollow victory. Trump himself frequently mentions that his economic recovery is fragile and could be immediately reversed by his predecessor. There is, however, an even more dangerous element likely not being considered by either Trump or his base:

Dramatic economic recovery can be a precursor to the outbreak of war.

Observers seeking to guess at which countries America might engage with militarily need only look where US sanctions are being applied – locations such as Iran, Syria, Turkey, China, Venezuela, Russia, or the European Union where anti-American sentiment has been on the rise. Sanctions provide valuable intelligence on the ability and resolve of a targeted country to respond militarily and economically in a conflict.

It’s doubtful that Trump is actively seeking to start foreign wars with these countries himself. A booming economy, sanctions and a newly robust military are all useful tools to employ in immediate negotiations with foreign states. But many groups delayed by Trump’s election will still proceed with their goals when he leaves the Oval Office. Trump’s tenure will only be another two to six years. The various factions who make up the bureaucratic class play the long con and will continue to exist after his administration has run its course.

The DNC has openly admitted that they can rig their primary process if they please. After Trump stormed the GOP in 2016, there is little doubt that they too will take steps to ensure that such an upset could never happen again. Anti-war supporters expecting that Trump’s successor to be a non-interventionist along the lines of Rand Paul are fooling themselves. The President after Trump will likely be open to entanglement in war. They will care even less about Trump’s base despite the fact that the “Resistance” openly state their long term goals of wiping out the opposition. Trump’s Presidency is merely delaying the inevitable.

II. Lack Of Resolve To Go After Old Acquaintances

Trump has done nothing to go after individuals undermining his administration, though in some cases he has publicly espoused a supposed desire to take strong action. A blatant example of this are the Clintons, who Trump and his family have a historied friendship with. Trump’s long time friend Bill Clinton encouraged Trump to run for President in 2015. Ivanka Trump, who has been accused of leaking administration secrets in the past, was also an old pal of Chelsea Clinton’s. The hard truth is that despite Trump’s bluster about Hillary Clinton and the crimes she is claimed to have committed nothing will ever happen to her.

Billionaire philanthropist and political activist George Soros is one of Trump’s biggest opponents, dumping millions into various organizations of the Resistance movement. He has been accused of attempting to foster a color revolution to destabilize the United States. But Trump has not mentioned Soros’ name once since the 2016 Presidential debates. He has never mentioned Soros on Twitter.

Indeed, the President did business with Soros, who leant the real estate mogul capital for the construction of his tower in Chicago. When Trump became active in the Tea Party movement, he openly defended Soros from criticism. Upon assuming the Presidency, he brought on Steve Mnuchin, who worked for Soros-backed SFM Capital Management and Soros Fund Management LLC, as Secretary of the Treasury.

Trump doesn’t seem to be planning to go after a single former social or professional contact he maintained in his old life.

This is no more obvious than in the case of Jeffery Epstein, the billionaire philanthropist caught running an underage sex trafficking ring, sometimes recording encounters between adults and underage women for the purposes of blackmail. Epstein was let off the hook with a single charge of soliciting a minor. None of the other individuals accused of wrongdoing in the scandal faced legal repercussions, though some cases were hotly debated in the legal community. The attorney who cut such an atrocious deal for Epstein is now serving as Trump’s Secretary of Labor.

Trump certainly knew what Epstein was doing, surely as he must know what some of his other acquaintances in New York were involved with – Disobedient Media has previously reported the known history of connections between philanthropic events and child trafficking networks. It would seem that such a case would be ripe for review by an avowed anti corruption administration. Yet he has not gone after high profile offenders even as his administration leads a major charge to clean up the trafficking networks themselves. Are these connected and influential figures simply above the law, even in Trump’s “great” America?

III. Will The Right Solve It’s Own Problems?

None of this is put forward to suggest that Trump doesn’t care about the United States, or doesn’t love his country. But it does show that for all the appeal to his supporters, Trump is a flawed individual. His Presidency was heralded as a new era of reform. A more realistic outlook began to set in when Trump made the hypocritical decision to bomb Syria in the first few months of his Presidency despite decrying such a move previously.

Trump is the dam holding back the floodwaters of total chaos that are bubbling over in the United States. When he is gone, no one with any meaningful power will lift a finger to stop the establishment’s inevitable purge of conservative, nationalistic and patriotic Americans. The great gulf that has begun to divide the country will soon be beyond repair.

This administration is likely the United States’ last chance to fix its systemic issues before real calamity sets in.

Many don’t wish to acknowledge this. They don’t want to accept the very real danger represented by corrupt and incompetent establishment figures still active in the administration, and their stagnation in the face of a resurgent far Left. There is more interest in maintaining the excitement of a nonstop pep rally than acting to secure the country. Trump’s personality and desire to be liked by demographics who will never accept him are preventing his supporters from realizing their potential and achieving anything that will have a lasting effect.

For a true return to an American golden age, the ‘Make America Great Again’ movement must learn to accomplish their goals in spite of their beloved leader and his flaws.

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A pair of Japanese rovers have sent back a group of photos and the first-ever video recorded on the surface of an asteroid, Gizmodo reports.

Watch the footage below:

Rover-1B succeeded in shooting a movie on Ryugu’s surface! The movie has 15 frames captured on September 23, 2018 from 10:34 – 11:48 JST. Enjoy ‘standing’ on the surface of this asteroid! [6/6] pic.twitter.com/57avmjvdVa

— HAYABUSA2@JAXA (@haya2e_jaxa) September 27, 2018

Japan’s MINERVA-II rovers – MINERVA II2 and MINERVA II1 – traversed the surface of Ryugu, an asteroid located 174 million miles from Earth’s surface and documented what they found. Minerva stands for Micro Nano Experimental Robot Vehicle for Asteroid (2nd generation).

The robots took a series of snapshots as they bounded across the asteroids surface, taking advantage of the low gravity to travel more than 50 feet per leap, a journey that would take up to 15 minutes to complete.

The rovers were sent by Japan’s Hayabusa2 space probe, which has been orbiting the asteroid since June.

The 15-frame video was captured by MINERVA-II2, also known as Rover 1B, on September 23, the same day that it and its companion, MINERVA-II1, landed on Ryugu, an asteroid located 174 million miles (280 million kilometers) from Earth. The rovers were dispatched by Japan’s Hayabusa2 space probe, which arrived in orbit around the asteroid back in June.

According to RT, the 900m-wide Ryugu (also known as asteroid 162173) is believed to be a relic from the earliest days of our solar system. The mission was intended to examine the space rock in the hopes of finding more clues about the formation of Earth.

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Authored by Philip Giraldi via The Strategic Culture Foundation,

Perhaps it is Donald Trump’s business background that leads him to believe that if you inflict enough economic pain on someone they will ultimately surrender and agree to do whatever you want. Though that approach might well work in New York real estate, it is not a certain path to success in international relations since countries are not as vulnerable to pressure as are individual investors or developers.

Washington’s latest foray into the world of sanctions, directed against China, is astonishing even when considering the low bar that has been set by previous presidents going back to Bill Clinton. Beijing has already been pushing back over US sanctions imposed last week on its government-run Equipment Development Department of the Chinese Central Military Commission and its director Li Shangfu for “engaging in significant transactions” with a Russian weapons manufacturer that is on a list of US sanctioned companies. The transactions included purchases of Russian Su-35 combat aircraft as well as equipment related to the advanced S-400 surface-to-air missile system. The sanctions include a ban on the director entering the United States and blocks all of his property or bank accounts within the US as well as freezing all local assets of the Equipment Development Department.

More important, the sanctions also forbid conducting any transactions that go through the US financial system. It is the most powerful weapon Washington has at its disposal, but it is being challenged as numerous countries are working to find ways around it. Currently however, as most international transactions are conducted in dollars and pass through American banks that means that it will be impossible for the Chinese government to make weapons purchases from many foreign sources. If foreign banks attempt to collaborate with China to evade the restrictions, they too will be sanctioned.

So in summary, Beijing bought weapons from Moscow and is being sanctioned by the United States for doing so because Washington does not approve of the Russian government. The sanctions on China are referred to as secondary sanctions in that they are derivative from the primary sanction on the foreign company or individual that is actually being punished. Secondary sanctions can be extended ad infinitum as transgressors linked sequentially to the initial transaction multiply the number of potential targets.

Not surprisingly, the US Ambassador has been summoned and Beijing has canceled several bilateral meetings with American defense department officials. The Chinese government has expressed “outrage” and has demanded the US cancel the measure.

According to media reports, the Chinese Department purchased the weapons from Rosoboronexport, Russia’s principal arms exporter. This violated a 2017 law passed by Congress named, characteristically, the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, which sought to punish the Russian government and its various agencies for interfering in in the 2016 US election as well as its alleged involvement in Ukraine, Syria and its development of cyberwar capabilities. Iran and North Korea were also targeted in the legislation.

Explaining the new sanctions, US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert issued a statement elaborating that the initial sanctions on Russia were enacted “to further impose costs on the Russian government in response to its malign activities.” She added that the US will “urge all countries to curtail relationships with Russia’s defense and intelligence sectors, both of which are linked to malign activities worldwide.”

As engaging in “malign activities” is a charge that should quite plausibly be leveled against Washington and its allies in the Middle East, it is not clear if anyone but the French and British poodles actually believes the rationalizations coming out of Washington to defend the indefensible. An act to “Counter America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions” is, even as the title implies, ridiculous.

Washington is on a sanctions spree.

Russia has been sanctioned repeatedly since the passage of the fraudulent Magnitsky Act, with no regard for Moscow’s legitimate protests that interfering in other countries’ internal politics is unacceptable. China is currently arguing reasonably enough that arms sales between countries is perfect legal and in line with international law.

Iran has been sanctioned even through it complied with an international agreement on its nuclear program and new sanctions were even piled on top of the old sanctions. And in about five weeks the US will be sanctioning ANYONE who buys oil from Iran, reportedly with no exceptions allowed. Venezuela is under US sanctions to punish its government, NATO member Turkey because it bought weapons from Russia and the Western Hemisphere perennial bad boy Cuba has had various embargoes in place since 1960.

It should be noted that sanctions earn a lot of ill-will and generally accomplish nothing. Cuba would likely be a fairly normal country but for the US restrictions and other pressure that gave its government the excuse to maintain a firm grip on power. The same might even apply to North Korea. And sanctions are even bad for the United States. Someday, when the US begins to lose its grip on the world economy all of those places being sanctioned will line up to get their revenge and it won’t be pretty.

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Just when you thought it wasn’t possible for Chinese real estate “creativity” to jump the shark further, a recent report reveals that one of the next major real estate projects in China is going to be a full recreation of Stratford-upon-Avon, together with copies of houses where William Shakespeare lived.

Not content with its replicas of the Eiffel Tower, London’s Tower Bridge, and Jackson Hole, this particular recreation is the latest in a series of generally pointless – if GDP boosting – projects to give real estate companies and construction developers a change of pace from building empty apartment buildings in cities that have no citizens.

The Financial Times reported that the project contract was signed last week between the city of Fuzhou, and the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, which owns the Shakespearean heritage sites in the United Kingdom. The contract paves the way to begin construction on the world’s first recreation of the two houses where Shakespeare was born, lived and died.

The Chinese’s track record of recreating replica sites has been spotty, if entertaining for the rest of the world. The replica of Tower Bridge in London (pictured above) was built with four towers instead of the original’s two. The replica Eiffel Tower that the country built was only about a third of the height of the original. But the Birthplace Trust doesn’t seem too excited with developers taking creative liberties. The fee for the project has been undisclosed, but the Trust is adamant that they want the replicas to be as close to the originals as possible.

Philippa Rawlinson, deputy chief executive of the trust, told FT: “We know that the Chinese laugh at themselves for creating Tower Bridge double width et cetera. But this is our intellectual property and… there needs to be a contract and something that means we can fundamentally manage our reputation and manage the story.”

As part of this, they’re going to offer “expert guidance” on how to make the project using traditional building materials and methods. They’re also going approve all stages of design and interpretation. The construction is slated to begin next year as part of – in true Chinese fashion – the construction of an entire new town called San Weng, which is supposed to be completed in 2020.

Getting the details right but might be more difficult than it seems. The original house where Shakespeare lived until his death no longer exists, after it was demolished in 1702. It will have to be re-created using archaeological clues and guidance from the Trust. Building techniques have also changed significantly, making a truly authentic replica especially complex:

Much of the charm of Shakespeare’s birthplace comes from the sensation of stepping back in time. The visible undulation of the flagstone floors, the ancient timber beams, the narrow bed on which Shakespeare slept and the graffiti left by visitors from hundreds of years ago are all features that are difficult, if not impossible, to copy. Such features mean that some compromises on authenticity need to be made.

The Trust’s project manager, Nic Fulcher, stated: “(They) are not building a timber frame building, but the interior and exterior finish have got to be appropriate.”

So why is China bothering with yet another Western replica instead of growing out its own, domestic culture? Simple: for the city of Fuzhou, the construction of the new town of San Weng represents a big investment that is intended to rebrand the area as a centre for culture, bringing in revenues from tourism and real estate.

And any time one sees “big investment” when it comes to China, what one should read is “GDP growth”… along with the token amount of corruption and skimming off the top.

In addition to the town’s envisaged “Stratford quarter”, other precincts will be built in styles that are reminiscent of Cervantes, the great Spanish novelist, and Tang Xianzu, a native of Jiangxi province most famous for the classical work The Peony Pavilion. By coincidence, Shakespeare, Cervantes and Tang Xianzu all died in 1616.

So we know why, although a logical counterargument is that perhaps China should first consider filling out its empty cities and apartment buildings before taking on new projects. Then again, that activity does not “boost” GDP and involves government bureaucrats doing actual work, which explains why the status quo will continue indefinitely.

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Authored by Simon Black via SovereignMan.com,

In 279 BC, the vast army of King Pyrrhus of Epirus was met by Roman forces at the Battle of Asculum in southern Italy, in what would be one of the costliest military engagements of ancient history.

Pyrrhus fancied himself the second coming of Alexander the Great and believed that he was a descendant of Achilles.

Many of his peers and contemporaries believed Pyrrhus to be the greatest military commander of all time.

His exploits were legendary. And when he set sail for Italy in 280 BC, the Romans did not underestimate him.

The Battle of Asculum was decisive. Pyrrhus actually won the battle; but in defeating the Romans, he lost so many of his men that his army was practically broken.

Pyrrhus purportedly said of his victory, “If we are victorious in one more battle with the Romans, we shall be utterly ruined. . .”

This gave rise to the term “Pyrrhic victory,” which refers to a win that’s incredibly costly.

Pyrrhus also tried his hand at diplomacy with Rome, sending one of his ablest statesmen to the capital to negotiate peace with the Roman Senate.

The emissary was not successful. But he reported back to Pyrrhus that Rome’s Senate was incredibly impressive– “an assembly of kings” comprised of its noblest citizens.

And he was right. In the early days when Rome was still a republic, its Senate was a highly revered institution that stood for wisdom, dignity, and virtue.

They were far from perfect. But the men who served in the Senate during the early republic were heavily responsible for building the most advanced civilization the world had ever seen up to that point.

Needless to say, times changed. Within a few hundred years, the Senate had become a corrupt joke, filled with venal criminals, weak sycophants, and mediocre minds.

I couldn’t help but think of this analogy yesterday watching the Inquisition of Brett Kavanaugh.

If you’re living under a rock (or reading this letter many years from now), Brett Kavanaugh has been nominated to serve as a Justice of the United States Supreme Court. This requires that he be confirmed by the Senate.

Recently a woman emerged who accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were all teenagers, several decades ago.

This is tantamount to accusing the man of a crime.

But rather than treat this as any other criminal matter in which the authorities would investigate the evidence to determine if charges are warranted… or the case is put to a court and jury to decide… the once-hallowed halls of the US Senate have been turned into an embarrassing circus that shines a giant spotlight on the deep social divides in the Land of the Free.

The whole charade is a horrible offense to the basic principles of justice in which a person is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty.

When it comes to claims of sexual assault, however, the man is automatically deemed guilty … and the accuser praised for her courage and bravery before the veracity of the assertion is ever deliberated.

Senator Maize Hirono of Hawaii recently stated, “Not only do women like [Kavanaugh’s accuser], who bravely come forward, need to be heard, but they need to be believed.”

By definition this is neither fair nor impartial, and turns the entire process into a Kangaroo Court… which is what the Senate has become.

At a certain point yesterday, one Senator introduced multiple pieces of evidence on behalf of the accuser, including ‘expert reports’ that justify her inability to remember details from the assault.

This is truly bizarre.

These Senators are playing the role of judge in this matter. It seems impossible to do this while simultaneously acting as advocate for the accuser.

Another Senator sat smugly and sanctimoniously, leering down at Brett Kavanaugh and demanding explanations about code words for beer and flatulence that date back to Kavanaugh’s high school days.

The fact that a United States Senator would actually consider this important evidence is an utter embarrassment.

Another disgusting perversion of justice is that the United States Senate actually felt compelled to negotiate with the accuser about when/how she would testify.

For example, the accuser wanted to prohibit certain questions, control who could/could not ask questions, determine the order of witness testimony, etc.

This is simply NOT how the justice system is supposed to work.

Accusers must face the accused in a court of law and submit to cross-examination, following the same rules that everyone else has to follow.

No one is supposed to get special treatment. That’s the point. And it is through this process that the truth is eventually discovered.

It’s not that I don’t believe the accuser. It’s entirely possible that she’s telling the truth.

But as this case has not been deliberated objectively through the normal due process that is guaranteed by the Constitution, no one can reach a valid conclusion.

Yet there are countless legions of people, including United States Senators, who have already made up their minds, like the Inquisition demanding, “Do you confess?”

And that’s the saddest part – this manner of Inquisition… trial by social media… has now been condoned and advanced by the United States Senate, an institution whose members have ALL taken a solemn oath to support and defend the Constitution which they are now violating in the worst way.

Clearly the Senate is no longer an assembly of kings… but a brood of bickering, immature weaklings.

(The only resilience displayed has been from the accused and accuser, both of whom have had to endure insane public scrutiny.)

There’s obviously an agenda here.

Perhaps some Senators are trying to win points with the #metoo movement for the upcoming elections.

Or they’re intentionally blocking Kavanaugh simply because he is a Trump nominee.

Whatever their reasons, they may be victorious in achieving their desired outcome.

But it will be a Pyrrhic victory… for it will come at the expense of establishing a dangerous new standard that destroys the most important principles of Justice.

And to continue learning how to ensure you thrive no matter what happens next in the world, I encourage you to download our free Perfect Plan B Guide.

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California’s Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced Thursday that authorities had busted a robbery scheme targeting Apple stores across 19 counties. 

Seventeen people have been indicted in the scheme, which saw over $1 million in Apple merchandise stolen across the state, from far northern Butte couinty all the way to San Diego. 22 law enforcement agencies are involved in the investigation. 

Oakland Police Chief Anne E. Kirkpatrick and Lieutenant Burch talk with media about the criminal search warrant arrests officers made in connection with the Apple Store Robberies. pic.twitter.com/bwV3D3tDYq

— Oakland Police Dept. (@oaklandpoliceca) September 27, 2018

Surveillance video shows brazen Apple store robbery. https://t.co/XQ2a9KFFUv pic.twitter.com/4stFXNKfTi

— USA TODAY Video (@usatodayvideo) September 28, 2018

New Apple store in Walnut Creek robbed. A bystander took some video of the suspect’s Mercedes driving away. The store also had some surveillance cameras capture some of the scene. https://t.co/cS5Fg9E3MF

via @AmberKTVU pic.twitter.com/A2pahtC1pC

— KTVU (@KTVU) August 29, 2018

WATCH: Authorities released surveillance footage from a daring daytime robbery of an Apple Store in Fresno, California; employees and customers alike were shocked when four men entered around 11:30 a.m. pic.twitter.com/rExBjJQxQf

— Blaine Stewart (@BlaineStewart) July 10, 2018

Seven unnamed individuals connected to the scheme were arrested in Oakland on Tuesday, according to Becerra’s office, while another suspect, Kenneth Martin Jr. of Oakland is in custody in Sonoma County around an hour north. Nine other suspects remain at large. 

Surveillance videos show several groups of hooded suspects running into stores and grabbing Apple devices from display cases. In an August 29th incident, suspects made off with over $35,000 in merchandise. 

The San Luis Obispo Police Department initiated the investigation following a series of thefts from Apple stores. Local law enforcement agencies from the following counties have assisted in the investigation: Alameda County, Butte County, Contra Costa County, Fresno County, Kern County, Los Angeles County, Marin County, Monterey County, Orange County, Placer County, Riverside County, Sacramento County, San Bernardino County, San Diego County, San Francisco County, San Mateo County, Santa Clara County, Sonoma County and Ventura County.

Attorney General Becerra has filed charges for conspiracy to commit grand theft against the individuals in Fresno, Santa Clara, and Alameda Counties. –oag.ca.gov

Police in Roseville, California arrested several suspects earlier this month, taking into custody Juwan Potter, 20, Melvin Barlow, 21, and Quincy Carter Jr., 21, according to CBS Sacramento. They are currently being held in the South Placer County Jail on suspicion of robbing the Applie Store in Roseville’s Westfield Galleria mall.

“Organized retail thefts cost California business owners millions and expose them to copycat criminals. Ultimately, consumers pay the cost of this merchandise hijacking,” Becerra said in a statement. “We will continue our work with local law enforcement authorities to extinguish this mob mentality and prosecute these criminals to hold them accountable.“

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Submitted by OilPrice.com

China’s top refiner Sinopec is halving its oil imports from Iran as of September, bowing to pressure from the United States, which is seeking to bring Iranian oil exports down to zero with the sanctions returning in November, Reuters reported on Friday, quoting people familiar with the issue.

Sinopec will reduce its imports from Iran to around 130,000 bpd, based on Reuters calculation on the prevailing supply contracts between the Chinese company and the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC).

China has previously stated that it would not stop buying Iranian oil despite U.S. efforts to have the Iranian exports down to zero. But Beijing is also said to have agreed not to increase its oil purchases from Iran. Iran, for its part, is keen to keep its single biggest oil customer – China – when U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil exports kick in.

Analysts have so far assumed that China will keep buying Iranian oil and be pretty much the only certain meaningful customer of Iran, because the other major buyer, India, is even more hard-pressed by the United States to wind down purchases from Tehran.

Sinopec – listed in Hong Kong, but more importantly, also in New York – is now facing direct pressure from the United States to curtail Iranian oil imports.

According to one of Reuters’s sources, U.S. officials visited Sinopec in Beijing in August and demanded steep reductions of oil imports from Iran.

“This round is completely different from last time. Then it was more of a consultative tone, but this time it’s almost like an ultimatum,” the source told Reuters.

Last month, Chinese refiners and oil traders were said to have started to switch to using Iran-owned tankers for almost all their crude oil imports from Tehran, in order to keep Iranian oil flowing to China.

But shipping and insurance sources told Reuters on Friday that Iran faces difficulties in insuring its own ships because western re-insurance firms are quitting their Iranian businesses.

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Iraqi Instagram model Tara Faris was killed by unidentified gunmen in Baghdad on Friday, according to local media reports cited by RT. Hers is the latest in a string of murders across the country targeting female activists; in each case, extremist groups are the main suspects.

She was reportedly shot and killed while in her car in a Baghdad neighborhood.

Faris, who was one of the most popular Iraqis on Instagram with 2.7 million followers, got her start as a beauty pageant contestant in 2015. She was born in 1998 to an Iraqi father and a Lebanese mother.

She had lived in Europe for a time before returning to Iraq, living in Erbil and Baghdad. Her murder is the latest in a string of assassinations which have targeted women, with some speculating that religious extremists could be behind the attacks.

Earlier this week, a female activist who helped organize protests in Iraq’s southern city of Basra was shot dead by masked gunmen.

Faris’ killing is the latest sign that – as one Twitter user put it – “women are not safe in Iraq”.

Women are not safe in Iraq, actually no one is safe in Iraq. She shouldn’t have left Kurdistan, where she previously lived a normal life.

— Axayê Kurda (@AxayeKurda) September 27, 2018

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