Tag: finance

Authored by Tom Luongo,

For years Italy’s Northern League kept to itself, being focused on secession rather than reform from within.  That change began last year with their non-binding referenda to petition Rome for more fiscal autonomy.  But, as the Italian parliamentary elections come into view, the Northern League is playing politics.

And doing it well.

Having made a coalition with Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia and two smaller center-right parties, the Leag Norda (Northern League) is now in a great position to win the election.  It’s leader, Matteo Salvini has wholly embraced populism and is now in open opposition to Europe as a whole. From a report at Breitbart:

During a heated interview with Italian TV Channel Rete 4 this week, Mr. Salvini reaffirmed his eurosceptic credentials, blasting: “Europe can go f*ck itself!”

“Europe has been punishing us for the last 15 years and we are worse off than 15 years ago,” he added. “European measures are the last thing I am interested in.”

Salvini’s populist stance goes much further than that.  His Twitter feed reads like Nigel Farage’s after a lengthy stay at the pub.  He’s pushing for a 15% flat tax, the bane of the Progressive left who understands that a progressive tax system is the biggest obstacle to wealth generation.  Salvini invokes U.S. President Donald Trump whenever he can especially on defending Italy’s borders and EU immigration policy.

 

If Italy elects a government hostile to Angela Merkel’s open immigration policy she will have no choice but the back down on her stance against the Visegrad nations – Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia.

But, the big question it the euro.  And where does this new coalition and Salvini really stand on taking one of the lynchpin economies out of the failing monetary union?  Honestly, we don’t know.

Polls suggest that anti-euro sentiment is still not high enough for it to be a winning electoral strategy.  Even the front-running party, Five-Star Movement, is backing off rhetorically on its most radical position, calling a referendum on the euro a ‘last resort’ now.

But, this isn’t 2015 and Salvini isn’t the feckless idiot that Alexis Tsipras in Greece is.  The Leag Norda comes for truly radical roots. It understands the problems Italy has stem from Germany’s punitive ideas on austerity.

He directly discusses them in his stump speeches and Tweets.  So, a lot of this softening on the euro is simply campaign strategy to get elected.  Is it also a means by which to blunt the rise of Five Star Movement and shut them out of the government?

Absolutely.  And in that respect one has to be skeptical if this embracing of populism isn’t just another ruse.  If a member of Berlusconi’s Forza Italia was the face of the coalition then I would be more circumspect, but because of Leag Norda’s secessionist roots, I have to believe that this move to challenge Brussels on tax and spending policies is real.

The problem lies with the polls.  Five-Star is in the lead but like Alternative for Germany (AfD) in Germany no one wants to make a coalition with them.  It would be like the Republicans making a coalition deal with the Libertarians here in the U.S.  It seems like a natural fit to outsiders but it’s not because the radical outsiders are a threat to the power of the entrenched players.

And that, I think, is the likely dynamic here.

Either way, though, Leag Norda becoming a real political force in Italy spells real trouble for a European Union and the Troika.  Salvini is advocating the opposite of the plans favored by the power elite in Europe.

Cut taxes, stop immigration and bring the Italian middle class back into the mix.  The problem is that Germany favors a strong euro over a weak one.  It gives them a massive advantage over the rest of Europe.  It drastically over-values non-German European labor on the open market, retarding investment and trade.  While Germany’s industrial base is strengthened comparatively.

And so, Salvini and Berlusconi, if they win, will have to then sell this idea of Germany using the euro to trap Italy, like Greece in a death spiral, for the next generation if not longer.

And it is an easy sell on the campaign trail and will be an even easier sell once elected.

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has turned on Ankara’s allies, insinuating that the US in particular has been providing massive military support to Kurdish YPG in Syria.

In a speech to his ruling AK Party, RT reports that Erdogan said that ‘some allies’ of Turkey had provided the YPG Syrian Kurdish militia with 2,000 planeloads and 5,000 truckloads of weapons.

“Now, apart from 5,000 trucks, there are weapons and ammunition from around 2,000 planes.” the Turkish leader said.

He also accused Ankara’s allies of dishonesty when they say that they do not provide weapons for “terrorists,” referring to Kurdish-linked YPG forces.

It was not just Washington that Turkish officials were accusing, they specifically accused France of supporting terrorism ahead of an emergency UN session set for Monday…

“Anyone who opposes Turkey’s operation in northern Syria’s Afrin region is siding with terrorists and will be treated accordingly,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Sunday.

“We hope France will support Turkey’s operation against terrorists in Syria,” the minister added in reference to what Turkey has dubbed ‘Operation Olive Branch’.

After the Turkish military invaded northwest Syria over the weekend in an operation that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan described as cleaning out Kurdish “terror nests”, France called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council.

FM Çavuşoğlu’s words were given in warning to French politicians who say they will take up the issue of Turkish aggression at the UN. France has urged Turkey to exercise restraint in its air and land assault targeting US-backed Kurdish forces in Afrin, near Turkey’s border.

The Turkish incursion reportedly prompted outrage from French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, who stated:

“France calls on Turkish authorities to act with restraint in a difficult context, with the humanitarian situation deteriorating in several regions of Syria as a consequence of the military actions of the Damascus regime and its allies.”

The French FM also took to twitter to announce that an emergency UN Security Council session is set to meet Monday – though strangely (though not unexpectedly) his harshest condemnation was still reserved for the “Damascus regime and its allies” even as Turkey is now bombing civilian urban areas from the air. Ambassador Le Drian further issued a direct message by phone to his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu on Sunday.

 

#Turkey‘s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu warns if #France or any other country takes #Afrin offensive to the UN, they will be siding with a terror group and be treated as such by Turkish gov’t. pic.twitter.com/TE9jvueX32

— Abdullah Bozkurt (@abdbozkurt) January 21, 2018

Syrian Kurdish media has accused Turkey of launching the campaign out of a desire to ethnically cleanse the Turkish border region of its historically Kurdish identity. 

Indeed Erdoğan has vowed “to give Afrin back to its real owners” while claiming that “55% of Afrin is composed of Arabs with 35% of Kurds coming there later on”. 

This as invading Turkish-backed militias (FSA) have been filmed shouting chants related to the ethnic cleansing of Kurds, according to Middle East analyst Hassan Hassan.

 

Pres Erdogan: Yesterday air strikes, today ground operation began on Afrin. 55% of Afrin is Arabs, %35 of Kurds who came there later on.. The whole point it to give Afrin back to real owners. We are going to send Syrians in Turkey back to their country as soon as possible. #live pic.twitter.com/gPR5HFOEh6

— Ahval (@ahval_en) January 21, 2018

 

Thus Turkey’s president is openly voicing a goal of radical demographic shift in northwest Syria based on claimed ethnic statistics as his army invades foreign soil.

Though accurate numbers are difficult to come by, Kurdish media reports dozens of dead and wounded civilians – including children –  from the over 100 airstrikes that pounded Afrin Canton over the weekend. Various international reports have cited numbers of civilians killed ranging from 7 to over 20, with many more wounded victims flooding hospitals in Afrin.
 

This weekend, Turkey began operation ‘Olive Branch’ against Kurdish forces in Afrin, deploying jets and land forces.

On Sunday Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim confirmed that tanks and military vehicles had begun to cross the Syrian border, according to Haberturk. They were said to advance roughly five kilometers into the Afrin region. Yildirim also said the Turkish military, NATO’s second-largest, would create a 30-km (19-mile) “safe zone” in the  region.

All of this was precipitated by multiple warnings issued by top Turkish officials claiming that the US was complicit in creating a “terror safe haven” along Turkey’s border as the Pentagon recently announced it would be creating a 30,000 strong predominantly SDF “border force” ostensibly to protect US friendly zones from terror attacks.

As a reminder, Turkey sees the YPG as being closely linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) – whom the government considers terrorists.

The United States is backing the YPG in Syria, seeing it as an effective partner in the fight against Islamic State.

However, the US stressed on Saturday that they are not supporting the PKK.

“We recognize Turkey’s security concerns about the PKK, a US-designated foreign terrorist organization,” Adrian Rankine-Galloway, the Pentagon’s spokesman said in a statement sent to the Anadolu Agency.

And then on Sunday, the State Department said it is “very concerned” about Turkish military action, but stopped short of outright condemnation, and even appeared justified the military operation as originating out of the “legitimate security concerns of Turkey”. The statement reads in part:

As expressed by Secretary Tillerson in calls to his Turkish and Russian counterparts yesterday, the United States is very concerned about the situation in northwest Syria, especially the plight of innocent civilians who are now faced with an escalation in fighting. 

We continue to be supportive of addressing the legitimate security concerns of Turkey as a NATO Ally and critical partner in the effort to defeat ISIS. However, we urge Turkey to exercise restraint and ensure that its military operations remain limited in scope and duration and scrupulous to avoid civilian casualties.

Meanwhile, Syria’s President Assad slammed Turkey for violating Syrian sovereignty and supporting terrorism since the start of the conflict. He said in statements carried by state-run SANA: 

“The brutal Turkish aggression on the Syrian town of Afrin cannot be separated from the Turkish regime’s policy from the first day of Syria’s crisis, which was essentially built on supporting terrorism and terrorist organizations, whatever their names.”

Assad referenced the widely reported fact that NATO member Turkey has allowed jihadists – most of them linked to ISIS and al-Qaeda – to flow freely across its border with Syria for years in pursuance of regime change in Damascus.

It will be interesting to see the US articulate its position over the crisis during Monday’s UN emergency session, especially as US ally and NATO member Turkey is attacking what is essentially a US partner force on the ground in northern Syria. But it appears that so far the US is willing to throw its Kurdish allies under the bus – at least as far as YPG in Afrin is concerned. 

via RSS http://ift.tt/2rwh8EJ Tyler Durden

Via The Strategic Culture Foundation,

This past week saw a spate of international security alarms which underlines the danger of the world stumbling into catastrophic war. Those alarms, which were either false or hyped up, stem from a Cold War mentality.

 

Such a mentality is not only dangerous, it is also unacceptable in today’s world.

First, we saw the US territory of Hawaii being put on full-scale alert over a supposed incoming ballistic missile. The alarm turned out to be false. There was no such incoming missile, but the entire population on the Pacific island were put through 38 minutes of sheer torment.

A day after that incident, Japan’s air-raid system also put a similar false alert.

In both cases, it was assumed that the non-existent missiles had been fired from North Korea.

Meanwhile in Europe, fighter jets from Belgium, the Netherlands and Britain – all members of the US-led NATO alliance – were scrambled to intercept two Russian warplanes. The Russian Ministry of Defense rejected claims that its aircraft were acting “provocatively”, saying that the pair of Russian Tu-160 bombers had at all times been flying in international airspace on a routine exercise.

The latter type of incident appears to be an increasing occurrence. Over the past two months, British navy frigates have made a point of “escorting” Russian warships navigating “near British territorial waters”. Again, as with the air intercept incident this week, the Russian Ministry said that its warships have at all times adhered to international waters.

It is not Russian aircraft or vessels that are being provocative. It is British and other NATO states who are in effect trying to interdict Russia’s legal right to use international airspace and maritime territory.

Britain in particular seems to be hamming up claims of “defending” its territory from non-existing Russian threat. The irony here is that Russia has had to contend in recent years with an increasing number of NATO aircraft and naval vessels entering the Baltic and Black Sea regions. But the Western news media say little about that, while flagging up headlines about alleged Russian “provocations”.

This alarmist situation whether in regard to Asia-Pacific or Europe is deplorable. The volatile atmosphere leads to fear-mongering and runs the risk of false alarms being raised. That, in turn, runs the risk of misunderstandings and the very grave danger of a military response escalating into conflict, or worse.

It is incumbent on all to heed the concern expressed by former US Defense Secretary William Perry, who served in the President Clinton administration. Perry said recently that the world is now at greater risk of a nuclear catastrophe than at any time during the former Cold War.

This fiendish predicament arises from a Cold War mentality maintained by Washington and its NATO allies. That mentality perceives and portrays the world in ideological terms of “us and them”, “free nations and unfree nations”, “allies and enemies”. This antagonistic worldview is essential for Washington upholding ambitions of a “unipolar world” under its “leadership” or, more bluntly, dominance and hegemony.

Such a worldview is essentially about one power and its NATO acolytes trying to exert geopolitical control over others, rather than embracing the reality and more viable arrangement of multilateralism. For unipolar ambition, it is necessary to present the world as an adversarial scenario. Russia, China, Iran, North Korea and other “non-conforming” nations must be cast as “rivals”, “opponents”, “rogue nations”.

That, in turn, leads to international relations becoming fraught with adversarial agendas and belligerence. The relentless Russophobia in Western official discourse based on groundless claims of Russian interference in Western politics is typical of the inevitable hostility.

In short, the US and its NATO subordinates persist in a Cold War mindset in order to fulfill ambitions of unipolar control.

But as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov pointed out this week the notion of a unipolar world is negated by the growing reality of a multipolar international order. The rise of China’s economic power is perhaps the clearest testimony.

As long as Washington pursues this unacceptable ambition of dominance, then the world will continue to be frustrated by antagonistic tensions.

International relations must instead be conducted on the basis of equality under the universal protection of law and sovereign rights. And diplomacy must be the currency of relations.

There can be no place for threats, ultimatums and unilateral use of military power. The US-NATO summit in Vancouver this week where a small group of nations assume the prerogative of issuing ultimatums to North Korea to disarm unilaterally, rather than these nations embracing diplomacy to resolve that crisis is typical of an anachronistic Cold War mentality. It is counterproductive, futile and totally unacceptable.

That mentality is putting the world on a dangerous threshold where tensions and alarms are recklessly risking a catastrophe.

The anachronistic Cold War mindset must be decommissioned for a new political paradigm of democratic internationalism.

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When Marine Le Pen lost last year’s French presidential election to Emmanuel Macron in what appeared to be a landslide, the establishment breathed a sigh of relief because not only was the notorious Eurosceptic populist defeated, but also the wind appeared to be turning, and after a tumultuous 2016, 2017 started off with a bang for the unelected Eurocrats in Brussels. After all, the people had spoken and they wanted more Europe (and Euro), not less.

Or maybe not.

The French president sent shockwaves across Europe after he conceded that French voters would quit the EU if France held an in/out referendum on continued membership in the Brussels-led bloc. Not surprisingly no other EU country has risked putting membership of the bloc to a public vote since Britain shocked member-states by voting to leave the bloc in 2016, despite polls which showed virtually no possibility of such an outcome.

Macron admitting that he would lose a French EU membership referendum.

In an interview with BBC’s Andrew Marr, Emmanuel Macron admitted that he would lose a French referendum on EU membership. Asked about the Brexit vote, the candid president told Marr:

“I am not the one to judge or comment on the decision of your people.” But, he added “my interpretation is that a lot of the losers of globalisation suddenly decided it was no more for them.”

Marr then pushed the French president, regarded by many as the EU’s new leader, on whether Britain’s decision was a one-off. Quoted by Express, the BBC journalist asked: “If France had had the same referendum, it might have had the same result?”

Macron responded: “Yes, probably, probably. Yes. In a similar context. But we have a very different context in France” although he said he would not make it easy: “I wouldn’t take any bet though – I would have fought very hard to win.

“My understanding is that middle classes and working classes and the oldest decided that the recent decades were not in their favor, and the adjustments made by the EU were not in their favour.”

“I think the organization of EU went too far with freedom without cohesion, free markets without rules.”

The French leader hit out at David Cameron for holding a referendum with a simple yes / no response on membership, instead of asking how to improve the situation.

* * *

Predictably, Twitter lit up after the interview was aired, with many questioning if the French leader had just admitted that he “does not listen to his own people” since he has refused to hold a referendum on the EU. For the sake of Europe’s unelected establishment, president Macron and the “European recovery”, one hopes we don’t find out any time soon…

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Hours after the government shutdown that the White House blamed on “obstructionist losers” who are holding government funding “hostage…over an unrelated immigration debate,” The Trump campaign posted an explosive new advertisement to the campaign website and YouTube channel on Saturday, featuring 37-year-old illegal immigrant Luis Bracamontes who killed two police deputies in 2014 after having been deported and returned to the U.S. multiple times.

Bracamontes showed no remorse in court proceedings which began in California last week – stating that his only regret was that he didn’t kill more police officers. His wife also faces charges in the killings.

Along with the ad, the White House also issued a press release entitled:

DEMOCRATS “COMPLICIT” IN ALL MURDERS BY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

Both the video and press release can be viewed below (emphasis added): 

New York, NY – Hours after Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer led Democrats to shut down the federal government, holding lawful citizens hostage over their demands for amnesty for illegal immigrants, Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. released a campaign ad calling out Democrats “who stand in our way” of progress and who are “complicit in every murder committed by illegal immigrants.”

The ad, titled “Complicit,” profiles an illegal immigrant on trial for the murder of two Sacramento police officers who stated his “only regret” is that he “just killed two” and that he wished he “killed more.” It contrasts Democrats, who stand by those who commit acts of “pure evil,” versus President Trump, who was elected to build a wall to stop illegal immigration and keep American families safe.

The Trump Campaign released the ad on the one-year anniversary of Donald Trump’s Inauguration as the 45th President of the United States. The powerful new ad reflects the stakes in the illegal immigration debate, and the reasons why the President will not allow the Schumer Shutdown to force his hand and grant amnesty for illegal immigrants.

“Donald Trump was elected President to build the wall and keep American families safe from evil, illegal immigrants who commit violent crimes against lawful U.S. citizens,” said Michael S. Glassner, Executive Director of Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. “Yet, one year after President Trump’s Inauguration, Chuck Schumer and the Democrats continue to put the interests of illegal immigrants over those of Americans. Our new campaign ad draws attention to the stark contrast between ‘complicit’ Democrats and the President for his full commitment to build a wall and fix our border to protect Americans from drugs, murder and other atrocities,” he concluded.

 

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Authored by Pepe Escobar via The Asia Times,

Under the Belt and Road Initiative, Beijing aims to connect western China to the eastern Mediterranean…

 

China’s “Go West” strategy was brought into sharp focus at a forum in Shanghai last weekend. Billed as the Belt and Road Initiative: Towards Greater Cooperation between China and the Middle East, it highlighted key aspects of Beijing’s wider plan.

The New Silk Roads, or the Belt and Road Initiative, involve six key economic corridors, connecting Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and Europe. One, in particular, extends through the Middle East to North Africa. This is where the Belt and Road meets MENA or the Middle East and North Africa.

Of course, Beijing’s massive economic project goes way beyond merely exporting China’s excess production capacity. That is part of the plan, along with building selected industrial bases in MENA countries by using technical and production expertise from the world’s second-largest economy.

Again, this is will connect western China to the eastern Mediterranean. It will mean developing a corridor through projects such as the Red Med railway. There are also plans to expand ports, such as Oman’s Duqm, as well as substantial investment in Turkey.

 

Belt and Road Initiative. Illustration: iStock

A look at the numbers tells a significant part of the story. In 2010, China-Arab trade was worth US$145 billion. By 2014, it had reached $250 billion and rising. China is now the largest exporter to assorted MENA nations, while MENA accounts for 40% of Beijing’s oil imports.

The next stage surrounding energy will be the implementation of a maze of LNG, or liquefied natural gas, pipelines, power grids, power plants and even green projects, sprouting up across the new Silk Road corridors and transit routes.

According to the Asian Development Bank, the myriad of Belt and Road infrastructure projects for the next 15 years could hit a staggering $26 trillion. Other less grandiose figures come in at $8 trillion during the next two decades.

The ongoing internationalization of the yuan will be key in the process as will the role of the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

Naturally, there will be challenges. Belt and Road Initiative projects will have to create local jobs, navigate complex public and private partnerships along with intractable geopolitical wobbles.

Enseng Ho, a professor from the Asia Research Institute at the National University of Singapore, is one of an army of researchers studying how historical links will play an important role in this new configuration.

An excellent example is the city of Yiwu in Zhejiang province. This has become a mecca for merchant pilgrims from Syria or east Africa and has profited the region, according to the Zhejiang provincial government.

In a wider Middle East context, Beijing’s aim is to harness, discipline and profit from what can be considered an Industrialization 2.0 process. The aim is to help oil producers, such as Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Gulf states, diversify away from crude.

There is also reconstruction projections elsewhere, with China deeply involved in the commercial renaissance of post-war Syria.

As well as investing in its own future energy security, Beijing is keen to put together other long-term strategic investments.

Remixing the centuries-old Chinese trade connections with the Islamic world fits into the Globalization 2.0 concept President Xi Jinping rolled out at last year’s World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort of Davos.

But then, Beijing’s strategy is to avoid a geopolitical collision in the Middle East. Its aim is to: Make Trade, Not War.

From the United States’ point of view, the National Security Strategy document highlighted how China and Russia are trying to shape a new geopolitical environment in the region, which contrasts sharply from Washington’s aims and interests.

It pointed out that while Russia is trying to advance its position as the leading political and military power broker, China is pushing ahead with a “win, win” economic policy. In 2016, that was spelt out in Beijing’s first Arab Policy paper, with its emphasis on bilateral trade cooperation, joint development projects and military exchanges.

Since geopolitical wobbles are never far below the surface in the Middle East, China has even suggested it would be willing to act as a mediator between intractable rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Indeed, diplomacy is a key card for Beijing, according to Zhao Tingyang, a noted philosopher, at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

In his 2006 paper, entitled Rethinking Empire from a Chinese Concept “All-Under-Heaven”, Zhao argued that the country show follow a principle of harmony based loosely on the Confucian notion of “all under heaven” or Tianxia in Mandarin.

Confucius, one would imagine, would be pleased by the Belt and Road Initiative. You could call it: “Make Trade, Not War All Under Heaven.”

via RSS http://ift.tt/2DqjTZw Tyler Durden

A former Federal Prosecutor sat down with The Daily Caller to give perhaps the most comprehensive rundown of the Obama Administration’s “brazen plot to exonerate Hillary Clinton” and “frame an incoming president with a false Russian conspiracy.” 

In this highly recommended 30 minute interview with Joe diGenova, the former Special Counsel who went after both the Teamsters and former NY Governor Elliot Spitzer, paints a very clear picture of collusion is painted between the Obama administration, the FBI, the Clinton campaign and opposition research firm Fusion GPS.

From the Daily Caller:

The FBI used to spy on Russians. This time they spied on us. what this story is about – a brazen plot to exonerate Hillary Clinton from a clear violation of the law with regard to the way she handled classified information with her classified server. Absolutely a crime, absolutely a felony. It’s about finding out why – as the Inspector General is doing at the department of justice – why Comey and the senior DOJ officials conducted a fake criminal investigation of Hillary Clinton. Followed none of the regular rules, gave her every break in the book, immunized all kinds of people, allowed the destruction of evidence, no grand jury, no subpoenas, no search warrant. That’s not an investigation, that’s a Potemkin village. It’s a farce. 

And everybody knew it was a farce. The problem was, she didn’t win. And because she didn’t wain, the farce became a very serious opera. It wasn’t a comic opera anymore, it was a tragic opera. And she was going to be the focus. 

What this is about, this is about a lavabo, a cleansing of FBI and the upper echelons of the Department of Justice. 

We’re going to discover that the Attorney General, Loretta Lynch, her deputy Sally Yates, the head of the national security division John Carlin, Bruce Ohr and other senior DOJ officials, and regrettably, lying attorneys. People who were senior career civil servants violated the law, perhaps committed crimes, and covered up crimes by a presidential candidate – but more than that, they tried to frame an incoming president with a false Russian conspiracy that never existed, and they knew it, and they plotted to ruin him as a candidate and then destroy him as a president. That’s why this is important. That’s why connecting the dots is important. 

DiGenova condemned the FBI for working so closely with the controversial Fusion GPS, a political hit squad paid by the DNC and Clinton campaign to create and spread the discredited Steele dossier about President Donald Trump. Without a justifiable law enforcement or national security reason, he says, the FBI “created false facts so that they could get surveillance warrants. Those are all crimes.” He adds, using official FISA-702 “queries” and surveillance was done “to create a false case against a candidate, and then a president.” –Daily Caller

During the interview, DiGenova holds up and references a previously unreported and heavily redacted 99-page FISA court opinion from April, 2017, which “describes systematic and on-going violations of the law [by the FBI and their contractors using unauthorized disclosures of raw intelligence on Americans]. This is stunning stuff.” 

NSA Admiral Mike Rodgers: An American Hero

diGenova also discusses the immense risks taken by retiring NSA director, Mike Rogers – who briefed Trump on Nov. 7, 2016 about the Obama administration’s surveillance of the Trump team. The next day, the Presidental transition team was moved out of Trump tower and into the president-elect’s Bedminster, NJ golf course until they could sweep for bugs. 

Uranium One and other matters

Also discussed in the interview are the Uranium One scandal, Mueller’s “tainted” probe, and the consequences of the Democrats regaining control in the November midterms – which would most certainly lead to an effort to impeach Trump. 

“It’s important for the House to complete its work now,” says diGenova. 

* * *

The 99-page FISA court opinion is below (link)

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Via Greg Hunter’s USA Watchdog blog,

Two time, best-selling author Nomi Prins says central bankers have no idea how to stop the easy money policies that they started after the financial meltdown of 2008.

Prins explains, “So, when the Fed says they are going to remove assets from their $4.5 trillion book by not reinvesting the interest payment…the reality is they haven’t really done that.  They have reduced their book by about $10 billion off of $4.5 trillion since they mentioned they were going to start ‘tapering.” 

The media discusses this as a major tightening move.  Somehow all of our economies have finally worked because of central bank activity.  Growth is real.  It’s all positive.  The markets are evidence of that because of the levels they are at; and, therefore, these central banks, starting with the Fed, are going to reverse course of these last 10 years. 

“The reality is if you look at the actual activity of the central banks, beyond the Fed raising rates by a little bit, there hasn’t been and there isn’t being a reversal of course because they are scared to death that too much of a reversal is going to cause a major crash throughout the financial system.

Everything is connected.  All the banks are connected.  Money flows around the world in less than nanoseconds, and all of it has the propensity to collapse if that carpet the central banks have created is dragged from beneath the floor of all this activity.”

Prins, who just finished traveling the globe to research her upcoming book, thinks there is one big thing that can take the entire system down. Prins, a former top Wall Street banker, contends:

“There hasn’t been any real growth in the real economy.  That is an indication of the misfire of this entire plan.  There has been tremendous growth in stock markets and bond markets. 

If you look at localities or states or governments whose debt to GDP levels are well over 100%, in Japan it’s over 200%, in the United States it over 100%, and this is the same throughout the world.  These are levels that they have never been, and they are all at their historic highs. 

That’s why debt will ultimately be the destructor of the system.  In order for that to happen, the cheapness of money that allow states, municipalities and corporations to continue to borrow at these cheap levels has to go away…

At some point, there will be a mistake.  There might be a tiny smidge of an interest rate hike at some central bank, probably the Fed, which ripples throughout the system as a mistake, not because real growth has happened, and that’s why interest rates have been raised.  That will incur defaults throughout the system.  People will incur personal defaults, and that will cause problems in the mortgage market… then it becomes a knock-on credit crisis, and then banks start not to lend… Then we have the makings of a broad crisis.”

Prins doesn’t think we get a crash in 2018, but warns when the markets crash, “they will come down fast.”

So, how is Prins protecting herself?

Prins says,

“I’m buying gold… I would also be a buyer of silver because silver is a used hard asset, and it’s at really cheap levels right now.  I would be a buyer as a percentage of my portfolio.  I have done exactly what I am telling you is a good idea to do, which is to take money from the stock market and put it into hard assets.”

Join Greg Hunter as he goes One-on-One with Nomi Prins, author of the upcoming book titled “Collusion: How Central Bankers Rigged the World.”

*  *  *

After the Interview:

You can find free information and analysis from Nomi Prins at NomiPrins.com. Prins is giving USAWatchdog.com viewers a special link to buy her new book at a hefty discount. 

Prins says this pre-order link will give USAWatchdog.com buyers of “Collusion: How Central Bankers Rigged the World” a 40% discount up until it officially releases on May 1, 2018.

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Any hope that the 2-day government shutdown could be suddenly resolved with an early morning vote on Monday morning died moments ago when Chuck Schumer said “there is no deal” while Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he is canceling the previously scheduled 1am procedural vote and instead the Senate will vote on the stopgap spending bill at noon Eastern on Monday, with the government set to remain closed at least until the vote.

#BREAKING Shutdown to continue. No vote tonight. Schumer says there is no deal. No procedural vote tonight. Procedural vote to break filibuster on Feb 8 CR at noon Monday

— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) January 22, 2018

McConnell also said that his intention is to resolve several issues including immigration as quickly as possible, and to move to DACA on Feb. 8 if no deal has been done by then and govt stays open.

Meanwhile, the Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, objecting to earlier vote timing, said “we have yet to reach an agreement on path forward.”

As discussed earlier, a flurry of activity on Capitol Hill had stoked hopes that a deal to end the shutdown might be reached before furloughs for hundreds of thousands of government workers kick in on Monday. Instead, the Senate is now set to vote at noon on Monday to end debate on a measure that would fund the government through Feb. 8.

Furthermore, by the looks of things…

Just left the gallery seats overlooking Senate. After Schumer’s objection, McConnell physically turned away from him and looked toward Flake. Schumer got up, huddled w/ Hassan, then stepped out of the Senate as Flake spoke softly across the room.

— Robert Costa (@costareports) January 22, 2018

… this shutdown may indeed continue “for weeks” as Goldman predicted on Friday. And while the market may not care for now, should the funding gap extend into late February and early March, just days ahead of the debt ceiling X-Date, the S&P will – sooner or later – be reacquainted with gravity.

Even on Monday, it remains unclear if there will be 60 votes to end debate, given opposition from Senate Democrats to the measure. And, as explained yesterday, without a drop in the stock market to “mediate” and force politicians to negotiate, the question now is how deeply the two sides will dig in further as the work week begins.

Finally, for those wondering if there was any reaction in the market to the ongoing shutdown news, the answer: of course not.

 

via RSS http://ift.tt/2mXQdw0 Tyler Durden

A 15-year-old “hacktivist” who tricked AOL and Verizon customer support operators into believing he was then-CIA Director John Brennan, was able to crack into Brennan’s accounts and access highly sensitive documents concerning US military and intelligence operations in Afghanistan and Iran, a UK court has heard. 

Kane Gamble AKA “Cracka”

Kane Gamble, now 18, was able to access Brennan’s emails, contacts, and his iCloud storage account after several successful attempts to manipulate information out of the call center employees. Brennan’s emails were sent to WikiLeaks and published on October 26, 2015.

Gamble used similar “social engineering” techniques to gain accdess to former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, tricked the FBI helpdesk into believing he was then-Deputy Director Mark Giuliano.

It was a common misconception that the group were hackers when in fact they used “social engineering” to gain access to emails, phones, computers and law enforcement portals.

“It involves manipulating people, invariably call centre or help desk staff, into permitting acts or divulging confidential information,” the prosecutor said. –Telegraph

Gamble founded the five-man hacktivist group “Crackas With Attitude” (CWA) – telling a Journalist “It all started by me getting more and more annoyed about how corrupt and cold blooded the US Government are so I decided to do something about it.” The 15-year old then proceeded to unleash mayhem on his victims to “fuck the gov” according to court records, by taunting them online, downloading pornography onto their computers, and even taking control of their iPads and TV screens. 

Gamble used similar techniques to hack the home broadband of Jeh Johnson, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and was able listened to [sic] his voicemails and send texts from his phone.

He bombarded Mr Johnson and his wife with calls, asking her: “Am I scaring you?” and left messages threatening to “bang his daughter”, the court heard.

Sometime in October, 2015, the 16-year-old Gamble convinced the FBI’s help desk that the was Deputy Director Mark Giuliano – pretending to be the former FBI boss while using information he had obtained after accessing the FBI’s Law Enforcement Enterprise Portal (Leap). From this access, Gamble gained intelligence and details of government employees and police officers. Gamble then bombarded Giuliano’s family and associates with calls, forcing them to post an armed guard at their home. 

“This has to be the biggest hack, I have access to all the details the Feds use for background checks.” –Kane Gamble

Gamble pleaded guilty to ten violations of the UK’s computer misuse act in October, 2017. Two Americans charged with participating in Crackas With Attitude -computer science student Justin Liverman and Andrew Boggs, both of North Carolina – were arrested in 2016 and sentenced to five and two years in prison respectively after pleading guilty to criminal hacking conspiracy. 

Court documents filed in the cases against Boggs and Liverman allege they conspired with “Cracka” to infiltrate the internet accounts of several senior U.S. officials and their families, causing more than $1.5 million in losses.

Gamble admitted to setting his sights on other U.S. government targets including former President Barack Obama’s deputy national security adviser, Avril Haines, and his senior science and technology adviser, John Holdren, local media reported.-Washington Times

At one point, the FBI realized that their system had been breached and the password was changed, but Gamble was able to regain access by calling the FBI helpdesk as Mr. Giuliano. The young hactivist also used his access to sensitive information to post the personal details of officer Darren Wilson, who shot and killed black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson Missouri. 

Gamble’s eight month cracking spree came to and end in February, 2016 after he accessed the details of 20,000 FBI employees from the DOJ’s network, as well as files on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The FBI and US Secret Service immediately called police in the UK and Gamble was arrested at his Leicestershire home he shared with his mother. 

Gamble awaits sentencing at yet to be determined date. 

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