Telecommunication service providers in rural communities across the US that have recently installed Huawei equipment might be faced with a collective bill of $1 billion to replace the banned equipment and could mean bankruptcy for many small operators, reported China News Service.
The Federal Communication Commission (FCC) announced last month possible cuts in funding to telecommunication companies that use Huawei equipment. President Trump then issued an order to restrict all telecommunications networks from using Huawei technologies, but – the Department of Commerce temporarily opened a three-month window allowing businesses who already use Huawei equipment to continue operating.
President Trump’s move has frightened rural telecommunication providers that use Huawei equipment, due to the costly threat sometime in 2H19 they will have to replace all Huawei equipment.
A report from Fierce Wireless shows that 25% of rural telecommunication providers have integrated Huawei equipment into their networks.
Swapping out Huawei equipment would cost mom and pop telecommunication providers in rural America between $800 million to $1 billion and could mean bankruptcy for many.
China News Service noted AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon avoided providing telecommunication services to rural parts of the country because smaller communities aren’t profitable. To fill the void, rural America depends on smaller firms to keep them connected.
LHTC Broadband, a Pennsylvania based internet provider, employees 50 people across 200 square miles of rural Pennsylvania, servicing more than 2,000 customers.
Four years ago, to cut cost and provide better service, LHTC introduced Huawei equipment to its network.
“Huawei is competitively priced and turned out to be good quality,” said Jim Kail, president and CEO of LHTC Broadband.”The other products are good quality, but more of a price issue.”
Kail isn’t convinced that Huawei is a national security threat. He said that out of the four years handling Huawei equipment, his technicians hadn’t found any security flaws or spying mechanism embedded in the equipment.
“If you have a true potential national security threat, how could you sign an offer, a bargain that allows you to continue? If it’s a national security threat, you can’t let somebody jeopardize your network, you can’t compromise the issue,” he said.
Kail is also worried about how increasing nationalism might lead to customer exodus.
“With all the negative publicity going on, [customers] might become concerned about it. When you talk about spying and national security, people get a little scared. They might feel that they are being spied on,” Kail said.
He estimated the costs associated with replacing all the Huawei equipment would be well over half a million dollars.
Kail also mentioned that future investments for projects would be curbed during the possible transition phase.
“We are caught in the middle of it. We just have to see how it will play out,” he said.
The unintended consequences of a trade war on rural America are starting to be realized. It’s not just farmers who are getting the shaft, but now – 25% of all rural telecommunication providers could see financial stress when the government forces them to switch out Huawei equipment.
via ZeroHedge News http://bit.ly/2XiPoyR Tyler Durden
Yesterday we wrote about three macro factors that will act to restrain economic growth through the rest of 2019 and into 2020. Those risks are the baked-in fiscal tightening, the lagged effects of monetary policy tightening, and growth retarding trade policy. Together, they could restrain growth to levels well below expectations and induce a profits recession at the least. At the worst, they could cause an economic growth recession if an appropriate policy response is lacking.
In today’s report we will address one of the asset allocation implications of those factors, namely that long-term US Treasury bonds could have substantial downside in yield even from these levels.
As our readers know, the yield on a US Treasury bond is composed of inflation expectations, growth expectations, and a term premium. The term premium is the added yield investors require to compensate them in the case of unexpected rises in inflation or growth over the course of the bond’s life. Since last Fall the yield on the 10-year treasury bond has fallen from 3.23% to 2.16% as of this writing.
The interesting thing about this substantial 1.07% drop in yield is that the entirety of the move is accounted for by the drop in inflation expectations (-43bps) and the drop in the term premium (-64bps).
Growth expectations are exactly flat from where they were at the peak in rates last Fall.
Taking this one step further, we observe that the contraction in both inflation expectations and the term premium is a function of oil prices dropping from $65 to $56 per barrel. Oil prices affect inflation expectations directly and they impact the term premium indirectly as lower oil prices induce the market to start pricing out an inflation shock down the road, or induce the market to start pricing in a deflation shock…
The implication here is that the bond market has yet to price in any amount of lower growth, leaving bond investors with a tremendous opportunity for capital appreciation should any of the macro factors we highlighted in Part 1 put a dent in growth. That also begs the question of what oil prices are likely to do if an when growth starts to falter in earnest? Most likely they would fall considerably more, adding further downside to both inflation expectations and the term premium, all else equal.
But, you say, rates have already fallen by quite a lot. How much further could they really drop? Indeed, rates have fallen by a large amount. Even still, let’s remember that the 10 year yield hit 1.36% in 2016 the last time we had a real growth scare, almost a full percent lower than today’s level. Furthermore, speculators in long-term Treasury bonds – the people who in aggregate tend to take the losing end of bets – are still solidly short of bonds.
In the past, rates have not bottomed until speculators have moved to neutral or long positioning in bonds.
via ZeroHedge News http://bit.ly/2Weo0Wd Tyler Durden
President Trump has a victory present for newly re-elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi – and it’s the economic equivalent of a flaming bag of feces left on India’s doorstep.
In his latest act of protectionist aggression in what has already been an action-packed week, Trump late Friday announced that his administration was terminating India’s designation as a developing nation under a trade program that allowed Indian exporters to ship 2,000 products into the US duty free. The decision to revoke India’s preferential trade status, which mirrors Trump’s decision to revoke Turkey’s status under the program a few weeks back, comes one day after Modi was sworn in for a second term.
Under the decades-old program – known as the Generalized System of Preferences – Indian companies were able to avoid some $5.7 billion in duties back in 2017.
The new standards will take effect June 5.
“I have determined that India has not assured the United States that India will provide equitable and reasonable access to its markets,” Trump said in a proclamation on Friday evening. “Accordingly, it is appropriate to terminate India’s designation as a beneficiary developing country effective June 5, 2019.”
The decision isn’t unexpected: The White House warned back in March that it could end India’s preferential treatment if India didn’t agree to certain reforms, but it decided to hold off so as to not hurt Modi politically during the run up to the election. According to Bloomberg, Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has become increasingly frustrated with India’s trade barriers and practices. The trade rep has taken issue with the country’s self-designation as a developing nation at the World Trade Organization.
The White House’s Friday proclamation also imposes tariffs on solar cells and washing machines from India and Turkey. Those tariffs had been imposed by Trump in 2018, but India and Turkey had been exempt because of their status as developing nations under the GSP.
One critic of Trump’s decision warned that ending the designation for India would cost American businesses hundreds of millions of dollars a year.
Dan Anthony, executive director of the Coalition for GSP, a trade group, said that the decision “will cost American businesses over $300 million in additional tariffs every year.”
“There are no winners from today’s decision,” Anthony said in a statement.
“American importers will pay more, while some American exporters will continue to face current market access barriers in India and others, including farmers, are very likely to be subject to new retaliatory tariffs.”
Subject: Proclamation to Modify the List of Beneficiary Developing Countries Under the Trade Act of 1974
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION
1. In Executive Order 11888 of November 24, 1975, the President designated India as a beneficiary developing country for purposes of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) (19 U.S.C. 2461 et seq.).
2. Pursuant to section 502(d)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (the “1974 Act”) (19 U.S.C. 2462(d)(1)), the President may withdraw, suspend, or limit the application of the duty-free treatment accorded under the GSP with respect to any beneficiary developing country. In taking any action under section 502(d)(1) of the 1974 Act, the President shall consider the factors set forth in sections 501 and 502(c) of the 1974 Act (19 U.S.C. 2461 and 2462(c)).
3. Section 502(c)(4) of the 1974 Act (19 U.S.C. 2462(c)(4)) provides that, in determining whether to designate any country as a beneficiary developing country, the President shall take into account, among other factors, the extent to which such country has assured the United States that it will provide equitable and reasonable access to the markets and basic commodity resources of such country and the extent to which such country has assured the United States that it will refrain from engaging in unreasonable export practices.
4. Consistent with section 502(d)(1) of the 1974 Act, and having considered the factors set forth in sections 501 and 502(c), I have determined that India has not assured the United States that India will provide equitable and reasonable access to its markets. Accordingly, it is appropriate to terminate India’s designation as a beneficiary developing country effective June 5, 2019.
5. Section 502(f)(2) of the 1974 Act (19 U.S.C. 2462(f)(2)) requires the President to notify the Congress and the affected beneficiary developing country, at least 60 days before termination, of the President’s intention to terminate the affected country’s designation as a beneficiary developing country, together with the considerations entering into such decision. I notified the Congress and India on March 4, 2019, of my intent to terminate India’s designation, together with the considerations entering into my decision.
6. Pursuant to section 203 of the 1974 Act (19 U.S.C. 2253), and after receiving a report from the International Trade Commission prepared under section 202 of the 1974 Act (19 U.S.C. 2252), the President may implement a measure in the form of a safeguard to address increased imports of articles that are a substantial cause of serious injury to a domestic industry producing like or directly competitive products. When acting pursuant to section 203 of the 1974 Act, the President shall take action that he determines will facilitate efforts of the domestic industry to make a positive adjustment to import competition and provide greater economic and social benefits than costs.
7. In Proclamation 9693 of January 23, 2018, pursuant to section 203 of the 1974 Act, I implemented a safeguard measure on imports of certain crystalline silicon photovoltaic (CSPV) cells, whether or not partially or fully assembled into other products (including, but not limited to, modules, laminates, panels, and building-integrated materials) (“CSPV products”). In Proclamation 9694 of January 23, 2018, pursuant to section 203 of the 1974 Act, I implemented a safeguard measure on imports of large residential washers.
8. The safeguard measures implemented by Proclamations 9693 and 9694 exempt imports of covered products from developing countries that are Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO), including India, if such a country’s individual share of total imports of the product does not exceed 3 percent and if imports of all such countries with less than 3 percent import share do not collectively account for more than 9 percent of total imports of the product.
9. Consistent with my determination that it is appropriate to terminate the designation of India as a beneficiary developing country under the GSP, effective June 5, 2019, I have determined to remove it from the list of developing country WTO Members exempt from application of the safeguard measures on CSPV products and large residential washers. To reflect India’s removal from the list, I have determined that it is appropriate to revise subdivision (b)(2) of U.S. note 17 and subdivision (b) of U.S. note 18 to subchapter III of chapter 99 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS) to delete the references to India.
10. Section 604 of the 1974 Act (19 U.S.C. 2483) authorizes the President to embody in the HTS the substance of the relevant provisions of the 1974 Act, and of other Acts affecting import treatment, and actions thereunder, including removal, modification, continuance, or imposition of any rate of duty or other import restriction.
11. In Proclamation 9887 of May 16, 2019, I terminated the designation of Turkey as a beneficiary developing country for purposes of the GSP and removed the exemption for Turkey from application of the safeguard measures on CSPV products and large residential washers. To reflect this termination and removal, I made certain modifications to the HTS, effective with respect to goods entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on May 17, 2019.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, acting under the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including title V and sections 203 and 604 of the 1974 Act, do hereby proclaim that:
(1) The designation of India as a beneficiary developing country is terminated, effective June 5, 2019.
(2) To reflect this termination, general notes 4(a) and 4(d) and pertinent subheadings of the HTS are modified as set forth in Annex A to this proclamation.
(3) Any provisions of previous proclamations and Executive Orders that are inconsistent with the actions taken in this proclamation are superseded to the extent of such inconsistency.
(4) The exemption for India from application of the safeguard measures on CSPV products and large residential washers is removed, effective June 5, 2019.
(5) To reflect this revision, subdivision (b)(2) of U.S. note 17 and subdivision (b) of U.S. note 18 to subchapter III of chapter 99 of the HTS are each modified as set forth in Annex B to this proclamation.
(6) Any merchandise from India or Turkey subject to the safeguard measures implemented by Proclamation 9693 and Proclamation 9694 that is admitted into a United States foreign trade zone on or after 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on June 5, 2019, must be admitted as “privileged foreign status” as defined in 19 CFR 146.41, and will be subject upon entry for consumption to the safeguard measures implemented by Proclamation 9693 and Proclamation 9694.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirty-first day of May, in the year of our Lord two thousand nineteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-third.
DONALD J. TRUMP
via ZeroHedge News http://bit.ly/3104yuZ Tyler Durden
Police in Indonesia held a suspected cellphone thief down, draped a live snake around his shoulders, and rubbed the man’s face with snake’s head in an attempt to coerce a confession from him. Video of the interrogation shows the man screaming in fear. “The investigator was not professional in doing his job,” Police Chief Tonny Ananda Swadaya said in a statement apologizing for the incident.
New Jersey’s Lakeland Regional High School has banned students from taking limousines or private party buses to the prom. Students can only use transportation provided by the school. Officials say the move is about both safety and equity—limos can be expensive to rent.
Want to volunteer in your child’s school? A proposed Arizona law would require you to provide a DNA sample and pay $250 in order to perform any activity that currently requires fingerprinting, including school volunteering. The state would keep the sample and link it to your Social Security number, last known address, and other personal information. The bill allows the state to share the sample with other government agencies and with anyone doing “legitimate research.”
A Los Angeles county sheriff’s deputy has pleaded guilty to his role in a theft from a legal marijuana business that netted more than half a ton of weed and $600,000 in cash. Marc Antrim was off duty but wearing a sheriff’s office jacket and driving a sheriff’s office SUV at the time. He and his partners pulled up to the firm’s security gate, showed a fake warrant, locked up the guards, and robbed the place.
A Saskatchewan man wants a personalized license plate with his last name on it. But officials have told Dave Assman his request is “unacceptable.”
The Boston Police Department has opened an investigation of a cop who had his service weapon stolen by two strippers while off duty in Rhode Island.
Utah’s Davis School District says it is investigating a fourth-grade teacher who forced a student to wipe an Ash Wednesday cross from his forehead, telling him it was inappropriate in the school. The boy’s grandmother said she spoke to the teacher after the incident. “I asked her if she read the Constitution with the First Amendment, and she said no,” the grandmother told KSTU-TV. The teacher and the school district have apologized to the boy.
In New York, Elizabeth Catlin faces felony charges including working as a midwife without a license. Catlin is a certified professional midwife and has successfully delivered hundreds of babies over the past three decades, primarily serving the state’s Mennonite community. But the state has some of the most severe restrictions on midwives in the nation, requiring extensive training, including a graduate degree.
The Ann Arbor, Michigan, City Council is considering creating permanent “solar easements” to protect the investments of those who install solar panels on their homes. The proposal would prevent people from constructing tall buildings or planting trees that might block sunlight from reaching someone’s panels.
The day after Jane Silakowski gave birth, a doctor came into her room and told her she’d failed a drug test. She insisted she had taken no drugs and asked if the poppy seed bread she’d eaten recently could have caused the result. The doctor responded that was merely a plot from an episode of Seinfeld, not something that could actually happen. In fact, the bread had caused a false positive. But the hospital still contacted Erie County Child Protective Services, which launched an investigation and required the new mother to undergo drug testing and counseling at her own expense.
from Latest – Reason.com http://bit.ly/2wGqXjf
via IFTTT
The Knowles children were selling lemonade across the street from their house in 2018 when Denver police informed them they needed three different licenses to operate. The closure of their stand, which was raising money for needy kids overseas, led to an outcry. On April 1, newly elected Democratic Gov. Jared Polis signed the Legalizing Minors’ Businesses Act, which exempts temporary, minor-owned businesses from local licensing regulations.
from Latest – Reason.com http://bit.ly/2YZ6O3R
via IFTTT
“So, how’s it going in Iraq? No, really. As we learn to measure the U.S. engagement there in years and (let’s face reality) decades, only this much seems absolutely beyond question: On a very basic level, it’s virtually impossible to know whether the occupation is going well or horribly wrong. This is above and beyond the question of whether we should be there in the first place.”
Nick Gillespie “The Age of Uncertainty”
“Flexibility and freedom are vastly better than the alternatives. By and large, for the new generation of parents, rigid division of gender roles is obsolete—and so is the stark dichotomy of Superwoman vs. Supermom. That’s a good start.”
Cathy Young “Opting Out”
“Burke, the patron saint of social conservatism and the scourge of the French Revolution, supported the American Revolution. He distinguished between a revolt that aimed to overthrow established rights and principles and a revolt that aimed to restore them. Many of the American founders, incidentally, made exactly the same distinction. Whatever else they may have been, they were not utopian social engineers. Whether a modern-day Burke or Jefferson would support gay marriage, I cannot begin to say; but I am confident they would, at least, have understood and carefully weighed the possibility that to preserve the liberal foundation of civil marriage, we may find it necessary to adjust its boundaries.”
Jonathan Rauch “Objections to These Unions”
20 Years Ago
June 1999
“American radio is very capitalist, in the crude sense of the word: The industry is a busy bazaar, rife with deal making, speculation, and scrappy hustlers trying to get rich quick. It is also very socialist, in the crude sense of the word: It has long relied on the government to protect its biggest players, shore up their profits, and ensure that the competition doesn’t get too unruly.”
Jesse Walker “Radio Waves”
“To date, the property rights movement has not been doing very well. It is the ragged relation of conservatism, invited to dinner on major holidays but relegated to the children’s table, where its advocates can be patted on the head occasionally while not interfering with the serious conversation.”
James V. DeLong “Taking Back the Fifth”
“When government tries to rig the game in advance, Mr. Clinton, it interferes with this process of trial and error. Statism is the enemy of progress. It is the adversary of all growth except its own. Government programs are poured cement; once they flow into an economy and set, the man-made stone hardens forever.”
Alejandro Castellanos “Facts of Life”
30 Years Ago
June 1989
“Despite the widespread belief that state licensing somehow ensures quality care, an estimated 80 percent of family day-care providers—those who operate out of their homes—go unlicensed. This figure is a major factor behind statistical ‘proofs’ of a tremendous shortage of child care. Unwilling to recognize that unapproved day care may meet parents’ needs, day-care advocates conveniently leave it out when demonstrating that the supply of child care falls short of demand.”
Virginia Postrel “Who’s Behind the Child Care Crisis?”
“Bernard Sanders will try to persuade a national audience that leftists can make American cities livable. To prove that ‘progressives’ or ‘rainbows’—he is phasing out his use of the ‘S-word’—can run a government, he will invite people to examine his record in Burlington [Vermont]. He risks the chance that they will examine it more closely than Bernie himself has yet been willing to.”
Jim McIntosh “Backpack Socialism”
40 Years Ago
June 1979
“Libertarians are, of course, determined opponents of the Leviathan State. They are also ‘idealists,’ believing in the power of ideas to move mountains, to make history, to transform society. Even to overthrow an entrenched coercive despotism. And yet, libertarians have displayed curiously little interest in the process by which such social transformations can and do take place. How do ideas force a change in social institutions, even those that seem to be deeply entrenched?”
Murray Rothbard “The Death of a State”
from Latest – Reason.com http://bit.ly/2ww4C7N
via IFTTT
Artists Respond: American Art and the Vietnam War and Tiffany Chung: Vietnam, Past Is Prologue—two new exhibits at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C.—are more different than they are alike. Their only common thread is the war they profile.
The former emphasizes conflict here at home, as Americans clashed over the morality of U.S. intervention. It’s brash, imbued with flashy colors and gruesome sights that implore the viewer to look at things he or she might prefer not to. The confrontational nature of the show is epitomized by Chris Burden’s disturbing piece of performance art, documented in a series of still photographs. In 1971, he stood against a wall and had a marksman shoot him in the arm.
Artist Tiffany Chung takes the opposite approach. With images of deserted battlefields, meticulously drawn maps, and refugee video diaries, she offers a straightforward account of the lives of Vietnamese Americans whose stories were never heard at the time. After the war, with millions of casualties and a country in shambles, hundreds of thousands from South Vietnam fled to the States. Many suffered intense emotional trauma as they desperately clung onto their vanishing culture, their community, and their home.
Chung calls the absence of these Vietnamese stories “politically driven amnesia.” Considering our current interventionist approach, it’s an ailment we can’t seem to kick.
from Latest – Reason.com http://bit.ly/2Z1yghg
via IFTTT
A small cadre of former Obama administration officials have been counselingIranian Government officials since 2016 on how to deal with the Trump administration, according to the Daily Beast, which notes that Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zerif has been involved in the ongoing discussions.
The message? “Don’t take Trump’s bait. Stay calm.”
Conversations between former Obama officials and Iranian government officials have been ongoing since November 2016. Zarif, who visits the U.S. every year for the U.N. General Assembly in New York, usually meets with lawmakers, think tanks, journalists, and former officials when he is in town.
But the recent round of conversations, which took place over the phone and in person over the last two months, came as lines of communication between the U.S. and Iran, through intermediaries in Europe and elsewhere, deteriorated. –Daily Beast
“It’s not just about what they were saying to the Iranians,” an aide told the Beast. “It’s about what they were saying to their political allies back here in the U.S. Their strategy was to divide and isolate the Trump administration just as the Trump administration was trying to re-establish deterrence with Iran. In the current highly partisan political environment, the only safe course is to signal national unity—and they contributed to eroding that at home and abroad.”
In September, former Secretary of State John Kerry admitted to meeting with Zarif “three or four times” since Donald Trump took office, a move which drew condemnation from conservatives who said Kerry was “coaching” the Iranian FM on how to deal with the White House.
John Kerry had illegal meetings with the very hostile Iranian Regime, which can only serve to undercut our great work to the detriment of the American people. He told them to wait out the Trump Administration! Was he registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act? BAD!
In response, some Republican lawmakers levied charges that Kerry is engaged in rogue diplomacy and is undermining the active, elected administration.
Kerry defended the meetings, saying: “What I have done is tried to elicit from him what Iran might be willing to do in order to change the dynamic in the Middle East for the better.”
Tensions between the US and Iran have increased recently, after Iran warned that it would increase its stockpile of nuclear-related materials – though the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a quarterly report seen on Friday by the Wall Street Journal that Tehran remains in compliance with its main commitments under the 2015 nuclear agreement. On May 8, the one-year anniversary of President Trump pulling out of the nuclear deal, Iran said that it would begin to scale up its nuclear program, and would disregard limits on its stockpiles of enriched uranium and heavy water.
Iran has rebuffed Trump’s calls to come back to the negotiating table for a new, stricter nuclear accord – and has slammed US sanctions which have sent the Iranian economy into a deep recession.
And now we learn that former Obama administration officials have been advising Iran this whole time.
Three Obama officials who worked closely on the Iran nuclear deal, one of whom is still in touch with Iranian government officials, traveled to Capitol Hill to brief congressional Democrats about the situation. Those former officials said would not say if they passed information from Iranian government officials to members of Congress. Rather, they said they focused on educating members about their experience working with Iranian leaders and how Tehran reacts to economic pressure.
Several former officials who spoke to The Daily Beast stressed that their discussions with their Iranian contacts were “normal.” But in other corners, these kind of talks cause alarm. A Republican congressional aide who works on Iran policy told The Daily Beast the conversations may run counter to the Trump administration’s messaging to the Iranian government. –Daily Beast
“Former Obama administration officials gave wrong-headed advice to the regime in Iran that U.S. sanctions couldn’t work without European support and that the regime should just wait out the Trump administration,” according to Mark Dubowitz, CEO of the DC-based think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies, which has advised the Trump administration on Iran policy. “Now with U.S. sanctions biting and the Islamic Republic facing an economic crisis, they’d be wise to tell their Iranian counterparts to return to negotiations. Bipartisan support for efforts to block the Islamic Republic’s malign activities strengthens American security.”
Others have defended, or at least downplayed the discussions.
“The communications are not surprising because of the lack of direct contact between the U.S. and Iran. The urgency is greater now. There is a sense of, let’s make sure that there is some channel open,” said Dalia Dassa Kaye, director of the Center for Middle East Public Policy at the Rand Corporation. “But it’s not clear that they are talking to Iranians that are making the ultimate decisions in the country. It’s not clear that those talking to each other, those in the room, are representing the realities on the ground in their respective countries.”
One former official who worked on the Obama administration’s Iran policy told The Daily Beast he spoke with Iranian government officials as recently as a few weeks ago, as tensions were cresting. His message, he said, was simple: The Trump administration can escalate things plenty all by itself; the Iranians shouldn’t take the bait, fuel the fire, and move things from bad to worse by, for example, pulling completely out of the nuclear deal.
Another former senior Obama administration official, who said he was not himself aware of the conversations, called the talks “neither unusual nor particularly consequential.”
“Exaggerating their significance lends undue credence to those cynically blaming others for their own failing approach,” the ex-official said.
Separately, some former Obama officials are trying to keep the roots of the Iran nuclear deal alive by taking the pulse of lawmakers on Capitol Hill to gauge whether they are in favor of restarting talks in the future. They are also speaking to officials in Europe who are concerned about their long-term ability to trade with Iran and stick to the terms of the Iran nuclear deal, all while attempting to avoid U.S. sanctions. Meanwhile, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)—formerly the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee—had dinner with Zarif “a few weeks ago,” according to a Politico report published May 23. –Daily Beast
Will the 1799 Logan Act be invoked, which made unauthorized diplomacy with foreign powers by a private citizen illegal?
via ZeroHedge News http://bit.ly/2I8gL8k Tyler Durden
Police in Indonesia held a suspected cellphone thief down, draped a live snake around his shoulders, and rubbed the man’s face with snake’s head in an attempt to coerce a confession from him. Video of the interrogation shows the man screaming in fear. “The investigator was not professional in doing his job,” Police Chief Tonny Ananda Swadaya said in a statement apologizing for the incident.
New Jersey’s Lakeland Regional High School has banned students from taking limousines or private party buses to the prom. Students can only use transportation provided by the school. Officials say the move is about both safety and equity—limos can be expensive to rent.
Want to volunteer in your child’s school? A proposed Arizona law would require you to provide a DNA sample and pay $250 in order to perform any activity that currently requires fingerprinting, including school volunteering. The state would keep the sample and link it to your Social Security number, last known address, and other personal information. The bill allows the state to share the sample with other government agencies and with anyone doing “legitimate research.”
A Los Angeles county sheriff’s deputy has pleaded guilty to his role in a theft from a legal marijuana business that netted more than half a ton of weed and $600,000 in cash. Marc Antrim was off duty but wearing a sheriff’s office jacket and driving a sheriff’s office SUV at the time. He and his partners pulled up to the firm’s security gate, showed a fake warrant, locked up the guards, and robbed the place.
A Saskatchewan man wants a personalized license plate with his last name on it. But officials have told Dave Assman his request is “unacceptable.”
The Boston Police Department has opened an investigation of a cop who had his service weapon stolen by two strippers while off duty in Rhode Island.
Utah’s Davis School District says it is investigating a fourth-grade teacher who forced a student to wipe an Ash Wednesday cross from his forehead, telling him it was inappropriate in the school. The boy’s grandmother said she spoke to the teacher after the incident. “I asked her if she read the Constitution with the First Amendment, and she said no,” the grandmother told KSTU-TV. The teacher and the school district have apologized to the boy.
In New York, Elizabeth Catlin faces felony charges including working as a midwife without a license. Catlin is a certified professional midwife and has successfully delivered hundreds of babies over the past three decades, primarily serving the state’s Mennonite community. But the state has some of the most severe restrictions on midwives in the nation, requiring extensive training, including a graduate degree.
The Ann Arbor, Michigan, City Council is considering creating permanent “solar easements” to protect the investments of those who install solar panels on their homes. The proposal would prevent people from constructing tall buildings or planting trees that might block sunlight from reaching someone’s panels.
The day after Jane Silakowski gave birth, a doctor came into her room and told her she’d failed a drug test. She insisted she had taken no drugs and asked if the poppy seed bread she’d eaten recently could have caused the result. The doctor responded that was merely a plot from an episode of Seinfeld, not something that could actually happen. In fact, the bread had caused a false positive. But the hospital still contacted Erie County Child Protective Services, which launched an investigation and required the new mother to undergo drug testing and counseling at her own expense.
from Latest – Reason.com http://bit.ly/2wGqXjf
via IFTTT
The Knowles children were selling lemonade across the street from their house in 2018 when Denver police informed them they needed three different licenses to operate. The closure of their stand, which was raising money for needy kids overseas, led to an outcry. On April 1, newly elected Democratic Gov. Jared Polis signed the Legalizing Minors’ Businesses Act, which exempts temporary, minor-owned businesses from local licensing regulations.
from Latest – Reason.com http://bit.ly/2YZ6O3R
via IFTTT
