https://youtu.be/ejAjdcRC28Y

via Don’t Stop Me Now Cold Open – SNL – YouTube

https://youtu.be/CQzZowezRM4

via Rev. William Barber Delivers Masterful History Lesson, Declares ‘It’s Movement Time Again’ – YouTube

Trump has ‘engaged in impeachable conduct,’ says Rep. Justin Amash – ABC News

Rep. Justin Amash has become the first congressional Republican to call for the president’s impeachment based on special counsel Robert Mueller’s report.

The self-identifying libertarian Republican and frequent Trump critic shared his “principal conclusions” on Saturday, including his assertion that “President Trump has engaged in impeachable conduct” in a Twitter thread on Saturday after reading the full redacted report.

via Trump has ‘engaged in impeachable conduct,’ says Rep. Justin Amash – ABC News

ExxonMobil employees evacuating oil field in southern Iraq – ABC News

Employees of energy giant ExxonMobil have begun evacuating from an oil field in the southern Iraqi province of Basra but work at the field is still ongoing, Iraqi officials said Saturday.

The evacuation comes amid rising tensions between the United States and Iran. The U.S. has already ordered all nonessential diplomatic staff out of Iraq.

As tensions escalate, there are concerns that Baghdad could once again get caught in the middle. The country hosts more than 5,000 U.S. troops, and is home to powerful Iranian-backed militias, some of whom want those U.S. forces to leave.

via ExxonMobil employees evacuating oil field in southern Iraq – ABC News

More proof that US invaded Iraq for OIL, GOLD and DRUGS… not for freedom or democracy.

The Bible Tells Us When A Fetus Becomes A Living Being – The Christian Left Blog

Deep Breath by Melanie Weidner
Many people think that a human being is created at the time of conception but this belief is not supported by the bible. The fact that a living sperm penetrates a living ovum resulting in the formation of a living fetus does not mean that the fetus is a living human being. According to the bible, a fetus is not a living person with a soul until after drawing its first breath.

After God formed man in Genesis 2:7, He “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and it was then that the man became a living being”. Although the man was fully formed by God in all respects, he was not a living being until after taking his first breath.

In Job 33:4, it states: “The spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.”

Again, to quote Ezekiel 37:5&6, “Thus says the Lord God to these bones:   Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live.   And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

In Exodus 21:22 it states that if a man causes a woman to have a miscarriage, he shall be fined; however, if the woman dies then he will be put to death. It should be apparent from this that the aborted fetus is not considered a living human being since the resulting punishment for the abortion is nothing more than a fine;   it is not classified by the bible as a capital offense.

According to the bible, destroying a living fetus does not equate to killing a living human being even though the fetus has the potential of becoming a human being.   One can not kill something that has not been born and taken a breath.   This means that a stillborn would not be considered a human being either.   Of course, every living sperm has the potential of becoming a human being although not one in a million will make it;   the rest are aborted.

via The Bible Tells Us When A Fetus Becomes A Living Being – The Christian Left Blog

Rpt: Trump administration gives $62 million earmarked for struggling farmers to corrupt Brazilian brothers

via MSNBC Rpt: Trump administration gives $62 million earmarked for struggling farmers to corrupt Brazilian brothers

Trump’s across-the-board legal stonewalling appears poised to backfire big time

But Mehta’s posture in court Tuesday, along with his swift declaration last week that the case had been “fully briefed” and would proceed promptly, represents a major challenge to Team Trump’s legal strategy in a host of upcoming battles. Lawyers across the political spectrum have pretty much accepted that Trump’s legal arguments for uniformly blocking congressional subpoenas are extraordinarily weak. But the point was never to win on the merits; it was to stall investigative efforts by congressional Democrats until the clock ran out on them in 2020.

But if Tuesday’s first fight over Trump’s financial records turns out to represent a trend in how judges approach these cases, Trump’s attorneys will likely be facing an expedited schedule of hearings in which they are armed with exceedingly weak legal rationales. And Democrats don’t have to win every subpoena battle being mounted; they only have to win most of them in order to gain access to critical information.

Indeed, many pressing issues regarding presidential matters have been adjudicated quickly by the courts. The constitutional fight between George W. Bush and Al Gore in the 2000 presidential election wrapped up in just over a month—36 days—and that included two trips to the Supreme Court.

Former Watergate prosecutor Jill Wine-Banks has also noted how quickly the courts handled two crucial matters related to the investigation into Richard Nixon. Getting the underlying evidence prosecutors uncovered released to Congress took a total of 25 days. Additionally, obtaining Nixon’s tapes, the ultimate downfall of his presidency, through the courts took just over three months. “We subpoenaed tapes for trial on April 16, got rulings from trial court, Appeals Court and [the] Supreme Court ruled for us on July 24,” Wine-Banks wrote in a post. “Just over 2 weeks later, on Aug 9, Nixon resigned.”

via Daily Kos Trump’s across-the-board legal stonewalling appears poised to backfire big time

The FBI’s counterintelligence investigation, foundation of the Russia probe, has gone missing

“It certainly ought to concern us that an attorney general who believes that the president at any time could shut down the special counsel’s investigation because he deemed it unfair could also shut down any counterintelligence investigation for the same reason,” Schiff explained. Still, he said his panel is talking to multiple potential witnesses about testifying on the CI investigation, and he has “every expectation” that Mueller will testify before the Intelligence panel, likely voluntarily. “I think he understands just how important it is for the country to hear directly from him, particularly when the attorney general has so badly misled the public about his report and its conclusions.”

Schiff added that there’s a lot more at stake than just oversight of the Russia probe. “If Donald Trump, through … obstructionist tactics, can thwart congressional oversight, it means that every president who follows him can do the same,” Schiff explained. “That will fundamentally alter the balance of power in a way that will make it far more difficult to ferret out corruption and malfeasance of any future president.”

via Daily Kos The FBI’s counterintelligence investigation, foundation of the Russia probe, has gone missing

Fascism rising, president taking more absolute power, thwarting rule of law.

Atmospheric Convulsion Will Cause Historic Disasters of Arctic Melt & U.S. Storms Next Week

Today DMI scientists announced the start of the Greenland melt season, the second earliest in a record that stretches back to 1980. “The start of the melt season occurs on the first of three consecutive days where more than 5% of the ice sheet has melt at the surface.” said scientist Peter Langen. “We use a pretty strict definition as we want to make sure it is a consistent start to melting and not just a blip due to unseasonal weather”.  This year’s start of 30th April is second only to 2016, when a very unusual weather pattern caused a very early start to the melt season in mid-April.

“On average, the melt season starts around the 26th May, so we are almost a full month earlier this year” he continued.

Number three on the list is 2nd May 2010 when a similar weather pattern also caused early melt onset closely followed by 2017 on the 7th May, the top four have all occurred within the last ten years.

Note that the top 4 early melting years are all in the last decade. Spring is coming earlier to the Arctic and in many recent years it is happening in ways that disrupt normal northern hemispheric weather patterns with serious consequences to the lower 48 states.

via Daily Kos Atmospheric Convulsion Will Cause Historic Disasters of Arctic Melt & U.S. Storms Next Week

The ‘GoFundMe Wall’ guy who raised millions from Trump supporters? See his new yacht

Some donors are questioning what he’s done with all that money he raised and wondered why he hasn’t given any updates on progress. Turns out, there’s a good reason: Those darn lefties will go after him if we knew of his super cool plans.

I tend to give a lot of leeway to war veterans, but in this case, Kolfage has given a lot of reason to question his integrity. A journalist uncovered that he allegedly has a significant history with Crowdfunding scams. There’s plenty of them to read through, but the most egregious one, in my opinion, was a fundraiser for a “Mentoring Program” for wounded service member at several prominent hospitals. The hospitals mentioned provided statements to BuzzFeed that they had no record of Kolfage ever volunteering or donating money.

Kolfage isn’t alone. Fleecing Trump supporters seems to be something of a sport these days.

Trump’s former deputy campaign manager, David Bossie, organized an alleged sham political organization that raised millions in small donor donations to support Trump-aligned candidates. However, almost all of its money was spent on more fundraising and administrative costs, to include Bossie’s hefty salary.

via Daily Kos The ‘GoFundMe Wall’ guy who raised millions from Trump supporters? See his new yacht

Fascism and corruption rising

Could it really be true that the new Oregon Republican Party Chairman by the name of Art Robinson, wants to sprinkle toxic, heavy metal radioactive poisonous waste from airplanes on top of US cities and towns? Is it really possible that there are more people like him, who want to put this same heavy metal radioactive waste from nuclear power plants in our drinking water, in order to build up our resistance to degenerative illnesses via their belief in the hormesis theory?

What is the hormesis theory anyway?

much more at Rachel Maddow – Hormesis Theory Promoting Republican Art Robinson Wants To Sprinkle Toxic And Heavy Metal Poisonous Radioactive Waste From Nuclear Power Plants Via Airplanes All Over US Cities To Improve Citizen Health | A Green Road Journal

One of the little known facts that most people don’t have any clue about is that the medical industrial system teaches doctors and nurses all about the hormesis theory. The hormesis theory is defined as poisons having a positive, health improving effect on humans. The hormesis theory is part of an Allopathic dis-ease management system.

Because the medical industrial complex is totally focused on achieving monopoly control and achieving ever higher profits, it does not really seek root causes of health issues, nor show much interest in actually finding low cost, natural or free root cause solutions for anything. The whole empire of expensive treatments is based on never ending research which never finds a cure, but they always need more BILLIONS in research money.

In the Allopathic dis-ease based system, the sicker you are the more you need expensive ‘treatment’, and the higher the PROFIT goes. GREED is what drives the entire medical monopoly system, not health.

The hormesis theory is a myth that is built on quicksand, which drives more expensive, more toxic, and more deadly fake solutions to all of the ills of humanity. But no ‘cure’ is ever found.

What if the solutions are there in open sight, and available to all for free or very low cost? What could be one of the root causes of dis-eases and not feeling well be? Might it be possible that ingesting a toxic poison may be the ROOT CAUSE of not feeling well, and of a wide range of health issues?

More and more expensive patented PROFIT/GREED based drugs, doctors, vaccines and surgeries won’t fix this basic problem.

Much more at Dr. William Douglas MD On Flouride Deception, The Lancet Classified Flouride As A Neurotoxic Poison, With Negative Impact On Brain, Equivalent To Arsenic, Lead And Mercury, All Toxic Heavy Metal Poisons, Documentary Movie – Debunking The Flouride Hormesis Theory | A Green Road Journal

Who’s Behind the Pro-Guaidó Crowd Besieging Venezuela’s D.C. Embassy? – Counter Information

Dilianna C. Bustillos (also known as Dillianna Bustillos Vivas) has become a poster child for the pro-Guaidó mob. A senior manager at Oracle, she previously worked for MarketBridge and for the advocate marketing firm Influitive. Oracle, a computer technology corporation and one of the largest companies in the world, also works closely with aerospace and defense companies. In 2018 it had global revenues of $39.83 billion.

Bustillos previously volunteered with Visión Democrática, a pro-opposition Venezuelan lobbying outfit in D.C. that claims to focus on “democracy promotion” — code for regime change. Francisco Márquez, the executive director of Visión Democrática, is the political advisor to Juan Guaidó’s fake ambassador in Washington.

A fellow of the “Democracy in Hard Places Initiative” at Harvard’s Ash School for Democratic Governance and Innovation, Marquez has held meetings with Vice President Mike Pence and is a key figure of the pro-coup Venezuelan lobby in Washington. Visión Democrática also employs Carlos Figueroa, who attended a recent Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) meeting in Washington on the potential for a military invasion of Venezuela.

In her media interviews, Bustillos never reveals her top-level corporate marketing position nor her support for political groups that advocate for sanctions and U.S. intervention.

Rather, she has presented herself as just another concerned Venezuelan citizen, with nothing special to gain and no agenda beyond saving her country from the evildoers. In a media interview outside of the embassy, Bustillos claimed that she was “not for U.S. intervention.”

Many in the pro-Guaidó mob appear to work for either international financial institutions, hawkish D.C. think tanks, or arms- and military-oriented contractors.

Candid audio of members of the opposition recorded surreptitiously and obtained by MintPress Newsexpresses fear of revealing their identities linked to their professions (including one opposition protester who describes herself as being involved in “national security”).

Hailing from affluent backgrounds and overflowing with entitlement, the regime-change crew besieging the embassy does not mind brutalizing the anti-war activists that stand in their way. As numerous media reports show, the so-called “peaceful” and “pro-democracy” mob enjoys blaring 120 dB air horns just inches away from the eardrums of anti-war activists, and flashing bright strobe and scuba lights directly in the eyes of embassy defenders, even the elderly

via Who’s Behind the Pro-Guaidó Crowd Besieging Venezuela’s D.C. Embassy? – Counter Information

Trump’s Tariffs Force Last U.S. TV Factory to Close | Time

A South Carolina plant that assembles televisions using Chinese parts plans to shut down and lay off nearly all its employees because of new tariffs imposed by the Trump Administration, the company announced this week.

Element Electronics — which describes itself as the only assembler of televisions in the U.S. — plans to lay off 126 of its 134 permanent full-time employees and close the Winnsboro, S.C. plant on Oct. 5. Notably, there are still at least two smaller companies that continue to assemble speciality televisions in the U.S.

“The layoff and closure is a result of the new tariffs that were recently and unexpectedly imposed on many goods imported from China, including the key television components used in our assembly operations in Winnsboro,” Carl Kennedy, Element’s vice president of human resources, said in a letter to the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce on Monday.

via Trump’s Tariffs Force Last U.S. TV Factory to Close | Time

Oregon Democrats Drop Mandatory Vaccine Bill In Face of Republican Protests – Vaxxter

Oregon Senate Democrats have caved to Republican demands to drop a controversial mandatory school vaccination bill. The bill would have made Oregan the toughest mandatory vaccine state in the country.

Democrats backed off of House Bill 3063 as a way to motivate Republicans to come back to the Capitol. Last week, Republicans left the Capitol as a way to deny Democrats a quorum in protest of a $2 billion tax package for schools.

via Oregon Democrats Drop Mandatory Vaccine Bill In Face of Republican Protests – Vaxxter

All of the right wing fundamentalist evangelical ‘news’ channels are claiming that there is a vast left wing conspiracy and coup being waged against Trump.

Really?

Much more at Donald Trump Has Said More Than 10,000 Lies As US President – Trump Has 21 Sexual Assault And Settlements With Porn Star Allegations Against Him, Including Stormy Daniels – Video Of Trump With Porn Star Stormy Daniels In Bedroom Romp – AGR Predicts Trump Tariff Failure | A Green Road Journal

Donald Trump has now said more than 10,000 untrue things as president – CNNPolitics

Over the last seven months, again according to Fact Checker calculations, Trump is not telling the truth at a rate THREE times higher than he did in his first 600 days in office — and even then he was averaging eight false or misleading statements a day.
What’s clear here is that as Trump’s presidency rolls along, he retreats more and more into a world of his own creation, a world that is increasingly devoid of any objectively accepted facts. What’s also clear is that as Trump turns more and more to his 2020 reelection race, his exaggerations, distortions and outright lies grow more and more common.
All of which means that if it took 827 days to say 10,000 false things, it could well take half that time for him to get to 20,000. (In case you are wondering, 413 days from today is June 15, 2020 — which is right in the heart of the campaign season.

via Donald Trump has now said more than 10,000 untrue things as president – CNNPolitics

Trump’s Next Move: Purging the U.S. Military? – The Globalist

Opinion polls show that U.S. veterans and active duty personnel were part of Trump’s voter base in 2016. But Trump demands personal fealty, whereas U.S. soldiers are loyal to the U.S. Constitution — and not the President.

Trump’s attacks on Mattis, his insults to prisoners of war and his use of a visit to Iraq to stage a blatantly partisan political rally is turning the officer corps against him.

The same is true of his stream of very troubling orders – such as withdrawing from Syria, abandoning allies and deploying soldiers on the United States’s southern border. They wer all made without proper consultations.

If push ever came to shove, the only force that could stop Trump if he ever actively tried to violate the Constitution would not be the Democrats, but probably the U.S. military. This could happen, for example, by Trump using a bogus state of emergency to grab special powers. Since top commanders have increasingly had it with him, their resistance becomes more likely.

So don’t be surprised if Trump’s firing of “his” generals over recent months translates into a purge of top Army brass. It fits the picture that the man currently serving as acting Secretary of Defense is a civilian with a military contractor background who owes his elevation to Trump.

via Trump’s Next Move: Purging the U.S. Military? – The Globalist

Can Trump Use the Insurrection Act on Immigrants? – The Atlantic

Lawsuits will certainly challenge Trump’s invocation of the Insurrection Act to assist in immigration enforcement—a purpose for which it’s never previously been used. But the text of the statute would seem to be on the president’s side—underscoring just how broad the power is that Congress has delegated to the president, and just how much we have historically relied on political checks, rather than legal constraints, to circumscribe the president’s authority. As partisan tribalism has increasingly come to mark virtually every policy debate in Washington, those political checks have proved increasingly ineffective.

The obvious lesson here, as with the National Emergencies Act, the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, the Trade Expansion Act, and others, is that Congress ought to put less faith into these political checks, and more teeth into substantive statutory limits on the president’s authorities. In the case of the Insurrection Act, some of us have been arguing as much for years. But that can’t—and won’t—happen until members of this (or any) president’s own party, and not just his opponents, privilege the separation of powers over the separation of parties.

via Can Trump Use the Insurrection Act on Immigrants? – The Atlantic

Wal-Mart Executive Warns: “Higher Tariffs Will Lead To Higher Prices For Customers”

Walmart has said that prices for shoppers will rise due to higher tariffs on goods from China, joining other retailers in warning consumers of cost hikes for imports.

‘Higher tariffs will lead to higher prices for customers,’ Walmart Chief Financial Officer Brett Biggs said on Thursday following the company’s report on its first quarter results.

At this moment, it would be difficult to overstate how angry the Chinese are at the Trump administration.  The Global Times is a mouthpiece for the Chinese government, and they just published a scathing editorial in which they accused Trump of “a declaration of war on China in the economic and technological fields”.

via theeconomiccollapseblog.com Wal-Mart Executive Warns: “Higher Tariffs Will Lead To Higher Prices For Customers”

The Secret Ingredients in a Nonorganic Diet Harm You (Glyphosate) – Dr Mercola

Glyphosate depletes and makes unavailable important nutrients in the human body, which could explain its links to so many diseases. A 2015 article in Surgical Neurology International states:6

“Manganese (Mn) is an often overlooked but important nutrient, required in small amounts for multiple essential functions in the body. A recent study on cows fed genetically modified Roundup(®)-Ready feed revealed a severe depletion of serum Mn. Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup(®), has also been shown to severely deplete Mn levels in plants.

Here, we investigate the impact of Mn on physiology, and its association with gut dysbiosis as well as neuropathologies such as autism, Alzheimer’s disease (AD), depression, anxiety syndrome, Parkinson’s disease (PD), and prion diseases. Glutamate overexpression in the brain in association with autism, AD, and other neurological diseases can be explained by Mn deficiency.

Mn superoxide dismutase protects mitochondria from oxidative damage, and mitochondrial dysfunction is a key feature of autism and Alzheimer’s. Chondroitin sulfate synthesis depends on Mn, and its deficiency leads to osteoporosis and osteomalacia. Lactobacillus, depleted in autism, depend critically on Mn for antioxidant protection.

Lactobacillus probiotics can treat anxiety, which is a comorbidity of autism and chronic fatigue syndrome. Reduced gut Lactobacillus leads to overgrowth of the pathogen, Salmonella, which is resistant to glyphosate toxicity, and Mn plays a role here as well. Sperm motility depends on Mn, and this may partially explain increased rates of infertility and birth defects.”

via Dr Mercola The Secret Ingredients in a Nonorganic Diet Harm You

The right wing fundamentalist evangelicals have been accusing Democrats of launching a ‘coup’ over and over again in the right wing news channels..

BREAKING – The fight for America begins: Trump to invoke Insurrection Act that authorizes National Guard, military action inside U.S. borders

Much more at Trump To Declare Insurrection Act, Arrest All Enemies, Deport 30 Million – Sinclair Broadcast Group Owners Promote Trump – Corporate Billionaires Controlled Fascist Future Of ‘State’ Propaganda Mass Media ‘News’ – – Only 1 Percent View Is Aired, Freedom, Democracy Lost | A Green Road Journal

https://youtu.be/nzX_qdNhhgc

via MidPoint | Bobby Kennedy Jr. and Dr. Sanjay Jain discuss mercury in vaccinations – YouTube

Revealed: air pollution may be damaging ‘every organ in the body’ | Environment | The Guardian

Air pollution may be damaging every organ and virtually every cell in the human body, according to a comprehensive new global review.

The research shows head-to-toe harm, from heart and lung disease to diabetes and dementia, and from liver problems and bladder cancer to brittle bones and damaged skin. Fertility, foetuses and children are also affected by toxic air, the review found.

The systemic damage is the result of pollutants causing inflammation that then floods through the body and ultrafine particles being carried around the body by the bloodstream.

Air pollution is a “public health emergency”, according to the World Health Organization, with more than 90% of the global population enduring toxic outdoor air. New analysis indicates 8.8m early deaths each year – double earlier estimates – making air pollution a bigger killer than tobacco smoking.

via Revealed: air pollution may be damaging ‘every organ in the body’ | Environment | The Guardian

Dow ends the day down 618 points after dramatic day of losses

China has already raised duties on $110 billion of American imports in retaliation for earlier tariff hikes by the Trump administration.

Due to the lopsided trade balance — China imports only $130 billion in American goods, compared to the $500 billion in Chinese goods that the U.S. imports — regulators have targeted operations of American companies in China by slowing customs clearance for their goods and stepping up regulatory scrutiny that can hamper operations.

The decline in trade relations has left businesses, investors and policymakers across the world concerned about the negative impacts on an already slowing global economy.

via NBC Dow ends the day down 618 points after dramatic day of losses

BREAKING – The fight for America begins: Trump to invoke Insurrection Act that authorizes National Guard, military action inside U.S. borders – NaturalNews.com

According to multiple senior administration officials, the president intends to invoke the “tremendous powers” of the act to remove illegal immigrants from the country.

The Insurrection Act, passed by Congress in 1807, allows the president to deploy National Guard and U.S. military troops to combat “rebellion” against the United States of America. The Act has been invoked by other presidents to quell violent uprisings such as the L.A. Riots.

It is clear that President Trump now recognizes the open rebellion against America being committed by the Governor of California, mayors of “sanctuary cities” and fake news “journo-terrorists” who are brainwashing Americans to hate their own country. The ongoing land invasion of the United States of America is an act of war being openly supported by Democrats and Leftists who are using illegal immigration to nullify U.S. voters and overrun the United States with anti-American militants, criminals and terrorists. (See CivilWar.news for frequent updates on the coming civil war.) As Stewart Rhodes from Oath Keepers has accurately described, the illegal immigration is designed to import terror cells who plan to carry out a “Tet Offensive” inside the United States, once activated by enemies and traitors who are literally seeking the complete destruction of America.

via BREAKING – The fight for America begins: Trump to invoke Insurrection Act that authorizes National Guard, military action inside U.S. borders – NaturalNews.com

Using a popular conspiracy theory among right wingers, Trump will use this as an excuse to take out all of his enemies, using military tribunals, concentration camps, and the ‘final solution’.

Got rising fascism?

Georgia Makes Abortion A Crime Punishable By Life In Prison Or Death Penalty | Michael Stone

American Taliban: Christian theocrats in Georgia have successfully criminalized abortion. Women who abort now face life in prison or even the death penalty after Governor Brian Kemp signed controversial legislation into law that effectively bans abortion in the state.

Writing for Slate, Mark Joseph Stern notes the draconian consequences of recognizing the fetus as a person:

Once it takes effect, a woman who self-terminates will have, as a matter of law, killed a human—thereby committing murder. The penalty for that crime in Georgia is life imprisonment or capital punishment.

Stern continues:

HB 481 would also have consequences for women who get abortions from doctors or miscarry. A woman who seeks out an illegal abortion from a health care provider would be a party to murder, subject to life in prison. And a woman who miscarries because of her own conduct—say, using drugs while pregnant—would be liable for second-degree murder, punishable by 10 to 30 years’ imprisonment. Prosecutors may interrogate women who miscarry to determine whether they can be held responsible; if they find evidence of culpability, they may charge, detain, and try these women for the death of their fetuses.

via Patheos Georgia Makes Abortion A Crime Punishable By Life In Prison Or Death Penalty | Michael Stone

The U.S. Has a Fleet of 300 Electric Buses. China Has 421,000 – Bloomberg

Plodding down DeKalb Avenue in Brooklyn is a bus moving under the power of an eerily quiet motor. It looks newer than most buses on the route, with a vivid digital display facing the driver and doors that part with a futuristic pneumatic swoosh. Commuters trundling aboard at rush hour don’t seem to realize this is one of the few electric buses—300 last year, to be exact—in America.

In China, an electric bus wouldn’t be unusual at all. Out of almost 425,000 e-buses worldwide at the end of last year, some 421,000 were in China. The global e-bus fleet grew about 32% in 2018, according to a BloombergNEF report released Wednesday, with the vast majority hitting the road in China. Europe had only 2,250 electric buses, by BNEF’s count.

via The U.S. Has a Fleet of 300 Electric Buses. China Has 421,000 – Bloomberg

NRA: Leaked Documents Reveal Extravagant Spending at Gun Group – Rolling Stone

Excessive spending at the National Rifle Association is “draining NRA cash at a mindboggling speed” and poses “an existential threat to the financial stability” of the gun group, according to slate of leaked documents that have spurred calls for the resignation of CEO Wayne LaPierre.

Posted anonymously online, the documents have surfaced amid an increasingly public feud among NRA leadership, the gun group’s PR firm, Ackerman McQueen, and the NRA’s outside legal firm, run by William Brewer, III. (For more context read: WTF Is Happening at the NRA, Explained.)

The leaked documents are being publicized by activists within the gun world. Firearms instructor Rob Pincus is the owner of I.C.E. Training and used to market personal-defense DVDs in partnership with the NRA. Pincus calls the leaked documents “a smoking gun” that will force the gun community to “acknowledge the problems” at the NRA.

via NRA: Leaked Documents Reveal Extravagant Spending at Gun Group – Rolling Stone

Trump Administration to LGBT Couples: Your ‘Out of Wedlock’ Kids Aren’t Citizens

“Denying American married couples their rights to pass their citizenship, that is flat-out discrimination, and everyone should be concerned about this.”

For years, President Donald Trump has called for the elimination of birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants who are born on American soil. Those children, slurred as “anchor babies,” are accused of being birthed with the sole purpose of tethering their non-citizen parents to the United States. The Trump administration’s promised executive orders ending this “loophole” have not materialized, but the president’s war on birthright citizenship has many fronts—and one little-noticed State Department policy has now resulted in a reverse version of Trump’s “anchor baby” scenario, where the children of U.S. citizens born abroad are effectively being stopped at the border.

Last summer, the State Department issued new rules unilaterally changing the department’s interpretation of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), a 1952 law that, along with the 14th Amendment, codifies eligibility for U.S. birthright citizenship.

“The U.S. Department of State interprets the INA to mean that a child born abroad must be biologically related to a U.S. citizen parent,” the State Department’s website says. “Even if local law recognizes a surrogacy agreement and finds that U.S. parents are the legal parents of a child conceived and born abroad… if the child does not have a biological connection to a U.S. citizen parent, the child will not be a U.S. citizen at birth.”

via Yahoo Trump Administration to LGBT Couples: Your ‘Out of Wedlock’ Kids Aren’t Citizens

Here Are 15 Numbers That Show How The Global Economy Is Performing, And All Of Them Are Bad

Much more at Punk Capitalism Economics Is Equal To Brain Damage Or Insanity – Banking Debt Crisis Scam In Greece, Italy, Germany, And USA – Tax Rates And Booms Lead To Bursting Bubbles – 95% Of Greek Bailout Money Went To 1 Percent And Big Banks, Not To Solve Social Problems | A Green Road Journal

Here Are 15 Numbers That Show How The Global Economy Is Performing, And All Of Them Are Bad

The following are 15 numbers that show how the global economy is currently performing…

#1 Global exports are absolutely crashing and have now fallen to the lowest level since 2009.

#2 U.S. auto dealers are dealing with a backlog of 4.2 million unsold vehicles.

#3 Auto sales in Europe have fallen for seven months in a row.

#4 Chinese auto sales fell a whopping 16.6 percent in the month of April.

#5 Overall, Chinese auto sales have now fallen for 11 months in a row.  That is a new all-time record.

#6 U.S. auto loan delinquencies have reached the highest level since the last recession.

#7 U.S. credit card delinquencies have hit the highest level in eight years.

#8 In April, U.S. manufacturing activity unexpectedly declined 0.5 percent.

#9 Thanks to the trade war, the price of soybeans just dropped to the lowest level since 2008.

via EconomicCollapseBlog Here Are 15 Numbers That Show How The Global Economy Is Performing, And All Of Them Are Bad

https://youtu.be/hMH6hfwp__8

via ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. BREAKS HIS SILENCE – YouTube

Polish parliament rejects abortion ban after mass protests

Warsaw (AFP) – Poland’s parliament on Thursday rejected an abortion ban after women staged massive nationwide protests in the devoutly Catholic nation, where the law is already among the most restrictive in Europe.

Right-wing and liberal parliamentarians in the 450-member lower house joined forces to reject the controversial bill by 352 votes to 58, with 18 abstentions.

The vote came after tens of thousands of black-clad women protested across Poland on Monday, as solidarity demonstrations sprang up in European capitals including Berlin, London and Paris.

via Yahoo Polish parliament rejects abortion ban after mass protests

US ‘Not Seeking a Fight’ with Iran, But Ready to Use ‘Unrelenting Force’ – Sputnik International

McKenzie said the recently announced deployment of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and its battle group to the Persian Gulf, a narrow waterway between Iran and Saudi Arabia, sent a “clear and unmistakable message to the Iranian regime that any attack on US interests will be met with unrelenting force.”

The US has also sent a task force of four B-52 Stratofortress bombers to the region, with the massive nuclear-capable planes arriving at the US Air Force’s Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar on Wednesday.

On April 8, the White House formally designated Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), an elite paramilitary organization, as “not only a State Sponsor of Terrorism, but that the IRGC actively participates in, finances, and promotes terrorism as a tool of statecraft.”

© AP PHOTO / KEVIN LAMARQUE/POOL PHOTO
Macron: If Iran Pulls Out From Nuke Deal, US Would Be Responsible
Tehran has slammed the declaration, with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif noting that it was the IRGC that stepped in to help Iraqi and Syrian forces fight Daesh when the US would not.

via US ‘Not Seeking a Fight’ with Iran, But Ready to Use ‘Unrelenting Force’ – Sputnik International

Tariffs…..Tariffs…..We All Fall Down – In Saner Thought

A tariff is a TAX……how’s that for simple?

A tariff is a tax on goods coming into or leaving a country. That tax might be an ad valorem tax, which is a fixed percentage of the product’s price from time to time, or a specific tax that stays the same no matter what happens to the product’s price. Either way, the aim of import tariffs is to stop cheap goods from coming into the country from overseas and stealing market share of domestic producers. In this sense, tariffs are a form of protectionism, imposed to save industries that are especially vulnerable to competition from overseas.

I have tried to make it simple for people to understand tariffs and their results……

https://lobotero.com/2019/05/10/as-tariffs-come-and-go/

via Tariffs…..Tariffs…..We All Fall Down – In Saner Thought

The Tariff Issue; Chinese did not steal American jobs by selling below US cost

The only way to bring home the offshored American jobs is to change the way US corporations are taxed.  No, this does not mean to lower corporate taxes.  The way to bring the jobs home is to tax corporations on the basis of the geographical location in which they add value to their products.  If US corporations produce in the 50 states for their US market, the tax rate would be low.  If they produce abroad in China or elsewhere for sale in the US, the tax rate would be high.

The tax rate on offshored production for US markets would be calculated to offset the lower labor and regulatory costs abroad.

Americans, as they always do, got sold a bill of goods called “globalism.”  Globalism is the deception used to destroy labor unions, deprive the American work force of middle class jobs, and strip them of their bargaining power.  It is also the deception used by transnational agri-business to drive self-sufficient third world peoples off their land and convert the country’s agriculture into the production of a mono-crop export commodity.

The evil done by globalism has taken a toll on both first and third worlds.  It is entirely the result of first world capitalist profit-maximizing.  It has nothing to do with China.

China is being blamed not because its industry produces cheaper than our industry, but as a scapegoat to hide from view the fact that US global corporations alone are the cause of the lost American jobs.

Tariffs cannot bring back the jobs.

via Information Clearing House The Tariff Issue

Guaido asks US military for meeting to plan ‘restoring democracy’ in Venezuela — RT USA News

Vecchio’s letter was swiftly condemned by the government in Caracas.

“We reject the letter by one of the coup leaders asking for military intervention in Venezuela, on behalf of a group of coup plotters who carry out terrorist activities to create confusion and destabilize our homeland,” Vice-President Delcy Rodriguez said in an appearance on Venezuelan television.

The letter is dated May 11. Two days prior, SOUTHCOM tweeted out a statement by its commander, Admiral Craig Faller, saying “We stand ready!” to support Venezuelan military officers who are willing to side against the government in Caracas – and were only waiting for Guaido’s invitation.

via Guaido asks US military for meeting to plan ‘restoring democracy’ in Venezuela — RT USA News

CO2 levels higher than any point since the evolution of humans – CNN

(CNN)”We don’t know a planet like this.”

That was the reaction of meteorologist Eric Holthaus to news that atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have reached heights not seen in the entirety of human existence — not history, existence.
According to data from the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii, the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere is over 415 parts per million (ppm), far higher than at any point in the last 800,000 years, since before the evolution of homo sapiens.

via CO2 levels higher than any point since the evolution of humans – CNN

Total Catastrophe For U.S. Corn Production: Only 30% Of U.S. Corn Fields Have Been Planted – 5 Year Average Is 66%

But first, let’s take a look at the corn planting numbers from some of our most important corn producing states.  I think that you will agree that these numbers are almost too crazy to believe…

Iowa: 48 percent planted – 5 year average 76 percent

Minnesota: 21 percent planted – 5 year average 65 percent

North Dakota: 11 percent planted – 5 year average 43 percent

South Dakota: 4 percent planted – 5 year average 54 percent

Yes, you read those numbers correctly.

Can you imagine what this is going to do to food prices?

via Economiccollapseblog Total Catastrophe For U.S. Corn Production: Only 30% Of U.S. Corn Fields Have Been Planted – 5 Year Average Is 66%

If you are ever unsure about what to do, it is wise to simply wait until you have more clarity. This clarity may come from receiving more information you don’t have yet, or from simply taking the time to sort out exactly how you feel without the pressure of needing to give an answer or take immediate action. A conscious pause is a wonderful tool to help you make decisions that are in line with your truth and how you really wish to proceed.

Deciding not to decide in any now moment is still making a decision, so that should appease the part of you that likes to be in control, which will then create the space for you to gather all of the information you need to make a wise choice. Once that clarity has been found it will be very easy for you to move forward mindfully and with confidence. ~Archangel Gabriel through Shelley Young

via Trinity Esoterics | Daily Message ~ Wednesday May 15, 2019

Stocks Crater – 3.5 Trillion Dollars In Global Market Cap Wiped Out – China Considers “Dumping U.S. Treasuries”

Wall Street responded to our escalating trade war with China by throwing a bit of a temper tantrum.  On Monday the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 617 points, and that was the worst day for the Dow since January 3rd.  But things were even worse for the Nasdaq.  It had its worst day since December 4th, and overall the Nasdaq is now down 6.3 percent in just the last six trading sessions.  Of course it isn’t just in the United States that stocks are declining.  Since last Monday, a total of approximately $3.5 trillion in market cap has been wiped out on global stock markets.  And since it doesn’t look like we are going to get any sort of a trade deal any time soon, this could potentially be just the beginning of our problems.

via Economiccollapseblog Stocks Crater – 3.5 Trillion Dollars In Global Market Cap Wiped Out – China Considers “Dumping U.S. Treasuries”

It’s that time again! Every two weeks we check the pulse of the online community to see who is up in the Democratic 2020 field, who is down, and who shouldn’t even be around. So go ahead and vote. Polls close at 5 PT/8 pm ET.

via Daily Kos Democratic Straw Poll: May 14 edition

Carbon dioxide hits a level not seen for 3 million years. Here’s what that means for climate change — and humanity

via A Thinking Feeling Earth Is Calling Out For Help From Humanity, Through Kogi, A Lost Civilization – Aluna Movie – Bolivia Passes Law Giving Rights To A Living Gaia Planet, Against Ecocide – Who Will Protect Gaia? From the Heart of the World – The Elder Brother’s Warning | A Green Road Journal

Even if moving to renewable energy and other measures help stanch the steady flow of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, our descendants will likely be saddled with the negative consequences of our artificially elevated levels of CO2.

“We’re not going to see the full consequences of 415 parts per million of carbon dioxide today,” Jackson said. “It’ll take a thousand years of people — 30 generations of people — to pay the price of what we’re doing today.”

In the latest bit of bad news for a planet beset by climate change, the concentration of carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere has climbed to a level last seen more than 3 million years ago — before humans even appeared on the rocky ball we call home.

via NBC Carbon dioxide hits a level not seen for 3 million years. Here’s what that means for climate change — and humanity.

5.2 million properties seriously underwater – study

Over 5.2 million properties in the US were seriously underwater in the first quarter, according to ATTOM Data Solutions, a premium property data provider.

A property is defined as “seriously underwater” when the property owner owes at least 25% more than the estimated market value of the property.

ATTOM reported 5,223,524 US properties were seriously underwater, up from last year’s 17,000-plus properties. The number of underwater properties recorded in Q1 2019 represented 9.1% of all properties with a mortgage nationwide, up from 8.8% in the past quarter but down from 9.5% in Q1 2018.

via MPamag.com 5.2 million properties seriously underwater – study

Trump Cancels Drone Strike Civilian Casualty Report: Does It Matter?

On March 6, without explanation, President Donald Trump revoked an Obama-era rule requiring an annual public report on U.S. drone strikes, including civilian casualties. This prompted worries: What are they trying to hide? Are they planning something big? Covering up a disaster? As The Atlantic’s Conor Friedersdorf put it, “Trump just gave himself more power to kill in secret.”

These fears are overblown. Not because criticisms of the drone campaign are unwarranted, but because the statistics the Obama administration generated weren’t especially believable. (Though the reporting requirement was in place last year, the Trump administration ignored it.) Obama’s official numbers systematically underestimated civilian casualties and did not disclose the location of strikes.

The drone program, which refers to extrajudicial strikes against suspected terrorists outside of war zones — i.e., Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia, rather than Afghanistan, Iraq, or Syria — began under George W. Bush and accelerated under Barack Obama. When, in the last year of his presidency, Obama ordered the public disclosure of information on casualties resulting from strikes taken outside traditional war zones, it was the first time the United States officially acknowledged the extent of the drone campaign. But everyone already had a good idea.

via War On The Rocks Trump Cancels Drone Strike Civilian Casualty Report: Does It Matter?

Saudi Arabia says its oil infrastructure attacked by drones

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Araba said drones attacked one of its oil pipelines as other assaults targeted energy infrastructure elsewhere in the kingdom on Tuesday, shortly after Yemen’s rebels claimed a coordinated drone attack on the Sunni power.

The assaults marked the latest incidents challenging Mideast security after the alleged sabotage of oil tankers off the coast of the United Arab Emirates earlier this week amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and Iran.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels, whom Saudi Arabia has been fighting against since March 2015, said they launched a series of drone attacks on the kingdom, across the border from Yemen.

via AP News Saudi Arabia says its oil infrastructure attacked by drones