U.S. Confirms Seizure of Iranian Fuel on Venezuela-Bound Ships
August 14th, 2020Via: AFP:
The US Justice Department on Friday confirmed it had seized the fuel cargo aboard four tankers sent by Iran to crisis-wracked Venezuela, tying the shipments to Tehran’s Revolutionary Guards and stepping up the pressure on its foe.
“With the assistance of foreign partners, this seized property is now in US custody,” the Justice Department said, putting the total at more than one million barrels of petroleum and calling it the largest-ever seizure of fuel shipments from Iran.
The department had issued a warrant last month to seize the cargo of the tankers Bella, Bering, Pandi and Luna.
The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing US officials, that the ships had been seized at sea and were en route to Houston.
Virus Vaccine Rush Leaves Little Recourse for Anyone It Harms
August 14th, 2020Via: Bloomberg:
Americans who suffer adverse reactions to coronavirus vaccines that the U.S. is racing to develop will have a hard time getting compensated for injuries from the drugs.
That’s because pandemic-related claims for vaccines will be routed to a rarely used federal program set up to encourage drugmakers to help combat public health emergencies. It spares pharmaceutical and device makers from costly liability lawsuits in exchange for taxpayers compensating injured patients — though it doesn’t guarantee there’s funding to do so.
The Attempted COVID Coup of 2020
August 14th, 2020Via: Real Clear Politics:
What history will record as the great COVID coup of 2020 is based on lies and fear manufactured by America’s ruling class—led by the Democratic Party and aided by the complaisance of most Republican politicians.
In March, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) presented the coronavirus to the Western world as a danger equivalent to the plague. But China’s experience, which its government obfuscated, had already shown that COVID-19 was much less like the plague and more like the flu. All that has happened since followed from falsifying this basic truth.
U.S. Special Forces Active in 22 African Countries
August 14th, 2020Via: Mint Press News:
A new report published in South African newspaper The Mail and Guardian has shed light on the opaque world of the American military presence in Africa. Last year, elite U.S. Special Operations forces were active in 22 African countries. This accounts for 14 percent of all American commandos deployed overseas, the largest number for any region besides the Middle East. American troops had also seen combat in 13 African nations.
America Desperately Needs a Second Opinion
August 14th, 2020Via: Ron Paul Institute:
Somehow, the best medical advice from the nation’s most respected medical institutions recommending a second opinion was completely ignored when Covid-19 showed up. Instead, a handful of alleged government medical “experts” advised the political class to use illegal, unconstitutional powers to lockdown the nation, with the threat that millions would die if we didn’t obey their dictates.
So why did the political class, those elected by the people to represent the people’s interest, not insist on a second opinion? Why were they willing, some even eager, to ignore the peoples guaranteed Constitutional rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? Why were they willing to ignore the best medical advice to seek a second opinion BEFORE destroying the livelihoods of millions of hardworking American’s?
It’s not like there were no independent medical experts sounding the alarm about the Covid fraud and the ridiculous mass hysteria being whipped up by the politicians and the media. Literally hundreds of highly credentialed medical experts across the globe are on record as to the absurdity of the actions recommended by government medical “experts”. One of those experts, Dr. John Ioannidis of Stanford University assembled a group of like-minded medical experts this past March to offer a second opinion to President Trump. They wanted him to know their professional assessment of Covid-19 was that yes it was a flu bug but locking down the nation was a ridiculously unnecessary move that could cause more harm than good.
Dr. Ioannidis said it was like an elephant being attacked by a house cat. Apparently President Trump gave in to his political advisors and ignored the second opinion advice of Dr. Ioannidis and his associates.
Who Owned the Chemicals That Blew up Beirut?
August 14th, 2020Via: Reuters:
In the murky story of how a cache of highly explosive ammonium nitrate ended up on the Beirut waterfront, one thing is clear — no one has ever publicly come forward to claim it.
There are many unanswered questions surrounding last week’s huge, deadly blast in the Lebanese capital, but ownership should be among the easiest to resolve.
Clear identification of ownership, especially of a cargo as dangerous as that carried by the Moldovan-flagged Rhosus when it sailed into Beirut seven years ago, is fundamental to shipping, the key to insuring it and settling disputes that often arise.
But Reuters interviews and trawls for documents across 10 countries in search of the original ownership of this 2,750-tonne consignment instead revealed an intricate tale of missing documentation, secrecy and a web of small, obscure companies that span the globe.
“Goods were being transported from one country to another, and they ended up in a third country with nobody owning the goods. Why did they end up here?” said Ghassan Hasbani, a former Lebanese deputy prime minister and opposition figure.
Peak Idiocy: Wisconsin Government Agency Mandates Facemask Use For Virtual Zoom Meetings
August 14th, 2020Via: ZeroHedge:
…Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resources, who told its employees that effective August 1, they would have to wear a mask – even for teleconferences.
Preston Cole of the DNR said in an e-mail to employees: “Also, wear your mask, even if you are home, to participate in a virtual meeting that involves being seen — such as on Zoom or another video-conferencing platform — by non-DNR staff. Set the safety example which shows you as a DNR public service employee care about the safety and health of others.”
Sweden and COVID-19: No Lockdowns, Low Deaths and Minimal Economic Damage
August 14th, 2020Via: ZeroHedge:
In a column published Thursday, The Telegraph’s Allister Heath argued that Sweden’s success at fighting the virus while minimizing economic damage elucidates the depth of the British medical establishment’s incompetence, as it was Britain’s health experts whose advice PM Johnson assiduously followed.
Fed’s “Direct Money Transfers” Are Coming: Brainard Says Fed Collaborating With MIT On “Hypothetical” Digital Currency
August 14th, 2020Via: ZeroHedge:
And while this idea may have seemed absolutely ludicrous as recently as just one year ago, the fact that the just as ludicrous Helicopter Money is now de facto policy means that direct deposits of cash by the Fed into individual accounts is becoming increasingly probable, the only thing missing is the “digital currency” that would be used by the central bank.
Addressing this issue, on Thursday afternoon, Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard hinted once again at the coming monetary revolution when she said that the Fed is studying the opportunities and challenges presented by central bank digital currencies.
VW Will Develop Battery Cells for Electric Cars in U.S.
August 14th, 2020Via: Electrek:
Volkswagen announced plans to add electric vehicle engineering at its factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The German automaker mentioned plans to develop cells and battery packs at the US plant.
The German automaker has been hard at work developing its next-generation electric cars based on its MEB platform. Much of the work happened in Germany, where VW already converted a factory to electric vehicle production.
By 2022, they plan to bring their MEB electric vehicles to the US and produce them there. Now they are also building a new electric vehicle factory next to their existing plant in Chattanooga. The German company is now announcing that it will also engineer EVs in the country.
