uawchild
uawchild's JournalDESPITE US-LED CAMPAIGN, ISLAMIC STATE RAKES IN OIL EARNINGS
Source: Associated Press
BAGHDAD (AP) -- The Islamic State rakes in up to $50 million a month from selling crude from oilfields under its control in Iraq and Syria, part of a well-run industry that U.S. diplomacy and airstrikes have so far failed to shut down, according to Iraqi intelligence and U.S. officials.
Oil sales - the extremists' largest single source of continual income - are a key reason they have been able to maintain their rule over their self-declared "caliphate" stretching across large parts of Syria and Iraq. With the funds to rebuild infrastructure and provide the largesse that shore up its fighters' loyalty, it has been able to withstand ground fighting against its opponents and more than a year of bombardment in the U.S.-led air campaign.
The group has even been able to bring in equipment and technical experts from abroad to keep the industry running, and the United States has recently stepped up efforts to close off this support.
Washington has been talking to regional governments, including Turkey, about its concerns over the importing of energy infrastructure into IS-run territory in Syria, including equipment for extraction, refinement, transport and energy production, according to a senior U.S. official with firsthand knowledge of the IS oil sector.
Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_ISLAMIC_STATE_OIL_BUSINESS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-10-23-02-41-45
"Washington has been talking to regional governments, including Turkey, about its concerns over the importing of energy infrastructure into IS-run territory in Syria"
OMG... there it is... the answer to who has been funding ISIS. Add Turkey, NATO Ally, to the list that includes so called "Gulf State Angels" that have been funding ISIS "privately". So, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar... who else is funding ISIS?
BUSH SLASHING SPENDING, SHIFTING STAFF AMID CAMPAIGN WOES
Source: Associated Press
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) -- Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush is drastically slashing campaign spending, including an across-the-board pay cut for staff, as the one-time front-runner seeks to salvage his bid for the GOP nomination.
The moves will reduce the campaign's payroll by 40 percent, while also cutting travel costs by 20 percent and eliminating extraneous overhead costs. Most campaign officials were told of the cost-cutting on Friday.
The changes mark a significant setback for a campaign that spent months building a large operation, but there are no signs Bush is on the verge of withdrawing from the race. He was scheduled to attend an event at Regent University in Virginia on Friday afternoon and had events with donors beginning Sunday in Texas.
Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_GOP_2016_BUSH?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-10-23-13-11-05
Saints preserve us from yet another Bush in the White House!
'Constructive' talks on Syria war could be resumed: Kerry
Source: Reuters
The United States, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Turkey failed to resolve differences on the fate of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in talks on Friday but could meet again in a week to discuss how to end Syria's civil war.
Speaking to reporters afterwards, ministers said they had been unable to bridge the central dispute between Washington and its allies, who say Assad has no future in Syria, and Russia, which showed its support by hosting him in Moscow this week.
In a separate development, Russia and Jordan agreed to coordinate their military actions on Syria by setting up a "special working mechanism" in the Jordanian capital, Amman, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday.
Russia's three-week-old campaign of air strikes against Islamist groups opposed to Assad has halted an offensive by rebels, including some backed by the United States and its allies, which had eroded Assad's control in the west of Syria. Some diplomats and analysts believe Russia might be able to exploit its influence with Assad and its newly demonstrated military muscle in Syria's skies to broker a deal to end the conflict.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/23/us-mideast-crisis-talks-idUSKCN0SH1LN20151023
"Russia might be able to exploit its influence with Assad and its newly demonstrated military muscle in Syria's skies to broker a deal to end the conflict."
Broker a deal? End the conflict? What madness is this!?! /sarcasm
It is simply way past time to compromise and give serious peace talks a chance. Once again, you don't make peace with your friends, you make peace with your enemies.
But, I am sure, sadly, that there will be calls from "unconditional surrender dead enders" to keep the war and the increasing civilian carnage going to achieve greater geo-political aims.
Hurricane Patricia, one of strongest ever storms, set to hit Mexico
Source: Reuters
Mexico scrambled on Friday to prepare as Hurricane Patricia, one of the strongest storms ever recorded, bore down on its Pacific Coast, prompting the evacuation of thousands of tourists and residents and a mad rush for emergency supplies.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said the Category 5 storm was the strongest ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere, and the World Meteorological Organization compared it to 2013's Typhoon Haiyan, which killed thousands in the Philippines.
The storm was expected to make landfall on Friday afternoon or early evening, the NHC added. In its path lies a patchwork of exclusive getaways favored by tech billionaires and pop stars, as well as package vacation resorts, a major cargo port and modest fishing villages.
Ramping up their warnings as the storm drew closer, Mexican officials said the unprecedented hurricane could wreak catastrophic damage.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/23/us-mexico-storm-patricia-idUSKCN0SH16720151023
More intense extreme weather is an expected by product of Climate Change. Are these "super storms" of the last few years early harbingers of worse to come?
I realize that at least one previous LBN post was done on this storm, but Reuters provided additional and more up to date information about its progress in this article.
Wall St. tech rally gets a boost from China rate cut
Source: Reuters
All three major U.S. indexes rose to more than two-month highs on Friday, after a surprise rate cut in China amplified a rally driven by strong results from Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon.
Microsoft's (MSFT.O) shares rose 11.61 percent to $53.61, their highest in 15 years, after the company's adjusted revenue beat expectations for the ninth quarter in a row.
Microsoft gave the biggest boost to the three indexes, accounting for about a third of the near 100-point jump in the Dow and leading a strong rally in technology stocks.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/23/us-markets-stocks-idUSKCN0SH16U20151023
from the article :"Some of the worst fears associated with China were put to bed, at least temporarily," said Ernie Cecilia, chief investment officer of Bryn Mawr Trust."
Good. A stable world economy is in all our interests. Now, if we can elect a Democrat to the White House in 2016, maybe we can avoid the Republicans driving the economy off a cliff like they did under W.
China wants Britain in a united European Union, Xi Jinping tells David Cameron
Source: South ChinaMorning Post (Hong Kong)
China wants a united European Union in which Britain plays a prominent role in promoting Chinese relations with the bloc, Chinese President Xi Jinping told Britain's prime minister in an indirect plea for the nation to remain part of the EU.
Prime Minister David Cameron is seeking to renegotiate Britain's relationship with the EU, which it joined in 1973, as the "in" and "out" campaigns prepare for battle in a referendum on membership, to be held before 2017.
In a meeting at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence, late on Thursday, Xi told Cameron that the EU was a strategic partner of China and also its largest trading partner, China's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday. "China hopes to see a prosperous Europe and a united EU, and hopes Britain, as an important member of the EU, can play an even more positive and constructive role in promoting the deepening development of China-EU ties," it added, paraphrasing Xi's comments.
China typically does not comment on votes in other countries, viewing it as interference in their internal affairs.
Read more: http://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1871455/chinas-president-xi-jinping-tells-britains-pm-david
"Xi told Cameron that the EU was a strategic partner of China and also its largest trading partner"
That says tons. Is the American Century over? Is all that's left for us just bloated military bluster and adventurism, like the last days of the fading Ottoman Empire at the turn of the last century?
I hope not. It's time to stop wasteful military spending and to rebuild our economy and manufacturing base at home -- before it really is too late.
China cuts rates again as growth engine stalls
Source: Reuters
China's central bank cut interest rates on Friday for the sixth time in less than a year, and it again lowered the amount of cash that banks must hold as reserves in a bid to jump start growth in its stuttering economy.
Monetary policy easing in the world's second-largest economy is at its most aggressive since the 2008/09 financial crisis, as growth looks set to slip to a 25-year-low this year of under 7 percent.
Yet underscoring China's drive to deepen financial reforms, which many believe are necessary to invigorate the economy, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) said it was freeing the interest rate market by scrapping a ceiling on deposit rates.
The change, which Beijing had promised to deliver for months, will in theory allow banks to price loans according to their risk, and remove a distortion to the price of credit that analysts say fuels wasteful investment in China.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/23/us-china-economy-policy-idUSKCN0SH18W20151023
"Market role and government regulation both essential to China's economic reform
Chinese President Xi Jinping attached importance to two points in his speech during the two sessions of the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference this year: Better respecting the law of the market and giving better play to the role of the government.
At the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, he emphasized that the market should play a decisive role in allocating resources and clearly pointed out that China implements a socialist market economy.
He said we should still insist on giving full play to the superiority of the socialist system as well as the positive role of the Party and the government, and that letting the market decide does not mean letting it decide all."
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/829840.shtml
That's been the CCP's stand for years now, and while there are naysayers to their approach to managing the Chinese economy, well, from an outsider's perspective they don't seem to be doing that badly.
Some People claim it's all based on a bubble -- fueled by government spending on under utilized infrastructure projects. That might or might not be true but isn't THAT type of spending to encourage economic growth better than wasting trillions of dollars on war as we seem to have been doing in the US? Surplus infrastructure versus the Military Industrial Complex spending... you tell me which makes more sense.
What America’s lust for Trudeau says about Canada
America’s gushing over our next prime minister is a bit surreal from a Canadian perspective.
Justin Trudeau is a certifiable babe, according to the rest of the world. In Canada, we've been encouraged to see his good looks as negative traits.
Not since Rob Ford smoked crack and made the surprising declaration that he had “more than enough to eat at home” did the United States honour us with their undivided attention.
Americans loved to talk about Ford, the famously rubicund right winger, because in addition to the law, he defied every Canadian nicety known to man. He was a walking ad for finishing school.
But today, our nation is at the forefront of America’s minds — or more accurately, its loins — for a very different reason. In case you hadn’t noticed, Justin Trudeau, our next prime minister, is a charismatic 43-year-old (a toddler in politician years) and judging from the hordes of swooning Americans on social media, he is also a certifiable babe.
In the words of one of a zillion non-Canadians expounding on the PM’s hotness on Twitter: “Canada’s new Prime Minister is a Smoking-Hot Syrupy Fox.” That sounds like something a BBQ joint might serve if it specialized in road kill, but it’s apparently a synonym for Justin Trudeau.
It appears the outside world isn’t merely smitten with the PM: it is straight up hot and bothered — to the point of lechery. The perverted maple syrup puns are never ending: on Tuesday, Entertainment Online, an American celebrity news site, referred to the PM as a “beautiful sticky sweet specimen.” Even Jezebel, the snarky feminist website that gets its rocks off castigating the politically incorrect, took a break from the scolding game to declare Trudeau, “non-controversially f---able” on account of his women friendly policies.
As I write this, Trudeau is leading a hotness poll on Buzzfeed (“Which of These World Leaders Gives You the Most Thirst?”) by a wide margin, beating out the likes of Barack Obama, Vladimir Putin and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
This libidinous Trudeaumania is a bit surreal from a Canadian perspective because for the duration of the election, we were encouraged by Stephen Harper to see the Liberal leader’s luscious locks and generous smile as negative traits (how could somebody so cute possibly be capable of running a country?) Trudeau even sported a short haircut throughout the campaign, a sign of his renewed commitment to staid Canadian political life.
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/10/22/what-americas-lust-for-trudeau-says-about-canada-teitel.html
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lol It's not just his good looks that captivates we Americans (lol) but I think part of the clamor is based on an immense sense of relief that Canada, long looked on as our more reasonable and polite neighbor to the north, has escaped the darkness that was the decade long conservative Harper government. Just knowing that Canada is restoring its national soul seems comforting to us down here, eh? lol
Totem pole stolen by actor John Barrymore returned to Alaska
Source: Toronto Star
HONOLULU—A stolen totem pole that went from the garden decor of two golden-age Hollywood actors to the basement of a Hawaii museum has been returned to Alaska tribal members.
Screen legend John Barrymore was travelling along the Alaska coast by yacht and directed crew members to take the totem pole from an unoccupied village in 1931, said University of Alaska Anchorage professor Steve Langdon, who has long researched the object. They sawed it in three pieces.
Barrymore, star of Grand Hotel and grandfather of actress Drew Barrymore, displayed the pole in the garden of his California estate.
After Barrymore’s death, actor Vincent Price, known for horror flicks such as House of Wax, and his wife bought the item and also used it as a yard decoration. The couple donated it to the Honolulu Museum of Art in 1981.
Read more: http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2015/10/23/totem-pole-stolen-by-actor-john-barrymore-returned-to-alaska.html
Good. Restoring aboriginal/first nations cultural artifacts to their rightful owners is an important acknowledgement of the civil rights and human dignity of these people.
SPOOKED BY CANADA: HOW THE CIA SAW THE FIRST TRUDEAU’S RISE
"Fifty years ago, U.S. officials had concerns about a ‘flamboyant’ Liberal leader rising to power and shaking up Canada’s defence and foreign policies. (Sound familiar?) Colin Freeze looks at how their recently declassified daily briefings to the president reveal Trudeaumania caught them off-guard
To the world’s most powerful spy agency, Canada is almost never considered a country worth bothering about.
Unless, say, a Trudeau is elected prime minister. Then the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency starts to raise high-level questions about its northern neighbour’s commitment to continental security and international military coalitions.
“Trudeau’s Liberal Party won handily in yesterday’s election,” reads a CIA briefing note sent to the president. “Trudeau can now move quickly to set in motion his promised review of Canada’s foreign and domestic policies.”
This note is from 1968, and it holds one of the rare mentions of Canada contained in the CIA-written Presidential Daily Briefs of that era. A recently released trove of nearly a decade’s worth of documents can be found on the spy agency’s website."
Pierre Trudeau signs autographs for crowd of admirers in Ottawa on April 20, 1968, the day of his swearing in as prime minister of Canada. Mr. Trudeau, who replaced prime minister Lester Pearson after his resignation, ran in a general election two months later and won a majority government.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/what-the-cia-said-about-flamboyant-pierre-trudeaus-rise-topower/article26926419/
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Hmmm. With Justin Trudeau's stated plans to scrap the F-35 purchases in Canada and to pull back airs strikes against ISIS, well, I wonder what the buzz at the CIA is right now.
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