Stuart Jeanne Bramhall's Blog: The Most Revolutionary Act , page 1093
March 31, 2018
State Department to Demand Tourists’ Social Media History
The State Department will publish new rules this week to require most visitors and immigrants to the U.S. to divulge their recent social media histories, carrying out one of the key security enhancements from President Trump’s extreme vetting executive order.
By Stephen Dinan
The State Department will publish new rules this week to require most visitors and immigrants to the U.S. to divulge their recent social media histories, carrying out one of the key security enhancements from President Trump’s extreme vetting executive order.
Travelers would also be asked to list phone numbers, email addresses and international travel during the previous five years, and to detail any immigration problems they have had, whether with the U.S. or elsewhere. They also will be asked about potential family connections to terrorism.
The proposals are laid out in two documents slated to be published Friday, kicking off a comment period before the government finalizes the policies later this year.In a striking move, would-be immigrants from countries where female genital mutilation is prevalent — mostly in Africa — would be directed to a website ensuring that they are aware the practice is largely illegal…
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A Closer Look at Trump Supporters
Trumpland
Fusion (2016)
Film Review
This documentary, filmed a month before the 2016 election, explores the life circumstances of a cross section of Trump supporters, referred to by Hillary Clinton as “deplorables.”
Commonalities shared by this demographic are
recent personal or family experience with job loss, bankruptcy or foreclosure.
strong feelings about Wall Street outsourcing manufacturing jobs to third world countries.
strong feelings about US politics being a “crooked” system set up to destroy the middle class.
strong opposition to their perceived corporate control of the two major political parties.
a perception that Trump, unlike other politicians, “can’t be bought.”
When answering filmmakers’ questions about Trump’s perceived racism and xenophobia, their replies vary. Some (especially women) feel that Black Lives Matter activists have a point about the abysmal way Black people are treated in the US. Others claim that Black people (and women) are demanding special privileges not enjoyed by white men.
Most deny that Trump is racist, claiming he only wants to prevent terrorist attacks by banning immigrants from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. They agree with his proposed wall because they believe his claims that most illegal Mexican immigrants are drug dealers and rapists. This flies in the face of research indicating undocumented immigrants (who are loathe to draw attention to themselves) commit far fewer crimes than either legal immigrants or native born Americans.
March 30, 2018
Why US is Trying to Deprive Europe of Cheap Russian Natural Gas
After Donald Trump’s win, Washington has started viewing Europe not as a partner but as a competitor, Sputnik contributor Dmitry Lekukh writes, adding that the best way to pull the rug out from under the EU economy is to deprive it of cheap pipeline gas.
Why US is Trying to Deprive Europe of Cheap Russian Natural Gas
Signaling its adherence to the “America First” strategy, the Trump administration is seeking to weaken European countries that pose a challenge to the US economy, Sputnik contributor Dmitry Lekukh writes, explaining why the US will try to bring an end to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project.
After Donald Trump’s win, Washington has started viewing Europe not as a partner but as a competitor, Sputnik contributor Dmitry Lekukh writes, adding that the best way to pull the rug out from under the EU economy is to deprive it of cheap pipeline gas.
“From an economic point of view, the ‘old’ industrialized continental Europe is now seen more as a competitor rather than as a partner,” the journalist noted. “And in this situation, the issue of supplying Europe with US LNG was overshadowed by the need to deprive the economies of the subcontinent of any cheap energy resources. I underline, any — Russian, Algerian, Libyan, or…
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China has now issued a warning to Great Britain (yeah its true)
“We believe that the Skripal case should be resolved through talks based of real facts.”
CHINA has taken sides with Russia over the nerve attack, calling on Britain and the west to “abandon confrontation” in the wake of mass diplomat expulsions
The explosive diplomatic row over the attempted assassination of Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia should be settled based on “real facts”, China’s Foreign Ministry has said.
Appearing to back Vladimir Putin, a spokesperson for Chinese president Xi Jinping has warned western nations to cease its hostile behaviour towards the Kremlin.
A united front of more than 20 western nations stunned Putin on Monday by expelling more than 100 Russian diplomats accused of being spies.
The unprecedented expulsion of Russian intelligence agents came in response to the poisoning of Skripal and Yulia, who remain in a critical condition.
Theresa May convinced US President Donald Trump, EU leaders and NATO that Russia is “highly likely” to be responsible for the Novichok attack in Salisbury.
INTERVENTION:…View original post 522 more words
Spectacular falls for solar, wind and battery costs squeeze fossil fuels
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The spectacular falls in the cost of wind and solar energy continued in 2017, dropping another 18 per cent across the globe, according to the latest report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
The report also highlights the falling cost and growing uptake of battery storage, which together are mounting an unprecedented challenge to fossil fuel power, particularly as batteries start to encroach on the flexibility and peaking revenues enjoyed by those fossil fuel plants.
The new report from BNEF highlights Australia as one of the key countries to have led the cost reductions in both wind and solar. India is also cited for both wind and solar.
“Coal and gas are facing a mounting threat to their position in the world’s electricity generation mix, as a result of the spectacular reductions in cost not just for wind and solar technologies, but also for batteries,” the BNEF report says. . .
Source: Spectacular falls for solar, wind and battery costs squeeze fossil fuels
March 29, 2018
Trump’s Trade War: US Demands China Keep Importing American Garbage
By Zero Hedge
Global Research, March 29, 2018
Zero Hedge
As it tries to strike an agreement with the US to avert a trade war that economists fear could destabilize global markets, China has an ace up its sleeve that it’s just about ready to play: The Communist Party last year implemented a ban on imports of recyclable material that is provoking a mild panic in the US.
The US relies on China to “import” much of its bulk recyclable waste. But last July, in an effort to battle the “illegal foreign garbage” influx into China, the country’s Ministry of Environmental Protection notified the World Trade Organization that it plans to ban imports of 24 types of solid waste materials, including soda bottles, mixed paper, recycled steel and newsprint.
Despite the threat to implement the ban by the end of the year, the document stated that the “proposed date of adoption” is “to be determined.”
But by moving ahead with the decision, China risks creating serious problems for the global recycling industry, something that would probably have the greatest impact on the US by essentially forcing it to make difficult choices about how it processes its solid waste, including – most notably – how and where it is stored.
According to Reuters, which was the first western media outlet to report on the decision, the US Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries said at the time that the ban would devastate an industry that supported 155,000 jobs and had exported scrap worth $5.6 billion to China in 2016. . .
Source: Trump’s Trade War: US Demands China Keep Importing American Garbage
The Financial Payoff of Prison Privatization
Trump deported less people last year than the Obama administration did in 2016, but he arrested 30 percent more suspected undocumented immigrants.
Donald Cohen of “In the Public Interest” reports that operators of private detention facilities are delighted with the Trump crackdown on immigrants . It is generating huge revenues and profits!
Last fall, Chief Executive Officer George Zoley of the publicly traded private prison corporation GEO Group told shareholders he was “very pleased” with recent financial results after the company “experienced improved occupancy rates across a number of our ICE [immigration detention] facilities” — and now we know why.
In an early March filing to those shareholders, GEO Group divulged that total compensation last year for its top corporate executives nearly doubled, jumping from $10.9 million to $20.3 million. Zoley really made out. Stock awards, which the corporation gives out when it profits more than it expected, boosted his compensation from $5.1 million to $9.6 million.
The GEO Group CEO better have thanked President Donald Trump for the big payday.
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How to Profit from Environmental Destruction
Pricing the Planet Part 2
Al Jaceera (2018)
Film Review
Part 2 of Pricing the Planet is even more disgusting than Part 1. It concerns the “green conferences” organized by oil, chemical and mining companies to promote ways they can invest in “credits” to mitigate their activities that degrade the environment.
All the industries that attended a recent “green conference” continue to lobby heavily against government regulation to curb the environmental damage they cause. However now that they see an opportunity to profit from carbon and species trading they’re suddenly spouting off about the future of our planet.
The documentary shows footage of Dow Chemical and Nestle executives at a recent green conference. Dow has one of the worst reputations for environmental degradation. Dow produced Agent Orange, responsible for cancer and birth defects in thousands of Vietnam veterans and Vietnamese civilians and their offspring. They also own the subsidiary responsible for the chemical factory that exploded in Bhopal India, poisoning thousands. Nestle is notorious for depleting fresh water all over the planet, which they sell back to us as bottled water.
Unsurprisingly the World Bank supports corporations who buy and sell the right to destroy the environment by selling Green Bonds (which corporations use to mitigate their environmentally harmful activities). Carbon and endangered species trading are also strongly supported by the United Nations.
The high point of the film is a vignette featuring Indian environmentalist Vendana Shiva explaining how financialization always leads to degradation. She further states, “Wherever a price is placed on nature, nature has been destroyed.”
She maintains the continual destruction of the environment in the name of economic growth is a sickness in the human mind.
The documentary can be viewed free at Pricing the Planet Part 2
March 28, 2018
Still cheaper than coal – a report on the economics of solar power in Colorado
New wind and solar power in Colorado continues to be cheaper than existing coal plants – despite Trump’s trade tariffs.
AGR Daily 60 Second News Bites
Xcel’s plan would shut down two units at the Comanche coal plant in Pueblo, Colorado, and replace the capacity with a mix of lower-carbon resources. Earlier results were unprecedented, with more than 80 percent of the bids coming from renewable energy and storage at incredibly cheap prices.
Xcel then provided bidders an opportunity to refresh their bids following President Trump’s final decision in the Suniva/SolarWorld trade case in January, which imposed tariffs on imported solar equipment.
The refreshed bids in Xcel’s updated report show minimal change relative to last year’s results and confirm that new wind and solar power in Colorado continues to be cheaper than existing coal plants – despite the trade tariffs.
via Still cheaper than coal – a report on the economics of solar power in Colorado
Bezos Battered : $13 Billion Net Worth Loss As Amazon Crashes
According to the anonymous sources, Trump has allegedly talked about changing Amazon’s tax treatment because he’s worried about mom-and-pop retailers being put out of business.
Amazon shares are down 7% today and almost 11% in the last two days, breaking below its 50DMA, amid a broad tech unwind contagion and growing concerns about government crackdowns from “obsessed” Trump.
Bloodbath…
The reason is that according to Axios, it is not Facebook that Trump wants to go after, but rather Amazon: “He’s obsessed with Amazon,” a source said. “Obsessed.” According to the anonymous sources, Trump has allegedly talked about changing Amazon’s tax treatment because he’s worried about mom-and-pop retailers being put out of business.
A source who’s spoken to POTUS: “He’s wondered aloud if there may be any way to go after Amazon with antitrust or competition law.”
Trump’s deep-seated antipathy toward Amazon surfaces when discussing tax policy and antitrust cases. The president would love to clip CEO Jeff Bezos’ wings. But he doesn’t have a plan to make that happen.
Behind the president’s…
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