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China's oil imports surge to record high, drops US suppliers


RT
Sun, 11 Nov 2018 12:47 UTC
oil tanks
© Global Look Press / Zhang JiansongFILE PHOTO: Peking Opera facial makeups drawn on oil tanks at the Zhongshan Station, Antarctica
China's crude oil imports averaged 9.61 million barrels a day last month, customs data cited by Reuters has revealed, with the agency noting the amount is the highest on record.

Once again, it was the independent refiners, or teapots, that drove the increase as they seek to fulfill their import quotas before they expire.

The total October volume of imports hit 40.80 million tons, of which teapots imported 8.22 million tons. Yet this was lower than the teapots' intake as forecast by S&P Platts last month, which was nine million tons. It was, however, substantially higher than the 7.26 million tons independent Chinese refiners imported in September.

Comment: See also:

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Stormtrooper

Racism: Russian journalist observing US midterms briefly detained by FBI - who thought he might be GRU, involved in 2016 election 'hacking'


RT
Sun, 11 Nov 2018 15:21 UTC
Alexander Malkevich
© Sputnik / Alexei FilippovAlexander Malkevich
The FBI has reportedly questioned USA Really head Alexander Malkevich at Washington airport after his trip to cover the midterm elections. The Russian mission in the US has requested information on the incident.

"In connection with media reports concerning the detention of Russian journalist Alexander Malkevich by FBI officers in Washington airport, an inquiry regarding the circumstances of the event was sent to the US Department of State," it said.

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Bad Guys

Western media suddenly 'discovers' Saudi war crimes in Yemen from Khashoggi fallout

Tony Cartalucci
New Eastern Outlook
Sun, 11 Nov 2018 14:58 UTC
Trump Saudi Crown prince
Nothing illustrates the cynical and deceitful nature of Western "journalism" better than the recent, apparent US-Saudi fallout in the wake of the alleged death of Washington Post Saudi correspondent, Jamal Khashoggi.

Khashoggi allegedly disappeared and has been reported killed at the hands of Saudi consulate staff in Istanbul, Turkey. Of course, the US, UK, EU, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia are among the most dubious actors in modern geopolitics. Ascertaining the truth regarding the events surrounding Khashoggi may ultimately turn out to be an insurmountable task.

But the various narratives and reactions of Western political and media circles still provides us insight into the true character of Western international relations including extreme hypocrisy regarding human rights, the use and abuse of Western media platforms to selectively cover events around the globe to favor Western interests, and the ultimate fate that awaits other US "allies."

Comment: The purported 'fallout' between the US isn't real nor is it imagined. In all likelihood, it is a feint from the US designed to put pressure on Saudi Arabia so it stays in line with US hegemonic interests.

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Attention

US-Mexico border: Trump's rules of engagement for US troops to mirror the IDF in Gaza

Whitney Webb
MintPress News
Fri, 02 Nov 2018 00:00 UTC
National Guard USMEXborder
© Josh Lott/ReutersNational Guard patrolling the US-Mexico border.
The intent behind Trump's new rules of engagement and considerable militarization of the U.S. border appears to be greenlighting the U.S. military to function as an IDF-style military police force whenever the next "threat" emerges, whether it be "foreign invaders" or "internal enemies."

Since President Donald Trump first directed the outrage of his supporters at a Central American migrant caravan making its way towards the United States a little over a week ago, his plan to deploy between 5,200 and 15,000 active-duty U.S. soldiers to the border has provoked mixed reactions within the United States. However, Trump's more recent announcement that armed U.S. soldiers have been instructed to target any migrants who resort to throwing stones as though they were firing rifles has evoked an even wider range of reactions.

On Thursday afternoon, Trump detailed in a speech that
"Anybody [in the caravan] throwing stones, rocks, like they did to Mexico and the Mexican military, Mexican police, where they badly hurt police and soldiers of Mexico, we will consider that a firearm." He then elaborated that "we will consider it [stone throwing], the maximum that we can consider that...We're not going to put up with that. They want to throw rocks at our military, our military fights back....I told them to consider it a rifle."
Though some Mexican law enforcement officers were injured by stone throwers during their efforts to use a show of military and police force to pressure the caravan from advancing, there were no fatalities or severe injuries incurred by the Mexican authorities.

Trump's announcement caused considerable outrage within the U.S. media and among some U.S. veterans, with some calling these new rules of engagement a war crime in the making. However, it has long been the standard in countries like Israel, where the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have used stone throwing as the pretext to disperse "riots" as well as peaceful protests with live ammunition.


Comment: Imitating Israel in theory and actions will rain down condemnation at home and abroad. Once implemented with consequences, it can't be walked back.

See also:

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Propaganda

New York Times ramps up smear campaign against Julian Assange

Tom Hall
World Socialist Web Site
Tue, 06 Nov 2018 00:00 UTC
RogerStoneJulianAssange
© APRoger Stone • Julian Assange
A pair of blaring headlines appearing in Friday's edition of the New York Times purported to show that the newspaper had obtained damning new evidence of collusion between WikiLeaks, the Trump campaign and the Russian government to damage the campaign of Hillary Clinton in 2016.

The latest round of smears appearing in the Times, the journalistic mouthpiece of the Democratic Party and sections of the military-intelligence apparatus opposed to Trump, is aimed at preparing public opinion for an eventual indictment on espionage charges of WikiLeaks founder and publisher Julian Assange, preparations for which are already in full swing. The Times articles appeared amid widespread media speculation that special counsel Robert Mueller could begin handing down indictments soon.

The government of Ecuador, eager to curry favor with Washington, is rapidly moving to expel Assange from its embassy in London, where he has been trapped since he first sought political asylum there in 2012. Assange would be arrested by British police immediately upon setting foot outside the embassy, after which he could be extradited to the United States, where a secret grand jury has reportedly long been convened to hear charges against him.

Consortium News reported on Saturday that Assange was the target of a failed break-in two weeks ago, according to Assange's legal team. While the details of the incident are still unclear, it demonstrates the severity of his situation as well as total abdication by the government of Ecuador of responsibility for Assange's security, which appears to now be virtually nonexistent. Assange apparently was able to foil the intruder only because he had set a booby-trap in his room.

The incident has been totally unreported in the American press more than two days after the story broke.

Comment: See also:

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Stock Down

The US is rapidly going broke

James Rickards
The Daily Reckoning
Tue, 06 Nov 2018 00:00 UTC
dollar stretch
© shutterstock
Those who focus on the U.S. national debt (and I'm one of them) keep wondering how long this debt levitation act can go on.

The U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio is at the highest level in history (106%), with the exception of the immediate aftermath of the Second World War. At least in 1945, the U.S. had won the war and our economy dominated world output and production. Today, we have the debt without the global dominance.

The U.S. has always been willing to increase debt to fight and win a war, but the debt was promptly scaled down and contained once the war was over. Today, there is no war comparable to the great wars of American history, and yet the debt keeps growing.

In a new Weekly Standard article, the celebrated James Grant of Grant's Interest Rate Observer reviews not only the current debt and deficit situation but provides an overview of the U.S. national debt since George Washington and Alexander Hamilton.

Grant makes the point that the debt has been increased and decreased on a regular basis but never until today was there a view that the deficit didn't matter and could be increased indefinitely.
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Better Earth

The war party winning midterm elections is accelerating the transition to a multi-polar world

Federico Pieraccini
Strategic Culture
Sat, 10 Nov 2018 12:00 UTC
white house
The outcome of the American midterm elections gives us an even more divided country, confirming that the United States is in the midst of a deep crisis within its establishment.

The midterm elections represented a substantial draw for Democrats and Republicans, a defeat for the Trump administration and a clear victory for the "war party" in Washington. The House of Representatives ended up in the hands of the Democrats, who managed to overturn the results of 2016 by winning 26 seats and bringing their majority to 219, with the Republicans with 193 seats. The Republicans, despite the feared "blue wave", have increased their representation in the Senate, with 51 senators against the 45 of the Democrats. In terms of governors, Republicans remain ahead, with 25 red states against 21 blue. After two years of fake investigations on Russiagate, continuous attacks by the US media (except for the few pro-Trump channels like Fox News), the blue Democratic wave seemed inevitable. Instead, we witnessed a minor repetition of the 2016 elections, with Trump managing to perform above expectations.

The House of Representatives performs functions mainly related to domestic politics, while the Senate is responsible for confirming important appointments such as those to the Supreme Court. The Democrats holding the majority in the House makes Trump's 2020 presidential campaign an uphill battle. Trump will need to be able to present to his constituents from 2019 with a series of 2016 promises fulfilled. Getting one's legislative agenda passed with the House in the hands of one's opponents is difficult at the best of times. For Trump the task becomes almost impossible.

Comment: For more in-depth analysis, see: And check out SOTT radio's: NewsReal: West Discovers Saudi Arabia Has Human Rights Issues & The Real Reason People Hate Trump

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Blackbox

Florida judge orders Broward elections chief Brenda Snipes to turn over vote counts to Scott's campaign

Jay Weaver, Elizabeth Koh and Alex Harris
Tampa Bay Times
Sat, 10 Nov 2018 14:53 UTC
Brenda snipes
© Marsha Halper/Miami HeraldBroward Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes
Circuit Judge Carol-Lisa Phillips also held that Brenda Snipes, Broward's supervisor of elections, was in violation of Florida public records laws.

A Broward judge ordered the county's elections chief to turn over to Rick Scott's campaign for the U.S. Senate an accounting of total ballots cast and a breakdown of votes by category - all due by 7 p.m. Friday.

Circuit Judge Carol-Lisa Phillips also held that Brenda Snipes, Broward's supervisor of elections, was in violation of Florida public records laws for not fulfilling a request for that information by Scott's campaign.

Phillips ordered Snipes to turn over the number of all ballots cast in Tuesday's midterm election, broken down by absentee, early and Election Day votes. She also ordered her to provide the number of ballots still to be counted.

Comment: On November 9, the Conservative Tribune reported:
15,000 Ballots Magically Appear in FL, Gov. Scott Orders Law Enforcement To Investigate

As Tuesday night turned into Wednesday morning and the results began shaking out, it looked like Florida Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican, would hold on to a slim upset over incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson, a Democrat.

Then, in one of America's most corrupt areas, 15,000 ballots suddenly appeared, as if by magic. And lo and behold, county officials won't let party officials into the room while they're being counted, a violation of the law.

"Scott says that 15,000 new votes were found in Palm Beach County, that had not been accounted for. In Broward County, Scott says that 78,840 additional election votes have been counted since polls closed," WFTS-TV reported.

Now, Scott is suing over the ballot-counting practices. He's also using his authority as governor to call on the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate.

In a speech, Scott noted that his lead has been shrinking since election night. What makes that suspicious, he says, is the appearance of new votes.

"On election night, Broward County said there were 634,000 votes cast. At 1 a.m. today, there were 695,700 ballots cast on Election Day," Scott said in a speech announcing the lawsuit. "At 2:30 pm today, the number was up to 707,223 ballots cast on election day."

"And we just learned, that the number has increased to 712,840 ballots cast on Election Day.

"In Palm Beach County, there are 15,000 new votes found since election night," he continued. "So, it has been over 48 hours since the polls closed and Broward and Palm Beach Counties are still finding and counting ballots - and the supervisors - Brenda Snipes and Susan Bucher - cannot seem to say how many ballots still exist or where these ballots came from, or where they have been."
And from Gateway Pundit:
Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) brought attention to what appears to be boxes full of provisional ballots that are not being handled in accordance with the law.

A citizen found two unattended boxes marked "provisional ballot box" in the Tamarac Lakes Community Center.The citizen called the Broward County Sheriff's Office after finding the unattended boxes.


The Floridian Press reported:
The controversy surrounding unaccounted for ballots in Broward continues as provisional ballots were found unattended in a the Tamarac Lakes Community Center.

Upon finding them Saturday night, a citizen called the Broward Sheriff's Office after finding election equipment and two locked boxes marked "Provisional Ballot Box."

Lt. Ulvang was notified, and Dep. Sammarco and Sgt. Rivera are presently on the scene.

Sgt. Chenoweth of the Broward Sheriff's Office spoke to Javier Manjarres of the Floridian and told him that he was there to investigate and secure the scene. After the BSO concluded their investigation, The Floridian was allowed to enter and document the voting equipment and the provisional ballots that were left.
Senator Rubio posted video and photos of the unattended ballot boxes to his Twitter account Saturday morning.


Why aren't the US Marshals being deployed to Broward and Palm Beach Counties to seize all ballots?

Broward County elections supervisor Brenda Snipes refused to comply with a judge's order on Friday evening and Palm Beach County election supervisor Susan Bucher was threatening to have journalists arrested if they filmed the public counting of ballots.


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Attention

British government spinelessly refuses to offer asylum to Asia Bibi - because they won't risk offending British Islamists

Rob Slane
The Blogmire
Sat, 10 Nov 2018 15:08 UTC
asia bibi
It's been a while since I expressed my utter disgust with the British authorities. This is no doubt a failing on my part, since they do seem so very determined to earn the contempt of every reasonable citizen in as many ways as possible. My apologies. I really should make more of an effort to keep up. So here goes.

According to the Huffington Post, the British Government has refused to offer asylum to Asia Bibi, a Christian farm labourer who has just had her conviction for blasphemy quashed by the Supreme Court of Pakistan. The mother-of-five spent eight years on death row for "insulting the prophet Mohammed" - something which is alleged to have happened during an argument with some of her neighbours. Since the announcement of her acquittal on the grounds of there being insufficient evidence, there has been a wave of violence from the Islamist mob, and it has become abundantly clear that she and her family cannot stay in the country and remain safe.

This is a clear case of persecution (by the state who kept her incarcerated for eight years, as well as the mob) where I would have expected my country to offer asylum. No, let me rephrase that. This is a clear case of persecution where I would once have expected my country to offer asylum. Not now of course. Since we are now run by cowards and poltroons, I actually fully expected this decision.

On what basis has the decision been taken, you might ask? I mean, I'm well aware that we don't have to offer anyone and everyone asylum. Perhaps there was a good reason for this decision. To the contrary.
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Snakes in Suits

Tensions rise between Mueller and Manafort over level of cooperation

Katherine Faulders, John Santucci
ABC News
Fri, 09 Nov 2018 02:49 UTC
RobertMueller
© Susan Walsh/APSpecial Counsel Robert Mueller
Talks between Special Counsel Robert Mueller and former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort have grown increasingly tense over Manafort's apparent lack of cooperation with the investigation, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.

Prosecutors from Mueller's office have been asking Manafort about a wide range of topics in nearly a dozen meetings since Manafort agreed to cooperate in September, sources said, but the Mueller team is "not getting what they want," said one source with knowledge of the discussions.

The consequences of failing to fully cooperate could be dire when it comes time for Manafort to be sentenced.

"Should it be judged...that the defendant has failed to cooperate fully, has intentionally given false, misleading or incomplete information or testimony...the defendant will not be released from his pleas of guilty but the Government will be released from its obligations..." his plea agreement reads.

Judge Amy Jackson itemized the potential consequence Manafort could face if he breached his agreement with the Special Counsel, a list that ranged from additional fines to extended prison time.

Comment: Is it a lack of cooperation by Manafort for information that doesn't exist or is it Mueller's desperation to create a construct that fills the information void through coercion?

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