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Oil Well

The one thing that could derail the US oil boom

Irina Slav
Oilprice.com
Thu, 28 Mar 2019 13:03 UTC
Tanker cars from a freight train carrying crude oil after a derailment, Iowa, US
© Reuters / Sioux County Sheriff's Office
Tanker cars from a freight train carrying crude oil after a derailment, Iowa, US
Two South Korean refiners have canceled the delivery of U.S crude oil cargoes that were due to arrive in January and February this year, Bloomberg reported earlier this week. It cited unnamed sources from the industry as saying the refiners had been concerned about the quality of the crude. Quality could at some point become a bigger problem for U.S. producers.

It's all because of the pipelines, Bloomberg's Serene Cheong, Sharon Cho, and Alfred Cang write in an analysis of the issue. There is a massive pipeline network carrying crude oil from the U.S. shale patch to the Gulf Coast ports where it is loaded on tankers and sent to Asia, with South Korea emerging as the biggest buyer of U.S. crude so far this year.

Yet with so many pipelines - trunks and branches - the oil gets contaminated with various undesirable things, from oil residue to heavy metals, pipe cleaning agents, and a group of compounds called oxygenates. These last ones are particularly worrying for refiners, it seems.
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Star of David

A year of Gaza rallies left hundreds killed & thousands wounded

Ben White
Al Jazeera
Sat, 30 Mar 2019 12:00 UTC
IDF Israel soldier army
© Majdi Mohammed/AP Photo
The UN published a damning indictment of Israeli forces' conduct in suppressing the protests
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are set to mark the one-year anniversary of the Great March of Return protests, anticipating more of the same lethal violence that has characterised Israel's approach since the demonstrations began.

Last month, the United Nations Commission of Inquiry (COI) published a damning indictment of Israeli forces' conduct in suppressing the protests.

According to the COI, Israeli soldiers have been deliberately shooting civilians, killing and maiming protesters - including children, as well as journalists and medics.
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Che Guevara

Australia: Stunning win for Chemist Warehouse workers on both wages and labour hire

Ben Schneiders
Sydney Morning Herald
Fri, 29 Mar 2019 21:10 UTC
labor strike win australia chemist warehouse
© Justin McManus
Protests outside Chemist Warehouse distribution centre in Preston last week.
In a joint statement, Chemist Warehouse and the NUW welcomed the deal, with Chemist Warehouse director Damien Gance describing it as a "great outcome".

"Our people are critical to our success, and we have been able to achieve a balance between rewarding our current team and being able to continue to grow and offer more job opportunities," Mr Gance said.

NUW national secretary Tim Kennedy said in a time of "wage stagnation" it is "great to see workers in their union collectively bargain for wage increases, secure jobs and respect at work".
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Heart - Black

Nanny State strikes again: Kentucky social workers accused of illegally removing children from homes

Jason Riley
WDRB
Sun, 17 Mar 2019 17:36 UTC
stuffed animal
Kentucky social workers are failing to have courts properly scrutinize and approve the drastic step of taking some children from their homes, relying instead on blank removal orders with pre-signed judges' signatures, which is illegal according to several attorneys and judges.

The allegations, which involve cases of purported parental abuse or neglect, have prompted numerous complaints to judges and state officials.

They revolve specifically around the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services workers using pre-signed emergency custody court orders to remove children on weekends and after the courthouse has closed for the day.

While there is debate over whether the actions violate Kentucky law, state and local officials acknowledged to WDRB News that the practices aren't ideal - and, on Friday, the cabinet abolished them. Workers now must send an order to the judge to see and electronically sign.
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Hammer

Hillary Clinton slammed for unfairly using female journalist's work to promote equal pay


RT
Fri, 29 Mar 2019 16:42 UTC
Killary
© Reuters / Olivia Harris
Hillary Clinton is being called out for promoting equal pay on Twitter while simultaneously using a female journalist's graphic design work without credit or payment.

The former presidential candidate used an illustration by British data journalist, Mona Chalabi, to highlight the pay discrepancies between people based on their race and gender.

The former senator's tweet aimed to celebrate the Paycheck Fairness Act, a bill which the House of Representatives finally passed on Wednesday (22 years after it was first introduced) in a bid to close the gender pay gap.
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Heart - Black

Boy fatally injured while protecting mom from ex-con posthumously awarded Order of Courage


RT
Fri, 29 Mar 2019 15:56 UTC
Ivan Krapivin
© VK.com Группа памяти Крапивина Ивана
Heroic teenager, Ivan Krapivin, who received horrific head injuries trying to protect his mom from a violent, drunk neighbor and later died in hospital after over a year in coma, has been awarded the Order of Courage.

A decree on the posthumous award was signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday.

The horrific incident occurred in Severodvinsk, northern Russian, in May 2017. Back then, 14-year-old Ivan's mom, Vanya, was involved in an argument with neighbor and ex-convict Roman Pronin.

Pronin attacked her with a dumbbell and a knife, stabbing and hitting Vanya several times.

Comment: See also: Young boy wounded protecting mom from drunken ex-con dies not knowing she abandoned him

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Eye 1

Nigerian brothers paid to beat up Jussie Smollett 'might have worn WHITEFACE,' lawyer says


RT
Fri, 29 Mar 2019 11:06 UTC
Jussie Smollett
© Reuters / Handout
Jussie Smollett's lawyer has explained the holes in the actor's account of the "hate crime" he's accused of staging by claiming his attackers - two Nigerian men who Smollett insisted were white - could have worn white makeup.

Smollett lawyer Tina Glandian has gone to impressive lengths defending her client in a Thursday interview on the Today Show. Claiming the disgraced Empire actor had "been victimized much more by what's happened afterwards than what happened that night" when he was supposedly beaten up, draped with a noose, and doused in bleach, Glandian attempted to explain away her client's absolute certainty that the dark-skinned, bodybuilding Osundairo brothers had been white.

"I was looking up the brothers and one of the first videos that showed up was one of the brothers in whiteface doing a Joker monologue with white makeup on," Glandian said, adding that "it took me all of five minutes to Google" and complaining Chicago police had done "minimal investigation."

Comment: See also: FBI now investigating sudden dismissal of 16-count felony indictment in Smollett hate-crime hoax - UPDATES

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No Entry

Two black candidates for Savannah's mayor attend meeting that bars white reporters

Eric Curl
Savannah Morning News
Wed, 27 Mar 2019 14:18 UTC
Black press only
© Eric Curl/Savannahnow.com
These signs proclaiming “Black press only” were on the doors of Bolton Street Baptist Church during a meeting coordinated to garner support for one black candidate in Savannah’s mayoral race.
Race was front and center on Wednesday night during a meeting coordinated to garner support for just one black candidate in Savannah's mayoral election.

With signs stating "Black press only" on the doors of the church where the meeting was held, white reporters were barred from entry, while black reporters for at least two television stations were permitted inside.

The event was coordinated by the Rev. Clarence Teddy Williams, owner of the consulting firm, The Trigon Group, who declined to discuss the entry policy.

Former Savannah Mayor Edna Jackson declined to comment before going inside, as did Chatham County Commissioner Chester Ellis.

"This is not my idea," Ellis said.
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Dollars

Chicago PD wants $130K from Jussie Smollett to cover hate crime probe

Gabrielle Fonrouge and Aaron Feis
Page Six
Thu, 28 Mar 2019 13:59 UTC
jussie smollett
The City of Chicago has sent Jussie Smollett's legal team a letter demanding $130,000 to defray the cost of cops' probe into the "Empire" actor's allegedly bogus hate-crime attack, officials said Thursday.

"The city feels that is a reasonable and legally justifiable amount to collect to help offset the cost of the investigation," said Bill McCaffrey, a spokesman for the city's Department of Law. "The next step is for Mr. Smollett to immediately make arrangements to reimburse the city and taxpayers for the cost."

"The City of Chicago and the Chicago Police Department take seriously those who make false statements to the police, thereby diverting resources from other investigations and undermining the criminal justice system," reads the letter, which was obtained by The Post.

Comment: Previous articles on the Smollett case:

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NPC

High school indoctrination: History class teaches that electoral college 'must be abolished'

Jennifer Kabbany
The College Fix
Fri, 29 Mar 2019 10:57 UTC
high school class
During my son's junior year of high school, he was taught by his U.S. history teacher that the electoral college is unfair and should be abolished.

How do I know? My husband and I had made a habit out of asking him what he learned in school each day over dinner.

And so over a plate of chicken enchiladas, our then-16-year-old son told us about how his public school teacher had bemoaned and decried the electoral college as an outdated and unjust system that subverts the will of the people.
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