(04-30-2019 10:34 AM)SamuelBRoberts Wrote:  

Well, under Clinton it would've been 14 million, not 7, so... hooray? I guess?

Quote:DoD personnel will assist in driving high-capacity CBP vehicles to transport migrants; providing administrative support, including providing heating, meal distribution and monitoring the welfare of individuals in CBP custody; and attorney support to ICE.

Driving them where? Unless its to San Pedro Sula it should be San Francisco

(04-30-2019 09:44 AM)TigerMandingo Wrote:  What does labelling some organization a “terror group” accomplish? Genuinely curious.

It allows you to feel terrorized by them. It's important to be a victim these days. Honk Honk.

(04-30-2019 09:44 AM)TigerMandingo Wrote:  What does labelling some organization a “terror group” accomplish? Genuinely curious.

You cannot do business with those who do business with terrorists.

The Guards do business with many people and entities, including the government. To do business with Irans government is de-facto doing business with terrorists.

Hilarious double standards but legitimate companies and countries will find it difficult to do business with the US sniffing about. China doesn't give a fuck and neither does Russia but any NATO country in Europe or a European business will find those assholes in US justice taking a keen interest in them.

Trump wins over big donors who snubbed him in 2016

Quote:"Deep-pocketed Republicans who snubbed Donald Trump in 2016 are going all in for him in 2020, throwing their weight behind a newly created fundraising drive that’s expected to dump tens of millions into his reelection coffers.

The effort involves scores of high-powered businessmen, lobbyists and former ambassadors who raised big money for George W. Bush, John McCain and Mitt Romney — and who are now preparing to tap their expansive networks for Trump after rebuffing his first presidential bid."

Time to face facts: Trump is shilling for the neoliberal establishment--prolly has been ever since Bannon was forced out by Javanka. The moneymen aren't digging deep for no reason.

He's been turned, he's the point man for Team Globohomo now and he's not going back. Govern yourselves accordingly.

Yea Mike Whitney over at Unz Review said the same thing. Trump has been flipped. If you think about it they could’ve dragged out the Mueller investigation for another two years. But they ended it now in exchange for Trump basically succumbing to their interests.

So are we going to war with Iran?

Given that Trump is clearly Isreal First now, we just might.

Quote:What if Iran Retaliates and Shuts Down the Strait of Hormuz?
By Scott Ritter • May 1, 2019


The effort on the part of the Trump administration to shut down Iran’s ability to export oil is predicated on the false notion that the rest of the world will fall in lockstep with U.S. policy. But has President Donald Trump really thought through what would happen to the economic health of the world if Iran retaliates, shutting the Strait of Hormuz, through which much of the world’s oil flows daily?

The Trump administration’s push to reduce Iran’s oil exports to zero has entered a new, critical phase, with the United States refusing to extend the waivers it granted six months ago to eight nations, including China, India, Turkey, Japan, and South Korea, to purchase Iranian oil. Moreover, the United States has refused to allow for a “wind-down” period where impacted nations would be able to gradually wean themselves away from Iranian sources of energy. This means that, effective May 1, any nation purchasing oil from Iran will be subjected to punitive U.S. sanctions.

Iran has responded to the American decision not to extend oil waivers in typical fashion, with Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri, the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Command (IRGC) naval forces, warning on April 23 that “if Iran’s benefits in the Strait of Hormuz, which according to international rules is an international waterway, are denied, we will close it”.

This threat was clarified the next day, April 24, by Iran’s Foreign Minister, Javad Zarif, who declared “ships can go through the Strait of Hormuz,” noting that “if the U.S. wanted to continue to observe the rules of engagement, the rules of the game, the channels of communication, the prevailing protocols, then in spite of the fact that we consider U.S. presence in the Persian Gulf as inherently destabilizing, we’re not going to take any action.”


The Strait of Hormuz is one of the most critical sea lanes in the world today, transiting some 18.5 million barrels of crude and refined products per day, representing roughly 20 percent of all oil produced globally. There is universal consensus among energy analysts that any closure of the Strait of Hormuz would result in “catastrophic” consequences for the global economy.


Less certain is whether Iran is serious about carrying out its threats. In July 2018, following the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal (the Joint Comprehensive Program of Action, or JCPOA), Iranian President Hassan Rouhani threatened to close the Straits in retaliation for renewed U.S. economic sanctions. Calmer heads prevailed, and Iran ended up taking the diplomatic route, working with the other signatories of the JCPOA to find ways to bypass U.S. sanctions.

In the intervening time, Iran’s efforts at crafting a diplomatic solution have fizzled, with Europe unable (or unwilling) to implement a meaningful alternative to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) system, a financial network based in Belgium that provides cross-border transfers for over 11,000 financial institutions in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. Because the SWIFT board includes executives from U.S. banks, federal law allows the U.S. government to sanction banks and regulators who operate in violation of U.S. law. As such, any financial transaction involving Iran or any other entity under U.S. sanction would provide a trigger for secondary sanctions to be applied to facilitating institutions and/or persons.

Iran has a history of bypassing U.S. sanctions, and while the Trump administration’s targeting of Iran’s oil exports has caused significant economic harm to the Islamic Republic, Iran remains confident that it would be able to continue to sell oil in enough quantity to keep its economy afloat. In a recent appearance, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, declared that the American effort to block Iran’s oil sales will fail. “The Islamic Republic of Iran will be exporting any amount of oil it would require, at will,” Khamenei said.

There is a major difference between 2018 and today, however. The recent decision by the Trump administration to declare the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Command (IRGC) a terrorist organization has complicated the issue of Iran’s oil sales, and America’s reaction in response.

The IRGC has long been subject to U.S. sanctions. In 2012, the U.S. Department of Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), determined that National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) was an “agent or affiliate” of the IRGC and therefore is subject to sanctions under the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012 (ITRSHRA). Other Iranian oil companies have likewise been linked to the IRGC, including Kermanshah Petrochemical Industries Co., Pardis Petrochemical Co., Parsian Oil & Gas Development Co., and Shiraz Petrochemical Co.

While in 2012 the United States determined that there was insufficient information to link the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) as an affiliate of the IRGC, under the current sanctions regime imposed in 2018 the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) and the NITC have been blacklisted in their entirety.

By linking the bulk of Iran’s oil exporting capacity to the IRGC, the United States has opened the door to means other than economic sanctions when it comes to enforcing its “zero” ban on Iranian oil sales. Any Iranian oil in transit would be classified as the property of a terrorist organization, as would any Iranian vessel carrying oil.

Likewise, any vessel from any nation that carried Iranian oil would be classified as providing material support to a terrorist organization, and thereby subject to interdiction, confiscation, and/or destruction. This is the distinction the world is missing when assessing Iran’s current threats to close the Strait of Hormuz. It’s one thing to sanction Iranian entities, including the IRGC—Iran has historically found enough work-arounds to defeat such efforts. It is an altogether different situation if the Unite States opts to physically impede Iran’s ability to ship oil. This would be a red line for Iran, and a trigger for it to shut down all shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

So far the United States has not shown any inclination to physically confront Iranian shipping. Indeed, as Iran’s top military commander Major General Mohammad Baqeri recently told reporters, U.S. naval and commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz continue to respond to the queries transmitted by the IRGC naval forces responsible for securing Iran’s portion of the strategic waterway—an awkward reality given that the IRGC has been designated a terrorist organization, which means the U.S. Navy freely communicates and coordinates with terrorists.

“As oil and commodities of other countries are passing through the Strait of Hormuz, ours are also moving through it,” Bageri observed, declaring that “if our crude is not to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, others’ [crude] will not pass either.” Bageri went on to explain that “this does not mean [that we are going to] close the Strait of Hormuz. We do not intend to shut it unless the enemies’ hostile acts will leave us with no other option. We will be fully capable of closing it on that day.”

The challenge will come when the U.S. effort to bring Iran’s oil exports to zero fails—and most observers believe this will be the case. Iran’s Foreign Minister Javid Zarif has bragged that “Iran has a PhD in sanctions busting,” and historical precedence is on his side. If the Trump administration proves unable to shut down Iran’s ability to sell oil through sanctions, and therefore fails to blunt what it describes as Iran’s “malign activities” in the Middle East, there will be increased pressure to be seen as doing something—anything—to effectuate policy objectives, especially during the lead up to the 2020 presidential election, where the Trump administration would be loath to provide any fodder to its political opponents.

Because any effort to restrict or deny transit through the Strait of Hormuz would be rightfully seen as a provocative act worthy of military intervention, it is highly unlikely that Iran would take any precipitous action in that regard. Instead, Iran would most likely seek a gradual escalation of restrictions grounded in its legal interpretation of the 1982 United Nations’ Convention on the Law of the Sea, which grants Iran control over “territorial waters” extending to a maximum of 12 nautical miles beyond its coastline. Any ships using the northern and eastern routes through the Strait of Hormuz to gain access to the Persian Gulf would have to transit through Iranian waters.

Under the convention, Iran is permitted to deny free transit passage to nations, like the United States, which have not ratified the agreement. If the United States interdicts Iranian shipping involved in the transit of oil, then it is most likely Iran will close the Strait of Hormuz to U.S. shipping, citing the 1982 convention as its justification. The United States would either be compelled to back down (unlikely), or resort to military force, certifying it as the aggressor in the eyes of international law.

The military debate over Iran’s ability to close the Strait of Hormuz, and the U.S. ability to respond to such a threat, is moot—no insurance company will cover any oil tanker seeking to transit contested waters. The economic impact of any closure will be immediate, catastrophic and sustained. Even if the United States prevailed in a military conflict over the Strait of Hormuz (and it is not certain it would do so), any victory would be pyrrhic in nature, with the United States sacrificing its national economic health, and that of the rest of the world, on an alter of hubris that fails to advance the national interest in any meaningful fashion.

Source: https://www.theamericanconservative.com/...of-hormuz/

There is already a cold war and they've announced new ways to starve the iranian people on israel's behalf (more sanctions). Totally shameful.

I don't know of anyone other than the Jewish lobby and full-retard neoconserva-thralls who want another stupid fucking war in that region (or anywhere else for that matter).

At least if these assholes kick one off then the dialogue can shift entirely from left/right to pro-zionist/anti-zionist. Trump has finally killed the concept of right wing politics as a rallying flag.

So be it.

(05-01-2019 02:18 AM)Leonard D Neubache Wrote:  I don't know of anyone other than the Jewish lobby and full-retard neoconserva-thralls who want another stupid fucking war in that region (or anywhere else for that matter).

At least if these assholes kick one off then the dialogue can shift entirely from left/right to pro-zionist/anti-zionist. Trump has finally killed the concept of right wing politics as a rallying flag.

So be it.

Boomers have a thing against "repressive" regimes, IE, regimes that are not allied with us for whatever reason. Repressive is a bad word to describe the situation in many of these places and I instead prefer words like pragmatic, centrist, or maybe the most obvious one: functional. Boomers have a problem with functional governments that are in many cases anti-gay rights, anti-globalist, pro-stability. Boomers prefer to think that we are in the Middle of some great epoch fighting to save the whole world from darkness (rampant homophobia, etc) when in reality the United States is fighting to stay competitive globally while our buddies in the EU subsidize the hell out of everything and the Chinese continue to innovate with their "state capitalism" which even have no chance in hell of competing with long term. They may understand that education in the US is a joke, but do not understand the role they played in making it that way. They still have not gotten the memo that their democracy promotion efforts could instead be going towards their social security checks or larger Harley Davidson cruiser motorcycles for their Suburban garages. Russia is not ok, but Saudi is. China is ok, but Syria is not. Singapore is ok but Brunei is not. I think the boomers would love nothing more to have the complete set of regime change trophies in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Iran. Although for Iran it would be a double prize, because american backed regime change already happened once in the 50's. In which case, would mean, that we are in the bonus round!

As far as the axis of evil is concerned, we still need to deal with Iran, Venezuela, Cuba (somehow)?, then we need to get Russia soundly opposed to us again. North Korea may be the most difficult prospect, but Venezuela will sure be a good warmup for us. I'm holding my popcorn hoping for a draft. A millennial that can not be bothered to go pick up a pizza will not bother to go fight some neo-con military industrialist banker's war. Canada futures are looking good at the moment.

(04-30-2019 12:26 PM)Brother Abdul Majeed Wrote:  

(04-30-2019 09:44 AM)TigerMandingo Wrote:  What does labelling some organization a “terror group” accomplish? Genuinely curious.

It allows you to feel terrorized by them. It's important to be a victim these days. Honk Honk.

What did Hitler accomplish by making special people wear an arm band?

The answer is it identifies them as targets for state oppression.

(04-30-2019 11:50 PM)TigerMandingo Wrote:  Yea Mike Whitney over at Unz Review said the same thing. Trump has been flipped. If you think about it they could’ve dragged out the Mueller investigation for another two years. But they ended it now in exchange for Trump basically succumbing to their interests.

That explains the $2 billion infrastracture bill, no wall, no declassification, no investigation of the investigators, just some clown called Q posting Nostradamous stuff about "sealed" indictments. Honk honk

Mueller is such a shit show. Now he is going back on his stupid ass report

That isn't what was actually said, that's just what is being said. Mueller's statement was that he doesn't have any factual disagreements with Barr and just disagrees with how him and the media are spinning it.

Trump wont go on the offensive with Iran until after 2020. To blow that whole thing open means blowing the economy open.

People are still seeing this as turning the screws but its just good old regime change, like in Venezuela and other countries before them.

It will be difficult to get in larger numbers of Sunni pets to undermine the security like in Syria and Libya because Iran has that on lockdown so it will be a question of people power and then foreign military power acting like we're the good guys.

Nothing says peaceful transition of power than killing hundreds of thousands of people.

(05-01-2019 12:20 PM)Foolsgo1d Wrote:  Trump wont go on the offensive with Iran until after 2020. To blow that whole thing open means blowing the economy open.

You are making the assumption that the economy is going not be in the shitter by then? I need to preface this by the fact that I don't believe the numbers, but the US has had 10 years of Economic expansion.(According to the Fed) I have not looked at it recently but I think that we either have broken the record or are about to. If the economy limps along until 2021 it will be extraordinarily long in modern times. The odds are not in the favor of this economy lasting that long.

I tend to think that Trump will have a "what do we have to loose" moment over the next year and a half either with a war, tariffs, the border or all three. If an Iranian is foolish enough to sneak over the Rio Grande and lights a nuke made in China, than they will do all of the work for him politically.

Good article about legal maneuvering at DOJ and Barr that ended the Mueller investigation. A little technical legally if you like that sort of thing

https://humanevents.com/2019/05/01/checkmate/

(05-02-2019 08:42 PM)Hypno Wrote:  Good article about legal maneuvering at DOJ and Barr that ended the Mueller investigation. A little technical legally if you like that sort of thing

https://humanevents.com/2019/05/01/checkmate/

Well we now know Mueller is the shit stain we always thought he was. $35 million just to try and trap the president for doing the job he was elected to do. He should have fired Comey in the first 5 minutes of his presidency but didn't. He must have been suckered by his height.

We also can confirm that Democrats have Alaska pipeline size secret back channels. They are spying, leaking overseeing EVERYTHING. They probably know the weight of Barr's balls. Those back channels need to be broken up. Look at crazy Mazie reading off script. Everything is prepared and disseminated. Republicans might have some anemic weak knee back channels but they are no match.

Trump has a YouTube channel, fyi:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAql2Dy...qOA/videos

(05-02-2019 09:37 PM)rpg Wrote:  We also can confirm that Democrats have Alaska pipeline size secret back channels. They are spying, leaking overseeing EVERYTHING. They probably know the weight of Barr's balls. Those back channels need to be broken up. Look at crazy Mazie reading off script. Everything is prepared and disseminated. Republicans might have some anemic weak knee back channels but they are no match.

It's called the CIA.

(05-03-2019 07:02 AM)Easy_C Wrote:  ...
It's called the CIA.

How often does the Jornolist coordinate with them? Or John Kerrys on their treachery? Or even the entire leftist apparat back in the day?

There may indeed be a Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy going on, but not everything is coordinated through the CIA.

(05-02-2019 05:59 PM)Bluto Wrote:  

(05-01-2019 12:20 PM)Foolsgo1d Wrote:  Trump wont go on the offensive with Iran until after 2020. To blow that whole thing open means blowing the economy open.

You are making the assumption that the economy is going not be in the shitter by then? I need to preface this by the fact that I don't believe the numbers, but the US has had 10 years of Economic expansion.(According to the Fed) I have not looked at it recently but I think that we either have broken the record or are about to. If the economy limps along until 2021 it will be extraordinarily long in modern times. The odds are not in the favor of this economy lasting that long.

I tend to think that Trump will have a "what do we have to loose" moment over the next year and a half either with a war, tariffs, the border or all three. If an Iranian is foolish enough to sneak over the Rio Grande and lights a nuke made in China, than they will do all of the work for him politically.

Thats why he is leaning on the Fed. Its already the biggest expansion (their words) in history and to push it another 24 months is asking a lot.

Many economic indicators show it is alreadyreversing but the stock market height is fooling people.

(05-03-2019 10:40 AM)Foolsgo1d Wrote:  

(05-02-2019 05:59 PM)Bluto Wrote:  

(05-01-2019 12:20 PM)Foolsgo1d Wrote:  Trump wont go on the offensive with Iran until after 2020. To blow that whole thing open means blowing the economy open.

You are making the assumption that the economy is going not be in the shitter by then? I need to preface this by the fact that I don't believe the numbers, but the US has had 10 years of Economic expansion.(According to the Fed) I have not looked at it recently but I think that we either have broken the record or are about to. If the economy limps along until 2021 it will be extraordinarily long in modern times. The odds are not in the favor of this economy lasting that long.

I tend to think that Trump will have a "what do we have to loose" moment over the next year and a half either with a war, tariffs, the border or all three. If an Iranian is foolish enough to sneak over the Rio Grande and lights a nuke made in China, than they will do all of the work for him politically.

Thats why he is leaning on the Fed. Its already the biggest expansion (their words) in history and to push it another 24 months is asking a lot.

Many economic indicators show it is alreadyreversing but the stock market height is fooling people.

Exactly. I recall recently many Trump supporters here saying:

"He can't lose! The economy is doing great!"

Are you kidding me?

The entire world economy is juiced up beyond belief on cheap debt. This past fall was the real warning when the market had a nervous break down over increased rates that are still below 3 FUCKING PERCENT! The tech sector in particular really took a hit for a reason: Much of the tech sectors business models are:

1. never generate a profit
2. keep borrowing/raising funds to stay alive,
3. and hope to hell you get bought out eventually by bigger companies that will likely use cheap debt to make the purchase.

Guess what? When there is a slight increase in the cost of debt, that can bring the whole house down very quickly.

The big guys - What did they do with the cheap debt for the past decade? Bought back stock and bought out unprofitable companies. No money in research and development, no money into operations, no money in capital projects, no money in developing new PROFITABLE product segments. You know, the things that create good paying, long-lasting jobs.

When the cheap debt goes, the stock prices will take a major hit and the acquired unprofitable companies will be closed down. All that cheap debt and nothing to show for it; except a debt payment to the bank. The non-acquired unprofitable companies? Shut down as well.

Why do you all think all of these IPOs are happening right now?

They know the whole thing is about to blow up and they are cashing out ASAP.

I wouldn't be surprised at all is there was some sort of tacit agreement within the silicon valley world to get your IPO in now in 2019 because in 2020, they are on-board with crashing the economy to get Trump out of office. They will likely work their Deep State magic to get fed rates up and then it will all come crashing down pretty quickly.

It will be a miracle if Trump gets to November 2020 without a major negative economic event occurring.

^ Yes that is why Trump keeps harping on keeping interest rates low. He knows the score.

Many companies have prime +x rates on their working capital facilities, any upticks come right off the bottom line.

Which reminds me, EBITDA is a scam.

I follow a few decent channels about the economic situation in the US and the world. Retail, housing market, private debt and company debt is drowning consumers already.

Over here when people talk about the car industry closing up shop or new car sales slowing down they're blinded by Brexit when in fact it is global. People are out of juice, the stock is not being bought and is piling up. Manufacturers need to reduce output and sack people.

Same for retail.

The same goes for California & NYC. I believe people are blinded by the fact retail and home sales are dying in Cali because of the taxes, now whilst true in a way consumers are not spending. California, like London (also suffering), is at the top of the curve and everywhere else in its respective hemisphere is behind and coasting on the slipstream.

What is happening in those areas will happen further along and Trump leaning on the Fed is an attempt to stem this potential disastrous recession until he gets in. No POTUS wants the economy blowing up just as voters head for the polls.