Sunday, December 31, 2017

South Korea seizes second ship suspected of providing oil to North Korea

Proving what we have known for years. The Chinese and the Russians are liars.

Russian oil keeps flowing to North Korea in the New Year

The Lighthouse Winmore was seized in late November. South Korea has now seized a second vessel, KOTI.

Trump following the "trust but verify" mantra of Reagan.

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South Korean authorities have seized a Panama-flagged vessel suspected of transferring oil products to North Korea in violation of international sanctions, a customs official said on Sunday.

The seizure was the second to be revealed by South Korea within a few days, as the United Nations steps up efforts to squeeze essential oil supplies to the reclusive North following its nuclear or ballistic missile tests.

The ship, KOTI, was seized at Pyeongtaek-Dangjin port, the official told Reuters, without elaborating, due to the sensitivity of the issue. The port is on the west coast, south of Incheon.

A marine official also confirmed the seizure, which he said was done "recently".

The KOTI's estimated time of arrival at the port was Dec. 19, according to VesselFinder Ltd., a tracking service provider, the ship can carry 5,100 tonnes of oil and has a crew mostly from China and Myanmar, Yonhap News Agency reported, adding that South Korea's intelligence and

customs officials are conducting a joint probe into the vessel.

A Foreign Ministry spokesman confirmed the probe, declining to provide details.

"The government has been in close consultations with related countries and ministries to thoroughly implement the sanctions by the U.N. Security Council," the spokesman said.

On Friday, South Korea said that in late November it seized the Hong Kong-flagged Lighthouse Winmore, which is suspected of transferring as much as 600 tons of oil to the North Korea-flagged Sam Jong 2.

The U.N. Security Council last month unanimously imposed new sanctions on North Korea for a recent intercontinental ballistic missile test, seeking to limit its access to refined petroleum products and crude oil.

The United States has also proposed that the United Nations Security Council blacklist 10 ships for transporting banned items from North Korea, according to documents seen by Reuters on Tuesday.

The Lighthouse Winmore is one of the 10 ships proposed to be blacklisted. The KOTI does not seem to be included on the list.

On Thursday, China blocked a U.S. effort at the United Nations to blacklist six foreign-flagged ships, a U.N. Security Council diplomat said.

China's Foreign Ministry, responding to a question from Reuters on the blocking, said Beijing always fully and strictly implemented Security Council resolutions.

"At the same time, any measures taken by the Security Council must have a basis inconclusive and actual proof. China will continue to participate in the work of the relevant Security Council sanctions committee on this principle," it said in a short statement, without elaborating.

China also denied reports it had been illicitly selling oil products to North Korea in defiance of U.N. sanctions after U.S. President Donald Trump said he was unhappy that China had allowed oil to reach the isolated nation.

Russian tankers have supplied fuel to North Korea on at least three occasions in recent months by transferring cargoes at sea, breaching U.N. sanctions, sources told Reuters.

Friday, December 29, 2017

BuzzFeed slammed for 'bigoted piece of filth' article claiming white people ruin America

BuzzFeed is being slammed for a racially charged article it published Wednesday titled, “37 Things White People Need To Stop Ruining In 2018,” which lists “America” among the things that whites are supposedly tarnishing.

“This article isn’t funny, it’s racist—plain and simple. If a similar piece was written about any other ethnicity, the journalist would be fired on the spot. It undoubtedly would spark public outrage, and rightfully so” conservative commentator Britt McHenry told Fox News.

BuzzFeed staff writer Patrice Peck put together a listicle of things she feels that Caucasians have ruined, which features everything from macaroni and cheese to makeup. She blames supermodel Bella Hadid for ruining sneaker culture by talking about shoes like an “undercover cop.”

Peck’s story didn’t take much work, as she simply embedded tweets, comments, and headlines written by other people in an attempt to make her point that white people are ruining America.

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“This article isn’t funny, it’s racist—plain and simple. If a similar piece was written about any other ethnicity, the journalist would be fired on the spot."- Britt McHenry

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Here's a little 'joke' Miss Peck:

If our ancestors didn't make the trip to Africa taking back your ancestors as slaves instead of writing this fine article on your computer keyboard (invented by white people) you would still be in the jungle honing a fine point on a spear.

Media Research Center Vice President Dan Gainor told Fox News that “openly liberal media have finally outed themselves” and left-leaning media members think “it's OK to be racist or sexist, as long as their targets are white and male” with conservative values.

“The easy test of this is try imagining a bigoted piece of filth like this being written about any other group. Picture the ‘37 Things Black People Need To Stop Ruining In 2018’ headline and then wait for Twitter to shut down your account,” Gainor said.

Gainor called BuzzFeed “openly bigoted” but said “major media will let them get it away it” because many would-be critics are just as guilty.

“Instead of hating white people, maybe Buzzfeed should thank them. The unemployment rate remains at a 17-year low, and the economy grew last quarter at its fastest pace since 2015. Minorities, including Hispanics and Blacks, are seeing historic lows in unemployment across the country,” McHenry said.

Outkick founder and media watchdog Clay Travis echoed McHenry’s feelings about the article, tweeting, “If this is written about any other race every advertiser bails on company & a ton of people are fired.”

The story also claims that Kendall Jenner ruined protests, wealthy people have ruined “trees” by installing anti-bird spikes, white Hollywood ruined the Oscars, Adele beating Beyoncé for an award ruined the Grammys and one particular white woman ruined the hit Migos song “Bad and Boujee” simply by posting a video of herself singing along. In fact, Peck says white people ruined the word “boujee” altogether.

Peck blames white people who voted for President Trump as the ones who have ruined America. She even charges a group of non-Koreans who started a K-Pop band have ruined that genre of music. The listicle goes on to mention a handful of other hip-hop songs that white people have destroyed by performing – complete with video of a white girl who apparently dislocated her knee while attempting the “Hit Dem Folks” dance.

The BuzzFeed staffer also says white people have ruined “any challenge,” “car freestyles” and even hip-hop music in general – which is backed up by a tweet showcasing the number of white people who currently have hits on iTunes. But Peck doesn’t only think white people ruined rap music, she also lists “classics,” using the Destiny’s Child song “Say My Name” as an example because white actresses Debby Ryan and Ashley Tisdale dared to cover it.

The racially insensitive post also claims white people have ruined “childhoods” and links to video of an elderly woman in an argument over a child selling candy outside of a department store. To end the piece, Peck blames white people for ruining the ability to identify as Filipino and black, with links to stories about white people who identify as non-white races.

“Eliminating racism means eliminating all commentary like this. Nobody can help the color of their skin,” McHenry said. “Why make fun of people for that? So, Buzzfeed, leave the ‘comedy’ to real comedians.”

A BuzzFeed spokesperson told Fox News that it is “important to distinguish entertainment content from News” and declined further comment.

Baltimore has now had 343 homicides in 2017, sets record for killings per capita

Remember all the fuss over former Baltimore resident poor old Freddie Gray with a rap sheet as long as your arm?

So I'm starting to wonder where is the same outrage now that there are 343 homicides so far this year? Was Freddie's life more relevant than the rest? Yes, it was...because the pillar of the community was killed by the cops.

To put things in perspective The homicide rate in Baltimore for 2017 is now 55.8 killings per 100,000 people. Mexico is at 18.7 per 100,000 inhabitants, Brazil and Colombia both had a murder rate of 27 per 100,000, Venezuela 57, Honduras 64. The entire U.S. rate was 5 per 100,000.

There are still a few days left to break the record. Bet if they put their minds to it they can push that number up to 365. That gives them one a day just like the vitamin.

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With two fatal shootings Tuesday night, the recent reclassification of a decades-old shooting as a killing and another homicide Wednesday evening, Baltimore has hit 343 homicides in 2017, and a new record for killings per capita.

The homicide rate for 2017 is now 55.8 killings per 100,000 people. The previous record was 55.35 per 100,000 in 2015. The city suffered 344 homicides that year, but had thousands of more residents.

The most homicides to occur in a year was 353 in 1993, but the city had some 100,000 more residents then.

Officers called to the 3700 block of Arcadia Ave. in the Langston Hughes neighborhood of Northwest Baltimore at about 4:40 p.m. Tuesday found 18-year-old Quincy Hammonds with gunshot wounds to his body, police said.

Hammonds, of the 1900 block of Middleview Court, was taken to a local hospital, where he died, police said.

Officers responding to a report of a shooting near the intersection of 38th Street and Old York Road in the Waverly neighborhood of North Baltimore at about 10:04 p.m. found an unresponsive male victim with gunshot wounds in a crashed vehicle in the 3700 block of Ellerslie Ave., police said.

He was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said.

Police on Wednesday also announced the death of William Wallace, 38. Wallace was shot in the head on June 15, 1995, in the 800 block of Durham St. in East Baltimore. He suffered a seizure in Heritage Crossing on Sept. 4 and was found unresponsive.

The medical examiner has ruled Wallace’s death a homicide as a result of the injuries he suffered in the 1995 shooting, police said.

Later Wednesday, officers responded to the 200 block of N. Hilton Street and found a man suffering from a gunshot wound to his back. He was taken to a hospital, where he died of his injuries. Police believe the man was in the 200 block of Monastery Avenue when he was shot. Homicide detectives are investigating.

Kara, 33, and Sheree, 27, who did not want to give their last names out of concern about violence in the area, said they were waiting to turn off of North Hilton Street when a vehicle came up behind, hitting an oncoming vehicle and then their own.

A man jumped out of the car and said, “I’m shot! I’m shot!” then jumped into the backseat of their car, where young children were sitting, they said.

“I just don’t want to be out here,” Kara said. “You’re in the car minding your own business, and look what happens.”

Sheree said there’s a group of young men who hang out on the corner where police say the shooting broke out.

“You’ve got the young generation growing up, trying to be in gangs. It ain’t safe out here,” Sheree said.

Also Wednesday, police identified a man killed in the 900 block of Poplar Grove on Dec. 14 as Ali Ouedraogo.

Police asked anyone with information about the fatal shootings to call homicide detectives at 410-396-2100, text a tip to 443-902-4824, or call Metro Crime Stoppers at 1-866-7-LOCK-UP.

Thursday, December 28, 2017

President Trump deported 26 percent fewer Mexicans in his first year than Obama did in his last - despite his promise to be tough on immigration

This is how it works. You see the headline above right? Don't know if this is true but let's pretend it is. So then, in essence, they're praising that stalwart of border protection Barry for getting rid of more illegals than Trump. Now reverse the situation and this would be the headline:

Trump deports 26% more Mexicans then Obama ripping immigrant families apart

Like I said...This is how it works.

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President Donald Trump sent 26 percent fewer Mexicans back home this year despite his vows to crackdown on illegal immigration.

According to new data from Mexico's Interior Ministry, Trump has sent home fewer Mexicans through November than former president Barack Obama did in the same period in 2016.

About 152,000 Mexican nationals were deported from the US between January and November, according to Bloomberg.

President Donald Trump sent 26 percent fewer Mexicans back home this year despite his vows to crackdown on illegal immigration

According to new data from Mexico's Interior Ministry, Trump has sent home fewer Mexicans (file image) through November than former president Barack Obama did in the same period in 2016

Under Obama, 205,000 Mexican nationals were deported during the first 11 months of 2016.

During the election, Trump vowed to target criminals for deportation and warned that they were 'going out fast.'

In an interview with CBS's 60 Minutes just days after he won the presidential election in 2016, Trump vowed to 'immediately' deport two to three million illegal immigrants with criminal records.

Trump has also vowed to build a wall along the Mexican border.

And in September, the president decided to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA).

DACA is an Obama-era initiative that grants work permits to more than 800,000 undocumented immigrants who were brought to the country by family members as children.

A report from the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (file image) showed that through early October removals of Mexican nationals were down,. But administrative arrests of all immigrants were up 30 percent in fiscal year 2017

A report from the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) showed that through early October removals of Mexican nationals were down,.

But administrative arrests of all immigrants were up 30 percent in fiscal year 2017.

'For Mexicans who enter illegally, effective tools like expedited removal have led to increased deterrence, which has impacted entry levels,' Tyler Q Houlton, acting press secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, said in an email to Bloomberg.

Trump's deportation numbers were monitored throughout the year.

In January, federal immigration officials deported 9,913 criminals. After a slight uptick under Trump, expulsions sank to 9,600 criminals in June.

Mostly deportations have remained lower than in past years under the Obama administration.

From January to June, ICE deported 61,370 criminals, down from 70,603 during the same period last year.

Analysts said earlier this year that Trump is unlikely to hit his target deportation numbers during his four-year term.

Trump ends his first year with just 45% of likely US voters thinking he's doing a good job in the Oval Office (compared to Obama's 68% approval rating after one year)

Yes...and we all know how Barry turned out. He almost doubled the national debt. Created BLM, ISIS, and gift-wrapped a nuke to Iran.

This article from The Daily Mail. The CNN of Great Britain headed by Piers Morgan who once worked for them.

(Need I say more?)

Barry didn't get the negative coverage from the biased ~~MSM~~ cheerleaders like Trump does as this article clearly indicates.

Byron York: Harvard study: CNN, NBC Trump coverage 93 percent negative

Trump's persistent tweets have decidedly shown just how biased they really are. Twenty 20 years from now history will record who was truly a great president and my money ain't on Barry. Oh...and speaking of polls didn't they tell us Trump didn't have a snowball's chance in hell against Hillary?

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Just 45 per cent of likely U.S. voters approve of President Donald Trump's job performance, an end-of-the-year poll has showed.

The figures, presented by the Rasmussen Reports, show that 53 per cent disapprove or strongly disapprove of his performance, as the White House is readying itself to take stock of Trump's first year as President.

This can be compared to his predecessor Barack Obama, who had 68 per cent approving of his job performance at the end of his first year in office.

Real news: Just 45 percent of U.S. voters approve of President Trump's job performance at the end of his first year, a recent poll shows

A small joy for the president is that 29 percent of those polled said they 'strongly approve' of his work done as president, however, this is dwarfed by the 44 percent who 'strongly disapprove'.

According to the Rasmussen reports' data collected throughout Trump's first year in office, his support was strongest in the beginning of his presidency with a peak of 59 percent approval on January 26.

However, by March, numbers dipped below 50 percent, and come early August they had plummeted to just 38 percent.

March saw President Trump accuse former President Obama of wiretapping him during the election campaign - a claim found to be baseless.

August was President Trump's low point, with his failure to condemn white supremacists and Nazis in Charlottesville - the unforgettable 'bad people on both sides' speech - and his late July announcement that he was banning transgender men and women from serving in the military (which has since been blocked).

Sad! Some 44 percent strongly disapprove of Trump's job performance and a total of 53 percent disapprove to some extent

August also saw him pardon Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio who had been convicted of repeatedly violating court orders to stop racial profiling.

Towards the end of the year, the figures improved slightly, potentially boosted by his latest tax reform, voted through in recent weeks.

Trump's predecessor enjoyed much higher approval ratings, even towards the end of his second term, according to the same data.

Barack Obama's December 2008 figures - ending his first year in office - showed a 68 percent approval.

Even at the end of his final year as President, in December 2016, 55 percent of the US population approved of his job performance.

However, the Rasmussen Reports' figures are still a lot more positive than the CNN presidential approval rating poll, which found that just 35 percent thinks Trump is doing a good job.

This is the lowest ever of a modern-day president at the end of his first year in office.

Even the 'runner-up', Ronald Reagan, had a 49 per cent approval in 1981.

This can be compared to George W Bush whose end-of-year approval was at 86 per cent in 2001 and Nixon in 1969 at 59 per cent.

Big hands, big figures: Trump's approval rating can be compared to his Barack Obama, who had a 68 per cent approval rating at the end of his first year in office

But President Trump is seemingly unphased by his low approval rating and just yesterday he boasted that his wins against ISIS are bigger than President Obama's.

Citing Department of Defense statistics and quoting the Washington Examiner's Jamie McIntyre, Trump said as of last week there are just 1,000 ISIS fighters left occupying a mere 1,900 square miles.

That's down from 35,000 ISIS fighters occupying 17,500 square miles that existed when President Trump was sworn in last January.

Wednesday, December 27, 2017

Trump will fail against Iran as did 'smarter' Reagan: Khamenei

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday U.S. President Donald Trump would fail in his hardened stance towards Iran, saying Tehran was stronger than during the time of the “more powerful and smarter” Ronald Reagan.

“Reagan was more powerful and smarter than Trump, and he was a better actor in making threats, and he also moved against us and they shot down our plane,” Khamenei said in a speech carried on state television.

In 1988, a U.S. warship shot down an Iranian passenger plane over the Gulf, killing all 290 aboard, in an incident which Washington said was a mistake. Tehran said it was a deliberate attack on Iran, then at war with neighboring Iraq.

“But Reagan is gone and, according to our beliefs, he now faces God’s retribution ... while Iran has made great advances in all areas since Reagan’s time,” Khamenei added.

(I'll give him his due here. Barry said go ahead a build a nuke. Then added...allow us to pay for it)

“This trend will continue under the current American president and any hopes on their part that the Islamic Republic would back off or weaken is futile.”

Trump refused in October to certify that Tehran is complying with its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and warned he might ultimately terminate the agreement.

He announced the shift in U.S. policy in a speech in which he detailed a more aggressive approach to Iran over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and its support for militant groups in the Middle East.

Under the nuclear deal, sanctions on Iran were lifted in return for Tehran rolling back technologies with nuclear bomb-making potential.

Barack Obama Warns Against the Divisive Nature of Social Media in Interview with Prince Harry

Barack Obama Social Media BBC Interview With Prince Harry

This is so typical of him. The limp-wristed vagina is distressed over the

'divisive nature of social media'.

When it comes to Barry Guess Col. Ralph Peters put it best.

Video 388

Meanwhile... outside the whimpering world of Barry:

Through Trump's tenure, ISIS has lost 98% of its territory. The stock market is going through the roof. Check your 401K lately? The unemployment rate is the lowest in 17 years. Because of the new tax bill, Americans are keeping more of their hard earned money while companies like AT&T, Comcast, Wells Fargo, etc announced $1,000 bonuses to hundreds of thousands of employees.

Thank God we now have a president who knows how to get things done.

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Former President Barack Obama has warned against some of the perils of social media — in particular, its potential to create social divisions and spread misinformation — in a highly anticipated interview with the U.K’s Prince Harry.

Speaking with the prince, who guest edited Wednesday’s episode of BBC Radio 4’s Today show, the former President expressed concern about how social media can reinforce people’s prejudices and expose users to dubious information, the BBC reports.

“One of the dangers of the Internet is that people can have entirely different realities. They can be cocooned in information that reinforces their current biases,” he said. Obama did not name his successor, President Donald Trump, whose hostility to traditional news media has been a common feature of his presidency.

“The question has to do with how do we harness this technology in a way that allows a multiplicity of voices, allows a diversity of views, but doesn’t lead to a Balkanisation of society and allows ways of finding common ground,” Obama said.

The interview, which was conducted in Toronto in September during the Invictus Games, which Obama attended along with former Vice President Joe Biden, also touched on the military, mental health, and climate change.

When the newly-engaged prince asked him how he felt about leaving the White House, Obama said there was a sense of “completion.”

“That was mixed with all the work that was still undone and concerns about how the country moves forward. But overall there was a serenity there, more than I would have expected.”

As part of his guest editorial spot, Harry also interviewed his father, Prince Charles. Other guest editors on the Today Show over the holiday week include a robot, Bletchley Park code-breaker Baroness Trumpington, English National Ballet artistic director Tamara Rojo, and Nigerian writer Benjamin Okri, according to the BBC.

Food for thought in 2018

Tuesday, December 26, 2017

Venezuelans scramble to survive as merchants demand dollars

Maduro should put a call in to Sean Penn. He idolized Chavez and the Venezuelan way of life even now after Maduro ordained himself Présidente for life. I'm sure Sean's got the fix for the country's steady decline.

He could do for Venezuela what he did for Haiti.

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CARACAS/CIUDAD GUAYANA, Venezuela (Reuters) - There was no way Jose Ramon Garcia, a food transporter in Venezuela, could afford new tires for his van at $350 each. Ma

Whether he opted to pay in U.S. currency or in the devalued local bolivar currency at the equivalent black market price, Garcia would have had to save up for years.

Though used to expensive repairs, this one was too much and put him out of business. “Repairs cost an arm and a leg in Venezuela,” said the now-unemployed 42-year-old Garcia, who has a wife and two children to support in the southern city of Guayana.

“There’s no point keeping bolivars.”

For a decade and a half, strict exchange controls have severely limited access to dollars. A black market in hard currency has spread in response, and as once-sky-high oil revenue runs dry, Venezuela’s economy is in free-fall.

The practice adopted by gourmet and design stores in Caracas over the last couple of years to charge in dollars to a select group of expatriates or Venezuelans with access to greenbacks is fast spreading.

Food sellers, dental and medical clinics, and others are starting to charge in dollars or their black market equivalent - putting many basic goods and services out of reach for a large number of Venezuelans.

According to the opposition-led National Assembly, November’s rise in prices topped academics’ traditional benchmark for hyperinflation of more than 50 percent a month - and could end the year at 2,000 percent. The government has not published inflation data for more than a year.

“I can’t think in bolivars anymore because you have to give a different price every hour,” said Yoselin Aguirre, 27, who makes and sells jewelry in the Paraguana peninsula and has recently pegged prices to the dollar. “To survive, you have to dollarize.”

The socialist government of the late president Hugo Chavez in 2003 brought in the strict controls in order to curb capital flight, as the wealthy sought to move money out of Venezuela after a coup attempt and major oil strike the previous year.

Oil revenue was initially able to bolster artificial exchange rates, though the black market grew and now is becoming unmanageable for the government.

TRIM THE TREE WITH BOLIVARS

In one grim festive joke, a Christmas tree in Maracaibo, the country’s oil capital, and second city was decorated with virtually worthless low-denomination bolivar bills.

This is what 80 cents (US) looks like in Venezuelan currency. At the moment, one dollar is worth $127,000 bolívares

President Nicolas Maduro has maintained his predecessor’s policies on capital controls. Yet, the spread between the strongest official rate, of some 10 bolivars per dollar, and the black market rate, of around 110,000 per dollar, is now huge.

While sellers see a shift to hard currency as necessary, buyers sometimes blame them for speculating.

Rafael Vetencourt, 55, a steelworker in Ciudad Guayana, needed a prostate operation priced at $250.

“We don’t earn in dollars. It’s abusive to charge in dollars!” said Vetencourt, who had to decimate his savings to pay for the surgery.

In just one year, Venezuela’s currency has weakened 97.5 percent against the greenback, meaning $1,000 of local currency purchased than would be worth just $25 now.

Maduro blames black market rate-publishing websites such as DolarToday for inflating the numbers, part of an “economic war” he says is designed by the opposition and Washington to topple him.

On Venezuela’s borders with Brazil and Colombia, the prices of imported oil, eggs, and wheat flour vary daily in line with the black market price for bolivars.

In an upscale Caracas market, cheese-filled arepas, the traditional breakfast made with corn flour, increased 65 percent in price in just two weeks, according to tracking by Reuters reporters. In the same period, a kilogram of ham jumped a whopping 171 percent.

The runaway prices have dampened Christmas celebrations, which this season was characterized by shortages of pine trees and toys, as well as meat, chicken, and cornmeal for the preparation of typical dishes.