Home · News · News Aug 2019 · Aug 28 2019
Wednesday August 28, 2019

A Top Financier of Trump and McConnell is a Driving Force Behind Amazon Deforestation
TheIntercept | Ryan Grim | 08/27/19

TWO BRAZILIAN FIRMS owned by a top donor to President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell are significantly responsible for the ongoing destruction of the Amazon rainforest, carnage that has developed into raging fires that have captivated global attention.

The companies have wrested control of land, deforested it, and helped build a controversial highway to their new terminal in the one-time jungle, all to facilitate the cultivation and export of grain and soybeans. The shipping terminal at Miritituba, deep in the Amazon in the Brazilian state of Pará, allows growers to load soybeans on barges, which will then sail to a larger port before the cargo is shipped around the world.

The Amazon terminal is run by Hidrovias do Brasil, a company that is owned in large part by Blackstone, a major U.S. investment firm. Another Blackstone company, Pátria Investimentos, owns more than 50 percent of Hidrovias, while Blackstone itself directly owns an additional roughly 10 percent stake. Blackstone co-founder and CEO Stephen Schwarzman is a close ally of Trump and has donated millions of dollars to McConnell in recent years.

"Blackstone is committed to responsible environmental stewardship," the company said in a statement. "This focus and dedication is embedded in every investment decision we make and guides how we conduct ourselves as operators. In this instance, while we do not have operating control, we know the company has made a significant reduction in overall carbon emissions through lower congestion and allowed the more efficient flow of agricultural goods by Brazilian farmers." ... Read more

The Fantasy Of Central Bank "Growth" Is Finally Imploding
Zerohedge | | 08/28/19

It was such a wonderful fantasy: just give a handful of bankers, financiers and corporations trillions of dollars at near-zero rates of interest, and this flood of credit and cash into the apex of the wealth-power pyramid would magically generate a new round of investments in productivity-improving infrastructure and equipment, which would trickle down to the masses in the form of higher wages, enabling the masses to borrow and spend more on consumption, powering the Nirvana of modern economics: a self-sustaining, self-reinforcing expansion of growth.

But alas, there is no self-sustaining, self-reinforcing expansion of growth; there are only massive, increasingly fragile asset bubbles, stagnant wages and a New Gilded Age as the handful of bankers, financiers and corporations that were handed unlimited nearly free money enriched themselves at the expense of everyone else. ... Read more

Jim Mattis: "I did as well as I could for as long as I could" | Axios | Rashaan Ayesh | 08/28/19
  1. "A wise leader must deal with reality and state what he intends, and what level of commitment he is willing to invest in achieving that end. He then has to trust that his subordinates know how to carry that out. Wise leadership requires collaboration; otherwise, it will lead to failure."
  2. "Nations with allies thrive, and those without them wither. Alone, America cannot protect our people and our economy. ... A polemicist's role is not sufficient for a leader."
  3. "A leader must display strategic acumen that incorporates respect for those nations that have stood with us when trouble loomed. Returning to a strategic stance that includes the interests of as many nations as we can make common cause with, we can better deal with this imperfect world we occupy together. Absent this, we will occupy an increasingly lonely position, one that puts us at increasing risk in the world."

Queen Elizabeth II approves U.K. government's request to suspend Parliament
Axios | staff | 08/28/19

Queen Elizabeth II has approved a request from British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government to suspend Parliament when it returns from its summer recess until it can lay out its plans with a traditional Queen's Speech on Oct. 14, per the BBC.

Why it matters: While the request is largely standard process for a new administration -- the Queen's Speech is akin to an incoming State of the Union -- these are not standard times. The length of the suspension is longer than usual, and Johnson's opposition would have little time to use parliamentary procedure to stop a no-deal Brexit. Assuming that negotiations with the European Union remain stalled, it means that the U.K. will likely either crash out of the bloc on Oct. 31 -- or face a snap general election called by Johnson's opposition. ... Read more

Trump Pitch To Host G7 Seen As Ploy To Help Failing Business | Rachel Maddow | MSNBC | 08/27/19 | 8:42
Democracy Now! U.S. and World News Headlines for Wednesday, August 28 [12:34]
Democracy Now! U.S. and World News Headlines for Wednesday, August 28 (FULL) | 59:02
Note: on the full 59:02 video look for small white (or black) circles on the Progressbar they denote the different news stories. You can move the pointer on the Progressbar to jump to each story, and around the video.
  1. Headlines
  2. "We're in a Crisis of Deaths": Migrant Death Toll Tops 900 in Mediterranean as 40 Die Off Libya
  3. How Bolsonaro's Climate Change Denial & Anti-Indigenous Policies Led to Massive Fires in the Amazon
  4. Airstrikes in Lebanon, Syria & Iraq Mark Dangerous Escalation in Decades-Long Israeli Aggression
Orwellian Surveillance of Tohono O'odham Nation -- A Test Case for Entire US Border? | TRNN | 08/28/19 | 15:07
Trump Uses G-7 To Shill For His Resort | TYT | 08/27/19 | 6:55
The1a.org
American Farmers Are Paying A Price For Trump's Tariffs | 1a.org | 08/28/19 | 1hr
As President Donald Trump's trade war with China continues to escalate, American agricultural exports to China are slowing down. But some farmers and their advocates say that if something isn't done soon, the conflict could hasten the decline of the family farm.

Despite the president's repeated claims that "farmers are starting to do great again," the data show that's incorrect. The United States' agricultural exports to China totaled $24 billion in 2014. In 2018, that amount dwindled to $9.1 billion. So far in 2019, farm bankruptcies are up 13 percent this year from last year, according to the American Farm Bureau.

In an effort to help the industry through a tough time, the Trump administration authorized $12 billion in aid to farmers in 2018. They then announced an additional $16 billion in May of this year. However, the rescue funds have done little to quell farmer anger.

It's been more than a year since the trade war began. The president initially decided to pressure Beijing as part of his strategy to help manufacturers and other companies who had supposedly lost profit due to China's trade policies.
Trump's Instability Threatens To Deprive Him Of One Of His Arguments Re-Election | Deadline | MSNBC | 08/27/19 | 21:58
The Madness of Donald Trump! | The Last Word | MSNBC | 08/23/19 | 15:06
Why It's Dangerous Trump Thinks He Knows A Lot About The Environment | Velshi & Ruhle | MSNBC | 08/27/19 | 6:38
Trump Defends Russia, Ups His China Trade War... And Tweets About Bed Bugs | The 11th Hour | MSNBC | 08/27/19 | 4:36

08.28.2019. 11:08



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Quantum mechanics | AI - Artificial Intelligence
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Rana Foroohar and Fall of American Business
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China Valley of Tunnels

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911
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