Occupy Banksters & Crony Capitalism & GREED

The Senate impeachment trial of Donald Trump | Jan. 31, 2020 | PBS | 01/30/20 | Live

Trump headed for fast acquittal
Axios | Alayna Treene | 01/31/20

President Trump is poised to win his long-expected acquittal in the Senate impeachment trial as soon as tonight, after Sen. Lamar Alexander's dramatic 11th-hour announcement that he'll vote against calling new witnesses

The state of play: The big question is no longer whether the Senate will sink this afternoon's witness vote, but rather how long it will take to deliver a final verdict on Trump after the vote fails. ...

... Between the lines: The buzz on the Hill as senators shuffled out of the Capitol last night was that the two Republicans have agreed to tie their vote together to avoid a 50-50 stalemate on the witness vote, which would put Roberts in an incredibly tough position. Senators from both parties have said they hope it never reaches that point. ... Read more

Democrat senators address press before Trump impeachment trial | PBS | 01/31/20 | full

Trump Holds Campaign Rally In Iowa Amid Impeachment Trial | NBC News | 01/30/20 | 2:10:42

Is The Iowa Caucus A Relic of the Past? | Samantha Bee | 01/29/20 | 6:31

Trump goes after Bolton as Republicans struggle to get votes to block testimony – live
TheGuardian | staff | 01/29/20

Trump has already been tweeting away this morning, attacking John Bolton for his “nasty & untrue book,” which reportedly alleges that the president directly tied Ukraine’s military assistance to investigations of Democrats.

But Trump also claimed the former national security adviser’s book was filled with classified information, which would seem to contradict his assertion that the book’s details were false.

Bolton’s allegations are now at the heart of the debate over whether the Senate will approve witness testimony in the impeachment trial, as Democrats say they must hear from the former administration official. ... Read more

Trump’s ‘Deal of the Century’ Ensures Israeli Domination and Palestinian Oppression | TRNN | 01/28/20 | 19:08

Why Trump's Middle East peace plan already matters
Axios | Dave Lawler | 01/29/20

President Trump is nowhere near a deal on Middle East peace, but his long-awaited plan has immediate and dramatic implications for the reality on the ground.

Driving the news: The White House gave Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a green light to immediately annex about 30% of the West Bank, a step every previous U.S. administration vehemently opposed. Netanyahu plans to act on that opportunity as soon as Sunday.

Green-lighting annexations is an even more dramatic step from Trump than moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem or recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights. ... Read more

The Senate impeachment trial of Donald Trump | January 29 | PBS | 01/29/20 | Live

Trump Holds Campaign Rally In New Jersey Amid Impeachment Trial | NBC News | 01/28/20 | 1:27:16

John Bolton’s Calling the Shots Now, and Trump and McConnell Are Shitting Bricks
DailyBeast | Rick Wilson | 01/29/20/span>

Donald Trump wanted a great reality TV event before telling Sean Hannity on Super Bowl Sunday about how he’d won “total exoneration.”

Instead, we’ve seen since Saturday an aggressively tendentious and at times bafflingly counterproductive defense presentation, a cross between the president’s desire for fireworks and Mitch McConnell’s desire to get this impeachment trial over with, fast.

John Bolton, and reality, had other ideas. Now, so do a handful of Republican senators. ... Read more

Recession fears return to the market
Axios | Dion Rabouin | 01/28/20

Growing worry over the widespread outbreak of the Wuhan coronavirus is compounding an already jittery market and flipping the switch from risk-on to risk-off, as investors sell stocks and buy bonds.

Driving the news: The S&P 500 posted its biggest single day percentage loss since October and long-dated U.S. Treasury yields fell, putting yields on Treasury bills that mature in three months just 6 basis points below Treasury notes maturing in 10 years.

Why it matters: The yield curve already has inverted out to seven years and is within spitting distance of the 3-month/10-year inversion that economists at the Fed call the "best summary measure" of economic downturn for the second time in less than a year. ...

...What's happening: The death toll from the coronavirus reached 107 in China and the number of confirmed diagnoses rose to over 4,000, with confirmed infections in almost 20 countries or regions. ... Read more

Senate impeachment trial of Donald Trump | January 28 | 01/28/20 | current

The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir by John Bolton

John Bolton served as National Security Advisor to President Donald Trump for 519 days. A seasoned public servant who had previously worked for Presidents Reagan, Bush #41, and Bush #43, Bolton brought to the administration thirty years of experience in international issues and a reputation for tough, blunt talk. In his memoir, he offers a substantive and factual account of his time in the room where it happened.

Senators brace for the unknown as Trump impeachment defense wraps
magazine | Kyle Cheney | 01/28/20

It’s the last uninterrupted chance for his lawyers to persuade senators to summarily reject the House’s case for his removal -- without the drama that would result from demanding new evidence. But it arrived amid a creeping anxiety that new revelations, like the one late Sunday from former national security adviser John Bolton that exploded a core premise of Trump’s defense, could be in store.

"In a few weeks or a few months do my Republican colleagues want to pick up the paper and read that one of the witnesses they blocked had crucial information about the president's misconduct?" Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said Tuesday morning. "At this point, how can Senate Republicans not vote for the witnesses and documents we’re seeking?" ... Read more

Lindsey Graham is the Most Shameless Man in American Politics
TheIntercept | Mehdi Hasan | 01/24/20

Lindsey Graham is the Most Shameless Man in American Politics | older 01/24/20 | 4:33

Republicans fear "floodgates" if Bolton testifies
Axios | Mike Allen | 01/27/20

There may be enough new pressure on Senate Republicans to allow witnesses at President Trump's impeachment trial, after the leak from a forthcoming book by former national security adviser John Bolton that contradicts what the White House has been telling the country.

What happened: Bolton alleges in his book -- "The Room Where It Happened," out March 17 -- that Trump explicitly told him "he wanted to continue freezing $391 million in security assistance to Ukraine until officials there helped with investigations into Democrats including the Bidens," the N.Y. Times reported. ... Read more

The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir by John Bolton

John Bolton served as National Security Advisor to President Donald Trump for 519 days. A seasoned public servant who had previously worked for Presidents Reagan, Bush #41, and Bush #43, Bolton brought to the administration thirty years of experience in international issues and a reputation for tough, blunt talk. In his memoir, he offers a substantive and factual account of his time in the room where it happened.

Rachel Maddow Interviews Lev Parnas - Part 1 | Rachel Maddow | MSNBC | 01/22/20 | 48:50

Romney: Let’s Hear Bolton -- ‘Likely’ Enough GOP Votes
HP | Lydia O’Connor | 01/27/20

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) said Monday that it’s “increasingly likely” there will be enough Republicans in the Senate to vote in favor of calling former national security adviser John Bolton as a witness in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial.

“I think it’s important for us to hear from John Bolton for us to be able to make an impartial judgment,” Romney told reporters. He also said he had spoken to other GOP senators about the subject, but declined to say whom. ... Read more

Parnas Implicates Trump & Co. In Ukraine Crimes, And He Has Receipts | Stephen Colbert | 01/16/20 | 12:59

Lev Parnas describes multiple Ukraine quid pro quos | Anderson Cooper | CNN | 01/16/20 | 10:14

Lev Parnas' entire interview with Anderson Cooper (part 1) | Anderson Cooper | CNN | 01/16/20 | 8:08

Lev Parnas' entire interview with Anderson Cooper (part 2) | Anderson | CNN | 01/16/20 | 8:15

Lev Parnas: 'President Trump Knew Exactly What Was Going On.' | Rachel Maddow | MSNBC | 01/15/20 | 3:18

Lev Parnas: 'Drunk All The Time': Lev Parnas Dismisses Hyde Tracking Yovanovitch | MSNBC | 01/15/20 | 3:01

Lev Parnas: 'It Was Never About Corruption' | Rachel Maddow | MSNBC | 01/15/20 | 1:16

Lev Parnas: Pence Tasked With Getting Ukraine To Announce Joe Biden Probe | Rachel Maddow | MSNBC | 01/15/20 | 3:05

Lev Parnas: 'Attorney General Barr Was Basically On The Team.' | Rachel Maddow | MSNBC | 01/15/20 | 2:31

Fox News NOT BUYING Kellyanne Conway Spin | TYT | 01/16/20 | 9:37

The Bizarre Billionaire that Backed Bannon and Made Trump President | TRNN | older 11/02/17 | 31:19

Trump Called His Generals a 'Bunch of Dopes and Babies' in a Fit of Rage, Book Claims
Daily Beast | Jamie Ross | 01/17/19

What exactly went down during a July 2017 meeting at the Pentagon between President Trump and his military leaders has long been the subject of speculation. One of the tantalizing details that's been previously reported is that, whatever took place, it provoked then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to call his commander in chief "a fucking moron."

Now an excerpt of a new book published in The Washington Post demonstrates exactly what tipped Tillerson over the edge. An account of the meeting in the upcoming book A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump's Testing of America depicts Trump becoming increasingly angry as his generals tried to teach him the fundamental basics of American post-war history.

The book states that the meeting took place six months into Trump's presidency after his generals became concerned about "gaping holes" in Trump's knowledge of America's key alliances. The idea was to bring Trump to the Pentagon's Situation Room, where military leaders, so the plan went, would give him a crash course on who America's allies were, why they were worth keeping on side, and where on earth they were located. ... Read more

A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump's Testing of America by Philip Rucke

Washington Post national investigative reporter Carol Leonnig and White House bureau chief Philip Rucker, both Pulitzer Prize winners, provide the definitive insider narrative of Donald Trump's unique presidency with shocking new reporting and insight into its implications.

"I alone can fix it." So went Donald J. Trump's march to the presidency on July 21, 2016, when he accepted the Republican presidential nomination in Cleveland, promising to restore what he described as a fallen nation. Yet over the subsequent years, as he has undertaken the actual work of the commander in chief, it has been hard to see beyond the daily chaos of scandal, investigation, and constant bluster. It would be all too easy to mistake Trump's first term for one of pure and uninhibited chaos, but there were patterns to his behavior and that of his associates. The universal value of the Trump administration is loyalty - not to the country, but to the president himself - and Trump's North Star has been the perpetuation of his own power, even when it meant imperiling our shaky and mistrustful democracy.

Leonnig and Rucker, with deep and unmatched sources throughout Washington, D.C., tell of rages and frenzies but also moments of courage and perseverance. Relying on scores of exclusive new interviews with some of the most senior members of the Trump administration and other firsthand witnesses, the authors reveal the forty-fifth president up close, taking readers inside Robert Mueller's Russia investigation as well as the president's own haphazard but ultimately successful legal defense. Here for the first time certain officials who have felt honor-bound not to publicly criticize a sitting president or to divulge what they witnessed in a position of trust tell the truth for the benefit of history.

This peerless and gripping narrative reveals President Trump at his most unvarnished and exposes how decision making in his administration has been driven by a reflexive logic of self-preservation and self-aggrandizement - but a logic nonetheless. This is the story of how an unparalleled president has scrambled to survive and tested the strength of America's democracy and its common heart as a nation.

Democracy Now! U.S. and World News Headlines for Friday, January 17 [7:19]

John Bolton CALLED OUT by Lev Parnas | TYT | 01/16/20 | 5:21

Fox News NOT BUYING Kellyanne Conway Spin | TYT | 01/16/20 | 9:37

Devin Nunes IN BIG TROUBLE! Suddenly Recalls Phone Call With Lev Parnas | TYT | 01/16/20 | 13:17

The News Roundup -- Domestic | 1a.org | 01/17/20 | 10:00-11:00

Big banks saved billions thanks to the Trump tax cuts
Axios | Dion Rabouin | 01/17/20

The Tax Cut and Jobs Act helped power the biggest U.S. banks to record profits for the second straight year.

Why it matters: The tax cut was sold as a way to revitalize hiring and spending by American companies to boost the economy and help struggling workers, but the windfall is largely staying with banks and their shareholders.

By the numbers: JPMorgan, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley announced earnings this week showing they saved $18 billion in 2019, and their average effective tax rate fell to 18% from 20%. ... Read more

Lev Parnas Says Trump Knew Everything In Ukraine Scandal
HP | Nick Visser | 01/15/20

The former Giuliani associate suggested Vice President Mike Pence, Attorney General William Barr and former national security adviser John Bolton were all in the know.

Lev Parnas, an associate of Rudy Giuliani at the center of the Ukraine scandal that led to President Donald Trump's impeachment, said both men were fully aware "of all my movements" and that the president knew "exactly what was going on" as he waged a pressure campaign to dig up dirt on a presidential campaign rival.

"President Trump knew exactly what was going on," Parnas told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow in an interview that aired Wednesday. "He was aware of all my movements. I wouldn't do anything without the consent of Rudy Giuliani or the president. I have no intent, I have no reason to speak to any of these officials." ... Read more

New Document Release Exposes Trump Connections To Parnas, Fruman | Rachel Maddow | MSNBC | 01/15/20 | 4:31

Lev Parnas speaks out for first time: Trump lied | CNN | 01/15/20 | 10:56

America's Great DivideAmerica's Great Divide, Part 1 (full film) | FRONTLINE | 01/13/20 | 1:55:12

The Iran Cables
TheIntercept | | current

In an unprecedented leak from one of the world's most secretive regimes, an anonymous source provided 700 pages of Iranian intelligence reports to The Intercept, saying they wanted to "let the world know what Iran is doing in my country Iraq."

Read more

2020 Democrats Spar on Foreign Policy, Electability, Free College & More at 7th Democratic Debate | DN | 01/15/20 | 44:03

What we learned about the Democratic field from Tuesday's debate
Politico | author | date

The candidates didn't clash, but they did reveal important ideological differences.

Democratic voters, especially those who don't have the time to pay close attention to politics, in polls and interviews have consistently been bewildered by the size of the field and turned off by petty fights between candidates that do little to clarify their differences. The CNN-Des Moines Register debate Tuesday night at Drake University did not feature the expected -- choose your favorite journalistic cliché -- no holds barred/gloves-are-off/there will be blood on the floor exchanges between Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, or either of them and Joe Biden.

As expected, for the first time in a debate this cycle, foreign policy featured prominently. Presidents have far more latitude over foreign policy -- where Congress can be virtually ignored -- than any other area of responsibility, and yet it has been given little attention. That's partly for political reasons. Polls show Biden, the former globe-trotting vice president and Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman, with an enormous advantage on the issue, and most of his opponents don't see discussing it as beneficial to them. ... ... Read more

Trump Privately Obsessed With Bernie Sanders' Popularity and Socialism's Appeal
DailyBeast | Hanna Trudo/Asawin Suebsaeng | 01/15/20

Despite projecting confidence at the prospect of facing the senator, the president has asked multiple advisers how Sanders would perform in battleground states like Pennsylvania.

In public, President Donald Trump has fixated on mocking Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) as "crazy" and has focused on assuring supporters of how badly he'd crush the left-wing senator in a general election and protect them from Sanders' creeping socialism. In private, Trump has often expressed different worries about the 2020 candidate.

In the past two months, the president has repeatedly asked advisers, in and out of the White House, about how Sanders polls, or would likely perform, in critical battleground states, specifically Pennsylvania, according to two people who've independently heard him ask about it. At times, Trump has asked about Sanders' prospects even in the absence of a current public or internal poll on the matter. ... Read more

America's Great Divide | PBS Frontline | 01/13/20 | 1:54:18

Trump holds campaign rally in Milwaukee during Democratic debate | PBS | 01/14/20 | 2:15:15

Pelosi taps Schiff and Nadler among House impeachment managers
Axios | Alayna Treene, Jacob Knutson | 01/15/20

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Wednesday that House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) would serve among the seven individuals tapped as the House's managers during the Senate's impeachment trial for President Trump.

Why it matters: The managers will present the House's case for impeachment to convince senators to convict the president for abusing his power and obstructing Congress, and ultimately remove him from office.

Pelosi waited four weeks to name impeachment managers and deliver the articles to the Senate as part of her attempt to pressure Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to preemptively show her a Senate resolution laying out the terms for the trial, as well as an agreement on witnesses and document production at the outset of the trial. ... Read more

Trump Trial Nightmare? Senate Hears Giuliani's Ukraine Trip 'Baggage' | MSNBC | older 01/10/20 | 12:56

Mark Esper says he "didn't see" specific evidence showing Iran planned to strike 4 U.S. embassies | Face the Nation | 01/12/20 | 10:59

Schiff accuses Trump of "fudging" intelligence on threat from Iran | Face the Nation | 01/12/20 | 7:50

You cannot make this up ... but Trump did. - Erin Burnett | CNN | older 01/10/20 | 10:54

"America Exists Today to Make War": Lawrence Wilkerson on Endless War & American Empire | DN | 01/13/20 | 16:54

Pelosi's new card to play on impeachment
Axios | Alayna Treene, Margaret Talev | 01/14/20

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suddenly has a new lever as she pushes Senate Republicans to include witnesses and documents in President Trump's impeachment trial -- a "trove" of text messages turned over by Lev Parnas, the indicted former Rudy Giuliani associate.

Why it matters: A public release of some or all of the materials could give Democrats new ammunition to argue that the White House must turn over more information and allow new testimony from witnesses. ... Read more

Sanders surges as progressives flock to him over Warren
Politico | Holly Otterbein | 01/13/20

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Something's happening with Bernie Sanders that looked unlikely to many a few months ago: Progressive leaders and organizations are lining up behind him, not Elizabeth Warren, in the lead-up to voting.

Two groups run by young people -- the Sunrise Movement, which seeks to combat climate change, and Dream Defenders, which advocates for people of color -- endorsed him last week. He's also won the backing of People's Action and the Center for Popular Democracy, which together claim more than 1.5 million members, as well as three lawmakers in the so-called "Squad" and liberal-minded labor unions.

The consolidation of left-wing support is a remarkable turnaround for Sanders. In September, the Working Families Party became the first major national progressive group to endorse a candidate when it picked Warren -- despite siding with Sanders in 2016. Warren was surging at the time, and looked poised to overtake Sanders as the leader of the progressive movement and a frontrunner for the nomination. ... Read more

The world's fast-growing mountain of debt
Axios | Dion Rabouin | 01/13/20

The world's total debt surged by some $9 trillion in the first three quarters of 2019, according to data from the Institute of International Finance, bringing the world's total debt load to $253 trillion, or 322% of its GDP -- a record high.

Why it matters: In times of economic strength, economists exhort countries to pare back their debt burdens and pay it down to protect against future unrest and downturn.

Trump impeachment
Mitch McConnell is cynically undermining any notion of an honest impeachment trial
TheGuardian | Lawrence Douglas | 01/13/20

He's not as noisy as Trump, but McConnell has always been just as recklessly partisan and shameless

In the Soviet Union, show trials were a legal farce in which the guilt of the accused had been determined well before the hapless defendant was dragged before the court. But even in the most grotesque of Stalinist proceedings, the court went through the motions of hearing the testimony of witnesses and receiving evidence, even if those motions were entirely pro forma.

Today in America, we are confronted with a sad inversion of the Stalinist show trial: the "McConnell show trial." The McConnell show trial mocks judicial process by loudly trumpeting the innocence of the accused before the trial begins. In the McConnell show trial, no witnesses need be called, no documents reviewed; the jury marches to the orders of the accused. ... Read more

The Age of Illusions: How America Squandered Its Cold War Victory by Andrew J. Bacevich

A thought-provoking and penetrating account of the post-Cold war follies and delusions that culminated in the age of Donald Trump from the bestselling author of The Limits of Power.

When the Cold War ended with the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Washington establishment felt it had prevailed in a world-historical struggle. Our side had won, a verdict that was both decisive and irreversible. For the world's "indispensable nation," its "sole superpower," the future looked very bright. History, having brought the United States to the very summit of power and prestige, had validated American-style liberal democratic capitalism as universally applicable.

In the decades to come, Americans would put that claim to the test. They would embrace the promise of globalization as a source of unprecedented wealth while embarking on wide-ranging military campaigns to suppress disorder and enforce American values abroad, confident in the ability of U.S. forces to defeat any foe. Meanwhile, they placed all their bets on the White House to deliver on the promise of their Cold War triumph: unequaled prosperity, lasting peace, and absolute freedom.

In The Age of Illusions, bestselling author Andrew Bacevich takes us from that moment of seemingly ultimate victory to the age of Trump, telling an epic tale of folly and delusion. Writing with his usual eloquence and vast knowledge, he explains how, within a quarter of a century, the United States ended up with gaping inequality, permanent war, moral confusion, and an increasingly angry and alienated population, as well, of course, as the strangest president in American history.

Andrew Bacevich: Trump Sparked "Unnecessary Crisis" by Killing Soleimani, Barely Avoiding War | DN | 01/09/20 | 13:52

Andrew Bacevich: The U.S. Needs to Abandon "Militarized Approach" to Middle East and Build Peace | DN | 01/09/20 | 19:59

The Fed plans to keep pumping cash
Axios | Dion Rabouin | 01/10/20

The New York Fed added $83.1 billion in temporary liquidity to financial markets Thursday, and the U.S. central bank looks primed to keep pumping cash for at least the next few months.

Why it matters: The stock market's 30% gain in 2019 was in no small part backed by the Fed's decision to cut U.S. interest rates three times and inject more than $1 trillion of temporary financing into the repo market. It also added more than $400 billion to its balance sheet in the fourth quarter.

What we're hearing: Fed vice chair Richard Clarida told an audience assembled at the Council on Foreign Relations Thursday that the Fed was prepared to continue adding to its balance sheet and providing liquidity to the repo market "at least through April." ... Read more

Trump's Art of the Steal
Politico | Michael Kruse | 01/10/20

Sometime soon, Donald Trump, the third president in the history of the United States to be impeached, is expected to face a trial in the Senate, charged with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Traced back to its roots, this is a crisis entirely of his own creation: He came across a sketchy scrap of information, a debunked piece of Russian propaganda relating to Ukraine, and he saw it as something he could use, to help himself and to hurt an opponent. He latched onto it, pumped it up, and passed it along.

Anyone wondering how the president could make this kind of mistake has missed something important about Trump's rise. For as long as he has been in politics--in fact, for longer--he has been a ruthlessly effective practitioner of the art of parroting others' most provocative, salacious ideas. "There are a lot of people that think ..." "That's what I heard ..." "Some people even say ..." His gossipy M.O. was a staple of his campaign, propelling his historic victory, but it also has driven the scandal that has consumed his presidency--"I would like you to find out what happened with this whole situation with Ukraine, they say CrowdStrike," he said on the now well-known call last July with President Volodymyr Zelensky. ... Read more

'Serious concerns' raised over integrity of Iran plane crash site
TheGuardian | Peter Beaumont | 01/10/20

Iranian authorities appear to have cleared plane's debris from site before outside investigators had made examinations

Air crash experts have raised serious concerns over the handling of the crash site of a Ukrainian airliner suspected to have been accidentally shot down by Iranian missiles, as fears grow that Tehran has sought to eliminate evidence from the area.

Graham Braithwaite, professor of safety and accident investigation at Cranfield University, said the Iranian handling of the crash site, including the apparent quick removal of evidence, raised "serious concerns over the integrity of the investigation." ... Read more

Australian Wildfires Prove Denying Climate Change Won't Save You From It
TRNN | Michael Mann | 01/09/20

Climate scientist Michael Mann is in Australia, where the bushfire crisis is unfolding in real time. He says voters there need to look for 'climate hawks' who can counteract the climate-denying policies of politicians like current prime minister Scott Morrison.

Australian Wildfires Prove Denying Climate Change Won't Save You From It | TRNN | 01/09/20 | 14:29

Imperial Oil, Canada's Exxon Subsidiary, Ignored its own Climate Change Research for Decades, Archive Shows
TheIntercept | Murtaza Hussain | 01/08/20

RECORD DROUGHTS, RAGING forest fires, crop failures, and disappearing glaciers: It has become undeniable that the planet is in the early stages of a climate crisis with dire implications. As terrifying as it is, this unfolding disaster has not come as a surprise to everyone -- especially not the people who have been profiting off fomenting the climate emergency.

It has come to light in recent years that major fossil fuel companies knew well in advance that their activities were gravely distorting the climate, even as they waged a relentless campaign to confuse public opinion and prevent regulatory action. A flood of cases are now making their way through the courts against Exxon Mobil and other companies accused of concealing the truth of a calamity now slowly enveloping the world.

Imperial Oil, Exxon's Canadian subsidiary, is a household name in Canada thanks to its ubiquitous Esso gas stations. Exxon owns 70 percent of the company, which is a major holder of reserves in the controversial Alberta oil sands. ... Read more

Trump to address the nation after Iranian missile attack | CBS | 01/08/20 | 54:12

Survey: Top executives are pessimistic about the 2020 economy
Axios | Courtenay Brown | 01/09/20

Chief financial officers are bracing for an economic slowdown this year, according to Deloitte's quarterly survey of nearly 150 executives at top North American companies.

Why it matters: Multiple surveys showed plunging optimism among top executives last year, thanks largely to trade war uncertainty. Deloitte's survey is a signal that skittishness continues to curb companies' hiring and spending plans this year, which could further hurt economic growth.

Details: Expectations for a U.S. downturn have jumped since the beginning of 2019, with 97% of CFOs saying that a downturn (either a slowdown or a recession) has already begun or will occur by the end of 2020. Compare that to 88% who said the same about 2020 in the first quarter of last year. ... Read more

The Trump Doctrine -- Do Nothing, Overreact, Clean Up Mess
DailyBeast | Matt Lewis | 01/08/20

Well, we've avoided World War III for now, and maybe Trump's gamble paid off. But his foreign policy still depends on whatever mood he's in that day.

Just when it looked like we might be headed for World War III, it seems we found a way for Iran to save face and for Donald Trump to turn his inconsistency into a declaration of victory.

"No Americans were harmed in last night's attack," Trump said Wednesday morning. "We suffered no casualties. All of our soldiers are safe and only minimal damage was sustained... Our great American forces are prepared for anything. Iran appears to be standing down."

Indeed, it appears that Iran has backed down, while still getting to say that they avenged the killing of Qassem Soleimani. For now, at least, fears of Armageddon are subsiding. ... Read more

Rachel Maddow Explains What's 'Really Worrying' About Mistake Iraq Military Letter
HP | Lee Moran | 01/08/20

"It's so freaking weird, I can't even believe it," the MSNBC host told Seth Meyers on "Late Night."

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow on Tuesday explained what she believes is "really worrying" about a now-disavowed U.S. military letter that announced American troops would be withdrawing from Iraq.

Maddow, appearing on "Late Night with Seth Meyers," said the letter that Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley said was "a mistake" could indicate "the incompetence that we expect I think at the level of the White House even on national security matters might now be extended to things as serious as the defense secretary and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs." ... Read more

Iraq Withdrawal Letter Screw-Up Shows Pentagon Tainted By Trump | Rachel Maddow | MSNBC | 01/06/20 | 5:02

Targeted: The Cambridge Analytica Whistleblower's Inside Story of How Big Data, Trump, and Facebook Broke Democracy and How It Can Happen Again by Brittany Kaiser

In this explosive memoir, a political consultant and technology whistleblower reveals the disturbing truth about the multi-billion-dollar data industry, revealing to the public how companies are getting richer using our personal information and exposing how Cambridge Analytica exploited weaknesses in privacy laws to help elect Donald Trump--and how this could easily happen again in the 2020 presidential election.

When Brittany Kaiser joined Cambridge Analytica--the UK-based political consulting firm funded by conservative billionaire and Donald Trump patron Robert Mercer--she was an idealistic young professional working on her fourth degree in human rights law and international relations. A veteran of Barack Obama's 2008 campaign, Kaiser's goal was to utilize data for humanitarian purposes, most notably to prevent genocide and human rights abuses. But her experience inside Cambridge Analytica opened her eyes to the tremendous risks that this unregulated industry poses to privacy and democracy.

Targeted is Kaiser's eyewitness chronicle of the dramatic and disturbing story of the rise and fall of Cambridge Analytica. She reveals to the public how Facebook's lax policies and lack of sufficient national laws allowed voters to be manipulated in both Britain and the United States, where personal data was weaponized to spread fake news and racist messaging during the Brexit vote and the 2016 election. But the damage isn't done Kaiser warns; the 2020 election can be compromised as well if we continue to do nothing.

In the aftermath of the U.S. election, as she became aware of the horrifying reality of what Cambridge Analytica had done in support of Donald Trump, Kaiser made the difficult choice to expose the truth. Risking her career, relationships, and personal safety, she told authorities about the data industry's unethical business practices, eventually testifying before Parliament about the company's Brexit efforts and helping Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, alongside at least 10 other international investigations.

Packed with never-before-publicly-told stories and insights, Targeted goes inside the secretive meetings with Trump campaign personnel and details the promises Cambridge Analytica made to win. Throughout, Kaiser makes the case for regulation, arguing that legal oversight of the data industry is not only justifiable but essential to ensuring the long-term safety of our democracy.

Netflix: The Great Hack by co-directors Karim Amer and Jehane Noujaim

The documentary "The Great Hack," which was shortlisted from the Oscars, explores how the data firm Cambridge Analytica came to symbolize the dark side of social media in the wake of the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Cambridge Analytica collapsed in May 2018 after The Observer newspaper revealed the company had harvested some 87 million Facebook profiles without the users' knowledge or consent. Cambridge Analytica then used the data to sway voters to support President Trump during the 2016 campaign. We speak with "The Great Hack" co-directors Karim Amer and Jehane Noujaim, as well as Cambridge Analytica whistleblower Brittany Kaiser.

Where U.S. troops and military assets are deployed in the Middle East
Axios | Rashaan Ayesh | 01/08/20

The U.S. has maintained a costly presence in the Middle East for decades, with at least 60,000 troops currently stationed around the region, according to United States Central Command.

Driving the news: The killing of Iran's Gen. Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in a U.S. drone strike has put the world on edge, with Iran promising revenge. The U.S. is preparing to deploy about 3,000 additional troops to the region, and had already sent 750 troops after protesters attacked the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. ...

Trump Sexual Misconduct Lawsuit Heads To Top New York Court
HP | Marina Fang | 01/08/20

The state's highest court will consider whether former "Apprentice" contestant Summer Zervos can sue the sitting president.

Former "Apprentice" contestant Summer Zervos' sexual misconduct lawsuit against President Donald Trump is headed to New York state's highest court.

A panel of judges in Manhattan on Tuesday granted a request from Trump's legal team to send the case to the state Court of Appeals, which will consider whether Zervos can sue the sitting president. She claims Trump defamed her after she came forward in 2016 to accuse him of unwanted groping and kissing. ... Read more

Trump's Air Force One bombast on Iran
Axios | Mike Allen | 01/06/20

President Trump came in hot during a half-hour conversation with the White House press pool on Air Force One -- most of it off the record -- as he returned from Mar-a-Lago to Washington on Sunday.

What happened: He repeated his threat against Iranian cultural sites: "They're allowed to kill our people. They're allowed to torture and maim our people. They're allowed to use roadside bombs and blow up our people. And we're not allowed to touch their cultural site? It doesn't work that way." ...

The Middle East's cold war, explained | Vox | 01/07/17 | 10:18

Is Trump taking US into a new Gulf War? | Inside Story | AlJazeera | 01/04/20 | 25:10

Has Donald Trump lit the fuse to a new conflict in the Middle East? | Channel 4 | UK | 01/04/20 | 34:55

History of US-Iran Conflict Explained | Valuetainment | 09/17/19 | 30:19