Halliburton eliminates Venezuela staff after U.S. sanctions halt operations

Oilfield services provider Halliburton Co has eliminated all staff positions in Venezuela as a result of U.S. sanctions limiting its operations in the crisis-stricken OPEC nation, a spokeswoman for the company said on Thursday.

Washington in April limited the activities Halliburton - as well as rivals Schlumberger NV, Baker Hughes Co and Weatherford International Plc - could perform in Venezuela. The United States in 2019 sanctioned state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela as part of its push to oust President Nicolas Maduro.

Halliburton said at the time that it had halted its operations in Venezuela.

“We have zero headcount in Venezuela,” the spokeswoman said in an emailed message on Thursday, adding that the company will maintain a presence in Venezuela through equipment and facilities.

Halliburton, as well as most other major international oil services companies operating in Venezuela, had even before the sanctions significantly scaled back operations and written off hundreds of millions of dollars in assets and receivables due to operational issues at PDVSA, and late payments by the company.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-oil-halliburton/halliburton-cuts-venezuela-staff-after-u-s-sanctions-halt-operations-idUSKBN2942HH?rpc=401&

The New Film “Seven”. Scientific Study of WTC Building 7

AE911Truth’s new documentary about Dr. Leroy Hulsey’s groundbreaking new study on WTC7

The new film Seven (trailer above), directed by Dylan Avery, examines the story of the scientific study of World Trade Center building 7 (WTC 7) recently published by the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The study was led by structural engineering professor J. Leroy Hulsey and took nearly five years to complete. It evaluated the possibilities for destruction of WTC 7 using two versions of high-tech computer software that simulated the structural components of the building and the forces that acted upon it on September 11th.

After inputting worst case conditions, and painstakingly eliminating what didn’t happen, Hulsey and his team of engineers came to the following conclusions:

The principal conclusion of our study is that fire did not cause the collapse of WTC 7 on 9/11, contrary to the conclusions of NIST and private engineering firms that studied the collapse. The secondary conclusion of our study is that the collapse of WTC 7 was a global failure involving the near-simultaneous failure of every column in the building.

These peer-reviewed conclusions directly contradict the findings of the U.S. government’s final investigation into WTC 7 as reported by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

Seven documents the journey of Professor Hulsey and his team from their introduction to the subject and the related evidence to the final publication of their report in March of this year. It is an interesting story and important for several reasons. First, it shows what an objective group of engineering science professionals will find if they look closely at the destruction of WTC 7. Additionally, it provides a great example of what one concerned citizen can do to make a great difference in shedding light on the truth of the events of September 11, 2001.

The concerned citizen, who was barely mentioned in the film, is John Thiel, a nurse anesthetist from Alaska. In 2010, Thiel began a 3-year process of looking for an engineer to conduct an honest scientific investigation into the destruction of WTC 7. Thiel was not a structural engineer, but he knew that the official reports on the destruction of that building were false and he wanted to do something about it. Ten years later, after contacting 150 engineers, finally finding and gaining Hulsey’s commitment to do it, and persuading Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth to get involved, Thiel’s persistence paid off.

https://www.globalresearch.ca/the-new-film-seven-scientific-study-of-wtc-building-7/5733355

UN Condemns Trump Blackwater Pardons As "Violation Of International Law"

Officials on a United Nations working group specializing in monitoring the role of mercenaries in conflicts on Wednesday blasted President Trump's pardons last week of four Blackwater contractors convicted of murdering unarmed Iraqi civilians as "an affront to justice".

"Pardoning the Blackwater contractors is an affront to justice and to the victims of the Nisour Square massacre and their families," said Jelena Aparac, who chairs a UN working group on the use of mercenaries. "These pardons violate U.S. obligations under international law and more broadly undermine humanitarian law and human rights at a global level."

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/un-chides-trump-blackwater-pardons-affront-justice-violation-international-law

China accuses US of provocation with Taiwan Strait passage

BEIJING — China accused the U.S. of staging a show of force by sailing two Navy warships through the Taiwan Strait Wednesday.

The Navy said the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers John S. McCain and Curtis Wilbur “conducted a routine Taiwan Strait transit” in accordance with international law.

Their freedom of navigation operations “demonstrates the U.S. commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” the Navy said in a statement on its website.

China’s Defense Ministry called the FONOP a “show of force” and a provocation that “sent the wrong signal to the ‘Taiwan independence forces’ and seriously endangered peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait area.”

“We firmly oppose this,” the ministry said in a statement on its official microblog, adding that it monitored the ships’ passage from the air and sea. “The Chinese People’s Liberation Army at all times maintains a high level of alert and can respond at any time to any threat or provocation and resolutely defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

It was the U.S. Navy’s second FONOP in the Taiwan Strait in little more than a week. The guided-missile destroyer Mustin transited through the Taiwan Strait Dec. 19, sparking similar outrage from Beijing.

While China claims Taiwan as its own territory, the busy Taiwan Strait is generally considered an international waterway. China fiercely opposes any signal of U.S. military support for Taiwan, a self-governing republic that relies on Washington for defensive weapons and political backing in the face of Chinese threats to annex the island by force.

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry issued a statement saying it had observed the passage of the ships passage and that “the situation is normal.”

https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2020/12/31/china-accuses-us-of-provocation-with-taiwan-strait-passage/

Graham calls for stand-alone vote on $2K checks

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) broke with his party's Senate leader Thursday, calling for a stand-alone vote on $2,000 stimulus checks.

"If you had a stand-alone vote on the $2,000 check, it might pass," Graham said while appearing on "Fox & Friends."

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has knocked the prospect of raising the stimulus checks that are going out to many Americans from $600 to $2,000, vowing the Senate would not pass a stand-alone bill increasing the amount. President Trump has pushed for the increase and the House passed one earlier this week, but most Senate Republicans are wary.

"The Senate is not going to be bullied into rushing out more borrowed money into the hands of Democrats' rich friends who don't need the help," McConnell said.

McConnell has offered a competing measure that would tie an increase in the checks to removing a legal shield for tech companies and creating a commission to examine the 2020 elections. But that proposal is viewed as a non-starter for Democrats.

Graham says McConnell is correct in saying that a stand-alone vote couldn't happen by Jan. 3. However, the new Congress begins that day at noon, and the vote stands a chance there.

That would mean, however, that the House would also need to pass its own bill again, as the existing approved measure would die when the current Congress ends.

"The new Congress, you could get a vote," Graham said. "I'd like a stand-alone vote in the new Congress on the $2,000 check."

Seven Republicans already said they would vote in favor of the increased checks, and five more would need to sign on to get it passed, Graham told "Fox & Friends."

"I think if we had the vote we would get there."

Bill to raise checks to $2K blocked for third day in Senate

Trump's push for $2K stimulus checks hits dead end in Senate

Republicans have expressed concern over the $2,000 stimulus checks, arguing they would add to the federal debt and they aren't the most efficient way to get relief money to those who really need it.

"I'm with the president on this," Graham said, noting President Trump's push for the increased checks last week. "Our economy is hanging by a thread here in South Carolina."

To help win GOP favor, Graham called for a stand-alone vote on three measures: Repealing Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, a commission to investigate fraud in the 2020 elections and a vote on $2,000 stimulus checks.

https://thehill.com/homenews/news/532215-graham-calls-for-stand-alone-vote-on-2k-checks

How California Politicians Created a Homelessness Crisis

California has more homeless people than any other state, with large homeless tent camps occupying the sidewalks of many of its streets. California also has the second most expensive housing of all states, lagging only behind Hawaii.

Writing at the Washington Examiner, Timothy P. Carney wonders to what extent the state government’s regulatory environment is contributing to both problems.

Land-use regulations make housing more expensive. The Los Angeles metro area ranks as the 15th most restrictive in land-use regulation.

People who own houses in housing-restricted places often don’t want to deregulate. They like the space. They fear the traffic. And they know that adding more housing could harm their home values. Of course, preserving scarcity in housing to keep your housing investments valuable is not really something most people want to admit to, so they make other arguments.

They suggest that the regulations drive up home values not by curbing supply but by giving people what they want: green buildings, safe buildings, adequate parking, and uncrowded neighborhoods.

But the one study that has looked into this finds that more than 90% of the price effect of regulation comes not from making the homes more desirable but from limiting supply. So regulation is affecting the market mostly by preventing homes from being built.

That finding raises a question. How many regulations has California put in the way of building homes?

According to QuantGov, last year the state government of California imposed on businesses and residents a total of 395,503 restrictions, as defined by the number of times that words like “must”, “shall”, “required”, “prohibited”, and “may not” appear within the online version of the California Code of Regulations (CCR).

Not only is that number more than any other state, it is nearly 88,000 more than the number of similar government-mandated restrictions imposed by New York’s government agencies, the state that ranks second in this measure.

Within the CCR, California’s Building Standards Code (Title 24) contains more restrictions than any other section, totaling no fewer than 75,712 restrictions. At the same time, the section for Housing and Community Development (Title 25) contains 12,204 restrictions, the tenth largest of all sections (or titles) contained in the CCR.

Combined to total 88,186 regulatory restrictions, these two sections that effectively dictate what housing may be built in California account for over 22 percent of the total regulatory burden set by all the state’s government agencies.

https://www.activistpost.com/2020/12/how-california-politicians-created-a-homelessness-crisis.html

Obamagate Targeting "Felt like HOSTILE TAKEOVER by Hostile Force!" | Lt. General Mike Flynn

Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton joins Lt. General Michael Flynn (Ret) to discuss Obamagate, the FBI’s targeting of Flynn, John Durham’s special counsel probe, & more! Read about our findings on Benghazi

https://www.judicialwatch.org/videos/fitton-flynn-interview/

Less than 10% of voters see China as an ally to the United States

A majority sees the country as between an ally and an enemy.

Less than 10% of American voters say the People's Republic of China as an "ally" of the United States, according to a new Just the News Daily Poll with Scott Rasmussen.

Just 7% of respondents said the Communist-run country was a U.S. ally, while 27% perceived China as an enemy. A majority of respondents – 54% – perceived the country as "in between" the two designations.

China's Communist government has been the subject of heightened criticism and scrutiny over the past year following allegations that it significantly mishandled the COVID-19 outbreak that began in that country and allowed the virus to spread worldwide.

Under the Trump administration. the country has also repeatedly been called our for efforts to manipulate financial markets and impose unfair restrains to companies trying to do business in China, including wanting access to foreign companies' intellectual property.

Click here to see this poll's cross-demographic tabulations.

Click here to see the poll's methodology and sample demographics.

https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/polling/less-10-voters-see-china-ally-united-states

riWest Healthcare Alliance Corp. Agrees to Pay $179.7 Million to Resolve Overpayments from the Department of Veterans Affairs

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/triwest-healthcare-alliance-corp-agrees-pay-1797-million-resolve-overpayments-department

https://www.informationliberation.com/?id=61973

China Looks To Cartoons, Social Media To Form A Patriotic Generation

Chinese President Xi Jinping's regime has renewed efforts to instill patriotism in China's newest generation

A media blitz through social media and cartoons has proven more effective than older methods

Efforts have extended to higher education, where the CCP has strengthened its grip on university curriculums

China has a long history of focusing on the political education of new generations. Under the guidance of President Xi Jinping, however, the Chinese Communist Party has turned to social media and cartoons to instill sympathetic attitudes in the nation’s children.

Pro-China propaganda has become the norm in recent years. A multi-pronged effort to spread nationalistic sentiment across the internet has found great success through appealing imagery and sheer scale.

The Chinese Communist Youth League updated its practices in 2016, expanding onto more social media sites to focus on youth outreach. Its video account on Chinese social media platform Bilibili rivals that of CNN on YouTube, despite Bilibili’s comparatively small reach.

An example of the new style of propaganda is a children’s cartoon called Year Hare Affair, which depicts international events with a heavy pro-China bias using animals to represent countries. Cute Chinese rabbits are placed in opposition to the villainous American bald eagle, surprising him with the development of an atom bomb or foiling his plot to destabilize Hong Kong with the help of scheming cockroaches.

When Year Hare Affair was just an independent webcomic, its creator Lin Chao wasn’t sure the government would approve of media likely to inflame foreigners. That quickly changed after the first season garnered over 100 million views and the military and police stepped in to co-produce recent episodes.

The message is mostly simple to understand. Data indicates that basic narratives paired with good production value have worked for the CCP. A national study by researchers at Shanzi University indicated that those born after 1998 are more patriotic than previous generations.

An online survey of around 600 teens found words like “lucky” and “satisfied” to describe their Chinese upbringing in more than 90% of responses. It’s a marked departure from their parents and grandparents, many of whom viewed China as underdeveloped.

Higher learning institutions have also been co-opted to ensure that the pipeline of political education continues into adulthood. Universities have changed their charters to place loyalty to the party over all other priorities, and the government struck “independent thought” from the list of values schools are meant to instill under the Law for the Protection of Minors.

https://www.ibtimes.com/china-looks-cartoons-social-media-form-patriotic-generation-3112038

Shocked, Shocked to Find Europe Cutting Deals With China Behind Our Back

Europe and China yesterday signed a Comprehensive Agreement on Investment after seven years of negotiation. Why now? As I report at Asia Times, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron pushed the deal through to pre-empt anything that the new U.S. administration might have to say on the subject.

From my article:

Representatives of the incoming Biden Administration tried and failed to stop the European Union from signing an investment treaty with China this week.

After seven years of often-stalled negotiations, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron pushed for a final agreement on the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI) before the new US Administration takes office January 20.

A German government official, speaking on background, said that Europe wanted to present Washington with a fait accompli before the new administration could have a chance to exert pressure on the Europeans to keep a distance from China. China of course was on board for that.

“Members of the Biden team in Brussels campaigned against the deal with China in order to be able to exercise more pressure on China in future negotiations,” reported the center-right German daily Die Welt.

Deputy National Security Adviser Matthew Pottinger said, “Leaders in both U.S. political parties and across the U.S. government are perplexed and stunned that the EU is moving towards a new investment treaty right on the eve of a new U.S. administration.”

Perplexed? Germany now sells more to China than it does to the U.S., thanks to China’s economic snapback and America’s continued economic weakness. East Asia (not just China, but South Korea and Taiwan) crushed the pandemic in weeks, while we still can’t distribute the vaccine we have. Last month China signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership with fifteen other Asian countries, eliminating most tariffs on imports from Japan among others. U.S. economic importance is shrinking.

China has a $1.4 trillion, five-year budget to support high tech R&D and investment. China outspends us 10:1 on quantum computing research. China is determined to lead the Fourth Industrial Revolution–mobile broadband, quantum communications, quantum computing, Artificial Intelligence, self-programming industrial robots, self-regulating farms, autonomous vehicles, and so forth. It’s no wonder that Europe and Japan are cutting deals with China. China is where the market is, and, increasingly, where the technology is.

Beijing is using trade and investment deals with Europe and Japan to batter its own industry into shape, as I reported at Asia Times.

There’s a lot of talk from the Biden camp about multilateral diplomacy to shape up an alliance of democracies to contain China. It looks like the Biden administration has been made irrelevant before it takes office.

https://pjmedia.com/spengler/2020/12/31/shocked-shocked-to-find-europe-cutting-deals-with-china-behind-our-back-n1295419