James O’Keefe Strikes Again: PBS Counsel Michael Beller Caught on Video Promoting Violence, ” Americans F**king Dumb – Take Their Children”

James O’Keefe and Project Veritas scored another significant hit on the liberal mainstream media on Tuesday morning.

Veritas recorded PBS Principal Counsel Michael Beller inciting violence against Trump supporters in a radical leftwing rant.

Beller told the Veritas reporter, “Go to the White House and throw Molotov cocktails… Even if Biden wins, we go for all the Republican voters, Homeland Security will take their children away… Americans are f**king dumb.”

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/01/james-okeefe-strikes-pbs-counsel-michael-beller-caught-video-promoting-violence-americans-fking-dumb-video/

The Same Company that De-Platformed Parler, Amazon Web Services, Is Again Petitioning to Run Pentagon Defense Systems

This past week Amazon Web Services (AWS) shut down Twitter competitor, Parler, because AWS didn’t like Parler’s policy of providing for free speech. Meanwhile AWS is again petitioning to run the Pentagon’s Defense System.

We reported in July that Amazon banned censorship documentary “Killing Free Speech”:

Then we saw last week that Amazon Web Services (AWS) kicked Parler off its web servers, shutting the platform down:

Amazon Web Services is taking another run at getting the court to set aside the Pentagon’s 10-year, $10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure cloud contract award to Microsoft.

According to an updated lawsuit filed in the Court of Federal Claims, AWS’ revised proposal – a corrective action that took place while the case was on remand — was tens of millions of dollars less than what Microsoft offered. Additionally, AWS claims the Defense Department’s choice reflects the long-standing animus of President Donald Trump toward Jeff Bezos, founder of AWS parent company Amazon.

“[T]hese errors did not occur in a vacuum,” the lawsuit states. “Instead they can be best explained as the latest manifestation of President Trump’s determination to steer the JEDI contract away from AWS.”

The revised complaint is dated Oct. 23 and was released with redactions on Dec. 15. DOD publicly announced the re-award to Microsoft on Sept. 4. The contract was originally awarded to Microsoft in October, 2019. The request for proposals was released in the summer of 2018 and the structure of the single-award enterprise cloud contract was developed the year before that.

Does it seem like a good idea to give a large defense contract to a company that shuts down other companies because it wants to?

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/01/company-de-platformed-parler-amazon-web-services-petitioning-run-pentagon-defense-systems/

Small Businesses Freaking Out About Surging Taxes Under Biden

In December, the first month after Donald Trump's loss, the NFIB Small Business Optimism Index slumped 5.5 points to 95.9, falling below the average Index value since 1973 of 98, and missing expectations of a triple digit print. Nine of the 10 Index components declined and only one improved. Of note, owners expecting better business conditions over the next six months tumbled by a whopping 24 points to a net negative 16%, realizing that a Democrat admin is hardly conducive to small business growth.

“This month’s drop in small business optimism is historically very large, and most of the decline was due to the outlook of sales and business conditions in 2021,” said NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg. “Small businesses are concerned about potential new economic policy in the new administration and the increased spread of COVID-19 that is causing renewed government-mandated business closures across the nation.”

Among the notable findings in the latest report:

The Uncertainty Index decreased 8 points to 82.

The percent of owners thinking it’s a good time to expand decreased 4 points to 8%.

Sales expectations over the next three months declined 14 points to a net negative 4%.

Earnings trends over the past three months declined 7 points to a net negative 14% reporting higher earnings.

What we found most interesting, however, is what small business owners overwhelmingly listed as the single "most important problem." Here, after monthly of complaining about the quality of labor and poor sales, in December there was a new biggest concern: "taxes"…

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/small-businesses-freaking-out-about-surging-taxes-under-biden

Beijing accuses Australia of politicizing business as Chinese bid for major builder is blocked for 'security concerns'

China's Foreign Ministry on Tuesday told Canberra it was a mistake to politicize commercial cooperation after Australia's treasurer blocked a takeover bid for one of the largest builders from a Chinese company.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg rejected a takeover bid launched by China State Construction Engineering Corp last year for a major stake in Probuild, the Australian subsidiary of a South African parent company Wilson Bayly Holmes-Ovcon (WBHO).

The deal, which required the approval of the treasurer and Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board, was rejected over concerns it could give foreign intelligence services access to information about the country's critical infrastructure.

The purchase was reportedly worth AU$300 million ($232 million), but the potential buyer had been told the deal "would be rejected by the federal government on the grounds of national security," and the Chinese company had to drop the bid.

China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian on Tuesday accused Canberra of violating market principles. "Such actions have disrupted the sound momentum in practical cooperation between China and Australia and hurt the image and reputation of Australia itself," he said. "It is a mistake to politicize normal commercial cooperation and seek political interference in the name of national security."

https://www.rt.com/news/512273-china-australia-business-security/

Facebook DELETES account of Iran’s Press TV news network with 4 million subscribers

Social media giant Facebook has shut down an account run by Press TV, a major Iranian English-language media outlet. The network said it was provided with no warning or explanation ahead of the deletion.

The network’s page, boasting a four-million-strong following, vanished from Facebook on Tuesday afternoon.

Facebook deletes Press TV's main page without any warning or explanation #BreakingNews#PressTV#facebookpic.twitter.com/j4aDg2BlOp

— Press TV (@PressTV) January 12, 2021

“In a notification upon taking down the page early on Tuesday, the US-based social media giant said the decision was ‘final,’ adding that it could not provide additional information for ‘safety and security reasons,’” Press TV has said, condemning the “attack” by the social media giant.

https://twitter.com/PressTV/status/1349003869351780353?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Deutsche, Signature Bank Abandon Trump Over Capitol Unrest

Whatever disappointment President Trump is feeling about being barred from his Twitter and Facebook accounts, he's probably more upset about this: Deutsche Bank, one of the Trump Organizations biggest lenders from the past 20 years, says it will no longer do business with the Trump family, according to the NYT.

Another bank, Signature Bank, where Trump has checking, savings and money-market accounts, said that it would close accounts belonging to Trump worth some $5.3MM.

NEW: Banks are moving away from Trump & his company.

• @DeutscheBank won't work with him in the future, source says.

• Signature Bank, which long had close ties with Trump and Kushner, is closing his accounts. with @EricLiptonNYT @SteveEder @maggieNYT https://t.co/Zu7HzJAS6z

— David Enrich (@davidenrich) January 12, 2021

What's more, Signature Bank, where Ivanka Trump once sat on the board, is officially calling on Trump to resign, saying that while it hopes to soon go back to assiduously avoiding politics, the president had put Signature in an uncomfortable position.

"We believe the appropriate action would be the resignation of the president of the United States, which is in the best interests of our nation and the American people,” the bank said in a separate statement on Monday.

For years, Signature has served Trump and others in his orbit, including Ivanka, Jared Kushner and even Michael Cohen. It even helped finance the construction of Trump's Florida golf course. But the bank added that not only would it stop banking with Trump, it would also bar any lawmakers who backed the election challenge from banking there as well.

The head of Deutsche Bank US also released a statement calling Wednesday's Capitol riot a "dark day" for American democracy.

"Yesterday was a dark day for America and our democracy,” Deutsche Bank Americas head Christiana Riley posted on LinkedIn. "We are proud of our Constitution and stand by those who seek to uphold it to ensure that the will of the people is upheld and a peaceful transition of power takes place.”

As the NYT reported shortly before the election, Trump still owes about $300MM in a series of personally guaranteed loans to DB that come due in 2023 and 2024. That doesn't give him a ton of time to work out new deals, but his son Eric Trump has insisted that some deals involving foreign partners are in the works. Rosemary Vrablic, the DB banker who managed the relationship with the Trumps, left DB shortly after the election

A lot could change in that time. For all we know, DB could change its mind and offer Trump an opportunity to roll over the remaining balance that he can't afford to pay back (the bank has already lent Trump money against its better judgment once).

DB faced pressure from lawmakers throughout Trump's term in office after it was revealed that the bank was the Trump Organization's primary lender since the late 1990s. Now, according to the NYT, the bank has determined that, short of forgiving Trump's massive debt, the bank has few options for extricating itself from its business ties to Trump.

All of this practically ensures that Trump will need to look abroad for financing if he wants to roll over the DB loans. When that happens, we imagine Democrats will be waiting to pounce and accuse him of trading American secrets for financial favors.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/deutsche-signature-bank-abandon-trump-over-capitol-unrest