"I Was Not On Weed": In Tearful Interview, Musk Admits Nobody Reviewed Going Private Tweets

In a rare, hour-long interview with the New York Times, in which the increasingly unstable Tesla CEO "alternated between laughter and tears", Elon Musk provided a unique glimpse into his mind, confirming just how fragile and combustible everything inside of it is right now.

"This past year has been the most difficult and painful year of my career. It was excruciating" a tearful Musk said, apparently forgetting all those documented trips to London, Brazil, Australia, Grimes in tow, to party and blow off steam.

But while Musk may have had his share of self-created turmoil, most of it dutifully recorded on his own twitter account, it all blew up in his face when he abruptly declared on Twitter on August 7 that he had arranged to take Tesla private "funding secured." The episode kicked off a furor in the markets and within Tesla itself, launched an SEC probe, and speaking to the NYT, Musk even acknowledged "that he was fraying."

Case in point: at multiple points in the phone interview with The NYT, Musk "choked up, noting that he nearly missed his brother’s wedding this summer and spent his birthday holed up in Tesla’s offices as the company raced to meet elusive production targets on a crucial new model."

Asked if the exhaustion was taking a toll on his physical health, Mr. Musk answered: “It’s not been great, actually. I’ve had friends come by who are really concerned.”

Much of the interview was a "self-pity party", as Musk hopes to garner sympathy points from readers as well as the SEC: he said he had been working up to 120 hours a week recently — echoing the reason he cited in a recent public apology to an analyst whom he had berated. In the interview, Mr. Musk said he had not taken time off of more than a week since 2001, when he was bedridden with malaria.

“There were times when I didn’t leave the factory for three or four days — days when I didn’t go outside,” he said. “This has really come at the expense of seeing my kids. And seeing friends.”

Perhaps, but what the SEC will be mostly focused on is Musk's admission, and latest revision to the "going private" narrative, that no one saw or reviewed his tweet about the plan to take Tesla private before he posted it.

Musk provided a "detailed timeline" of the events leading up to the Twitter postings on Aug. 7 in which he said he was considering taking the company private at $420 a share. He asserted that he had “funding secured” for such a deal, which it has since emerged was a fabrication, and potential market fraud with the sole intention of "burning shorts."

That morning, Mr. Musk woke up at home with his girlfriend, the musician known as Grimes, and had an early workout. Then he got in a Tesla Model S and drove himself to the airport. En route, Mr. Musk typed his fateful message.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-08-17/i-was-not-weed-tearful-interview-musk-admits-nobody-reviewed-going-private-tweets

Second Social Media Giant Blocks Republican Elizabeth Heng’s Ad — Because Her Family’s Story Contains “Inappropriate Content”

Elizabeth Heng is running for Congress in California’s 16th Congressional District as a Republican.

Elizabeth was raised in Fresno where her family instilled in her a strong work ethic. As a child, she worked at her parent’s Asian grocery store. She attended public school and was class Valedictorian at Sunnyside High School in Fresno, California.

Last week Elizabeth Heng posted a video describing scenes of horrific events her parents went through in Cambodia.

Her parents escaped the Communist regime in Cambodia to resettle in California.

THIS VIDEO IS PHENOMENAL! YOU MUST TAKE THE TIME TO WATCH IT—

Facebook rejected Elizabeth’s video because it was “too shocking.”

History is TOO CONTROVERSIAL for Facebook.

Elizabeth is a Republican.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2018/08/second-social-media-giant-blocks-republican-elizabeth-hengs-ad-because-her-familys-story-contains-inappropriate-content/

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Turkey's Collapse Could Send "Millions" Of Refugees Flooding Into Europe

As Turkey braces for a fresh round of US sanctions amid a plummeting lira and what Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan says is "economic warfare" with Washington over the detention of US pastor Andrew Brunson, millions of refugees - primarily from Northern Africa and neighboring Syria, would likely flood into Europe as the Turkish economy collapses according to Newsweek.

Over 3.5 million refugees now live in Turkey after having escaped the brutal conflict that has continued for over seven years in neighboring Syria. At the same time, there are at least half a million refugees from other parts of the Middle East and Northern Africa also living in the transcontinental country.

Many of these migrants settled in the country because of a deal Ankara struck with the European Union in 2016. -Newsweek

“There are 4 million refugees in Turkey. Even though they haven’t integrated into Turkish society, they have benefited from a welcoming government. Erdoğan says he’s spent $20 billion of unbudgeted funds on these people. It’s quite clear these are unbudgeted expenditures he’s been willing to spend. But if you add another million on top of that, who knows,” Bulent Alizira, director of the Turkey program at the Washington, D.C.–based Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Newsweek.

Erdoğan was convinced to bring the European migrant influx under control in exchange for $6.6 billion in assistance, however this may be untenable as the Turkish economy goes deeper into a death-spiral, and another million migrants may cross the border after an impending Russian-backed Syrian government offensive in the jihadist stronghold of Idlib province.

Turkey, meanwhile, has threatened to open the floodgates to Europe in the past - as foreign minister Süleyman Soylu warning that Ankara could send "15,000 refugees to you… each month and blow your mind," while threatening Brussels into footing the bill for the multi-billion dollar deal.

Such a scenario "could have major political consequences for politicians like German Chancellor Angela Merkel," whose internal battles within her coalition government have left it in a precarious state after significant pressure to dial back her EU open-border migration policies which began in 2015.

Merkel has urged the Erdoğan administration to maintain the independence of Ankara's central bank - stressing the importance of an "economically stable neighborhood," while speaking from Bosnia this week. "No one…has an interest in an economic destabilization of Turkey, but of course everything must be done so that, for example, an independent central bank can work and so on," she added.

That said, experts cited by Newsweek say that the majority of migrants who might flee an economic collapse in Turkey would likely flood into Greece, not Germany.

"Erdoğan has been talking about sending people back to parts of Syria that Turkey controls. But many of the refugees are from the areas that [Syrian President Bashar] al-Assad controls, they aren’t going to want to go to northern Syria," says Alizira. "The so-called Balkan route has been closed down. If Turkey turns on the spigot, which is a terrible way to refer to refugees, they’ll go to Greece. If boats start to leave Turkey, it’ll be a problem for Greece. Beyond, I don’t think it’ll hurt the EU."

“Clearly if Turkey’s economic crisis continues, if the government has to seriously reign in public funding, funding for refugee programs would have to be on the chopping block,” Ross Wilson, an expert on Turkey at the Atlantic Council in Washington D.C., told Newsweek. “But I doubt that there will be much impact in the short term.”

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-08-17/turkeys-collapse-could-send-millions-syrian-refugees-flooding-europe

‘We are not going to take it sitting down’: Trump on detention of US pastor in Turkey

US President Donald Trump has vowed to take new steps to free an American pastor detained in Turkey, stating that “we haven’t seen the last of it.” Pastor Andrew Brunson has been held by Ankara since 2016.

“They should have given him back a long time ago, and Turkey has in my opinion acted very, very badly,” Trump told reporters on Friday. “So, we haven't seen the last of that. We are not going to take it sitting down. They can't take our people.”

The US president’s remarks followed a ruling by a Turkish court, which rejected an appeal for the release of US Pastor Andrew Brunson.

The man has been detained by Turkish authorities for nearly two years. Brunson is accused of being linked to Fethullah Gulen, a US-based cleric who Ankara has said was the mastermind behind the botched coup attempt in July 2016. Brunson faces up to 35 years in Turkish jail over a number of charges, which include espionage and acting “on behalf of terror groups.”

Back in September 2017, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan offered the US the opportunity to swap Brunson for Gulen himself. “‘Give us the pastor back,’ they say. You have one pastor as well. Give him [Gulen] to us,” Erdogan said at the time.

The detained pastor has found himself in the middle of a diplomatic row between Washington and Ankara, which greatly escalated last week with Trump placing new tariffs on steel an aluminum imports – a move which has put significant pressure on Turkey. The new restrictions sent the Turkish lira into a downward spiral and prompted a strong reaction from President Erdogan, who said that his country would not “crumble” under the pressure. Turkey, for its part, hiked tariffs on some US goods such as tobacco, alcohol, cars, cosmetics and launched a boycott of US electronic devices, including Apple iPhones.

Trump, in turn, promised new sanctions against Ankara if the “wonderful” pastor was not released. “Turkey has taken advantage of the United States for many years. They are now holding our wonderful Christian Pastor, who I must now ask to represent our country as a great patriot hostage. We will pay nothing for the release of an innocent man, but we are cutting back on Turkey!” Trump tweeted on Thursday.

https://www.rt.com/usa/436225-trump-turkey-spat-pastor/

PENTAGON COMPED BY THE CABAL

Pentagon: China’s army ‘likely training for strikes’ against US targets

China has increased its military spending and capabilities in recent years and is probably conducting exercises designed to train the army for strikes against U.S. targets, according to a report from the Pentagon.

What are the details?

On Thursday, the Office of the Secretary of Defense released its annual report to Congress regarding military and security developments involving the People’s Republic of China. The assessment states:

“Over the last three years, the [People’s Liberation Army] has rapidly expanded its overwater bomber operating areas, gaining experience in critical maritime regions and likely training for strikes against U.S. and allied targets.”

The Defense Department also warned of China’s efforts to expand its air strike range in the region.

“The PLA may continue to extend its operations beyond the first island chain, demonstrating the capability to strike U.S. and allied forces and military bases in the western Pacific Ocean, including Guam,” according to the report.

China is also focusing more on military spending, the report said. Currently, the country dedicates an estimated $190 billion to its annual defense budget, which is roughly a third of what the U.S. spends. DOD officials expect China to increase its defense budget to $240 billion over the next decade.

China is also rapidly expanding its space program “despite its public stance against the militarization of space,” according to the report.

Has China responded to the report’s claims?

An op-ed published in China’s state-run Global Times on Friday took issue with the Defense Department’s assessment. Titled, “U.S. report on China’s military reveals its guilty conscience,” the editorial states, “The U.S.’ technical analysis of the PLA capability is one thing, the Pentagon’s publication of the analysis to hype the ‘China threat’ is another.

“As big a power with by far the biggest defense budget in the world, the U.S. does not hold moral ground allowing it to hype the military threat of other nations. When the U.S. appears so bold to hype the threat, it proves Washington has totally lost its moral ground and conscience.”

But the piece also confirmed that China is working to expand its military prowess, saying “the PLA will surely develop its air force with long-range strike capability,” and “China is developing its strategic nuclear capability.”

https://www.theblaze.com/news/2018/08/17/pentagon-chinas-army-likely-training-for-strikes-against-u-s-targets

Ariz. Democratic candidate for governor: We should let minors get abortions without parental consent

David Garcia, the top contender for the Democratic nomination in Arizona’s race for governor, believes minors should have the right to get an abortion without parental consent.

He made the comment during a July campaign event called Women with David Garcia — Southern Arizona.

What was he asked?

On an audio recording of the program, a female speaker asks Garcia, “Do you think that someone who is a minor — I have two little sisters who are like 13 and 14 — do you think that a minor should be allowed to have an abortion without parental consent?”

Garcia responded by claiming the question was tough, but good. He also asked those in attendance to put themselves in the shoes of a minor considering an abortion.

“That’s a good question. That’s a tough question,” Garcia responded.”Let’s put ourselves into that situation for a second. Let’s put ourselves into how tough that situation has to be.”

“And, in that very difficult crossroads,” he continued, “in that place where there are very few places to turn, I want them to have the ability to go to a professional, to go to a counselor to make that decision with their assistance. So, yes, I do.”

The audio recording was posted on YouTube on Wednesday. It was also apparently edited and not presented in full. At one point it sounds as if it is cut and then skips to another section.

TheBlaze made multiple attempts to obtain a comment from Garcia’s campaign office but received no response.

What are the state’s laws?

According to the Center for Arizona Policy, the state’s laws require parental consent for minors seeking abortions, but allows for judicial bypass.

Under the laws, parental permission must also be notarized. Minors can bypass parental consent by obtaining legal permission to procure an abortion from an Arizona superior court judge.

Garcia made his comment the day after he was endorsed by Arizona’s chapter of NARAL Pro-choice America, the Washington Free Beacon reported.

The group stated: “With reproductive rights more vulnerable today than they have been in decades, David Garcia is the leader that Arizona needs. … He has proven himself to be a strong advocate for reproductive justice.”

He is also endorsed by the Arizona chapter of Planned Parenthood.

Garcia has pledged to veto any bill that infringes on abortion.

“As governor, I’ll defend access to health care and veto any bill that infringes on women’s reproductive rights,” Garcia stated on Planned Parenthood’s website. “Women have fought too long and too hard to see their rights infringed upon and we need a strong governor in Arizona who will make sure we do not go backwards.”

What else?

Garcia, a college professor, will face state Sen. Steve Farley and Tucson YWCA executive director Kelly Fryer in the Aug. 28 primary election. Incumbent Gov. Doug Ducey is running against Ben Bennett in the GOP primary.

https://www.theblaze.com/news/2018/08/17/ariz-democratic-candidate-for-governor-we-should-let-minors-get-abortions-without-parental-consent

>>2645230

Yeah AGREED!

PROJECT GREATNESS

Nolte: The Vatican’s Pathetic Statement About ‘Shame and Sorrow’

The Vatican released a statement expressing “shame and sorrow” Thursday about the hundreds of predator priests uncovered in Pennsylvania. This statement comes after two days of silence and offers no quote from Pope Francis.

“There are two words that can express the feelings faced with these horrible crimes: shame and sorrow,” the statement reads. “The Holy See treats with great seriousness the work of the Investigating Grand Jury of Pennsylvania… The Holy See condemns unequivocally the sexual abuse of minors.”

“Victims should know that the Pope is on their side. Those who have suffered are his priority, and the Church wants to listen to them to root out this tragic horror that destroys the lives of the innocent.”

In the middle of these platitudes, comes this: “By finding almost no cases after 2002, the Grand Jury’s conclusions are consistent with previous studies showing that Catholic Church reforms in the United States drastically reduced the incidence of clergy child abuse.”

This is what stood out to me… “Almost no cases after 2002.”

We are talking about the kind of sexual abuse against children that would make Harvey Weinstein blush and the Church is using the words “almost no” in its defense.

Let’s read that another way…

Ford Motor: “Almost no Ford Pintos exploded and killed their occupants after 2002.”

The FBI: “Almost no FBI agents were involved in manipulating presidential elections after 2002.”

The local mosque: “Almost none of our Imams sought to radicalize terrorists after 2002.”

CNN: “Almost none of our reporters spread fake news after 2002.”

the Catholic Church: “Almost no children were raped by our priests after 2002.”

And then there is the whole “fool me once” aspect of all this.

These are the kinds of statements we heard 15 years ago when the first child abuse scandal exploded on the Church, and I am afraid empty words are just not good enough anymore.

I joined the Church in 2008 in large part because I was assured this was behind us, assured an unforgivable blot on the 2,000-year-old institution had been eradicated, assured this would not and could not happen ever again. And yet here we are in 2018 with the discovery that the coverup has been ongoing and that the standard when it comes to predatory priests raping children is “almost no[ne].”

Just as unacceptably is this sentence in the Vatican’s statement, “The Holy See also wants to underscore the need to comply with the civil law, including mandatory child abuse reporting requirements.”

You have child rapists in your own home and a gangster mentality protecting those child rapists… How can you not be proactive? How can you not be calling on every attorney general in all 50 states to launch investigations — with the FULL cooperation of the church — in all 50 states? How can you not be demanding these “secret archives” (incredibly, that was the Pennsylvania Church’s term for the secret files detailing the abuse and cover-ups) be released to the public in very diocese, not only here in America but throughout the world?

As a practicing Catholic, someone who loved the Church, who joined the Church as a 42-year-old adult, who was proud to call himself a Roman Catholic, I am horrified, not only by this report (which I intend to read in full), but by a powerful institution’s passive response to an unspeakable evil breeding within its own home.

And how are we to define this passiveness as something other than it is own kind of evil?

https://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2018/08/17/nolte-the-vaticans-pathetic-statement-about-shame-and-sorrow/

CNN: Antifa’s Violence Against ‘Bigots’ Is ‘Right

https://www.breitbart.com/big-journalism/2018/08/14/cnn-chris-cuomo-antifa-violence-right/

Dangerous 'forever chemicals' have been found in US drinking water at alarmingly high rates — here's what to know about PFAS

Cont. from images:

To hear directly from people whose drinking waters have been contaminated with PFAS, the EPA embarked on a cross-country listening tour this summer. Agency representatives have stopped in New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Colorado, and North Carolina to learn about how to help local utilities manage and clean up toxic water.

At one such hearing in Warminster, Pennsylvania in July, water and sewer manager Tim Hagey told the Associated Press that he used to assure people that drinking his town's water was worry-free. But no more.

"You all made me out to be a liar," Hagey reportedly told Environmental Protection Agency officials.

The most recent meeting was held Tuesday in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

Scientists who study the concentrations of PFAS in our blood agree that it's almost impossible to avoid exposure to the toxic chemicals.

In the hopes of lowering PFAS concentrations, some cities have started using activated charcoal filtration systems and reverse osmosis. Others may shift where the municipal water is sourced from.

But it's hard to rid water of PFAS, and you can't boil the chemicals away. Bottled water may not be any better, since it's much less regulated than tap water and isn't required to be tested for PFAS.

If you're worried about your own drinking water, you can check the EPA's annual drinking-water report online or look at an independent tap-water database from the Environmental Working Group. You can also use an NSF/ANSI-approved filter at home.

https://www.businessinsider.fr/us/what-are-pfas-chemicals-2018-8

Whistleblower makes shocking IRS, insider trading allegations

A whistleblower made this shocking allegation to me last week: the IRS was tipping off members of Congress to corporate takeovers so the elected officials could profit from insider trading.

My snitch also charged that higher-level employees of the IRS also used that information to enrich themselves.

This may sound crazy but remember: Up until a few years ago members of Congress were allowed to trade stock based on information they got while performing their public duties.

It wasn’t until 2012, during President Obama’s tenure, that the practice was banned.

But the difference between what had been going on legally until 2012 and what my whistleblower is contending is enormous.

Everyone assumed that members of Congress were just profiting from things they happened to learn while working on their committees — that a drug was going to get turned down by the FDA, for instance, or that a company was sniffing around to see how regulators would feel about a merger.

That was bad enough!

What the whistleblower alleges goes well beyond that and is, quite frankly, freakin’ mind-boggling.

MORE:

https://nypost.com/2018/08/15/whistleblower-makes-shocking-irs-insider-trading-allegations/

Twitter Promptly Suspends Tesla Whistleblower Following Tweets About His Former Employer

https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2018/08/twitter-promptly-suspends-tesla-whistleblower-following-tweets-about-his-former-employer/

>>2645480

posted yesterday

South Korea Proposes Broader Cooperation With North

S outh Korea President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday offered a bold vision for economic cooperation with North Korea, including joint economic zones along the countries’ border and a linked rail network—provided that the North takes real steps toward giving up its nuclear weapons.

“We must overcome division for our survival and prosperity,” Moon said in a speech marking National Liberation Day, which marks the end of Japan’s colonial rule over a then-unified Korea with the Allied victory in World War II, Yonhap reported.

“Even though political unification is still far away, building a single economic community first by settling peace and freely traveling back and forth between the two Koreas will become genuine liberation for us,” Moon said.

“This community will lead to an energy bloc and economic bloc in Northeast Asia by expanding our economic area to the northern continent and becoming the foundation of co-existence and prosperity in Northeast Asia,” Moon projected, according to Yonhap.

The president’s administration will seek to link railways and roads with the North before year-end.

The initiative is one of many efforts that Seoul is undertaking to strengthen peace in Northeast Asia following June’s milestone US-North Korea summit. Since then, the reclusive regime has dismantled some missile engine testing facilities, but many question leader Kim Jong-un’s willingness to deliver on the denuclearization promise he made to President Donald Trump.

Moon also called for broad energy and economic cooperation with the North, stressing his goal to politically unify both countries. “True liberation” will only be achieved when the two neighbors establish a lasting peace and economic relations, the head of state was quoted as saying.

Next month, Moon is expected to visit North Korea for his third summit meeting with Kim Jong-un. He suggested that South Korea should be a leader, not a spectator, in resolving the dispute between North Korea and the Trump administration over the North’s nuclear weapons.

https://financialtribune.com/articles/world-economy/91910/south-korea-proposes-broader-cooperation-with-north

‘Illegal Rubber-Stamp’ of Keystone XL Stalled as Federal Court Orders Full Environmental Review

Rejecting what critics have called the Trump administration’s “illegal rubber-stamp” of the Keystone XL pipeline, a federal court in Great Falls, Montana has sided with opponents of the project and mandated a full environmental impact review for the proposed route.

“The court saw through the sham fast-track environmental review that TransCanada and the State Department were trying to shove past Nebraska landowners and Tribal Nations.”

—Mark Hefflinger, Bold Alliance

“This is a huge win for the landowners and Tribal Nation members whose water and environment would be forever threatened by this dangerous tar sands project,” declared Jackie Prange, senior attorney at Natural Resources Defense Council.

“The court saw through the sham fast-track environmental review that TransCanada and the State Department were trying to shove past Nebraska landowners and Tribal Nations,” responded Mark Hefflinger of Bold Alliance. “We’ll continue to stand together against this tar sands export pipeline that threatens our land, water, and climate at every opportunity, and at every public hearing during the new court-ordered review of Nebraska.”

https://www.naturalblaze.com/2018/08/keystone-xl-stalled-full-environmental-review.html

A teacher battling cancer ran out of sick days. School employees showered him with theirs.

https://www.webnewsys.com/2018/08/a-teacher-battling-cancer-ran-out-of.html