QAnon Crackpots Think They Can Sue the Media

Some of the QAnon crackpots apparently think that they have grounds to sue the media for reporting on their unhinged conspiracy theories and making them look like they’re cuckoo for cocoa puffs. They’re posting about it in a QAnon subreddit, complaining that their families are distancing themselves from them because of it.

“I’m serious, the MSM is responsible for this sh*t,” wrote one QAnon believer while describing how his own mother recently accused him of being a conspiracy nut. “How many families have been fighting for the past two-years? Breakups. divorces, fired, estranged families and ex-friends. God damn the MSM, I can’t wait anymore. Let’s just sue them now.”

In response to the original post, other QAnon believers chimed in with their own tales of family members turning on them.

“I’m sleeping on the couch again tonight because I had a flair up,” wrote a QAnon believer who calls himself “Covpepe1776.” “I hope this turns out to all be truer than true. My wife wants to divorce me soon possibly because she thinks I’m in a cult group for reading this stuff. It sucks. I’m do sick over it.”

“My daughter and brother will not speak to me,” wrote another believer. “Since my mom and dad are dead, I have none of my original family.”

If a media outlet publishes false information and they can show that they did so with malice and intent, they might have grounds for such a suit. But as long as they’re reporting these wingnuts’ beliefs accurately, it isn’t the media making them look like crackpots — they are crackpots. And the only one they have to blame is themselves. But why am I not surprised that Trump sycophants look to blame everyone but themselves for their problems?

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/dispatches/2018/08/21/qanon-crackpots-think-they-can-sue-the-media/

Washington freezes Russian assets in US worth hundreds of millions of dollars - US Treasury

https://www.rt.com/business/436486-washington-freezes-russian-assets-us/

Treasury Targets Russian Shipping Companies for Violations of North Korea-related United Nations Security Council Resolutions

August 21, 2018

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today announced North Korea-related designations, continuing the implementation of existing United Nations (UN) and U.S. sanctions. Today’s action against two entities and six vessels was taken pursuant to Executive Order 13810 of September 20, 2017, and targets persons involved in the ship-to-ship transfer of refined petroleum products with North Korea-flagged vessels, an activity expressly prohibited by the UN Security Council (UNSC).

“Ship-to-ship transfers with North Korea-flagged vessels from Russia or elsewhere of any goods being supplied, sold, or transferred to or from the DPRK are prohibited under the UN Security Council resolutions on North Korea and are sanctionable under U.S. law,” said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. “Consequences for violating these sanctions will remain in place until we have achieved the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea.”

Today OFAC designated Vladivostok, Russia-based shipping companies Primorye Maritime Logistics Co Ltd (Primorye) and Gudzon Shipping Co LLC (Gudzon), the registered ship owners and managers of Russia-flagged merchant vessel (M/V) PATRIOT (IMO 9003550). In early 2018, the PATRIOT conducted two ship-to-ship transfers of oil for the benefit of North Korea, including 1,500 tons of oil to the North Korea-flagged M/V CHONG RIM 2 (IMO 8916293) and 2,000 tons of oil to the North Korea-flagged M/V CHON MA SAN (IMO 8660313). The ultimate buyer was UN- and U.S.-designated Taesong Bank, a North Korean entity subordinate to the UN- and U.S.-designated Workers’ Party of Korea Office 39, which engages in illicit economic activities for North Korean leadership. The CHONG RIM 2 was listed by the UN and the United States in March 2016. The CHON MA SAN was blocked by the United States in February 2018, and subsequently it was listed by the UN in March 2018 for its involvement in a UN-prohibited ship-to-ship transfer in mid-November 2017.

The following vessels have also been identified by OFAC as property in which Gudzon has an interest:

Russia-flagged vessel NEPTUN (IMO 8404991)

Russia-flagged vessel BELLA (IMO 8808264)

Russia-flagged vessel BOGATYR (IMO 9085730)

Russia-flagged vessel PARTIZAN (IMO 9113020)

Russia-flagged vessel SEVASTOPOL (IMO 9235127)

Identifying information on the individual, entities, and vessels sanctioned today.

https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm463

Treasury Targets Attempted Circumvention of Sanctions

August 21, 2018

Washington –Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is targeting Russian actors’ efforts to circumvent U.S. sanctions. This action was taken pursuant to authority provided under Executive Order (E.O.) 13694, “Blocking Property of Certain Persons Engaging in Significant Malicious Cyber-Enabled Activities,” as amended, and as codified by the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), to designate two entities and two Russian individuals in order to counter attempts to evade U.S. sanctions.

“The Treasury Department is disrupting Russian efforts to circumvent our sanctions,” said Steven T. Mnuchin, Secretary of the Treasury. “Today’s action against these deceptive actors is critical to ensure that the public is aware of the tactics undertaken by designated parties and that these actors remain blocked from the U.S. financial system.”

As a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of the designated persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.

Designated Entities and Individuals

The individuals and entities identified below are being designated based on the actions they undertook for Divetechnoservices, a Russian entity sanctioned on June 11, 2018 pursuant to E.O. 13694, as amended, for procuring a variety of underwater equipment and diving systems for Russian government agencies, to include the Federal Security Service (FSB). The FSB was sanctioned on December 28, 2016, pursuant to E.O. 13694, as amended, and on March 15, 2018, pursuant to CAATSA Section 224.

Vela-Marine Ltd. was designated pursuant to E.O. 13694, as amended, for having attempted to act or purported to act for or on behalf of Divetechnoservices. As of July 2018, Divetechnoservices utilized Vela-Marine Ltd. in an attempt to circumvent U.S. sanctions.

Marina Igorevna Tsareva (Tsareva) was designated pursuant to E.O. 13694, as amended, for having acted for or on behalf of Divetechnoservices and Vela Marine Ltd. Tsareva has worked as an Import Manager for Divetechnoservices and attempted to help Divetechnoservices circumvent U.S. sanctions through Vela-Marine Ltd.

Anton Aleksandrovich Nagibin (Nagibin) was designated pursuant to E.O. 13694, as amended, for having acted for or on behalf of Divetechnoservices. As of July 2018, Nagibin was a Divetechnoservices’ employee involved in helping the company attempt to circumvent U.S. sanctions.

Lacno S.R.O. was designated pursuant to E.O. 13694, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services in support of, Divetechnoservices. As of May 2018, Lacno S.R.O., which is based in Slovakia, attempted to facilitate a payment for over $20,000 on behalf of Divetechnoservices. As of April 2018, Divetechnoservices planned to utilize Lacno S.R.O. to purchase equipment.

Identifying information on the individuals and entities designated today.

https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm462

Purposeful white hat narrative shift for upcoming revelations that powerful women can also sexually abuse? (i.e. HRC etc.)

A difficult #MeToo question: How many women are accused of sexual harassment?

There is a new boldface name in the #MeToo crosshairs—and this time it’s a woman.

Italian actress Asia Argento, the former girlfriend of the late Anthony Bourdain and one of the most vocal leaders of the #MeToo movement that has held powerful men to account for their own actions, paid off her own male accuser earlier this year, The New York Times reported on Sunday. Argento paid $380,000 to Jimmy Bennett, an actor and musician, who alleges that the then-37-year-old Argento sexually assaulted him in a California hotel room in 2013 when he was 17. The two played mother and son in the 2004 film, “The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things.”

Documents, which included a selfie of the two parties, were sent to the Times via an encrypted email from an anonymous source. “The fallout from ‘a sexual battery’ was so traumatic that it hindered Mr. Bennett’s work and income and threatened his mental health, according to a notice of intent to sue that his lawyer sent in November to Richard Hofstetter, Mr. Bourdain’s longtime lawyer, who was also representing Ms. Argento at the time,” the paper said. Argento is one of several women who have accused disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault.

Some feel the news is a blow to the credibility of the #MeToo movement, but others say it highlights a key point: Harassment is first and foremost about power, no matter who wields it. “I’ve said repeatedly that the #metooMVMT is for all of us, including these brave young men who are now coming forward,” Tarana Burke, the founder of MeToo, tweeted Monday. After initially tweeting that the Argento payment was a “set up,” actress Rosanna Arquette tweeted, “I stand by anyone who is a victim of sexual abuse I always have and I always will.”

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/a-difficult-metoo-question-how-many-women-are-accused-of-sexual-harassment-2018-08-21