>>4034525

Trump’s last, best chance for wall creates latest shutdown threat

Congress is returning to Washington with a tight deadline to pass seven spending bills and avert a partial government shutdown over President Trump’s demand that lawmakers fund his wall on the Mexican border.

The partial shutdown will take place on Dec. 7 if Congress does not pass legislation, creating the last chance for Trump to win wall funding before Democrats take over the House majority in January.

Trump has threatened to veto a spending bill that does not include funding for the wall. If he follows through, the partial shutdown would hit the Homeland Security, Justice and State departments, among other government entities.

“This would be a very good time to do a shutdown,” Trump told reporters at the White House earlier this month. “I don’t think it’s going to be necessary, because I think the Democrats will come to their senses, and if they don’t come to their senses, we will continue to win elections.”

Many think that Congress will get a bill past the finish line despite Trump’s talk.

https://thehill.com/policy/finance/417929-trumps-last-best-chance-for-wall-creates-latest-shutdown-threat

Democrat Kamala Harris could lose seat on Senate Judiciary Committee

Seen as a potential 2020 presidential contender, Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., garnered attention during Brett Kavanaugh's initial confirmation hearing with her intense questioning.

Reducing the size of the 21-member Senate Judiciary Committee is reportedly among the actions being considered by Senate Republicans as they prepare for the next Congress.

If that happens, Sen. Kamala Harris of California – a high-profile Democrat who is considered a possible candidate for her party’s 2020 presidential nomination – could be left off the panel, according to a report.

That’s because the first-term senator is the judiciary committee’s most junior member, and would be among the first to go if the panel is downsized, the Washington Post reported.

But some Democrats are reportedly scrambling to find a way to keep Harris on the committee, the report said. The ideas include negotiating with Republicans – who maintained control of the chamber after this month's midterm elections – to keep the committee at 21 members, or convincing a more senior Democrat to step aside.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/democrat-kamala-harris-could-lose-seat-on-senate-judiciary-committee-report-says

>>4034854 Ukraine' president imposed martial law

notable

moar sauce:

Russia-Ukraine crisis - live: Kiev puts military on 'full alert' as President Poroshenko requests martial law after navy seizes ships

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/russia-ukraine-live-latest-update-martial-law-black-sea-ships-navy-crisis-a8651736.html

Dem wanting social media scrutiny for gun-license applicants has violent, tax-delinquent past

Be careful what you tweet, if you hope to someday lawfully own a firearm in New York state.

A Democratic state lawmaker from Brooklyn has submitted a bill calling for all gun-license applicants to let the government review their social media posts going back three years and their internet searches going back one year.

Investigators would then look "any good cause for the denial of a license," such as racial slurs, threats of violence and terrorism-related posts.

But the bill's sponsor, state Sen. Kevin Parker, has a history of his own legal skirmishes.

Parker was convicted in 2010 of roughing up a New York Post photographer – and allegedly did the same to a traffic agent in 2005, but avoided punishment by agreeing to undergo anger management training.

In addition, government records cited by the Post in 2017 indicated Parker owed more than $50,000 in property taxes and water bills.

"I need a raise," Parker joked when interviewed by the Post. “I’m considering becoming an Uber driver upstate.” He said he and his brother inherited two properties, and their tax burdens, from their parents after they died.

As for his background-check bill, gun-license applicants would surrender their passwords for Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter and Instagram accounts, and subject to scrutiny their search histories on Google, Yahoo, and Bing search engines.

Parker's proposal followed the Oct. 27 massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. The suspect gunman allegedly posted anti-Semitic online before killing 11 people.

The New York Legislature's session begins in January, but no vote on Parker's bill has been scheduled.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/new-proposal-mandates-gun-license-applicants-give-authorities-social-media-passwords-search-history

KEK!

Former Border Patrol deputy chief defends using pepper spray: You could ‘put it on your nachos and eat it’

Former U.S. Border Patrol deputy chief Ron Colburn early Monday defended the use of pepper spray to deter migrants attempting to enter the U.S. at the Mexican border, saying it is “natural” and “you could actually put it on your nachos and eat it.”

"Fox & Friends" host Steve Doocy asked Colburn, who is now president of the non-profit Border Patrol Foundation, if such measures were necessary, prompting Colburn to call the contents of the pepper spray “natural” and “a good way of deterring people without long-term harm.”

https://thehill.com/latino/418192-border-patrol-foundation-president-defends-using-pepper-spray-you-could-put-it-on-your

China’s CNPC takes over Iranian mega gas project from France’s Total

China’s state-owned energy major CNPC has replaced France’s Total in Iran’s South Pars gas project, according to Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh. The French company withdrew from Iran under pressure of US sanctions.

The Chinese firm “has officially replaced Total in Phase 11 of South Pars but it has not started work practically,” he told ICANA news agency.

“Talks need to be held with CNPC… about when it will start operations,” Zanganeh added.

The French firm had a 50.1 percent stake in the project, CNPC has 30 percent, with the remaining shares belonging to Iranian national oil company subsidiary PetroPars.

Total was the first Western firm to invest in Iran’s energy sector after sanctions were lifted following the 2015 nuclear deal. It signed a contract in 2017 to develop Phase 11 of South Pars field with an initial investment of $1 billion.

However, Total was pressured to leave Iran after the United States threatened to impose sanctions on firms that do business with the Islamic Republic. In August, Total told Iranian authorities it would withdraw from the project as it has failed to obtain a waiver from Washington’s sanctions against Iran.

The offshore South Pars field holds the world’s largest natural gas reserves ever found in one place. At current gas prices, the entire reserves of the South Pars can be estimated at around $2.9 trillion. Iran shares the field with Qatar.

https://www.rt.com/business/444873-iran-gas-cnpc-total/

George Soros' Open Society foundation set to end operations in Turkey

Liberal billionaire George Soros’ Open Society Foundations NGO will close up shop in Turkey, saying “groundless claims and speculation” have hindered its work.

The organization announced the news on Monday, days after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Soros of stoking protests to divide the country, referring to the elderly liberal financier as that “famous Hungarian Jew Soros.”

Erdogan accused Soros of controlling Turkish opposition figure Osman Kavala, himself accused of financing and organizing anti-government demonstrations in 2013, and being linked to a failed coup attempt in 2016. Kavala is an advisory board member of OSF.

Over a dozen people linked to Kavala were arrested last week, as Erdogan’s crackdown on anyone suspected of involvement with the coup continues.

In a statement released Monday, an Open Society Foundations spokesman refuted Erdogan’s claims. The organization described Erdogan’s apparent attempts to link Soros with protests in 2013 as “not new and untrue,” and said that Erdogan’s “groundless claims and speculation” have “made it impossible” to continue its activities.

A prominent backer of liberal causes worldwide, Soros’ activities have seen him repeatedly draw the ire of nationalists and the right wing. OSF ended its operations in Soros’ native Hungary earlier this year, after Prime Minister Viktor Orban slammed the tycoon for meddling in the nation’s affairs.

After OSF closed its doors in Hungary, the country’s parliament approved the ‘Stop Soros’ law, a piece of legislation introduced by Orban’s Fidesz party that criminalized aid workers and organizations suspected of “enabling illegal immigration.” Liberalizing immigration and border controls has long been one of Soros’ goals, hence the law’s name.

The Open Society Foundations project was started in 1979, with the first non-US foundation opening in Hungary in 1984. The group currently has annual expenditures of over $940 million, operates in over 100 countries across the globe, with 26 national and regional foundations and offices.

https://www.rt.com/news/444889-soros-foundation-ends-operations-turkey/

>>4035102

A meme waiting to happen…