Measles Outbreaks in New York, Israel Blamed on ‘Anti-Vax’ Movement
https://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2018/12/03/world-view-measles-outbreaks-in-new-york-israel-blamed-on-anti-vax-movement/
panic
Top shelf!
Russia, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia Mulling Exit From Paris Climate Accord, Senior US Official Says
Officials representing Russia, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia appear to have doubts about remaining in the Paris climate accord, a senior Trump administration official told reporters at the G-20 summit at Buenos Aires on Dec. 1.
The official made the remarks after the leaders of 20 nations signed a declaration (pdf) that includes a passage reiterating that the United States is withdrawing from the Paris Agreement. The portion of the declaration dealing with the climate caused the most contention among the parties and was the last to be settled, according to the official.
“What was interesting is that this was one of the last issues to close,” the official said. “Because the countries who typically might agree couldn’t agree with each other. And what you’re starting to see is you’re seeing a little bit of the coalition fraying. Countries like Turkey, like Saudi Arabia, like Russia, might be second-guessing some of that.”
President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the Paris climate agreement in June 2017. Russia and Turkey are signatories on the agreement, but have not yet ratified it internally. Saudi Arabia ratified the agreement in November 2016.
The G-20 declaration states that the signatories of the climate accord “reaffirm that the Paris Agreement is irreversible and commit to its full implementation.” That point is followed by a rebuke from the United States.
“The United States reiterates its decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, and affirms its strong commitment to economic growth and energy access and security, utilizing all energy sources and technologies, while protecting the environment,” the declaration states.
Saudi Arabia and Russia are now the world’s second- and third-largest oil producers after the United States became the world’s largest oil producer in August.
Russia’s Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Sergei Donskoi, told the Sputnik News Agency last year that America’s exit from the climate accord will not impact Russia’s plans to ratify it. Donskoi said Moscow would make a ratification decision no earlier than January 2019.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/russia-turkey-and-saudi-arabia-mulling-exit-from-paris-climate-accord-senior-us-official-says_2729550.html
Supreme Court Considers Who Bears Responsibility For Security Fraud
An investment banker who sent deceptive emails dramatically overstating the financial health of a failing clean energy company shouldn’t be held responsible for securities fraud because he was only following his supervisor’s directions, the man’s attorney told a skeptical Supreme Court.
U.S. securities laws forbid those offering securities for sale from making false statements or participating in fraudulent schemes. Whether a person who merely passes the bad information along is legally liable is at issue in this case.
The company, Waste2Energy Holdings Inc. of Neptune Beach, Florida, founded in 2007, went out of business in 2013 after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company had hoped to develop technology to convert waste to energy but failed to do so.
In 2009 Francis V. Lorenzo, then the director of investment banking at the brokerage Charles Vista LLC, emailed prospective investors offering for sale $15 million in debentures secured only by W2E’s earning capacity.
The emails indicated that W2E had $10 million in assets and purchase orders north of $40 million, and that the brokerage was willing to raise money to repay investors if needed.
But at the time the emails were sent, the company had already acknowledged that an audit had determined its assets were worth much less than $1 million.
Lorenzo’s boss and the brokers settled the claims the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) brought but Lorenzo refused. An SEC administrative law judge found Lorenzo’s superior drafted the emails but that Lorenzo had nonetheless broken the law by sending them because they contained false information about W2E’s financial situation.
The SEC banished Lorenzo from the securities industry for life and imposed a $15,000 civil penalty.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled against Lorenzo in 2017, finding that he participated in a scheme to defraud investors by sending the misleading emails even though he was not deemed to have made the untrue statements himself.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/supreme-court-considers-who-bears-responsibility-for-security-fraud_2729803.html