tyb and thanks for the tunes
had a go at them in pb, all yours
U.S. shared nuclear power info with Saudi Arabia after Khashoggi killed
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration granted two authorizations to U.S. companies to share sensitive nuclear power information with Saudi Arabia shortly after the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October, a U.S. senator who saw the approvals said on Tuesday.
The timing of the approvals is likely to heap pressure on the administration of President Donald Trump from lawmakers who have become increasingly critical of U.S. support for Saudi Arabia since Khashoggi was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October.
Khashoggi, a native of Saudi Arabia, left in 2017 to became a resident of the United States where he published columns in the Washington Post critical of the kingdom’s leadership.
Senator Tim Kaine, a Democrat from Virginia, where Khashoggi lived, called the timing of the approvals “shocking” and said it adds to a “disturbing pattern of behavior” of the administration’s policy on Saudi Arabia. The Department of Energy granted the first part 810 authorization on Oct. 18, 16 days after Khashoggi was killed. The second occurred on Feb. 18.
U.S. authorities have concluded that responsibility for Khashoggi’s death went to the highest levels of the Saudi government. Riyadh has denied that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was involved.
The authorizations were among seven granted to U.S. companies by Trump’s administration since 2017, as Washington and Riyadh negotiate a potential wider agreement to help Saudi Arabia develop its first two nuclear power reactors.
The Energy Department has kept information in the approvals to Saudi Arabia confidential, citing protection of business interests.
The department confirmed the two authorizations were issued after the killing of Khashoggi, but did not respond to a question about why the names of the companies have not been released. In the past, 810 approvals have been made available for the public to view at department headquarters.
An 810 authorization “simply provides U.S. companies the ability to compete in the international civil nuclear market,” the official said.
Lawmakers have been anxious to be kept abreast of talks on nuclear power development between the administration and Riyadh to make sure any deal contains strict nuclear nonproliferation standards.
Saudi Arabia and Washington had begun talks about nuclear power development before Trump’s presidency. But progress has been slow as the kingdom opposes measures that would prevent it from enriching uranium and reprocessing plutonium, two potential pathways to making fissile material for nuclear weapons.
Last year the crown prince said the kingdom did not want to acquire a nuclear bomb, but if its arch-rival Iran did, “we will follow suit as soon as possible.”
Kaine, who had urged the administration to release the authorizations, said the approvals were “one of the many steps the administration is taking that is fueling a dangerous escalation of tension in the region.”
Late last month, Trump declared a national emergency because of tensions with Iran and swept aside objections from Congress to complete the sale of more than $8 billion worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan.
Riyadh plans to issue a multibillion-dollar tender in 2020 to build its first two nuclear power reactors, sources said in April. Originally expected last year, the tender has been delayed several times.
The United States, South Korea, Russia, China and France are competing for the business. Reactor builder Westinghouse, which has been hit by a downfall in the U.S. nuclear power industry, would likely sell components to Saudi Arabia in any deal involving U.S. technology. Westinghouse is now owned by Brookfield Asset Management Inc.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-nuclear-saudi/u-s-shared-nuclear-power-info-with-saudi-arabia-after-khashoggi-killed-idUSKCN1T52ER
o7
Toyota estimates Trump's Mexico tariffs could cost over $1 bil.
NEW YORK (Kyodo) – Toyota Motor Corp. estimates that U.S. President Donald Trump's proposed tariffs on Mexican-made goods could cost its major suppliers more than $1 billion, Reuters news agency reported Tuesday.
The Japanese carmaker provided the estimate in an email to its U.S. dealers, in which it also said 65 percent of the Tacoma midsize pickup trucks it plans to sell in the U.S. market in 2019 will be imported from its plant in Baja, Mexico, according to Reuters.
Trump has threatened Mexico with new levies beginning next Monday unless it stops migrants from crossing into the United States.
In the email dated Monday, Toyota's North American sales chief Bob Carter was reported to have told dealers that the duties could cost its major suppliers between $215 million and $1.07 billion.
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20190605/p2g/00m/0bu/052000c
I guess you will just have to set up the supplier production facility's here now won't ya?….
saw the chatter in the pb re: the current state of it all. help available should any of you need it.
Sanders Hands Over His Social Media Accounts to Walmart Workers Ahead of Attending Annual Meeting to Advocate for Employees
Sen. Bernie Sanders turned over his social media accounts to Walmart workers on Tuesday—one day before the Democratic presidential candidate is set to attend the retail giant's annual meeting, at the invitation of some employees, to advocate for higher wages and introduce a shareholder's proposal that aims to ensure hourly workers are represented on the company's board.
Sanders is a longtime supporter of expanding labor rights and critic of Walmart. During the last congressional session, Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) introduced the Stop WALMART Act, which would bar major American corporations that don't pay employees $15 an hour plus benefits from buying back their own stock.
"What the workers want is a seat at the table," the senator said in an introductory video posted to Twitter Tuesday. "My message to the Walton family will be: We are tired of subsidizing you, pay your workers a living wage."
I'm going to the @Walmart shareholders' meeting tomorrow to end the greed of the wealthiest family in America.
Walmart workers deserve a living wage and seats on the board.
Today, I'm handing over my social media to Walmart workers to tell their stories and #EndWalmartGreed. pic.twitter.com/e8jAuAtUrH
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) June 4, 2019
Walmart workers shared their stories in additional videos posted to the presidential hopeful's Twitter profile and Facebook page.
Adriana Bautista, who lives in Texas and has worked at Walmart for 14 years, said in Spanish, "I'm a mother for four beautiful girls and they are the ones who suffer when my employer gives me only 15 hours of work per week."
"It's time for workers like me," Bautista continued, "to have a voice at Walmart's executive table."
“I’m a mother of 4 beautiful girls and they are the ones who suffer when [Walmart] only gives me 15 hours of work per week.”
Adriana has worked at Walmart for 14 years. Tomorrow I will join Walmart workers to demand workers like her have a seat on the board. #EndWalmartGreed pic.twitter.com/oye3Ilrruv
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) June 4, 2019
Cynthia Murray, a 19-year Walmart associate based in Maryland, highlighted the profits of the shareholders, most notably the Walton family, compared with "workers who can't even afford to buy food at the end of the day."
"That's a shame," Murray said. "The Waltons' greed must end."
Calling on politicians to "stand with the people that elected them," Murray added, "Join me and Bernie Sanders in demanding that the wealthiest family in America pay all their workers a living wage of $15 an hour."
The shareholder's proposal that Sanders plans to introduce was filed by Cat Davis, a Walmart employee and leader of labor rights group United for Respect. Walmart's annual shareholders' meeting is scheduled to begin Wednesday in Bentonville, Arkansas at 10am local time. According to a press release, the meeting will be streamed on the company website here.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/06/04/sanders-hands-over-his-social-media-accounts-walmart-workers-ahead-attending-annual
Do some neutral drops and handbrake turns in the parking lot!
have some racing experience and used to do track days before it got too expensive and the douche factor rose, quit mostly because of the later. That car would beg me to stop
chek't