Anonymous ID: caa758 July 30, 2019, 11:34 a.m. No.7261722   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>2122 >>2233 >>2258 >>2385

Amazon & Google Use Secret Police Deals and Freebies To Spy On Everyone

 

Amazon and Google are using secret police agreements and free giveaways to spy on everyone.

 

Last week Vice News revealed how police departments across the country are secretly working with Amazon to create mini-neighborhood surveillance zones using Ring doorbells.

 

Amazon and law enforcement are enticing residents to join Amazon’s “Neighbors” network by giving out corporate freebies.

 

Ring doorbell cameras will be provided to the public free of charge, according to a published agreement between the Lakeland Police Department in Florida and Amazon.

 

As Vice News warned, American law enforcement has become a corporate shill.

 

Law enforcement’s relationship with Amazon is so close, they have agreed to work with Ring to coordinate on all public communications.

 

“The parties shall agree to a joint press release to be mutually agreed upon by the parties,” the memorandum of understanding says.

 

Want to find out if your neighbors are using Ring to spy on people of color or create a secret watchlist? Don’t ask the police because they will have nothing bad to say about Ring doorbell cameras.

 

A recent CNET article revealed that at least 50 police departments have given away Ring doorbells or used taxpayer dollars to purchase them,

 

Police departments across the country, from major cities like Houston to towns with fewer than 30,000 people, have offered free or discounted Ring doorbells to citizens, sometimes using taxpayer funds to pay for Amazon’s products.

 

An article in today’s Vice News claims that at least 200 police departments have partnered with Amazon,

 

At least 200 law enforcement agencies around the country have entered into partnerships with Amazon’s home surveillance company Ring.

 

Which is exactly what I warned people about last year when I wrote two articles describing Ring’s plan to help law enforcement create secret surveillance/watchlist networks.

 

An article in last year’s BusinessWire did a fantastic job of revealing what Ring’s mission really is,

 

Ring, a company on a mission to reduce crime in neighborhoods, today launched the Neighbors app on iOS and Android to provide every neighbor with real-time, local crime and safety information. Police and sheriff’s departments throughout the U.S. are also joining the network as a new way to share real-time crime and safety alerts with their communities.

 

https://www.activistpost.com/2019/07/amazon-google-use-secret-police-deals-and-freebies-to-spy-on-everyone.html

Anonymous ID: caa758 July 30, 2019, 11:36 a.m. No.7261762   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>1790 >>1923 >>2261 >>2269 >>2376

The secretive Catholic group operating in a small Michigan town that gives shelter, legal help to protect HUNDREDS of priests accused of sexual abuse, saying 'we turn no priest away'

 

The small nonprofit group, Opus Bono Sacerdotii, would reportedly work out of a series of unmarked buildings in rural Michigan

They would provide money, shelter, transport, legal help and other support to hundreds of Catholic priests accused of sexual abuse across the country

Stripped of their collars and cassocks, they went unnoticed and neighbors said they had no idea that some of the dressed-down clergymen dining at local restaurants were accused sexual predators

The group also supported priests jailed for sexual abuse, including giving commissary cash to serial pedophile who assaulted dozens of minors

Opus Bono was founded by Joe Maher and Peter Ferrara who have stepped down

 

For nearly two decades, a secretive Catholic group operating out of a small Michigan town has reportedly served as a 'rapid-response' team to protect hundreds of priests accused of sexual abuse.

 

The small nonprofit group, Opus Bono Sacerdotii, would reportedly work out of a series of unmarked buildings in rural Michigan, providing money, shelter, transport, legal help and other support to hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Catholic priests accused of sexual abuse across the country.

 

Stripped of their collars and cassocks, they went unnoticed in the small town of Dryden as they were escorted into a dingy warehouse across from an elementary school playground, the Associated Press reported.

 

Neighbors said they had no idea some of the dressed-down clergymen dining at local restaurants in the rural town might have been accused sexual predators. But they had been brought to town by Opus Bono.

 

When a serial pedophile was sent to jail for abusing dozens of minors, Opus Bono was there for him, with regular visits and commissary cash.

 

When a priest admitted sexually assaulting boys under 14, Opus Bono raised funds for his defense.

 

When another priest was criminally charged with abusing a teen, Opus Bono later made him a legal adviser.

 

And while powerful clerics have publicly pledged to hold the church accountable for the crimes of its clergy and help survivors heal, some of them arranged meetings, offered blessings or quietly sent checks to this organization that provided support to alleged abusers, The Associated Press has found.

 

More

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7297943/Secretive-Catholic-group-acts-rapid-response-team-priests.html

Anonymous ID: caa758 July 30, 2019, 11:40 a.m. No.7261846   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>1865 >>2087 >>2122 >>2197 >>2233 >>2258 >>2265 >>2321 >>2385 >>2389

100 million Americans and 6 million Canadians caught up in Capital One breach

 

Over 1 million Canadian social insurance numbers accessed in breach.

 

Capital One has disclosed that it has suffered a data breach impacting 100 million people in the United States, and 6 million in Canada.

 

The company said in a statement that data between 2005 and 2019 was accessed and related to information on consumers at the time when they applied for a credit card.

 

"This information included personal information Capital One routinely collects at the time it receives credit card applications, including names, addresses, zip codes/postal codes, phone numbers, email addresses, dates of birth, and self-reported income," the company said.

 

"Beyond the credit card application data, the individual also obtained portions of credit card customer data, including: Customer status data, e.g., credit scores, credit limits, balances, payment history, contact information; Fragments of transaction data from a total of 23 days during 2016, 2017 and 2018."

 

Approximately 1 million Canadian social insurance numbers, as well as 140,000 American social security numbers and 80,000 bank account numbers were also accessed.

 

"No bank account numbers or Social Security numbers were compromised," the bank said before listing the above numbers.

 

https://www.zdnet.com/article/100-million-americans-and-6-million-canadians-caught-up-in-capital-one-breach/?ftag=TRE-03-10aaa6b&bhid=21735961543072688253262375158449

 

Former Amazon Engineer Arrested for Stealing Capital One Data on 106 Million Customers

 

Once she'd stolen the data, Thompson, who went by the name "erratic" within the hacker community, almost seemed to want to be caught. She left a paper trail for the F.B.I. to follow, including a picture of a veterinary invoice that investigators used to positively identify her. She boasted so openly about her exploit that other hackers warned her to be careful not to go to jail.

 

https://www.inc.com/minda-zetlin/paige-thompson-capital-one-hack-former-amazon-engineer-social-security-numbers.html

Anonymous ID: caa758 July 30, 2019, 11:41 a.m. No.7261862   🗄️.is 🔗kun

US supporting Riyadh to commit mass murder: Former US diplomat

 

Former US diplomat Michael Springmann says the United States continues to support Saudi Arabia in its war on Yemen despite the humanitarian catastrophe there.

 

https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2019/07/30/602206/US-supporting-Riyadh-to-commit-mass-murder

Anonymous ID: caa758 July 30, 2019, 11:42 a.m. No.7261881   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>1953 >>2049

With criticism crushed in the West, Israel can enjoy its impunity

 

Recent events have shone a spotlight not only on how Israel is intensifying its abuse of Palestinians under its rule, but the utterly depraved complicity of Western governments in its actions.

 

The arrival of Donald Trump in the White House two-and-a-half years ago has emboldened Israel as never before, leaving it free to unleash new waves of brutality in the occupied territories.

 

Western states have not only turned a blind eye to these outrages, but are actively assisting in silencing anyone who dares to speak out.

 

It is rapidly creating a vicious spiral: the more Israel violates international law, the more the West represses criticism, the more Israel luxuriates in its impunity.

 

This shameless descent was starkly illustrated last week when hundreds of heavily armed Israeli soldiers, many of them masked, raided a neighbourhood of Sur Baher, on the edges of Jerusalem. Explosives and bulldozers destroyed dozens of homes, leaving many hundreds of Palestinians without a roof over their heads.

 

During the operation, extreme force was used against residents, as well as international volunteers there in the forlorn hope that their presence would deter violence. Videos (see below) showed the soldiers cheering and celebrating as they razed the neighbourhood.

 

House destructions have long been an ugly staple of Israel’s belligerent occupation, but there were grounds for extra alarm on this occasion.

 

Traditionally, demolitions occur on the two-thirds of the West Bank placed by the Oslo accords temporarily under Israeli control. That is bad enough: Israel should have handed over what is called “Area C” to the Palestinian Authority 20 years ago. Instead, it has hounded Palestinians off these areas to free them up for illegal Jewish settlement.

 

But the Sur Baher demolitions took place in “Area A”, land assigned by Oslo to the Palestinians’ government-in-waiting – as a prelude to Palestinian statehood. Israel is supposed to have zero planning or security jurisdiction there.

 

Most Western governments barely raised their voices. Even the United Nations offered a mealy-mouthed expression of “sadness” at what took place.

 

Palestinians rightly fear that Israel has established a dangerous precedent, further reversing the Oslo Accords, which can one day be used to justify driving many thousands more Palestinians off land under Palestinian Authority (PA) control.

 

Most Western governments barely raised their voices. Even the United Nations offered a mealy-mouthed expression of “sadness” at what took place.

 

https://www.redressonline.com/2019/07/with-criticism-crushed-in-the-west-israel-can-enjoy-its-impunity/

Anonymous ID: caa758 July 30, 2019, 11:44 a.m. No.7261931   🗄️.is 🔗kun

Brazil’s toxic pesticides ‘affecting people all over the world’ through agricultural exports

 

Brazil’s embrace of highly toxic pesticides – the government has approved 262 so far this year and loosened regulations on what is considered “extremely toxic” – is affecting people far outside its borders, an expert tells RT.

 

“EU-banned pesticide[s are] being manufactured in the EU, and then coming back to citizens in the EU, in the food we eat,” environmental journalist and founding member of the Green Economic Institute think tank Oliver Tickell told RT, explaining that as one of the largest soy exporters in the world, Brazil supplies a significant quantity of the feed that cattle and other livestock worldwide consume. European consumers tucking into a juicy steak have no idea that the creature they’re eating might have been nourished on soy sprayed with highly toxic pesticides.

 

“This is not just a problem for Brazil and Brazilian people and people exposed in the countryside to these pesticides and consumers and farmers,” Tickell warned. “It is actually affecting people all over the world through Brazil’s agricultural exports.”

 

ANVISA, the Brazilian public health regulatory agency, relaxed pesticide regulations last week so that only those chemicals with lethal potential can be classified as “extremely toxic,” triggering a massive backlash from environmental groups, human rights organizations, and food safety advocates. The fervently pro-business government of President Jair Bolsonaro has already approved 262 pesticides this year, 82 of which are classed as “extremely toxic,” as he follows through on campaign promises to demolish environmental regulations and open up protected rainforest lands to mining and agriculture.

 

Dozens of pesticides banned or strictly regulated in the EU, including paraquat and chlorpyrifos, were already permitted for use in Brazil before Bolsonaro took power, and the country uses approximately 400,000 tons of pesticides per year, according to Human Rights Watch. While Agriculture Minister Tereza Cristina has flatly denied Brazil uses any more pesticides than any other country, attributing such allegations to “data manipulation” and accusing critics of “terrorism,” EcoWatch claims the country consumes more pesticides per capita than any other nation.

 

https://www.rt.com/news/465348-brazil-pesticides-regulation-banned/

Anonymous ID: caa758 July 30, 2019, 11:45 a.m. No.7261951   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>2063 >>2122 >>2233 >>2258 >>2385

Major US University Under Fire Over Speech Guide Deeming Words ‘American’, ‘Male’, ‘Straight’ Toxic

 

The ‘Inclusive Language Guide’, an internal best practices manual for employees of Colorado State University, came to prominence last week after free speech activists took note of some of its more contentious language rules.

 

Colorado State University has been forced to defend itself following criticisms over a controversial draft language guide listing words and phrases like “America/American”, “Hispanic”, “homosexual”, “Indian”, “male/female”, “normal person”, “straight”, and “transgendered” as something that “should be avoided” over their potential to cause offence.

 

For example, the guide’s rationale on the word “American” being offensive was that “the Americas” actually “encompass a lot more than the United States”, with the use of the word said to “eras[e] other cultures and depic[t] the United States as the dominant American country.”

 

“Hispanic,” meanwhile, was deemed problematic “because of its origins in colonialization and the implication that to be Hispanic or Latinx/Latine/Latino, one needs to be Spanish-speaking.”

 

As for “homosexual”, its offensive nature was said to stem from “the clinical history of the word” to “suggest that gay people are somehow not ‘normal’ or psychologically/emotionally disordered – notions discredited by the American Psychological Association and the American Psychiatric Association in the 1970s.”

 

“Straight,” meanwhile, is troublesome, according to the guide, because it “implies that anyone LGBT is ‘crooked’ or not normal.”

 

A slew of other words and phrases, including “addicted”, “basket case”, “birth defect”, “eye for an eye”, “cake walk”, “spaz”, “lunatic”, “depressed/OCD”, “dwarf/midget”, “Eskimo”, “freshman”, “ghetto”, “handicap parking”, “hip hip hooray!” “Indian”, “long time no see”, “you guys”, "Mr./Mrs./Ms.”, “no can do”, “paddy wagon”, “peanut gallery”, “starving”, “thug”, “uppity”, and “wheelchair bound,” among others, were also listed as problematic for various reasons.

 

The guide was discovered by American conservative media, including CampusReform.org, earlier this month, and quickly provoked the wrath of free speech and conservative activists, including Speech First president Nicole Neily, who stressed that “even though these guidelines are suggested and not mandatory, they place students in the uncomfortable position of reciting politically correct talking points that they may not agree with”.

 

Former Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker penned an op-ed in the Washington Times about the guide last week, blasting the university system for “spending so much time worrying about ways not to offend anyone” instead of actually “teaching our students”.

 

Ronna McDaniel, chairwoman of the Republican Party, tweeted about the guide, calling it “pure unpatriotic insanity”. The post was retweeted and liked thousands of times, with the post receiving over 2,300 comments and quickly breaking out into a partisan flame war.

 

https://sputniknews.com/us/201907291076397253-major-us-school-under-fire-over-language-guide-deeming-words-american-male-straight-toxic/

Anonymous ID: caa758 July 30, 2019, 11:48 a.m. No.7261999   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>2021 >>2092 >>2109 >>2122 >>2233 >>2258 >>2385

Saudi Arabia deposits $250 million into central bank of Sudan

 

Saudi Arabia has deposited $250 million into the central bank of Sudan to support its financial position, the Saudi Finance Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday, reports Reuters.

 

The financial grant is part of a package with the United Arab Emirates worth $500 million announced in April. Both countries pledged an overall $3 billion in aid, with the rest going towards fuel, wheat, and medicine.

 

The grant is aimed at alleviating pressure on the Sudanese pound and achieve stability in its exchange rate, the ministry said.

 

In April, mass protests led the Sudanese army to topple President Omar al Bashir.

 

However, Sudan’s economy is still haunted by Bashir’s legacy – the penalties imposed for his support of militant groups and for the offensive he launched to crush rebels in the western region of Darfur.

 

Because Sudan is still listed by the United States as a state sponsor of terrorism and has $1.3 billion of IMF arrears, it is unable to tap the IMF and World Bank for support. Sudanese banks have struggled to re-establish correspondent relationships with foreign banks.

 

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190730-saudi-arabia-deposits-250-million-into-central-bank-of-sudan/

Anonymous ID: caa758 July 30, 2019, 11:50 a.m. No.7262034   🗄️.is 🔗kun

How a Small Group of Pro-Israel Activists Blacklisted MintPress on Wikipedia

 

For over ten years, Wikipedia has been a key focus of right-leaning, pro-Israel groups that have effectively weaponized the online encyclopedia as a means of controlling the narrative when it comes to the state of Israel’s more than 50-year-long military occupation of Palestine.

 

For over a decade, pro-Israel and ultra-nationalist Israeli settler groups have sought to weaponize the popular online encyclopedia, Wikipedia, through concerted covert editing campaigns, offering Wikipedia editing courses to West Bank settlers and even formal alliances between Israel and Wikipedia to allow Israelis to create and edit content in a variety of languages.

 

In recent years, this alliance between pro-Israel partisans and Wikipedia has stepped up, largely in response to the growth of the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which seeks to pressure Israel to comply with international law with respect to occupied Palestine and the blockaded Gaza Strip. As a consequence, news outlets that consistently report on the success of BDS, such as MintPress News, have been targeted on Wikipedia by such partisans, who recently succeeded in blacklisting MintPress as a “reliable source” on the online encyclopedia.

 

In early June, a small number of partisan Wikipedia editors privately voted to blacklist MintPress News from use as a source on the online encyclopedia website at the behest of a Wikipedia editor who took issue with MintPress’ coverage of current events in Venezuela and Syria. At no point was MintPress ever asked to comment or allowed to respond to any of the allegations made and MintPress is unable to appeal the decision.

 

Of the Wikipedia editors who voted to discredit MintPress, several were self-listed as experts in video games, computer science and anime, not geopolitical events, while others had previously gained notoriety for partisan promotion of pro-Israel perspectives and/or the U.S.-funded Venezuelan Popular Will political party, of which the U.S.-backed Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó is a member.

 

The involvement of pro-Israel partisans in the blacklisting of MintPress on Wikipedia is notable in light of the well-documented and unprecedented efforts of the Israeli government to promote the partisan editing of Wikipedia and to subsequently incorporate the online encyclopedia into its national educational curriculum.

 

The successful effort to blacklist MintPress News on Wikipedia began on June 1 and was initiated by Wikipedia user “Jamesz42,” a Wikipedia editor from Venezuela who has written several English-language Wikipedia articles on the wives of Popular Will politicians as well as on protest leaders and journalists who are aligned with Popular Will.

 

MintPress is one of several news organizations that have reported extensively on Popular Will’s U.S. government funding, its lack of popular support in Venezuela, and its history of engaging in violence. Yet MintPress is the only independent outlet that has been blacklisted on Wikipedia for reporting these facts. TeleSur, which is partially funded by the Venezuelan government, was also recently blacklisted by Wikipedia and some of the same users that targeted MintPress, including Jamesz42, were involved.

 

more

https://www.mintpressnews.com/pro-israel-activists-blacklist-mintpress-wikipedia/261022/

Anonymous ID: caa758 July 30, 2019, 11:53 a.m. No.7262090   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>2156

Jerusalem: Israel summons 4-year-old Palestinian for interrogation

 

 

Israel has summoned a four-year-old Palestinian boy from the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Issawiya for interrogation.

 

Muhammad Rabi’ Elayyan was summoned by dozens of Israeli police officers from his home in Issawiya – a Palestinian neighbourhood squashed between Jerusalem’s Hebrew University and the Separation Wall – and taken to a police station on Salah Eddin Street, not far from the Old City’s Damascus Gate.

 

Following the summons, Elayyan had to be taken to the station by his father, Rabi’, this morning. Wadi Hilweh Information Centre – a Jerusalem-based NGO – posted a video showing Muhammad crying as he is carried into the police station. Scores of Palestinians from Issawiya can also be seen surrounding the father and son, telling the young boy not to be scared.

 

The Israeli police claim that Muhammad was throwing stones at police vehicles, prompting them to send him the summons. However, the boy’s father Rabi’ has disputed these accusations, saying that his son was playing in the street with other children who ran towards Israeli troops stationed in their neighbourhood.

 

Rabi’ told Palestinian news agency Ma’an: “This morning I said to my child Muhammad ‘I will take you to a swimming trip’. I could not explain what happened. We were surprised when the soldiers were stationed in front of the police station on Salah Eddin Street.”

 

When the pair arrived at the police station, an Israeli officer eventually refused to allow Muhammad into the facility for interrogation, instead only taking his father in for questioning. The officer reportedly told Rabi’ that if he did not stop his son from throwing stones, they would take Muhammad away from him.

 

Israel is a signatory to the UN’s Convention on the Rights of the Child [UNCRC], which states that “children should be arrested, detained or imprisoned only as a last resort and for the shortest time possible”.

 

The same convention also states that “governments must set a minimum age for children to be tried in a criminal court”; Israel’s military law considers children as young as 12 culpable for their actions, but does not permit the arrest of minors under this age. Their summons of Muhammad is therefore illegal under both international and Israeli military law.

 

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190730-jerusalem-israel-summons-4-year-old-palestinian-for-interrogation/

Anonymous ID: caa758 July 30, 2019, 11:55 a.m. No.7262117   🗄️.is 🔗kun

Yemeni Civilians in Crowded Market Pay with Their Lives as Trump Keeps Building Saudi Arsenal

 

More U.S. Weaponry is headed for Saudi Arabia just as the Kingdom unleashed fresh airstrikes on the crowded Al-Thabit Market in Yemen.

 

SADAA, YEMEN — At least 14 civilians, including four children, were killed and at least 26 injured when Saudi Arabia targeted the crowded Al-Thabit Market in the border town of Qataber in Yemen’s Sadaa province on Monday. The airstrike occurred at a time when the market was crowded with shoppers. At least 10 of the wounded are in critical condition, according to Yemen’s health minister, who said that the death toll was likely to rise.

 

The rubble of burnt and mangled fruit and vegetable stalls littered the marketplace on Monday, as rescuers lined up bodies onto nylon sheets near the market while efforts to recover more bodies continued.

 

Taha Mutawakil, Yemen’s health minister, said more than 20 people, including 12 children, were critically injured and that the remains of some of the victims had not yet been identified. Mutawakil called on international organizations to assist in rescue efforts and to press the Saudi-led Coalition to lift its blockade on the Sana’a International Airport so that the wounded could be sent abroad for treatment.

 

https://www.mintpressnews.com/yemen-civilians-al-thabit-market-airstrike-trump-building-saudi-arsenal/261034/

Anonymous ID: caa758 July 30, 2019, 11:58 a.m. No.7262172   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>2233 >>2258 >>2385

Ousting of DNI Dan Coats is Start of Major Trump Shake-Up to Rock Intelligence Community – More Changes Coming

 

The Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats resigned over the weekend and Trump announced he nominated GOP Rep. John Ratcliffe to replace Coats.

 

The ousting of Dan Coats is “just the start of a major Trump shake-up of the Intelligence Community,” investigative reporter Paul Sperry said.

 

“More changes are coming at other IC agencies.” Sperry added.

 

The ODNI is “Deep State central” Judicial Watch boss Tom Fitton told Fox Business host Lou Dobbs Monday evening.

 

Dan Coats (Clapper 2.0) immediately became defiant after President Trump gave Attorney General Bill Barr the authority to declassify Spygate documents.

 

Dan Coats spread the Russian interference hoax and was causing a bottleneck for Barr and Durham in the declassification process in their Spygate investigation.

 

“The ODNI was in many ways Deep State central in terms of protecting Hillary Clinton believe it or not, while targeting president Trump,” Fitton said, adding that the ODNI is just an extra bureaucracy that doesn’t add anything to the national security of the US.

 

Fitton said that Ratcliffe, who was nominated by President Trump to take over as DNI takes the job, should curtail the powers there and clean house.

 

Ratcliffe intends to “clean house” according to a report by Bloomberg News.

 

Obama holdovers and Deep State loyalists have been a huge problem for Trump. These Deep Staters in the Intel agencies have been targeting Trump and blocking any real investigation into Hillary Clinton and Obama’s Spygate scheme.

 

The DOJ Inspector General’s report on FISA abuses is due in September which could get the ball rolling on the next Trump shake-up — Who’s next on the chopping block?

 

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/07/report-ousting-of-dni-dan-coats-is-start-of-major-trump-shake-up-to-rock-intelligence-community-more-changes-coming/

Anonymous ID: caa758 July 30, 2019, noon No.7262198   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>2353

Tesla Must Pay $323 Million In Taxes To Shanghai Every Year Or It Will Lose Gigafactory Land

 

For a company that has already racked up a tab of over $1 billion in losses this year, what's another $323 million amongst friends?

 

This was quite possibly the attitude the company took when agreeing to pay China 2.23 billion yuan - about $323 million - in taxes every single year as part of their deal with local authorities to build their factory on the outside of Shanghai, according to Bloomberg.

 

Tesla has also committed to drop about 14.08 billion yuan - or about $2 billion - in capex on the plant over the next five years, according to its lease. While the point of the Shanghai Gigafactory was to avoid tariffs and keep prices down, we're not sure how an annual tax requirement of well over a quarter of a billion dollars is going to make things easier for Musk.

 

But, not unlike many of Musk's other projects, we're sure the motive was to get the factory set up for optics as quickly as humanly possible and (literally) at any cost so Tesla has something flashy to show the investment community; it would only worry about the expense side of the ledger much later.

 

Tesla will likely argue that the requirements are tame compared to their targets in China, where it aims to produce half a million cars at the site over the next 12 months, depending on how quickly output ramps up.

 

Tesla said in its 10-Q: “We believe the capital expenditure requirement and the tax revenue target will be attainable even if our actual vehicle production was far lower than the volumes we are forecasting.”

 

OK. We'll hold you to that.

 

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-07-30/tesla-must-pay-323-million-taxes-shanghai-every-year-or-it-will-lose-gigafactory

 

Doesn't Tesla/Musk get government funding??? Wealth/tech transfer??

Anonymous ID: caa758 July 30, 2019, 12:03 p.m. No.7262237   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>2258 >>2379 >>2385

House GOP fears retirement wave will lead to tsunami

 

House Republicans plotting to win back their majority in Congress fear they are on the brink of a massive wave of retirements that could force them to play defense in a high-stakes presidential election year.

 

Three House Republicans said last week they would not seek another term next year, catching party strategists off guard. Those announcements came earlier than in a typical election cycle, when members who are ready to hang up their voting cards usually wait until after the August recess or after the Christmas break.

 

Republicans in Congress strategizing to win back the House say the rush to the exits reflects the depressing reality of life in the minority and a pessimistic view of the GOP’s chances of regaining the majority.

 

“We are in the minority. That is never much fun in the House,” said one senior Republican member of Congress, who asked for anonymity to provide a candid assessment. “The odds are against us retaking the majority.”

 

Transitioning from the all-powerful majority to the back-bench minority can refocus one’s outlook on public service, said Tom Davis, a former Virginia congressman who ran the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC).

 

“Moving from the majority to the minority changes your mindset about why am I here, am I getting things done,” Davis said. “It’s a very frustrating life for some of these members right now. There’s been no pay raise for 11 years. You’ve got to maintain two households.”

 

The job of serving in Congress itself has changed in recent years. Members of Congress now routinely skip town hall meetings to avoid being confronted by angry constituents, they are frequently asked to defend President Trump’s Twitter habits and the House Republican Conference is increasingly influenced by a small group of hard-right conservatives.

 

“Serving in the era of Trump has few rewards. He has made an already hostile political environment worse. Every day there is some indefensible tweet or comment to defend or explain. It is exhausting and often embarrassing,” the member of Congress said. Even if Republicans were to win back the majority, “our edge would be narrow which means we would live under the tyranny of the Freedom Caucus. Frankly I wonder if this conference is capable of governing.”

 

Republican strategists say they are bracing for a new wave of exits after members check in with their families over the August recess. Two dozen Republicans won their reelection bids in 2018 by fewer than 5 percentage points; another 25 won by fewer than 10 points.

 

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/455201-house-gop-fears-retirement-wave-will-lead-to-tsunami

Anonymous ID: caa758 July 30, 2019, 12:04 p.m. No.7262263   🗄️.is 🔗kun

NATO planned to openly interfere in the war in Donbass (video)

 

https://thesaker.is/nato-planned-to-openly-interfere-in-the-war-in-donbass/