Saw the article linked LB but it is now showing up on whatfinger…
Have had whatfinger as a homepage since drudge started filling his house with vagina scented candles.
On occasion I would see a Q related article but never full blown…
probably already discussed while at lunch but it made me feel a Howard Dean coming on in the inside (minus the batshit crazy).
Huge explosion rocks chemical plant in Spain, locals urged to stay indoors
A huge fire has broken out at a chemical plant in Tarragona, Spain following an explosion at the site. One person is reported dead and another six injured.
Catalonia's civil defense agency is warning locals to shelter indoors until the extent of the blast is known.
The moment of the initial blast and resulting fireball was caught on camera. The explosion occurred at a chemical plant between Bonavista and La Canonja which processes ethylene oxide.
Spanish media reported that one person was killed in the blast and six were injured, some with serious burns.
Eight firefighting teams have been deployed to tackle the blaze, according to local authorities. Footage and photos shared online by residents in the surrounding area show an enormous blaze at the facility, with clouds of dense smoke rising above.
https://www.rt.com/news/478259-tarragona-chemical-plant-explosion-spain/
>Catalonia's civil defense agency…
Wasn't this place that wanted independence from Spain?
China to ramp up U.S. car, aircraft, energy purchases in trade deal
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - China has pledged to buy almost $80 billion of additional manufactured goods from the United States over the next two years as part of a trade war truce, according to a source, a target that could provide a much-needed boost for planemaker Boeing but is being questioned by U.S. trade experts.
Under the trade deal to be signed on Wednesday in Washington, China would also buy over $50 billion more in energy supplies, and boost purchases of U.S. services by about $35 billion over the same two-year period, the source told Reuters late on Monday.
The Phase 1 agreement calls for Chinese purchases of U.S. agricultural goods to increase by some $32 billion over two years, or roughly $16 billion a year, said the source, who was briefed on the deal.
When combined with the $24 billion U.S. agricultural export baseline in 2017, the total gets close to the $40 billion annual goal touted by U.S. President Donald Trump.
The numbers are expected to be announced at Wednesday's White House signing ceremony between Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He and represent a staggering increase over recent Chinese imports of U.S. manufactured goods. The size of the targets has raised questions here about how realistic they are.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trade-china/china-to-ramp-up-u-s-car-aircraft-energy-purchases-in-trade-deal-source-idUSKBN1ZD0FN
'Highlander' actor Stan Kirsch dead at 51
Actor Stan Kirsch, best known for his role as Richie Ryan on the original “Highlander” TV series, was found dead at his home in Los Angeles, Fox News has learned. He was 51.
According to the Los Angeles Coroner's office, the cause of death was listed as a suicide by hanging. His wife, Kristyn Green, confirmed the news on Facebook by sharing a post about Kirsch's death along with a message to followers.
The original post revealed that Kirsch died on Jan. 11. According to TMZ, Green found the actor hanging in their bathroom. Paramedics reportedly responded to the scene but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
In addition to his six-season run on “Highlander,” Kirsch had memorable roles in shows like "General Hospital," "Friends" and "JAG."
https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/highlander-actor-stan-kirsch-dead-at-51
Sad if the reason was for anything other than trying to escape justice for crimes against humanity.
SEC Obtains Emergency Asset Freeze, Charges Businessman With Operating a Ponzi-Like Scheme
Washington D.C., Jan. 14, 2020
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that it filed an emergency enforcement action and obtained a temporary restraining order and asset freeze against Illinois resident Kenneth D. Courtright, III and his company, Todays Growth Consultant Inc., in connection with an alleged Ponzi-like scheme that raised at least $75 million from more than 500 investors throughout the United States and abroad.
According to the SEC's complaint, from at least 2017 through at least October 2019, TGC, which also operated under the name "The Income Store," and Courtright, the company's founder and current chairman, promised investors an endless minimum guaranteed rate of return on revenues generated by websites. In exchange for an investor's "upfront fee," TGC claimed that it would either buy or build a website for the investor, and develop, market, and maintain the website. As alleged, TGC falsely promised that it would use investors' funds exclusively for expenses related to the investor's website. In reality, as alleged, the sales were conducted through unregistered securities offerings, and TGC used new investors’ funds to pay investor returns, in Ponzi-like fashion, and to pay Courtright's personal expenses, including his mortgage and private school tuitions for his family.
"TGC and Courtright’s alleged fraud promised a guaranteed return when the company's business model and financial condition could not possibly support it," said Antonia Chion, Associate Director in the SEC's Division of Enforcement. "To avoid further harm to investors and preserve the misused assets that have not already been dissipated, we have sought and obtained emergency relief."
The SEC's complaint, filed in federal court in Chicago on Dec. 27, 2019, and unsealed on Jan. 14, 2020, charges Courtright and TGC with violations of the antifraud and registration provisions of the federal securities laws, and seeks certain emergency relief as well as permanent injunctions, return of ill-gotten gains with prejudgment interest, and civil penalties. On Dec. 30, 2019, the Court issued a temporary restraining order, ordered an asset freeze and other emergency relief, and appointed a receiver for TGC.
Investors can learn more about Ponzi scheme red flags by using the SEC's Investor.gov website. Investors should be cautious any time there are promises of a guaranteed rate of return in perpetuity.
https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2020-10
McConnell: Senate impeachment trial to start next Tuesday
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) says the Senate will begin debating an organizing resolution to start the Senate trial on Tuesday of next week.
The GOP leader said Chief Justice John Roberts will swear in senators as jurors this week, before the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
McConnell said the House is expected to send over articles of impeachment on Wednesday and the Senate will then have to go through a series of preliminary steps and housekeeping measures.
“We hope to achieve that by consent, which would set us up to begin the actual trial next Tuesday,” the GOP leader added.
McConnell clarifying that a debate and vote on the organizing resolution, which will set up time for the House impeachment managers and the president’s defense team to make their opening arguments, as well as time for senators to ask questions, will happen next week.
Then the Senate will notify the president’s defense team to appear for the Senate and give the White House several days to respond.
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/478209-mcconnell-senate-impeachment-trial-to-start-next-tuesday
NSA tips off Microsoft to security flaw
The National Security Agency (NSA) found and notified Microsoft of what it called a serious vulnerability in the company's Windows 10 operating system that could potentially expose computer users to significant breaches, surveillance or disruption, officials announced Tuesday.
The public disclosure is unlike the NSA's usual approach of using such flaws to build hacking tools that allow the agency to spy on adversaries’ networks, according to the Washington Post. Rather, officials released a fix.
“This is … a change in approach … by NSA of working to share, working to lean forward, and then working to really share the data as part of building trust,” Anne Neuberger, director of the NSA’s Cybersecurity Directorate, which was launched in October, told The Post.
The NSA discovered an error in the Microsoft code that verifies digital signatures, which could enable a hacker to forge the signature and breach a computer.
“The patch is the only comprehensive means to mitigate the risk,” the NSA's statement read. “While means exist to detect or prevent some forms of exploitation, none of them are complete or fully reliable.”
Microsoft said it addressed the flaw promptly and released a security update Tuesday. Customers who have already applied the update, or have automatic updates enabled, should be protected.
Microsoft told The Post that it has seen no active exploitation of the flaw.
https://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/478206-nsa-tips-off-microsoft-to-security-flaw
Is it possible that Microsoft KNEW of this flaw, thus the reason for the Windows 10 full fledged push?
Wisconsin court blocks purging of more than 200,000 voters from rolls
A Wisconsin state court of appeals on Tuesday put on hold a ruling requiring the urgent removal of more than 200,000 names from the state’s voter rolls, the latest twist in a closely watched legal fight playing out in the battleground state ahead of the 2020 election.
The ruling comes after a lower court judge last month ordered the purging of roughly 234,000 people from voter rolls because they may have moved, and a day after the state's elections commission and several of its members were found in contempt of court for not complying with the removal order.
The latest development represented a win for Democrats in a state that may help decide the 2020 contest, and which President Trump won by fewer than 23,000 votes in 2016.
The lawsuit challenging the rolls was brought by the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty on behalf of several Wisconsin voters. The group claims the state elections commission should have immediately deactivated voters who didn’t respond within 30 days to a mailing sent in October, an indication that the person may have moved, say the litigants.
Judge Paul Malloy last month sided with the conservative group and declined a request by the state elections commission to halt the purge while the case plays out in court.
The order on Tuesday to pause the lower court ruling came from a three-judge panel in the 4th District of the appeals court.
The commission, comprising three Democrats and three Republicans, was slated on Tuesday to kickoff meetings over the removal of the more than 200,000 voters in question. The group previously deadlocked over the issue, according to the Associated Press.
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/478207-wisconsin-court-blocks-purging-of-more-than-200000-voters-from-rolls
Wisconsin…..
U.S. Senate confirmed Pete Gaynor to be Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
Acting Secretary Wolf Statement on the Confirmation of Pete Gaynor
“Today, the U.S. Senate confirmed Pete Gaynor to be Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). As Acting Administrator of FEMA throughout 2019 and into 2020, Gaynor led the agency’s recovery efforts for many devastating disasters, including the California wildfires, tornado outbreaks, severe storms, flooding in the Midwest, and the Puerto Rico earthquakes. And as Deputy Administrator for the 2018 hurricane season, Pete guided FEMA through some tremendous challenges to provide much needed assistance to disaster survivors across the country. Pete’s experience as both a state and local emergency manager, combined with more than two decades of service in the U.S. Marine Corps, have made him an invaluable leader of the agency. I look forward to continuing to work with him to support the men and women of FEMA as they carry out their incredible work.”
https://www.dhs.gov/news/2020/01/14/acting-secretary-wolf-statement-confirmation-pete-gaynor
Pete Gaynor