Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[Jeff Buchanan]

I haven't seen anything solid that makes me want to disagree with you.

This week has been filled with conciliatory gestures on both sides. There is trade tension deescalation this month after a good deal of escalation in August.

But, I think you are right that the big issues that Trump pushed for aren't going to get addressed in the October meetings which, allegedly will produce this "interim deal." There are no specifics on what that means ...... all it could mean is that everybody smiles for the Cameras, shakes hands and what the Chinese did today by exempting Ag products from the newer tariffs (roughly 33%) dropping those tariffs back to the SQ (3%) is it.

I don't think Trump can afford politically to thumb his nose at the Chinese again in a "no -deal" showdown like he did in May Allegedly, he was insisting China write the things that may or may not have been agreed on regarding changes to structural policies (subsidizing Chinese companies where it serves the Party's interests, limiting technology transfer) into law and they said no. What this whole thing may turn out to be is a lot of useless bluster from Trump that was temporarily disruptive to the global economy but failed to provide relief to the US and other countries doing business with and in China to the central issues that have been before various trade commissions and unresolved for years.



https://www.politico.com/story/2019/...-delay-1494507

[Dr. Strangelove]

images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRUUWe8NSVRS7vbAeBgpRqVhm4Stbr_mk0gTHdCibmpsrVDXAIvbw.jpg

[Dr. Strangelove]

Hesitate in posting this, because it could turn out to later be wrong, but there's a lot of speculation floating around that the DOJ failed to get a grand jury to indict Andrew McCabe.

Yesterday it was widely publicized that the DOJ had recommended he be prosecuted and it's known that the grand jury convened for this case and later went home. Nothing was announced. All of today has passed and still nothing announced. His lawyers sent a letter to a DOJ insisting to be told if the grand jury failed to bring charges after hearing the DOJ's case. His lawyers further argue that the DOJ would be violating its own guidelines if they tried to charge him again for the same 'crimes' with a different grand jury or in another district.

[Dr. Strangelove]

This broke last night...Schiff is accusing Acting Director of National Intelligence, Joseph Maguire, of hiding a whistleblower complaint from his Committee, even though he has no legal authority under the law to do so.

* On August 12 a whistleblower used all the appropriate channels to submit a complaint to the Intelligence Community's Inspector General.This is right around the same time than Dan Coats was forced out at DNI along with his top deputy, Sue Gordon.
* On August 26, the Inspector General ruled the complaint was of 'urgent concern' and submitted it to the Acting Director. That's basically an acknowledgment that the accusations were both credible and significant.
* The law requires the Director to pass along the complaint to Congress within 7 days, in this case Sept 2
* Sept. 9 was the first the Intel Committee heard about the complaint's existence via some source OTHER than Joseph Maguire. They know nothing about the contents of the complaint.
* Apparently at some point Maguire explicitly told Schiff he was refusing to turn over the complaint, after consulting with the DOJ, another breach (Schiff says) of the law. Maguire told Schiff that someone outside the Intelligence COmmunity was involved and therefore for reasons of "confidentiality and privilege", the complaint can't be given to Congress.
* Last night Schiff issued a subpoena for Maguire to hand it over and for him to personally appear this coming Thursday. He's also speculating that the only reason DNI would hide this and get the DOJ involved is if someone very, very high up in the government were involved.

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/...igence-1496135

[Ghengis Jon]

Re-animated corpse Lou Dobbs goes into full blown NoKo mode.




propdobbs.jpg

[Ghengis Jon]

Speaking of re-animated corpses, look how much Rumsfield has aged (photo taken last 9/11).


22940952.jpg

[Dr. Strangelove]

[Dr. Strangelove]

Half of Saudi Arabia's oil production has been shut down after 10 drones attacked one of Saudi Arabia's largest oil fields. It's estimated that this will affect 5% of the world's total daily oil production and prices could jump from $5 to $10 a barrel on Monday.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/14/oil-could-rise-10-per-barrel-after-drone-attack-forces-saudi-to-cut-output.html

[Dr. Strangelove]

This could be a pretty big deal because Pompeo is insinuating the attacks did not come from Yemen. If they came directly from Iran we're entering a dangerous phase

[iam416]

That would be bad.

[Ghengis Jon]

Pompeo is engaged in politi-speak. Part of 'maximum pressure' on Iran; reality and truth are the usual casualties.

[Hannibal]

Is this the latest and greatest bullshit attempt to get us in a war in the Middle East?

[Ghengis Jon]

Children being role models for adults.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/10/us/new-york-toddlers-hugging-trnd/

[Jeff Buchanan]

The SA oil field attacks ....... little evidence supports claims that the drone attacks on SA's oil infrastructure originated from Southern Iraq where Iran has a substantial RG presence. The most compelling though is that the drones the Houthi rebels supposedly operate, don't have the nearly 1000 mile range it would take to fly them from their bases in Yemen to their targets in SA. Launching drones from Southern Iraq would put the SA oil filed targets at nearly half that distance and would be consistent with the ranges that intelligence officials believe Iran would have operational and deployed drones in the field.

As well, final targeting/guidance for the drones had to come from some kind of overhead capability. Operators can fly them from distant locations - to a point. But at low altitudes, what is required to evade SA air defenses - demands an air or space born platform to direct them precisely to their intended targets.

The Houthi's claimed responsibility for the attacks and said they received assistance from elements (probably disaffected Shia) from within the Kingdom. If that is accurate, some kind of hand-off to ground units performing final guidance would be possible.

Escalating the price the various ME allies have to pay to continue to try and squeeze the Iranians is completely consistent with the Mullah's approach so far. It's pretty clear that the Iranian situation had dropped off the radar with global focus on the apparent easing of the China-US trade tensions. This move, if it was actually carried out by Iran, would be a good way to get it back on the world stage. The Iranian statement late last night implying that the US needs to get back to talking about the Nuclear Deal and to do that, it needs to remove sanctions would tend to support that the attacks are intended to shock the world in a manner that might move involved parties to back off of Iran.

The next few days and what happens in response to the SA attacks will be critical in determining where the US is headed in this. There will be a response. What it will be is hard to tell right now. Options include SA stepping up aerial attacks inside Yemen, oblique military pressure on Iranian interests in Lebanon and Syria by the IDF - pay back directed at Iran, some kind of limited strike by US forces operating in the gulf against a specific land based target inside Iran - think submarine and surface ship launched cruise missiles.

I also think that there are ongoing secret talks underway involving any number of parties hosted by the French. If we don't see any kind of overt US military operations directed against targets inside Iran this week, that would seal it for me that such contacts are talking.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Saudis are claiming now that they were hit by cruise missiles. Not drones. That would be bad