May 14

Today’s News 14th May 2019

  • Turkey Flexes In "Largest Ever" East-Med Naval Drills Amid Cypriot Oil & Gas Grab

    Turkey kicked off its “largest ever” military drills conducted in the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas on Monday. Though the drills are pre-scheduled “annual” exercises, the massively beefed up Turkish naval presence comes as Cyprus is pressing the EU to address illegal Turkish oil and gas drilling inside Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone.

    Turkish state-run TRT World described the exercise known as “Sea Wolf 2019” as including a total of 131 warships, 57 warplanes and 33 helicopters — the largest force deployment in the exercise’s history. 

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    Turkish Navy file photo

    The games will extend to the Black Sea as well, and is set to run through May 25; it will further involve “submarines, frigates, naval artilleries, armed UAVs, as well as search and rescue units” engaging in “strategic and operational exercises with scenarios similar to crisis-tension situations and wartime,” according to Turkish sources.

    The west supported Greek Cypriot government and Turkey – the latter which occupies northern Cyprus – have overlapping claims of jurisdiction for offshore oil and gas research in the natural gas-rich eastern Mediterranean.

    Turkey has laid claim to a waters extending a whopping 200 miles from its coast, brazenly asserting ownership over a swathe of the Mediterranean that even cuts into Greece’s exclusive economic zone. Ankara has in the past demanded that Cyprus formally recognize the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (since 1974) and allow it to share revenues from Cypriot gas exploration. 

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    Last week the president of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades slammed Turkey for what he called the “unprecedented escalation of illegal action” which constitutes a “second invasion” in the eastern Mediterranean

    Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has reportedly been provocatively sending  warships in support of gas exploration and drilling vessels near Cypriot waters over the past months in order to ward off foreign competition to oil and gas research, according to Cypriot officials, also seeking to bar Cypriot ships and planes from freely traversing its own European recognized waters. 

    Turkish state media footage of the games as they kick off Monday.

    On Monday TRT World reported separately just as the war games were kicking off:

    Ankara plans to start drilling near the island of Cyprus, in a project that Turkey says is within the rights of his country.

    Elaborating on the issue, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, “The legitimate rights of Turkey and the Northern Cypriot Turks over energy resources in the eastern Mediterranean are not open for argument. Our country is determined to defend its rights and those of Turkish Cypriots. We expect NATO to respect Turkey’s rights in this process and support us in preventing tensions.”

    The extensive Turkish claims around Cyprus have been condemned by the US, European Union, and Egypt, with NATO officials recently signalling to Turkey that it was out of line.

    But Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu confirmed early this month that “we are starting drilling” in the region, perceiving that EU and NATO leadership have merely long paid lip service to Cypriot and Greek complaints. 

    Should the Turkish military attempt to enforce its drilling claims and run up against Cypriot and Greek vessels, it could spark a deadly encounter which would force the EU and NATO to finally weigh in more forcefully. 

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    Turkey has been frequently flexing its military might amid the territorial showdown, conducting the “Blue Homeland” drills between Feb. 27 and March 8 earlier this year. 

    So this week’s massive naval exercise will be the second in only a few months, just as EU leaders are planning to consider Cyprus’ allegations during meetings at the end of May and in June.

  • Europe's Three Concerns About Iran

    Authored by Amir Taheri via The Gatestone Institute,

    Talking to European think-tankers and policymakers in recent weeks, one gets the impression that, seen from Europe, Iran is a recurring nightmare that everyone wishes would go away. A couple of years ago, many in Europe believed that it had faded into oblivion. Now, however, the nightmare is back with a vengeance, with drums of war beating in the background.

    The truth is that, apart from wishing it would go away, the European Union has never had a coherent policy for dealing with the nightmare. Eight years of President Barack Obama’s dancing around the Iran issue enabled the Europeans to postpone serious analysis of the situation in the Islamic Republic.

    That, in turn, seems to have led the Europeans to gingerly rally to the hardline posture adopted by the Trump administration in Washington. Judging by the current discussions in European policy circles, the European powers may well throw their weight behind Trump’s policy of “maximum pressure” during the forthcoming G7 summit in France in August.

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    If the regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran collapses, who will take the reins and make sure that the vast country does not morph into yet another “ungoverned territory” in the heart of the Middle East? Pictured: Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (left) and President Hassan Rouhani. (Image source: khamenei.ir)

    In informal talks, European policymakers and advisers express three concerns regarding the “maximum pressure” strategy.

    The first is that the policy, ostensibly aimed only at persuading the Khomeinist leadership to change its behavior on some foreign policy issues, may, in fact, lead to systemic collapse in Iran and produce regime change with unforeseeable consequences.

    The question is: who will take the reins in Iran and make sure that the vast country does not morph into yet another “ungoverned territory” in the heart of the Middle East?

    I think the question is designed to dodge the issue of confronting a rogue regime that has provoked the current crisis. Iran has an old and well-established bureaucracy, dating back to the 16th century, and capable of operating within a strong culture of governance. Despite the serious damage done to state structures by the mullahs and their acolytes, the reservoir of experience and talent available is vast enough to ensure governance even on autopilot.

    The second concern is that regime change in Iran may trigger an avalanche of refugees ultimately heading for Europe at a time EU nations are still grappling with problems created by the influx of Syrian refugees. Iran’s population is almost four times that of Syria, which means Europe may face four times as many refugees. However, that concern too may be unwarranted.

    To start with, Iran has been a source of refugees from the first days of the Khomeinist regime. Right now, over eight million Iranians, about 10 percent of the population, are in exile, mostly in Europe and the United States, according to Iran’s Foreign Ministry. Replacing the present regime by something less obnoxious may, in fact, inspire a reverse flow by Iranian exiles returning home. Something like that happened in Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein. In the first five years after liberation, an estimated 3.2 million Iraqi exiles, half of them in Iran, returned home.

    History shows that nasty regimes produce refugees in the first decade of their existence. We saw that in Cuba after Fidel Castro seized power. Today, a change of regime in Havana will almost certainly lead to a return of some Cuban exiles, and not to a new outflow of refugees. The Syrian situation is exceptional. The popular uprising against the Assad regime was not allowed to succeed because Russia and the Islamic Republic intervened to crush it.

    In the case of Iran, it is unlikely that Russia would want, or be able, to repeat the Syrian scenario to save the mullahs. Also, there is no one to assume the sidekick role that the Islamic Republic played in Syria.

    The third concern that Europeans express is that Trump’s “proximity pressure” strategy may lead to war. In that context, some Europeans claim that it is fear of war that fans the fires of fanaticism in Tehran.

    One senior European official tells us that the Islamic Republic is behaving aggressively because it feels surrounded by “huge numbers of American troops”.

    That assumption is based on insufficient attention to facts. The US currently has around 170,000 military personnel, out of total active military personnel of 1,280,000, stationed in 66 countries, the lowest number since World War II. Of these, two-thirds are stationed in Germany, Japan, and South Korea. In areas that Iran might regard as its glacis, US military personnel number under 15,000.

    In contrast, in the same putative glacis, the Islamic Republic has over 100,000 troops, including Afghan, Lebanese, Iraqi and Pakistani mercenaries in Syria and Iraq, not counting Hezbollah and Houthi units in Lebanon and Yemen.

    Nevertheless, the possibility of war cannot be discounted.

    A Persian classic on statecraft and warfare, says “words are the first arrows shot in a war.” The mullahs and their henchmen have set unimaginable records in the number of anti-American “word-arrows” shot every day. On the American side, John Bolton, Mike Pompeo, and Brian Hook return the compliment with interest.

    However, a war of words could also lead to real war. In the “Melian Dialogue”, Thucydides shows how the war of words between Athens and Sparta and constant military preparation in the island of Melos, ended up igniting the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC).

    In the 15th century, the kings of Portugal and Spain went to war over the ownership of an island that was later found out to have been put on the map by a map-maker’s mistake. Peace came when the Portuguese agreed to cede the non-existent island to the Spaniards.

    The mullahs are playing with fire and, “He who plays with fire risks being burned!”

  • Crisis Begins: Cuba Begins Widespread Rationing Due To Shortages 

    Last month, the Trump administration imposed new sanctions on Cuba and Venezuela, attempting to tighten the vice on Havana to end its support for Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro. As a result, Cuba launched widespread rationing of staple foods and hygiene products due to shortages triggered by US trade embargos, reported Al Jazeera.

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    After a month of shortages, Cuban authorities announced Friday the rationed sale of chicken, eggs, rice, beans, soap, and other essential items, “to avoid hoarding and ensure greater access.”

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    Commerce Minister Betsy Díaz told the Cuban News Agency that rationing would be used to deal with shortages of staple foods. Díaz condemned the Trump administration for triggering the latest crisis developing throughout the country.

    “Our mission is to fracture all the measures the US government imposes, and today we are setting priorities,” Diaz said on a state-run media broadcast.

    Cuba imports approximately two-thirds of its food and small shortages have been common throughout the years. In recent weeks, many products have been missing from store shelves for days, and long lines have sprung up with many waiting for scarce products like chicken and beans.

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    Amid the developing economic crisis on the Caribbean island, Cuban youth have flooded onto social media under the hashtag #lacolachallenge (queue challenge) to shed light on the shortage.

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    Many Cubans find themselves standing in line for hours, waiting for products to arrive, a problem the government has blamed on “hoarders.”

    “The country’s going through a tough moment. This is the right response. Without this, there’ll be hoarders. I just got out of work and I was able to buy hot dogs,” said Lazara Garcia, a 56-year-old tobacco-factory worker.

    Product rationing has already begun in many municipalities across the island, with government-run grocery stores currently limiting bottles of cooking oil.

    Cuban officials admitted that a liquidity crunch has hit the country after commercial debt hit $ 1.5 billion with suppliers late last year, as well as the renewed US sanctions, have complicated things for the centrally planned government.

    “We depend on imports that come from the United States, and this has meant that we have had to look for alternatives to be able to secure the product in the market,” Díaz told local media.

    It seems that an economic crisis is unfolding in Cuba and the dangers are beginning to emerge with food shortages across the country.

  • NASA, Roscosmos Leadership Unite In Call For Asteroid Defense: A Game Changer In Global Politics

    Authored by Matthew Ehret via The Strategic Culture Foundation,

    From April 29-May 3, a unique five-day conference took place bringing together leading scientists, engineers and policy makers to discuss the important matter of mankind’s long term survival in a very hostile part of the galaxy. The 5th Annual Planetary Defense Conference in Baltimore Maryland was opened by a powerful keynote address by NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine who painted a picture not only of the very real threat which life on earth faces due to the highly volatile (and highly unknown) behaviour of asteroids (near Earth Objects) orbiting in our sector of the solar system, but also outlined an important pathway to world peace.

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    Unlike “international terrorism” or “man-made global warming” which are purely human-made concoctions driven by political agendas, the threat of asteroid collisions with the earth is very real, and provides a very serious basis for international cooperation on the common aims and in the interest of humankind.

    Bridenstine opened his speech by saying “We have to make sure that people understand that this is not about Hollywood. It’s not about movies. This is about ultimately protecting the only planet we know right now to host life, and that is the planet Earth.” After announcing the launch of the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), Bridenstine said “we know for a fact that the dinosaurs did not have a space program… but we do, and we need to use it.”

    As these words were being spoken NASA had announced that asteroid 99942 Apophis (named after the Egyptian god of chaos) would come within 19 000 miles of the earth on April 13, 2029- which is closer than some satellites. The head of NASA’s presence at this forum was especially important since the White House had recently created a “National Near-Earth Object Preparedness Strategy and Action Plan” which commissioned a simulation of Apophis colliding with the Earth with devastating results.

    Currently only 8000 of the estimated local asteroids (which are 140 meters or larger) have been identified and nothing is even closely in place to change their trajectories any time soon. Even if a collision were to occur in several years’ time, humanity’s technologies and priorities are dismally far from preventing such a collision. Just to put things in perspective, Bridenstine reminded his audience that in February 2013, a meteor measuring only 20 meters in diameter and travelling at 40 000 mph exploded over Chelyabinsk Russia sending a shockwave that destroyed property and injured over 1600 civilians. The energy in that blast was the equivalent of 30 Hiroshimas. This incident caught the world off guard, since everyone’s eyes were pointed at the other side of the earth where a much larger asteroid came within 17 000 miles but missed that same day.

    The Potential Russian-USA Alliance for a New Paradigm

    Bridenstine, who has been a long-time advocate of US-Russia-China collaboration on science, described his experience in Russia at that time saying “when I was over in Russia, the head of Roscosmos Dimitri Rogozin said that was high on his agenda. As you can imagine with Chelyabinsk and Tunguska, Russia has been significantly impacted by these events, so they have keen awareness and intensity on this that I think is important.”

    In 2011 Rogozin made headlines by calling for a policy which he termed “The Strategic Defense of the Earth (SDE)”. As the name implies, the SDE was a revival of the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) which President Reagan had first made to the Russians in 1983 mediated by the fascinating figure of Lyndon LaRouche. Unlike George Bush Sr’s unilateral version of the SDI later, this first version was based upon joint US-Russia collaboration of a ground and space-based system of plasma-based advanced laser technologies which would have made nuclear war strategically impossible. While the Russians rejected the offer then, Rogozin’s reactivation of the idea three decades later was a stroke of poetic irony.

    Rogozin’s new design called not only for international collaboration around an anti-nuclear war policy, but additionally included asteroid defense. Rogozin was very clear in 2011 that this policy would re-channel the trillions of dollars of military hardware being built up by the anti-ballistic missile shield around Russia (and China) into a function which protects rather than destroys life. Little known in the west, Russia Today reported in October 2011 that the program focuses on “fighting threats coming from space rather than just missiles. … It would be an integration of anti-aircraft, missile, and space defenses. The system would be targeted against possible threats to Earth coming from space, including asteroids, comet fragments, and other alien bodies… The system should be capable of both monitoring space and destroying any dangerous objects as they approach our planet.”

    Today both Rogozin and Bridenstine are two leading figures behind Russian and American plans for lunar and mars colonization which alongside China’s pioneering commitment for space exploration offer one of the best gateways out of the “closed system” trap of British geopolitics. America currently has a commitment for a permanent lunar colony by 2024 as a platform for lunar mining and Mars development. Russia’s vision is nearly identical with plans for the first manned mission between 2025-2034 and a permanent colony established by 2040. The European Space Agency has plans for a manned moon colony by 2030 and China has announced its first manned mission by the same period. All four agencies have expressed a serious interest for asteroid defense.

    Already, through Bridenstine’s leadership NASA has managed to crack the federal ban on US-China space cooperation imposed under the Obama presidency when NASA shared data with China during the Chang’e-4 landing on the far side of the moon on January 3, 2019. Leadership among Russia, China and American space agencies have made it clear that the Lunar-Mars development programs are heavily driven by opportunities for space mining (including the abundance of Helium-3 deposits on the moon which are unavailable on earth). Anyone serious about fusion technology knows that this isotope which has accumulated for billions of years on the Moon due to its lack of a magnetic field is the best source of fuel for fusion as the next phase in human development.

    Of course this positive future can only occur on the condition that the NATO-driven paradigm of closed system geopolitics (aka: the management of diminishing returns by a technocratic elite) is overturned and replaced by a system of “win-win cooperation” more in harmony with the true nature of humanity. This fight between two paradigms must be kept in mind when reviewing such anomalies as the positive 1.5 hour conversation between President Putin and Trump on May 3rd or the latter’s call to transfer the billions of dollars of Russia-China-US military spending into spending on “things that are more productive towards long term peace.”

    Regardless of what we may wish to believe, humanity exists in a universe that demands we pay attention to its behavior. Galactically driven catastrophes have led to 5 mass extinctions since the Cambrian period and as Bridenstine noted above, we are the first species which has exhibited the potential capability to circumvent another one from occurring. The question remains: Shall we continue to tolerate being manipulated by an oligarchical system of geopolitics under sociopathic technocrats who demand depopulation under a fixed system of diminishing returns (entropy) or shall we recognize our higher destiny as a species of creative reason and unbounded powers of self-perfectibility?

  • "Have Sex Marathons Every Day" Alibaba's Jack Ma Tells Newlyweds To Try '669' 

    China’s richest man, Jack Ma, has raised eyebrows after telling his newlywed employees to have sex six times in six days, according to the Daily Mail. 

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    The billionaire Alibaba founder was speaking at his company’s annual mass wedding, which takes place on “Ali Day” – May 10, at the company’s Hangzhou headquarters in east China. 

    “At work, we emphasize the spirit of 996. In life, we should follow 669,” said Ma, invoking the company’s highly controversial ‘996’ work schedule in which staff are required to work 12 hour shifts from 9am to 9pm six days per week. 

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    “What is 669?” asked Ma rhetorically. “Six days, six times, with duration being the key,” said Ma to the 102 couples in their wedding dresses and suits. As the Mail notes, “In Chinese, the word ‘nine’ is a homophone with the word for ‘long.’ 

    The quote was posted to Alibaba’s official page on Weibo with a winking emoji, which drew widespread criticism from net users.

    ‘Making a lewd joke in public and notoriously promoting it – are you being responsible to minors? Thumbs down this time,’ one highly rated comment read. 

    ‘This is just revolting,’ another comment said

    ‘Is this funny? Not one bit,’ one person said. 

    ‘Who on earth would have the energy to 669 at home after 996 during work?’ one user said. 

    As the officiant at the ceremony, the 54-year-old founder also urged the new couples to procreate, calling children a better investment that property.

    ‘The first KPI of marriage is to have results. There must be products. What is the product? Have children,’ Ma said.  

    ‘Marriage is not for the purpose of accumulating wealth, not for buying a house, not for buying a car, but for having a child together,’ he added. –Daily Mail

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    Perhaps Ma was trying to help out with China’s dwindling birth rate amid the country’s slowing economy. As the Mail notes, the number of babies born in 2018 fell by two million to 15.23 million – the lowest since 1961 despite Beijing relaxing the country’s one-child policy three years ago. 

  • Don't 'Iraq' Iran

    How many people advocating for war against Iran actually know what it looks like from an on the ground perspective? How many neocon advocates for bombing Tehran have actually seen the ultra-modern downtown skyline of the capital city? How many know flesh and blood Iranians who whose world and families and whole existence will be shattered when the missiles are unleashed? 

    Once again, the armchair hawks are clamoring to bomb far-away places which for them contain abstract “villains” which in reality pose little to no direct threat to the United States — all based on anonymously sourced and vague “intelligence”. Like the disastrous Iraq war, Washington is now saying, just “trust us”. And like Iraq, the results of yet another war to “take out the regime” will no doubt be a worse nightmare than the current status quo and stability, however undesirable Iran’s current leaders might be. 

    The below is authored by Eric Margolis via The Ron Paul Institute

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    Downtown Tehran, Iran at night.

    Is it just a coincidence that TV networks are re-running old “Dirty Harry” films just as a powerful US Naval armada and Air Force B-52 bombers are headed for what could be a clash with Iran? Here we go again with the “good guys” versus the “bad guys,” and “make my day.”

    Maybe it’s more bluffing? The current US military deployment was scheduled before the latest flare-up with Iran, but the bellicose threats of White House neocon crusaders like John Bolton and Mike Pompeo certainly create the impression that the US wants war.

    Adding to the warlike excitement, President Trump just ordered seizure of a large North Korean bulk cargo ship. This was clearly a brazen act of war and violation of international law. More dangerous brinkmanship by administration war-mongers who increasingly appear besotted by power and hubris.

    So much for the president who vowed to avoid foreign wars – and so much for the millions of anti-war voters who believed him.

    Why does Trump let his two horsemen of the apocalypse get away with this?

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    I’m following this latest gunboat diplomacy with particular interest because I had the privilege in 1994 of going to sea on the very same aircraft carrier, “CVN-72 USS Abraham Lincoln” that is now reportedly steaming towards Iran’s coast. With it are a nuclear submarine, a cruiser and a group of destroyers, all equipped with land-attack missiles.

    As a former soldier and war correspondent, I was deeply impressed by the “Lincoln” and her youthful crew. They were efficient, motivated and superbly well-organized. In our lifetime, no other navy will ever equal the skills of the US carrier fleet. The only real threat to America’s huge carriers is the growing power and accuracy of Russian, Chinese and Indian heavy anti-ship missiles.

    The Navy task force is backed up by B-52 nuclear-capable heavy bombers now stationed in Qatar, and US warplanes from other bases in the Gulf, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Turkey, Jordan, and Pakistan that effectively surround Iran. The carriers are just for show and threat.

    Israel, which is eager to see the US attack Iran, has helpfully provided “intelligence” allegedly showing that Iran is planning to attack certain US installations in the Mideast. Interestingly, Israel and its American supporters did the same thing in 2001 and 2003, pushing the US to attack its foe Iraq. Washington largely relied on Israeli intelligence about Iraq since its own resources were so weak – and senior Bush administration neocons kept touting the claims from Israel.

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    Tehran skyline

    President Trump sees himself as an emperor besieged by Washington Lilliputians. There’s nothing like a jolly little war to shut up all his critics and garner media support. Even better, the “bad guys” in this case are “Eye-ranian” Muslims. Trump’s religious base would thrill at the prospect of pounding the Islamic Republic. During the Bush administration years, over 80 percent of so-called “born again” Christians backed war against Iraq. What happened to “turn the other cheek?”

    This administration’s neocons have made it their life’s work to destroy Iran, which is considered Israel’s only serious enemy and a champion of the Palestinian cause.

    The Trump administration has largely fallen under the influence of Israel’s hard right in foreign and military affairs. So Bolton and Pompeo are clearly trying to engineer an incident that would spark war.

    Not full-scale war, but an excuse for the US and Israel to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities, key military sites and communications infrastructure as was done with Iraq. It won’t be back all the way to the Stone Age, but half way, so that Iran’s development is set back by a decade.

    Israel will then use its control over the US Congress to keep Iran under a very tight embargo. The Pentagon’s original plan to punish Iran called for some 2,300 air strikes on Day 1 alone.

    Washington’s hope, as usual, is that growing misery and hardship in Iran will provoke a revolt to oust the Islamic government, allowing the US to install the exiled Iranian royalists it has waiting in Southern California. This was the pattern in Cuba, Nicaragua, Iraq, Syria, Libya and now Venezuela. It’s not diplomacy, just brute force.

  • Trader Warns: Wall Street Has It All Wrong About 2H19 Growth Rebound 

    Patrick Ceresna (Big Picture Trading) and Kevin Muir (MacroTourist) every week discuss the week’s action in the markets — always keeping the other’s feet to the fire for bad calls – yet hopefully having some fun while learning a little something in the process.

    Last week, Patrick and Kevin welcomed Alastair Williamson (@stockboardasset) on ‘The Market Huddle’ to talk about debunking the 2H19 growth rebound narrative. Williamson provided a variety of charts, making his case that Wall Street is, in fact, utterly wrong about the second-half rebound.

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    Williamson said world trade volume is rolling over and global central banks’ toolkits are becoming less effective to stabilize global growth. He suggested that China’s latest record credit injection has failed to bottom Global PMIs (something we spoke about last week).

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    He also made the case that President Trump is deepening the trade war to achieve much lower equity prices so that the Federal Reserve would be more inclined to cut rates and implement QE-4.

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    Williamson showed an E-mini S&P 500 Futures analog of 2019 versus 2012. He said the index could fall until mid-summer if the tariff situation worsens, which would then force analysts to lower their price targets and EPS estimates, thus debunking 2H growth rebound narrative.

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    Without further ado, here is Market Huddle Episode 27: Debunking The 2H19 Growth Rebound Narrative.

  • Barr Appoints US Attorney To Investigate FBI/DOJ Spying On Trump; Has Investigated FBI Before

    Attorney General William Barr has appointed US Attorney John H. Durham of Connecticut to examine the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation to determine if the FBI’s spying on the Trump campaign was “lawful and appropriate,” according to Fox News. 

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    U.S. Attorney John Durham has been assigned to probe the origins of the surveillance of the Trump campaign, a source told Fox News. (Justice Department)

    The move comes as the Trump administration has demanded answers over the use of “informants” on his 2016 campaign. 

    According to Fox, Barr is “serious” and has assembled a team from the DOJ to participate in the probe, adding that Durham is known as a “hard-charging, bulldog” prosecutor according to their source. 

    Sources familiar with matter say the focus of the probe includes the pre-transition period — prior to Nov. 7, 2016 – – including the use and initiation of informants, as well as potential Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) abuses.

    An informant working for U.S. intelligence posed as a Cambridge University research assistant in September 2016 to try extracting any possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia from George Papadopoulos, then a Trump foreign policy adviser, it emerged earlier this month. Papadopoulos told Fox News the informant tried to “seduce” him as part of the “bizarre” episode.

    Durham previously has investigated law enforcement corruption, the destruction of CIA videotapes and the Boston FBI office’s relationship with mobsters. He is set to continue to serve as the chief federal prosecutor in Connecticut. –Fox News

    Of note – in January House Republicans Jim Jordan and Mark Meadows wrote to Durham, saying that they had “discovered” he was “investigating former FBI General Counsel James Baker” over unauthorized leaks to the media, adding “We know the DOJ and FBI departed from traditional investigative and prosecutorial practices, and insufficiently adhered to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). 

    Durham has a history of serving as a special prosecutor, investigating wrongdoing among national security officials – including the FBI’s ties to a Boston crime boss, as well as accusations of CIA detainee abuse. 

    According to the report, Durham’s review would run in parallel with the ongoing DOJ probe by Inspector General (IG) Michael Horowitz. Meanwhile, Republicans have been seeking answers from US Attorney for Utah, John Huber, who was appointed by former AG Jeff Sessions to review FBI and DOJ surveillance abuses, as well as authorities’ handling of the probe into the Clinton Foundation. 

    Not much has come of Huber’s investigation, while Republicans have cautioned that he has spoken with few key witnesses and whistleblowers. 

    Durham’s appointment comes about a month after Barr told members of Congress he believed “spying did occur” on the Trump campaign in 2016. He later said he didn’t mean anything pejorative and was gathering a team to look into the origins of the special counsel’s investigation.

    Democrats have pummeled Barr in frustration following revelations in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report that the Trump campaign did not collude with Russian actors, despite numerous offers by Russians to assist the campaign. Mueller’s final report has led to a bitter D.C. battle over the limited number of redactions in the report, which the DOJ says are legally necessary because they pertain to grand jury matters. –Fox News

    As part of the FBI’s FISA application on Trump campaign aide Carter Page, the FBI cut-and-pasted from a disputed Washington Post article which suggested that the Trump campaign may have been compromised. The agency also repeatedly told the FISA court that it “did not believe” UK ex-spy Christopher Steele was the source of a Yahoo News article written by Michael Isikoff which implicated Page in Russian collusion. 

    London court records, however, reveal that contrary to the FBI’s statements, Steele had briefed Yahoo News and other media outlets in the fall of 2016 at the urging of his employer Fusion GPS – which the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) had paid for anti-Trump opposition research. This information was withheld from FISA judges during the application to surveil Page. 

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    What’s more, the FBI could not verify the dodgy dossier Steele assembled. Speaking Fox on ‘Sunday Morning Futures,’ Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham said “There’s a document that’s classified that I’m gonna try to get unclassified that takes the dossier — all the pages of it — and it has verification to one side,” adding “There really is no verification, other than media reports that were generated by reporters that received the dossier.” 

    Graham cited a recent report from The Hill‘s John Solomon which reveals that the FBI was specifically informed that Steele had admitted he was “keen” to influence the 2016 election with his document. 

    Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Kathleen Kavalec’s written account of her Oct. 11, 2016, meeting with FBI informant Christopher Steele shows the Hillary Clinton campaign-funded British intelligence operative admitted that his research was political and facing an Election Day deadline. –The Hill

    Solomon also reported last week that a high-ranking government official who met with Christopher Steele in October 2016 determined that information in the Trump-Russia dossier was inaccurate, and likely leaked to the media. 

    Ten days before the FBI used the now-discredited dossier to apply for a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant to spy on Trump campaign aide Carter Page, Steele met with Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Kathleen Kavalec, who took handwritten notes of the encounter.

    Steele told Kavalec that Russia had a “technical/human operation run out of Moscow targeting the election,” which recruited US emigres to “do hacking and recruiting. Steele added that “Payments to those recruited are made out of the Russian consulate in Miami.” 

    Except that’s a lie – as Kavalec debunked the assertion in a bracketed comment: “It is important to note that there is no Russian consulate in Miami.“

    What makes this particularly damning is that the FBI swore on October 21, 2016 to the FISA judges that Steele’s “reporting has been corroborated and used in criminal proceedings,”and that the FBI deemed him to be “reliable” and was “unaware of any derogatory information pertaining” to the former British spy who was working for Fusion GPS – the firm paid by the DNC and the Clinton campaign to come up with dirt on Donald Trump. 

    And now U.S. Attorney John Durham will sort out exactly what happened, we can only hope. 

     

  • Amazon Rolling Out Automated Packing Machines That Are 5X Faster Than Humans

    Amazon has been rolling out machines which automatically scans goods coming down a conveyer belt and boxes them for shipping, according to an exclusive report by Reuters, citing two people who worked on the project.  

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    The ‘latest and greatest’ in automation will replace thousands of workers. After installing the technology in a “handful of warehouses,” the company has considered installing the machines at dozens more – replacing at least 24 workers each at facilities which typically employ more than 2,000 people. 

    The new machines, known as the CartonWrap from Italian firm CMC Srl, pack much faster than humans. They crank out 600 to 700 boxes per hour, or four to five times the rate of a human packer, the sources said. The machines require one person to load customer orders, another to stock cardboard and glue and a technician to fix jams on occasion. –Reuters

    Deployed across 55 US fulfillment centers for standard-sized inventory, this would mean more than 1,300 jobs gone, while Amazon would recover the cost of the program in less than two years at $1 million per machine plus operational expenses. 

    The plan, previously unreported, shows how Amazon is pushing to reduce labor and boost profits as automation of the most common warehouse task – picking up an item – is still beyond its reach. The changes are not finalized because vetting technology before a major deployment can take a long time. –Reuters

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    “We are piloting this new technology with the goal of increasing safety, speeding up delivery times and adding efficiency across our network,” said an Amazon spokeswoman in a statement to Reuters. “We expect the efficiency savings will be re-invested in new services for customers, where new jobs will continue to be created.” 

    Last month Amazon tried to downplay steps towards automation taken at its Baltimore fulfillment center, telling worried employees that a fully robotic future was far off. 

    A key to its goal of a leaner workforce is attrition, one of the sources said. Rather than lay off workers, the person said, the world’s largest online retailer will one day refrain from refilling packing roles. Those have high turnover because boxing multiple orders per minute over 10 hours is taxing work. At the same time, employees that stay with the company can be trained to take up more technical roles. –Reuters

    And while the new machines are 500% faster than a human, the latest round of automation is “truly about efficiency and savings,” according to one of Reuters‘ sources. 

    Between CartonWrap and another machine known as the “SmartPac,” which mails items in patented envelopes, Amazon’s technology suite will be able to replace most of its human packers, according to the report, which notes that “Five rows of workers at a facility can turn into two, supplemented by two CMC machines and one SmartPac.” 

    The CMC packing machines have also been used by companies such as Shutterfly Inc, Walmart and JD.com Inc, according to the report. Walmart began using them 3.5 years ago and has deployed the machines across several US locations. 

    The next challenge – ‘picking’ technology that doesn’t break items. 

    Interest in boxing technology sheds light on how the e-commerce behemoths are approaching one of the major problems in the logistics industry today: finding a robotic hand that can grasp diverse items without breaking them.

    Amazon employs countless workers at each fulfillment center who do variations of this same task. Some stow inventory, while others pick customer orders and still others grab those orders, placing them in the right size box and taping them up. –Reuters

    A slew of venture-backed companies and university researchers have been racing to find a solution for picking. While AI can help improve machines’ accuracy, “there is no guarantee that robotic hands can prevent a marmalade jar from slipping and breaking, or switch seamlessly from picking up an eraser to grabbing a vacuum cleaner,” writes Reuters. 

    Amazon has been testing technology from several vendors which it may someday use for picking, including one from Boston-based startup Soft Robotics, which draws inspiration from octopus tentacles which provide versatile grippers. 

    Soft Robotics would not comment on its work with Amazon, but says that it has handled a wide and ever-changing variety of products for several large retailers. 

    Believing that grasping technology is not ready for prime time, Amazon is automating around that problem when packing customer orders. Humans still place items on a conveyor, but machines then build boxes around them and take care of the sealing and labeling. This saves money not just by reducing labor but by reducing wasted packing materials as well.

    These machines are not without flaws. CMC can only produce so many per year. They need a technician on site who can fix problems as they arise, a requirement Amazon would rather do without, the two sources said. The super-hot glue closing the boxes can pile up and halt a machine. –Reuters

    Meanwhile, Amazon has already found the boxing machines to be extremely helpful – while Reuters notes that “the machines have the potential to automate far more than 24 jobs per facility.” The company is also establishing approximately 24 more US fulfillment centers for small and non-specialty inventory, according to logistics consultancy MWPVL International. 

    “A ‘lights out’ warehouse is ultimately the goal,” said one source. 

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