Jan 30

Today’s News 30th January 2017

  • Despite Attackers Yelling "Allahu Akbar", Politicians Blame "Years Of Demonizing Muslims" For "Barbaric, Terrorist Act" In Quebec City Mosque

    Update: One day after the prime minister welcome Muslims into the country, it appears Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard calls mosque shooting a "terrorist act", and Greg Fergus, an MP in Quebec blamed "years of demonising Muslims" for the massacre…

    Quebec police confirm: "The premises are secure and the occupants have been evacuated. The investigation continues," the SPVQ wrote on Twitter.

    A witness, who asked to remain anonymous, told CBC's French-language service Radio-Canada that two masked individuals entered the mosque.

    "It seemed to me that they had a Quebecois accent. They started to fire, and as they shot they yelled, 'Allahu akbar!' The bullets hit people that were praying. People who were praying lost their lives. A bullet passed right over my head," said the witness.

    Additionally, NYPD is steeping up patrol at all mosque/house-of-worship locations citywide, due to the shooting at a mosque in Quebec.

    *  *  *

    As we detailed earlier, five people were killed after gunmen opened fire in a Quebec City mosque during evening prayers, the mosque's president told reporters on Sunday Reuters reported. Police confirmed the shooting at a Quebec mosque in a tweet, confirming numerous fatalities.

    "There are many victims … there are deaths," a Quebec police‎ spokesman told reporters.

    Quebec City Constable Étienne Doyon told reporters that police received a call around 7:55 p.m. on Sunday, stating that shots had been heard at the Centre Culturel Islamique de Québec on Sainte-Foy St.

    "Why is this happening here? This is barbaric,” said the mosque's president, Mohamed Yangui. In June 2016, a pig’s head was left on the doorstep of the cultural centre, Reuters added. Yangui, who luckily was not inside the mosque during the shooting, said he received frantic calls from people at evening prayers. He said the injured had been taken to different hospitals across Quebec City.

    According to local authorities, one of the shooters at the mosque used an AK-47.

    Police launched an investigation last June after the severed head of a pig was left in front of one of the doors of the mosque, wrapped in cellophane with bows, ribbon and a card that read, “bonne appétit.” The incident took place during Ramadan, a month-long celebration during which Muslims fast between sunrise and sunset. Muslim dietary laws forbid eating pork at any time. Three weeks later, an Islamophobic letter entitled “What is the most serious: a pig’s head or a genocide” was distributed in the vicinity.

    In the neighboring province of Ontario, a mosque was set on fire in 2015, a day after an attack by gunmen and suicide bombers in Paris.

    As a reminder, just yesterday Canada's PM defied Trump's immigration order, and openly welcomed all those "fleeing prosecution" to Canada.

    As Canada's CBC reports, two suspects have been arre sted, but so far there are scant details about the identity of the shooters.

  • First Big Shock For Wall Street: Republicans Warn No Trump Tax Reform Until Spring 2018

    When it comes to Wall Street, Trump can launch martial law, suspend habeas corpus and/or use the Constitution for kindling and the market could care less as stocks will still go up. However, threaten some of Trump’s core economic stimulus projects like infrastructure spending (i.e., more public debt to fund corporate bottom lines) or tax reform (even more public debt flowing through to EPS), and suddenly stocks will pay very close attention.

    It now appears that this particular “worst case” for stocks may be playing out. As we cautioned in our previous post looking at the impact of Trump tax reform on corporate earnings, the biggest risk for the controversial president is that “at this rate Trump may spend much of his first year dealing with immigration reform and Obamacare.”

    However, as Paul Ryan warned last week during the Republicans’ outing in Philadelphia, Trump’s “#1 priority”, repealing and replacing Obamacare may not take place for several months. To wit:

    House Speaker Paul Ryan told House and Senate Republicans that lawmakers likely won’t repeal and replace Obamacare until March or April. Speaking in the first major session of GOP lawmakers’ joint retreat in the City of Brotherly Love, Ryan said Wednesday that the health care law wouldn’t be repealed and subsequently replaced until spring.

     

    “What we heard today was Obamacare is front and center,” Rep. Chris Collins, R-N.Y., told reporters, referring to the first session of the retreat, which outlined President Donald Trump’s first 200 days in office, or the “200 Day Plan.”  “Repeal and replace,” Collins added. “The word was by the springtime.”

    And so the topic of eliminating Obamacare, which we explicitly warned could take up to two years to be replaced, is starting to drift off into the future.

    Ok fine, repealing and replacing Obamacare may be on hiatus, but at least Trump’s massive infrastructure project is still on track, and will be executed shortly. Guess again. According to Politico, the great bipartisan hope of 2017 – a massive public works initiative that would allow Donald Trump and Democrats to show they’re serious about putting blue-collar workers back to work – “may be in trouble before negotiations even begin.”

    Trump will almost certainly need Senate Democrats to get any infrastructure legislation through Congress, and this week they laid out a $1 trillion proposal this week that neatly matches the price tag of Trump’s own plan. But the similarities end there: If anything, Democrats set a mark that will be nearly impossible for the White House to meet. 

     

    The gaping disparity between the two approaches, and huge unanswered questions about where the money would come from, are serious warning signs for one of Trump’s top priorities. The biggest difference: Senate Democrats want to build on existing government programs and consider adding to the deficit, while Trump has emphasized tax credits that his advisers argue would pay for themselves.

     

    The politics of a bipartisan infrastructure deal were already rough for Trump, with GOP leaders wary of any new spending and more interested in tackling health care and tax reform. So this week’s Democratic infrastructure proposal, billed as a “challenge” to the new president, is a troubling sign as Trump pushes to make good on his frequent vow to be “the greatest jobs producer that God ever created.”

    Considering that a massive infrastructure spending stimulus has been one of the main drivers behind the recent surge in stocks, and especially behind industrial and material stocks, the encroachment of reality over “hope” may leave a sour taste in the mouths of a big subset of stock market bulls.

    But the worst news for Trump’s Wall Street supporters is neither the Obamacare delay, nor infrastructure spending hiatus, but his tax reform, arguably the single biggest driver behind the powerful market rally. Alas, as Reuters reports, things here too may be about to get indefinitely delayed into the future, to the point where the market may finally start asking itself if it has gone up too high, too fast.

    The reason for this was revealed last week in Philadelphia, when the reality of Trump’s aggressive fiscal spending agenda hit the brick wall of Congressional Republicans. According to Reuters, “as congressional Republicans gathered for an annual policy retreat in Philadelphia on Wednesday, the 100-day goal morphed into 200 days. As the week wore on, leaders were saying it could take until the end of 2017 – or possibly longer – for passage of final legislation.“

    And while Trump had a different idea when he spoke to lawmakers in Philadelphia, “telling them: Enough talk. Time to deliver”, he may have no recourse when dealing with the bitterly polarized and fragmented House of representatives:

    barely visible in Philadelphia, there are potential flashpoints of disagreement within the Republican rank-and-file in Congress as well as between Republican lawmakers and the unorthodox new president.

     

    These include how and when to replace Obamacare if Republicans succeed in their quest to repeal it; how to revamp the multi-layered tax code, whether to build a wall on the U.S. border with Mexico and the nature of the U.S. relationship with Russia.

    But the most troubling revelations was the following: “When it comes to tax reform, senior congressional aides said the spring of 2018 might be a more likely time than this year for the passage of legislation.“

    For thousands of financial professionals, the shattered illusion that Trump would somehow be able to channel through trillions in spending with little to no delay, may end up costing them dearly. Furthermore, now that Trump has managed to infuriate even more politicians, including at least 11 GOP members, with his recent flurry of executive orders, it is likely that the “due date” on tax reform was pushed even further back.

    Ultimately, the reason for the delay is the same one we warned about just days after Trump’s election: a republican party that is simply unprepared to authorize the kind of spending demanded by the president: “some also voiced fears that his big agenda would drive up deficits and said they were still searching for details on his plans.”

    Several Republican lawmakers and aides said they were wary of the cost of his plan to build a wall on the border with Mexico. Republican leaders have said the wall proposal under discussion would cost $12 billion to $15 billion cost but some congressional aides say it could end up easily topping $20 billion.

     

    Republican Representative Will Hurd, whose Texas district partially borders Mexico, went a step further, calling the wall an ineffective tool for stopping illegal immigration.

     

    Others warned a border adjustment tax on foreign goods to pay for that wall could hurt U.S. companies’ profits, raise costs for American consumers and spark retaliation by foreign trading partners.

    Not just others, but the billionaire Koch brothers, who as reported previously have emerged as the bigest opnnents of the proposed Border Tax due to concerns about the profitability of their various business operations.

    But before Trump even gets to tax reform, which he can not “fix” with an executive order, he has to figure out what to do with Obamacare, and even here things are slowly grinding to a halt.

    Some lawmakers also worry that some of their constituents could be at risk of losing healthcare coverage if the push to repeal Obamacare moves too quickly.

     

    “You don’t want to be the reason why we weren’t successful in getting these things done,” he said. Still, Cole said Republicans are taking stock of the potential cost of the biggest items on Trump’s agenda such as the wall, infrastructure projects, tax cuts and beefing up military spending. “I think they worry about it,” Cole said.

     

    Following Trump’s speech to the lawmakers on Thursday, Senator James Risch said that no decisions had been made on the replacement of Obamacare, a complex law that has expanded healthcare insurance to millions of Americans. “It’s going to take a while to resolve it,” Risch said. Asked by reporters whether Republicans had a clear idea of what Trump would like to replace Obamacare with, Risch responded, “In detail, no.”

    The problem for Trump, especially now that he has embraced the market as an indicator of his job success, is that with every passing day, the ‘detail’ will be demanded by those would buy stocks. And in its absence, instead of buying, we may finally see a period of aggressive stock selling to remind the president just what his promises to Wall Street were.

  • "I'm A Woman Who Went To The Women's March And The March For Life. The Differences Were Stunning"

    Submitted by Antonia Okafor via Independent Journal Review,

    A week after the Inauguration of Donald Trump, politically active women across America could choose to make themselves heard at two major rallies revolving around women's issues. They could attend a pro-choice, feminist march known as the Women's March or they could wait one week and attend the 44th annual pro-life, March for Life.

    Some lucky few, such as myself, were able to attend both.

    The marches had their similarities. Both marches were held in D.C. Both marches were heavily attended by women. And both marches attracted people from all over the country to participate. But each march was not made equal.

    Being physically at the marches, it is easy to recognize differences between the two. In fact, some of the differences were downright stunning. Take a look for yourself, perhaps you will agree.

    Young Adults at the March for Life

    Image Credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

     

    Young Adults at the Women's March

    Image credit: Joshua Lott/AFP/Getty Images

     

    Examples of inclusion at The March for Life

    Image Credit: Destiny Herndon-de La Rosa/New Wave Feminists, used with permission

     

    Examples of “inclusion” at the Women's March

     

     

     

    Signs at the March for Life

    Image credit: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images
     

    Image Credit: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images
     

    Image Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

     

    Signs at the Women's March

    Image Credit: Ebet Roberts/Getty Images

     

    Image Credit: Cynthia Edorh/Getty Images

     

    Image Credit: Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images

     

    Attire at The March for Life

    Image Credit: ZACH GIBSON/AFP/Getty Images
     

    Image Credit:TASOS KATOPODIS/AFP/Getty Images

    Attire at the Women's March

    Image Credit:Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
     

    Image Credit: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images

     

    Speakers at the March for Life

    Image Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
     

    Image Credit: Tasos Katopodis/AFP/Getty Images
     

    Image Credit: Somodevilla/Getty Images

     

    Speakers at the Women's March

    Image Credit: by Araya Diaz/Getty Images
     

    Image Credit: Theo Wargo/Getty Images

     

    Men at the March for Life

    Image Credit: ZACH GIBSON/AFP/Getty Images
     

    Image Credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

     

    Men at the Women's March

    Image Credit: Ebet Roberts/Archive Photos/Getty Images
     

    Image Credit: JASON CONNOLLY/AFP/Getty Images

     

    The main reason for the 1st Annual Women's March.

    Image Credit: Cynthia Edorh/Getty Images

     

    The main reason for the 44th Annual March for Life.

    Image credit: ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP/Getty Images

    Only one march persuaded me to attend again.

     

  • Trump Administration takes a step back on executive order, Dept of Homeland Security states entry of LPRs allowed

    Legal residents holding green cards will now be allowed legal entry into the United States. In an apparent attempt to reach a realistic compromise on President Trump’s executive orders concerning immigration from countries compromised by terrorism, Secretary John Kelly from the Department of Homeland Security issued the following statement:

    In applying the provisions of the president’s executive order, I hereby deem the entry of lawful permanent residents to be in the national interest.

    Accordingly, absent the receipt of significant derogatory information indicating a serious threat to public safety and welfare, lawful permanent resident status will be a dispositive factor in our case-by-case determinations.

    This statement came at around 4:30pm EST and shortly followed another statement by Secretary John Kelly which affirmed the departments intentions on complying with both the President’s executive orders as well as court orders. The second DHS statement ended with the following affirmation:

    We are and will remain in compliance with judicial orders. We are and will continue to enforce President Trump’s executive order humanely and with professionalism. DHS will continue to protect the homeland.

    The clarification comes after widespread concern that lawful permanent residents might be denied entry to the United States under the new ban.

    This article was originally posted at www.disobedientmedia.com

  • Remember The Time Bill Clinton Got A Standing Ovation For "Cracking Down On Illegal Aliens"

    Before Trump, there was President Obama's Iraqi refugee ban and seven nations of terror proclamation.

    But before Obama there was Bill Clinton who received a standing ovation for demanding stronger border defenses, and deporting criminal illegal immigrants.

    "We are a nation of immigrants.. but we are a nation of laws"

     

    "Our nation is rightly disturbed by the large numbers of illegal aliens entering our country…

     

    Illegal immigrants take jobs from citizens or legal immigrants, they impose burdens on our taxpayers…

     

    That is why we are doubling the number of border guards, deporting more illegal immigrants than ever before, cracking down on illegal hiring, barring benefits to illegal aliens, and we will do more to speed the deportation of illegal immigrants arrest for crimes…

     

    It is wrong and ultimately self-defeating for a nation of immigrants to permit the kind of abuse of our immigration laws that has occurred in the last few years.. and we must do more to stop it."

     

    [Standing Ovation]

    It's starting to get a little awkward for the identity politics of the left to defend their own history while denigrating Trump's actions.

  • NYC Plans New Facial Recognition Cameras At Bridges, Tunnels (& Here's How To Dodge Them)

    The state of New York has privately asked surveillance companies to pitch a vast camera system that would scan and identify people who drive in and out of New York City, according to a December memo obtained by Vocativ. As big brother tactics continue to creep quietly into Americans' everyday lives, here are six ways to dodge biometric verification…

    As Vocativ.com reports, the call for private companies to submit plans is part of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s major infrastructure package, which he introduced in October.

    Though much of the related proposals would be indisputably welcome to most New Yorkers — renovating airports and improving public transportation — a little-noticed detail included installing cameras to “test emerging facial recognition software and equipment.”

     

    “This is a highly advanced system they’re asking for,” said Clare Garvie, an associate at Georgetown University’s Center for Privacy and Technology, and who specializes in police use of face recognition technologies. “This is going to be terabytes — if not petabytes — of data, and multiple cameras running 24 hours a day. In order to be face recognition compliant they probably have to be pretty high definition.”

     

    Cuomo’s office didn’t respond to multiple requests for clarification in the ensuing weeks after his announcement. But a memo from the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s Bridges and Tunnels division, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, shows that on December 12, the MTA put out a call to an unknown group of private vendors of surveillance equipment. The proposed system would both scan drivers as they approached or crossed most of the city’s bridges and tunnels at high speeds, and would also capture and pair those photos with the license plates of their cars.

     

    “The biggest risk that comes with a system like this is its ability to track people, by location, by their face,” Garvie said. “So what needs to be put in place is a prohibition on the use of these cameras and the technology as a location tracking tool.”

     

    The proposed system would be massive, the memo reads:

     

    The Authority is interested in implementing a Facial Detection System, in a free-flow highway environment, where vehicle movement is unimpeded at highway speeds as well as bumper-to-bumper traffic, and license plate images are taken and matched to occupants of the vehicles (via license plate number) with Facial Detection and Recognition methods from a gantry-based or road-side monitoring location.

     

    All seven of the MTA’s bridges and both its tunnels are named in the proposal.

    New York City wouldn’t be the first in the U.S. to have a network of facial recognition cameras for law enforcement. In 2013, for instance, the Los Angeles Police Department admitted it had deployed 16 cameras equipped with face recognition software, designed to search for particular suspects.

    If all of this big brotherly love is too much for you, Jeremiah Johnson (nom de plume of a retired Green Beret of the United States Army Special Forces) explains, via ReadyNutrition.com, how you can dodge facial recognition software…

    Helen of Troy, according to the Odyssey, was “the face that launched a thousand ships,” prior to the Greek invasion of Troy.  You and I, on the other hand, are the faces that launch an army of CCTV cameras ready to capture our images when we walk past them.  ReadyNutrition Readers, we just covered winter camouflage tips and techniques.  Camouflage is an important part of your prepping, in terms of being able to effectively hide yourself and your supplies from prying eyes.

    One of the biggest problems that we encounter is not blending in with the terrain in a wilderness environment, however, but what we face in an urban and suburban environment.  As mentioned in previous articles, you have to camouflage in accordance with the environment you find yourself within.  It would not be intelligent to stroll down the sidewalk of Hollywood Boulevard dressed up in Realtree-patterned garb with a holstered sidearm and a hunting knife.  You would undoubtedly be “noticed,” and probably take a ride in a black and white, courtesy of the police department.

    There’s an article that gives some very stark details about the 250 million security cameras in existence throughout the world.  The article entitled “Opinion: Facial recognition will soon end your anonymity,” written by Tarun Wadwha on 6/4/2016 explains this in detail and how new developments in software and the ever-growing number of cameras everywhere are reducing your chances to remain anonymous.  Chances are that your face has already been scanned and entered into a database without your knowledge. Knowing these things, there are a few measures that we can take…and these are directed toward urban and suburban dwellers to give them an edge.

    What these Statists are trying to do is to create a “map” of where you are and what you’re doing, along with the times and dates of your activities.  Go and see (or rent out) the latest “Jason Bourne” movie to really get a feel for the intricacies of how these Law Enforcement agencies, the government, and other interests utilize the public domains to tie into their surveillance of you and your family.

    6 Ways to Dodge Biometric Verification

    Here are some things you can do, and keep in mind to help lower your signature:

    1. Wear sunglasses during the daylight hours…breaking up the potential to photograph your eyes, the way they are set into your face, and any eye movements that might give away what you are doing (what you’re getting ready to do).
    2. Wear a hat, especially one that covers up the ears. Baseball caps are fine, but they really focus on the ears – their shape and proximity to the side of your head – for identification purposes.  The caps also bust up the curvature of your head and also hide the hair and hair patterns.
    3. Wear scarves, turtlenecks, and other clothing such as balaclavas to break up the outline of the neck.
    4. Gloves: hide the hands, your marital status, and scars, fingernails, or other prominent features…even the fingerprints can be photographed.
    5. Layered clothing: yes, this is great to protect from the cold, but I’ll give you another reason to wear it. The Doctrine of Contrasting Colors.  For a “real-time” view of this look no further than the movie “The Recruit” with Colin Farrell and Al Pacino.  Farrell escaped from his pursuers by shedding the outer layer of his clothing and reversing the jacket.  You can do the same.  Make the green sweatshirt disappear when the need arises with a change to a tan polypro top with a zippered neck.
    6. Rule of Thumb: “When the Need Arises.”  Yes, you can pack yourself a small “kit” with darker-toned makeup/lighter-toned makeup such as skin cream, and also hats of various types different from the ones you normally use.  A wig may be a quick fix to turn your hair from brown to blonde.  There are also movie supply sites you can visit that will sell you real mustaches actually made from human hair.  Sound stupid?  It won’t if you use it and it keeps you out of a cell.  This measure is for when it’s really hitting the fan…not for “day to day” activities.

    Another big problem to overcome with all of this surveillance is the fact that most people have their constantly clicking and snapping little phone-cameras to take pictures of every single thing on the planet within their “biome,” and it’s these individuals who serve as “silent witnesses” to help the surveillance state gather as much info as they can.  In addition, let’s not forget that every photo you post, twitter, place on Facebook, or download in any capacity does indeed become “scarfed up” by the government.  That $50-billion-dollar facility in Utah wasn’t built to help out Olan Mills with their photography work.

    Be aware, and not just of others but of yourself.  Reduce the “footprint” you put out by learning where the cameras are where you work and on your trips back and forth to your house.  Disable the little camera-dot on the top edge of your laptop with 2 layers of aluminum HVAC duct tape pieces.  Disable the microphone within it as well.  Bottom line: you have to pull security for yourself and on yourself to reduce the chances of them cataloguing your every move.  Don’t give them what they need to build up their files.

    We are entering into a phase in our country with a moment of decision to come with the U.S. elections.  Martial law is always just around the corner, waiting to be inflicted on us.  These are techniques you’ll have to incorporate into your daily routine and they’ll take some practice.  Awareness and the ability to act on what is happening around you are the keys you’ll need to be able to make it all work.  We’d like to hear any suggestions you have on the matter that may work for others.  Keep fighting that good fight, and stay away from those cameras!

  • Delta Lifts Stop Grounding All Domestic Flights For Over Two Hours Due To Computer Glitch

    Update: as of 9:30pm ET, Delta said in an advisory that the ground stop has been lifted.

    * * *

    One week after United Continental was forced to ground its flights for nearly three hours due to a computer failure, on Sunday around 7pm Eastern, Delta Air Lines – the second-largest US airline  – halted all U.S. flights because of another technology glitch.

    “Our systems are down,” Delta tweeted, adding “the IT department is working to rectify the situation as soon as possible,” said Atlanta-based Delta.

    The company’s international flights are exempt from the grounding, which was caused by “automation issues,” the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.

    The second consecutive froced grounding at Delta struck as airlines struggled to comply with new travel restrictions following President Trump’s executive order blocking travelers from seven predominantly Muslim nations. As Bloomberg adds, last year, a rash of computer failures disrupted flight operations at U.S. airlines. Thousands of passengers were stranded as carriers struggled to keep older information systems working. 

    Delta took a $100 million hit to sales after a power-control module at the company’s Atlanta command center caught fire in August, cutting power to computers. Southwest Airlines Co. had to halt flights the month before that because of issues with “multiple technology systems.”

     

    Ground stops, as the FAA calls them, are relatively common reactions to thunderstorms and other disruptions in the U.S. aviation system. They are typically short-lived and narrowly drawn, such as halting departures to a congested airport for an hour or two.

    Nearly two hours after the FAA first notified about the ground halt, Delta still has to resolve the system outage.

  • Visualizing The Global Weapons Trade

    The following visualization sums up the global weapons trade during the Obama era. It was created by data scientist Hai Nguyen Mau, and each relationship plots the value of the weapons trade between two countries based on data from SIPRI.

    As VisualCapitalist's Jeff Desjardins points out, it’s important to note that while this data includes major weaponry transfers such as tanks, jets, missiles, and ships, it excludes guns and ammunition or military aid. Lastly, the thickness of each line represents the total value of each trade relationship, while the proximity of two linked countries shows how close each relationship is. (i.e. if a country only imports from Russia, they will be much closer to Russia than the U.S.)

    The above visualization sums up the global weapons trade during the Obama era, minus data from 2016. It was created by data scientist Hai Nguyen Mau, and each relationship plots the value of the weapons trade between two countries based on data from SIPRI.

    To see the full version of this visualization click here.

    A LONGTAIL DISTRIBUTION

    The global weapons trade is dominated by a few major exporters, such as United States, EU, and Russia:

    Together, the United States, European Union, and Russia combine for over 80% of weapons exports, while the rest of the world fills out the “longtail” of the exporter distribution.

    From the perspective of imports, the field is much more equal because almost every country aims to spend at least some money on defense. India is the largest importer of weapons in the world with a 14% share of the market.

    TWO DISTINCT BLOCS

    The picture behind the global weapons trade gets much more interesting as it is broken up into relationships. It’s easy to see that there are two distinct blocs of trade:

    • The West: United States, United Kingdom, Canada, most of the EU, and other countries
    • The East: Russia, China, India, Nigeria, and other countries

    As an example, Singapore imports 71% of its weapons from the United States along with significant amounts from Germany (10%) and Sweden (6%). As such, it is very close to the United States in these visualizations.

    Meanwhile, India imports 70% of its arms from Russia, with the U.S. (12%) and Israel (7%) as other major partners.

    Here’s another look from Hai Nguyen Mau that just focuses on U.S. and Russian relationships:

    An oversimplication, to be sure – but these visualizations hint at the broader tensions that have recently surfaced to the forefront of geopolitical discourse.

  • Here Are The Latest Updates On Trump's Refugee Ban

    Less than 48 hours after announcing his executive order on refugees, global opposition to Trump intensified on Sunday as world leaders, US (mostly tech) companies and civil rights groups condemned the move to temporarily limit entry from predominantly Muslim countries.

    Here are the latest updates in the ongoing saga as of noon on Sunday:

    • Global government lash out at order. Governments from London and Berlin to Jakarta and Tehran spoke out against Trump’s order. A spokesman for the U.K.’s Theresa May, who visited Trump on Friday and hadn’t commented during the day yesterday, told the AP May does “not agree” with the order. Canada PM Trudeau, in a tweet, said on Saturday Canada would welcome those fleeing “persecution, terror and war. Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith.” Scotland’s Nicola Sturgeon endorsed Trudea’s tweet. A similar message was sent by Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who said refugees deserve a safe haven regardless of their background or religion. Danish Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen said the decision was unfair.  Germany pledged to play a bigger role on the international stage.
    • US tech companies “do not support:” Netflix Inc.’s chief executive officer said the changes were “un-American”; Alphabet Inc.’s Google advised staff who may be impacted by the order to return to the U.S. immediately; commeting on the order, Apple’s Tim Cook said “It is not a policy we support”
    • Lyft donates $1 million to ACLU. In an email from Lyft to users, the company noted that the executive order is “antithetical to both Lyft’s and our nation’s core values. We stand firmly against these actions, and will not be silent on issues that threaten the values of our community.” The release went on to note that the company pledged to donate “$1,000,000 over the next four years to the ACLU to defend our constitution.”
    • Uber slammed. Lyft’s response to the protests contrasted to that of its rival, Uber. While Uber’s CEO Travis Kalanick pledged to compensate drivers stranded overseas due to the executive order, he did not specifically condemn the executive order.  The company was criticized for the tone-deaf response from its CEO, prompting a new hashtag on Twitter: #DeleteUber.
    • Trump refuses to relent. Despite the global criticism, Trump was steadfast as of Sunday morning, tweeting twice on the topic, first saying that “our country needs strong borders and extreme vetting, NOW. Look what is happening all over Europe and, indeed, the world – a horrible mess!”  following it up with “Christians in the Middle-East have been executed in large numbers. We cannot allow this horror to continue!”
    • Federal Judge issues nationwide stay, partially blocking the Trump immigration order. A Brooklyn judge temporarily blocked Trump’s administration late Saturday from enforcing portions of his order, however neither ruling strikes down the executive order, which will now be subject to court hearings.
    • Another ruling: A Boston judge ruled to release two Iranian professors from Logan International Airport, according to the Boston Globe. The decision also stated that travelers could not be removed OR detained for 7 days.
    • White House comments on judge’s ruling: “Nothing in the Brooklyn judge’s order in anyway impedes or prevents the implementation of the president’s executive order which remains in full, complete and total effect,” White House adviser Stephen Miller told reporters.
    • White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus “we apologize for nothing”: Priebus told “Meet the Press” the situation yesterday “wasn’t chaos.” He appeared to contradict an official clarification by the White House, when he said on Sunday green-card holders won’t be impacted by the order going forward, but could face additional screening at CBP “discretion.” Other countries could be added to order.
    • DHS continues to enforce the travel ban. Despite the ruling, the DHS vowed early on Sunday to continue implementing the order, stating it will “enforce all of the president’s executive orders in a manner that ensures the safety and security of the American people.” It added that “President Trump’s Executive Orders remain in place — prohibited travel will remain prohibited, and the U.S. government retains its right to revoke visas at any time if required for national security or public safety.”
    • The initial statistics: A DHS official told CNN that there were 109 travelers barred from entry to the U.S. when Trump signed the order. It was unclear how many were deported vs. detained.
    • Opening for democrats: As Axios points out, after spending nearly two months back on their heels. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey showed up at Dulles airport, then tweeted last night: “I am driving North now from Virginia. I will check in on things at Newark airport tomorrow.” Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe held a press conference on a concourse at Dulles, calling the order “antithetical to the values that make America great. It will not make our country safer.” @HillaryClinton tweeted: “I stand with the people gathered across the country tonight defending our values & our Constitution. This is not who we are.”
    • Republicans revolt: As Axios also notes so far 10 GOPers have announced opposition to or questioned Trump’s executive order. These include Sen. John McCain; Rep. Carlos Curbelo; Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen; Rep. Charlie Dent; Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick; Rep. Justin Amash; Rep. Barbara Comstock; Sen. Susan Collins; Sen. Jeff Flake; Sen. Ben Sasse.
    • Protests continue. Demonstrations against the ban continued for a second day across the US including Atlanta, Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Chicago, Phoenix, according to ThinkProgress. Here’s the scene at the White House:
    • “This Is Not A Muslim Ban.” On Sunday afternoon, seeking to “explain” his Executive Orders, Trump issued a statement denying once again he has implemented a Muslim ban, and instead said that “my policy is similar to what President Obama did in 2011 when he banned visas for refugees from Iraq for six months.” He added that “America has always been the land of the free and home of the brave. We will keep it free and keep it safe, as the media knows, but refuses to say.”
    • Green card holders welcome. DHS Secretary John Kelly issued a statement that lawful permanent residents from 7 banned countries are now allowed into the U.S., overturning a part of the previous ban which prohibited entry into the US by permanent residents from the 7 mostly-Muslim nations.

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