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Chris Collins, former GOP rep, sentenced to 26 months in prison over securities fraud

A federal judge on Friday sentenced former Rep. Chris Collins of New York to 26 months in prison after the Republican pleaded guilty to insider trading charges last year.

Trade deals, Trump impeachment trial showcase ‘Washington whiplash’ at its finest

Only in Washington could you have such a juxtaposition.

HHS reports 135 sexual misconduct incidents involving ‘unaccompanied alien minors’

The Department of Health and Human Services released details of sexual misconduct involving unaccompanied minors in care provider facilities, documenting more than 100 substantiated incidents from mid-2015 through the end of 2017.

House Foreign Affairs Committee presses Pompeo to appear for Iran hearing

Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., on Friday pressed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday to agree to testify before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on the Trump administration’s policy toward Iran and threatened to issue a subpoena if necessary.

Supreme Court to hear ‘faithless elector’ case ahead of 2020 presidential election

The Supreme Court said Friday it will hear a case over whether presidential electors have to vote in accordance with their states’ popular vote in the Electoral College.

NYPD union leader sides with ICE against de Blasio over ‘sanctuary’-tied murder: ‘He owns this’

A top New York Police Department union official on Friday called on Mayor Bill de Blasio to “own” the consequences of the city’s sanctuary policies — while insisting officers want to be allowed to work with federal immigration enforcement — after an …

Buttigieg interrupted at New Hampshire campaign stop by climate change activists

Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg was interrupted by noisy environmental activists during a New Hampshire campaign event Friday, prompting him to confront the sign-wielding rabble-rousers as they accused him of taking money from “fossil …

Dems go on offense in House contests

All while NRCC boss sounds alarm over fundraising.

Spouses of 2020 Dems embrace more public roles as early contests approach

The Democrats running for president are turning to their significant others to build support and maximize one-on-one time with voters with weeks to go before the Iowa caucuses.

Ken Starr, Alan Dershowitz join Trump’s impeachment defense team

Ken Starr, the former independent counsel who led the Whitewater investigation into then-President Bill Clinton, and attorney Alan Dershowitz will join President Trump’s impeachment defense team, Fox News has learned.

DHS boss blasts NYC for springing illegal immigrant now held on murder: ‘Preventable tragedy’

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf tore into New York City officials on Friday for releasing from custody an illegal immigrant who allegedly then sexually assaulted and murdered a 92-year-old woman — a horrific crime that has led to fresh con…

Trump updates school prayer guidance: ‘We will uphold religious liberty’

While his impeachment trial was getting underway in the Senate on Thursday, President Trump gave a hat tip to his evangelical base by updating federal guidance on prayer in public schools — an action that came on National Religious Freedom Day.

Cuomo should focus on NY’s bail law, $6.1B budget gap than state flag, license plates: state lawmakers

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been taking heat this week from state Republicans, many of whom say the governor’s priorities seem misplaced.

Florida Supreme Court sides with DeSantis, rules convicted felons must pay off fines before voting

Florida’s Supreme Court has sided with Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis by ruling that some convicted felons should be required to pay off any fines or fees before they can regain their right to vote.

Tulsi Gabbard wins push-up contest at New Hampshire town hall

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, the Hawaii Democrat, came prepared for an unexpected push-up contest after she was challenged to at a New Hampshire town hall.

Sen. Susan Collins hits back at ‘mischaracterization and misunderstanding’ of impeachment stance

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, released a statement on Thursday to clarify her stance on President Trump’s upcoming impeachment trial and claimed her past comments have been taken out of context and misunderstood.

FBI updates policy on state election interference

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has updated its policy with regard to election interference and is changing the process for alerting state officials to voting irregularities and breaches.

Andrew Yang’s wife reveals she was sexually assaulted by her doctor during first pregnancy

Evelyn Yang, wife of 2020 presidential hopeful Andrew Yang, opened up on Thursday about the sexual assault she faced by her OB/GYN when she was pregnant with their first child.

Rep. Ayanna Pressley reveals bald head, announces she has alopecia

Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., opened up about her struggle with alopecia, a common autoimmune skin disease that can cause the hair loss, on Thursday and publically revealed her bald head for the first time.

Northam’s Virginia Capitol weapons ban upheld by judge ahead of pro-gun rally

A Richmond Circuit Court judge upheld Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s executive order temporarily banning guns on Capitol Grounds to prevent violent uprisings at a gun rally scheduled for Monday, despite pushback from pro-gun groups.

Falling Through The Cracks - America's Poverty Crisis Hits Home

17 January 2020

Falling Through The Cracks - America's Poverty Crisis Hits Home

Authored by Adam Taggart via PeakProsperity.com,

In the trailer for our recent (and excellent) webinar WTF: What The Fed?!?, I ask:

What’s it going to take for the pitchforks to come out? How much more does the common man need to be abused before he wakes up and says ‘I’m not going to take anymore!’?

As discussed in detail in the webinar, our economic and political systems have been captured by monied interests. Industry, government, markets and the judicial system all work for their benefit, not ours.

The result? An acceleration of wealth and opportunity away from the masses and into the pockets of the top 1% (really, the top 0.1%)

The public is literally being sacrificed so that a tiny number of powerful elites can enjoy “more”.

Today, I’m not going to make my point with my usual onslaught of charts and data. Instead, I’m going to make it visually.

We’ve all read the articles about the dying middle class and the explosion of homelessness in recent years.

Well, I live in northern California, in Sonoma County, about an hour north of San Francisco. It’s quite pleasant up here, with lots of small farms, orchards and vineyards.

Yes, there are some rich folks here. But nothing like the rest of the Bay Area. Most families are working class.

The local economy is nothing like the Tech frenzy of Silicon Valley. But it’s better than most places in the country.

At least, it has been.

Recently, it’s become impossible not to see the signs that more and more people are falling into poverty. They just can’t afford the rising cost of living, even if they have a job.

Here where I live, nowhere is this more apparent than the Joe Rodota trail connecting my small town of Sebastopol with the nearby city of Santa Rosa. Over the past year, this previously quiet, clean, bike & pedestrian route has exploded into a sprawling homeless encampment for hundreds of dispossessed people.

Here’s a 2-minute video I took of the encampment this afternoon (h/t to my daughter Charlotte for manning the camera as I drove):

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-pOtPlMC0I]

YouTube is full of similar shocking video of much larger encampments across the West Coast, from Los Angeles to Seattle. Here in the Bay Area, even our “jewel” cities of San Francisco and Berkeley are becoming overrun by an exploding homeless problem and the mental health, sanitation, addiction, safety and crime issues associated with it.

It’s a major issue with no clear fix in sight. And folks, it’s only going to get worse. Far worse.

Remember, we’re in the 11th year of the longest economic expansion in US history. The markets are at record highs. The official reported unemployment rate is at a record low.

When the next recession hits it will be like pouring jet fuel on this fire.

Homelessness in California has doubled in just the past few years and our social support systems are already overwhelmed. What’s it going to be like if mass layoffs cause the homeless population to quadruple in a single year?

I remain amazed at how difficult life is for the millions of working poor in America. What harsh conditions they suffer just to hold a job, sleep under (any) shelter, find food, and wake up the next day to do it all over again. Day after day, always worried that sickness, injury, misfortune or theft is going to jeopardize the little you have.

Once you’ve dropped into poverty, especially if you have family dependents, it is damn hard to extricate yourself from it. Regardless of how hard you apply yourself.

If you have the time, I recommend watching this 45-minute documentary on US poverty produced by a German public broadcast service. Currently more than 40 million Americans live beneath the poverty line — that’s twice as many as in 1970.

Viewing our country through their outsider’s eye is a stark warning that we ignore this metastasizing social epidemic at our peril:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHDkALRz5Rk]

Back to my question at the start of this post: What’s it going to take?

How many more millions will fall into poverty? How much more abuse will continue until of those of us paying attention, with growing fear at the social implications and perhaps at our own financial vulnerability, actively revolt against the elite-centric status quo?

For thousands of years, history has warned us that such social imbalance will not stand:

Are we going to listen in time?

Tyler Durden Fri, 01/17/2020 - 18:25

US Begins Airport Screenings After Second Patient With SARS-Like Pneumonia Dies In China

17 January 2020

US Begins Airport Screenings After Second Patient With SARS-Like Pneumonia Dies In China

The US will begin screening airline passengers beginning Friday after a SARS-like pneumonia outbreak in central China has claimed a second life after a 69-year-old man died on Wednesday, according to the Straits Times.

"To further protect the health of the American public during the emergence of this novel coronavirus, CDC is beginning entry screening at three ports of entry," said CDC official Martin Cetron, adding "We're expecting that the screening over the next couple of weeks could include as many as 5000 people" starting Friday night.

The three airports are; San Francisco International, New York's JFK, and Los Angeles International.

The second death from the new coronavirus occurred at the Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital in the Hubei province. He had been ill approximately two weeks before experiencing multi-organ system failure, according to Bloomberg, citing a Thursday statement by the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission.

As of Friday, the city has reported 45 cases of the coronavirus, known as 2019-nCoV. According to the report, five patients are in critical condition, twelve have been cured and discharged, and two have died.

Authorities in Japan reported a case Thursday in a resident of Kanagawa prefecture aged in his 30s, who had spent time with an infected person in Wuhan. That’s the second time someone outside China was found to be infected with the novel coronavirus, which has captured international attention because of similarities with the one that sparked Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, 17 years ago.

Unlike SARS, which killed almost 800 people, the new virus doesn’t appear to spread easily between people. Much remains to be understood about the new coronavirus, which was first identified in China earlier this month, the World Health Organization said in a statement Thursday in response to the case in Japan. -Bloomberg

It is unknown how the virus is spread, however it is believed to be concentrated among a Wuhan fish market which carries other meat as well.

Tyler Durden Fri, 01/17/2020 - 18:05

Woman Arrested In India For Hiding 3lbs Of Gold In Her Rectum... & Other Absurdities

17 January 2020

Woman Arrested In India For Hiding 3lbs Of Gold In Her Rectum... & Other Absurdities

Authored by Simon Black via SovereignMan.com,

Are you ready for this week’s absurdity? Here’s our Friday roll-up of the most ridiculous stories from around the world that are threats to your liberty, your finances, and your prosperity.

Feds steal $80,000 life savings from a confused elderly man

79 year old Terry Rolin kept his entire life savings in cash at his home in Pittsburgh. Inside a tupperware food container, he had saved $82,373 over his life working as a railroad engineer.

When he started to become confused at times, he realized his mental health was in decline. So he gave the cash to his daughter Rebecca and asked her to open a joint bank account with him, to keep his money safe.

Rebecca had an early morning flight to catch with no time to visit a bank, so she took the cash with her after checking online and confirming that it is perfectly legal to carry large amounts of cash on an airplane.

But the TSA became suspicious after seeing the cash at a security checkpoint. They alerted the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).

The DEA agent intimidated Rebecca into calling her father to confirm the story. Awakened from sleep, he sounded confused–the whole reason for the joint account in the first place.

So the DEA agent told Rebecca their stories didn’t match, and he seized every penny of the old man’s life savings.

Terry and Rebecca were never charged with a crime– they were victims of Civil Asset Forfeiture.

And unfortunately, horror stories like these are not isolated incidents. Now Terry and Rebecca are part of a class action lawsuit for innocent airline passengers who have never been convicted or even charged with a crime to have their stolen cash returned.

Click here to read the full story.

* * *

Woman arrested in India for concealing 1.2kg of gold in her rectum

People don’t trust their government in India, a country legendary for graft and corruption. This is especially true when it comes to money.

A few years ago, for example, India’s government announced that certain cash notes would be cancelled and no longer considered valid currency with IMMEDIATE effect.

This was debilitating for tens of millions of people across India’s poverty-stricken villages who have no access to bank accounts and rely on cash transactions.

It’s one of the many reasons why GOLD is so popular in India. But the government has plenty of restrictions for precious metals as well… prompting a surge in illegal gold smuggling into the country (according to India’s Director of Revenue Intelligence).

Just last week a woman was arrested in New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi Airport for smuggling an unbelievable 1.2 kilograms (2.65 pounds) of gold in her rectum, worth about USD $60,000.

It’s a pretty sad state of affairs when people are forced to do something so drastic just to make sure they have an honest currency that can’t be manipulated by bureaucrats.

India’s government is finally starting to wake up to this reality and is reportedly ‘considering’ loosening some of the restrictions.

Click here to read the full story.

* * *

City officials shut down restaurant because it got shot at

Rita Johnson owns a restaurant in Saginaw, Michigan.

One night when the eatery was rented out to a private party, it became the victim of a random shooting. Suspects shot at the building and ran away.

Luckily, no one was hurt.

The owner and the guests had no idea why they were targeted, nor by whom.

But rather than find the criminals, the city revoked Rita’s permit and shut down the restaurant.

Wait a minute– wasn’t Rita the victim?

Yes. But the city’s excuse was that the restaurant was the site of criminal activity. The town also cited “Failure to maintain adequate security. . .”

This is pretty ironic coming from a city government that charges taxpayers a bunch of money for basic services, like, oh I don’t know, police??? Seems like it would have been the Saginaw Police Department’s job to maintain adequate security for taxpaying business owners.

Click here to read the full story.

* * *

US Supreme Court declines to hear “Free the Nipple Case”

A New Hampshire woman was arrested after performing yoga topless on the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee.

This occurred in the city of Laconia in May of 2016 (presumably on one of the handful of days each year that it’s warm enough to go topless in New Hampshire).

Two other women were subsequently arrested for a bare-chested “Free the Nipple” protest after the first arrest.

The town’s ordinance bans women from going topless, but allows men the freedom. Yet the New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled that the ordinance was not a violation of the 14th amendment’s requirement that laws be applied evenly.

Now the US Supreme Court has refused to hear the case, leaving the ban in place.

Click here to read the full story.

* * *

And to continue learning how to ensure you thrive no matter what happens next in the world, I encourage you to download our free Perfect Plan B Guide.

Tyler Durden Fri, 01/17/2020 - 17:45

Top Official Confirms Saudis Paid US $500 Million To Cover Troop Costs

17 January 2020

Top Official Confirms Saudis Paid US $500 Million To Cover Troop Costs

CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr reports that Saudi Arabia has paid the United States an estimated $500 million to assist the cost of US troop deployments in the kingdom, according to one unnamed US defense official:

The payment was made in December last year. President Donald Trump asserted last week in an interview with Fox News that Saudi Arabia had "already deposited $1 billion in the bank."

It was in early December that Trump began boasting he got "billions of dollars" out of Saudi Arabia for the current heightened American military presence there to 'deter Iran'. The thousands of troops sent there followed the Sept.14 Saudi Aramco facility attack, which Washington said Iran was behind.

"You know, Saudi Arabia - we moved more troops there. And they're paying us billions of dollars. Okay? You never heard of that before. You've never heard of that in your whole life," he said in a Dec.4 question-and-answer session while sitting next to NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.

The new CNN report marks the first time the media has been able to get affirmative confirmation that this 'deal' was actually done following the president's ambiguous and for many, shocking remarks.

One week ago Trump gave more details and raised eyebrows when he told Fox's Laura Ingraham the Saudis “already deposited $1 billion in the bank” — resulting in outrage among some Congressional leaders and media pundits, given the apparent secretive quid pro quo nature of the arrangement .

He sells troops. “We have a very good relationship with Saudi Arabia—I said, listen, you’re a very rich country. You want more troops? I’m going to send them to you, but you’ve got to pay us. They’re paying us. They’ve already deposited $1B in the bank.” pic.twitter.com/rc1f7heyCP

— Justin Amash (@justinamash) January 11, 2020 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

But it's not the first time the Saudis have foot the bill for major troop presence on its soil, as the CNN report notes:

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other Gulf states paid $36 billion towards the costs of the Gulf War in 1990-91.

While not giving specifics — and certainly with regard to any specific one billion number or expected cost — the Pentagon has issued official statement that "cost-sharing" discussions are ongoing with the Saudis.

"Consistent with the President's guidance to increase partner burden-sharing, the Department of Defense has engaged Saudi Arabia on sharing the cost of these deployments, which support regional security and dissuade hostility and aggression. The Saudi government has agreed to help underwrite the cost of these activities and has made the first contribution," Pentagon spokeswoman Cmdr. Rebecca Rebarich said.

"Discussions are ongoing to formalize a mechanism for future contributions that offset the cost of these deployments," the statement added.

Tyler Durden Fri, 01/17/2020 - 17:25 Tags War Conflict Politics

Davos 2020: A Preview

17 January 2020

Davos 2020: A Preview

Submitted by Nicholas Colas of DataTrek Research

Davos 2020 is next week, and it will center on how capitalism must change to address climate change. We had a preview of this yesterday, with Larry Fink’s annual CEO letter explaining how Blackrock will start voting its proxies based on how well managements disclose and address this issue. Bottom line: expect ESG topics to absolutely dominate the headlines coming out of the conference next week.

With today’s signing of a US-China trade deal, President Trump can head off to Davos next week with a win in his pocket. In case you didn’t see the particulars of the agreement, there is a link towards the end of today’s note. We didn’t see much new in there, but getting something done will allow Mr. Trump (who is scheduled to speak) to show the world that he is not bent on escalating global trade tensions further.

That’s a pretty Davos-friendly message, even if the specter of 100% US tariffs on French champagne still lingers. Those stem from a long standing American complaint about European subsidies for Airbus, agitated more recently by a 3% French tax on digital services provided by US companies like Apple, Google and Facebook. There’s some chatter that the American delegation to Davos will sort things out with Team France next week, but don’t pop the champagne corks just yet…

On the subject of Davos 2020 more generally, if you are like us the invite to this confab of bold-face names has once again been lost in the mail. That’s actually OK, because every year more and more of the presentations are live-streamed/recorded. As those happen next week, we will review the most useful ones in these notes.

Not to throw stones, but we have found over the years that the central theme of any Davos meeting is more a reflection of current events than any really forward-looking thinking. For example:

Ahead of the 2008 – 2009 Financial Crisis, the prior 3 Davos conferences were titled “The Creative Imperative” (2006), “Shaping the global agenda, the shifting power equation” (2007) and “The power of collaborative innovation” (2008). Despite ample evidence that technology is remaking the world, only 1 Davos meeting in the last decade has led with that idea: “Mastering the fourth industrial revolution” (2016). The Davos crew also missed the global rise in populism, only hitting their radar at 2018’s meeting under the title “Creating a shared future in a fractured world”.

This year the conference title is “Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World”. A bit of the description from the Davos website:

“People are revolting against the economic ‘elites’ they believe have betrayed them, and our efforts to keep global warming limited to 1.5 degrees C are falling dangerously short.” “With the world at such a critical crossroads, this year we must develop a ‘Davos Manifesto 2020’ to reimagine the purpose and scorecards for companies and governments. It is what the World Economic Forum was founded for 50 years ago, and it is what we want to contribute for the next 50 years.” Those are direct quotes from Klaus Schwab, who founded the WEF in 1971 while a professor at the University of Geneva, and is still its Executive Chairman.

The message here is much the same as Larry Fink’s recently released annual CEO letter, which we reviewed yesterday. Davos’ central theme will be the introduction of fresh requirements for disclosure and planning related to climate change. The WEF’s International Business Council will roll out a universal “ESG scorecard” next week. It will no doubt get a lot of attention in the US, if only because the current council chair is Brian Moynihan, CEO of Bank of America.

To round out this Davos preview, here are the 7 subthemes that will guide the +200 sessions next week:

How to Save the Planet Society and the Future of Work Tech for Good Fairer Economies Better Business Healthy Futures Beyond Geopolitics

Summing up: environmental, social and governance topics will dominate the headlines out of Davos next week. Larry Fink’s letter is the template as far as what that means for investing. Expect to hear more about how even notionally passive managers will take a more active role in promoting ESG topics, especially those related to climate issues. Just remember: Davos has a long track record of missing important trends that inform future asset prices and societal change. Maybe 2020 is different. But probably not…

Tyler Durden Fri, 01/17/2020 - 17:05

Labour activist Owen Jones claims he's being bombarded with death threats

17 January 2020

Owen Jones says that the Democratic Football Lads Alliance is targeting him since he was kicked from behind in Islington, north London, by a Chelsea fan whose home contains Nazi memorabilia.

Barack Obama shares photo booth snaps with 'his star' Michelle on her birthday

17 January 2020

The former president shared four black-and-white photos of the couple on social media on Friday, January 17, his wife's birthday.

Queen's aides say announcement on Megxit deal 'imminent'

17 January 2020

Buckingham Palace is expected to release a statement on the couple 'imminently' on the terms of the couple's arrangement. Her Majesty is pictured today at the wheel of her Range Rover.

Heathrow flight chaos as RAF make unplanned use of airspace

17 January 2020

At least four Heathrow-bound British Airways flights and one Virgin Atlantic aircraft were forced to land at other airports such as Gatwick, Stansted and Luton.

Question Time: Laurence Fox on Meghan Markle racism debate

17 January 2020

The 41-year-old accused Rachel Boyle, an academic at Edge Hill University, of 'being racist' after she called him 'a white privileged male' for denying Meghan was hounded from Britain.