| WEATHER INTERNAL

Impeachment Manager’s Filibuster Fails

The left’s anti-Trump witch-hunt continues to implode.

Idaho Bill Would Ban Biological Males From Female Sports

Lawmaker aims to protect female sports from trans takeover

Hillary Clinton Says ‘Nobody Likes Bernie’ Despite Stealing Dem Nomination From Him in 2016

Former Democrat candidate demonstrates stunning lack of self-awareness.

AOC Claims Democrats Are ‘Center-Conservative’ Party

Radical socialist suggests party not extreme enough

We Are Ripe For A False Flag Event

America needs to pay attention in the coming months.

Trump Admin Preparing ‘Birth Tourism’ Crackdown – Report

President working to close many immigration loopholes

The Deception Behind Government Licensing Laws

How much licensing requirements are designed to “protect” the health of the public, and how much to restrict competition?

Scalise: Swing Voters ‘Furious’ with Pelosi’s Impeachment ‘Obsession’

Nancy Pelosi’s gamble to remove Trump before 2020 will backfire, he says.

Death to Prohibition

The repeated failure of prohibition may be just the catalyst that Austrian economics needs to gain traction with the American public

Pentagon Evaluating DHS Request to Fund 13 Sections of Border Wall

DHS looking to block major drug-smuggling corridors

Acting ICE Director Blasts ‘Ignorant’ Open Borders Protesters

Matthew Albence rips left’s push for lawlessness

Donald Trump Announces Effort Defending American ‘Right to Pray’ in School

“It is a sacred principle of our Republic, that government must never stand between the people and God, yet in public schools, authorities are stopping students and teachers from praying, sharing their faith or following their religious beliefs,” Trump…

A Limited-Government Republic versus a National-Security State

What is a national-security state?

Family Suing After Feds Seize Life Savings at Pittsburgh Airport

Daughter says she was legally transporting $82,000 cash at father’s request

‘Sad’ Nancy Pelosi Smiles, Laughs While Signing Articles of Impeachment

House Speaker grinning from ear to ear while bringing forth partisan impeachment articles to Senate.

Feds Slam De Blasio’s Sanctuary Policies After Woman Found Murdered, Sexually Assaulted

Illegal alien roamed free despite facing charges in prior violent attack

Nadler Tells Senate They’re “On Trial,” Pelosi Says “Dismissal Is Cover-Up”

House Judiciary Committee Chairman asks, ‘Does Senate participate in the president’s crimes by covering them up?’

Government Spending Now “Unsustainable”

Budget deficit over $1 trillion in 2019 calendar year

Bernie Staffers Lock Their Social Media Accounts Following Devastating Project Veritas Bombshells

Staffers hiding their tweets ahead of Iowa caucus in two weeks.

Gen. Flynn Moves to Withdraw Guilty Plea In Mueller Probe

Legal team argues Russiagate prosecutors forced Flynn to lie

US Troops Seen Blocking Russians From Syrian Oilfields In Series Of Dangerous Standoffs

23 January 2020

US Troops Seen Blocking Russians From Syrian Oilfields In Series Of Dangerous Standoffs

Yet another dangerous incident has played out between American and Russian forces operating in Syria in what appears a series of standoffs near key oil installations since Saturday. “This is the third incident that occurred within a week,” one local reporter told VOA in an alarming report.

Image source: journalist Mohammed Hassan

Days ago we reported on the first incident involving a US convoy blocking a Russian convoy on a highway near the town of Rmelan, after the Americans were apparently concerned the Russians were going to enter an oil field, which the US administration says it has "secured".

But now Voice of America reports three total incidents, with the most recent ones happening Tuesday and Wednesday in al-Hasakah province, as newly detailed by the opposition outlet Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Image source: journalist Mohammed Hassan

All of the incidents involved US forces blocking Russian military vehicles and forcing them to turn around as they neared sensitive oil installations held by the US-backed Kurdish SDF and American special forces in Syria's northeast.

One eyewitness reporter on the ground described the following:

The incident on Tuesday is part of a series of similar incidents that happened in recent days between the two powers over their presence in Syria, local sources said.

“This is the third incident that occurred within a week,” said Nishan Mohammad, a local reporter who said he witnessed another recent standoff between U.S. and Russian troops in northeast Syria.

“I was there last weekend when U.S. soldiers stopped Russian military vehicles and forced them to head back to their base,” he told VOA in a phone interview Tuesday.

SOHR: US troops settle on M4 to intercept Russian patrols amid continued tension between the two sides in north-eastern Syria https://t.co/T79zNX1JA2 pic.twitter.com/ya28k4Otwi

— Mutlu Civiroglu (@mutludc) January 22, 2020 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

While none of these close encounters between two major powers on disputed soil resulted in exchange of gunfire, it presents a potentially deadly situation which could set off spiraling escalation between two superpowers.

This is especially the case given the US and Russia now have small military installations dotting northern Syria in somewhat close proximity to one another.

#American_forces prevent #Russian_forces from heading east towards the #oil areas of #Remilan #NE_SYRIA # pic.twitter.com/7qhcUSAnS6

— MOHAMMED HASSAN (@MHJournalist) January 21, 2020 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Months ago US troops withdrew from some northernmost Syrian towns amid a Turkish military incursion.

In some instances Russian forces immediately came in and took over the same installations, such as the sizable Sirrin Air Base in the northern Aleppo area.

#BREAKING #NE_SYRIA #American_forces prevent #Russian_forces from heading east towards the #oil areas of #Remilan #NE_SYRIA pic.twitter.com/q1h0aGCMzb

— MOHAMMED HASSAN (@MHJournalist) January 21, 2020 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

While it doesn't appear Russia has any intent to "take the oil" like the White House has repeatedly pledged, Russian forces there do represent the interests of it's ally Assad and the Syrian Army.

And as Trump continues talking up "securing the oil" — most recently at Davos — Assad has simultaneously promised to retake all of sovereign Syria, especially the oil-rich Deir Ezzor and Hasakah provinces.

President Trump said while addressing reporters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Wednesday: “But very importantly, as you know, we have the oil. And we left soldiers for the oil, because we take the oil and we’re working on that, and we have it very nicely secured.”

Tyler Durden Wed, 01/22/2020 - 21:05 Tags Politics War Conflict

Hunter Biden Ordered To Appear In Court Next Week For Contempt Hearing

23 January 2020

Hunter Biden Ordered To Appear In Court Next Week For Contempt Hearing

Hunter Biden has been ordered to stand in front of an Arkansas judge next Tuedsay to explain why he shouldn't be held in contempt of court for failing to produce a laundry list of financial and personal information in his ongoing child support dispute with stripper Lunden Alexis Roberts.

Roberts asked the court on Tuesday to hold Biden in contempt for failing to disclose financial information, contact information, and "a list of all companies he currently owns or in which he has an ownership interest," as well as "all companies in which he has had an ownership interest in the past five years."

Also sought are a copy of Biden's 2017 and 2018 tax returns, deeds to properties he owns, and an executed copy of a financial records release Biden has been avoiding filing unless the court allows him to do so under seal.

"The defendant continues to act as though he has no respect for this Court, its orders, the legal process in this state, or the needs of his child for support," reads the filing, which adds "This is but another example of the defendant's unnecessary actions to frustrate prompt adjudication of this matter and increase the plaintiff's litigation costs."

Circuit Court Judge Holly Meyer agreed, ordering Biden to appear in person to explain his failure to produce the requested information which was due in August, 2019.

In November, a DNA test revealed Hunter to be the father of the unnamed child with Roberts. In order to determine what Biden can cough up, Roberts has sought extensive financial records for periods which include his time on the board of a Ukrainian energy company while his father was the Obama administration's point-man on Ukraine.

Hunter served on Burisma's board from 2014 through 2018, while his father openly bragged about getting a prosecutor fired who was investigating the company's founder for a variety of white-collar crimes.

Hunter Biden did not receive any direct compensation from Burisma — rather, the Ukrainian company wired funds to Rosemont Seneca Bohai (RSB), an American firm controlled by Hunter Biden’s longtime business partner Devon Archer. Between June 2014 and October 2015, RSB wired a total of $708,302 to Hunter Biden for undisclosed purposes while RSB was receiving funds from Burisma.

The IRS placed a tax lien on Hunter Biden for $112,805 in unpaid taxes from 2015, the Daily Caller News Foundation previously reported. -Daily Caller

While Congressional Democrats insist the entire affair was above board, and "debunked," it is apparently too radioactive for lawmakers to delve into, despite the fact that it's at the center of impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump - who withheld almost $400 million in US military aid to Ukraine while he was pushing for an investigation into the Bidens.

Tyler Durden Wed, 01/22/2020 - 20:45

China Slashes 2020 GDP Growth For Provinces As Widespread Slowdown Persists

23 January 2020

China Slashes 2020 GDP Growth For Provinces As Widespread Slowdown Persists

With phase-one talks signed last week, China's GDP growth in 2019 plunged to a 29-year low amid massive credit stimulus that has widely been ineffective to boost growth but has somewhat stabilized the economy.

China's largest utility company State Grid has warned that the rate of economic growth in the country is expected to slide to 4% in the next four years.

There was even a report on Tuesday showing China has already blamed the 2020 economic slowdown on the coronavirus epidemic that has already killed nine with at least 440 people infected in the country and spreading across the region, along with a new case in the U.S.

The Communist Party of China has been quick to blame the slowdown on external factors, such as the trade war and other protectionist policies of President Trump, rather than their failures of amassing more than $40 trillion of debt, nearly 304% of GDP.

Coronavirus cases have been found in other places out of Wuhan, Hubei Province, indicating the epidemic is expanding. Concerns are mounting. It is inevitable that people will cut their trips during Spring Festival and holiday consumption will be hit.

— Hu Xijin 胡锡进 (@HuXijin_GT) January 21, 2020 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Now we're starting to get more local data, on a provincial level, that shows many regions and municipalities have cut their 2020 growth targets over the prior year, reported Reuters.

About 22 provinces have slashed growth targets this year, including Beijing, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Henan, Hainan, and Fujian.

Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangdong have all cut their target of 6.5% to 6% growth to about 6% in 2020, in line with the national goal of 6%.

Local government data shows at least 11 provinces have missed their 2019 growth targets and are expected to underperform this year.

The northeastern province of Heilongjiang will range around 5% growth for this year, with the Tibet Autonomous Region to see about 9%.

Policy sources within China told Reuters that provinces would ramp up infrastructure spending to offset the slowdown.

"Much of the national slowdown last year was driven by exports which will have weighed on the south and east more," said Julian Evans-Pritchard, senior China Economist at Capital Economics, in an email to Reuters.

China's GDP data is often skewed – and for more color on the country's economic activity -- Fathom Consulting's China Momentum Indicator 3.0 (CMI 3.0) shows GDP growth well under 6% and stagnating.

Tyler Durden Wed, 01/22/2020 - 20:25 Tags Business Finance

The College Degree Of The Richest Person In Every Country

23 January 2020

The College Degree Of The Richest Person In Every Country

Via Resume.io,

Money and education don’t always go hand-in-hand, but it doesn’t hurt to sway the odds in your favor by studying hard at college. However, sometimes choosing the most appropriate degree is the hardest part. It can be helpful to look for inspiration from people who have already become a success in your chosen industry.

A few months back, we showed you the College Degree of the Top‑earning CEO in Every State. Now we’ve researched and compiled a list of the college degree taken by the richest person in every country around the world.

The map we’ve created focuses on the undergraduate degrees that the world's richest people have attained. There are instances where some of these people have attained qualifications without an undergraduate degree (e.g. Graeme Hart of New Zealand completed an MBA but has no undergrad degree, so is marked as ‘no undergrad degree’), but all people marked as ‘no degree’ have no higher-education qualifications at all. Some people also failed to complete their degree, they have been labelled as ‘incomplete’. There are also instances where a family is classed as a country's ‘richest person’ and so we have labelled them according to their family’s cumulative qualifications (e.g. Croatia is marked as ‘multiple degrees’). In all instances we’ve tried to make the labelling as clear as possible, but for a more in-depth look check out our research here.

If you’re hoping your higher education is to be a stepping stone on the route to your first billion dollars, then check out the map below and see what undergrad degree is necessary to become one of the world’s richest people.

1. North America

The richest man in the United States is also the richest man in the world, but Jeff Bezos had a lean 2019. The Amazon boss’s divorce settlement made ex-wife MacKenzie one of the richest five women in America and the world, allowing Bill Gates to briefly topple Jeff from the top spot. Jeff studied Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Princeton, and MacKenzie studied English at the same institution a few years later.

The tiny islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis boast USANA founder, Myron Wentz, as their richest person. However, he was born in the US and switched his citizenship for the tax haven of St. Kitts in the 1990s. This is a marked difference from the likes of Bill Gates, who once said, “I’ve paid more taxes, over $10 billion, than anyone else, but the government should require people in my position to pay significantly higher taxes.”

2. Europe

Albania’s richest person, Samir Mane, didn’t make much use of his college degree when building his fortune. He began studying geology in Vienna in 1991 but quit during his first year. He later said, “basically I learned German there.” However, the language and cultural skills he picked up proved useful, as he built his business exporting cheap TVs and VCRs from Austria to his home country.

Bulgaria’s richest person, Vasil Bojkov, has an interesting education. He attended Bulgaria’s National High School of Mathematics and used degrees in Applied Mathematics and Labor Economics to power-up his trading, insurance, and gambling businesses. But he also has a degree in History of Art from Universidad de Buenos Aires. Bojkov’s patronage of the arts is renowned, and his enjoyment of beauty and creativity is evident in his famed antique collection because an education isn’t all about getting rich!

3. Africa

Africa is a continent of vast contrasts. Economically, South Africa is the most unequal country in the world. In Nigeria, the five wealthiest people have a combined fortune that outweighs the national budget, while six out of ten people live on less than $1.25 per day. This disparity can be traced between different countries, too. For example, Nigeria’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has a US$8.8 billion fortune against Liberia’s Benoni Urey, who has ‘just’ $32 million.

Both made a lot of money selling things everybody needs. Dangote took Business Studies and Administration, but got his first business lessons in the playground: “I can remember when I was in primary school, I would go and buy cartons of sweets [candy] and I would start selling them just to make money,” he says. His company now supplies 70% of Nigeria’s sugar. Urey studied General Science, and his business interests include housing and Liberia’s biggest cellphone network.

4. Asia

The richest person in almost every Asian country is of the ‘billionaire’ variety. The overall number one is India’s Mukesh Ambani, boss of his late father’s gas and oil company. Ambani’s education is on the science side of things rather than business: he studied chemical engineering. But that doesn’t mean he is afraid to branch out, and the company recently launched a 4G service. “Anything and everything that can go digital is going digital,” says Ambani. “India cannot afford to be left behind.”

Taiwan, Thailand, China, and Brunei are among nations whose top billionaires have no degree at all. In some cases, wealth is inherited by royalty. But Li Ka-shing, China’s richest man and the 30th richest in the world, is a self-made plastics magnate who started his business with loans of just $6,500 when he was 21. He is known for his philanthropic work and recently pledged HK$1 billion ($127 million) to support businesses affected by the protests in Hong Kong.

5. South America

Iris Fontbona inherited husband Andrónico Luksic’s mining and beverage empire in 2005. But the world’s richest Latina has capitalized on the opportunity by driving the family business to ever-greater success. Fontbana has no degree but has significantly expanded the mines and brewery business as well as buying majority shares in the TV channel, Canal 13.

The richest person in South America (with $24.6 billion) is another brewer. Brazil’s Jorge Paulo Lemann has controlling shares in Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world's largest brewer, which in turn owns Pilsner Urquell and Foster's Lager. But he originated his fortune as founder of investment firm 3G Capital. His degree is in Economics from Harvard, which must make it easier to count all that money.

6. Oceania

Oceania’s richest person, the Australian Gina Rinehart, began studying economics at the University of Sydney but dropped out to get a hands-on education at her father’s iron ore mining business. She learned well from what she saw. When her father died, leaving behind a bankrupt estate, Rinehart turned around the family business’s fortunes, transforming it into one of Australia’s leading mining concerns.

New Zealand’s Graeme Hart has earned an MBA from the University of Otago's business school. Hart was admitted to the school without attaining an undergraduate degree and so in our map is marked as having ‘no degree’.

There aren’t many teachers on our list of the richest people list. But Papua New Guinea’s richest person – former prime minister Michael Somare – used his teaching qualification to inspire young minds at several primary and secondary schools before going into politics.

When it comes to developing your career, your degree isn’t just about what you know – it’s about how your education makes you think. Sometimes the wisest choice is to pick a subject that will broaden your understanding of the world and to get your industry knowledge through work experience. How does your choice of degree relate to your choice of career?

Sources

To see the research behind this project visit bit.ly/RichestPeoplesDegrees

Methodology

We began by researching the 'richest person in X country,' 'wealthiest person in X' and variations in French and Spanish, then sifted the first three pages of Google results. In all instances where articles existed that responded to the search term, there was a very clear consensus across the sources. The only divergence showed up between changes in the list over time (e.g., a list of the wealthiest people from 2017 versus a list from 2019). To find a back-up source, we’d search for 'richest person in X' followed by the name our initial search had thrown up.

No distinction has been made between people from a country but resident elsewhere and people both from the country and resident there. We allowed both to qualify. To insist on determining individuals’ citizenship or residency would undoubtedly have increased the number of 'No data' entries, not least as the super-wealthy are rarely tied to one country.

Note that the issue of wealth is a secretive one. Sometimes we could only find a small number of sources, and on occasion, footnotes for these sources were broken. In some other cases, sources claimed that a person was the richest (or made a claim as to their college degree), but the original source was not consistently backed up with a citation.

Concerning the qualifications our research focussed on undergraduate degrees. We have not included information on master’s degrees, doctorates or any other type of post-graduate degree. There were several instances where we could find evidence of a person gaining a degree but could not find what the degree was in. These cases are marked as unknown. In some instances individuals have attained qualifications without an undergraduate degree. For example, Graeme Hart of New Zealand completed an MBA but has no undergrad degree. In this case we have labelled him as having ‘no degree’.

There were also instances where families are considered the ‘richest people’ in their country. For the sake of simplicity we have formatted these families in the same way we have formatted individuals.

Tyler Durden Wed, 01/22/2020 - 20:05

New IRGC Quds Force #2 Is Iran's 'Missile Mastermind' In Lebanon

23 January 2020

New IRGC Quds Force #2 Is Iran's 'Missile Mastermind' In Lebanon

Lebanon has a new Hezbollah-dominated and backed government after three months of protests have gripped the country, which no doubt has raised alarm for both Israel and the United States, especially given West-backed political parties were largely sidelined in the forming of Michel Aoun's new handpicked cabinet, especially when it comes to Hezbollah's top candidate for prime minister, newly sworn in (as of Tuesday) Hassan Diab.

To make matters worse for Tel Aviv, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Quds Force has now named a #2 under Gen. Esmail Qaani — who himself had served as now slain Soleimani's deputy for more than a decade. The new Quds deputy commander alongside top Quds chief Qaani is Mohammed Hejazi, according to The Jerusalem Post, who crucially is considered a longtime "central figure in Iran’s operations in Lebanon".

Brigadier General Mohammad Hejazi, appointed as Acting Commander of Quds Force on January 20. Image via Radio Farda/Tasnim

Last August a statement by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) named Hejazi as among three top IRGC commanders working to fast establish Hezbollah missile factories which can produce precision guided missiles, in preparation for the next major conflict with the Jewish state.

Israeli media reports suggest that before entering the Quds force, which is the elite covert foreign arm of the IRGC, Mohammed Hejazi was a key enforcer helping Tehran put down protests, such as the 2009 presidential election mass demonstrations.

These 3 Iranian commanders are working on a secret¹ project with Hezbollah to manufacture precision guided missiles to attack Israel. — ¹not so secret anymore. pic.twitter.com/ZLFsOr9yLz

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) August 29, 2019 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

According to a profile in The Jerusalem Post, his career outside the country has been focused in bolstering Hezbollah's weapons capabilities inside Lebanon:

He faded from public view in 2014, and seems to have been in Lebanon during that time, helping Hezbollah stockpile and improve its estimated 150,000 missiles. Al-Ain media reports that he was Hezbollah’s key man linking them to the IRGC. He likely grew into this role after the death of Imad Mughniyeh who was assassinated in 2008.

He helped supply arms to Hezbollah and help it with its precision guided missile programs. These programs have been spotlighted as a key threat to the region and Israel. Hezbollah wants to create local manufacturing bases for the precision guidance that would make its arsenal more dangerous. In March 2019 Israel said Hezbollah was seeking to set up an advanced missile plant in the Beka’a valley.

The US administration has lately sought to pressure the Lebanese government into ensuring no domestic missile manufacturing is established under the aegis of Hezbollah.

Washington has long seen the Shia paramilitary group — which also has seats in parliament and a huge following in the country — as but a foreign arm of Iran and the Ayatollah; however, many Lebanese and people across the region see Hezbollah as a legitimate homegrown 'resistance' movement giving the historically oppressed Shia of south Lebanon a political voice.

Starting last August into September, Israel dramatically stepped up its so-called anti-Iranian expansion campaign inside Lebanon which involved a series of attacks and assassination attempts in south Beirut and the Lebanese countryside using IDF drones.

Tel Aviv officials have repeatedly warned that Hezbollah missile manufacturing plants are a 'red line' against which the Israeli military would act.

Tyler Durden Wed, 01/22/2020 - 19:45 Tags Politics War Conflict

Harvey Weinstein arrives for opening statements in his landmark rape trial WITHOUT his walker

22 January 2020

Lawyers made their opening statements to a jury of seven men and five women on Wednesday in the trial of Weinstein. He has pleaded not guilty to assaulting two women in New York.

Killer Chinese coronavirus is 'probably' on its way to Britain

22 January 2020

In another worrying development to the outbreak, researchers at Imperial College London have predicted up to 10,000 patients in Wuhan may already have the virus.

Man, 32, is charged with four counts of attempted murder after boy, 10, was stabbed in the neck

22 January 2020

Carlos Vinodchandra Racitalal, 32, of Belgrave, Leicester, appeared at the city's magistrates' court this morning. He spoke only to confirm his name and age to chairman of the bench Gillian Russen.

Missing bearded collie Arran, six, is reunited with his owner after TWO DAY search

22 January 2020

An army of dog owners travelled miles around the UK after bearded collie Arran went missing after he bolted during a walk in Dorset.

Oprah launches defence of Prince Harry as she says 'he did what he needed to do for his family'

22 January 2020

Oprah Winfrey, 65, and Gayle King, 65, defended Prince Harry, 35, and Meghan Markle, 38, when they were approached by reporters in New York, insisting Megxit was a thought-out decision.