Tuesday 30 April 2019

Headlines - 29 April, 2019

## Global Ponzi meltdown/House of Cards/global cooling/deflationary collapse ##
The US Government Debt Crisis
This article explains why the US Government is ensnared in a debt trap from which there is no escape. Its finances are spiralling out of control.
This Is the End of the Cycle
Both new households and new businesses are in secular decline. Goosing the stock market and GDP doesn't change this reality.
Unemployment in Spain Still Miserably High Despite Six Years of Economic Growth. Now it Ticked Up Again “The worst labor market” on the planet: unemployment exceeded 20% in three downturns over the past 35 years.
This problem is much bigger than the airlines. -- RF
Pilots demand better training if Boeing wants to rebuild trust in 737 MAX
American Airlines pilots have warned that Boeing Co’s draft training proposals for the troubled 737 MAX do not go far enough to address their concerns, according to written comments submitted to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and seen by Reuters.
## Fault lines/flashpoints/powder kegs/military/war drums ##
Venezuelan opposition reps throw temper tantrums when confronted about lack of legitimacy, interventionist plans at OAS
At the OAS, two top representatives of Juan Guaido’s US-backed shadow government – Gustavo Tarre and David Smolansky – lost their cool when confronted with critical questions. Both recently attended a closed-door DC meeting on a US military assault.
Bolton: Trump wants solo, not multi-party talks with North Korea
The U.S. has little interest in joining other countries in a multi-nation effort to get North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons, President Donald Trump’s national security adviser said Sunday.

## War on Venezuela ##
Voices from Inside the Besieged Venezuelan Embassy
“If [the U.S. invades the Venezuelan Embassy] tomorrow, it will send a message to the world that no embassy is safe in the United States… it’s a message that ‘if you don’t bow down to us, do what we tell you, put in the government that we’d like, we will take your embassy.”  – Kevin Zeese
Guaido makes new appeal to Venezuela army ahead of Mayday protests
Keep watching Guaido. I bet that once he's outlived his usefulness, he gets a close look at the underside of a bus. -- RF
Venezuelan opposition reps throw temper tantrums when confronted about lack of legitimacy, interventionist plans at OAS
At the OAS, two top representatives of Juan Guaido’s US-backed shadow government – Gustavo Tarre and David Smolansky – lost their cool when confronted with critical questions. Both recently attended a closed-door DC meeting on a US military assault.

## Migrants/refugees ##
Judge gives U.S. six months to identify separated migrant children
Trump administration is ignoring a massive problem at U.S. nuclear plants
“54 of the [60] nuclear plants operating in the U.S. weren’t designed to handle the flood risk they face.”

## Got food? ##
Americans Brace For Shock Surge In Everyday Food Prices
Farmers cope with rising prices for diesel fuel

## Environment/health ##
Feds take first step toward protecting giraffes under Endangered Species Act
Storms and drought destroy thousands of acres of German forests
Drought and storms are decimating Germany's forests, causing an estimated €2.5 billion in damage in 2018-2019. Some 160,000 football fields worth of forests will need to be replanted, the government has estimated.

## Intelligence/security/internet/cyberwar ##
Hawkish Think Tanks Launch Offensive Against China’s Alternative to Western “Development”
Think tanks like the Center for a New American Security are on the offensive as China kicks off its Belt and Road Forum in Beijing hoping to offer the world an alternative to the decades-long neo-colonialist policies of the West.
Maria Butina Sentenced to 18 Months in Prison for Not Registering as a Russian Agent
Russian graduate student Maria Butina, who found herself at the center of a preposterously complicated and entirely fictional spying case, has been sentenced to 18 months in prison on the only charge prosecutors were able to make stick, failing to register as a foreign agent for Russia.
It's more important to imagine how this will be abused. -- RF

## Julian Assange ##
What's Really Behind Julian Assange's Arrest

## Systemic breakdown/collapse/unsustainability ##
Government watchdog finds more problems with F-35’s spare parts pipeline
Only about half of the F-35s worldwide were ready to fly during an eight-month period in 2018, with the wait for spare parts keeping jets on the ground nearly 30 percent of the time, according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office.
Health Care Professionals Bring Drug Shortage Concerns to Capitol Hill
Several health care professionals are calling attention to the severity and potential consequences of drug shortages, as the list of drugs listed on the FDA's website as "currently in shortage" grows by the day.
Will Japan really build a modernized F-22?
Japan’s F-3 project may prove too ambitious and take up too many resources, especially defense dollars
Passengers stuck in packed bullet trains due to power outage

Trump Officials: China Gets No ‘Wind-Down’ Period for Cutting Iran Oil Purchases

## UK ##
UK Israel Lobby Adds Muscle as US Counterpart Weakens
British politics are being plunged into a stifling silence on the longest example of mass human rights abuses sanctioned by the West in modern history.
“Theresa May should not be rolling out the red carpet for a state visit to honour a president who rips up vital international treaties, backs climate change denial and uses racist and misogynist rhetoric,” Corbyn said in a statement.

## US ##
The US Economy Is Reaching A Dead End (John Mauldin, Forbes)
Alarms Go Off As Credit Card Charge-Offs Soar To Seven Year High
LA population shrinking, even as larger region still grows
The shrinking population in Los Angeles comes as the area struggles with housing affordability and the lack of new home construction.
Jared Kushner, Not Maria Butina, Is America’s Real Foreign Agent
Maria Butina is in jail for doing nothing while Jared Kushner, who needed a godfathered security clearance due to his close Israeli ties, struts through the White House as senior advisor to the president.
Officers have beaten members of the public, planted evidence and used their badges to harass women. They have lied, stolen, dealt drugs, driven drunk and abused their spouses.
Protect and serve. -- RF

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