Month: August 2018

Bomb that killed 40 children in Yemen was supplied by the U.S.

Working with local Yemeni journalists and munitions experts, CNN has established that the weapon that left dozens of children dead on August 9 was a 500-pound (227 kilogram) laser-guided MK 82 bomb made by Lockheed Martin, one of the top US defense contractors.

The bomb is very similar to the one that wreaked devastation in an attack on a funeral hall in Yemen in October 2016 in which 155 people were killed and hundreds more wounded.

Bomb that killed 40 children in Yemen was supplied by the US CNN

Inflation cutting workers’ wages

For the second month in a row, annual inflation fully offset workers’ average hourly wage growth

U. S. inflation hit its highest rate in more than six years, with consumer prices eating away at modest wage gains by American workers. …

“Wage growth remains surprisingly weak,” said David Kelly, chief global strategist at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, in a note to clients earlier this week. “The remarkable ability of firms to lure more workers back into the labor force and get stronger productivity gains from them without raising wages is a clear positive for profits.”

Inflation Is Eating Away Worker Wage Gains Wall Street Journal

Weedkiller found in wide range of breakfast foods aimed at children

Cancer-linked herbicide, sold as Roundup by Monsanto, present in 45 products including granola, snack bars and Cheerios …

The findings follow a landmark decision in a San Francisco court last week to order that Monsanto pay $289m in damages to Dewayne Johnson, a 46-year-old former groundskeeper. A jury deemed that Monsanto’s Roundup weedkiller caused Johnson’s cancer and that it had failed to warn him about the health risks of exposure. …

In April, internal emails obtained from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) showed that scientists have found glyphosate on a wide range of commonly consumed food, to the point that they were finding it difficult to identify a food without the chemical on it. The FDA has yet to release any official results from this process.

Weedkiller found in wide range of breakfast foods aimed at children Guardian

Iran goes crypto

A CIA analyst writes in Forbes about Iran and crypto. The problem, from the CIA’s point of view, is:

“There should not be any doubt about the relevance of the crypto space to U.S. foreign policy and national security. Russia, Venezuela and now Iran are making it clear that they intend to resist U.S. sanctions by adopting blockchain technology-based mechanisms.”

Here’s more from the CIA analyst:

“Russia probably is influencing Iran’s push toward crypto. In May, both Iranian and Russian press reported that a senior Iranian economic official met with his Russian counterpart in Moscow. The Iranian official then announced that Iran’s central bank would develop proposals for a state-backed cryptocurrency and opined that cryptocurrencies could help both countries steer clear of the SWIFT banking system and dollar transactions. Russian media also reported that the two countries planned to reconvene to discuss interbank cooperation in July, although there has not been press coverage of that meeting.”

Blockchain Authoritarianism: The Regime In Iran Goes Crypto Forbes

For background on Venezuela’s Petro, see:

Venezuela launches the Petro Workers World

“The petro is a digital token based on the new blockchain technology — using a digital, decentralized ledger of all transactions, called blocks, that are linked and cryptographically secured. Blockchains are secure by design and being decentralized means that no central authority (like the big banks) is needed to authorize the transaction. Blockchain technology means that the petro is removed from financial institution manipulation, including U.S.-imposed sanctions.”

Is debt binge about to implode?

From the NY Times:

The $30 trillion domestic stock market seems to get all the attention. When the stock market sets new highs, we instinctively feel things are good and getting better. When it tanks, as happened in the initial months of the 2008 financial crisis, we think things are going to hell.

But the larger domestic debt market — at around $41 trillion for the bond market alone — reveals more about our nation’s financial health. And right now, the debt market is broadcasting a dangerous message

The Big, Dangerous Bubble in Corporate Debt NY Times

Titans of Junk: Behind the Debt Binge That Now Threatens Markets Bloomberg

 

‘Acoustic attack’ report on US diplomats flawed, say neurologists

Tests stating staff suffered brain damage were ‘misinterpreted’ and ruled out other explanations such as mass psychogenic illness

Claims that US diplomats suffered mysterious brain injuries after being targeted with a secret weapon in Cuba have been challenged by neurologists and other brain specialists.

Cuban ‘acoustic attack’ report on US diplomats flawed, say neurologists Guardian

How the financial crisis led to the West’s confrontation with Putin

Ten years ago this week, Russian tanks halted a few hours’ march short of Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. That short war in the Caucasus brought down the curtain on nearly two decades of post-Cold War Western hegemony in Europe.

How the financial crisis led to the West’s confrontation with Putin MarketWatch

Russian military creates 8 outposts along Golan Heights border

The Russian military police will create eight outposts near the demilitarized zone at the Golan Heights on the Syrian-Israeli border, a deputy commander of the Russian forces in Syria in charge of of military police, Viktor Zaytsev, said.

Russian military creates 8 outposts along Golan Heights border AMN

Landmark Caspian Sea oil and gas agreement signed by five nations

Iran and four ex-Soviet states, including Russia, agreed in principle on Sunday how to divide up the potentially huge oil and gas resources of the Caspian Sea, paving way for more energy exploration and pipeline projects.

Landmark Caspian Sea oil and gas agreement signed by five nations Irish Times