Russia Hoax

WHISTLEBLOWER: FBI-RUSSIA PROBE 'WAS ALL A SET-UP', Bureau assisted by operative tied directly to Kremlin, by Art Moore, 8/28/18. 

The Cambridge professor who assisted the FBI in the Russia investigation apparently has significant ties to the Russian government along with sources connected directly to President Vladimir Putin, leading a Defense Department whistleblower to conclude that the entire Russia-Trump collusion probe was a “set-up.”

Investigative reporter Sara Carter reported that information provided by the whistleblower, Adam Lovinger, documents Stefan Halper’s work with the CIA and with the FBI’s “Cross-Fire Hurricane” investigation into Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

Halper, it turns out, was directly involved on the FBI’s behalf with three key targets of Robert Mueller’s special counsel investigation: Trump campaign volunteers Carter Page and George Papadopoulos, and campaign foreign policy adviser and later national security adviser Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn.

The Pentagon suspended Lovinger’s top-secret security clearance May 1, 2017, after he exposed through an internal review the government’s payment of about $1 million in taxpayer funds to Halper to write Defense Department foreign policy reports.

Lovinger’s lawyer, Sean Bigley, said his client’s security clearance was eventually revoked in March 2018, despite the Pentagon “refusing to turn over a single page of its purported evidence of Lovinger’s wrongdoing.”

As WND reported, the Washington watchdog Judicial Watch is trying to obtain relevant records.

Bigley suspects Lovinger was punished because he “unwittingly shined a spotlight on the deep state’s secret weapon – Stefan Halper – and threatened to expose the truth about the Trump-Russia collusion narrative than being plotted: that it was all a set-up.”

Professor turned FBI informant - Halper, 73, has developed top-level government connections through his work with members of the intelligence apparatus, Carter pointed out.

The contacts and the information Halper collected later were utilized by the FBI against the Trump campaign.

But during his time hosting the Cambridge Intelligence Seminar at the University of Cambridge, Carter found, Halper shifted from his roles as a professor and former government consultant to FBI informant on the Trump campaign.

In 2016, Halper made contact with Trump campaign volunteer Page, the target of the surveillance warrant obtained by presenting the dubious, Democrat-financed, anti-Trump dossier as evidence.

The FBI used Halper to collect information on Page, staying in contact with him until September 2017, sources told Carter.

Significantly, Halper told reporters at the time of the Cambridge Intelligence Seminar in December 2016 that he was concerned about “unacceptable Russian influence” on the election.

But Carter found that Halper also had invited senior Russian intelligence officials to co-teach his course on several occasions, including the former director of Russian intelligence, Gen. Vladimir I. Trubnikov.

And according to news reports, Halper accepted money to finance the course from a top Russian oligarch with ties to Putin, Andrey Cheglakov.

A former senior intelligence official told Carter the FBI used Halper “to get more information on Trump aides, but it’s Halper who has the real connection to Russia.”

Meanwhile, Rep. Mark Meadows said Tuesday he’s seen “hard evidence” that the FBI leaked information to media to justify the FISA warrants.

Halper also tied to Papadopoulos - Halper not only was spying on Page for the FBI in 2016, he had made contact in September 2016 with another Trump campaign volunteer, Papadopoulos, Carter reported, who later pleaded guilty in Robert Mueller’s special counsel probe for lying to the FBI.

Papadopoulos was lured to London by Halper, Carter found, with a $3,000 paycheck to work on a research paper under contract. Papadopoulos already had been in contact London-based professor Josef Mifsud, who claimed the Russians had damaging material about Hillary Clinton.

Papadopoulos’s wife, Simona Papadopoulos, told Carter her husband was forced to plead guilty because of threats from Mueller’s team and a lack of financial resources.

She said she testified to Congress that “as far as George is concerned, he met with individuals following the same pattern of behavior … and all of a sudden (Halper) was asking if he was doing anything with Russians.”

“This is the case with Halper, who is now proven to be a spy, possibly with (Australian Ambassador) Alexander Downer,” who her husband met with in London.

Halper and Michael Flynn -  Halper also provided information about Trump’s first national security adviser, Flynn, who was forced to resign just 27 days into his tenure.

“The investigation into Trump didn’t start with Carter Page or George Papadapolous, but with Flynn,” a former senior intelligence source with knowledge of the matter told Cater.

“Flynn was already on the CIA and Clinton target list. Those same people sure as hell didn’t want him in the White House and they sure as hell didn’t want Trump to win.”

Flynn was forced to resign after his highly classified conversation with former Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak was leaked to the Washington Post in January 2017 and he was later questioned by the FBI.

FBI Director James Comey has said the agents who interviewed Flynn did not believe he was lying.

Nevertheless, Flynn pleaded guilty to one count of lying to Mueller’s special counsel team.

Carter said Halper already was providing information on Page, Papadopolous and Flynn when the bureau opened its Crossfire investigation into the Trump campaign on July 31, 2016.

Halper told the FBI in 2016 he witnessed interactions between Flynn and Russian academic Svetlana Lokhova at the February 2014 seminar dinner that seemed suspicious.

Without any evidence, he leaked his suspicions to London newspapers and eventually U.S. media.

Lokhova responded to the allegations in a May 2017 BBC News interview, saying she thought they were a joke.

Numerous witnesses confirmed Flynn and Lokhova spoke only for a short time at the dinner.

And subsequent email exchanges were generic in nature, with Flynn asking her for a copy of a historical 1930s postcard she had brought to the seminar.

“But it didn’t matter that it wasn’t the truth,” the former senior intelligence official told Carter.

“It was already out there because of Halper’s allegations and the constant leaking and lying of false stories of those to the media.”

https://www.wnd.com/2018/08/whistleblower-fbi-russia-probe-was-all-a-set-up/

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader

Don’t Vote Democrat

There is ample evidence that Democrats can do a lot of damage to cities, counties, states and the US federal government.

Chicago crime has been in the cross-hairs for years. The Atlanta Journal has carried scandal articles about the last Atlanta City Mayor in every issue.  California and Illinois government debt, abuse, failures and open borders stories won’t go away. Obama era overspending, scandals and corruption will continue to be exposed in the Deep State. The decline of New York City after Rudy Giuliani is stunning.

The New York Post reported a scandal in the Housing Authority that was squandering its budget on wild parties rather than working to maintain its buildings.

https://nypost.com/2018/08/27/nycha-employees-accused-of-using-projects-for-wild-orgies/

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader

Trump Impact

Trump poses an existential threat to the current Democrat Party with a declining base. American Communists and Socialists who want to “transform” the US into a Socialist Republic represents 10% and their brainwashed snowflakes represent another 10% and that leaves cradle Democrats at 10%. This erosion will continue because Trump has results and they have obstruction.  The Democrat Party will continue its decline until the Democrats swing to the center. But the November 2018 elections are upon us and they have no time.  If Republicans are able to roll back voter fraud, Democrats don’t have a chance.

Trump is a bombastic, plain-spoken, smart, strong leader and he is the Democrats’ worst nightmare.  The media’s continual objections to his blunt style is an attempt to sever his visceral ties with his base. This base is expanded by many traditional Democrat voters who had “nothing to lose”. Trump made significant inroads with blue collar and minority voters.

Trump won 306 electoral votes vs Hillary’s 232 electoral votes. If you look at the votes by States, Trump won 30 States and Hillary won 20 States plus DC. But the percentages by State indicate that Hillary won most of her States by a very small margin.

If you look at the New York Times map by County, you will see that Trump had significant support in Hillary States.

https://www.nytimes.com/elections/results/president

https://transition.fec.gov/pubrec/fe2016/2016presgeresults.pdf

https://www.businessinsider.com/final-electoral-college-map-trump-clinton-2016-11

https://www.npr.org/2016/11/08/500927768/2016-presidential-election-results-for-each-state

Trump is campaigning for Republican candidates in Congress to ensure that he will have majorities in the House and Senate to continue restoring our economy and reducing crime and corruption. Turnout is critical in November 2018.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader

Smart Meter Case

JUDGES: SMART METERS ARE 4TH AMENDMENT 'SEARCH', Homes being invaded by 'ever-more sophisticated technology', by Bob Unruh, 8/26/18, WND.

Privacy and health activists long have raised opposition to smart meters – the technological wizards that monitor power usage in a home, sometimes on a minute-by-minute basis, and report it to the utility that owns them. And sometimes others.

Now an appeals court has affirmed that their readings constitute a “search” under the Constitution’s Fourth Amendment, which establishes “the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures.”

But the judges also found that the “search” that was done by the devices was “reasonable.”

Whether the judgment is rendered in future cases regarding the use of the meters, oftentimes mandated by the utility, remains to be seen.

In this case, it was the Naperville Smart Meter Awareness organization that sued Naperville, Illinois, over the meters required by the city-owned utility.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center said the meters “can reveal personal behavior patterns and enable real-time surveillance.”

The ruling from the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found the “ever-accelerating pace of technological development carries serious privacy implications” and “smart meters are no exception.”

The court said the “searches” done by the meters are reasonable in light of the “cost reductions and service improvements” provided but suggested the conclusion may not be a final decision.

“Our conclusion could change” depending on how much data – and how frequently – the meters send data readings. Or if law enforcement ever were given easier access.

“EPIC has long warned about the privacy implications of the smart grid and filed an amicus brief in United States v. Carpenter, a recent Supreme Court case that recognized Fourth Amendment protections for cell phone location data,” the organization said.

WND reported only two years ago that James Clapper – then the director of national intelligence under Barack Obama – said he believed the government could use the information transmitted to the internet from a washing machine, thermostat, television, refrigerator or favorite video game against citizens.

Many of the meters are equipped today with a computer chip, constantly feeding information about their owners back to utilities, manufacturers and other data networks.

Clapper told Senate Foreign Relations Committee at the time the government considers the information fair game against people it suspects of terrorism or other crimes.

The so-called “internet of things” is providing a bevy of personal information about Americans, many of whom are completely unaware of the dragnet they are tied into.

Smart meters measure, in real time, a homeowner’s electricity usage and what appliance or device the usage is coming from, feeding the information to the local utility provider. Many televisions are capable of picking up sound and motion through microphones and motion sensors. 

Laptop computers have built-in cameras.

The 7th Circuit decision pointed to a previous ruling that found police use of sensors to determine heat emanating from the home was a search.

“The data collected by Naperville can be used to draw the exact inference that troubled the court in [that precedent],” the ruling said. “There, law enforcement ‘concluded that [a home’s occupant] was using halide lights to grow marijuana in his house’ based on an excessive amount of energy coming from the home.

“Here too, law enforcement could conclude that an occupant was using grow lights from incredibly high meter readings, particular if the power was drawn at odd hours. In fact, the data collected by Naperville could prove even more intrusive.

“By analyzing the energy consumption of a home over time in concert with appliance load profiles for grow lights,

Naperville law enforcement could ‘conclude’ that a resident was using the lights with more confidence that those using thermal imaging could ever hope for.”

The smart meters are not yet in “general” public use, the ruling said. And technology is changing fast, which “carries serious privacy implications.”  The meters’ information, “even when collected at 15-minute intervals, reveals details about the home that would be otherwise unavailable to government officials [without] a physical search.”

But the judges said, under the circumstances of the case, the “search” was reasonable, since the collection was for utility and efficiency goals only.

“Were a city to collect the data at shorter intervals, our conclusion could change. Likewise, our conclusion might change if the data was more easily accessible to law enforcement or other city officials outside the utility.”

In 2012, more than 100 Texans joined together to petition public utilities regulators to ban the meters because of their health threats.

One of the case participants explained: “After decades of study the scientific community and government health related agencies are warning people to avoid additional exposures to RF and EMF radiation because it has been linked to many ailments including minor issues, such as headaches, nausea, dizziness, to life threatening, such as heart function interference, brain function interference, jamming of pacemakers and insulin injectors, DNA disruption causing birth defects and even cancer.”

https://www.wnd.com/2018/08/judges-smart-meters-are-4th-amendment-search/

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader

Ross Perot Was Right

In the 1992 Presidential race we had 3 candidates: George HW Bush was the Republican, Bill Clinton was the Democrat and Ross Perot was the Independent.

I voted for Ross Perot. He was the only candidate that identified the problems NAFTA would bring.  He described the plan to off-shore US manufacturing as the “great sucking sound” of jobs leaving. He also warned that the decimation of the US economy would result in unsustainable government debt.  He was correct on both counts.

Ross Perot got 19% of the vote, George HW Bush got 37% and Bill Clinton got 43%. If Perot had not entered the race, it is likely that Bush would have won this election to serve a second term, but that was not to be. 

UN Agenda 21 was the “elephant in the room” in 1992 that nobody talked about, except to say it was “harmless” and that was a big lie.  We were headed for a 500% increase in our electric bills, permanent open borders and a total loss of sovereignty.

Perot was pitted against globalist forces that supported Clinton after Perot entered the race. After the Clinton victory, the bandwagon for NAFTA was loaded with corporate forces that ensured that Congress would “go along” with NAFTA. The arguments for NAFTA were vapid.

We were told we were entering the “Information Age”.  What they didn’t admit was that the information wasn’t good.  We knew we couldn’t have an economy without manufacturing, but nobody talked about that.  By 2000, US corporations were moving plants overseas and more would follow until all we had left was minimum wage jobs and all of these jobs went to illegal migrants.

In 2010, the Tea Party arose to challenge the economy-killing policies. We tracked the excessive immigration and the labor participation rate and raised hell about UN Agenda 21. The US media and politicians ignored and attacked us, but by doing so, they identified themselves as part of the Deep State.

Finally, Donald Trump arrived on the scene for the 2016 Republican Presidential Primary. He was the only candidate prepared to address the problems Perot warned us about. He also addressed the problems the 10,000 independent Tea Parties were identifying.
 

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader

US Trade Deals

The American People Come Out Ahead (Finally) in Trump’s New NAFTA Deal ~ American Liberty Report, 8/28/18

Pres. Donald J. Trump may have just earned his biggest victory for everyday Americans so far by reaching agreement on the framework of trade deal with Mexico.

Once again making good on his campaign promises, the president has been embroiled in heated trade spats over inequities in NAFTA, U.S.-EU tariffs and a grotesque disparity with China. In recent months, the EU yielded to White House-imposed tariffs and details are in the works to eliminate inequality with a zero-tariff goal.

The president has been a long-time critic of the uneven Clinton-era NAFTA deal that many point to as destructive to the nation’s manufacturing base. The president also scuttled the Trans-Pacific Partnership touted by Hillary Clinton and the Obama Administration.

Pres. Trump heralded the hard-won concessions by his negotiating team and tipped his cap to their Mexican counterparts.

“We’ve all worked very hard and your brilliant representatives are sitting right in front of me and I thought we would congratulate each other before it got out,” Trump told Mexico Pres. Enrique Pena Nieto. “I know we’ll have a formal news conference in the not-too-distant future.”

“It’s a big day for trade, big day for our country, a lot of people thought we’d never get here because we all negotiate tough. We do, so does Mexico,” Pres. Trump reportedly said.

Although several left-leaning media outlets have attempted to demonize efforts to renegotiate a fair and balanced trade agreement with Mexico and Canada, the president’s recent break through changes the world trade landscape in an unprecedented fashion. Bad actors such as China are witnessing American resolve and the rebirth of the country’s economic dominance. The Trump win will also put the protectionist policies of Canada under strict scrutiny as North America trade shifts.

What’s in the U.S.-Mexico Agreement?

The announcement by the presidents marked a leap forward in North American trade. The deal has not yet been finalized as the U.S. and Mexico await a potential agreement with Canada that would effectively rewrite NAFTA.

Pres. Trump has gone on the record stating that he would be willing to move forward with a bilateral agreement. Significant concern exists over Canada’s protectionist dairy industry tariffs. The northern neighbor has effectively blocked American dairy farmers from selling products in its markets.

Following five weeks of hotly contested bilateral negotiations, the U.S. and Mexico have come to terms on the following trade changes.

·       Automobiles originating outside a NAFTA country would be subject to a tariff of 75 percent. This marks an increase from the current 62.5 percent.

·       Between 40-45 percent of any freight hauled into the U.S. must be made by workers paid $16 per hour or higher. U.S. unions have been calling for this change.

·       Rules will tighten to force the supply chain to produce more domestic apparel. Much of the clothing in U.S. retail outlets originates in China.

·       Increased intellectual property protections by enhancing enforcement and extending minimum copyrights to 75 years. Again, China has been repeatedly cited for intellectual property theft.

·       Digital content such as e-books and software would enjoy zero tariffs.

·       Mexico must raise its duty threshold on businesses that ship across the border from $50 to $100. Lower amounts by U.S. companies would not be subject to fees.

·       The trade rules regarding the origin of steel, glass, optical fiber and chemicals would be consistent with auto tariffs.

The details included in a renewed trade deal with Mexico are likely to encourage manufacturing growth and ramp up wages. Mexico has been criticized for exploiting low-wage workers to drain American jobs. But the elements that clamp down on goods not produced in North America spell bad news for Chinese aggression.

U.S.-Mexico Deal Heaps Pressure on China

The Chinese hierarchy have been reportedly divided about how to handle the escalating trade war with the United States. News of a deal with Mexico that closes backdoors to made in China goods provides Pres. Trump an even stronger negotiating posture.

Economic experts following the very limited talks between the world’s two largest economies point to a strong difference in trade philosophy. China reportedly favors structural changes to the trade imbalance. Pres. Trump wants determined policies that balance trade in terms of real dollars.

“I suspect that (Pres. Trump) will hold out on negotiating a settlement with China for the time being. I suspect it could even run through the mid-term elections in November,” Asia Pacific investment officer at Credit Suisse John Woods reportedly said.

Economists around the world expect the Trump Administration to dig in as another $200 billion in tariffs hits Chinese goods during September. The U.S. Treasury has already reaped billions in revenue since the trade spat began and are prepared to offset any farmer losses due to retaliation by rerouting the revenue.

https://www.americanlibertyreport.com/articles/the-american-people-come-out-ahead-finally-in-trumps-new-nafta-deal/

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader

Global Car Sales 2018

The number of cars sold as of June 2018:

VW Group 5.59 million

Renault-Nissan 5.16 million

Toyota 4.74 million

GM 4.3 million

Hyundai 3.6 million

Ford 3.0 million

Fiat 2.5 million

Honda 2.4 million

Peugeot 2.28 million

Mercedes 1.41 million

Suzuki 1.39 million

BMW 1.26 million

Geely 1.12 million

https://focus2move.com/world-car-group-ranking/

Comments

Geely is new on the scene and is priced in with the others. New cars are selling well in 2018.  A total of 46.1 million cars were sold in the first half of 2018. See article above.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader

US Mexico Trade Agreement

Statement from Vice President Mike Pence on the UnitedStates–Mexico Trade Agreement, 8/27/18. 

President Trump promised to fight for better trade deals – and once again today he delivered. After a year of tough negotiations, the United States and Mexico reached a trade agreement that is fair and reciprocal and will strengthen both nations’ economies. Today marks a new chapter between the United States and Mexico – one built around friendship, security, commerce, and prosperity.

The U.S.–Mexico Trade Agreement is a win for American ranchers, manufacturers, and auto workers. Our nations have agreed to new rules that will maintain duty free access for agricultural goods on both sides of the border.

In addition, we have agreed to eliminate non-tariff barriers and take other steps to encourage more agriculture trade between our two countries. Unlike any previous bilateral trade deal, this agreement includes the strongest labor standards, and these requirements are fully enforceable.

The President and our entire Administration are grateful to President Peña Nieto and his negotiating team for their good faith efforts to get this deal done. Today is a win for the American people and we look forward to working with members of Congress in both parties to swiftly approve this new trade agreement.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/statement-vice-president-mike-pence-united-states-mexico-trade-agreement/

Comments

It looks like Mexico agrees that the flow of agricultural production should be “duty free” and that makes sense. Automotive production adjustments are also planned to return some manufacturing back to the US. These elements level the playing-field for Mexico on agriculture and manufacturing wages and level the playing-field for US manufacturing.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader

US Mexico Trade Deal

Factbox: Five key takeaways from Trump's U.S.-Mexico trade deal, by Reuters Staff, 8/27/18.

AUTOS DOMINATE - The new deal requires 75 percent of the value of a vehicle to be produced in the United States or Mexico, up from the NAFTA threshold of 62.5 percent.

NO SUNSET - Trump backed off from an initial U.S. demand for a “sunset” clause that would kill the pact unless it was renegotiated every five years and which businesses said would stymie long term investment in the region.

DISPUTE SETTLEMENT - Mexico agreed to eliminate a settlement system for anti-dumping disputes, NAFTA’s Chapter 19. The move, sought by the United States, puts Canada in a difficult position because Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had insisted on maintaining Chapter 19 as a way to fight U.S. duties on softwood lumber, paper and other products that it views as unfair. Ottawa now has less than a week to decide to accept a deal without that provision.

AGRICULTURE, LABOR - The new deal will keep tariffs on agricultural products traded between the United States and Mexico at zero and seeks to support biotech and other innovations in agriculture. It lacks a previous U.S. demand to erect trade barriers to protect seasonal U.S. fruit and vegetable growers from Mexican competition. It contains enforceable labor provisions that require Mexico to adhere to International Labor Organization labor rights standards in an effort to drive Mexican wages higher.

NOW CANADA - The U.S.-Mexico NAFTA deal opens the door for Canada to immediately rejoin the talks and is a major step forward in updating the accord.
U.S., Mexico reach NAFTA deal, turn up pressure on Canada, by Roberta Rampton, Jeff Mason, 8/27/18.

(Reuters) - The United States and Mexico agreed on Monday to a sweeping trade deal that pressures Canada to accept new terms on autos trade, dispute settlement and agriculture to keep the trilateral North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

President Donald Trump (L) announces a deal to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) at the White House in Washington, U.S., August 27, 2018.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said the White House was ready to notify the U.S. Congress by Friday of President Donald Trump’s intent to sign the bilateral document, but that it was open to Canada joining the pact.

The 24-year-old NAFTA is a trilateral deal between the United States, Canada and Mexico that underpins $1.2 trillion in North American Trade. Here are some of the main issues at the heart of the negotiations:

The higher threshold is aimed at keeping more parts from Asia out, boosting North American automotive manufacturing and jobs. Even if more plants are built in Mexico, jobs will grow in the United States due to high levels of integration, with studies showing that U.S. parts make up 40 percent of the value of every Mexican-built car exported to the United States. The pact also requires greater use of U.S. and Mexican steel, aluminum, glass and plastics.

The provision started out as a U.S. demand for 85 percent regional content, with 50 percent coming from U.S. factories. That plan was vehemently opposed by Mexico, Canada and the auto industry. It later morphed into the U.S.-Mexico deal’s requirement of 40 to 45 percent of a vehicle’s value to be made in high wage areas paying at least $16 an hour, requiring significant automotive production in the United States.

Although full automotive details have not yet been released, auto industry officials say it will allow Trump the ability to impose higher national security tariffs on vehicles that do not comply with the new thresholds. Most Mexican auto exports are in a position to comply with the new limits, the country’s economy minister said.

Canada and Mexico were strictly opposed to the clause. Instead, the United States and Mexico agreed to a 16-year lifespan for NAFTA, with a review every six years that can extend the pact for 16 years more, providing more business certainty.

A settlement system for disputes between investors and states was scaled back, now only for expropriation, favoritism for local firms and state-dominated sectors such as oil, power and infrastructure.

Canada, which sat out the last leg of discussions while the United States and Mexico ironed out their bilateral differences, is now pressured to agree to the new terms on auto trade and other issues to remain part of the three-nation pact.

Trump has presented this as a bilateral deal and threatened Canada with car tariffs. Some lawmakers have said that a bilateral deal would face a higher vote threshold in Congress because the NAFTA fast-track negotiating authority law calls for a trilateral agreement.

Compiled by Anthony Esposito in Mexico City and David Lawder in Washington; Editing by Sandra Maler and Rosalba O'Brien

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and Mexico agreed on Monday to overhaul the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), putting pressure on Canada to agree to new terms on auto trade and dispute settlement rules to remain part of the three-nation pact.

Auto stocks soared and the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq rallied to record highs on the expectation that Canada would sign onto the deal and ease the economic uncertainty caused by U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to ditch the 1994 accord.

Details of gains and concessions in the deal were only starting to emerge on Monday. Trump threatened he still could put tariffs on Canadian-made cars if Canada did not join its neighbors and warned he expected concessions on Canada’s dairy protections.

“I think with Canada, frankly, the easiest we can do is to tariff their cars coming in. It’s a tremendous amount of money and it’s a very simple negotiation. It could end in one day and we take in a lot of money the following day,” Trump said.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-trade-nafta/u-s-mexico-reach-nafta-deal-turn-up-pressure-on-canada-idUSKCN1LC1E7

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader

Venezuela Update

Venezuela’s hyperinflation of the bolivar is set to reach 1,000,000% in 2018.

Venezuela’s oil production was 2.5 million bbd In January 2017.  It dropped to 1.36 million bbd in May 2018.

The culmination of chronic mismanagement and underinvestment, which resulted in shortages of basic equipment and supplies for years now across Venezuela’s oil fields, has all taken its toll.

Refugees from Venezuela continue to seek food and shelter in all neighboring countries. The 4 million refugee estimate is growing and host countries are maxing out. 

https://www.csis.org/analysis/how-low-can-venezuelan-oil-production-go

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2018/08/23/venezuelas-refugee-exodus-is-biggest-crisis-hemisphere/?utm_term=.2d18281f1f39

https://www.cfr.org/report/venezuelan-refugee-crisis

Comments

I suppose it’s too simple to allow families of Venezuelans to go to work on abandoned farms and produce food for themselves and the rest of the citizens without any government interference. If some of them can fix abandoned tractors and get some gas money, they could start to rebuild.

The Zimbabwe hyperinflation ended when they converted to the US Dollar in 2015. Their history is below:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperinflation_in_Zimbabwe

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader

Venezuela Farms

Venezuelan farms have begun feeding their workers — so they don't faint from hunger, by Eduard Freisler, 4/16/18.

VENEZUELA - When the workers on Juan Daniel Arzola's farm in the central Venezuelan region of Guárico started coming to work weak from hunger last year, he knew he had to make a change.

The 75-year-old farmer chose to cut back on producing food to sell in Venezuelan markets in order to feed people closer to home: his workers and his family.

"I have to make the decision between buying gallons of gas for my tractors or having enough food for my guys,” said Arzola, wearing a large-brimmed straw hat in the midday heat. "They started to come to work so hungry they were almost fainting," he said.

In a country where hunger has become so commonplace that Venezuelans have lost an average of 11 kilos, or about 24 pounds, the idea of farmers reducing their production sounds counter-intuitive and even inhumane. 

But with Venezuela in a steep economic crisis — and no end in sight — farmers and farmworkers have found themselves making that difficult calculation as the cost of running a farm has jumped. Back in November, Arzola had to pay 80,000 bolivares — at that time, about 75 cents — for a liter of oil. Last month, the price shot to a staggering 1.6 million bolivares, or about $7. That means Arzola cannot afford to expand his business. If he does, he would not be able to feed his own workers.

If the workers are too weak to keep up the pace, Arzola's farm would yield much less. In addition, the hungry workers, in order to survive, would look for work at a different farm that would feed them.

Other farmers in Guárico have had to adopt his approach. “Most of us now pay labor with food, not money,” explained dairy farmer Julio Hernandez, 50. Every week, Hernandez gives two liters of milk to each of his 10 employees. In Venezuela, where many children are now suffering from severe malnutrition, milk can be a priceless gift.

The quality of life for the farmworkers has also been decimated by Venezuela's hyperinflation, which stands at around 2,600 percent, opposition lawmakers claim. The International Monetary Fund predicts that inflation will soar to 13,000 percent by the end of the year.

According to a recent study conducted by the Central University of Venezuela and two other universities, up to 90 percent of Venezuelans live in poverty now. As a result, some urban Venezuelans are being drawn to rural areas in last-ditch efforts for basic survival. Food is scarce in cities.

“People are moving to the countryside because you can more or less survive if you have a small plot of land and access to your own produce,” says Phil Gunson from the International Crisis Group, a global non-governmental organization based in Caracas. 

"But it doesn't resolve the healthcare situation. People can't get blood pressure checked so they die from a heart attack or a stroke. There is no chemotherapy for cancer patients. People with chronic illnesses are simply not able to get their treatments,” Gunson warned.

In Guárico, where remote farms can be reached only in the dry season, lives are especially at risk due to the lack of medicine that has also become scant under President Nicolás Maduro's rule.

Hernandez, the dairy farmer, said his 21-year-old goddaughter ran out of insulin and had to be taken to a hospital. “My goddaughter died in an ambulance after its tire went flat,” Hernandez said. "She didn't make it as there was no mechanic available nor an extra ambulance."

Stories like that are common here, as are abductions. Leydi Dorante, also a farmer, had to pay a $300,000 ransom when her oldest child was kidnapped. The 39-year-old widow with three children is in charge of a large farm in a region called Chaguaramal.

Her farm still produces enough to sell in the national market. That's something of a rarity these days in Venezuela's rural regions. The landscape between Guárico and the capital, Caracas, includes dilapidated dairy and corn farms, neglected fields taken over by weeds and roads full of potholes.

“Everywhere you go these days in Venezuela you find a similar picture. Villages with half-constructed projects, looted houses and ruins that provide shelter for drifters who try to survive," says Ruben Soffer, a geographer and writer from Caracas who has written articles about Guárico and other rural areas.

Soffer has seen significant changes in Guárico during the country's deepening economic and social crisis. Besides declining farm production and almost no cash in the region, a feeling of personal insecurity has seeped deeply into the psyches of Guárico’s people., he said. Despite the region's characteristic hospitality, wary farmers keep guns close by lately, not trusting anyone.

"If you come close to a farm and they don’t know you, the owner might shoot at you,” warned Arzola. But many are too desperate to be deterred by armed farmers. Dorante said she constantly deals with starving people who sneak into her fields to get maize for traditional corn pancakes known as arepas. Some even come to slaughter her animals for food or to take food to sell to a market.

“I lose around 5 percent of my profit" to theft, Dorante estimated. She said big farms like hers can absorb the losses. “But for small producers, such level of thievery is very hurtful and can kill the business,” she said.

While she loves the farm life — the work, horseback riding and nature — she does not want her 4-year-old daughter to follow in her footsteps. With kidnappings, thieves, hard-to-get farm equipment, lack of medicine and worries about the potential for government expropriation of land, Dorante says she hopes her children will find new ways to make a living. "I don't think there is a future in Venezuela," she concluded.

Venezuelan farmer Juan Daniel Arzola, who lives in the Guárico region, said workers were coming to the farm faint from hunger. Humberto Duarte Special to the Miami Herald

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/venezuela/article208758099.html

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader