Today's News: January 20, 2020

World News

Haftar Blocks All Libyan Oil Exports Day Before Berlin Peace Conference

ZeroHedge – Given Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar has over the past two years captured the majority of the oil and gas rich country’s energy producing regions, he’s now playing his biggest card yet to leverage international peace talks in his favor amid a final push for his Libyan National Army (LNA) forces to take Tripoli.
Bloomberg reports Saturday that the Benghazi-based ‘rebel’ general has now “blocked oil exports at ports under his control, slashing output by more than half and posing a potential setback for an international conference on Sunday that aims to broker an end to a civil war in the OPEC nation.”

Lebanon moving toward unknown, needs new govt to avoid collapse, caretaker PM Hariri warns

RT – Lebanon needs to quickly form a new government to stop a collapse and worsening economic and security conditions, caretaker prime minister Saad al-Hariri tweeted on Monday. Politicians have failed to agree on a government or an economic rescue plan since protests pushed Hariri to quit as prime minister in October.
Beirut has been rocked in recent days by some of the worst violence since the unrest began, with 370 injured in clashes between protesters and security forces on Saturday, Reuters said.
“Our government resigned in order to transition to a new government dealing with popular changes but obstruction has continued for 90 days and the country is moving toward the unknown,” Hariri said.
Last month, little-known former minister Hassan Diab was designated PM with the backing of the Hezbollah movement and its allies, but a deal on a cabinet has yet to be announced.

U.S. News, Politics & Government

Pollak: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Saw America as the Solution, Not the Problem

Breitbart – The annual observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day is an occasion for the left to reinforce racial identity and radical politics, and for the right to criticize what the civil rights movement has become in the hands of King’s self-professed successors.
Certainly the Democratic presidential primary has provided material for the latter, as the contenders have rushed to kiss the ring of Al Sharpton — a notorious race-baiter responsible for much of the country’s current division.
It is sad that a day named for a leader whose legacy was a message — a prophecy! — of unity should be observed in such divergent ways. King preached about injustice in America — first racial injustice in the South, enshrined in law; then economic injustice in the North and elsewhere. But — this is crucial — he never saw America as the problem. He saw America, and its values, as the solution. He also saw black Americans as equal guardians of the American ideal.
King is remembered for many things, but especially two texts: his “I Have a Dream” speech, and his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” The former is taught to elementary school children; the second appears more often in high school or college. King’s attack in his letter on white moderates — “more devoted to order than to justice,” he called them — provoked the New Left of the 1960s, and even today’s “woke” left, desperate to avoid the appearance of complacency.
But there is more to the letter than is typically taught, or remembered. King declared: “We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham and all over the nation, because the goal of America is freedom. Abused and scorned though we may be, our destiny is tied up with the destiny of America.” America was the solution, not the problem. That was the challenge King laid down — one that endures: America, be who we are, and whom the Founders intended us to be.

LIVE: Richmond 2A March Gets Huge Turnout Ahead of Rally

Information Liberation – Thousands of Second Amendment supporters packed the streets on Monday morning ahead of a planned rally at the Capitol grounds in Richmond, Virginia.
Owen Shroyer estimated over 10,000 people were in attendance.
The “free speech zone” set up outside of the Capitol is under extreme “security” measures with a large TSA-style security checkpoint and fencing surrounding the event.

Virginia’s Capitol flooded with gun rights activists as Second Amendment rally is underway

Fox – Massive crowds of Second Amendment supporters carrying firearms and wearing stickers reading “Guns Save Lives” have descended upon Virginia’s Capitol in Richmond Monday as a widely publicized gun rights rally is underway.
Thousands of people from across the country are expected to attend the demonstration demanding state Democrats drop a push for comprehensive gun control in the commonwealth. The hundreds already in Richmond were heard in large groups reciting the Second Amendment in unison. A slate of speakers, including Stephen Willeford — who was hailed as a hero in 2017 after he confronted a shooter at a Texas church — are set to address the crowds.
Note: Stephen Willeford will be joining the show this coming Wednesday the 22nd.

Florida Sheriff: “I Will Not Enforce Assault Weapons Ban, Neither Will Most Sheriffs”

Gateway Pundit – Dennis Lemma, who is the Sheriff in Central Florida’s Seminole County, told a group of 2nd Amendment activists recently that he would not enforce an assault weapons ban that could soon become Florida law if the “Ban Assault Weapons Now” amendment passes in the Sunshine State.
According to News965, the ban has the following specifications.
The amendment proposed in the state legislature would ban possession of assault weapons, which are defined as “semiautomatic rifles and shotguns capable of holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition at once, either in fixed or detachable magazine, or any other ammunition feeding device.”
Lemma, an ardent supporter of the 2nd Amendment and a first term sheriff who is running for re-election, said this about whether or not he would enforce such a law.
“It’s not only that I wouldn’t, the majority of sheriffs across the state would not do it,” Lemma said in the video. It’s up to the sheriffs what they are willing to enforce.”

McConnell considers ‘kill switch’ option at Trump impeachment trial: report

Fox – Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell reportedly is close to finalizing a rule that would allow President Trump’s team to move to dismiss the articles of impeachment in the Senate quickly after some evidence has been presented, as a sort of safety valve in case Democrats try to drag out the trial for weeks.
The discussions came as Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” that the trial could extend “to six to eight weeks or even longer” if the Senate decided to hear from additional witnesses — a prospect that could interfere with the imminent presidential primary contests, as Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., likely would get pulled off the campaign trail.
McConnell, R-Ky., wouldn’t be obligated to publicize the final version of his resolution setting the parameters of the impeachment trial until Tuesday, but top Republicans have said they supported affording Trump the opportunity to cut the trial short. Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, for example, told Axios he would be “very, very surprised” if McConnell’s resolution didn’t include that kind of kill switch.

UPDATE: 17 Students, 9 Adults Exposed After Aircraft Dumps Fuel On Elementary School Near LAX

ABC – Officials said 67 children and adults were treated Tuesday when fuel dumped by a Delta airliner making an emergency return to Los Angeles International Airport fell onto several area schools.
Approximately 20 children and 11 adults at Park Avenue Elementary School reported a reaction after they were exposed to jet fuel that fell on a playground, according to Los Angeles County firefighters.
Several more students and adults at San Gabriel Avenue Elementary and Tweedy Elementary in South Gate, Jordan High and 93rd Street Elementary in South Los Angeles and Graham Elementary in Inglewood were also treated.
“It kind of smelled like gas,” Eli Vasquez, a student at Tweedy, said.
Some patients complained of skin and eye irritation, but were treated with soap and water and were not taken to the hospital.
Los Angeles County firefighters later confirmed that the substance was, in fact, jet fuel and said that all injuries were minor, though that did not stop parents from worrying.

Sen. Menendez demands Trump release blocked Puerto Rico aid in wake of earthquakes

Fox – n the wake of damaging earthquakes in recent weeks, Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., and a group of Puerto Rican leaders from New Jersey are demanding that the Trump administration release upwards of $18 billion in disaster relief aid originally designated to help the island recover from the 2017 hurricane season.
Menendez, whose state contains one of the largest Puerto Rican populations outside of the island itself, released a statement on Friday blasting President Trump’s response to the earthquakes that struck the island earlier this month, saying it wasn’t until after public pressure that he signed a Major Disaster Declaration.
The statement also criticizes the administration for holding back Congressionally appropriated aid alleging corruption and ineffectiveness in Puerto Rico’s government.

Chaos in Puerto Rico as Mob Finds Unused Disaster Supplies Sitting in Warehouse Since Hurricane Maria Struck in 2017

Edward Griffin – The governor of Puerto Rico fired the island’s emergency manager, Carlos Acevedo, hours after a warehouse filled with supplies believed to be from when Hurricane Maria struck the island in September 2017. Locals in Ponce, a city still suffering from the devastation of Maria, broke into the warehouse and demanded the emergency supplies and numerous pallets of bottled water. Last week, an earthquake rocked the island, causing $200 million in damage while forcing more than 7,000 people to seek refuge in outdoor shelters.

Veteran News

59 year-old Afghanistan vet re-enlists in US Army

Army Times – After a 10-year break in service, Staff Sgt. Monte L. Gould will have to report to basic combat training this June at Fort Jackson, South Carolina.
The 59-year-old former Marine and civil affairs soldier was less than three years short of retirement when he left the Army in 2009 to move home and spend more time with his family. But after work calmed down in his civilian life, Gould began a year-long process to reenlist with an Army Reserve unit so that he can be eligible for retirement and maybe give something back to younger troops.
“It’s kind of cool that they get to see somebody who is 59 and isn’t all fat, beat up with diabetes and on their death bed,” said Gould, who still practices jiu jitsu and rucks with 50-pounds for seven miles each week.
He will be joining the same unit as his son, Spc. Jarrod Gould, at the 405th Civil Affairs Battalion’s detachment out of Las Vegas, Nevada.

Economy & Business

FEDERAL SPENDING SETS RECORD

CNSNews – The federal government spent a record $1,163,090,000,000 in the first three months of fiscal 2020 (October through December), according to the Monthly Treasury Statement released Monday afternoon.
That was up $48,008,200,000 from the $1,115,081,800,000 (in constant December 2019 dollars) that the federal government spent in the first three months of fiscal 2019.

The Federal Reserve Considers Making Billions in Repo Loans Available to Hedge Funds, Essentially Bailing Out the ‘Fat Cats’

Edward Griffin – Hedge funds, globally, are in a financial tail spin, and many have already blocked investors from withdrawing their money. True to form, the Federal Reserve is preparing to infuse these firms with super low-cost loans that will help to bail them out – at taxpayer expense, of course. [When the repos prove to be insufficient, then what?]

China’s Gold Hoarding: Will It Cause The Price Of Gold To Rise?

ZeroHedge – There are reasons to think that the gold price will rise faster than expected.
Since 2009 China has withdrawn 12,000 tonnes of gold from the rest of the world, where the short and medium-term gold price is set. For reasons I will explain, a tighter market outside of China can make the price of gold price rise faster than many expect. I believe the gold price will rise, because of excessive debt levels around the world, and incessant money printing by central banks. Central banks will try and resolve the debt burden through currency depreciation (inflation). China has been preparing for this scenario by buying gold.
One of the key drivers in recent decades for the US dollar gold price is real interest rates. It is thought that when interest rates on long-term sovereign bonds, minus inflation, are falling, it becomes more attractive to own gold as it is a less risky asset than sovereign bonds (gold has no counterparty risk). However, gold doesn’t yield a return (unless you lend it). So, when real rates rise, it becomes more attractive to own bonds.

Energy & Environment

Company Collects 80% of City’s Recyclable Plastics and Turns It All into Lumber

Good News Network – This trailblazing Canadian company is building a new standard for sustainability since they started recycling the bulk of their municipal plastic waste into lumber.
Roughly 80% of the plastic recyclables collected throughout Halifax, Nova Scotia are now being processed by Goodwood Plastic Products Ltd so they can be turned into building blocks.
The plastic lumber can be drilled, nailed, glued, and handled the same way as wooden lumber—but without any of the same deterioration.
The other 20% of municipal plastics are reportedly being sent to other Canadian recycling markets, but Halifax Solid Waste Division Manager Andrew Philopoulos says that provincial legislators are particularly grateful for Goodwood’s initiative

Science & Technology

Neighborhood Fights Plans To Install 5G Cell Service Over Health Worries

ABC – Downloads will improve and cell service will get better, so everyone wants 5G faster internet – right?
Wrong.
5G internet also means more cellphone towers – which will appear every 12 homes in some neighborhoods. As CBS 2’s Jermont Terry reported Monday night, some in west suburban Hinsdale are not on board because they question the health risks.
In Hinsdale, wooden sticks are already in the ground where cell companies intend to put up cellphone towers. But the towers will not be 20 or 30 feet high and soaring over all the houses, and that is leaving some believing there is a bigger price to pay for downloading faster.
Paige Glendinning, Christine Trainer, and Fariha DiPasquale are all Hinsdale moms. The trio is on a mission to stop 5G from coming to town.
“This could be really bad,” DiPasquale said.
A few months back, those wooden sticks popped up in yards throughout the western suburbs.
“That was placed here by Verizon as a proposed site for a 5G transmitter,” Glendinning said.
Wireless companies insist 5G is expected to be 100 times faster than current speeds. But in order for the bands to travel, more transmitters are needed in closer proximity, and thus, the signal will be carried on smaller towers that can fit on top of a light pole.
“We are not against technology,” Trainer said.
But the Stop 5G group questions just how safe all these smaller towers will be for those who walk and live nearby.
“But before we become sort of the canary that is subjected to all of this, we want to actually have that data on safety be proven,” DiPasquale said.

NASA asteroid warning: Not one but TWO huge space rocks to hurtle past Earth today

RT – The new year brings with it new asteroid threats, with NASA warning of two close cosmic flybys in a single day following a busy festive period of Near Earth Object (NEO) approaches to our planet.
The first NEO to buzz the Earth today is identified as 2020 AQ1 – and was only first spotted on January 11. Happily, the 755ft-diameter space rock screamed safely by us at roughly 2:54am EST, passing a mere 0.026 AU from Earth – 2.5 million miles from the planet’s core – at a speed of 61,500 miles per hour.
The asteroid will head out into the Milky Way, but it is expected to make another loop around and come back this way on August 23, 2104. Were an object of that size and velocity to hit the Earth, it could level an entire city in seconds.

Health

Why You Should Embrace Healthful Sun Exposure

Mercola – Both ultraviolet A (UVA) and the near-infrared light spectrum increase NO. Sunlight also boosts cytochrome c oxidase, serotonin, brain-derived neurotrophic factor and other photoproducts, all of which are produced even in the wintertime when the sunlight is too weak to trigger vitamin D production.
Your body is designed to benefit from sun exposure, and if you’re diabetic or have heart disease, it may well be one of the missing factors. Sunlight also lowers your risk for many other conditions, including Type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, osteoporosis and several types of cancer, including melanoma.
For every death caused by diseases related to excessive sun exposure — such as melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer — there are 328 deaths caused by diseases of sunlight deprivation.
For every skin cancer death in northern Europe, between 60 and 100 people die from stroke or heart disease related to hypertension

Why Hard Water Decreases Heart Attacks

Mercola – Magnesium insufficiency has been linked to a higher risk for high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, arrhythmias, stroke and sudden cardiac death.
Research has shown people drinking soft water on a regular basis are more susceptible to lethal arrhythmias (irregular heartbeat) than those drinking hard water. One hypothesis that can account for this is magnesium deficiency, as hard water contains higher levels of magnesium than soft water.
Magnesium supports heart health by combating inflammation (which helps prevent high blood pressure and hardening of your arteries) and improving blood flow by relaxing your arteries and preventing your blood from thickening.
Magnesium also plays a role in the creation of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the energy currency of your body. Being a heavy energy user, your heart needs sufficient amounts of ATP to function properly.
Magnesium also affects your mitochondrial function and health, as it’s required both for increasing the number of mitochondria in your cells and increasing mitochondrial efficiency
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