China sides with Iran
Europe has largely failed to do what is necessary to save the Iran nuclear deal.
However, someone else has stood up for Iran against U.S. sanctions.
China is planning to invest $280 billion in Iran’s oil, gas, and petrochemical sectors that are being affected by US sanctions, according to Petroleum Economist magazine.
...This vast amount will be disbursed during the first five years of the agreement’s entry into implementation, with possible additional investments in subsequent similar periods, if both parties agree.In return, Iran will grant Chinese companies the priority right to participate in tenders for any new, frozen or incomplete projects to develop oil and gas fields, as well as all petrochemical projects, including the provision of technology and staff to implement these projects.
This is one of the most significant events of 2019.
An investment of that size can enable Iran to survive the sanctions.
The Trump Administration responded by threatening China.
“We will sanction any sanctionable activity,” Brian Hook, the State Department’s special representative for Iran, told reporters Wednesday. “We've already done that once with China. So that is our policy. We have demonstrated that many times since we left the deal.”Hook was responding to China’s reported decision this week to invest $280 billion in Iran’s oil industry in defiance of the sanctions that Trump’s team hopes will force Iran to agree to new curbs on its nuclear program and regional aggression.
Yeh, that'll work.
In reality, China didn't dare the U.S. to act, they thumbed their nose at the U.S. as if we are irrelevant.
Meanwhile, Russia made a smaller, but still significant move.
Russia has offered to help Iran to skirt US sanctions by allowing it to transport crude oil through ports in Crimea, in a further sign of growing ties between Moscow and Tehran.
Both China and Russia recently offered to upgrade Iran's air force.
Iran, China, and Russia have little in common except a common enemy.
Comments
And so it goes
The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
(No subject)
That's great news.
I keep hoping that the rest of the world will band together to rein in the rogue United States. I have no great love for Russia, China, or Iran, but it sickens me to be a citizen of the biggest bully on the planet. It's inevitable that our coups and regime changes and sanctions and many, many other thuggish behaviors catch up to us someday.
Iran has seized another ship
Iran's Military Seizes Another Foreign Vessel In Persian Gulf, Detains Crew
Oops..
Apparently holocaust denial is not an issue anymore. Lots of people are denying the one in Gaza with absolutely no repercussions.
Smugglers most likely
Iran's domestic fuel sales are heavily subsidized and their prices are among the lowest in the World. For example, diesel sells for 7 to 10 cents per liter compared to the world average of $1.00 to $1.10. Smugglers take advantage by buying this cheap fuel and selling it at a profit in other countries.
(No subject)
Trump is a bully
His foreign policy is built around applying force with impunity.
Iran is not intimidated, so the results are negative feedback.
Pompous Pompeo is all over Twitter
saying that Iran has broken the deal of not enriching uranium (?) or whatever it is that they agreed not to do. Pompeo must think we are stupid and don't know that it was Trump who broke it. BTW I just read that was against international law because the UN had been involved in the deal. France, Germany and the U.K. have all refused to honor the deal so I think that lets Iran out of it altogether.
This country is an out of control bully and has been for too long. But Russia and China are finding ways to get around using the dollar and they are making deals with the countries we have bullied. Bout time.
Apparently holocaust denial is not an issue anymore. Lots of people are denying the one in Gaza with absolutely no repercussions.
(No subject)
@gjohnsit I don't think this is
I don't think this is just Trump. This is the MIC, Israel and Israel's useful idiots the Christian Zionists. Don't think an HRC presidency would have done anything different. Probably would have happened long before now if she were President.
Trump's Way
link
@gjohnsit Are we supposed to
Are we supposed to believe this shit? The notion that Putin is undermining Ukrainian democracy is a fucking hoot. What democracy?
Trump is following in the footsteps of Bill Clinton, who
was overt in his support for Boris Yeltsin and was instrumental in Yeltsin's win in Russia, which opened the door for Putin. Who knows what kind of monster Trump's meddling in Ukraine will bring forth, but so far whenever the US messes in any other country's politics, the result is catastrophic for the people of that country AND for us.
"Without the right to offend, freedom of speech does not exist." Taslima Nasrin
Oh that dastardly Putin
Obama decided it wasn't a good idea to sell weapons to Ukraine because it might have caused the conflict there to escalate. I thought that was a good idea since it was Obama that overthrew Ukraine's government in the first place just to severe the ties between them and Russia. And after neo Nazis were installed in the government many countries want to allow Ukraine to join NATO. Gee what could possible go wrong to have a NATO country right next to Russia after Bush 1 promised that it wouldn't happen?
From what I have read about this Rudy is in Ukraine to find out how they were involved in setting up Trump as being Vlad's puppet not to intervene in the 2020 election. It's a fact finding mission. They were involved with the Obama DOJ and intelligence agencies to come up with poo about Trump and others in his campaign that was totally false which has been written about here numerous times. If Barr actually gets the go ahead to fully investigate what happened with all the players heads could role. But that is a big if since this country doesn't hold higher ups accountable anymore. On a side not it's sad to see this crap posted.
Apparently holocaust denial is not an issue anymore. Lots of people are denying the one in Gaza with absolutely no repercussions.
There's a rumor out there that John Kerry
....and his people have broken with Biden over the corrupt money grab the Biden's were involved with in Ukraine. Kerry, who was SOS at the time, would know about those things, I suppose.
You are right about Hillary...
She is (was) a member of The Family...another Christian cult that has a stranglehold on our government and foreign policies. They are different in some ways than the Christian Zionists (Zionists all about bring about the Rapture, The Family just interested in the power of 'Jesus plus nothing' conversion of the world), but the effect of these two groups are the same....bring the US INTO an all out war in the middle east.
"Without the right to offend, freedom of speech does not exist." Taslima Nasrin
@Fishtroller 02 There are a lot of
There are a lot of fundamentalist Protestant groups that cozy up to Israel. Matter of degree, I guess. Some of the more liberal Protestants, like the Presbyterians, were boycotting and incurred some severe Israeli ire.
The Family is now a movie
From what I understand about it is the people who belong to it think that Jesus wasn't serious about that eye and camel thing. It's easier for a camel ...something..than it is for a rich man to get into Heaven. They think it's okay to make gobs of money and screw the poor. The Mormons also think it's okay to be rich because in order to get into the highest kingdom you have to have lots of money. I'm wondering how many rich people give 10% to their church?
Apparently holocaust denial is not an issue anymore. Lots of people are denying the one in Gaza with absolutely no repercussions.
@snoopydawg You got to know
You got to know the eye of the needle and camel story to know how they pull off this trick. The eye of the needle was a passage way (or gate) in the wall around Jerusalem and camels supposedly had to crawl through the passage way or gate to get in. So since it wasn't impossible for camels to do this then you could be rich and get to heaven after all. It is just a bit more difficult for the rich but apparently worth the risk. Or maybe it just takes a properly trained camel, if you know what I mean.
How they get around the rich young ruler story I don't know. Getting to heaven seems to require giving all your money away, no ifs ands or buts. Maybe there is a strikethrough feature in these new versions?
I did not know that
I don't think I ever heard that story or if I did I wasn't paying attention to my catechism teacher. Thanks for telling it.
But I do know that Jesus would be frowning on the huge wealth inequality that is getting worse because people put money over human lives.
BTW. Bernie is the only candidate who hasn't taken money from billionaires. I think ByeDone and Buttijudge have taken the most. Warren and Kambama are on the list too. So much for Liz's pledge of not taking money from the rich during the primary. She has transferred funds from her senate campaign to her primary one. Oops
Apparently holocaust denial is not an issue anymore. Lots of people are denying the one in Gaza with absolutely no repercussions.
First of all, there is absolutely no proof that "Jesus"
existed in any other venue than the fertile mythology writing minds of a few people over a couple of hundred years.
Second, in the stories of this man, he told his disciples to drop their jobs and their families in order to follow and serve him. When one potential disciple said he needed time to attend a family funeral before he left, Jesus told him it was now or never ("let the dead bury their dead"). I don't find the fact that Jesus encouraged men to leave their wives and children high and dry to follow him a demonstration of much in the way of family or fiscal morality. He put his preaching goals above the welfare of at least 12 families. That is something that no bible study group ever touches on. Took me years to finally recognize that much of what this Jesus character said and did was harsh, mean, self centered and immoral. Further, what source of money kept Jesus going is unknown but there are no stories of how he could afford to just wander around keeping himself and his group fed, etc.
These are the kinds of facts about these allegorical mythologies that people just skip over. It's amazing to me how long it took me to see that freethought would never be allowed in the God/Jesus Kingdom. Who in the world would want to spend eternity under THAT system?
"Without the right to offend, freedom of speech does not exist." Taslima Nasrin
Good points
but I use Jesus to shame the Christians who say that they follow him when they really don't. Like the Family who have disregarded all of his teachings on how to treat the less fortunate while they pursue the mighty dollar and profits above humanity.
I travel from being a believer to an agnostic to an atheist quite freely. At my aunt's funeral which was held at the catholic church and was really quite comforting I kept saying that I want to believe in what the priest was saying.
But I cannot stand hypocrites who hide behind Christianity while doing everything they can to make people's live much more miserable.
I think I will watch the movie instead of the book unless it is on audio. I rarely read books anymore.
Apparently holocaust denial is not an issue anymore. Lots of people are denying the one in Gaza with absolutely no repercussions.
Good points....
I'm not sure however how effective the shaming works because people who believe in gods or Jesus or whatever can re-configure their views as soon as they hear a challenge. It's like telling these prayer promoting Christians that Jesus said distinctly to pray in private and not be like the hypocrites who pray in public. Their eyes glaze over for a second, they pull out some other quote to back themselves up and then go merrily along with their public praying.
There is a great essay called "Hellfire Jesus". It's simply a list of quotes of Jesus threatening hell in various forms. You can confront a person who believes that Jesus is all about peace with these direct quotes, and they will still claim that Jesus would never condemn someone to hell! I actually find right wing conservative Christians to be more accurate about what is in those gospels than mild liberal Protestants.
The 5 part series on Netflix of The Family is good, but I think it missed something in trying to put it all together, plus it didn't give the history of the group enough explanation.Still, it's definitely a fascinating documentary. Maybe you can find the book on audio?
I just noticed that big Family member Mark Sanford of NC is going to challenge Trump. Sanford is considered to be one of God's chosen by The Family (Fellowship) despite his huge marriage scandals. They really are a sick bunch of people.
"Without the right to offend, freedom of speech does not exist." Taslima Nasrin
True that shaming doesn't do much good with true believers
It's funny how when people have made up their minds that no facts can disway them. But yes Jesus did tell people that they will roast in hell for certain things.
I will look for the book on audio. My library app doesn't work anymore since Firefox quit updating its browser for my old Mac. But I have lots of credits on audible.
Sanford got roasted on Twitter when he declared. Here again is Christian hypocrisy. That so many like what Trump is doing to kids at the border, gutting regulations instead of being a good steward of the earth and giving rich people more money at the cost to the poor is more.
Apparently holocaust denial is not an issue anymore. Lots of people are denying the one in Gaza with absolutely no repercussions.
The man who founded The Family (aka the Fellowship)
was named Abraham Vereide. He claimed that an angel appeared to him in the woods and told him that Jesus was not concerned with the down and out. Jesus wanted Abraham to hitch his star to the up and coming (the powerful) because that was the best way to spread the Jesus narrative. It just so happened that Abraham and his circle of friends were actively anti-labor unions, so the angel told him just the right thing to do!
That's what I mean about the book.... fascinating.
"Without the right to offend, freedom of speech does not exist." Taslima Nasrin
There's some question about the historicity of that
"eye of the needle" thing. Some historians think it was made up out of whole cloth to support and "explain" (to the comfort of the rich) what that saying was "really" all about.
Another "explanation", this one offered by some philologists, is that "camel" really meant "camel-hair rope" - it would have to be a pretty huge needle to fit THAT through.
And if you take it literally, it's just a weird attention-getting metaphor.
There is no justice. There can be no peace.
I highly recommend reading Sharlet's books.
"Without the right to offend, freedom of speech does not exist." Taslima Nasrin