[American Thinker] Big Oil has always had a reputation for propping up crappy little banana republics and tinpot regimes, and well, Chevron is squarely on the hot seat for that one these days.
See, it's literally the only thing left that's keeping Venezuela afloat, through its large investments in that country. If Chevron pulls out, the Maduro regime collapses. Now there's some question as to whether it ought to be following all the other oil majors and pulling out. According to today's Wall Street Journal:
Chevron's dilemma is both moral and commercial. The California-based giant long enjoyed close relations with the socialist regime that controls the world's largest oil reserves, and has earned big money in Venezuela‐about $2.8 billion between 2004 and 2014, according to cash-flow estimates by analytics firm GlobalData .
The company is aware a pullout could trigger a collapse of the government's finances, because a significant chunk of its scarce hard currency comes from joint operations with Chevron.
Yet by staying in the country as its economic and humanitarian crises deepen, the company risks damage to its reputation by being seen as supporting an authoritarian regime sanctioned by the U.S. government. It also isn't making much money here anymore.
According to the Wall Street Journal report, Chevron is pretty much the last investor left in Venezuela, and the only source left for hard currency. The country's money has melted down so badly in its one-million-plus inflation that it's down to using a fake cryptocurrency of no credibility whatsoever. But socialists being socialists, they save the best for themselves -- U.S. dollars -- and Chevron pays and deals in U.S. dollars. If Chevron pulls out, Maduro gets the meathook. See how important this oil giant is to the Chavista regime's capacity to stay afloat?
Which is why people are starting to wonder about these guys. Why is Chevron still propping up the Maduro regime when all the other guys have pulled out and sued the bastards for billions, yet Chevron is not making any money from it, which is a disservice to its shareholders. Worst of all, the money it's paying (for royalties, etc. for the privilege of extracting the oil) is solely going into the Maduro regime's coffers and it's the only thing propping the dictatorship up.
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/10/2018 07:24 ||
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#1
...Wondering if a Presidential tweet along the lines of, "Is Chevron keeping socialism alive with your dollars? Sad!" wouldn't set things right...
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
11/10/2018 9:56 Comments ||
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#2
Chevron, and its predecessor companies, have long followed a 'non-political' practice in dealing with governments in the countries in which they operate. They follow the laws, rules, whatever, of whoever is actually in power. The long-term result is that as regimes come and go, the contracts mostly get honored - all parties want the prize of a functional cash cow.
[WSJ] WASHINGTON‐Democrats say they will pass the most aggressive gun-control legislation in decades when they become the House majority in January, plans they renewed this week in the aftermath of a mass killing in a California bar.
Their efforts will be spurred by an incoming class of pro-gun-control lawmakers who scored big in Tuesday’s midterm elections, although any measure would likely meet stiff resistance in the GOP-controlled Senate.
Democrats ousted at least 15 House Republicans with "A" National Rifle Association ratings, while the candidates elected to replace them all scored an "F" NRA rating.
"This new majority is not going to be afraid of our shadow," said Mike Thompson, a California Democrat who is chairman of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force. "We know that we’ve been elected to do a job, and we’re going to do it."
Mr. Thompson, who represents a district in the Napa Valley north of San Francisco, said he plans to introduce legislation mandating universal background checks in the opening weeks of the new Congress.
The gun-control movement’s evolution was evident this week following news that a dozen people had been killed Thursday at a country music bar in Thousand Oaks, Calif.
"What we do is say, how do we make certain that we protect the Second Amendment and protect our citizens?" Ms. Blackburn replied, referencing the U.S. Constitution plank that grants the right to bear arms.
About 61% of voters participating in the 2018 midterm elections said America’s gun laws should be stricter, according to AP VoteCast, a pre-election and Election Day survey of about 90,000 people who said they voted or intended to vote. About 13% of Democrats and 8% of all voters said gun control was the most important issue affecting their vote.
The 2018 elections marked the first time gun-control advocates outspent the NRA.
The gun-rights advocacy group spent about $20 million in the 2018 election cycle‐much of it on advertising backing the confirmation of Supreme Court Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, NRA spokeswoman Jennifer Baker said.
Everytown for Gun Safety, the gun-control organization backed by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and a group founded by former Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was critically wounded in a 2011 shooting, spent a combined $37 million in 2018.
Ms. Baker said she is optimistic NRA-backed candidates will prevail in governor’s races in Florida and Georgia that have yet to be called. The NRA also invested in GOP Senate candidates who ousted Democratic incumbents in Indiana, Missouri and North Dakota. NRA-backed Senate candidates lost in Montana and West Virginia.
"The biggest Second Amendment implication of the election is that the pro-Second Amendment majority in the U.S. Senate will continue to confirm pro-Second Amendment judges to the lower courts all the way to the Supreme Court," Ms. Baker said.
At the state level, voters in Washington state approved a ballot referendum expanding the state’s requirement for background checks on gun purchases. In Florida, Democrat Nikki Fried leads the race for agriculture commissioner, whose office regulates the state’s concealed weapon permits.
The highest-profile gun-control advocate on the ballot Tuesday was Democrat Lucy McBath, who defeated GOP Rep. Karen Handel in a suburban Atlanta House contest. Ms. McBath, a former Delta Air Lines flight attendant, became a gun-control advocate after her teenage son, Jordan Davis, was shot and killed in 2012 by a man who said the boy was playing music too loud. The assailant was later convicted of murder.
Ms. McBath, who became a spokeswoman for Everytown and a 2016 campaign surrogate for Hillary Clinton, relayed her story on the campaign trail and in her early television advertisements. But in the closing weeks before Election Day, Ms. McBath focused on health care and economic issues.
Everytown’s closing TV ad backing Ms. McBath didn’t mention gun control, focusing instead on health care. "Voters absolutely understood where Lucy stood on the issue of gun safety," said Everytown President John Feinblatt. "There was no question in voters’ minds about Lucy’s story."
#6
Of course the left wants more aggressive gun-control. There is nothing they would like more. They have soggy dreams at night about such things. It is the last road block for a leftist takeover. The ultimate goal is gun confiscation and that is a sure road to tyranny and hell.
#9
California has the most aggressive gun-control in the nation and we still had a shooting. I read today that there were a number of off duty police.sheriff officers in the bar that were unarmed per California law. That makes me extra sad.
#11
A legally purchased Glock 21 .45-caliber handgun, designed to hold, in California, 10 rounds and one in the chamber, had an illegal extended magazine allowing 30 shots + if reloaded. Preventing gun violence starts with changing the moral character of the gun owner but then logic and common sense escapes libs.
#13
"off duty police.sheriff officers in the bar that were unarmed per California law"
Really???
Posted by: European Conservative ||
11/10/2018 15:33 Comments ||
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#14
I believe it is, and has been forever, a general practice to forbid firearms in bars. I tend to agree with that practice, given the overall statistics on risk of mixing guns and alcohol.
At first the idea seemed strange,
But we all must be open to change.
Now we empty our steins
And uncork sparkling wines
Like Bavarians down at the range.
[The Federalist] Last night CBS News’ John Dickerson tweeted "The Florida voting system is the Florida Man of voting systems." But at least Florida Man combines stupid fun entertainment with incompetence and hubris, as opposed to depressing levels of corruption and idiocy.
Comes now Dr. Brenda C. Snipes, the key election official in Broward County, Florida has presided for the past 72 hours over a level of bureaucratic incompetence ‐ in the best spin of the situation ‐ or utter corruption in the worst when it comes to counting the ballots from her county.
Last night Governor and would-be Senator Rick Scott announced he was filing a lawsuit against her ‐ not one claiming anything about the ballots being counted, but simply demanding that she live up to the regulatory obligation to tell us how many ballots there are. Again, this is not a lawsuit about counting, just about knowing how many ballots you have left to count, which is required to be disclosed by law.
This demand to know the facts is being described by some Democrats as an attempt to prevent votes being counted. That’s how ridiculous the situation is.
Here’s the situation: Florida law 102.141 4(b) details the process by which ballots shall be counted, and it requires that within 30 minutes of polls closing, you publish an estimated count of the ballots in hand, regularly updated afterward. Every other county in Florida other than Broward has done this. Broward’s Dr. Snipes has not. Local journalists have shouted questions at her, and the local officials have demured or said she was too busy or said she was "taking a break".
In my humble opinion, "she’s taking a break" is the greatest bureaucratic incompetence excuse I have ever heard. The point is that Florida election officials will apparently tell you what they are required to tell you at a time of their choosing, not before.
[Babylon Bee - That's SATIRE, Herb] As Florida finally wrapped up its contentious recount of the votes tallied in the recent midterm elections, a winner was finally declared: Al Gore is now the president of the United States. Prince Albert
The recount process at long last found the "missing votes" that would have handed Gore the presidency back in 2000, making him the official president of the country.
"Well, it's about time," Gore said in his acceptance speech. "Thanks to all the fine people that made this happen. It really is too bad that the earth is going to be destroyed by fire by 2015--err, I mean, 2019, or else I could really savor my presidency."
Gore will be granted two terms as US president, ousting President Trump and canceling the 2020 election. "We just assume he would have won again and ushered in a liberal golden age," said an election official. "So he's got 8 years to reclaim his lost time. Make the most of it, Al, and great job. You deserve it!"
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/10/2018 00:00 ||
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#1
The Dems counting votes is like the Mueller proctolgy exam--both seem like they last forever.
#3
What is interesting and ignored is that a cabal of news outlets to include the Miami papers pooled their monies and paid for a recount afterwards. Turns out Bush won. However, that still didn't faze the 'I hate Bush' crowd that were denied the win. They would and still continue to believe the lie. Nice Venn overlap with the people who believe 9/11 was an inside job.
[Rudaw] This week the United States announced that it was offering a bounty of several million dollars for information leading to the arrest of three top Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leaders. A "bounty" of $5 million dollars was placed on People’s Defense Forces (HPG) leader Murat Karayilan, $4 million for Cemil Bayik, and $3 million for Duran Kalkan.
The bounties are part of the US State Department’s "Rewards for Justice" program. Established by the 1984 Act to Combat International Terrorism, the program states that "the Secretary of State may offer rewards for information that leads to the arrest or conviction of anyone who plans, commits, aids or attempts international terrorist acts against US persons or property, that prevents such acts from occurring in the first place, that leads to the identification or location of a key terrorist leader, or that disrupts terrorism financing."
The US State Department’s website claims that since the start of the program in 1984, "the United States has paid in excess of $125 million to more than 80 people who provided credible information that brought faceless myrmidons to justice or prevented acts of international terrorism worldwide. The program played a significant role in the arrest of international terrorist Ramzi Yusef, who was convicted in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. Today, the Rewards for Justice Program continues to play a critical role in US counterterrorism initiatives around the globe."
Continued on Page 49
#2
The problem in the past is that they have offered million dollar rewards. The people there wouldn't know what to do with that much money and it would be hard to hide and they would be outed. Offer something smaller like a $10k reward, maybe less.
[Daily Signal] Celebrate and thank your Veterans this weekend. They make life better around the world. Except for bad guys - F*ck the bad guys.
KYIV, Ukraine‐How do you measure America’s greatness?
By the size of its economy, or the strength of its military?
By the height of its city skylines, or the audacity of the moon landings?
Perhaps, by the heroism of the Marines who landed on Iwo Jima, or of the Army soldiers who landed on Omaha Beach?
Maybe. But America’s greatness is not always measured like in the movies or a campaign speech. Sometimes, an anonymous act of gratitude is proof enough, even if we, as Americans, don’t always see it that way.
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/10/2018 00:00 ||
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[Breitbart] Veteran comedian Dennis Miller told Jimmy Kimmel that liberalism is like a "nude beach," because it only sounds good in theory.
"I went to vote yesterday and I won’t even‐I live in a surf town, up the coast here from L.A., and they don’t even give you the sticker. You have to actually get ’I voted’ tattooed above your pubic mound," Dennis Miller told Kimmel.
Kimmel also questioned Miller on his conservative beliefs.
"You know, I was always a big fans of yours. And people, though, today are like ’What?’ I think people get upset because you’re conservative," the ABC talk show host said. "Because you’re a comedian. I think it’s weird for a comedian to be conservative. Unusual, I should say. What‐they say, what happened to you? What did happen to you, Dennis?"
Miller responded that he was "socially liberal," and said, "When I look at‐I was watching backstage. This is how interesting things are. When I watch Trump, he doesn’t rankle me like he rankles people on your side. There are days he’s a buffoon. There are days I can’t believe the stuff he says. But, today, when I watch that thing, I kind of laugh. I watch Pelosi and she drives me batty."
"Interesting," Kimmel said.
"And I know on your side, I think Pelosi’s kind of acceptable and she says stuff like that, that drives me more crazy," Miller said.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[American Thinker] Big Oil has always had a reputation for propping up crappy little banana republics and tinpot regimes, and well, Chevron is squarely on the hot seat for that one these days.
[Babylon Bee - That's SATIRE, Herb] As Florida finally wrapped up its contentious recount of the votes tallied in the recent midterm elections, a winner was finally declared: Al Gore is now the president of the United States.
[Breitbart] Veteran comedian Dennis Miller told Jimmy Kimmel that liberalism is like a "nude beach," because it only sounds good in theory.
