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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Brumar89 who wrote (1064206)	4/7/2018 6:11:58 PM
From: Wharf Rat	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1578633

China's nuclear option... China's secret trade war option: A rare earth embargo \| BY VICTORIA BRUCE, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR — 04/02/18 01:50 PM EDT 279 THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY CONTRIBUTORS ARE THEIR OWN AND NOT THE VIEW OF THE HILL With the potential for an expanded trade war with China, the U.S. needs to consider some of the less obvious economic and national security risks that could come into play. China holds a secret weapon that could cripple us instantly. Let’s call it, Trade War Option “57 – 71”. The chemical elements on the periodic table with atomic numbers 57 through 71 make up the critical elements called rare earths. Two more, Scandium and Yttrium, reside elsewhere on the periodic table and complete the group. The U.S. is 100 percent import-dependent on all of these critical defense materials and 100 percent import-dependent exclusively on China for these materials after they are processed into metallic form (the state required for most technology and defense applications).Rare earth metals are so critical and in so many defense components for guided missiles, smart bombs, targeting lasers, sonar, radar, night vision and high temperature resistant metals for military jet engines, that if China cut us off, the U.S. could not replace or build most of our advanced weapon systems. These materials are also found in smart phones, small electric motors, sensors and catalysts in automobiles, computers, commercial aircraft and most green technology. If China embargoed these materials the U.S. would be forced to shut down all or most of our nation’s technology manufacturing assembly lines. This single category of imports, with a global resource value of about $3 billion, becomes an essential input to about $7 trillion in value-added goods on a global basis. The U.S. controls zero. How did we get into this precarious position? The most recent 2016 Government Accounting Office (GAO) report called China’s monopoly on rare earths a “bedrock national security issue,” and back in 2010, the GAO warned Congress that it could take up to 15 years for the U.S. to re-develop its own rare earth supply chain. Still, Congress failed to act. This history of neglect goes all the way back to 1993 when Congress allowed the sale of America’s leading rare earth magnet company, Magnequech, to China via a straw-man transaction that was linked directly to the family of Deng Xiaoping, the former Premier Leader of China. The Indiana-based company produced nearly all of the rare earth magnets for our guided missiles and smart bombs, but Congress chose to ignore the warnings of Pentagon experts like Peter Leitner and let the sale proceed. With Trump’s Trade war looming and sabers rattling from the White House Executive Office, there is no doubt that China is mulling over its options. What’s very clear, is that “Option 57 -71” could be unleashed on us any time. While Trump’s trade dispute with China is certainly legitimate, this administration had better have something in place if it’s going to continue to push forward unless it is prepared to back down and concede everything to China. Unfortunately, the biggest risk to launching a trade war against the People’s Republic of China comes from the most obscure of imported goods.

To: Brumar89 who wrote (1064206)	4/7/2018 6:26:38 PM
From: Brumar89	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1578633

THREAD: Why did Mueller use search warrants to obtain information for five phones this year as part of its ongoing investigation of Paul Manafort? Renato Mariotti added, Brad HeathVerified account @bradheath Here's a partial list of the warrants that DOJ filed as an exhibit tonight. They're all still sealed. Renato Mariotti?Verified account @renato_mariotti Apr 5 1/ As @bradheath of @USATODAY noted in the tweet quoted above, today Mueller disclosed the existence of a number of search warrants tonight in its ongoing investigation of Manafort (and others), including a search warrant for information relating to five AT&T phones. 2/ The search warrant itself is still sealed, so right now all we know is that the search warrant was obtained. Nonetheless, the fact that Mueller obtained the search warrant tells us a number of things about his investigation. 3/ Mueller would not need a search warrant to obtain subscriber data or records of the calls made to and from the phones. He would also not need a search warrant to obtain billing information for the phones. He could obtain all of that information using a subpoena. 4/ This warrant likely means that Mueller obtained what is called "historical cell site information" for those five phones. The U.S. Supreme Court is currently considering whether a search warrant is needed to obtain historical cell site information, so obtaining one makes sense. 5/ Historical cell site information is a list of the cell towers that a particular cell phone communicated with when a call was made. For the vast majority of cell towers, it also indicates which side of the cell tower the phone was communicating with. 6/ This information can be used by law enforcement to obtain a rough sense of where the phone was located at a particular time. For example, if my phone connected to a cell tower in downtown Chicago at 7pm, it indicates that I was somewhere in that vicinity at that time. 7/ Historical cell site information does not tell you the location of a phone in between phone calls, and it doesn't tell you where the phone was located in the future. But it can be very important evidence whenever the location of a person is important in proving a crime. 8/ For example, I used historical cell site information as evidence to prove the guilt of the Bogdanov family when they traveled around the country stealing millions of dollars in merchandise from retail stores. Mr. Bogdanov's phone always seemed to be located near the thefts. 9/ Historical cell site information is less useful in most white collar cases. For example, if I'm trying to prove that an executive laundered money, all the phone location information would show me is that he is at his office. What matters is not where he's located. 10/ That's why this move by Mueller is interesting. It indicates that it's important to Mueller to know where the owners of the phones were located at particular times. For example, the location information could be used to show that the phones were in the same place at one time. 11/ We don't know who the five phones belong to. They could belong to Manafort and Gates. But the fact that Mueller obtained this information is that he's interested in the whereabouts of the owners of these phones at particular times. 12/ It suggests that the location of the people Mueller is investigating matters to him. That could be due to trips overseas or because individuals meeting each other will back up the testimony of one of his cooperators. But it certainly offers a window in what he's doing, /end New conversation ?? Bill ??? @trump_in_prison Apr 5 Replying to @renato_mariotti Hmmm....I wonder if Cohen's phone was in Prague. Cohen showed a picture of his passport cover saying he had never been to the Czech Republic. I pointed out to him that travel around Schengen does not require a stamp for entry between countries. He then blocked me on Twitter Horizon? @addisskins Apr 5 Replying to @renato_mariotti Gates is singing and Mueller is taking notes! Anyone else feel like this is heating up at a faster pace in the last 2 weeks?? J? @MsEnergyHealer Apr 5 Replying to @renato_mariotti I mean Manafort decided to go yachting in Europe w/Tom Barrack right after resigning & we know there were suspicious bank activity reports filed during the time of trip. Dreeben is arguing that case before the Supreme Court so makes sense that they'd get warrants for tower info.