Tag Archives: Sudden Outbreak of Common Sense

¡Bienvenido a Cuba!

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“In December 2016, the first US based airline touched down in the country’s capital city of Havana for the first time in more than 60 years. Not only was the market immediately flooded with capacity (Havana went from 0 service to the US to more than 25 daily flights) but flights were also dirt cheap. We were able to book round-trip from Tampa on Southwest for under $150 a person.  The general consensus is that the US Government isn’t blinking an eye at those traveling to Cuba.  So, what do you need as an American in order to travel to Cuba?”

Read more: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-reports/1824409-bienvenido-cuba.html

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Switzerland withdraws longstanding application to join EU

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“The upper house of the Swiss parliament on Wednesday voted to invalidate its 1992 application to join the European Union, backing an earlier decision by the lower house.  In the aftermath of the vote, Switzerland will give formal notice to the EU to consider its application withdrawn, the country’s foreign minister, Didier Burkhalter, was quoted as saying. Switzerland’s longstanding application to join the EU has not had a significant impact on the country’s politics for more than 20 years, as its accession negotiations have been suspended since 1992 in the wake of a referendum to join the European Economic Area, when the Swiss voted down the idea of closer ties with the EU.”

https://www.rt.com/news/346884-switzerland-eu-membership-application-rejected/

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Brexit: David Cameron to quit after UK voters choose to leave EU

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“Prime Minister David Cameron is to step down by October after the UK voted to leave the European Union.  The PM had urged the country to vote Remain but was defeated by 52% to 48% despite London, Scotland and Northern Ireland backing staying in.  UKIP leader Nigel Farage hailed it as the UK’s ‘independence day’, while Boris Johnson said the result would not mean ‘pulling up the drawbridge’.  Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she was ‘absolutely determined’ to keep Scotland in the EU so a second Scottish independence referendum was now ‘highly likely’. The referendum turnout was 71.8% – with more than 30 million people voting – the highest turnout at a UK-wide vote since 1992.”

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-36615028

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Iran to be hooked up to global banks in weeks; U.S. investors still banned

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“A nuclear deal between world powers and Iran led to the removal of the curbs on Tehran’s banking, insurance and shipping sectors last weekend, as well as restrictions on oil exports.  But for Iran to resume business with the global banking world – for the first time since 2012 – its banks need to be linked to overseas lenders on SWIFT. The system is used to transmit payments and letters of credit. Many international sanctions relating to Iran’s nuclear program were lifted but most involving U.S. measures remain in place. Non-U.S. banks may trade with Iran without fear of punishment in the United States but U.S. banks may not do so, directly or indirectly.”

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-middleeastbank-idUSKCN0V0239

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Saudi Arabia Just Got Turned Into an ETF

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“Such a fund was not even possible until June, when Saudi Arabia opened up to direct foreign investment, albeit limited, in its stock market to boost economic growth while the country looks to diversify its $750 billion economy away from oil. Similar to the China A-share market, KSA gives quick access to a market that was previously accessible only by using indirect, costly channels.  The ETF will track the MSCI Saudi Arabia IMI 25/50 Index, which holds about 50 large-, mid-, and small-cap stocks that cover approximately 99 percent of the free float-adjusted market value of Saudi Arabia. One interesting note is that the index has only 1.4 percent allocated to energy stocks.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-16/saudi-arabia-just-got-turned-into-an-etf

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First Crude Oil Shipment Exports From U.S. After 40 Year Ban Lifted

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“The first crude oil shipment exported from the United States, after a 40 year ban, left from Corpus Christi, Texas last Thursday.  NuStar Energy and ConocoPhillips loaded a vessel with light crude oil pumped from the Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas at NuStar’s North Beach Terminal at Port Corpus Christi. The crude is to be sold to the international trading company Vitol. As a result of the federal government’s repeal of the 40-year ban on the export of crude oil, via the last government omnibus spending bill, crude oil shipments are free to leave the country now.”

http://dailycaller.com/2016/01/03/first-crude-oil-shipment-exports-from-u-s-after-40-year-ban-lifted/

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DOJ Suspends $1.2 Billion Asset Forfeiture ‘Equitable Sharing’ Program

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“The Justice Department has suspended $1.2 billion in payments of asset forfeiture revenues to police departments across the country, citing budget constraints.   In a letter to state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies Monday, the Justice Department said it was deferring all future payments from the federal Equitable Sharing Program, which distributes asset forfeiture revenues to hundreds of police departments across the country.  The Equitable Sharing Program allows state and local police, working in conjunction with federal law enforcement, to keep 80% of the proceeds from seized property, while the other 20% goes back into the federal program.”

http://www.buzzfeed.com/cjciaramella/justice-department-suspends-12-billion-asset-forfeiture-prog

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The Real Story Behind the 1914 Christmas Truce in World War I

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“Moving forward, politicians and military leaders could no longer tolerate such fraternizing in consideration of mass armies existing in an age of revolutionary fervor. It suddenly became an issue of control.  Many of them saw themselves as pawns in a game they didn’t understand, fighting against an enemy for reasons that weren’t immediately obvious.  Unlike the Second World War, in which ideological motivations were evident to nearly everyone, the Great War was for many a strange, wasteful, and senseless conflict.”

http://gizmodo.com/the-real-story-behind-the-1914-christmas-truce-in-world-1749590742

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Last flight for US-funded air war on drugs as Colombia counts health cost

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“For more than two decades crop dusters have buzzed the skies of Colombia showering bright green fields of coca with chemical defoliant as part of a US-funded effort to stem the country’s production of cocaine.  Farmers across the country have long complained that indiscriminate spraying also destroys legal crops, and that the chemical used – glyphosate – has caused everything from skin rashes and respiratory problems to diarrhoea and miscarriages.  Authorities in Colombia and the United States – which has funded the aerial eradication programme with as much as $2bn since 2000 – scoffed at those claims.”

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/06/colombia-air-war-drugs-last-flight-looms-health-cost

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Colombian president signs decree to legalise medical marijuana

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“Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos has signed a decree legalizing the growing and sale of marijuana for medical purposes, a dramatic shift in a country long identified with US-backed policies to stamp out drug crops.  Santos said the new regulatory framework was long overdue given that Colombians had been consuming marijuana and marijuana-based products in a legal void for years.  Conservative critics in Colombia and abroad see Santos’s drive to reform drug policy, including a decision earlier this year to end a two-decade-old campaign of spraying illegal coca crops with herbicides, as a sign that the government’s resolve is weakening.”

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/22/colombia-president-legalise-medical-marijuana

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