Europe Still Using Rubles to Pay for Russian Gas

Europe Still Using Rubles to Pay for Russian Gas

Ivo Fysic April 13, 2022

Europe to Pay for Russian Gas in Rubles—Has Anything Really Changed? | Morgan Lewis

From www.jdsupra.com
2022-04-12 22:55:04

Excerpt:

Following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s pronouncement that buyers from “unfriendly states” pay for Russian gas in rubles, it has been largely unclear, until recently, what this demand would imply in practice.

Decree No. 172, “On Special Procedure for Discharge of Obligations of Foreign Buyers to Russian Suppliers of Natural Gas” (Decree), effective as of March 31, 2022, provides that from April 1, 2022, payments for Russian gas shall be made in rubles and establishes a new procedure for gas supply payments. The March 31 Decree applies to “payment for supplies of natural gas in a gaseous state” and does not seem to apply to payment for liquefied natural gas (LNG) deliveries.

Arguably, the new payment procedure contemplated by the Decree, in principle, does not change key payment terms for existing foreign buyers of Russian gas. They are allowed to continue to pay in the currency established by their gas supply contracts with Russian suppliers, while the principal novelty is that all payments are now required to be made through special accounts that foreign buyers must open with Gazprombank in Russia, which then makes the conversion into rubles. However, as done on a unilateral basis (i.e., outside of contractual arrangements), Russia’s enforcement of the new payment requirements, arguably, can trigger claims for breach of contract.

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Google to Use Lawsuits to Target Scammers Using Their Tools

Ivo Fysic April 13, 2022

Google files lawsuit against “puppy scammer” for using its services to sell non-existent dogs

From www.techspot.com
2022-04-12 12:33:00

Excerpt:

According to a new blog post published by Google’s safety & security team, aptly titled “Hounding scammers with litigation,” the company seeks to address instances of puppy fraud using the legal system. According to Google, there’s been an uptick in online scams over the past few years (likely thanks to the ongoing pandemic), some of which cannot be tackled just by raising awareness.

In more extreme cases, Google says lawsuits are an “effective tool” for establishing legal precedent and raising the stakes for anyone caught scamming innocent victims.

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Obama to Return as President Thanks to 22nd Amendment Loophole?

Ivo Fysic April 13, 2022

The Brew: Obama Eye-Balling a Constitutional Loophole to Take Over Biden’s Last Two Years?

From stream.org
2022-04-12 11:01:45

Excerpt:

Yes, it’s Holy Week. But it’s also 202 days to Halloween. Close enough to conjour up a fright, courtesy of Andrea Widburg over at American Thinker. (Here’s the link. Children may want to cover their eyes.)

Widburg saw all that fawning over Barack Obama last week. How he brushed aside Joe Biden like a piece of lint on his fancy suit. How he called Biden “Vice President” … lamely passing it off as a joke.

Former President @BarackObama: “Thank you. Vice President Biden. Vice President – that was a joke.” pic.twitter.com/dm0sBnM7P2

— CSPAN (@cspan) April 5, 2022

Widburg posed “an admittedly wild theory about how Obama may intend to fix things: Obama’s aiming to get back into the Oval Office.” Crazy?

Not so crazy. The 22nd Amendment says a person cannot be “elected more than twice.” And cannot serve more than two years of another’s term. So in…

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Airlines Push to End Mask Mandates

Ivo Fysic April 13, 2022

US airlines seek end to Covid mask mandate despite passenger wariness

From www.ft.com
2022-04-12 04:00:55

Excerpt:

Airline executives and politicians are piling on pressure for the US to let Covid-19 mask rules expire on schedule next week, even as a majority of the public wants to keep them.

Forced mask-wearing has caused friction in aircraft cabins. Last year, 72 per cent of a record 5,981 reports of unruly passengers were mask-related, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, which proposed a total of $5mn in fines for such behaviour.

A diverse group of advocates wants to see the mask requirement disappear as it has within other indoor spaces. Next Monday the federal government’s order for travellers on public transport is set to lapse unless officials issue another extension.

Domestic airlines have led the call to end the mandate, with chief executives of seven carriers including American Airlines, United Airlines, and Delta Air Lines telling President Joe Biden in a letter last month that it was “no longer aligned with the realities of the current epidemiological environment.”

“It makes no sense that people are still required to wear masks on aeroplanes, yet are allowed to congregate in crowded restaurants, schools and at sporting events without masks,” especially when considering the quality of on-board air-filtration systems, the executives wrote.

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12 U.S. Cops Fired for Refusing Covid-19 Vaccination

Ivo Fysic April 12, 2022

The state of Massachusetts has just fired 12 state police officers for refusing to get the Covid-19 vaccine. The State Police Association of Massachusetts has signalled it might be challenging the aauthority of anti-American governor Charlie Baker (a Republican, so remember, folks, seditionists in America aren’t just in the DNC) to make such demands on state employees.

The official response by the State Police Association failed to call a seditionist a seditionist, but that’s a trend that is widespread and indicative of the level of conditioning the DNC-CCP has successfully applied to the American people where such acts by American governors are not immediately recognized as being openly in violation of the basic principles, let alone the actual letters, of American Rule of Law, a government of the people, not the experts or the politicians.

12 Massachusetts State Police Fired For Not Getting COVID Vaccine

From live959.com
2022-04-11 13:58:53

Excerpt:

12 Massachusetts State Police have been fired from their jobs because they refused to get the COVID-19 vaccine. That news is not sitting well with State Police Association of Massachusetts President Patrick McNamara. The twelve that were fired included 11 troopers and one sergeant.

Last summer Republican Gov. Charlie Baker ordered most state employees to be vaccinated against a COVID-19 or else face possible termination – a mandate which McNamara, after the terminations, called “obsolete.”

As part of a statement that McNamara sent out to members of the Massachusetts State Police Association, he did not mince words:

A true leader would never treat the men and women who serve this Commonwealth in such a disgraceful manner! ~ State Police Association of Massachusetts President Patrick McNamara

McNamara shared a very strong-worded statement with the association’s membership on Friday evening and early Saturday morning.

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Africa Might Be Early Victim of World Food Supply Collapse

Ivo Fysic April 11, 2022

A world famine humanitarian crisis is emerging as a result of the consequences of war in Ukraine, as well (maybe even more) as the consequences of sanctions on Russia. The nations on the periphery that are most dependent on food imports are sure to be the ones to feel the effects of this war and the sanctions that followed it before any of the major players connected to this war that aren’t actually fighting it.

South Sudan looks to be one of those places, and UN agencies are warning the world that the region is about to face a food security crisis. The series of floods that have plagued the country for three years are also dramatically accelerating this food security collapse as well.

Whichever nations already face hard circumstances, and are mostly dependent on food imports, are the ones expected to be the first to face the ramifications of the interruption of world trade and commerce by the Ukraine war and the sanctions that followed.

UN agencies warn of food insecurity spike in South Sudan-Xinhua

From www.xinhuanet.com
2022-04-10 14:47:00

Excerpt:

JUBA, April 10 (Xinhua) — Three United Nations agencies have called for ramping up humanitarian assistance to stave off a looming hunger and enhance resilience in South Sudan, warning that food insecurity is likely to rise by 7 percent in the coming months.

According to a new report on food security by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the UN children’s fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Program (WFP), greater humanitarian assistance and support are needed immediately to save lives and prevent the collapse of livelihoods in the worst-affected locations across South Sudan.

“FAO is concerned by the rising number of food-insecure people driven by the additional burden of heavy flooding that has occurred in the country for the last three consecutive years,” Meshack Malo, FAO representative in South Sudan, said in a report released on Saturday.

According to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis, climatic shocks…

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Pakistan Fires Prime Minister, Triggering Protests

Ivo Fysic April 11, 2022

The Prime Minister of Pakistan is vowing he will return to power after the parliament voted to remove him and move with new elections to select a PM to replace him.

Pakistan’s PM vows to fight on after Parliament ousts him

From abcnews.go.com
2022-04-10 19:18:12

Excerpt:

ISLAMABAD — The ouster of Prime Minister Imran Khan in a parliamentary no-confidence vote early Sunday set Pakistan on an uncertain political path, with his supporters taking to the streets in protest and the political opposition preparing to install his replacement.

Tens of thousands of Khan supporters marched in cities across Pakistan, waving large party flags and vowing support. The youth, who make up the backbone of Khan’s supporters, dominated the crowds.

In the southern Arabian Sea port city of Karachi more than 20,000 shouted slogans promising Khan’s return to power. In the capital of Islamabad, the lights from thousands of supporters lit up the night sky as Khan made his way through the crowd atop a brightly colored truck.

Khan was brought down after a day of drama and often vitriolic remarks. His supporters accused Washington of orchestrating his ouster and his party walked out of Parliament shortly before the vote. In the end, 174 lawmakers in the 342-seat Parliament…

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Trump Judge Defends January 6th Defendent by Restoring Her Gun Rights

Ivo Fysic April 8, 2022

A Trump-appointed Judge appears not too afraid to confront the DNC-CCP in his court, defying prosecutors and challenging their January 6th narrative so totally that he has restored the gun rights of one of the January 6th attendees now being unjustifiably prosecuted by the Garland DOJ, the same organization that recently moved to classify parents standing against child grooming by government schools as terrorists and seditionists.

For the DNC, they are right, parents are seditionists, but only of a state run by groomers, the kind of state the DNC seems to prefer. For we Americans, of course, they are the seditionists if this is still an American Bill of Rights Republic and not a Marxist Groomer one.

The ruling by the Judge restores the gun rights of a defendant and sends a message to the DNC that they haven’t quite finished off the republic just yet, and hope still lives in her being restored and the unconstitutional occupation of this government by this anti-American party will soon come to an end, peacefully, through enforcing our Rule of Law.

Judge restores Jan. 6 defendant’s gun rights over DOJ objection

From www.politico.com
2022-04-07 23:38:30

Excerpt:

Cudd had asked that the condition be set aside, citing threats she received following publicity about her role in the storming of the Capitol as lawmakers were preparing to certify Joe Biden’s win in the 2020 presidential election.

The judge’s ruling was a rebuke to prosecutors, who opposed the change, and it was the latest setback for prosecutors dealt by McFadden, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump. The decision further cements the judge’s reputation as the most skeptical member of the D.C. District Court bench about the stance prosecutors have taken in the wake of the Capitol riot.

In his two-page ruling on Thursday, McFadden noted that Cudd wore a “bulletproof sweatshirt” to the Jan. 6 rally, but he credited her explanation that she wore the defensive garment because she feared violence, not because she was seeking it.

“The Government presented no evidence that Cudd incited anyone to violence,” McFadden wrote. “Nor did it present evidence that she participated in violence. She has no prior criminal history. And Cudd’s bullet proof sweatshirt is consistent with her fear of being attacked at the rally preceding her entry into the Capitol. This says nothing about her danger to others.”

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Biden’s Fed Employee Vaccine Mandate Legal Once Again

Ivo Fysic April 8, 2022

The US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has just reinstated President Joe Biden’s violently ant-constitutional vaccine mandate for Federal employees, leaving it up to the Supreme Court to determine if medical tyranny as a governing principle is now to be given preference over individual-rights-based governance principles.

U.S. court reinstates Biden federal employee COVID vaccine mandate

From www.reuters.com
2022-04-07 23:20:00

Excerpt:

WASHINGTON, April 7 (Reuters) – A U.S. appeals court panel on Thursday reinstated President Joe Biden’s executive order mandating that federal civilian employees be vaccinated against COVID-19.

By a 2-1 vote, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals lifted an injunction issued by a U.S. district judge in Texas in January that had blocked enforcement of the federal employee vaccine mandate. Biden said in September he would require about 3.5 million government workers to get vaccinated by Nov. 22, barring a religious or medical accommodation, or face discipline or firing. read more

The White House and Justice Department did not immediately comment.

The Biden administration argued the federal trial court had no power to hear the dispute. The administration told the appeals court that employees were required to raise their grievance through the Civil Service Reform Act (CSRA).

The panel majority said the plaintiffs “seek to circumvent…

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Under Growing Suspicion, NY Supreme Court Judge Ends Own Life

Ivo Fysic April 7, 2022

New York State Supreme Court Judge John L. Michalski was announced deceased at first by media outlets on the day of his death, Tuesday, April 5th. But now, the announcement was made that the judge had committed suicide, evidence shows.

Judge Michalski has been coming under suspicion of potential criminal activity himself, with a close friend currently facing federal prosecution, and his home last week being searched by law enforcement. The purpose of the search was ostensibly related to the friend’s case, but now speculation runs that the search might have also been to specifically target Michalski for prosecution as well.

New York State Supreme Court Judge Dies by Suicide

From www.nytimes.com
2022-04-06 04:15:00

Excerpt:

A New York State judge whose home was searched by law enforcement authorities last month against the backdrop of the federal prosecution of one of his former clients killed himself on Tuesday, one of his lawyers said.

The judge, John L. Michalski, an acting justice of the State Supreme Court, was found dead at his home in Amherst, N.Y., a Buffalo suburb, shortly before noon, said the lawyer, Terrence Connors.

“It’s difficult to explain what a tragedy this is,” said Mr. Connors, a longtime friend of Justice Michalski’s, adding that “it would be difficult to find a judge who was more respected” in the Western New York legal community.

The Amherst police were not able to provide information about Justice Michalski’s death late Tuesday. A spokesman for the state court system did not respond to a request for comment. Justice Michalski was appointed to the Court of Claims in 2006 and named as an acting Supreme Court justice the same year, according to his official court…

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