Warning...

Devastation

President Donald Trump warned Turkey not to attack Kurdish forces in Syria after a planned U.S. pullout, saying the NATO ally would be economically devastated if it did so.

“The U.S. is withdrawing from northeast Syria in a strong, deliberate and coordinated manner, and seeks to ensure that the forces that have fought alongside coalition partners in the campaign against ISIS are not mistreated,”   

Erdogan has been massing Turkish troops on the Syrian border for weeks, preparing for an invasion to eradicate Kurdish forces that the U.S. has vowed to protect.

The delay in withdrawal has restricted Turkey’s ability to launch an offensive against the YPG, a group of Kurdish fighters it considers terrorists, but who served as allies to the U.S. coalition to defeat Islamic State.

Take it outside Syria. Just a thought.

Prices...

Saudi Arabia's energy minister said that major oil producers need to do better to narrow swings in prices that dip below $60 a barrel and rise above $86.

Last month, OPEC countries, including Saudi Arabia, and other major oil producers agreed to cut production by 1.2 million barrels a day to reduce oversupply and boost prices for the first six months of 2019.

Oil producers are under pressure to reduce production following a sharp fall in oil prices in recent months because major producers  including the United States  are pumping oil at high rates.

Analysts say the kingdom needs oil between $75 and $80 a barrel to balance its budget, with spending for this year to reach a record high of $295 billion.

 This is not going to happen for so many reasons. So enjoy while it last, and it will last.

Just a thought.

Climate...

The State of Texas is rich with their oil industries. Reducing the fosil fuel utilization or any restriction on production will diffidently impact the State economy severely. No State taxes in Texas.

Reconquer...

France's far-right National Rally party launched its campaign for this year's European Parliament election, which it and other nationalist, anti-immigration movements hope to dominate.

Le Pen urged voters to seize the May 26 vote.  "What we propose is a quiet transition from the European Union to the European alliance of nations...that will allow us to reconquer our border control, our legislative, budget and monetary sovereignty", she said.

French voters will fill 79 of the European Union legislature's 705 seats. Le Pen's party placed first in France during the 2014 election and has a good chance to do the same this year.

National Rally's campaign slogan was unveiled in giant letters at Sunday's meeting: "We're coming."

The movement appeared to gain new momentum this weekend. The French Interior Ministry said about 84,000 people turned out on Saturday for the ninth straight round of demonstrations across Franc, up from 50,000 the previous week.

In the letter, Macron encouraged the public to use the debate to express views on four main topics: taxes, public services, climate change and democratic issues.

The French leader said the debate would help the government develop policies and France's position on the European and international scene.

Furloughed...

There were three government shutdowns during the Reagan administration, one weekend closing during the administration of Bush 41, under Clinton there were two complete shutdowns of five and 21 days, Obama had one government shutdown of 15 days.

It is quite likely that the government workers who are off the job during this shutdown will receive full back pay on their return to work after an extended Christmas and New Year’s vacation.  These CRs have become standard operating procedure in Washington.  

This current shutdown was completely avoidable. Recently, instead of staying in town to work on a resolution of the impasse, lawmakers took a six-day holiday, leaving the critical funding issues unresolved.

Presumably, furloughed workers will receive their full retroactive back pay, but the pay of lawmakers should be suspended indefinitely for complete dereliction of duty.

Love...

Deb is a successful interior design business woman, with a pristine life on the coast of Orange County, California. 

She met Meehan online in the belief that he was an anesthesiologist. He said everything right,"  "I ate it up. He was very convincing. So pretty soon you're saying 'I love you.'"

They only knew each other for two months when Newell agreed to marry Meehan on a trip to Las Vegas. Although it was her fifth marriage.

"We would take walks at the end of the day and you want to hear all about my day, he would make me breakfast or he would go get me a Starbucks. He would take my dry cleaning in, take my mail to the mailbox. Anything that I needed to do that I had no time for" he would do.

The newlywed couple moved into a waterfront home on Balboa Island, a beautiful harbor side island in Newport Beach. 

Meehan had seduced, swindled and terrorized multiple women, many of whom he had met on dating sites while posing as a doctor, court records showed." 

Good love-story.  

Pacheco...

Image isn't related.

The Florida Board of Medicine says a West Palm Beach surgeon fined  $3,000  for removing a woman's healthy kidney that he thought was a tumor. The Palm Beach Post reports Ramon Vazquez was responsible for cutting Maureen Pacheco open in 2016 so two other surgeons could perform a back operation.

Pacheco had a kidney that never ascended into her abdomen, and Vazquez believed it was a cancerous tumor near her pelvis and removed it without her consent. Vazquez has said that he didn't review her medical records before the surgery.

Pacheco later sued the two primary doctors, who each settled for $250,000. Vazquez was also sued for malpractice and settled the case for a nominal amount.
Vazquez must also attend training on preoperative patient evaluation.

Comment: He also should be trained to read the chart before..  Just a thought.

Sky Net...

More than 1,000 Chinese fugitives who fled abroad were returned to the country last year and more than $519 million in ill-gotten gains was recovered.

The party's anti-corruption watchdog said among the 1,335 returned were 307 party members or government employees, including five on a list of 100 most-wanted Chinese corruption suspects handed over to Interpol.  China four-year-old campaign to return white collar criminals and recover assets has captured more than 5,000 fugitives in all.

The operation known as "Sky Net."  The campaign is largely popular.  Domestically, 621,000 people received punishments for corruption last year.

Along with detaining suspects, seizing assets,  authority demolished 1,000 luxury villas built illegally in northern China's Qingling mountains, according to a recent documentary shown on state television.

Creeping...

Because of the partial government shutdown, figures on home sales for November and December have not been released.

Sales were also down a steep 19 percent annually in November, according to JBRC's analysts. 

New homes sales took a hit as mortgage rates rose sharply at the start of last fall, putting further stress on a market where prices had been overheating for the past two years.

The nation's largest public builders reported in quarterly earnings reports that the housing market softened dramatically.

New home sales fell hardest in California, where prices are highest, according to JBRC. Sales dropped 40 percent annually in northern California and 49 percent in southern California. Sales were just 5 percent lower in the Midwest, where homes are far less expensive.

Suri...

When Turkey, Iran and Russia meet to talk about the end of the war in Syria, they do so without the United States.

Since the end of the Cold War, the Middle East has remained perpetually near the top of the American foreign policy agenda, kept there by the Persian Gulf War of 1990-91, the American invasion of Iraq in 2003, the Arab Spring and the battle against the Islamic State.

American leaders have offered a range reasons for the great investment of American blood and treasure in the region.

But the concrete benefits of all that engagement pale in comparison to the size of the American efforts. In addition,  the Middle East primarily siphoned resources from other American priorities.   

The  step back was driven by a feeling that American military investment often make matters worse.  

American protection is no longer necessary to ensure the free flow of oil from the Persian Gulf. 

Comment : I could have told you that five years ago for Free.  Just a thought.