Bike...

Threat...

The Democratic Party fears that a potential presidency for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) represents a threat to the party's establishment

Sanders and his allies have repeatedly claimed that the Democratic Party is against his nomination. These fears were exacerbated in November when former President Obama reportedly told advisers in private that he would speak up if necessary to stop Sanders from becoming the Democratic pick. 

On July 28, 2016, Wasserman Schultz resigned from her position after WikiLeaks released a collection of stolen emails indicating that Wasserman Schultz and other members of the DNC staff had exercised bias against Senator Bernie Sanders and in favor of Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic

Sanders has consistently polled near the top of the 2020 presidential primary. 

Climate...

Warren Buffett is spending billions to turn Iowa into "the wind capital of the world, the Saudi Arabia of wind," he told the Financial Times.

However, Berkshire Hathaway's billionaire boss isn't emulating Greta Thunberg - leading the charge on climate change, cutting carbon emissions at any cost. Instead, government incentives are fueling his investments in renewable energy.

"We wouldn't do [it] without the production tax credit we get," he told the newspaper.

If people want us to junk our coal plants, either our shareholders or the consumer is going to pay for it," he told the Financial Times. If consumers pay, those living in coal-reliant regions would foot the bill while others pay nothing, he added.

Public officials should oversee structural changes and mitigate their costs, Buffett argued. "The government has to play the part of modifying a market system."

Arden...

A biography of the PM has also just been published, The Story Behind an Extraordinary Leader (unauthorised, the PM did not sit for an interview with the author), with a second biography due out early next year.

Ardern has become the most internationally recognised and well-known New Zealand prime minister ever. Her global fame is a new experience for Kiwis, not used to the international spotlight, and has made her an easy target for the opposition and detractors, who frequently accuse her of focusing more on international affairs than domestic ones.

Those poor shop workers who have to return the magazines to their rightful state – what do they say?

There are reports that the #TurnArdern campaign is causing extra work for book shop workers and low-wage employees in supermarkets and newsagents, and on social media some users have reported encounters with #TurnArdern protesters.

There has been a nasty backlash against #TurnArdern, too. Since the campaign leader’s identity emerged, he has received threats – including against his life – and been trolled and vilified online.

True...

Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg hit frontrunner and former Vice President Joe Biden for his role in backing the Iraq war, which the South Bend, Ind., mayor deemed the nation's "worst foreign policy decision" of his lifetime. 

"This is an example of why years in Washington is not always the same thing as judgment," Buttigieg said.

"He supported the worst foreign policy decision made by the United States in my lifetime, which was the decision to invade Iraq."

Biden was a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee when the U.S. went to war. He is the only top-tier candidate in the race who voted for the war. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was a sitting House member at the time of the decision and vocally opposed the war. 

Hot...

In 230 years, the House has impeached only two presidents: Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998. 

There is a reason why impeachment is so rare: It is the process by which the Congress overturns the will of the people. Some 63 million Americans voted for Trump, and it is an intensely powerful action to disenfranchise them.

To do so, there must be clear evidence and due process. Last March, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi agreed: “Impeachment is so divisive to the country that unless there’s something so compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan, I don’t think we should go down that path.”

The simple truth is that after all the closed-door depositions and public hearings, none of the witnesses could establish that the president committed bribery, treason, or any high crime or misdemeanor.

Outta Here...

Still...

Erdogan said the Tripoli government of Libyan "invited" Turkey to send troops under a military cooperation agreement signed recently between the two. Ankara and Tripoli have also signed a maritime deal; both agreements have met with criticism across the region and beyond.

The fighting around Tripoli escalated in recent weeks after Hifter declared a “final” and decisive battle for the capital. Hifter is backed by the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, as well as France and Russia, while the Tripoli-based government receives aid from Turkey, Qatar and Italy.

The battle over Tripoli mirrors the scale of the 2011 conflict that  killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

Thanks to Hillary Clinton that push forward for the destruction of Libya and here are her regime change results surrounded by hundred of thousands of death and destruction. The war still going.

Impotent...

Bad behavior has been around forever, but shame has historically kept the behavior in check by operating as a warning mechanism not to transgress in the first place or, if that fails, triggering consequences for transgressing.

Part of the popularity of the shameless leader derives from the fact that there is no pretending any more – the id is unmediated and allowed free rein. There is a sense that this is the real person. All the rest of them – Obama, Blair, even Bush – spoke with a degree of civility and convention that is now missing in public life. Often that civility hides a multitude of sins. Now the sins are still there but no one is trying to hide them, and no one feels ashamed when they are challenged about these sins.

Lack of shame has also short-circuited a traditional role of the media, whose power we have realised is largely to shame public figures by exposing things.

The expectation is that the subject will feel so ashamed by the exposure that they will quit. But then if they don’t quit and the public re-elects them, the media is exposed as being impotent.

The Media itself lost its way by siding with someone over the other, elaborate of one sides story over fair representation. In the process blame others for being shameless.

Fearful...

Christmas has come early for investors, with stocks again taking out record highs as indexes continue to climb toward year-end. At last check, the Dow DJIA+0.28% was up triple digits, while both the S&P SPX+0.49% and Nasdaq COMP+0.42% were even more firmly in the black.

Warren Buffett once said that as an investor, it is wise to be “Fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful.” This statement is somewhat of a contrarian view on stock markets and relates directly to the price of an asset: when others are greedy, prices typically boil over, and one should be cautious lest they overpay for an asset that subsequently leads to anemic returns. 

When others are fearful, it may present a good value buying opportunity. 
Even at the peak of the dot-com bubble, these traders weren’t as aggressively positioned  or greedy  as they are right now

So Be fearful.