Author: BlackCrypto Financial

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Canadian crude-by-rail shipments ready to surge, spurring new investment

CALGARY (Bloomberg) – Canadian shipments of crude by rail are poised to surge next year, spurring investment in new export infrastructure. Crude-by-rail capacity in Alberta is expected to grow by 100,000 bpd in December after the provincial government eased production limits for oil transported by train, the Energy Ministry said Wednesday. Western Canadian rail loadings had already climbed as high as 411,000 bpd in November despite a week-long Canadian National Railway Co. worker strike that disrupted shipments. Now they’re set to reach 550,000 bpd, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said earlier this month. Calgary-based Gibson Energy Inc. became the latest company to announce new rail projects in response to the rising demand. The company on Wednesday said it plans to build a million barrels of new storage tanks at its Hardisty, Alberta, terminal, where it also plans to construct and operate a diluent recovery unit that will allow it to send more oil-sands crude by train. SunCoke Energy Inc. and Summit Terminaling are developing a rail terminal to deliver Canadian heavy crude to Louisiana refineries. Rail has became critical to oil exporters after pipelines filled to capacity two years ago, causing prices to collapse and prompting Alberta’s government to impose limits on some oil production at the start of the year. With no new pipelines scheduled to be built before late next year and projects such as the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion facing legal challenges, exports by train have picked up.

Alberta has eased production limits, causing heavy Canadian crude’s discount to the U.S. benchmark to widen to more than $20 a barrel this month. At that level, crude-by-rail shipments become more economic, encouraging more cargoes, according to John Zahary, chief executive officer of Altex Energy Ltd, a crude-by-rail terminal operator.

“I think probably the next few months will get busier as we get into next year and these movements increase,” he said. Nick Note: I believe OPEC production cuts are doom to failure and am trading accordingly. Of course they will whip us to death until the reality is visible all to see.

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Massive errors found in facial recognition tech: US study

https://youtu.be/bG_c7io9L00

This will be the eyes of the beast.he will make you a slave tied to artificial intelligence and quantum computing
Facial recognition software can produce wildly inaccurate results, according to a US government study on the technology, which is being used for law enforcement, airport security and elsewhere
Facial recognition software can produce wildly inaccurate results, according to a US government study on the technology, which is being used for law enforcement, airport security and elsewhere (AFP Photo/Robyn Beck)

Washington (AFP) – Facial recognition systems can produce wildly inaccurate results, especially for non-whites, according to a US government study released Thursday that is likely to raise fresh doubts on deployment of the artificial intelligence technology. The study of dozens of facial recognition algorithms showed “false positives” rates for Asian and African American as much as 100 times higher than for whites. The researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), a government research center, also found two algorithms assigned the wrong gender to black females almost 35 percent of the time. The study comes amid widespread deployment of facial recognition for law enforcement, airports, border security, banking, retailing, schools and for personal technology such as unlocking smartphones. Some activists and researchers have claimed the potential for errors is too great and that mistakes could result in the jailing of innocent people, and that the technology could be used to create databases that may be hacked or inappropriately used. The NIST study found both “false positives,” in which an individual is mistakenly identified, and “false negatives,” where the algorithm fails to accurately match a face to a specific person in a database. “A false negative might be merely an inconvenience — you can’t get into your phone, but the issue can usually be remediated by a second attempt,” said lead researcher Patrick Grother. “But a false positive in a one-to-many search puts an incorrect match on a list of candidates that warrant further scrutiny.” Jay Stanley of the American Civil Liberties Union, which has criticized the deployment of face recognition, said the new study shows the technology is not ready for wide deployment. “Even government scientists are now confirming that this surveillance technology is flawed and biased,” Stanley said in a statement. “One false match can lead to missed flights, lengthy interrogations, watchlist placements, tense police encounters, false arrests or worse. But the technology’s flaws are only one concern. Face recognition technology — accurate or not — can enable undetectable, persistent, and suspicionless surveillance on an unprecedented scale.” Nick Note: Most people are to stupid to be scared. I have facial  recognition meras. They should be outlawed. Manipulation of the results its so easy its scary. I have learned how to defeat them. But the techniques are not easy for the average bear. I can tell you for a fact that US law law enforcement authorities have already added ALL mug shots, drivers license files and face book images to their data base. Its here its now and its ugly! They are now adding ALL ALL surveillance images (even your ring door bell) to their data bases and cross matching them to put a face with a car and address…..

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Vladimir Putin says Trump was impeached for ‘made-up reasons’

Moscow (CNN)Russian President Vladimir Putin said in his annual news conference Thursday that US President Donald Trump’s impeachment was based on “made-up reasons,” and expressed doubts that Trump will be removed from power. The House of Representatives voted almost exactly along party lines Wednesday to impeach Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Trump was the third president in US history to be impeached, and he now faces a trial in the Senate that is expected to start next month. “Regarding the continuation of our dialogue till the end of Trump’s presidency, you make it sound as if it’s already coming to an end,” Putin said answering a question about whether Russia has a strategy for continuing the dialogue with the US until the end of Trump’s presidency.  “I actually really doubt that it is ending, it still has to go through Senate where as far as I know the Republicans hold the majority so it’s unlikely they will want to remove the representative of their party for some made-up reasons.” Putin’s defense of Trump is in line with the unusually-warm relationship the two leaders have formed since 2017. Last year, Trump sided with the Russian President when he declined to endorse the US government’s assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election, saying instead that he believed Putin’s denial that his government meddled. Trump has also dismissed credible allegations that Putin uses violence against his opponents, saying in 2015: “I haven’t seen any evidence that he killed anybody, in terms of reporters.” Putin added on Thursday: “This is just the continuation of the internal political battle, one party that lost the elections, the Democrats, and are now trying to find new ways by accusing Trump of collusion with Russia. But then it turns out there was no collusion, this can’t be the basis for the impeachment. Now they came up with some pressure on Ukraine, I don’t know what is the [pressure] but this is up to your congressmen.” The question was asked by Dmitry Simes, head of the Washington-based think tank Center for the National Interest, mentioned in the Mueller report for providing advice to Trump’s campaign on Russia. The two articles of impeachment passed against Trump charged him with abuse of power for withholding nearly $400 million in US military aid and a White House meeting while pressuring Ukraine’s president to investigate a potential political rival, and obstruction of Congress for thwarting the House’s investigative efforts. Nick Note: Their is no doubt about it Trump is Putin’s bitch. Something about Yellow Rani and the Trump Tower Laundromat.

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Defying PM Johnson, Scottish leader steps up battle for independence referendum

LONDON (Reuters) – Scotland’s nationalist leader Nicola Sturgeon will consider “all reasonable options” if Prime Minister Boris Johnson tries to stop her from holding a referendum on Scottish independence, she said on Thursday. Sturgeon’s pro-independence, anti-Brexit Scottish National Party (SNP) won 48 of Scotland’s 59 parliamentary seats in last week’s UK-wide election, which she said showed overwhelming support for her agenda to hold such a referendum.  As things stand, a referendum cannot take place without UK government consent. Sturgeon, who heads Scotland’s semi-autonomous government, said she would write to Johnson on Thursday asking him to enter negotiations on transferring the power to hold a referendum from London to Edinburgh.  “The question is often posed to me: ‘what will you do if Boris Johnson says no?’ As I’ve said before, I will consider all reasonable options to secure Scotland’s right to self-determination,” she said in a speech.  Sturgeon refused to be drawn on exactly what those options could be, although she signalled that she did not envisage a Catalonia-style referendum, organised without consent or recognition by the national government.  “In line with our values, we acknowledge that a referendum must be legal and that it must be accepted as legitimate here in Scotland and the rest of the UK, as well as in the European Union, and the wider international community,” she said.  Scots rejected independence by 55% to 45% in a 2014 referendum and Sturgeon said the case for Scotland to break away from the rest of the United Kingdom had not yet been won. She framed her strategy as a fight for Scotland’s right to self-determination.  Johnson, whose Conservative Party won a landslide in England in last week’s election but performed poorly in Scotland, winning only six seats there, has said he would not allow a second referendum to take place. He says the 2014 vote settled the independence question and it would be divisive and bad for the economy to re-open the argument.  Sturgeon argues circumstances have changed since the 2014 vote, mainly because a majority of Scots voted to remain in the European Union in a 2016 referendum, while the United Kingdom as a whole voted to leave.  Britain’s exit from the bloc is scheduled for Jan. 31. Sturgeon said the SNP’s success in last week’s election showed Johnson had no mandate from the Scottish people to take them out of the EU against their will.  She said Johnson’s attitude on the Scottish issue would push the country towards the exit door.  “The more a Tory (Conservative) government seeks to block the will of the Scottish people, the more they show complete and utter contempt for Scottish democracy, the more support for independence will rise, so their short term strategy, in my view, sows the seeds of their longer term defeat.” Nick Note: This is the start of the Brexit crack up at the end of the runway.. its far far far from a done deal. And as you are seeing the stupid money is slowing stating to figure it out.

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US Admits Sanctions Can’t Stop Russia-led Nord Stream 2 Pipeline

The U.S. sanctions aimed at derailing the Russia-led Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany came too late to have a meaningful effect on a nearly completed project, two senior U.S. Administration officials told Bloomberg on Wednesday. The U.S. Senate passed on Tuesday the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a massive defense bill that includes slapping sanctions on companies helping Russia’s gas giant Gazprom to complete the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project. President Donald Trump has said he would quickly sign the bill, which also creates a Space Force, into law.  The sanctions in the bill target subsea construction vessels that lay the pipeline and managers at firms connected with those vessels, two people familiar with the bill told Bloomberg last week. U.S. lawmakers have sought to pass a bill to levy sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 project, which the United States sees as further undermining Europe’s energy security by giving Russian gas giant Gazprom another pipeline to ship its natural gas to European markets. Germany, the end point of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, looks at the economic benefits of the project, while the U.S., including President Donald Trump, have been threatening sanctions on the project and even on Germany over its support for the project. After the U.S. lawmakers included such sanctions in the defense bill, Germany’s Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said last week that “European energy policy is being decided in Europe, not in the US,” adding that Germany opposes intervention and extraterritorial sanctions. However, with the project nearly complete, the U.S. will have little leverage to stop it from going online, and Washington will focus on trying to prevent other Russian energy projects from happening, the senior officials told Bloomberg. Currently, the Nord Stream 2 pipeline is expected to come on stream in the middle of 2020, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak said last month, adding that construction of the project was 80 percent complete.  Nick Note: If sanctions worked their would be no Cuba never mind Cohibas. And Iran would be making rugs and selling pistachios instead of ICBM rockets and Nukes. AND Venezuela would be selling coffee off  the back of donkeys like Wan Valdez. And Russia would not be building pipelines transversing half the earth.

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EIA Weekly Petroleum Report  week ending December 13, 2019

U.S. commercial crude oil inventories (excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve) decreased by 1.1 million barrels from the previous week. At 446.8 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 4% above the five year average for this time of year. U.S. crude oil refinery inputs averaged 16.6 million barrels per day during the week ending December 13, 2019, which was 35,000 barrels per day less than the previous week’s average. Refineries operated at 90.6% of their operable capacity last week. Gasoline production increased last week, averaging 9.8 million barrels per day. Distillate fuel production decreased last week, averaging 5.1 million barrels per day. U.S. crude oil imports averaged 6.6 million barrels per day last week, down by 308,000 barrels per day from the previous week. Over the past four weeks, crude oil imports averaged about 6.4 million barrels per day, 15.1% less than the same four-week period last year. Total motor gasoline imports (including both finished gasoline and gasoline blending components) last week averaged 519,000 barrels per day, and distillate fuel imports averaged 178,000 barrels per day.
 Total motor gasoline inventories increased by 2.5 million barrels last week and are about 5% above the five year average for this time of year. Finished gasoline inventories decreased while blending components inventories increased last week.
Distillate fuel inventories increased by 1.5 million barrels last week and are about 7% below the five year average for this time of year. Propane/propylene inventories decreased by 2.5 million barrels last week and are about 10% above the five year average for this time of year. Total commercial petroleum inventories decreased last week by 0.9million barrels last week. Total products supplied over the last four-week period averaged 20.6 million barrels per day, down by 2.9% from the same period last year. Over the past four weeks, motor gasoline product supplied averaged 9.1 million barrels per day, up by 0.5% from the same period last year. Distillate fuel product supplied averaged 4.0 million barrels per
day over the past four weeks, down by 6.8% from the same period last year. Jet fuel product supplied was up 10.6% compared with the same four-week period last year.
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BOOMERVILLE MILE OF HELL Homeless are us!

Inside the tent city that shames California where tiny strip of land provides squalid shelter for 3,000 homeless people
But angry residents are demanding that 'this group' be kicked out of the area, saying they're ruining it for others
This could be you if the politicians get their way and confiscate your wealth

HOMELESSNESS is a “crisis” in America, including at a tent city in California where hundreds of people live among rats and rubbish in a mile-long encampment. One resident, Kat MacKay, says she’s fed up with the stink of decaying food and outbreaks of syphilis and vomiting infections in the Santa Rosa hellhole. There’s been a growing call across the US to help such stricken people get into housing, rather than risking their lives, camping in streets and other public spaces. California has the country’s largest homeless population – and it’s continuing to expand, according to Los Angeles Times. Latest stats show that there were about 130,000 people “on the streets on any given night statewide” in 2018, it reports. In Sonoma County, a mile-long homeless encampment along Santa Rosa’s Joe Rodota Trail is a source of anger for the local community. With people setting up tents along the bike and pedestrian path, residents believe homeless people have “taken over the area”. Angry locals have for months been targeting officials, demanding to have them removed from the beauty spot. Lisa Landrus, a member of Citizens for Action Now, told CBS in San Franciso: “When I see what this has done to the use and enjoyment of this area, I think how far does everyone else have to be pushed with the leniency involved with treating this group.”  Nick Note: Hear me well. You think that can’t be you. I am here tell you it sure as shit can happen to us. they are going crazy with money laundering… Why? pretty simple they got to promise more and more to the stupid majority that keeps them in power. Us “rich” bastards are Regan’s now silent minority and we are doomed. Cash in the matters WILL NOT WORK! They are using artificial intelligence. In other words guilty to proven innocent. We have to change with the times…. more on this later.

I hope your are scared and here is why:

Warren plans to end ‘the flow of dark money’ as president.

“The flow of dark money puts good governance, the free exchange of ideas, and our national security at risk,” her plan says. “As long as individuals and corporations can launder stolen funds or contraband through real estate, luxury goods, or tax havens, both equality and economic growth suffer.”

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Oil Inventories Rise Again As API Reports A Crude Build

rig

The American Petroleum Institute (API) has reported a huge surprise crude oil inventory build of 4.7 million barrels for the week ending December 11. Last week saw a build in crude oil inventories of 1.41 million barrels, according to API data. The EIA’s estimates reported a slightley smaller build of 800,000 barrels for that week. After today’s reported inventory move, the net inventory moves so far this year—almost the end of the year–stand at a build of 3.22 million barrels for the last 51-weeks, using API data. The API this week also reported a huge build of 5.6 million barrels of gasoline for week ending December 11.

Distillate inventories saw a large build of 3.7 million barrels for the week, while Cushing inventories fell by 300,000 barrels.

US crude oil production as estimated by the Energy Information Administration showed that production for the week ending December 6 slipped to 12.8 million bpd off the all-time high of 12.9 million bpd in the week prior. Nick Note : I smell another trade coming here…. Can you guess what it is?

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Warren unveils plan to end ‘the flow of dark money’ as president

Warren unveils plan to end 'the flow of dark money' as president
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on Tuesday unveiled her plan to stop “the flow of dark money” as president.

Her proposal aims to curtail financial corruption and laundering schemes both domestically and internationally. Warren plans to target kleptocrats and those who use shell companies in the U.S. and abroad to avoid taxation and provide more government oversight for international transactions. “The flow of dark money puts good governance, the free exchange of ideas, and our national security at risk,” her plan says. “As long as individuals and corporations can launder stolen funds or contraband through real estate, luxury goods, or tax havens, both equality and economic growth suffer.”  Laundered money accounts for 2 to 5 percent of the world’s gross domestic product, reaching up to $2 trillion every year, according to Warren’s release. The Massachusetts progressive intends to collect improved data on international financial transactions, enact laws requiring shell companies to reveal their beneficiaries, strengthen real estate disclosure mandates and improve campaign finance law to prevent foreign interference.  Warren also would take aim at financial organizations, lawyers and accountants who assist in illicit transactions and “enable the flow of dark money.” She would also work to expand anti-bribery laws to apply to foreign officials abroad and to collaborate with countries to stop tax evasion. The White House hopeful also contrasted herself from President Trump, saying he has “spent his career embracing shady deals” while noting his business interactions with shell companies, including how about 20 percent of Trump’s condo sales in the U.S. are with these companies. Nick Note: If you have more then 2 paychecks in savings you will be a money criminal. Draconian laws are coming. this has nothing to do with money laundering. Its a desperate government both Democrats and Republicans who need funds to finance their commie social engineering programs to give free bread and a show to the masses who are leaching off a ever smaller group of productive people. The only man who has nothing to hide is a man who has nothing.

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US Senate Passes Defence Budget Bill Stipulating Sanctions on Nord Stream 2

Commentary in Russian with sub titles:

English report on DW news:

The US Congress passed a defence bill for 2020 on 11 December that includes new sanctions on contractors who are helping build Gazprom’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline. The curbs are aimed at preventing its completion, which is still expected this year. The US Senate has voted for a $738 billion defence budget, which includes sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline and military assistance to Ukraine, according to the results of the vote. The vote in the Republican-controlled Senate was 61-6 in favour of the National Defence Authorisation Act, or NDAA. The legislation calls for mandatory sanctions on Nord Stream 2 and Turkstream and bars military-to-military cooperation with Russia. The bill also sanctions Turkey over its acquisition of Russian S-400 air defence systems and prohibits the transfer of F-35 jets to the country. The bill also creates a sixth branch of the US military, the Space Force, and includes $71.5 billion for ongoing foreign wars or “overseas contingency operations”. The bill further requires that reports be provided on the threat posed by China and its military relations with Russia, also proclaiming that Congress unequivocally supports Hong Kong. Also included in the bill is a provision to impose sanctions on Syrian government troops for alleged war crimes committed during the country’s civil conflict.The 2020 defence budget was already passed by the lower house of Congress, and after the approval of the Senate, the document should be signed by President Donald Trump. He has already stated that he is ready to immediately sign the document. The defence budget reportedly includes funds for “countering Russia” in various fields, sanctions against Nord Stream 2, as well as the allocation of $300 million to help Ukraine. The operator of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, Nord Stream 2 AG, announced earlier in the day, that it planned to complete the pipeline in a few months, but did not intend to speculate on the completion date. Prior to this, the Bild tabloid reported with reference to an internal document of the German Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy that Berlin expected Nord Stream 2 to be completed within 30 days in order to avoid US sanctions. Last week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in a press conference after meeting with Trump that US sanctions would not hinder the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project. The Nord Stream 2 is a joint venture between Gazprom and five European companies: France’s ENGIE, Austria’s OMV, the UK-Dutch Royal Dutch Shell, and Germany’s Uniper and Wintershall. The 745-mile-long twin pipeline will carry up to 55 billion cubic metres (1.942 trillion cubic feet) of gas per year from Russia to Germany, passing through the territorial waters or exclusive economic zones of Denmark, Finland, Germany, Russia, and Sweden. Germany has championed the pipeline since the beginning of the project despite Washington’s strong opposition. On 31 May, Merkel reiterated her support for Nord Stream 2 at a conference of the Federation of German Industries, saying the pipeline is a necessity for Germany given its aspirations to give up on nuclear and coal energy. The US has threatened everyone involved with sanctions, while promoting its own liquefied natural gas on the European market.Ukraine is also actively opposing Nord Stream 2, fearing to lose revenue from Russian gas transit. Russia has repeatedly stated that the project is absolutely commercial and competitive and that it does not imply the cancellation of the transit of Russian gas via Ukraine to the EU. Nick Note: German  ex-chancellor Gerhard Schröde  left politics and used his connections to head the gas consortum shareholders’ committee. This is a BIG deal US sanctions are years to late. Bottom line while America diddles around with Indian burial grounds pipelines the diameter  of a milk carton straw and the length of a white mans dick. The Russians are building the biggest pipelines ever that literally transverse the globe. How do you think this is going to work out for coal great again buy my soy beans America under Trump?