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Bibi1581 Blog For 01/05/2018: Morning Edition

1…………> A Run On The Dollar: Pakistan
“State Bank of Pakistan has issued the circular and formally allowed both public and private enterprises [both Pakistanis and Chinese] to use Chinese currency for bilateral trade and investment activities estimated to be in the $15 billion range,” State Minister for Finance Rana Afzal declared as his office formally denominated the use of Chinese currency yuan for the trade after both countries agreed the move could take away the burden of relying on U.S. dollars.


The decision came soon after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened Pakistan to stop all aid to Islamabad.

2…………> Cease & Desist: Stop That Book

 
President Trump’s lawyer says he will attempt to stop the publication of a book  named appropriately “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House”, by journalist Michael Wolff,  that portrays an inept President in a fumbling White House, threatening legal action against former top aide Steve Bannon over “defamatory” comments.

The book and its accusation that have the hallmark of cheap, unsubstantiated tabloid trash peace, set off a political firestorm with a portrayal of Mr Trump not wanting to win the 2016 election and being unprepared for the job, and stories attributed to former chief strategist Mr Bannon, who is quoted as describing a Trump Tower meeting between Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya as “treasonous” and “unpatriotic”.

3…………> Fussion GPS Fiasco: Slammed By Courts

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon denied Fusion GPS’s attorneys effort to keep the House committee from bank records it sought, obliterating all four contentious claims by which Fusion GPS tried to block the congressional subpoena. That subpoena included requests for records of payments from Fusion GPS to journalists who have covered the Russian dossier story.

Fusion said the request for records lacked a valid legislative purpose, were overbroad and irrelevant, violated First Amendment rights to speech and association, and violated financial privacy laws. The judge disagreed on each count, despite Fusion GPS founders Glenn Simpson and Peter Fritschjan an op-ed for The New York Times, claiming they and their opposition research firm were nothing but an open book and were seeking greater transparency from three congressional committees who have been digging into the probe of Russian election meddling.


A spokesman for Sen. Chuck Grassley of the Senate Judiciary Committee disagreed with the defendants claim that the firm and its principals routinely fought the committee. Spokesman Taylor Foy said, “Senator Grassley provided Fusion GPS an opportunity for transparency six months ago when he invited the firm to publicly testify at an open committee hearing. 

http://thefederalist.com/2018/01/05/federal-judge-obliterates-fusion-gps-attempt-to-hide-info-from-investigators/

4…………> Essence Of Germany: Sausages

Is there something more homy and welcome than a roll of well done German sausage with sauerkraut and potato pancakes on the side on a cold winter day? 

Is there another nation on the face of this earth that has more idioms that have enshrined the love for their meats and sausages than the Germans, creators of the immortal saying, ‘Alles hat ein Ende, nur die Wurst hat zwei’ (‘Everything has an end; only the sausage has two’)? Almost certainly not, since every province, town and village in this magical country has their time tested recipes for meat cuts and “wurst”, all waiting for a glass of ice cold beer to put its stamp of immortality of an wonderful and unforgettable day.

http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20180102-how-sausage-flavours-the-german-language

 

 

5…………> Bannon In Hot Water: Lawyers

Castle “Bannon” and his hordes have come under fire from Generalissimus Trump’s generals, with the first salvo fired at the “Fake News Barbarians” by attorney Charles J. Harder of the firm Harder Mirell & Abrams LLP, saying in a statement, “This law firm represents President Donald J. Trump and Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. On behalf of our clients, legal notice was issued today to Stephen K. Bannon, that his actions of communicating with author Michael Wolff regarding an upcoming book give rise to numerous legal claims including defamation by libel and slander, and breach of his written confidentiality and non-disparagement agreement with our clients. Legal action is imminent.”

In the letter to the man previously hated by Hillary Clinton’s “Fake News Media” and labeled as “Bannon the Barbarian”, Harder, writes, “You [Bannon] have breached the Agreement by, among other things, communicating with author Michael Wolff about Mr. Trump, his family members, and the Company, disclosing Confidential Information to Mr. Wolff, and making disparaging statements and in some cases outright defamatory statements to Mr. Wolff about Mr. Trump, his family members, and the Company, knowing that they would be included in Mr. Wolff’s book and publicity surrounding the marketing and sale of his book.”

Mr. Bannon has gone “AWOL” and has not responded to ABC News’ request for comment.
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/367369-trump-lawyer-sends-cease-and-desist-letter-to-bannon-report

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