Politics

Trump’s volatile behavior has created an environment ripe for leaks from his executive agencies and even within his White House, according to The Huffington Post. And while leaks typically involve staffers sabotaging each other to improve their own standing or trying to scuttle policy ideas they find genuinely problematic, Trump’s 2-week-old administration has a third category: leaks from White House and agency officials alarmed by the president’s conduct.

Submitted by Simon Black via SovereignMan.com,

Yesterday I told you that the US government had recently released its annual financial report to the public.

And the numbers are pretty gruesome.

For example, the government’s “net loss” in fiscal year 2016 more than doubled, from MINUS $467 billion to MINUS $1 trillion.

It’s astonishing that anyone could manage to lose so much money, let alone in a year where devoid of major wars, recessions, financial crises, or infrastructure projects.

In a victory for Prime Minister Theresa May, the UK Parliament's House of Commons voted overwhelmingly to trigger Britain's exit from the European Union, defeating attempts by pro-EU lawmakers to attach extra conditions to her plan to start divorce talks by March 31. 494 to 122 lawmakers voted in favor of a law giving EU nationals the automatic right to remain in the UK as the first piece of legislation to authorise Brexit made its way through the Commons, ending days of intense debate which have tested May's slim parliamentary majority.

Russia’s envoy to NATO has condemned recent moves and plans aimed at boosting the blocs military presence near Russian borders, saying they have no justification and have only served to increase tensions. During an interview with Interfax,  Aleksandr Grushko said: “In essence, by its preparations along our borders NATO tries to impose on us a confrontational agenda that has nothing to do with real needs in the security sphere.” He also said that Russia was closely following NATO’s preparations and updating their ability to respond to any potential threats.

Submitted by Robert Berke via OilPrice.com,

“With Tillerson's confirmation, Exxon just annexed the United States,” --anonymous blogger.

To many observers, the appointment of Tillerson to the helm the State Dept signaled the Administration’s priority of supporting the oil industry, which in recent years has been under severe pressure from OPEC’s campaign of over-production that forced prices down to a post-recession low.