Politics

Submitted by Elijah Magnier, Middle East based chief international war correspondent for Al Rai Media

The decision of Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) leader Masoud Barzani to hold a referendum for Kurdistan independence will define the future of the Kurds in north-east Syria. The international community (headed by the US with numerous military bases in Syria) is directly concerned with the reactions, verbal threats, and measures announced by the countries with a Kurdish majority and bordering Iraqi Kurdistan, i.e. Turkey, Iran, Syria and Iraq.

Maybe Elon Musk had a point…

The US’s military leaders have agreed on a strategy to guarantee the US military retains its global dominance during the twenty-first century: Connect everything with everything, as DefenseOne describes it. The result? An unimaginably large cephapoloidal nervous system armed with the world’s most advanced weaponry, and in control of all military equipment belonging to the world’s most powerful army.

Sound familiar? It should...

It’s almost surprising how many people have forgotten how, shortly after the election, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said you’d have to be “crazy” to think that Facebook’s platform – by helping to spread “fake news” – had helped sway the vote in favor of President Donald Trump.

Unfortunately, sanctimonious Democrats are impervious to basic logic when it comes to assessing the overall impact that $100,000 in ad buys had on the election (it's a drop in the bucket in terms of overall spending).

In the latest sign that China is moving to dramatically limit its exposure to its restive neighbor and long-time economic dependent, Chinese authorities on Thursday ordered all North Korean firms to stop doing business in the world's second-largest economy, fulfilling Beijing's obligations according to the latest round of UN Security Council sanctions, which were passed two weeks ago.

The order comes just days after President Donald Trump revealed that the People’s Bank of China had asked the country’s banks to sever their business ties with North Korea.

In just over six weeks, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen’s term expires. This allows President Trump to choose a new IRS chief who may have two high-profile and sensitive jobs: helping implement the the president’s proposed tax cuts and overseeing an audit of his tax returns.

Trump hasn’t nominated anyone to replace Koskinen yet, but as Bloomberg reports, Koskinen, who was hired by President Barack Obama and is loathed by congressional Republicans, who tried to impeach him in 2016, is unlikely to be reappointed.