Reuters

Oil tankers carrying around 10 million barrels of U.S. crude are en route to Asia, according to shipping data and trade sources, as U.S. producers take advantage of favorable prices to ship to the region while OPEC ponders further supply cuts next week.

At least eight tankers are in transit, sources said and the shipping data in Thomson Reuters Eikon showed, with one of them carrying the first ever cargo of Southern Green Canyon crude purchased by Japanese refiner Cosmo Energy. Another contains the first Alaskan North Slope cargo to arrive in Asia in eight months.   Continue reading “Flotilla of U.S. crude heads to Asia as OPEC weighs extending cuts”

Reuters

The U.S. Justice Department, in the face of rising pressure from Capitol Hill, named former FBI chief Robert Mueller on Wednesday as special counsel to investigate alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election and possible collusion between President Donald Trump’s campaign and Moscow.

The move followed a week in which the White House was thrown into uproar after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey. Democrats and some of the president’s fellow Republicans had demanded an independent probe of whether Russia tried to sway the outcome of November’s election in favor of Trump and against Democrat Hillary Clinton.  Continue reading “Former FBI chief Mueller appointed to probe Trump-Russia ties”

USA Today

Rocker Chris Cornell, who gained fame as the lead singer of the bands Soundgarden and later Audioslave, has died at age 52, according to his representative.

Cornell, who had been on tour, died Wednesday night in Detroit, Brian Bumbery said in a statement to The Associated Press. Cornell had performed a Detroit concert with Soundgarden that night.   Continue reading “Soundgarden, Audioslave rocker Chris Cornell dies at age 52”

Middle East Eye

Israel wants the White House to explain why a US diplomat preparing President Donald Trump’s visit to Jerusalem said Judaism’s Holy Western Wall in the east side of the city is part of the occupied West Bank, an Israeli official said on Monday.

Israel considers all of Jerusalem as its indivisible capital, a claim that is not recognised internationally, and the Western Wall – the holiest prayer site for Jews – is part of territory it captured in the 1967 Middle East war.   Continue reading “Israel wants US to explain official’s Western Wall comment”

The Oregonian – by Kristi Turnquist

Oregonians have been following the case of Ammon Bundy and the group of followers who staged an armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge since it began, in January 2016.

The story is explored again in a new “Frontline” documentary called “American Patriot: Inside the Armed Uprising Against the Federal Government,” which airs at 10 p.m. Tuesday, May 16 on PBS.   Continue reading “FBI agents posed as filmmakers to infiltrate the Bundy family, ‘Frontline’ documentary reveals”

Fox News

The Second Amendment is only 27 words, but Americans have used millions of words arguing over what it means. It guarantees “the right of the people to keep and bear arms.” But which people, what arms, and under what circumstances?

Two milestone cases involving the Second Amendment that reached the Supreme Court are District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), declaring an individual has a right to own a firearm, and McDonald v. City of Chicago (2010), affirming the Second Amendment applies to state law.

Now, if the Supreme Court decides to hear it, there may be a third major case in a decade: Peruta v. California.   Continue reading “Second Amendment case Peruta vs. California may be heading to Supreme Court”

CBC News

TransCanada is reassessing whether oil producers in North Dakota and Montana are still interested in shipping crude through its long-delayed Keystone XL pipeline now that they have other new options to ship their product, including the Dakota Access pipeline.

The Calgary-based company’s announcement this month comes with the Keystone XL still needing approval of its proposed route through Nebraska and with the Dakota Access, which was designed to transport about half of North Dakota’s oil production, expected to be fully operational by June.   Continue reading “TransCanada looking at whether U.S. producers still interested in Keystone XL”

Fuel Fix – by Ryan Handy

The Texas Supreme Court ruled late last month that the Railroad Commission of Texas, the state’s oil and gas regulator, does not have exclusive jurisdiction over environmental contamination cases, which can be settled in court.

The decision came from a years’ long dispute between a rancher, Jimmy McAllen, and the Denver-based Forest Oil, which McAllen accused of polluting his property and exposing him to radiation. Forest Oil, now a part of the Houston-based Sabine Oil and Gas Corp., argued that McAllen couldn’t sue the company and seek millions in damages through the court system because only the Railroad Commission has jurisdiction over contamination cases. Forest Oil objected to paying damages in addition to being forced to clean up McAllen’s property.   Continue reading “Texas Supreme Court says landowners can sue over oil and gas contamination”

Fox News

White House officials Monday denounced a Washington Post report that President Trump revealed classified information about ISIS to Russia’s foreign minister and Moscow’s ambassador to the United States during a White House meeting last week.

In a brief statement in front of the White House, National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster described the Post’s story as “false.”   Continue reading “White House denies report Trump revealed classified info about ISIS to Russians”

Fox News

There is tangible evidence on the laptop of a former DNC staffer that confirms he was talking to WikiLeaks prior to his murder, a private investigator suggested Monday.

Seth Rich was killed last July in what authorities have called a robbery gone awry.

But Rod Wheeler, a former D.C. homicide detective and Fox News contributor, is leading a parallel investigation into Rich’s murder.   Continue reading “Slain DNC staffer had contact with WikiLeaks, investigator says”

Yahoo News

ESTACADA, Ore. (AP) — A man carrying what appeared to be a human head walked into a grocery store in Oregon and stabbed an employee just minutes before authorities discovered a woman’s body in a home in a nearby town.

The two incidents were connected, authorities said.   Continue reading “Man holding human head stabs worker at Oregon grocery store”

Yahoo News

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Authorities say an unarmed man has died after police officers used a stun gun and neck grab to subdue him during an arrest on the Las Vegas Strip.

Las Vegas police said the arrest happened about 1 a.m. Sunday, which began with the man approaching two uniformed officers inside The Venetian casino-hotel.   Continue reading “Police used stun gun, neck grab in fatal Vegas Strip arrest”

Bloomberg – by Christine Buurma , Naureen Malik , and Ryan Collins

America’s shale gas could soon head to China under long-term contracts for the first time, bolstered by a new trade deal that may not even change existing rules.

Cheniere Energy Inc., the first exporter of natural gas from the lower 48 states, sees the agreement as “amplifying and accelerating conversations about new long-term contracts” with China, said Eben Burnham-Snyder, a spokesman for the Houston-based company. While the deal announced Thursday by President Donald Trump’s administration doesn’t appear to alter access for Chinese companies to U.S. gas cargoes, it welcomes China to receive shipments and engage in long-term contracts with American suppliers.   Continue reading “US LNG industry to get a boost from China deal”

New York Post – by Aaron Short

They’re super troopers — at least when it comes to slinging traffic tickets.

State Police officers doled out 14,542 summonses to New York City motorists in the first four months of this year — an astonishing 759 percent increase from all of last year, when they scribbled just 1,692, records show.   Continue reading “Troopers are handing out traffic tickets at astronomical rate”

Sent to us by Cleatus.

The American Thinker – by Salvatore DeGennaro

There is a particular strain of humanity now deeply rooted in Western culture that we can refer to as the Ivory Tower Man. This individual is the product of an entire cultural philosophy. He is the result of several generations that have faced no immediate danger or challenge to life itself; he is the spawn of the Nanny State. The Ivory Tower Man is found throughout all current age groups and academia is especially rife with this character.   Continue reading “The Ivory Tower Man: Why Academia Hates Guns”

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

In an apparent snub to the administration’s trade policy plans, GE CEO Jeff Immelt – who sits on the Trump-appointed manufacturing council – said he “very supportive” of NAFTA adding that he was “optimistic about Mexico.”

Just a day after we showed Mexico’s Manufacturing industrial production surge 8.5% year-over-year – the greatest surge since August 2010…   Continue reading “Trump-Appointed Manufacturing Tzar Backfires – Supports NAFTA, Backs Mexico”

Yahoo News

Nearly 1,000 students, teachers and staff in 32 schools in northern California’s Yolo County have contracted the gastrointestinal illness norovirus, the county announced Friday.   Continue reading “Nearly 1,000 sick with norovirus at 32 schools in northern California’s Yolo County”

Yahoo News

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — In a sharp reversal, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has cleared a way for a company to seek permits to develop a massive copper and gold deposit near the headwaters of a world-class salmon fishery in southwest Alaska.

As part of a court settlement with the Pebble Limited Partnership, the EPA agreed to begin the process of withdrawing proposed restrictions on development in the Bristol Bay region, an area that produces about half of the world’s sockeye salmon.   Continue reading “EPA allows mine company to pursue permits near Alaska bay”