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New Biden administration plan aims to 'destroy Russia's central role in the global energy economy'
May 19, 2022
President Joe Biden is working on a plan to go after Russian oil and further cripple the country's economy, the New York Times reported Thursday. One major problem, however, is that the steps could anger India, China, Turkey and other nations that do continue to buy Russian oil.
The plan would issue secondary sanctions that push international oil buyers to comply with U.S. sanctions on Russia as they continue their invasion of Ukraine. Vladimir Putin's war against Ukraine has resulted in Russia losing nearly $20 billion each month that the oil continues from oil sales alone, the report said. The next steps are how to "starve Moscow of that money while ensuring that global oil supplies do not drop, which could lead to a rise in prices that benefits Mr. Putin and worsens inflation in the United States and elsewhere."
While the United States only took about 8 percent of its oil from Russia, the commodity exists in a global market, so when there are shortages in other countries that get greater amounts of oil from Russia, it means oil companies can sell their product to a higher bidder and make a more significant profit. It means the U.S. must compete with buyers on the global market by offering more money to buy oil. Meanwhile, the U.S. oil companies continue to score record profits.
There's the added problem that because oil costs are soaring, it means Russia too can jack up their prices. That has resulted in Russia making 50 percent more for the oil they're selling, a new report from the International Energy Agency in Paris explained.
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"While U.S. officials say they do not want to immediately take large amounts of Russian oil off the market, they are trying to push countries to wean themselves off those imports in the coming months," the Times explained. "A U.S. ban on sales of critical technologies to Russia is partly aimed at crippling its oil companies over many years. U.S. officials say the market will eventually adjust as the Russian industry fades."
“We very much support the efforts that Europe, the European Union, is making to wean itself off of Russian energy, whether that’s oil or ultimately gas,” said Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Berlin over the weekend. “It’s not going to end overnight, but Europe is clearly on track to move decisively in that direction.”
“As this is happening, the United States has taken a number of steps to help,” he also said.
Officials are trying to figure out ways to reduce the cash Russia is bringing in from selling cheaper oil, explained the sanctions policy expert who served in the State Department after Russia invaded Crimea. He noted the hope is that countries who aren't issuing sanctions "don't undercut them" just by buying more oil.
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Payton Gendron, 18, was heckled on Thursday after he was indicted for a racist mass shooting that occurred at a Buffalo supermarket.
The suspect appeared in New York court briefly after a grand jury indicted him for murder.
“Payton, you’re a coward!” someone could be heard shouting as Gendron was led out of the courtroom.
Ten people died and three others were injured during the Buffalo shooting that authorities are investigating as a hate crime.
Watch the video below.
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Georgia man says he opened fire on local gas stations because he doesn't like 'towel heads'
May 19, 2022
On Thursday, Fox 5 News reported that a Georgia man, 48-year-old Larry Edward Foxworth, has been indicted on federal hate crime charges for allegedly shooting at gas stations last year.
"Clayton County police said on July 30, 2021, around 2:30 a.m., officers responded to reports of fired shots at a gas station located in the 6000 block of Tara Blvd. in Jonesboro. While investigating, officers heard more shots coming from just a mile down the road," said the report. "Officers arrived at a gas station in the 700 block of Mt. Zion Road and spotted a 2016 Ford Fusion weaving in and out of traffic. During a traffic stop, police said officers spotted an open container and a bag of ammunition including spent shell casings inside the car."
"Foxworth was arrested. As he was being taken into custody police said he told officers that 'I can give you a name and we can make this disappear' and 'this is a hate crime and this is a targeted hit,'" said the report. "Investigators said Foxworth admitted to the shootings because he doesn’t like 'towel heads' and didn’t like people of color calling them 'n----s'. He told investigators that 'after shooting the first location he went down the road and did a U-turn to come back and shoot the location again.' He told investigators he wasn’t aware he was at a second location."
If convicted, Foxworth potentially faces multiple life sentences.
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This indictment comes just after the racially-motivated massacre at a Buffalo, New York supermarket that left 10 Black shoppers dead.
Sikhs and other people of South Asian descent routinely are targeted in hate crimes — and often the incidents aren't treated with urgency. One California Sikh man alleges police told him to avoid confrontation with his harassers by not driving down his own street.
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