Facebook monitors the offline behavior of its users to determine if they should be categorized as a “Hate Agent,” according to a document provided exclusively to Breitbart News by a source within the social media giant. The document, titled “Hate Agent Policy Review” outlines a series of “signals” that Facebook uses to determine if someone ought to be categorized as a “hate agent” and banned from the platform. Those signals include a wide range of on- and off-platform behavior. If you praise the wrong individual, interview them, or appear at events alongside them, Facebook may categorize you as a “hate agent.”

Facebook may also categorize you as a hate agent if you self-identify with or advocate for a “Designated Hateful Ideology,” if you associate with a “Designated Hate Entity” (one of the examples cited by Facebook as a “hate entity” includes Islam critic Tommy Robinson), or if you have “tattoos of hate symbols or hate slogans.” Facebook will also categorize you as a hate agent for possession of “hate paraphernalia,” although the document provides no examples of what falls into this category.

Breitbart News has already covered some of the individuals that Facebook placed on its list of potential “hate agents.” Paul Joseph Watson eventually was categorized as “hateful” and banned from the platform, in part, according to the document, because he praised Tommy Robinson and interviewed him on his YouTube channel. Star conservative pundit Candace Owens and conservative author and terrorism expert Brigitte Gabriel were also on the list, as were British politicians Carl Benjamin and Anne Marie Waters.

The Benjamin addition reveals that Facebook may categorize you as a hate agent merely for speaking neutrally about individuals and organizations that the social network considers hateful. In the document, Facebook tags Benjamin with a “hate agent” signal for “neutral representation of John Kinsman, member of Proud Boys” on October 21 last year.

The so-called "Tanker War" involved American naval ships escorting reflagged Kuwaiti oil tankers through the Persian Gulf and the strait after Iranian mines damaged vessels in the region. It culminated in a one-day naval battle between Washington and Tehran, and also saw America accidentally shoot down an Iranian passenger jet, killing 290 people. US estimates suggest Iran attacked over 160 ships in the late 1980s confrontation.

"We need to remember that some 30% of the world's crude oil passes through the straits," said Paolo d'Amico, the chairman of the oil tanker association INTERTANKO. "If the waters are becoming unsafe, the supply to the entire Western world could be at risk." So far, six oil tankers have been damaged in suspected limpet mine attacks, explosives that can be magnetically stuck to the side of a ship.

Advocates of the more aggressive strategy said it was long overdue, after years of public warnings from the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI that Russia has inserted malware that could sabotage American power plants, oil and gas pipelines, or water supplies in any future conflict with the United States. But it also carries significant risk of escalating the daily digital Cold War between Washington and Moscow. The question now is whether placing the equivalent of land mines in a foreign power network is the right way to deter Russia. While it parallels Cold War nuclear strategy, it also enshrines power grids as a legitimate target.

But military experts on both sides of the potential conflict know that despite a massive firepower advantage a USA victory is far from certain, especially accordng to one former ranking US Air Force strategist who now lives on the Straits of Hormuz. And here’s why – he writes:

1. Iran is a REALLY BIG COUNTRY – it is 3–4 times larger than Iraq, with a much larger population.

2. The terrain is more like Afghanistan, ringed with mountains, not deserts. It isn’t a good place for tanks to run amok.

3. Worse, the Strait of Hormuz is REALLY narrow, especially the shipping channel. Nearly all of it can be fired upon from Iran with short-range missiles or can be attacked from shore with small boats. There is NO WAY to try to sail tankers out during war times.

4. Iran is right – they probably CAN block the Strait in the event of war. No business wants to come under missile attack while in transit.

President Trump has told acting Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan that he does not want war with Iran but his hawkish national security advisor John Bolton is championing an aggressive military posture against Iran – which has long challenged the international community with thinly veiled desire to become a nuclear power.

And in recent weeks the US has dispatched a carrier strike group and bomber task force to the region which the Pentagon says is a response to “heightened Iranian readiness to conduct offensive operations.” But - even with Saudi help, it is just so large as a country – that the US cannot easily defeat it. “That will lead to an emboldened Iran, more committed to backing their Shiite government than ever. Not the best outcome – which is why the US military is VERY hesitant to start a war – it would likely be a very unconstrained affair, with no end date.”

And he warned any conflict would spill over onto the streets of mainland USA with multiple terror attacks. He added: “Iran will undoubtedly use terrorism to strike the US if push came to shove. It’s easy to be brave NOW, but the US isn’t under attack. If a real war happened, we would have MULTIPLE Shiite attacks on targets like Times Square, Mall of the Americas, Disneyland…. You get the idea. So does Iran. So does Hezbollah.

It is the world that was half-created after 1945, sometimes called “the liberal international order,” from which the Soviet Union soon defected to build its own sphere. But the free world persisted through the Cold War, and after 1991, it expanded to encompass much of the globe.

The ideas behind it have produced stability and prosperity over the last three-quarters of a century. The question now is whether, as American power wanes, the international system it sponsored — the rules, norms, and values — will survive. Or will America also watch the decline of its empire of ideas?

[hegemony: leadership or dominance, especially by one state or social group over others]

In summary, not a single Antarctic coastal station shows warming, with most showing cooling. Now you know why the climate change ambulance chasers have been silent about this remote, vastly undisturbed continent. This is really inconvenient news for the global warming alarmists. Just when they predicted the South Pole would warm and start a dramatic melting, the opposite has in fact happened.

It’s time to dismiss these alarmists as complete failures. They should be fired permanently, and never be allowed to practice science again. Their failed predictions have led the global community on a wild policy goose chase that has cost hundreds of billions of dollars and set back progress in the developing countries by many years.

Most interesting, however, is the class of countries that we find are turning to hoarding more and more gold, many of which are deemed to be adversaries of Washington. As always, Russia is the largest buyer of gold. In 2018, Russia’s Central Bank purchased 274.3 tons of gold. It also dumped 84 percent of its US treasury debts. Turkey, another country which has signalled a shift away from the US-EU alliance and a greater willingness to cooperate with US economic and military rivals such as Russia, China, and even Iran, has sold off around 38 percent of its US debt and purchased more and more gold.

You see, this isn’t just about a secret, twisted desire of a handful of nations who seek the destruction of the United States economy. In fact, I would venture to say it is the complete opposite. It is about the erosion of trust. The United States can no longer be trusted to act fairly on the international stage. It imposes its will on other nations, using the leverage it maintains over the US dollar to strongarm countries into submission.

When we look at the currently impacted states, here’s which crops and livestock will be impacted:

Wheat

Corn

Soybeans

Hay

Alfalfa

Oats

Beef

Dairy

Pork

Chicken

Eggs

Take a good look at that list. Grains are not just used for baking bread. They are used extensively in CAFOs for livestock feed. Grain prices go up, so does the cost of meat. Hay and alfalfa are also key crops for feeding cattle and horses. Check out the price increase for hay due to fires, drought, and now, flooding: The price of hay has tripled for a lot of horse and livestock owners. Hay bales that usually cost $40 are now $150. That’s because there’s a shortage in the region. The Midwest hay shortage is said to be the result of 2018 wildfires in Kansas, drought in Missouri and wet weather in Iowa.

Also, take a look at nearly any food label on ready-made foods at your local grocery store. You will typically find wheat, corn, dairy, eggs, or soy in nearly every single convenience food out there. Corn is used for corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). HFCS is added to everything from granola bars to breakfast cereals to deli meats. Corn is added as ethanol to our fuel. Wheat, corn starch, and modified corn starch are added as thickening agents to nearly every sauce. Good luck finding anything that comes packaged that doesn’t contain soy or soy lecithin.

Bottom line: our modern food supply is largely dependent upon grains and soy. With major producers losing at least one harvest this year, the cost of manufactured food and livestock feed will skyrocket. Meat and dairy will be doubly impacted. While many farms lost animals to floodwaters, and farmers lost money due to both lost animals and damage to property, the cost to feed those remaining animals is going to go through the roof.

Add to this livestock disease and tariffs and trade war with both Mexico and China, the two countries from whom we import the most food, both consumers and farmers are in deep financial trouble.

Let’s take a look at why this is happening, what are the real risks involved, and what steps you can take to keep you and your loved ones fed and safe during a food shortage. Last fall brought heavy rains which soaked the ground heading into winter. The frozen winter earth was covered in heavier than normal snowfall. As warmer temperatures arrived in early spring, the snow began to melt, but the ground remained frozen underneath.

This would have resulted in minor flooding, except that heavy rains followed. According to The New York Times, “The flat, frozen land, unable to soak in much of the water, spread it fast and furious, the way liquid would spread across a tiled floor. And the runoff quickly filled many rivers and streams to overflowing.”

Since they can move around so easily, counting those that are living in their vehicles can be exceedingly difficult to do. But we do have a few numbers, and they are definitely alarming. A survey that was conducted in the Seattle area last year found that the number of people living in their vehicles had risen 46 percent over the past 12 months. And according to a report that was just recently released, approximately 16,500 people are currently living in their vehicles in the city of Los Angeles.

Until things change, the number of Americans sleeping in their vehicles will continue to grow. And instead of trying to address the root issues, many of our lawmakers have decided that it is far easier to pass laws making it illegal to sleep in vehicles…Tonight, thousands upon thousands of American families will once again huddle in their vehicles and try to get some sleep. Many of them are desperately hoping for a brighter future, but the truth is that America is becoming colder and more heartless with each passing day.