GERMANY: Stop this madness!
CommentGERMANY - Germany finally snaps as nation to become EU ‘cash cow’ after Brexit. A German politician has demanded an end to the “madness” which sees Berlin pumping cash in to the European Union while taking less and less out and has warned it will become even worse after Brexit. Alternative for Germany (AfD) economic policy spokesman Mario Beger lashed out after EU Budget Commissioner Günther Oettinger told Germany’s regions they should expect to receive significantly less money from Brussels after Brexit.
The Brussels official warned rural areas and agriculture would be hardest hit by the inevitable cutbacks of between 5 and 10 percent after 2020 when Britain finally stops contributing the EU budget.
But Mr Beger reacted with anger and said the time had come for the German taxpayer to stop funding cash-strapped member states. He said: "Germany is by far the largest net contributor to the EU. It is transferring 13 billion euros more to Brussels than it gets back. Now this existing mismatch will be even less favourable - the German taxpayer will finally become the cash cow of Europe. This madness must finally stop."
He continued: “Germany must take the promotion of the economy, agriculture and structurally weak regions into its own hands. The payments to Brussels must be stopped because the EU has mutated into a redistribution machine and transfer union, in which Germany is increasingly losing out."
Is it time for Germany to revisit its Russia relationship?
CommentGERMANY - In the lead-up to Sunday's Russian presidential election, President Vladimir Putin said in an interview that German Chancellor Angela Merkel regularly sends him cases of Radeberger beer, because she knows he developed a taste for it during his day with the KGB in what was once East Germany. Merkel confirmed the anecdote, though she was not likely amused by it. "In the end, a cooperative approach to the Putin system doesn't work," said Stefan Meister, Russia expert at the German Council on Foreign Policy (DPAG). Whereas the British government has chosen to directly confront Russia, the Chancellery has been reluctant in countering Kremlin aggression. "Germany is looking for a new Russia policy," said Meister.
A Cyberattack in Saudi Arabia Had a Deadly Goal
SAUDI ARABIA - In August, a petrochemical company with a plant in Saudi Arabia was hit by a new kind of cyberassault. The attack was not designed to simply destroy data or shut down the plant, investigators believe. It was meant to sabotage the firm’s operations and trigger an explosion.
The attack was a dangerous escalation in international hacking, as faceless enemies demonstrated both the drive and the ability to inflict serious physical damage. And United States government officials, their allies and cybersecurity researchers worry that the culprits could replicate it in other countries, since thousands of industrial plants all over the world rely on the same American-engineered computer systems that were compromised.
Investigators have been tight-lipped about the August attack. They still won’t identify the company or the country where it is based and have not identified the culprits. But the attackers were sophisticated and had plenty of time and resources, an indication that they were most likely supported by a government, according to more than a dozen people, including cybersecurity experts who have looked into the attack and asked not to be identified because of the confidentiality of the continuing investigation.
The only thing that prevented an explosion was a mistake in the attackers’ computer code, the investigators said.
German spy agency warns North Korean rockets can reach Europe
GERMANY - North Korean rockets could now reach Germany and Central Europe, a top German intelligence official told lawmakers, according to a report by German newspaper Bild am Sonntag. Ole Diehl, the vice president of Germany’s foreign intelligence agency, told members of the Bundestag this past week during a closed-door meeting that the evaluation was confirmed “with certainty,” Bild reported, citing participants in the briefing. Diehl also reportedly said that the ongoing discussions between North and South Korea showed tensions are thawing. Former US and South Korean officials are expected to meet with a North Korean diplomat, who traveled to Finland on Sunday, according to Reuters.
How Ethiopia is changing the Horn of Africa
ETHIOPIA - When Eritrea gained its independence from Ethiopia in 1993, Ethiopia became landlocked and therefore dependent on its neighbours – especially Djibouti – for access to international markets. This dependency has hampered Ethiopia’s aspiration to emerge as the uncontested regional power in the Horn of Africa.
Recently, however, the ground has been shifting. Ethiopia has attempted to take advantage of the recent involvement of various Arab Gulf States in the Horn of Africa’s coastal zone to reduce its dependency on Djibouti’s port. The port currently accounts for 95% of Ethiopia’s imports and exports. It has done so by actively trying to interest partners in the refurbishment and development of other ports in the region: Port Sudan in Sudan, Berbera in the Somaliland region of Somalia, and Mombasa in Kenya.
But it is Berbera, in particular, that will prove the most radical in terms of challenging regional power dynamics as well as international law. This is because a port deal involving Somaliland will challenge Djibouti’s virtual monopoly over maritime trade. In addition, it may entrench the de-facto Balkanization of Somalia and increase the prospects of Ethiopia becoming the regional hegemon.
As Ethiopia begins to move increasing amounts of goods and services on Somaliland’s new highway to the refurbished port of Berbera, Hargeisa [capital city of Somaliland] may begin to question key aspects of the port deal. But one aspect will not be in question: Ethiopia’s rising power and influence over the entire region.
Venezuela begins power rationing
VENEZUELA - Venezuela imposed electricity rationing this week in six western states, as the crisis-hit country’s creaky power grid suffered from a drought that has reduced water levels in key reservoirs needed to run hydroelectric power generators. The four-hour formal outages began on Thursday. But many residents scoffed at the announcement, wryly noting that they have been suffering far more extended blackouts during the last week. Crumbling infrastructure and lack of investments have hit Venezuela’s power supply for years. Now, the situation has been exacerbated by dwindling rains. In the worst-hit western cities, business has all but ground to a halt at a time when the OPEC nation of 30 million is already suffering hyperinflation and a profound recession.
Bank of England warns on mortgage risk
UK - Banks have been warned that British homeowners' giant mortgages may be affordable now, but could get them into trouble as interest rates rise. The Bank of England is keeping a close eye on lenders' attitudes to risk, as more mortgages than ever before are being given at a value of more than four times the borrower's income. Officials have put a limit on the proportion of loans banks can give at above 4.5-times income. But increasing numbers of mortgages are being offered at just below that cap.
Corporate debt markets are also a worry. The Bank has seen a recent surge in leveraged loans - those going to heavily indebted firms - and bond issuance by riskier companies, with credit ratings of triple-B or below. In the UK this could leave banks exposed to more losses in a downturn, building up risks now that could harm the financial system and the wider economy later.
There are risks globally too. US businesses are more indebted now than at any non-recessionary period since the dotcom bubble. On top of that, banks and creditors seem happy to take bigger risks at relatively low rates of interest. Typically lenders demand a higher return on these risky loans once the base rate has started rising. But despite a series of hikes from the US Federal Reserve and one from the Bank of England, this has not yet happened, causing the authorities to fear an increase in lenders’ willingness to take risks.
Vaccines are actually immune SUPPRESSIVE
USA - When I was pro-vax I used to hear anti-vaxxer parents say things like “my second kid is unvaccinated and never ever gets sick!” And I’d roll my eyes and be like “what does that have to do with anything? Getting a cold or flu has nothing to do with whether or not you got your polio shot.” WRONG.
Vaccines take down the body’s defenses while attempting to create antibodies for what was just injected. This leaves you vulnerable to everything else around you. Ever notice how fully vaccinated kids are always getting bronchitis, ear infections, stuff like that, while these tree hugger hippy nonvaxxer kids are always healthy?
I personally don’t think this is a government conspiracy to kill everyone. I really just think the medical community is so entrenched in its vaccines are safe and effective mantra, that they can’t ever go back. No amount of evidence showing their immunosuppressive effects and no amount of vaccine injury government payouts can make them turn back at this point.
Blackout threat to Britain from Russian cyber-attack
UK - Electricity, gas and water firms, the Sellafield nuclear power plant, Whitehall departments and NHS hospitals have all been warned to prepare for a state- sponsored assault ordered by the Kremlin after the nerve agent attack in Salisbury. NCSC officials, working with the National Crime Agency and MI5’s Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure, have told key organisations that they could face attempts to steal the data of taxpayers and patients or “denial of service” attacks that could shut down their websites.
A Whitehall security source said: “They’re contacting all the critical national infrastructure operators. They’ve been in touch with National Grid with guidance.” Paul Chichester, the NCSC director of operations, said: “It is absolutely right that we give advice to sectors on defending themselves from cyber-attacks. We are vigilant to cyber-threats wherever they come from and are ready to defend against them.”
The warnings come after Russia announced that it was expelling 23 British diplomats in retaliation for Theresa May’s decision to evict 23 Russian spies after the nerve agent attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia. Ciaran Martin, head of the NCSC, said in January that “it is a matter of when, not if” Britain is hit with a “category one” cyber-attack that causes loss of life or the “disruption of critical systems”.
Trump Suggests Withdrawing Troops From South Korea
USA - President Trump’s Wednesday fundraiser in Missouri is raising eyebrows in the news, as he suggested to donors that he is considering withdrawing US troops from South Korea if he can’t get a better trade deal out of their government.
Trump didn’t go into tremendous details about whether this meant a full withdrawal or a drawdown, and a lot of analysts were very dismissive of the report, suggesting it was an empty threat and just a negotiating tactic.
Trump, however, is known to take trade deficits seriously, and directly ties those to the cost of having 32,000 US troops in South Korea, saying “we lose money on trade, and we lose money on the military.” During his 2016 campaign, Trump repeatedly expressed annoyance that the US was spending so much on its military to protect wealthy allies with big trade surpluses with the US. This clearly isn’t a new issue for him.
Recent rapprochements with North Korea may also suggest this is a serious effort. South Korea has been very keen to get on a better footing with the North, and President Trump has agreed to meet North Korea’s Kim Jong-un. The Trump-Kim meeting would clearly benefit greatly if the US didn’t have 32,000 troops on North Korea’s border, as North Korea has often expressed concern that the US will attack them.
“Islam doesn't belong to Germany”
GERMANY - Newly-appointed Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has said that “Islam doesn't belong to Germany.” The comments contradict previous remarks from his own chancellor, Angela Merkel. Seehofer was sworn-in on Wednesday, following protracted negotiations to form a new German government, and made the remarks in an interview with Bild on Friday. Seehofer, chairman of the Christian Social Union (CSU) in Bavaria, also outlined a number of tough new measures to curtail immigration and make it easier for Germany to deport failed asylum seekers.
Seehofer said he would implement a “master plan for quicker deportations” and seek to classify more countries as ‘safe,’ therefore making it easier to deport people to their country of origin. “My message is: Muslims need to live with us, not next to us or against us,” the minister said. “Of course the Muslims living here do belong to Germany.”
An estimated 4.4 to 4.7 million Muslims live in Germany, many from a Turkish background. More than a million middle-eastern migrants have arrived in the country since 2015 after Chancellor Merkel adopted an open-door policy. The recent surge in popularity for the right-wing party Alternative for Germany (AfD) has been linked to German dissatisfaction with Merkel's policy, coupled with fears of a large-scale terrorist incident following the Berlin Christmas market truck attack which killed 12 people in 2016.
Gains have been made by right-wing and anti-immigrant parties in a host of European countries over the last year, most notably in Austria, Denmark and France where National Front leader Marine Le Pen lost a close-fought presidential race to centrist Emmanuel Macron.
Wetherspoon boss threatens to Devastate Brussels plutocrats
UK - The chairman of JD Wetherspoon has blasted the EU as its "unusually good press around the world" hides the lack of democracy in the bloc which is run by Brussels plutocrats. Tim Martin delivered a scathing assessment of those who run the European Union, branding its leaders as "plutocrats in Brussels".
Speaking to Bloomberg News, Mr Martin revealed he was lobbying officials in the Government to walk away from the talks with Michel Barnier amid threats of a trade war. The Brexiteer businessman complained that the Brussels organisation had been given an "unusually good press" despite its legacy of protectionism.
On Brexit, the outspoken pub chairman railed against the excesses of Brussels, saying: "I am lobbying for leaving without a deal unless it is on very, very good terms. The EU is a protectionist organisation. They charge large taxes and tariffs on the 93% rest of the world. Leaving without a deal means incomes and standards of living will rise."
"The EU has had an unusual good press around the world. It should be more democratic. We want something like the US constitution which will protect us from plutocrats in Brussels."
Three Stunning Admissions From the Top US General
USA - The top US general in the Middle East [US Army General Joseph Votel] testified before Congress on Tuesday and dropped several bombshells:
from signaled support for the Iran nuclear deal… admitting the US does not know what Saudi Arabia does with its bombs in Yemen… and that Assad has won the Syrian Civil War.
Student Anti-Gun Protests Orchestrated
USA - Communists have always operated through "popular front" movements, which pretend to be grassroots movements but are actually organized and funded by the Masonic Jewish (Communist) central bankers. Having run through women and minorities, they have recently mobilized students to render patriotic Americans helpless to resist their police state.
If we understand that Communism is really a monopoly over everything (money, power, thought) by the Masonic Jewish (Satanist) central bankers who issue our currency, you will understand that Communism has arrived and must be fought.
The YOUTH are NOT ADULTS and should NOT be "given" ANY AUTHORITY, as ANY "authority" or "power" handed over to children or teenagers is exactly like giving a two-year-old child a fully loaded shotgun! I am certain that nearly all of the censorship going on is being carried out by young power-tripping thugs. In other words, The American Youth.
Weaponised smallpox virus could infect thousands
UK - A weaponised smallpox virus could have a devastating effect on the world's major cities, infecting thousands because of the growing numbers of people with suppressed immunity, researchers have warned. Smallpox, which was eradicated globally in 1980, is classed by the United States government as a category A bioterrorism agent because of its potential to spread rapidly, infect swathes of the population and incite widespread fear and panic. The World Health Organization has stockpiled around 30 million doses of first, second and third generation vaccines.
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