Carter is completely convinced that a “two-state solution” will bring lasting peace to the Middle East, but now that Donald Trump has been elected Carter knows that his dream of seeing a Palestinian state while he is still alive is rapidly slipping away. In a desperate attempt to salvage the situation, Carter is urging Barack Obama to take bold action while he still has the power to do so.

But even though the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal have both been running stories about a potential UN Security Council resolution that would divide the land of Israel, and even though experienced politicians such as Jimmy Carter and John Bolton are making lots of noise about it, most people don’t seem to understand how immensely important this really is in the greater scheme of things.

But if Barack Obama does decide to make a move to divide the land of Israel at the United Nations at some point during the next several weeks, the consequences for this nation will be more severe than most people would dare to imagine.

The Governor of the Bank of England wants a smooth changeover when Britain leaves the EU, to give companies time to adapt to the new setup, and avoid any wrenching change in the economy or in the financial markets. That means Britain would not necessarily switch overnight from one regime to another when leaving the EU, which is expected to take place in early 2019.

“Banks located in the UK supply over half of debt and equity issuance by continental firms, and account for over three-quarters of foreign exchange and derivatives activity in the EU,” Mr Carney said. “If these UK-based firms have to adjust their activities in a short time frame, there could be a greater risk of disruption to services provided to the European real economy, some of which could spill back to the UK economy through trade and financial linkages.”

That potential disruption comes from Britain’s status as the EU’s major global financial hub. “The UK is effectively the investment banker for Europe,” Mr Carney said, noting that funds are raised by British-based banks from British-based investors, to fund economic activity. “These activities are crucial for firms in the European real economy, and it is absolutely in the interests of the EU that there is an orderly transition and there is continual access to those services.”

Of course this puts a member of NATO in direct military conflict with Russia, since Russia is working very hard to prop up the Assad regime.  If all-out war breaks out between Turkey and Russia, could that be the spark that causes World War 3 to erupt in the Middle East?  And once Turkey and Russia start fighting, would the United States and the rest of NATO be dragged into the conflict?

Most people in the western world pay very little attention to Erdogan, but the truth is that he is a madman that is often referred to as “Turkey’s version of Adolf Hitler”.  He is extremely ambitious, extremely nationalistic, and he is a warmonger.  That is a very dangerous combination, and I believe that it is only a matter of time before he starts a major war in the Middle East.

Somebody needs to get this guy under control, but unfortunately the Obama administration has been very hesitant to confront Erdogan about his outrageous behavior. When Erdogan openly stated that the Turkish military is in Syria to overthrow the Assad regime on Tuesday, that was like lighting a match in a room that has already been doused with propane.

He needs to immediately retract those comments, because his unique brand of lunacy has now brought us dangerously close to the start of World War 3.

One of the most remarkable ironies of The Washington Post's recent evidence-free fabrication of purported "Russian propaganda" websites (including this site) is how closely it mimics the worst excesses of the USSR's Stalinist era. Those unfamiliar with the Stalinist era's excesses will benefit from reading Solzhenitsyn's three-volume masterpiece The Gulag Archipelago: 1918-1956, The Gulag Archipelago 2 and Gulag Archipelago 3.

One episode is especially relevant to the totalitarian tactics of The Washington Post's evidence-free accusation. Solzhenitsyn tells the story of one poor fellow who made the mistake of recounting a dream he'd had the previous night to his co-workers. In his dream, Stalin had come to some harm. In Solzhenitsyn's account, the fellow was remorseful about the dream.

Alas, mere remorse couldn't possibly save him. He was promptly arrested for "anti-Soviet thoughts" and given a tenner in the Gulag -a tenner being a ten-year sentence in a Siberian labor camp. The Washington Post's accusation is based on a "behavioral analysis" - in other words, publicly sharing "anti-Soviet thoughts" - in our era, the equivalent is sharing anti-Establishment thoughts.

Your crime, as it were, need not be substantiated with evidence; the mere fact you publicly revealed your anti-Establishment thought convicted you. This is the Corporate Media's Gulag of the Mind. We'll tell you what's "true" and what is correct to think and believe. Any deviation from the party line is a threat and must be discredited, marginalized or suppressed.

The report says that many employers will have "little problem" with Christians discussing their faith at work "in the same way you might talk about sport, hobbies and family life". Mrs May's intervention came after David Isaac, chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, warned that over-anxious employers are failing to celebrate Christmas for fear of offending other staff.

The report warns that society is forgetting "that its many freedoms derive from centuries of applying the Bible to public life". It says: "Although these liberties have been hard-won, however, they can also be easily lost. If not attended to, they will wither away. Like a muscle, without exercise they will atrophy. The Bible tells us that we grow as we give, and the truth about our gospel freedoms is that ‘if we don’t use them we’ll lose them’.”

France’s right-wing presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, who is rooting for a referendum regarding France’s membership in the EU, stands a good chance of winning the elections and thus likely initiating the so-called Frexit, Chomsky said in an interview with RT on Wednesday.

“I don’t think Germany would initiate it [the collapse of the EU] because they are beneficiaries of the union,” Chomsky said. “If the union falls apart, I think it would be a tragic development,” he added. Chomsky said that failed “neo-liberal policies of the past generation” influenced such a significant rise in popularity of the right-wing parties.

“These programs were designed in such a way so that they would lead to stagnation and even decline for a large part, actually, majority of the population. They also severely undermined democracy, which is even more true in Europe than in the US,” he said. “The result of these processes is that people are angry, disillusioned, their hopes for the future have collapsed,” Chomsky said.

“We knew there was going to be limited progress under Barack Obama’s administration,” said Representative Bill Huizenga (Republican for Michigan), who authored a broad Fed reform bill in the last Congress. “Now, with a partner at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue that’s interested in moving the needle, frankly we’d be dumb not to try to pursue this.”

For years, GOP-led efforts to impose new rules and restrictions on the Fed ran aground amid substantial Democratic opposition, both in the Senate and the White House. But the election puts the Fed on shaky ground, with any number of GOP-authored bills waiting in the wings for renewed consideration.

Republican lawmakers are expected to dust off a host of bills that would curb the central bank, ranging from tougher oversight to fundamental changes over how the Fed deploys its powerful tools to steer the economy. The exact impact of a Trump White House on how the Fed operates remains to be seen, but the next four years could mark a dramatic change for the central bank.

The Heritage Foundation, an influential Republican think-tank, says that none of the branches of the US armed forces is strong enough to deal with threats to Washington’s interests, whether actual or perceived, coming from around the world.

A new report entitled ‘2017 Index US Military Strength’ assesses the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps, giving them a collective grade of “marginal” for total capability, checked against a top score of “very strong.” The Army, the backbone of the US military, has been branded “weak.” 

While Fillon sees Margaret Thatcher as a role model in fiscal policy, he is a socially conservative Catholic who supports family values, wants to confront Islamist extremism, control immigration, restore France’s historic identity and end sanctions on Russia. “Russia poses no threat to the West,” says Fillon. But if not, the question arises, why NATO? Why are US troops in Europe?

As Le Pen is favored to win the first round of the presidential election and Fillon the second in May, closer Paris-Putin ties seem certain. Europeans themselves are pulling Russia back into Europe, and separating from the Americans. Next Sunday, Italy holds a referendum on constitutional reforms backed by Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. If the referendum, trailing in the polls, fails, says Renzi, he will resign.

Opposing Renzi is the secessionist Northern League, the Five Star Movement of former comedian Beppe Grillo, and the Forza Italia of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, a pal of Putin’s. “Up to eight of Italy’s troubled banks risk failure, if Renzi’s government falls”, says the Financial Times. One week from today, the front pages of the Western press could be splashing the newest crisis of the EU.

Yet US policy seems set in concrete by war guarantees and treaty commitments dating back to the time of Truman and Stalin and Ike and John Foster Dulles. America emerged from the Cold War, a quarter century ago, as the sole superpower. Yet, it seems clear that we are not today so dominant a nation as we were in 1989 and 1991.

We have great rivals and adversaries. We are deeper in debt. We are more divided. We’ve fought wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Yemen that availed us nothing. What we had, we kicked away. America is at a plastic moment in history. And America needs nothing so much as reflective thought about a quarter century of failures – and fresh thinking about her future.

His remarks come as one of the contenders to become Austrian president has threatened to hold a referendum if the EU integrates further. Norbert Hofer, who will become Europe's first far-right head of state since the Second World War if elected on Sunday, has promised a ballot if the EU becomes more centralised following Brexit. Asked about the Freedom Party candidate's pledge, Mr Juncker told Euronews: 'We can't deny or take away the people of Europe's right to express their views.

'Regarding referenda on EU membership, I think it is not wise to organise this kind of debate, not only because I might be concerned about the final result but because this will pile more controversy onto the huge number already present at the heart of the EU.'

Asked about whether Britain would be made an example of to discourage other countries from leaving the EU, Mr Juncker said: 'It is not really a question of that. I am not looking for revenge when it comes to the UK. The British have had their say by universal suffrage. I hope others do not do the same. But, regarding the UK, we must not come at this in the spirit of revenge. We must sort out the problems this has caused for the UK and for Europeans.'

German President Joachim Gauck told Germany's "Welt am Sonntag" newspaper that he was worried that not all of the EU's 508 million citizens had the capability or the willingness to keep pace after decades of European integration.

He urged politicians to not only campaign for a united Europe based on peace, freedom, security and democracy but also for a sense of being at home and a sense of belonging. "As a whole, we should think about a pause during which we discuss which goal we want to reach and at what speed," Gauck said, while praising the European project.

So why are so many among the elite preparing for an imminent “apocalypse” when tens of millions of other Americans are anticipating a new era of peace and prosperity?  Are they smarter than most of the rest of us, or are they simply being paranoid?

This is all very odd, because among the general population interest in “prepping” has hit a multi-year low.  In fact, sales of emergency food and supplies are way down at the moment across the entire industry. So once again the question must be asked – do the elite know something that the rest of us do not? If they don’t, why are they spending so much time, effort and money on such extraordinary preparations?

So many people are crying “peace and safety” right now, and yet we are right in the middle of what I have labeled “the danger zone”. Our world is becoming more unstable with each passing day, but there is so much apathy among the American people at the moment. I just don’t understand it.

The self-destructive behavior that we are engaging in as a nation is a recipe for national suicide, and the warning signs are all around us, but because disaster has not struck yet most people seem to believe that the warnings that they have been hearing are not true.

Breakdown:-

Mike Pence, self-described "evangelical Catholic".

Chris Christie, Roman Catholic.

Newt Gingrich, Roman Catholic, Council on Foreign Relations.

Michael T. Flynn, Roman Catholic.

Rudy Giuliani, Roman Catholic, 9/11 coadjutor, alleged Knight of Malta.

Jared Kushner, fan of the Count of Monte Cristo ("Count of the Mount of Christ;" story about the Jesuit General getting revenge on all of the Order's enemies during its suppression).

Steve Bannon, chief strategist and Senior Counselor for the Presidency of Donald Trump, former executive chair of Breitbart News, Jesuit-trained from Georgetown.

Lou Barletta, Roman Catholic.

Chris Collins, Roman Catholic.

Tom Marino, Roman Catholic.

Devin Nunes, Roman Catholic.

Anthony Scaramucci, Roman Catholic, Council on Foreign Relations.

Eric Trump, Jesuit-trained from Georgetown and serves as board member of Georgetown's Business, Society, and Public Policy Initiative.

Ivanka Trump, attended Jesuit Georgetown for two years.

David Malpass, Jesuit-trained from Georgetown, Vice President of the Council for National Policy, leading appointment selections for positions involving economic issues.

Keith Kellogg, trained by Jesuit at Santa Clara University, leading appointment selections for positions involving national defense issues.

Michael Catanzaro, trained by Jesuits at Fordham University and St Ignatius High School, leading the policy implementation team for energy independence.

Andrew Bremberg, graduate of Catholic University of America Executive Legal Action Lead.

James Carafano, Jesuit-trained from Georgetown University, reported to be the primary aide to the State Department of Trump administration transition team.

Ed Feulner, Roman Catholic former President and founder of Heritage Foundation; Jesuit-trained from Regis and Georgetown Universities.

Ken Blackwell, Jesuit-trained from Xavier University, leading appointment selections for positions involving domestic issues.

Boris Epshteyn, Trump's foremost spokesman; Jesuit-trained from Georgetown.

[“The Heritage Foundation is an American conservative think tank based in Washington DC. The foundation took a leading role in the conservative movement during the presidency of Ronald Reagan, whose policies were taken from Heritage's policy study Mandate for Leadership. Heritage has since continued to have a significant influence in US public policy making, and is considered to be one of the most influential conservative research organizations in the United States.” wikipedia.org]