The problem with all of this focus on feelings is that logic seems to go out the window. And the hypocrisy that goes along with it is frustrating to watch.

In World War II, the average age of a soldier was 26, with many men serving at a younger age. These men stormed the beaches at Normandy, fought the German, Italian and Japanese armies, faced horrific challenges, watched their friends die and killed the enemy, and the vast majority of them somehow managed to make lives for themselves in the post-War era without spending time whining about the nightmares and after effects that must have surely followed them home. 

There was an attitude of “OK, that’s it, it’s over, let’s move on with life” that does not seem to exist today. We have created a generation that acts as though something is owed to them simply because they exist. And if their poor little feelings get hurt, all hell breaks loose in society around them. Can you imagine a WW2 veteran coming home and demanding a healing circle? Or the Germans demanding a recount and a do-over after losing the war?

Perhaps we can blame social media, at least in part. Facebook launched when founder Mark Zuckerberg created a program to judge the attractiveness of his Harvard University classmates. For many, Facebook has been the tool with which they have reconnected with old friends, family members from around the world and create a network for their work and social lives. The ugly downside to Facebook and Twitter is that the vast majority of the site’s participants appear to be social justice warriors who badger and bully anyone who disagrees with their view of the world.

These snowflakes seem to feel that their opinions are the only ones that matter and when faced with opposition of any kind, they cry foul play. Or, in most cases, they scream that they have been the victims of rampant homophobia, racism, sexism, ageism and any other ism they can think of accusing someone with. In short, they perpetuate the same bullying that they accuse others of committing against them.

The 77-year-old told Politico the organisation has morphed from a “union of minorities” to a “coalition of states” which has changed how the EU works and plans for its future. Mr Prodi said: “During my time at the Berlaymont, one just had to turn on a news channel of a European country and it was all about the Commission. Today, it’s all about the Council.”

Headed by Donald Tusk the Council brings together member states to set the EU’s political agenda with the Commission, overseen by chief Eurocrat Jean-Claude Juncker, acting as the executive as the EU promoting its general interest. The EU’s endless departments and institutes of bureaucracy are being overthrown by national governments who are now more important in determining European affairs, said Mr Prodi with Germany dominating the EU. He said: “The resolution of the Greek crisis was not a Brussels-Athens decision, it was a Berlin-Athens decision.” 

As the EU becomes smaller, the future of the leaders of the Commission and Council were rocked last week when European Parliament president Martin Schulz announced he would step down from his post as he returns to frontline German politics. The move is expected to spark a fundamental sea-change in the EU’s political balance, with a shift in favour of the centre-right groups weakening current Commission president Mr Juncker’s position and also cast doubt on Donald Tusk, 59, the President of the European Council. The rise of member states coupled with anti-EU referendums has also weakened the Commission. 

In a completely bonkers move this week, the EU Parliament approved a resolution to counter “Russian propaganda” and the “intrusion of Russian media” into the EU. The resolution was adopted with 304 MEPs voting in favor, 179 MEPs voting against it and 208 abstaining. The most bizarre part, however, is that the resolution lumped Russian media in with Islamist propaganda of the kind spread by terror groups like the so-called Islamic State. Thus Russian media is put on the same level with videos of ISIS beheadings and incitements to mass murder.

According to the resolution, Russian media exists to “undermine the very notion of objective information or ethical journalism,” and one of its methods is to cast all other information “as biased or as an instrument of political power.”

The real hypocrisy here is that this last part almost exactly describes how Brussels regards any media critical of its own actions. The resolution criticizes channels like RT for casting other news sources as biased or as instruments of political power while smearing anyone who associates with the Russian media as Kremlin puppets, bought and paid for by Vladimir Putin — and yet the irony appears completely lost on them.

The totally barmy resolution also “notes with regret” that Moscow uses meetings with EU counterparts only for propaganda purposes, rather than for establishing a “real dialog” with Brussels. Another statement ripe with irony, given Brussels just a couple of weeks ago hosted an EU-Russia summit, the aim of which was to foster “mutual understanding” between Russia and the EU — without inviting any representatives of the Russian government. Instead, they asked obscure and practically unknown opposition figures with zero power or influence inside Russia.

As noted by RT columnist Bryan MacDonald, this would be like Brussels hosting a summit to discuss the future of the United States and inviting the Green Party’s Jill Stein while ignoring the two parties that actually hold power. Under Brussels’ own definition, one could easily argue that the EU is trying to “undermine political cohesion” in Russia just as it accuses Moscow of doing in Europe.

Russian news services are under attack from the EU and Western presstitutes as purveyors of “fake news.” Abiding by its Washington master’s orders, the EU actually passed a resolution against Russian media for not following Washington’s line. Russian President Putin said that the resolution is a “visible sign of degradation of Western society’s idea of democracy.”

As George Orwell predicted, telling the truth is now regarded by Western “democratic” governments as a hostile act. A brand new website, propornot.com, has just made its appearance condemning a list of 200 Internet websites that provide news and views at variance with the presstitute media that serves the governments’ agendas.

President Obama is heading into his administration's final weeks with a full agenda of new draft orders to consider, even though his successor has vowed to scale back job-killing regulation and cancel "all illegal and overreaching executive orders."

Despite the likelihood that US President-elect Donald Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress would kill any controversial late-in-the-game moves by Mr Obama, federal agencies under the Democratic president are pushing for a flurry of so-called "midnight" regulations on everything from the environment to transportation and financial marketplaces.

The White House was reviewing as many as 98 final regulations, as of November 15, that could be implemented before Mr Trump takes office, including 17 with an estimated annual economic impact of $100 million or more, Politico reported. But lawmakers have warned agency heads to avoid rushing to finalize rules or regulations before Obama leaves office.

"Should you ignore this counsel, please be aware that we will work with our colleagues to ensure that Congress scrutinizes your actions – and, if appropriate, overturns them," House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Republican) of California, wrote in a letter last week.

Republicans who hope to undo segments of Obama's legacy have a powerful tool to do so in the Congressional Review Act of 1996. The law will enable Congress in January to repeal, with a simple-majority vote, any agency rule completed after May 30, 2016, as Politico reported. After blocking any rule with that mechanism, the agency would be barred from enacting anything that is "substantially the same." And some Republicans are pushing to bolster the tool by enabling Congress to repeal groups of regulation wholesale, instead of dismantling it piece by piece.

"Up until now, I have seen no argument for the sanctions against Russia being immediately lifted. I would like to have an agreement with Russia that goes beyond the ordinary framework, bearing in mind that without Russia, there is no security architecture in Europe," he said.

According to Juncker, "Russia must be treated as one big entity, as a proud nation." "We have a lot to learn about the depths of Russia, we are very ignorant about it at the moment. I would like to have discussions on a level footing with Russia," he said, adding that "Russia is not, as President Obama said, ‘a regional power’," and calling it "a big error in assessment."

They all focused on large dry-bulk vessels, tankers, and containerships. But this year, orders for tankers globally plunged 80% and for container ships 84%.

Global trade, which collapsed during the Financial Crisis but then recovered in a V-shaped manner, was expected to continue soaring. Instead, it has languished over the past few years. Carriers that transport these goods in dry-bulk vessels, tankers, and container ships, face rampant overcapacity and crushed shipping rates. Smaller ones have sunk. In August, Hanjin, the sixth largest carrier and a formerly too-big-to-fail company in South Korea, was allowed to fail. And they all stopped ordering ships.

However, orders at European shipyards have jumped 45% through the first eight months this year. On the global scale, they’re small players, accounting for only 9.3% of the order book. But they focus on the smaller thriving market for cruise ships, ferries, and tugs.

Globally, orders for ships plunged 77% so far this year through October. But 2015 had already been down 13% from 2014. And 2014 had been down 26% from 2013, the first good year since before the Financial Crisis. In 2007, orders had peaked at 92 million compensated gross tons (CGT). So far this year, orders are down to 10 million CGT.

At this rate, 2016 will be the worst year in BIMCO’s data series going back to 1996. Even back then, orders amounted to 18 million CGT. No industry can survive for long when orders collapse at these rates. But next year might be worse, according to Peter Sand, BIMCO’s chief shipping analyst.

This kind of trade policy bluster coming from the newly elected president is generating unease in Berlin. The German government is concerned that Germany could soon fall into Trump's sights as well.

There are plenty of reasons for that. Germany's current account surplus has never been as high as it is this year and never before has that surplus represented such a significant share of the country's gross domestic product. Making matters worse is the fact that the US is the largest consumer of German exports.

According to German government calculations from October, the current account surplus is set to climb to 8.9 percent this year, which would be larger than ever before and higher even than China's. Such a surplus comes about when a country produces more than it consumes and receives more revenues from overseas than it invests.

As high as it is, though, the current surplus is likely to continue growing. The recent fall in the euro's value relative to the dollar following Trump's election makes German products and services even more competitive.

States in central Europe and the Balkans have been put on red alert for another massive wave of asylum seekers after Recep Tayyip Erdogan handed the extraordinary blackmail note to EU leaders. And now Serbia has revealed it has drawn up emergency plans to follow in the footsteps of neighbours Bulgaria, Macedonia and Croatia in constructing a huge barrier which would seal off most of the continent. 

The extraordinary measure was leaked by Government insiders who said ministers fear Islamist despot Erdogan is about to unleash a “tsunami” of three million migrants on Europe. They told the state-owned Novosti newspaper that the already prepared “Plan B” could be enacted within a short timeframe to protect the country from any further refugee chaos. 

The number of migrants travelling along the Balkans route has been reduced from a flood to a trickle in recent months after the EU signed a deal with Turkey to stem the flow. Under the terms of the agreement Ankara takes back all migrants who do not apply for asylum in Greece, or whose applications are rejected, and in return Europe takes in another Syrian from a camp in Turkey. 

However, relations between president Erdogan and European leaders have become increasingly strained in recent months, with the Turkish leader accusing the EU of reneging on its promise to give his people visa-free access in return.

Merkel joined the chorus of other world leaders and huge multi-national media outlets who wish to rid the internet of alternative media websites, under the guise of “fighting fake news”. Speaking in parliament, Merkel claimed that public opinion was being swayed away from establishment politics, claiming that independent news outlets posed a danger to national security.

“Something has changed — as globalisation has marched on, (political) debate is taking place in a completely new media environment. Opinions aren’t formed the way they were 25 years ago,” she said.

“Today we have fake sites, bots, trolls — things that regenerate themselves, reinforcing opinions with certain algorithms and we have to learn to deal with them.” Merkel, 62, said the challenge for democrats was to “reach and inspire people — we must confront this phenomenon and if necessary, regulate it.”

Our analysis confirms that the mainstream media are routinely involved in distorting the facts and turning realities upside down. They are the unspoken architects of “Fake News”. One area of routine distortion is the use of fake videos and images by the mainstream media. 

9/11 - Fake News regarding the Collapse of WTC Building Seven.

The Report on the Collapse of WTC Building Seven Occurred Prior to the Collapse. The most grotesque lie pertains to the BBC and CNN announcement in the afternoon of September 11, that WTC Building Seven (The Solomon Building) had collapsed.

The BBC report went live at 5.00pm, 21 minutes before the actual occurrence of the collapse, indelibly pointing to foreknowledge of the collapse of WTC 7. CNN anchor Aaron Brown announced that the building “has either collapsed or is collapsing” about an hour before the event.

The March 2016 Brussels Terrorist Attacks.

Belgian Media Used Video of a 2011 Moscow Airport Terrorist Attack

Brussels News media Dernière Heure at dhnet.b as well as La Libre reported on the terror attacks by providing a CC Camera Airport Surveillance Video of the terror attacks.

The published video footage was fake as documented by a blog posting on Media Part.

The video pertains to a terror attack at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport on 24 January 2011 (posted on youtube in November 2013). The report of DHnet.be on the Brussels airport attack used the video of the Moscow 2011 attack with the date of the Brussels attack: (22/03/2016) pasted onto the Russian video.

The lies and fabrications of the MSM are not the result of “sloppy journalism”. They are deliberate and are intended to mislead the public. The mainstream media routinely uses fake images and videos in its coverage of the war on Syria. The campaign against alternative and independent media seeks to limit freedom of expression.

Yet on November 25, they published an article titled, "Syria's White Helmets apologize for Mannequin Challenge video," in which they admit:

It's a familiar scene: Syria Civil Defence, also known as the "White Helmets," rushing to rescue a man covered in rubble, but unlike thousands of other videos from Aleppo, this one is staged.

CNN would continue by claiming: The nearly one-minute long video has been the subject of criticism on social media. On Wednesday Syria Civil Defence released a statement calling it an "error of judgment".

"This video and the related posts were recorded by RFS media with Syria Civil Defence volunteers, who hoped to create a connection between the horror of Syria and the outside world using the viral 'Mannequin challenge.' This was an error of judgment, and we apologize on behalf of the volunteers involved," the statement read.

Ignored by both the "White Helmets'" and RFS' as well as CNN's explanation of the video is the fact that the now admittedly staged video - besides the "mannequin challenge" style - is virtually indistinguishable from the "thousands of other videos from Aleppo" cited by CNN.

Data released last week by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) shows varying levels of pesticide residues in everything from mushrooms to potatoes and grapes to green beans. One sample of strawberries contained residues of 20 pesticides, according to the Pesticide Data Program report issued this month by the USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service.

Though it might sound distasteful, the pesticide residues are nothing for people to worry about, according to the USDA. The agency said "residues found in agricultural products sampled are at levels that do not pose risk to consumers' health and are safe …" But some scientists say there is little to no data to back up that claim, stating that regulators do not have sufficient comprehensive research regarding how consumption of residues of multiple types of pesticides impact human health over the long term, and government assurances of safety are simply false.

"The mixed messages make it hard for consumers to know what to believe about the safety of pesticide residues in food," said Therese Bonanni, a Clinical Dietitian at Jersey Shore University Medical Center. "Although the cumulative effect of consuming these toxins over a lifetime is not yet known, short-term data suggests there is certainly a reason to be cautious. The message to consumers becomes very confusing."

The natural disaster expert at the University College London told Express.co.uk the disastrous event is becoming increasingly likely - and urged Theresa May to prepare before it is too late. He said the Cumbre Vieja volcano in the Canaries archipelago was becoming increasingly fragile, and an eruption could send a chunk of land the size of the Isle of Man crashing into the sea.

This collapse would create a huge tsunami, which would spread across all sides of the Atlantic, including towards the UK and Ireland. Dr Day said: “It could be several metres high, it depends where you are and how much energy the wave has. It is hard to predict how big it would be as the wave would need to bend around to reach the UK."

The boffin warned Ireland and the south-west of England are particularly vulnerable - and reminded doubters a tsunami had already caused devastation in these areas around 250 years ago. The Lisbon Earthquake of 1755 caused the deaths of up to 100,000 people in the Portuguese city - and also sent a tsunami of around three metres high to the UK and Ireland.

Dr Day said: “The 1755 Lisbon incident was not dissimilar. If a tsunami of two or three metres hit the south-west of England or Ireland [in the modern era], you have a lot of tourists on beaches.” Coastal towns such as Portsmouth and Southampton would be submerged, with the wave rushing over the low-lying land several miles inland. Limerick, the third most-populous city in the Republic of Ireland, would also suffer huge devastation and loss of life in the event of the tsunami.