Of course, in a simple sense they are right, because it is possible to be in the EU and yet out of the euro - which is precisely our position. But this separation is flimsy. The mess that is the euro goes right to the heart of why the UK should leave the EU. First and foremost, it needs to be understood that the euro is the EU's creature. It didn't happen by accident, it was not imposed from the outside and it wasn't necessary. The euro was the EU's choice. It emerged from the essential nature of the Union and its tortured politics.

It had always been envisaged by those who dreamed of a United States of Europe that this body would have a common currency. In the Werner Report of 1970, plans were discussed as to how a common currency could come about. In the event, what got the plans off the drawing board and the euro emerging into reality was the new dynamic created between France and Germany by the possibility of German reunification. This caused the French authorities to worry that Germany would become overwhelmingly dominant in Europe.

President Mitterrand of France insisted that his country could only agree to German reunification if Germany gave up the Deutschmark which, it was perceived, was the source of much of her strength and power. Germany agreed. And so the euro was born. As nearly everyone now acknowledges, the euro has been a disaster. Not only has it impoverished the countries of southern Europe, with huge numbers of people made unemployed, but it has also allowed Germany to run an enormous current account surplus, now amounting to over 8 percent of GDP, obliging other countries to run corresponding deficits.

This economic catastrophe was imposed on the people of Europe in order to achieve the central objective of the EU - and to pander to the French establishment's (as it happens erroneous) view of what was in France's national interest. In order for it to survive, its members must move to fiscal and political union. If they don't, the euro must break up. Either of these outcomes would have profound consequences for the UK.

In the event of a euro collapse, we would be better placed if we were outside the EU - and thereby able to control both our finances and our borders.

Timm quite rightly wondered: why were these warnings in the report? Were the authors just anticipating a possible crime? Or were they reflecting the fact that the NSA had already been engaging in the crime? If this was just a bit of anticipation, why leave it naked in the report? Why not say there was no current evidence the NSA had been manipulating financial systems? Those systems would, of course, include the stock market, and all trading markets around the world.

Well, there is definite evidence of other NSA financial snooping. From Spiegel Online, “‘Follow the Money’: NSA Spies on International Payments,” 9/15/13: “The National Security Agency (NSA) widely monitors international payments, banking and credit card transactions, according to documents seen by SPIEGEL.”

“The NSA’s Tracfin data bank also contained data from the Brussels-based Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), a network used by thousands of banks to send transaction information securely… the NSA spied on the organization on several levels, involving, among others, the [NSA] agency’s ‘tailored access operations’ division…”

The NSA’s “tailored access operations” division uses roughly 1000 hackers and analysts in its spying efforts. The next step in all this spying would naturally involve penetrating trading markets and, using the deep data obtained, manipulate the markets to the advantage of the NSA and preferred clients. The amount of money siphoned off in such an ongoing operation would be enormous.

Meanwhile, earthquakes continue to shake the globe with alarming regularity. Just last week, Ecuador was hit by a magnitude 6.7 earthquake and a magnitude 6.8 earthquake in rapid succession. Overall, there have been more than 3,000 earthquakes of magnitude 1.5 or greater within the past month globally.

So yes, I write constantly about the rapidly accelerating deterioration of our financial system, but the coming “collapse” is not just about money. I am convinced that we are entering a “perfect storm” in which a confluence of factors will absolutely cripple society and bring about changes that most of us would not even dare to imagine right now.

Yehuda Glick’s journey — from the United States to Israel, from government bureaucrat to outspoken demonstrator at Jerusalem’s most contested site, and from a hospital bed to elected office — is an unlikely one. And Glick’s arrival in the halls of the Knesset reflects the growing reception of his push for Jews’ right to visit and worship on the Temple Mount.

Between 2009 and 2014, Jewish visits to the site nearly doubled. Glick has been barred from the mount — revered by Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary — and was even charged with assault there (the charges were dropped). Glick and his fellow religious activists see his accession to the Knesset as a victory for a just cause following his brush with death. Critics, however, say the power he wields could exacerbate tensions at a regional flashpoint.

Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb is the Grand Imam of Cairo’s Al-Azhar Mosque, and some have described him as “the highest figure in Sunni Islam”. The Daily Mail said that the meeting between these two men was a “historic bid to reopen dialogue between the two churches”, and this is yet another in a long series of attempts by Pope Francis to build bridges between Catholicism and various other faiths.

In the end, what are we to make of all of this? Could it be possible that Pope Francis is laying the groundwork for the “super world church” and the coming one world religion that David Wilkerson and so many others have warned about? Pope Francis made sure that when he embraced Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb there would be plenty of reporters there to document the moment.

There is a very clear pattern developing here. Pope Francis believes that Christians and Muslims worship the same God, and he wants us to know that he considers Islam to be a perfectly acceptable way to seek God. It has become exceedingly clear that Pope Francis believes that all major religions are completely valid paths to the same God, and there is virtually no uproar over this.

A senior Iranian general on May 9 announced that the country’s armed forces successfully tested a precision-guided, medium-range ballistic missile two weeks earlier that could reach Israel, the state-run Tasnim agency reported.

“We test-fired a missile with a range of 2,000 kilometers and a margin of error of eight meters,” Brigadier General Ali Abdollahi was quoted as saying at a Tehran science conference. The eight-meter margin means the “missile enjoys zero error,” he told conference participants.

Khamenei has repeatedly threatened to annihilate the Jewish state, and in September 2015 suggested Israel would not be around in 25 years. In a quote posted to Twitter by Khamenei’s official account on September 9, 2015, Khamenei addressed Israel, saying, “You will not see next 25 years,” and added that the Jewish state will be hounded until it is destroyed.

After more than a decade of hiding across the border in Pakistan’s lawless tribal belt, al-Qaeda terrorist cells have moved back into southern Afghanistan following the withdrawal of British and American forces at the end of 2014.

Now Afghan security officials are warning that al-Qaeda chiefs are hoping to use their new Afghan base to plot a fresh wave of terror attacks against the West and its allies.

“Al-Qaeda has taken advantage of the withdrawal of Western troops to re-establish its headquarters in southern Afghanistan,” said a senior Afghan defence official. “Now they are back they will be determined to use Afghanistan as a base to prepare new attacks against Western targets.”

On the GSA website, the association states: “If the child is recognized by the family and school/community as a girl and lives culturally as a girl, then Girl Scouts is an organization that can serve her in a setting that is both emotionally and physically safe.” Girls participating in the scouts will now be obliged to recognize transgenderism as a normal lifestyle, critics say.

The conservative American Family Association expressed its outrage at the policy change, accusing scout leaders of “losing their moral compass.” This is the case of adults being “willing to experiment on our kids — both the boys who are confused and the girls who will wonder why a boy in a dress is in the bathroom with them.”

If you think you know what lies ahead better than these people, then these articles will waste your time. But if you think they may have a seagull-like instinct for coming financial storms, then pour yourself a cup of coffee and read these stories very, very carefully.

Billionaire George Soros is preparing for an economic storm. He has reduced his stock investments by 33% and increased his gold-mining holdings by $264 million. Central banks also are running to buy gold. China, which consumes 40% of all newly mined gold each year, recently bought Barclays’ precious-metals storage business. It is clear that these big players know something about the coming price of gold. (RT 2016 May 18)

Gold and silver prices still are being rigged. Bullion banks, like JP Morgan Chase, are allowed to sell contracts for future delivery of precious metals far in excess of what they have. If you can sell something you do not have, you can sell as much of it as necessary to depress the price. It’s that simple. The current number of ounces sold in this fashion now is 500 times greater than what is actually available for delivery. When that bubble bursts – as it must – the splat will be enormous. Those holding paper contracts will be jumping from high-rise buildings. Those holding gold and silver will be wealthy. (Money Metals 2016 May 16)

“The idea of specialness, exceptionality and unique rights of the American state and American people has been used in US internal political rhetoric for quite a while, but in recent years it has been actively and persistently offered in US foreign policy documents and public speeches on international politics delivered by US officials,” Judge Valery Zorkin said at the St Petersburg international legal forum on Thursday.

“Any unbiased and educated person would see that this statement by Obama is an almost exact copy of leading politicians and propaganda specialists of the Third Reich, including Adolph Hitler… In essence, Obama is using the exact same thing that Nazi bosses said about the German exceptionalism when they started the world war,” he added.