USA - A transportation recession often precedes a recession for the entire economy, and while the debate about when the US economy as a whole will plunge into a recession is quite vigorous right now, the truth is that the debate is over regarding when a transportation recession will begin. Throughout 2017 and most of 2018, US freight shipment volume was booming, and that was a very strong sign that overall economic activity was rising. But when economic activity begins to decline, freight shipment volume often goes negative, and that is precisely what is happening right now. In fact, US freight shipment volume has now declined on a year over year basis for eight months in a row…When something happens for eight months in a row, that is definitely a trend, and we haven’t seen declines of this magnitude since the last recession. What is coming to America is going to be extremely painful, and we are about to reap the consequences for decades of incredibly foolish decisions.

GERMANY - Three-quarters of Germans say that a US troop pullout won’t leave them defenseless, but almost as many believe their own army would be of little effect, a poll found, amid reports that Washington may move its assets to Poland. While Berlin fails to achieve a military spending target of 2 percent of its GDP, Poland has succeeded, making it an ideal country to host the American military contingent, they stated at the time. The public speculation was greeted with a harsh response from German politicians. Dietmar Bartsch from the opposition Left Party suggested that “if the Americans pull out soldiers, they will also have to pull out their nuclear weapons.” Troop withdrawal rumors aside, the Emnid poll found that 62 percent of respondents don’t believe Germany’s armed forces are able to defend their country.

USA - California has the highest poverty rate in the US in spite of the fact that it has a high minimum wage and abundant social programs. Stefan Molyneux visits Jeff Page, an activist known as the ‘Mayor of Skid Row’ in Los Angeles, who tells him the problem began in 1967 when the city created the Skid Row containment zone as an area to corral the homeless and mentally ill who overflow government institutions. Downtown LA is being revitalized, Skid Row has become valuable real estate, developers want the homeless out of there, and they want taxpayers to cover the cost.

ZIMBABWE - About a month from today, Zimbabwe marks about 20 months after the departure of former President Robert Gabriel Mugabe, the liberator once upon a time, who turned an oppressor of his own people. In November, 2017, the atmosphere was engulfed by an electric euphoria that temporarily united even the worst of enemies. The unity that enveloped Zimbabwe in November 2017 knew no political affiliation, cutting across the racial, political, tribal and even religious divide. Black and white pounded the streets arm in arm; the army was immortalised and momentarily a dark cloud seemed to have melted from above the nation.

USA - In his pitch to potential buyers, Larry Hall touts his condominium’s high ceilings and spacious living rooms. Then there are the swimming pool, saunas and movie theater. But what really sets the development apart, in his view, is its ability to survive the apocalypse. Mr Hall has converted a former military nuclear missile vault into a luxury condominium built 15 stories into the Earth’s crust. He is a leader among a new group of real estate developers investing in the nation’s central prairies and Western foothills: doomsday capitalists. “Fear sells even better than sex,” Professor Hoopes said. “If you can make people afraid, you can sell them all kinds of stuff,” he added, “and that includes bunkers.”

USA - Maryland scientists have been warning of a growing "dead zone" in the Chesapeake Bay. Now the numbers are in, confirming their dire warnings were correct. Natural Resources Department data shows an area with little to no oxygen spread to 2 cubic miles (8 cubic kilometers) by late July, making it one of the worst in decades. By comparison, July dead zones averaged about 1.35 cubic miles (6 cubic kilometers) for the past 35 years. The worst section includes the lower Potomac and Patuxent rivers and much of the Bay, from Baltimore to the mouth of the York River. University of Maryland environmental scientists say heavy rains washed wastewater and agricultural runoff into the bay and produced oxygen-stealing algae. Scientists fear it could harm crabs, oysters and the state's seafood industry. Restoring Kentucky’s wetlands is a solution…

USA - Arizona, Nevada and Mexico will be required to take less water from the Colorado River for the first time next year under a set of agreements that aim to keep enough water in Lake Mead to reduce the risk of a crash. The federal Bureau of Reclamation activated the mandatory reductions in water deliveries on Thursday when it released projections showing that as of January 1, the level of Lake Mead will sit just below a threshold that triggers the cuts. Arizona and Nevada agreed to leave a portion of their water allotments in the reservoir under a landmark deal with California called the Lower Basin Drought Contingency Plan, which the states’ representatives signed at Hoover Dam in May. The Colorado River’s reservoirs have dropped dramatically since 2000 during one of the most extreme droughts in centuries.

USA - What are we supposed to think when rather large earthquakes start happening in places that aren’t supposed to have large earthquakes? 2019 has been quite a year for seismic activity already, and I understand that we should expect to see earthquakes in diverse places, but if someone told me that the US was just hit by a significant quake one of the last places that I would check would be Kansas.

USA - Last week’s upheavals in bond values were an all-too-rational response to a cocktail of economic troubles. Global financial markets certainly fear the worst. Share prices slumped last week amid fears that the first recession since the big crash of 2008-09 is just around the corner. The trigger was developments in the bond markets, which is where investors trade the debt that governments issue to cover their spending. More specifically, the problem was caused by the inversion of the yield curve, and overnight the media was awash with explanations of what that meant. This in itself was a worrying development.

USA - If you wanted another sign the economy is not doing well, look no further than the latest allegations General Electric is a “bigger fraud than Enron.” The person making this charge is Harry Markopolos who uncovered the $60 billion Bernie Madoff scam years ago. This is a DOW 30 stock, and downside of this news, if proven true, is dire.

ISRAEL - A politically explosive fight over Israel’s attempt to block two members of Congress from entering the country — at President Trump’s urging — has elevated rifts between it and Democrats who have increasingly started to view the Israeli government and its leader as out of line or, in the eyes of at least two presidential candidates, even racist.

UK - Donald Trump has increased spending on America’s arsenal while ripping up cold war treaties. Russia and China are following suit. Imagine the uproar if the entire populations of York, Portsmouth or Swindon were suddenly exposed to three times the permissible level of penetrating gamma radiation, or what the nuclear physicist Ernest Rutherford termed gamma rays. The outpouring of rage and fear would be heard across the world.

USA - Many headline writers and meteorologists are justifiably turning to Genesis to describe an unprecedented deluge. “Biblical proportions” is an expression that headline writers use when trying to describe unprecedented rainfall or flooding. And “Biblical rain” was one tabloid’s response to a prediction that this month would be the wettest ever August. The near-disaster at Whaley Bridge was described in similar terms.

ITALY - Fascist buildings can be found all over Italy. Roberto Canali, the right-wing mayor of Predappio, Mussolini's birthplace, announced plans last month to reopen the dictator's crypt to tourists all year around. At the moment, fascists and neo-fascists can only access the site in central Italy three times a year. The mayor said that the move would help local business. "I always sell all the copies of the Primato Nazionale," adds Moreschini, referring to a far-right, nationalistic monthly magazine founded in Milan six years ago. Even if it is impossible to say whether fascists could make a comeback, it is clear that the current political fragility, coupled with regional emergencies and Italy's sluggish economy, is increasing the visibility of far-right ideas. "In the end, fascists never really disappeared," says Pietro Di Placidi, as he cleans up Sgobbone restaurant after the lunchtime customers have left.

ISRAEL - Culture Minister Miri Regev of Likud said Friday that God, not people, will decide who becomes Israel’s next prime minister, as the country heads to a second election in a year, with polls predicting further political gridlock in its aftermath and no clear path to forming a government. Speaking to 103FM Radio, Regev bristled at a suggestion by her interviewer that Yisrael Beytenu party chief Avigdor Lieberman may be the one to ultimately decide who will form the next coalition. “God is the one who will decide who will be next prime minister. I don’t know that people decide who is prime minister,” she said. Regev went on to call Liberman — whose refusal to join a coalition after the April election was a major factor in the move to call new elections — “a fraud and a crook.” Liberman has repeatedly called for a unity government that includes Netanyahu’s Likud, the centrist Blue and White, and his own party without the ultra-Orthodox.