USA - Things are starting to go downhill rather quickly now. A day after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates for the first time in more than a decade, we received a whole bunch more bad economic news. Most Americans don’t realize it yet, but our economy is in serious trouble. We haven’t seen anything like this since the last recession, but most people seem to think that since stock prices are still very high that everything must be fine. No, everything is definitely not “fine”, and as I noted yesterday, a lot of prominent names are loudly sounding the alarm. Many analysts are expecting things to really start breaking loose as we get deeper into the second half of this year, and what we witnessed on Thursday certainly didn’t make the outlook any brighter. President Trump completely shocked Wall Street when he announced that yet another round of tariffs will be imposed upon Chinese goods. This is essentially the equivalent of a “gut punch”, and it definitely takes our trade war with China to an entirely new level.

USA - Millennials who have delayed marriage, children, and homeownership, have been spending their money not just on servicing their student loans but also on fun adventures throughout Southeast Asia. Some of these youngsters have been backpacking in countries like Hong Kong and Thailand without money, forced onto the streets to beg for money to fund the remainder of their trip, reported The Guardian. Locals have called western backpackers: "begpackers," and government officials in several countries have had enough with these pesky white youngsters asking for money from people who are significantly poorer than they are. Asian countries aren't the only ones affected, local officials in New Zealand are concerned about the rise of begpacking.

USA - We have raised an entire generation of Americans that have no respect for the law, and now we are reaping what we have sown. I cannot even begin to tell you how alarmed I am by some of the videos that I have been watching lately. All over the nation young people are brazenly flouting the law, obstructing and assaulting law enforcement officers, and committing criminal acts in large groups. I think that “lawlessness” is perhaps the best word to describe what is happening, and many believe that what we have witnessed so far is just the beginning. I have so much respect for the good law enforcement officers across the country that put their lives on the line day after day to protect all of us, but I wouldn’t want to be in their shoes at this point.

UK - When you buy a cup of coffee, you might have noticed that of the three size options – small, medium and large – the medium-sized serving often costs almost as much as the large. Given the apparent bargain, have you ever opted for the biggest and most expensive option?

USA - Paul Craig Roberts, former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, on the danger posed by the FBI to our civil liberties. Despite the finger-pointing and outcries of dismay from those who are watching the government discard the rule of law at every turn, the question is not whether Donald Trump is the new Adolf Hitler but whether the American Police State is the new Third Reich. For those who can view the present and past political landscape without partisan blinders, the warning signs are unmistakable: the Deep State’s love affair with totalitarianism began long ago. Indeed, the US government so admired the Nazi regime that following the second World War, it secretly recruited Hitler’s employees, adopted his protocols, embraced his mindset about law and order, implemented his tactics in incremental steps, and began to lay the foundations for the rise of the Fourth Reich.

Sounds far-fetched? Read on.

USA - Wednesday during Fox News Channel’s post-Democratic presidential debate coverage, Representative Tulsi Gabbard (Democrat for Hawai) offered an ominous warning regarding big technology companies like Facebook and Google as it pertains to the election in the United States. Gabbard explained her ordeal with Google following last month’s MSNBC debate, which she said was a threat to free speech.

SPAIN - Scientists have successfully created the world’s first human-monkey embryo, paving the way towards using animals for human organ transplants. The experiment was conducted in China to avoid legal issues. Researchers from the Salk Institute in the US and the Murcia Catholic University (UCAM) in Spain genetically modified monkey embryos to deactivate specific genes used in the formation of organs. The group then injected human stem cells into the embryo. If left to its own devices, the embryo would have grown into a monkey with human cells. However, in keeping with ethical standards, the scientists stopped the process long before the embryo was able to develop a central nervous system. Still, the team had to travel to China to conduct the procedure, as it was in violation of Spanish law. Estrella Núñez, who collaborated on the project, told El Pais that “the results are very promising,” stating that the experiment was a necessary first step towards developing human organs in animals that could be used in transplants.

USA - If we were rational creatures, we would fear our back yards more than our beaches. Though oceans contain real-life monsters like the great white, our lawns and parks are home to humankind’s deadliest foe: the ubiquitous mosquito. “The mosquito has killed more people than any other cause of death in human history,” writes Winegard. “Statistical extrapolation situates mosquito-inflicted deaths approaching half of all humans that have ever lived.” Last year mosquitoes killed 850,000 people — but the annual average hovers around 2 million. Sharks, by contrast, killed 10.

USA - It’s dry in the Pacific Northwest, British Columbia and Alaska. Very dry. A contiguous stretch of over 2,000 miles of Pacific coastline is experiencing drought conditions ranging from “abnormally dry” to “extreme drought,” according to US and Canadian Drought Monitors. While drought has receded across much of the Canadian provinces from June, and overall conditions in the lower 48 US states have skirted with 20-year lows over the past two months, conditions in Ketchikan, Alaska, have been termed “severe” and Aberdeen, Washington, “exceptional”.

UK - Boris Johnson has claimed the UK may remain in the customs union and single market until 2021 as the Prime Minister discussed what his revised withdrawal agreement might look like. Mr Johnson said the chances of a no deal exit were “vanishingly small” as he visited Wales. The former Foreign Secretary said: “Some of the changes and adjustments necessary in the run-up to October 31, and a lot of which we have already done, will be crucial anyway if we are going to come out of the customs union, come out of the single market as we must in the next couple of years.” There has been speculation that in a potential snap election, the Tories might end up forming a pact with Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party. Lack of trust in the Conservatives is now a problem; many will only a believe in a clean-break Brexit when they see it.

USA - Will we look back on the month of July as a critical turning point for the stock market? During the first half of 2019, stock prices soared to record high after record high even though we just kept getting one number after another that indicated that a new economic slowdown was starting. Because of the disappointing performance of the US economy, it was believed that we would see a rate cut from the Federal Reserve on Wednesday, and that is precisely what happened.

ISRAEL - The rabbi argued that there’s already a commandment in place that calls to build the Temple, and that issues such as the possible renewal of sacrifices should be discussed separately. Rabbi Avigdor Nebenzahl, a prominent Israeli theologist who, until recently, served as the chief rabbi of the Old City of Jerusalem, has brought forth a rather sensitive religious matter as he called for the building of the Third Temple on the Temple Mount - one of the holiest sites in the world for Muslims, Christians and Jews, Breaking Israel News reports. According to the media outlet, Nebenzahl stated that "we must do everything in our power to build the Temple," insisting that there’s never been any sort of religious ruling that would tell the Jews to wait for the Temple to "fall from the sky."

USA - The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate Wednesday for the first time in a decade to try to counter the impact of President Donald Trump’s trade wars, stubbornly low inflation and global weakness. It left open the possibility of future rate cuts, but perhaps not as many as Wall Street had been hoping for. During a news conference, Chairman Jerome Powell struggled to find just the right words to articulate the Fed’s strategy and what might prompt future rate cuts at a time when the risk of a recession in the United States seems relatively low. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled to finish down 333 points, or 1.2%. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.01% from 2.06% late Tuesday, a sharp drop. The central bank reduced its benchmark rate — which affects many loans for households and businesses — by a quarter-point to a range of 2% to 2.25%. It’s the first rate cut since December 2008 during the depths of the Great Recession

USA - Jeffrey Epstein is both a Technocrat and a Transhuman, both of which are based on Scientism. Scientism is a religion that believes all truth is derived from scientific inquiry and that all other truth is bogus. French philosopher Henri de St Simon (1765-1825) figures prominently in Scientism, Technocracy and Transhumanism. Epstein’s massive ego is the very epitome of St Simon’s telling statement:

IRAN - Iran on Monday reportedly indicated it is open to talks with its longtime regional rival Saudi Arabia following reports that US sanctions on its oil industry have severely crippled its economy. Some analysts have credited US President Donald Trump’s economic sanctions currently choking the Iranian economy with pressuring Iran to negotiate and compromise. Washington’s “maximum pressure” campaign has rendered Tehran increasingly isolated from the international community. Iran is open to an “unconditional resolution of regional issues,” the state-run Tasnim News Agency reports. On Monday, Abbas Mousavi, a spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, reportedly welcomed a call from Saudi Arabia to negotiate with Iran as a “positive signal.”