USA - In the wake of last week's terror attacks at two New Zealand mosques which left 50 dead, several websites which either reported on the incident, hosted footage of the attacks, or have simply allowed people to engage in uncensored discussion such as Dissenter or Zero Hedge, have been partially or completely blocked in both New Zealand and Australia for the sake of "protecting consumers," according to the CEOs of three New Zealand telcos.   So while the telcos have defended their decision to censor a wide swath of material in order to shield people from dangerous information - and have encouraged social media platforms to commit to European-style information control, Kiwis and Australians will only get to know what the technocracy approves in order to 'protect consumers.' Unless they set aside 15 seconds and use a VPN.

USA - War Is a Racket is a speech and a 1935 short book, by Smedley D Butler, a retired United States Marine Corps Major General and two-time Medal of Honor recipient. Based on his career military experience, Butler frankly discusses how business interests commercially benefit, such as war profiteering from warfare.

It contains this summary: “War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives. A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small ‘inside’ group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes.”

MEXICO - A lot of us have been watching Mount Popocatepetl for a very long time.  Could it be possible that we are now on the verge of the most destructive volcanic eruption in the modern history of North America?  On Monday night at precisely 9:38 pm, a massive explosion at Mount Popocatepetl sent a column of volcanic ash nearly a mile into the sky.  A “yellow alert warning” has been issued by the authorities, and they are ordering everyone to stay at least 12 kilometers away from the crater.  They are stressing that the threat has not passed... an evacuation plan is in place in case an even larger eruption follows.  And if a much larger eruption does follow, the devastation could be off the charts.  Mexico City is only 43 miles away from Mount Popocatepetl, and approximately 25 million people live within a 60 mile radius of the crater.

USA - Many of the most powerful left-wing economic "experts" are calling for a Debt Jubilee by name… London School of Economics Professor David Graeber says: "we are long overdue for some kind of Biblical-style Jubilee... it would relieve so much genuine human suffering." The national affairs correspondent for The Nation says we should: "Think Jubilee, American Style... because it combines a sense of social justice with old-fashioned common sense." Paul Kedrosky, a senior fellow at the Kaufman Foundation (a liberal think tank), says: "we need a fresh start, and we need it now... we need... a Jubilee." Around the world today, the idea of a Jubilee has become the de facto solution for extreme financial problems... when debts can't be repaid. After studying hundreds of years of financial history, I believe America's upcoming Jubilee will strongly resemble the one that took place in our country way back in 1841... But of course, this time around, the Jubilee won't be tens of thousands of people like it was in 1841... it will instead be tens of millions of people, and trillions of dollars.

AFRICA - Cyclone Idai has ravaged parts of Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe in what the UN says could be the worst weather-related disaster ever to hit the southern hemisphere. Millions of people were in the direct path of the cyclone, with the port city of Beira in Mozambique bearing the brunt. The death toll in Mozambique is currently 200 but President Filipe Nyusi fears it could be far higher. Some 100,000 people need to be rescued from the port city of Beira, according to Mozambique's government. A UN World Food Programme worker said of the damage in Beira: "There is no power. There is no telecommunications. The streets are littered with fallen electricity lines." The road between Beira and Chimoio has been damaged, leaving aid agencies cut off, unable to deliver supplies.

GERMANY - Germany has demanded Theresa May stop playing games and present “clear and precise proposals” before EU leaders offer her a Brexit delay. Michael Roth, the German European affairs minister, bemoaned the Prime Minister’s Brexit strategy ahead of a crunch summit on Thursday, during which she is expected to request an Article 50 extension. Mr Roth insisted the “clock is ticking and time is running out” for the British Government to table proposals as the country heads towards a no-deal Brexit in just 10 days.

GERMANY - Berlin seems to be losing patience with the US ambassador who didn’t mince his words over German defense spending. A high-ranking MP demanded that the envoy be sent home because he acts “like an occupation commissioner.” Wolfgang Kubicki, vice speaker of the German parliament, called for Richard Grenell to be declared persona non grata immediately, local media reported. The emotive remark wasn’t limited to what Berlin should do in relation to the American ambassador.

GERMANY - Brexit is a disaster for Germany which could be forced to exit the euro to save itself from becoming a “cash cow” to the EU, an investment expert has claimed. As the EU’s strongest economy, Germany would become the “cash cow” to the Union, he warned. Writing for DASInvestment, Mr Schmitz said: “The structural deficits of the confederation of states are becoming increasingly apparent and can not be remedied. In addition, there is no political will in the southern European countries for urgently needed economic reforms. The current economic policy debate almost completely overlooks the impact of Brexit on the EU's majorities. Because of it, the former hard currency countries, which include Britain, Germany, the Nordic countries and the Benelux countries, lose their previous blocking minority in the Council of Ministers.”

UK - The Brexit saga has taken another unexpected twist after Commons Speaker John Bercow said he would not allow another vote on Theresa May's withdrawal deal unless MPs were asked a different question. Explaining his decision, he cited "strong and longstanding" parliamentary precedents dating back to 1604.  

He gave a number of examples where predecessors of his had enforced this convention, the most recent being in 1920.

His dramatic intervention, described as a "bombshell" by many newspapers, came at a crucial moment in the process, with 10 days to go before the UK is scheduled to leave and the prime minister set to ask other European leaders for extra time to address the current deadlock. The timing of Mr Bercow's announcement could not have been more politically explosive.

ISRAEL - Hungary’s Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto formally opened a diplomatic trade mission in Jerusalem on Tuesday, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed as “the first European diplomatic mission opened in Jerusalem in many decades.”

Netanyahu, speaking at the inauguration of the office in Jerusalem’s City Tower Building, said three Hungarian diplomats will be appointed to the office for trade purposes, something he said was important “for trade, for diplomacy and for the movement Hungary is leading right now to change the attitude in Europe toward Jerusalem.” The opening of the delegation comes a month after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban pledged to open a trade delegation with “diplomatic status” in Jerusalem. It is the “diplomatic status” that distinguishes the Hungarian delegation from other offices European countries have established in the city.

EUROPE - Europe must move away from full dependency on American weapon supplies, the French defense minister stressed, slamming President Donald Trump’s “conditional” approach towards NATO and his European allies. Expressing concern that Trump’s idea of NATO’s solidarity is “conditional on allies buying this or that equipment,” the French Minister of the Armed Forces, Florence Parly, wondered if the US commitment to the military block will continue to be “perennial.”

UK - MPS have admitted a General Election could be around the corner following John Bercow's announcement on the EU deal. This comes as a cutoms expert, who has been advising Jacob Rees-Mogg’s European Research Group, has said the EU "wants to teach the British a lesson" - and warned Prime Minister Theresa May has "no knowledge" about Brexit policies. After a recent invitation to Downing Street for tea, Dutchman Hans Maessen, 61, said: "Theresa May has no knowledge, her ministers don't, and her advisers don't. It is very serious. I explained how a non-physical border could be possible. In the end, May said 'we do not want any customs formalities', but I told her that they had to be there if the United Kingdom leaves the EU."

USA - President Donald Trump continued excoriating General Motors on Monday, for closing an automotive plant in Lordstown, Ohio. “Get that big, beautiful plant in Ohio open now,” Trump said. “Close a plant in China or Mexico, where you invested so heavily pre-Trump, but not in the USA! Bring jobs home!” The president also expressed frustration that “talks” between General Motors and the United Auto Workers Union would begin in September or October. His posts on Twitter earned a phone call from Barra over the weekend. “I asked her to sell it or do something quickly,” Trump revealed. “She blamed the UAW Union — I don’t care, I just want it open!” “Very disappointed with General Motors and their CEO, Mary Barra, for closing plants in Ohio, Michigan and Maryland,” Trump wrote in November 2018. “Nothing being closed in Mexico & China. The US saved General Motors, and this is the THANKS we get!”

UK - The House of Commons Speaker has thwarted any attempt by Theresa May to bring a third meaningful vote to parliament, unless there has been substantial change to the Brexit deal. With Theresa May’s plans thrown into chaos by the move, one of her chief law officers warned the government could be forced to cut short the parliamentary session and restart in order to bring back the Brexit deal.

USA - We Americans have been displaying this Constitution to every country in the world. We are proud of it, and others are very envious of it. The fact that the United States provides so many freedoms to its citizens, and that the citizens are self governing, makes our country a dangerous ideology to those countries that govern through domination. We are scorned by dictatorships, kingdoms, and communist countries. These countries want World Domination which they promote under the guise of the more palatable title, One World Government.