USA - Since I last wrote about the bipartisan shrieking, hysterical reaction to Trump’s planned military withdrawal from Syria the other day, it hasn’t gotten better, it’s gotten worse. I’m having a hard time even picking out individual bits of the collective freakout from the political/media class to point at, because doing so would diminish the frenetic white noise of the paranoid, conspiratorial, fearmongering establishment reaction to the possibility of a few thousands troops being pulled back from a territory they were illegally occupying.

USA - President Trump on Monday criticized outgoing Defense Secretary James Mattis, claiming he doesn't see countries that "take total advantage of the US" as "a problem." But "I DO, and it is being fixed," Trump wrote in a tweet. Trump wrote in a series of tweets that he appreciates US alliances but claimed that "many of these same countries take advantage of their friendship with the United States" and that the US subsidizes the militaries of those countries.

USA - Even CNBC’s Jim Cramer Agrees! – Fed Chair Powell “Trump’s Worst Nightmare” — Who... Raises Rates w/Dow Down 12% in 3 Months? Since October The Fed has single-handedly dismantled the US economy. The Trump tax cuts at year end 2017 set the economy on fire. The US stock markets set numerous records. So the Fed had to step in and kill the economy or Trump might get re-elected in 2020! The Fed announced on Wednesday afternoon that they will increase rates and will also increase rates next year. The Dow immediately dropped another 720 points. The DOW was down at one point by 894 points! The Dow Jones dropped 3,500 points since the Fed’s Jerome Powell’s insidious comments in early October to continue to increase interest rates. The stock market has lost MORE THAN $4 trillion in value since then. On Wednesday it lost another trillion or so.

GERMANY - Washington's decision to drop out of the INF has fueled speculation about the return of a full-blown, Cold-War style nuclear arms race, as Russia has reflexively threatened to build up its tactical defenses along Europe's periphery in the face of what's expected to be a buildup of American intermediate-range arms. But whatever happens between the two nuclear superpowers, Germany wants no part of it. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas warned this week that the US better not be thinking about stationing its intermediate-range missiles in Germany - or anywhere in Europe, for that matter. For the last 30 years, the treaty has prohibited stationing intermediate-range arms in Europe. Any push to change that would almost certainly be met with "widespread resistance" in Germany, Maas said, so as to avoid a scenario where Europe is put in the middle of a tug-of-war between Russia and the US.

UK - Today, total international trade in arms is worth about $100 billion a year, according to Pieter Wezemen, senior researcher at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri). With military power as the backbone of foreign policy and the central strategy for economic gains, the volume of international transfers of major weapons has been growing steadily over the past 15 years. Through the global arms trade, democracy continues to be undermined and any real chance of working towards global security and peace is diminishing. Uruguayan journalist and novelist Eduardo Galeano writes, "The 20th century, born proclaiming peace and justice, died bathed in blood. It passed on a world much more unjust than the one it inherited. The 21st century, which also arrived heralding peace and justice, is following in its predecessor's footsteps."

ISRAEL - On Christmas Day, Israel launched what Bloomberg described as its first airstrike in Syria since President Trump's "shocking" announcement that he would withdraw all US troops from Syrian territory (to the disgust of US national security officials and every neo-con anywhere). The strike targeted an ammunition depot in the Damascus countryside believed to belong either to Iran's Revolutionary Guard, or its Lebanon-based proxy Hezbollah. In response to the US's decision to withdraw, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the IDF would "increase efforts" against Tehran’s entrenchment in Syria as a result. Israel reportedly launched six F-16 fighters from Lebanese territory to carry out the strike. With the US pulling out of Syria, it's widely expected that Iran will benefit, as the country has offered consistent support to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since the civil war began more than six years ago.

USA - Dollar stores such as Dollar General and Dollar Tree (which also owns Family Dollar) are becoming a primary source of food for many families. The chains feed more Americans than Whole Foods, one which isn't surprising when you consider there are 30,000 Dollar General and Dollar Tree stores across the US — outnumbering Walmart's and McDonald's' combined — compared to 446 Whole Foods locations.

EUROPE - Populist Government emerging across the European Union will foil the plans of further European integration Jean-Claude Juncker devised during his leadership of the European Commission, economist Alan Winters claimed. Speaking to Express.co.uk, Prof Winters said: "European integration over the past 40-50 years has had sort of bursts where it got deeper and then periods of retrenchment where states stilled or even retreated.

USA - The US is trying to send a message to Tehran, with its aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf, that even though it is leaving Syria, this doesn’t mean lifting any pressure on Iran, professor of political science Hamed Mousavi said. A US aircraft carrier entered the Persian Gulf for the first time since 2001 last week accompanied by a fleet of warships in what Washington is calling a “show of force” against Iran.

ISRAEL - Amazingly, the same Germany that prides itself on having learned the lessons of its Nazi past and heralds its deep friendship with Israel at every opportunity in practice supports organizations, in particular in Arab and Muslim states, that disseminate the hatred of Jews and Israel or demonstrate scandalous tolerance for such hatred. This phenomenon is associated primarily with the Palestinian territories but in its broader scope impacts what goes on in schools run by UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, in Arab countries. As a sovereign state, Israel has the right and obligation to raise concerns regarding Berlin’s funding of German bodies that promote the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, which calls for Israel’s destruction, whether they be a Jewish museum or an international film festival.

USA - President Donald Trump blasted the Federal Reserve, blaming it for the plunge in the stock market, following reports he has considered firing Fed chief Jerome Powell. “The only problem our economy has is the Fed. They don’t have a feel for the Market, they don’t understand necessary Trade Wars or Strong Dollars or even Democrat Shutdowns over Borders,” Trump said in a tweet Monday. “The Fed is like a powerful golfer who can’t score because he has no touch – he can’t putt!”

USA - In this season of giving and getting, the findings are in. It is more blessed to give than to receive. According to two new studies conducted by researchers with the University of Chicago and Northwestern University, giving to others rather than to ourselves makes us happier. Have you ever noticed that your enjoyment in a repeated activity or event decreases over time no matter how wonderful it is? When this happens, you are experiencing what researchers call hedonic adaptation. The joy of having our own desires met is always fleeting. Perhaps surprisingly, however, giving to others creates a more lasting happiness.

USA - The United States of Sodom and Gomorrah has reached a whole new low with its newfound acceptance and even praise for the open promotion of child sex abuse within the LGBTPQ community – the “P” in LGBTPQ, of course, standing for pedophilia.

ITALY - Italy's Mount Etna, Europe's highest and most active volcano, erupted on Monday, sending a huge column of ash into the sky and causing the closure of Catania airport on Sicily's eastern coast. A chain of around 130 earth tremors have rocked the volcano since around 0800 GMT on Monday, Italy's National Institute for Geophysics and Volcanology said, with the strongest posting a magnitude of 4.0. There were no reports of any injuries. The 3,330 metre high volcano can burst into spectacular action several times a year, spewing lava and ash high over the Mediterranean island. The last major eruption was in 1992. 

USA - This is definitely not the gift that investors wanted for Christmas.  On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 653 points as panic swept through Wall Street like wildfire.  That represented a 2.9 percent daily decline, and that made it the worst Christmas Eve for the Dow ever recorded.  Incredibly, the previous record had lasted for exactly 100 years.  Normally the day before Christmas is a very, very quiet day on Wall Street, but right now there are no “normal” days for the financial markets.