"In history wars were about control of land. Today it is control of economies. Lines on maps don't matter." -- Michael Rivero

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As the stock market continues to reach new heights, there are growing concerns about its detachment from the true state of the economy. Recent data points to a stark disparity between Wall Street’s rally and the challenges faced by the broader economic landscape.

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Posted on: Dec 11 09:25

Some children in the Gaza Strip are undergoing amputations without anesthesia due to lack of funds, while others are on the brink of starvation, a representative of the Save the Children humanitarian organization.

Earlier in the day, the Special Session of the Executive Board of the World Health Organization (WHO) took place at the request of 17 member states to discuss the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip. Later, all 34 member countries of the WHO Executive Board, including the United States, approved a resolution on Gaza calling for unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid to the enclave and the evacuation of injured people.

At the same time, a representative of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said at the session that the organization is still operating in Gaza, but is on the verge of collapse, since more than 134 UNRWA staff have been killed in the enclave since October 7.

Tags: ISRAEL, PALESTINE, SCIENCE/ HEALTH/ CLIMATE/ NATURE, TORTURE/ WAR CRIMES, WAR/DRAFT/ VETERAN AFFAIRS
Posted on: Dec 11 09:13

The Ukrainian president has displayed a penchant for appearing at various events around the globe to ask for money and weapons over the past two years. He now traveled to Argentina to attend the inauguration of the recently-elected President Javier Milei.

Zelensky has flown to Buenos Aires for the swearing-in ceremony of Argentina's new president, Javier Milei. The Ukrainian previously congratulated Milei on winning the election last month and praised him for his support of Ukraine.

Though it is not immediately clear to what extent Argentina may aid Ukraine, considering the latter country’s delicate economic situation, Zelensky’s visit appears to be a “logical” move, explained Dr. Vinicius Vieira, a research associate in international relations at the University of Sao Paulo and an associate professor at the Armando Alvares Penteado Foundation.

According to Vieira, Zelensky is “clearly fearing defeat” in the Ukrainian conflict and is eager to search for “an alignment,” especially now that the attention of his Western sponsors seems to be focused more on the crisis in the Gaza Strip.

Tags: RUSSIA/ UKRAINE /BELARUS /CRIMEA, SOUTH/CENTRAL AMERICA, WAR/DRAFT/ VETERAN AFFAIRS
Posted on: Dec 11 09:12

Israel is detaining doctors "en masse" in the Gaza Strip, the founder of the Gaza Medic Voices organization, Omar Abdel-Mannan, said on Sunday.

"It's just extremely distressing as a doctor to see that my colleagues are being detained en masse," Abdel-Mannan told Sky News.

A large number of starving, dehydrated people are arriving at hospitals in the Gaza Strip, he said, adding that the enclave could face outbreaks of diseases, including cholera and diarrhea.

On October 7, Palestinian movement Hamas launched a large-scale rocket attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip and breached the border. Israel launched retaliatory strikes and ordered a complete blockade of Gaza, cutting off supplies of water, food, and fuel. On October 27, Israel launched a ground incursion into the Gaza Strip with the declared goal of eliminating Hamas fighters and rescuing the hostages.

Tags: ISRAEL, PALESTINE, SCIENCE/ HEALTH/ CLIMATE/ NATURE, TORTURE/ WAR CRIMES, WAR/DRAFT/ VETERAN AFFAIRS
Posted on: Dec 11 09:12

“Stop murdering thousands of children,” said the evil, crazy Nazi.

“It’s bad to murder children,” the monster added. “Children should not be slaughtered at mass scale with powerful military explosives, they should be allowed to remain alive and happy and healthy.”

What would lead someone to say something so hateful and depraved? What disgusting conspiratorial anti-semitic online rabbit holes must this freak have slithered down in his path toward radicalization to say something so profoundly evil? One can only guess.

“We should not incinerate children and blow their guts out of their bodies with bombs,” the world’s worst person continued. “Zero children should die by incineration, and their guts belong on the inside of their bodies.”

I’m just as shocked and dismayed as you are. I thought we were beyond this. I thought we as a civilization had left this kind of genocidal rhetoric behind us with the end of Nazi Germany. But, apparently, Adolf Hitler still lives on.

Tags: ISRAEL, PALESTINE, TORTURE/ WAR CRIMES, WAR/DRAFT/ VETERAN AFFAIRS
Posted on: Dec 11 09:07

Amid Ukraine's high-profile failures both on the battlefield and on the home front, Kiev's Western bosses are growing ever more eager to seek an appropriate replacement for President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service reports.

The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) has received information that the West is actively engaged in discussions regarding the need to replace President Zelensky, said Sergey Naryshkin, Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Russia.

"The Foreign Intelligence Service is receiving reliable information that high-ranking officials of leading Western countries are increasingly discussing the need to replace the incumbent president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky," the SVR said.

Tags: POLITICS/ ELECTIONS/ CORRUPTION, RUSSIA/ UKRAINE /BELARUS /CRIMEA, WAR/DRAFT/ VETERAN AFFAIRS
Posted on: Dec 11 09:07

A former US ambassador has slammed Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu as a 'clear and present danger' to the country amid its ongoing war with Hamas.

Martin Indyk, 72, demanded the 74-year-old leader resign 'before he does even more damage' in a post on X Sunday.

The comments come days after a report from the New York Times claimed the politician was not only was aware that Qatar was funneling millions of dollars a month to Gaza and its resident terror group, but actually encouraged the payments.

 

Tags: ISRAEL, MIDDLE EAST, PALESTINE, POLITICS/ ELECTIONS/ CORRUPTION, WAR/DRAFT/ VETERAN AFFAIRS
Posted on: Dec 11 09:06

Federal workers still refusing to return to the office after the pandemic are costing U.S. taxpayers an estimated $2.5 million a day. 

Last week, a bombshell report revealed that all federal agencies are less than 50 percent occupied, six months after the COVID emergency was declared over.

A new projection suggests these deserted buildings in the U.S. government's sprawling portfolio are leaving a huge bill. 

Meanwhile, federal workers have capitalized on relaxed telework policies by taking meetings in bathtubs, signing off early to go to happy hour and being on the clock during rounds of golf.

The federal government spends $2 billion a year maintaining its network of offices and over $5 billion annually in leases.

Tags: POLITICS/ ELECTIONS/ CORRUPTION
Posted on: Dec 11 09:05

All 25 major car brands reviewed in Mozilla’s latest edition of *Privacy Not Included (*PNI) received failing marks for consumer privacy, a first in the buyer's guide’s seven-year history.

According to Mozilla research, popular global brands — including BMW, Ford, Toyota, Tesla, Kia, and Subaru — can collect deeply personal data such as sexual activity, immigration status, race, facial expressions, weight, health and genetic information, and where you drive. Researchers found data is being gathered by sensors, microphones, cameras, and the phones and devices drivers connect to their cars, as well as by car apps, company websites, dealerships, and vehicle telematics. Brands can then share or sell this data to third parties. Car brands can also take much of this data and use it to develop inferences about a driver’s intelligence, abilities, characteristics, preferences, and more.

Tags: COMPUTERS/INTERNET, CONSUMER RIGHTS / PRODUCT REPORTS
Posted on: Dec 11 08:58

Philippe Lazzarini, the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), said that "Israel" is facilitating the large-scale displacement of Gaza Strip residents towards Egypt via the border.

In a Saturday article featured in the Los Angeles Times, Lazzarini highlighted the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza. He emphasized the increasing concentration of displaced civilians, who, escaping war, were moving closer to the northern and southern borders.

Lazzarini noted that the United Nations and numerous member states, including the United States, opposed the compelled relocation of Gazans from the Strip.

Tags: EGYPT, ISRAEL, PALESTINE, TORTURE/ WAR CRIMES, WAR/DRAFT/ VETERAN AFFAIRS
Posted on: Dec 11 08:57

Israel’s relentless bombardment of the Gaza Strip has hit areas it had told Palestinians to evacuate to in the territory’s south.

The strikes came a day after the United States vetoed a United Nations resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, despite its wide support.

Gaza residents “are being told to move like human pinballs – ricocheting between ever-smaller slivers of the south, without any of the basics for survival,” Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the UN Security Council before Friday’s vote.

Two hospitals in central and southern Gaza received 133 bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli bombings over the past 24 hours, health ministry officials in Gaza said on Saturday.

Tags: ISRAEL, PALESTINE, TORTURE/ WAR CRIMES, WAR/DRAFT/ VETERAN AFFAIRS
Posted on: Dec 11 08:57
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Posted on: Dec 11 08:56

Israel’s national security adviser warned over the weekend that the country can “no longer accept” Hezbollah’s presence along its northern border in southern Lebanon.

Tzachi Hanegbi indicated that once Israel wipes out Hamas, an Iranian-backed Palestinian terrorist group inside Gaza, it may turn its attention to Hezbollah, which is also backed by Iran.

His remarks come after tens of thousands of Israelis in dozens of towns in northern Israel were forced to evacuate their homes following Hamas’ October 7 terrorist attack, which triggered attacks from Hezbollah.

He said in an interview with Channel 12 News that the residents who were forced to evacuate their homes in northern Israel will “not return if we don’t do the same thing” to Hezbollah that the country is doing to Hamas.

Tags: ISRAEL, LEBANON, WAR/DRAFT/ VETERAN AFFAIRS
Posted on: Dec 11 08:56

The Minnesota Court of Appeals overturned a lower court ruling and will allow a lawsuit to proceed against Minneapolis public schools over a bizarre policy making racial minorities exempt from layoffs or reassignment unless all white teachers are removed first.

Hennepin County District Court had dismissed the lawsuit, filed by a taxpayer, claiming the “client lacked standing and that her claims were not ripe,” reports Judicial Watch, a non-profit public interest law firm representing her. 

The Minnesota Court of Appeals overturned that decision, ruling the “client does have standing as a taxpayer who helps fund Minneapolis Public Schools through property taxes and her claims are ripe because the lawsuit alleges an actual future controversy using public funds,” JW reports.

Tags: CURRENT EVENTS, EDUCATION
Posted on: Dec 11 08:56

Gaza hospitals have come under bombardment and some have been besieged or raided as part of Israel’s response to Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 attacks. Hospitals that remain open are overwhelmed by the numbers of dead and wounded arriving and sometimes procedures are carried out without anaesthetics.

A WHO database shows there have been 449 attacks on healthcare facilities in Palestinian territories since Oct. 7, without assigning blame.

Tags: ISRAEL, PALESTINE, TORTURE/ WAR CRIMES, WAR/DRAFT/ VETERAN AFFAIRS
Posted on: Dec 11 08:55

China’s once-thriving property market is in the midst of a severe downturn, with property stocks plummeting approximately 65% from their previous highs, now mirroring levels last seen in 2008. The last year alone has witnessed a staggering 25% drop in sales of Chinese property stocks, surpassing the dismal performance of 2008 when sales fell by around 20%.

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Posted on: Dec 11 08:51

Wells Fargo is planning to be “more aggressive” about layoffs at the bank, and expects to have higher severance costs in the fourth quarter than initially expected, its CEO said.

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Posted on: Dec 11 08:51

The French government is targeting right-wing groups for protesting about the recent racially motivated murder of a white French teenager.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin announced that he will personally oversee the dissolution of three separate organizations that encouraged its members to travel to Romans-sur-lsere, the place where a youth gang had traveled from to gatecrash a winter ball that took place in nearby Crepol.

This youth gang had previously vowed to “stab white people” at the ball. Once they got there, the teens proceeded to stab to death a 16-year-old promising rugby player named Thomas, while wounding several others.

After stabbing Thomas to death, the young gang fled Romans-sur-lsere and even tried to flee the country.

Instead of targeting the teenagers involved with the horrific crime, Darmanin announced that he will throw the book at the protest groups who demonstrated publicly in solidarity with Thomas while calling on French authorities to deal with perpetrators.

Tags: FRANCE, IMMIGRATION/GLOBALISM
Posted on: Dec 11 08:48

The problem isn’t ‘global inaction’ to prevent mass atrocities, as the Guardian claims. It’s intense US and UK support for atrocities so long as they bolster their global power

How do politicians, diplomats, the media and even the human rights community keep us politically ignorant, docile and passive – a collective mindset that prevents us from challenging their power as well as the status quo they benefit from?

The answer: By constantly misrepresenting reality to us and their own role in shaping it. And they do it so successfully because, at the same time, they gaslight us by flaunting the pretence that they crave to make the world a better place – a better place where, in truth, the unspoken danger is that, were those advances to be realised, their own power would be severely diminished.

A perfect illustration of how this grand deception works was provided in a report at the weekend in the supposedly progressive Guardian newspaper, headlined “World faces ‘heightened risk’ of mass atrocities due to global inaction”.

Tags: GREAT BRITAIN/ UK, ISRAEL, PALESTINE, TORTURE/ WAR CRIMES, WAR/DRAFT/ VETERAN AFFAIRS, WHITE HOUSE
Posted on: Dec 11 08:48

I have often wondered what Roman citizens thought as they watched the Roman Empire fall apart culturally, politically, morally, and militarily. Cicero, quaestor, praetor and Counsel of Rome, tried to save the Roman Republic. For his efforts he was chased down and murdered. As Cicero was, perhaps, the most famous Roman, his murder stopped efforts to prevent Rome’s descent into tyranny.

The same thing is happening today to those who attempt to arouse us to our danger. Julian Assange, for example, has been imprisoned contrary to every known US and UK law for a decade without conviction for simply doing his duty as a journalist and reporting the crimes of our rulers, the crimes of the corrupt vermin we continue to return to office and power over us. No one has done anything about it, not even his fellow journalists.

When truth is punished, a country dies.

Tags: COVER-UP/ DECEPTIONS/ PROPAGANDA, CURRENT EVENTS, DICTATORSHIP, POLITICS/ ELECTIONS/ CORRUPTION
Posted on: Dec 11 08:46

The Israeli army opened fire on six ambulances of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, escorted by UN vehicles, carrying 11 patients with critical injuries, including amputations and head wounds, in Gaza, the Red Crescent said on Sunday, adding that one of the injured died before receiving any treatment, Anadolu Agency reports.

“The Palestine Red Crescent Society coordinated with the United Nations to evacuate 11 casualties in critical condition last night from Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza City to the hospital in the south of the Strip,” the Red Crescent said in a statement on X.

A convoy of six Red Crescent ambulances, accompanied by UN vehicles, set off from Khan Younis after waiting about four hours for the first green light to move towards the military checkpoint that separates the north from south in the Gaza Strip, it added.

Tags: ISRAEL, PALESTINE, TORTURE/ WAR CRIMES, WAR/DRAFT/ VETERAN AFFAIRS
Posted on: Dec 11 08:45

In May, American YouTuber and columnist Gonzalo Lira was arrested in Ukraine because he “publicly justified” the Russian invasion, according to a press release by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).

The statement from Kiev said that Lira “has the citizenship of one of the countries of Latin America” but omitted that he is also California-born U.S. citizen, as ZeroHedge contributor Space Worm reported at the time.

Following his release, Lira said he was tortured in a Ukrainian prison, explaining that "two thugs held my head and used a toothpick to scratch the whites of my left eye, while asking me if I could still read if I had just one." Lira informed followers that he was making a mad-dash via motorcycle towards the Hungarian border:

Grayzone reporter Liam Cosgrove pressed State Department spox Matthew Miller on the issue, asking how the Biden Administration has allowed an American to be tortured by a closely allied nation: 

Tags: RUSSIA/ UKRAINE /BELARUS /CRIMEA
Posted on: Dec 11 08:44

The Israeli military is committing “horrific crimes” against civilians in Gaza, a human rights group said on Sunday.

The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor called for an “urgent international investigation” into field executions, torture and threats of rape against Palestinians by Israeli ground forces in Gaza.

Palestinians arrested in their homes and later released told the Geneva-based group that they were stripped naked and attacked with “machine guns, electric cables and cold water.”

A 16-year-old boy told the Euro-Med Monitor that Israeli forces stormed his family’s home in Shujaiya, near Gaza City, after they were besieged for a week without food or water.

“He stated that over the past few days, Israeli forces killed everyone in his neighborhood who tried to leave their home, including [his] brother,” the rights group said.

Tags: ISRAEL, PALESTINE, TORTURE/ WAR CRIMES, WAR/DRAFT/ VETERAN AFFAIRS
Posted on: Dec 11 08:41

Israel’s armed forces, officially the Israeli Defence Forces, are reportedly seeking to engineer the mass expulsion of the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip into the Sinai Peninsula of neighbouring Egypt, according to the head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Philippe Lazzarini. Israel has prevented the population of northern Gaza from returning to their homes after responding to attacks by militias based in the territory with mass bombardment and an invasion invasion in October, and has moved to target civilians further south on a significant scale creating a serious humanitarian crisis and tens of thousands of casualties. Cutting off water and electricity from the Gaza’s population of 2.3 million people, combined with mass targeting of housing and infrastructure, are expected to lead to a further surge in death rates for civilians leaving growing parts of the territory unliveable. Lazzarini warned of Israeli designs for “forcibly displacing Gazans out of the Gaza Strip… the developments we are witnessing point to attempts to move Palestinians into Egypt, regardless of whether they stay there or are resettled elsewhere.”

Tags: EGYPT, ISRAEL, PALESTINE, TORTURE/ WAR CRIMES, WAR/DRAFT/ VETERAN AFFAIRS
Posted on: Dec 11 08:40

Air Force pilots and others in rated fields who opt to stay in uniform can earn up to $600,000 over 12 years under the latest round of retention bonuses announced Nov. 30.

The fiscal year 2024 incentives offer manned aircraft and drone pilots, combat systems operators and air battle managers an extra $15,000 to $50,000 per year, depending on their assigned aircraft and the years to which they commit.

Annual bonus pay programs aim to keep airmen around to blunt the effects of a pilot shortage that has lasted decades, robbing the service of aviators in policy jobs that rely on their know-how to help the service plan for the future.

Tags: WAR/DRAFT/ VETERAN AFFAIRS
Posted on: Dec 11 08:40

Germany imported 2.5 times less gas in January-September this year compared to the same period in 2021, but failed to make any savings as prices also grew 2.5 times, Sputnik has calculated based on data from the German statistical office.

German gas imports in the first nine months of 2023 dropped to 47.9 billion cubic meters from 65.9 billion cubic meters in the same period last year. For comparison, the country imported as much as 121.7 billion cubic meters of gas in 2021, data showed.

At the same time, the average annual price per cubic meter of gas has risen sharply from 0.18 euros ($0.19) in 2021 to 0.45 ($0.48) this year. As a result, Germany's gas import bill stood at 21.3 billion euros in January-September this year compared to 22.2 billion euros in the same period in 2021, despite the significant drop in supplies.

On Saturday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz blamed Russia for cutting off pipeline gas supplies to Europe and the resulting spike in energy prices. Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev, in turn, said on social media it was Europe that had rejected Russia's gas supplies and accused the German leader of "lying through his teeth."

Tags: ECONOMY, GERMANY, RUSSIA/ UKRAINE /BELARUS /CRIMEA
Posted on: Dec 11 08:38