America

Not liking the outcome of the 2016 election, President Obama has apparently made the decision to use his final days in office to do everything possible to "box in" and undermine President-elect Trump.  The latest actions, of course, revolve around sanctions on several Russian entities and the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats for "hacking" the election.  Unfortunately, that move seemingly backfired this morning when Putin announced that he "will not sink to the level of [Obama's] 'kitchen' diplomacy"...apparently "when the Obama's go low, Putin goes

Submitted by Alex Thomas via Intellihub.com,

With a stroke of the pen President Obama has unilaterally declared vast swaths of land in Utah and Nevada as two new national monuments, thus putting them under control of the federal government.

Startlingly, the area in Nevada includes the site of the infamous Bundy Ranch standoff as well as land very close to the Bundy Ranch itself. With this move Obama has possibly triggered another armed standoff while also heading off any moves set to be made by incoming president Donald Trump.

One can almost sense that unforeseen events could bring chaos to America, warns SHTFPlan.com's Mac Slavo...

Debts and economic catastrophes could play out, terrorism could strike, wars could spark to life, disaster may hit, and much more. While many have been optimistic about the promises of a new president, and a brighter spot for the free market, global affairs are complicated, and often bite from both ends. With Trump, no one really knows what to expect, and regardless, one man cannot steer all world events in his direction.

Authored by Paul Craig Roberts,

The English language Russian news agency, Sputnik, reports that former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger is advising US president-elect Donald Trump how to “bring the United States and Russia closer together to offset China’s military buildup.” 

If we take this report at face value, it tells us that Kissinger, an old cold warrior, is working to use Trump’s commitment to better relations with Russia in order to separate Russia from its strategic alliance with China.

Submitted by Raul Ilargi Meijer via The Automatic Earth blog,