Europe

After North Korea provoked both its neighbors and the US when on Sunday morning it fired off yet another ballistic missile from Kusong near the border with China  - one which this time did not explode upon launch  - just days after the election of a new South Korean president who ironically advocates more engagement with Pyongyang, experts said the missile appeared to be a new type of ballistic missile, and had a far greater range than any other weapon North Korea has successfully launched.

There was a silver lining in what has been dubbed the "world's biggest ransomware attack" - it struck on Friday mid-afternoon (in Europe), just as businesses were winding down for the weekend, and as a result the full impact of the forced system shutdowns would not be fully felt over the weekend when businesses and infrastructure are generally operating at a subdued pace. However, with the weekend coming to a close, the full extent of the inflicted damage may become apparent in just a few hours.

Censorship or Glitches?

In the past few days several readers have told me via emails that they experienced some censorship in relation to my website. With regard to the guest contributions of May 12, several readers in Europe said they were not allowed to tweet the article on the digital revolution and Engdahl’s article on controlling the food supply.

Another reader sent me this report of his attempt to access my website via Firefox:

Authored by Paul Criag Roberts,

“Fifty years ago, the streets of Leningrad taught me one thing: If a fight is inevitable, you must strike first.” Vladimir Putin

In George Orwell’s 1949 dystopian novel, 1984, information that no longer is consistent with Big Brother’s explanations is chucked down the Memory Hole. In the real American dystopia in which we currently live, the information is never reported at all.

Authored by Wayne Madsen via The Strategic Culture Foundation,