Europe

China has found JPMorgan Chase guilty of corruption and fined the financial institution a staggering $264 million. By demanding that bankers be subject to the same laws as the rest of society, China is opting for a very different strategy to Europe and the US, where banks are only ever fined nominal amounts, and directors and chief executives escape punishment altogether. AnonHQ report: We all know that the 2008 financial crisis was a result of the recklessness of the big banks, especially those in the United States.

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On the heels of Czech President Milos Zeman's warnings of a possible "super-Holocaust" carried out by Muslim terrorists, urging citizens to arm themselves, WaPo reports the country's interior ministry is pushing a constitutional change that would let citizens use guns against terrorists if police are delayed or unable to make their way to the scene of an attack.

Submitted by Bryce McBride via Mises Canada,

This past November, the filmmaker Adam Curtis released the documentary Hypernormalisation.

There was a time when even the merest hint of a breakup of the Eurozone was considered a taboo topic in Europe. Who can forget Mario Draghi's response to a question from Zero Hedge readers who wondered if there is a "plan in place if a nation is forced to step out of the Eurozone"  to which Draghi's response was that "if the Euro breaks down, and if a country leaves the Euro, it's not like a sliding door. It's a very important thing. It's a project in the European Union. That's why you have a very hard time asking people like me "what would happened if." No Plan B."