Submitted by Brian Cloughley via Strategic-Culture.org,
In the military a rearguard action is defined as ‘a defensive action carried out by a retreating army’ and it is an appropriate description of the desperate scrabbling by NATO to convince the rest of the world — and especially Donald Trump — that its existence is justified.
How stable are the world's democracies? While there is a certain level of complacency among the citizens of most developed countries in the security of their freedom, at least one Harvard historian sees some glaring warning signs. Citing a "freedom index" compiled by Freedom House, Harvard historian Yascha Mounk notes that after rising steadily from the mid-1970s through the early 2000s, the number of countries globally that are considered "free" have been on a steady decline ever since.
Submitted by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,
After budgeting just $1.1mm for the Wisconsin recount, Jill Stein got a bit of shock yesterday when the Wisconsin Election Commission gave her until 4:30pm today to deliver $3.5 million to fund an expedited recount effort in the state or walk away. Now, according to the Washington Post, Stein has just delivered the required sum which is roughly 54% of the $6.5mm she's raised to date.
This...
Well that didn't last long did it? Nasdaq hit a new intraday record high... But...Ugly Close though... VIX 13, S&P 2,200, and Dow 19,100 seem all that matters.
Stocks were up despite oil's tumble...