Social Issues

On Wednesday, Greek yields surged when it emerged that diplomatic relations between Greece and the Eurogroup had broken down once again, after European finance ministers suspended negotiations over granting short-term debt relief to Greece as a result of pledges by embattled Greek PM Tsipras unexpectedly said he would grant low-income pensioners a pre-Christmas payoff by spending €600 million to the nation's 1 million low-income pensioners, to replace a Christmas bonus scrapped by the Greek bailout supervisors.

Awkward...

Brexit, in a single shot. This morning at the EU summit. pic.twitter.com/1WlKeekRQy

— Daniel Sandford (@BBCDanielS) December 15, 2016

As The Telegraph reports, the video, tweeted by journalists covering Thursday morning's event in Brussels, shows Mrs May having to fidget while her European counterparts greet each other warmly and chat. The PM has also not been invited to this evening's end-of-year dinner.

The U.S. government has granted law enforcement agencies the power to forcibly microchip disabled people against their will.  According to a recently passed bill, the reality of a microchip populace is closer than ever before. Last week, the House passed HR 4919, allowing authorities to chip people with “forms of dementia or children with developmental disabilities”.

We’ve all been warned that it is coming, but as SHTFPlan.com's Mac Slavo notes, what is disturbing is that while technology surrounds us and *some* have concerns about privacy, most shrug at the massive amounts of data they are collecting about our lives, and the incredible level of control the system now has over each individual.

This bill passed, clinging to the broadest base of “good intentions” that it could muster, i.e. caring for those with disabilities and decline with age.

 

A few days ago we noted that the Dallas Police and Fire Pension System (DPFP) took the unprecedented step of halting withdrawals from their DROP fund after a "run on the bank" pushed to the entire pension system, and the City of Dallas, to the brink of liquidity crisis (see "In Unprecedented Move, Dallas Pension System Suspends Withdrawals").  Now, a local CBS affiliate in Dallas is reporting that the pension crisis is driving a massive surge in police resignations.