Excerpted from Doug Noland's Credit Bubble Bulletin,
The year 2015 was extraordinary. Incredibly, despite powerful confirmation of the bursting global Bubble thesis, market optimism remained deeply entrenched. All leading strategists surveyed in December by Barron’s remained bullish – some were borderline crazy optimistic.
In a new strategy document, Russia has for the first time appraised the United States as a threat to its national security. Times of India reports: The document, “About the Strategy of National Security of Russian Federation”, was signed by President Vladimir Putin on New Year’s Eve. It replaces a 2009 version, endorsed by Dmitry Medvedev, president then, and the current prime minister, which mentioned neither the United States not Nato. It says Russia has managed to heighten its role in solving global problems and international conflicts.
Early last month, Donald Trump shocked the American electorate by “calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until [the] country’s representatives can figure out what is going on.”
While it wasn’t entirely clear what Trump meant by “until lawmakers can figure out what is going on,” the message was unequivocal: the GOP frontrunner was calling for the nation to filter those entering the country based on religion.
Preface: One of our pet peeves is when erroneous groupthink persists even in the face of contradictory evidence.
As shown below, water fluoridation is based on very shaky science. And yet – despite the science – the big dental associations in the U.S. and other countries continue to push it as safe and effective.
The Guardian reported last week:
It’s no secret that relations between Moscow and the West have deteriorated the post-Cold War lows.
The annexation of Crimea and the conflict in Ukraine have pushed the two sides to the brink of a Baltic battle while Russia’s intervention in Syria changed the West’s calculus when it comes to pushing for regime change in the Mid-East.
Earlier this year, in a hilariously accurate assessment of US foreign policy, Vladimir Putin’s Security Council issued a statement entitled "About The US National Security Strategy". Here are some notable excerpts (translated):