United States

The latest diplomatic spat between the US and China erupted overnight, when China said on Tuesday it had "irrefutable" sovereignty over disputed islands in the South China Sea after White House spokesman Sean Spicer vowed to defend "international territories" in the strategic waterway. Spicer's first official comments on Monday signaled a sharp departure from years of cautious U.S. handling of China's assertive pursuit of territorial claims in Asia.

US equity futures were flat, European stocks rose and Asia was mixed after the dollar posted a modest rebound overnight despite Mnuchin's "strong dollar" comments, while oil was flat and gold fell, as investors focused on President Donald Trump’s plans to boost growth. The pound fell after a U.K. court ruled that Parliament must vote on triggering Brexit.

A municipal council lawmaker in the Swedish city of Kalmar, Roland Pettersson, member of the biggest Swedish Social Democratic Party, resigned on Monday after asking on Facebook if someone could “shoot” America’s president, Donald Trump.

“I believed that Donald Trump would calm down after he became the president [of the US]. But how wrong I was! He exceeded my worst fears! Could anyone shoot him?” Swedish Social Democratic Party member Roland Peterson, a municipal official in Kalmar’s Soedermoere district, wrote on his Facebook page on Sunday.

Submitted by Mike Krieger via Liberty Blitzkrieg blog,

The best way to control the opposition is to lead it.

Submitted by Jim Quinn via The Burning Platform blog,

In Part One of this article I explored Thomas Paine’s critical role in the creation of our nation. His Common Sense pamphlets inspired the common people to uncommon acts of courage and heroic feats of valor; leading to the great experiment we call the United States of America. Paine, Franklin and the other Founding Fathers produced a republic, if we could keep it.