United States

Submitted by Mike Krieger via Liberty Blitzkrieg blog,

We live in a time and within a culture where the best amongst us are thrown in jail, demonized or destroyed, while the worst are celebrated, promoted and enriched. Nothing more clearly crystalizes this sad state of affairs than the U.S. government’s ruthless war on whistleblowers who expose severe constitutional violations by those in power. This war knows no political affiliation, and has be waged with equal vigor by the administrations of George W. Bush and Barack H. Obama.

This article by David Haggith was first published on The Great Recession Blog:

Since Trump’s election, the US stock market has climbed unstoppably along a remarkably steep path to round off at a teetering height. Is this the irrational exuberance that typically marks the last push before a perilous plunge, or is the market reaching escape velocity from the relentless gravity of the Great Recession? 

Submitted by Federico Pieraccini via Strategic-Culture.org,

Understanding the objectives and logic that accompany the expansion of nations or empires is always of paramount importance in helping one draw lessons for the future

The US government has begun asking foreign visitors on the visa waiver program to volunteer links to their social media accounts. It comes in the same week that the Dept. of Homeland Security announced it was going to stop its registry of visitors from predominantly Muslim and Arab countries. RT.com reports: Foreign travelers arriving in the United States, participating in the visa waiver program, are being asked by US customs and border guards to volunteer “information associated with your online presence – Provider/Platform – Social media identifier”.

Following today's surprising decision by the US' Samantha Power to abstain in a UN vote over Israel settlements, one which provoked Israel to lash out at the Obama administration  "friends don't act that way", but more importantly defied Trump who in a previous tweet urged Obama to veto the resolution, it was only a question of how long before Trump tweets his response. The time was less than an hour, because just minutes after the vote, the president-elect slammed the current administration's decision, while ominously warning the UN that it would be "different" under his presidency.