United States

Over the past few months, tensions have been high between the U.S. and China. Events such as China denying USS John C. Stennis and its escort ships access to a Hong Kong port showed just how strained relations have become between the two countries, and with China's recent comments saying that U.S. activity near the Fiery Cross Reef "threatened China's sovereignty and security interests", one would assume that things couldn't get much worse.

Submitted by Doug Casey Via InternationalMan.com,

“Making the chicken run” is what Rhodesians used to say about neighbors who packed up and got out during the ’60s and ’70s, before the place became Zimbabwe. It was considered “unpatriotic” to leave Rhodesia. But it was genuinely idiotic not to.

Submitted by Bill Bonner of Bonner & Partners (annotated by Acting-Man's Pater Tenebrarum),

Heresy!

The Dow rose 222 points on Tuesday – or just over 1% - and everyone was exuberant...but things have not turned out well since. We agree with hedge-fund manager Stanley Druckenmiller: This is not a good time to be a U.S. stock market bull.

Legendary former hedge fund manager Stanley Druckenmiller at the Ira Sohn conference – not an optimist at present, to put it mildly.

Trevor Thrall looks at how major U.S. papers have covered the extent of our government’s recent military involvement in other countries, and finds that they have covered it less frequently as it has increased:

The fate of oil companies and nations hangs in the balance of oil prices. Russia could go broke. Some think that’s by US design. Saudi Arabia could experience its Arab Spring if oil prices remain too low too long. And OPEC is dead. That’s the biggest news in this new century for oil.