A Civilization on the Verge of Collapse

 

02:40 The Entebbe Rescue Mission (5 minutes)

In this segment, I follow up on yesterday’s show about the Entebbe rescue mission. I discuss the impact the mission had on Herbert W. Armstrong, and read some listener feedback in response to the show.

The ingredients for civil war

 

Donald Trump’s unexpected victory in the US Presidential Election and the Brexit win here in 2016 brought the social divisions of both countries to the fore.

James Bartholomew was quick to highlight the dangers of Britain’s new great divide. In a Spectator article after the EU referendum result, he showed how it had exposed a split Britain – geographically between city and country, and socio-economically between the haves and the have-nots; and one overarching divide: between the metropolitan elite and the rest.

Changes brought about by globalisation and large-scale immigration had affected different classes in contrasting ways.

Austria plans to set up migrant centres outside the EU

(Shutterstock)

 

Austria is working with like-minded EU countries to set up migrant reception centres outside of the bloc, saying that shelters should provide protection and not a better life in Europe.

Speaking to public broadcaster ORF, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said: “efforts are underway to create protection centers outside of Europe where we can accommodate refugees, offer protection but not a better life in Central Europe.”

Why Italians are fed up with Europe

Joep Bertrams

 

The rise to government of Eurosceptic parties is the consequence of austerity policies made in the name of cleaner public finances and of the euro convergence criteria.

Two Eurosceptic forces are now governing Italy. On one hand the 5-Star Movement, the anti-system party of Luigi de Maio founded by the humorist Beppe Grillo. On the other, far-right xenophobic Liga led by Matteo Salvini. How could this have happened? How did one of the European Union’s six founding members, host of Treaty of Rome in 1957, and for a long time the EU’s most Europhile country, give a parliamentary majority to groups so hostile to European integration?

Sweden in Free Fall

Cars burn during a riot in suburb of Stockholm, on February 20, 2017. (Image source: YouTube/gladbecker82 video screenshot)

 

• If it is considered ‘objectionable’ in the West to talk about the factual consequences of migration, in Sweden it is now viewed as a crime.
• The kind of ‘integration’ that the mosque in Växjö is reportedly spreading to the local Muslim inhabitants is that Muslims are urged not to participate in the Christmas celebration of “kuffars” [a derogatory term for ‘disbelievers’], and Jews are, of course, mentioned as the enemies of Allah. The mosque’s school uses Saudi Arabian school curricula, and encourages women not to dress in ‘Western clothes’.
• “Silence has become an established norm in certain groups of inhabitants” in these areas…. there is pressure from relatives and religious communities, not to contact authorities, but to use the local alternative systems, such as the mosque, instead. Sometimes, the local criminal gangs even tell the residents to call them, instead of the police, to minimize the presence of police in the area. — BRÅ, the Swedish Crime Prevention Council

In 2017, a Swedish police report, “Utsatta områden 2017“, (“Vulnerable Areas 2017”, commonly known as “no-go zones” or lawless areas) showed that there are 61 such areas in Sweden. They encompass 200 criminal networks, consisting of an estimated 5,000 criminals. Twenty-three of those areas were especially critical: children as young as 10 had been involved in serious crimes there, including ones involving weapons and drugs. Most of the inhabitants were non-Western, mainly Muslim, immigrants.

Hungary’s Orban in sweeping victory, boosting EU populists

The victory will embolden Hungary’s Orban to continue cracking down on critics (Photo: Viktor Orban’s Facebook page)

 

Hungary’s nationalist prime minister Viktor Orban secured a third term with a sweeping majority in a boost to Europe’s populist forces.

Orban’s Fidesz has likely won a two-third majority in parliament in Sunday’s (8 April) general election, paving the way for amending the constitution, the electoral law, rules on local governments and the courts.

Hungarians voted in record numbers, but contrary to expectations, the large turnout favoured Orban’s Fidesz, not the opposition.

Angela Merkel finally admits there are no-go zones in Germany

Westmonster

 

Angela Merkel has finally admitted there are no go zones in Germany.

The Chancellor, who basically caused the problem thanks to her botched migration policy, told NTV that there are “areas where nobody dares to go”.

Germany: Meet Jens Spahn, Merkel’s Possible Successor

Pictured: German Chancellor Angela Merkel (right) and Jens Spahn (left), a top contender for succeeding Merkel as leader of the CDU party. (Photo by Volker Hartmann/Getty Images)

 

“I am a burkaphobe.”

• “What is clear at any rate: the financing [of imams] by foreign actors must stop.” — Jens Spahn, Deutsche Welle.
• “The message that ‘If you reach a Greek island, you will be in Germany in six days,’ not only encourages refugees from Syria, but also many people in Bangladesh and India. No country in the world, and no European Union, can withstand that if we give up control of our external borders.” — Jens Spahn, Die Zeit.
• “To anyone who makes their way to Germany, it must made be clear that their life here will be very different from that at home. They should think carefully about whether they really want to live in this western culture.” — Die Welt.

Chancellor Angela Merkel has sparked a mutiny from within her own party over a controversial coalition deal that allows her to remain in office for a fourth term. The deal, in which Merkel agreed to relinquish control over the most influential government ministries, has led a growing number of voices from within her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) to say — publicly — that it is time to begin looking for her successor.

Far right enters government in Austria

The last time the far right got into power in Austria, EU and Israel froze relations (Photo: oevp.at)

 

Austria’s new government has pledged support for the EU, but aims to give a hard time to refugees and to be friendlier to Russia.

The policy lines emerged on Sunday (17 December) in a coalition deal between the centre-right Austrian People’s Party (OVP) and the far-right Freedom Party (FPO).

The pact is to see the OVP’s 31-year old Sebastian Kurz become Austria’s youngest-ever leader, with the FPO’s Heinz-Christian Strache as deputy.

Germany Enters Dangerous, Uncharted Waters

 

After weeks of tottering on the edge, Germany this week fell into full-blown political crisis.

On Sunday, the Free Democrats pulled out of discussions to form a coalition government. This caused the four-party negotiations to collapse.

Germany is in uncharted waters politically. This situation is unprecedented. The nation hasn’t experienced this much ambiguity and political instability since the Weimar years of the 1920s.

Der Spiegel wrote this week that this “is an unprecedented moment of uncertainty for a country that prizes stability and predictability above all else.” It is also reported that it is “difficult to overstate the impact of the collapsed talks.”

Anti-establishment billionaire vying to become Czech Republic’s next prime minister

 

The last time an anti-establishment billionaire made waves in pre-election polls, the major media scoffed and wrote it off and it became fodder for late-night talk show hosts.

We all know how that turned out.

Austria election RESULTS: Eurosceptic Sebastian Kurz declares VICTORY in nightmare for EU

As stated over and over again, Europe is going to take a far right swing. All it needed was a catalyst and the immigration issue has proved to be one, along with islamic terrorist attacks and Germany’s fourth power grab for Europe.

 

Sebastian Kurz arrives with his partner ahead of the elections (Getty)

 

SEBASTIAN Kurz has declared victory in the Austrian elections following the latest vote projections, which could see him form an alliance with the far-right in a crushing blow for the European Union.

The People’s Party (OVP) got 30.2 per cent of the vote, according to exit polls from Austrian news channel ORF.

Mr Kurz’s party is tough on migration, easy on taxes and widely Eurosceptic after rebranding itself over the last few months to propel its popularity in the wealthy Alpine nation.

America Is Going Broke… and Nobody Cares

(shutterstock)

 

After having sided with the Democrats on the debt ceiling, he went back to the swamp to resolve the “Dreamer” issue — the 800,000 children who arrived in the U.S. as undocumented migrants and were allowed to temporarily stay legally in the country.

Then, over the weekend, it was reported that the administration wanted to get back on the Paris climate change agreement bandwagon.

The White House denies it, but it’s now clear that Mr. Trump aims to be a whole lot less disruptive than he promised to be.

And now, with the floodgates open, the U.S. national debt has surged over $20 trillion.

Germany Heading for Four More Years of Pro-EU, Open-Door Migration Policies

As this article clearly points out, their ideas and vision for Germany, as well as the European Union, are the same. Schulz and the SPD are touted as far left whereas the Merkel and CDU are center-right… yet the people chew it up and believe it although both have the same objectives in mind. As in Russia and also America (Trump being the exception) today, both sides of the political spectrum are of the same party. The opposition plays along while the winner has already been chosen. No matter who wins, the Kremlin gets its man in office while the ‘Deep State’ gets its man in the White House.

 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (right) and her main election opponent, Martin Schulz (left), whose policy positions on key issues are virtually identical. (Image source: European Parliament/Flickr)

 

• The policy positions of Merkel and Schulz on key issues are virtually identical: Both candidates are committed to strengthening the European Union, maintaining open-door immigration policies, pursuing multiculturalism and quashing dissent from the so-called far right.
• Merkel and Schulz both agree that there should be no upper limit on the number of migrants entering Germany.
• Merkel’s grand coalition backed a law that would penalize social media giants, including Facebook, Google and Twitter, with fines of €50 million ($60 million) if they fail to remove offending content from their platforms within 24 hours. Observers say the law is aimed at silencing critics of Merkel’s open-door migration policy.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), is on track win a fourth term in office after polls confirmed she won the first and only televised debate with her main election opponent, Martin Schulz, leader of the Social Democratic Union Party (SDP).

Derivatives Trading Legend: “As Little As A 4% Decline In One Day Could Start A Critical Crash”

After building out Merrill’s mortgage trading floor basically from scratch, then moving to the buyside at Pimco, several weeks ago Harley Bassman, more familiar to many traders as the “Convexity Maven” – a legend in the realm of derivatives (he helped design the MOVE Index, better known as the VIX for government bonds) – decided to retire (roughly one year after his shocking suggestion that the Fed should devalue the dollar by buying gold).

But that did not mean he would stop writing, and just a few days after exiting the front door at 650 Newport Center Drive in Newport Beach for the last time, Bassman wrote his first full article as a “free man”, in which the topic was, not surprisingly, derivatives and specifically the recent collapse in vol – and convexity – what prompted it, but most importantly and what everyone wants to know: what threshold would be sufficient to finally launch the next “critical mass” market move (i.e. crash) and, just as importantly, what could catalyze it.