IRAN - An Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander chose Thanksgiving to warn the US its bases in Afghanistan, the UAE and Qatar, and US aircraft carriers in the Gulf are within range of Iran missile strikes. Amirali Hajizadeh, head of the Revolutionary Guards’ airspace division, said Thursday Iranian missiles stand ready to respond if America uses military force against Tehran. He singled out US bases and aircraft carriers for special mention as possible targets, naming Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, Al Dhafra base in the United Arab Emirates and Kandahar base in Afghanistan that host US forces. “They are within our reach and we can hit them if the Americans make a move. Our land-to-sea missiles have a range of 450 miles and the US aircraft carriers are our targets.” he said, according to Reuters.
USA - The parent of a student at a Colorado elementary school is raising concerns over a transgender awareness indoctrination workshop. The Superior Elementary School in Boulder County will show students as young as five-years-old videos from the Queer Kid Stuff Youtube channel, ahead of a performance in late November from the “Phoenix, Colorado’s Trans Community Choir.” “We really don’t believe that you can be too young to learn about inclusivity and differences in the community,” said Boulder County Chief Communications Officer Randy Barber. But one parent says it’s too early for elementary school children to be learning about transgender issues, and reportedly feels the district is “forcing” the agenda on them. We support tolerance and acceptance, but this is simply not age-appropriate.
USA - Thanksgiving week was not supposed to be like this. Normally things are slow in the days leading up to Thanksgiving as investors prepare to gorge themselves with turkey and stuffing as they gather with family and friends. But this year the stock market is crashing, and Wall Street is in panic mode. On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 24,465.64, which is nearly 2,500 points lower than the all-time high of 26,951.81 that was set in early October.
USA - America, you officially have a debt problem, and I am not just talking about the national debt. Consumer bankruptcies are surging, corporate debt has doubled since the last financial crisis, state and local government debt loads have never been higher, and the federal government has been adding more than a trillion dollars a year to the federal debt ever since Barack Obama entered the White House.
ISRAEL - A conference is set to be held in Jerusalem in two weeks which will for the first time, educate Christians on the importance of the Temple Mount. The conference will bring the archaeological proof, refuting the theory that the Jewish Temples were not located where Jewish tradition holds.
EUROPE - The "EU army" is stronger than ever as European nations take action to enhance military cooperation between members states, as tensions escalate across the region, German media reports. The European Union has improved efforts of cross-country military initiatives over the years, giving rise to the probability of a counteractive "EU army", developing warfare tactics with shared intelligence across borders. German newspaper Zeit said: "The EU army is already taking on shape.
GREECE - Greece’s financial crisis has come back to the boil as Athens draws up emergency plans to stabilize the banking system, raising concerns that the country may ultimately need a fourth EU rescue to escape its depression trap. Global risk aversion and contagion from Italy’s parallel banking drama has lifted a lid on the festering legacy of bad debts, and exposed the implausible methods employed by Greek regulators and the EU-led troika to camouflage the problem. Greek bank shares slumped a further 6 percent on Tuesday after five days of falls. They are now down by 60 percent since May, chiefly on fears of drastic state intervention to shore up thinning capital buffers.
USA - Much of today’s incivility and contempt for personal liberty has its roots on college campuses, and most of the uncivil and contemptuous are people with college backgrounds. Let’s look at a few highly publicized recent examples of incivility and attacks on free speech.
USA - New statistics from the National Institutes of Health show that more than 72,000 people died from drug overdoses during 2017. Of those, a staggering 49,060 people are said to have died as a result of opioid abuse. The opioid pain-reliever is one of Big Pharma’s most profitable cash-cows, and now, American citizens are paying the price — with their lives. Annual death tolls from opioids alone are now exceeding deaths from car accidents (40,100), fatal shootings (15,549), homicides (17,284) and even suicide (almost 45,000).
USA - Oil, copper and lumber are all telling us the exact same thing, and it isn’t good news for the global economy. When economic activity is booming, demand for commodities such as oil, copper and lumber goes up and that generally causes prices to rise. But when economic activity is slowing down, demand for such commodities falls and that generally causes prices to decline. In recent weeks, we have witnessed a decline in commodity prices unlike anything that we have witnessed in years, and many are concerned that this is a very clear indication that hard times are ahead for the global economy.
USA - The Trump administration is on track to post a 2019 fiscal year budget deficit of over $1 trillion. These are the kind of budget deficits we would expect to see during a deep recession, not an “economic boom.”
ITALY - Italy and the European Union are on course for a dramatic showdown in Brussels today, with the bloc poised to start the ball rolling on a process which would see the imposition of sanctions against Rome over its controversial budget plans. European Commission Günther Oettinger has signalled his intention to get tough, suggesting inaction on the matter was not a option. He fears there will be an uprising from eurozone members if Brussels does not take a stand. Italy’s ruling coalition, a partnership between Matteo Salvini’s Lega and Luigi Di Maio’s Five Star Movement has defied Eurocrats with a budget representing a spend of 2.4 percent of GDP next year. Italy says expansionary measures and high levels of public spending are needed to head off an economic slowdown affecting the whole of Europe.
USA - Senator Rand Paul (Republican for Kentucky) said at a conference in Washington, DC, last week that he is beginning to see a “right-left” coalition movement growing, attracting those who want to restrain or end wars the US is waging without congressional authorization. “There is a right-left movement out there talking about a more realistic foreign policy,” he said. “There are some people who are coming together who are saying, ‘we’ve had too much war for too long.'”
USA - Have you ever had a day when your children were crying due to hunger but the cupboards were completely bare and your bank account was empty? If you haven’t, you should consider yourself to be extremely blessed, because this is what real life feels like for millions upon millions of Americans in 2018 ...a third of all Americans cannot even afford “the basics” each month, and 13 million households are officially considered to be “food insecure”.
UK - Britain’s education system is failing to tackle the “astonishing” underperformance of boys as feminists have made the topic “taboo”, the former head of the university admissions service has warned. Mary Curnock Cook, who was chief executive of Ucas until last year, said the fact that boys are falling behind in education is a national scandal – yet it is such an “unfashionable” topic to discuss that it has become “normalised”. Girls outperform boys in all aspects of education, from primary school to GCSEs and A-level results. Last year, 57 per cent of women went to university compared to 43 per cent of men, a gap that has widened significantly over the last decade.
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The views expressed in this section are not our own, unless specifically stated, but are provided to highlight what may prove to be prophetically relevant material appearing in the media.