After the war, divided Germany became the focus of the United States and the Soviet Union, because Germany would be the place where a third world war, if there were one, would start. Once the Soviet Union fell and the Maastricht Treaty was signed forming the European Union, it was Germany at the center of the EU. Ever since 1871, the question of how to maintain peace in Europe has been how to keep a unified Germany peaceful. That is the essence of the “German question.”

At first, the outcome of the election in Germany could be placed in a comfortable context. Sure, AfD had gained ground, but mainstream parties still held the two top spots. But the spectacle of the establishment CDU and SPD unable to efficiently form a new government raises questions less about AfD and more about the ability of the establishment parties to act decisively in a new reality.

If the European project is going to be revived, then Germany must be the engine of its revival. And for that, Europe can’t be politically gridlocked. In Europe, nations are governed by the people, and it is the people, not the governments, who decide the directions they will take. And now, the European heartland, Germany, is experiencing the first tremors of what it feared most.

She is “therefore convinced that, firstly, the world won’t wait on us — neither in Germany nor in Europe — and secondly, we urgently need European answers to the major problems of our time.” For this reason, it is “no accident that the first chapter of the coalition agreement between the CDU, CSU and SPD is devoted to Europe,” Merkel said.

At stake is “our national response to the European agenda.” Merkel left no doubt about the fact that this “national response” includes rearmament and war.

Spahn's promotion is widely seen as an attempt by Merkel to placate the conservative wing of her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, which felt left behind as she charted an ever more centrist course in recent years. By offering the outspoken Spahn a cabinet post, Merkel is also bringing a key rival into the fold at a time when her leadership has been weakened by her lengthy struggles to form a coalition government after a disappointing election.

"In the autumn of her reign, the pressure on Merkel was too big," Der Spiegel weekly wrote. "Had the CDU leader overlooked Spahn, there would have been trouble." Seen as the flag bearer for the right wing of the CDU, deputy finance minister Spahn has made a name for himself slamming Merkel's centrist policies, particularly on immigration.

Fiercely opposed to her open-door refugee policy, Spahn has advocated a sharp conservative shift to coax back voters from the far-right AfD, which garnered nearly 13 percent in the September election. He has called for a cap on migration, a burqa ban and has railed against imams in Germany funded by "foreign actors".

Knowing all this, the incident that occurred on Sunday was a historic event. The heads of three communities, the Greek Orthodox patriarch, the Armenian patriarch and the Catholic custodian of the Holy Land, met at the entrance to the church. They cleared the place of tourists and had the heavy doors shut. Large signs, printed up ahead of time, were hung outside with images of the church’s two enemies: Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat and Knesset member Rachel Azaria of Kulanu. At the top was written, “Enough is Enough.”

The protest came in response to two recent major steps. One was Barkat’s decision to end the municipal tax exemption for church-owned properties in Jerusalem and to put liens on the churches’ bank accounts for the tax debts. The second was a bill sponsored by Azaria that would allow the expropriation of lands sold by churches to private buyers. It was on Sunday’s agenda for a Knesset committee that decides whether or not the governing coalition will support legislation.

The churches’ action on Sunday shows that they are in an impossible situation, with pressure from all sides: Israel, their Palestinian faithful, church institutions, pilgrims and their sponsor countries (Jordan, Greece, Armenia and the Vatican). Decision makers continually ignore the political, religious and diplomatic sensitivities when they try to solve problems that concern the churches.

Officially unveiled Friday afternoon, the Nuclear Posture Review — a comprehensive look at America’s nuclear weapons and the doctrine behind it — largely continues ideas pushed forward from the 2010 review done by the Obama administration. It fully supports the nuclear modernization projects now underway and reaffirms commitments to non-proliferation treaties.

It is hard not to notice a major shift from the 2010 NPR, which emphasized the goal of reducing nuclear stockpiles worldwide through American leadership, and the 2018 version, which emphasizes the need to enhance capabilities to match with Russia.

Thompson accuses Google and Facebook of creating a “dysfunctional” and “debased” online environment by failing to crack down on what he calls “bot-infested badlands,” and that this lack of censorship is making it harder to achieve a “safe space for advertisers”.

Thompson goes on to complain that “misinformation” is being promoted at the expense of media properties such as the Wall Street Journal (which just happens to be owned by News Corp). “The potential returns for our journalism would be far higher in a less chaotic, less debased digital environment,” asserts Thompson.

In other words, if those pesky alternative media outlets like Infowars were censored and shadow banned by Google and social media giants, News Corp would make a lot more money.

British pediatricians are blaming the erosion of basic motor skills on the changing culture among parents who rely heavily on technology. “It’s easier to give a child an iPad than encouraging them to do muscle-building play such as building blocks,” Payne added. “Children need lots of opportunity to develop those skills.”

One mother admitted to reporters that she had only given her son hi-tech gadgets to play with; leaving him unprepared for grade school. “When he got to school, they contacted me with their concerns: he was gripping his pencil like cavemen held sticks,” Laura said to The Guardian. “He just couldn’t hold it in any other way and so couldn’t learn to write because he couldn’t move the pencil with any accuracy.”

Karin Bishop, assistant director at the Royal College of Occupational Therapists, added that tech is having a growing impact on children becoming less physically active and living “more sedentary lifestyles.”

It was uploaded to the channel and received a good amount of traffic, maybe 10-15k views. I don't remember the exact amount. No big deal right? Wrong, according to Youtube. 

I just got an email from them this morning alerting me to the fact they removed the video from the platform and dinged my account with a "community strike", which isn't that big a deal - as it only restricts my ability to live stream; but I think it's unfair and I am appealing their ruling because, as far as I can tell, she's a legit eyewitness of the events of the day and even if she was mistaken-- shouldn't her words be part of the public record? Are we simply going to clean the internet of all things that do not fit neatly with the accepted narrative?

In case you're wondering, the good folks over at Snopes already debunked the second shooter theory, citing this very interview as confusing and in tandem with the accepted narrative. Quite frankly, I don't know what they're talking about. The girl flatly stated she definitely thought there was a second shooter. There is nothing unclear or confusing about it.

Anyone who questions the wisdom of the school students-turned-propagandists ….is immediately banned and silenced. The insanity, stupidity and derangement of all this is beyond description. YouTube, Google, Twitter and even Facebook have now decided to pick a political side and silence all opposing viewpoints.

Online platforms that once hosted conversations and debates are now nothing more than lunatic liberal echo chambers of cognitive illiteracy combined with demanded obedience. That’s why I have now dubbed the delusional Left an “obedience cult.” Now, more than ever, the internet needs free speech alternatives to Google, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.

All these left-wing extremist tech companies have now decided to crush the speech of their political opponents...