EU’s Strategic Sovereignty
GERMANY - Germany and France are seeking greater “European sovereignty” and aim to “strengthen the EU as a geopolitical actor,” according to a Franco-German declaration published yesterday in Paris on the occasion of the ceremonies marking the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Élysée Treaty. The declaration provides military support for Ukraine “for as long as it takes,” announces new armament projects, and a Franco-German exercise in the “Indo-Pacific.” This is also due to Germany's severe setbacks in its rivalry with the Unites States, including its growing military dependence and the threat of its deindustrialization due to the exodus of production sites to the USA.
According to the French publicist Emmanuel Todd, the current global power struggle – “the third world war has begun” – is also “about Germany.” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz anticipates the emergence of a “multipolar world,” in which Germany and the EU are to assume leading roles as strong military powers.
Paris is following Berlin, which had also massively increased its military budget. In the meantime, the demanded increase is not of 100 but of €300 billion. In reference to Berlin’s plans to increase the defense budget, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that Germany is “the largest national economy in Europe.” “Therefore, we should also aim at having the strongest and best equipped army in the EU.” His “job” was “to set the course for the Zeitenwende to succeed” [Zeitenwende: turning point in history].
Voters: Go ahead, shut down the government
USA - Most voters believe that uncontrolled federal spending is the reason Washington has burst through the debt ceiling again, and they’re OK with shutting the government down until Democrats and Republicans come up with the needed cuts to bring down the debt. According to the latest Rasmussen Reports survey, voters also believe that Congress, the White House, and federal agencies are to blame for the problem, not Americans paying too little in taxes.
The government hit the $31.38 trillion debt ceiling last week. Republicans have been pushing for spending cuts, while Democrats are trying to eliminate the cap to allow unlimited spending and borrowing.
President Joe Biden has so far refused to engage in negotiations, leaving his administration to take action to stall a government shutdown. The media has played along with the administration in warning of catastrophic impacts if the administration has to start partially shutting down the government. But those warnings have been heard before, and voters apparently aren’t scared by them.
Doomsday Clock: The world is closer than ever to a global catastrophe
USA - The world is closer to annihilation than it has ever been since the first nuclear bombs were released at the close of World War II, The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists said Tuesday. The time on the Doomsday Clock moved forward from 100 seconds to midnight to 90 seconds to midnight. It’s a reset of what has come to be known as the Doomsday Clock, a decades long project of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists featuring a clock face where midnight represents Armageddon.
Between Russia's nuclear brinkmanship in its war on Ukraine, the real threats of climate change becoming increasingly dire and ongoing concerns about more possible pandemics caused by humans encroaching on formerly wild areas, the Bulletin chose to set the clock the closest to midnight yet.
"The threats are even more acute, and the failures of leadership even more damning. We live today in a world of interlocking crises, each illustrating the unwillingness of leaders to act in the true long-term interests of their people," she said.
The Bulletin was founded in 1945 by Albert Einstein and University of Chicago scientists who helped develop the first atomic weapons at the Manhattan Project. Two years later they launched the clock as a way to warn humanity just how close to nuclear apocalypse the world was. "It's a way to remind people of issues that are so big they post a threat to civilization as a whole…"
US transition to electric cars threatens environmental havoc
USA - By 2050 electric vehicles could require huge amounts of lithium for their batteries, causing damaging expansions of mining. The US’s transition to electric vehicles could require three times as much lithium as is currently produced for the entire global market, causing needless water shortages, Indigenous land grabs, and ecosystem destruction inside and outside its borders, new research finds. It warns that unless the US’s dependence on cars in towns and cities falls drastically, the transition to lithium battery-powered electric vehicles by 2050 will deepen global environmental and social inequalities linked to mining.
The global demand for lithium, also known as white gold, is predicted to rise over 40 times by 2040, driven predominantly by the shift to electric vehicles. Grassroots protests and lawsuits against lithium mining are on the rise from the US and Chile to Serbia and Tibet amid rising concern about the socio-environmental impacts and increasingly tense geopolitics around supply.
Mining lithium is a fraught business, and the rise in demand for EVs is contributing to a rise in social and environmental harms – and global supply chain bottlenecks. If Americans continue to depend on cars at the current rate, by 2050 the US alone would need triple the amount of lithium currently produced for the entire global market, which would have dire consequences for water and food supplies, biodiversity, and Indigenous rights.
Brits Pay More to Charge Electric Car than to Gas Up
USA - Per mile travelled, our British friends are now paying more to charge their electric cars than to gas them up. Rapid charge points used by motorists topping up on long drives are now nearly £10 more expensive than filling up a car with petrol, the RAC revealed last week. But research from the AA published on Monday finds that recharging an electric car even using a slow public charger at peak times can be more expensive, per mile driven afterwards, than for refuelling a comparable petrol car.
But at least these smug electric car drivers are decreasing their carbon footprint. Oh, wait, they aren’t… You can’t make electricity without burning fossil fuels… So, according to this hilarious story, “Topping up the e-Corsa’s charge by 80 per cent on a slow charger at peak times results in a cost of 16.18p per mile.” But. The “costs (of a petrol Corsa) are around 14.45 pence per mile.”
Question: What’s left to feel smug about after it costs more to drive your electric car?
Well, I guess you can pretend to feel all kinds of virtuous about saving Mother Earth in your Prius… you’re not saving anything. You’re certainly not saving money — lol. What’s more, no matter how much denial you conjure up, fossil fuels are still being burned to supply you with the electricity for your car, which, by the way, costs more than filling up your car with fossil fuels.
Divided Israel mustn't fall like ancient Israel
ISRAEL - Israel must not become divided and collapse before its 80th year like ancient Jewish kingdoms over the proposed judicial reforms, Israeli President Isaac Herzog urged on Tuesday at the Ashmoret 2023 Conference. "I see before my eyes the cleavages and rifts within us, which are getting deeper and deeper, and I cannot help but remember that twice in history - during the reigns of the House of David and the Hasmoneans - a Jewish state arose in the Land of Israel; And twice she collapsed before reaching her eightieth year," said Herzog.
"The most urgent discourse at this time concerns the legal reform promoted by the government, which arouses serious controversy and serious concerns among large sections of the public." Herzog called on leaders and authorities to take the time for discourse and talk with an open heart, warning that the lack of communication was dangerous.
"It is permissible and proper to criticize any authorities, and it is important to understand the depths of frustration, anger and pain that are at the basis of that criticism," said Herzog. "It is legitimate to have a practical discussion about the boundaries of the sector and the relationship between the authorities - just like what happens in many democracies in the world - but with conversation."
Thousands of Israelis protested against the proposed changes to the legal system, on haBima square in Tel Aviv, on January 14, 2023. Herzog reiterated his own position that civil rights and democracy needed to be protected, and the judicial reforms proposed by Justice Minister Yariv Levin at the beginning of January were done hastily and without proper dialogue with key authorities and the public. The lack of discourse is what has led to the current "dangerous situation". "It seems that not only have we forgotten how to agree, but we can't even argue," said Herzog.
4.2-magnitude earthquake shakes Malibu area
USA - A preliminary 4.2-magnitude earthquake struck off the Malibu coast early Wednesday morning followed by multiple aftershocks. According to the US Geological Survey, the first earthquake happened at 2am about 10 miles south of Malibu Beach and 15 miles southwest of Santa Monica. Its depth was reported at about 9.2 miles, according to the USGS. Just seconds after the first jolt, a second earthquake was reported – a preliminary 3.5-magnitude earthquake, also 10 miles south of Malibu Beach. The depth for the second earthquake was reported at about 8 miles, according to USGS.
"The LAFD is now in earthquake mode. All 106 neighborhood fire stations will conduct a strategic survey of their districts, examining all major areas of concern (transportation infrastructures, large places of assemblages, apartment buildings, power-lines, etc). This survey will be conducted from the ground, air and sea. Once this process is complete and reports are consolidated, assuming there is no significant damage, Earthquake mode will be complete. This process typically takes less than one hour," Nicholas Prange with the Los Angeles Fire Department said in a statement around 2:30am Wednesday morning.
There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. While there are many variables involved, geologists say damage does not usually occur until the earthquake magnitude reaches somewhere above 4 or 5.
Moscow's fury over German and US tank deal
GERMANY - Rattled Kremlin propagandists have called for nuclear strikes on the West after the US and Germany agreed to give Ukraine dozens of modern tanks in a major boost for Kyiv. Bringing an end to a bitter row, Chancellor Olaf Scholz finally confirmed today Berlin will send its own German-made Leopard 2 tanks to the front lines and allow NATO to deliver their own. Russia branded the move a 'blatant provocation' and warned the new NATO supplies will 'burn like all the rest', while one raging Putin mouthpiece called for the German parliament to be destroyed.
Around 30 M1 Abrams tanks will be sent from the US, while Berlin will initially supply 14 Leopard 2 tanks. Russia's own storage facilities have around 10,200 tanks, while an estimated 3,300 have been deployed in Ukraine, with 1,640 destroyed. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky's officials hailed the move as a 'punching fist' for democracy, while Russia had warned it would cause a 'global catastrophe' and escalate the war beyond Ukraine's borders.
Pressure has been building for weeks on German chancellor Olaf Scholz's government to send the tanks and allow NATO allies to do the same. The German leader was wary of moves that could prompt Russia to escalate but he finally relented today. 'This decision follows our well-known line of supporting Ukraine to the best of our ability. We are acting in a closely coordinated manner internationally,' he said in a statement.
Putin's navy frigate 'sailed towards the US in show of strength'
RUSSIA - Vladimir Putin's nuclear armed navy frigate has staged war games with a 'hypersonic missile launch' in the western Atlantic. The Admiral Gorshkov armed with 'unstoppable' Mach 9 Zircon missiles conducted an 'electronic' launch at an 'enemy surface target' after allegedly deviating from its route and sailing towards the US. The exercise, seen on a Russian defence ministry video, involved a drill firing of the deadly weapon, which Putin claims has 'no equivalent in the world' at a range of over 560 miles.
Terrifying footage shows the navy preparing for a nuclear launch as the hatch opens in preparation for the deadly missile. The vessel has been closely monitored by NATO navies on its mission, armed with the 6,670mph Mach 9 weapon which has a maximum 625 mile range. A day earlier reports said that the Gorshkov had made an unexpected diversion in the Atlantic amid Putin's war with West-backed Ukraine.
Moscow has boasted that the Gorshkov is 'the most dangerous enemy of surface ships in the world's oceans' now it is armed with the new hypersonic missile. The frigate's captain Igor Krokhmal has said previously: 'No one will see the missile launch or its flight. They will only see when the missile hits the target. A surface target, a coastal target. I don't think there will be anything to counter this in the next few years.'
'Tragedy upon tragedy'
USA - There have been more mass shootings in the US than days this year, including four in just eight days in California that have left 26 people dead. Within the first 24 days of this year, 70 people have been killed and 167 injured in 39 mass shootings, according to the Gun Violence Archive, an institute tracking shootings in the country. In California, just two days after gunman Huu Can Tran killed 11 people at a ballroom dance hall, seven more victims were shot dead in an agricultural area near San Francisco on Monday.
Here, MailOnline looks at the deadliest mass shootings in the US so far this year.
- Half Moon Bay, California - 7 dead and 1 injured.
- Monterey Park, California - 12 dead and 10 injured. Gunman Huu Can Tran, 72, opened fire at patrons inside the Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park, California, on Saturday night, killing 11 people and injuring 10 others.
- Goshen, central California - 6 people - including a 17-year-old mother and her ten-month-old son - were killed in a shooting at a home in Goshen, central California, on January 16.
- High Point, North Carolina - 5 dead - Robert K Crayton, 45, shot his wife Athalia A Crayton, 46, and his three children before killing himself at their home in High Point, North Carolina on January 7.
- Enoch City, Utah 8 dead - Mike Haight, 42, murdered his wife, Tausha Haight, 40, and their five children, who ranged in age from four to 17, and his mother-in-law Gail Earl on January 4 at their home in Enoch, Utah.
Japan's leader prioritizes arms buildup
JAPAN - In his policy speech opening the parliamentary session, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said that active diplomacy should be prioritized but that it requires “defense power to back it up.” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Monday that Japan faces the severest security environment in the region since the end of World War II and pledged to push a military buildup under a newly adopted security strategy, as well as tackle rapidly declining births so the country can sustain national strength.
Kishida’s government in December adopted key security and defense reforms, including a counterstrike capability that breaks from the country’s exclusively self-defense-only postwar principle.
Violence Of Epic Proportions Has Become The Norm
USA - Have you ever wondered why our streets are now filled with so much extreme violence? The truth is that we didn’t get here by accident. Our blood-soaked streets are the inevitable result of living in a blood-soaked “idiocracy” that has very little respect for human life. In this article I am not even going to discuss all of the mass shootings that have happened in recent days. News coverage of one mass shooting just bleeds into coverage of the next mass shooting in a seemingly endless cycle of carnage.
Instead, in this piece I am going to focus on examples that are representative of the extreme violence that we witness night after night in communities all over the United States. If you put garbage in, you are going to get garbage out. So we should not be surprised that a culture which glorifies violence ends up being saturated with it.
One Giant Financial STD and Everybody is Infected
USA - Precious metals expert and financial writer Bill Holter said last summer that the Fed rate increases would tank the economy. Everywhere you look you see the economy falling apart. House prices and sales are down. Banks are clocking record losses, vehicle prices are falling and unemployment is rising. The economy has not completely crashed, but it will. Holter explains, “There are over $2,000 trillion worth of derivatives outstanding on a global economy... that has maybe a little more than $500 trillion in asset values.
So, you have this dog walking around with a gigantic tail that will shake the dog. When derivatives go, it’s a 48-hour event. Who do you think holds all these derivatives? You’ve got the big banks, all the big brokers, all the big insurance companies and they are all going to go down. It’s like one giant financial STD, and everybody is in bed together and everybody is infected.”
Add to this the announcement from Saudi Arabia that it will now accept payment in currencies other than the US dollar and you have the makings of a destabilizing hyperinflationary catastrophe for America. Holter says, “There will be other Arab nations to follow, and that is a huge hit to the artificial demand for the dollar. You had nations all over the world who were forced to buy dollars to buy oil, and that is no longer."
One of the Biggest Threats to the Free World
SWITZERLAND - This week, corporations, billionaires, lobbyists and politicians are gathered at Klaus Schwab’s World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “This sect is the greatest threat to the rule of law, democracy, and the free market,” said Croatian MEP Mislav Kolakusic. The financial interests of the participants prevail over the interests of humanity, the MEP notes. These conspirators hatch their plans in Davos: wars, pandemics, and the so-called green transition, according to Kolakusic.
The result: is poverty, and billions of people have to suffer while the globalists enrich themselves enormously. The World Economic Forum is also where malicious ideas are formed, which are later worked out in detail by the media and politicians the Elites own. They appoint themselves but do not participate in democratic elections, said Kolakusic, who added that the World Economic Forum is the world’s leading cause of corruption.
Davos is where those with thousands of billions of euros meet those who wield political power in countries all over Europe and the world. Every year dozens of heads of state attend Davos to receive orders there that they must carry out, Kolakusic explained. And they are only too happy to do so because they owe their political career to this sect, says the MEP.
Majority of [US] Defense Budget Not Aimed at Military Modernization
USA - The US defense budget has ballooned since the end of the Cold War, yet that expansion hasn't translated into a more modern or effective military, as the defense budget has instead been used as a congressional hiding spot for a host of non-defense priorities, former officials say. Former Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Elaine McCusker argued in a November report published by the American Enterprise Institute that the defense budget suffers from a chronic lack of transparency. She notes that non-defense related spending in the defense budget skyrocketed in the early 1990s amid the post-Cold War "Peace Dividend" from $3.6 billion in 1990 to $13 billion in 1994.
Disclaimer:
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.