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November 30, 2018

Saudi Arabia Murder G20 : Macron to meet with Crown Prince at G20 to get more information on Prince's involvement

Macron to meet Saudi crown prince despite Khashoggi uproar French President Emmanuel Macron will meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the sidelines of a G20 meeting in Argentina in 
what would be a first meeting with a Western leader since the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Read more at:

November 29, 2018

Ukraine Russia Conflict: Trump refuses to condemn Russian aggression - by Nicole Gaouette

As world leaders denounced Russia's aggression against Ukraine, President Donald Trump waited more than a day before offering a muted response about the clash, leaving the task of criticizing Moscow to the outgoing US ambassador to the UN.

When asked how he felt about the clash, Trump said, "not good. Not happy about it at all." He seemed reluctant to blame Russia, adding, "we do not like what's happening either way. And hopefully it will get straightened out.

Trump spoke to reporters just days before he is expected to meet with President Vladimir Putin at a G20 meeting in Argentina.

In the 24 hours after Russian ships opened fire on and seized three Ukrainian vessels near Crimea, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, a spokesman for British Prime Minister Theresa May, the foreign ministers of Germany, the UK and Canada,

European members of the Security Council, including France, Sweden, Poland, the Netherlands and the UK, as well as several US lawmakers expressed grave concern and called for a de-escalation.

During that time, the President and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo remained silent on the serious escalation in tensions between the two countries. After Trump spoke to reporters, a day and a half after the confrontation, Pompeo released a statement expressing "deep concern," condemning Russia and calling for restraint from "both parties.

But it fell to Ambassador Nikki Haley to reprise her role as the administration's leading and toughest voice on Russia, leaving analysts concerned that the White House silence and then Trump's low-key response would be read as encouragement, if not acquiescence.

Read more: Ukraine Russia: Trump refuses to condemn Russian aggression - CNNPolitics

November 28, 2018

Ukraine: Trump Administration wants to throw the EU under the Russian bus: Trump's Ukraine Response Muted as He Punts the Problem to Europe - by Nick Wadhams


Trump wants to throw the EU under the bus of Buddy Putin
The Trump administration’s expressions of frustration with Russia over its latest conflict with Ukraine did little to mask a conviction that the flare-up in Crimea is largely Europe’s problem to solve.

After almost a day of silence from the White House and State Department, Ambassador Nikki Haley went to the United Nations Security Council on Monday to condemn Russian forces for firing on Ukrainian ships near Crimea. But she also made clear that the U.S. would refrain from further action and would instead play a supporting role to European efforts to ease tensions.

Though Ukraine warned of a potential new Russian invasion and imposed martial law in some areas of the country for 30 days, Haley’s muted response reflected President Donald Trump’s inclination to distance himself from a conflict that he’s long blamed on predecessor Barack Obama. Trump says Obama failed to stop Russia from annexing Ukraine’s Crimea region in 2015.

Obama “allowed a very large part of Ukraine to be taken,” Trump said at a news conference this month. As a presidential candidate, Trump tweeted in 2016: “Russia took Crimea during the so-called Obama years. Who wouldn’t know this and why does Obama get a free pass?”

That the U.S. was so slow to condemn the incident suggested that the administration was wrestling with how to best to navigate the president’s ambivalence.

Note EU-Digest: This once again shows very clearly that the EU must stop pussyfooting with the US, specially now it is very clear that Donald Trump wants to throw the EU under the Russian bus of his buddy Vladimir Putin. 

Priority number one for the EU is to set a unified and independent course, when it concerns, international relations, trade and military preparedness. 

 European Council President Donald Tusk on Monday condemned Russia's seizure of Ukrainian navy vessels in the Kerch Strait.

"I condemn Russian use of force in the Azov Sea. Russian authorities must return Ukrainian sailors, vessels and refrain from further provocations," Tusk said after a phone call with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
   
Read more: Trump's Ukraine Response Muted as He Punts the Problem to Europe - Bloomberg

November 27, 2018

World War III ? Russia vs Ukraine War? Ukrainian President Says Neighbor Is Preparing Ground Attack - by Cristina Maza

During a televised speech on Monday in which he outlined his case for imposing martial law, Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko claimed that his country’s intelligence service had evidence that Russia was preparing a ground attack.

Poroshenko's speech was given after Russia blocked three Ukrainian navy vessels from passing from the Black Sea into the Sea of Azov via the Kerch Strait on Sunday. The incident was a major escalation of the tensions that have existed between the two countries ever since Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine and began backing armed separatists in the country in 2014. Poroshenko is close to imposing martial law in Ukraine, which would allow the military to run the country, saying it was necessary for Ukraine’s security.

Many experts said Russia’s attack on Ukrainian naval ships on Sunday was a game changer.

“The big story here is that Russia’s armed forces, in broad daylight, launched an attack on Ukrainian navy ships. This crosses a new line. Moscow, of course, seized Crimea with its military, but under the guise of unidentified ‘little green men.’

 Moscow has been conducting a not-quite-covert war in Donbass. Yes, there are thousands of Russian officers there and they control the fighting, but Moscow denies it. In this case, there is no denial,” John Herbst, U.S. ambassador to Ukraine from 2003 to 2006, told Newsweek.

Note EU-Digest :  For those of us remembering our history classes, this is starting to resemble very much how the second world war started, when on October 1, 1938, Adolf Hitler's army marched into the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia.

This accelerating Nazi Germany's aggressive World War II offensive. 

At that time Europe also was divided, as it is now over Brexit, and to make natters even worse, the US, which used to be the West's major defender of Democracy, has now taken an isolationism turn under the leadership of a not too bright, ego-maniac President, who is in charge of a dysfunctional government, and a population, divided in two polarized camps. 

Putin looking at this picture is probably thinking in the same way as Hitler thought back in 1939. "this is a window of opportunity and it appears there is no need to pull down the shades." Bottom-line, we in the West, and specially the EU,  could become involved in a major war pretty soon, if we don't get our act together.

Read more: Russia vs. Ukraine War? Ukrainian President Says Neighbor Is Preparing Ground Attack

November 26, 2018

EU Defence Force: Germany may increase troop numbers to 203,000 by 2025

The defense ministry is set to approve a plan to create 5,000 more Bundeswehr jobs than initially foreseen, according to a newspaper report. Whether officials can convince young Germans to sign up is another matter.

Germany's military is planning to increase the number of active soldiers to 203,000 by 2025 — some 5,000 more than originally planned, the Bild am Sonntag newspaper has reported.

The plan by German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen foresees creating a total of 20,000 active duty and reservist jobs to bolster Germany's cyber defense capabilities and meet the country's NATO and European commitments.

Read more: Germany may increase troop numbers to 203,000 by 2025 | News | DW | 26.11.2018

November 25, 2018

EU The Academic view: A vision for Europe is desperately needed – by Maria Graczyk

 Liberals are better at pointing out others’ faults than at doing self-reflection. They spend more time explaining away the popularity of populism than explaining the fall of liberalism, says Jan Zielonka, adding that the EU has become a caricature of a neo-liberal project and needs a new vision.

For now, we are treading water. We are faking reforms, re-heating old ideas we did not accomplish at a time when there was a better economic situation. Real changes will therefore probably have to be forced by external shocks and therefore will be chaotic and painful.

Nevertheless, nothing happens, politicians dig into the wells. And they return to their discredited policy in previous years. Example? Refugees. For many years we have dealt with warlords and we know how it ended. Today, we are returning to the same model. We have become hostages of Erdogan’s policy with his refugee camps. First of all, I would not like to be hostage to his policy, and secondly – it is a denial of all the values on which liberal Europe was built.

It takes two to tango. Not only is Erdogan responsible for what is happening in Brussels-Ankara relations. When he came to power, he was very pro-European. Nevertheless, none of his efforts to get closer to Europe were successful. He was always told “tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow.” In this way, we have deprived ourselves of credibility and instruments of influence on Turkey.

Most EU countries were reluctant towards this enlargement. Just as the Turks were stuck in the EU’s waiting room for years.

Turkey must either be accepted or it needs to be said openly that “we do not accept, but we want to expand our relations in specific areas”. Instead, Turkey has been a candidate for years while we have set its terms.

 It was unbelievable. We left our cosmopolitan, pro-European friends in Turkey on the ice. It was similar with Ukraine. I’m not saying that all these problems were solvable, but I know that if we had followed what we declared, it would have not been as bad as it is. We did everything to destroy these good relations.

Read more: Academic: A vision for Europe is desperately needed – EURACTIV.com

November 22, 2018

November 20, 2018

USA: Trump becomes an accomplish in Khashoggi murder by saying "no new Saudi punishment for Khashoggi murder to guarantee weapons sales"

President Donald Trump said Tuesday the U.S. will not punish Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at this time nor cut arms sales to Saudi Arabia for the killing of U.S.-based columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

Trump called the killing of Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul a "horrible crime" that the U.S. does not condone, but said Saudi Arabia is a "great ally" and canceling billions in arms sales would only benefit China and Russia, which would be glad to step in and make the sales.

Trump's decision, announced in a statement released just before he left for the long Thanksgiving weekend in Florida, will disappoint and anger critics who have called for a much firmer rebuke to the kingdom and especially bin Salman.

Note EU-Digest: This is unacceptable by any human rights respecting Government, specially that of the United states. Shame on you Donald Trump. 

Read more: Trump says no new Saudi punishment for Khashoggi murder

EU: Migration Into Europe: A Long-Term Solution? - by Branko Milanovic

Why has migration become such a big problem? Many reasons can be adduced: the war in Syria, the integration of Eastern Europe, lack of new jobs in many Western countries following the Global Financial Crisis etc. But listing individual reasons is insufficient to understand it and think what to do about it.

The origin of the problem, in most general terms, is twofold: (1) globalization that has made the knowledge of differences in income between countries much better known and has reduced the cost of transportation, and (2) large gaps in real incomes between the European Union (especially its more prosperous North) and the Middle East and Africa.

The first point is well known. Many studies show that the more people know about the rest of the world (especially if that rest of the world is richer than their country) the more they compare their own standard of living with that of presumed peers in the richer countries, and the more likely they are to do something about it: namely, to migrate.

The second point has to do with the fact that the gap in GDP per capita between the original EU-15 and sub-Saharan Africa has risen from seven to one in 1980 to 11 to one today. (This is the gap obtained after factoring in the lower price level in Africa; without it, the gap would be even greater.)

At the same time as real incomes have become so unbalanced, population growth rates have become even more so. In 1980, the EU-15 had more people than sub-Saharan Africa; today, sub-Saharan Africa has twice-and-a-half as many people.

Within the next two generations, sub-Saharan Africa should reach 2.5 billion people, five times more than Western Europe. It is totally unrealistic to think that such large income gaps (in one direction) and population gaps (in the other) can persist without generating a very strong migration pressure.

Thus, Europe faces a long-term issue and the following dilemma. As we just saw, if there is globalization and countries involved in globalization have highly uneven incomes, there must be migration. You can stop migration only if you give up on globalization by closing off national borders, or help emitting countries get as rich as Western Europe. The latter would obviously take, under the best of circumstances, at least a century. So, it is not a feasible solution. What then remains is to shut down globalization, at least when it comes to the movement of people.

Read more: Migration Into Europe: A Long-Term Solution? • Social Europe

November 17, 2018

Saudi Arabia: CIA believes Saudi Prince ordered Khashoggi killing

CIA thinks Saudi Prince ordered Khashoggi killing: 

Note EU-Digest: This certainly complicates the Trump administration’s efforts to preserve its relationship with a close ally. Hopefully no more business as usual between, Saudi Arabia, the USA, Israel, and the EU

November 16, 2018

US-Saudi Relations: U.S. sanctions 17 for role in hideous murder of Saudi journalist Khashoggi - a US smokescreen to protect business interests with Saudis?

Khashoggi murder:  Business as usual between US and Saudi Arabia
The U.S. Treasury will announce today 11/15/2018 sanctions on 17 Saudis for their role in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, according to a source familiar with the administration's plans.

Those to be sanctioned include Saud al-Qahtani, a former top aide to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as well as the Saudi Consul General Mohammed Alotaibi, the source said.

The sanctions will be implemented under the Global Magnitsky Act, which imposes sanctions over human rights abuses, the source said.

Among others facing sanctions are Maher Mutreb, an aide to Qahtani who has appeared in photographs with Prince Mohammed on official visits this year to the United States and Europe.

Note EU-Digest: The US sanctions announced by the Trump Administration are an indication the US Administration "has accepted the confusing explanations and statements" about the hideous murder of Saudi journalist Khashoggi by the Saudi Government in the Saudi Istanbul consulate", and as such concludes, "case closed and business as usual",  between the US and Saudi Arabia . 

U.S. sanctions 17 for role in killing of Saudi journalist Khashoggi

November 14, 2018

USA: The Mueller Probe: Mueller seeking more details on Nigel Farage, key Russia inquiry target says

Robert Mueller is seeking more information about Nigel Farage for his investigation into Russian interference in US politics, according to a target of the inquiry who expects to be criminally charged.

Jerome Corsi, a conservative author, said prosecutors working for Mueller questioned him about Farage, the key campaigner behind Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, two weeks ago in Washington.

Corsi said investigators for the special counsel also pressed him for information on Ted Malloch, a London-based American academic with ties to Farage, who informally advised Donald Trump and was interviewed by FBI agents earlier this year.

“They asked about both Nigel and Ted Malloch, I can affirm that they did,” Corsi told the Guardian on Tuesday. “But I’m really not going into detail because I respect the special counsel and the legal process.”

Mueller’s interest in Farage comes amid questions in the UK about whether Russia attempted to influence the June 2016 vote to leave the European Union, and Brexit’s most vocal political supporters.

Note EU-Digest: Nigel Farage - the King of the British Brexit drama is now also eyed by the Mueller investigation, in particular, as it relates to his connection with the Russians and Donald Trump. 

Once again we see how dangerous populism is to basic human rights values, whether it comes from Donald Trump, Marian LePen, Nigel Farage, Geert Wilders, Jörg Haider ,Jair Bolsonaro, Victor Orban, Lech Kaczyński, and the list goes on and on.

 Populism is a fast growing danger and must be stopped, before it destroys humanity..

Read more: Mueller seeking more details on Nigel Farage, key Russia inquiry target says

November 13, 2018

Alwaleed bin Talal, Bankruptcy, Donald Trump, Involvement, Prince Mohammad bin Salmanm, Saudi Arabia, Saudi Trump Bailout, USA

Donald Trump's relations with the Saudi Kingdom are extensive
Donald Trump claimed on Twitter recently that he has no “financial interests in Saudi Arabia.” But his financial ties to the kingdom go back a very long way.

In 1991, Donald J. Trump was a mid-tier real estate developer with $900 million in debt, a collapsing casino business, and a name perhaps best known for a headline-dominating split with his wife Ivana. 

With his empire at risk of falling apart, Trump was searching for cash everywhere; his father even illegally bought $3.35 million worth of casino chips and never gambled them, to help Trump make a massive bond payment a year earlier.

A helpful burst of cash from a Saudi prince eased some tension with his creditors. Alwaleed bin Talal bought Trump’s yacht for somewhere between $18 million and $20 million (reports vary). 

It wasn’t a great bit of business for Trump—he had bought it from the Sultan of Brunei three years earlier for a reported $29 million.

In 1995, Trump was still in deep trouble—and Alwaleed swooped in again. The prince, who calls himself the “Warren Buffett of Saudi Arabia,” took over Trump’s 51% stake in his beloved New York Plaza hotel. As a result, Trump’s creditors forgave $125 million of his debt.

Alwaleed, who was one of several royals to be detained by Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman in 2017, is deemed the world’s 74th richest man by Bloomberg, and owns stakes in companies like Apple, Snapchat, Twitter and Citigroup.

As late as 2015, Trump was still happy to boast about his connections with Saudi Arabia. Speaking at a rally in Alabama, he bragged: “Saudi Arabia, I get along with all of them. They buy apartments from me. They spend $40 million, $50 million. Am I supposed to dislike them? I like them very much.”

Read more: A Saudi prince helped save Trump from bankruptcy—twice — Quartz

November 12, 2018

France: World War I commemoration: Macron rebukes nationalism at commemoration = by David Jackson

Bells tolled across France and Europe on Sunday as President Donald Trump and other global leaders gathered to honor the dead of World War I and heed its harsh lessons to prevent conflicts.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who has criticized Trump's "America First" foreign policy, decried excessive "nationalism" at the root of World War I and successive conflicts.

"Nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism," Macron told a gathering of world leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Trump. “Nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism by saying, ‘Our interest first, who cares about the others?’ "

Hosting an event to mark the centennial of the armistice that ended World War I, Macron told fellow leaders they have a "huge responsibility" to defeat modern forces that threaten a "legacy of peace" from the two world wars of the past century.

"I know there are old demons coming back to the surface," the French president said. "They are ready to wreak chaos and death."

Macron did not refer specifically to Trump, who occasionally frowned during the speech.

Trump did not respond to Macron publicly. 

During a speech later Sunday at a World War I-era cemetery, Trump praised the French leader for hosting the event he called "very beautiful" and "well done."

In defending "America First," Trump has often said the United States needs to address its own needs. air."

Read more: France -World War I commemoration: Macron rebukes nationalism at commemoration

November 11, 2018

European Unity: Leaders of France and Germany in poignant show of unity 100 years after WW1- by Michaela Cabrera

One hundred years after the guns of World War One fell silent, the leaders of France and Germany held hands and rested their heads against one another in a poignant ceremony to mark the signing of the Armistice peace agreement.

President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel inspected troops from a joint Franco-German Brigade before unveiling a plaque paying tribute to the reconciliation and renewed friendship between the foes of two world wars.

More than 3 million French and German troops were among an estimated 10 million soldiers who died in the Great War of 1914-1918. Much of the heaviest fighting was in trenches in northern France and Belgium.

Read more: Leaders of France and Germany in poignant show of unity 100 years after WW1

November 9, 2018

Saudi Arabia - US involvement - US foreign policy: US Drones and the Khashoggi Murder - by Michael J. Brenner

In Washington, there is not much mystery about Mohammed bin-Salman’s (=MBS) behavior. He is an ego-maniac, somewhat unhinged. He is drunk with power and accustomed to torture and kill at whim.

His campaign of annihilation against the Houthis of Yemen indicates the depths of his depravity and the scope of his ambition.

So, too, did his imprisoning of 400 wealthy Saudis in the Riyadh Ritz Carlton where they were physically abused until they coughed up their riches for his personal use (e.g., spending $500 million for a mislabeled “Leonardo” painting). MBS thus presents a good imitation of Caligula and Nero.

So, too, did his kidnapping and physical abuse of the Prime Minister of Lebanon (Saad Hariri) – who owed MBS money and, therefore, political fealty.

In these ruthless ventures, he has been encouraged by the American government. The Saudi bombing of Yemen to smithereens, literally, could not happen physically without the active participation of the Pentagon.

The U.S. military flies the refueling planes without which MBS’s air force could not reach their targets in Yemen on two-way missions. It also provides the detailed electronic Intelligence critical to the mission.

Never mind that U.S. military personnel sit in the very command rooms from which the operations are conducted. In addition, Washington provides unqualified diplomatic cover and justification.

This is not only the Trump Administrations doing, but this Yemen “policy” was inaugurated by Barack Obama and was then continued by Trump. In legal terms, we — the United States — are an accessory before, during and after the fact of MBS’ crimes in Yemen.

The United States’s main responsibility lies in helping instill MBS’s deep sense of impunity. In addition, we encouraged the Saudi alliance with Israel. This gave MBS further confidence that active lobbying in Washington and the media would insulate him from any retribution.

Hence, feeling that he protected all his relevant flanks properly, he is now furious that some people in the West (not including the White House) are making such a fuss over the pedestrian act of whacking an annoying critic.

Furthermore, from the Saudi crown prince’s perspective, the United States has set the relevant precedent for the assassination of political enemies. Witness the US program of drone killings in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Libya, Mali, Chad and a number of other countries.

It is hard to deny that, via its drone strike “policy,” the U.S. government has gone a long way toward establishing the de facto legitimacy of extra-judicial murder as a standard combat tactic.

In the United States, this approach is accepted as such. Since targeted assassination involves no U.S. casualties, it makes the prosecution of war more palatable to the U.S. public. That is why is now an integral part of the playbook.

The chain of “command” is as follows: The Israelis inaugurated it. We Americans refined it and extended it. MBS now emulates us. Count on others to follow it.

Of course, the level of inhibition varies from leader and by target. America’s singular influence in setting global “fashions” means that the inhibition will weaken most everywhere and the range of individuals targeted will widen.

The tactic of knocking-off the enemy’s chief has deep historical roots. In the age of kings and emperors, it was tempting to think of decapitating the opposition.

The public reaction in the United States to Khashoggi’s grisly murder reveals some singular features of the prevailing attitude toward morality in foreign policy:

Despite Trump’s rhetorical pullback, the United States has committed to a strategy of global dominance – by means violent as well as peaceable. 

Americans remain wedded to the belief that they are a moral people following the course of righteousness in the world. “When conquer we must, for our cause it is just; let this be our motto: In God is our trust.” 

This unthinking mental universe has permitted the US so far to perpetuate many myths about their  place in the world. But eventually, they must look at the dark truth: The America that so many people around the globe looked to for guidance in seeking enlightened political truth has become the model and inspiration for those who seek to evade it.

Read more: US Drones and the Khashoggi Murder - The Globalist

November 7, 2018

US Mid -Term Elections: With Democrats taking control of the Congress, checks and balances have been restored to the US Political system, in what was a Trump Administration one party rule of America

Democrats took control of the House Tuesday night, a victory that will transform a Republican-controlled chamber that supported and protected President Trump into a legislative body ready to challenge and investigate him.

 GOP-held suburban seats around the country gave Democrats more than the 23 seats they needed to retake the majority, giving them control of Congress after being locked out of power since Trump took office last year.The Repunlicans still control the Senate

 The Democrats aim to quickly usher in a new era and tone in Washington, starting with a legislative package of anti-corruption measures aimed at strengthening ethics laws, protecting voter rights and cracking down on campaign finance abuses.

 With Democrats taking control of the Congress, checks and balances have been restored to the US Political system, in what was a Trump Administration one party rule of America.

Britain - Brexit: Ireland the major stumbling blog

EU: No Brexit deal without Irish backstop

November 6, 2018

US ECONOMY: COULD RECORD US DEFICIT TRIGGER THE NEXT RECESSION: ? "As U.S. trade gap widens to unimaginable hights."

The U.S. trade deficit rose to a seven-month high in September as imports surged to a record high amid strong domestic demand, offsetting a rebound in exports.

The Commerce Department said on Friday the trade gap increased 1.3 percent to $54.0 billion, widening for a fourth straight month. Data for August was revised to show the trade deficit rising to $53.3 billion instead of the previously reported $53.2 billion.

Could the US Economy collapse?

But here's the bigger question that retail investors and Wall Street are currently asking: Is the current stock market correction over? Given the many headwinds facing stocks and the U.S. and/or global economy, the answer may not be what investors want to hear.

Here are 25 reasons and/or scenarios that could cause the stock market to head substantially lower than where it's currently valued.

1. The ongoing trade war with China escalates, raising material costs, curbing consumer spending, and hurting corporate profits.
2. Corporate share buybacks fail to boost per-share profits as much as expected.
3. Democrats win one or both houses of Congress, hurting the chance of Republicans to pass further fiscal stimulus legislation.
4. The federal budget deficit continues to soar, placing added emphasis on our growing national debt, currently at more than $21 trillion.
5. The U.S. dollar keeps strengthening, placing pressure on exports and worsening the U.S. trade deficit with foreign countries.
6. FANG stocks – that's Facebook, Amazon.com, Netflix, and Google (now Alphabet) -- continue to draw the ire of short-sellers.
7. The Federal Reserve gets overly aggressive with interest rate hikes, sapping lending demand.
8. The yield curve flattens, reducing the desire of banks to lend money.
9. Interest rates rise, providing incentive for investors to ditch volatile equities for the safety of bonds and bank CDs.
10. Britain falls into a "hard Brexit." With few or no trade deals in place, the U.K. falls into recession, taking the U.S. and other developed countries with it.
11. China's economy experiences its slowest growth in decades, placing pressure on its ability to import from the U.S. and other key players.
12. The U.S. housing market shows signs of weakening, with important markets like California seeing a steep drop-off in new home sales.
13. Credit-card delinquencies begin to trickle higher, demonstrating the inability of consumers to meet their payment obligations.
14. The subprime auto loan market bubble bursts.
15. The U.S. goes to war, regardless of the reason or the country in question.
16. An errant tweet from President Trump stirs Wall Street and investors.
17. A flash crash caused by computer algorithms results in substantially reduced liquidity and perpetuates a rapid move lower in the stock market.
18. Investor emotions (especially those of day traders) get out of hand and send traders running for the exit.
19. The unemployment rate, which is at a 49-year low, begins to rise, signaling peak employment and the possibility of a weakening economy.
20. Disruption in important oil-producing countries causes crude prices to skyrocket or plunge. Either way, it could create sticker shock or job losses and adversely impact the U.S. economy.
21. U.S. GDP data shows slowing growth, which, in turn, cools investor expectations for stocks, sending them lower.
22. Inflation comes in far lower than expected, signaling that businesses have little pricing power. The prospect of deflation could wreak havoc on corporate earnings, causing the market to fall.
23. The U.S. debt ceiling is hit (yet again), but the political divide in Congress becomes too great for lawmakers to overcome, allowing the shutdown to perpetuate for months.
24. European debt crisis 2.0 hits, with countries like Italy unable to dig their way out of years of loose borrowing.
25. A widely followed pundit, such as Warren Buffett, sounds the cry of the stock market being overvalued.

In other words, there is no shortage of reasons the stock market could tumble from its recent all-time highs.

Bottom-line, however -it does not look good for the US Economy as the deficit is coming close to a trillion US dollars.Impossible to pay it back, unless by slashing government spending, and increasing taxes.

Unlike the trillion dollar budget deficits that occurred during the Obama administration that were temporary and largely the result of the Great Recession, the Trump deficits that will soon reach and exceed $1 trillion are permanent and will only get worse in the years ahead.
The Trump deficits are the result of changes in federal spending and revenue that will continue to be in place until some president and Congress decide to reverse them, that is, to increase taxes and make cuts to popular programs.

EU-Digest

November 5, 2018

Iran: don!t threaten us, Iranians tell US

Don't threaten us,' Iranians tell US as sanctions set to return -

Read full report at:
http://aje.io/mkcgg

November 4, 2018

US Midterm Elections: A Nation in Turmoil Prepares to Deliver a Verdict on Trump - by Alexander Burns and Jonathan Martin


The tumultuous 2018 midterm campaign, shaped by conflicts over race and identity and punctuated by tragedy, barreled through its final weekend as voters prepared to deliver a verdict on the first half of President Trump’s term, with Republicans bracing for losses in the House and state capitals but hopeful they would prevail in Senate races in areas where Mr. Trump is popular.

The president was set to storm across two states Saturday, two Sunday and three Monday in an effort to pick off Senate seats in Indiana, Florida and a handful of other battlegrounds where Republicans hope to add to their one-seat majority in the chamber. Democrats and liberal activists, galvanized by opposition to Mr. Trump, gathered Saturday to knock on doors and make turnout calls from Pennsylvania to Illinois to Washington to try to erase the G.O.P.’s 23-seat House majority.

The run-up to the election, widely seen as a referendum on Mr. Trump’s divisive persona and hard-line policy agenda, has revealed deep strains in the president’s political coalition and left him confined to campaign in a narrow band of conservative communities. Republicans’ intermittent focus on favorable economic news, such as the Friday report showing strong job growth, has been overwhelmed by Mr. Trump’s message of racially incendiary nationalism.

While Mr. Trump retains a strong grip on many red states and working-class white voters, his jeremiads against immigrants and penchant for ridicule have proved destabilizing, with the party losing more affluent whites and moderates in metropolitan areas key to control of the House.

Note EU-Digest: Amazing, but also very sad, what has happened to the US since January 20, 2017, when Trump became President. Despite claims by the US President (who has been found to have lied by independent research tanks more than 6400 times since his inauguration) and his Republican base, that the economy is doing fantastic, the truth is quite different - see https://www.chicagotribune.com/…/ct-perspec-trump-economy-j…

Basically just about every thing the Trump Administration has been tampering with has been a disaster, starting with the appointment of his dysfunctional scandal ridden Cabinet - Affordable healthcare for everyone including for those with existing preconditions - US Foreign Policy - Clean Air Policies - Gay Rights-Equal Rights - Curbing white supremacy and pro-neo-Nazi groups/hate crimes-Gun Control -migrant and immigration policies - Freedom of Speech and the list can go on and on. 

AMERICAN VOTERS ARE STILL ABLE TO MAKE THE COUNTRY CHANGE COURSE, AWAY FROM TUMBLING DOWN THE CLIFF - BY USING THEIR RIGHT TO VOTE ON TUESDAY NOVEMBER 6.

Read more:: A Nation in Turmoil Prepares to Deliver a Verdict on Trump - The New York Times

November 2, 2018

The Israel - Saudi - US Alliance: Saudi Arabia hosts rare visit of U.S. Evangelical Christian figures - Stephen Kali

 Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman held a rare meeting with American evangelical Christians on Thursday, as the ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom seeks to open up more to the world and repair an image of religious intolerance.

The delegation was led by communications strategist Joel Rosenberg and included former U.S. congresswoman Michele Bachmann, according to an emailed statement by the group, as well as heads of American evangelical organizations, some with ties to Israel.

"It was a historic moment for the Saudi Crown Prince to openly welcome Evangelical Christian leaders to the Palace. We were encouraged by the candor of the two-hour conversation with him today," the statement said.

A visit by such prominent non-Muslim leaders, who estimate they represent about 60 million people, is a rare act of religious openness for Saudi Arabia, which hosts the holiest sites in Islam and bans the practice of other religions.

Some of the figures' support for Israel, which the kingdom does not recognize, is also striking. For instance, Mike Evans, founder of the Jerusalem Prayer Team, describes himself on his website as "a devout American-Christian Zionist leader".

Saudi Arabia has maintained for years that normalizing relations with Israel hinges on its withdrawal from Arab lands captured in the 1967 Middle East war - territory Palestinians seek for a future state.

But increased tension between Tehran and Riyadh has fueled speculation that shared interests may push Saudi Arabia and Israel to work together against what they regard as a common Iranian threat.

Prince Mohammed, who in recent years has loosened strict social rules and arrested Saudi clerics deemed extremists, said in April that Israelis are entitled to live peacefully on their own land. A month earlier, Saudi Arabia opened its air space for the first time to a commercial flight to Israel.

Several members of the delegation, which met with Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed in the United Arab Emirates earlier in the week, have also advised U.S. President Donald Trump on faith issues.

Note EU-Digest: It is amazing to see how American Evangelicals - who are a solid political support group for the US Republicans - have walked into this trap, set-up by the Trump Administration, as they, together with their allies, Israel and Saudi Arabia, seem to be preparing for an attack on Iran.
 
Given the uproar such an attack would cause in America, and around the world, this visit by American Evangelicals to Saudi Arabia can only be described as an effort to appease the Evangelicals as to the "good intentions" of the Saudi's. 
 
Unbelievable, is also the timing of this Evangelical delegation's visit to Saudi Arabia, which coincides with the investigations going on as to the horrendous murder at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, on the 2nd of October, of the Washington Post Journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and the daily changing and confusing explanations about this murder, given by the Saudi Monarch. 
 
This by itself should have been a major reason for the Evangelicals not to visit Saudi Arabia.