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Authored by Bruce Bawer via The Gatestone Institute,

• “I am in a country that is not free… I feel jealous as hell of you guys in America. You don’t know how lucky you are.” — Carl Benjamin (aka Sargon of Akkad), YouTuber with around a million subscribers.

• “I am trying to recall a legal case where someone was convicted of a ‘crime’ which cannot be reported on.” — Gerald Batten, UKIP member of the European Parliament.

• “UKIP Peer Malcolm Lord Pearson has written to Home Secretary Sajid Javid today saying: if Tommy is murdered or injured in prison he and others will mount a private prosecution against Mr Javid as an accessory, or for misconduct in public office.” — Gerald Batten.

• Good on Lord Pearson.

On Friday, British free-speech activist and Islam critic Tommy Robinson was acting as a responsible citizen journalist — reporting live on camera from outside a Leeds courtroom where several Muslims were being tried for child rape — when he was set upon by several police officers. In the space of the next few hours, a judge tried, convicted, and sentenced him to 13 months in jail — and also issued a gag order, demanding a total news blackout on the case in the British news media. Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was immediately taken to Hull Prison.

Hull Prison, in Kingston upon Hull, England, where Tommy Robinson was taken to serve a 13-month prison sentence just hours after his arrest on Friday, May 25.

Most media outlets were remarkably compliant. News stories that had already been posted online after Robinson’s arrest at the Scottish Daily Record,Birmingham Live, The Mirror, RT, and Breitbart News were promptly pulled down, although, curiously, a report remained up at the Independent, a left-wing broadsheet that can be counted on to view Robinson as a hooligan. Indeed, the Independent‘s article described Robinson as “far-right” and, in explaining what he was doing outside the courthouse, used scare quotes around the word “reporting”; it then summed up the least appealing episodes in his career and blamed him for an attack on the Finsbury Park Mosque last January. Somehow, the Independentalso got away with publishing a report on London’s Saturday rally in support of Robinson.

Also on Saturday, Breitbart UK posted a copy of the gag order, but redacted it as required. The resulting document proved to be a perfect illustration of Western Europe’s encroaching tyranny.

Were all the articles in the British media pulled down “voluntarily”? There is no way to know for sure. On Sunday, at about noon Central European Time, one of my Facebook friends posted a link to what was apparently a new story at Breitbart UK, about Robinson’s imprisonment in Hull. Three hours later, however, the story was no longer there. Shortly afterward, I clicked on a link to an article at the Hull Daily Mail that Google summed up as follows: “Supporters of former EDL leader Tommy Robinson are urging people to write to him in Hull Prison — where they say he is in ‘grave danger.'” When I clicked on the link, however, the story had been pulled.

Carl Benjamin, who produces video commentary under the name “Sargon of Akkad,” is a popular British YouTuber who has somewhere around a million subscribers, and who routinely criticizes Islam, identity politics, and political correctness with wit and panache. He is generally a lively, free-wheeling, sardonic fellow, but in the two-hour-plus video he posted on Saturday about the Robinson case, he was uncharacteristically sober, exceedingly cautious, and at times even sounded mournful.

“I did tell you that Britain isn’t a free country, didn’t I?” he said a minute or so into his video. “I’ve been saying it for ages… and nobody listens.” He made it clear he was not about to violate the gag order — not, as he put it, about to “blunder into the jaws of the beast, in much the same way as I guess Tommy has,” and thus “deliberately put myself in the line of fire with the UK government, giving them just cause to arrest me.”

Benjamin is a gutsy guy, so it was unsettling to hear him speak this way. The look on his face somehow brought home the dark reality underlying Robinson’s fast-track arrest, trial, conviction and incarceration. Benjamin emphasized that the most “sensible” thing for someone like himself [Benjamin] to do right now — he used that word, “sensible,” repeatedly — is to do his best to stay out of jail so that he can continue to speak up. “I am in a country that is not free,” he repeated gravely. “My options are limited… I feel jealous as hell of you guys in America. You don’t know how lucky you are.”

The upside — and the irony — of this case is that the gag order, while silencing the British news media, has caused people around the world to take notice. To be sure, a quick tour of major mainstream newspaper websites in Western Europe, North America and around the Anglosphere turned up nothing. But on alternative news sites around Europe, the story was front and center. The Fox News website reported on Robinson’s arrest — but even Fox, frustratingly, insisted on calling him a “right-wing activist.”

Judi McLeod, editor of the Canada Free Press, began her article:

“Where is Tommy Robinson? A question whose answer should be demanded rather than merely asked…. Modern day Merry England has become far more nightmare than fairytale, as it steadily works its way toward ugly police state status.”

McLeod also challenged Fox’s label for Robinson: “‘Right wing activist’? How about civil rights activist or humanitarian activist?”

Yesterday, my article asked when anyone in a position of power in Britain would speak up against Robinson’s arrest. Since then, Gerald Batten, a UKIP member of the European Parliament, has done so:

“I am trying to recall a legal case where someone was convicted of a ‘crime’ which cannot be reported on,” he tweeted. “Where he can be cast into prison without it being possible to report his name, offence, or place of imprisonment for fear of contempt of court. Can anyone remember such a case”

Shortly after noon on Sunday, London time, Batten tweeted:

“UKIP Peer Malcolm Lord Pearson has written to Home Secretary Sajid Javid today saying: if Tommy is murdered or injured in prison he and others will mount a private prosecution against Mr Javid as an accessory, or for misconduct in public office.”

Good on Lord Pearson. We can only hope his efforts make a difference — and that, in the end, a prosecution of Javid will not be necessary.

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Despite it being a holiday shortened week, with both the US and UK off on Monday, it’s still a busy one for data with the latest payrolls report and PCE data in the US the main highlights. Inflation data in Europe will also be closely watched especially with the return of the Italian (and Spanish) political crisis, while final global PMI and ISM revisions, and a second look at Q1 GDP in the US are also scheduled to be released.

Tackling those in order, Deutsche Bank’s Craig Nicol summarizes the upcoming key events, starting with the US employment report due on Friday where the current market consensus for nonfarm payrolls is 190k. As a reminder that follows a softer than expected 164k in April and also a below market 135k reading in March. The average miss in the last two months has been 40k however that did follow a bumper and much stronger than expected 324k reading back in February. Interestingly, the last three May nonfarm payrolls readings have seen a large divergence from the consensus. Last May printed at 155k which was 27k below consensus while in 2016 we had a print of 34k and 126k below consensus. However back in 2015 payrolls beat to the tune of 100k after printing at 326k. Equally, or perhaps more important, will be the average hourly earnings data. The consensus expects a +0.3% mom reading and a +2.7% yoy reading (from +2.6% in April). The unemployment rate is also expected to hold at 3.9% along with average weekly hours at 34.5hrs.

A day prior to the employment report we’ll have the April PCE report in the US. The consensus if for a +0.1% mom reading which would lower the yoy rate to +1.8% yoy from +1.9%. Remember that core CPI in April dissapointed at +0.1% mom (vs. +0.2% expected) although as we’ve seen in May regional reports so far, prices paid components have been a lot more upbeat.

Inflation data in Europe will also be a big focus next week with the May CPI report for the Euro area due on Thursday. Following a seasonally impacted, but albeit softer than expected +0.7% yoy reading in April, our European economists expect the core print to rise back towards +1.0% in May, before rising to +1.3% to +1.4% by Q4 this year.

Also worth watching out for next week is the final May PMI revisions around the globe. It’ll kick start with the official PMIs out of China on Thursday, followed by non-official readings for Japan and China on Friday and final revisions in Europe including a first look at the data for the non-core and UK. The final US reading is also due out on Friday  afternoon.

Of course, some of the most market-moving news will come out of Italy, where the ongoing political crisis is suddenly the biggest gray swan impacting the markets, as well as Friday’s vote of no confidence in Spain’s prime minister Mariano Rajoy.

* * *

Away from the data, the central bank calendar is fairly light with the St Louis Fed President Bullard (dovish/non-voter) speaking on Tuesday and Thursday in Tokyo, and Atlanta Fed President Bostic (neutral/voter) speaking in a moderated Q&A in Orlando on Thursday afternoon. Over at the ECB, Villeroy is due to speak on Monday and Tuesday, while Visco, Mersch, Lautenschlaeger and Coeure also speak on Tuesday across the continent.

Other things to look out for next week include EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday to discuss North Korea and the Iran nuclear deal developments, the OECD conference kicking off on Tuesday (through to Thursday) with speakers including French President Macron and US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, the Fed discussing changes to the Volcker Rule on Wednesday, G7 finance and development ministers and central bank governors gathering in Whistler from Thursday, and US automakers announcing May sales figures on Friday.

A summary of key events broken down by day, courtesy of Deutsche Bank

• Monday: A very quiet start to the week with the UK and US both off for public holidays. There are no significant data releases scheduled and the only central bank speak of note is that from the ECB’s Villeroy in the morning in Paris. EU foreign ministers are due to meet in Brussels to discuss developments around North Korea and the Iran nuclear deal.
• Tuesday: Overnight, April employment data in Japan is likely to be the focus, while the Fed’s Bullard is due to speak in Tokyo. In Europe we’ve got April money supply data for the Euro area and the May consumer confidence reading in France due. The ECB’s Villeroy is also due to speak again, followed by the ECB’s Visco, Mersch, Lautenschlaeger and Coeure. In the afternoon the main highlight in the US will be the May consumer confidence report, while the May Dallas Fed manufacturing activity index and March S&P/Case-Shiller home price index data are also due. Away from that, the OECD conference is also due to kick off (through to Thursday).
• Wednesday: A busier day for releases, starting overnight with April retail sales and May consumer confidence data in Japan. In Europe we’ll get the flash May CPI report for Germany, along with the preliminary Q1 GDP release in France and May confidence indicators for the Euro area. In the US we’ll get the second revision to Q1 GDP in the US along with May ADP employment change, April advance goods trade balance and April wholesale inventories data. The Fed’s Beige Book will also be out in the evening while the Fed is also scheduled to discuss changes to the Volcker Rule.
• Thursday: Inflation data should be the big focus on Thursday with the May CPI report for the Euro area and April PCE report in the US both due. Away from that, May PMIs in China, May CPI for France and April money and credit aggregates  data in the UK are all due in the morning. In the US we’ll also get April personal income and spending reports, weekly initial jobless claims, May Chicago PMI and April pending home sales data. In the morning the Fed’s Bullard will speak in Tokyo again, while in the evening the Fed’s Bostic is due to speak. G7 finance ministers and central bankers are also due to gather in Whistler with the topic of the conference being “Investing in Growth that Works for Everyone”.
• Friday: The focus overnight will be the final May manufacturing PMIs in Japan (Nikkei) and China (Caixin). In Europe the final manufacturing PMIs are also due along with a first look at the non-core and UK, while in the US the week ends with the May employment report including nonfarm payrolls, unemployment rate and average weekly earnings. The final manufacturing PMI for May, April construction spending and May ISM manufacturing prints are also due in the US. Last but by no means least, US automakers are scheduled to release May sales figures on Friday.

Finally, here is Goldman with a detailed breakdown of just US events in the week ahead, together with consensus estimates.  The key economic releases this week are the ISM manufacturing and nonfarm payrolls report on Friday. In addition, the Beige Book for the June FOMC meeting will be released on Wednesday, and there are several speeches from Fed officials this week.

Monday, May 28

• Memorial Day holiday. US equity and bond markets are closed.

Tuesday, May 29

• 12:40 AM St. Louis Fed President Bullard (FOMC non-voter) speaks; St. Louis Fed President Bullard will give a speech in Tokyo at the Japan Center for International Finance’s Global Finance Seminar in Tokyo. Audience and media Q&A is expected.
• 09:00 AM S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index, February (GS +1.1%, consensus +0.8%, last +0.8%): We expect the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index to rise 1.1% in the March report following a 0.8% increase in the prior month. The measure still appears to be influenced by seasonal adjustment challenges, and we place more weight on the year-over-year pace, which firmed to 6.8% in February.
• 10:00 AM Conference Board consumer confidence, May (GS 126.5, consensus 128.0, last 128.7): We expect that the consumer confidence index pulled back 2.2pt to 126.5 in the May report, as other higher frequency measures of sentiment were mixed. The level of consumer confidence remains elevated relative to other sentiment measures, and we expect the index to moderate this month.
• 10:30 AM Dallas Fed manufacturing index, May (consensus 23.8, last 21.8)

Wednesday, May 30

• 08:15 AM ADP employment report, May (GS +190k, consensus +198k, last +241k): We estimate a 190k increase in ADP payroll employment in May, reflecting inputs utilized in the ADP model. While we believe the ADP employment report holds limited value for forecasting the BLS’s nonfarm payrolls report, we find that large ADP surprises vs. consensus forecasts are directionally correlated with nonfarm payroll surprises.
• 08:30 AM GDP (second), Q1 (GS +2.3%, consensus +2.3%, last +2.3%): Personal consumption, Q1 (GS +1.2%, consensus +1.2%, last +1.1%): We look for real GDP growth to be unrevised at 2.3% in the second vintage of Q1 GDP. We expect real personal consumption to be revised up by one tenth to 1.2%, reflecting firmer retail sales revisions and mixed details in the Quarterly Services Survey.
• 08:30 AM U.S. Census Bureau Report on Advance Economic Indicators; Advanced goods trade balance, April (GS -$71.5bn, consensus -$71.0bn, last -$68.3bn); Wholesale inventories, April preliminary (last +0.3%): We estimate the goods trade deficit increased $3.3bn in April to $71.5bn, returning to a more normal level following recent volatility. We note that inbound container traffic also rebounded in the month, probably reflecting the unwind of Chinese New Year distortions.
• 12:30 PM Atlanta Fed President Bostic (FOMC voter) speaks: Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic will participate in a moderated Q&A at a conference hosted by the Florida Prosperity Partnership in Orlando, Florida. Audience Q&A is expected.
• 01:00 PM Fed Governor Brainard (FOMC voter) speaks: Federal Reserve Board Governor Lael Brainard will give a speech on the economic outlook and monetary policy at a luncheon hosted by the Forecaster’s Club of New York. Audience Q&A is expected.
• 02:00 PM Beige Book, June FOMC meeting period: The Fed’s Beige Book is a summary of regional economic anecdotes from the 12 Federal Reserve districts. The May Beige Book reported modest-to-moderate growth across all 12 districts, but several sectors raised concerns related to trade policy. Consumer spending grew across most regions though there were pockets of weather-related weakness. Wage pressures continued and prices increased across all districts. In the May Beige Book, we look for additional anecdotes related to the state of consumption, manufacturing activity, price inflation, and wage growth.
• 08:30 PM Dallas Fed President Kaplan (FOMC non-voter) speaks: Dallas Fed President Kaplan will give the keynote address at an event hosted by the Southwestern Graduate School of Banking. Audience Q&A is expected.

Thursday, May 31

• 8:30 AM Personal income, April (GS +0.3%, consensus +0.3%, last +0.3%); Personal spending, April (GS +0.4%, consensus +0.4%, last +0.4%); PCE price index, April (GS +0.22%, consensus +0.2%, last flat); Core PCE price index, April (GS +0.16%, consensus +0.1%, last +0.15%); PCE price index (yoy), April (GS +2.01%, consensus +2.0%, last +2.01%); Core PCE price index (yoy), April (GS +1.86%, consensus +1.8%, last +1.88%): Based on details in the PPI and CPI reports, we forecast that the core PCE price index rose +0.16% month-over-month in April, or 1.86% from a year ago. Additionally, we expect that the headline PCE price index increased 0.22% in April, or 2.01% from a year earlier. We expect a 0.3% increase in April personal income and a 0.4% gain in personal spending.
• 08:30 AM Initial jobless claims, week ended May 26 (GS 220k, consensus 228k, last 234k); Continuing jobless claims, week ended May 19 (consensus 1,720k, last 1,741k): We estimate initial jobless claims declined by 14k to 220k in the week ending May 26 following an 11k increase in the prior week. We suspect auto plant shutdowns may have boosted claims last week, and we expect the level of claims to move down in line with the recent trend. Consensus expects continuing claims—the number of persons receiving benefits through standard programs—to decline by 21k to 1,720k.
• 09:45 AM Chicago PMI, May (GS 59.5, consensus 58.0, last 57.6); Regional manufacturing surveys strengthened in May across the board and we estimate that the Chicago PMI increased by 1.9pt to 59.5.
• 10:00 AM Pending home sales, April (GS flat, consensus +0.5%, last +0.4%); Regional housing data released so far were mixed in April. We estimate pending home sales were flat in April, and we note the current level looks elevated relative to other home sales measures. We have found pending home sales to be a useful leading indicator of existing home sales with a one- to two-month lag.

Friday, June 1

• 8:30 AM Nonfarm payroll employment, May (GS +205k, consensus +190k, last +164k); Private payroll employment, May (GS +200k, consensus +190k, last +168k); Average hourly earnings (mom), May (GS +0.2%, consensus +0.2%, last +0.1%); Average hourly earnings (yoy), May (GS +2.6%, consensus +2.6%, last +2.6%); Unemployment rate, May (GS 3.9%, consensus 3.9%, last 4.1%): We estimate nonfarm payrolls increased 205k in May. Our forecast reflects strong jobless claims data and an improvement in the weather, which we believe weighed on job growth in March and April. After falling two tenths in April, we estimate the unemployment rate remained stable at 3.9%, but we see the risks to this forecast as skewed to the downside, reflecting the sharp drop in continuing claims over the payroll month. Finally, we expect average hourly earnings to increase 0.2% month over month and 2.6% year over year, reflecting unfavorable calendar effects.
• 08:55 AM Minneapolis Fed President Kashkari (FOMC non-voter) speaks: Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari will participate in a panel discussion on “Collaborative Strategies to Build Tomorrow’s Workforce.” Q&A is not expected.
• 10:00 AM ISM manufacturing, May (GS 59.0, consensus 58.1, last 57.3): We estimate a 1.7pt increase in the ISM manufacturing index to 59.0 in the May report. Our forecast reflects broad-based improvements in business activity surveys in April. Overall, our manufacturing survey tracker, which distills the signal from regional manufacturing reports and is scaled to the ISM index, strengthened by 3.1pt to 60.8.
• 10:00 AM Construction spending, April (GS +0.7%, consensus +0.8%, last -1.7%): We estimate construction spending increased 0.7% in April, following a sharp decline in March that reflected weak private single family as well as multifamily construction. Levels were revised up substantially however for January and February, suggesting solid activity at the start of the year but waning momentum to end the first quarter.

Source: GS, BofA, DB

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Last week we presented the story of 30-year-old Michael Rotondo of Camillus, NY, who for better or worse has come to embody all the worst stereotypical traits associated with the millennial generation, and who – representing himself in court after a “brief search on the internet” that “took minutes” – was ordered by a State Judge to move out of his parents’ house after a very short legal battle with his Mom and Dad, despite Rotondo vocal plea that he was “entitled” to six more months at his parents’ home rent free.

Michael’s story, so typical of so many Americans his age, became national news when after years of encouraging him to seek work and become self-sufficient, his parents Mark and Christina Rotondo finally penning a Feb. 2 eviction letter which read: “Michael, after a discussion with your mother, we have decided that you must leave this house immediately. You have 14 days to vacate. You will not be allowed to return. We will take whatever actions are necessary to enforce this decision.”

A short while later, terminal insult was added to ego injury when he received another letter that read: “Michael Joseph Rontodo, you are hereby evicted.”

Well, it now appears that bailouts are not only for banks but also for the occasional millennial because a restaurant chain has felt enough “pity” for the national headline grabber, it decided to offer him a job and a starting bonus.

As abc news reports, Villa Italian Kitchen thinks Michael Rotondo would “fit its recipe for success.” The chain wrote in a Facebook post that “it’s tough out there,” particularly for millennials, and offered the young man a store-level job and training at any of its 250 locations worldwide.

The company also decided to offer him a “signing bonus” of $1,101, saying it would beat an offer of $1,100 from his parents, an apparent reference to money Rotondo’s parents, Mark and Christina Rotondo, gave their son earlier this year to help him move out.

Villa Italian Kitchen wrote in its post, “Offer from us is on the table for $1,101 to come join our team. Consider it a signing bonus. We gotchu, bud,”

What the shrewd owners of Villa really meant, is that they realized they would get priceless and constant – or at least for 15 minutes – nationwide marketing and advertising by merging their story with that of Rotondo, and all for the low, low price of $1,101. Then once the story fizzled, Rotondo would be promptly fired.

Of course, telling the truth and being politically incorrect these days is a felony offense, so Villa had no choice but to grotesquely spin the situation:

“We feel that millennials catch a lot flack for everything from being lazy to killing department stores, but in reality, it can be difficult to start a career so we decided to try to help Michael out,” Villa Italian Kitchen COO Andrew Steinberg told ABC News. Steinberg, who has been with the restaurant for 21 years confirmed the chain has reached out to Rotondo, “but have not received a response yet.”

“The offer is still on the table and we would be happy to discuss this opportunity with him if he is interested,” he said.

For now, however, Rotondo told “Good Morning America” this week that he accepted the money but spent it on “other things.” To start, much of it will be on gas: the closest Villa Italian Kitchen location to Camillus is in Waterloo, according to Steinberg, which is about 30 miles away.

“We are always looking for people who want to make a difference and who are looking for their ‘piece of the pie,’ whether they live in a penthouse or their parents’ house,” Steinberg said. “We believe that with the right training and a supportive atmosphere, Michael has the potential to be a successful employee.”

Translation: Michael will be fired within the month, or when his 15 minutes of fame are over, whichever comes first.

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Yesterday, in the aftermath of the latest Italian political drama, in which president Mattarella openly mocked democracy, and under pressure from Europe vetoed the choice of the euroskeptic economy minister, Paolo Savona, we warned that this outcome was even worse for markets than the one which most had dreaded, namely Mattarella folding and greenlighting the 82-year-old professor for reasons we laid out article from Sunday.

Algos still don’t understand that appointment of Savona was “best” worst case scenario https://t.co/EbYlkkHpuw

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) May 28, 2018

What happened next was a full court press by so-called experts and momentum reversal algos to spin yesterday’s outcome as good news, and sure enough in early trading the EUR bounced sharply, rising above 1.17, Bunds slumped, and Italian bonds and stocks gapped higher at the open.

… And then all hell broke loose when, just as we predicted, Mattarella’s decision simply reinforced the League’s hard line position, when shortly after the open League leader Matteo Salvini reiterated his support for Savona, and in a Facebook video said that “either EU rules will change or it makes no sense for Italy to remain in the European Union.” Worse, dragging Italy to the verge of the constitutional crisis we warned about yesterday, Salvini turned the nation against the Brussels-lackey president and said that Mattarella “chose EU rules over Italians’ vote” which “is an issue for democracy.”

And the punchline: the League would still seek to form a government with people rejected by Sergio Mattarella.

In effect, Salvini confirmed what we said yesterday that the stakes in the upcoming Italian elections were just raised exponentially, and are now an outright referendum on euro membership.

Meanwhile, shortly after noon local time, in purely symbolic gesture, the Italian president gave the mandate to form a government to ex-IMF official Carlo Cottarelli, 63, whose task to form a technocratic government has zero chance of success. Cottarelli said that if he is successful in forming a government – which he won’t be – the next Italian elections would take place early 2019. If he isn’t, and he won’t be as all the top parties have already rejected his attempt, the next elections will be in August or shortly thereafter.

“The President has asked me to go before parliament with a program that will bring the country to new elections,” Cottarelli said after meeting President Sergio Mattarella.

By this point the market, however, couldn’t care less what this meaningless figurehead had to say, as both Italian bonds and stocks were plunging, having realized just why this was the worst possible outcome, and that it was indeed unfolding especially since as Goldman noted last night, if the elections were held today, the 5-Star and the Lega would win over 55% of the vote, a 10% gain to their showing in the March elections.

The result was a painful and furious reversal for the Italian bulls who naively bought into the “bullish” narrative as Italian yields staged a dramatic reversal, with 2y yields surging after being down as much as 20bps, then exploding as high as 0.972%, while the curve continues to aggressively flatten with the 5Y higher, in no small part due to lack of liquidity as not only is London on holiday, but suddenly the ECB seems all too absent from the bid-side: is a repeat of the 2011 Berlusconi ouster, in which the “apolitical” ECB sent a clear message to the market, taking place?

This sent the yield on 2Y paper to the highest level since 2014, rapidly approaching Draghi’s “whatever it takes” threshold.

Meanwhile, 10Y yields also soared, rising as high as 2.70% and now rapidly approaching the nominal level of 10Y US TSYs which closed Friday at 2.93%.

Adding to the rout, the Italian-German spread exploded to 230bps, the highest since January 2014, and now well beyond the 200bps level which Goldman predicted last week would lead to contagion across Europe, but first in Portugal.

Meanwhile, Italian stocks were similarly hammered, and after spiking higher at the open have since tumbled…

… while the Italian bank index, the FTSE Italia All-Share Bank Index, entered into bear market territory this morning, from its April highs, plunging as much as 4.2% today over concerns about the country’s financial future.

Finally, and most ominously, after an initial attempt to “celebrate” the Italian news, the EURUSD has since reversed all gains and in an indication that traders are now openly worried about Italian contagion, has tumbled to the lowest level since November 2017.

But the clearest sign that the European crisis is back, came not from Italy but from Spain, which is also suffering its own political drama with the imminent vote of no confidence in prime minister Rajoy, a process which was started this morning and is now scheduled for Friday assuring a week of non-stop European drama, not to mention a sharp move higher in Spanish yields which however are well below their Italian peers…for now.

But what really sealed it was a comment from BBVA’s analysts Pablo Zaragoza and Jaime Costero who in a note this morning said that “Spain is not Italy.” The last time we heard this, Europe was about to implode and only drastic action from the ECB saved it. This time, Draghi’s bazooka is all but spent, unless of course the world’s biggest hedge fund starts openly buying ETFs and single name stocks, which it eventually will anyway.

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Congo health officials are scrambling to contain the country’s newest Ebola outbreak, which has made its way from the small remote town of Bikoro to the town of Mbandaka, home to around 1.2 million residents.

On Thursday, Dr. Jean-Clement Cabrol of Doctors Without Borders revealed that two vomiting patients “in the active phase of the disease” were smuggled out of quarantine on Monday, put on motorcycles, and taken to a prayer meeting with 50 people – where they died hours later.

“The escape was organised by the families, with six motorcycles as the patients were very ill and couldn’t walk,” Cabrol said at a news briefing in Geneva after returning from the affected region. 

“They were taken to a prayer room with 50 people to pray. They were found at two in the morning, one of them dead and one was dying. So that’s 50-60 contacts right there. The patients were in the active phase of the disease, vomiting.”

Health officials started trying to trace the motorcycle drivers and other people who came into contact with the patients as soon as the escape was reported, Dr. Peter Salama, head of emergency response at the World Health Organization (WHO), told Reuters on Thursday. -Reuters

“From the moment that they escaped, the (health) ministry, WHO and partners have been following very closely every contact,” he said.

Ebola is highly contagious through bodily fluids, and can move from infected animals to humans who come into contact with contaminated blood. For those who come into contact with the disease, the incubation period lasts between two and 21 days, with a fatality rate of 42.3% in the current outbreak.

While Congo’s health ministry says the death toll stands at 12, the WHO puts the total number at 52 cases and 22 deaths as of Wednesday, while the number of suspected cases has spiked over the last several days.

Most of the cases have occurred in men in their 40’s, with men in their 20’s hit second hardest. 

The current outbreak began in the small lakefront town of Bikoro and quickly began to spread. The outbreak was declared on May 8, and by mid-May concern began mounting. As CBC notes, “The river is a lifeline, essential for moving people and products through a massive country with weak infrastructure. But the river’s role in daily life also raises the alarm for some health officials, since Congo’s capital Kinshasa is downriver from Mbandaka.”

We are doing everything we can to stop #Ebola from spreading across borders, and to be prepared if it does. Yesterday we met with countries neighbouring #DRC at #WHA71. Nine countries have been advised they’re at high risk, and preparedness activities are underway. pic.twitter.com/1rHTrRv3HK

— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) May 25, 2018

While there is no known cure for Ebola, vaccines are currently being tested in Congo right now with help from the WHO and other partners. The vaccines is not yet licensed but has shown promise in clinical trials. The plan is to vaccinate the most at-risk individuals first

First #ebola vaccination done In Mbandaka, DRC Guillaume Ngoie Mwamba , EPI manager leads the way #VaccinesWork pic.twitter.com/xeKDCNZ3Zj

— Seth Berkley (@GaviSeth) May 21, 2018

.@WHO has done a great job getting the cold chain up and running in #Mbandaka – here is the deep freeze for #Ebola Vaccines and the ArkTek carriers to transport @DrTedros #VaccinesWork pic.twitter.com/6kE3kKtIwG

— Seth Berkley (@GaviSeth) May 26, 2018

So far, front-line health-care workers have been vaccinated, as have family members and others who have had close contact with Ebola patients.

Dr. Peter Salama, deputy director general for Emergency Preparedness and Response of the World Health Organization, told CBC’s As It Happens that the ring vaccination method “was used in a trial a couple of years ago in Guinea to demonstrate that this vaccine, used with that strategy, can be 100 per cent effective.”

The pharmaceutical giant Merck has a licensing agreement to develop the vaccine. If it works as researchers hope it will, Merck told CBC News in a statement, it will “make the vaccine available to the world’s poorest countries at the lowest possible, not-for-profit price.” –CBC

Lack of trust between patients, their families, and healthcare professionals, along with religious practices, are often the reason for Ebola patients to resist or refuse modern healthcare options. In many parts of the affected region it is standard practice to wash the body of the dead, for example, which can rapidly spread the disease. 

“Patient adherence is paramount,” said Brienne Prusak, a press officer for Doctors Without Borders “The quicker patients are admitted, the greater their chance of survival and the greater the chance of limiting the spread of Ebola.”

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Via Bionic Mosquito blog,

It is easy to say that Trump is failing on the one thing I thought made him a better candidate than most others two years ago and that is on the issue of war and empire.  Well, that and he was a great stick in the eye of those who work hard to control the narrative.

I must admit, in many ways he is turning out even better than I had hoped… well, if we all (literally) survive his time in office.

Internationally, can you think of a time in your lifetime when the United States government so consistently and widely – and openly – made itself a pariah?  For the Europeans, it is the Iran nuclear deal; for East Asians, it is North Korea; for Arabs not associated with the Kingdom… well, that’s pretty much the same as always, but Nikki Haley has a way of putting an exclamation point on it, doesn’t she.

On trade it’s the TPP, NAFTA, China dumping, etc.  Every action drives allies away and drives all players to find ways to circumvent or avoid US markets, the US Dollar, US technology, etc.

Nationally…the election itself made clear the divide in America – the red counties vs. the blue counties; the deplorables vs. the “civilized.”  We have the NFL and the flag – America, love it or leave it has come back in vogue.  All thanks to the Donald.

Trump is doing more to accelerate the decentralization of the empire and the decentralization of the country than any other president in my lifetime.  As libertarianism in theory is decentralization in practice – and as I suggested a year ago – I think Trump is the most libertarian president of my lifetime.

Does this end with the end of his presidency?  I don’t think so.  

These trends are all inevitable; we can only thank God that the right man showed up at the right time to accelerate the process.  Whoever comes next won’t matter (although if the deplorables don’t get what they want this time, the civilized might look longingly back on the days of Trump), because the direction is inevitable and won’t be reversed.

Speaking of the end of his presidency, it seems to me that Trump is setting up for a smashing victory in the upcoming mid-terms.  I have suspected for quite some time that he (along with a subset of republicans in congress and some in the administration) are lining up their investigative actions and news leaks to come exploding full-tilt on the scene about four weeks before the November elections.

We know the news already and that it will be bad for the democrats.  Trump is merely orchestrating the timing.  Talk about tearing the country apart, I think we ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

Like I said, the most libertarian president of my lifetime.

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If images circulating on Twitter are any indication, Russia is testing out an ammo-backpack for a giant gun called the Scorpio – developed by Front Tactical Systems, reportedly satisfying a request from the Russian military as a method of increasing machine gun efficiency, reports Task & Purpose citing The Firearm Blog. The setup is straight out of Predator, and is similar to a backpack-fed machine gun rigged by U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Vincent Winkowski in 2011 during a 2 1/2 hour firefight in Afghanistan. 

Russian PKP being tested with a belt-feeding backpack [1199×758] – #army #military pic.twitter.com/4xVbruZnQx

— Army Complex (@ArmyComplex) May 24, 2018

The Russian PKP Pencheneg machine gun is nearly four feet long and fires 7.62x54mm ammo at 600-800 RPM. Here’s one being fired without the fancy backpack: 

And here’s the Scorpion (h/t TheFirearmBlog)

As mentioned earlier, Russia’s new backpack-fed system is similar to one developed by a U.S. Army Staff Sgt. in Afghanistan:

The United States previously developed a similar system when the inventive U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Vincent Winkowski threw together a backpack-fed machine gun on the battlefield during a firefight with the 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division, Iowa National Guard in Afghanistan in October 2011, citing the M-134 backpack-fed minigun touted by Ventura’s Sgt. Blain Cooper in the 1987 action classic. –Task & Purpose

“When we first arrived in theater in late October (2010), we were issued the Mk 48 7.62 mm machine guns,” Winkowski said. “This was a new piece of equipment for us, and we struggled to come up with a solution for carrying and employing ammunition for it due to our small size and the inability to have a designated ammo bearer, as is common doctrine with the M240B.”

“The ammunition sacks that came with it made it too cumbersome and heavy to carry over long, dismounted patrols and especially when climbing mountains. Initially, we came up with using 50-round belts and just reloading constantly, which led to lulls of fire and inefficiency.”

So Winkowski grabbed an old ALICE (all-purpose lightweight individual carrying equipment) frame, welded two ammunition cans together — one atop the other after cutting the bottom out of the top can — and strapped the fused cans to the frame. To that he added a MOLLE (modular, lightweight load-carrying equipment) pouch to carry other equipment. –Army.mil

That led to the U.S. Army’s IronMan system:

Russia’s other development, shockingly, is an electrified shield.

Unveiled by Russia’s Interior Ministry and dubbed “Skala” (which means “rock”), the shield offers as much protection as a traditional shield – only it contains a labyrinth of conductors on its exterior which can deliver a shocking jolt to rioters.

The shield, produced by Mart Group, which specializes in non-lethal law enforcement equipment, is available in two varieties. One version has a built-in shocker which allows the shield to be carried and operated with one hand, as just described. The other version has a detachable shocker, which allows the officer to grip the shield with both hands, and detach and use the shocker like a stun gun or electric prod when needed. –Sputnik

The shields, expected to enter service around the end of the year have an option of a self-extinguishing coating as well which protects law enforcement officers from Molotov cocktails. 

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