Tag: news

E-mini futures are fractionally lower this morning (0.08%) after Apple’s surge helped the DJIA climb above 22,000 for the first time on Wednesday; Global shares declined for the first time in 4 days pressured by tech stocks: Asian shares fell, while Europe pared opening losses to trade unchanged.

Global markets fell on Thursday, as the MSCI All-Country World Index declined for the first time in four days, led by a tumble in tech shares as investors locked in recent gains after Wall Street’s Dow Jones Industrial Average broke the 22,000 barrier for the first tim. Despite the Dow’s record close above 22,000, caution crept into Asian trading as the MSCI’s index of Asia-Pacific shares ex-Japan fell 0.7%, with China, HK, Japan and Australia all down, while South Korean stocks plunged 1.7%, the biggest drop since November on plans to raise taxes for big corporations. The Kospi index fell as much as 2.2 percent, the most since Nov. 9. Samsung Electronics Co., which has the largest weighting on the index, dropped 2.5 percent. Japan’s Topix index closed little changed near a two-year high as investors parse through recent earnings results.  Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index lost 0.2 percent as Rio Tinto shares tracked their London stock lower. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was down 0.3 percent and the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.4 percent.

“We haven’t seen a major correction in tech shares so far this year so they may be hitting a speed bump,” said Nobuhiko Kuramochi, chief strategist at Mizuho Securities.

In Europe, stock markets opened broadly lower, with Germany’s DAX slipping 0.6 percent and France’s CAC 0.4 percent lower, however initial losses have been since recouped with energy shares dragging as investors digested a rebound in American oil output that had crude prices fluctuating. Technology stocks in Europe slipped 0.3 percent. “I don’t see too much in the way of downside for European stocks because economic data is strong – take a look at the Italian data today,” said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets. The British pound strengthened before a rates decision.

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot index held near a 15-month low ahead of Friday’s U.S. payrolls data. In the overnight session, both the Aussie and Kiwi slid against the dollar as investors prepared for the RBA statement Friday, and RBNZ meeting on Aug. 10, as the dollar keeps trying to recover from a 31-month low against euro. In Europe, the pound rose to the highest level since September against the dollar amid bets for a hawkish tilt in BOE’s rates outlook.  The dollar inched away from a 15-month low versus a basket of currencies, but was still looking wobbly due to doubts about whether there will be another U.S. interest rate rise this year. The dollar index, which measures the greenback’s value against a basket of six major currencies, rose about 0.12 percent to 92.951. On Wednesday, it slid to 92.548, its weakest level since May 2016.

European government bond yields edged slightly higher, with Germany’s 10-year yield rising less than one basis point to 0.49% . The yield on 10-year Treasuries dipped one basis point to 2.26%. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index gained less than 0.1 percent.

As Bloomberg notes, while corporate results have been largely dominating sentiment this week, Friday’s report on the U.S. employment market may provide the next inflection point.  Investors are looking for clues on the strength of the world’s largest economy and the Federal Reserve’s next policy move, not least to see if the dollar will get any respite.

“Despite the recent pull back, the dollar remains broadly overvalued, and the starting point matters,” UBS strategists including Manik Narain wrote in a client note. “Expensive valuation reduces the likelihood of a further broad dollar rally.”

Today’s main event is the BoE inflation report and rate decision (no change overwhelmingly expect). The focus is likely to be on how the members voted and clues on inflation and rates outlook. Back in the June meeting, the 5-3 vote was more hawkish than expected, partly given growing concerns that the inflation overshoot was more pronounced than expected. Since then, macro data has not changed much, but Q2 CPI was actually more in-line with the BOE May inflation report, which should partly reduce the weight of the hawkish argument on inflation. Further, the composition of the committee is also changing, with Silvana Tenreyro now replacing Kisten Forbes who previously favoured a hike. For now, analysts do not expect BOE to tighten rates until Brexit related uncertainties have been sufficiently reduced. We shall get more clues shortly.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate crude increased 0.4 percent to $49.78 a barrel after falling as much as 1 percent. Gold fell 0.3 percent to $1,263.44 an ounce, heading for a fourth day of declines after a second day in a row of slamdowns just after 7pm ET.

Today’s economic data include initial jobless claims, durable goods orders, Markit PMI readings. Earnings from Kraft Heinz, Allergan, Viacom Inc. and Yum! Brands , Duke Energy are due.

Bulletin Headline Summary from RanSquawk

• European bourses pare opening losses to trade relatively mixed.
• GBP rises after better than expected Services PMI.
• Looking ahead, highlights include the BoE QIR.

Market Snapshot

• S&P 500 futures down 0.2% to 2,469.75
• STOXX Europe 600 down 0.2% to 377.93
• MSCI Asia down 0.6% to 160.49
• MSCI Asia ex Japan down 0.7% to 527.52
• Nikkei down 0.3% to 20,029.26
• Topix down 0.03% to 1,633.82
• Hang Seng Index down 0.3% to 27,531.01
• Shanghai Composite down 0.4% to 3,272.93
• Sensex down 0.4% to 32,337.95
• Australia S&P/ASX 200 down 0.2% to 5,735.12
• Kospi down 1.7% to 2,386.85
• German 10Y yield rose 0.9 bps to 0.495%
• Euro down 0.2% to 1.1837 per US$
• Italian 10Y yield fell 0.4 bps to 1.723%
• Spanish 10Y yield rose 2.1 bps to 1.479%
• Gold spot down 0.4% to $1,261.58
• Brent Futures unchanged at $52.36/bbl
• U.S. Dollar Index up 0.2% to 92.97

Top Headlines

• Germany’s economy slowed more than initially estimated at the start of the third quarter, leaving it trailing the euro region’s other large nations
• Britain’s economy has moved into a phase of “steady but sluggish” growth and is at risk of a further slowdown, according to IHS Markit.
• Iceland’s central bank is ready and willing to lower its guard against fast cash with the country’s balance sheet on a firm footing and a stimulus unwinding underway in global capital markets
• China Tries to Calm U.S. Trade Spat While Readying Retaliation
• Fed Front-Runner Cohn Could Be Trump’s Bulldog in Egghead World
• Tronox Sells Alkali Chemicals to Genesis Energy for $1.325B
• Guggenheim Is Said to Be in Fund Sale Talks With Invesco
• Costco July Comp Sales up 6.2%, Est. Up 5%
• GM China July Vehicle Sales Rise 6.3% on Year
• Venator Materials Prices IPO at $20.00/Share: Huntsman Corp
• Glaxosmithkline Moves China Neuroscience Research to U.S
• Fox Is Said in Talks With Ion Media to Operate Local TV Stations
• Goldman Highlights Call Strategy That Has Done ‘Unusually Well’
• Sibanye May Cut 7,400 Jobs as It Restructures Gold Operations
• U.K. Shows ‘Steady But Sluggish’ Growth as Services Expand

The momentum from the DJIA’s 22,000 milestone was lost on Asia as the region traded negative across the board, with sentiment dampened amid earnings and a miss by the Chinese Caixin Services PMI:

• Chinese Caixin Services PMI (Jul) 51.5 vs. Exp. 51.9 (Prey. 51.6). (Newswires)

ASX 200 (-0.16%) was subdued by commodity names with Rio Tinto (-2.49%) shares down after the Co. missed on H1 underlying profit, while Nikkei 225 (-0.25%) was also lower and eyed a test of the 20,000 level to the downside. KOSPI (-1.68%) was the worst performer on tighter regulation to cool the housing sector, coupled with continued geopolitical concerns after the US told its citizens to leave North Korea by September 1st amid a travel ban and reports the US tested an intercontinental ballistic missile from California, which officials denied was in response to provocation from North Korea. Hang Seng (-0.28%) and Shanghai Comp (-0.37%) also conformed to the down beat tone following the miss on Chinese Services PMI and the PBoC cutting its liquidity injection by half. Finally, 10yr JGBs only saw minimal gains despite the dampened risk sentiment in the region, with upside capped by a weaker 10yr inflation-indexed auction.

Top Asian News

• The Conglomerate That Troubles China
• Korea Stocks Slump Most This Year as Rally Wanes on Moon Reforms
• Copper’s Rally Has Room to Run as Chinese Demand Accelerates
• Taiwan Futures Plunge 10 Percent After Brokerage’s Algo Error
• Global Bond Selloff Risk Puts Japan’s Chiba Bank on Defense
• Hong Kong’s Tiny Flats Pile Up as Property Market Dangers Grow
• Kishida Exits Japan Cabinet, Paving Way for Him to Challenge Abe
• Macquarie, GIC Bid $1.3 Billion for Philippine Renewable Stake

European bourses trade mixed. Sector specific energy continues to lag despite the recent bullish pressure in oil, with European equity earnings being the large driver in markets. The Dax companies highlighted the morning, with earnings form the likes of Deutsche Telekom, Siemens and Adidas all influencing the continued to see down days, with a test of 1255.00 seen overnight. German major. Deutsche Telekom’s beat in Adj. EBITA and revenues leave the telecoms giant to outperform in the Dax, however, a weak report from Siemens leaves the Dax in the red. European Composite and Services PMI data has largely been ignored by markets, with EGBs finding little direction. Peripheral debt have recovered following firm results in today’s Spanish auction with the GE/ES spread tightening slightly.

Top European News

• Macron Vows Millionaire Minister Will Cut Worker Protection
• UniCredit CEO Defies Doubters With Surprise Profit Surge
• French Budget Minister Rejoices at Neymar’s Taxes Prospect
• ECB Says Incoming Data Point to Solid, Broad-Based Growth Ahead
• Nomura’s Buckley Sees Multiple Reasons for BOE Rate Hike
• Next’s Shares Surge as Sales Rebound Unnerves Short Sellers

In currencies, the lack of price action from today’s European services and composite data is evident in the anticipation on the BoE. FX trade has been subdued through the European morning, with much of the volatility seen overnight and through yesterday’s US trade. GBP did see a slight bid following the slightly higher than expected Market Services and PMI data, aided by the +0.30% GDP growth. GBP/USD broke through yesterday’s high tripping some stops on the way through.

In comodities, a recent bid has been seen in WTI and Brent crude futures with no fundamental news. However, the price has broken yesterday’s high of 49.65 getting closer towards the USD 50/barrel, which may be a target to test. Global demand for gold fell 14% in the first half of this year, largely due to a decline in the purchasing of the yellow metal by exchange traded funds.

Looking at the day ahead, Thursday’s will round out July PMI data for the week. In Europe we get the final July services and composite PMIs for France , Germany and the Eurozone as well as a first look at UK’s service and composite PMI and other European countries. Thereafter, focus should shift to the BoE policy meeting (no change expected). Over in the US we should also get jobless claims data followed by the ISM non-manufacturing composite for July (56.9 expected). Thereafter we will get factory orders data as well as the final readings for durable and capital goods orders for June. Onto other events, the ECB will publish its economic bulletin. Notable US companies reporting include: Allergan, Viacom, Aetna, Kraft, Kellogg and ICE. Notable European companies reporting include: Siemens, Deutsche Telecom, ING and Adidas

US Event Calendar

• 7:30am: Challenger Job Cuts YoY, prior -19.3%
• 8:30am: Initial Jobless Claims, est. 243,000, prior 244,000; Continuing Claims, est. 1.96m, prior 1.96m
• 9:45am: Bloomberg Consumer Comfort, prior 48.6
• 9:45am: Markit US Services PMI, est. 54.2, prior 54.2; Markit US Composite PMI, prior 54.2
• 10am: ISM Non-Manf. Composite, est. 56.9, prior 57.4
• 10am: Factory Orders, est. 3.0%, prior -0.8%; Factory Orders Ex Trans, prior -0.3%
  • Durable Goods Orders, est. 0.0%, prior 6.5%; Durables Ex Transportation, prior 0.2%
  • Cap Goods Orders Nondef Ex Air, prior -0.1%; Cap Goods Ship Nondef Ex Air, prior 0.2%

DB’s Jim Reid concludes the overnight wrap

In the first 41 years of my life I bought one car at a total cost of around £12k. When I saw some of my peers and colleagues spend multiples of that on a regular basis I shook my head and wondered why you ever needed anything more extravagant to get you from A to B. I also made a mental note to rub it into these people when I retired many years before they did due to my frugal car habit. Then I got married, then I got a dog, then I had my first child and now the twins are coming in the next month. As a result yesterday saw me buy my second car in two years!! One for me and now a big family one. In doing so I broke another of my golden rules and that is to never buy a brand new car. Sigh! Part of the reason is that there is only one car we like with 3 isofixes in one row and that’s the Audi Q7. However only the latest model has this configuration so it could only be around 18 months old max. We did look at second hand ones but then a dealer gave us a spectacular deal if we took out finance on a new one! To be honest it was  so crazy that it makes me particular worried about how easy and cheap it is to buy a car on credit in this country. It really does leave you a little worried about consumer debt. Anyway let’s hope I’m 3 and done. I’ll leave it to you to decide whether I mean kids or cars. On balance I think my wife would want it to be the first and me the second.

Maybe one shouldn’t be so worried about cheap and plentiful credit when the US equity market is setting a new record of some kind virtually every day. Or maybe that’s when you should be worried. Yesterday saw the Dow (+0.3%) clear 22000 for the first time, meaning that Mr Trump can now add it to his collection of stock market landmarks on his watch. The Dow first touched 19000 just over a week after his election victory. The S&P 500 (+0.05%) edged higher but both were slightly flattered by Apple (+4.73%) after its optimistic guidance the previous evening. Of the S&P 500, 299 stocks actually declined.

Interesting Bloomberg reported that yesterday marked 3 months (70 trading sessions) since the S&P 500 increased by more than 1% in any one day. So this leg of the rally has been pretty steady but relentless. This is the longest such stretch since the 79-day stretch back between November 2006 – March 2007. As we’ll see below, European equities aren’t quite keeping up at the moment and this morning our European equity strategist Sebastian Raedler highlights that European equities have fallen by around 5% from their May peak. He expects the tactical pull-back to continue to 360 on the Stoxx 600 (around 5% below current levels), as Euro area PMIs fade from elevated levels and euro strength weighs on European earnings. He re-iterates his long-standing year-end target of 375 on the Stoxx 600 (around 1% below current levels), as lower projected EPS growth (8% versus the previous forecast of 10% and consensus at 12.5%) is offset by a higher P/E target (14.6x, up from the previous target of 14.2x, due to our economists’ recent growth upgrade). He also lowers his FTSE 100 target (from 7,750 to 7,500, 1% upside from current levels) and raises his DAX target (from 11,800 to 12,400, 1% above current levels). See the following link for more details.

Moving onto today, we have the services PMIs and ISM to look forward to (preview at the end). Elsewhere we have the BoE inflation report and rate decision (no change overwhelmingly expect). The focus is likely to be on how the members voted and clues on inflation and rates outlook. Back in the June meeting, the 5-3 vote was more hawkish than expected, partly given growing concerns that the inflation overshoot was more pronounced than expected. Since then, macro data has not changed much, but Q2 CPI was actually more in-line with the BOE May inflation report, which should partly reduce the weight of the hawkish argument on inflation. Further, the composition of the committee is also changing, with Silvana Tenreyro now replacing Kisten Forbes who previously favoured a hike. For now, DB’s strategist do not expect BOE to tighten rates until Brexit related uncertainties have been sufficiently reduced. We shall get more clues this afternoon.

Onto the markets, US bourses continue to edge ahead as noted earlier. Within the S&P, losses in telco (-1.3%) and real estate (-0.5%) were broadly offset by gains in the IT, utilities and industrials sectors. The Stoxx 600 fell 0.4%, impacted by the rising EUR as well as weakness in materials and banks (StanChart -6%; SocGen -4% after results). Across the region, markets also softened, with the DAX (-0.6%), FTSE 100 (-0.2%), CAC (-0.4%) and Italian FTSE MIB (-0.2%). Turning to currency, the Euro continues to strengthen against the greenback, up 0.5% yesterday to another 30 month high. Sterling gained 0.2%, while the US dollar index continues to fall (-0.2%).

Government bond yields were little changed post Tuesday’s larger moves lower. USTs (2Y: unch; 10Y: -1bps), Bunds (2Y: +1bp; 10Y: -1bps), BTPs (2Y: unch; 10Y: unch) and OATs (2Y: unch; 10Y: unch) were broadly flat although Gilt yields were slightly higher (2Y: +2bp; 10Y: +2bps).

In commodities, WTI oil gained 0.9%, following the latest EIA report pointing to lower US crude inventories. This somewhat contradicts reports of higher oil supply from the American Petroleum Institute report and Reuters July survey the day before. As we type, oil has dipped 0.3% this morning. Elsewhere, precious metals were broadly unchanged (Gold -0.2%; Silver -0.1%) while industrial metals were slightly higher (Copper +0.1%; Aluminium +1%).

Away from the markets, two Fed Chiefs have updated the market on their latest thinking. San Francisco Fed Chief Williams has said overnight that inflation should close in on the Fed’s 2% target “within the next year or two”, while Cleveland’s Fed Chief Mester sees it approaching that level “over the next year”, but wanted to see more data (on Fed’s preferred measure, the PCE deflator, inflation is 1.4% currently). On balance sheet unwind, Williams acknowledged that to keep the economy on a sustainable path of growth, we need to gradually reduce the monetary stimulus and that it will be appropriate to start unwinding the  balance sheet this autumn, noting the normalisation process should take four years. On the interest rates outlook, both reiterated the gradual path FOMC has communicated is appropriate and Williams thought the ‘new normal’ interest rate is around 2.5%.

Elsewhere, on the US debt ceiling, a leading House conservative has backed away from his earlier demands that any increase should be paired with steep spending cuts. Now, Republican Meadows just wants to “get it done sooner rather than later”. Turning to tax reform, expect the news-flow to slowly build but in an interview yesterday, representative Yoho said “there is no detail (on the tax reform)…it is a problem…”. For now, we wait and see. The market will hope it doesn’t end up being a replica of the healthcare bill in terms of ability to pass.

This morning Asian equity markets have broadly softened, the Kospi fell 1.5% impacted by Samsung (-3%) and property shares given additional government measures to cool the housing market. Elsewhere, the Nikkei (-0.3%), Hang Seng (-0.2%) and two of the Chinese bourses were down ~0.2%.

Before we take a look at today’s calendar, we wrap up with other data releases from yesterday. In the US, the headline ADP employment change for July was lower than expectations at 178k (vs. 190k expected), although the underlying trends are still solid given the June figure has been revised upwards by 33k. With US growth having picked up in 2Q, but inflation continuing to disappoint, DB’s Peter Hooper updated his outlook for the US economy and sees growth ahead slightly softer than prior expectations and the pace of rate hikes slightly slower. More details here. Over in Europe, the Eurozone PPI for June was in line with expectations at -0.1% mom (vs. -0.1% expected) and 2.5% yoy (vs. 2.5% expected). However, UK’s CIPS construction PMI for July missed expectations at 51.9 (vs. 54 expected), partly reflecting the uncertainty associated with Brexit.

Looking at the day ahead, Thursday’s will round out July PMI data for the week. In Europe we get the final July services and composite PMIs for France (55.7 expected for composite), Germany (55.1 expected for composite) and the Eurozone (55.8 expected for composite) as well as a first look at UK’s service and composite PMI (53.6 and 53.8 expected respectively) and other European countries. Thereafter, focus should shift to the BoE policy meeting (no change expected). Over in the US we should also get jobless claims data followed by the ISM non-manufacturing composite for July (56.9 expected). Thereafter we will get factory orders data as well as the final readings for durable and capital goods orders for June. Onto other events, the ECB will publish its economic bulletin. Notable US companies reporting include: Allergan, Viacom, Aetna, Kraft, Kellogg and ICE. Notable European companies reporting include: Siemens, Deutsche Telecom, ING and Adidas

via http://ift.tt/2w9B7Hy Tyler Durden

Submitted by Rajan Dhall from fxdaily.co.uk

All eyes are now on the midday announcement from the BoE, where a 25bp rate rise is only expected by a very few, but more anticipating signals that a move is forthcoming later this year.

The vote split will tell is whether Haldane – or anyone else – has moved to the hawkish camp, but with Forbes having left the commitee, a 6-2 split is also likely.  Comments from Messrs McCafferty and Saunders suggest there is little or no chance that they have changed their stance from the previous meeting.

Looking at the PMIs, the data is relatively healthy at the present time, with both manufacturing and services up on expectations as well as June levels, but for consideration at the MPC will be the growth rate, which has slipped from 2.0% in Q1 to 1.7% in Q2.

Wage growth is also a concern, but although earnings were down on May levels, Jun was not as soft as expected.

Inflation has also been coming off the highs, and the QIR will underline whether the committee expect this to a temporary development, but if GBP continues to rise, we think not. 

Growth projections will be overcast by the uncertainty of the Brexit process ahead, but any optimism will feed into near term policy ‘views’ – especially if there is no move this time around.

Even so, there is an element of ‘one and done’ if or when the 25bp rate hike does come, so looking beyond this, Sterling gains will be challenged if we get closer to the 1.3500 level, which against the EUR, we expect anything close to 0.8750-8800 will be seen as a healthy buying opportunity.

(EURGBP4HR Levels)

(GBPUSD 4HR Levels)

And here is ING:

Odds of a BoE rate hike today are slim-to-none in our eyes, although we suspect markets will be focusing on four things: (1) the MPC vote split and how close the Bank is to raising rates (we expect to see only 2 dissenters); (2) any change to the tolerance for above-target inflation; (3) if reining in credit growth is added as a policy judgement; (4) an emerging policy consensus within the MPC comms. Given that sterling heads into the Aug ‘Super Thursday’ meeting relatively supported, we think that the confluence of MPC views and an apparently incoherent overall policy bias will disappoint GBP bulls; a slightly flatter UK curve could see GBP/$ pullback to the 1.3100/50 area.

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Authored by Raul Ilargi Meijer via The Automatic Earth blog,

The western world is mired in a mile-deep political crisis and nary a soul seems to notice, or rather: everyone just sees their own little preferred echochamber tidbits of it. Which is not a good thing, because that crisis is bound to trigger other bigger crises that are much more damaging. And I’m sorry to say it, but Donald Trump is not your main problem. Not even close.

The main problem is the collapse of western political systems. While that is what brought Trump to power in the first place, he didn’t cause the collapse. The collapse is also what ‘gave you’ Brexit, and Trump didn’t cause that either. Moreover, in the next step, on the far end of all this, Trump may well be the only thing standing between you and CIA warfare. I know, who wants to hear that, right?! Who’s ready for that next step?

But it’s not that crazy. Trump was the one who stopped the CIA from arming Syrian ‘rebels’, which are just a bunch of extremists gathered by that same CIA in its attempts to unseat Assad, and who Trump saw laughingly beheading a child. And who was it that had previously, and enthusiastically, decided to support these crazies? The US Republican and Democratic parties, in unison, while Obama was president and Hillary slash Joe Biden was Secretary of State. Remember the Chelsea Manning footage of videogame-like drone killings? What did Obama do about that?

Still, that’s not where the core of the demise of our political systems lies. Though it does gave us a flavor of their priorities. The core can be found in economic issues. In both president Bush II and president Obama bailing out banks while letting people’s incomes and wealth tank, and not sueing any banker for anything at all. Obviously, the same scenario played out in Britain as well. And in many other nations.

Now look at the parties themselves. Trump is not a Republican, but he took over the party with hardly any opposition. The only people the GOP could come up with to run against Trump were a full dozen full-blown yokels. And today, they still have no credible leadership. The healthcare vote last week, if we look at it separate from its merits, showed us that the same yokeldom is still in charge. Embarrassing doesn’t cover the feeling.

The Democrats are in the same conundrum. They have no credible candidates either. It’s Hillary or nothing. Which adds up to nothing. And then there’s a whole slew of suspicious ‘operatives’, Rice, Wasserman-Schultz et al, who make the picture even worse, and may soon find themselves on the wrong end of an investigation. Who’s going to vote for that bunch?

Yes, there’s Bernie Sanders, but he will never be allowed near the top as long as these other folk are there (and sorry, but he’s too old too). And there’s the core of the problem: both parties have been run by the same clique for ages, and you can only be part of it if you vote and agree with them (the made men model). Which in turn is why they don’t get the votes. And why Trump could become president. Who pledged to limit their terms and shut the revolving doors but still hasn’t.

That, too, is reflected one on one in Britain. If Theresa May is the best you can come up with as a leader, you have a queen-size problem. And Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn has a long way to go anywhere at all yet, especially since he refuses to change his anti-EU stance and all the media are against what the people voted for. Though as far as I can see, the problem with Brexit is not so much the issue itself, but the utter incompetence with which it’s being handled. Which is staggering. You feel like asking for these people’s IDs to check their age.

The only thing I ever see discussed is how much Brexit is going to cost. As if voting for Brexit was always about money only. But the EU is about a lot more. Steve Keen presented it the other day in a much different way. He said that -paraphrased- the UK was the country perhaps hardest hit of all by neoliberalism, and that’s why people voted Brexit. And that Brexit could be its way out of the whole neoliberal austerity nightmare, if used well. Let’s talk about that instead.

But the Tories are not going to interpret Brexit that way. They will instead use it for more austerity, and more neoliberal policies. What they do at the moment is they try and push through as many of those policies as they can, and to cement them in laws and deals with the EU, who will love that. That way when May is voted out of office, Corbyn or whoever will be faced with a whole parade of things (s)he can no longer change or adapt. Fait accompli.

What everyone who is sick of these people, and of the policies, should do, is what Emmanuel Macron did in France: start a new party. Because France suffers from the same disease: the old guard doesn’t represent anyone but themselves anymore. Not that Macron is necessarily such a great alternative, but he has pointed the way to go, the way out of the staleness and the stalemate.

When you look at the US, all these senators and congresspeople talk more to lobbyists than they talk to anyone else. They’re all so beholden to financial backers and campaign funding, they have nothing left for their voters. They get votes, the ones they do still get, through tens of millions worth of slick TV ads in which they promise things they will never deliver. They paint shiny pictures and regurgitate lofty narratives. But they’ve been found out. Enter Trump stage left.

This happens all over the place. Japan PM Shinzo Abe is the latest trophy to be added, and to join Holland, Italy, France, the US etc., in the list of ‘traditional’ parties and politicians being voted, if not out, then certainly down, way down. You can’t run a country in the midst of a crisis like that. The old guard has a solution for that too: they deny the crisis, and their respective housing bubbles, and claim their countries are in a recovery. Which, wouldn’t you know, they claim to have, themselves, cleverly engineered for their people.

All that’s needed in both the UK and US are credible alternatives, and for the ruling classes to be cut down to size. But all we see are voices that derive their identity from pointing out what’s wrong with ‘the others’, be it Trump or Hillary, May or Corbyn. And in the case of Trump, anyone he’s ever talked to.

But now that even the WaPo has declared the Russian collusion story bogus, albeit without identifying its own role in developing that story, maybe it’s time for more pressing matters. Maybe brighter people on all sides of all spectrums can now build their identities on actual policies. And then discuss them, in all due respect, with others who do the same from their point of view.

Because make no mistake about it, with countries essentially ungovernable, as many are, as the US and UK are these days, risks of things like wars emerging ‘out of nowhere’ increase exponentially. If Trump must spend half his time talking about one story after another about someone maybe having met someone who may or may not be not 100% on the up and up, he doesn’t have enough time left to talk to Putin or Xi.

And really, that’s what the American president, any American president, should be doing right now. That alone would be a full-time day-job. Because alphabet soup ingredients like the CIA have created potential mayhem in so many locations around the globe, any one of them might blow anytime now.

Venezuela, North Korea, Ukraine, Iran, Syria, it’s a list that is impossible to complete. How about Bolivia, where Evo Morales once again has called for independence from the IMF and World Bank. The two-party, two pronged, two forked-tongued US political class, and its CIA handlers, don’t like that sort of thing. Not one bit.

Sure, you can argue that perhaps it’s Trump who’s most likely to start a war, but the evidence so far doesn’t point to that. The evidence points to all sorts of Shakespearean antics in the Oval Office, I told you!, plenty of Scaramouches, but not that one, not trigger-happiness. That’s all the other guys and gals, lest you forget. The evidence points to a two-party war machine, which hopes to be able to do its thing while you wallow in your self-righteous attitudes about Trump and Priebus and Scaramucci and Don Jr.

You want war? Denounce Trump. You don’t? Think again.

The risk of all this is that Da Donald will see no other way to stay in the White House than to start a war, somewhere, anywhere. Even the New York Times will declare him the greatest president since the last one who went to battle.

The risk embedded within that risk is that neither he nor anyone else will have any idea where it may lead. The risk is that the CIA, perhaps more than ever, will decide US -foreign- policy. And believe you me, that’s not what we should want. None of us.

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Though Western media and much of the entire world have long forgotten about Libya, we never will. While the Nobel Peace Prize winning "humanitarian" minded architect of the 2011 US-NATO intervention (and author of Libya's current hell) continues to pen his presidential memoir in the midst of an epic retirement tour of yachts, golf courses, and hidden celebrity islands, Libya still burns out of control.

As we've recently noted, the mass flow of migrants and asylum seeking refugees is not going away and remains a political flashpoint for European front line countries reeling from the immigrant wave. In an updated situation report on Libya issued earlier this summer, the United Nation's World Food Program (WFP) published some shocking numbers:

Civilians in Libya continue to suffer as a result of conflict, insecurity, political instability and a collapsing economy. According to the 2017 Humanitarian Response Plan, 1.3 million people are in need of emergency humanitarian assistance.

July 2017 UN figures. Source: UN World Food Program (WFP)

This means 20% of the entire Libyan population (estimated at 6.4 million according to the UN) is still in dire need of basic necessities of life such as food and housing. The WFP further notes on its main Libya page that Africa's fourth largest country enjoyed economic stability and independence until 2011 – the year Gaddafi was overthrown and murdered at the hands of NATO sponsored militants (bold emphasis is WFP's):

At that time Libya, as one of the world’s most prolific oil-producing nations, maintained large trade surpluses. Although the country’s oil wealth did not percolate down to the wages of ordinary citizens, until 2011 the cost of food at household level was offset to some extent by a welfare state that offered free education and healthcare. Now, the country has a trade deficit and is gripped by a civil war opposing tribal groups, Islamist groups, various other militias and administration forces.

 

Libya’s population is suffering a major humanitarian crisis. This involves poverty, insecurity, gender-based violence, mass displacement, shortages of food and cash in banks, and frequent power cuts.

In 2010, a year before the NATO war, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) assigned a Human Development Index (HDI) ranking of 53 to Libya (out of 169 countries ranked, Libya ranked highest on the African continent). The HDI is a composite statistic which measures comparative quality of life around the world with regard to education, lifespan, wages, and general standard of living. For example, Libya ranked above Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Brazil, and South Africa for multiple years running through 2010 and was categorized as having "High Human Development". Libya has now fallen to 102 in the world according to the UN's 2016 HDI report.

Right up until the eve of NATO's air campaign against the Libyan state, international media outlets understood and acknowledged the country's high human development rankings, though it later became inconvenient to present the empirical data. A February 2011 BBC report summarized as follows:

During Muammar Gaddafi’s 42-year rule, Libya has made great strides socially and economically thanks to its vast oil income, but tribes and clans continue to be part of the demographic landscape.

 

Women in Libya are free to work and to dress as they like, subject to family constraints. Life expectancy is in the seventies. And per capita income – while not as high as could be expected given Libya’s oil wealth and relatively small population of 6.5m – is estimated at $12,000 (£9,000), according to the World Bank.

 

Illiteracy has been almost wiped out, as has homelessness – a chronic problem in the pre-Gaddafi era, where corrugated iron shacks dotted many urban centres around the country.

Libya went from an HDI ranking of 53 (with an HDI Value shown above) in 2010 to 102 in 2016. The UN identifies 2011 as the beginning of a continuing "mass displacement" of Libyans as the country remains in war-torn chaos. Chart source: Actualitix.

World Bank GNI numbers through 2016.

The 2011 war and aftermath essentially created a failed state with a once economically independent population now turned largely dependent on foreign aid and relief. Now considered to be at "emergency levels" of need, prior to NATO intervention Libya was not even on the WFP's radar:

Before the crisis, the World Food Programme (WFP) had a minimal presence in Libya, with the country operating only as a logistics corridor between Sudan and Chad.

How's that for "Arab Spring" blossoming of democracy, freedom, and prosperity courtesy of France, Britain, and the US?

Via Wiki Commons, "History of Libya under Muammar Gaddafi" Gross Domestic Product (based on Purchasing Power Parity methodology)

Not surprisingly, as of this week there are still "respected" members of the press willing to defend regime change experiments and "democracy promotion" abroad while quoting Iraq War architects like Elliot Abrams (thankfully Trump nixed him for a State Dept. position). They will perpetually live on in their own fanciful unreality while filling up columns in places like the Washington Post.

The ever-insightful Adam Curtis characterized the state of unreality under which most in the West still live when he concluded a 2012 post-mortem analysis on Libya – a very fitting conclusion to the still unfolding yet already forgotten about story of NATO's dirty little "humanitarian" war:

The question at the heart of this whole story is – Who was the ventriloquist? And who was the dummy?

 

Maybe we were the dummy? By allowing perception management with its simplifications, falsehoods and exaggerations to create a simplified vision of the world – we fell into a fake universe of certainty when really we were just watching a pantomime.

 

And now as the Arab Spring unfolds and reveals the true chaos and messiness of the real world – above all the horror of what is happening in Syria – we find ourselves completely unable to understand it or even know what to do. So those stories get ignored while we follow others with clearer and more simplified dramas which have what seem to be obvious goodies and baddies – thank god for Iran, North Korea and Jimmy Savile.

It is unlikely that even the hard empirical data will awaken either neocons or liberal interventionists from their pantomime regime change fantasies.

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A global survey conducted in 135 countries has revealed that crisis-hit Venezuela has by far the lowest share of inhabitants that feel safe walking alone at night.

You will find more statistics at Statista

As Statista's Martin Armstrong notes, a mere 12 percent of Venezuelan respondents said that they would feel comfortable at alone at night on the streets of their city or area, a whole 16 points lower than the next worst country, El Salvador with 28 percent.

On the other end of the scale, an impressive 97 percent of Singaporeans said that they feel safe.

Due to security conditions, Gallup were unable to conduct the survey in Syria.

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Authored by Giulio Meotti via The Gatestone Institute,

• London Mayor Sadiq Khan banned advertisements that promote "unrealistic expectations of women's body image and health". Now Berlin is planning to ban images in which women are portrayed as "beautiful but weak, hysterical, dumb, crazy, naive, or ruled by their emotions". Tagesspiegel's Harald Martenstein said the policy "could have been adopted from the Taliban manifesto".
• The irony is that this wave of morality and "virtue" is coming from cities governed by uninhibited leftist politicians, who for years campaigned for sexual liberation. It is now a "feminist" talking point to advocate sharia policy.
• To paraphrase the American writer Daniel Greenfield, the irony of women celebrating their own suppression is both heartbreaking and stupefying.

Within days after the Islamic State conquered the city of Sirte in Libya two years ago, enormous billboards appeared in the Islamist stronghold warning women they must wear baggy robes that cover their entire bodies, and no perfume. These "sharia stipulations for hijab" included wearing dense material and a robe that does not "resemble the attire of unbelievers".

Two years later, Europe's three most important cities – London, Paris and Berlin – are adopting the same sharia trend.

Paris has said au revoir to "sexist" ads on public billboards. The Paris city council announced its ban after the Socialist Mayor Anne Hidalgo said the move meant that Paris was "leading the way" in the fight against sexism. London Mayor Sadiq Khan also banned advertisements that promote "unrealistic expectations of women's body image and health". Now Berlin is planning to ban images in which women are portrayed as "beautiful but weak, hysterical, dumb, crazy, naive, or ruled by their emotions". Der Tagesspiegel's Harald Martenstein said the policy "could have been adopted from the Taliban manifesto".

The irony is that this wave of morality and "virtue" is coming from cities governed by uninhibited leftist politicians, who for years campaigned for sexual liberation.

There is a reason for this grotesque campaign banning these images. These cities host significant Muslim populations; and politicians — the same who frantically are enacting mandatory multiculturalism — want to please "Islam". It is now a "feminist" talking point to advocate sharia policy, as does Linda Sarsour. The result is that, today, few feminists dare to criticize Islam.

It is happening everywhere. Dutch municipalities are "advising" their employees to not wear mini-skirts. There are women-only hours at Swedish swimming pools. German schools are sending letters to parents asking children to avoid wearing "revealing clothes".

The first to suggest calling for a ban on posters or advertisements that "reduce women or men to sexual objects" was German Justice Minister Heiko Maas, a Social Democrat.

"To demand the veiling of women or taming of men," said Free Democratic Party leader Christian Lindner, "is something known among radical Islamic religious leaders, but not from the German minister of justice."

In 1969, Germany was overwhelmed by a debate on introducing into schools the "Sexualkundeatlas", an "atlas" of sexual science. Now the effort is to desexualize German society. The newspaper Die Welt commented:

"Thanks to Justice Minister Heiko Maas we finally know why on New Year's Eve, at Cologne Central Station, about a thousand women were victims of sexual violence: because of sexist advertising. Too many eroticized models, too much naked skin on our billboards, too many erotic mouths, too many miniskirts in fashion magazines, too many wiggling rear-ends and chubby breasts in television spots. It is another step in the direction of a 'submission'".

Instead of nipples and buttocks, Die Welt concludes, "should we urge the use of burqa or veil, as Mrs. Erdogan does?"

The same German élites who suggest banning "sexist" billboards censored the crude details of the mass sexual assaults in Cologne. Meanwhile, a liberal Berlin mosque, which banned burqas and opened its door to gays and to unveiled women, is now under police protection after threats from Muslim supremacists.

Europe's élites have adopted a double standard: they are proud to host an exhibit of a Christian crucifix submerged in urine, but quickly capitulate to Muslim demands to censor cartoons of the Islamic Prophet Mohammed. The Italian authorities went to great efforts to spare Iran's President Hassan Rouhani a view of nudity on ancient sculptures in the Capitoline Museums of Rome.

The Western public appears fascinated by Islamic veils. Ismail Sacranie, a founder of Modestly Active, the manufacturer that designs burkinis, told the New York Times that 35% of their clients are non-Muslim. Aheda Zanetti, a Lebanese woman living in Australia who invented the burkini, claims that 40% of her sales are to non-Muslim women. The Western public, which has been romanticizing Islam, is apparently absorbing the pieties of Islamic law. The Spectator called it "a new puritanism" and "why some feminists make common cause with Islam".

To paraphrase the American writer Daniel Greenfield, the irony of women celebrating their own suppression is both heartbreaking and stupefying.

Europe might soon have to apologize to the Mayor of Cologne, Henriette Reker. She was criticized — denounced — for advising women to keep "at an arm's length" from strangers to avoid sexual harassment.

If the West keeps on betraying the democratic value of individual freedom on which Western civilization is based, Islamic fundamentalists, like those who imposed burqas on Libyan women, will start imposing them on Western women. They may even begin with those feminist élites who first created the sexual revolution to emancipate women in the 1960s, and who are now infatuated with an obscurantist garment that hides women in a portable prison.

If the West keeps betraying the democratic value of individual freedom, Islamic fundamentalists, like those who imposed burqas on Libyan women, will do the same to Western women. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)

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The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development just released its latest batch of data seeking to measure the quality of health care in each of its member states.

The rankings show that although the US spends more per capita on health care than any of the 34 other OECD member states, its average life expectancy of 78.8 years ranks is among the lowest found in the group, according to a Bloomberg analysis. 

According to the data, the US ranks near the bottom compared with its developed-country peers in prevalence of infant mortality and maternal mortality, as well as deaths from cancer and cardiovascular disease.

“It has the fourth highest infant mortality rate in the OECD, the sixth highest maternal mortality rate and the ninth highest likelihood of dying at a younger age from a host of ailments, including cardiovascular disease and cancer.”

There’s also a surprising disconnect between how healthy Americans believe they are, and how healthy they really are.  

“The U.S. is the most obese country in the OECD, leads in drug-related deaths and ranks 33rd in prevalence of diabetes. Yet 88 percent of Americans say they are in good or very good health, according to OECD statistics. Only 35 percent of Japanese, who have the highest life expectancy in the OECD, regard themselves as healthy or very healthy.

Bloomberg attributes the gap to the America’s reliance on “voluntary” health insurance, saying that OECD countries that rely on public health-care plans have much higher life expectancy, presumably because patients in these countries are incentivized to seek preventative care.

“Unlike other countries in the OECD, the U.S. mostly relies on voluntary health insurance to fund health-care costs. Public health insurance, such as Medicare and Medicaid, accounts for 27 percent of coverage. By contrast, the 10 countries with the highest life expectancy depend on voluntary insurance for an average of less than 6 percent of their costs, and government spending for nearly half.”

Pharmaceuticals are of the biggest drivers of the US's high health-care costs: The US spends more per capita on prescription medicines and over-the-counter products than any other country in the OECD.

The data arrive as President Donald Trump and Senate GOP leaders consider their next move in a battle to repeal and replace Obamacare. Their latest effort, a so-called “skinny repeal” bill that would’ve rolled back some of the more controversial aspects of Obama’s landmark health initiative was rejected by a one-vote margin when Sen. John McCain, who’s suffering from brain cancer, surprised his peers by voting “no” in an early-morning vote last week.

Health insurance costs are on track to rise much more quickly than inflation as Trump considers using executive actions to ditch key payments to Obamacare insurance companies if a repeal and replace bill is not passed. Insurers in five states requesting premium increases of more than 30%, using this “policy uncertainty” as an excuse the blame the president.

With so much “uncertainty” surrounding the future of health-care in the US, maybe Bernie Sanders will succeed in passing a single-payer initiative that he’s vowed to introduce. Of course, the tax increases that would be required to implement the legislation might trigger a few unintended health crises of their own once taxpayers see the bill.

The complete rankings can be found below:

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Authored by Daisy Luther via The Organic Prepper blog,

It’s always interesting reading when someone smug and sanctimonious writes a clueless diatribe about another group of people being smug and sanctimonious. So when I saw that an economist for Moody’s and Forbes had written an op-ed calling self-reliant homesteaders “delusional,” I knew I’d be in for some misinformed hilarity.

The article, entitled, “Dear Homesteaders, Self-Reliance Is a Delusion” was published a couple of days ago on the Forbes website. You’ll be forewarned that the article won’t be deep in the first paragraph, when the author presents his claim to knowledge about self-reliant living comes from the fact that he is “a big fan of shows about doomsday preppers, homesteaders, survivalists, generally people who live off the grid.”

And the well-informed opinion of this arbiter of self-reliance?

…there’s a central delusion in these shows that is never far from my mind when I’m watching these shows: off the grid people are not self-reliant, but instead are mooching off of the civil society, government, and safety net the rest of us contribute to…

 

The people in these shows often describe a very romantic vision of the lives they have chosen the ethos underlying it. They describe themselves as fully self-reliant, and criticize the rest of society as being dependent and lacking in this self-reliance. It is morally superior, the story goes, to provide for yourself, take care of your own needs, and often, be prepared to survive if society collapses.

First, let me segue a little bit and tell you about the author. According to his bio on Economy.com:

Adam Ozimek is an associate director and senior economist in the West Chester office of Moody’s Analytics. Adam covers state and regional economies, as well U.S. labor markets and demographics. Prior to joining Moody’s Analytics, Adam was Senior Economist and Director of Research for Econsult Solutions, an economics consulting company. He received his Ph.D. in economics from Temple University and his bachelor’s degree in economics from West Chester University.

So based on this, I’m going to guess that homesteading and off-grid living aren’t his jam. I mean, he might head down to the Westtown Amish Market there in Pennsylvania, but I’d be willing to place money on that being his closest brush with any real, live, self-reliant homesteaders.

His ill-conceived argument seems to be mostly focused on health care. He is baffled about what will happen if a homesteader becomes ill or gets injured.

” On Live Free Or Die, a man in his mid sixties named Colbert lives in the Georgia swamps alone….I always wonder what will happen if he slips and falls, and can no longer provide for himself. He’ll likely end up receiving hospital treatment paid for with Medicare, and perhaps end up in an assisted living center paid for by Medicare as well.”

Or…

“Another example from Live Free or Die is Tony and Amelia,  a couple who live on a simple, off-the-grid homestead in North Carolina. When I watch them I wonder what would happen if one became extremely sick, and simple, off-the-grid home medicine couldn’t treat them. Would they say “we’ve chosen our fate, and now we die by it”, or would they seek treatment in a hospital they couldn’t afford which would be covered by the hospital’s charity care or perhaps Medicaid?”

One thing that Dr. Ozimek is missing is the fact that most homesteaders are tax-paying citizens. Does he think that living on a homestead exempts one from property taxes? Does he suppose that their vehicles don’t have license plates or that their fuel is purchased without the requisite state gasoline tax? Or that maybe they have some special card that lets them buy things like feed without paying sales tax? Perhaps homesteading equipment like tractors and tools and off-grid appliances are likewise purchased without any gain to “society.”

As well, he’s under the assumption, based on his vast body of knowledge gleaned from watching TV, that self-reliant homesteaders don’t make any money or have any insurance. I know homesteaders who are retirees from other jobs who have a fine pension and excellent health insurance. I know others who make a good living with their homesteading endeavors. And there are still others who live simply after working for years to pay cash for their homestead, or families in which one spouse works a full-time job to support the homestead.

But, Ozimek, whose informed point of view comes from only the most extreme of the group featured on for-profit-and-ratings television shows, doesn’t understand that. He continues to espouse the superiority of the non-agrarian lifestyle:

If we all lived “self-reliant” lives like Tony often implores us, spending most of our time on basic agricultural subsistence, then modern hospitals couldn’t exist. It’s only because most of us choose to not live agrarian “self-reliant” lifestyles that this care would be available to Tony, Amelia, and perhaps someday, their children. And what if both of them become too injured to work the land anymore? Would they starve to death, or would they survive off of the social safety net our government provides, like food stamps?

 

In fairness to Tony, Amelia, and Colbert, perhaps they would refuse the modern medical care and modest safety net in the case of an accident or illness, and would simply choose to die. I don’t think most homesteaders would, but we don’t know.

Yeah, because homesteaders can’t do anything but homestead.

Some people are producers and other people are consumers.

Ozimek thinks that someone with the extensive skills required to live off the grid would be completely unable to find employment and would have no option but to become a welfare recipient should their homesteading endeavor fall apart.

What he’s missing is that his cushy “civilized” lifestyle is completely reliant on the type of people he scorns. He forgets that someone, somewhere is growing his food. Someone, somewhere, is assuring that his energy reaches his home. Someone is ensuring that his plumbing works, someone is repairing his furnace if it breaks, and someone is transporting the goods he purchases to the store, where someone will sell him those goods.

But, that’s what happens when someone is only a consumer and not a producer. They think that producers are somehow less worthy, and that if they couldn’t produce what the consumers consume, they’d be totally out of options.

The cool thing about self-reliant homesteaders is that we aren’t one-trick ponies. We can produce all sorts of things and provide all kinds of services. It’s called “having skills.”

Most self-reliant homesteaders aren’t reality TV stars.

Since his entire argument is based on the tv programs he watches, the author doesn’t understand what self-reliance means to those of us who aren’t reality television stars.

It means:

• We provide a lot of our own food because we prefer to know where it comes from.
• We raise our own meat because we object to the way factory-farmed animals are treated.
• We use our own sources of power because maybe we’re green at heart or maybe we just prefer not to be tied into the “smart” grid.
• We learn to make our own products for cleaning, bathing, and making life pleasant because we don’t want to bring chemical toxins into our homes.
• We’d rather skip the middle man and spend our time actually making the things that most people work for hours to purchase from someone else who made them.
• We are far less likely to spend time at the doctor’s office because a) we aren’t huge fans of pharmaceuticals, b) we can take care of small things ourselves, and c) our healthier lifestyle means we tend to be less likely to be ill. (Although this isn’t always the case – even self-reliant homesteaders can get sick. And when we do, we use our insurance or we pay for it with savings. Just like everyone else.)
• We don’t need as much money because we just don’t need as much stuff.

But to someone who buys all of their food and other goods from the store and gets all of their medicine from the pharmacy, it can be difficult to understand the satisfaction that comes from evading those places.

But, safety…

Of course, if self-reliant homesteaders pass all of the Forbes columnist’s other tests, he can still dismiss their achievements by going full-blown statist.

Yet even if one refuses help and care, however, they still benefit from the modern civil society thanks to the private property protections, rule of law, and military that provide them with safety and security.

 

Many off-the-grid folks like to fantasize that their personal fire arms collection and self-defense skills are actually why they are safe. But how far would this take them in a society without the rule of law, an effective government, and law enforcement? The homesteader who is confident their security is in their own hands should go live off-the-grid in Syria and find out how far self-protection takes them.

 

And it’s not just police and a military that keep homesteaders safe. It’s also widespread prosperity. In the developed world, a basic education is available to all, and most people who want a job can find one. Living in a prosperous, modern economy means that homesteaders can take a good bit of their own safety from violence for granted and roving bandits are not likely to take their homes from them.

So, by the mere fact of our existence in this country, according to Ozimek, none of us are self-reliant. It boggles the mind that this fellow successfully wrote and defended a doctoral thesis.

This is how reliant people justify their reliance.

I guess what it boils down to is that this is what helps Ozimek and people like him justify living their lives without any practical skills. If things did go sideways in a long-term kind of way, who is going to be better off: a person who can claim a Ph.D. in economics or someone who can actually produce food?

The fact is, the less we require from society, the less power that society has over us. Our lifestyles give us some distance from the hustle and the bustle. We don’t have to make as much money because we don’t live in the consumer matrix that engulfs so much of society. We are content to live simply instead of hustling from one non-productive activity to another.

Most of us don’t eschew all the benefits of living in a modern society. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. Having a corporate job doesn’t preclude growing your own tomatoes any more than having a herd of goats precludes having health insurance.

There is a joy in making a meal that came entirely from your own backyard that these people will never get to experience, and having spent many years in the corporate world, I can tell you which provides the most satisfaction for me.

In this society where nearly everyone is digitally connected 24 hours a day, it’s nice to step away from all that and break the addiction to constant stimulation. It’s nice to not always be trading the hours in your day for the things that someone else made while you were working on something that, if we’re being honest, is kind of pointless in the grand scheme of survival.

If Dr. Ozimek wants to talk about delusions and superiority, he could find all the inspiration he needs by taking a look in the mirror.

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A video of a drunk man punching a Russian TV journalist in the face during a segment on Paratroopers’ Day celebrations is going viral.

Nikita Razvozzhayev, a correspondent with Russian news channel NTV, was confronted Wednesday by the intoxicated man in Gorky Park, Moscow's most popular recreational area, according to a report in the Telegraph.

In the video, the attacker can be seen interrupting Razvozzhayev's live report by walking into the camera frame and shouting (in Russian) "This is our country! We will conquer Ukraine!"

Razvozzhayev can be heard politely asking the man to be quiet; instead, the man decked him in the face.

The broadcast then switched back to the studio, where the anchor told viewers that there were “problems” on the ground, before saying she hoped her colleague was ok.  

On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump signed a bill expanding US sanctions on Russia. The bill prevents him from acting unilaterally to remove certain sanctions on Russia and adds sanctions against Russia, Iran and North Korea. The bill passed both chambers of Congress with overwhelming bipartisan support, increasing the probability that Congress would vote to override should Trump veto the bill.

However, in a signing statement attached to the bill, Trump criticized the legislation as “flawed,” saying he would sign it "with reservations" about its impact and the constitutionality of some provisions.

Back in February, during her first appearance as UN Ambassador, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, slammed Russia’s backing of rebels in Eastern Ukraine, saying that while the US would like to improve relations with Russia, “the dire situation in eastern Ukraine is one that demands clear and strong condemnation of Russian actions." Russia has blamed the escalation on the Ukrainians.

The controversial sanctions bill is already straining the relationship between the US and one of its staunchest allies, the European Union.

Germany and Austria, two of Russia's biggest energy clients in Europe, criticized the bill shortly after it passed the Senate in a 98-2 vote, saying they could affect European businesses involved in piping in Russian natural gas. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Wednesday that the EU is ready to retaliate should the sanctions against Russia affect European companies, according to Bloomberg.

Circling back to the assault, the Telegraph reported that it wasn't immediately clear whether the reporter’s injury was serious. The attacker, whose name wasn’t released, has been arrested. Police are investigating the incident. Paratroopers Day is meant to celebrate veterans and active duty airborne servicemen.

Judging by the footage, the reporter maintained his poise while absorbing the blow, which was remarkable.

We wonder: Do Russian journalism schools teach students how to take a sucker punch?

Or maybe this drunk buffoon just doesn’t know how to throw one.
 

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