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Here are the top 5 signs/predictions for 2018
Greta Threatens To Put World Leaders "Against the Wall" if They Refuse To Fight Climate Change
Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Summit News,
Greta Thunberg threatened to put world leaders “against the wall” if they refuse to comply with climate change demands.
Yes, really.
During a speech in Turin, Italy, the teenage climate change activist stated:
“Unfortunately, we probably already know the outcome. World leaders are still trying to run away from their responsibilities but we have to make sure they cannot do that.”
“We will make sure that we put them against the wall and they will have to do their job to protect our futures,” she added.
Greta Thunberg threatens to throw world leaders against the wall unless they do what she wants! pic.twitter.com/nqWKrNBKil
— David Croom - (ツ) (@dailycallout) December 14, 2019The term to put someone “against the wall” has been used by Communists and other authoritarians throughout history to denote assassinating political enemies.
If anyone prominent on the right had used such rhetoric, there’d be a huge outcry with immediate demands for censorship.
Greta, who this week was named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year, has been elevated into something of a cult leader over the past year thanks to the media’s relentless fawning over her.
As we previously highlighted, Thunberg is being taught to Swedish children as part of a course about “religious knowledge,” with kids being asked to mock her opponents.
Churches in Sweden are now ringing bells in her honor, while last year the Church of Sweden proclaimed Greta to be “Jesus’s Successor.”
Greta also appeared on a giant looming mural in San Francisco appearing precisely as you would expect a cult leader to look.
Tyler Durden Sun, 12/15/2019 - 09:20 Tags EnvironmentDid China Just Threaten To Kill German Car Exports Over Huawei Decision?
At the Handelsblatt industrial summit on Friday, Chinese ambassador to Germany Ken Wu told ex-Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel that if Germany excludes Huawei 5G from its communication networks, then China could "declare German cars unsafe" for its domestic market.
"It is important to the Chinese government that Chinese companies in Germany are treated the same as others, without discrimination. If the German government made a decision that led to the exclusion of Huawei from the German market, it will have consequences - the Chinese government will not stand idly by. See, last year, 28 million cars were sold in China, 7 million of those were German. Can we just declare German cars unsafe, because we can make our own cars? No, that would be pure protectionism," Wu said at Handelsblatt.
Angela Merkel has been under intense pressure as lawmakers in the country could agree on a bill that would exclude Huawei from the country's 5G mobile network.
The Financial Times, who examined a copy of the bill, said the measure states Germany is at "risk of state influence without constitutional control, manipulation or espionage." It says Huawei should be designated as "untrustworthy" and "excluded from both the core and peripheral networks."
A lot of the pressure to pass the bill is coming from Washington and senior officials in Germany's intelligence agencies that want to see Huawei banned from European networks.
If the bill was passed into law, as described by Wu on Friday, there's a massive risk that China could cripple Germany's manufacturing industry by banning Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, and VW.
It seems that Germany and other major Western democracies are attempting to stand up to China and demand that Huawei is becoming a national security threat. Though to do this, Western countries need strong economies to absorb trade shocks of countermeasures that the Chinese could respond with.
Europe is teetering with zero growth and negative interest rate rates with monetary policy widely unable to revive the regional economy. As for the US, the economy is treading along with a manufacturing recession as the overall economy decelerates -- making the economic war against China harder than previously thought.
China's tactics of threatening countries to use Huawei 5G equipment or else -- was recently seen on Denmark's tiny self-governing archipelago of the Faroe Islands. Beijing told local officials that if it didn't roll out Huawei 5G, it would dismantle a free trade agreement between both countries.
In a separate situation, but completely relevant as the world continues to stumble into uncertain times, China has retaliated for the US' trade war by ordering all public companies to replace computers made by Dell, HP, and Microsoft.
The trend at play is that Western companies could be shut out of the world's biggest market if they don't comply with China's requests for using their technology and trade rules.
China's ascension to become the world's top smartphone manufacturer could soon be realized as Huawei is likely to dethrone Samsung in the near term.
The West has waged an economic war against China, if the fight deepens, Beijing could soon ban Western companies from domestic markets, this would create further trade shocks and tilt global trade not just deeper into a recession, but an outright depression.
Here's how social media reacted when Wu made a clear threat to Germany...
⚠️The CCP wants to dominate the world. It’s currently waging a stealth war against all free democracies. If the free world don’t take a stand now, we will wake up to a Red Dawn. This is a call to arms. Please help retweet. https://t.co/Q24qb22QNJ
— James Tang (@James69888) December 13, 2019 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsWhen could CCP learn how to respect people and other countries like international relationship.. It's tactics are only- Censoring Threathening Violating Sustainable and win-win situations never happens if working w/China. Hope more countries can wake up from China dream. pic.twitter.com/PFqQ8hqnD1
— Oi g Cheese 😷 (@daydreamhares) December 14, 2019 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsChina is a threat to the free world. I do hope Germany will not trade Human right and democracy to RMB. #CCPChina never keep their promises, see what happening now in Hong Kong with promise from China for 50 years unchanged. #antitotalitarianism #BoycottChina #AntiCCP
— 願榮光歸香港 😷 (@cityflyer8) December 14, 2019 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsAlso strange that the German people would even consider Huawei given their past experience with the Stasi. It was my impression that Germans were especially aware of privacy issues
— Fish Ames (@nimkef) December 13, 2019 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Tyler Durden Sun, 12/15/2019 - 08:45Will The Tory Landslide Accelerate Scottish Independence?
Authored by Jeff Deist via The Mises Institute,
The results from yesterday's general election in the United Kingdom are stark for the Labour Party, which lost 59 seats in Parliament. The Tories picked up 47 seats, leaving Labour with its worst showing since 1935. This "second referendum" on Brexit presents Prime Minister Boris Johnson with clear support for a no-deal Brexit, while delivering a stinging rebuke to the London-centric Remain bloc. It also signifies the likely end of Jeremy Corbyn's career, because unlike American politicians their British counterparts at least have the decency to go away after voters reject them.
The more interesting story yesterday was the remarkable and ongoing success of the Scottish Independence Party (SNP), which gained a whopping 13 seats in Parliament. It now represents most of Scotland geographically: Liberal Democrats hold only the northernmost counties and parts of Edinburgh, while Labour clings to a tenuous hold in the southern part of that city. What does it portend when the two primary left-wing parties in the UK no longer represent left-leaning Scotland?
The 2014 Scottish referendum on independence from the UK revealed many of the same schisms present in the later Brexit referendum and 2016 US presidential election: young vs. old, pensioner vs. worker, country vs. city, and cosmopolitan vs. parochial. But the attendant narrative of nationalist vs. globalist falls apart when it come to the Scots, who are generally far more pro-EU than the UK generally. The pro-independence Yes! vote in 2014 skewed younger, favored left-wing policies across the board, and sought greater connection with Europe and Brussels. In fact, Scots later voted nearly 2-1 against Brexit.
But while Fox-hunting rural Brexiteers and Scottish secessionists may both share the same disdain for London and Westminster, they do so for entirely different reasons.
Many older Scots worried that independence might threaten their pensions, and the banking community questioned whether Westminster would allow a breakaway Scotland to continue using the British pound. Nobody wanted a rushed transition to the euro, but without a central bank of its own (that pesky sovereignty issue again) Scotland might have been stuck in a vice between two currencies. Independence forces also failed to convince voters that Scotland's vaunted North Sea oil reserves would help fund the new independent county, especially given falling oil prices and potential territorial disputes over revenues.
These economic concerns were enough to squelch the independence vote by a comfortable 55-45% margin. But economics is not everything. Politically, culturally, and socially it was clear the Scots wanted to be part of Europe, not part of an English-dominated UK.
It may be more clear today. Already the Twittersphere buzzes with talk of a renewed Scottish independence campaign, while the SNP yesterday announced its support for another referendum if a "material change in circumstances" arose between Scotland and the greater union. Surely a landslide victory by the Tories - who are widely disliked by the Scots - and a flashing green light for a deeply unpopular Brexit represent exactly such a change.
Scotland and England are not magically joined at the hip. If the Scots don't want Brexit, don't want Boris Johnson, and don't want the Tories, who says the current political makeup of the UK is forever and unchanging? Political arrangements are not something to impose on reluctant, disbelieving people. If we favor independence and political self-determination only when we like the results, the only liberty on offer is the liberty to agree. But political universalism is an abstraction, and an arrogant one at that.
If Scots choose Holyrood over Westminster, or even Brussels over Holyrood, who are we to object?
Tyler Durden Sun, 12/15/2019 - 08:10 Tags PoliticsThe Swiss Are The World's Biggest Chocoholics
While Augustus Gloop - a young German boy with a cocoa addiction - may be the most infamous...
...when it comes to the league of chocoholics, Switzerland is out in front with annual per capita consumption amounting to an impressive 8.8 kilograms.
You will find more infographics at Statista
The country is well known for its excellent chocolate industry with Toblerone one of its more recognizable brands. Neighboring Austria and Germany are also high up on the list with 8.1 and 7.9 kilograms respectively.
The consumption data was published by Swisss chocolatier and confectionery company Lindt.
Tyler Durden Sun, 12/15/2019 - 07:35Sweden: Confronting Reality
Authored by Judith Bergman via The Gatestone Institute,
Back in February and March 2017 BBC News ran a number of articles about Trump's much vilified remarks about Sweden, including one with the headline, "Trump's wrong, it's 'quiet and safe' in Malmo." One article in particular, "All eyes on Malmo but not because of Trump" painted an idyllic picture of the lives of expats in Malmö. It spoke, among others, about a young American woman working in Malmö, Susanna Lewis, in the following way:
"As a woman, she is also used to being prepared and watchful as she walks alone in other places, yet she does not feel afraid in Malmö city centre or its outer suburbs".
The article went on to quote her: "I never have had that fear in Sweden. This is the safest place I've ever lived."
Now, however, even the BBC appears to have discovered that Sweden suffers from serious problems. In November, the BBC published an article headlined, "Sweden's 100 explosions this year: What's going on?"
"Swedish police are dealing with unprecedented levels of attacks, targeting city centre locations too. The bomb squad was called to deal with 97 explosions in the first nine months of this year," the BBC wrote. It even quoted Linda H. Straaf, head of intelligence at Sweden's National Operations Department, about the identity of the men behind the explosions and gang violence:
"They have grown up in Sweden and they are from socio-economically weak groups, socio-economically weak areas, and many are perhaps second- or third-generation immigrants".
It is significant that one of the world's largest mainstream media organizations finally engages with Swedish reality, and attempts accurately to describe it.
Swedish reality, unfortunately, continues to deteriorate. Last month, a 15-year-old was shot to death and another teenager seriously wounded in a pizzeria in Malmö. That incident appears to have been a turning point. "We have seen a weekend in Malmö that is unacceptable, with an execution-like murder," said Mats Löfving, head of the Swedish police's National Operations Department. He announced that police would be launching a six-month nation-wide operation against the wave of gang-related violence and explosions. The operation would mainly work towards four goals.
"What we want to achieve is that shootings and explosions in the gang environments will be significantly reduced. Secondly that the number of people involved in criminal networks should be reduced by the use of coercive measures", said Stefan Hector, who will be leading the operation.
The last two objectives are to increase the number of seizures of weapons and explosive components, and to make the public feel more secure.
The last objective, making the public feel more secure, will prove to be a formidable task. Last month, a teenager was forced into a garage by a gang of ten people, robbed of everything but his underwear and had part of his ear cut off. The incident took place in a usually peaceful area in the city of Gothenburg. Also in Gothenburg last month, a man who missed the tram at a station threw stones at the tram driver, injuring him and smashing several windows, according to police. In addition, a young woman, waiting at a bus stop in Malmö, suffered life-threatening injuries after being hit repeatedly over the head with a plank by a 21-year old man, Ibrahim Ramadan.
While random Swedes are experiencing an unprecedented wave of brutal violence, a recent report, "Hate Crimes 2018" by the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention (BRÅ) showed that antisemitic crimes in the country increased by 53% from 2016 to 2018. There were 278 hate crimes against Jews in 2018. There are approximately 20,000 Jews in Sweden. By comparison, BRÅ registered 562 hate crimes against Muslims, an increase of 28% from 2016. There were roughly 800,000 Muslims in Sweden in 2016, according to a 2017 Pew report.
Although BRÅ's report does not mention who the perpetrators of the antisemitic crimes were, there are significant clues in a report, "Antisemitism - Overview of data available in the European Union 2007–2017," published in November 2018 by the EU's Agency for Fundamental Rights. The report quoted the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) stating that, in 2017:
"The main perpetrators of antisemitic incidents are 'Islamists' and radicalised young Muslims, including schoolchildren, as well as neo-Nazis and sympathisers of extreme-right and, in some cases, extreme-left groups".
Neo-Nazis are suspected of having orchestrated what appears to be coordinated acts against Jewish institutions and private homes on the anniversary of Kristallnacht on November 9 in Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway. In Sweden, stickers in the form of yellow Stars of David with the words "Jude" were put on the facades of synagogues in Stockholm, Gothenburg, Norrköping and Helsingborg. In Denmark, similar acts took place, but on the homes of some Jews. The headstones in an old Jewish cemetery in the Danish city of Randers were also vandalized with green paint. A leading Danish member of the neo-Nazi Nordic Resistance Movement, also known as Nordfront (Northern Front), and a 27-year old accomplice were arrested for vandalizing the graveyard. As of this writing, no other arrests have been made.
One problem is that the Swedish state itself contributes indirectly to the spread of extremism. The Swedish Security Service (Säpo) has found that a "relatively large" number of organizations with links to violent extremism have been using Sweden's state and municipal grant systems, which Säpo says could "contribute to radicalization and thus growth in extremist environments in Sweden."
The report found that both left-wing, right-wing, and Islamist extremist groups had taken advantage of state aid. However, according to Johan Olsson, the Operational Manager at Säpo, "Right now we see that the problem is greatest in the violent Islamist environment." According to Säpo, individuals from Islamist groups are using public-funded schools, cultural associations and foundations as platforms to spread extremist ideology within Sweden.
The consequences of these developments are that: In a recent poll, the Sweden Democrats are now the largest party in Sweden with 24% of the vote -- a record number. The Sweden Democrats say, among other things, that they want "to stop receiving asylum seekers in Sweden", as well as "sharpen the requirements to become Swedish citizens". The Sweden Democrats also want to introduce, among other things, "wide-ranging penalties and, in particular, raise the minimum penalty for repeated and serious crimes". They also want to introduce "compulsory expulsion of grossly criminal foreigners and the possibility to recall citizenship in case of terrorist offenses". The ruling Social Democrats, who are not doing anything about the problems and are letting Sweden disintegrate, are at a historical low with a mere 22.2% of the vote. Prime Minister Stefan Löfven has previously called the Sweden Democrats "an extremist and racist party".
It is possible that these consequences were one of the reasons why Ulf Kristersson, leader of one of the main opposition parties, the Moderate Party, on November 17, in an unusual move, apologized on Facebook to those Swedes who criticized Swedish immigration policies over the years:
"Of course, the segregation, exclusion and long-standing uncontrolled immigration that is now driving serious crime did not suddenly arise. Responsibility for years of ill-conceived policies -- and the inability to address the problems -- is shared by many. Also, by my party, the Moderates...
"First and foremost: It is completely wrong that this development could not have been predicted. Many warned of it already in the 1990 's... and many other voices took off in the 2000's.
"Since then, the voices have become many... the problems of large-scale immigration and poor integration – and the long-term risks of deep exclusion, strong social tensions and serious crime – have been raised by many and with constructive intentions. So, the development has been predicted to a very high degree. But too many people in politics disregarded this for too long...
"Secondly, the Moderate Party frankly acknowledges that we share the responsibility. We too should have acted at an earlier stage, clearer and in a more powerful way. And to the extent that my party has helped to revile and freeze out the voices that wanted and dared to raise the problems, they deserve my and my party's unreserved apology.
"Looking back and learning from mistakes... is therefore necessary. But not enough. We must also take responsibility through clear political rethinking and concrete action.
"For what [Prime Minister] Stefan Löfven cannot see at all, almost everyone sees: it is quite clear that gang criminality, shootings and executions are strongly linked to excessive immigration and to bad integration. How can you even pretend anything else?"
These are forceful words coming from the leader of a party whose predecessor, Frederik Reinfeldt -- prime minister of Sweden from 2006 to 2014 and chairman of the Moderate Party from 2003 to 2015 -- urged Swedes in 2014 to "Open your hearts" to the refugees of the world.
The question now is how the Moderate Party will transform Kristersson's apology into "concrete political action" that can stop Swedish reality from deteriorating even further.
Tyler Durden Sun, 12/15/2019 - 07:00 Tags Social Issues
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