Thanks to decades of excessive government spending, Italy has very high levels of public debt. Over the last few years, it has received official and unofficial bailouts from the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank, and is considered at high risk for a budgetary meltdown when another recession occurs.
There’s a chance, however, that all this bad news may pave the way for good news. There are elections in early March and Silvio Berlusconi, a potential frontrunner as the next Prime Minister, has proposed a flat tax.

(#SchoolSucksAcrossAmerica - DAY FORTY - NOV 23 - EAST HARTFORD, CT)

Richard Grove and Mark Iwanicki (a Montessori School Teacher) interview Brett and Nick about the School Sucks Across America return trip, the lessons learned along the way, and how the documentary will be organized.

Plus a long monologue on some of my personal take-aways. And how some are a little hard to swallow.

View all shows from School Sucks Across America

(#SchoolSucksAcrossAmerica - DAY FORTY - NOV 23 - EAST HARTFORD, CT)Richard Grove and Mark Iwanicki (a Montessori School Teacher) interview Brett and Nick about the School Sucks Across America return trip, the lessons learned along the way, and how the documentary will be organized.Plus a long monologue on some of my personal take-aways. And how some are a little hard to swallow.View all shows from School Sucks Across AmericaPlease Support School SucksWe do cool things!

US Vice President Mike Pence has announced that he would be attending the Olympic games in South Korea next month with an eye on preventing North Korea from reaping any PR advantage from numerous North and South Korean joint activities. Why is Washington so afraid of peace breaking out on the Korean peninsula? On today’s Ron Paul Liberty Report:

Sputnik – January 24, 2018 The US is allegedly mulling over sophisticated new methods of influencing the public opinion in Russia, Iran and North Korea, among other countries. Russian and Iranian cyber-security specialists shed light on the US Army Intelligence and Security Command’s (INSCOM) recent initiative and the potential counter-measures to handle the challenge It […]

Many anti-immigrationists display a remarkable confidence in their ability to forecast how immigrants will act for many years into the future. So, for example, the nativists often allege that if, say, Mexicans are permitted to enter the USA, they will sooner or later vote for governmental measures to plunder the current residents and redistribute the loot to themselves. What gives the nativists such powers of divining the future, especially when they have no special knowledge of social science or ethnic history?

EMILY's List has come up with a way for Democrats to lose in Florida againYesterday Lisa Hagen wrote that Florida governor, Trump crony and crooked multimillionaire Rick Scott is running into headwinds as he considers his Senate run against Bill Nelson.

Jon Atack joins me again this week for another in depth discussion about cults, high control groups, and the dangers of undue influence. We begin by discussing the concept of being an “ex-Scientologist” or ex cult member in general. We talk about the stigma that this term carries and why it is unfair to categorize people in this way. Jon talks about the the term ex-Scientologist can become a negative defining characteristic of ones life. Jon also touches on the struggles that people go through after leaving a cult of high control group.

Al-Manar | January 24, 2018 Damascus condemned as lies on Wednesday allegations made by US State Secretary and French Foreign Minister about the use of chemical weapons in Syria. In remarks carried by Syria’s State news agency, SANA, an official source at the Syrian foreign ministry said the US-French allegations are part of a policy […]

By James Wilt / DeSmog.

By Norman Solomon.
Sometimes a party’s leader seems to symbolize an enduring malaise. For Democrats in 2018, that institutional leader is Tom Perez.
While serving as secretary of labor during President Obama’s second term, Perez gained a reputation as an advocate for workers and civil rights. That image may have helped him win a narrow election among Democratic leaders to become chair of the Democratic National Committee, with the backing of Hillary Clinton loyalists eager to prevent the top DNC job from going to Bernie Sanders supporter Rep. Keith Ellison.

By Vanessa Beeley | 21st Century Wire | January 24, 2018 Two days ago, nine civilians, mostly schoolchildren were murdered by the US Coalition-financed terrorist factions embedded in the eastern suburbs of Damascus, in this instance East Ghouta. I was leaving the Bab Touma area of the Old City on the same day, less than […]

Launched this week, Freda offers organic sanitary towels and tampons via subscription. The company pledges to donate a proportion of profits to schemes that are tackling period poverty in the UK and beyond
The post New organic sanitary subscription service pledges to help tackle period poverty around the world appeared first on Positive News.

Bodyform has become the first brand to make a TV advert featuring realistic-looking ‘blood’ on a sanitary pad rather than the traditional blue liquid
The post Sanitary towel ad becomes first to show ‘real’ blood appeared first on Positive News.

Socialism is, whether we like it or not, in the national dialogue. And there are numerous people who claim to be socialists who, nevertheless, have a hard time defining what socialism actually is. Socialism, in its purest form, indeed, has never been tried. But, by the same token, neither has undiluted capitalism. To understand which works better, we have to think about means and ends. Almost all of us want the same ends, but we disagree sharply as to the appropriate means. So how do we find the most efficient, humane means?

By Judith Curry
Part II of the Climate Etc. series on sea level rise –the geological record provides context for the recent sea level rise.

Many of the speakers at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, were delayed when the town was buried in snow, six-feet deep in some areas. Global warming is a topic for discussion at the meeting. President Trump is getting a frosty reception at the globalists' meeting, because he pulled the US out of the Paris Climate Accord. [...]

Cottbus, a small university center with just over 100,000 residents, has taken in around 3,000 asylum seekers since German Chancellor Angela Merkel opened the country to refugees in 2015. Several incidents of violence and a growing sentiment against immigration has led to the ban. Cottbus joins the towns of Salzgitter, Delmenhorst, and Wilhelmshaven in prohibiting new migrants. [...]

Last week The Duran reported on what may be the biggest scandal to rock US politics, as former Obama Attorney General Loretta Lynch knew well in advance of FBI Director James Comey’s 2016 press conference that he would recommend against charging Hillary Clinton, according to information turned over to the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Friday.

Sweden's Crime Prevention Council estimates there were 7,200 rapes reported to the police in 2017, an increase of 10% over the past year. The increase of rape reports in Sweden’s capital Stockholm rose by 29% last year and, when compared with 1996, the increase is a staggering 400%. Migrants from Muslim countries commit 84% of violent rapes. While the government and law enforcement try to coverup the data, it reveals that the majority of rapes occur in cities heavily populated by migrants. [...]

Dozens of illegal aliens surrounded the New York house of Democrat Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer demanding that Congress pass legislation immediately to give amnesty and a pathway to citizenship to as many as 3.6 million DACA Dreamers in the US illegally. The protesters were organized by United We Dream, a non-governmental organization funded by George Soros' Open Society Foundation. [...]

By David Macilwain | American Herald Tribune | January 23, 2018 Last week “Mad Dog” Mattis announced a new US Defence Strategy, the first for a decade and with a radical change of focus, from fighting terrorism to fighting Russia and China. The US DoD put it like this: “The National Defense Strategy seeks to […]

As the Brexit negotiations progress and the European Union attempts to prevent more member states from turning against the EU, the question of "European values" is raised constantly. Those who criticize the union are said to be ignorant of the fact that Europe shares common values that it needs to protect. One has to wonder: what are European values anyway?

The Abandonment of the Working Class
Paul Craig Roberts

Paul Joseph Watson clearly knows as much about Communism as he knows about Islam: nothing.  But in his observations of what is going on in the US society, he is

by Pepe Escobar (cross-posted with the Asia Times by special agreement with the author) For billions of people, the Groucho Marx rule applies when talking about Davos. This is the

As we look back on the most important and inspiring cultural and political shifts in the direction of liberty and justice, we inevitably focus on the most dramatic and historically visible events and milestones (such as the Civil War in the abolition of slavery or the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in the struggle for civil rights of African Americans).

Victim of terrorist attack on Bab Touma, Old City, Damascus 22nd January 2018. Pascale Al Khalil, 16 years old.
Vanessa Beeley
21st Century Wire

Frank Schaeffer is continuing his roadtrip, meeting progressive congressional candidate and filming them as introductions of the best candidates running. Last we caught up with him was in Lewiston, Maine where he spent a day Jared Golden, the progressive candidate running for the swing district that isn't the Portland coastal area. From there he headed off to Omaha where he met with Kara Eastman.

(© AFP – Patrick Kovarik)

Russia and the US have traded numerous accusations over the Syrian crisis in recent years [Xinhua]
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has blasted US claims that Russia was involved in an alleged recent chemical weapons attacks in eastern Syria.
“We categorically disagree with the approach of the Americans, who are following the path of derailing real international investigations of previous cases, and prefer to stick labels groundlessly,” Peskov told the press.

Antisemitism eller Israel-kritik? Den 27 januari var det 73 år sedan Auschwitz befriades. Förintelsens fasor har sedan dess knappast kunnat förnekas. Ändå finns det fortfarande många som just förnekar Förintelsen av sex miljoner judar, eller argumenterar för att ”Hitler gjorde rätt” - eller som hävdar båda sakerna samtidigt!
Vad kommer det sig att judehatet fortfarande är så utbrett? Vilka idéer är antisemitiska idag? Hur förhåller sig företeelserna antisemitism och antisionism till varandra; kan man motsätta sig existensen av staten Israel utan att vara antisemit?

Så gör vi här. Nej, svensk byråkrati är inte självklar för alla. Flyktingmottagandet i Sverige är inte alltid friktionsfritt. I sin bok Mellan klan och stat skriver journalisten Per Brinkemo att det beror på bristande förståelse av kulturella olikheter.Vår stora tillit till staten och andra, också okända medborgare, för med sig ett beteende i Sverige som skiljer sig markant från andra kulturers. För en verklig integration är det viktigt att vi på djupet förstår hur annorlunda samhällen väldigt många flyktingar kommer ifrån.

The so-called “Pivot to Asia” initiated under the administration of US President Barack Obama as a means of reinvigorating US influence across Asia Pacific vis-à-vis China has resulted in a backlash against tired US policies predicated on “democracy promotion,” “rights advocacy” and increasingly meaningless economic and military ties between Washington and the nations of Southeast Asia.

The biggest problem for families in Cuba these days is the financial difficulties caused by the United States blockade. It has not been removed even though diplomatic relations were established following former President Obama’s visit to Cuba. This is due to, among other things, the fact that there are laws that have to be repealed by the US Congress. So[Read More...]

On the Drudge Report as of 4.45am EST, there are no fewer than seven links to seven distinct news articles

UK Column welcomes guest special Daniel McAdams, Executive Director of the Ron Paul Institute, to discuss Twitter’s new official ‘Russian plot’ letter its sending to users, this week’s Davos Summit and elite talking shop, as well as Guardian WWIII fear-mongering, and much more. 
UK Column co-anchor Mike Robinson is joined by guest host Patrick Henningsen with all the top stories internationally. Watch:

The American Heart Association didn't bother to replicate pivotal research before it told the public to change its behaviour. The result was an uncontrolled public health experiment.

The United States continues to suppress and block any international effort to verify or investigate what actually happened at last year’s alleged chemical weapons event in Khan Shaykhun, Syria. This week, after Russia proposed the implementation of basic due process in order to actually investigate and verify US claims of chemical weapons use by the Syrian government, US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley snapped back and accused Moscow of trying to ‘protect Assad’ from war crimes accusations.

Leaked documents from JTRIG (the Joint Threat Research Intelligence Group) show that GCHQ's operations are not only bigger, more invasive and more manipulative than previously realised, but also that they name their tools and techniques after films, TV shows and even genres of music. (Read more...)

Advocate General of EU Court of Justice faces criticism

If Amman refuses to bow, the United States-led Arab alliance needed to oppose Iran will split to weaken the America’s standing in the Middle East. It’ll be a major setback to negatively affect the whole US Middle East policy.

In the new U.S. National Defense Strategy, military planners bemoan the erosion of the U.S.’s “competitive edge,” but the reality is that they are strategizing to maintain the American Empire in a chaotic world, explains Nicolas J.S. Davies.

Huge, unregulated transnational charities provide unique cover for moving money and other considerations as illegal favors.
Charles Ortel examines how the Clinton Foundation and Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) used their non-profit charity to lauder money and peddle influence around the world.
via LifeZette…

Mr. V.T. shared this article, and given today's main blog, I consider its possibilities and implications important enough to share:
Blockchain Explained – The…
The post TIDBIT: BLOCKCHAIN RELATED TO AI? appeared first on Giza Death Star.

Here is the full video (comedian Dave Smith’s remarks at 1:55 minute mark)…

.@secupp: Isn't it time to do something in Syria in a full-throated way? https://t.co/wFF8hgefYH
— SE Cupp Unfiltered (@UnfilteredSE) January 19, 2018

Here is a transcript of Smith dismantling Cupp’s disgusting war-hawk stance on Syria…

Earlier this week I blogged about some of the dangers that I believe to reside in the new crypto-currency fad. To recapitulate, in my…
The post CRYPTO-CURRENCIES HACK CHANGES WALLET ADDRESSES appeared first on Giza Death Star.

On 13 January, the latest in a series of celebrations to mark the 106th anniversary of the African National Congress (ANC) party took place in South Africa. The party’s plans were announced for the first time by the ANC’s new head, Cyril Ramaphosa, who was elected at the end of December 2017.