Macron addresses ‘Yellow Vests’ crisis (Full statement)
'Yellow vests' slam Macron's speech as 'charade' and vow to carry on the 'battle'
Groups of "yellow vest" protesters across France responded scathingly to the "crumbs" offered by President Emmanuel Macron in a speech intended to defuse their revolt, but others acknowledged his efforts. ...
source: the local
1 Dead, 6 Injured In Strasbourg Christmas Market Shooting
At least one person is dead and three are injured following a shooting near a Christmas market in the French city of Strasbourg, home to the European Parliament, according to multiple reports. The shooter reportedly fled the scene according to AFP, while police have asked people to stay at home amid the manhunt. According to local newspaper DNA, the incident is assumed to be a terrorist attack. ...
source: zero hedge
The EU and the warning signs of Fascism
Things are spiralling out of control in Europe, faster than many predicted. Outside of Brexit, there is strong anti-EU feeling in Hungary, Spain, Italy, Greece and France. The EU is in danger of crumbling, and people afraid of losing power are prone to extreme acts of dictatorial control. How long before the EU truly becomes the authoritarian force that people from both ends of the political spectrum have always feared?
THE EU DEFENCE FORCE Earlier this year, the EU voted to “punish” one of its own members, Hungary, for the internal policies of its elected government. To be clear about this – whatever you think of Viktor Orban, he was elected by the people of Hungary. He is their legally recognised democratic leader. Hungary voted for him – in contrast, Hungary did NOT vote for any of the 448 MEPs who supported the motion, posed by Dutch MEP Judith Sargentini, that: ...
source: OffGuardian
The China Agenda Behind Trump Leaving the INF Treaty
A recent decision by the Trump administration could have major implications for defense and security in Asia, although you could be forgiven for missing it, what with the Democratic landslide in the midterm elections and the Mueller investigation causing near-daily meltdowns by America’s commander-in-chief. The decision the Trump administration announced was that the US will withdraw from the 1987 Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in 60 days, unless Russia stops testing weapons that Washington says are in violation of the agreement. The INF Treaty was the capstone of arms control efforts undertaken during the late 1980s, a deal signed by President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to ban the development, production and deployment of nuclear-tipped ballistic and ground-launched cruise missiles with a range greater than 500 kilometers and less than 5,500 kilometers. The agreement came about after the Soviets started deploying intermediate-range missiles such as the SS-20 in Eastern Europe in the late 1970s. Given its mobility, load and accuracy, the SS-20 was regarded as a highly effective offensive nuclear weapon that threatened all of NATO Europe. After considerable and often acrimonious debate, NATO responded by emplacing its own INF in Western Europe, mainly the Pershing II ballistic missile and the Ground-Launched Cruise Missile (GLCM). It was a move that caused considerable protest in Western Europe, with anti-nuclear marches, demonstrations and sit-ins at US bases across Europe. But the NATO INF deployments had their political effect in bringing the Gorbachev regime to the negotiating table, and the INF Treaty was the first agreement to effectively ban a whole class of nuclear forces, at least by the US and Russia. Within three years of its coming into force, nearly 2,700 missiles were withdrawn and destroyed. ...
source: asia times
Hundreds of policemen secure clan wedding in Mülheim
Up to 1000 guests from different regions in Germany are expected. The police secured a clan wedding in Mülheim with a large-scale bid. The goal is to provide security, the police justified the operation. Due to the considerable criminal record of many guests, several police hundreds have left the wedding party of two family clans in North Rhine-Westphalia. During their deployment in Mülheim an der Ruhr, the officials checked the crowd on Sunday evening and executed, inter alia, a warrant. "Such clans are not harmless," said a police spokeswoman. "It's not uncommon for a wedding to be fired at weddings. You have to protect the population and the guests. " Instead of celebrating with the Lebanese-born family clans, three of the approximately 1,000 expected guests had to go to the station. One person had drugs with him, another with at least one weapon, and a third with a "something was wrong with the license," the spokeswoman said. Arrested was a 38-year-old person, against whom a warrant was present. At first, the police could not say more. Many members of the two extended families of the bride and groom are said to have been sentenced to court once. The families are two of the most important Lebanese clans with connections to all federal states and contacts in the rocker milieu. According to the police, such a large police crack has never been seen in a Lebanese clan wedding in the region. Several hundred police officers checked the papers of hundreds of guests in about 160 vehicles at three checkpoints, approaching the venue on the access roads. During the ceremony policemen in uniform and in civilian clothes stayed on site. Apart from the fact that four guests were removed, there were no incidents, according to police.
source: welt
source: welt translate
Why inequality matters?
This is the question that I am often asked and will be asked in two days. So I decided to write my answers down. The argument why inequality should not matter is almost always couched in the following way: if everybody is getting better-off, why should we care if somebody is becoming extremely rich? Perhaps he deserves to be rich—or whatever the case, even if he does not deserve, we need not worry about his wealth. If we do that implies envy and other moral flaws. I have dealt with the misplaced issue of envy here (in response to points made by Martin Feldstein) and here (in response to Harry Frankfurt), and do not want to repeat it. So, let’s leave envy out and focus on the reasons why we should be concerned about high inequality. The reasons can be formally broken down into three groups: instrumental reasons having to do with economic growth, reasons of fairness, and reasons of politics. ...
source: Branko Milanovic
'Yellow vests' slam Macron's speech as 'charade' and vow to carry on the 'battle'
Groups of "yellow vest" protesters across France responded scathingly to the "crumbs" offered by President Emmanuel Macron in a speech intended to defuse their revolt, but others acknowledged his efforts. ...
source: the local
1 Dead, 6 Injured In Strasbourg Christmas Market Shooting
At least one person is dead and three are injured following a shooting near a Christmas market in the French city of Strasbourg, home to the European Parliament, according to multiple reports. The shooter reportedly fled the scene according to AFP, while police have asked people to stay at home amid the manhunt. According to local newspaper DNA, the incident is assumed to be a terrorist attack. ...
source: zero hedge
The EU and the warning signs of Fascism
Things are spiralling out of control in Europe, faster than many predicted. Outside of Brexit, there is strong anti-EU feeling in Hungary, Spain, Italy, Greece and France. The EU is in danger of crumbling, and people afraid of losing power are prone to extreme acts of dictatorial control. How long before the EU truly becomes the authoritarian force that people from both ends of the political spectrum have always feared?
THE EU DEFENCE FORCE Earlier this year, the EU voted to “punish” one of its own members, Hungary, for the internal policies of its elected government. To be clear about this – whatever you think of Viktor Orban, he was elected by the people of Hungary. He is their legally recognised democratic leader. Hungary voted for him – in contrast, Hungary did NOT vote for any of the 448 MEPs who supported the motion, posed by Dutch MEP Judith Sargentini, that: ...
source: OffGuardian
The China Agenda Behind Trump Leaving the INF Treaty
A recent decision by the Trump administration could have major implications for defense and security in Asia, although you could be forgiven for missing it, what with the Democratic landslide in the midterm elections and the Mueller investigation causing near-daily meltdowns by America’s commander-in-chief. The decision the Trump administration announced was that the US will withdraw from the 1987 Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in 60 days, unless Russia stops testing weapons that Washington says are in violation of the agreement. The INF Treaty was the capstone of arms control efforts undertaken during the late 1980s, a deal signed by President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to ban the development, production and deployment of nuclear-tipped ballistic and ground-launched cruise missiles with a range greater than 500 kilometers and less than 5,500 kilometers. The agreement came about after the Soviets started deploying intermediate-range missiles such as the SS-20 in Eastern Europe in the late 1970s. Given its mobility, load and accuracy, the SS-20 was regarded as a highly effective offensive nuclear weapon that threatened all of NATO Europe. After considerable and often acrimonious debate, NATO responded by emplacing its own INF in Western Europe, mainly the Pershing II ballistic missile and the Ground-Launched Cruise Missile (GLCM). It was a move that caused considerable protest in Western Europe, with anti-nuclear marches, demonstrations and sit-ins at US bases across Europe. But the NATO INF deployments had their political effect in bringing the Gorbachev regime to the negotiating table, and the INF Treaty was the first agreement to effectively ban a whole class of nuclear forces, at least by the US and Russia. Within three years of its coming into force, nearly 2,700 missiles were withdrawn and destroyed. ...
source: asia times
Hundreds of policemen secure clan wedding in Mülheim
Up to 1000 guests from different regions in Germany are expected. The police secured a clan wedding in Mülheim with a large-scale bid. The goal is to provide security, the police justified the operation. Due to the considerable criminal record of many guests, several police hundreds have left the wedding party of two family clans in North Rhine-Westphalia. During their deployment in Mülheim an der Ruhr, the officials checked the crowd on Sunday evening and executed, inter alia, a warrant. "Such clans are not harmless," said a police spokeswoman. "It's not uncommon for a wedding to be fired at weddings. You have to protect the population and the guests. " Instead of celebrating with the Lebanese-born family clans, three of the approximately 1,000 expected guests had to go to the station. One person had drugs with him, another with at least one weapon, and a third with a "something was wrong with the license," the spokeswoman said. Arrested was a 38-year-old person, against whom a warrant was present. At first, the police could not say more. Many members of the two extended families of the bride and groom are said to have been sentenced to court once. The families are two of the most important Lebanese clans with connections to all federal states and contacts in the rocker milieu. According to the police, such a large police crack has never been seen in a Lebanese clan wedding in the region. Several hundred police officers checked the papers of hundreds of guests in about 160 vehicles at three checkpoints, approaching the venue on the access roads. During the ceremony policemen in uniform and in civilian clothes stayed on site. Apart from the fact that four guests were removed, there were no incidents, according to police.
source: welt
source: welt translate
Why inequality matters?
This is the question that I am often asked and will be asked in two days. So I decided to write my answers down. The argument why inequality should not matter is almost always couched in the following way: if everybody is getting better-off, why should we care if somebody is becoming extremely rich? Perhaps he deserves to be rich—or whatever the case, even if he does not deserve, we need not worry about his wealth. If we do that implies envy and other moral flaws. I have dealt with the misplaced issue of envy here (in response to points made by Martin Feldstein) and here (in response to Harry Frankfurt), and do not want to repeat it. So, let’s leave envy out and focus on the reasons why we should be concerned about high inequality. The reasons can be formally broken down into three groups: instrumental reasons having to do with economic growth, reasons of fairness, and reasons of politics. ...
source: Branko Milanovic