May EU Elections Promising to be Major Issue


Two more politicians in France have abandoned Macron and joined the right party of LePen ahead of the May European elections. Our sources in France are clearly revealing that the Yellow Vest movement has had a profound impact on politics. Macron’s promises to raise taxes on the rich are falling short because that just never seems to result in lower taxes for anyone else.

Our models are shaping up to show May as the major turning point here in 2019. This will have a profound impact on European share markets as well as the currency. Meanwhile, the EU is really at war with Poland and its policies have been outright deliberately intent on punishing Poland. This is leading to the development of a new coalition causing Ital and Poland to join together against Brussels to form their own anti-EU league.

Secretary of State Pompeo in Jordan – Joint Press Availability….


Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is conducting a regional visit to multiple allies and partners in the anti-ISIS campaign.  Today, Secretary Pompeo is in Jordan for discussions as the U.S. anticipates withdrawing troops from Syria.

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Meanwhile, National Security Adviser John Bolton is in Turkey after announcing from Israel the U.S. will not withdraw from Syria until Turkey (NATO ally) agrees not to kill the Kurdish fighters. Turkish President Recep Erdogan said emphatically there would never be such assurances, therefore U.S. troops will never leave Syria.

Yellow Vest Movement Spreads to Australia & Poland


We are witnessing the Yellow Vest Movement now also spreading to Australia. We are seeing the rise there and in Canada also against Fake News that the media is desperately fighting Trump on who now label him an idiot in headlines. We are also witnessing a backlash against taking in the Muslim claimed refugees from Syria in Australia as well. It is not a matter of race, but culture. People who traveled to Paris from the USA this summer have often returned with horror stories of being robbed on the street, cell phones, jewelry, purses being stolen by people on motorcycles. Muslim women begging on every corner of the Champs-Élysées. The culture clash is the problem. These people cannot speak the language and lack skills for employment for the most part. Immigrants historically seek economic opportunity – not handouts. Last November, Merkel was offering cash to the refugees to leave Germany it was getting that bad. Now she is willing to pay one year’s rent back home to leave Germany.

The Green groups that have taken over the UN are frantic fearing that they want to avoid the violent clashes that have rocked France from becoming a “je suis Trump” (I’m Trump) moment for against climate change. It was the higher global warming fuel taxes and other environmental efforts that sparked the “yellow-vests” protests that have forced Pres­ident Emmanuel Macron into ­retreat. In Canada, the Yellow Vests are also growing over environmental sanctions that block pipelines and creating employment in the energy industry which is also lurking behind a growing separatist movement in Alberta. The Yellow Vest Movement has hit Poland for all the same reasons. In Egypt, the government has restricted the sale of yellow vests in hope of preventing the spread of the movement there as well. This is turning into a clash against the Global Warming Crowd. The environmentalists now fear that the Yellow Vest movement will engulf all of Europe as their agenda has been to raise taxes and lower the standard of living in addition to the birth rate.

 

Macron Under Siege as Tough Stance Against ‘yellow vests’ Backfires…


Some of the highlights from today’s protests in France are quite remarkable.  Additionally, it seems indicative of an inflection point for Reuters to point out that Macron’s current approach toward the Yellow Vests is only making things worse….  Strange times.

PARIS (Reuters) – Emmanuel Macron intended to start the new year on the offensive against the ‘yellow vest’ protesters. Instead, the French president is reeling from more violent street demonstrations.

What began as a grassroots rebellion against diesel taxes and the high cost of living has morphed into something more perilous for Macron – an assault on his presidency and French institutions.

The anti-government protesters on Saturday used a forklift truck to force their way into a government ministry compound, torched cars near the Champs Elysees and in one violent skirmish on a bridge over the Seine punched and kicked riot police officers to the ground.  (read more)

A Twitter user named Sotiri Dimpinoudis follows the granular events throughout France and posts ongoing video to his twitter account.   Some of the video is quite remarkable.

Generally the protests seem loosely organized, but nationwide around 50,000 to 80,000 people today according to Reuters. The protests are generally peaceful; then, later in the day, the police arrive to remove them and things turn confrontational and violent.

By the time dusk arrives most of the ordinary Yellow Vest protesters have returned home; and that’s when it seems like smaller agitating groups start burning things.

Sotiri Dimpinoudis@sotiridi

: Up to 100 protestors marching in in seeing closing an highway!

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: Picture of First protestors arriving in the French town of to go and prrotest in . pic.twitter.com/pHxjokDcEe

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Sotiri Dimpinoudis@sotiridi

: Already up to 800 to 900 protestors are gathering in in .

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Sotiri Dimpinoudis@sotiridi

: Around 80 protestors are in the very small town of in to protest today.

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Sotiri Dimpinoudis@sotiridi

: Pictures of Hundreds of in the French town of at the the “theatre square” ahead of todays protests in ! pic.twitter.com/dV5bddwltS

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Sotiri Dimpinoudis@sotiridi

: Video Up to 120 protestors in in closed the highway!

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Sotiri Dimpinoudis@sotiridi

: Pictures Already up to 1700 to 2000 protestors are in in . pic.twitter.com/z1yw0GhN0J

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Sotiri Dimpinoudis@sotiridi

: Video of thousands of protestors in in marching.

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Sotiri Dimpinoudis@sotiridi

: Another Video of thousands of protestors in in marching. pic.twitter.com/oCQCmWs63K

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Sotiri Dimpinoudis@sotiridi

: Video of in on the are taking the protests up on to the streets .

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Sotiri Dimpinoudis@sotiridi

: Video of up to 2000 of in the French town of marching peaceful ! pic.twitter.com/taKVGkwzlD

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Sotiri Dimpinoudis@sotiridi

: Pictures of About 250 of protestors show up in
in !

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Sotiri Dimpinoudis@sotiridi

: Video around 1100 to 1800 of are now in accross on the ground according to local news sources in . pic.twitter.com/S1sGHf234m

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Sotiri Dimpinoudis@sotiridi

: The Protestors are Claching with the police in in of protests. The first tear gas has been thrown.

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Sotiri Dimpinoudis@sotiridi

: The women of the protestors in have made a food stop booth in ! pic.twitter.com/O6HHUZr6zm

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Sotiri Dimpinoudis@sotiridi

: Thousands are gathering in the City of in , Match day is also over! protestors marching.

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Sotiri Dimpinoudis@sotiridi

: Pictures Of thousands of protestors in streets are packed . pic.twitter.com/tdfB6pQWuX

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Sotiri Dimpinoudis@sotiridi

: Pictures Of thousands of protestors in streets are packed .

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Sotiri Dimpinoudis@sotiridi

: Video of the Streets in are packed full of protestors in the French Capital of , This is a huge protest… pic.twitter.com/jq67QGroRG

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Sotiri Dimpinoudis@sotiridi

: The protests in are already up to 8000 to 10000 stong!

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Sotiri Dimpinoudis@sotiridi

: He is going viral! They are calling him the flying RAMBO and un afraid of the CRS police in ! That is one though protestor. pic.twitter.com/dtni0gyNNi

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The Rebellion Continues – Increased Yellow Vest Protests in France Following Arrest of Key Organizer – Government Spokesman Evacuated by Police…


Last Wednesday night the arrest of a key political organizer of the Yellow Vest protests, a 33-year-old truck driver named Eric Drouet, spurred the movement to claim French President Macron was now arresting his political opponents. The arrest of Drouet has led to an increase in retaliation by the group against the French government. [Video from today]

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Yellow Vest demonstrators are now allied with various groups from across the political spectrum; most peaceful, but some, notsomuch.  This led to French government ministry official Benjamin Griveaux warning Emmanuel Macron yesterday that a “full blown revolution” was possible.

The evidence to support Minister Briveaux’s dire warning did not take long to surface as a team of masked intruders used a forklift and broke into the French ministry causing police and special forces to evacuate him to safety.

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Bellingdog@Bellingdawg

Ingenious Free French Army use a fork lift battering ram to break through the doors of France’s Ministry of Finance and Economy.

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(Via Daily Mail) […] He said they were radicals ‘who seek insurrection and basically want to overthrow the government.’

Today there were around 3000 of them in Paris alone, with another 22,000 plus in other parts of France.

Teargas, water canon and baton charges were used by riot police on a so-called ‘Act VIII’ Day of Rage organised by the Yellow Vest movement.

It followed the arrest the 33-year-old Eric Drouet, one of the group’s most high-profile leaders, on Wednesday night.

Today, there was initial trouble around the River Seine, where police unleashed gas and flash balls at a crowd Yellow Vests, who are named after their high visibility road safety jackets.

All were attempting to march on the National Assembly, the French parliament, but were held back.

This led to fighting on the footbridges crossing the river, and then on the nearby Boulevard St Germain.

By nightfall, the disturbances had spilled over to other famous avenues, including the Champs Elysee. (read more)

 

Daily Mail Online

@MailOnline

France ablaze AGAIN as hundreds of Yellow Vests clash with police

Several hundred protestors gathered on the Champs Elysees in central Paris, where around 15 police wagons were also deployed. Marches were also underway in Rouen (pictured).

dailymail.co.uk

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CNN Breaking News

@cnnbrk

French authorities appeal for calm as spurts of unrest erupt across France in the latest gilet jaunes, or “yellow vest,” protests https://cnn.it/2Ra0EOJ 

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AFP news agency

@AFP

🇫🇷 anti-government protesters march during a rally in Nantes
@LoicVenanc for @AFPphoto

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AFP news agency

@AFP

VIDEO: protesters clash with riot police in Paris pic.twitter.com/ON18p0UY9m

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Not A Parody – British Army Recruitment Posters Reflect How Far the U.K. Has Fallen…


Former British Prime Minister Winston S Churchill famously said: “It is not enough that we do our best; sometimes we must do what is required.”  Perhaps, in an ironic way, that is exactly what the British Army are doing as they reveal an ad campaign to recruit the finest young men and women the U.K. has for military service:

This is not a parody; these recruitment posters are very real. The stereotypical traits of British Millennials are accepted as the standard and re-branded as strengths.

The indulgent trait of self-centeredness becomes “self-belief;” the generational obsession with phones and gadgets becomes “focus”; and those with a propensity for compulsive selfie-taking are now cast with internal “confidence.”

Yes, the British Army have officially accepted that a generation where everyone deserves a trophy is now the first line of national defense; and thus recruitment efforts need to be modified accordingly.

Despite my notation promising this is not a parody, I am quite sure there are reasonably grounded people reviewing this who would nevertheless believe this has to be a joke.

It’s not.

Swear.

This is very, very, disturbingly real. [See Daily Mail]  There’s even a highly produced set of broadcast commercials to support the recruitment campaign.

Great Britain has come a long way from Winston Churchill…

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”

— Winston S. Churchill

 

Yellow Vests Becoming World Wide Movement


The Yellow Vest Movement that began in France, is spreading. It appeared also in Belgium and it spread to Canada as well. The French arrested the leaders of the Yellow Vest Movement calling them an anti-government charging them for organizing an unauthorized protest, as authorities adopt a tougher approach to try to curb the demonstrations. During the weekend of December 15th, mimicking the Yellow Vest movement in France, protests have formed all over Canada. These are peaceful protests, unlike in France, but they have continued every weekend in various cities such as Toronto, Halifax, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Calgary etc, especially in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Alberta has long been known as the oil province of Canada and is highly commodity driven. With NDP (New Democratic Party) preventing the expansion of the TransMountain Pipeline
from Alberta’s Edmonton to BC’s Burnaby after the project has already been approved by the federal government back in 2013, many people are unemployed. With oil in Western Canada
(Western Canadian Select) hitting $11.43 a barrel in November, companies simply cannot afford to stay in business. Combining this with the announcement that the price of vegetables
increased 4%-6% as of January 1st, it’s no wonder that many Canadians are frustrated.

This is also apparent as Calgary voted a resounding NO on a bid for hosting the 2026 Winter Olympics on November 13th. An estimate of $5.11 billion was announced with additional extra
costs which were never disclosed, people voted no to the increase the taxation in order to pay for it. The wrong event at the wrong time and people simply can’t afford to foot the bill.
Bottom line, too many taxes impact quality of life and no one will take to the streets when they are fat and happy.

What’s important here is that not only has Canada joined the Yellow Vest Movement, but it’s still going strong every weekend, Christmas, New Years, the protests against rising socialism
continue. Trudeau might have his work cut out for him before the next election in Canada in October 2019.

Big Optical Shift – Unprecedented New Year Speech by North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-un…


Yesterday we noted how subtle (and not so subtle) messages have been coming out from Beijing China admitting how the party of Chairman Xi underestimated the cunning fortitude of U.S. President Donald Trump.   Today, a stunning visual is broadcast from inside North Korea which follows the same general outlook.

Remember, nuance and subtle optics are very significant in Eastern projections of political brand messaging.  When they present a nationally broadcast message every grain of sand on the optical beach has been thought out, considered, staged and carefully placed by hand with great forethought toward the intended audience. The optics are everything. [That’s also the reason why POTUS Trump used a video presentation (specifically for Kim) at the end of the Singapore summit.]

In an unprecedented international broadcast, North Korea’s Kim Jong-un delivers a message not just to his people, but more specifically to the international community.  The backdrop, the venue for the message as broadcast, reflects a stunning shift for the country of North Korea.  Notice the background message is ‘economic‘: Business attire; business office etc.  The guiding hand of Chairman Xi is visible, and the transmission is full of messages highlighting the influence of the Trump Doctrine.

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It is critical to remember that Chairman Xi (Beijing China), is still the leading influence agent over Chairman Kim (DPRK). That nuanced/subtle (hostage/captive) influence message is also inherent in the background of this broadcast. As the U.S. -vs- China confrontation continues, this video message provides additional support that Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping is no longer underestimating the cunning of POTUS Trump.

Discussions of these geopolitical messages need to be entirely separated from the propaganda explanations provided by U.S. media.  U.S. corporate media, advocates for extreme globalism, spin everything into a criticism of President Trump; however, the message here from Kim Jong-un is far more consequential.

Chairman Kim is talking about security issues, denuclearization, weapons, military exercises etc.  However, the bigger background message is centered specifically on the economics.   Broadly speaking President Trump’s doctrine is: the strategically applied use of economic influence to achieve national security objectives.

That Trump Doctrine, a radical shift in the deployment of U.S. geopolitical influence, is the entire reason why Chairman Kim Jong-un is engaging this speech; in this venue; in this business manner; for this domestic and international broadcast.

Remember also, the clock is ticking…. the deadline for U.S. and China trade negotiations is March 1st, OR ELSE, a massive round of devastating (for China) tariffs kicks in and almost everyone agrees the Chinese economy cannot sustain itself under that pressure.  So Chairman Xi needs to use his hostage, Chairman Kim, in this negotiation period.

[*Important point*: South Korean President Moon Jae-in, the primary point of contact for Chairman Kim, is ideologically the Asian political equivalent of Barack Obama. So that interpersonal dynamic also overlays the issues with a unified Korean peninsula.]

The full video as originally broadcast from North Korea is even more insightful.

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The influence of the Trump Doctrine is clearly on display.

Things are really going at a rapid pace now….

Donald J. Trump

@realDonaldTrump

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE, INCLUDING THE HATERS AND THE FAKE NEWS MEDIA! 2019 WILL BE A FANTASTIC YEAR FOR THOSE NOT SUFFERING FROM TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME. JUST CALM DOWN AND ENJOY THE RIDE, GREAT THINGS ARE HAPPENING FOR OUR COUNTRY!

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Peace is the prize” ~ President Donald Trump

The nature of the Trump foreign policy doctrine, as it has become visible, is to hold manipulative influence agents accountable for regional impact(s); and simultaneously work to stop any corrupted influence from oppressing free expression of national values held by the subservient, dis-empowered, people within the nation being influenced.

There have been clear examples of this doctrine at work. When President Trump first visited the Middle-East he confronted the international audience with a message about dealing with extremist influence agents. President Trump simply said: “drive them out.”

Toward that end, as Qatar was identified as a financier of extremist ideology, President Trump placed the goal of confrontation upon the Gulf Cooperation Council, not the U.S.

The U.S. role was clearly outlined as supporting the confrontation. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates needed to confront the toxic regional influence; the U.S. would support their objective. That’s what happened.

Another example: To confront the extremism creating the turmoil in Afghanistan, President Trump placed the burden of bringing the Taliban to the table of governance upon primary influence agent Pakistan. Here again, with U.S. support. Pakistan is the leading influence agent over the Taliban in Afghanistan; the Trump administration correctly established the responsibility and gives clear expectations for U.S. support.

If Pakistan doesn’t change their influence objective toward a more constructive alignment with a nationally representative Afghanistan government, it is Pakistan who will be held accountable. Again, the correct and effective appropriation of responsibility upon the influence agent who can initiate the solution, Pakistan.

The process of accurate regional assignment of influence comes with disconcerting sunlight. Often these influences are not discussed openly. However, for President Trump the lack of honesty is only a crutch to continue enabling poor actors. This is a consistent theme throughout all of President Trump’s foreign policy engagements.

The European Union is a collective co-dependent enabler to the corrupt influences of Iran. Therefore the assignment of responsibility to change the status is placed upon the EU.

The U.S. will fully support the EU effort, but as seen in the withdrawal from the Iran Deal, the U.S. will not enable growth of toxic behavior. The U.S. stands with the people of Iran, but the U.S. will not support the enabling of Iranian oppression, terrorism and/or dangerous military expansion that will ultimately destabilize the region. Trump holds the EU accountable for influencing change. Again, we see the Trump Doctrine at work.

Perhaps the most obvious application of the Trump Doctrine is found in how the U.S. administration approached the challenging behavior of North Korea. Rather than continuing a decades-long policy of ignoring the influence of China, President Trump directly assigned primary responsibility for a reset to Beijing.

China held, and holds, all influence upon North Korea and has long-treated the DPRK as a proxy province to do the bidding of Beijing’s communist old guard. By directly confronting the influence agent, and admitting openly for the world to see (albeit with jaw-dropping tactical sanction diplomacy) President Trump positioned the U.S. to support a peace objective on the entire Korean peninsula and simultaneously forced China to openly display their closely-guarded influence.

While the Red Dragon -vs- Panda influence dynamic is still ongoing, the benefit of this new and strategic approach has brought the possibility of peace closer than ever in recent history.

No longer is it outlandish to think of North Korea joining with the rest of the world in achieving a better quality of life for its people.

Not only is President Trump openly sharing a willingness to engage in a new and dynamic future for North Korea, but his approach is removing the toxic influences that have held down the possibility for generations. By leveraging China (through economics) to stop manipulating North Korea, President Trump is opening up a door of possibilities for the North Korean people. This is what I mean when I say Trump is providing North Korea with an opportunity to create an authentic version of itself.

What ultimately comes from the opportunity President Trump has constructed is entirely unknown. However, the opportunity itself is stunning progress creating a reasonable pathway to prosperity for the North Korean people. Chairman Kim Jong-un has the opportunity to be the most trans-formative leader within Asia in generations; but it is still only an ‘opportunity’.

Whether Kim Jong-un can embrace openness, free markets and prosperity is yet to be seen. Freedom is a precariously scary endeavor because there’s always a danger loosening the grip on control can lead to fear, which can lead to even tighter more authoritarian, control.  (continue reading)

Jair Bolsonaro Inaugurated as President of Brazil…


The inauguration of former army Captain turned congressman Jair Bolsonaro was held today in Brazil; delivering the first nationalist outlook to the office of the presidency in decades.

President Jair Bolsonaro and First-Lady of Brazil Michelle Bolsonaro both delivered speeches during the inauguration ceremony, with the first lady also using sign language (her father is deaf).

President Bolsonaro now takes the reins of Latin America’s largest and most populous nation after decades of corruption carried out by Brazil’s far-left politicians. Many will remember a failed assassination attempt on candidate Bolsonaro by opposition from the socialist workers party only a few weeks before the election. Bolsonaro has vowed to end business-as-usual governing which led to rampant corruption.

Many people within the far-left ridiculed Bolsonaro while he was a congressman and stated his Brazil-First outlook was too nationalistic amid a world now driven by global influence. The marginalization by those voices failed and now President Bolsonaro will likely chart a different course.  (Sound familiar?)

There are many similarities in national outlook between U.S. President Donald Trump and President Bolsonaro especially regarding economics and trade. Additionally, following a similar decision by President Trump, Brazil will now move their Israeli embassy to Jerusalem.

Overall the U.S. Brazil relationship could make for an interesting alignment in South/Latin America; this relationship will become particularly important around the geopolitical strategy and influence of China in the region.

The 63-year-old President campaigned heavily on an anti-corruption, Brazil-first, nationalist agenda and promised to support gun ownership rights for law-abiding people within Brazil.  Both Trump and Bolsonaro are opposed by the same groups.

Donald J. Trump

@realDonaldTrump

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Jair M. Bolsonaro

@jairbolsonaro

Donald J. Trump

@realDonaldTrump

Congratulations to President @JairBolsonaro who just made a great inauguration speech – the U.S.A. is with you!

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