Newspaper

Less than a week after the San Bernardino shooting, the ghost of ISIS terrorism has finally landed in London, where moments ago news broke that a man wielding a machete screamed "this is for Syria" before slashing a person's throat at London's Leytonstone subway station, and attacking up to three people.

We all like to know what’s happening in the world, and for good reason... understanding our surroundings is essential to survival. We instinctively seek information... we need information. There is, however, a problem that we face: No matter how much “news” you consume, you won’t really know what’s going on in the world. We can’t know, because ‘the news’ is half illusion, provided by government-dependent corporations that are paid to keep you watching and to keep you joined to the status quo. That’s the truth about news, my friends. The newspapers are where the yokels get informed, presidents flatly lie, and legislatures are massively corrupt.

"As the founding editor-in-chief of the Today's Zaman, I have sincerely tried to fulfill my job to the best of my ability, maintained the paper's integrity and tried to resist all kinds of pressure from the government as much as I could."

CNN Turkey, citing security forces officials, is reporting what appears to be yet another escalation in the middle east maelstrom as Turkish troops enter Iraq. So suddenly, just as the world is scrutinizing Turkey's role in the Islamic State oil trade, Ankara decides to send anti-ISIS troops across the border? Are they trying to secure the crude trade and guard the trafficking routes?

• The Jobs Report Probably Won't Change the Fed's Mind on Liftoff (BBG)
• U.S. authorities look for militant links to shooters in California mass slaying (Reuters)
• Neighbors, Acquaintances Shocked That Couple Are San Bernardino Shooting Suspects (WSJ)
• ECB Fumbles the Stimulus-Baton Hand-off, Mussing Up Fed’s Plans (WSJ)
• OPEC Heads for Status Quo as Members Clash Over Crude Output Cut (BBG)
• Foreigners drawn in as fear and loathing grip China's finance industry (Reuters)

"I have been able to establish that there is a very high probability that Berat Albayrak is linked to the supply of oil by the Daesh terrorists."

"I am scared stiff of what is happening in this country. What will the government do about this?"

"Eventually, all of America’s lesser problems will combine into one giant problem. The very survival of the society will feel at stake, as leaders lead and people follow. The emergent society may be something better, a nation that sustains its Framers’ visions with a robust new pride. Or it may be something unspeakably worse. The Fourth Turning will be a time of glory or ruin."

Perhaps Voltaire said it best: "To determine the true rulers of any society, all you must do is ask yourself this question: Who is it that I am not permitted to criticize?"

At least 151 people have been put to death since Saudi Arabia's current King Salman rose to power after the death of King Abdullah in January 2015, dramatically higher than the total of 90 in 2014. As Amnesty International warns, "it is clear that the Saudi Arabian authorities are using the guise of counter-terrorism to settle political scores."

Banana Republic 101: when the despotic president of a corrupt regime is faced with facts exposing his lllegal activity, what does he do? He arrests and journalists who discovered said facts, and demands they spend the rest of their lives behind bars. Welcome to Turkey.

How Uncle Sam seeded global Jihad... and cultivates it to this day.

...and what will the implications be?

Any modest reduction in debt, tax revenues, consumption or new borrowing will bring the entire Status Quo crashing down. This is the bitter fruit of rampant financialization and the ascendancy of maximizing private gain by whatever means are available.