Seemorerocks: Headlines of the day

Rick Davis

1:03 PM (45 minutes ago)

to Davis

## Global Ponzi meltdown/House of Cards/global cooling/deflationary collapse ##

Property Markets From Hong Kong to Sydney Join Global Slump

Stock-market investors, it’s time to hear the ugly truth
For years critics of U.S. central-bank policy have been dismissed as Negative Nellies, but the ugly truth is staring us in the face: Stock-market advances remain a game of artificial liquidity and central-bank jawboning, not organic growth. And now the jig is up.

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: The euro has failed, threatens democracy, and should be abolished

Euro-Area Firms Despondent With Business Growth at Four-Year Low
Commoditization = Deflation

China slashes banks' reserve requirements again as growth slows

Carmageddon for GM, Ford & Toyota: 3rd Down-Year in a Row. Industry Sales Below 2015.

Bolsonaro Unveils Mass Privatization Plan for Brazil While Slashing Taxes for Rich and Wages for Poor

## Cut, baby, cut! ##
U.S. 2018 Job Cut Announcements Up 28.6%, Most Since 2015 — Challenger Gray

## War on cash/cashless society/cryptocurrencies ##
The only way to make Germans go cashless is an ATM worker strike
Why Germany is so slow on the global road toward a cashless society
Crypto mining giants in Japan and China close up shop

## Airline death spiral ##
Drunk Airline Passenger Turned Aggressive, Restrained By Crew, Co-Passengers, Plane Diverted

American Airlines flight bound for JFK diverts to Phoenix after smoke appears in cabin
Spirit Airlines refuses to use water from Cleveland Hopkins Airport after passengers sickened on Frontier flight

Pilot's drinking on previous day delays five flights operated by ANA Wings
Mid-flight incident: RB passengers, crew safe, unharmed

Air traffic drops in top routes (India)
Delays at UK's busiest airports cost business passengers £500m last year, new data reveals

More woe for Hong Kong Airlines as major insurance firm pulls coverage for passengers in event carrier folds

Alaska Airlines planes return to the air after nationwide ground stop due to power outage

Fire breaks out inside plane after passenger’s vape overheats at O’Hare

## Fault lines/flashpoints/powder kegs/military/war drums ##
Trump Walks Back Syria Pullout As Noose Tightens

Syria - Turkey Fails In Idleb, Is Unwilling To Take The Northeast

Trump’s Remark that Iranians ‘Can do what they want’ in Syria Mocked in Mideast

Brazil's Bolsonaro sees threat in Russia, considers US base

How do you Stop the Arms Race? By Starting a New War, for Instance

How China Colonized An Entire Continent Without Firing A Single Shot

Chinese scholar offers insight into Beijing’s strategic mindset

Egypt's Sissi confirms unprecedented military cooperation with Israel

US military personnel deployed to Gabon as neighboring Congo delays announcing presidential election results

France's Macron reeling as tough stance against 'yellow vests' backfires

Iran plans naval drills with Russia in Caspian Sea

## Migrants/refugees ##
Patrol ship HMS Mersey deployed to intercept migrant boats in Channel
Central American migrants protest closure of Tijuana shelter

After Introducing Mass Migration To Europe, Germany Now Bribing Foreigners To Leave

France steps up efforts to prevent Channel crossings

## Global unrest/mob rule/angry people/torches and pitchforks ##

Violence rages in northeastern Brazil despite deployment
The attacks and fire-bombings sweeping Brazil's northeastern state of Ceara continued unabated Sunday despite the deployment of at least 300 members the elite, military-style National Police Force to help bring an end to the violence.
British police to start training in case of Northern Ireland Brexit unrest

Parts of Lebanon go on strike to protest economic conditions
Thousands rally against Hungary's overtime work law, PM Orban

France's 'yellow vest' protesters return to streets

VIDEO: Protesters attack French ministry with forklift truck

Sudan police fire tear gas as protesters attempt march

## Energy/resources ##
India’s Coal Paradox

## Got food? ##
Climate Change Harming Agriculture, India's Wheat Production Could Fall By 23%: Ministry
In the absence of effective and timely intervention, the production of maize, paddy, sorghum, mustard, potato, cotton and coconut are also likely to be affected.

## Environment/health ##
Too many overdoses: ERs fight drugs with drugs amid opioid crisis

U.S. judge limits evidence in trial over Roundup cancer claims

New research shows sugar substitutes are not healthier [sic] than real sugar

Plastic Foam Containers Are Officially Banned in New York City

Three Caribbean Countries Ban Single-Use Plastics

There's Evidence Even Dust Is Now Becoming Antibiotic Resistant

Chinese demand for tusks sparks ‘mammoth rush’

‘Really an awful situation’: Major health and safety concerns spur calls to close National Parks amid shutdown, environmentalists say

Huge trash-collecting boom in Pacific Ocean breaks apart

Deep-sea trawling harms biodiversity and carbon storage

## Intelligence/security/internet/cyberwar ##
There's a Whole Web of Popular Apps Sending Your Data Off to Facebook

German politicians' data published online in massive breach

'Integrity Initiative' - New Documents From Shady NGO Released

More Than 25 Million Passport Numbers Stolen in Marriott Breach

AI Program Taught Itself How To 'Cheat' Its Human Creators

Southeast Asia wary of China's Belt and Road project, skeptical of U.S.: survey

'You can't relax': Here's why 2-factor authentication may be hackable

"The Criminals Who Run The Deep State Will Be Exposed": Kim Dotcom Teases "Next Round Of Leaks"

## Propaganda/censorship/fake news/alternative facts ##
Under Growing Pressure, Firms Outsource Censorship (China)

Egypt demands CBS should not air interview with President Sisi

## Systemic breakdown/collapse/unsustainability ##
Is Canada's Air Force Dying?

## Japan ##
Tax hike, global slowdown threaten Japan's economy in 2019

The day after Christmas, Abe implored the members of Japan's most influential business lobby in Tokyo to raise wages in order to get the gears of economic activity turning. The crowd politely laughed, as if he had told a joke that missed its mark.

Tokyo stocks plunge on first trading day of 2019

Japan seeking to extend U.S. security treaty to cyberattacks

Labor shortage drives more bankruptcies in Japan

And the labor shortage is caused by the lower fertility rate, which in turn is caused primarily by decreasing net energy. -- RF

Gov't to try luggage inspections at subway station in Tokyo as anti-terror experiment
The government is considering conducting luggage inspections at a Tokyo train station as an experiment as it explores ways to strengthen public security in advance of the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics, sources close to the matter say.

Japan's Coast Guard to increase patrol vessels

Japan plans to build biggest offshore wind power plant

## China ##

China's Central Bank to Cut Required Reserve Ratio by 100 Bips This Month

Canada says China has detained 13 of its citizens since Sabrina Meng Wanzhou arrest

Chinese police get more powers on collecting electronic data as evidence

China's population shrinks for first time in 70 years despite two-child policy: experts

Behind this is the rising cost of energy, plus a corollary factor: As China develops, its society becomes structured like those of other developed countries, i.e., society assumes a form which forces people to expend increasing amounts of energy on their children. As a result, childraising expenses skyrocket, and many Chinese don't answer the government's call for more babies even though they are allowed and encouraged to have more. -- RF

More than half of the “supertall” skyscrapers to be completed in 2019 are in China

Under a renewable energy regime, high-rise buildings everywhere will be useless. -- RF

Chinese President Xi Jinping gives army its first order of 2019: prepare for war

Map: Where Young Adults Live With Their Parents

Chinese Professor Censored After Admitting Real GDP Growth Is Below 2%

China says pace of Xinjiang 'education' will slow, but defends camps

China has a dangerous dollar debt addiction

## UK ##
Police reinforcements for Northern Ireland in case of no-deal Brexit

British Army targets 'snowflakes, binge gamers and me, me, me millennials' in new recruitment drive

British Embassy In Syria Quietly Under Construction As UK Concedes Assad To Stay

Local councils heading for fracking showdown with government
Greater Manchester tells firms they are not welcome as discontent spreads

Naval ship deployed to Channel to intercept refugee vessels
UK shops' December sales fall for sixth straight year - BDO survey

Millions of British adults are functionally illiterate but problem is ignored, Dame Gail Rebuck warns