The Suddenly Poor Life: Millions Will Lose Their Pensions (Source thetrumpet.com) Four hundred thousand Americans just found out they are not going to get the pensions they were promised. It is part of a trend sweeping the nation—it’s called the suddenly poor life. The Central States Pension Fund told its members on February 16 that they needed to take a massive cut in benefits—or  HYPERLINK “http://www.kansascity.com/news/business/article60760061.html” \t “_blank” the fund would be completely empty in 10 years. Members face a 40 to 61 percent cut in benefits depending on age, what company they worked for, and various other factors. The average loss appears to be approximately $1,400 per month. If the pension plan goes bankrupt and falls back on the government-backed Pension Benefit Guarantee Corp., people will get even less. The result is that many retired people are back out looking for jobs—not to support their lifestyles but themselves. “What’s happening to us is a microcosm of what’s going to happen to the rest of the pensions in the United States,” said Jay Perry, a longtime Teamsters member. Perry is probably correct. Public-sector pension funds are grossly underfunded all across America. Tens of millions of Americans are not going to get the benefits they are planning on! This is an underappreciated trend that will have a profound effect on America’s economy. Consider this: In Chicago, a recent report found that the city’s unfunded pension liabilities totaled 10 times the entire city’s revenues. According to analysts, this means that the city will soon be paying 50 percent of its revenue just to cover pension costs. New York City now spends more money paying pensions to retired police officers than it does to active ones. Philadelphia, Boston, Houston, New York—virtually every major city in America—face the same pension crisis. States are as well. Illinois’s pension burden has brought the state to its knees financially speaking.  HYPERLINK “http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2015/12/illinois-pension-reform-three-wrongs-do-not-make-a-right” \t “_blank” Ninety-three percent of the state’s retirement systems are underfunded, according to Wilshire Consulting’s 2015 report. 

Brazil on course for worst recession in century (Source AFP)  Brazil’s economy shrank by 3.8 percent in 2015 with the biggest contraction in 25 years set to push the Latin American giant into its worst recession for more than a century. The latest gloomy news from Brazil was no surprise, but the severity underlined the depth of problems facing President Dilma Rousseff’s government as it battles both declining economic output and 10.67 percent inflation. The state statistics office said 2015 registered the worst single annual fall in GDP since 1990, a year when the economy dipped 4.3 percent. With the International Monetary Fund predicting a further 3.5 percent shrinkage this year, Brazil appears to be well into a recession that would be worse than any on government record going back to 1901.

China Has Taken Over Another Disputed Territory in the South China Sea (Source Yahoo)

China has seized a disputed atoll off the coast of the Philippines in the South China Sea,  HYPERLINK “http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2016/03/02/1558682/china-takes-philippine-atoll” \t “_blank” Philippine media reported on Wednesday, with at least five Chinese ships denying access to Filipino fishermen. The ships now effectively control Quirino Atoll–also known as Jackson Atoll–a spot heavily frequented by fishermen from the nearby Palawan province and several other parts of the country, the Philippine Star newspaper reported.

Local fishermen, requesting anonymity, told the Philippine Star that they were chased away from the area by Chinese boats last week, while the mayor of the northern city of Kalayaan said China has had vessels stationed there for over a month. The Philippines is one of several countries–along with Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan–disputing China’s control of the Spratly island chain in the South China Sea and its claim that the water body is its sovereign territory.  HYPERLINK “http://fortune.com/2016/02/17/china-just-upped-the-stakes-in-the-south-china-sea/” \t “_blank” China appears to have stepped up its ever-increasing military presence in the region recently, with its deployment of missiles and fighter jets on yet another disputed island last month drawing the ire of the U.S.

Underwater and Underhanded: Russian Submarines Come to the Mideast (Source observer.com)

Russia is upping the ante in the power game they are playing in the Middle East. Russians have deployed a fleet of submarines off the coast of Syria. And not just any subs. These are the quietest subs in the world. NATO has termed these Russian subs “Black Hole.” They are diesel electric powered and fire Tomahawk-style rockets from the sea. The subs are also known as Rostov -on- Don and the Russians have already used them against ISIS and al Qaeda. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu with Russia President Vladimir Putin recently held a televised meeting, and broadcast footage of the submarines striking at ISIS targets. One of the secret weapons of great powers is their submarine fleet. Very little time is spent analyzing the power and strength of these underwater vessels, but conventional wisdom has it that the greater the submarines fleet the more powerful the navy. This explains why the actual size of almost every nation’s submarine fleets is a top secret and the best analysts can do is speculate as to the numbers involved. An advanced sub fleet can and will be much more powerful than any aircraft carrier. In other words—the greater the sub fleet, the more powerful the military. And if a set of subs can go undetected for weeks at a time the weapon becomes enormously effective both as a defensive and offensive weapon. This Russian sub can remain submerged for forty-five days. Weighing in at 4,000 tons, it is very small and very fast and can cruise at an underwater speed of 20 knots. Because of its small size, it is able to get into shallow water. Because it is so quiet, it leaves no sound signature. It becomes invisible.

“Black Hole” is one of Russia’s secret weapons and it is now taking up residence just off the coast of Syria, Lebanon, Turkey and Israel. How many are there? Best intel guesses say that Russia has twenty “Black Holes.” There are probably six of seven of these subs now submerged in the Mediterranean Sea. The airspace above Syria is also very crowded. There are air forces from fourteen countries bumping shoulders in the sky. Russia has exercised control over the airspace with its anti-air missile program and it controls the sky patrols thru an AWACS type plane. At this point, any country that wants to fly above Syria—and they all do, must get clearance from Russia. Russia wants to do in the sea what they are doing in the air. And they want to do it through intimidation. With their submarine presence now powerfully established off the coast of Syria, Russia has created what has been termed an Arc of Steel. The arc goes from the Arctic Circle through the Baltic Sea to Crimea to the Mediterranean Sea. The game plan is to challenge and confront NATO and the West. In this game, the Middle East is just one connecting link in a chain of naval influence, power and intimidation.

German Chancellor Merkel’s Refugee Policy and the Call for a European Army (Source globalresearch.ca) Two leading representatives of economic think tanks, Michael Hüther (Cologne Institute of Economic Research) and Hans-Werner Sinn (longtime president of the Ifo Institute for Economic Research in Munich), demanded the construction of a “joint, European army”. The refugee crisis made clear how deep the crisis of leadership in Europe was. A leading European power was missing. “The leading power in Europe in practice, Germany”, could no longer evade its responsibility. It was wrong to rely upon the borders being secured by Turkey. Instead, the creation of a “comprehensive European defence community” had to be adopted as a clear goal. Hüther and Sinn wrote, “Faced with the military flash-points in Europe’s environs, we consider it an unsustainable anachronism that the 28 EU states control 25 separate armies with their own general staffs, even though they are bound together in emergencies via NATO”. Europe needed a new project to maintain its unity. “Before the euro zone states involve themselves even more in a union of financial liabilities”, the Schengen zone states or the euro zone should come together to form a kind of “European defence community”. “A new, sustainable pillar of European cooperation [would be] based” on joint units and a command structure, “which gives the political union a solid basis and has a logic of political order”. With Merkel’s refugee policy increasingly assuming the form of sealing off Europe militarily, and with conflicts growing in NATO over the war in Syria, the demand is being raised for a European army under German leadership.

Nuke test: The missile is the message, the Pentagon hopes (Source businessinsider.com) Like a giant pen stroke in the sky, an unarmed Minuteman 3 nuclear missile roared out of its underground bunker on the California coastline Thursday and soared over the Pacific, inscribing the signature of American power amid growing worry about North Korea’s pursuit of nuclear weapons capable of reaching US soil. When it comes to deterring an attack by North Korea or other potential adversaries, the missile is the message. At 11:01 p.m. PST on Thursday, the Minuteman missile, toting a payload of test instruments rather than a nuclear warhead, leaped into the darkness in an explosion of flame. It arced toward its test range in the waters of the Kwajalein Atoll, an island chain about 2,500 miles southwest of Honolulu. About 30 minutes later the reentry vehicle that carries the missile’s payload reached its target, Col. Craig Ramsey, commander of the 576th Flight Test Squadron, told an assembled group of observers, including Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work and Adm. Cecil Haney, the top nuclear war-fighting commander. The missile test, dubbed “Glory Trip 218,” was the second this month and the latest in a series designed to confirm the reliability of the Cold War-era missile and all its components. 

RUSSIA BANS US GMO IMPORTS (Source blacklistednews.com) Russia is making consequent its decision last fall to ban the commercial planting of Genetically Modified Organisms or GMO in its agriculture acreage. The latest decision, effective February 15, 2016 does not at all please Monsanto or the US Grain Cartel.On February 15, a Russian national import ban on soybeans and corn imports from the United States took effect. The Russian food safety regulator Rossel khoznadzor announced that the ban was because of GMO and of microbial contamination and the absence of effective US controls on soybean and corn exports to prevent export of quarantinable grains, also known as microbial contamination. The Russian food safety regulator added that corn imported from the US is often infected with dry rot of maize. In addition, he said, corn can be used for GMO crops in Russia. The potential damage from import and spread of quarantinable objects on the territory of Russia is estimated at $126 -189 million  HYPERLINK “http://sustainablepulse.com/2016/02/11/russia-bans-all-imports-of-us-soybeans-and-corn-over-microbial-and-gmo-contamination/” \l “.VsDVXObXmees” \t “_blank” annually.

China’s Silk Road Reaches Iran, Pushes Toward Europe(Source thetrumpet.com) The first train on China’s “Silk Road” railway arrived in Tehran on February 15, making the 5,900-mile journey in a third of the time required by a sea voyage. The Silk Road refers to an ancient network of trade routes that connected cultures running from Southeast Asia to the Mediterranean—especially the lucrative trade of Chinese silk. In late 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping unveiled his plan to revive the Silk Road with his  HYPERLINK “https://www.clsa.com/special/onebeltoneroad/” \t “_blank” One Belt, One Road initiative (OBOR). Now that transport network has reached Iran. China’s government says OBOR “aims to promote the connectivity of Asian, European and African continents,” while “strengthening partnerships” that run through the path of the ancient Silk Road. Others expect even more. “Some people say there are only 65 countries involved, but that’s a misunderstanding,” says Zhao Changhui, chief risk analyst at China Export-Import Bank. “It’s a new method of development for China and the world.” Iran welcomed the project. Mohsen Pourseyed Aqayi, the head of the Iranian railway company, said the train’s arrival in 14 days was an “unprecedented achievement.” But the train routes don’t stop in the Middle East. One diesel locomotive already makes the 8,100-mile journey from the east coast of China to Spain. Political leaders in Europe, including British Prime Minister David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, have publicly lauded OBOR and expressed enthusiasm to participate in it.

Pacific Commander: China Heading Toward Operational, Tactical Control of Major U.S. Trade Route (Source cnsnews.com) If China continues to arm all of the bases they’ve reclaimed in the South China Sea…they will change the operational landscape in the region,” Admiral Harry Harris, head of U.S. Pacific Command, told a news conference. “And short of war with the United States, they can become — they can rise to the level of having operational control, tactical control of the waterways and airways in the South China Sea, which today, involves about $5.3 trillion of trade, over a billion of which — over a trillion of which is destined for the United States. “There are enormous I.T. infrastructure in the…undersea cables in the South China Sea. It’s a principle shipping lane, as we’ve discussed. “And I think that, again, short of war with the United States, China will exercise de facto control of the South China Sea, if they are — if they continue to outfit the bases that they’ve reclaimed there.” Harris said China, in the past few years, has reclaimed almost 3,000 acres of land from the South China Sea, turning many of the islands into military bases. “I am of the opinion that they are militarizing the South China Sea,” Harris said. “And when they add their advanced fighters to Woody Island, and when — up in the Paracels — and when they put their advanced missile systems on the Paracels, and when they build three 10,000-foot runways in the Spratlys on the basis that they’ve reclaimed — when they do all of that, they’re changing the operational landscape in the South China Sea.

Germany’s Bundesbank Chief Pushes Communal Eurozone Treasury (Source thetrumpet.com) With a second European banking crisis all but certain, many analysts are adding their voices to those calling for the quick end of the eurozone. In that context, it is interesting to listen to what Germany’s banking authorities are saying because they have the power to pull the euro plug. On February 9, Germany’s all-important Deutsche Bank, the nation’s largest bank, saw its share price plummet to its lowest levels ever. As recent as February 2014, its shares traded for $48. But by February 2015, they were down to $32 per share. At the beginning of January 2016, they were only $22 per share. Then on February 1, Deutsche Bank shares sharply slid 7 percent—a new record low. The following day, they fell even further. More than a billion dollars worth of value was destroyed in hours. But Deutsche Bank wasn’t alone. Virtually all of Germany’s big banks were decimated. And all of Italy’s. And Spain’s. And—Europe’s. It is in this context of crisis and panic that Germany’s—and perhaps Europe’s—most important banker spoke. Eurozone nations need to transfer more “ HYPERLINK “http://www.ibtimes.com/german-french-central-bank-chiefs-call-closer-eurozone-ties-2297764” \t “_blank” sovereignty and powers to the European level,” wrote German Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann in a commentary coauthored with his French counterpart. Weakening confidence was threatening eurozone bonds, he said. “More integration,” he wrote, was the solution. Europe needs “comprehensive sharing of sovereignty.” According to Weidmann, Europe must create a “joint treasury” and a common Finance Ministry at the European level. In other words, Europe needs to work toward a communal debt market and a European government with the power of taxation. These are radical—national-sovereignty eroding—proposals. Solutions like these are expected from the French. BUT NOW THEY ARE COMING FROM GERMANY’S MOST IMPORTANT BANKER! Yet another banking crisis appears to be brewing. This one could be much worse than in 2008 because debt levels are so much higher. How will the crisis be exploited? The timetable could be sped up. What will European leaders do when they find themselves standing at the edge of the economic vortex, contemplating the total destruction of their banking sector, watching trillions in wealth disintegrate and unemployment skyrocket, leading to angry masses rioting in the streets of Paris and Amsterdam instead of only Athens? Then the idea of pooling resources with Germany might not look that bad after all—because only one nation has the financial gravity necessary to hold Europe’s monetary center together and prevent it from spiraling out of control. And that nation is Germany. Even the German public might be swayed, especially if leadership of the communal club was offered. Is loss of sovereignty a small price to pay for safety and stability?