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Predictions and trends for 2016: The good, the bad, and the ugly


21st Century Wire
Sat, 02 Jan 2016 17:02 UTC
minority Report
Looking forward into the New Year, here are a few predictions and some emerging trends to be on the look out for in 2016.

In last year's Predictions and Trends for 2015, we told readers to expect some major tectonic shifts in the geopolitical arena. That happened alright, and in the coming 12 months we can expect some of those new realities to solidify, while others continue to take shape.

The good, the bad, and the ugly - here's what to look for ahead in 2016...

Comment: 2016 should prove to be quite interesting, get a good seat and enjoy the show!

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Stock Up

Russian economic development may outperform that of EU members


Sputnik
Sat, 02 Jan 2016 13:33 UTC
moscow
© Sputnik / Natalia Seliverstone
This year may see Russia get the better of EU countries in terms of economic development, according to the Russian economist Vladislav Ginko.

In an interview with Sputnik, noted Russian economic expert Vladislav Ginko suggested that in 2016, Russia will be able to outperform EU members as far as economic development is concerned.

According to him, this year will prove to be more successful for those countries that have maintained their economic and financial sovereignty.

Comment: It's encouraging to witness how Russia has successfully outmaneuvered Western machinations against her, and to see those actions backfiring.

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Dollar

After Protests and Strikes, 14 US States Implement Minimum Wage Increase for 2016


TeleSUR TV
Sat, 02 Jan 2016 17:11 UTC
Fast-food workers and their supporters join a nationwide protest for higher wages and union rights outside McDonald's in Los Angeles, California, United States, Nov.10, 2015.
© Reuters
Fast-food workers and their supporters join a nationwide protest for higher wages and union rights outside McDonald's in Los Angeles, California, United States, Nov.10, 2015.
Fourteen states and several cities in the United States have increased their minimum wage after more than six years without an increase across the country. The federal minimum wage still remains at US$7.25 per hour, however as of Friday (New Year's Day), the average minimum wage across fourteen states that opted to change the rates reached just over $9 USD.

The steepest increases came in Alaska, California, Massachusetts, and Nebraska, who all raised their minimum wages by a dollar. This in turn had made the states of California and Massachusetts the first states the in the country to implement $10-per-hour minimum wages.
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Che Guevara

Number of protests across US surged during 2015


RT
Thu, 31 Dec 2015 03:12 UTC
protester gas canister
© Eric Thayer / Reuters
A protester throws a gas canister back at police during clashes at North Ave and Pennsylvania Ave in Baltimore, Maryland April 28, 2015.
From 'Black Lives Matter' to 'Fight for 15,' the year of 2015 saw a surge of protests all across the nation.

January

Protesters around the country kicked off the 2015 with a Black Lives Matter demonstration against police brutality. On New Year's Eve, about 100 demonstrators gathered at New York City's iconic Times Square, where Mayor Bill de Blasio and his family presided over the annual ball drop, to stage a 'die-in.' Marchers didn't manage to get onto the square itself, due to the massive number of revelers attending.

On the West Coast, the largest New Year's march was held in Oakland, California, against perceived police force. Over 200 activists staged a noise demonstration where voices, electronics, musical instruments and fireworks were used as a means to get message out, but instead attract a large police presence. After unruly protesters lobbed bottles at the police who were cordoning them off, 29 people were arrested.

Later in the month, 23 Black Lives Matter activists were arrested after chaining themselves to barrels and blocking both sides of an interstate near Boston.
"Today, our nonviolent direct action is meant to expose the reality that Boston is a city where white commuters and students use the city and leave, while black and brown communities are targeted by police, exploited, and displaced," protester Katie Seitz said in a statement.

Comment: Americans of conscience are justifiably outraged over the murderous behavior of police officers who are supposed to protect and serve. Pathological leadership, which exists across the United States, does not know how to solve crises. It does not know how to rebuild, nor how to heal. It only knows how to create additional chaos and point the finger at others. This of course adds more fuel to the fire, degrades society, and quickens the pace of systematic collapse.

What will 2016 bring... the breaking point?

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Network

Anti-ISIS hackers claim responsibility for BBC cyber-attack


Press TV
Sat, 02 Jan 2016 03:38 UTC
BBC news error
© descrier.co.uk
NWH hackers claim they bombarded the BBC website with 600 gigabits a second of messages.
A group of anti-Daesh hackers has claimed responsibility for the recent cyber-attack on the BBC's website. The attack took down the BBC website for a few hours on the New Year's Eve.

The group, calling itself New World Hacking (NWH), said it bombarded the system with 600 gigabits a second of messages. According to the BBC's business correspondent, Joe Lynam the technology correspondent, Rory Cellan-Jones, had received a tweet from NWH, claiming responsibility for the attack.

"Their ultimate goal, believe it or not, is not to attack the BBC but to go for ISIS (Daesh), the group which often calls itself Islamic State, and all their servers so they cannot spread propaganda from various different websites..."We have to stress we have no evidence, but this group is claiming responsibility for this DDoS attack and they claim their ultimate goal is to take down Isis websites," Lynam was quoted as saying by the British media.

Comment: Vulnerability is everywhere, apparently even for ISIS. Perhaps the next layer of propaganda has been exposed and with it, the next layer of control.

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Bomb

Gun sales explode after Swiss army chief warns people to 'arm themselves'

Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge
Fri, 01 Jan 2016 21:04 UTC
Andre Blattman
© Unknown
It would appear the people of Switzerland have been listening to their military leaders. Having recently been warned by the Swiss army chief of growing social unrest, SwissInfo reports applications for gun permits in Switzerland increased by 20% between 2014 and 2015, according to a survey conducted in 12 cantons. But while the army proposes "arm yourselves," Swiss crime prevention officials warn against the false sense of security that guns bring.

Whereas in 2011 numerous people in Switzerland voluntarily gave up their firearms, today more and more people are purchasing guns.

Swiss army chief André Blattmann warned, "The threat of terror is rising, hybrid wars are being fought around the globe; the economic outlook is gloomy and the resulting migration flows of displaced persons and refugees have assumed unforeseen dimensions,"adding that "Social unrest can not be ruled out."

He further recalled the situation around the two world wars in the last century and advised the people of Switzerland to arm themselves...

Comment: For more background on this, check out: Swiss army chief calls upon citizens to arm themselves in advance of social collapse

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Airplane

Third Allegiant flight from Orlando, Florida this week forced to make emergency landing


News 13 Orlando
Sat, 31 Dec 2016 16:11 UTC
Allegiant Air
An Allegiant Air flight made a safe emergency landing at a Tennessee airport Thursday morning, the third Allegiant flight from Orlando diverted this week.

Chattanooga Airport spokesman Albert Waterhouse said Allegiant Air Flight 760 landed at about 8:30 a.m. Thursday after reporting an engine problem. No injuries were reported.

Allegiant said in a statement that the plane has been taken out of service and will be inspected. The statement said the flight, which was headed from Orlando to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, had 150 passengers and six crew members. Allegiant said a replacement aircraft will take passengers on to Iowa.

On Wednesday afternoon, Allegiant Flight 736 was diverted from Orlando-Sanford International Airport to T.F. Green Airport in Warwick, Rhode Island, with 151 passengers and six crew members. No one was injured, and passengers were booked into hotels for the night. The airline hasn't said what prompted the emergency landing, but a passenger reported that there was a smell of smoke about halfway through the flight.

Earlier this week, an Allegiant flight heading to Wisconsin landed in North Dakota after having mechanical issues.

Associated Press

Comment: "We heard an unusual noise. Something we've never heard on a flight before," said Matt Starkweather, a passenger on board the Allegiant Air Flight 760, "Like a boom. I guess it sounded like we hit something."

A small selection of aircraft related incidents last year include: Planes suddenly 'disappearing' from radar, sometimes in "unprecedented" blackouts; more planes diverting due to "electrical burning and smoke smells", "engine fires" and plane wings "bursting into flames". See also:

SOTT EXCLUSIVE: Year of the planes Cluster of plane problems as 2014 comes to a close

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2 + 2 = 4

Scandalous: Novel banned from Israeli schools because it might encourage intermarriage, accurately depicts IDF


RT
Fri, 01 Jan 2016 04:55 UTC
Rabinyan

Dorit Rabinyan with her novel, Borderlife.
Israel's Education Ministry has decided to ban high schools from teaching students an award-winning novel depicting a love story between an Israeli woman and a Palestinian man on the grounds that it could encourage intermarriage.

"Officials discussed the matter of including the book in the curriculum," the ministry said in a statement. "After it seriously examined all the considerations, and weighed the advantages and drawbacks, they decided not to include the book in the curriculum."

"Gader Haya" ("Borderlife") by Dorit Rabinyan won Israel's coveted Bernstein literary prize in 2015. The novel revolves around Liat, an Israeli translator, and Khilmi, a Palestinian painter. They fall in love in New York, but things take a dramatic turn when the two return to their families and homes in Tel Aviv and Ramallah, respectively.

The book was recommended to be added to the school curriculum by a panel of educators and academics, but deemed a threat by senior Education Ministry officials.

Comment: Israel's Education Ministry taking a page out of Erdogan's book, exposing themselves in all their pathological glory, and being totally oblivious to the fact. Do these clowns realize how moronic and fascist they look?

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Arrow Down

Silencing activism: Wyoming makes it illegal to collect evidence of pollution

John Vibes
Activist Post
Fri, 01 Jan 2016 00:00 UTC
AGgag law wyoming, evidence pollution
The state of Wyoming recently passed Senate Bill 12, the Data Trespass Bill, which will prevent people from collecting evidence of pollution, even on public lands. The bill prohibits the "collecting of information" on property that the person does not own, even public and federal land.

According to the text of the bill, it is now illegal to "take a sample of material, acquire, gather, photograph or otherwise preserve information in any form from open land which is submitted or intended to be submitted to any agency of the state or federal government."

Simply taking a picture or collecting trash from a polluted stream could lead to $5,000 in fines and a year in prison.

Justin Pidot, an assistant professor at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law recently told Think Progress that, "People on the ground, who have been engaged in this kind of data collection in the past, now have to face the worry about being potentially prosecuted. The chilling effect on citizen participation is huge."

Comment: There seems to be a growing trend to silence activists and whistleblowers. Corporate lobbyists are creating such laws by using financial incentives to influence legislators, who apparently value their portfolios much more highly than the health and safety of the planet and its inhabitants.

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Pistol

Bringing in the New Year: USA continues its high-volume tradition of shooting homicides


Sputnik
Fri, 01 Jan 2016 00:00 UTC
USA gun violence, shootings USA
The United States is starting 2016 off with a literal bang, as the nation continues its high-volume tradition of shooting homicides, with deaths in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and elsewhere.

The pops you just heard may not necessarily have been fireworks celebrating the arrival of 2016. They could likely be that all-too-common sound in the United States, gunfire, and that sound's result: dead people. Just a few hours into the new year, several people have been killed by guns in the US.

New York

A 16-year-old was shot in the head less than 30 minutes before the ball fell in New York on New Year's Eve, police said. Officers found a young man's body at about 11:30 p.m., responding to a report. He was initially unconscious but pronounced dead at the scene.

Chicago

The first of Chicago's 2016 homicide victims was attending a New Year's Eve party when a fight spilled into the street, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Comment: The culture of the United State is saturated with violence. Given the U.S. government's almost continuous series of wars and acts of military intervention since 1941, it seems likely that it surpasses all rivals when it comes to international violence. This record is paralleled on the domestic front, where the United States has more guns and gun-related deaths than any other country. This is the natural result when psychopaths take control of society and their conscienceless values fully permeate the culture.

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