It will be shocking to many Americans that our free market system is deeply and fundamentally flawed. Many people understand that we have crony capitalism that creates loopholes to benefit those at the top. The financial crisis of 2008 and the following bailouts also exposed the rotten financial system and the rigged Wall Street. But there's something else that's even more significant and innate in the corruption of our economy: the Federal Reserve Bank. This is an arcane issue that puts most people to sleep, so let's make it easy and fun by story-telling. It's about a small town called Murika.

Something surprising happened yesterday. Russian President Putin publicly thanked US President Trump for helping to prevent a major ISIS-linked terrorist attack in St. Petersburg. The CIA had provided intelligence to their Russian counterparts, enabling the Russians to find and detain the seven individuals planning the attack and coordinating with "ISIS masterminds" abroad. The raid occurred last Wednesday and Thursday, during which the FSB seized explosives, weapons and ammunition, extremist material, and dismantled a bomb-making workshop.

The Kremlin press service issued a statement on the call Putin made to Trump:

"The Russian president thanked his US counterpart for information shared by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) that helped trace, expose and detain a group of terrorists who had plotted explosions in St. Petersburg's Kazan Cathedral and in other crowded places in that city," the press service said.

Putin then reassured Trump that he would reciprocate information sharing if Russian security services knew of any leads.

"Russian security services, should they have information about possible terrorist threats to the United States and its citizens, will swiftly and unconditionally share it with the US colleagues via partner channels," the press service stressed.

Putin asked Trump to pass on his thanks to CIA Director Pompeo and the agents/analysts who gathered the relevant intelligence.

Dante is, to my mind, fiction's most satisfying executioner. In the 30^th canto, in the 8^th circle of hell, we find Potiphar's wife consumed with a fever so fierce, her skin smokes.

Now Potiphar was the captain of the Pharoah's palace guard in the book of Genesis. When Joseph, the son of Jacob, was betrayed by his brothers, stashed in a cistern and sold to a caravan, he ended up being purchased by Potiphar. Joseph, who was young, handsome and, best of all, favored by God, quickly rose in Potiphar's esteem until he was made overseer of the guardsman's house.

Joseph soon caught the eye of Potiphar's wife, whose name among the Muslims is said to have been Zulaika, and she wanted to get freaky with Joseph, but he refused. Joseph did not want to betray the trust his master Potiphar had placed in him, so every day Zulaika would proposition him, and everyday he would refuse. One day she became enraged at his refusal and tore a bit of cloth from his cloak as he escaped her.

Scorned and affronted by his rejection, a wicked idea came to her, and using the bit of torn cloth as circumstantial evidence, Zulaika falsely accused Joseph of rape. Potiphar felt deeply betrayed and had Joseph imprisoned. While Joseph's ultimate end was not unhappy, Zulaika is never made to answer for her crime until, over 2,000 years later, Dante arrived to condemn her to the 8^th circle of hell, and smoldering flesh.

It is not without good reason that modern political systems separate the armed forces from the three branches of the state: the executive, legislature and judiciary. Under this model, the executive is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces; only the legislature can declare war; and police duties are overseen by the judiciary. This system of checks and balances enables the branches of government to regulate each other. Notice that military power is always subordinated to the executive and legislature, and is independent from the judiciary. One could say that the military - a professional organism designed to kill and destroy - is a necessary evil given the potential external threats to a state. It is a beast that must remain domesticated, to be unleashed only in extraordinary situations, and never against its own people. And woe unto those who break these rules!

On Friday 15 December both Mexico's Senate and the Chamber of Deputies approved the Internal Security Law, thanks to the majority held by the party in power, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), and the support of some legislators from other parties. The law breaks with the principles of the modern state and sets Mexico on a course for tragedy because it grants police powers to the army.

It's still wildfire season in California. If you're wondering when the season ends, it's November 20th, although as you may have noticed, it's still going strong. In fact, for the last decade or so, California's 'new normal' is that wildfires continue erupting for an extra two months, and this year they may burn well past that into February.

New evacuation orders were issued this past weekend in Santa Barbara County, making downtown Santa Barbara a virtual ghost town as the Thomas fire moved closer. Wind gusts of up to 60mph pushed what is now the third-largest wildfire in California's history towards Montecito, the wealthiest city in Santa Barbara County. The rich and famous - like Oprah Winfrey and Ellen DeGeneres - have fled too, but fear not, their homes are less likely to burn because they pay private insurance to hire private 'concierge firefighters' to protect their homes.

Fire officials said Saturday that the Thomas fire, which started December 4, had now burned nearly 105,000 hectares (400 square miles), leaving a footprint larger than those of some cities. The fire is said to be about 40 percent contained, but fire officials added that about 18,000 structures remain threatened, and that high winds could kick up new blazes by flinging embers far from the heart of the inferno.

According to the World Health Organization, the total number of people with dementia worldwide in 2015 is estimated at 47.5 million. The total number of new cases of dementia each year worldwide is nearly 7.7 million, implying 1 new case every 4 seconds. The number of people with dementia is expected to increase to 75.6 million in 2030 and 135.5 million in 2050. These figures are almost twice the rate of projected population growth over that time period.

In the United States, approximately 6 million American adults have Alzheimer's disease or mild cognitive impairment. The estimate forecasts that these numbers will more than double to 15 million by 2060. These estimates include people with biomarkers or other evidence of possible preclinical Alzheimer's disease, but who do not have impairment or Alzheimer's dementia. People with such signs of preclinical disease are at increased risk to develop Alzheimer's dementia.

We are led to believe that Alzheimer's disease (AD) has no cure or there is no possibility of halting the cognitive decline. At best, mainstream treatment just slows down the progression of the disease. As a rule, the person deteriorates beyond recognition throughout the remaining years of their life while hopeless caregivers get burned out. For this reason, I was pleasantly surprised when Mark Sisson wrote recently about a study which was published in Aging (2014) by Dale E. Bredesen. The study revealed incredible results that mainstream media outlets failed to cover.

Nothing can be more aggravating for me than seeing a headline, about nutrition, or eating, or food in some form or other, that I know from the get-go is wrong, but then watching as it gets traction beyond what it should, given that it's wrong. Although it is fun to tear these things apart from time to time, the fact that researchers, journalists or government institutions can get away with this stuff is frustrating.

That's why it's always fun to see someone in a high-standing position, like an actual scientist, rip on the corrupt state of nutritional science. As luck would have it, just such a scientist - two of them actually - have stepped up to the plate. Get yer popcorn, folks.

Edward Archer, the Chief Science Officer of EvolvingFX and Carl "Chip" J. Lavie, the Medical Director of Cardiac Rehabilitation and Preventive Cardiology at Ochsner Clinical School of the University of Queensland School of Medicine, have penned an open letter to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The letter, published on Real Clear Science's website, is essentially a complaint against the Academies for ignoring the problematic nature of the data collection methods used in their report "Redesigning the Process for Establishing the Dietary Guidelines for Americans".

Those sentences were a mouthful, so let's just say some hardcore science guys are ripping on some 'Ministry of Truth' guys.

The year of Trump, the demise of ISIS, the Rise of Russia, the Rise of China, #MeToo, #FakeNews, Antifa, Alt-Right, Brexit, Catalonia, the continuing migrant crisis, Russiagate, terror attacks, Jerusalem, North Korea, weather gone wild, and so much more.

2017 has been a whirlwind, and it's already coming to an end. On this final episode of Behind the Headlines for 2017 (next Sunday is Christmas eve, the following is New Year's eve) we'll be discussing the trends and developments of the past year, as well as taking your questions and comments about anything and everything. The lines will be open, and chat will be active, so feel free to join in.

Tune in this Sunday, 6-8pm CET (4-6pm UTC / 12-2pm EST) for our interactive, year-end special!

Running Time: 02:15:38

Download: MP3

General Melchett: Now, Field Marshal Haigh has formulated a brilliant, new, tactical plan to ensure final victory in the field.

Captain Blackadder: Ah. Will this brilliant plan involve us climbing out of our trenches and walking very slowly towards the enemy, Sir?

Captain Darling: How could you possibly know that, Blackadder? It's classified information!

Captain Blackaddaer: It's the same plan that we used last time, and the seventeen times before that.

General Melchett: EXACTLY! And that is what is so brilliant about it! It'll catch the watchful Hun totally off-guard. Doing precisely what we've done eighteen times before is exactly the last thing they'll expect us to do this time!

~ Scene from the satirical UK series Blackadder

Witnessing the lack of creativity in the West's scaremongering - the same idea being used over and over again by the western pathocrats and their puppet states - one would be forgiven for thinking it's satire. Browsing through the day's news, I came across a story that presented the shameful caricature of reality that we've seen time and time again.

Some people dutifully chew each mouthful of this kind of supersized junk, spoon-fed them by a willingly complicit media, and wash it down with Kool-Aid. But SOTT is the 'world for people who think', and I can't imagine there are many SOTT readers hungering for the latest stomach-churning offering from Nikki 'The Hick' Haley who, on December 14th, expanded on the US's increasingly hysterical pivot towards Iran.

Standing in front of an alleged spent Iranian missile shell, Haley proceeded to use this 'visual aid' to add weight to her claims that Iranian missile shells of one sort or another have been turning up in war zones across the Middle East.

Feeling sluggish during the day and restless at night? Exercising like a gym-bunny and watching your calorie intake but not getting positive results? You may be overlooking something that is literally staring you in the face.

A recent study published by Penn State College of Medicine is the latest to shine light (no pun intended) on the detrimental effects that exposure to artificial light at night-time can have on the human body. Science Daily reports:

After surveying parents about their kids' technology and sleep habits, researchers found that using technology before bed was associated with less sleep, poorer sleep quality, more fatigue in the morning and -- in the children that watched TV or used their cell phones before bed -- higher body mass indexes (BMI).

"We saw technology before bed being associated with less sleep and higher BMIs," Fuller said. "We also saw this technology use being associated with more fatigue in the morning, which circling back, is another risk factor for higher BMIs. So we're seeing a loop pattern forming."