USA - After Epstein, nothing can continue as before: Neither the post war ‘never again’ values – reflecting sentiment at the end of bloody wars – and the widespread yearning for a ‘fairer’ society; nor the bipolar economics of extreme disparities in wealth; nor trust – after the exposed venality, rotted institutions and perversions that the Epstein files have shown to be endemic amongst certain of the western élites. The élites understood that once the complete amorality of the rulers was known by the hoi polloi, the West would lose the architecture of moral stories that precisely anchor an ordered life. If the Establishment is known to eschew morality, why should anyone else behave differently? The cynicism would cascade down. What then would hold a nation together?

USA - 1971: The year Nixon took the dollar off gold.

• House: $25,200.
  Now: $410,000.


• Car: $3,560.
  Now: $48,000.


• Harvard: $2,600/yr.
  Now: $57,000/yr.


• Gas: $0.36/gal.
  Now: $2.88/gal.

Average income went from $10,000 to $60,000.

Everything got 8–22x more expensive. Wages only went 6x.

EUROPE - Newsmax host Rob Finnerty has drawn attention to Muslim population figures in Europe during a recent segment that went viral across social media, arguing that large-scale demographic change across the continent is the result of deliberate political decisions rather than chance. During the broadcast, Finnerty said, “50 million Muslims now live in Europe, at the turn of the century, that number was less than 500,000, and more are arriving every day.” He attributed the change to immigration and border policies adopted by European leaders over recent decades. Finnerty criticized political elites for their approach to migration and demographic change, stating: “As the people who lead these countries try to do what Joe Biden tried to do here, and that is fundamentally change the racial and ethnic makeup of a nation.” He added, “And make White Christians a minority in their own country.” Referring specifically to the United Kingdom, Finnerty said: “In England alone, right now, ten major cities, including London, now have Muslim mayors. And the English want us to believe that this is all normal.”

UK - The word implies that anyone who criticises Islam is mentally unwell. But good luck getting our governing class to agree. As he demonstrated so spectacularly with Monty Python’s Life of Brian, John Cleese has never suffered from a fear of offending religious sensibilities. None the less, some people do tend to take offence rather more deeply than others. Which is why it’s brave of him to defend so stoutly the right to criticise Islam. “Any criticism of Islam is labelled ‘Islamophobia’,” he recently lamented on social media. “A better word would be ‘Islamosceptic’. A difference of opinion is not a phobia.” In a follow-up post on Tuesday, he wrote: “A phobia is irrational. There is nothing irrational about criticising aspects of Islam.” And in another post this week, he argued: “The word ‘Islamophobic’ is emotionally loaded to suggest that criticism of Islam implies mental instability.” Personally, I think “Islamosceptic” sounds like a very useful addition to our discourse. Far more precise than “Islamophobic”. And far harder to employ as a tool to shut down legitimate opinion, by portraying it as racist. Still, good luck with getting our governing class to adopt it.

GERMANY - Europe must become a military superpower to survive without the United States, the former head of Britain’s Armed Forces has warned. General Sir Nick Carter said the continent could no longer afford to rely on the US “by default” and called for a rapid increase in defence spending. In a report ahead of a major security summit in Germany, he said Europe “should be a superpower, economically, politically and militarily” to defend itself in the “evolving world order”.

EUROPE - Europe must grow up and start acting like a true world power in light of the growing threats from China, Russia and now America, President Macron has said. Speaking before an EU summit on competitiveness in Brussels on Tuesday, the French president said the bloc should not let its guard down by assuming that tension with the US over Greenland, technology and trade had ended. Macron said he would urge fellow EU leaders to capitalise on “the Greenland moment”, when European nations realised they were under threat, to push for long-delayed economic reforms and reduce the bloc’s dependence on the US and China. Europe faced a “wake-up call”, he said, and was dealing with an “openly anti-European” Trump administration that “shows contempt” for the EU and wants the bloc to disintegrate.

UK - The boss of one of Britain's biggest banks has called for 'stability' and 'certainty' as doubts over Sir Keir Starmer's future wreaked havoc on the bond markets. With Labour's meltdown over Lord Mandelson leaving the prime minister on the brink, the yield on ten-year gilts - a key measure of how much it costs the UK government to borrow - jumped to over 4.6 per cent. Analysts said investors are worried that the downfall of Sir Keir could see a more Left-wing prime minister take his place – leading to even higher borrowing and more spending. ‘If we do get a change in the premiership, the replacement is likely to be from the left,’ said Mohit Kumar, chief European economist at Jefferies. In a potentially explosive development, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar called for the PM to go over the Mandelson scandal, having already told him to stay away from Scotland because he is politically toxic.

CHINA - China has urged its banks to curb their exposure to US government debt, citing market volatility and growing financial and geopolitical risks, Bloomberg has reported citing people familiar with the matter. Over the past decade, China has steadily trimmed its US Treasury holdings, a shift that has seen it overtaken by Japan and the UK as the largest foreign holders of American debt. Since peaking at around $1.3 trillion in 2013, its holdings have fallen roughly by half to about $650–700 billion, reaching levels not seen since 2008.

USA - For decades, the dominance of the United States has been primarily based on the strength of the US dollar. Having the main reserve currency of the world has meant that everyone else has wanted and needed our currency. In fact, our currency is our number one export. Most Americans don’t realize this, but far more dollars are used outside the United States than are used inside the United States. Having such a strong currency for such an extended period of time has allowed us to enjoy a standard of living that is far beyond what we actually deserve. So what is going to happen now that the rest of the world is starting to move away from the US dollar?

USA - Donald Trump has handed control of three top NATO command posts to European countries. Britain will take over its Atlantic Command headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, while Italy has been given responsibility for the southern flank at its Naples base. Germany and Poland will oversee Joint Force Command Brunssum, in the Netherlands, on a rotating basis as part of the historic shake-up. NATO insiders insisted that the move was about European nations shouldering more responsibility for defending the continent rather than Mr Trump walking away from the alliance. It means that European commanders will now lead NATO’s three joint force commands at an operational level. The US president has threatened to play a lesser role in the alliance and has discussed withdrawing troops from Europe to focus on other threats, such as China. His posturing has called into question whether American forces would come to the aid of their European allies if Russia attacked them.