USA - A vast postal surveillance system is tracking every piece of mail you send. Moreover, the US Postal Service (USPS) frequently shares data about mail with law enforcement. In particular, the USPS photographs the front and back of every envelope, postcard, and package it ships. The USPS also regularly shares images of mail with law enforcement, Fast Company reveals. In fact, law enforcement needs no warrant to track mail if the Postal Inspection Service does the tracking. Furthermore, a program called the mail cover lets any law enforcement agency get information about your mail from the Postal Service. Ultimately, everything you mail or receive through the mail is being tracked by a vast postal surveillance system.

USA - The United States is pumping record amounts of oil, vaulting over Russia to become the world’s biggest producer of crude. The Energy Information Administration said Thursday that the US produced more than 11.3 million barrels a day in August, a 4 percent increase over the old record set in July. Russia’s energy ministry estimates that country pumped 11.2 million barrels a day in August. OPEC reports Saudi Arabia pumped 10.4 million barrels a day. It’s the first time since 1973 that the US leads the world in oil production. Several states hit record production in August including Texas, which accounts for about 40 percent of US crude. The energy agency says pipeline bottlenecks in Texas and New Mexico are causing more use of trucks and rail cars to haul oil.

USA - The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born; now is the time of monsters! In short, every major political institution has been increasingly discredited as Brazil has spiraled deeper and deeper into a dark void. And from the abyss emerged a former army captain and six-term congressman from Rio de Janeiro, Jair Bolsonaro, with the slogan “Brazil above everything, God above everyone,” and promises to fix everything with hardline tactics.

GERMANY - Every Friday in Chemnitz, Germany, a crowd of far-right activists gather to denounce immigrants.  “What do we with foreigners?” a man calls into a megaphone.  “Out out out!” the protesters reply.  We went to Chemnitz to witness the weekly demonstrations, which began last August when two refugees from Syria and Iraq allegedly stabbed a German man to death. The crime became a rallying cry for the far right and others who oppose migrants. And it has resulted in real violence, including numerous attacks on immigrant businesses. 

EUROPE - Professor Christopher Layne concludes that ESDP (the European Security and Defense Policy), was instead “envisioned as the backbone of an independent European security policy, one developed by Europeans without US input.” If that was not enough to unsettle US leaders, Layne notes, at their November 2000 meeting, the European Union’s defense ministers “gave ESDP concrete expression by announcing plans to create a sixty-thousand strong Rapid Reaction Force (RRF).” The ESDP and RRF plans triggered a pronounced disagreement between the United States and the EU about how far the “Europeanization” of the Continent’s defense could or should go. Creating a capable European security organization to handle purely European contingencies makes sense. Developing such a capability also would transform Europe into a true ally instead of a glorified US protectorate, which could prove crucial if it becomes necessary to confront a menace to the entire transatlantic community.

GERMANY - Angela Merkel’s decision to stand down as party leader is the end of an era – and not just for Germany. She embodied the idea that there should be power behind a European throne, yet much of Europe is now in revolt against that very concept as voters turn to parties who value the nation state.

SWITZERLAND - We are pushing our planet to the brink. Human activity — how we feed, fuel, and finance our lives — is taking an unprecedented toll on wildlife, wild places, and the natural resources we need to survive. On average, we’ve seen an astonishing 60% decline in the size of populations of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians in just over 40 years, according to WWF’s Living Planet Report 2018.

UK - But what about the darker side of Halloween, Satanism? Satanism is a group of ideological and philosophical beliefs based on Satan, or the Devil. The modern religious practice of Satanism began with the founding of the Church of Satan in 1966. Before this, it is thought Satanism only existed as an accusation by some Christian groups towards those who didn’t follow Christian ideology. This is the main defining factor that separates Satanism from Paganism: it is a Christian concept. The Church of Satan was established at the Black House in San Francisco, California, on April 30, 1966. Interestingly, the church does not believe in the Devil or Satan. High priest Peter Gilmore describes its members as "skeptical atheists,” embracing the Hebrew root of the word "Satan" as "adversary.” The church views Satan as a positive symbol, representing pride, individualism, and enlightenment.

UK - Halloween is the most important day of the year for Devil worshippers, according to the founder of the Church of Satan, and everyone else has been urged to avoid celebrating this “dark” day. People around the globe prepare to don fancy costumes today, October 31, as they gear up for Halloween celebrations. However, the holiday has its roots in evil, and the leader of the Satanic church claimed it is one of the most important days of the year for Devil worshippers. As a result, some Christians are warning people to steer clear of Halloween celebrations. Christian website Charisma News writes: “There will be many people who will read this article and will continue to celebrate Halloween just as they normally do. If that is you, then you need to understand that engaging in dark practices can open up doors to spiritual darkness for yourself and your entire family.”

USA - Will we someday look back on October 2018 as the turning point? As the month began, people were generally feeling pretty good about things, and the US stock market quickly set a new all-time high. But from that point on, the wheels fell off for Wall Street. We just witnessed the worst October for US stocks since the financial crisis of 2008, and at this point more than 8 trillion dollars of global wealth has been completely wiped out. But it isn’t just the stock market that is being shaken.

EUROPE - Merkel has been the face of Europe – good, bad, or indifferent. Germany has been the major economy in Europe with France a distant second. We must understand that the fate of the Euro hinges on this position of Merkel. She has been a staunch supporter of austerity and the Green and AfD are rising BECAUSE of Merkel’s immigration policy. Instead of recognizing she made a major mistake and address it instantly, she has done the typical politician maneuver – blame everyone else and deny it was her policy at fault. I cannot stress enough that the political instability within Europe, is a critical factor behind the capital flows that can push the dollar to unbelievable highs. There is a much higher plane of financial analysis that we must respect and come to grips with because we are all in this together. No politician can even pretend to be in charge of the economy and make promises that are far beyond their control because nobody can go against the global trend. Plain & simple!!!!!!!

USA - New York Times best-selling author and populist conservative columnist Ann Coulter says a caravan of at least 7,000 Central American migrants are headed to the United States for welfare, not to seek asylum. Coulter said: “None of these are asylum cases or they’d stop in the first country they get to. The idea of asylum is something like there’s a holocaust, there’s a potato famine. No this is how these people always live which is why all of different countries want to come to the … biggest welfare state in the world, that is the United States. Dumping poor people on America is not making us better. They are far more likely to be receiving welfare. And that’s just your average illegal immigrant and immigrant.”

CHINA/JAPAN - Beijing and Tokyo sealed a multi-billion dollar currency swap arrangement on Friday, aimed at enhancing financial stability and spurring business activity in both countries. According to the Bank of Japan (BOJ), the arrangement which will last until October 25, 2021, will allow the exchange of local currencies between the two central banks for up to 200 billion yuan or 3.4 trillion yen ($30 billion). The meeting comes as Asia’s two biggest economies look to strengthen relations against a backdrop of trade friction with the United States. China has been actively seeking to boost the use of its currency in mutual trade settlements with partners, bypassing the US dollar. The idea of moving away from the dollar in global trade has become a trend lately among countries like Russia, China, Japan, Iran, Turkey, Venezuela, and others.

USA - As the wealthy continue sucking the country dry, the question now isn’t if the US will cease to provide a decent standard of living for its people. Rather it is how many people will be sacrificed on the way down. In America, the richest nation in the world when measured by raw GDP, children are getting sick from living by open pools of raw sewage.

GERMANY - Angela Merkel quit politics today after it became crystal clear the German nation was turning its back on the mainstream and finding comfort in the parties more usually on the fringes. The two big winners from the collapse of Merkel’s CDU in the Hesse state elections yesterday were laser-focused single issue parties with a crystal clear dog-whistle message.