Bowie's death marks the Twilight of the Rock Gods …With David Bowie's final curtain-call, we are witnessing the end of an era, as the original stars of the explosive rock culture that convulsed the world in the second half of the 20th century are slowly extinguished. We are entering the Twilight of the Rock Gods. – UK TelegraphDominant Social Theme: Where will we turn for great...Read More

Yellen May Let the Economy Run Hot … Fed officials could forgo another rate increase in March, a possibility reflected in futures markets where the probability of no change at that time is around 58 percent. A pause would fuel expectations of a much slower series of rate hikes than the four that policymakers projected for 2016. Short- and long-term interest rates would drop, resulting in che...Read More

President Obama's amazingly emotional speech on gun control … President Obama delivered a deeply personal and emotional appeal to the country to help curb gun violence on Tuesday at the White House. For Obama, who is often criticized for his overly clinical approach to heated issues, his tone – sad and mad in relatively equal measure – was remarkable. Toward the end of his re...Read More

US Treasury to track cash buyers of prime real estate … The US Treasury has launched a test programme to track all-cash buyers of high-end real estate in New York and Miami, amid fears that the US property market has become a favoured destination for foreigners looking to launder ill-gotten assets. – Financial TimesDominant Social Theme: To stay on top of criminality demands savvy dete...Read More

Malinee Wanduragala, a British volunteer worker, wants to see rugby spread to schools across the country Laura Pitel Conjure up an image of an Afghan woman and it is unlikely that the vision will involve her tackling, scrummaging or rucking. Even though the Taliban was forced from power more than a decade ago, many women must still fight for the most basic rights and freedoms. With the help of a B...Read More

Senate rejects Rand Paul's 'Audit the Fed' legislation … The Senate on Tuesday blocked legislation calling for tougher audits of the Federal Reserve, rebuffing an attempt by Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul to give lawmakers greater oversight of the central bank's moves on interest rates. The 53-44 vote fell short of the threshold to overcome a Democratic filibuste...Read More

The United States have managed to solve the question of the succession of King Abdallah, but today, they are attempting to lead Saudi Arabia into error. Their objective is now to divide the country into five states. Wahhabism is the state religion, but the power of the Saud family, both interior and exterior, depends exclusively on Sunni tribes, while it subjects all other populations to apartheid...Read More

State child welfare system failing to protect youth … Until I had to deal with the Florida Department of Children and Families, I thought some of the criticism of it was unwarranted. Now I remember someone said, "It takes a village to bring up a child." I say that because when I called I was told three times only the person receiving funds from the agency could make a complaint. Do...Read More

FBI Has Enough Evidence to Prosecute Hillary Clinton for Public Corruption … An investigation into possible mishandling of classified information on Hillary Clinton's private email server has expanded to consider whether Clinton's work as Secretary overlapped with her work for the Clinton Foundation run by her family. Fox News' Catherine Herridge published the report, citing unna...Read More

An acceleration in US wage growth is reinforcing the Federal Reserve's view that inflation is poised to rebound and could lead the central bank to raise rates more this year than many investors expect. Investors had been doubting the Fed's resolve to raise interest rates, betting on fewer increases this year. But signs of strength in the US economy is changing that view. – Irish Inde...Read More

Obama's Legacy … Has the President met the expectations set in 2004? As President Barack Obama begins his final year in office, he is left with two objectives: solidify and promote his past successes as cornerstones of his legacy and at the same time make progress on a few remaining initiatives, even though the Republican-controlled Congress has little interest in working with him on any...Read More

Former money-market trader Paul Thompson was at his well kept brick-and-tile Dalkeith home, a couple of blocks from Perth's Swan River, last Thursday when Australian Federal Police officers came to arrest him. The October 22 arrest was not a complete surprise, nor was it entirely unexpected. Thompson didn't know an arrest warrant had been issued and he wasn't told police were on their...Read More

Investors should focus on China's economy, not stocks … there are some important reasons not to panic: China's stock market reveals very little about the health of the country's economy – it's dominated by small savers who put more faith in speculative investing newsletters than economic fundamentals. – CNNDominant Social Theme: Don't look at the problem. Thin...Read More

Saudi Arabia is our natural ally against Isil. Just like David Cameron, Riyadh is committed both to destroying Islamic State and to toppling Assad. It would be foolish to alienate them now … – UK TelegraphDominant Social Theme: The House of Saud and the House of Bush, perfect together?Free-Market Analysis: This article by a man who is the Telegraph's chief military correspondent, a...Read More

Obama wipes away tears as he calls for new gun measures … The president gets emotional as he remembers Sandy Hook victims and fiercely calls for more rights for those vulnerable to gun violence. – PoliticoDominant Social Theme: Once we get guns out of the hands of the people we can worry about knives … and fists.Free-Market Analysis: The story is all over the news. More gun contr...Read More

After 1 million migrants, Europe's borders are back … Since it opened in 2000, the Oresund bridge between Sweden and Denmark has been a towering symbol of European integration and hassle-free travel across borders that people didn't even notice were there. On Monday new travel restrictions imposed by Sweden to stem a record flow of migrants are transforming the bridge into a striking...Read More

Will the U.S. fall for Saudi Arabia's deliberate provocation in killing of Shi'ite cleric?… Saudi Arabia's execution of a prominent political leader of the monarchy's Shiite minority has worsened Mideast tensions and is forcing the Obama administration to decide if there are any limits to the outrages that the longtime U.S. "ally" may commit, as Trita Parsi explains...Read More

The Most Important Person in 2016 … Forget the presidential candidates – Fed Chair Janet Yellen is who you need to watch … – US NewsDominant Social Theme: The most important person in the world …Free-Market Analysis: The great debate has started and will continue to keep us focused on the Fed until the next move. We will be reminded over and over again of the phony im...Read More

The Teddy Awards 2015 … The arena was noisy in 2015, scarily so. … Political courage, which these annual Teddy Awards celebrate, seems a particularly necessary commodity in the face of such noise, the courage to stand against a tide of barbarity and incivility. – TIMEDominant Social Theme: The world belongs to the moderates.Free-Market Analysis: TIME magazine informs us that a ce...Read More

Why the bull market in stocks isn't dead yet … Don't write off the bull market in stocks … Market professionals surveyed by CNNMoney believe that the U.S. stock market will claw its way past these obstacles and reach new heights next year. – CNN MoneyDominant Social Theme: Things will go on. They always do.Free-Market Analysis: In this analysis we'll cover a predictab...Read More