Saturday, May 22, 2010

Bush DoJ sheltered BP executives from criminal probe; Steven Roach Calls for New Monetary Policy

From Jenna Orkin

Headlines
Bush DoJ sheltered BP executives from criminal probe
Steven Roach Calls for New Monetary Policy
'Saving species more urgent than climate change'
32 States Borrow $37.8 Billion Total to Make Unemployment Payments; CA Tops List at $6.9 Billion; Bill to Extend Benefits Until DEC in Congress
Email Regarding Global Bust II - Perfect Storm for Australia; How Safe is Australia's Banking System?

Oil Disaster/Environment/Science
Acres of oil penetrate marshland
Deepwater Horizon Survivors Allege They Were Secluded, Coerced Into Signing Waivers Obama's lessons from Katrina
What are tar balls, what is their impact?
Erin Brockovich tells victims: Stand up to BP
OK good for her. She's certainly done her share for the environment. But where was her law firm after 9/11? I assure you from first-hand experience (having sent the information and the plea) they were contacted. (I was young and green.) But this is a safer issue. Our lawsuits have thus far ended in tragic farce.
The Graph That Should Be on the Front Page of Every Newspaper: The Unambiguous Warming of the Planet - from Elizabeth Miller
Greenland Rising as Icemelt Continues - from Elizabeth Miller
Gates Foundation: Sterilizing Males with Ultrasound
Gates Foundation Cloud Whitening Project
Gives air that minty-fresh feeling.

Economy
A future without the euro is a possibility
Geithner's going to Germany to beg Angela Merkel to save Europe
Fed's Dudley: The "Recovery" Is Crumbling
US April Deficit Four Times Higher Than 2009
Record April deficit greets new U.K. government
Budget Deficit in April Increases By 370 P.C. - Turkey
Record High Missed Mortgage Payments
The Real Reason Public Pensions Are Headed For A Disaster
Danger in Numbers: The Decline of Paper Currency
House Committee on Homeland Security Seeks Cooperation from Max Keiser on Financial Terrorism
Global Bust Round II; Australia Mining Contagion; What about the Loonie and Australian Dollar?
Fed's `Main Street' Message to Senators Protected Powers in Financial Bill
Top universities 'may have to go private'

Terror/Intelligence/Toys 'R Us
Iran: New Missiles Can Sink US Warships (Israeli press)
Feds May Not Prosecute Illegals from Arizona
Congress Probes Genetic-Testing Companies
Pennsylvania AG Dropping Twitter Subpoena
Prison population reaches new peak
Travelers to be Searched for Porn
Oathkeepers Prove Some Troops Refused to Participate in Gun Confiscation
Collect ‘Em All: Department of Defense Action Figures
Guns for Hire Get Their Own Online Comic
*******************************************************************
From F. Kamilov

Have you guys not heard the news? The Pakistani government has blocked a series of websites, accusing them of blaspheming Mohammad. No other virulent Islamic government - including the Arab sheikdoms or Iran, has so far done so. The primary target was Facebook, but Wikipedia, Twitter, Google and Blogspot were also blocked. Facebook and Yahoo still remain blocked, for the sixth day. Ostensibly, the reason was because Facebook had hosted a page concerning a competition for caricaturing Mohammad - but the reason appears to me to be something very fishy - the whole country is in a state of utter collapse and disarray due to corruption and its effects, and this seemed to me to be not only a calculated move to distract the attention of Pakistan's flammable and backward peasant population, but also an exercise in shutting down the internet and studying its effects and outcomes - when necessary in such situations.

A second bombshell is about to airburst over the country: in the very far north, near the border with China, a huge natural lake was formed beginning January 4 this year, when seismic activity triggered a landslide, which blocked the path of the mighty River Indus - the third largest river in the world - and has resulted in the formation of a lake 26 miles long and 400 feet deep. The Pakistanis didn't do anything when they could have, and now it is too late...hundreds of villages are already submerged, hundreds of thousands displaced, a 20-mile stretch of Pakistan's strategic highway with China lies under water, Pakistani-Chinese overland trade has dropped to zero, and the Pakistani border trading post of Sust has been evacuated. The lake is about to burst its natural dam, and when that happens, a catastrophe unimaginable in Pakistan's modern history will unfold - in just a few days time: not only will the Gilgit province - where this lake has been formed - get a good washout, but areas hundreds of miles downstream - some of Pakistan's main populational, industrial and agricultural zones, will be affected by 8 to 15 meter flooding levels...echoes of the Iceland volcano, folks - another "first-time-in-modern-history" natural disruption? It seems God is really angry with presumptuous postmodern man. I'm not kidding. To cap it all, Pakistan's Prime Minister Gillani visited the "lakesite" yesterday, and inaugurated a displaced peoples' camp by cutting a ribbon...that indiscretion, plus the fact that his government has done pretty little in practical disaster alleviating terms - inflamed the people who heckled him, and he had to leave his speech and run away in his helicopter. Sounds really idiotic, but when faced with disaster, all the elites can do is cut fancy ribbons - as if inaugurating a patisserie - or say "Why don't they eat cake if there is no bread?"

Below is a link to the latest on Lake Comeuppance, in Northern Pakistan:

Experts warn of high tidal wave in Hunza
http://www.thenews.com.pk/print1.asp?id=240647

22 comments:

F.Kamilov said...

Oh, and while I'm at it, here's another tasty morsel from Pakistan - with the appropriate spice: recently, an MP (an elected Member of Parliament, or "congressman" in your parlance) was found to have a fake university degree, so the Supreme Court disqualified him. But President Zardari promptly re-endorsed the this fellow for re-election in the same constituency, and Prime Minister Gillani went and canvassed for the guy - committing not only a breach of party regulations in which a government office holder can not support a candidate from his own party - but also breaching the natural laws of morality by openly supporting a convicted fraudster. People ask me credulously as to what kind of corruption there is that is now bringing Pakistan down, to its end - or that, how can there be such a situation when there is "democracy" there? I just laugh in response...it is the easiest thing to do about such a subject...these are the "democrats" that the West supports and clamours for in Pakistan, and who are treated to celebrity status by you people (although their military dictator antagonists are not far behind). The two links below are about the PM campaigning for the fake degree holder:

Our heads hang in shame

http://www.thenews.com.pk/print1.asp?id=238910

Counterpoint

http://www.thenews.com.pk/print1.asp?id=239204

(Readers - Please do take interest in such things; I know ordinary Americans generally have a smug know-it-all attitude, but in reality know - or are interested in - very little; Survivalist techniques and novel ways of growing turnips seem to bother them more. But Sodom and Gomorrah don't just exist in the murky Biblical past, folks, they're right here. These are the kinds of people the American elites support, and allow into their country to live plush "new" lives side by side with you).

Further concerning American involvement, well the latest on that from this end is that Messrs. Leon Panetta of the CIA and US National Security Adviser General James Jones were BOTH in Pakistan, simultaneously, yesterday to discuss BUSINESS with President Zardari...hmmm, what "business"? An assorted stew is brewing in this stinking pot called Pakistan.

See this link for that:

Jones, Panetta meet Zardari, Gilani, Kayani

http://www.thenews.com.pk/print3.asp?id=28970

businessman said...

When we don't see articles on global warming posted on the main page, it makes it easy for all of us in here to not get into any discussions on whether or not it's for real. So I have to assume that when articles supporting global warming are being posted on the main page, this means that contrary opinions on the subject are being welcomed.

There was an international conference on global warming that was recently held in Chicago, and I was intrigued to read the following article on it. The article mentions that out of the 2,500 people on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), only about 50 of them are scientists who are experts on the subject, and who fully believe in it. The head of the panel isn't even an expert...but rather a railway engineer.

The term "climate change" in my opinion is to "global warming", what the term "Defense Department" is to "War Department". It's simply a change in what we're calling something that's designed to get rid of any objections to it.

I just wish we could have a live, televised debate on the subject on the world's major TV networks, with the best scientists on both sides of the argument showing all of their best evidence on it. But the powers that be will never, ever allow that to happen for all of us.

Click Here for the Article

Hotspringswizard said...

Kamilov, regarding the natural lake, you wrote " seismic activity triggered a landslide, which blocked the path of the mighty River Indus ", and the article you gave the link for said " The natural lake formed by the blockage of the Hunza River ". So looks like its the Hunza River creating this lake. Is that right?

Elmo said...

@ The Graph That Should Be on the Front Page of Every Newspaper...

It's no use... Nothing can sway a true un-believer!

ChuckP said...

I love the article titled "What every newspaper in the country should have on its front page". In a world where everybody lives from paycheck to paycheck and can't wait for friday to come so they can stop and get a six-pack and a pack of cigs on the way home, Im sure they are going to really worry about that the earth has been heating up for the last 130 years now. HA.

"e Brutto" said...

To partially answer Margarets questions of yesterday on PM.
Just a personal opinion:
things have never got so bad everywhere simultaneously that a market in gold will not be maintained anywhere people want to sell it.
Look at Zimbabwe.
The London price (world physical) is fixed everyday: any corner shop can use it and a pair of scales to trade.
So that said fractional bullion gives you the best options and greatest ease of resale.
Even an old scrap chain, if the SHTF selling a link or two for food is not going to attract attention like offering up an ounce.
Fractional gold for belt, 1oz or fractional silver rounds for braces.
I have a tiny but well hidden and defended doomsday store, as I am even less employed than M.C.R..
One way to see it is as a store of energy i.e. it takes alot of energy to extract e.g. silver from increasingly poor ores.
The many industrial uses are linked to energy conservation and medical properties both of which will be in demand in any scenario.
Do lots more research yourself.

and

some more Peaker / Doomer eye candy another Oil Depletion/Regression movie ;¬)
http://www.naturalregressionfilm.com/watch/

Unknown said...

Mike, I just needed to thank you. Following FTW it immediately became apparent we were in for a world of hurt and I've been preparing for it nearly a decade now. HOWEVER, today is the day it has truly sunk in. I'm TERRIFIED.

Good luck to everybody and I hope to see some of you on the other side.

gamedog said...

Alarmism alert: The Graph That Should Be on the Front Page of Every Newspaper:

Surely This is the graph that should be on every front page!

Alarmism alert:Greenland Rising as Icemelt Continues

So is Scotland, it's been rising for 20,000 years since the ice started to melt, it is predicted to continue for at least another 10,000 years - dons chicken suit and runs around shouting "the earth is rising" /sarc

Mr. Kowalski said...

As to the article on public pensions, I'm wagering that at one point or another, most muni's will end up in bankruptcy court like Vallejo CA now is. The muni market is a $3 trillion dollar swirling vortex of sh!t and it's getting ready to blow: http://themeanoldinvestor.blogspot.com/2009/11/problem-with-muni-bonds.html

Elmo said...

A lot of you seem to be mainly worried about having a way to buy goods and services form others in the midst of collapse. But my thoughts on that is: "Why would I even think that others are going to have anything to buy in the first place?"

If, for example, I was worried about having electricity and internet in the indeterminable future, then wouldn't my best bet be to start working on putting a wind turbine or a solar array on my roof, rather than obsessing over what form of currency I need to hoard to continue buying it from someone else? In all likelihood, there isn't going to be anyone to buy it from!

The next obvious question(s) --at least to my mind-- is: "Would having such 'needful things' even be relevant in a collapse situation? Would I not have been better off planting turnips, raising chickens, and stockpiling firewood?"

Those options might already be behind us. Mass migrations seem an absolute certainty. Mike said "Vermont is a lifeboat". But can Vermont serve as a refugee camp for 100 million people?

RanD said...

Whether true or not, believer or un-believer... the human psyche is, both to good and sometimes not so good purpose, powerfully inclined to see and think what it wants to.

C'est la vie.

Elmo said...

Alarmism alert

Like I said... Nothing can sway a true un-believer!

Probably the only thing that can settle the argument once and for all would be an extinction event. Of course, that only means that 65 million years from now some species of evolved cockroach will be arguing whether it was climate change or the poisoning of the oceans that killed the humanosaurs!

F.Kamilov said...

@ Hotspringwizard: A common Pakistani diction mistake, pal. The area/district in which the dam has formed is called Hunza, and the stretch of the Indus River there is known in local farmers' parlance as the Hunza River, although technically it is the same old Indus River.

The educated few among the Pakistani people are highly suspect, (as people here tend to pay for their degrees instead of studying for them, as I lamented yesterday about a politician, and that goes for the newspaper reporters too! You can find the scum of the earth posing as top journalists here; I know a few...) If you read the geological expert analysis I linked to my comment yesterday, you will see the river referred to as the Indus...

Below is a link to the latest on the lake situation:

High Alert Declared in Hunza

http://www.thenews.com.pk/print.asp?id=105300

Elmo said...

the human psyche is ... powerfully inclined to see and think what it wants to.

That happens only when one proceeds from belief.

When one is willing to form belief based on observation --no matter what the data shows-- only then can a working theory be postulated.

Of course, one should keep in mind that since this data comes from a U.S. government website, it is also proof of the global warming conspiracy! :-)

Mr. Kowalski said...

If the earth in the frozen parts is rising and melting off, the Canadian Arctic Islands could potentially provide a new source of mineral and energy wealth beyond compare. Some of these islands are huge; Victoria Island, for example, is roughly the size of the island of Great Britain. Baffin Island is roughly three times as big as Victoria.

gamedog said...

Elmo, yer links broken - presume it was NOAA ice core data, surely not that dendro reconstruction based on one tree :^)

I recommend to you some more recent data.

The best (most accurate) paleo evidence to date is a reconstruction based on clam shells by William Patterson at the University of Saskachewan The data resolution from isotope counts is incredible.

“What we’re getting to here is palaeoweather,” Patterson says. “We can reconstruct temperatures on a sub-weekly resolution, using these techniques. For larger clams we could do daily.”

The reconstruction is shown Here

And the feature of this reconstruction to surely stick in the craw of many who think we are living in unprecedented times of warmth is the “Roman Warm Period”. Have a look at the full article in Nature: Shellfish could supplant tree-ring climate data

Or for a commentary on the article Here

So, with a clear Roman warm period, and a clear warming trend in the 1700's similar to todays trend shown in my previous link (well up to about 15 years ago when statistically significant warming stopped) - what's so "unprecedented"?

RanD said...

Elmo,

Agreed (as paraphrased): "No matter what the data shows -- a working theory can only be postulated when proceeding from belief based on observation."

Thankyou for your insight.

Hotspringswizard said...

Thanks for the info Kamilov :-) I tried that last link,

http://www.thenews.com.pk/print.asp?id=105300

a couple of times and it did not work for me.

Elmo said...

@gamedog

Link works for me... Here is URL:
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/pubs/mann2008/fig3.jpg

Elmo said...

@gamedog

I'm kind of at a loss to what you are saying. Are you saying that because there were warming periods in the past that this is just another cycle? If so, then I suggest that we haven't been in this cycle long enough to know with any real certainty.

Still... Greenland Melting; Glaciers disappearing; deserts expanding; islands sinking... climate change is obviously happening; and it's obviously affecting people in some pretty awful ways! And I feel that if we ARE to blame, the problem will solve itself as we are forced to use less and less fossil fuels.

But I look at it this way: It won't kill me to quit doing something that might just kill me! And I'd be happy as hell if there weren't trucks going past my window every 5 minutes. So, believe-you-me, I'm cheering the climate change activists on for all I'm worth, whether they're right or not!

gamedog said...

Elmo: I'm sorry, your over confidence allowed me to think you were well researched on the subject, clearly I was mistaken. I'm not going over Mann 2008 again (your link). Put simply, it is a Fraud

F.Kamilov said...

Poland, too, it seems, is undergoing an unprecedented natural ordeal by water:

Floods kill 15 in Poland as rivers swell to record levels

http://www.thenews.com.pk/print.asp?id=105377

It all adds up.