… (until May 17) updates will be a bit difficult.
Let’s see what I can get through.
Infinite
Huge explosion at nuclear power plant near NYC — 200 foot high fire ball reported — “Huge black ball of smoke… alarms went off immediately… emergency vehicles coming from every direction” — Fire reignited after burning for half hour — Loudspeaker: “This is not a drill, please be aware, this is not a drill” (VIDEO)
Fox NY, May 9, 2015 (emphasis added): Explosion at Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant in NY — New York’s Indian Point Nuclear Power Facility… was rocked by an explosion on Saturday.
WPIX, May 9, 2015: Witnesses saw a huge explosion and ensuing smoke and fire… 40 miles north of New York City.
Reuters, May 10, 2015: Fire at transformer lasted 25 minutes… Several police units responded to the plant after receiving emergency calls from people who heard an explosion and saw smoke… Friday, Entergy returned… Unit 3 back to service after shutting it down the previous day to repair a steam leak… Large transformer explosions or fires are unusual…
Kempter’s Fire Wire: @Indian Point… Caller reporting 200 foot fire ball…
New US fighter jet on course to becoming ‘one of history’s biggest white elephants’
H/t reader squodgy:
“Ha ha ha ha ha ………bureaucratic incompetence and military industrial complex greed makes one useless but very expensive cocktail.”
The UK considered buying 150 F-35s from the US, but not one plane is combat ready as costs soar
– New US fighter jet on course to becoming ‘one of history’s biggest white elephants’ (Independent, May 10, 2015):
A plane so technologically advanced that it would give Britain and the US air superiority in any future conflict and billed as the world’s most advanced stealth fighter jet, could be one of “the biggest white elephants in history”, according to a former defence minister.
And while costs of the F-35 spiral and delays run into years, another commentator has warned that “our skies and seas are vulnerable”.
The aircraft, manufactured by Lockheed Martin, was designed to replace the Harrier jump-jet, which went out of service in 2011. The UK once envisaged ordering 150 F-35s, to be ready by 2012. Three years on, the F-35 is still far from ready to fly in combat and the cost of a single jet has risen from £33m to £87m. The UK has ordered only eight to date.
Read moreNew US fighter jet on course to becoming ‘one of history’s biggest white elephants’
NSA ‘asked’ Germany’s BND to spy on Siemens over alleged links with Russian intel
– NSA ‘asked’ Germany’s BND to spy on Siemens over alleged links with Russian intel (RT, May 10, 2015):
The NSA has reportedly sought the help of Germany’s intelligence agency in spying on Munich-based Siemens over the company’s suspected business with Russian intelligence, Bild am Sonntag newspaper revealed. Siemens has denied any connection with Russia.
The revelation came from an unknown US intelligence source speaking to Germany’s Bild am Sonntag, and is the latest report in a spy scandal involving a widening gap in trust between the Americans and the Germans.
Read moreNSA ‘asked’ Germany’s BND to spy on Siemens over alleged links with Russian intel
Keiser Report: Collusions At The Top (Video)
H/t reader M.G.:
“The best description of the start (with Nixon) of this economic nightmare for most workers around the world……to NAFTA and now Obama’s debacle.
This will take less than 30 minutes…..well worth the time.”
07.05.2015
Description:
In this episode of the Keiser Report, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert with a double header discuss the economics of low wages as productivity gains go to owners of capital rather than providers of labour to create that wealth. They look at declining union membership and the rise of temp work, such as “mini-jobs” in Germany and zero hour contracts in the United Kingdom, as a means of removing collective bargaining power from workers while owners of capital and corporations gain power through collective bargaining agreements known as international ‘free trade’ deals negotiated by their union rep – the US State Department.
Free Trade is Plutocratic Propaganda
– Free Trade is Plutocratic Propaganda (Dark Bid, May 10, 2015):
Free Trade Is Plutocratic Propaganda
With the looming Trans-Pacific Partnership dominating the headlines, now is a good time to revisit an old scam called “free trade.”
In 2003, Kevin Flanagan was an information technology employee at Bank of America. They told him he was being replaced with foreign labor, and he was ordered to train his replacement. After he completed his assignment, he was laid off. Then he went to the parking lot and shot himself.
That’s “free trade.”
China Cuts Rates (Again) In Desperate Bid To Buoy Stocks, Rescue Economy
– China Cuts Rates (Again) In Desperate Bid To Buoy Stocks, Rescue Economy (ZeroHedge, May 10, 2015):
On the heels of last week’s equity rout, China cuts interest rates for the third time since November. The move comes on the heels of last month’s RRR cut and follows trade data that missed expectations (again) and a PPI print that betrayed persistent deflation risks. Perhaps more importantly, Chinese stocks fell last week amid still more rumors that tighter margin requirements are on the way.
…
Schäuble Warns of ‘Sudden’ Greek Default
– Schäuble Warns of “Sudden” Greek Default (WolfStreet, May 9, 2015):
The governments of Greece – new and old – screwed up. Other debt-sinner countries are able to borrow at near-zero or negative interest rates, simply taking money from investors with a promise to return it on a given day in the future if investors give it new money to do so. These investors, it must be said, had their brains washed by the ECB and other central banks in order to allow this to happen. But the governments of Greece somehow missed that gravy train.
Now, no one wants to lend Greece money at negative interest rates, least of all the Greeks themselves, who know their governments better than anyone else on the planet and have less trust in it than anyone else on the planet: they’re yanking their euros out of their banks even as the ECB is propping them up with fresh euros that ultimately belong to taxpayers elsewhere.
Beheading of 5 foreigners in Saudi Arabia triggers outcry from human rights campaigners
– Beheading of 5 foreigners in Saudi Arabia triggers outcry from human rights campaigners (RT, May 8, 2015):
Human rights groups have condemned Saudi Arabia after the beheading of five foreigners this week. Experts warn 2015 will mark a dramatic increase in public executions, as 80 people have already been killed, compared to 88 in the whole of 2014.
Despite mounting international criticism from foreign governments and human rights campaigners, Saudi Arabia has shown no willingness to end public executions. On Monday, a group of five men, sentenced to death for murder and theft, were publicly beheaded.
The killings come about a month after Amnesty International decried what it labeled as a “macabre spike” in state-sponsored executions.
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Significant amounts of Fukushima radiation detected on west coast — Nuclear Expert: Levels are 30 times worse than predicted… “and it’s just the beginning of the onslaught”; Scientists have no clue about what’s coming, their real goal was downplaying damage to Pacific
Arnie Gundersen, Chief Engineer at Fairewinds Energy Education, World Uranium Symposium — Fukushima Workshop, April 2015 (emphasis added):
- At 7:30 in — Last week, Woods Hole announced a study that showed that about… 7 becquerels per cubic meter [has reached the west coast of North America].
- They called it ‘trace amounts’. I don’t call 7 Bq/m^3 a ‘trace amount’… that’s significant and measurable, and it’s just the beginning of the onslaught.
- There was a study in 2012 that predicted how much radiation was going to get to the west coast of B.C. … [It] was 29 times lower than what [Woods Hole] actually measured.
- So scientists have no clue how to measure what’s transporting through the ocean. Studies two years ago are already wrong by essentially a factor of 30.
- The scientists’… real goal was to downplay the significance of the damage to the Pacific Ocean. It is in fact 29 times worse than predicted.
Diplomats, business people flood Cuba amid warmer US ties
– Diplomats, business people flood Cuba amid warmer US ties (Mail.com, May 10, 2015):
HAVANA (AP) — Tourists in shorts and sandals aren’t the only foreigners flooding Havana these days.
Top diplomats from Japan, the European Union, Italy, the Netherlands and Russia have visited the island in recent months in bids to stake out or maintain ties with an island that suddenly looks like a brighter economic prospect amid warming U.S.-Cuba relations.
Read moreDiplomats, business people flood Cuba amid warmer US ties
Russia, China agree to integrate Eurasian Union, Silk Road, sign deals
H/t reader M.G.:
“More on the rising east……while the west continues to slide south.”
– Russia, China agree to integrate Eurasian Union, Silk Road, sign deals (RT, May 8, 2015):
Russia and China have signed a number of energy, trade and finance deals on Friday aimed at strengthening economic ties. The two countries have multiple mutual projects which “achieved a unity of views on a wide range of issues.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping have signed a decree on cooperation in tying the development of the Eurasian Economic Union with the “Silk Road” economic project.
Read moreRussia, China agree to integrate Eurasian Union, Silk Road, sign deals
Icepack levels growing rapidly to RECORD levels at the South Pole — North Pole still frozen solid – (May 9, 2015)
H/t reader squodgy:
“It really looks like they’ve achieved their aim of weather control with ten years to spare.
But they seem to be successfully keeping the lid on this……..not unlike Fukushima….”
– 5/09/2015 — Icepack levels growing rapidly to RECORD levels at the South Pole — North Pole still frozen solid (DutchSinse, May 9, 2015):
Last year, in 2014, there were record levels of ice (and record area covered) at the South Pole / Antarctica.
It wasn’t just conjecture, or hearsay, NASA actually confirmed last years levels as being an all time high.
This past summer at the South Pole, not as much melting occurred as we would normally expect to see a large melt-off over the summer month. The record ice pack from last year did not fully melt, thus it was left to re-freeze this year.
What’s In Store For Gold If Cash Is Outlawed?
– Russell Napier Explains What’s In Store For Gold If Cash Is Outlawed (ZeroHedge, May 9, 2015):
Why we didn’t have negative nominal yields in the Depression and the end of QE
Oh the time will come up
When the winds will stop
And the breeze will cease to be breathin’,
Like the stillness in the wind
’Fore the hurricane begins —
The hour when the ship comes in.And the words that are used
For to get the ship confused
Will not be understood as they’re spoken,
For the chains of the sea
Will have busted in the night
And will be buried at the bottom of the ocean.– When The Ship Comes In (Bob Dylan 1963)
The Napier Euro High Yield Capital Guarantee Fund (discussed in the November 12th edition of The Solid Ground) is almost ready for launch. It offers a unique combination of attributes to investors. It has significantly better risk/reward characteristics than both deposits and government debt securities. In short, it is a room full of Euro banknotes.
A Multinational Trojan Horse: The Trans-Pacific Partnership
– A Multinational Trojan Horse: The Trans-Pacific Partnership (Like The Dew, May 7, 2015):
“The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, … may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.” – James Madison in The Federalist Papers.
You don’t have to know much about the “trade” deal called the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) to be more than a little suspicious.
Read moreA Multinational Trojan Horse: The Trans-Pacific Partnership
Police Abduct 10 Children From A Family In Kentucky Because Of Their “Off The Grid” Lifestyle
– Police Abduct 10 Children From A Family In Kentucky Because Of Their “Off The Grid” Lifestyle (End OF The American Dream, May 8, 2015):
If the government does not like the way that you are raising your kids, they will come in and grab them at any time without giving any warning whatsoever. Of course this is completely and totally unlawful, but it has been happening all over America. The most recent example of this that has made national headlines is particularly egregious. Joe and Nicole Naugler of Breckinridge County, Kentucky just had their 10 children brutally ripped away from them just because the government does not approve of how they are living their lives and how they are educating their young ones.
Let’s be very clear about this – Joe and Nicole had done nothing to violate the law whatsoever. All of their kids were happy, healthy and very intelligent. But because the control freaks running things in Kentucky got wind of their “off the grid lifestyle”, they have now had all of their children unlawfully abducted from them.
Stunned Reporter Grills State Department Why Hillary’s Breaches Won’t Be Investigated (Video)
– Caught On Tape: Stunned Reporter Grills State Department Why Hillary’s Breaches Won’t Be Investigated (ZeroHedge, May 9, 2015):
In the past several weeks, not a day has passed without a new scandal surfacing revealing Clinton’s lack of judgment whether it involves her abuse of email protocol, or some previously undisclosed financial relation between either Hillary Clinton or the Clinton foundation and an outside donor. The most egregious revelation took place a few days ago when it emerged that the Democratic presidential candidate had breached her agreement with the White House to name all foundation donors during her tenure as secretary of state.
Specifically, as Reuters reported, Clinton had promised the federal government that the Clinton Foundation and its associated charities would name all donors annually while she was the nation’s top diplomat. “She also promised that the charities would let the State Department’s ethics office review beforehand any proposed new foreign governments donations.”
In March, the charities confirmed to Reuters for the first time that they had not complied with those pledges for most of Clinton’s four years at the State Department.
Explaining the Greek Debt Crisis
H/t reader M.G.:
“Explaining the Greece crisis………..Enron Accounting is alive and well in the Euro zone…….”
Flashback:
…
In 2002, Goldman Sachs secretly bought up €2.3 billion in Greek government debt, converted it all into yen and dollars, then immediately sold it back to Greece.
…
– Mario Draghi (Wikipedia):
Draghi was then vice chairman and managing director of Goldman Sachs International and a member of the firm-wide management committee (2002–2005). A controversy existed on his duties while employed at Goldman Sachs. Pascal Canfin (MEP) asserted Draghi was involved in swaps for European governments, namely Greece, trying to disguise their countries’ economic status.
– Explaining the Greek Debt Crisis (The New York Times, April 8, 2015):
Greece, the weak link in the eurozone, is struggling to pay its debt as its people and its creditors grow more restive. The tumult poses a challenge to the euro and the Continent’s goal of economic unity. If Greece goes bankrupt or decides to leave the 19-nation eurozone, the situation could create instability in the region and reverberate around the globe.
What happened in Greece?
Greece became the epicenter of Europe’s debt crisis after Wall Street imploded in 2008. With global financial markets still reeling, Greece announced in October 2009 that it had been understating its deficit figures for years, raising alarms about the soundness of Greek finances.
Obama at Nike headquarters: why push TPP trade deal at an outsourcing giant?
– Obama at Nike headquarters: why push trade deal at an outsourcing giant? (Guardian, May 8, 2015):
Opponents of Trans-Pacific Partnership baffled over choice of venue as Bernie Sanders condemns company’s ‘legacy of offshoring American jobs’
With the Nike logo in the background on Friday, President Obama sought to drum up support for a controversial trade agreement that is facing mounting opposition from Democrats and US labor unions.
Speaking at a rally at Nike’s headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon, the president attempted to address some of the criticisms against the 12-country Trans-Pacific trade deal he is currently trying to push through Congress.
Read moreObama at Nike headquarters: why push TPP trade deal at an outsourcing giant?
U.S. Urges Greece To Reject Russian Energy Project
H/t reader M.G.:
“From the New York Times, the US is urging Greece to turn away from Russian money…….
Russia wants the use of Greece’s ports……one is the third largest in Europe, and would be a valuable asset to sell Russian goods in Europe, so giving some much needed cash to Greece makes sense. Russia is the one player that can afford to loan Greece money, and they would get it back with the use of their ports……
US cannot afford to loan to anyone, but here they are trying to stop Putin’s inexorable move into the center of the world stage……Good luck is all I can say.”
– U.S. Urges Greece to Reject Russian Energy Project (New York Times, May 8, 2015):
ATHENS — The United States, wading into the international efforts to shape Greece’s economic and geopolitical orientation, is pushing the leftist government in Athens to resist Russia’s energy overtures.
A State Department envoy in Athens urged Greece on Friday to embrace a Western-backed project that would link Europe to natural gas supplies in Azerbaijan, rather than agree to a gas pipeline project pushed by Moscow.
What Will You Tell Your Children About Jade Helm When It’s In Their Face?
– What Will You Tell Your Children About Jade Helm When It’s In Their Face? (Common Sense, May 9, 2015):
America’s southern border has disintegrated, Russia and NATO are mobilizing in and around Ukraine in what could be the beginning of World War III, our economy is one slight push from free fall, we have foreign troops, who have promised us harm, training on our soil. And we have massive military movements all around our country in support of Jade Helm. Our skies are filled with attack helicopters. Our train tracks are increasingly carrying military equipment all around the country. We cannot turn on our televisions and be assured that our children will not see reports about Jade Helm because the Mainstream Media is becoming obsessed with the topic. All of these things are on the short list of challenges presented to inhabitants of America by the New World Order and many parents are finding it difficult to shield their children from the truth. You can always unplug the television and change the subject. However, when the following scenes begin to take place with greater frequency over the next several weeks, what will you tell your children about Jade Helm and the New World Order?
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WikiLeaks publishes secret draft chapter of Trans-Pacific Partnership
– WikiLeaks publishes secret draft chapter of Trans-Pacific Partnership (Guardian, May 8, 2015):
Treaty negotiated in secret between 12 nations ‘would trample over individual rights and free expression’, says Julian Assange
WikiLeaks has released the draft text of a chapter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, a multilateral free-trade treaty currently being negotiated in secret by 12 Pacific Rim nations.The full agreement covers a number of areas, but the chapter published by WikiLeaks focuses on intellectual property rights, an area of law which has effects in areas as diverse as pharmaceuticals and civil liberties.Read moreWikiLeaks publishes secret draft chapter of Trans-Pacific Partnership
Britain: A Functioning Democracy It’s Not
– Britain: A Functioning Democracy It’s Not (ZeroHedge, May 8, 2015):
…
The system can certainly be given some sort of name, but a functioning democracy it’s not. If anything, a democracy is “A system of government in which power is vested in the people”. Makes us wonder how many clients of the 421 foodbanks and counting have voted Conservative and figured they were proudly doing their democratic duty.
Sheldon Adelson faces new scrutiny as documents challenge his testimony
H/t reader M.G.:
“Why is US media mute on this story? This is one that every American….especially Republicans……ought to know about in detail…”
– Sheldon Adelson faces new scrutiny as documents challenge his testimony (Guardian, May 8, 2015):
Casino magnate’s trial remarks raised more questions than they answered about Las Vegas Sands’ connection with an alleged organised crime leader in China
Sheldon Adelson, the multibillionaire casino magnate and key Republican party donor, spent four combative days in a Las Vegas court this week defending his gambling empire from accusations of bribery and ties to organised crime.By the time the hearing was over, Adelson had argued with the judge, contradicted the evidence of his own executives and frustrated his lawyers by revealing more information than he was required to in response to simple yes or no questions. But most importantly, far from laying the allegations against his Las Vegas Sands conglomerate to rest, the billionaire’s answers threw up yet more questions which he is likely to have to return to court to answer.
Read moreSheldon Adelson faces new scrutiny as documents challenge his testimony