The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either. – Benjamin Franklin
– Snowfall in Hawaii – In mid-July (Ice Age Now, July 18, 2015):
An overnight storm dropped 1½ to 2 inches of snow on the summit of Hawaii’s tallest peak in July.
Cameras at the summit of 13,800-foot Mauna Kea showed some snow still on the ground midday Friday.National Weather Service meteorologist Maureen Ballard says snow can fall on the summit any time of year, though there’s a greater chance in the winter.
Ballard says temperatures at the summit were about freezing overnight.
– South Africa – Mountain passes on two national roads closed indefinitely due to snow (Ice Age Now, July 18, 2015):
17 Jul, 2015 – The Lootsberg Pass between Middelburg and Graaff Reinet, forming part of the N9, as well as the Penhoek Pass between Aliwal North and Queenstown, forming part of the N6, have been closed indefinitely due to the heavy snowfall.
The Barkly Pass on the R58 between Barkly East and Elliot and the Boesmanshoek Pass between Steynsburg and Elliot have also been closed.
Here are some pictures sent into Snow Report on their Facebook Page of the snow.
Read moreSouth Africa: Mountain passes on two national roads closed indefinitely due to snow
– Arctic sea ice at highest extent for the date in last five years (Ice Age Now, July 18, 2015):
Meanwhile, Antarctic sea ice is at the 4th highest ever measured.
The Denmark meteorological institute is showing Arctic sea ice at its highest extent for the date in the last five years, and it falls within the norm, one standard deviation.
Read moreArctic sea ice at highest extent for the date in last five years
On China:
– The $23 Trillion Credit Bubble In China Is Starting To Collapse – Global Financial Crisis Next?
– This Insane Debt Chart Explains Why Chinese QE Is Inevitable
Dr. Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury during President Reagan’s first term. He was Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal. He has held numerous academic appointments, including the William E. Simon Chair, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Georgetown University, and Senior Research Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University.
– Greece’s Lesson For Russia (Paul Craig Roberts, July 17, 2015):
“Greece’s debt can now only be made sustainable through debt relief measures that go far beyond what Europe has been willing to consider so far.” — International Monetary Fund
Greece’s lesson for Russia, and for China and Iran, is to avoid all financial relationships with the West. The West simply cannot be trusted. Washington is committed to economic and political hegemony over every other country and uses the Western financial system for asset freezes, confiscations, and sanctions. Countries that have independent foreign policies and also have assets in the West cannot expect Washington to respect their property rights or their ownership. Washington freezes or steals countries’ assets, or in the case of France imposes multi-billion dollar fines, in order to force compliance with Washington’s policies. Iran, for example, lost the use of $100 billion, approximately one-fourth of the Iranian GDP, for years simply because Iran insisted on its rights under the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
– Academic oligarchy: Majority of science publishing is controlled by just six companies (Natural News, July 19, 2015):
The flow of science in this modern age is largely controlled by just six corporate publishing groups, which by calculated design have been gobbling up the journal market since at least the 1970s. And a new study out of Canada reveals that this mass consolidation of publishing power is, to a large extent, skewing what passes as scientific progress.
Researchers from the University of Montreal pored through the whole of scientific literature published between 1973 and 2013 and found that the publishing realm has changed dramatically during this time. Many smaller publishers have been absorbed into larger ones, for instance, and academic research groups have become increasingly beholden to the interests of these major publishers, which tend to favor large industries like pharmaceuticals and vaccines.
Read moreAcademic oligarchy: Majority of science publishing is controlled by just six companies
H/t reader squodgy:
“I really cannot think of a word to describe this man other than “vile”.”
– Queensland, Australia – Biggest snowstorm in 31 years (Ice Age Now, July 17, 2015):
Record-breaking cold and possibly record-breaking snow.
Major cities in the land Down Under are used to average winter temperatures of around 10 degrees Celsius (50 F). Aussies often run around in flip flops at this time of year. But on Friday, temperatures dropped to zero and sub-zero degrees across multiple states.
A record breaking low of minus 6.9 degrees was recorded overnight in Mount Hotham and Falls Creek, Victoria.
And along with the cold came the snow.
Read moreQueensland, Australia: Biggest snowstorm in 31 years
– Heavy snow and possible record cold in central Argentina (Ice Age Now, July 17, 2015):
17 July 2015 – Aluminé and Villa Pehuenia are preparing for heavy snow over the weekend along with temperatures up to 17 degrees below zero.
According to forecasts from the Basins Interjurisdictional Authority (AIC), the cold could hit records.
The acting mayor of Pehuenia, Ciro Cabrera, said that “on Saturday at 3am temperatures will be between 15 and 17 degrees below zero throughout the region, and throughout Saturday registration will be maintained between 8 and 11 degrees below zero. ”
Read moreHeavy snow and possible record cold in central Argentina
H/t reader Squodgy:
“Yummy MacDonalds video…infectios laughter…excellent questions”
Dec 16, 2014
Description:
Article at TSM: http://truthstreammedia.com/question-…
No, seriously. Or maybe alternately, “Who in their right mind would eat a McDonalds ever again after visiting the company’s website?!?!”
They don’t say, “Hi, how are you?” or give you the requisite “Here are the glorious food products we all know and love!” slideshows or anything. You don’t even get the flat, emotionless “Hey” you might expect to get from some of the teenagers working the cash register.
Read moreQuestion: Why Is the McDonalds Website so Scary? (Video)
KTVZ, Jul 16, 2015 (emphasis added): Restricting fishing in Oregon streams and rivers for the first time ever… Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife announced it’s taking drastic measures… they’ve never had to do this before… ODFW: “We’re starting to see fish kills in more places than we typically do. This is a pretty extreme set of conditions.”
Statesman Journal, Jul 16, 2015: [ODFW is taking] an unprecedented step… The move comes on the heels of multiple fish die-offs… “We’ve never had to do anything like this before — we’re in new territory,” said [ODFW’s] Bruce McIntosh.
Mail Tribune (Oregon), Jul 16, 2015: Emergency fishing closures go statewide
– All Hail Our Banking Overlords! (Peak Prosperity, July 18, 2015):
You really have to be paying attention to see what’s truly going on these days. The keepers of the system, that is the banking elites, now openly control everything — though you’d never know that by listening to the media.
Consider this:
Eurozone backs €7bn bridging loan
Jul 16, 2105
Eurozone ministers have agreed to give Greece a €7bn (£5bn) bridging loan from an EU-wide fund to keep its finances afloat until a bailout is approved.
The loan is expected to be confirmed on Friday by all EU member states.
In another development, the European Central Bank (ECB) agreed to increase emergency funding to Greece for the first time since it was frozen in June.
The decisions were made after Greek MPs passed tough reforms as part of a eurozone bailout deal.
How generous of the finance ministers of all those EU member states to agree to a “bridge loan” that will help Greece “keep its finances afloat”. This should provide the people of Greece with a bit of breathing room, right? Maybe access to their bank accounts (finally!), perhaps?
No, not at all. Here’s what the entirety of the “”loan”” will go towards instead:
The bridging loan means Greece will be able to repay debts to the ECB and IMF on Monday.
Ummmm…that “money” will not ever go anywhere near Greece.
Let’s take a look where his wife, Danae Stratou, is coming from:
“Stratou was born to an elite family in Athens, Greece, in 1964. She graduated from London’s St. Martins College of Art and Design and evolved into a remarkable artist. However, even if she is the girl that wanted to live like common people and did so, Greece’s society would not allow her to be seen as a commoner because of her family name. This is why she probably left the country at an early stage of her life.
The artist is related — on her father’s side– to the Stratos family, who founded the Piraiki Patraiki textile industry in the Peloponnese, the largest textile company in Greek history.
Her mother is Eleni Potaga-Stratou, a legend in modern Greek art, whose projects are hosted in galleries and venues in Greece and abroad.”
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– Varoufakis Slams Bailout #3 As “Greatest Macroeconomic Disaster In History” While Tsipras “Doesn’t Eat Or Sleep” (ZeroHedge, July 18, 2015):
n an rare convergence of Greek and German viewpoints, overnight former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis told the BBC that “economic reforms imposed on his country by creditors are “going to fail”, ahead of talks on a huge bailout. At the same time, Germany’s most noted Eurosceptic, Hans-Werner Sinn, in an interview with the newspaper “Passauer Neue Presse” also earlier today warned that any new aid would be “totally worthless” and “would never come back.”
In what was practically a race who can find harsher terms to describe the Greek bailout, Varoufakis said that Greece was subject to a programme that will “go down in history as the greatest disaster of macroeconomic management ever”.
– TV: Nuclear waste overflowing into Pacific Ocean at Fukushima — Officials: Impossible to stop the spill anytime soon — Torrential rainfall from approaching typhoon already too much for plant to handle (ENENews, July 16, 2015):
NHK, Jul. 16, 2015 (emphasis added): Radioactive water from Fukushima plant escapes — The operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has found that radioactive water has overflowed from a drainage channel, spilling into the sea. This is due to heavy rain… samples taken from the channel about 2 hours later contained 830 becquerels per liter of radioactive cesium [and] 1,100 becquerels of beta-ray emitting radioactive substances. An approaching typhoon has been bringing intermittent heavy rain around the plant. The utility suspects that the rain has washed away mud and soil that also contains radioactive materials. It also presumes the amount of rainwater has exceeded the pump’s capacity. The leak was continuing as of 5 PM. But the firm says it cannot stop the spill anytime soon…
Read moreNuclear waste overflowing into Pacific Ocean at Fukushima
– Pension Shocker: Plans Face $2 Trillion Shortfall, Moody’s Says (ZeroHedge, July 18, 2015):
“Moody’s, which in 2013 began using a lower rate than governments do to calculate future liabilities, has estimated that the 25 largest U.S. public pensions alone have $2 trillion less than they need”, Bloomberg reports.
– Was Greece Set Up To Fail? (The Automatic Earth, July 18, 2015):
An entire economy is being deliberately suffocated, and all in all it’s just total madness. Quiet madness, though (update: and then the riots broke out..).
Two things I’ve been repeatedly asked to convey to you are that:
Flashback:
– Little-Known History of the Euro: Crisis Was Baked In from the Start (Washington’s Blog, July 17, 2015):
You’ve heard that the Euro was created to provide two benefits for Europe:
1. Unite Germany, France and other countries in a peaceful political situation, to prevent repeats of World War I and II
2. Create a macro-zone to compete against the economic strength of the U.S.
So how did we get to this … austerity and meanness of spirit, as typified by the grim expressions sported by German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble in talks with Greece?
Read moreLittle-Known History of the Euro: Crisis Was Baked In from the Start
– The Bankruptcy Of The Planet Accelerates – 24 Nations Are Currently Facing A Debt Crisis (Economic Collapse, July 17, 2015):
There has been so much attention on Greece in recent weeks, but the truth is that Greece represents only a very tiny fraction of an unprecedented global debt bomb which threatens to explode at any moment. As you are about to see, there are 24 nations that are currently facing a full-blown debt crisis, and there are 14 more that are rapidly heading toward one. Right now, the debt to GDP ratio for the entire planet is up to an all-time record high of 286 percent, and globally there is approximately 200 TRILLION dollars of debt on the books. That breaks down to about $28,000 of debt for every man, woman and child on the entire planet. And since close to half of the population of the world lives on less than 10 dollars a day, there is no way that all of this debt can ever be repaid. The only “solution” under our current system is to kick the can down the road for as long as we can until this colossal debt pyramid finally collapses in upon itself.
Read moreThe Bankruptcy Of The Planet Accelerates – 24 Nations Are Currently Facing A Debt Crisis
Some related photos …
Just a “coincidence” …
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The British Royals since 1714 are coming from the House of Hannover and the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. The Royals are ‘really’ Germans.
The royal family’s official name, or lack thereof, became a problem during World War I, when people began to mutter that Saxe-Coburg-Gotha sounded far too German. King George V and his family needed a new English-sounding name. After considering everything from Plantagenet to Tudor-Stuart to simply England, the king and his advisors chose the name Windsor.
– ‘The Sun has sunk to a new low’: British public reacts with fury after tabloid publishes 80-year-old pictures of the seven-year-old Queen and the Queen Mother being taught a Nazi salute (Daily Mail, July 18, 2015):
The British public has reacted with fury after footage of the Queen performing a Nazi salute as a young girl was published by The Sun.
The shocking film from 1933 shows Edward VIII teaching his nieces the seven-year-old future Queen and her three-year-old sister Princess Margaret how to do the salute in the gardens at Balmoral.
Read moreVideo Emerges Of Edward VIII Teaching The Seven-Year-Old Future Queen The Nazi Salute
H/t reader squodgy:
“Nice to know they don’t seem to have been conned …….”
– Khamenei: Opposition to US persists after nuclear deal (Al Jazeera, July 18, 2015):
Iran’s supreme leader says policy towards “arrogant US” will not change, days after landmark agreement.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has vowed that his country’s sharp opposition to the US government’s policies in the Middle East will not change despite acquiescing to a deal with world powers over his country’s controversial nuclear programme earlier in the week.
Read moreKhamenei: Opposition to US persists after nuclear deal
H/t reader squodgy:
“If Vladimir Putin is half the man he has shown himself to be, this Iran deal with USA is only part of his game play for EU.
The nuke issue is and has always been a play, a charade, but underneath, the problems of the Russian gas restrictions, hint that this ‘agreement’ is once again a cover for giving EU back up for gas via Iran.
In theory therefore it challenges the Russo/Iran alliance, but Vlad is well aware of the game, and three moves ahead.Iran & Russia know their friends.
– Iran Nuclear Deal: What Future Has in Store for Russo-Iranian Relations (Sputnik, July 14, 2015)
– Is the Iran Nukes Deal Aimed at Crushing Putin? (Information Clearinghouse, July 17, 2015)
– Lavrov Reminds US: European Missile Defense Needless as Iran Deal Reached (Sputnik, July 14, 2015):
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reminded that US President Barack Obama said in April 2009 in Prague that if the Iran’s nuclear issue was solved, there would be no need to create an air defense system in Europe.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russia is expecting a reaction from the United States on comments that the agreement with Iran should resolve concerns about the European missile defense system, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday.
Read moreLavrov Reminds US: European Missile Defense Needless as Iran Deal Reached
– Colorado cop slams handcuffed teen to hospital floor, knocks her teeth out (VIDEO) (RT, July 17, 2015):
A newly-published video shows a Colorado Springs police officer going to extremes during a November 2013 arrest, slamming a handcuffed 18-year-old woman face-down into the ground, knocking out her teeth while she was in hospital.The shocking video will be part of a lawsuit that is being prepared on behalf of Alexis Acker against the department. The footage was obtained by the Colorado Springs Independent daily.
“This is a very violent attack on someone who is in handcuffs, who is partially restrained and tiny, and there’s just no need for it,” Acker’s criminal attorney Cindy Hyatt told the paper.
See also:
– California Water Wars Escalate: State Changes Law, Orders Farmers To Stop Pumping (ZeroHedge, July 17, 2015):
“In the water world, the pre-1914 rights were considered to be gold,” exclaimed one water attorney, but as AP reports, it appears that ‘gold’ is being tested as California water regulators flexed their muscles by ordering a group of farmers to stop pumping from a branch of the San Joaquin River amid an escalating battle over how much power the state has to protect waterways that are drying up in the drought. As usual, governments do what they want with one almond farmer raging “I’ve made investments as a farmer based on the rule of law…Now, somebody’s changing the law that we depend on.” This is not abiout toi get any better as NBCNews reports, this drought is of historic proportions – the worst in over 100 years.
Read moreCalifornia Water Wars Escalate: State Changes Law, Orders Farmers To Stop Pumping
