As the “hottest year ever” rolls on, Scotland braces for icy weather – in July

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–  As the “hottest year ever” rolls on, Scotland braces for icy weather – in July (Ice Age Now, July 29, 2015):

“Yes, it may be summer… But brace yourselves for an icy blast coming Scotland’s way,” reads the headline.

“As this summer shapes up to be one of the worst on record for rain, parts of the Highlands could be set for an icy blast overnight from tomorrow into Thursday.

“Temperatures could plummet as low as 4C through the night in rural parts.

Read moreAs the “hottest year ever” rolls on, Scotland braces for icy weather – in July

AND NOW: Flight MH370 Wreckage Found, Close To Madagascar

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Sure!

H/t reader squodgy:

“How about this for classic disinfo ???”

MH370

– Flight MH370 Wreckage Found, Close To Madagascar (ZeroHedge, July 29, 2015):

16 Months after Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 disappeared off the coast of Malaysia, The Telegraph reports that fragments of a wing washed up in the French island of Reunion (near Madagascar) could be wreckage from the missing plane, according to an aviation expert.

…

– MH370 search: Boeing 777 wing that could match missing plane found on French island of Reunion (Independent, July 29, 2015)

Meanwhile In Venezuela … The Socialist Paradise Has Arrived … Hyperinflation Is Reaching Its Terminal Phase

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– Meanwhile In Venezuela… The Socialist Paradise Has Arrived (ZeroHedge, July 29, 2015):

As we recently warned, the hyperinflationary collapse in Venezuala is reaching its terminal phase. With inflation soaring at least 65%, murder rates the 2nd highest in the world, and chronic food (and toilet paper shortages), the following disturbing clip shows what is rapidly becoming major social unrest in the Maduro’s socialist paradise… and perhaps more importantly, Venezuela shows us what the end game for every fiat money system looks like (and perhaps Janet and her colleagues should remember that).

As we previously concluded, and seemingly confirmed by the above video,

Venezuela’s hyperinflation is reaching its final stages. It is probably already far too late for the government to stop the complete collapse of its currency. The bolivar is in the process of transforming from a medium of exchange to tinder for wood-stoves. Venezuelans who had the presence of mind to convert their savings into gold or foreign currency in good time are likely to survive the conflagration intact.

Read moreMeanwhile In Venezuela … The Socialist Paradise Has Arrived … Hyperinflation Is Reaching Its Terminal Phase

Total Collapse: Greece Reverts To Barter Economy For First Time Since Nazi Occupation

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Barter

– Total Collapse: Greece Reverts To Barter Economy For First Time Since Nazi Occupation (ZeroHedge, July 29, 2015):

Months ago, when Alexis Tsipras, Yanis Varoufakis, and their Syriza compatriots had just swept to power behind an ambitious anti-austerity platform and bold promises about a brighter future for the beleaguered Greek state, we warned that Greece was one or two vacuous threats away from being “digitally bombed back to barter status.”

Subsequently, the Greek economy began to deteriorate in the face of increasingly fraught negotiations between Athens and creditors, with Brussels blaming the economic slide on Syriza’s unwillingness to implement reforms, while analysts and commentators noted that relentless deposit flight and the weakened state of the Greek banking sector was contributing to a liquidity crisis and severe credit contraction.

As of May, 60 businesses were closed and 613 jobs were lost for each business day that the crisis persisted without a resolution. 

Read moreTotal Collapse: Greece Reverts To Barter Economy For First Time Since Nazi Occupation

Banks Squirm as Congress Moves to Cut the 6% Dividend Paid to Them by the Federal Reserve

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federal-reserve-quantitaive-easing-printing-money

– Banks Squirm as Congress Moves to Cut the 6% Dividend Paid to Them by the Federal Reserve (Liberty Blitzkrieg, July 29, 2015):

On December 23 of this year, the Federal Reserve will be 99 years old.  And throughout that 99 years, regardless of boom, bust, recession or Great Depression, the biggest Wall Street banks have been enjoying a 6 percent, risk-free return on the capital they hold at the Fed in the form of dividends.

Have you looked at your checking or money market bank statement lately from JPMorgan Chase or Citibank? How about the statement showing the interest you’re earning on your mortgage escrow account with the big banks? While the country suffers through the lingering effects of the Great Recession caused by the biggest Wall Street banks, the public typically receives less than 1 percent on their deposits at the big banks, while the government has legislated a permanent, risk-free 6 percent guarantee to the Wall Street banks for their capital on deposit at the Fed.  Now that’s an entitlement program that needs to die!

This corporate welfare program gets even better: if the shares of stock were acquired prior to March 28, 1942, the 6 percent risk-free dividend is tax exempt and the bank doesn’t have to pay corporate taxes on it.

– From the excellent 2012 Wall Street on Parade article: Kill This Entitlement Program: The 6% Risk-Free Dividend the Fed Has Been Paying Wall Street Banks For Almost a Century

Did you know that the Federal Reserve pays an annual 6% dividend to its shareholders, i.e., the member banks of the cartel? Must be nice, considering savers who had nothing to do with cratering the world economy, and failed to receive a taxpayer funded bailout, can barely earn 0.5% on their money. It’s also quite bizarre. How many other “public institutions” have private shareholders to whom they pay 6% risk free dividends?

Read moreBanks Squirm as Congress Moves to Cut the 6% Dividend Paid to Them by the Federal Reserve

“Dead Broke”: Hillary Does It Again: What “Everyday American” Would Pay $600 For This Haircut?

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Hillary Clinton Exposed Part 2 – Clinton Foundation Took Millions From Countries That Also Fund ISIS

– Hillary Does It Again: What “Everyday American” Would Pay $600 For This Haircut? (ZeroHedge, July 29, 2015):

There are plenty of ‘everyday Americans’ out there with perfectly good haircuts, styled by perfectly good hairdressers, in perfectly good Main Street salons… so why is self-proclaimed populist person-of-the-everyday-American Hillary Clinton getting a $600 haircut at Bergdorf Goodman’s Fifth Avenue store in NYC?

As PageSix reports,

Hillary Clinton put part of Bergdorf Goodman on lockdown on Friday to get a $600 haircut at the swanky John Barrett Salon.

Read more“Dead Broke”: Hillary Does It Again: What “Everyday American” Would Pay $600 For This Haircut?

The Layoffs Return: Energy Giants Chevron, Saipem To Fire Over 10,000 Workers

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– The Layoffs Return: Energy Giants Chevron, Saipem To Fire Over 10,000 Workers (ZeroHedge, July 29, 2015):

In the beginning of 2015 the biggest threat to the economy as a result of the collapse in oil prices, both in the US and worldwide, was the surge in layoffs among highly-paid energy sector job. This was confirmed in April when we showed the Challenger layoffs data for the energy-heavy state of Texas, and the energy sector in general where the 37,811 job cuts in Q1 were some 3,900% higher than a year earlier.

layoffs by state_3

Then in Q2, after the price of oil staged a substantial rebound of about 50% from the year to date lows in the $40’s, energy-related layoffs trickled to a halt as corporations hoped the worst is behind them, and as a result would merely bide their time before redeploying their workforce toward exploration and production.

Read moreThe Layoffs Return: Energy Giants Chevron, Saipem To Fire Over 10,000 Workers

Tsipras Threatens Snap Elections As Syriza Rebellion Threatens To Derail Bailout

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Tsipras-hand-sign

– Tsipras Threatens Snap Elections As Syriza Rebellion Threatens To Derail Bailout (ZeroHedge, July 29, 2015):

With creditors now on the ground in Athens, and with a third prior actions vote in parliament due at the first of August, Greek PM Alexis Tsipras spoke out about the new bailout “deal”, debt re-profiling, the referendum, party politics, and the possibility of early elections in an interview with Sto Kokkino radio station.  

…

Defying Voters’ Wishes, House Passes the DARK Act – Here’s The Politicians Who Were Paid to Make GMO Labeling Illegal

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H/t reader squodgy:

“Dead and Buried….ALL of us….this is our last chance.

All three articles …

– Defying Voters’ Wishes, House Passes the DARK Act 

– Here’s The Politicians Who Were Paid to Make GMO Labeling Illegal

– National Geographic is the propaganda arm of Monsanto, the world’s most evil corporation

… in full down below.

Obama-Monsanto

dc-dees
Monsatan rules

gmo-mosaic-web

– Defying Voters’ Wishes, House Passes the DARK Act  (ANH USA on  

This dangerous, biotech-industry-friendly GMO labeling legislation is on its way to the Senate, but the fight is far from over. Action Alert!

As we reported last week, Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-KS) introduced a bill that has been championed by the Monsantos of the world, not to mention the Big Food industry. The deceptively titled “Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act of 2015” would preempt state efforts to pass mandatory GMO labeling laws with a completely voluntary standard. It would also block communities and states from banning the cultivation of GMO crops.

A voluntary standard? What company that uses GMO ingredients would voluntarily disclose that fact? You may remember the devastating quote from an employee of a Monsanto subsidiary back in ’94: “If you put a label on genetically engineered food, you might as well put a skull and crossbones on it.” In other words, if it’s voluntary, consumers will never see a label containing the information they have overwhelmingly said they want. That’s why pro-labeling advocates have called the bill the “DARK” (“Deny Americans the Right to Know”) Act.

Read moreDefying Voters’ Wishes, House Passes the DARK Act – Here’s The Politicians Who Were Paid to Make GMO Labeling Illegal

Pyroclastic flow on Mount Sinabung, Indonesia – July 27, 2015

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sinabung_pyroclastic_flow_on_july272015

– Pyroclastic flow on Mount Sinabung, Indonesia – July 27, 2015 (The Watchers, July 27, 2015):

Effusion of viscous lava continues at slow pace to feed the lava dome with two active lobes on the SE and E upper flanks of Indonesian Sinabung volcano.

At 12:22 local time today, a small part of the eastern lobe collapsed into a medium-sized pyroclastic flow that traveled approximately 2.5 km (1.55 miles) towards the outskirts of the (already evacuated and destroyed) villages of Bekerah and Simacem, Volcano Discovery reports.

Video courtesy of Ingrid Smet / Volcano Discovery.

During July 18 to 19, BNPB reported pyroclastic flows traveled 2.5 -3 km (1.86 miles) E and SE, ash plumes rose as high as 1 km (0.62 miles), and lava was active as far as 1.5 km (0.93 miles) SE. Seismicity was high and the lava dome continued to extrude.

Read morePyroclastic flow on Mount Sinabung, Indonesia – July 27, 2015

Finland – Summer 2015 poised to be coldest on record

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– Finland – Summer 2015 poised to be coldest on record (Ice Age Now, July 28, 2015):

“The mercury has exceeded 20 degrees C so rarely this year that the summer of 2015 is shaping up as the chilliest in more than half a century of statistics tracked by the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI).

This summer, the temperature has only surpassed 20 C (68 F) at FMI monitoring points on 37 days. In Finnish Lapland, there have only 19 such days.

Read moreFinland – Summer 2015 poised to be coldest on record

Chile – Heavy snowfalls force 14 municipalities to declare state of emergency

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– Chile – Heavy snowfalls force 14 municipalities to declare state of emergency (Ice Age Now, July 27, 2015):

27 July 2015 – Snowfalls left isolated people and animals dead in the region of La Araucania.

Fourteen municipalities in the region of Araucania have been declared in state of emergency.

Read moreChile – Heavy snowfalls force 14 municipalities to declare state of emergency

How Monsanto Wrote and Broke Laws to Enter India

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H/t reader squodgy:

“So the thousands of suicided farmers were conned illegally & the Indian Government stood by.”

– How Monsanto Wrote and Broke Laws to Enter India (Sustainable Pulse, July 27, 2015):

Citizens of the United States are being denied the right to know what they are feeding their families. Despite the fact that 90% of American citizens want GMO labelling on their food, big business is doing everything it can to prevent people from accessing their rights. Representative Pompeo’s bill, popularly known as the DARK Act (Denying Americans the Right to Know), has been written almost entirely by the biotech industry lobby. While American citizens are advocating for their rights to knowledge and healthy, affordable food, Monsanto’s legal team is busy on every legislative level trying to prevent this from happening.

How Monsanto Wrote and Broke Laws to Enter India

Source: vandanashiva.com By Dr. Vandana Shiva

Monsanto’s subversion of democratic legal processes is not new. In fact, it is their modus operandi, be it the subversion of LA’s decision to be GMO free by amending the California Seed Law—equating corporations with persons, and making seed libraries and exchange of seed beyond 3 miles illegal— or suing Maui County for passing a law banning GMOs.

Read moreHow Monsanto Wrote and Broke Laws to Enter India

More Than 1 000 Of The Leading Researchers In Artificial Intelligence And Robotics Signed And Published An Open Letter: We Must Stop Killer Robots Before They Are Built

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Skynetterminator

Flashback:

– Pentagon Developing Humanoid Terminator Robots That Will Soon Carry Weapons

– Meet Britain’s Deadly Superdrone That Picks Its Own Targets

– Professor: Drones Will Soon Be Able To Kill During War Without Human Assistance AND ‘Perform More Ethically Than Human Soldiers Are Capable Of

What could possibly go wrong?

– Open letter: we must stop killer robots before they are built (The Watchers, July 28, 2015):

More than 1 000 of the leading researchers in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics have signed and published an open letter calling for a ban on offensive autonomous weapons, also known colloquially as “killer robots”. 

The letter, published July 27, 2015, has also been signed by many technologists and experts, including SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, physicist Stephen Hawking, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, Skype co-founder Jaan Talinn and linguist and activist Noam Chomsky.

Musk, Hawking and Wozniak have all recently warned about the dangers that AI poses to mankind. Though it has to be said, Wozniak thinks humans will be fine if robots take over the world; we’ll just become their pets.

Read moreMore Than 1 000 Of The Leading Researchers In Artificial Intelligence And Robotics Signed And Published An Open Letter: We Must Stop Killer Robots Before They Are Built

Israeli Soldiers Shot Hundreds of Palestinian Children with Live Ammunition: The Devastating Impact of Life After an Injury

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– Israeli Soldiers Shot Hundreds of Palestinian Children with Live Ammunition: The Devastating Impact of Life After an Injury (Global Research, July 27, 2015):

“Before I was shot I did not bother anyone or get angry with anybody,” says Basel Kamal Safi from Deir Ammar refugee camp, near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.

He was just 17 when an Israeli soldier shot him with live ammunition.

“Now I get angry because of the pain, especially when someone accidentally touches my injury,” he says in the short video below.

It is one of two videos published recently by Defense for Children International–Palestine (DCI-Palestine), highlighting the experiences of children shot by Israeli occupation forces with live ammunition.

The second video, below, features Fadel Abu Odwan, a 14-year-old in Gaza whose injury will leave him unable to have children.

Read moreIsraeli Soldiers Shot Hundreds of Palestinian Children with Live Ammunition: The Devastating Impact of Life After an Injury

AND NOW … Britain: Police May No Longer Attend Burglaries

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Sara Thornton

– Sara Thornton: Police may no longer attend burglaries (BBC News, July 28, 2015):

The public should not expect to see a police officer after crimes such as burglary, the head of the new National Police Chiefs’ Council has said.

Sara Thornton told the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire budget cuts and the changing nature of criminality meant police in England and Wales had to prioritise.

Read moreAND NOW … Britain: Police May No Longer Attend Burglaries

NASA: 1 Billion ‘Earths’ In Our Galaxy Alone

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milky-way-galaxy

– NASA estimates 1 billion ‘Earths’ in our galaxy alone (Washington Post, July 24, 2015):

There are a billion Earths in this galaxy, roughly speaking. Not a million. A billion. We’re talking 1 billion rocky planets that are approximately the size of the Earth and are orbiting familiar-looking yellow-sunshine stars in the orbital “habitable zone” where water could be liquid at the surface.

That’s a billion planets where human beings, or their genetically modified descendants, as well as their dogs and cats and tomato plants and crepe myrtle trees and ladybugs and earthworms and whatnot, could plausibly live.

Read moreNASA: 1 Billion ‘Earths’ In Our Galaxy Alone

Greek Economy Faces Total Collapse As Doctors Flee, Retail Sales Plunge 70%

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greece

– Greek Economy Faces Total Collapse As Doctors Flee, Retail Sales Plunge 70%  (ZeroHedge, July 28, 2015):

Back in May we outlined the cost to the Greek economy of each day without a deal between Athens and creditors.

At the time, a report from the Hellenic Confederation of Commerce and Enterprises showed that 60 businesses closed and 613 jobs were lost for each business day that the crisis persisted without a resolution.

Since then, things have deteriorated further and indeed, with the imposition of capital controls, businesses found that supplier credit was difficult to come by, leading to the very real possibility that Greece would soon face a shortage of imported goods, something many Greeks clearly anticipated in the wake of the referendum call as evidenced by the lines at gas stations and empty shelves at grocery stores.

As a reminder, here’s what WSJ said earlier this month: 

Read moreGreek Economy Faces Total Collapse As Doctors Flee, Retail Sales Plunge 70%

The End Draws Near For Syria’s Assad As Putin’s Patience “Wears Thin”

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Hmmh.

Before:

– Putin Reiterates Russian Support for Assad’s Syria, Promises Aid (Moscow Times, June 29, 2015):

AMMAN/BEIRUT — Syria’s foreign minister said in Moscow on Monday Russia had promised to send political, economic and military aid to his country, where the army is coming under some of the heaviest pressure since the start of the civil war.

Insurgent groups have made gains against government forces in northwest, central and southern Syria in the past two months but Damascus has voiced confidence that it can hold on to important territory with the help of its allies.

“I got a promise of aid to Syria – politically, economically and militarily,” Walid al-Moualem said at a televised news conference after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin. He did not give details.

– The End Draws Near For Syria’s Assad As Putin’s Patience “Wears Thin” (ZeroHedge, July 28, 2015):

Early last month in, “The Noose Around Syria’s Assad Tightens” we outlined the latest developments in the country’s prolonged civil war. Here’s what we said then:

The US-led alliance realizes very well that as long as Assad has to fight three fronts: i.e., the Nusra Front in the northwestern province of Idlib and ever closer proximity to Syria’s main infrastructure hub of Latakia, ISIS in the central part of the nation where militants recently took over the historic town of Palmyra, and the official “rebel” force in close proximity to Damascus, Assad’s army will either eventually be obliterated or, more likely, mutiny and overthrow the president, putting the Ukraine scenario in play.

In short, the US and its Middle Eastern allies are simply playing the waiting game; watching for the opportune time to charge in and “liberate” Syria from whatever army manages to take Damascus first, at which point a puppet government will be promptly installed. 

Read moreThe End Draws Near For Syria’s Assad As Putin’s Patience “Wears Thin”