Infinite Unknown

- Operation Swill: New Jersey Bars Caught Serving Fake Alcohol (Liberty, Blitzkrieg, May 24, 2013):

It’s been a little while since my last food fraud post on rat meat being sold as lamb on the streets on Shanghai.  It’s been an even longer time since the last post on stealth inflation in alcohol when Maker’s Mark announced it was diluting its product (they ultimately backtracked due to consumer outrage).  Well, the following post combines both food fraud and stealth inflation all in one.  Apparently, we can’t even drink in peace anymore.

Pro Tip:  You may want to avoid TGI Fridays when in New Jersey.

From CBS:

TRENTON, NJ (CBS) — The New Jersey Attorney General and the Director of the division of Alcoholic Beverage Control released details Thursday on the investigation into dozens of establishments in the state accused of selling cheap — or even fake — alcohol to customers from premium bottles.
Continue reading »

Tags: Alkohol, Collapse, Economy, Fraud, Global News, New Jersey, Society, U.S.

- Three of the Four U.S. Citizens Killed with Drones were Killed by Accident (Liberty, Blitzkrieg, May 23, 2013):

While most people reading this are well aware of Eric Holder’s letter to Senator Patrick J. Leahy that four U.S. citizens have been killed by drones strikes, the real story here is that it appears only one of them was killed intentionally.  The others were apparently collateral damage.  Interesting that “targeted” strikes only end up with a 25% success rate, and this is when we are talking about American citizens.  So how many innocent men, women and children have we really killed in these strikes. Does anyone even care?

From Eric Holder’s letter:

Since 2009, the United States, in the conduct of U.S. counterterrorism operations against al Qa’ida and its associated forces outside of areas of active hostilities, has specifically targeted and killed one U.S. citizen, Anwar Al-Aulaqi.  The United States is further aware of three other U.S. citizens who have been killed in such U.S. counterterrorism operations over that same time period:  Samir Khan, ‘Abd al Rahman Anwar al-Aulaqi and Jude Kennan Mohammad.  These individuals were not specifically targeted by the United States.

Did you catch all of that?  That’s a lot of very scary twisted jargon that can basically justify anything.  I mean “associated forces,” “outside of areas of active hostilities,” and “not specifically targeted.”  We’re in big trouble and it’s not because of terrorists… Continue reading »

Tags: Assassination, Barack Obama, Drones, Eric Holder, Global News, Government, Obama administration, Politics, Terrorism, Terrorists, U.S., War on Terror

- The Colorado River, The High Plains Aquifer And The Entire Western Half Of The U.S. Are Rapidly Drying Up (Economic Collapse, May 23, 2013):

What is life going to look like as our precious water resources become increasingly strained and the western half of the United States becomes bone dry?  Scientists tell us that the 20th century was the wettest century in the western half of the country in 1000 years, and now things appear to be reverting to their normal historical patterns.  But we have built teeming cities in the desert such as Phoenix and Las Vegas that support millions of people.  Cities all over the Southwest continue to grow even as the Colorado River, Lake Mead and the High Plains Aquifer system run dry.  So what are we going to do when there isn’t enough water to irrigate our crops or run through our water systems?  Already we are seeing some ominous signs that Dust Bowl conditions are starting to return to the region.  In the past couple of years we have seen giant dust storms known as “haboobs” roll through Phoenix, and 6 of the 10 worst years for wildfires ever recorded in the United States have all come since the year 2000.  In fact, according to the Los Angeles Times, “the average number of fires larger than 1,000 acres in a year has nearly quadrupled in Arizona and Idaho and has doubled in every other Western state” since the 1970s.  But scientists are warning that they expect the western United States to become much drier than it is now.  What will the western half of the country look like once that happens?

A recent National Geographic article contained the following chilling statement… Continue reading »

Tags: Agriculture, Drought, Environment, Global News

- 44% of Homeowners With a Mortgage Can’t Sell: Zillow (TheStreet, May 24, 2013):

NEW YORK (TheStreet) — About 44% of homeowners with mortgages cannot afford to sell their homes, according to a recent blog post from real estate company Zillow.

Despite a recovery in prices, over a quarter of homeowners with mortgage loans still owe more than their homes are worth. “But another 18.2 percent of homeowners with mortgages, while not technically underwater, likely do not have enough equity to afford to move,” according to the blog post.

43.6% of homeowners have less than 20% equity in their homes. That makes it hard for them to move or trade-up, given the considerable costs involved in buying and selling a home, including the cost of a down payment for the next mortgage.

Continue reading »

Tags: Collapse, Economy, Global News, Real Estate, U.S.

- China’s Bird Flu Goes Airborne (ZeroHedge, May 23, 2013)

As if China was not suffering enough from a slumping economy, the South China Morning Post now reports that the H7N9 ‘bird flu’ virus that has infected 131 people (and killed 36) so far can be transmitted not only by close contact but by airborne exposure. Domestic reports suggest the virus appears to be brought under control largely through restrictions at bird markets but the team at the University of Hong Kong has also found that pigs can be infected (cue ‘when pigs can fly’ pun). The findings suggest that there may be many more cases that have been detected or reported since “people may be transmitting the virus before they know they’ve even got it.”

Click image for interactive map of ‘bird flu’ infections…

For more information on individual patients infected: blue, patients infected with the H7N9 virus under treatment; red, those infected with H7N9 who have died; yellow, those who have fully recovered; and pink, those infected other types of the Influenza A virus, including H1N1.

Via SCMP,

The H7N9 bird flu virus can be transmitted not only through close contact but by airborne exposure, a team at the University of Hong Kong found after extensive laboratory experiments.

…

“We also found that the virus can infect pigs, which was not previously known,” said Dr Maria Zhu Huachen, a research assistant professor at HKU’s School of Public Health.

Continue reading »

Tags: bird flu, China, Flu, Global News, H7N9, Health, Virus

- Despite ‘Promises’, Japanese Market Chaos Continues (ZeroHedge, May 24, 2013):

UPDATE 1: Japanese stocks turned negative (NKY -600pts from highs, -1.5% on day; and TOPIX down over 4% from highs); Japanese banks -11% from yesterday highs; S&P futures down 10 points from after-hours highs…

UPDATE 2: *KURODA WANTS TO AVOID INCREASING VOLATILITY IN BOND MARKET (yeah thanks… as useful as saying “we all want to avoid syphilis”)

UPDATE 3: Nikkei 225 Drops below 14,000 – TOPIX down 11% from highs

For the second day in a row, and in spite of comments from Abe and Kuroda on communicating with the market (as Kuroda says BoJ Monetary easing sufficient), Japanese capital markets are out of control.

Continue reading »

Tags: Economy, Global News, Japan, Nikkei, U.S.

- 911 Dispatcher Tells Woman About To Be Sexually Assaulted There Are No Cops To Help Her Due To Budget Cuts (CBS News, May 23, 2013):

JOSEPHINE COUNTY, Ore. (CBS Seattle) — An Oregon woman was told by a 911 dispatcher that authorities wouldn’t be able be able to help her as her ex-boyfriend broke into her place because of budget cuts.

Oregon Public Radio reports that an unidentified woman called 911 during a weekend in August 2012 while Michael Bellah was breaking into her place. Her call was forwarded to Oregon State Police because of lay-offs at the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office only allows the department to be open Monday through Friday.

“Uh, I don’t have anybody to send out there,” the 911 dispatcher told the woman. “You know, obviously, if he comes inside the residence and assaults you, can you ask him to go away? Do you know if he’s intoxicated or anything?”

The woman told the dispatcher that Bellah previously attacked her and left her hospitalized a few weeks prior to the latest incident. The dispatcher stayed on the phone with the woman for more than 10 minutes before the sexual assault took place.

“Once again it’s unfortunate you guys don’t have any law enforcement out there,” the dispatcher said, according to Oregon Public Radio.

The woman responded: “Yeah, it doesn’t matter, if he gets in the house I’m done.”

Police say Bellah choked the woman and sexually assaulted her. He was arrested by Oregon State Police following the incident.

“There isn’t a day that goes by that we don’t have another victim,” Josephine County Sheriff Gil Gilberson told Oregon Public Radio. “If you don’t pay the bill, you don’t get the service.”

The sheriff’s department had to cut 23 deputies and the entire major crimes unit after it lost a multi-million dollar federal subsidy, according to Oregon Public Radio. There are now only six deputies left.

The sheriff’s department even put out a press release warning domestic violence victims to “consider relocating to an area with adequate law enforcement services.”

Bellah pleaded guilty to kidnapping, sex abuse and assault.

Tags: Crime, Global News, Government, Oregon, Police, Society, U.S.

- Europe Opens $80 Trillion Shadow Banking Pandora’s Box: Will Seek To Collapse Repo “Collateral Chains” (ZeroHedge, May 24, 2013):

In what may be the most important story of the day, or maybe year, for a world in which there already is an $11 trillion shortfall in high-quality collateral (and declining every day courtesy of Ben’s monetization of Treasury paper) so needed to support the deposit-free liability structures of the shadow banking system (as most recently explained here), Bloomberg has just reported that Europe may begin a crackdown on that most important credit money conduit: the $80 trillion+ global shadow banking system, by effectively collapsing collateral chains, and by making wanton asset rehypothecation a thing of the past, permitted only with express prior permission, which obviously will never come: who in their right mind would allow a bank to repledge an asset which may be lost as part of the counterparty carnage should said bank pull a Lehman. The result of this, should it be taken to completion, would be pervasive liquidations as countless collateral chain margin calls spread, counterparty risk soars all over again, and as the scramble to obtain the true underlying assets finally begins.

From Bloomberg:

Banks and brokers face a clampdown on using assets they hold for clients as collateral for their own trades as part of European Union moves to bolster market stability and rein in shadow banking.

Continue reading »

Tags: Banking, Collapse, Economy, Europe, Global News, Shadow Banking, Shadow Banking System

“Attacking Iran? WW III that is!”

- Senate Betrays Constitution for Israel: Commitment to attack Iran (Veterans Today, May 21, 2013):

In a stunning betrayal of the Constitution of the United States, which, under Article VI grants treaties the same status under the Constitution as the Constitution itself and therefore obligates the United States to conform to the UN Charter and international law to which it is bound by treaties, the US Senate has passed a resolution that commits the nation to support Israel militarily, diplomatically, and economically should it decide to attack Iran “in its legitimate self-defense”, where every action Israel has ever taken–from the Six Days War to its incursions into Lebanon–has been deemed by the American government to be “in its legitimate self-defense”. The vote taken on Wednesday, 22 May 2013, astoundingly, was 99-0.

The resolution states:

If the Government of Israel is compelled to take military action in legitimate self defense against Iran’s nuclear weapons program, the United States Government should stand with Israel and provide, in accordance with United States law and the constitutional responsibility of Congress to authorize the use of military force, diplomatic, military, and economic support to the Government of Israel in its defense of its territory, people, and existence.

As M.J. Rosenberg has observed,

[T]he “self-defense” limitation is no limitation at all. The United States has deemed all major Israeli military actions as “self-defense” (most recently two Gaza wars) with the oft-repeated statement that the United States is “fully supportive of Israel’s right to defend itself.” Couple that with President Obama’s language ruling out containment of a nuclear Iran and it’s pretty clear that any attack by Israel on Iran will be deemed self-defense by the United States.

Continue reading »

Tags: Barack Obama, Global News, Government, Iran, Israel, Military, Obama administration, Politics, U.S., WW III

Don’t miss!

Flashback:

- UNBELIEVABLE: ‘More Than 20 Navy SEALS From The Unit That Killed Osama Bin Laden’ Die In Helicopter Crash

- FBI Agents Killed in Virginia Were Investigating the Boston Bombing (IntelliHub, May 23, 2013):

Two FBI agents died in a “fall” from a helicopter in Virginia this week.  Days later it has emerged that these agents were involved in the arrest of  Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings.

During an apparently training mission in the Virginia area 2 FBI agents were killed after falling from a helicopter into the water.  41-year-old Christopher Lorek, and 40-year-old Stephen Shaw both belonged to an experienced hostage rescue team that was involved in the arrest of Boston Marathon suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

Pilot Online reported that:

In interviews Monday, the founder of the Hostage Rescue Team and other former special agents called the unit “elite” while outlining the difficult training exercises members must endure.

“It’s the most rigorous training regiment in law enforcement, probably in the world,” said Danny Coulson, a former deputy assistant director of the FBI who started the team 30 years ago and served as its first commander. “They have to be able to do any mission, at any time.”

Among other things, members of the Hostage Rescue Team are trained to rappel from helicopters, scuba dive and use explosives to break down doors and walls. When needed, the team can deploy within four hours to anywhere in the U.S.

“It sounds risky, and it absolutely is,” Coulson said. “They have the same skill sets as SEAL Team 6 and Delta Force.”

Last month, the team was involved in the arrest of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings.

There have been a series of suspicious deaths surrounding people who were close to the investigation and the arrests.  Just yesterday we reported that a former MMA fighter was killed by the FBI when they payed him a visit for “questioning.

As Shepard Ambellas reported, “In what continues to be the most bizarre series of ongoing events, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter, Ibragim Todashev, was shot and killed in his apartment by the FBI just before midnight last night. Authorities believed the man to be a friend of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, one of the alleged Boston bombing suspects.”

And if that’s not enough. It was also reported by Infowars.com on April 29, 2013 that the original bombing suspect, Sunil Tripathi, was found dead in Providence River.

We will be keeping a close eye on this story and this case in general as the establishment moves in to cover up their tracks and tie up loose ends.

Sources:

http://hamptonroads.com/2013/05/fbi-agents-died-fall-helicopter-va-coast

http://www.officer.com/news/10946547/fbi-agents-fell-to-deaths-during-training?page=2

Tags: Boston, Christopher Lorek, Crime, FBI, Global News, Government, Ibragim Todashev, Politics, Stephen Shaw, Sunil Tripathi, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, Terrorism