Infinite Unknown

- US Pays Half Of Gazprom’s Overdue Invoice With $1 Billion Ukraine Loan Guarantee (Zerohedge, April 14, 2014):

With Ukraine no longer paying for Russian gaz, and with Gazprom making it clear Kiev has to a) first pay the overdue $2+ billion in invoice and then b) prepay some $5 billion in gas until the end of the year of Europe gets it, it was only a matter of time before the US Treasury stepped in and paid off part or all of Gazprom’s demands. That time is now, when moments ago Jack Lew announced a $1 billion loan guarantee for Ukraine – very much the same way that the US provided billions in loan guarnatees for the now long overthrown Mursi regime in Egypt. And in other news, many more “costly” and “damaging” US sanctions are surely headed Russia’s way any second now.

From the Treasury:

Treasury Secretary Lew Announces Signing Of $1 Billion U.S. Loan Guarantee Agreement For Ukraine

WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew announced the signing of a $1 billion loan guarantee agreement for Ukraine.  This guarantee, when completed, will complement the Government of Ukraine’s International Monetary Fund (IMF) reform program and underscores the United States’ commitment to Ukraine.

Continue reading »

Tags: Barack Obama, Gazprom, Global News, Government, IMF, Jack Lew, Obama administration, Politics, Russia, U.S., Ukraine

- BLM Flip Flops: “No Deal” on Dropping Actions Against Bundy (Infowars, April 14, 2014):

Despite being forced to release hundreds of seized cattle after an astounding standoff on Saturday, the Bureau of Land Management has vowed to continue its pursuit of Cliven Bundy, asserting that no deal has been made to cease its case against the Nevada cattle rancher.

Amazing scenes unfolded on Saturday as Bundy supporters and cowboys on horseback faced off against armed BLM agents and police, demanding that hundreds of cattle seized by the BLM over a grazing rights dispute be released from a nearby corral.

With feds and law enforcement at one point threatening to shoot protesters dead, Bundy supporters fearlessly held their ground and then began advancing on the corral.

Continue reading »

Tags: Cliven Bundy, Global News, Government, Society, U.S.

– Oath Keeper Founder Stewart Rhodes, On Bunkerville: “We know it’s not over” (The Daily Sheeple, April 13, 2014):

This interview was recorded from the Bundy Ranch late this afternoon.

Stewart Rhodes is the founder of Oath Keepers.

Oath Keepers is a non-partisan association of current and formerly serving military, police, and first responders  who pledge to fulfill the oath all military and police take to “defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” That oath, mandated by Article VI of the Constitution itself, is to the Constitution, not to the politicians, and Oath Keepers declare that they will not obey unconstitutional orders, such as orders to disarm the American people, to conduct warrantless searches, or to detain Americans as “enemy combatants” in violation of their ancient right to jury trial. See the Oath Keepers Declaration of Orders We Will Not Obey for details.

Tags: Barack Obama, Cliven Bundy, Global News, Government, Military, Obama administration, Politics, Society, Stewart Rhodes, U.S.

- The Regime Doesn’t Handle Defeat Gracefully (Lew Rockwell, April 13, 2014):

When the ATF attacked the Branch Davidians outside Waco in February 1993, the expectation was a quick and painless victory over an eccentric religious sect and a public relations boost for the scandal-plagued agency. This is why the assault was code-named “Showtime.”

The Davidians, however, refused to follow the script. When the ATF stormtroopers arrived at the sect’s sanctuary at Mt. Carmel, David Koresh – who had known of the impending assault, and released an ATF informant rather than holding him as a hostage — attempted to de-escalate the confrontation, only to be answered by a murderous volley of gunfire. Rather than allowing themselves to be shackled or slaughtered, the Davidians stood their ground, killing four of the assailants in a morally unassailable exercise of self-defense and forcing the ATF to retreat.

Because the Regime cannot countenance resistance, the FBI laid siege to the Davidians for 51 days before the final assault that left of scores of Davidians dead from fire, asphyxiation, and gunfire.

In 1973, a band of Sioux activists at Wounded Knee held off the FBI and the US military for 71 days, demanding respect for their rights under treaty law, accountability for the corruption of federally installed tribal dictator Dickie Wilson, and investigation of unsolved murders. The Feds replied with the largest domestic military deployment since the last confrontation at Wounded Knee in December 1890, an undisguised slaughter carried out by the vengeful Seventh Cavalry that amounted to an American Babi Yar.

Continue reading »

Tags: Cliven Bundy, Global News, Government, Military, Politics, Society, U.S.

… a well-paid blogger.

- Mohamed El-Erian Quits Pimco, Becomes A Blogger (ZeroHedge, April 14, 2014):

We realize the future for blogging was bright, but this bright? Moments ago, Bloomberg View, Bloomberg’s in house blogging operation, announced that El-Erian had joined it as a columnist. And just like that Mohamed has his own unedited venue in which to spill all the dirt on his former employer.

From BusinessWeek:

Bloomberg View today announced that Mohamed A. El-Erian is joining the opinion and analysis site as a daily columnist covering economic developments, policy and financial markets.

“Mohamed is one of the world’s most highly-regarded financial and economic observers – and he’s also a wonderful writer” said David Shipley, the senior executive editor of Bloomberg View. “We’re thrilled that he’s going to be sharing his insights with our readers on a daily basis.”

Continue reading »

Tags: Bill Gross, Economy, Global News, Mohamed El-Erian, PIMCO

- East Ukraine Braces For Military Operation As Ultimatum Passes: Full Ukraine Event Recap (ZeroHedge, April 14, 2014):

As was expected, so called Russian separatists completely ignored Ukraine’s 0600 GMT ultimatum to hand over their weapons and give up, which means Ukraine now is in the clear, according to its leaders, to engage in the previously warned military “anti-terrorist” operation. As a result, as Reuters updates,  “towns in eastern Ukraine on Monday braced for military action. As the 9 a.m. (07.00 a.m. BST) deadline issued by authorities in Kiev expired, a Reuters reporter in the flashpoint city of Slaviansk, where armed men had seized two government buildings, said there was no outward sign the rebels were complying with the ultimatum.” Subsequent reports indicated that since the deadline passed, at least 4 people have been killed however since virtually no “factual” propaganda news out of Ukraine is to be believed, we would heavily discount this update.

More from Reuters:

In Slaviansk as of 9 a.m. local time on Monday, a Russian flag still flew over police headquarters, one of two buildings taken over by the separatists, while masked men continued to man barricades of sandbags in front of it.

Even as the deadline passed, a truck appeared bringing more tyres to heap on top of the barricades to reinforce them.

Continue reading »

Tags: Global News, Government, Military, Politics, Russia, Ukraine, Vladimir Putin

- Investigator: BLM’s Surrender at Bundy Ranch is a Strategic De-escalation to Hoodwink the People (Freedom Outpost, April 13, 2014):

Yesterday, amid the reports about the stand down by the Bureau of Land Management, I was concerned that things were not as they appeared to be. Specifically, I pointed to the fact that the Federal Aviation Administration had set up a no-fly zone over the Bundy Ranch with a three mile radius that is effective for one month. That is still in effect. Investigator Doug Hagmann, of The Hagmann and Hagmann Report, is also just as suspicious as I am. He told Steve Quayle on Saturday evening that he believes the people are being hoodwinked into believing that the situation is being resolved. It is not. It is a strategic de-escalation to fool the public.

An email from Hagmann to Quayle reads: Continue reading »

Tags: Agenda 21, Barack Obama, Cliven Bundy, Global News, Government, Nevada, New World Order, Obama administration, Politics, Society, U.S.

- TV: Hundreds of tons of water in contact with melted nuclear fuel have now flooded basements at Fukushima plant — Nearly 10 Trillion Bq of Cesium — Concentration of strontium-90 and other radioactive materials not reported (VIDEO) (ENENews, April 14, 2014):

Asahi Shimbun, Apr. 14, 2014: Tons of highly radioactive water have flooded basements at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant [...] the Nuclear Regulation Authority ordered the utility to continue to monitor the situation and collect the leakage as soon as possible. TEPCO officials said the water was highly contaminated because it was used to cool reactors [...] it has yet to be purified using a system that removes radioactive materials. [...] Workers noticed something amiss on April 10, as the water levels in buildings that should have been pumping out water were found to be rising. Workers discovered April 12 that four pumps that should not have been used were in operation [and] were halted around 5 p.m. on April 13.

Continue reading »

Tags: Environment, Fukushima, Global News, Japan, Nuclear, Nuclear reactors, Radiation, TEPCO

From the article:

“Because one can just as easily make the case that as the global financial house of cards, teetering since the great financial crisis of 2008, and upright only thanks to the explicit “wealth effect” support of the final backstop – the world’s money printers – any protracted downward move which implicitly crushes the faith in the monetary religion, and crushes the uber-leveraged smart money community, will make the “drawdown” in both momo and S&P500 stocks in March 2000 seem like a pleasant walk in the part compared to what may be coming.”

- “Shadows Of March 2000″ – Goldman On The Great Momo Crash Of 2014 (Zerohedge, April 14, 2014):

Behold the great momo basket which after being the source of so much joy for momentum chasers over the past year, has mutated into the source of so much sorrow over the past two weeks.

We have bad news for hedge funds who, like Hugh Hendry in December of last year, threw fundamentals and caution to the wind and, with great reservations, jumped into this momo bandwagon in which mere buying beget more buying until nobody knew why anyone bought in the first place… and then everything crashed, leading to the worst day for hedge funds in a decade: according to Goldman’s David Kostin, whose job is to be a cheerleader for the intangible “wealth effect” leading to all too tangible Goldman bonuses: “The stock market will likely recover during the next few months… but not momentum stocks.”

Behold the (not so) great Momo crash of 2014:

First the bad news: according to Goldman not only will the momo stocks not rebound to previous highs and resume their leadership role, but clients increasingly are wondering if this is the second coming of the dot com bubble burst.

Conversations we are having with clients: Momentum reversal and the shadow of 2000

Our client discussions this week focused on two topics: Momentum reversal and comparisons between today and March 2000. Two questions dominated: “When will the reversal end?” and “Will the sell-off in momentum stocks drive a market-wide price decline as occurred in 2000?”

During the past month, momentum has plunged by 7%, a 10th percentile ranking of all monthly momentum returns since 1980. We define “momentum” as the relative performance of the best vs. worst performing S&P 500 stocks during the prior 12 months. We identified 46 similar distinct 10th percentile “drawdowns” with an average one-month return of -8% and a cumulative -10% return during six months.

Historical experience suggests the S&P 500, but not momentum, will likely recover during the next few months. Following the drawdowns, S&P 500 posted a 6-month return averaging +5% and delivered a positive return 70% of the time. Momentum declined by a further 4% on average, and 60% of the time the stocks posted a negative return.

Analysis of historical trading patterns around momentum drawdowns shows: (a) roughly 70% of the reversal is behind us following a 7% unwind during the last month; (b) an additional 3% downside exists to the momentum reversal during the next three months if the current episode follows the average historical experience; (c) if the pattern followed the path of a 25th percentile event a further 7% momentum downside would occur, or about double the reversal that has taken place so far; and (d) whenever the drawdown ends, momentum typically does NOT resume leadership. The best performing stocks during the 12 months leading up to the start of the drawdown do not subsequently outperform (see Exhibit 2).

So what are the good news? Well, Goldman is bullish on the non-MOMO stocks, which it sees as rising during the next 6 months by, if history is any precedent, 5%. Of course, the market merely regaining its all time highs by October will hardly please the investor community which is used to 20%+ return year after year. After all someone must benefit from the Fed’s ludicrous actions.

S&P 500 Index performance during 46 momentum reversals since 1980 suggests the broad market will likely rise steadily during the next six months by an average of 5%. Based on a current S&P 500 index level of 1815, a 5% rise would lift the index to just above 1900 which is our year-end 2014 forecast. A 25th percentile trajectory implies a flat equity market during the next six months while tracking at the 75th percentile would see S&P 500 climb by 15% to 2090 by the end of 3Q (see Exhibit 3).

But most interesting is Goldman’s attempt to deny that this is the second coming of March 2000:

One historical momentum drawdown has come up repeatedly in recent conversations with clients: March 2000. The current sell-off in high growth and high valuation stocks, with a concentration in technology subsectors, has some similarities to the popping of the tech bubble in 2000.

Veteran investors will recall S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq peaked in March 2000. The indices eventually fell by 50% and 75%, respectively. It took the S&P 500 seven years to recover and establish a new high but Nasdaq still remains 25% below its all-time peak reached 14 years ago.

We believe the differences between 2000 and today are more important than the similarities and the recent momentum drawdown is unlikely to
precipitate a more extensive fall in share prices:

• Recent returns are less dramatic. Although the trailing 12-month returns are similar (22% today versus 18% in 2000), the trailing 3-year and 5-year returns are much lower (51% vs. 107% and 161% vs. 227%, respectively).
• Valuation is not nearly as stretched. S&P 500 currently trades at a forward P/E of 16x compared with 25x at the peak in 2000. The price/book ratio is 2.7x versus 6.Xx. The EV/sales is currently 1.8x compared with 2.7x in 2000.
• More balanced market. The reason it is called the “Tech Bubble” is that 14% of the earnings of the S&P 500 came from Tech in 2000 but it accounted for 33% of the equity cap of the index. Today Tech contributes 19% of both earnings and market cap. Top five stocks in 2000 were 18% vs. 11% today.
• Earnings growth expectations are far less aggressive. Bottom-up 2014 consensus EPS growth currently equals 9%, close to our top-down forecast of 8%. In 2000, consensus expected EPS growth equaled 17%.
• Interest rates are dramatically lower. 3-month Treasury yields were 5.9% in 2000 vs. 0.05% today while ten-year yields were 6.0% vs. 2.7% today. The yield curve was inverted by 47 bp. Today the slope equals +229 bp.
• Less new issuance. During 1Q 2000, 115 IPOs were completed for proceeds of $18 billion. In 1Q 2014, 63 completed deals raised $11 billion.

All great points, yet one thing is conspicuously missing and perhaps Goldman can clarify:

• how much debt as a percentage of global GDP was held by the world’s major central banks then and now, and
• how much consolidated global leverage, including shadow banking in both the US and China, as well as how many hundreds of trillions of derivatives notional outstanding existed then… and now

Because one can just as easily make the case that as the global financial house of cards, teetering since the great financial crisis of 2008, and upright only thanks to the explicit “wealth effect” support of the final backstop – the world’s money printers – any protracted downward move which implicitly crushes the faith in the monetary religion, and crushes the uber-leveraged smart money community, will make the “drawdown” in both momo and S&P500 stocks in March 2000 seem like a pleasant walk in the part compared to what may be coming.

Tags: Economy, Global News, Goldman Sachs, Hugh Hendry, S&P 500, Stock Market

A school bus driver using her heart and head is punished by those unable to use either.

- Bus Driver Fired for Picking Up Freezing Kids in Her SUV when Bus Broke Down (Free-Range Kids, April 12, 2014):

Folks, Canadian school bus driver Kendra Lindon was about to pick up kids on a freezing cold day when her bus broke down. Other recent times this had happened, she recalled, no replacement bus arrived. And so, with windchill temperatures dipping to -37 C (-34 F),  she took matters into her own hands and picked up the few students along her route in her own SUV.

From there, Lindon planned to keep the kids, including her own son, warm until another bus arrived — no frostbite, no problems.

Or so she thought.

It turns out another parent had watched Lindon picking up the kids, including two boys who had to sit in the rear cargo hold, where there were no seat belts.

Concerned, the parent contacted First Student — and that afternoon, Lindon was fired.

Parents have since been writing letters on Lindon’s behalf, but so far, it seems, there is no chance of an appeal, because rules are rules.

Continue reading »

Tags: Canada, Children, Global News, Society

- Fairewinds Video: ‘Anomalies’ in plants and animals documented by Fukushima residents, some severely deformed — Scientists: Genetic mutations observed in Fukushima include trees with peculiar distortions, insect abnormalities, tumors in birds, more (PHOTO) (ENENews, April 13, 2014):

Fairewinds Energy Education, Apr. 10, 2014 — Chiho Kaneko, member of the Board of Directors of Fairewinds originally from Iwate, Japan (at 11:15 in): It’s not just people who are sicker. I met a home gardener who lives in Kawamata, Fukushima, 30-miles from Fukushima Daiichi. She grows luffas, whose fruit is often dried to make bath sponges. Last year, with some trepidation, she used the seeds saved from the year before. She found flower buds directly growing out of the fruit. Some of her pole beans were abnormally gigantic. Near Fukushima city, another person saw a frog so severely deformed that, at first, it was difficult to tell that it was a frog, save for its hopping. These are true events described by people I met who took notes and photographs of these environmental anomalies.

Asian Perspective Vol. 37, No. 4, Anders Pape Møller and Timothy A. Mousseau, Oct.-Dec. 2013: A careful observer [who visits Chernobyl or Fukushima] will quickly become aware of the peculiar distortions of tree growth, numerous abnormalities in insects, and tumors and cataracts in birds, all caused by genetic mutations induced by exposure to the radiation [...] radiation causes damage to DNA molecules (leading to mutations if not repaired) [...] We have known for more than eighty years that low-dose radiation has cytotoxic effects and causes mutations. [...] we looked at 373 effect sizes from forty-six different studies [...] they showed a statistically significant negative effect of radiation [...] on mutation, physiology, immunology, and disease. As one would expect, effects were stronger on plants, which are stuck in one place, than on animals that can move around [...] As the first scientists in both Chernobyl and Fukushima, we have performed [fifteen] published tests, of organisms ranging from plants and insects to birds and mammals in Chernobyl, that support the hypothesis that low-dose radiation disrupts development, and all fifteen studies show a higher degree of asymmetry in the more contaminated plots. [...] we have assembled effect sizes from all published studies of mutation rates from Chernobyl, in total 151 estimates of mutations in forty-five studies of thirty-three species ranging from bacteria and plants to insects, birds, and mammals, including humans [The] findings are robust in showing a general, strong overall mean effect size of radiation on mutation rates. [...] Mutations accumulate with time and across generations, so we may only be seeing the first stages of the negative public health consequences [...] for humans.

Watch the Fairewinds video here

Tags: animals, Environment, Fukushima, Global News, Japan, Mutations, Nuclear, Nuclear reactors, Radiation

- 44 Percent of Twitter Accounts Have Never Tweeted (PCMag, April 13, 2014):

Twitter has a ton of users, right? Around 974 million, to be a bit more precise. However, just because a person has taken the time to make a Twitter account doesn’t necessarily mean they’ve used it. And according to the latest stats from Twopcharts, a third-party site that monitors Twitter activity, a surprisingly high number of people have done just that: Made an account and abandoned Twitter forever.

Just how many? According to the site, approximately 44 percent of Twitter’s 947 million accounts or so have never sent a single tweet. Of the number that have — approximately 550 million — just under half of these accounts are reported to have sent their last tweet more than one year ago (43 percent). Only 126 million have sent any kind of tweet at any point in the past 30 days.

Continue reading »

Tags: Global News, Internet, Twitter

Soweto, July 1985 (image by Photo: Paul Weinberg)- South Africa: 20 years of apartheid by another name (John Pilger, April 13, 2014):

On my wall in London is my favourite photograph from South Africa. Always thrilling to behold, it is Paul Weinberg’s image of a lone woman standing between two armoured vehicles, the infamous “hippos”, as they rolled into Soweto. Her arms are raised, fists clenched, her thin body both beckoning and defiant of the enemy.

It was May Day 1985; the last great uprising against apartheid had begun. Twelve years later, with my thirty-year banning from South Africa lifted, there was a pinch-me moment as I flew into Jan Smuts and handed my passport to a black immigration officer. “Welcome to our country,” she said.

Continue reading »

Tags: Apartheid, Dictatorship, Global News, Government, John Pilger, Politics, Society, South Africa

- McCain agrees Moscow is behind Ukraine unrest but wants tougher US response (FOX News, April 14, 2014):

The Obama administration and a top Senate Republican agreed Sunday that the Russian government appears behind the recent uprising in eastern Ukraine but remain split on the level of U.S. response.

“It’s professional, it’s coordinated,” Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told ABC’s “This Week.” “There’s nothing grassroots-seeming about it.”

She also said the violence bears the “tell-tale signs of Moscow involvement” and that tougher penalties on Russia could follow if the aggression continues.

Arizona GOP Sen. John McCain wants the United States to instead take a more hawkish approach to keeping Russian forces from moving deeper into Ukraine, after Russia last month annexed the country’s bordering Crimea region. He wants the U.S. to provide more arms to the Ukrainians and impose additional and “severe” sanctions on the Russian economy.

“We ought to at least, for God’s sake, give them some light weapons with which to defend themselves,” he told CBS’ “Face the Nation.

Continue reading »

Tags: Barack Obama, Global News, Government, John McCain, Obama administration, Politics, Russia, U.S., Ukraine

- Did CIA Director Brennan Visit Kiev Recently? (Zerohedge, April 13, 2014):

Just a few weeks ago, someone (allegedly Russia) leaked a recorded phone conversation of Victoria Nuland commenting “fuck the EU” and how she (the US) wanted the political stage set in Ukraine. A lot has happened since then but as multiple pro-Russian sources have now ‘confirmed’, the new puppetmaster appears to be in town (or was). As Interfax reported, citing sources inside the Ukrainian parliament, none other that CIA Director John Brennan landed in Ukraine on Saturday under an assumed name and held a “series of secret meetings” with the country’s “power bloc” Interfax reported.

As Interfax reports, citing sources…

Brennan landed in Ukraine on Saturday under an assumed name and held a “series of secret meetings” with the country’s “power bloc” Interfax reported, citing an unidentified official in the Ukrainian parliament.

And Voice Of Russia added…

The person who said this to Interfax in a phone talk added that John Brennan came to Ukraine not under his real name.

Continue reading »

Tags: Barack Obama, CIA, Global News, John Brennan, Obama administration, Politics, Russia, U.S., Ukraine

Related info:

- 90% Of Those Infected With Measles In New York Outbreak ARE VACCINATED

- Vaccine Fraud Exposed: Measles And Mumps Vaccines Are Designed To Fail, Say Merck Virologists

And now enter fairy land …

- Measles Outbreak Traced to Fully Vaccinated Patient for First Time (Science/AAAS, April 11, 2014):

Get the measles vaccine, and you won’t get the measles—or give it to anyone else. Right? Well, not always. A person fully vaccinated against measles has contracted the disease and passed it on to others. The startling case study contradicts received wisdom about the vaccine and suggests that a recent swell of measles outbreaks in developed nations could mean more illnesses even among the vaccinated.

When it comes to the measles vaccine, two shots are better than one. Most people in the United States are initially vaccinated against the virus shortly after their first birthday and return for a booster shot as a toddler. Less than 1% of people who get both shots will contract the potentially lethal skin and respiratory infection. And even if a fully vaccinated person does become infected—a rare situation known as “vaccine failure”—they weren’t thought to be contagious.

That’s why a fully vaccinated 22-year-old theater employee in New York City who developed the measles in 2011 was released without hospitalization or quarantine. But like Typhoid Mary, this patient turned out to be unwittingly contagious. Ultimately, she transmitted the measles to four other people, according to a recent report in Clinical Infectious Diseases that tracked symptoms in the 88 people with whom “Measles Mary” interacted while she was sick. Surprisingly, two of the secondary patients had been fully vaccinated. And although the other two had no record of receiving the vaccine, they both showed signs of previous measles exposure that should have conferred immunity.

Continue reading »

Tags: Global News, Health, Vaccination, Vaccine

- [Tepco's upward revision] “80 BILLION was actually 280 BILLION Bq/m3 in last summer’s leakage” (Fukushima Diary, April 12, 2014):

Following up this article.. Leaked all β of “300m3 leakage accident” was also underestimated / INES level might be increased [URL]

All β nuclide density was 280,000,000,000 Bq/m3 in the leaked tank water last summer. All β nuclide means the collective of the nuclides to include Strontium-90.

Tepco announced the all β nuclide density was 80,000,000,000 Bq/m3 in the beginning. They raised the reading by 3.5 times much after over half a year has passed.

Continue reading »

Tags: Environment, Fukushima, Global News, Japan, Nuclear, Nuclear reactors, Radiation, TEPCO

Related info:

- David Sieveking’s Documentary ‘David Wants To Fly’ Exposes Guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s Transcendental Meditation As What It Really Is: A Billion Dollar Business & A Total Scam

Tags: Barack Obama, Bush administration, Documentary, Economy, Fascism, Global News, Government, Illuminati, John Kerry, New World Order, Obama administration, Politics, Skull & Bones, Society, U.S.

- 50 Reasons to Oppose Fluoridation (Fluoride Action Network, Updated September 2012):

In Europe, only Ireland (73%), Poland (1%), Serbia (3%), Spain (11%), and the U.K. (11%) fluoridate any of their water. Most developed countries, including Japan and 97% of the western European population, do not consume fluoridated water.

In the U.S., about 70% of public water supplies are fluoridated. This equates to approximately 185 million people, which is over half the number of people drinking artificially fluoridated water worldwide. Some countries have areas with high natural fluoride levels in the water. These include India, China and parts of Africa. In these countries measures are being taken to remove the fluoride because of the health problems that fluoride can cause. Continue reading »

Tags: Fluor, Fluoridation, Fluoride, Global News, Health, Paul Connett, Science

- Reid smelling anything but rosy in ranch fight (WND, April 12, 2014):

Desert showdown blows lid off long-standing plans with the Chinese

NEW YORK – When Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy refused to take his cattle off land the federal government demanded for the habitat of an endangered desert tortoise, it focused the nation’s attention on an arena Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., may have preferred to be kept quiet.

An investigative report published last week by Infowars.com drew a connection between Senate Majority Leader Reid’s involvement with Chinese energy giant ENN, Chinese efforts to build massive solar facilities in the Nevada desert and the showdown between Bundy and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, or BLM.

It wasn’t the first report to notice curious dealings involving the Chinese and America’s top Democrats. Continue reading »

Tags: China, Cliven Bundy, Economy, Global News, Government, Harry Reid, Nevada, Politics, U.S.

- HFT Purge Begins: SEC Prepares To “Remove” Some High Frequency Trading Firms (ZeroHedge, April 13, 2014):

Ever since Goldman’s anti-HFT Op-Ed less than a month ago, and since the even more recent full-hearted support by Goldman of Michael Lewis’ most recent entry into the anti-HFT crusade (one promoting the Goldman-supported IEX exchange), one thing has been clear: the days of market structure in its current format are numbered. This was further confirmed after Goldman exited both its legacy Spear Leeds & Kellogg designated market making post at the NYSE, and is said to be winding down its market-dominating dark pool, Sigma X.

It also means that our 5 year crusade against HFT – not because we want it replaced with a different, Goldman-backed exchange but because HFTs inherently destabilize the market (see May 2010 and the now daily flash crash in individual stocks and/or exchanges) – and specifically those most profitable but also most parasitic and predatory HFT strategies… Continue reading »

Tags: Banking, Economy, Global News, Government, High Frequency Trading, Politics, SEC, Stock Market

- Ukraine misses deadline to pay Russia’s Gazprom gas debt (ITV News, April 13, 2014):

If you’ve ever been in arrears on your gas bill you will know it’s in everyone’s interests to come to some sort of agreement with your supplier. But Ukraine and Russia seem to be struggling.

Ukraine owes Russia $2.1 billion (£1.2 billion) for gas and counting. More correctly, it owes that rather staggering sum of money to Gazprom, the world’s largest gas company which is owned by the Russian state.

Continue reading »

Tags: Debt, Economy, Gazprom, Global News, Government, Politics, Russia, Ukraine

Flashback:

- Joe Biden on Shalom TV: ‘I am a ZIONIST’

- Vice President Joe Biden: The ‘Affirmative Task’ Before Us Is To ‘Create A NEW WORLD ORDER’ (Video, April 5, 2013)

- White House Plans Biden Visit to Kiev Amid Eastern Ukraine Tension (The Moscow Times, April 13, 2014):

The White House said on Saturday that Vice President Joe Biden would travel to Kiev this month to show support for the Ukrainian government as U.S. officials expressed new concern over “violence and sabotage” by militants it said were apparently supported by Russia in eastern Ukraine.

Biden, set to travel to Kiev on April 22, will become the most senior U.S. official to visit the country since the crisis began there.

Continue reading »

Tags: Barack Obama, Crimea, Global News, Government, Joe Biden, Obama administration, Politics, Russia, U.S., Ukraine

- 1993 WTC Bombing – FBI Operative Emad Salem Makes Terrorist Bombs At FBI Bomb Factory (LiveLeak, April 13, 2014):

footage and audio of FBI operative Emad Salem and his team creating bombs for the first WTC false flag attack

Tags: False flag, FBI, Global News, Government, Politics, Terrorism, U.S., WTC

- Ukraine Mobilizes Military, Gives Separatists Ultimatum; Russia Slams Escalation As “Criminal”, Yanukovich Warns Of Civil War (ZeroHedge, April 13, 2014):

If Russia’s intention was to give Ukraine enough “escalation” rope with which to hang itself once again, it may have succeeded when a little over an hour ago acting president Oleksander Turchinov said in a televized address that Ukraine has mobilized its armed forces to launch a “full-scale anti-terrorist operation” against pro-Russian separatists. Furthermore, knowing the only real escalation Kiev can engage in is in the war of words department, Ukraine set an 0600 GMT Monday deadline for pro-Russian separatists to give up their weapons and leave buildings they have occupied in the east of the country, a presidential decree said. It is unclear if this would be the catalyst to launch the military operation, but should Kiev indeed bring in the army it is certainly clear that Russia will respond in kind.

Reuters reports:

Angered by the death of a state security officer and the wounding of two of his comrades near the flashpoint eastern city of Slaviansk, Turchinov gave rebels occupying state buildings until Monday morning to lay down their weapons.

Continue reading »

Tags: CIA, Global News, Government, John Brennan, Military, Politics, Russia, Ukraine

H/t reader squodgy:

“Despite the two false passport passengers on MH370 being debunked as red herrings to divert attention from the inevitable truth israeli mossad is right in the middle of this false flag gone wrong event, the US DHS & TSA have jumped at the chance to screw with the traveller yet again.
Watch this space for Airline Chapter 11 announcements as we all just throw our towels in the ring!”

Air Date: April 6th, 2014

Tags: Barack Obama, Dictatorship, Fascism, Global News, Government, New World Order, Obama administration, Politics, Society, U.S.

- Social Security, Treasury target taxpayers for their parents’ decades-old debts (Washington Post, April 10, 2014):

A few weeks ago, with no notice, the U.S. government intercepted Mary Grice’s tax refunds from both the IRS and the state of Maryland. Grice had no idea that Uncle Sam had seized her money until some days later, when she got a letter saying that her refund had gone to satisfy an old debt to the government — a very old debt.

When Grice was 4, back in 1960, her father died, leaving her mother with five children to raise. Until the kids turned 18, Sadie Grice got survivor benefits from Social Security to help feed and clothe them.

We do the math on the Obama administration’s surprising claim about for-profit education programs

Now, Social Security claims it overpaid someone in the Grice family — it’s not sure who — in 1977. After 37 years of silence, four years after Sadie Grice died, the government is coming after her daughter. Why the feds chose to take Mary’s money, rather than her surviving siblings’, is a mystery.

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Tags: Global News, Government, Politics, Social Security, U.S.

- New radioactive leak reported at Fukushima on Sunday — Previous leak admitted to be “far more toxic” than public told — Over 80 trillion becquerels flowed into Pacific, unspecified amount of “nuclear fuel material” — Already rated an INES ‘Level 3′ incident using the much lower incorrect figures (ENENews, April 13, 2014):

Jiji Press, Apr. 13, 2014: Up to one ton of radioactive water has leaked out of a plastic storage tank at [...] Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, TEPCO said Sunday [...] some 700 meters away from the shore [...] While the tank’s lower part is damaged to allow tainted water to flow into the ground [...] The water contained 440 becquerels [per liter] of cesium-134 and 1,200 becquerels [per liter] of cesium-137 as well as 1,400 becquerels [per liter] of beta ray-emitting radioactive substances such as strontium-90, according to TEPCO.

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Tags: Environment, Fukushima, Global News, Japan, Nuclear, Nuclear reactors, Radiation

- 31-Year-Old Hedge Fund Trader Made More Than The CEOs Of The Six Biggest Banks Combined (ZeroHedge, April 13, 2014):

Over the weekend, there has been some consternation over the report that the CEOs of the 6 largest US banks: JPM, BAC, GS, MS, C and WFC, collectively made $96.1 million in 2013, more than $86.3 million the year before and the most since the financial crisis.

However, we are confident those same people would have an aneurism if they were to learn that James “Jimmy” Levin, a 31-year-old hedge fund trader – head of global credit and an executive managing director at Och-Ziff – last year made a whopping $119 million, or more than all of the CEOs of the six largest firms combined. 

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Tags: Banking, Environment, Global News

- M7.6 – 100km SSE of Kirakira, Solomon Islands (USGS, April 12, 2014)

Tags: Earthquake, Environment, Global News, Kirakira, Solomon Islands, USGS