No matter what time of year it is, weather is always a key factor for crop markets. In general, crop prices declined late in 2011, but they rebounded in early 2012. The key factor in the recent price moves has been weather developments in key corn and soybean production regions of Argentina and Brazil. Droughts in those key producing countries have led to declines in production forecasts, and these lower production forecasts have boosted prospects for U.S. corn and soybean exports.
The drought has been severe in Argentina. Some key growing areas received almost no rain in December suffering through the worst drought in at least 50 years. It was still drier than normal in January but most areas received between 50 percent and 75 percent of normal precipitation. Weather conditions have improved recently with good rains in northern Buenos Aires and southern Santa Fe. It is too early to know for sure how much the rains will help but drought conditions have eased at least for now. February is midseason for both corn and first crop soybeans in the region so rainfall now can have a significant impact on production, especially for soybeans. Early in the season, Argentina’s corn production was expected to be near 27.5 million tonnes. As the drought has persisted the size of the crop has been revised down. USDA’ estimate in January was 26 million tonnes and in February the figure was 22 million tonnes. Crop production estimates from private forecasters in Argentina are as low as 20 million tonnes or less. With a smaller crop in Argentina, USDA raised the 2011/12 forecast for U.S. corn exports to 1.70 billion bushels, up from 1.65 billion in January.
Soybean and corn production prospects in Brazil have also been affected by the dry weather so far this growing season. Soybean production in Rio Grande do Sul is put at around 8 million tonnes for this year, down from more than 11 million tonnes last season. Yield potential has also been reduced in other parts of the country. USDA forecasts Brazil’s soybean production of 72 million tonnes, but some other forecasters put production down at 70 million tonnes. Brazil’s corn crop is put at 61 million tonnes, unchanged from the January forecast. The drought in South America is attributed to the influence of the La Niña weather pattern in the Pacific. Temperatures have been well below normal since last summer and forecast models show the condition remaining in place, albeit weakening, until spring. Models indicate that ocean temperatures could move above normal by late spring. The La Niña weather pattern affected the drought in the southern U.S. last year and weather forecast maps show the dry weather across the south continuing at least through May.
Temperatures in the last couple of weeks in Europe have been so cold that it is logical to assume that there has been some winterkill. Rapeseed is of course the major oilseed crop there and the agronomists believe that there has been some damage. That speculation has supported soyoil prices this week. The head of the agriculture department of Ukraine’s meteorological service says that the country’s winter grain crops have been hit by record low temperatures and that production could fall by between 42 and 58 percent. The crops got off to a poor start due to drought in July through November and were in poor shape before the severe freeze hit. There was only modest snow to protect the crops from the very cold weather. Production at this point is forecast at between 10 million and 14 million tonnes. The Ukrainian wheat was in bad shape going into winter and It has probably suffered more losses. In addition to the dry weather in the southern U.S. there has been little or no precipitation in the northern Plains and the western Corn Belt states. Forecast maps show above normal precipitation in the region over the March through May period. With the spring planting season only a couple of months away, the region will need above normal precipitation to recharge soil moisture supplies. - Pork Network.
The globally-averaged temperature for 2012 marked the 10th warmest year since record keeping began in 1880. It also marked the 36th consecutive year with a global temperature above the 20th century average. The last below-average annual temperature was 1976. Including 2012, all 12 years to date in the 21st century (2001–2012) rank among the 14 warmest in the 133-year period of record. Only one year during the 20st century—1998—was warmer than 2012.
Most areas of the world experienced higher-than-average annual temperatures, including most of North and South America, most of Europe and Africa, and western, southern, and far northeastern Asia. Meanwhile, most of Alaska, far western Canada, central Asia, parts of the eastern and equatorial Pacific, southern Atlantic, and parts of the Southern Ocean were notably cooler than average. Additionally, the Arctic experienced a record-breaking ice melt season while the Antarctic ice extent was above average.
2012 was the 10th warmest year since records began in 1880. The globally-averaged annual combined land and ocean surface temperature was 0.57°C (1.03°F) above the 20th century average of 13.9°C (57.0°F). The margin of error is ± 0.08°C (0.14°F).
January–December 2012 Blended Land & Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies in °C
2012 also marked the 36th consecutive year with a global temperature above the 20th century average. The last colder-than-average year was 1976.
Record to near-record warm land surface temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere from April to September and overall warmer-than-average ocean surface temperatures made the first 11 months of the year the eighth warmest on record. However, extreme cold across much of the Northern Hemisphere land during December helped lower the year-to-date temperature departure from average by 0.02°C (0.04°F) compared with the previous month.
Year-to-date temperatures by month, with 2012 compared to the five warmest years on record
The 2012 worldwide land surface temperature was 0.90°C (1.62°F) above the 20th century average, making it the seventh warmest such period on record. The margin of error is ± 0.18°C (0.32°F).
Some national highlights are included below:
The contiguous United States had its warmest year since national records began in 1895, surpassing the previous record set in 1998 by 0.6°C (1.0°F).
Austria experienced its seventh warmest year since national records began in 1767, at 1.0°C (1.8°F) above the long-term average.
With the first half of 2012 cooler than average and the second half warmer than average, on balance the annual 2012 temperature across Australia was 0.06°C (0.11°F) above the 1961–1990 average. Only the year 2011 has been below average in the past decade.
The 2012 temperature across the United Kingdom was 0.1°C (0.2°F) below the 1981–2010 average. This is in part attributed to the UK's coolest summer since 1998 and coolest autumn since 1993.
Norway had its 45th warmest year since record began in 1900, at 0.4°C (0.7°F) above average.
2012 Precipitation highlights
Following the two wettest years on record (2010 and 2011), 2012 had near average precipitation on balance across the globe. However, precipitation varied greatly in some regions.
By the end of 2012, northeastern Brazil was experiencing its worst drought in decades.
The rainy season was wetter than normal across western and central Africa. Flooding affected more than three million people across 15 countries from July to October.
The United Kingdom had its second wettest year since records began in 1910, falling just 7.3 mm (0.29 inches) shy of the record wetness of 2000. Particularly notable, record dryness during March turned to record wetness in April.
Finland was wetter than average for 2012, with many stations observing their wettest year in the past half century. The capital city of Helsinki reported its second wettest year, behind 1944, since records began in the early 19th century.
For all of 2012, Arctic sea ice extent was below average.
On March 18th, Arctic sea ice reached its annual maximum extent at 5.88 million square miles (15.24 million square km)—0.24 million square miles (0.61 million square km) below average—which began the annual melt season.
The annual Arctic sea ice melting ended on September 16th, when the Arctic sea ice extent dropped to 1.32 million square miles (3.41 million square km), the lowest value ever recorded. The annual minimum extent was 49 percent below average and 0.29 million square miles (0.76 million square km) below the previous smallest extent which occurred in September 2007.
Between March 18th and September 16th, 4.57 million square miles (11.83 million square km) of ice melted—the largest ice loss of any melt season on record. Arctic sea ice during September has been lost at an average rate of 13.0 percent per decade.
Antarctic sea ice extent was above average for most of 2012. Sea ice in the Southern Hemisphere peaked on September 26th, reaching its annual maximum extent, at 7.51 million square miles (19.44 million square km). This was the largest Antarctic sea ice extent on record, surpassing the previous record of 7.47 million square miles (19.36 million square km) which occurred in September 2006. Antarctic sea ice during September has increased at an average rate of 0.9 percent per decade.
Winter (December 2011–February 2012) snow cover extent for the Northern Hemisphere was 228,000 square miles (590,000 square km) above average, making it the 14thlargest seasonal snow cover extent on record. North American snow cover was below average during the season, or fourth smallest winter extent on record, while Eurasian snow cover ranked as its fourth largest on record. Spring snow cover extent for the Northern Hemisphere was much below average and ranked as the sixth smallest on record. Both North America and Eurasia had below-average spring snow cover.
The Northern Hemisphere snow cover extent in December 2012 was the largest on record at 1.2 million square miles (3.0 million square km) above average and (0.08 million square miles (0.2 million square km) above the previous record from 1985. Both North America (13th largest) and Eurasia (second largest) had above-average December snow cover.
Winter Northern Hemisphere snow cover has expended at an approximate rate of 0.1 percent per decade, while spring Northern Hemisphere snow cover has shrunk at an approximate rate of 2.2 percent per decade.
Global temperature highlights: December
The combined average temperature over global land and ocean surfaces for December was the 18th highest on record for December at 12.61°C (54.74°F), or 0.41°C (0.74°F), above the 20th century average. The margin of error is ±0.09°C (0.16°F).
December 2012 Blended Land & Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies in °C
The global land temperature was 0.21°C (0.38°F) above the 20th century average of 3.7°C (38.7°F), the 49th warmest December on record and coolest December since 1986.
There was stark contrast between the Northern and Southern Hemisphere land areas during December. Colder-than-average temperatures engulfed most of Eurasia and Alaska, making this the 64thcoolest (70th warmest) December for the Northern Hemisphere land area on record and the coolest since 1984. Meanwhile, the Southern Hemisphere observed record warm temperatures over land during the month. The land mass in the Southern Hemisphere is much smaller than that of the Northern Hemisphere.
For the ocean, the December global sea surface temperature was 0.47°C (0.85°F) above the 20th century average of 15.7°C (60.4°F), the sixth warmest for December on record.
January 18, 2012 - UNITED STATES - Tens of thousands of dead fish washed ashore on a South Carolina beach on Tuesday, for at least the second time in a week. Approximately 30,000 to 40,000 menhaden fish washed ashore along a mile-and-a-half-long stretch of beach from Georgetown County, S.C., to Pawleys Island, said Pawleys Island Police Chief Michael Fanning, according to NBC News. It seemed likely that thousands more of the 6- to 8-inch-long fish would wash ashore later.
Courtesy viewer Lisa Mahan.
This is the second time in one week such an incident has occurred in the area, notes NBC News. Late last week, hundreds of thousands of the small, oily fish washed up near Masonboro Island, N.C. "One time I was here I saw a bunch of jellyfish," South Carolina resident Bill Vogel told NBC local affiliate WMBF Newsof the dead fish. "They were all on the shore but nothing like this, it's really weird." The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) tried to explain the fish die-off on Wednesday. "It's an occurrence called hypoxia," Sergeant Steve Pop told WMBF. "That is dissolved oxygen levels in the water that drop to a level that is not sustainable for the fish... We've got some deep holes off of north inlet that holds these fish. This time of year the fish congregate in these holes which is depleting the oxygen source." Mel Bell, Director of the Office of Fisheries Management for S.C. DNR, elaborated on the theory: “On Friday we had a new moon [which caused] real high high tides and real low low tides,” he told The Sun News. “Probably what happened was a school [of menhaden] got in an area of water on a high tide, in a hole or depression, and at low tide they were trapped and depleted the oxygen in the water. Then, all the fish would suffocate." On Thursday, however, the DNR ruled out low dissolved oxygen, algal bloom or cold temperatures as the culprit for the fish death, according to The Sun. Mass animal deaths made headlines back in 2011 when thousands of animals were found dead in countries around the world. The mass deaths continued into 2012. Hundreds of Humboldt squid beached themselves near Santa Cruz, Calif., in December. In September, dead seagulls and fish washed ashore on Lake Eerie.- Huffington Post. WATCH: Mass fish die-off in South Carolina.
December 16, 2012 - CHINA - "Seeing so many fish has no overnight, I do not know what to do. "Man achish in East Lake Village, lingshan town, pottery village in meilan district of Haikou has contracted several pond fish, December 10 shortly after 7 o'clock in the morning, he wakes to see fish ponds and found that, overnight, himself strenuously 8,200 grouper are all dead.
Tens Of Thousands Of Fish Found Dead In Haikou Lake.
According to reports, the achish trusted friends to lend more than 1 million Yuan last year, contracted for pond fish. This fish for over a year, has and traders 11th to buy an appointment. The night before the incident, he patrols the pond edge to home until 11 o'clock at night, when fish are good. Did not expect overnight, the fish all died, everything became a bubble in water, "a conservative estimate the loss more than 700,000 yuan. "Achish said sadly, this fish maximum 3 kg of 92, on average every two and a half pounds of fish, a total of 8,200 fish, more than 20,000 pounds, all gone. Looked at has been cleared of dead fish, achish heartache, "not all the fish stomach, it was too hard. "It is reported that after the incident, achish alert the local police station. It is understood that the incident occurred 20 days ago, achish contracted by another more than 30,000 pieces of fish in a pond in deaths overnight. Achish said, generally ten days and a half months, fish insect, need some medicine to pest control. After more than 30,000 pieces of fish for the first time, achish thought it was the fish master take the wrong drug, also called a master. Master fish, raise fish in a dozen years and have never come across such a situation, even if it is more than three times the amount of fish you can't all die. Because the first dead fish are smaller, so dead over more than 30,000 fish, achish had lost at least 350,000 yuan. According to preliminary estimates, the two add up to achish had lost more than 1 million Yuan. - People China [Translated].
Large Fish Kill Found In A River In Shahe City.
According to eyewitness accounts, the fish's small finger-like weight, there are three or four pounds. Estimation of Shahe office cleaning day sailor, salvaging of dead fish has nearly three days pounds. Wuyi University see Shahe journalists 10th day, the River is dark green, there are still sporadic dead fish scattered on the River, shore water floats, a layer of oil. Approached the River, a fish stench blowing, two cleaning vessels are salvaging of dead fish. Reporters along the rivers in Jiangmen direction Wuyi University section going, found no sewage outfall discharges across the Taiwan Strait, in which large outfall outfall Wuyi University canteens have also used iron CAP to seal up. For all of a sudden there were so many fish were killed, public speculation that someone may steal a sewage. This reporter learned that, after the dead fish incident, Jiangmen City Environmental Protection Department immediately started emergency plan, organized law enforcement and environmental monitoring environmental monitoring personnel to the scene for investigation and water quality monitoring. The site survey, found Shahe road section between bridge and white gas stations are dead fish behavior occurs to varying degrees. In this regard, the Organization immediately environmental protection departments on the one hand to troubleshoot the day sand river coastal outfalls, Shahe River in the urban areas has been basically pollution-cutting, only a limited number of outfalls vertical sand River through days of troubleshooting, found no illegal sewage of industrial enterprises. On the, in died fish phenomenon more clear of river set multiple section for water monitoring, December 7 of monitoring results indicates that, river water except dissolved oxygen indicators partial low outside, other pollutants indicators and always compared to and no exception; near two day of monitoring results indicates that, as temperatures of rebounded, river water dissolved oxygen indicators has gradually recovery to normal level, River sense views also has been comparison clear. At the same time, marine fisheries sector in Jiangmen city quickly investigate after receiving the report, organized the resources and Environment Management Division, fisheries technician, fishery law enforcement and inspection personnel to conduct on-site investigations. According to the Bureau's law enforcement personnel on-site observations, dead fish species dominated by DACE, and most of the smaller. According to EPA and Marine Fisheries Council two large sector investigation results displayed, "by extraction water, and died fish samples for test detection, found except river water dissolved oxygen partial low outside, remaining is not found detection indicators has exception situation, preliminary judgment is due to by continued low temperature rainy weather (more than 10 days) effect, while days Shahe and is dry season, water in the dissolved oxygen partial low, led to as DACE, and tilapia, does not cold varieties of fish hypoxia death. ” - Information Times [Translated].
Over 350,000 Pounds Of Fish Died In Long Lake.
Area of dead fish in the Lake area, causing huge economic losses to local fishermen. According to the local Government's latest figures show that the fish killed more than 350,000 pounds, including deaths peak in October 3, 7th night of dead fish began to gradually reduce. It is understood that the dead fish later, local government and related departments have taken emergency measures management, organizing manpower to emergency disinfection of fishing and bury the dead fish. Xiaolu is a journalist in the area ran into a bit of downstream fishermen. He is new to cage, cage culture of less than two years. Xiaolu describes his cage in the fen village section of the hole in the lower area, built dams built power stations here. The Wengjiang River and other tributaries converge here, formed a huge Lake. Therefore, this time he farmed fish were not spared, more losses than upstream. "Throughout the vast expanse of the Lake and a stinker, is simply horrible. "Little land so describes the horrors of dead fish peak at that time. "No dead fish, more or less, I probably nearly 6,000 pounds of fish in cages. My losses are relatively small, losses more serious cases than me! Hey, just my luck, it lost two years...... "battered small land face down, he stood in the bow looking confused water, his eyes are filled with confusion. "Now I don't know what should I do in the future, this fish can continue to do? I now have no confidence. But the fish we can do? "Very predicament inside Xiaolu told Xinhua that his father is a fisherman, culture before earning a bit of money, so they expand cage culture of investment in the area, he was responsible for management. A sudden hit Xiaolu negate efforts of father and son, but also completely destroy their confidence. It is understood that, in recent years, the rapid development of cage culture in the long Lake area, cage size and significant increase in the number and capacity in cages in the reservoir area is almost at saturation. According to the latest statistics from the local government data show, current cage culture in reservoirs there is approximately 180 households, more than 6,000 cage, deposit box fish probably around 4.5 million pounds. Xiaolu same part and many farmers, are shouted to the cage to make money and have acceded to or expansion of investment. Cage culture of sprawl and blindness makes area significantly increased risk. Yingde city animal husbandry and aquatic products Bureau told Xinhua, cage was farmers in the reservoir area of spontaneous, is difficult to control and master in number, only moderate to boot. However, the large area of abnormal fish mortality events, fishermen's losses are not just the fish in the cage, but also for many years has been adhere to breed confidence. - Shuichan [Translated].
January 05, 2013 - UNITED STATES - An Oklahoma state park is dealing with a stinky mystery. Dead fish have been showing up by the hundreds along the shore of the lake at Quartz Mountain State Park.
Quartz Mountain fish dying – Alicia. KFOR.
Quartz Mountain fish dying – Alicia. KFOR.
Quartz Mountain fish dying – Alicia. KFOR.
Park officials said they’re not sure why or how the fish died but believe it is from natural causes, not something man-made. The State Wildlife Department is planning to visit the park to conduct tests to see what is behind the die-off. The lake remains open although it’s not exactly a good spot right now for a stroll beside the water. - KFOR.
In what authorities believe is one of the worst fish-kills in recent times, a lot of Curiass is being washed up on the Guyanese and Surinamese foreshores, apparently due to murky Atlantic Ocean waters and the discharge of freshwater into the sea.
The Fisheries Department of the Ministry of Agriculture says mostly dead Cuirass have been sighted since January 9 and the situation peaked on January 29 when a "significant amount of dead fish was observed on the beaches in the area. Consultations with Surinamese Fisheries Department officials have revealed that similar occurrences of dead fish have been observed in the vicinity of Nickerie and Coronie during the same period, the ministry here stated. "An on-the-spot observation conducted by the Regional Fisheries Officer revealed that the gills were heavily coated with sling mud and slime. This condition may have resulted in oxygen deprivation to the fish resulting in death," Guyana's Fisheries Department added. While the observance of dead fish is said to be an annual occurrence by local fisherfolk in both countries, Guyana's Fisheries Department believes that this year's was "noticeably worse" and may have resulted from one of or a combination of factors. They include turbidity of the water in the area – caused by excessive rainfall in the general region resulting in excessive cloudiness of the water due to suspended particles from the rivers which flow into the ocean and reduced dissolved oxygen levels. The other major factor could have been a high fresh water discharge – the high discharge of fresh water from the rivers may have disrupted the salinity content of the water in the area which could adversely affect fish in the area. The University of Guyana's Biodiversity Centre is expected to conduct tests on samples collected on January 22 to determine the cause of death of the fish. Results will be available several weeks later. The Fisheries Department said it was also conducting continuous water quality tests to determine the effects of the rainfall on the water quality in the area. According to officials, the situation has improved greatly since Sunday January 22 and Wednesday, with far less dead fish observed on beaches along the Upper Corentyne Coast. "The situation is being continually monitored by staff of the Fisheries Department," the Agriculture Ministry department said. - The Daily Herald.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Ohio Division of Wildlife got a call on Sunday from a fisherman who told the agency they should probably come see the flood of fish carcasses in the Rocky River.
When they arrived, they discovered a waterway filled with dead aqua life. The fish kill is still under investigation. Today, the ODW announced the final death toll: 28,613 fish, along with other species. But the mere process of counting the dead was merely a first step. The interesting part, in terms of going after whoever was responsible for whatever caused the mass deaths (that's about as specific as we can get right now), comes next. Via the News-Herald:
“The investigators aren’t going back to the stream today because they believe they have all the data that they need,” said Jamey Graham, spokeswoman for the Wildlife Division’s District Three (Northeast Ohio) office in Akron. “They are now sorting the fish according to species and we should that information available soon.” The reason for the separation of the fish by species is so that the Wildlife Division can determine how much to charge in fines and restitution if and when the culprit is identified. The state has assigned a dollar figure for each fish species.
Why was CNN running fake Sandy Hook school shooting footage
during their initial report? According to this excellent story on Digital
Journal, anyone with Google Earth can examine the property layout of Sandy Hook
elementary school and tell that footage used by CNN in this school shooting
video report below that shows police running to the scene of the shooting is
NOT SANDY HOOK elementary school. Compare the images below! Why was CNN using
it in their report? Why in the world would this CNN segment be called 'Keeping
Them Honest'? If this is the idea of honesty that CNN has in mind, who needs
them?
Much more of this excellent story from Digital
Journal here:
At the words "they arrived to carnage," the CNN
Anderson Cooper report cuts to helicopter footage of seven police officers
charging across a parking lot and toward a school. The report says it's
breaking news coverage of the shooting just hours earlier.
The three-minute report posted on the day after the
shootings at the official CNN website is entitled "Tragedy Strikes at
Elementary School." But the school is almost certainly not Sandy Hook.
It is St. Rose of Lima School, a private school a few miles
away, also in Newtown.
The clip was run on CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360."
The theme of Cooper's 360 program is "Keeping them honest."
CNN report, "Tragedy Strikes at Elementary
School," screen shot at 8 seconds, police storming building
For anyone who wants to investigate this obvious fraud CNN
is perpetuating upon the masses on Google Earth, I've included the GPS
co-ordinates of St. Rose of Lima School below. We truly need Americans to start
asking questions en masse. What is really going on?
Beforeitsnews Alternative Twitter account was taken down by
Twitter for unspecified reasons. They would not reinstate it. You can follow
the new Beforeitsnews Alternative Twitter account with all of your
controversial and up to date alternative stories and information here.
The GPS coordinates of the area of the St. Rose of Lima
School in question are: latitude 41.415154, longitude -73.297764. The street
address which can be entered into the Google Earth search box to find the
location is 40 Church Hill Rd, Newtown, CT.
(Update) The video below has recently been released sharing
more information on this 'fiasco'. The original report video from CNN for
comparison is directly below.
Here's a picture showing the actual layout of Sandy Hook
elementary school from NASA. Notice very clearyly, no curved landscaping around
the school entrance. What is CNN trying to pull off here? They've surely fooled
most Americans; thankfully, not all of us.
January 22, 2013 - SPACE - This just in... it is too early to confirm, but some initial data suggests that Comet C/2012/S1 has at least one companion, and possibly up to seven.
When something like this happens, one has to be very cautious, but after examining the data that I have seen, I would say that it appears to be real. Furthermore one of the possible companions appears to be at about two lunar distances (half a million miles) and has not formed a coma for some odd reason. If the object is orbiting the nucleus of the comet at that distance it implies that the nucleus of this comet is possibly as big or bigger than Earth.
Also, with companions we will be able to directly calculate the mass, and therefore the size of the comet nucleus using standard astronomical methods. NASA tier two scientists have already put their foot in their mouths with an estimate based on some geeee whiz bad science. As I have said before one of the biggest open lies at NASA is concerning the size of comet nuclei, always minimizing them to almost nothing and [then] trying to promote their incorrect dirty snowball comet model. We know they can directly measure comet nuclei with radio telescopes so why all the bad science and opiniated estimates?
Latest image of Comet ISON.
Normally no one would be able to contradict them because they hold the reigns of the radio telescopes, and who is to contradict them? But with companions, we use a simple astronomical formula and wala we have the mass of the nucleus and there is nothing NASA can do about that. With the recent interaction of this comet with Earth, while the comet was at the range of Jupiter's orbit, this would be the second indication that this is a whopper of a comet.
NASA has been extremely active in damage control on this comet and just today issued a video clearly doing damage control. Why all the announcements, when the comet (according to NASA) will not even be visible until next November? Stay tuned folks this is getting reeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllllllll interesting. -Jim Mccanney[Edited for clarity]. Orginal post @ http://thecelestialconvergence.blogspot.hk/2013/01/fire-in-sky-comet-of-century-physicist.html
Follow history.1.) Currency War 2..) Then real war. We’re on the bring of a major worldwide catastrophe. All this quantitative easing by central banks in the U.S., Europe, China and Japan as central banks build up balance sheets with trillions dollars of assets they will never be able to divest, and government excessive borrowing without control or limits, currency devaluation, and rampant bond buying to support low interest rates, with stagnate unemployment and wage growth is just a race to the bottom when the bubble bursts.
We have the Federal Reserve printing money like crazy this year.
Germany recalling its gold. ( tungsten ?) The world is moving step by step towards a de facto Gold Standard, without any meetings of G20 leaders to announce the idea or bless the project.
Some readers will already have seen the GFMS Gold Survey for 2012 which reported that central banks around the world bought more bullion last year in terms of tonnage than at any time in almost half a century.
They added a net 536 tonnes in 2012 as they diversified fresh reserves away from the four fiat suspects: dollar, euro, sterling, and yen.
The Washington Accord, where Britain, Spain, Holland, Switzerland, and others sold a chunk of their gold each year, already seems another era – the Gordon Brown era, you might call it.
That was the illusionary period when investors thought the euro would take its place as the twin pillar of a new G2 condominium alongside the dollar. That hope has faded. Central bank holdings of euro bonds have fallen back to 26pc, where they were almost a decade ago.
All these food being hoarded in “national bunkers”:
1) they are hoarding for some big event that it was not Dec 21, 2012 but it is ahead in time 2) they are feeding interstellar refugees from some galactic world we don´t know and alien people is getting feeded with these stored meals. 3) War is coming. China knows it. the US knows it. 4) Countries are buying food since they are gambling with commodities prices via mega-banks. 5) Space doom is coming: Solar max 2013, invisible star doom or something else.
DON´T FORGET THAT CHINA WANTS the US citizens to DISARM THEMSELVES..TOO MUCH VIOLENCE THERE. HURRY, PUT YOUR GUNS DOWN!
EPIC MUST-READ GOLDtard ARTICLE: The Real Reasons that Germany Is Demanding that the U.S. Return Its Gold
Why Is Germany Demanding 300 Tons of Gold from the U.S. and 374 Tons from France?
The German’s are demanding that the U.S. return all of the 374 tons of gold held by the Bank of France, and 300 tons of the 1500 tons of bullion held by the New York Federal Reserve.
Some say that Germany is only demanding repatriation of its gold due to internal political pressures, and that no other countries will do so.
But Pimco co-CEO El Erian says:
In the first instance, it could translate into pressures on other countries to also repatriate part of their gold holdings. After all, if you can safely store your gold at home — a big if for some countries — no government would wish to be seen as one of the last to outsource all of this activity to foreign central banks.
As we noted last November:
Romania has demanded for many years that Russia return its gold.
Last year, Venezuela demanded the return of 90 tons of gold from the Bank of England.
***
As Zero Hedge notes (quoting Bloomberg):
Ecuador’s government wants the nation’s banks to repatriate about one third of their foreign holdings to support national growth, the head of the country’s tax agency said.
Carlos Carrasco, director of the tax agency known as the SRI, said today that Ecuador’s lenders could repatriate about $1.7 billion and still fulfill obligations to international clients. Carrasco spoke at a congressional hearing in Quito on a government proposal to raise taxes on banks to finance cash subsidies to the South American nation’s poor.
Four members of the Swiss Parliament want Switzerland to reclaim its gold.
The Gold Money Index, created by James Turk, is a simple but logical formula. It treats central bank gold reserves as international money – the world’s true and only reserve currency, if you will – and compares said gold reserves against central banks’ fiat currency reserves.
At first glance this treatment of gold might sound unorthodox, but nothing could be further from the truth. For instance, under the Bretton Woods Agreement of 1944, international central banks trusted the US dollar because, after it was received for international commerce, it could be presented back to the US and redeemed for a designated amount of gold. Hence it was gold, not (paper) dollars that settled the balance of payments between nations and their respective markets.
Money can’t buy growth: Andy Xie
Evidence shows monetary stimulus in China, U.S. isn’t working
Since Alan Greenspan became the Fed chairman in 1987, there has been a policy consensus on the primary role and effectiveness of monetary policy in cushioning an economic downturn and kicking it back to growth.
Fiscal policy, due to the political difficulties in making meaningful changes, was relegated to a minor role in economic management. Structural reforms have been talked about, but not taken seriously as a tool in reviving growth.
In the four years after the global financial crisis that began in the summer of 2008, the United States’ monetary base more than tripled and China’s M2 has doubled. This is the greatest experiment in monetary stimulus in modern economic history.
Staving off crisis and reviving growth still dominate today’s conversation. The prima facie evidence is that the experiment has failed. The dominant voice in policy discussions is advocating more of the same.
When a medicine isn’t working, it could be the wrong one or the dosage isn’t sufficient. The world is trying the latter. But, if the medicine is really wrong, more and more of the same will kill the patient one day.
$7.66 Trillion Of Stimulus In America From 2008 To 2012, Itemized
The U.S. Government took some enormous steps and continues to take enormous steps to right the economy.
In his 2013 outlook, KKR’s Henry McVey points to the $7.66 trillion worth of stimulus as a reason to be bullish on real assets like real estate and commodities.
Iranian scientists – with Russian help – have set up two sites to use laser technology to enrich uranium for the regime’s nuclear bomb program, according to a source in the Revolutionary Guards intelligence unit.
The Russians had argued that due to IAEA monitoring and Western countries’ lurking satellites, it would be wise to use lasers to enrich uranium as, the source added, it is 16 times more productive, requires less space and energy, and is much easier to hide.
In 2010, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad boasted that Iran possessed laser enrichment technology, but the regime refused to respond to demands by the International Atomic Energy Agency to explain its laser program.
The IAEA in a visit to a laboratory in Lashka Abad, Iran, in 2003 had noticed work on laser isotope separation but could not determine the full extent of Iran’s research and development with laser enrichment technology.
Hans Ruhle, the German nuclear weapons expert, in a commentary published in the daily Die Welt last May, argued that Iran can enrich uranium using laser technology, which would be more difficult to detect. He also stated that American spy agencies in 2000 discovered a pilot program for laser enrichment between Iran and the Russian D.V.-Efremov Institute in St. Petersburg.
The laser technology SILEX (separation of isotopes by laser excitation) is used to separate uranium isotopes and refine fuel-grade uranium to weapons grade in fewer steps and, since it produces no distinctive chemical or thermal emissions, make nuclear proliferation easier.
“Laser enrichment technology provides the Iranian nuclear weapons program with a highly efficient means of producing weapons grade uranium (WGU) using a process that is relatively easily concealed and yet potentially can deliver more WGU faster than the now-public gas centrifuge enrichment sites at Natanz and Fordow,” said Clare M. Lopez, a senior fellow at the Center for Security Policy in Washington, D.C.
“As the IAEA has been seeking verification about Iran’s laser enrichment program since 2003 while the Iranian regime consistently has obfuscated and stalled for time, the maturity and scope of its laser enrichment pathway to a nuclear bomb must remain a serious concern,” she said.
“The Iranian intelligence service learned well its denial and deceit tactics from the Russian KGB, whose response to discovery of the massive Biopreparat biological weapons program in the early 1990s, for instance, was to open wide certain installations to international view – while hiding away its real, continuing program at other secret sites. The same pattern of behavior is evident with the opening of the Natanz enrichment facility to IAEA inspections while other enrichment sites, including laser enrichment facilities, likely remain undetected and uninspected.”
According to the source, one of the two sites using laser technology for the nuclear bomb program is in the city of Bonab in Iran’s East Azarbaijan province.
Google Earth Image 10-2011 Neynava Site - Overview
The project at this site started two years ago under Dr. Ali Rad, but as of several months ago, Dr. Mohammad Ghanadi Maraghe, the current vice president of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, manages the project.
Maraghe has a B.S. in Chemistry from Iran’s University of Tabriz, an M.S. in Nuclear Chemistry and a Ph.D. in Radiochemistry from Britain’s University of Salford and worked as a professor of Radioisotopes, Nuclear Fuel Cycle, at Tehran Polytechnic University.
He is joined by two Russian scientists and one North Korean scientist at the site, which is dubbed “Neynava.”
An elevator provides access to the underground facility, which is approximately 21 feet below the ground and where work is being done on uranium enrichment.
Google Earth Image 10-2011 Neynava site - Main Building
The source added that the Russians provided the plan for the site and that Russian scientist Dr. Vyacheslav Danilenko has been central to Iran’s nuclear bomb program.
Danilenkov, born in the Ukraine, worked on miniaturizing detonations at a nuclear installation in Chelyabinsk during the Soviet era and specializes in nano-diamonds.
Despite reports by the IAEA and others, he has denied involvement in Iran’s nuclear program.
The source said Danilenkov owned a house north of Tehran until three months ago when he sent his family back to Russia. He has been given a private driver and an intelligence agent as a bodyguard while in Iran.
Herman Nackaerts, the deputy head of the IAEA, along with his team, held two days of talks with their Iranian counterparts in Tehran last week but failed to get an agreement for further inspection and verification of the Islamic regime’s nuclear program.
Just two days after the recent talks with the IAEA officials, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran’s delegate to the IAEA, stated publicly that Iran will not stop uranium enrichment even “for a moment.”
The 5+1 (the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany) hope to resume talks with Iran over its illicit nuclear program. The talks ended last year after regime officials refused to negotiate.
The regime is enriching uranium to the 20 percent level at two known sites – Natanz with over 10,000 centrifuges and Fordo with over 2,700. The 20 percent level can be further enriched to weaponization grade within weeks. The regime currently has enough enriched uranium for six nuclear bombs, if further enriched.
