Archive
Bio-fuels, Speculation, Land Grabs = Food Crisis
Pacific Northwest grinds to halt as twin snowstorms batter region
Howling winter weather hit the northwest of the country as four central states on reported tornadoes, the National Weather Service said.
A cold front combined with a warm and humid air mass contributed to the unseasonable twisters which were also spotted in Tennessee, Indiana and Mississippi, Dan Pydynowski, senior meteorologist at AccuWeather.com said.
Damages reported from the twisters have been mostly to buildings, vehicles, power lines and trees while one injury was reported in Mississippi where a person suffered a possible broken arm after the tornado struck their home.
Whiteout: A pedestrian walks on a snow-covered street in Seattle Read more…Low temperatures enhance ozone degradation above the Arctic
March 2011: This shows strongly reduced ozone values (left, dark blue) and significantly increased concentration of chlorine monoxide (right, red) that is directly involved in ozone degradation. Credit: Figure: IMK-ASF, KIT
About a year ago, IMK scientists, together with colleagues from Oxford, detected that ozone degradation above the Arctic for the first time reached an extent comparable to that of the ozone hole above the South Pole. Then, the KIT researchers studied the mechanisms behind. Their results have now been published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
According to IMK studies, occurrence of the Arctic ozone hole was mainly due to the extraordinarily cold temperatures in the ozone layer that is located at about 18 km height in the stratosphere, i.e. the second layer of the earth’s atmosphere. There, chlorine compounds originating from chlorofluorocarbons (CFC, e.g. greenhouse gases and refrigerants) and other pollutants are converted chemically at temperatures below -78°C. These chemical conversion products attack the ozone layer and destroy it partly. One of the main statements in the study: If the trend to colder temperatures in the stratosphere observed in the past decades will continue, repeated occurrence of an Arctic ozone hole has to be expected.
The team of IMK researchers analyzed measurements of the chemical composition of the atmosphere by the MIPAS satellite instrument developed by KIT. In addition, model calculations were made to Read more…
Silver to Explode Upward … Regretfully, Most Will Miss out on This Next Great Wave of Wealth Creation
HOLLYWOOD, Fla., Jan. 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — At Smith McKenna, precious metals trading advisors, Steve Smith, CEO, has been accurately forecasting gold, silver, copper and other precious metals commodities trends for decades. “The latest movements in spot prices in copper and silver were totally predictable, considering the time of year and the projected demands. 2012 will be a huge wealth creating opportunity, if you’re positioned correctly,” exclaims Steve.
“All leading manufacturing Data calls for an end to the GLOBAL SLOWDOWN and a boom in CAPITAL INVESTMENTS thru-out the word,” explains Stephen Smith. Further, “Global consumption will empty all above ground supplies of Silver within the next 36 to 48 months.” The secret, when realized, will take prices to the stratosphere. Smith McKenna is calling for Silver to hit $50 oz. 1st Qtr. 2012, $75 mid 2012, and $150 by year end.
The precious metals sage warns, “Don’t be fooled into buying gold or silver ETF’s, Certificates, and Mining Stocks. You must own the physical asset. But, Don’t buy anything until you have all the information! You Must First Have Accurate Investing Information and Know How to Use It to be a Successful Gold, Silver and Other Precious Metals Investor.”
Steve Smith so much believes that knowledge is the key to profitable investing, that he is giving away a FREE Book, to the first 100 people that just ask for it. Go to www.smithmckenna.com/free-book/, and simply fill out the request form. He also makes available, free of charge, his weekly investing calendar to the public on the Smith McKenna website.
New York Moves to Deploy Body Scanners on Street in Search for Guns
The NYPD and Department of Defense are working together testing Terahertz Imaging Detection, a new way to get concealed illegal weapons off the streets. (Photo courtesy: NYPD)
NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly told CBS in New York his department is looking to deploy Terahertz Imaging Detection scanners on the street in the war on “illegal guns.”
Kelly said the scanners would be used in “reasonably suspicious circumstances” and intended to cut down on the number of stop-and-frisks on the street. So called stop-and-frisks are considered a violation of the Fourth Amendment.
New York City is largely a Second Amendment free zone. The city’s mayor, Michael Bloomberg, has said that citizens “acting outside of any governmental military effort” should not be allowed to protect themselves with firearms.
“The NYPD and Department of Defense are working together testing Terahertz Imaging Detection, a new way to get concealed illegal weapons off the streets,” CBS reports. Terahertz Imaging Detection measures energy radiating from Read more…
China to Require Microblog Users to Register Using Real Names
China’s top Internet regulator says Beijing will soon require all users of microblogs to register under their real names to post comments online.
Wang Chen, who heads China’s State Council Information Office, said Wednesday increased Internet monitoring is necessary in order to prevent the spread of harmful information.
“We must impose control and management measures on some phenomena on the Internet, such as inventing rumors, damaging social stability, delivering bad information such as pornography, and even conducting illegal commercial activity,” said Wang.
Last month, Beijing and several other major Chinese cities began a trial program requiring all new microblogs users to disclose their identities to the government. Wang said the program will be expanded to Read more…
Sudan Confiscates Southern Oil, What Will China Do?
Oil industry in the Sudan (AP)
Sudan’s government announced this weekend that it had confiscated petroleum exports from newly independent South Sudan as compensation for unpaid transit fees but it promised that it would not shut down a pipeline carrying the south’s oil.
The move is likely to exacerbate tension between the two Sudans and could force China, which is major Sudanese oil buyer, to adjust its policy of noninterference if it isn’t to lose access to the region’s oil reserves.
South Sudan declared independence last year after decades of conflict with the north. Despite a 2005 peace deal, many disputes remain unresolved. Among them, possession of oil reserves which are situated close to the border.
Land locked South Sudan has two thirds of the former unified Sudan’s oil output but needs access to northern export infrastructure to sell overseas. South Sudan pumps around 350,000 barrels per day, according to government data. The north needs the entirety of its oil production, some 115,000 barrels per day, to meet domestic demand. The two parties haven’t agreed on transit fees yet but resumed talks sponsored by the African Union on Tuesday.
In the meantime, Khartoum has confiscated Read more…
Rare Caterpillar-like Horizontal Earthquake Discovered
Mount Everest in the Himalayas. CREDIT: NASA Earth Observatory.
Imagine that, as you sit at your desk or in your living room reading this story, your entire city suddenly snaps a foot to the south.
That’s what happened to the city of Kohat, Pakistan, in 1992. A magnitude-6.0 earthquake moved a 30-square-mile (80-square-kilometer) swath of land one foot (30 centimeters) horizontally in a split second, leveling buildings and killing more than 200 people.
The area hadn’t experienced many temblors before, making the earthquake an unusual occurrence. Now, 20 years later, geologists have used satellite and seismic data to track down the cause of that rare quake — an equally rare type of fault.
“The pattern we saw was absolutely a dead ringer for a horizontal fault,” said Roger Bilham, a geophysicist at the University of Colorado at Boulder. “But here’s the problem: How do you get a horizontal earthquake?”
Perfectly horizontal
Most earthquakes occur at near-vertical faults, such as the strike-slip San Andreas Fault or the thrust fault that caused the 2011 Japan earthquake. The Kohat Plateau earthquake occurred on a Read more…
Indonesia Military Powers Up
On Monday, Indonesian Defense Minister Purmono Yusgiantoro, flanked by the country’s military leadership, announced that after 10 years of frugality on the part of the military designed to give precedence to political reform, the country was now entering an intensive period of military procurement. Coming from many countries, such talk would sound reckless, if not dangerous. But coming from Indonesia, it should be welcomed.
Purnomo also spelled out his 2012 wish list, which includes tanks, multiple launch rocket systems, a guided missile destroyer, and retrofits for ex-U.S. F-16s and ex-Australian C-130 transport planes. And much more new equipment is to follow before the end of President Yudhoyono’s term in 2015, not least three new South Korean submarines.
For the first time in recent memory, the Indonesian defense ministry has money in its pocket. Announcing the acquisition of an additional six Su-30 Sukhoi fighter aircraft over the weekend, Purnomo could be heard to boast: “Our economy is very strong and we have a defense budget of Rp 150 trillion [$16.3 billion].” While that figure represents a multi-year procurement budget, Purnomo is right to feel flush. In December, the government decided to revise the defense allocation upwards, giving defense a Read more…
![[Most Recent Quotes from www.kitco.com]](https://i0.wp.com/www.kitconet.com/charts/metals/gold/t24_au_en_usoz_2.gif)
![[Most Recent Quotes from www.kitco.com]](https://i0.wp.com/www.kitconet.com/charts/metals/silver/t24_ag_en_usoz_2.gif)
crisisboom
CRISISBOOM 
You must be logged in to post a comment.