Climate change will shake the Earth

February 27, 2012 Comments off

guardian

As the Earth's crust buckles, volcanic activity will increase.

As the Earth’s crust buckles, volcanic activity will increase. Photograph: Corbis

The idea that a changing climate can persuade the ground to shake, volcanoes to rumble and tsunamis to crash on to unsuspecting coastlines seems, at first, to be bordering on the insane. How can what happens in the thin envelope of gas that shrouds and protects our world possibly influence the potentially Earth-shattering processes that operate deep beneath the surface? The fact that it does reflects a failure of our imagination and a limited understanding of the manner in which the different physical components of our planet – the atmosphere, the oceans, and the solid Earth, or geosphere – intertwine and interact.

If we think about climate change at all, most of us do so in a very simplistic way: so, the weather might get a bit warmer; floods and droughts may become more of a problem and sea levels will slowly creep upwards. Evidence reveals, however, that our planet is an almost unimaginably complicated beast, which reacts to a dramatically changing climate in all manner of different ways; a few – like the aforementioned – straightforward and predictable; some Read more…

Categories: Climate Change, Coming Events, Earth, Earth changes Tags: , , , , ,

Strong 6.8 quake shakes Siberia, no casualties

February 27, 2012 Comments off

hindustantimes.com

A strong earthquake measuring 6.8 shook several republics in Russia’s southwestern Siberia on Sunday but caused no casualties or serious damage, the emergencies ministry said.

The tremor, which occurred at 1:20pm local time (0620 GMT) in the republic of Tyva, had its epicentre

about 107 kilometres (66 miles) from the town of Kyzyl, which saw tremors of a similar magnitude on December 27.

The remote and scarcely populated republic on the Mongolian border is one of Russia’s most seismically active regions along with its Pacific Ocean coast.

The regional emergencies ministry said the quake was felt throughout Tyva and neighbouring regions but caused no casualties or any serious structural damage, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.

But several locals reported their apartment windows breaking and books and other items falling off shelves, with a series of tremors lasting four or five minutes.

“My photographs and pictures started falling Read more…

Categories: Earthquake, Russia Tags: , , ,

BRIC countries consider their own multilateral development bank

February 24, 2012 Comments off

globalpost.com

India is proposing the creation of a multilateral bank to exclusively finance projects in BRIC countries, Bloomberg reported.

Bloomberg cited an Indian official who told the news service the plan is likely to be discussed at this weekend’s Group of 20 finance ministers meeting in Mexico City. The official said the plan was in an early, exploratory phase but had been circulated among the BRICs and shared with South African officials, Bloomberg noted.

The BRIC countries are Brazil, Russia, India and China. As it’s described now, the proposed bank would be funded exclusively by developing nations and finance projects in only those nations.

Reuters reported that Brazilian finance minister Guido Mantega is sympathetic to the idea.

Emerging market economies have in recent years become a larger driver of global growth than more established markets. They have been pushing for greater representation at the World Bank and IMF as their clout in the global economy has grown.

Categories: Banks, BRIC Tags: , , , , , ,

Higher Gold Prices Seen For Next Week As Iran Tensions Lend Support

February 24, 2012 Comments off

kitco.com

(Kitco News) – Higher gold prices are possible next week as tensions with Iran continue to escalate, market watchers said.
Prices were lower on Friday, but up on the week. The most-active April gold contract on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange settled at $1,776.40 an ounce, up 2.9% on the week. March silver settled at $35.338 an ounce, up 6.4% on the week.
In the Kitco News Gold Survey, out of 32 participants, 24 responded this week. Of those 24 participants, 19 see prices up, while three see prices down, and two are neutral on prices. Market participants include bullion dealers, investment banks, futures traders, money managers and technical chart analysts.
Gold and crude oil prices rose this week, supported by concerns that Read more…

Categories: GOLD, Iran Tags: , ,

Anonymous ‘may soon be able to hack into power grid’, warns US national security chief

February 24, 2012 Comments off

telegraph

The Anonymous hacking group may soon have the ability to launch an attack on global power networks, a US official has warned.

Anonymous has no official spokesman but the claims were immediately rejected via the YourAnonNews Twitter account, which is often used by the group to announce events and news Photo: EPA/PANTELIS SAITAS

The claim was immediately rejected by the loosely-linked group of hackers, who accused the National Security Agency of “fear-mongering” after its director, General Keith Alexander, made the claims in the Wall Street Journal.

Hackers also launched a “comments flash mob” attack on the newspaper’s website, and warned “We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us!”

Gen Alexander is said to have warned that the hackers could develop the ability to bring about a limited power outage across the United States and beyond within a “year or two”.

In the report, Gen Alexander was said to have briefed the White House and other top officials about the growing threat from Anonymous.

He said that cyber-attackers could disable or damage computer networks linked to national grids across the globe.

The general has not spoken publicly about the supposed fears, but one unnamed industry executive told the Read more…

Categories: hacking, United States Tags: , , , , ,

China preparing for space warfare

February 24, 2012 Comments off

freebeacon.com

Army Lt. Gen. Ronald L. Burgess, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, disclosed new details of China’s space weapons programs last week, including information regarding China’s anti-satellite missiles and cyber warfare capabilities.

Burgess stated in little-noticed written testimony prepared for an appearance before the Senate Armed Services Committee that Beijing is developing missiles, electronic jammers, and lasers for use against satellites.

Much of the space warfare activity is being carried out under the guise of China’s supposedly non-military space program, he said.

“The space program, including ostensible civil projects, supports China’s growing ability to deny or degrade the space assets of potential adversaries and enhances China’s conventional military capabilities,” Burgess said.

“China operates satellites for Read more…

Categories: China, United States Tags: , , , , ,

Putin: Russia Must Re-Arm Because of United States Aggression

February 24, 2012 Comments off

economicpolicyjournal

That’s the only way to interpret a new article by Vladimir Putin in the new issue of Foreign Policy. He writes:

We will, under no circumstances, surrender our strategic deterrent capability. Indeed, we will strengthen it.

We will not be able to strengthen our international position or develop our economy or our democratic institutions if we are unable to protect Russia.

We see ever new regional and local wars breaking out. We see new areas of instability and deliberately managed chaos. There also are attempts to provoke such conflicts even close to Russia’s and its allies’ borders. The basic principles of international law are being degraded and eroded, especially in terms of international security.

Under these circumstances, Russia cannot rely on diplomatic and economic methods alone to resolve conflicts. Our country faces Read more…

Categories: Russia Tags: , , ,

$6 Gas This Summer — U.S. Economy Falls Off Cliff

February 24, 2012 Comments off

etfdailynews.com

Dominique de Kevelioc de Bailleul: 

 Strap on that safety belt for one wild summer of frantic trading in the energy complex, according to economist, prolific author and wealth strategist, Stephen Leeb.  He says gas prices in the US could reach $6 per gallon by the summer driving season.

And if there’s any economic event that could surely torpedo an already near-flat-lined US economy into a death spiral, it will come from a massive price hike in that most critical commodity to any economy—oil.  According  to the charts, oil has again breached the Read more…

Categories: Oil, United States Tags: , , , , , , , ,

U.S. National Debt Is 5000 Times Larger Than When The Federal Reserve Was Created

February 24, 2012 1 comment

endoftheamericandream.com

Have you noticed that very few people in the mainstream media ever directly criticize the Federal Reserve?  But why should that be the case?  Criticizing top politicians from both major political parties has become a national pastime.  Most Americans love to throw mud at either the Republicans or the Democrats.  But we are told that the Federal Reserve is “above politics” and that it is absolutely vital that the Fed remain “independent”.  The reality is that the Federal Reserve has more control over the performance of the U.S. economy than the president even does, and yet most Americans never spend much time thinking about the Fed at all.  It is almost as if Read more…

Categories: Deficit, Federal Reserve Tags: , , ,

New Government Initiative -Ammunition in the Crossfire Not Guns

February 23, 2012 Comments off

shtfplan.com

With over 10 million guns sold in the United States in 2011, violent crime rising significantly as the economic crisis worsens, and self defense killings sky rocketing, it’s becoming increasingly unpopular for politicians to call for restrictions on firearms. If anything, even though government officials in states like Illinois and New Jersey are  attempting to outlaw guns completely, the public outcry has been deafening, with each attempt met by protests and solidarity from individual rights and gun advocates all over the country.

It’s clear that the majority of Americans support their inherent right to bear arms. But, even though the strategy of attacking our second Amendment is wholly unpopular and failing miserably, misguided government officials are beginning to explore ever more novel ways of circumventing the US Constitution and Second Amendment altogether.

Like New Jersey’s recent attempt to ban ammunition, Illinois is now taking aim at ammo. This latest legislation would add a surtax to every box of ammunition sold, and if allowed, would set an alarming precedent that effectively threatens our ability to utilize a firearm for FULL ARTICLE HERE

Categories: Rights, United States Tags: , , , , ,