Monday, 30 July 2012

New Devastating Pest Increases the Effect of Drought in USA




I found the most amazing article today about the Two Spotted Spider Mite, a new mite that is ravaging the Americas because the current high temperatures allow them to breed at super speed.
Mites are a completely different animal family to other insects that insecticides usually affect and so are naturally immune to a number of pesticiudes. 
However in addition to that, they have a collection of 39 different genes that they can turn on or off to protect them from anything from pesticides to poisons found naturally in plants.
As a result, the mite can feed on over 1100 different species of plant, from human edible fruits such as strawberries to plants that are normally toxic to all life, such as Jimson Weed (Datura)
Once the mite's genome was examined, it was found to have the smallest genome ever found for an arthropod (i.e., spineless animal with an external skeleton, segmented body and jointed legs) at only 90 million base pairs, it is incredibly tiny, most arthropods have genomes with billions of base pairs.
The incredible capacity for destruction that this organism has, combined with it's incredibly tiny genome makes it possible that it was produced by genetic engineering. After all, it wouldn't normally infest temperate regions, because it is kept in check, but once temperatures get over 90 degrees Fahrenheit, the mite begins to breed uncontrollably, laying up to 300 eggs a day without even needing to mate.
Additionally, some of the mites genes are very similar to those seen in bacteria and fungi, leading to the possibility that the organism was 'assembled' out of a toolbox of pre-made genes. Perhaps it was designed to ravage the warmer climates of the Middle East and the Americans are suffering blowback from thier own weapon because of the unusually hot weather.
You can find the original article here:
In addition, there is a very detailed pdf file available from Kansas State University
here.
However, because of the extremely unusual nature of this creature, I am going to put a copy of the article here, incase the original gets taken down for any reason.
[begin article]


Two-Spotted Spider Mites Flourishing

MANHATTAN, Kan. – It’s smaller than a pinhead. Even so, the voracious two-spotted spider mite
could be the world’s poster pest for dry, hot weather.
“They’re doing real damage in Kansas -- even worse than we saw in summer 2011. Two-spotted
spider mites can attack an amazing number of plants. As often as not, today’s scorched-looking
arborvitae foliage and yellowing rose leaves are reflecting both heat-wave stress and spider mite
damage,” said Raymond Cloyd, K-State Research and Extension entomologist.

Two-spotted spider mites produce multiple generations per growing season, Cloyd added. But,
when the weather’s dry and the temperature’s high, they can multiply really fast. Between 70 F
and 85 degrees, for example, the time they need to progress from egg to adult shortens by half
-- from 14 to seven days.
Each adult female in every generation lays an average dozen eggs per day (100 to 300 total).
She doesn’t even have to mate first, the entomologist said.
As a result, infestations easily expand, yet include spider mites in all stages of development.
The mix of stages alone makes controlling the pest difficult.
Adding to the problem, the mites have repeatedly proved they are able to develop pesticide
(miticide) resistance. That has eliminated multiple tools for gardeners, farmers and pest control
pros, Cloyd said.

“Mites aren’t an insect. They’re in a whole different family, along with spiders, ticks and scorpions,”
he said. “Spraying an infested plant with an insecticide simply eliminates the mites’ natural enemies.
Applications of carbaryl (Sevin, Adios, and Slam) have paved the way for some notably severe spider
mite outbreaks.”
Some products labeled for spider mite control also can cause unwanted results. Such
organophosphates as Malathion, Orthene and Dursban may actually stimulate female spider mite
reproduction, [ in addition to being incredibly toxic to humans -ed ]

Fortunately, with enough rain, a naturally occurring fungus helps keep two-spotted spider mites
in check, Cloyd said. When temperatures are moderate, beneficial insects and predatory mites
also serve as a natural control. Their job outstrips their abilities, however, when the weather heats up.
“The classic test for spider mites is to shake a branch over a sheet of white paper and see what falls
onto it. Mites look sort of like a typed period – a half-millimeter dot -- that moves,” he said. “If they
move fairly slowly and leave a green stain when crushed, they’re the two-spotted kind. If they’re
fairly quick and leave a red stain, they’re the beneficial mites that eat other mites.”
Human control efforts are more effective if started when an infestation is small, he said.

Unfortunately, two-spotted spider mites can go unnoticed as the growing season warms up and they
become increasingly active – and numerous. The pests not only are small but also tend to congregate
on the undersides of leaves.

Besides, they seem to prefer older leaves, Cloyd said. For instance, they can cause extensive damage
in a dwarf Alberta spruce before they get around to attacking the external, more visible needles.
(Spruce spider mites also attack these popular evergreens during spring and fall.)
On deciduous plants – pear trees, tomatoes, geraniums and the like – two-spotted spider mites’
damage shows up as small silver-gray to yellow leaf speckles. The mites’ mouthparts are like a
blood-drawing needle. They puncture plant cells and suck out the green chlorophyll.
With enough of that damage, infested leaves yellow, turn bronze and drop. Plants can get weaker,
lose large sections, become deformed or even die.

What’s a Plant Owner to Do?

Curbing two-spotted spider mites in the landscape takes patience and multiple approaches.

“You have to remember this is about management. Total control is impossible. If nothing else, new 
spider mites can blow in from a neighbor’s yard, ballooning on the webbing they spin,” the 
entomologist said.

Cloyd listed the following as helpful tools in limiting attacks:

* With a magnifying glass or sheet of white paper, start scouting for spider mites in mid to late spring.

* Fertilize enough to keep plants strong and healthy. But, don’t overdo it, especially with soluble forms 
   of nitrogen. Over-fertilizing promotes soft, juicy tissues that are easier for mites to drain.

* Remove weeds and old garden debris. Either can serve as a breeding ground or winter haven.

* Don’t let plants go without needed water. (Irrigate in the morning to avoid disease problems.)

* A forceful water spray can dislodge spider mites in all life stages – eggs included. So, hose down 
   infested plants two or more times a week, targeting the underside of leaves. That can be enough to 
   keep a light    infestation in check.

* Both organic and inorganic sprays can help control heavy infestations. Read labels to see if products 
   target a certain life stage. Repeat spray applications, as your chosen label suggests. Be sure to cover 
   the underside of leaves thoroughly. Don’t use the same product season-long or year after year.

“All of that is important. If you carefully read the label on insecticidal soaps or horticultural oils, for 
example, you may find that frequent applications could harm roses or other plants,” Cloyd said.

* Remember that plant injury can result if you apply any pest control material – miticide, insecticide 
   or fungicide – when the air temperature is above 85 degrees.

Among the contact sprays that still work on two-spotted spider mites are: bifenazate (Floramite), 
hexythiazox (Hexygon), fenpyroximate (Akari), acequinocyl (Shuttle), fenbutatin-oxide (Hexakis), 
insecticidal soap and horticultural oil. The products that penetrate plant tissues, so work past their 
application time include: abamectin (Avid), spiromesifen (Forbid) and etoxazole (TetraSan).


Brief: If It’s Green, Look for Spider Mites


MANHATTAN, Kan. – Two-spotted spider mites have few prejudices. They’re perfectly willing to 
feed on an estimated 1,100 different plant species.

“They’re also willing to feed from the time they hatch until they die – through every one of their 
developmental stages,” said Raymond Cloyd, K-State Research and Extension entomologist.

The two-spotted mites are houseplants’ No. 1 pest, sometimes enclosing whole leaves in their webbing. 
In fact, Cloyd said, the pests are so tiny that webbing can be the first clue of an indoor infestation. 
(Wind and rain typically dispose of webbing spun outdoors.)

Two spotted spider mites also are major damage-causers from commercial greenhouse to farm field 
--where they attack corn, cotton and soybeans They like wild and weedy plants, too, ranging from 
berry thickets, Jimson weed and violets to henbit, wild mustard and wood sorrel.

The weeds, in turn, can serve as undisturbed breeding grounds that help the mites spread.

Entomologists at central U.S. land-grant universities have come up with the following, however, as 
some of the landscape hosts that two-spotted spider mites seem to prefer:

Annuals, ornamental - dracaena spike, fuchsia, geranium, hollyhock, impatiens (New Guinea and 
garden), marigold, pepper (sweet and hot), petunia, snapdragon and viola.

Annuals, vegetable – beans (various), sweet corn, cucumber, eggplant, muskmelon, squash, 
tomato and watermelon.

Perennials, mixed - lemon balm, chrysanthemum, columbine, coral bells, daylily, Michaelmas daisy, 
grape vine, English ivy, rose mallow, mint, monarda, oregano, salvia, creeping phlox, 
primula/primrose, scabiosa, speedwell/veronica, strawberry (ornamental and fruiting) and 
vinca/periwinkle.

Shrubs - arborvitae, azalea, burning bush, butterfly bush, boxwood, cotoneaster, wall germander, 
holly, hydrangea, juniper, maple (amur and Japanese), privet, pyracantha, rhododendron, 
rose and viburnum.

Tree – ash, birch (white/gray/river), cherry, citrus, Kentucky coffeetree, elm, black locust, 
silver maple, pear, persimmon, plum and poplar.

“The list is handy. But, I’d get a hand lens and take a closer look at any plant that starts losing leaves 
or looking scorched -- particularly during hot, dry weather,” Cloyd said.

Spider Mites: World-Class ‘Adapters’

MANHATTAN, Kan. -- An international team of 55 scientists recently found why the two-spotted 
spider mite is such a survivor. They decoded its genome – its sequence of genes.

The team reported their resulting “gene map” is rather simple for an arthropod (which includes the 
insects, crustaceans, and families of centipedes and spiders). Yet, the genome includes more 
“detoxification” genes than ever seen before -- genes the mite can turn on or off, as needed.

“The team chose the two-spotted spider mite because it’s a destructive, global pest. It can fairly 
easily develop pesticide resistance. Plus, it can feed on an amazing number of host plants – which 
the team put at more than 1,100 plant species,” said Raymond Cloyd, K-State Research and Extension 
entomologist.

The mite prefers hot, dry weather, he added. But, it’s a persistent pest for houseplants and commercially 
grown greenhouse plants, as well as for landscapes, vegetable gardens, market farms, orchards and 
row-crops. The mite also thrives on and can spread from a number of weed species.

Cloyd said the team’s kind of research is vital to a world of limited resources and growing populations. 
It allows scientists to target specific gene segments as they seek ways to limit a pest’s damage.

Among this study’s findings: The spider mite has 39 protein-encoding genes (some previously 
unknown) in one “resistance” family. That’s many times the nine to 14 “detox” genes currently 
identified in both insects and vertebrate animals.

“As part of their study, the team switched the mites from one host to another to see what happened,” 
Cloyd said. “They found this mite can activate some of those genes and deactivates others, to adjust 
to a new situation. Undoubtedly, that’s also a factor in how the mites can actually adapt to toxic plants, 
as well as develop resistance to pesticides.”

Strange Facts. . .

* An international team of scientists found a mystery when they mapped the DNA of the two-spotted 
spider mite: Some of the mite’s genes are similar to those found in bacteria and fungi.

* Spider mites got their name because, like spiders, they spin webby strands of silk. While strong, 
however, the mites’ silk is 185 to 435 times thinner. Spider mites are vegetarians, so they use their 
silk for protection and travel, not entrapping prey.

* Scientists are predicting two-spotted spider mites will be a growing concern in a warming climate 
because the mites multiply extremely fast at high temperatures -- 90 degrees F or more.

* The spider mite genome contains about 90 million “base pairs” of DNA. So far, that’s the smallest 
gene sequence that scientists have “mapped” for any arthropod (i.e., spineless animal with an external 
skeleton, segmented body and jointed legs). Other arthropods’ gene maps have included up to 
7.1 billion base pairs. 
[ In other words, the average arthropod has 79,000 times more base pairs than the Spider Mite - Ed ]

* When scientists switched two-spotted spider mites from one host plant to another, they discovered that
 one-half of the mites’ cytochrome P450 family of genes responded by either turning on or turning off. 
 The mites had adapted with the biggest basic-level change ever seen in an animal.
[ In other words, half of the mites genes are designed to switch on or off depending on their immediate 
environment. The significance of this cannot be overstated, this is not the kind of behaviour you find in 
nature - Ed ]

There is another article with more technical details of the mite's genetic structure here.



Yet another long article, but the basic upshot is that food prices are going to rise, you can bet on it.

Christopher Carrion.

Governments Begin to Tighten Bullion Possession Laws


This is an extract of an excellent article from zerohedge, which you can find here:
[begin extract]
In Asia, Vietnam looks set to tighten their gold legislation.  Vietnamese and foreigners may soon be banned from taking gold bullion out of the country, and possibly even raw gold like nuggets and gold dust.  Jewellery weighing more than 300g would have to be declared with customs and taxed.
Permits to remove gold would require 15 days for processing.
Vu Ngoc Lan, deputy director of the SBV's Legislation Department, said the circular (only a draft) will strengthen the management of gold bullion and raw gold to keep the market stable. 
[end extract]   
I personally think that this is a very alarming trend. Not only have China and Russia stopped exporting gold, buy they are also buying as much as they can get their hands on. I believe the reason for this is twofold. Firstly, these countries know that the USD is bankrupt and so they are reducing USD in their foreign reserve holdings and increasing gold bullion holdings and secondly, they know that if the fiat money system collapses, then it will be those holding the gold who will be the winners.
This is hardly new, in fact, throughout history, there have been many attempts by governments to sieze the gold of their citizens in order to prop up their paper currency. Here are a few examples.

The High Cost of Eating

It looks like we are about to see another sudden spike in food prices, along with the global instability that follows. The markets have only been open for 4 hours and already Corn is up nearly 2.5%.


Wheat is coming up strongly as well, with Chicago Wheat for Sep-12 also up by more than 2%


Soyabeans are also on a dramatic rise, another basic food staple that has gained by more than 2% since the markets opened.

I have no idea what these prices are going to look like on Monday morning, but it seems to me that another spike in food prices, with it's attended social problems and food riots is on the way.
So in this vien, I thought I would attach this fascinating BBC article on what science is cooking up in a drive to feed the planet in the face of growing population and global weather disruptions.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18813075

[begin article]

Future foods: What will we be eating in 20 years' time?


Sunday, 29 July 2012

US Military Developing Insect Sized Surveillance Drones

Copied from PressTV Website.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/07/28/253223/us-developing-robot-mosquito-spy-drones/

Reports indicate the US military has poured huge sums of money into surveillance drone miniaturization and is developing micro aircraft which now come in a swarm of bug-sized flying spies.



According to various internet sources, a team of researchers at the Johns Hopkins University in conjunction with the US Air Force Office of Scientific Research at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Arlington, Virginia, is helping develop what they are calling a micro aerial vehicle (MAV) that will undertake various espionage tasks. 

Thursday, 26 July 2012

Stick With Gold Through the Eurozone Crisis


I think this article is a great little piece about the dangers of hyperinflation. Just because the west hasn't had one in a while, dont forget that the whole of the USSR was crippled by hyperinflation as collapsed in 1991.
This is what I am seriously afraid of. If the next debt crisis involves the collapse of sovereigns instead of the collapse of banks, the fallout will be massive

[begin article] 

By Tim Price, Contributing Editor, Money Morning

It was a race to reach the border.

On one side were the Austrian police and army. Their job was to seal every road and rail track in and out of the country.

Against them were ordinary citizens. They needed to get their cash - their life savings and their life's work - out of Austria-Hungary before the security forces executed their blockade.

When the Austro-Hungarian currency went down after World War I, it took savers with it. All the contingency plans and bail-outs and money printing came apart on one fateful day - the day Yugoslavia decided to quit the currency union.

Then all hell broke loose. Savers raced across fields in the dead of night with wheelbarrows full of cash. One by one the other nations fell out of the currency union. Savers rushed from one country to the next across the old empire, in the hope of recovering some of their paper's value.

Extreme Shock Ahead - Prepare Now.



Many people in Australia think that they are immune from the euro debt crisis, but the government there could be about to embark on a program that could increase their exposure at just the same time that the will be forced to lower interest rates because of a drop in economic activity.

At the moment, the Australians are sitting pretty, with an RBA benchmark of 3.5%. However, not that long ago, it was 4.5%. Now, as the Australians reduce their interest rates, the amount of capital flight coming into the country via the carry trade to exploit the high interest rates will dry up.

However, there is a significant possibility that the Chinese would be willing to help the Australians, but the fact that they are joined at the hip with the USA and up on their moral high horse may make that option much less attractive.

There seems to be a general perception in europe that all is well in Australia, but with a large drought crimping the wheat harvest and their currency rise making exports more expensive, things may not be as rosy as they seem.

To give you an idea, this is the kind of stuff coming out of Australia at the moment.

Tuesday, 24 July 2012

Charting America's Ever Shrinking "Revisionist" Economy

Another post copied from ZeroHedge showing the massive and continuing downward revisions in the US GDP. The original can be found here

This has been the recovery of downward revisions - each annual revision to payrolls and GDP since the recovery started in 2009 revealed an even sharper contraction and weaker recovery. BofAML believes this year’s revision, which is released with the Q2 GDP report on Friday, will once again show an even slower start to the recovery with growth revised lower in 2009 and 2010, and modestly higher in 2011. While it is good news that growth could be revised higher in 2011, it appears that it will only be marginal. The downward revisions to growth in 2009 and 2010 will still leave the level of GDP lower and, hence, the output gap larger. This shows that the economy has made even less progress in healing from the deep recession. The severity and duration of the recession was understated in real time and the recovery was overstated. This suggests that monetary policy may not have been easy enough over the past several years - and therefore the current slowdown is even more significant.



Monday, 23 July 2012

Why the U.S. Dollar Is Not Going to Zero Anytime Soon

Another Post from ZeroHedge, Submitted by Charles Hugh Smith from Of Two Minds

You can find the original here:

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/guest-post-why-us-dollar-not-going-zero-anytime-soon

[begin article]

Why the U.S. Dollar Is Not Going to Zero Anytime Soon
The market considers a variety of inputs in pricing the value of a floating currency. The dollar has more going for it than is generally understood.
The conventional view looks at the domestic credit bubble, the trillions in derivatives and the phantom assets propping the whole mess up and concludes that the only way out is to print the U.S. dollar into oblivion, i.e. create enough dollars that the debts can be paid but in doing so, depreciate the dollar's purchasing power to near-zero.
This process of extravagant creation of paper money is also called hyper-inflation.
While it is compelling to see hyper-inflation as the only way out in terms of the domestic credit/leverage bubble,the dollar has an entirely different dynamic if we look at foreign exchange (FX) and foreign trade.

The One Personality Trait that All Gold & Silver Investors Need to be Profitable

Copied from http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2012-07-23/one-personality-trait-all-gold-silver-investors-need-be-profitable

[begin article]


Before one every buys a single troy ounce of gold and silver, one should ensure first and foremost that one understands that gold and silver are volatile in price every single year. Many people commit the same mistake in buying gold and silver that they commit when buying into the stock market - they don’t buy assets when asset prices are low, and only buy them after prices have soared and news of a steep short-term climb in price has been reported by the mainstream media news. However, an even bigger mistake gold and silver purchasers make is not having enough patience to benefit from the long-term trends higher. So to sum up the mistakes people make when buying gold and silver they are:
(1) Not understanding that volatility in gold and silver markets does not equal risk when one knows how to interpret the volatility in these specialized assets correctly; and
(2) Not having enough patience.
These two concepts go hand in hand for the following reasons.

Sunday, 22 July 2012

Ron Paul: U.S. probably already manipulates gold through ESF


Interviewed this week by GoldSeek Radio's Chris Waltzek, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul said the gold market is probably manipulated by the U.S. government via the Treasury Department's Exchange Stabilization Fund. The interview is about 11 minutes long and can be heard at GoldSeek Radio here:


Christopher Carrion

Why JP Morgan is short Silver and Gold

This next article is copied from zerohedge.com and explains a bit more about the massive short positions being held by JPMorgan and other large US banks that makes it essential that they keep the gold price down, despite every fundamental force pushing the price up.
The main way they do this is with 'paper gold' by selling ETF's such as the SPDR Gold fund. However, these ETFs are not the same as physical gold. In fact, there was the memorable occassion recently when the head of a new Gold ETF held up a gold bar on TV.
Because every good value Gold Bar has a serial number, it wasn't hard for goldbugs to look up the serial number and find that the bar of gold was technically owned by a completely different ETF.
This is the essential problem with ETF's your 'gold' gets mixed in with everyone else's, they charge you fees for 'storage and administration' and all the while, you have no idea at all where your gold really is, apart from a piece of paper statement from the gold fund.
One of the common predictions about gold in the future is that the massive upward fundamental pressure caused by sovereign buying, particularly China, Russia and India will force the value of physical bullion up and up, threatening the large American banks short gold positions, at which point, once again, they will dump masses of paper gold onto the market to depress the price.


Why Gold will Erupt

This is from the same source as the article below, but written in June this year, so about 7 months later. I include it so that people can see how analysis changes over time, even when the writer has a very clear agenda, such as this one (which is basically, buy gold, a sentiment I happen to agree with. In my opinion, buying gold for anything under $1600USD is a steal)

Once again, this article was nicked copied from:

http://goldswitzerland.com/why-gold-will-erupt/

[Begin Article]


All the king’s horses and all the king’s men Could never hold gold down, Amen!

by Egon von Greyerz – July 2012

WHY GOLD WILL ERUPT

Intervention, manipulation and suppression

We have gold intervention, manipulation and suppression by governments, banks and hedge funds. We have a paper market in gold which is around 100 bigger than the physical market, facilitating this market intervention.
Governments dislike gold since it reveals their deceitful actions in destroying the value of paper money by printing unlimited amounts of it. The media don’t understand gold. Financial TV ridicules gold and even the most respected newspapers, like the FT, don’t appreciate that gold is money.
But in spite of all the adversity that gold has encountered in the last 12 years, the yellow metal has still appreciated over 6 times since 1999. And even with the major investment demand that we have seen in the last few years, only 1% of world financial assets are in gold.

Deus Ex Machina

This article is quite old, December 2011, but I think it makes some very good predictions about the upcoming fiat crash. Of course, like all such articles, they always estimate the collapse to come a bit sooner than it really does.. =)
But personally, I agree that the crash it describes is indeed on the way.

Have a read and decide for yourself.

By the way, this article was nicked copied from:

http://goldswitzerland.com/deus-ex-machina-egonvongreyerz/

[Begin Article]


DEUS EX MACHINA

by Egon von Greyerz – December 2011
With most of the world’s major economies as well as the financial system bankrupt, there is only one solution that can save the world economy. Like in the Greek tragedies, Deus ex Machina is now the only way that the world can avoid a total economic collapse. This would involve God being lowered down onto the world stage and miraculously saving the plot.

Saturday, 21 July 2012

Scumbags Changing Names.



About a year ago, when I knew absolutely nothing about the FX market apart from the fact that I was interested in it, I got sucked into a program run by a group called Knowledge 2 Action.
Basically, they send out heaps of emails inviting you to a free seminar, at which, over the course of an hour, they more or less separate the idiots from the people who know what they are doing by offering to teach you the basics of the forex market for, get this, only £2,500 for a weekend seminar.
Of course, the fact that the seminar is on the weekend means that they cannot actually teach you any real trading, because the markets are closed.
What you actually wind up with, for £2,500 is a couple of ring bound folders that tell you the basics about how the FX markets work (information that can be had for free on the internet, in other words) and a load of promises that if you only keep giving them more money, then you will be rich beyond your wildest dreams.
I remember at the end of the first day, they got someone to come into the room and tell people about an extra special course, only for those people who had the total commitment that would make you a super trader. The price, only £10,000.

Tuesday, 17 July 2012

War ALWAYS Causes Recession


Copied from:  http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2009/11/war-always-causes-recession-2.html

PhD economist Marc Faber predicts that the U.S. will launch a war to distract people from the bad economy.
China’s largest media outlet – Sohu.com – wrote in October 2008 that the Rand corporation, a leading U.S. military advisor, lobbied the Pentagon for a war to be started with a major foreign power in an attempt to stimulate the American economy:
According to French media, well-known U.S. think tank RAND Corporation … has submitted [to the Pentagon] an evaluation report assessing the wage a war to shift the feasibility of the current economic crisis…
Continued deepening of the U.S. sub-prime mortgage crisis and economic downturn, developed to a certain extent, is likely to trigger a war in order to achieve the purpose of the crisis passed.
(Google’s translation services are crude approximations, but Yihan Dai confirmed the translation of the original).
Is Faber right? Is the Sohu.com report accurate?

Significant Weather Anomalies in 2012

Hey peeps, check out this amazing chart I got of significant weather anomalies in 2012 so far.

If you look closely, you can see that althought the northern cap ice is shrinking, the southern cap ice is actually growing.

This really throws into doubt the idea of a single global warming that will affect everyone equally, replacing it with the idea of 'Global Weirding' with significant weather events increasing in frequency  and scale all across the world.


There is also data for Precipitation and Temperature anomalies for June 2012

The Secret History of Mind Control

Again tying into my theory that if humanity was not so controlled on a mass scale, then we would have greater realisation and control over the money system.

You can find the video here.

Christopher Carrion

Parents - The copies you carry with you always.

This is a little bit of writing I did the other day while thinking about the concept of parents.

Although some people might think that a finance blog is not the place for it, I disagree. It is the response to authority that makes us all believe in the power of paper money and it is conditioning by authorities, cunningly replacing the place of the parent in young minds that allows them to be send off to war.


We carry eternal copies of our parents inside ur heads, copies that originate in childhood. These copies have an incredible amount of influence over what we say and do, but they are just copies. The reasoning behind the way they act and their effect on the individual is all too rarely understood.

Indeed, in youth, they seem as big as god, their size taking up the whole universe, but as we grow, they get smaller and smaller, until we can see them in their totality, anaylse thier shape and only then fully appreciate the damage, or help that they have done to our life.

Christopher Carrion.

Gold may Rally by 22% by Years End - Bloomberg


I found this article on Bloomberg. Of course, you cant really trust the media, but I thought I would post it, since I have a very bullish feeling longterm for gold, as soon as the paper gold scam collapses.

Christopher Carrion

[begin article]

Gold will climb to a record by yearend as the global economy slows from the weight of too much debt, says Eric Sprott, the founder and chairman of Canadian fund manager Sprott Inc. (SII)
“I just can’t imagine the demand for gold is going down,” he said in a July 9 interview at Bloomberg’s Toronto office. “I don’t personally see a solution to the problem that we’re in, the financial leveraging issue that we all have where everybody wants to shed debt and there’s no buyers.”
Sprott’s company manages funds investing mainly in gold, silver, and precious-metals equities. He expects bullion will rise as investors seek the safest assets while governments spend to stimulate their economies, increasing chances that inflation will accelerate.
Gold, which had advanced for 11 successive years, is little changed so far in 2012. It’s 19 percent lower than the record $1,923.70 an ounce traded on Sept. 6 in New York after investors favored buying the dollar amid Europe’s escalating debt crisis.

Wednesday, 11 July 2012

Banking Propaganda

It's really interesting to see the kind of images that are circulating about bankers recently.. It reminds me alot of the kind of stuff that was going around before the French Revolution. I suspect that this bodes serious ill for the banking community..


My guess is that the public thinks not. =)

Monday, 9 July 2012

Graphs from the Flash Crash

Here's an amazing picture I found of the flash crash in motion. It's part of a pdf file that was used for a class at University of Maryland.


Pretty amazing to see it caught in motion like that.

The pdf file is a good read for anyone who doesn't have a real understanding of the causes of the flash crash from a technical perspective.

Here is an extract:


Why Did the Flash Crash Occur?
  • 􏰀  One account sold 75,000 contracts ($4 billlion, or about 1.5% of May 6 volume).
  • 􏰀  This was the largest sale by one account from January 1 to May 6, 2010.
  • 􏰀  This sale occurred precisely during the 20 minute period corresponding to the flash crash and V-shaped rebound.
  • 􏰀  The buy side of the limit order book was greatly depleted when the sale occurred, due to large price declines previously during the day.
  • 􏰀  This sale was executed rapidly compared to other sales of similar size.


You can find a copy of the original pdf here:

http://www.q-group.org/pdf/20110325_Kyle_Q-group_06.pdf

Christopher Carrion

Sunday, 8 July 2012

Paul Brodsky: Central Banks Are Nearing The 'Inflate Or Die' Stage



This article was copied from Zer0Hedge, but I thought it deserved to be spread. For some reason, the blog decided to mice it into a million pieces, so apologies if it's a tiny bit scrambled.


The Original is here:


http://www.zerohedge.com/news/paul-brodsky-central-banks-are-nearing-inflate-or-die-stage

Paul Brodsky: Central Banks Are Nearing The 'Inflate Or Die' Stage
"It's impossible to have a political solution to a balance sheet problem" says Paul Brodsky, bond market expert and co-founder of QB Asset Management.

The world has simply gotten itself into too much debt. There are creditors that expect to be paid, and debtors that are having an increasingly difficult time making their coupon payments. No amount of political or policy intervention is going to change that reality. (Unless a global "debt jubilee" transpires, which Paul thinks is unlikely).

Looking at the global monetary base, Paul sees it dwarfed by the staggering amount of debts that need to be repaid or serviced. The reckless use of leverage has resulted in a chasm between total credit and the money that can service it.

So how will this debt overhang be resolved?

Central bank money printing -- and lots of it -- thinks Paul.

At this point, the danger posed by the instability of our monetary and fiscal house of cards is so great that trying to time an investment program to when this avalanche of printing will occur is too risky, in Paul's opinion. It's time to shift your remaining capital into hard assets and sit on the sidelines to watch the carnage play out.

On The Imbalance Between Debts and Money Supply

We are seeing -- not only in the US but in Europe and in Asia, as well --separating bank assets and base money. Base money is comprised of currency in circulation plus bank reserves that are held at central banks -- at the Fed or that is at the ECB, the Bank of Japan, so on and so forth. This is how the global economy rolls, as they say.
Bank assets are loans mostly. And the amounts globally are staggering: something approaching $100 trillion in global bank assets. And in the US we think that is somewhere around $20 trillion held in the US and abroad. And the numbers for the monetary base are much, much lower. Specifically in bank reserves -- that is the amount of reserves that are collateralizing, if you will, all of those $100 trillion in bank assets -- something about $8.5 to $9 trillion dollars. So that gives you a sense of perspective as to how much the global banking system is leverage. We are in a baseless monetary system