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Last week when I heard on the news that all of the sea lions had left the pier I told my wife that it was a sign of something about to happen geologically. Animals always sense these things. That being said, I doubt they would have left for a series of small quakes. Is something larger on the horizon?
"For a second consecutive day, Bay Area residents had their morning interrupted by a moderate earthquake.
A 3.7 magnitude quake rumbled at 11:48 a.m. today, according to preliminary analysis from the U.S. Geological Survey. It occurred six miles north/northeast of Milpitas and 11 miles north/northeast of San Jose City Hall. Just before 2 p.m., the USGS recorded a 2.1 tremor.
Thursday morning, a 4.1 magnitude earthquake was recorded in the same general area."
Mercury News
It doesn't take a Nobel Laureate to figure this out. If those of us that aren't making the kind of money we used to have to spend more on energy, what do you think is going to happen to all of our other spending?
This could be the final nail in the coffin if they can keep the prices up. With low demand on the transportation side it would seem that a free market would cause prices to fall. Makes you wonder just how "free" the market is.
Peak Oil in action. We don't have to run out of energy; pricing us out of the market has the same effect.
I don't know, seems like a fairly typical government employee to me.
"They are the first line of defense in airport security but two troubling incidents involving TSA agents at LAX are raising concerns.
A TSA agent was arrested on January 3rd in Terminal One at LAX, a source told NBCLA. He had just gotten off duty and was behaving erratically, saying, "I am god, I’m in charge."
NBC Los Angeles
So after he blew up the plane were they planning on calling in the Ghost Hunters to do the questioning?
"Officials from the Transport Security Administration discovered Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's name on the Customs and Border Protection database after he boarded his Northwest flight in Amsterdam and were waiting to question him upon landing in Detroit, according to senior law enforcement officials.
The disclosure appears to show US intelligence was close to uncovering the terrorist plot, despite the barrage of criticism it has come under since Abdulmutallab, 23, failed to detonate a bomb aboard a Northwest airliner on Christmas Day."
The Telegraph
Is it just me, or does anyone else feel like we've entered the eye of the storm? It seems oddly quiet now.
Sure, we've got the the healthcare bill chuggin' along and some guy shot up an office here today but it seems like we're waiting for the other shoe to fall. There isn't much in the news but the same old stuff. I looked at all the usual places and didn't see anything earth shattering to talk about. It's as though current events have been softly muted to give us a chance to catch our breath; giving us time to get ready for the storm wall to hit again.
Or, maybe it's the Nyquil I've been drinking to get rid of this stupid cold.
So what happens if the people of Iceland decide to decouple from the world financial controls? What if they tell the bankers to take a leap?
It's going to be interesting to see what sort of pressure is brought to bear. I can't imagine that the money guys want people to think that they can stand on their own two feet. Independent thought and actions would be dangerous and not in the interest of the elites.
"LONDON, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Iceland would cut itself off from global financial assistance if its people vote not to compensate Britain and the Netherlands for losses caused by the collapse of Icelandic bank Icesave, Britain's financial services minister Paul Myners said on Tuesday.
Britain and the Netherlands are seeking more than $5 billion from Iceland which they paid in compensation to their domestic depositors after Icesave's failure in 2008, but Iceland's President Olafur Grimsson vetoed a parliamentary bill which approved this.
Grimsson's decision earlier on Tuesday will likely trigger a referendum in the North Atlantic island where a quarter of voters have already signed a petition calling for the deal to be scrapped.
Myners told the BBC that if Iceland voted against the deal, it would cut itself off from the global financial system and from International Monetary Fund aid for its economy, one of the worst hit by the world bank crisis.
'The Icelandic people, if they were to reach that conclusion, would effectively be saying that Iceland does not want to be part of the international financial system, that Iceland doesn't want to have access to multi-national, national and bilateral funding and doesn't want to be regarded as a safe counter-party with whom to do business,' Myners said."
London Southeast
"Consider the facts. In Spain, unemployment has already reached a gut-wrenching 19.3%. But unemployment for those between 16-24 is a catastrophic 42%. In Greece, youth unemployment is 25%, in Ireland 28.4% and Italy 26.9%. Marginal eurozone countries such as Greece, Spain and Ireland are not just in recession. They are in depression – and so long as they remain inside the euro there is no exit.
Before their decision to abandon economic sovereignty and sign up to the euro, policymakers had a tried and tested response to the kind of global setback of the last two years – depreciate the currency and loosen fiscal and monetary policy. This has been the answer produced by Britain, mercifully outside the euro thanks mainly to John Major's brave, far-sighted and universally denounced decision to opt out of monetary union when he signed the Maastricht Treaty in 1992. But inside the euro, individual countries are stripped of the ability to manage their own economies. That is why the global recession has been far, far more devastating for some eurozone members than would otherwise have been the case – in just the same way that membership of the ERM inflicted wholly unnecessary damage on the British economy in the early 1990s."
The Guardian
Not being a political scientist, economist or anything else of note, thus not competent to render any sort of meaningful opinion on these sorts of issues, I'm going to do it anyway.
This article got me thinking about Europe and the Euro; and by extension, the U.S.A. Europe is a group of very different societies bound together through geography and some common interests. Their differences are pronounced enough that the history of Europe has been a history of war and strife. This seems to be the natural course of things. I'm not judging whether this is good or bad, I'm just looking at what is true.
The European Union has attempted to create a unified economic zone right in the middle of this mess. It has tried to create unity where none has ever existed. Why? For the sake of the banking interests. In the name of a more orderly flow of capital to their pockets they have forced an unnatural and in the end destructive form of control on the people of Europe. They have also, applying the Second Law of Thermodynamics, created such an efficient means of wealth transfer that they have sped up the cycle of collapse. By trying to remove the natural inefficiency of the system of sovereign states they have only insured the European proclivity towards war. The bankers have denied the people a voice in the system and have created massive economic dislocation. This heavy handed, big government elitist imposition of laws designed to control the uneducated and unenlightened masses will result in escalation of riots and societal discord. If the people are denied legitimate political recourse to solve their problems at the local level they will strike out at the powers that be.
America is following the same course. While this country is more cohesive than Europe it isn't all that different. We were designed to be a union of sovereign states that would work together to support our common interests. Over the last 150 years or so state sovereignty has been abolished and strong central control has taken its place. The natural inefficiency of the system designed by the Founding Fathers prevented the Federal Government from exercising the power to destroy the country as a whole. Each state was responsible for itself and functioned as its own country, competing against the others for business and political advantage.
The Lincoln administration forced a one size fits all government on the American people where one was never meant to exist. Like the E.U. all of our eggs were thrown into one basket. Instead of a group of independent economies supporting a few narrowly defined common interests we have become a one size fits all oligarchy.
Today we find ourselves on the verge of collapse. Just like in Europe, the people are frustrated and feel that their "government" is unresponsive to them while bowing and scraping at the feet of the bankers. The legitimate means of political redress seem to be ineffective. The majority of Americans are opposed to the health care bill and have made their opinions known. Forcefully and loudly. Yet the elitists in Washington will pass it anyway, because they are "wiser" than the people.
America is no different than Europe today. The people sense that they have lost control of their destiny to the banking and political interests. We are told that the economy is expanding and that life is good while we can see with our own eyes that the economy is only expanding for those on Wall Street, not out here where the people live. And just like in Europe, the frustrations are beginning to boil over. We are caught in an unnatural system of controls and in the end we will not stand for it.
America and Europe are on the verge of revolution. 2010 may be an ugly year.
"International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) recently released its annual performance report for 2008-2009. Despite an economic downturn and a slight decrease in annual income, the abortion industry giant boasts of increased activity across all of its lines of work -- including condom distribution, advocacy and abortion services.
IPPF’s overall income for 2008 was US$119.7 million, down from over $120 million the previous year.
While IPPF's total financial intake dipped, its abortion business boomed. The organization provided almost 428,000 “abortion services” to young people alone, with a staggering 1,134,549 total number of such services – almost double the number from 2007 – across the globe.
Despite an increase in abortion services, IPPF remains unsatisfied with the figure, arguing that "in comparison to other types of services provided by IPPF Member Associations, these figures remain low and indicate that much needs to be done in terms of future investment in this area if IPPF is to meet its objectives of providing women with the choice and right to safe abortion when faced with an unwanted pregnancy."
In the report, IPPF boasts of promoting its abortion agenda among its member associations in traditionally pro-life countries."
Life News
And we wonder why we are being punished. We continue to sacrifice our children just as the pagans of old. Instead of offering up our sufferings and joy to the one, true God, we offer up the lives of our young to the god of convenience. The true God says we will be rewarded, through grace, for the good we do and punished for the bad. The false god says there is no reward or punishment, just selfishness and the worship of the false freedom of living a lie. The worship of self as the prime reason for our existence. We live for our own pleasure, to satisfy our every lust and increase our sense of self worth. We are all gods, worthy of worship and honor. Let nothing stand in our way, especially the fruit of our purest pursuit of the self centered gratification of our most base, animal desires.
We deny the part of the true Gods nature that we posses, the ability to be part of the creation of life. We take this gift from the true God and murder it as a sacramental offering to the god of this earth; and the author of our destruction. We worship at the altar of the father of lies, the author of murder and beg for his blessing. We ask for money and power but never wisdom and understanding, for those are the enemy of the false god, the one that would set on the throne of the Creator.
As we enter this new decade we are going to see signs and wonders, just like those of days long ago. We are entering a dangerous time, one which will require a rebirth in the understanding of our place in the world and our responsibilities. The lies that we have accepted as truth are going to be swept away. The comforts and privileges we have come to expect as little gods will be taken from us. We must learn to accept, with humility and grace, the challenges that are put before us. We must learn that there are consequences to our actions. 15 minutes of fun can create a lifetime of responsibility. We have to accept the responsibility for our actions. We can't just kill it and pretend it didn't happen. We are given crosses to bear, not to bury.
It is only through grace and acceptance that we can survive the coming storm. Spoiled children throw tantrums and destroy when they don't get their way; adults accept and adapt. Our childhood had ended and the time of trial is beginning. Look to the true God and not yourself. Ask for the wisdom and patience you will need. We must all work together, through the grace of God for the coming of the new age.
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