Old Assets Revitalized by the Energy Boom

"The 'shale gale' energy boom is pumping billions of new dollars into otherwise old, worn-out economies. The results are stunning. For example, near Youngstown, the French company Vallourec has built a new plant to process oilfield tubular goods. The gigantic facility cost over $650 million to build. Now it cranks out 350,000 tons of steel oil pipe and related products per year. Even more impressive, this is no dirty, grimy old industrial shed, like those that formerly dotted the region for much of the past century. No, this Vallourec site is almost a 'clean room' environment, filled with high-tech jobs that pay impressive wages." Continue reading

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300 Tons a Day of Radioactive Water From Fukushima Pours Into Ocean

"Officials in Japan hid the fact that the Fukushima nuclear plant has been pouring hundreds of tons of nuclear waste water into the ocean every day and that a containment barrier has been breached. There is no credibility from TEPCO or the Japanese government on the extent of the real disaster, its effects, the ultimate cleanup costs, or how many years fish in the area will be contaminated. In addition, contaminated fish may turn up anywhere within their normal swimming range with obvious implications." Continue reading

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Fishermen still fighting Fukushima’s aftermath

"The environment ministry recently announcement that 300 tonnes of contaminated groundwater from Fukushima Daiichi is still seeping over or around barriers into the Pacific every day, more than two years after it was struck by a tsunami in March 2011. Government officials said they suspected the leaks had started soon after the accident, which resulted in a nuclear meltdown. Unable to make a living from a sea poisoned by radiation, the town’s 70 fishermen earn money clearing tsunami debris; the only fish they catch are taken not to market, but to makeshift labs where they are tested for radiation from the plant, located just 12 miles to the north." Continue reading

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Greek police report riot at immigrant detention camp

"Riot police were dispatched on Saturday to put down a riot at Greece’s main migrant detention camp where detainees hurled stones at officers and set fire to their living quarters, authorities said. Television footage showed fires blazing at the Amygdaleza detention camp outside Athens, where some 1,200 mainly Asian migrants are kept under police guard. Amygdaleza is one of several detention camps set up since last year to assist in the repatriation of thousands of undocumented migrants. The police spokesman said rioting began when the detainees were told that their maximum stay in the camp would be extended to 18 months from a year previously." Continue reading

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The New, Improved 1984

"Have you noticed that every key metric of the economy is constantly being revised, rewriting history and installing a shiny new set of 'facts'? The 'headline number' is always positive, and its downward revision buried in an avalanche of new data. The revisions are so constant and so extreme that the recognition of this constant revision of history to suit the political needs of the current regime has been numbed; everyone knows the numbers are intended to paint a positive picture of a devolving, fragile economy and society, but we prefer this propaganda illusion to the harsh reality. Why? Because half of us are getting a direct check, benefit or payment from the state." Continue reading

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The Road to World Government, World Police, World Tyranny

"Here’s another incipient road to world police: the US Special Operations Command. At present, Special Forces and this command get a pass from the American public. In fact, any American force that can thwart an insurrection or rebellion in the US, even the nationally-controlled militia, is a huge obstacle to liberty. Admiral William McRaven, who heads USSOC, wants 'to establish a formal framework in which U.S. special operations forces (SOF), interagency partners and foreign allies join an alliance that promotes the sharing of intelligence, partner engagement, training and, if necessary, direct action.' It would be called the Global SOF Network." Continue reading

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State Of Mind: The Psychology of Control

"Are we controlled? To what extent and by whom? What does it mean for humanity's future? From cradle to grave our parents, peers, institutions and society inform our values and behaviors but this process has been hijacked. State Of Mind examines the science of control that has evolved over generations to keep us firmly in place so that dictators, power brokers and corporate puppeteers may profit from our ignorance and slavery. From the anvil of compulsory schooling to media and entertainment, we are kept in perpetual bondage to the ideas that shape our actions." Continue reading

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Aging Chinese apologize for their roles in the Cultural Revolution

"As a teenager radicalised by China’s Cultural Revolution, Zhang Hongbing denounced his mother to the authorities. Two months later a firing squad shot her dead. Now after more than 40 years of mounting guilt, Zhang has ruffled the silence that cloaks China’s decade of turmoil with a public confession. 'Red Guard' youths abused their elders — officials, intellectuals, neighbours, relatives — dragging them into 'struggle sessions', ransacking their homes and driving some to suicide. Only a handful of public confessions have appeared, mostly in recent years as the Revolution’s once-heady teenagers enter their 60s." Continue reading

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Eccentric Beijing resident builds rock villa atop apartment skyscraper

"Neighbours have complained about China’s latest architectural oddity, which covers more than 1,000 square metres (10,000 square feet), saying they fear it could cause the structure to collapse on top of them, the Beijing Morning Post reported. Authorities have posted notices that the villa in the Haidian area in the west of the city is illegal, it added. Houses standing on top of multi-storey buildings are not unknown in China, where a rising property market is making land more and more expensive. A developer in central China built 25 luxury villas on top of a shopping mall, which became migrant workers’ residences after authorities declared them illegal." Continue reading

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3 Gold Facts You Can’t Ignore

"You might find these first two facts exciting. A potential gold comeback could mean a new trade—or even new life for an old position you had left for dead. But before you clear out a spot in your portfolio for a brand new gold position, there’s one last fact you must know. Out of everything I’ve already told you today, this piece of information is far and away the most important truth about gold today. Fact No. 3 is simple. It’s true. And it trumps every other analysis or assumption about gold. The third fact is this: Even as futures perk up this morning, gold remains stuck in a painful downtrend." Continue reading

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