Monday 15 December 2014

Headlines - 12/14/2014

## Global Ponzi meltdown/House of Cards ##
Cash-strapped Greeks are selling off their slices of paradise - flocks of sheep included
Along with stock and real estate portfolios, the global rich are now buying a new form of economic security: passport portfolios. Wealthy investors from around the world are increasingly shopping for visas or citizenship in other countries, hoping for a personal hedge against their own volatile governments or economies.
There has been a car industry in Australia for about as long as there have been cars. But within two or three years, the last of the continent's auto plants will go dark.
Barclays and Deutsche Bank may have programmed automated trading platforms to systematically rig the currency markets, a US regulator has alleged.

## Airline Death Spiral ##
The latest case of air rage — a seemingly growing genre of conflict — came Thursday when a Thai AirAsia flight bound for Nanjing, China was forced to return to Bangkok after an unruly passenger threw scalding hot water on a flight attendant
The business is chronically under-capitalized and government have indicated that they are not going to recapitalize SAA,” the Johannesburg-based airline said in a presentation dated November 2014. An aging fleet, competition from carriers including Emirates and a weakening rand have all contributed to a funding shortfall, it said.
Around 80 airports in Europe attract fewer than 1 million passengers a year, and about three-quarters of those are in the red, according to industry body Airports Council International.
Aircraft-seat suppliers are struggling to meet the demand for new high-end, lie-flat seats for business and first class in big widebody jets, and the supply-chain squeeze has begun to slow Boeing jet deliveries.

## Fault lines/flashpoints/powder kegs/military/war drums ##
Vietnam and the Philippines expressed support for each other this week against claims made by China in the hotly disputed South China Sea area. The battle over a cluster of resource-rich islands and strategic maritime territories in Southeast Asia is now being fought before an arbitration tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands.
Iranian military commanders deployed in Iraq played a key role in recent victories against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) fighters throughout the country, according to Iraqi security officials and Shia militia leaders. 
Swedish authorities say military plane turned off transponder to avoid commercial radar and came close to collision
And to help lock down Middle East oil. -- RF
Across the Pacific Rim, regional powers are creating new marine infantry units... Since 2009, India, Australia and Japan have all announced the creation of seagoing infantry forces.

## Global unrest/mob rule/angry people/torches and pitchforks ##

## Energy/resources ##
After a six-hour long blackout across much of the country except Karachi, electricity has partially been restored in many areas following a massive breakdown the national power grid suffered because of a technical fault at Tarbela power station on Friday morning.

## Infrastructure scavenging ##

## Got food? ##

## Environment/health ##

## Intelligence/propaganda/security/internet/cyberwar ##
Aftenposten's report claimed the newspaper found IMSI-catchers -- also known as 'stingrays' -- placed inside fake mobile phone stations near government and parliamentary buildings in Oslo. Some of the spy devices were also located near Prime Minister Erna Solberg's residence.

## Systemic breakdown/collapse/unsustainability ##
Sure, you've heard about road rage but did you know that shopping cart rage is a real and growing problem that is playing out in supermarkets across the country? In fact, its an epidemic that was first documented by researchers in 2005. Since then cases of shopping cart rage have been increasing in frequency – especially around the holidays.
Road rage, air rage, shopping cart rage... More people are seeking the good life even as energy constraints shoehorn everyone but the super-rich into increasingly small spaces, both physical and mental. Keep expecting more blow-ups as rage boils over everywhere. -- RF

## Japan ##
The Yomiuri Shimbun IBM Japan Ltd. and a Chiba-based nonprofit organization have jointly developed a special program in which guest lecturers are sent to middle school to teach students in math classes how to utilize big data.
The reason is the lack of a credible opposition. No one has any new ideas. -- RF

## China ##
The number of supertankers sailing to China jumped to a record in ship-tracking data amid signs that the oil-price crash is spurring the Asian nation to stockpile.

## UK ##
New figures have revealed the dramatic spread of low-paid, insecure and casual work across the British economy since the financial crash of 2008. In that year, one in 20 men and one in 16 women worked in the casualised labour market. Now, one in 12 of both men and women are in precarious employment, which includes zero-hours contracts (ZHCs), agency work, variable hours and fixed-term contracts, according to new TUC data.
Official figures - initially withheld by ministers - show steep rises in the price of electricity by the end of the decade to pay for the Government's policies to tackle climate change
The reactors of nuclear power stations across Britain have been shut down 20 times a year because of faults - prompting fears over safety and the UK's energy supply.

## US ##
Median household income peaked at least 15 years ago in 81 percent of U.S. counties. That means that when incomes are adjusted for inflation, most middle class households are actually earning less money than they did years ago.
Nostradamus like spending bill will ensure big banks never fail with your money.
Look around town and you will find homes with rotting wood, holes in the roofs, and other problems. Sometimes, the process to fix the homes or have them torn down can take years, leaving neighbors with concerns and taxpayers paying for upkeep.
Trial by jury, a cornerstone of the American justice system, has become a luxury North Carolina is struggling to afford.
The impact on first time home buying, renting, and the 2015 housing market. Big jump in foreign EB-5 visas.

And finally...

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