##
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 ##
Delhi
air impurities far worse than level that won Indian capital
'world's most polluted city' title
##
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 ##
Most
Americans’ best days are behind them (interactive
map)
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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