"Stories Going Beyond The Mainstream"
Destiny's Key Unfolding Mega Trends:
"Easter Island, Nauru; Now Venezuela And Arctic"
Venezuela: A Microcosm Of Imminent Food Crisis And Unrest Worldwide
Venezuelans flock to Colombia for food
Thousands of people have crossed to Colombia after Venezuela opened their common border to allow its people to buy food and medicine, officials say.
The frontier, closed by Venezuela last August as part of a crime crackdown, was to open for 12 hours.
Venezuela is going through a deep economic crisis and many say they struggle to feed their families.
Last week, about 500 Venezuelan women broke through the border controls in search of food.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro ordered the border closure because, he said, the area had been infiltrated by Colombian paramilitaries and gangs.
The measure also prevents subsidised goods from being smuggled from Venezuela into Colombia.
Some 16,000 people had crossed the border between San Antonio del Tachira, in Venezuela, and Cucuta, in Colombia, an official told the BBC's Natalio Cosoy, in Cucuta.
No Doubt We Are In A BIG Mess
A Precarious State
The global political/economic state feels precarious for a good reason: it is precarious.
That the global economy is in a precarious state seems self-evident.Take your pick of the systemic risks: debt bubble and slowdown in China, banking/political crisis in Europe, negative interest rates and stagnation in Japan, ongoing meltdown in emerging markets and currencies, oil prices that threaten mayhem if they go up and if they go down, and a downturn in global trade that is usually associated with recession.
Other than that, everything's great. How about those summer Olympics? Seriously, what isn't in a precarious state?
Top Bank Says Likelihood of Recession Now 60%
Yield Curve Shows 60% Chance of Recession, Deutsche Bank Says
The so-called yield curve suggests there’s a 60% chance of a U.S. recession occurring in the next 12 months, according to analysts at Deutsche Bank, led by Dominic Konstam. The calculations attach the highest probability to an economic contraction since the financial crisis.
Bill Gates And Friends See Nuclear Revival?
Bill Gates And Other Billionaires Backing A Nuclear Renaissance
Let’s for a second imagine a world without nuclear energy. That’s a tough one but let’s try. No nuclear bombs, of course, no Chernobyl and Fukushima, no worries about Iran and North Korea. A wonderful world, maybe? Probably not, because without nuclear energy we would have burned millions more tons of coal and billions more barrels of oil. This would have brought about climate change of such proportions that what we have today would have seemed negligible.
Central Banks Creating Unprecedented Asset Inflation - Downside Brutal
Who’s Buying It?
With the market breaking out to all-time highs, the media has started to once again reach for their party hats as headlines suggest clear sailing for investors ahead.
While I certainly do not disagree the breakout is indeed bullish, and signals a continuation of the long-term bullish trend, there are more than sufficient reasons to remain somewhat cautious. Earnings are still weak, there is little evidence of economic resurgence and inflationary pressures globally remain nascent. But, for now, a rash of global Central Banks continue to support asset prices by increasing accommodative policies either through additional reductions in interest rates or direct injections of liquidity. As Matt King from Citi recently noted:
Read More“It has been a surge in net global central bank asset purchases to their highest level since 2013.”
Italy Next - As Severe Banking Crisis Unfolds
Bad Debt Piled in Italian Banks Looms as Next Crisis
MILAN—Britain’s vote to leave the EU has produced dire predictions for the U.K. economy. The damage to the rest of Europe could be more immediate and potentially more serious. Nowhere is the risk concentrated more heavily than in the Italian banking sector.
Arctic Ice Melts; Alaska Bakes In Record Heat
CLIMATE NEWS
Alaska Bakes In Heat Wave While Arctic Sea Ice Continues To Melt
The Arctic is experiencing a heat wave.
Alaska reached temperatures in the 80s, with Deadhorse reaching a record-high temperature of 85 degrees on Wednesday evening. Other cities including Bettles and Eagle reached 85, Fort Yukon hit 84, and Nenana reported 87.
“A pulse of warm air invaded the North Slope of northern Alaska on Wednesday, bringing some of the warmest air ever recorded there,” meteorologist Jeff Masters explained on his blog, Weather Underground. “Even with the 24-hour sunlight it receives during most of July, the North Slope typically experiences highs only in the 50s and lows in the 30s.”
