Designed For Flight - Chuck Missler

Isaac - 2012

Tropical Storm Isaac

People frequently write to me to share links to news articles. Quite a few have sent me information on Tropical Storm Isaac, which is forecast to become Hurricane Isaac in the next day or two. Many are looking for the spiritual significance of this storm. It is being reported that Isaac should make landfall on the 7th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina striking New Orleans, possibly near the same location.

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/27/us/tropical-storm-isaac/index.html

As I have considered the “coincidence” of these events I was led to reflect on the message contained in Hurricane Katrina. In the presentation titled Signs of Judgment I shared that Hurricane Katrina was sent by God as a judgment against flagrant moral debauchery. Katrina struck New Orleans just a few days before the 34th annual Southern Decadence event was scheduled to take place. Southern Decadence is a week long event that is promoted by the Mayor and City Council of New Orleans, and it is self-described as “a gayer Mardi Gras.”

On August 31, 2005, two days after Katrina struck New Orleans, the group Repent America issued a press release containing the following information.

"Southern Decadence" has a history of filling the French Quarter section of the city with drunken homosexuals engaging in sex acts in the public streets and bars. Last year, a local pastor sent video footage of sex acts being performed in front of police to the mayor, city council, and the media. City officials simply ignored the footage and continued to welcome and praise the weeklong celebration as being an "exciting event." However, Hurricane Katrina has put an end to the annual celebration of sin.
[Source: http://www.repentamerica.com/pr_hurricanekatrina.html]

It is true that Hurricane Katrina prevented Southern Decadence from being held in New Orleans in 2005, but it was back and in full swing the following year. I checked to see when the event was scheduled to be held this year and found that it is slated to begin on Wednesday, August 29th, the 7th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina striking the city, and the same day that “Hurricane” Isaac is forecast to make landfall impacting New Orleans.

The name Katrina bore an obvious message in 2005. The name Katrina is derived from the Greek katharos meaning “pure.” Katrina also made final landfall at the mouth of the Pearl River. Pearls throughout the Scriptures represent that which is pure and undefiled. The New Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven is described as having 12 gates each made of pearl. This is the origin of the expression “the pearly gates.”

Revelation 21:21, 27
And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl... and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.

Note that the gates of pearl serve as the demarcation between that which is holy and that which is unholy. We are specifically told that “no one who practices abomination... shall ever come into” the city. Yahweh has described homosexuality as an abomination.

Leviticus 18:22
“You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination.”

That the revelers coming to New Orleans intuitively recognize the gross immorality of their actions is revealed in the name of the debauched homosexual festival held there. It is named “Southern Decadence.” The word decadent means “morally depraved, impure.” The word shares a common root with the word “decay,” which is used to describe a fall from a pristine state into one of corruption. Despite the hue and cry of the homosexual community that their sodomite acts are to be respected as natural and decent, when they gather together among their own in New Orleans they boast of the indecency of their unrestrained sexual escapades.

The official website for the Southern Decadence events in New Orleans contains the following words on their history page.

By noon traffic will be closed to vehicles at Royal Street at Esplanade and Barracks at Chartres Street since Royal Street will be overflowing with marchers mostly costumed in drag, scare drag and traditional drag, and any other kind of rig they can conjure up from their imaginations. And don't forget all those gourgeous (sic) men and women, most scantily clad. You will see the playful, the whimsical, the pretty, the ugly, the satirical, the witty, and the obscene. But whatever you see, it will always be totally decadent.
[Source: http://www.southerndecadence.com/history.htm]

When a people give themselves over to moral depravity to such an extent that their consciences are seared, where they have no shame, nor inhibition, choosing rather to boast of their unrighteousness, they are inviting the judgment of Yahweh.





New Orleans After Katrina Struck

There was no repentance in New Orleans to be found among the city leadership after the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina. Mayor Nagin immediately began declaring that although Southern Decadence had been canceled, the city was determined to be back open for all revelers to arrive to celebrate Mardi Gras in the Spring. Four weeks later, just as the mayor announced that citizens could begin to return Hurricane Rita struck and flooded the city for the second time. The name Rita means “pearl.” God was plainly declaring that He will judge unrighteousness and that He demands purity from the nations.

Seeing that the names of these hurricanes that struck New Orleans in 2005 bore such significant meaning, what could the name Isaac portend? The name Isaac means laughter, and it is derived from the Hebrew word “tsechoq.”

Genesis 21:6-7
And Sarah said, "God has made me laugh (teschoq), and all who hear will laugh with me."

Strong’s Concordance of Hebrew words provides the following definition of this word.

laughter (in pleasure or derision)

When I first learned the name of this storm was Isaac, the word “derision” immediately came to mind. This Hebrew word occurs in only two places in the Bible. The following passage is speaking of Yahweh’s judgment upon Judah and Jerusalem for their flagrant immorality. Yahweh states that those who have given themselves to sin with an unrepentant heart will “be laughed at and held in derision (teschoq).”

Ezekiel 23:28-33
Thus says Yahweh God..., "the nakedness of your harlotries will be uncovered, both your lewdness and your harlotries. These things will be done to you because you have played the harlot with the nations, because you have defiled yourself with their idols. You have walked in the way of your sister (Samaria); therefore I will give her cup into your hand.' Thus says Yahweh God, ‘You will drink your sister's cup, which is deep and wide. You will be laughed at and held in derision; It contains much. You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, the cup of horror and desolation...”

The city of New Orleans is unrepentant in its unrighteousness. Although it has been twice struck by hurricanes in recent times, it has not altered its hedonistic pursuit of every form of impurity and unrighteousness.

Southern Decadence - New Orleans
Dates Wednesday August 29th - September 3rd (2012)

Southern Decadence started forty-one years ago as a simple going-away party. As a top gay Labor Day Weekend destination, it has evolved into one of our world's major annual events. One of the largest annual celebrations and festivals in New Orleans, it has become known as the "Gay Mardi Gras." People begin to arrive on the Wednesday before Labor Day, and generally don't even think about stopping or going home until the following Tuesday. With over 120,000 gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender participants, and an economic impact estimated to be in excess of $125 million, the city has recognized the festival's importance with an Official Proclamation to welcome the event.
[Source: http://www.southerndecadence.net/]

Isaac is set to rain on this parade of immorality. Following is an image of a weather forecast for the city posted today.





Though the leaders of the city, and of the nation, promote homosexuality as if it were virtuous and beyond reproach, God has declared that it is an abomination. Many are giving into the constant drone of the media and pressure from those who promote sodomy and other perversions. The weight of men’s opinions is less than nothing when compared to the thoughts and judgments of mankind’s Creator.

Isaiah 40:15-17
Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales; Behold, He lifts up the islands like fine dust. Even Lebanon is not enough to burn,
Nor its beasts enough for a burnt offering. All the nations are as nothing before Him, they are regarded by Him as less than nothing and meaningless.

Though the pride of man boasts great things, and puffs itself up in rebellion against God, Yahweh holds the unrighteous and prideful in derision. None can stay His hand.

May you be blessed with peace and understanding in these days.

Joseph Herrin

Spain's Bankia seen losing four billion euros in first half

(Reuters) - Nationalised lender Bankia (BKIA.MC) is expected to post first-half losses of more than 4 billion euros (3 billion pounds) on Friday, highlighting the need for capital from a European rescue of Spanish banks that is unlikely to arrive before the end of September.

Bankia was taken over by the government in May when it asked for 19 billion eurosof state aid after anticipating the steep losses from real estate investments which soured after the property market crashed four years ago.

Spain has asked Europe for money to keep its banks afloat after a surge in bad debts as the economy sank into recession and is considering asking for a broader economic bailout. It will also set up a bad bank to take on troubled assets from the rescued banks to clean up the sector.

Three analysts and a banking source with knowledge of the matter said they expected Bankia to report more than 4 billion euros in losses for the first half, worse than the total for the whole of 2011.

"The losses will be around 4 billion euros taking into account the new provisioning criteria already announced by the lender (when it was nationalised last May)", the banking source said.

Bankia, Spain's fourth largest lender after seven different savings banks were merged into one in 2010, is expected to report results for the first half of the year on Friday, the last day it is allowed to do so.

After it took over Bankia in May, the government asked for a 100-billion-euro lifeline from the euro zone to shore up its ailing banks, burdened with an estimated 184 billion euros in bad loans to property developers.

Banks are also facing rising loan defaults from other areas of the economy due to the recession and austerity measures aimed at reducing Spain's deficit and making its debt more manageable.

A number of banks are expected to need aid but Bankia is expected to be the biggest taker because it is the most exposed to the real estate sector.

Europe made available emergency liquidity for Spain's banks in August, but Bankia and the economy ministry say it can wait until the publication of a new bank-by-bank stress test due by the end of September.

According to the conditions attached to the European assistance for Spanish banks, Spain must provide details on how the aid would be used before it is disbursed.

The debt crisis has made it hard for banks in Spain and other euro zone countries to borrow from other banks so they are relying heavily on the European Central Bank for liquidity. The ECB reported record borrowing from Spanish banks in July.

HUGE WRITE-DOWNS

Bankia's first half troubles are mainly due to provisions from adjustments in its loan portfolio.

"If they stick to the same criteria they used when they presented their recapitalisation plan losses will be huge due to high provisionings to clean up its credit portfolio," said Nuria Alvarez, banking analyst at Madrid-based brokerage Renta 4.

Bankia originally reported a 300 million euros profit for 2011, but after the government bailout was announced, it began writing down bad loans, repossessed property and restated the results to show a 2.979 billion euros loss.

"Losses could be even higher in the first half of 2012 than for the whole of 2011 when they had to restate their figures", Alvarez said.

In a recent research note, Barclays said that a complete cleanup of Bankia's balance sheet and the full implementation of its recapitalisation plan would mean losses of 10.6 billion euros for 2012.

Bankia's new head, Jose Ignacio Goirigolzarri, announced in May the bank must come up with provisions of up to 14 billion euros before taxes this year, to cover the losses.

"Taking into account the provisioning needs and fiscal effects, net losses for this year could be around 9 billion euros", said a banking analyst at a Spanish institution.

Bankia's recapitalisation plans and final provisioning needs could be revised depending on the conditions imposed by the government after it reaches a deal with the ECB, Bank of Spain, European Commission and the International Monetary Fund on the creation of a "bad bank" that will take on troubled assets from all of Spain's rescued banks.

"There is a lot of uncertainty about the bad bank. It is absolutely necessary to know all the details of the discounts that will be imposed on the assets to be transferred, the kind of assets, financing of the structure and its accounting rules", said one analyst who asked not to be identified.

On Friday the Spanish government is expected to approve a legislative framework for the establishment and functioning of the asset management company, or "bad bank".

The government is also set to grant its central bank new powers to intervene more rapidly in struggling lenders and the country's bank rescue fund (FROB) will gain more capacity to wind them down if they fail, according to the draft for a new law obtained by Reuters.

Reuters

U.S. states' debt tops $4 trillion

Aug 28 (Reuters) - America's 50 state governments owe $4.19 trillion, including outstanding bonds, unfunded pension commitments and budget gaps, according to a new report.

At $617.6 billion, California had by far the biggest total debt, more than twice the total of No. 2, New York, with $300.1 billion owed, according to State Budget Solutions, a research and non-partisan advocacy group.

Texas, with $287 billion owed, New Jersey, with $282.4 billion, and Illinois, with $271.1 billion, ranked next among states with the biggest total debt, according to State Budget Solutions. Vermont had the smallest debt load at $5.85 billion.

The annual study said state governments had benefited in the last year from smaller budget gaps and reductions in loans taken from the federal government during the worst of the Great Recession to pay unemployment claims.

Those trends helped reduce total debt, which includes medical insurance due retired government workers, from last year's $4.24 trillion of total debts owed by the 50 states, according to State Budget Solutions.

"Our states are in trouble and no amount of budget gimmicks, political posturing or hiding bills will fix the massive debt that they face," said Bob Williams, president of State Budget Solutions. "Drastic reforms, innovations and political courage are needed to put our states back on the road to fiscal survival."

Reuters

EERIE BIBLE COINCIDENCE FOR HURRICANE ISAAC?

The arrival of Hurricane Isaac exactly seven years after Hurricane Katrina blasted New Orleans has some people wondering if there’s more to it than random chance, and suggesting the popular homosexual festival Southern Decadence may be part of a judgment from God.

“A hurricane hitting a celebration of decadence … twice in seven years. What are the odds?” asks Robin Cox, a lifelong Gulf Coast resident.

“Does it seem God has it in for New Orleans?” adds Mary Starkey. “Just contemplating why this has happened twice in seven years at exact same time of year.”

Dating back to 1972, Southern Decadence bills itself today as “one of the largest annual celebrations and festivals in New Orleans, it has become known as the ‘Gay Mardi Gras.’”

One of its promotional websites indicates: “People begin to arrive on the Wednesday before Labor Day, and generally don’t even think about stopping or going home until the following Tuesday. With over 120,000 gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender participants, and an economic impact estimated to be in excess of $125 million, the city has recognized the festival’s importance with an official proclamation to welcome the event.”

A Facebook page for Southern Decadence indicates the annual event will still go on this week:

“OMG! Over 1,000 emails about Decadence!” the page states. “Don’t worry guys. All is set to begin on Thursday, August 30th running through Labor Day, September 3rd for the 41st Southern Decadence. The biggest problem I’m hearing is flight cancellations. I sure hope the airline industry will do their best to get all of you revelers here for this big circuit weekend … We need y’all for its success!”

The timing of Isaac in relation to Katrina has caught the attention of some Christian pastors, including John McTernan of the Defend and Proclaim the Faith website:

“Katrina was the greatest natural disaster ever to hit America. Now seven years later, to the day, another hurricane is heading towards this city. The fact the events are seven years apart is very significant as this number is biblically important. It is the number of completion: God created the universe in seven days. The church, city and nation have not repented and the homosexual agenda is far worse than it was in 2005.

“New Orleans is still hosting Southern Decadence with open homosexuality manifesting in the streets of the city. It could be that God is putting an end to this city and its wickedness. The timing of Hurricane Isaac with Southern Decadence is a sign that God’s patience with America’s sin is coming to an end. … Let’s all watch this very closely, because if New Orleans is destroyed, it is a sure sign that the final judgment for the national sin of America has arrived.”

Dwight Douville, senior pastor at Calvary Chapel Appleton in Wisconsin, says the anniversary is reminiscent of a disaster cycle proffered by author Jonathan Cahn in the bestselling book, “The Harbinger,” suggesting America is now under focused judgment from God.

Douville’s church is now researching facts about New Orleans, and says it’s the fourth most dangerous city in the world in which to live with 95 murders per 100,000 people annually, 10 times the national average. In addition to the Southern Decadence event, the church also notes the prevalence of voodoo, illegal drugs and sexually transmitted diseases such as AIDS in the region.

As WND reported in 2005, the catastrophic damage left by Katrina did not stop homosexuals from partying, as less than a week after the disaster, while thousands of citizens were suffering from homelessness, hunger and looting in their flooded city, a group of “gays” marched down Bourbon Street in the Big Easy.

“It’s New Orleans, man. We’re going to celebrate,” Matt Menold, a 23-year musician wearing a sombrero and a guitar slung on his back, told the Associated Press.

An account of the small parade on the homosexual news site 365gay.com noted: “It was a scene like something from a Fellini movie. Amid the death, the destruction, and suffering in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina a small parade behind a tattered rainbow flag made its way up Bourbon Street on Sunday.”

A few days later, other homosexuals gathered in Lafayette, La., to hold what they called the Southern Decadence Parade in Exile.

Then in October 2005, another hurricane system forced the postponement of another large homosexual event, Florida’s annual Fantasy Fest in Key West.

“We’ve never had a hurricane interfere with Fantasy Fest, at least as long as I’ve been here,” Harold Wheeler, director of the Monroe County Tourist Development Council for 10 years told the Key West Citizen. “In fact, it’s just the opposite – Fantasy Fest has always been there to open up our season.”

At least one state senator attributed 2005′s hurricane devastation to the hand of God punishing the U.S. for its national breaking of biblical laws.

“America has been moving away from God,” said Alabama Sen. Hank Erwin, R-Montevallo. “The Lord is sending appeals to us. As harsh as it may sound, those hurricanes do say that God is real, and we have to realize sin has consequences.”

WND

Preparing for Total Takeover

Khamenei: Time for new world order

"Iran's motto is nuclear energy for all, nuclear weapons for none," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared Thursday, in a speech welcoming Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi to Tehran. Morsi's visit was the first by an Egyptian leader to Iran in over three decades.

Iran's state TV in a live broadcast showed Morsi being received with full red-carpet honors by Tehran's vice president in charge of executive affairs Hamid Baghaei in the capital's Mehrabad airport on Thursday.

The world, Khamenei said "Is in transition towards a new international order and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) can and should play a new role."

He further underlined the need for solidarity among all NAM member-states, saying it was an "obvious necessity" in the current era for establishing this new order.

Khamenei stressed that Iran "will never pursue nuclear weapons but… will not give up right to nuclear energy," which he called the "given right of every country."

Iran, he said, "regards the use of chemical weapons as an unforgivable sin, but it will not forego its right to use peaceful nuclear energy."

The Ayatollah then accused the "Zionist regime's henchmen" of committing "any and all crimes" adding that it is aided by the West.

NAM nations, he said, believe that the world should not be run "according to the western dictatorship of a handful of countries… This mechanism is unreasonable, unfair and undemocratic.

"The United States and its allies talk about human rights when in fact they are talking about western interest… torture and assassinations are ignored if they are carried out by the United States or the Zionists," he stated.

Khamenei further blamed the "Zionists" for "waging various wars, massacre and state-sponsored terrorism in the last decades."

He blamed the western world for "supporting and defending the Zionist regime of Israel against the oppressed Palestinian nation.

"Iran's called for solution to the Palestinian issue, calling for a "comprehensive referendum to be attended by all the indigenous residents of Palestine, including those refugees who have been away from their motherland for decades to determine the country's fate."

The Iranian leader urged the White House leaders to revise theirMiddle East policy and "show courage and opt for the referendum solution" and stop what he called the US' "astronomical spending" on Israel.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who is attending the summit, did not protest in any way when Khamenei referred to Israeli leaders as "bloodthirsty wolves."

"We must not fear the West," Khamenei concluded.

'UN members do not call for destruction'

In his address before the summit, and without naming Iran, Ban denounced his hosts for threatening to destroy Israel and for denying the Holocaust.

"I strongly reject threats by any member state to destroy another or outrageous attempts to deny historical facts such as the Holocaust," Ban said.

"Claiming that Israel does not have the right to exist or describing it in racist terms is not only wrong but undermines the very principle we all have pledged to uphold," he added.

'We aspire for a better future'

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addressed the summit next: He began by asking attendants to commemorate the memory of the slain nuclear scientists who were assassinated in Tehran in 2011 by observing a moment of silence.

"We have come here together in order to study the situation and move towards a better future for our nations and humanity."

He blamed "some countries" for controlling the world's wealth and leaving the rest to wallow in poverty, saying that many countries have great debt and tap into other nations' resources to cover it.

He then blamed the United States for taking control of the "riches of other nations" illegally.

"The beauty of human society has been systematically attacked and there is great effort to impose a certain kind of life on world nations that would leave them without social identity," he said.

"Lasting peace and security is being turned into an unattainable wish… Why is that?" The Iranian president asked.

Ahmadinejad stressed that "Arrogant powers are blatantly supporting terrorism," and further accused the UN Security Council of being "powerless before the nations that support the Zionist regime.

"Some nations are warmongers and only care about their own interests and so they don’t care and trample on basic human rights."

World order, he continued, must change: "Global management must change and we all must stand up for that… If we wait for years than our time will also come to an end without being able to make a change in the right direction."

Ahmadinejad urged countries worldwide to abandon "aspirations of monopoly and dominance and opt… for the joint management of world affairs."

NAM, he said, can have a key role in world affairs and the Islamic Republic has a lot to offer the world in technology, finances and legislation.

The UN is ready for NAM to help it in its reform and to help it "reach itss governing potential," he added.

"If we tap into this great global movement and use it the right way we will be able to usher in a beautiful new era for humanity," he said.


Ynet news

Researchers Hack Brainwaves to Reveal PIN Numbers, Other Personal Data

Don’t you dare even think about your banking account password when you slap on those fancy new brainwave headsets.

Or at least that seems to be the lesson of a new study which found that sensitive personal information, such as PIN numbers and credit card data, can be gleaned from the brainwave data of users wearing popular consumer-grade EEG headsets.

A team of security researchers from Oxford, UC Berkeley, and the University of Geneva say that they were able to deduce digits of PIN numbers, birth months, areas of residence and other personal information by presenting 30 headset-wearing subjects with images of ATM machines, debit cards, maps, people, and random numbers in a series of experiments. The paper, titled “On the Feasibility of Side-Channel Attacks with Brain Computer Interfaces,” represents the first major attempt to uncover potential security risks in the use of the headsets.

“The correct answer was found by the first guess in 20% of the cases for the experiment with the PIN, the debit cards, people, and the ATM machine,” write the researchers. “The location was exactly guessed for 30% of users, month of birth for almost 60% and the bank based on the ATM machines for almost 30%.”

To detect the first digit of the PIN, researchers presented the subjects with numbers from 0 to 9, flashing on the screen in random order, one by one. Each number was repeated 16 times, over a total duration of 90 seconds. The subjects’ brainwaves were monitored for telltale peaks that would rat them out.

The EEG headsets, made by companies such as Emotiv Systems and NeuroSky, have become increasingly popular for gaming and other applications. For the study, the researchers used the Emotiv Epoc Neuroheadset, which retails for $299.

The researchers — Ivan Martinovic of Oxford University; Doug Davies, Mario Frank, Daniele Perito, and Dawn Song of UC Berkeley; and Tomas Ros of the University of Geneva — analyzed P300 peaks, an important component of event-related potentials — electrical potentials that happen after the user is presented with a stimulus.

The P300 “occurs approximately 300 milliseconds after an event happens,” said Frank, a postdoctoral researcher at Berkeley, in a phone interview with Wired. “The potential arises if you already prime your thoughts toward a particular event…. An attacker could try to prime the thoughts of the victim towards a particular secret that a victim has in mind. For instance, if you know the face of some person, you might be able to observe a brainwave pattern that is evidence of the user thinking about the face.”
“Brain Spyware”

Emotiv and NeuroSky both have “app stores,” where users of the devices can download third-party applications. The applications use a common API for access to the EEG device.

“In the case of the EEG devices, this API provides unrestricted access to the raw EEG signal,” write the researchers. “Furthermore, such applications have complete control over the stimuli that can be presented to the users.”

The researchers envision a scenario in which a potential malicious attacker could write “brain spyware” to harvest private information from the user, which could be legitimately downloaded as an app.

“We simulated a scenario where someone writes a malicious app, the user downloads it and trusts the app, and actively supports all the calibration steps of the device to make the software work,” said Frank. In these seemingly innocuous calibration steps, which are standard for most games and other applications using the headsets, there could be the potential to harvest personal information.

“We realized that these devices are becoming increasingly popular — maybe in five, 10 years, it’s very likely that many households will have one,” Frank said. “At the same time, you can use all kinds of third-party apps for these devices. In this setting, as security researchers, we identified that there is a potential to make some bad stuff, to turn this technology against the user.” He said, however, that there was no immediate threat in using the devices. But the experiments devised by the researchers point to the devices’ darker potential.

“The simplicity of our experiments suggests the possibility of more sophisticated attacks,” write the researchers, warning that “with the ever-increasing quality of devices, success rate of attacks will likely improve.”

Wired

Exceptional measures’ may be needed to tame euro crisis: Draghi

FRANKFURT — The European Central Bank must employ “exceptional measures” at times to fulfil its mandate of delivering stable prices, ECB President Mario Draghi wrote in an opinion piece on Wednesday aimed at calming German angst about the bank’s policy course.

The ECB is drawing up a new bond-buying plan to lower the borrowing costs facing Spain and Italy, which Draghi is expected to detail after a September 6 policy meeting. Germany’s Bundesbank – highly respected by German voters – opposes the plan.

Draghi wrote his opinion piece in German weekly Die Zeit after Bundesbank chief Jens Weidmann told magazine Der Spiegel the ECB bond-buying plan verged on the taboo for the bank of outright financing of governments.
Financial Post

China to deploy drones to conduct maritime surveillance

Beijing: Amid increasing maritime disputes with a host of its neighbours, China today said it plans to deploy unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) along its coast line to conduct "remote-sensing marine surveillance."

"The plan also includes the construction of 11 UAV bases run by provincial maritime authorities," Yu Qingsong, a division chief of the State Oceanic Administration, said.

No further details on the scale or the schedule of the project were provided, but Yu noted that at least one drone would be stationed at each base, state-run Xinhua news agency reported today.

The announcement came in the midst of maritime tensions between China and host of its neighbours over the disputed islands in the South and North China Sea.

The Xinhua report said China had earlier launched trial program last year in Liaoning Province where rented Drones were successfully used to take aerial photos of a 980 square kilometer sea area.

Local authorities said they could use the high-definition photos to discover illegal land reclamation and sand dredging as well as monitor marine environments along the coast and on islets.

A separate test on a drone-based 3D monitoring system was also conducted earlier this year by the maritime authority in east China's Jiangsu Province, the report said.
NDTV

The Meat Grinder We Go