Russia to Deploy More Su-25 Combat Planes at Kyrgyz Airbase

MOSCOW, (RIA Novosti) – Russia will deploy four additional Su-25 ground attack aircraft at the Kant airbase in Kyrgyzstan in 2014, Russia’s Central Military District said Monday.

“A unit of modernized Su-25SM Frogfoot fighter-bombers will be deployed this year at the Russian airbase in Kyrgyzstan,” the district said in a statement.

The deployment has been ordered by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, the statement said.

According to the statement, the upgraded SU-25SM aircraft are equipped with advanced fire-control and navigation systems, the Pastel countermeasures suite. They can carry an expanded range of weaponry compared with the base Su-25 model.

A Russian airbase in Kant, some 20 kilometers (12 miles) outside the capital Bishkek, was established in October 2003 and operates in the interests of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a Moscow-led regional security body.

The base currently hosts at least eight Su-25 planes and two Mi-8 combat transport helicopters, as well as over 400 service personnel, according to the Russian military.

Moscow and Bishkek signed an agreement in September last year to extend the use of the Kant airbase and other Russian military facilities in Kyrgyzstan until at least 2032, with possible five-year extensions.

Credit to RIA Novosti

Cauldron part 1

Terry James points to the book of Ezekiel, where one of the most important prophets of the Old Testament provides very specific information regarding the final global battle—called in Ezekiel 38 “the battle of Gog and Magog.” Ezekiel says this supernatural contest will occur in the latter times, after Israel is “gathered out of many people and nations” and is recognized as a nation once again. During that generation in which Israel is so reunified—which was accomplished on May 14, 1948, when David Ben-Gurion, the head of the Jewish Agency, proclaimed the establishment of the state of Israel and “U.S. President Harry S. Truman recognized the new nation on the same day”—the Battle of Gog and Magog occurs. If a biblical generation is seventy years (see Psalms 90:10, Daniel 9, and related texts), counting forward from 1948 would seem to indicate that this decisive conflict, which leads to the final confrontation referred to in John’s Apocalypse as the “battle of Armageddon,” could happen very soon. In Ezekiel’s vision, Iran (Persia) becomes the number-one confederate with Russia (Gog) in this invasion of Israel:

And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog [the Russian Federation]…and prophesy against him, And say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: And I will…bring thee forth, and all thine army…. Persia [ancient kingdom of Iran], Ethiopia, and Libya with them.” (Ezekiel 38:1–5)

 

Although Ezekiel explains how the invasion of Israel described above somehow goes wrong for Iran, Russia, and their confederates (actually leading them to turn on each other, according to chapter 38:21), one cannot read this prophetic foresight and fail to ponder the unprecedented events in recent days involving Iran and its leaders, Russia and its leaders, and the current push by the president of the United States to force Israel into a so-called peace deal with the Palestinians (whose leaders openly call for the destruction of Israel and the slaughter of Jews) while secretly negotiating a nuclear agreement with Iran, a fact made public in November 2013.

“The Obama administration, with Secretary of State John Kerry in the lead, joined with the international community in making an agreement with the Iranian regime that many view as a betrayal of Israel,” notes James in a chapter of this book. “Just as the sanctions against Iran for their pursuing development of a nuclear program to produce atomic weaponry was beginning to make an impact, the U.S., in concert with the world powers that constitute the international community, agreed to lift part of those economic sanctions on Iran.”

Of course, James sees through this façade of diplomacy and recognizes the important, even staggeringly prophetic, implications of these Machiavellian maneuverings. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saw through them as well and harshly condemned the nuclear deal with Iran as a massive failure of foreign policy. “What was reached last night in Geneva is not a historic agreement, it is a historic mistake,” he said, before including: “Today the world became a much more dangerous place because the most dangerous regime in the world made a significant step in obtaining the most dangerous weapons in the world.”

Netanyahu’s economics minister, Naftali Bennett, then alleged, “If a nuclear suitcase blows up five years from now in New York or Madrid it will be because of the deal signed this morning.” Ironically, Saudi Arabia also viewed the U.S.-led and secretly bartered agreement with Iran as a treachery due to its (the Saudis’) historic affiliation with Washington, which in modern history was demonstratively committed to protecting the kingdom from Iran. This new agreement weakens the relationship with Saudi Arabia, a fact that, all by itself, could have destabilizing and prophetic effects throughout the Middle East.



Given Iran’s consistency with not honoring such “deals” and the hearty evidence that it is in fact developing nuclear bomb technology as well as likely purchasing WMDs (weapons of mass destruction) on the black market with stated ambitions of annihilating Israel, James says what people not living in the Middle East should understand is the resolve that Jews like Netanyahu have for protecting themselves and the security of their nation, not to mention God’s promise of the same. Because of this resolve, Obama’s fait accompliregarding peace deals with Israel’s enemies could result literally overnight in the battle described by Ezekiel and in the book of Revelation. The modern people of Israel—from civilians to government and military leaders—have powerful memories of those who have promised to exterminate them, including Nazi Germany in the past and modern Iran today, and survival by any means necessary thus pervades their hearts at this stage in history. This was reflected most recently by Netanyahu himself during the 2013 General Debate of the 68th Session of the United Nations, when the prime minister, before the nations of the world, admitted that Israel is at the center of Bible prophecy, saying:

[O]ne cold day in the late 19th century, my grandfather Nathan and his younger brother Judah were standing in a railway station in the heart of Europe. They were seen by a group of anti-Semitic hoodlums who ran towards them waving clubs, screaming “Death to the Jews.”

My grandfather shouted to his younger brother to flee and save himself, and he then stood alone against the raging mob to slow it down. They beat him senseless, they left him for dead, and before he passed out, covered in his own blood, he said to himself, “What a disgrace, what a disgrace. The descendants of the Macabees lie in the mud powerless to defend themselves.”

He promised himself then that if he lived, he would take his family to the Jewish homeland and help build a future for the Jewish people. I stand here today as Israel’s prime minister because my grandfather kept that promise.

And so many other Israelis have a similar story, a parent or a grandparent who fled every conceivable oppression and came to Israel to start a new life in our ancient homeland. Together we’ve transformed a bludgeoned Jewish people, left for dead, into a vibrant, thriving nation, defending itself with the courage of modern Maccabees, developing limitless possibilities for the future.

In our time the Biblical prophecies are being realized. As the prophet Amos said, they shall rebuild ruined cities and inhabit them. They shall plant vineyards and drink their wine. They shall till gardens and eat their fruit. And I will plant them upon their soil never to be uprooted again. (emphasis added)

One should read the entire UN statement by Netanyahu and not underestimate the national Jewish commitment to preservation, even if they have to go it alone. While President Obama has been steering the United States increasingly away from the stronger relationship Israel once enjoyed with previous administrations, France, one of the P-5+1 members (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany), and Saudi Arabia recognize that the threat posed by modern Persia-Iran is not only prophetically against Israel, but holds global implications of a wider nuclear war and, if the U.S. will not stand in defense of God’s land and people, the Saudis and France (for their own self-interests) will offer logistical support to Israel should they be backed into a corner and forced to strike the heart of the ancient enemy.

This recent development is but one scenario of what is timely and imminently important in Cauldron, a single example I have provided from among many that offer a unique evaluation of what is happening in the world and what lies ahead for the reader. You should pay very careful attention to this and other magnificently researched details by this veteran prophecy expert, Terry James, because what happens next in the Middle East will affect your life and future, as well as the lives of every person on earth. Understanding these events—“signs,” as the Bible calls them—will empower you to take action for yourself and your family and to find peace that passes understanding, something that all of us will surely need in the immediate days ahead.


Credit to Raiders News Update

Israel emphatically objects to withdrawing its troops from this strategic valley on its eastern border

While batting back Israel’s complaints over references to anti-Israel boycotts in relation to peacemaking with the Palestinians, US Secretary of State John Kerry has again bumped his head against another piece of Middle East history: The 1994 Israeli-Jordanian peace treaty.

In an exchange of messages in the last few days, DEBKAfile’s Middle East sources reveal that King Abdullah II filed a strong protest with Kerry against the failure of the security-political clauses in his framework accord to address issues involving the Hashemite Kingdom’s political future and security. Above all, he castigated the plan for failing to factor in past treaties concluded between Jordan and Israel with US encouragement.

Kerry has responded by ordering a reassessment of the security blueprint drawn by US Gen. Jon Allen, former NATO commander in Afghanistan, with the assistance of a team of 90 US intelligence and security experts working out of Washington and Israel. The security arrangements he proposes in a future Palestinian state for the Jordan Valley, which also marks Jordan’s Western border, would replace Israeli border units with a system of electronic surveillance devices including drones, satellites and other instruments for securing the Jordanian border.

Israel emphatically objects to withdrawing its troops from this strategic valley on its eastern border or evacuating its settlements there, on the grounds that without its own military manpower on the ground, even the most sophisticated instruments of surveillance would not be proof against terrorist incursions to the West Bank and Israel itself.

This danger has become more acute since the jihadst Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) seized territory in western Iraq, especially in consideration of the offshoots these jihadists maintain in the Hashemite Kingdom.

Therefore, Israel was not alone in vehemently ruling out the Allen plan. It is now joined by Jordan. The latter’s objections focus on four points:

1. The proposed electronic surveillance system along its Western border would expose the entire Kingdom of Jordan to US surveillance. The same argument would apply to the Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’s latest proposal for the deployment of NATO forces.

2. On no account does Amman want to see Palestinian forces of any kind strung along the Jordan River border. This objection was underscored in a series of messages to Washington.

3. Another issue is the US approach to the Jerusalem question, which ignores Jordan’s status with regard to the Holy Places, especially Temple Mount.
The monarch drew Kerry’s attention to the peace treaty signed in 1994 between his father, the late King Hussein and Israeli Prime Minister, the late Yitzhak Rabin, which formally recognized Jordan’s special status on Temple Mount.
In 2013, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas signed an understanding with Amman acknowledging that special status. Since then, the kingdom has covered the payroll of the Palestinian bodies and Waqf authority responsible for the administration and maintenance of Muslim mosques on a site which is sacred to Jews and Christians as well as being the second most important Muslim shrine after Mecca.

King Abdullah is demanding the enshrinement and incorporation of these two documents in all the proposals the US Secretary puts before Israel and the Palestinians.

4. He further emphasizes that any solution of the Palestinian refugee problem – however minimal – must not overlook the large Palestinian refugee community living in Jordan – which has grown to an estimated 2 million, out of the kingdom’s total population of 7 million.

DEBKAfile’s sources disclose that Secretary Kerry tried approaching Egyptian Foreign Minister Ismail Fahmi to find out whether Defense Minister Gen. Abdul-Fattah El-Sisi could be persuaded to help clear away the obstacles piling up on the path of his Israeli-Palestinian peace effort. The answer from Cairo was negative.

Credit to DEBKAfile

The Economy is Not in Recovery but Financial War

The New Social Class Structure of the United States

Orwell’s conceptualization of today’s social class structure

America is being nudged and now pushed into the heinous world of Agenda 21. However, I believe that when self-preservation takes over, the use of force will be necessary to get most people to willingly go along with this encroaching tyranny. This is another topic for another article.

Whistleblowers such as Deborah Tavares, Rosa Korie and Patrick Wood et al., have all been sounding the Agenda 21 alarm for a very long time. Yet, with each and every passing day, we see new stories which inch us toward the end point destination of total tyrannical control of our daily lives which will result in the loss of our fortunes. No matter how many times a journalist in the alternative media identifies Agenda 21 as the scourge on the planet, it seems as if more people are not listening, and even fewer are acting. This is because most of our population is no longer capable of critical thinking and subsequently accept the unproven philosophies of climate change and the Agenda 21 policies which underlie this myth. Most Americans feel that going along with the social planners will help them survive and even thrive. Too much CNN, too much FOX, too much fluoridated water and too many distractions have left us with a country incapable of defending itself from enemies both foreign and domestic.

Recent Undeniable Truths About Agenda 21

When we carry out the principles of Agenda 21 out to its end point destination, the citizens of our country will be living in less than 500 square foot stack and pack apartments, they will not own an automobile because it will be cost prohibitive, they will not grow their own food and they will pay even a greater disproportionate percentage of their income for housing costs. Additionally, there will be no property rights, because there will be no Constitution. There will be no small farms, privately owned farms and privately grown food. Since the government will soon own all healthcare, most of us will be priced out of the market and the Agenda 21 CODEX provisions will soon control alternative healthcare treatments. The Agenda 21 inspired Cap and Trade policies seek to reduce the energy usage of the average citizen by 80%. This means the average American will be living an 1890′s lifestyle. And more than likely, some the population reduction quotes which are so infamous (e.g. Ted Turner’s expressed desire to reduce the planet’s population by 95%), may come to fruition. The statements in this paragraph are self-evident.  But for those who new to this topic, pull up a chair, grab your favorite beverage and be prepared to be shocked as you weave your way through the words of theAgenda 21 planners.

What is not obvious is the dismantling of America’s traditional socio-economic structure. A new and evolving social class structure is emerging right before our eyes. The former economic mobility of the new American society (i.e. rags to riches) has all but disappeared. The new social stratification will be forever fixed under the new social class structure of Agenda 21.

The Three Social Class America’s Brand of Agenda 21

Agenda 21 seeks to totally eliminate the middle class and the Obama wing of Agenda 21 is well on its way to making this a reality. Today, there are more American citizens who are receiving federal handouts than there are working Americans. Soon these classes will become one class and what is left of the middle class is destroyed. You may find this analysis to be very enlightening as to the veracity of these claims.

Most people believe that America is bifurcating into a two class society; Those that live off of the table scraps of those who still have a job, and those that still have a job. Temporarily, these two groups still constitute two separate classes. However, they will soon become one class. This will leave America with the traditional two class system, the haves and the have-nots. However, we are not quite there yet.

At the present time, we still see a three class system. For the purposes of clarity and discussion, we will refer to these classes as the First Tier (the elite), the Second Tier (the beleaguered middle class) and the Third Tier (the growing welfare class that has been fully domesticated through federal handouts).

The First Tier

On the top level of the pyramid we find the George Soros’, the David Rockefellers’, et al. The minions of these elite control the politicians and the legislation, they control the dialogue (e.g. sustainability and climate change) and they are moving towards controlling every aspect of our lives.

In a case of “Rules for thee, but not for me”, the elite do not live by the same Agenda 21 policies that they are attempting to impose on everyone else. Make no mistake about it, the First Tier are the creators of Agenda 21. They get the corporate heads and the politicians to enforce their brand of Utopia, with the promise of salvation for these minions who play along. And many of these minions know exactly what is coming. For example, why do you think McCain can endure the condemnation of his own home-state Republican Party without blinking an eye? It is because he knows he’s working for a higher authority. McCain obviously believes that the life of he and his family are at stake as he throws caution to the wind. To McCain’s mindset, it is a matter of either serving the globalist monster, or perish.

McCain’s mindset would also explain the abject lunacy of Pelosi, Reed, Bachman, Graham and all the other out-of-touch KoolAid drinkers. Someone should point out to these “public servants” that history does not paint a kind picture for those who help to facilitate a tyrannical takeover of a government. Most minions usually get sacrificed along the way. Oh, by the way, John McCain told a town hall audience in Mesa, AZ., and clearly stated that he had never heard of Agenda 21. The purveyors of Agenda 21 and their minions are your worst enemy.

The Second Tier

In the Second Tier of America, lies what is left of the middle class. Frequently, these Americans, are still able to keep their job with inflation damaged salaries and are still trying to hold on to the outdated notion of the American dream.These people face the prospect of working second jobs and becoming bargain hunters when it comes to shopping. College student loans for their children, the soon-to-be-gone pensions and retirement accounts as well as the increasing theft of their home mortgages constitute the increasing threats to their solvency. God bless the Second Tier whose majority tries to embrace the pseudo-threat of climate change by conserving more and more. For example, the people of Arizona heeded the call of Arizona Public Service (APS) by adopting more “eco-friendly” solar technology and what did APS do as a result? They raised the electric rates because they claimed they lost money on all the solar technology adopted by the public which led to declining energy use. If this does not expose the fraud of Agenda 21, I do not know what does. We see the same silly mindset in the state of Washington, where the legislature wants to impose a 1.5 cent tax on every mile driven because the state is losing revenue due to the use of more fuel efficient cars. Same chapter, just a different verse.

Agenda 21 proponents will never let you catch up and prosper, no matter how many of their programs that you successfully embrace. The Agenda 21 system is pervasive and seeks to destroy the middle class at all costs.

Many of the second tier of America, still believe Obama when he says that economic recovery is right around the corner. So they keep drinking the KoolAid and work harder and harder while falling further behind the lifestyle once enjoyed by their parents.

Adding insult to injury, this second tier is being forced to support those that cannot/will not work crowd through higher taxes and regulatory fees. Eventually, every single one these people in the second tier will eventually slip into the Third Tier.

The Third Tier

The third tier has an interesting dynamic. Meet the welfare class. Many members of this class have been hopelessly conditioned to not take personal responsibility for their lives. For an excellent description of the psychological mindset for many in this social class, see Seligman’s experiments on acquired learned helplessness.

How many people have been kept in their place by the promise of food stamps and an Obama phone? Is there any social mobility arising out of the members of this social class? There is almost no social mobility, only misery. Once someone is on federal welfare, the chances of staying off are near zero. This is a great personal tragedy as many people in the Third Tier are robbed of their autonomy and self-determination. And this is just what the social planners want as they want us hopeless, helpless and totally dependent on their generosity.

The financial drain to support this growing class, now over 50% of the country, is breaking the backs of what is left of the middle class. Soon the remnants of the middle class will collapse and be absorbed by the Third Tier.

A New World Order

A two-class social structure is emerging in America. There are the hopelessly poor, who do not riot in exchange for basic life support services. And there will be the social class that hordes all resources in an attempt to control the populace.

This transformation will be completed when there are too few of the middle class to support the subsistence life-style of the Third Tier.

It is uncertain if the ultimate middle class collapse will come by a sudden chain of events like the ones we witnessed in 1929. Or, will the slide continue in the form of its barely perceptible but dramatic slide?

There is one thing that you can count on. Americans will reach a breaking point when subsistence payments to the Third Tier are greatly reduced. When these parents, who love their children no less than anyone else, cannot adequately feed them, there is going to be trouble in the American streets. Perhaps this is why DHS has acquired 2.2 billion rounds of ammunition and 2700 armored personnel carriers.

If the “people” lose this war against the elite and we disintegrate into a society of haves and have-nots, we will indeed be living the American nightmare, Agenda 21 style.

Credit to Common Sense

Bruno Mars Illuminati Half Time Show Decoded

I forgot to mention that the Red Hot Chili Peppers thanked Satan when they won an MTV music video award back in the day.
Marck Dice

The Dollar Is Collapsing ECONOMIES

Deutsche Bank: "We've Created A Global Debt Monster"

 

Two observations on the latest thoughts by Jim Reid (DB's best strategist by orders of magnitude):

1. He is far more concerned by what is going on in China than any of the other noise around the world. And rightfully so. As we first showed a few months ago, the money creation in China puts what all the other global central banks do to shame. Any slowdown in this credit creation and the wheels have no choice but to fall off, which also explains why even the tiniest default in this $9 trillion economy will be bailed out as it would risk an outright "flow" collapse.
   
2. The Fed came, saw, and after realizing the mess it created with tapering - which cannever be priced in now that the market is terminally addicted to the Fed's liquidity injections - will soon do what we have said since the May 2013 "taper tantrum" would happen - untaper, and resume bailing out everyone.

Full note from Reid:

From all the stories that broke while I was away the most fascinating surely revolves around the Chinese Trust product that in the end wasn't allowed to be at the mercy of market forces. For me it’s a microcosm of the fragility still present in global financial markets that a $9.0 trillion dollar economy - that will be the biggest in the world within the time frame of most of our careers - struggles to allow a $500 million investment product to default without there being market fears of it igniting panic in financial markets. This has now been a theme for the best part of 10-15 years in global financial markets particularly in the developed world but more recently the EM world since the GFC. We've created a global debt monster that's now so big and so crucial to the workings of the financial system and economy that defaults have been increasingly minimised by uber aggressive policy responses. It’s arguably too late to change course now without huge consequences. This cycle perhaps started with very easy policy after the 97/98 EM crises thus kick starting the exponential rise in leverage across the globe. Since then we saw big corporates saved in the early 00s, financials towards the end of the decade and most recently Sovereigns bailed out. It’s been many, many years since free markets decided the fate of debt markets and bail-outs have generally had to get bigger and bigger.

This sounds negative but the reality is that for us it means that central banks have little option but to keep high levels of support for markets for as far as the eye can see and defaults will stay artificially low. As such we remain bullish for 2014. However it’s largely because we think the authorities are trapped for now rather than because the global financial system is healing rapidly. So as well as EM being very important for 2014, we continue to think the Fed taper pace is also very important. If the US economy was the only one in the world then maybe they could slowly taper without major consequences. However the world is fixated with US monetary policy and huge flows have traded off the back of QE and ZIRP so it does matter. We have suspicions that the Fed may have to be appreciative of the global beast they've helped create as the year progresses.

In other words: bullish... because the system will continue to collapse and need more bailouts. The Bizarro world Bernanke created truly is an exciting place.

Credit to Zero Hedge

Extraordinary sights as UK faces more storms

A woman has died after being swept out to sea by strong currents as new flood and storm warnings were issued for the South East. 

Police officers, coastguard crew and lifeboat volunteers rushed to the mouth of the River Arun at Littlehampton Pier, West Sussex, where she was last seen by an eye-witness.

The pensioner, from Goring-by-Sea, was pulled out of the sea and stabilised before she was taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton.
She was pronounced dead just after 9pm last night.



Surf's up: People attempt to ride the Severn Bore - one of Britain's few truly spectacular natural phenomena



Surfers attempt to ride on a rare maximum five star Severn Bore viewed from Newnham overlooking the River Severn



The shape of the Severn estuary is such that the water is funnelled into an increasingly narrow channel as the tide rises, thus forming the large wave



The Severn Bore is a large surge wave that can be seen in the estuary of the River Severn, where the tidal range is the second highest in the world

PC Andy Baynes from Littlehampton Police said: 'She was carried out to sea by strong currents. 

'A lifeboat crew and HM Coastguard officers were quickly on the scene.

'The RNLI crew pulled her from the rough seas and returned her to shore where she was stabilised before being taken by ambulance to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.

'Sadly, she was pronounced dead just after 9pm. Our thoughts are with her family at this difficult time.'

A Sussex Police spokesman added: 'The 67-year-old woman from Goring-by-Sea has been identified by her family, but has not yet been formally named.
'Her death is not being treated as suspicious and the matter has been passed to the coroner's officer.'

People in Somerset have already seen their communities submerged under several inches of stagnant floodwater for more than a month.

Millions of gallons are being pumped away every day from the Somerset Levels but for those living nearby, the anguish is far from over.

Environment Secretary Owen Paterson has promised that 'everything possible is being done' but concerned residents are calling for overflowing rivers to be dredged.

Forecasters are predicting a break in the bad weather today but experts at the Met Office have issued severe weather warnings of winds of up to 80mph and heavy rain of up to 30mm (1.2in) for the South West, southern England, south Wales and Northern Ireland from tomorrow until Wednesday.

As of this morning the Environment Agency has three severe flood warnings and warning of danger to life in place around the River Severn in the Midlands, along with 114 less severe flood warnings, caused by high tides and swollen rivers.

Significant disruption is predicted for much of the coast of Wales and south-west England and parts of south east England, the north west as well as the Yorkshire and Hull coastline will also be affected by wind, rain and high tides.



Three people are n rescued from their vehicles this morning after getting stuck in 3ft of floodwater near Ingatestone, in Essex



The owners of this car did not realise how deep the floodwater was and got stuck in Ingatestone, Essex



During this rescue a brand new Ford Kuga got stuck when the driver was going from Thurrock to Harold Wood

Terrified passengers were rescued after the bus they were travelling on was engulfed by a huge wave as it tried to get through a road closed in the storms.

The single-decker was swept off the road by the 20ft wave and came to a standstill with the driver and 13 passengers trapped inside.

Coastguards said the road had been closed because of the storms but the driver ignored diversion signs and tried to get through.

Eye-witnesses said waves were crashing over the roof of the stricken 52-seater in the village in Newgale, Pembrokeshire, West Wales.

One villager said: 'It was like a scene from a disaster movie - it was high tide and the wind was howling at 50mph.

'The people on the bus must have been scared stiff when the wave hit the side of the vehicle.


This bus has become stuck in between a flooded field and the road it was travelling on in Newgale, Pembrokeshire, west Wales



The bus which is partially lodged in a flooded field with its back wheels resting on the road in Newgale, Pembrokeshire, Wales

'The road has been closed to traffic because of the storms so no one is really sure what the bus was doing there in the first place.'

A major rescue operation was launched with coastguards, an RAF rescue helicopter, police and ambulance sent to the scene at 7.15pm on Saturday night.

The 14 people on board were led to safety by coastguards and fireman as waves continued to batter the bus.

The front of the bus was still partly submerged today and damage from the hammering it took from the waves could be seen.

The casualties were described as 'badly shaken' but uninjured.

The bus was on its way from Haverfordwest to St Davids at 7.15pm on Saturday night when it arrived in Newgale during the height of the storm.

The road through the surfing village of Newgale runs between the beach and a large campsite popular with surfers in the summer.


Ten people have been rescued after the bus they were on was hit by a wave in Newgale, Pembrokeshire, yesterday evening

But the 15ft sea wall made of pebbles was breached by violent waves on Friday night and traffic was being diverted away from the coast road.

It is believed the council were still on the scene after setting up the diversion before high tide and had had told the driver not to go through.

Derek Reynolds, 27, a regular at the Duke of Edinburgh pub in the village said: 'The bus was hit by a massive wave and swept off the road and into the camp site.

'It must have been quite scary for those on board.'

Dyfed-Powys Police yesterday confirmed they were speaking to the driver who worked for Richards Brothers coaches in Cardigan.

No one was available for comment from the bus company today.


The wreck of a trawler which sank near Newquay in Cornwall overnight after storms hit the coastline

Another dramatic rescue saw eight horses pulled from flooded fields close to the River Chelmer, Chelmsford, Essex.

The RSPCA said its inspectors rounded up five of the animals, before a specialist water rescue team were deployed to save the remaining three which had been cut off by the waters.

Inspector Nicky Thorne said the six-strong RSPCA team donned dry suits and waded into the flood water to carefully round up the horses using rope lines.

He said: 'The team worked very carefully and slowly to move the horses. In one place the horses had to go through a ditch where the water was deeper.
'They had to swim a few steps but despite being a bit wet they were none the worse for their experience.'



Vehicles make their way to help with the recovery efforts at flood hit Muchelney in Langport in Somerset



Vehicles are delivered to help with the recovery efforts in Muchelney, Langport, which has been hit with flooding



With high tides, combined with gale force winds and further heavy rain, some parts of the UK are bracing themselves for more flooding this week



Flood water and debris is seen in front of a house near Muchelney, near Langport in Somerset



People walk with a dog on the banks of the flooded River Arun today near Amberley



A flock of birds fly near a barn surrounded by flood water from the River Arun today



Flood warnings have been issued to some areas in southern England as heavy rain is forecast

Firefighters in Essex warned motorists not to try and get through flood water after seven people including three pensioners had to be rescued from vehicles stranded in their cars - one in Watery Lane, Ulting.

A spokesman said: 'Six inches of water is enough to get inside car or cause the engine to stall. And two feet is deep enough to float a vehicle.'

Two people were rescued from deep floodwater after their boat capsized and in Chaceley, near Tewkesbury, in Gloucestershire, yesterday.

The pair had been with a third person who swam to the flooded Yew Tree Inn at Chaceley to raise the alarm after their boat turned over.

Credit to Dailymail
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2550367/New-flood-storm-warnings-South-days-heavy-rain-set-cause-misery.html#ixzz2sBjGZiAG

"The 'Recovery' Is A Mirage" Mark Spitznagel Warns, "With As Much Monetary Distortion As In 1929"

 

"Today there is a tremendous amount of monetary distortion, on par with the 1929 stock market and certainly the peak of 2007, and many others," warns Universa's Mark Spitznagel.

At these levels, he suggests (as The Dao of Capital author previously told Maria B, "subsequent large stock market losses and even crashes become perfectly expected events."

Post-Bernanke it will be more of the same, he adds, and investors need to know how to navigate such a world full of "monetary distortions in the economy and the creation of malinvestments." The reality is, Spitznagel concludes that the 'recovery is a Fed distortion-driven mirage' and the only way out is to let the natural homeostasis take over - "the purge that occurs after massive distortion is painful, but ultimately, it’s far better and healthier for the system."

Via Investments & Wealth Monitor:

On the "recovery" in the United States...

Spitznagel: The somewhat improved economic activity that we’re seeing is based on a mirage—that is, the illusion created by artificial zero-interest rates.

When central banks lower interest rates in hopes of stimulating the economy, that intervention is not the same as a natural move in interest rates.

A genuine drop in interest rates is in response to an increase in savings, as consumers defer consumption now in order to consume later. In a high-savings environment, entrepreneurs put their capital to work to become more roundabout,1 layering their tools and intermediate stages of production to become increasingly productive. The time to make these investments is when consumers are saving, so that entrepreneurs can be in an even better position to make the products that consumers want, when they want them.

In an artificial rate environment, however, that’s not what’s happening. Instead of consumers saving now to spend later, they are spending now.

But because interest rates are artificially lower, entrepreneurs are being fooled into investing in something now that they will have to back out of later—building up what the Austrians call “malinvestment.” Therefore, the illusion is unsustainable, by definition. The Fed can’t keep interest rates low forever.

From an investor perspective, people are trying to extract as much as they can right now. Consider the naïve dividend investment argument: “I can’t afford to be in cash right now.” Investment managers have to provide returns today.

Whenever investors sell a low dividend-paying stock to buy a higher-dividend stock, some piece of progress is sapped from our economy. (The cash needed to pay that higher dividend isn’t going to capital investment in the company.)

This is the exact opposite of entrepreneurial thinking that advances the economy. Consider the example of Henry Ford, who didn’t care about paying dividends today. He wanted to plow as much capital as possible back into making production more efficient for the benefit of the consumer who would pay less for a higher-quality product.

In summary, a major message of my recent book, The Dao of Capital, is recognizing the distortions that come from central bank intervention. Because of the Fed’s actions, interest rates are no longer a real piece of economic information. If you treat them like they are, you will simply do the wrong thing.

After all, when the government tries to manipulate things, the inverse of what was intended usually happens. On that point, history is entirely on my side.

On The Government & Federal Reserve's "Interventions"...

Spitznagel: The reality is, when distortion is created, the only way out is to let the natural homeostasis take over. The purge that occurs after massive distortion is painful, but ultimately, it’s far better and healthier for the system. While that may sound rather heartless, it’s actually the best and least destructive in the long run.

Look what happened in the 1930s, when the actions of the government prolonged what should have been a quick purge. Instead, the government prevented the natural rebuilding process from working, which made matters so much worse.

I draw a parallel to forest wildfires. Fire suppression prevents small, naturally occurring wildfires from error-correcting the inappropriate growth, and thus prevents the system from seeking its natural homeostatic balance—its natural temporal structure of production, if you will. Instead, everything is allowed to grow at once, as if more resources exist than actually do, and the forest actually gradually consumes itself. When fire inevitably does break out, it is catastrophic. This is a perfect analogy for the market process. We simply do not understand the great homeostasis at work in markets that are allowed to correct their mistakes.

Suppression that makes the cure that much worse than the initial ill, until exponentially more damage is done, calls to mind the wry observation made by the great Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises: “If a man has been hurt by being run over by an automobile, it is no remedy to let the car go back over him in the [opposite] direction.”

As the Mises protégé Murray Rothbard would say, the catharsis needed to return to homeostatic balance “is the ‘recovery’ process,” and, “far from being an evil scourge, is the necessary and beneficial return” to healthier growth and “optimum efficiency.”

It is unfair to call the Austrians heartless because of these views. The Keynesians are the ones who got us into this mess in the first place—just like those who advocated for the suppression of natural forest fires are the ones who created the tinder box that puts the forest at risk.

On The Yellen Fed... (hint - no change)

Spitznagel: Post-Bernanke it will be more of the same.Therefore, investors need to know how to navigate a distorted world—and post-Bernanke the world is likely to get even more distorted—until the markets, ultimately and inevitably, flush out that distortion. This is why I rely on the Austrian school so much.

Austrian business cycle theory (ABCT) shows us what is really happening behind the curtain, so to speak, from monetary distortions in the economy and the creation of malinvestment. When the economy is subject to top-down intervention from the government and especially the central bank, investors need to read the signs in order to protect themselves—as well as still find a way to own productive assets.

People can avoid becoming trapped into chasing immediate returns along with the rest of the ill-fated crowd.

A far better approach is to wait for the return to homeostasis that will prevail even in the midst of pervasive distortion. In that way, investors can embrace roundabout investing by avoiding the distortion and, thus, have all the more resources later for opportunistic investing.

On investing (for retail inevstors)...

Another option for investors is a very simplistic, “mom-and-pop” strategy that starts with recognizing when you are in a distorted environment. For this I use what I call the Misesian stationarity index, which describes the amount of distortion in the economy.

This simple, back-of-the-envelope strategy would be to buy when the index is low and sell when it is high. In other words, people should stay out of the market when it is distorted and thus preserve their capital to deploy after the inevitable purge and correction, when productive assets become bargain-priced. Such an approach has resulted historically in an annualized 2-percent outperformance of stocks. Logically it makes sense, and when you look at it empirically, it’s incontrovertible.

Yet, admittedly, in the world of investing, sitting with one’s arms folded and not taking advantage of a rising market pumped up with distortion, is difficult—even though avoiding the enticement leads to better intermediate means for positional advantage to be exploited later.

It is difficult to do and may even feel anticlimactic. Nonetheless, the disciplined Misesian approach is healthier for one’s portfolio.

On the worst case scenario...

the Fed keeps winning and the illusion continues. The equity markets keep ripping along.

On extreme monetary distrortion and the Q-Ratio...

In simplest terms, the equity Q ratio is the total corporate equity in the United States divided by the replacement cost. Another way to think about it is the appraised value of existing capital in the United States divided by what it would cost to replace or accumulate all that capital.

This ratio has tremendous meaning from an Austrian standpoint, as it reflects what the markets are saying about the state of distortion in the economy.

This aptly illustrates Mises’s concept of “stationarity.” (In a stationary economy, in the aggregate, balance is achieved between the return and replacement costs.) The farther the ratio moves above “1,” the more monetary distortion there is in the economy. For this reason, and as a tip of the hat to the man who gave us the Austrian business cycle theory, I call this ratio the Misesian stationarity index, or MS index for short. When the MS index is high, subsequent large stock market losses and even crashes become perfectly expected events.

Today there is a tremendous amount of monetary distortion, on par with the 1929 stock market and certainly the peak of 2007, and many others (except the 2000 peak, which got a bit more ahead of itself). And all were caused by monetary distortion. As the Austrians show us, the business cycle is a Fed-induced phenomenon.

Credit to Zero Hedge