What is happening to our world?

Can OPEC Breakup Collapse Petro Dollar

Oil-Producing Nations Currency Carnage Continues

The Nigerian Naira and Russian Ruble have been the hardest hit in the last few days as oil-producing nations across the world see their currencies come under increasing pressure. With both hitting new record lows against the USDollar (with the Naira at 184.5,  already exceeding the recently devalued currencies upper peg band at around 176 per USD), chatter this morning is that the Russian central bank is actively intervening in the Ruble market after it hit 53.9 in early US trading.

The currency carnage since oil prices peaked

and desk chatter is the Russian Central Bank is intervening as RUB neared 54 to the USD

As Bloomberg reports, it's not all terrible news for Russia,

A weaker ruble benefits the budget because it boosts export revenue in local-currency terms, helping offset the slide in Brent. Russia relies on oil and gas for 50 percent of budget revenue.

Bank of Russia probably won’t intervene as the “ruble’s devaluation balances out the falling oil price,” Evgeny Shilenkov, the head of trading at Veles Capital LLC in Moscow, said by phone Nov. 28. “The currency market is more realistic after the free-float and reflects the actual oil price.”

Nabiullina is weighing policy options as she seeks to keep lending flowing in an economy on the brink of recession, while avoiding a deeper currency slump that could spark a rush among citizens to switch their ruble savings into dollars.

Russia faces a 70 percent chance of recession, a survey of economists from Oct. 30 showed. The economy of the world’s biggest energy exporter has been weakened by U.S. and European sanctions over President Vladimir Putin’s role in Ukraine, where pro-Russian rebels battle government troops.

“The pressure on the ruble is less about the conduct of Russian monetary policy and more about plunging oil prices,” Nicholas Spiro, head of Spiro Sovereign Strategy in London, said by e-mail Nov. 28.

Credit to Zero Hedge 

THE ILLUMINATI LAUNCH THEIR FIRST WEBSITE AND TV COMMERCIAL

The CFR, no longer a secret.

I remember when the so-called elite used to expend vast amounts of energy and resources to conceal the existence of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Trilateral Commission. Now they are totally out in the open and the seeming love the publicity as if to say “We are here, we have won and humanity is enslaved”.

If one mentions the word “Illuminati”, people chuckle and say “Oh, you are one of those conspiracy theorists”.

Now the the Illuminati are openly proclaiming that they are here to save us!  Below is their first TV commercial.  They have sponsored even sponsored their first website.

The above sounds more like a commercial for the arrival of Planet X. I guess I should forsake a lifetime of worshipping Jesus and trying my best to follow his teachings and simply lie down and relax so that the Illuminati can save me. Is all of this real? Does it matter?

Let me remind everyone, this is the Illuminati end game, and you do not have a place in it. The following details the REAL Illuminati, TV commercials and websites notwithstanding.

I highly recommend Steve Quayle’s book, Xenogenesis, which details the intended end of humanity as we know it.

 Credit to Common Sense

The Coming Arctic War

Part One of this series detailed how the Russians are preparing to win World War III, while America continues to dismantle her military power. The question that many are asking is where will the next great war to end all wars take place? Many speculate that it will take place in either Syria or Ukraine. However, mounting evidence would suggest elsewhere. Please consider the following quote from one of my military sources.

“Probably not in Ukraine or in Syria and certainly not in Iran, will we see the commencement of World War III. One of my most trusted sources has informed me that the United States has secretly brokered a deal with Canada and Norway to militarize the North Pole as a proxy military force. The two nations will provide some of the manpower and forward bases of operations while the U.S. provides the weaponry and funding. I have said it before and I am saying it again, it looks more and more like World War III will have its beginnings in the North Pole where it is likely that we will see the first direct face-off of NATO forces and the Russian Federation”.  

The Recent History

Under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which was finalized in 1982, countries can lay claim to the ocean floor well beyond their borders so long as they can provide convincing scientific evidence to prove that a particular seabed is an extension of their continental shelf. Already, countries have sovereign rights to resources within 200 nautical miles of their territorial waterways. For a country to determine whether they have economic sovereignty beyond that distance, the UN agreement requires comprehensive mapping that establishes some sort of geologic justification for the claim. And where the Arctic is concerned, Canada, the US, Norway, Russia, and Denmark have been amassing scientific evidence for more than a decade in an effort to increase their piece of this resource-rich pie.

Russian Motivation for Militarily Occupying the North Pole

One of my military sources has told me that Putin intends to occupy the North Pole and is willing to fight for the right to do so. With Goldman Sachs and their interlocking interests at the Federal Reserve buying up a substantial portion of the world’s gold, they need to have hedge against the dropping price of gold and the resource-rich North Pole provides that insurance. However, if one were to just read the headlines of the MSM, one would think that nothing but the wrapping of Christmas presents by Santa Claus is the only activity going on at the North Pole. Yet, both American interests and the Russian military are vying for control of the region.

Important Interview with Sweden’s Agneta Nordberg

Agneta Nordberg is the Vice Chair of the Swedish Peace Council,  a member of the Steering Committee in The International Peace Bureau (IPB) and she is highly concerned that Sweden is being used by the United States and its NATO allies to conduct their war games on Swedish soil. Sweden is a supposed neutral country and has signed agreements in opposition to exactly what is going on which are secret war games on its soil. And if it were not for a Norwegian military plane crash into MountKebnekaise, the world would never have discovered these secret war games taking place in northern Sweden and Norway. Nordberg stated that the reason for the war games is because of the melting ice which has exposed the vast amounts of mineral resources, the largest in the world. It is not an overstatement to proclaim that whoever controls the Arctic, will someday control the world’s economy.

The rumors of Canada’s involvement as an American proxy force can be substantiated. It is now verifiable that the Canadians are working on a new navy base. China is in the process of interjecting themselves into the conflict as well.

Seven Years of Secret Arctic U.S. War Games

Since 2007, there have  been massive NATO Arctic war maneuvers in both Sweden and Norway with all of NATO, and specifically, the United States. One of the war games was dubbed the Nordic Air Meet, in 2007, where most of NATO took part in massive war games designed to protect interests in the Arctic from Russian incursion. Again, in 2009, operation  Loyal Arrow, was held which was the largest air war game in history involving the northern part of Sweden, Norway, and also in Finland. These Arctic war games have continued with the Cold Response №1, a winter maneuver in the northern part of Sweden and northern Norway.   And another war game took place in March of 2012, known as the Cold Response №2.

In a very provocative move, both NATO and the U.S. have installed an advanced radar system only a few kilometers from the Russian border known as the Vardo radar system. Vardo  is  dangerous because it is embedded within a missile defense system. This system is a checkmate against Russian offensive missile weapons systems located near the Arctic. The installation of Vardo is an act of aggression and, in some circles, is considered an act of war, and that is where this is likely heading.

 Russian Military Actions and Intentions

Now compare the Russian Arctic mineral retrieval activities and the military significance should jump off the page at the reader. There are additional Russian Arctic territorial claims which conflict with US territorial claims. Russia is making several territorial claims in relation to several Arctic shelf areas and is planning to defend their claims to the United Nations. After reading the final section of this article, I believe the Russian intention of obtaining UN approval is merely window dressing. They are preparing to take what they want by whatever means necessary.

The Russian economic interest in the North Pole is clear and is illustrated by the map. This is Russia’s insurance policy to following oil and gold prices which is cutting into the heart of the Russian economic empire.

Russia Is In War Mode

The Russians are in war mode, Arctic war mode. I do not see how any reasonable person could read the following accounts of Russian military buildup in the Arctic and not conclude that the spark for WW III will not begin here.

Russia has tested the world’s most powerful vacuum bomb, which unleashes a destructive shockwave with the power of a nuclear blast, the military said on Tuesday, dubbing it the “father of all bombs”.  This is the most powerful non-nuclear bomb on the world. In fact, many experts believe that this bomb does pack a nuclear punch.  This would be the weapon of choice in the coming Arctic conflict because it would kill soldiers, dismantle military equipment without destroying the surrounding mineral resources, which is the point of the coming conflict.

Additionally, Russia is adding 40 new naval ships to its nuclear arsenal in 2014. By the end of 2015, Russia will have nearly as many naval ships as the United States. Retrofitted combat aircraft from Russia’s Northern Fleet will extend the ranges of their patrol flights over the Arctic in 2014 using a network of revamped Soviet-era airfields. The Russian fleet’s Tu-142 and Il-38 reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft carried out over 30 patrol missions in the Arctic last year. The Russians have announced their intentions to carry out many more such missions.

Ballistic missile submarines make up one part of Russia’s strategic nuclear triad along with land-based ICBMs and the Russian bomber force. The Borey submarine is Russia’s first post-Soviet ballistic missile submarine class and will form the mainstay of the strategic submarine fleet, replacing aging Typhoon, Delta-3 and Delta-4 class boats. The creation of the Borey signals that the Russian economy is in war mode.

Russia ultimately expects to manufacture eight Borey-class submarines by the year 2020. People constantly are asking me for time frames connected to these events and I dismiss such questions as a fool’s errand. However, the deployment of these submarines by 2020 may provide a clue as to the timetable that the globalists are operating under. Oh yes, make no mistake about it, this coming war will not happen without the blessings of the banksters from Basel.

Additionally, the Russians are commissioning other submarines as well. Russia’s first Project 885M Yasen-class attack submarine, the Severodvinsk, was handed over to the navy at end of 2013. This submarine has been under construction since 1993. This fact goes a long way to justify the claims made by several Russian defectors that the Soviet Union never really fell and always planned to attack the United States at some future date.

Conclusion

The winds of war have a chilling feel to them, an Arctic chilling feeling. At the present moment, the most interesting aspect of this developing crisis is that we are not hearing one word of this in the MSM.

Credit to Common Sense 

Obama Reverses Policy As US-Turkey Set To Agree On Syrian No-Fly-Zone

With the apparent goal of 'protecting civilians' from ISIS and Syria's al-Assad, the US and Turkey appear to be close to agreeing on the creation of a no-fly-zone along a portion of the Syrian border. As WSJ reports, U.S. and Turkish officials have narrowed their differences over a joint military mission in Syria that would give the U.S. and its coalition partners permission to use Turkish air bases to launch strike operations against Islamic State targets across northern Syria. The no-fly-zone would provide sanctuary to Western-backed opposition forces and refugees. As Bloomberg notes, this is a significant reversal of Obama's earlier policy (fearing it would be a significant strain on the U.S. Air Force and put fliers in mortal danger) pushing US closer to outright proxy war with Russia via direct confrontation with al-Assad's airforce. 

As WSJ reports,

U.S. and Turkish officials have narrowed their differences over a joint military mission in Syria that would give the U.S. and its coalition partners permission to use Turkish air bases to launch strike operations against Islamic State targets across northern Syria, according to officials in both countries.

As part of the deal, U.S. and Turkish officials are discussing the creation of a protected zone along a portion of the Syrian border that would be off-limits to Assad regime aircraft and would provide sanctuary to Western-backed opposition forces and refugees.

U.S. and coalition aircraft would use Incirlik and other Turkish air bases to patrol the zone, ensuring that rebels crossing the border from Turkey don’t come under attack there, officials said.

Turkey had proposed a far more extensive no-fly zone across one-third of northern Syria, according to officials. That idea was, however, a nonstarter for the Obama administration, which told Ankara that something so invasive would constitute an act of war against the Assad regime.

Which the US could never admit to - putting the US in direct conflict with al-Assad's airforce and thus engaging the proxy war with Russia.

As Bloomberg adds,

Ever since the Syrian civil war broke out in early 2011, U.S. President Barack Obama has resisted calls from Congress to establish a no-fly zone in the country. Now we have learned that one of Obama’s top envoys is negotiating just such a plan with Syria’s neighbor Turkey.

The new proposal would be called an “air-exclusion zone,” a buffer area inside Syria along the Turkish border that would be manned by Turkish troops and protected by U.S. air power, according to three senior U.S. officials who have been briefed on the discussions. The goal would be to give some Syria rebels and civilians protection from both Islamic State and the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and increase the flow of humanitarian aid to Syria through the zone. The idea was last floated in 2012 by the French government, and then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was reported to support it at that time.

John Allen, the retired Marine general who is the Obama administration’s lead coordinator for the international coalition against IS, discussed the air exclusion zone with high ranking Turkish officials during his trip there earlier this month, according to these three officials.

If Obama approves the plan being negotiated by Allen, it would mark a reversal from his earlier policy. Since 2012, the White House has resisted calls from both parties in Congress to establish such protected areas in Syria, in part because it would be a significant strain on the U.S. Air Force and put fliers in mortal danger. But the White House has also been wary that a no-fly zone could drag the U.S. into a shooting war with the Syrian regime at the very moment it is trying to wage a war against the Islamic State and al-Qaeda, two groups that have also fought the regime.

“You can’t have an exclusionary zone and not be in conflict with the regime," said a former Obama administration Pentagon official who worked on the Middle East. "You can’t have your cake and eat it too."

...

“Ultimately, I’m not sure this division of labor between sectarian rebels against ISIS but not against the regime is sustainable,” he said. “Ultimately if we are going to arm a moderate rebel force, we are going to have to protect them. That means if the regime goes after them, we are going to have to take the necessary steps to protect them.” 

*  *  *

We can only imagine the quid pro quo Kerry had to offer to get Erdogan in on the deal given his recent strong anti-American rhetoric. However, the crucial point is Obama's reversal and more explicitly aggressive stance against al-Assad that will likely warrant a Russian response (in words or deeds).

Credit to Zero Hedge

Koran should be read at Prince Charles’ coronation says top bishop

Prince Charles’s coronation service should be opened with a reading from the Koran, a senior Church of England bishop said yesterday.

The gesture would be a ‘creative act of accommodation’ to make Muslims feel ‘embraced’ by the nation, Lord Harries of Pentregarth said.

But critics attacked the idea, accusing the Church of ‘losing confidence’ in its own institutions and traditions.





Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2853638/Koran-read-Prince-Charles-coronation-says-bishop-Critics-attack-proposal-accuse-Church-England-losing-confidence-traditions.html#ixzz3Kc6vqtaw



Credit to dailymail-co-uk

Giant sunspot may cause massive solar storms

The largest sunspot to appear on Earth's nearest star in more than two decades is once again pointed at the planet, and it will likely kick-start solar storms, NASA scientists say.

The massive sunspot, previously known as Active Region 12192, was turned toward Earth in October and early November, but rotated out of view. While it was on the Earth-facing side of the sun, the sunspot did not produce any coronal mass ejections — hot bursts of material ejected into space at 4 million mph (6.4 million kilometers/hour) — which have the potential to damage satellites and power grids. Now the active region has rotated back around to face Earth again, and although the sunspot has shrunk in size, it will likely be disruptive, NASA scientist Holly Gilbert told Space.com during a video interview about the massive sunspot.




Credit to Mashable.com

What Happened The Last Time The Price Of Oil Crashed Like This

There has only been one other time in history when the price of oil has crashed by more than 40 dollars in less than 6 months.  The last time this happened was during the second half of 2008, and the beginning of that oil price crash preceded the great financial collapse that happened later that year by several months.  Well, now it is happening again, but this time the stakes are even higher.  When the price of oil falls dramatically, that is a sign that economic activity is slowing down.  It can also have a tremendously destabilizing affect on financial markets.  As you will read about below, energy companies now account for approximately 20 percent of the junk bond market.  And a junk bond implosion is usually a signal that a major stock market crash is on the way.  So if you are looking for a “canary in the coal mine”, keep your eye on the performance of energy junk bonds.  If they begin to collapse, that is a sign that all hell is about to break loose on Wall Street.

It would be difficult to overstate the importance of the shale oil boom to the U.S. economy.  Thanks to this boom, the United States has become the largest oil producer on the entire planet.

Yes, the U.S. now actually produces more oil than either Saudi Arabia or Russia.  This “revolution” has resulted in the creation of  millions of jobs since the last recession, and it has been one of the key factors that has kept the percentage of Americans that are employed fairly stable.

Unfortunately, the shale oil boom is coming to an abrupt end.  As a recent Vox article discussed, OPEC has essentially declared a price war on U.S. shale oil producers…

For all intents and purposes, OPEC is now engaged in a “price war” with the United States. What that means is that it’s very cheap to pump oil out of places like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. But it’s more expensive to extract oil from shale formations in places like Texas and North Dakota. So as the price of oil keeps falling, some US producers may become unprofitable and go out of business. The result? Oil prices will stabilize and OPEC maintains its market share.

If the price of oil stays at this level or continues falling, we will see a significant number of U.S. shale oil companies go out of business and large numbers of jobs will be lost.  The Saudis know how to play hardball, and they are absolutely ruthless.  In fact, we have seen this kind of scenario happen before…

Robert McNally, a White House adviser to former President George W. Bush and president of the Rapidan Group energy consultancy, told Reuters that Saudi Arabia “will accept a price decline necessary to sweat whatever supply cuts are needed to balance the market out of the US shale oil sector.” Even legendary oil man T. Boone Pickens believes Saudi Arabia is in a stand-off with US drillers and frackers to “see how the shale boys are going to stand up to a cheaper price.” This has happened once before. By the mid-1980’s, as oil output from Alaska’s North Slope and the North Sea came on line (combined production of around 5-6 million barrels a day), OPEC set off a price war to compete for market share. As a result, the price of oil sank from around $40 to just under $10 a barrel by 1986.

But the energy sector has been one of the only bright spots for the U.S. economy in recent years.  If this sector starts collapsing, it is going to have a dramatic negative impact on our economic outlook.  For example, just consider the following numbers from a recent Business Insider article…

Specifically, if prices get too low, then energy companies won’t be able to cover the cost of production in the US. This spending by energy companies, also known as capital expenditures, is responsible for a lot of jobs.

“The Energy sector accounts for roughly one-third of S&P 500 capex and nearly 25% of combined capex and R&D spending,” Goldman Sachs’ Amanda Sneider writes.

Even more troubling is what this could mean for the financial markets.

As I mentioned above, energy companies now account for close to 20 percent of the entire junk bond market.  As those companies start to fail and those bonds start to go bad, that is going to hit our major banks really hard…

Everyone could suffer if the collapse triggers a wave of defaults through the high-yield debt market, and in turn, hits stocks. The first to fall: the banks that were last hit by the housing crisis.

Why could that happen?

Well, energy companies make up anywhere from 15 to 20 percent of all U.S. junk debt, according to various sources.

It would be hard to overstate the seriousness of what the markets could potentially be facing.

One analyst summed it up to CNBC this way…

“This is the one thing I’ve seen over and over again,” said Larry McDonald, head of U.S strategy at Newedge USA’s macro group. “When high yield underperforms equity, a major credit event occurs. It’s the canary in the coal mine.“

The last time junk bonds collapsed, a major stock market crash followed fairly rapidly.

And those that were hardest hit were the big Wall Street banks…

During the last high-yield collapse, which centered around debt tied to the housing sector, Citigroup lost 63 percent of its value in the following 60 days, Kensho shows. Bank of America was cut in half.

I understand that some of this information is too technical for a lot of people, but the bottom line is this…

Watch junk bonds.  When they start crashing it is a sign that a major stock market collapse is right at the door.

At this point, even the mainstream media is warning about this.  Just consider the following excerpt from a recent CNN article…

That swing away from junk bonds often happens shortly before stock market downturns.

“High yield does provide useful sell signals to equity investors,” Barclays analysts concluded in a recent report.

Barclays combed through the past dozen years of data. The warning signal they found is a 30% or greater increase in the spread between Treasuries and junk bonds before a dip.

If you have been waiting for the next major financial collapse, what you have just read in this article indicates that it is now closer than it has ever been.

Over the coming weeks, keep your eye on the price of oil, keep your eye on the junk bond market and keep your eye on the big banks.

Trouble is brewing, and nobody is quite sure exactly what comes next.

Credit to Economic Collapse