Category: Japan

ANOTHER MEGA EARTHQUAKE and TSUNAMI may hit JAPAN again

Russia Today on

Japan’s Pacific coastline may be hit by an enormous tsunami, should a major earthquake occur off the coast of the country’s central island. This is the scenario feared – and expected – by local specialists. A special Cabinet Office panel warned of the possibility Saturday, after it revised its 2003 estimate, reports the Kyodo news agency. The new revision reflects new findings from the March 2011 earthquake that triggered a massive tsunami and the world’s worst nuclear crisis in 25 years. Back in 2003, the panel was sure that Japan would never see a tsunami more than 20 meters high. The new report, however, is based on the assumption that the earthquake will have a magnitude of 9.0 and will occur on the Nankai Trough. The oceanic fault runs east of the central Japanese island of Honshu and is 900 km long. Moreover, this trough is one of the most probable places for an earthquake of such magnitude to occur in the coming decades, local specialists believe.

War and The Empire: Who Benefits from Organized Violence of Continued Wars?

Ed Kinane on

A state of war only serves as an excuse for domestic tyranny. -Alexander Solzhenitsyn The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has nothing to gain and all to lose – especially their lives. -Eugene Victor Debs Few nations have such extensive borders or coasts as the United States. Few have borders as blessedly uncontested and unthreatened. Why, then, is the US so contemptuous of international law? Why does the US intervene in and invade other lands, often far from our shores, with such alarming frequency? Why does this nation squander trillions of dollars on “security” and “defense”? Why does this nation maintain fleets and hundreds of costly military bases all over the globe? Why does this nation dissipate its treasure deploying the world’s most massive killing machine?

THE DOLLAR GLOBAL DOMINANCE CRUMBLES: The BRICS finally leaves away from the dollar dependency

RT on

The BRICS – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – have agreed to provide credit to each other in local currencies. Officials say the deal will facilitate economic growth in times of crisis. The currency swap deal is aimed at promoting trade and investment in local currencies as well as to cut transaction costs. It’s also seen as a step to replace the dollar as a reserve currency in trade between BRICS. “The idea is in line with many interests and economic exigencies in the world economy,” Yaroslav Lissovolik, the chief economist at Deutsche Bank told RT. “The euro and dollar are no longer seen as unquestionable monopolies in the role of reserve currencies. Clearly the world needs more reserve currencies.” The deal would also increase the BRICS influence on the international arena and will make their cooperation less sensitive to sanctions from the West, experts say.

The FRB’s “Operation Twist”: Europe and America Grim Economic Prospects

Bob Chapman on

Seven months after the official announcement on 9/21/11 of “Operation Twist” not much progress has been made at the long end of the market to reduce yields.The yield on the 10-year T-note has gone from 1.88% to 2.3% and the 30-year bond went from 3.03% to 3.41%. The episode has been marred by hedge fund and sovereign selling, which has left the short end a little higher, but the long end much higher. The question now is how much did this cost the Fed for such disappointing results? Or in fact was this really their objective? We may never know, because the Fed hides what they do not want anyone to know. These results might not seem important but US Treasury instruments are the foundation of the global monetary system.