Author: JoeSTP

Liberty’s Torch – by Francis W. Porretto

This morning, the great Victor Davis Hanson deposeth and sayeth:

For bewildered and increasingly quietist Americans, the center holds mostly in family, religion, a few friends, the avoidance of the cinema and nightly news, the rote of navigating to work and coming home, trying to stay off the dole and taking responsibility for one’s own disasters — as the world grows ever more chaotic in our midst.All sorts of escapism from the madness is now epidemic. Home-schooling. Gun ownership. A second home in the mountains. A trunk of freeze-dried food. Kids living in the basement. A generator. Some gold coins. A move to Wyoming. An avoidance of the old big cities. A tough choice between death and going to the nearby emergency room (at least your relatives are safe as you pass away at home). A careful and narrow selection of channels on cable TV. A safe room or escape plan. And on and on. Continue reading “Quietism, Or “Hunkering Down?””

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

You know things are bad in the ship-building business when… amid considerably larger than expected losses, China’s COSCO announced that it has dis-assembled 8 vessels in January alone (including 3 bulk carriers) and will be decommissioning and disposing of them as it awaits a “more conducive” environment. It appears that is not coming anytime soon, as The Baltic Dry Index just hit 522 – a new all-time low (down a stunning 53 of the last 55 days).   Continue reading “China’s COSCO Dis-Assembles 8 Ships Amid Glut As Baltic Dry Hits Another Record Low”

The Rio Norte Line – by Joe Bakanovic

I have been writing about the growing threat I see coming from Washington, D.C.  I see this nation traveling down the same road Germany traveled in the 1930’s, and for many of the same reasons.  But there are people – ignorant people – who tell me this could never happen here.

Well, if you are among those who think this sort of thing could never happen here, I say learn your history – because it already has:   Continue reading “So You Say It Can’t Happen Here? WRONG! It Already Has”

Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) — The promise of plentiful jobs and salaries as high as a quarter-million dollars a year lured Colombia native Clara Correa Zappa and her British husband to Perth, Australia, at the height of the continent’s oil and gas frenzy.

Engineers were in high demand in 2012, when oil prices exceeded $100 a barrel, making the move across the world a no-brainer. Within two years, though, oil plunged to less than half the 2012 price and Zappa lost her job as a safety analyst. Now she’s worried her husband, who also works in the commodities industry, could also lose his job.   Continue reading “Global Oil Layoffs Exceed 100,000”

Politico – by Jenny Hopkinson

A new genetically modified apple that doesn’t brown when cut open or bruised finally has been cleared to be grown in the U.S.

An arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Friday — after a three-year wait — that the Okanagan Specialty Fruit’s Arctic Apple in Golden and Granny varieties doesn’t pose any harm to other plants or pests. The apple won’t be at grocery stores yet, though this was its last major regulatory hurdle. The company is still waiting on the conclusion of a voluntary review by the FDA before the apple can enter the market place.   Continue reading “Feds approve GMO apple”

Natural Society – by Anthony Gucciardi

Would you like a side of hepatitis A shot with your Happy Meal? As it turns out, your child may just be able to receive a number of significant vaccinations at your local McDonald’s on behalf of the Department of Public Health.

I was just as shocked as you are when I heard news from an email tip that one reader’s local McDonald’s was launching a ‘free vaccination’ program alongside their fast food marketing campaign, and I was reasonably skeptical that even McDonald’s would launch such a strange combination. Especially when consider the extreme financial downfall that the company is experiencing as millions abandon their fake food amid public knowledge over the true extent of their synthetic ingredient list.   Continue reading “McDonald’s Gives Free Vaccines With Happy Meals In Texas”

KOIN 6 News

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN 6) – An official with a South Korean shipping company that is the Port of Portland’s largest container carrier confirmed Hanjin Shipping will be terminating its service with the city.

In an email statement, Hanjin’s Mike Radak said the reason is simple: the company “can’t afford the expense of operating” in Portland.

Port spokesman Josh Thomas said Tuesday that Hanjin notified the port and customers it will withdraw services on March 9. Hanjin handles nearly 80 percent of the container volume at the port’s Terminal 6.   Continue reading “Major shipping company pulls out of Portland”

Sipsey Street Irregulars

We aren’t “influencing” gun control legislation, we’re NEGATING it.

David Codrea comments:

What makes you think “politics” is their primary goal? They’re here, they’re determined, they’re growing and they’re fed up. You can continue condemning them, as most no doubt will, but you’re not going to stop them without overwhelming police state force attacking the exercise of the uninfringed right to keep and bear arms.   Continue reading ““Spooking lawmakers with guns isn’t political genius.””

Contra Corner – by David Stockman

The mainstream narrative about “recovery” from the financial crisis is a giant con job. And nowhere does the mendacity run deeper than in the “banks are fixed” meme—an insidious cover story that has been concocted by the crony capitalist cabals that thrive at the intersection of Wall Street and Washington.

So this morning comes yet another expose in the Wall Street Journal about the depredations of Bank America (BAC). Not surprisingly, at the center of this latest malefaction is still another set of schemes to grossly abuse the deposit insurance safety net and enlist the American taxpayer in the risky business of financing high-rolling London hedge funds.   Continue reading “Shoot Bank Of America Now—-The Case For Super Glass-Steagall Is Overwhelming”

The Guardian – by Saffron Alexander

Continue reading “Food fat warnings: why you should add butter to your shopping list”

Farm and Dairy – by Ivory Harlow

A hundred years ago lard reigned supreme. My great grandmother used lard to make everything from lye soap to her famous oatmeal chocolate cookies. Sometime during my grandmother’s era lard fell from grace due to increasing health awareness and cholesterol concerns. By the 1980s my own mother had not only rejected lard, but all real fats including butter. I grew up “enjoying” the florescent glow of margarine.

Today lard is making a comeback. It is a superior fat for making just about everything: flaky pie crusts, melt-in-your-mouth biscuits and flour tortillas. I use it to make perfectly fried chicken, popcorn shrimp and crispy hot hushpuppies.   Continue reading “How to render lard, the easy way”

Govt Slaves

(SALEM)  The nation’s first per-mile charging system will launch in Oregon July 1, 2015 . The implementation team for Oregon’s Road Usage Charge Program, enacted by the Oregon Legislature last July, has qualified three companies to help build and support Oregon’s mileage charge collection system: Sanef, Verizon and Azuga. The companies will now pass through ODOT’s certification process in order to provide services to the program’s volunteer motorists beginning July 1, 2015.“Our vision is to create a reliable, easy-to-use, low cost, enforceable, and publicly acceptable ‘open’ system,” said Jim Whitty, Manager of ODOT’s Office of Innovative Partnerships and Alternative Funding. “A charge based on measured road use preserves fairness and accountability in supporting the state’s system of roads and highways.”   Continue reading “Oregon Teams Up With Verizon To Tax Vehicles 1.5 Cents Per Mile”

KBOI 2 News

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The director of the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation is seeking permission from lawmakers to allow corporate sponsorship as a way to bring in money for the state’s park system.

The Spokesman-Review reports that David Langhorst told lawmakers Monday that allowing businesses to put their names on signs, picnic shelters and brochures could help make the park system pay for itself.   Continue reading “Idaho state parks department eyes corporate sponsorship”

Economic Collapse – by Michael Snyder

Are we on the verge of a major worldwide economic downturn?  Well, if recent warnings from prominent bankers all over the world are to be believed, that may be precisely what we are facing in the months ahead.  As you will read about below, the big banks are warning that the price of oil could soon drop as low as 20 dollars a barrel, that a Greek exit from the eurozone could push the EUR/USD down to 0.90, and that the global economy could shrink by more than 2 trillion dollars in 2015.  Most of the time, very few people ever actually read the things that the big banks write for their clients.  But in recent months, a lot of these bankers are issuing such ominous warnings that you would think that they have started to write for The Economic Collapse Blog.  Of course we have seen this happen before.  Just before the financial crisis of 2008, a lot of people at the big banks started to get spooked, and now we are beginning to see an atmosphere of fear spread on Wall Street once again.  Nobody is quite sure what is going to happen next, but an increasing number of experts are starting to agree that it won’t be good.   Continue reading “If You Listen Carefully, The Bankers Are Actually Telling Us What Is Going To Happen Next”

The Guardian

Day and night, the Chinese-run piers of the Piraeus container terminal are a hive of activity. Lorries come and go while forklift trucks zoom around and colossal cranes heave giant containers from ship to shore.

Five years after its arrival in the Mediterranean, China’s global shipping carrier, Cosco, takes immense pride in the efficiency with which affairs are conducted on these piers. Business activity has tripled since the state-owned conglomerate acquired the port for €500m (£373m), the biggest foreign investment in Greece in modern times.   Continue reading “Greece’s port in a storm: anger as Syriza stops China extending hold on Piraeus”

Ready Nutrition – by Bess Pennington

By and large, the majority of the population has deluded themselves into believing a bright future is upon the horizon. For years, economic forecasters and preppers alike have warned of the bottom dropping out of the economy. The proverbial doom prediction of “it’s not if, but when” is not just a phrase to add dramatic effect, it is a call to action. It’s a warning that the American dream is about to drastically change and that it is time to prepare accordingly.   Continue reading “End of an Era: Prospects Look Bleak For Slowing the Coming Food Crisis”

Washington’s Blog

Governments from Around the World Admit They Do It

There are many documented false flag attacks, where a government carries out a terror attack … and then falsely blames its enemy for political purposes.

In the following 42 instances, officials in the government which carried out the attack (or seriously proposed an attack) admits to it, either orally or in writing:   Continue reading “42 ADMITTED False Flag Attacks”