Thursday 25 December 2014

Headlines - 12/25/2014

## Global Ponzi meltdown/House of Cards ##

## Airline Death Spiral ##

## Fault lines/flashpoints/powder kegs/military/war drums ##
Moscow promises to retaliate after Ukrainian MPs approve bill to abandon non-aligned status
French prime ministers says up to 300 soldiers would be deployed around the country over Christmas to ensure security

## Global unrest/mob rule/angry people/torches and pitchforks ##

## Energy/resources ##
The problem with financializing a critical sector of the economy is the financialization process transforms it into a systemic risk. The trajectory of every financialized sector is the same: debt and leverage are piled ever higher on a base of collateral that eventually collapses as heightened risk becomes the Monster Id of a crowded trade.
Aberdeen’s City Council is calling for a summit of government, business and labor leaders to search for ways to ease the severe challenges that low prices are posing to Britain’s North Sea oil industry.
Billionaire Harold Hamm, whose early adoption of shale drilling in North Dakota helped usher in a U.S. energy renaissance, plans to cut spending by 41 percent at his company after the plunge in oil prices.
It is has now been confirmed. The first measured 24 hour production from Bakken wells is a very good predictor of the future production of that well. And it has also been confirmed that new wells with higher well numbers are producing a lot less.
So do I. Already oil production is beginning to collapse. That's going to continue for a decade? -- RF
A. P. Moller-Maersk's Maersk Oil unit would have to close some sites and cut operating costs if the oil price remains at its current level, the group's CEO said in an interview in Danish daily Politiken on Tuesday.
As you can see, they are not waiting for $20/bbl oil. -- RF
Ukraine temporarily cut off power supplies to Crimea on Wednesday after the Russian-controlled peninsula failed to curb consumption as required due to a power crisis, the Ukrainian energy ministry said.

## Lifestyle Solutions ##

## Environment/health ##
A University of Iowa scientist has been sanctioned for launching work on the deadly MERS virus without school approval and outside of the proper laboratory setting.

## Intelligence/propaganda/security/internet/cyberwar ##
Cybersecurity experts say that targets in a cyberwar wouldn't be Hollywood studios but instead the nation's critical infrastructure, which is already under attack by hackers trying to infiltrate, study, and potentially cripple US utilities.

## Systemic breakdown/collapse/unsustainability ##
The government has ordered a cut of nearly 20 percent in its 2014/15 healthcare budget due to fiscal strains, putting at risk key disease control initiatives in a country whose public spending on health is already among the lowest in the world.

## Japan ##
The better to keep track of people and their assets and transactions. Watch as still more people shift to safe deposit boxes and stuffing their mattresses (or "bureau-drawer deposits," as they are known in Japan). The Japanese love to have cash on hand, and there is already a staggering amount of cash stashed away in Japanese homes and offices. This will no doubt further push the shift of assets to banknotes and gold. -- RF
In filing its application, KEPCO, Japan’s most nuclear-reliant utility that provides power to the country’s second biggest metropolitan area, said that its corporate survival was “at risk.”

## China ##
China is exposed like a sore thumb as countries devalue on all sides, from Russia, to Japan, Indonesia and Malaysia

## UK ##
Hundreds of thousands of pensioners are receiving care at home which is so brief that they have to choose between eating or being taken to the lavatory.
National Housing Federation says 31% of households – and 41% with children – have struggled to pay rent at least once 
Britain's railways will come to an almost complete stop on Christmas Day while many lines will remain closed for longer as vital engineering work is carried out

## US ##
After absorbing a $346 million budget cut, IRS officials are warning taxpayers not to expect their phone calls to get answered or their refunds to be delivered quickly. Employees shouldn’t count on overtime pay, or for empty staff slots to be filled. And lawmakers seeking to reduce the deficit should assume the agency will collect far less revenue than it could have.

And finally...

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