The Biggest Problem in the World

May not be financial…   I don’t claim to be a geologist but there is something going on which is just below the public perception level and it has to do with global cataclysm which may be coming to our earthly future.  Not that you’ll see this on the news tonight – in fact your grandchildren’s grandchildren might not live long enough to see it, but this is THE event which could account for all the “global coastal” language and may be what drives from the on ongoing Niburu speculation.  I’ll leave that for you to discern…I’ll just give you the data to ponder.

 

The background:  Just about every month I get an email from a reader who is kind enough to hook into the USGS earthquake data online, hit the magic macros he’s developed, and give us some clear insight as to trends in earthquakes over time.

 

The most “grabby” number is the Magnitude 7.0 (+) chart because people relate to big, scary stuff.  Going back to 1973, then, here’s what this chart currently looks like:

 

 

Each of those lines vertically is a one year period and you can see, with a simple 5th order polynomial that the data is trending upward in a serious way.

 

Now, that’s bad, but averaging two big quakes a month is not a life-stopper, unless, of course, you happen to be in a poorly engineered building or something like that.  But since we have a longage of humans (the opposite of a shortage, right?) there’s a boo-hoo factor, but no one in the MSM gets all worked up about it until a “breaking news” event like the Chilean, Japanese, Banda Aceh, or Haiti quakes, come along. 

 

Then it’s a genuine Big Deal, except that global building standards for quake resistance are still pretty lame and people have short memories.  In Chile, for example, a 9,5 earthquake resulted in a heaping side order of dead people, but until the recent Chilean quakes, “free enterprise” has managed to slowly erode the country’s stringent quake standards.

 

No news there – that’s just how things work over time.

 

Now the part that should scare the living crap out of people:  Look at the data for Magnitude 3.0 quakes:

 

 

You do see what’s happening, right?  the total number of quakes has been collapsing.  Which makes the “Big Worry” what?

 

Tectonic plate lockup.

 

Now let me drop the second scary view on you.  I went back through the major quakes in history since 1900 in the USGS worldwide list and decided to toss them into a 20-year histogram.  Bar chart…useful for seeing trends in statistics and quite revealing – the minimum size on these is 8.5:

 

 

Now, if you look at the right hand 20-year bit bucket which is showing 6 – the highest every recorded realize this:  We still have 8-years to go in this one.

 

So is the CPI important?  Oh sure…so is diddling around in markets and all, but what’s really scary is this big Terra/Ma Nature stuff that goes on in background and against this perspective all the paper in the world doesn’t change even one iota the idea that plate tectonics are looking kind of dicey.  Helps put other stuff in perspective, doesn’t it?

 

If you want to worry about Niburu/Planet X, or whatever, have fun.  But the data here could be construed as somewhat worrisome and a fine reason to keep right on “prepping.”

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Our data provider doesn’t update his site very often, but when he does post, it’s usually important stuff to be aware of.

 

Consumer Prices

Now that we know what the BIG worry is, let’s move back to our jaundiced look at consumer prices, just released in the last few minutes by the Labor Department:

 

“The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) was unchanged in June on a seasonally adjusted basis, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 1.7 percent before seasonal adjustment.

 

The energy index continued to fall in June, but its decline was offset by increases in the indexes for food and all items less food and energy. The energy index fell 1.4 percent as the gasoline index declined for the third month in a row; other energy indexes were mixed.

 

The food index rose 0.2 percent after being unchanged last month as the index for food at home turned up in June. The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.2 percent in June, the fourth consecutive such increase.

 

The shelter index posted its smallest increase since September, the index for used cars and trucks was unchanged after a series of increases, and the index for airline fares declined. However, the index for medical care posted its largest increase since 2010 and the indexes for apparel and recreation both rose substantially in June.

 

The 12-month change in the index for all items was 1.7 percent in June, the same figure as in May. The energy index declined 3.9 percent over the last 12 months, while the food index rose 2.7 percent. The index for all items less food and energy rose 2.2 percent for the 12 months ending June, a slight decline from the 2.3 percent figure in May.   “

 

Biggest change was in medical care up 4.3%.  I’ll leave it to you to figure whether that’s greed or just more aging people means more spending…

 

Ben Bernanke is due on capitol hill today to talk about the economy…

 

On hearing the news, the spot gold market immediately dropped a bit, and I don’t suppose I have to remind you that muted prices are a hallmark of Depressions, do I?

 

More Depression Talk

So we’ve been telling you since 1999 to buckle up, the Second Depression is here…and if you look at the data, the stock market has never been as high on an inflation-adjusted basis.

 

So out comes a book — The New Depression: The Breakdown of the Paper Money Economy (Amazon) and the author ends up famous.

 

What’s the old saying?  “I have an uncanny ability to sna defeat from the jaws of victory.“

 

Weather War – NOT!

Iran’s claiming its drought is part of the soft war of the West.  Couldn’t just “be the weather” could it?

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Takes a while to load, but the US has its own drought issues. 

 

As Robin Landry says:  “What turns a recession into a depression is drought.”  So is this the part where we all look surprised?

 

Sudan Shuffle

From our Winnipeg news analyst fellow:

 

“Dear Mr. Ure, Interesting times are developing in North and South Sudan? Mr. Blair’s charity is opening an office in South Sudan. The International Criminal Court has issued a second warrant for the leader of North Sudan.  A rebel opposition is coalescing. Will China walk away from it’s Sudanese investments?”

 

Doubt it…where there’s a lien, there’s a Wei.

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And speaking of former vice-minister Wei…he’s out pushing for closer US-China relations.

 

Law of the Sea Sunk

At least for now.  These things, like a bad penny ha ve a way of reappearing.  Eventually, congress runs out of good laws to pass – there can only be so many – and then they start passing the bad stuff…

 

More after this…