“Climate change is the result of our current economic and industrial system. GND-style proposals marry sweeping environmental policy changes with broader socialist reforms because the level of disruption required to keep us at a temperature anywhere below “absolutely catastrophic” is fundamentally, on a deep structural level, incompatible with the status quo.”
Tag: temperature
Study explores various natural thermogenics and identifies the ones that best aid in weight loss
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(Natural News) Thermogenic agents are edible substances that turn nutrient calories into heat energy that the body uses to regulate its internal temperature. Researchers suggest that taking these agents as supplements can help reduce weight and keep it to a healthy level, thereby lowering the risk of obesity. Obesity is often traced to problems in… |
We’re Asking Charlottesville to Divest from Weapons and Fossil Fuels
Charlottesville, Virginia, has yet to take down its racist statues (the ones all the fuss has been about or any of the other ones). Charlottesville has yet to ban guns from public events. It blames the state legislature in both of those and many other topics. But the City of Charlottesville has our public dollars invested in weapons, and it is perfectly capable of changing that.
In this case, excuses may prove hard to come by. Charlottesville has divested in the past from Sudan and from South Africa.
The City has passed resolutions in the past opposing wars and urging Congress to move money from militarism to human and environmental needs. Yet the City has our money invested in weapons companies whose weapons are used in environmentally destructive wars in which most of the victims don’t look “white” — and often used on both sides of those wars.
And the City has our money invested in fossil fuel companies — exactly the entities National Security Advisor John Bolton says will benefit from overthrowing the government of Venezuela.
The City is perfectly capable of establishing a policy of not investing in weapons companies — a policy that would cover whatever companies produced the guns people brought here in August 2017. It is perfectly capable of divesting from fossil fuel companies.
Other cities are passing similar measures. The U.S. Congress has rules for the acceptance of petitions from local and state governments. The rules were written by a guy named Thomas Jefferson, local Charlottesville deity. It is absolutely appropriate for our City Council to represent us to a higher and less representative level of government or to take action on a national or global issue. But this is a local issue. Climate chaos happens here in Charlottesville as everywhere else. Gun violence happens here. The impacts of war culture happen here. And this is our money we’re talking about.
At least two companies that Charlottesville has money invested in are big suppliers of Saudi Arabia and its war on Yemen, the worst humanitarian disaster seen in many years. This is not something the people of Charlottesville would vote for, but we’ve never been asked. So, we’re volunteering our opinion.
Charlottesville should set an example for other cities to follow. This is our planet at stake. Here’s local TV coverage of our effort to ask the City to divest. We plan to bring the matter to the City Council on March 4th. Three candidates for City Council this year, and numerous organizations have endorsed. The list of endorsers is at DivestCville.org as is this draft resolution:
WHEREAS, U.S. weapons companies supply deadly weapons to numerous brutal dictatorships around the globe[1], and companies Charlottesville currently has public funds invested in include Boeing and Honeywell, which are major suppliers of Saudi Arabia’s horrific war on the people of Yemen;
WHEREAS, the current federal administration has labeled climate change a hoax, moved to withdraw the U.S. from the global climate accord, attempted to suppress climate science, and worked to intensify the production and use of warming-causing fossil fuels, with the burden therefore falling on city, county, and state governments to assume climate leadership for the sake of their citizens’ wellbeing and the health of local and regional environments;
WHEREAS, militarism is a major contributor to climate change[2], and the City of Charlottesville has urged the U.S. Congress to invest less in militarism and more in protecting human and environmental needs[3];
WHEREAS, the City of Charlottesville’s own investments ought to model the changes it has urged on the Congress;
WHEREAS, continuing on the current course of climate change will cause a global average temperature rise of 4.5ºF by 2050, and cost the global economy $32 trillion dollars[4];
WHEREAS, five-year averages of temperature in Virginia began a significant and steady increase in the early 1970s, rising from 54.6 degrees Fahrenheit then to 56.2 degrees F in 2012, and the Piedmont area has seen the temperature rise at a rate of 0.53 degrees F per decade, at which rate Virginia will be as hot as South Carolina by 2050 and as northern Florida by 2100[5];
WHEREAS, economists at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst have documented that military spending is an economic drain rather than a jobs-creation program, and that investment in other sectors is economically beneficial[6];
WHEREAS, satellite readings show water tables dropping worldwide, and more than one in three counties in the United States could face a “high” or “extreme” risk of water shortages due to climate change by the middle of the 21st century, while seven in ten of the more than 3,100 counties could face “some” risk of shortages of fresh water[7];
WHEREAS, wars are often fought with U.S.-made weapons used by both sides[8];
WHEREAS, heat waves now cause more deaths in the United States than all other weather events (hurricanes, floods, lightning, blizzards, tornados, etc.) combined and dramatically more than all deaths from terrorism, and an estimated 150 people in the United States will die from extreme heat every summer day by 2040, with almost 30,000 heat-related deaths annually[9];
WHEREAS, local government investing in companies producing weapons of war implicitly supports federal war spending on those same companies, many of which depend on the federal government as their primary customer;
WHEREAS, between 1948 and 2006 “extreme precipitation events” increased 25% in Virginia, with negative impacts on agriculture, a trend predicted to continue[10], and global sea level is projected to rise an average of at least two feet by the end of the century, with rising along the Virginia coast among the most rapid in the world[11];
WHEREAS, weapons companies that Charlottesville can commit to not investing in produced the weapons brought to Charlottesville in August 2017;
WHEREAS, fossil fuel emissions must be cut by 45% by 2030 and to zero by 2050 in order to hold warming to the 2.7 ºF (1.5 ºF) goal targeted in the Paris Accord[12];
WHEREAS, climate change is a serious threat to the health, safety and welfare of the people of Charlottesville, and the American Academy of Pediatrics has warned that climate change poses a threat to human health and safety, with children being uniquely vulnerable, and calls failure to take “prompt, substantive action” an “act of injustice to all children”[13];
WHEREAS, the rate of mass shootings in the United States is the highest anywhere in the developed world, as civilian gun manufacturers continue to reap enormous profits off bloodshed that we do not need to invest our public dollars in;
WHEREAS, the City’s investment practices may be in conflict with the City’s commitment to equality and justice;
AND WHEREAS, hundreds of people have petitioned the City to take the following action[14];
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the City Council formally declares its opposition to investing City funds in any entities that are involved in the production of fossil fuels or the production or upgrading of weapons and weapons systems, whether conventional or nuclear, and including the manufacture of civilian arms, and decides that it shall be City policy to divest from such entities; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the City Council directs any and all persons acting on behalf of City investment activity to enforce the provisions of this Resolution; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that this Resolution shall be binding City policy and shall be in full force and effect after adoption by the City Council.
1. Rich Whitney, Truthout, Sept. 23, 2017, “US Provides Military Assistance to 73 Percent of World’s Dictatorships” https://truthout.org/articles/us-provides-military-assistance-to-73-percent-of-world-s-dictatorships/
2. World BEYOND War, “War Threatens Our Environment,” https://worldbeyondwar.org/environment
3. World BEYOND War, “City of Charlottesville Passes Resolution Asking Congress to Fund Human and Environmental Needs, Not Military Expansion,” March 20, 2017, https://worldbeyondwar.org/city-charlottesville-passes-resolution-asking-congress-fund-human-environmental-needs-not-military-expansion
4. “Pursuing the 1.5°C Limit: Benefits and Opportunities,” by the
United Nations Development Programme, Nov 16, 2016. http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/librarypage/climate-and-disaster-resilience-/pursuing-the-1-5c-limit—benefits-and-opportunities.html
5. Stephen Nash, Virginia Climate Fever: How Global Warming Will Transform Our Cities, Shorelines, and Forests, University of Virginia Press, 2017. https://www.upress.virginia.edu/title/4501
6. Political Economy Research Institute, “The U.S. Employment Effects of Military and Domestic Spending Priorities: 2011 Update,” https://www.peri.umass.edu/publication/item/449-the-u-s-employment-effects-of-military-and-domestic-spending-priorities-2011-update
7. “Climate change may increase risk of water shortages in hundreds of US counties by 2050,” https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120215143003.htm
8. Examples include U.S. wars in Syria (https://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-cia-pentagon-isis-20160327-story.html ), Iraq (https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/isis-weapons-arsenal-included-some-purchased-u-s-government-n829201 ), Libya (https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/world/africa/weapons-sent-to-libyan-rebels-with-us-approval-fell-into-islamist-hands.html ), the Iran-Iraq war (http://articles.latimes.com/1987-06-18/news/mn-8000_1_gulf-war ), the Mexican drug war (https://fas.org/asmp/library/publications/us-mexico.htm ), World War II (https://www.amazon.com/Trading-Enemy-Charles-Higham/dp/0760700095/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1463760561&sr=1-1&keywords=Trading+with+the+enemy ) and many others.
9. “Our cities are getting hotter—and its killing people,” by Alissa Walker, https://www.curbed.com/2018/7/6/17539904/heat-wave-extreme-heat-cities-deadly
10. Nash, op. cit.
11. “Climate-change–driven accelerated sea-level rise detected in the altimeter era,” by R. S. Nerem, B. D. Beckley, J. T. Fasullo, B. D. Hamlington, D. Masters, and G. T. Mitchum. PNAS February 27, 2018, 115 (9) 2022-2025; published ahead of print February 12, 2018 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1717312115. https://www.pnas.org/content/115/9/2022
12. “Global Warming of 1.5°C, An IPCC Special Report; Summary for Policymakers.” October 2018. https://report.ipcc.ch/sr15/pdf/sr15_spm_final.pdf
13. “Global Climate Change and Children’s Health,” by Samantha Ahdoot, Susan E. Pacheco, and The Council on Environmental Health. Pediatrics, Nov 2015, Vol 136 / Issue 5, a Technical Report from the American Academy of Pediatrics. http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/136/5/e1468
Time for a volcano tax to stop ‘global warming’?! Subglacial volcanoes ‘may be major emitters of carbon dioxide’ – The ‘global volcanic CO2 budget may have been underestimated’
Study Excerpt: “Ilyinskaya et al. recorded the first atmospheric gas emission rate measurements from Katla, one of Iceland’s largest active volcanoes. This massive ice-covered caldera, which last erupted a century ago, was previously assumed to be a relatively minor emitter of CO2, but the new results suggest otherwise…The results indicate that Katla emits 12–24 kilotons of CO2 per day, which is more than double previous estimates of the emission rate of CO2 from all volcanic and geothermal sources in Iceland combined (2.7–5.8 kilotons per day)”
“These findings suggest that subglacial volcanoes—the emissions of which have not been considered in much detail, historically—may be major emitters of carbon dioxide. Because of this, their contributions to the global volcanic CO2 budget may have been underestimated.”
Researchers build a robotic platform to observe the effects of neonicotinoids on bee behavior
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(Natural News) A video camera-controlling robot was used to record the negative effects of neonicotinoids on bumblebees. The Harvard-designed machine was able to record and show the disruptive effects of the pesticides on the way the bees behaved, interacted with other members of their nest, and regulated their body temperature. Bees are in serious danger from widely used… |
The Wilting Green New Deal
Marc Morano in his book, “The Politically Incorrect Guide to Climate Change”, refutes the argument that “climate change” will destroy all life on Earth. In the book’s foreword, the late John Coleman, who was a meteorologist, TV weatherman and co-founder of The Weather Channel, writes:
“We meteorologists are well aware of how limited our ability is to predict the weather. Our predictions become dramatically less reliable as they extend into the future. When we try to predict just a few weeks into the future our predictions become increasingly inaccurate. Yet the ‘climate change’ establishment that now dominates the UN bureaucracy and our own government science establishment claim that they can predict the temperature of the Earth decades into the future.”
Coleman then gets to the heart of the issue:
“Their global warming scare is not driven by science; it is now being driven by politics. So today anybody who defies the prevailing ‘climate change’ scare puts his career and his reputation into extreme danger.”
Watch: Morano on Fox & Friends rip the UN Paris Pact & Congratulate Trump for pulling U.S. out – ‘He made a brilliant decision to withdraw the U.S.’
Broadcast February 12, 2019 – Fox & Friends – Fox News Channel
Morano: “The key thing that Donald Trump has been consistent on since the 1980s has been deals that are good for America. You go back to his 1980s Oprah Winfrey interview and see that. The UN Paris agreement was literally the simplest decision the president could possibly make and he made a brilliant decision to withdraw the U.S. from the UN Paris agreement. The pact would do nothing for the climate and the using the UN’s own number — and if you believed Al Gore the UN scientific claims — it would delay the temperature by 8 months if Obama’s climate commitments came into full fruition by 100 years from now. In other words does nothing for the climate.
Worried about ‘Global warming’? Blame the Democrat Presidents! Analysis reveals GOP presidencies coincide with global cooling – ‘The top 6 warming presidencies were all Democrats’
A Silly Analysis (This is about as valid as the everything is caused by climate change arguments): “All 8 [Presidential] administrations who oversaw a cooling trend were Republican. There has never been a Democrat president who oversaw a cooling global temperature. Also, the top 6 warming presidencies were all Democrats.”
Warmists upset: ‘Climate denier’ Morano on Fox & Friends: International efforts to address climate change are ‘medieval witchcraft”
Fox & Friends – Broadcast February 12, 2019 – Full Video of segment here
MARC MORANO (CLIMATEDEPOT.COM): It’s been called the most expensive treaty in world history with a price tag of upwards of $100 trillion, a global cost of $1 to $2 trillion annually, and, again, you mentioned this two degree thing, and I actually point out this was — the authors of this two degrees target actually admit it was, quote, pulled from thin air, the scientists in the United Nations admit this. So — and then even The Washington Post has acknowledged that, even if you’re afraid of global warning, the U.N. Paris Agreement would basically do nothing, has no impact on the climate. This is medieval witchcraft to think that we can all come together with some treaty, make a bunch of pledges, and have a temperature a hundred years that’s different.
WORLD COOLING – BUT RAPID WARMING FORECAST
“Since the beginning of the century it didn’t change much from year to year until the 2015/16 super El Nino came along. Then the temperature went up, as usual, and now it’s coming down again.”
Prominent Dutch Scientist Declares his dissent: ‘You can’t stop climate change by simply turning a CO2 button’ – ‘Doomsday scenario became a kind of religion’
Professor Guus Berkhout of the new international climate institute in the Netherlands.: ‘In the last 20 years the CO2 increase has thundered on, but the observed temperature does not show any increase anymore. That is an important indication that there must be much more going on than CO2 warming.’
As a geophysicist, I warn that it is highly unlikely that the natural movements would have stopped abruptly after 1850. And that since then only mankind would be responsible for this warming. However, this extreme message is exactly what the IPCC has made clear with great emphasis in its latest report SR 1.5. According to the report, nature’s contribution is marginal and will remain marginal in the future. The IPCC derives all these certainties purely from its theoretical model!’
The collapse of vaccine science is well underway, but people blindly cling to the status quo because they know nothing else
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(Natural News) When the coolant begins to leak out of your vehicle and the temperature gauge rises, you mustn’t continue down the road, pretending like nothing is going to happen. If your vehicle shows signs of overheating, you must stop and face the problem. A coolant hose may be loose, the thermostat may need to… |
A Revision of Future Climate Change Trends
Abstract
As the Earth continues to heat, paleoclimate evidence suggests transient reversals will result in accentuating the temperature polarities, leading to increase in the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events. Pleistocene paleoclimate records indicate interglacial temperature peaks have been …
The post A Revision of Future Climate Change Trends appeared first on Global Research.
Nature’s Multivitamin: The Ultimate Guide to Sprouting
This article was originally published at Tess Pennington’s ReadyNutrition.com
Tess is the author of The Prepper’s Blueprint: How To Survive ANY Disaster
While many of us are awakening to the dangers (ahem chemicals) that are in our food sources, not enough awareness is being made about some of the dangers that lie in over-the-counter vitamins.
That’s right, some of your vitamins could be doing more harm than good.
Finding the right supplements can be a tricky endeavor. But, what if I told you it’s really not? In fact, you could easily grow your own vitamins naturally from the convenience of your kitchen window. What am I talking about? I’m talking about sprouts.
Sprouts are Power Packed
Sprouts are nature’s multivitamin and provide the highest amount of vitamins, minerals, proteins, and enzymes of any of food per unit of calorie. They are commonly referred to as a complete food because they are packed with high levels of complete proteins, vitamins, minerals, enzymes and extraordinary amounts of protein.
How Do Spouts Benefit the Body?
- Assists in healing the body
- Cleanse the body
- Prevents diseases
- Enhances the general functioning of bodily organs
- Aids in digestion
- Removes gas from the stomach
Some of our favorites are:
How To Get Started
You’re going to love this – almost anything can be made into a sprout (except for nightshade varieties like tomatoes and eggplants). The most common types of seeds to sprout include alfalfa, grains, peas, lentils, radish, broccoli, cabbage, mustard seed, garbanzos, quinoa, nuts, and red clover. Sprouts can be grown every week for continuous staggered batches. In fact, there are sprout kits available to help you expand your sprouting palate.
- First, you need something to let your seeds sprout in. If you have a large mason jar, that would work. We like adding a sprouting lid like this one to the top of our Mason Jar Sprouts to help with easy rinsing. If you plan on sprouting different varieties of sprouts, you may want to invest in a low-cost 4 tray sprouting kit like this one. For large seeds, like beans and legumes, consider adding them to a large wide-mouth jar. When beans begin to sprout, they will quickly take up a lot of room. For smaller seeds, using a quart-sized jar or the sprouting tray would work well.
- Next, you need to right kind of seeds. For optimum nutrition, I prefer to purchase sprouting seeds that are non-GMO and organic varieties.
- Now that you have your vessel and seeds picked out, it’s time to start sprouting. Simply add a tablespoon or two of seeds in a jar and fill it about ¾ full with cool water. Swish the seeds around and allow the water to drain from the jar or sprouting tray. Once the water has drained, cover with a mesh lid or cloth, secured with a rubber band, to allow air flow. Sprouting Tip: For larger beans like garbanzo or mung beans, allow them to soak overnight and then drain the water in the morning. Repeat the rinsing step twice a day for 3-4 days.
- Set sprouts in an area in the kitchen where it receives indirect sunlight. Ideally, sprouts prefer a temperature of about 65-80ºF. If the temperature is warmer with increased humidity, rinse sprouts more frequently.
- When sprouts are ready and have grown to the desired size, do a final rinse and drain them completely. They can be eaten immediately or transferred to a glass or plastic container and stored in the refrigerator for a few days. As a precaution, make sure the sprouts have drained completely before storing.
Sprout Safety
One of the biggest drawbacks to sprouting is their very short shelf life. Unlike other fresh produce, seeds and beans need warm and humid conditions to sprout and grow. These conditions are also ideal for the growth of bacteria, including Salmonella, Listeria, and E. coli. Not to cause concern, but since 1996, there have been at least 30 reported outbreaks of foodborne illness associated with different types of raw and lightly cooked sprouts. Most of these outbreaks were caused by Salmonella and E. coli and occurred at growing facilities. The bacteria are usually present in or on the seed, and the bacteria can grow to high levels during sprouting, even under sanitary conditions at home.
To prevent this health issue, you can follow these safety steps:
- Wash all sprouts thoroughly with filtered water before eating them.
- If you’ve purchased sprouts at the grocery store, look for the International Sprout Growers Association seal on the package or if you are buying bulk, ask your grocer if the sprouts are ISGA-approved.
- If the sprouts are pre-packaged, only purchase if the sell-by date is current or even a few days ahead.
- Examine the sprouts to make sure the roots are clean. If the stem color is not white or creamy, do not purchase them. Do not purchase sprouts if the buds are no longer attached if they are dark in color or have a musty smell.
- Smell the sprouts to be sure that they have a clean, fresh odor.
- Keep the sprouts refrigerated.
- After 2 days, compost them rather than consuming them yourself.
- If you’re buying in bulk, ask your grocer about the sell-by date.
- If you are sprouting seeds at home, follow the same guidelines described above. Learn about the source of your seeds, their ISGA-certification, and either have your grocer confirm high-quality standards for seed production or obtain contact information for the seed source and contact that company yourself.
- Follow the above guidelines regardless of the type of seeds you are sprouting, i.e., apply the guidelines to mung, alfalfa, radish, broccoli, lentil, sunflower and all other types of sprouts.
Since the shelf life is around 2 days before the sprouts begin to break down, take advantage of having them and add them to salads, sandwiches, soups, and even bread for added nutrition.
It’s that easy, folks! Sprouts are what Mother Nature intended for us in terms of additional nutrition. They are low cost, easy to grow and can give you ample dietary nutrition on a daily basis.
Tess Pennington is the author of The Prepper’s Blueprint, a comprehensive guide that uses real-life scenarios to help you prepare for any disaster. Because a crisis rarely stops with a triggering event the aftermath can spiral, having the capacity to cripple our normal ways of life. The well-rounded, multi-layered approach outlined in the Blueprint helps you make sense of a wide array of preparedness concepts through easily digestible action items and supply lists.
Tess is also the author of the highly rated Prepper’s Cookbook, which helps you to create a plan for stocking, organizing and maintaining a proper emergency food supply and includes over 300 recipes for nutritious, delicious, life-saving meals.
Visit her website at ReadyNutrition.com for an extensive compilation of free information on preparedness, homesteading, and healthy living.
Chicago’s record for coldest temperature ever could fall as polar vortex has city ‘in the crosshairs’
New Study: Modern Warming Was Driven By ‘Primarily Natural’ Factors – Global Cooling Has Now Begun
An analysis published in the journal Atmospheric and Climate Sciences reveals the 1880-2013 temperature changes fit “perfectly” (0.9 correlation) into a calculation utilizing 15,295 periodic functions of natural variation…The authors claim this affirms that the non-anthropogenic “major climate factors” (i.e., solar-cloud and ENSO forcing) can still be considered the “main reason” driving modern warming.
Four climate scientists assert (1) the last ~130 years of temperature changes fit “perfectly” into statistical indices of natural variation, and (2) a long-term deep cooling of the Earth system has recently commenced.
Top 12 Debunked Climate Scares of 2018 – New studies refute claims about temperature, ice, sea level rise, extreme weather and corals
20,000 NJ DWI Cases In Question Following Judicial Review
Trenton, NJ – Upwards of 20,000 DWI cases in New Jersey are potentially tainted after a judicial review found “substantial doubts” about the reliability of breathalyzer tests due to the alleged misconduct of a state trooper whose job included assuring the accuracy of Alcotest devices used in five counties over an eight-year period.
A 200-page report released by the state judiciary, written by Judge Joseph Lisa, explained that the actions of Sgt. Marc Dennis created a “reasonably plausible” likelihood that the convictions were not legitimate.
In total, some 20,667 DWI cases could potentially be affected.
The judicial report was focused on the actions of Dennis, a coordinator in the State Police Alcohol Drug Testing Unit whose responsibilities included verifying the accuracy of breath-tests that gauge the blood-alcohol level of accused drunken drivers, in relation to accusations of lying about performing required procedures while calibrating the machines.
A report from NJ.com explains:
In 2016, Dennis was accused of lying on official documents about performing a legally required temperature check while calibrating just three machines, known as Alcotest devices, which gauge the blood-alcohol level of accused drunken drivers.
The accusations called into question any test result involving a machine the sergeant handled, including devices used by local police in Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, Somerset, and Union counties between 2008 and 2016.
State prosecutors notified the judiciary in September 2016 of the accusations and requested a special judge be appointed to review the tens of thousands of cases involved.
County prosecutors began notifying defendants in October that their cases could be tossed because of the scandal.
The State Attorney General’s Office took the position that although the temperature check Dennis was accused of skipping and falsifying was part of the rules for use of breath-testing devices— as required by the state Supreme Court— there was no scientific necessity to do so. However, the judicial report by Judge Lisa maintained that the state “failed to clearly and convincingly prove” that the failure to perform the required step didn’t taint the results.
Peter Aseltine, a spokesman for the AG’s Office, said that his office was “reviewing the report and will be preparing to address this before the Supreme Court.”
The Tormey Law Firm noted:
New Jersey has stringent requirements when it comes to proper calibration and maintenance of all Alcotest 7110 devices. This is essential because the results of the Alcotest reading in a DWI case are typically used as evidence to establish that the driver was, in fact, intoxicated. A breath test result at 0.08 or above can land you in serious trouble. You could lose your license for up to 1 year for a first DWI offense and the penalties worsen from there if you have any prior DWI convictions.
The purpose of the Alcotest is to provide an accurate reading of the driver’s blood alcohol content. This requires extreme precision, as the difference between a 0.07 and a 0.08 BAC can mean being charged with DWI or not. Based on the necessity for accuracy in DWI breath test readings, failure to properly calibrate an Alcotest machine can be used as an argument to get the breath test results thrown out and ultimately, to get DWI charges dismissed. In this case, Judge Lisa’s review of Sergeant Dennis’s conduct left “substantial doubts” about the reliability of breath test results in the thousands of DWI cases that used Alcotest machines he was responsible for maintaining.
A report by News 12 notes that Dennis faces charges of third-degree tampering for his alleged falsification of official documents. The state Supreme Court will hold formal proceedings in the case, according to NJ.com.
The post 20,000 NJ DWI Cases In Question Following Judicial Review appeared first on Ben Swann’s Truth In Media.
Colorado Springs: Tuesday temperature hits all-time record of 101
Colorado Springs: Tuesday temperature hits all-time record of 101 26 Jun 2012 After five days of record-smashing temperatures, Colorado Springs saw an all-time high Tuesday of 101 [globally-warmed] degrees. The previous all-time record of 100 degrees has been seen only six times: twice during 2012: June 23, 1954 and 2012; June 24, 1954 and 2012; July 13, 1954; and finally July 24, 2003. According to the National Weather Service, Tuesday’s high was recorded at 3:09 p.m., and it’s not going to cool off any time soon.
Tepco Says Faulty Gauge Behind Temperature Rise in Fukushima
Tepco Says Faulty Gauge Behind Temperature Rise in Fukushima [LOL!] 13 Feb 2012 Tokyo Electric Power Co. said it concluded a faulty gauge showed the temperature in one of the damaged reactors at its Fukushima nuclear station rose to levels above safety limits. One of three thermometers indicated the temperature at the bottom of the No. 2 reactor pressure vessel rose to as high as 285 degrees Celsius (545 Fahrenheit) today, higher than the 80- degree limit, Junichi Matsumoto, a general manager of the utility, said at a briefing in Tokyo. “We can’t use this figure,” he said, “Our conclusion is it has to be a case of the thermometer being faulty.”
Temperature Soars Mysteriously Inside Fukushima Nuclear Reactor
Temperature Soars Mysteriously Inside Fukushima Nuclear Reactor 06 Feb 2012 The temperature of a reactor at Japan’s stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has soared and remained mysteriously high Monday, despite more water being pumped through it. The facility’s No.2 reactor had reached 164 degrees Fahrenheit (73.3 degrees Celsius) by Monday morning, after sitting at 113 degrees Fahrenheit (45 degrees Celsius) on Jan. 27, broadcaster NHK reported. That was despite Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) officials pumping 9.6 tonnes (10.6 tons) of water through the reactor each hour — about 10 percent more than before.
Chemtrails and Weather Derivatives
The Intel Hub
By Peter Kirby
November 7, 2011
In his paper ‘Why in the World Are They Spraying?‘, journalist Michael Murphy floats the idea that chemtrails are sprayed in order to manipulate the weather derivatives market.
He posted the story right here on TheIntelHub.com on Oct. 11, 2011. It ran alongside my article ‘Chemtrails Exposed‘.
He may not be too far off the mark as my humble investigation leads me to many questionable situations, strange bedfellows and none other than those legends of corruption and waste, Enron. The thoroughly disgraced and vilified corporation was one of the founders of the market.
Would you put it past Enron?
Overview:
Weather derivatives are financial instruments (options, futures and options on futures) everyone can buy that either pay off or don’t pay off according to recorded atmospheric conditions such as temperature and rainfall. These instruments are mostly traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). They are also traded on smaller Over the Counter (OTC) markets.
Atmospheric conditions are recorded and published by authorized organizations.
Although they are available for frost, snowfall, rain, wind speed, and many others, the most common type of weather derivative by far is based on temperature. According to industry experts, temperature based weather derivatives account for 75-99% of all weather derivatives sold.
This is how temperature based weather derivatives work. Indices take a location’s daily average temperature, then a number is determined by how much that day’s average temperature deviates from 65 degrees Fahrenheit (or 18 degrees Celsius outside the U.S.).
The number deduced determines the derivative’s value and is usually aggregated over a period of weeks, months or seasons. Other indices simply aggregate average daily temperatures. In short, the day’s average temperature determines the derivative’s value.
You can bet that temperatures will be above or below the long term daily average for a particular date or group of dates.
The first weather derivative transactions were conducted over the counter in 1997 between Willis Group Holdings, Koch Industries, Pxre Reinsurance Company and Enron. These transactions followed the deregulation of the energy market in the U.S.
The weather derivatives market was greatly expanded in 1999 when weather derivatives began trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
The Weather Risk Management Association (WRMA) was founded in 1999 as well and is the leading industry association.
The founding members were: Aquila Power Company, Castlebridge Partners, Enron Capital and Trade Associates, Koch Industries, Southern Company Energy Marketing, and Swiss RE New Markets.
This year (2011), the WRMA released the results of a survey which pegs the current global weather derivatives market value at about $ 12 billion.
USA reported in it’s article ‘Weather Derivatives Becoming Hot Commodities’ that the largest broker of weather derivatives in the world is TFS Energy.
A man named Kendall Johnson, who is described as one of the industry’s most powerful professionals, states, “Businesses in the U.S., Japan, London and Amsterdam are the most frequent users of weather risk management, though companies in emerging markets like India are beginning to trade weather derivatives.”
Other big corporate players include: British Gas, Hess Energy, ABN Amro, Merrill Lynch, AXA Re, Swiss Re, Koch Energy, RenRe Energy, Nephila Capital, Munich Re, Speedwell Weather Derivatives, Vyapar Capital Market Partners, Galileo Weather Risk Management, PCE Investors / Cumulus, EDF Trading Limited, Risk Solutions International, E.ON Energy Trading, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company and Endurance Reinsurance Corporation of America.
As you can see, re-insurers are some of the biggest market players. Geoffrey Considine, Ph.D. (a high profile weather derivatives industry insider) writes in his paper ‘Introduction to Weather Derivatives’, “There are a number of drivers behind the growth of the weather derivative market. Primary among these is the convergence of capital markets with insurance markets.”
Swiss Re is a name that comes up repeatedly and just happens to be the insurer of the World Trade towers at the time of the 9/11 attacks. But, I’m sure that’s just a coincidence. Nothing to see here… move along.
Enron:
By all accounts, Enron concieved and initiated the weather derivatives market.
According to ‘Weather Derivatives’ by authors from the London School of Economics, the Swiss Finance Institute and the University of Geneva, “…electronic trading platforms have always played an important role in the development of the market, especially Enron’s platform in the early days.”
Enron initiated the weather derivatives market in Europe as well. According to ‘Weather, Finance and Meteorology – forecasting and derivatives’ by Samuel Randalls, “In the UK, the first weather derivative deal was sold by Enron to Scottish Hydropower who, at that time, 1998, were taking part in a government pilot scheme for the privatization and deregulation of energy markets.”
In regards to Enron’s weather derivatives division known as ‘Enron Weather’, one of the co-authors of the book ‘Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room’, Bethany McLean wrote me that, “A guy named John Sherriff was pretty instrumental in starting it, but the woman who ran the business, whose name was Lynda Clemmons, ended up leaving for a reinsurer – can’t remember the name of it – long before Enron’s bankruptcy.”
Lynda Clemmons now works as an advisor at Vyapar Capital Market Partners; a big weather derivatives player. John Sherriff is now the owner of Lake Tahoe Financial.
Market Participants:
The energy sector is the biggest buyer of weather derivatives because energy companies’ bottom lines and cash flows are largely affected by temperature fluctuations. This is why temperature based weather derivatives are the most prevalent.
Energy companies produce more power and thus increase cash flows when the weather gets either hot or cold because people use more air conditioning when it is hot and more heat when it is cold.
The weather derivatives market was created with the energy sector in mind. As we have seen, the market was founded by big energy players, most notably Enron. According to a Chicago Mercantile Exchange brochure, the 65 degree baseline selected for determining daily index values was chosen by the energy industry.
The terms used to describe index values are Heating Degree Days (HDD) and Cooling Degree Days (CDD). Heating Degree Days refer to the number of degrees Fahrenheit above 65 the average temperature of a Winter’s day is. Cooling Degree Days refer to the number of degrees Fahrenheit below 65 degrees a Summer’s day is.
It is this way because 65 degrees is about the temperature where if it is warmer than that, people use more air conditioning and if it is cooler than that, people tend to use more heating.
Industry publications claim substantial non-financial or non-energy sector participation in the weather derivatives market. Of businesses outside the finance or energy sectors, my investigation revealed very little participation. It is unrealistic that, especially in the tough economy we’ve been having lately, an organizer of an outdoor event, let’s say, would first of all even be aware of weather derivatives, much less use the time, energy, expertise and money to buy such things.
Businesses outside of finance and energy usually use more traditional forms of insurance or hedge with commodities contracts. Weather derivatives are almost entirely an energy and finance sector market. There is hardly any retail investor activity here.
Industry publications also often claim that weather derivatives are used by energy companies only as hedges against unforeseen demand lapses. If a particular Winter is too warm, for example, an energy company would not make as much money selling fuel as they would in an abnormally cold Winter. But, the reasoning goes, if they have purchased a hedge in the form of weather derivatives, they can make up those losses.
I assert that weather derivatives are traded like any other Wall Street market. To make a buck, they are traded any way possible. Enron, the founder of the market is famous for their trading desk which specialized in arbitrage.
The Bloomberg article ‘Hedge Funds Pluck Money From Air in $ 19 Billion Weather Gamble’ had it right. Nowhere in this article will you see any mention of non-financial or energy sector participation.
In fact, industry professionals are quoted as saying they are, “…using weather as market intelligence.” And that their business is, “…like playing poker.”
Because both weather derivatives and energy futures rise and fall depending upon temperature, the two markets are related. It is reasonable to assume that weather derivatives are traded in conjunction with energy futures.
Conclusions:
Are weather derivatives the reason chemtrails are sprayed? I don’t know. It’s very plausible. I believe I have provided here a great circumstantial case. The errant, singular chemtrail doesn’t support the ‘weather derivative market as a cause’ thesis because a lone chemtrail would not have a significant impact on temperature or any other atmospheric condition.
It might be done as a psychological operation. But, when downtown Phoenix is gridded with chemtrails on an otherwise clear day, producing a haze which is totally foreign to that climate, temperature (which drives weather derivative and energy markets) is probably effected significantly.
Does anybody out there know of a study showing how much influence stratospheric aerosols have on temperature? After a Google search, I couldn’t find one. Although, I did see some stuff that seemed to suggest that aerosols can move temperature 2 degrees F or more.
Weather derivatives by themselves are big money gambles. They may be valuable enough to make it worth putting planes up in the sky spraying stuff. If you divide last year’s total market value ($ 12 billion) by the number of traded contracts (466,000), you get the average contract value which is $ 25,321.
A matter of a few degrees on a given day or group of days could mean hundreds of thousands of dollars. The current weather derivatives market may not be big enough to support all chemtrail activity, but if you factor in the related multi-trillion dollar energy futures markets and energy company revenues, I don’t have much doubt that there is enough to support it.
The fact that chemtrails are sprayed over mostly urban areas makes sense if one of the desired effects is manipulated power usage. More people and therefore more power consumers affected per square mile means a more efficient operation.
The weather derivatives market and probably other opportunities were made possible by deregulation of the energy market. Enron founded the weather derivatives market. Was the Department of Energy in bed with Enron? I wouldn’t doubt it.
The fact that Enron founded the market is very dubious. This is a company whose accounting firm, Arthur Andersen, shredded more than a ton of their documents in one day as Enron’s chairman Ken Lay told everybody everything was fine.
When Enron CEO Lou Pai’s wife found out about his stripper girlfriend complete with his love child, she divorced him. Enron’s bankruptcy resulted in at least 33 criminal charges against employees and executives. People suffered under high power costs inflated by Enron. W
hen Enron and their cronies intentionally disrupted power service as they were known to do, people were injured and died. Who knows how many bodies they left? These guys were not playing patty cakes. These guys ARE the Nazi party. Have you ever heard of something called ‘Operation Paperclip’?
If you like being ripped-off, beaten and murdered, you’ll love these guys. Personally, I’m not into that. I wouldn’t put anything past Enron.
Notes:
-’Weather Products; Managing global weather exposures. Growing opportunities. Reducing Risks’ Chicago Mercantile Exchange brochure 2009
‘Hedge Funds Pluck Money From Air in $ 19 Billion Weather Gamble’ by Peter Robison, Bloomberg Aug 1, 2007
‘Weather Derivatives Instruments and Pricing Issues’ by Financial Engineering Associates 2000
‘Weather Derivatives’ by Pauline Barrieu & Olivier Scaillet, London School of Economics, Swiss Finance Institute and University of Geneva 2008
‘Want a Weather Forecast? Ask Wall Street’ by Alice Gomstyn, Rich Blake and Dalia Fahmy ABC News 2010
‘Weather derivatives becoming hot commodities’ USA today 2008
‘Firing Up the Market for Weather Contracts’ by Antoine Gara, Bloomberg Businessweek 2011
‘OTC weather risk market grows 30% to $ 2.4bn’ by Charlotte Dudley, EnvironmentalFinance.com 2011
-’Introduction to Weather Derivatives’ by Geoffrey Considine, Ph.D.
‘Weather, Finance and Meteorology- forecasting and derivatives’ by Samuel Randalls School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham
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