Meltdown

We continue the Meltdown series by presenting part three out of four: Paying the Price, which looks at how the victims of the 2008 financial crash fight back. A protesting singer in Iceland brings down the government; in France a union leader oversees the kidnapping of his bosses; and thousands of families are made homeless in California.

Two days ago we posted the first episode in the must watch four part "Meltdown" series from Al Jazeera looking at the key events that brought the world to the edge 3 years ago. With the final quarter of the year upon us, and with massive redemption requests hitting deeply underwater hedge funds, not to mention with a macro and micro economic global financial environment that is the worst it has been since the fall of 2008, we once again stand on the verge of yet another Great Financial Crisis. And although our politicians and leaders refuse to learn from the past, we are confident our readers are far more intelligent. Which is why here is the next part in the Meltdown Series: "A Great Financial Tsunami." Because while insanity may be doing the same thing over and over expeting a different result, sheer idiocy is constantly refusing to learn from the past, and expecting a present which "is different this time."

When it comes to financial collapse documentaries, the public canon has one well-deserving Oscar Winner, "Inside Job", and one straight to HBO exercise in ass kissing and name dropping which shall remain nameless. Ironically, just like during the Arab Spring, it is that "dubious" Al Jazeera that shows US media how coverage of various matters, either geopolitical or financial, is done. Herein we present the first episode of Meltdown, in which we hear about four men who brought down the global economy: a billionaire mortgage-seller who fooled millions; a high-rolling banker with a fatal weakness; a ferocious Wall Street predator; and the power behind the throne. Considering we are about to experience the next Great Financial Crash, since nothing has changed at all since 2008, this should serve as a prominent reminder of all that happened, and a flashback to the future, of all that is certain to occur all over again.

Think the ECB is unable to maintain the illusion that central planning works? Think again. Some unlucky sod dares to ask Trichet how the central bank plans to defend its failure as a monetary authority, to which the French president proceeds to have an unprecedented (for a central head banker) on air meltdown with literal foaming in the mouth. "You want the lies?... You can't handle the lies. It is all about ze price stabeeleetee." Hilarity ensues, especially after JCT proceeds to bash his one and only nemesis: Germany. Prepare to watch many more such episodes over the next 2 years as the world voodoo economist PhDs have so carefully constructed for themselves in their ivory towers comes crashing down.

No point in discussing Goldman's abysmal earnings. Here is the chart that says it all.

I hope not! But ignorance is not bliss ...

"Nuclear Fuel Has Melted Through Base Of Fukushima Plant" ... “The Findings of the Report, Which has Been Given to the International Atomic Energy Agency ... Described a 'Melt-Through' as Being 'Far Worse than a Core Meltdown' and 'The Worst Possibility In a Nuclear Accident'"

Duh ...

Other than that, everything is GREAT at Fuku ...

Remember Japan? From Kyodo: TEPCO Can Not Rule Out Meltdown At Fukushima Reactor. Surely this is bullish for lead, over and above the massive surge in demand for the metal from central banks.

Can you guess what they all have in common?

This alert warns you that major world-changing events are now underway and that your personal preparations for an uncertain future should either be completed or take on a new sense of urgency. On the basis of the information contained here and in the past two days of posts, I am personally ratcheting up my preparations, making purchases, and topping off what needs to be topped off. Important caveat: At this point in time, I cannot fully support 100% of my concerns with hard data and evidence. Some of what has tipped me into this state of urgency is data, evidence, and stories that I can point to. Some is due to the absence of data or information, the remainder results from watching market gyrations and correlations shift into new patterns, which tell me something is afoot. I have not been this concerned since October of 2008. - Chris Martenson

Update: Britain follows US in recommending all nationals in Tokyo and north of Tokyo evacuate

More on the earlier news that Steven Chu "thought" a partial meltdown may have occurred, the just released news escalates the verbiage, which is now a definitive: "US Energy Chief says 'partial meltdown' occurred at the Fukushima Plant." The next step is his urgent recommendation for all US citizens who live within 80 kilometers of Fukushima to evacuate or take shelter indoors. Oddly enough, for the Japanese the evacuation radius is a fraction of this, but it is probably due to the government's recent arbitrary decision to pick a number of 250 millisieverts as the maximum safe threshold for NPP workers. Somehow we assume this means Japanese DNA is about 2.5 times more resilient to damaging alpha, beta and gamma radiation, than that extracted from the US and all other countries. We urge Japanese readers who have not already done so, to follow Chu's advice and to get the hell away from Dodge, and evacuate to a minimum 50 mile safe distance.

Can one spell headline risk:

• CHU SAYS U.S. THINKS `PARTIAL MELTDOWN' HAS OCCURRED
• SPENT FUEL POOLS CHIEF THREAT TO ENVIRONMENT, UCS SAYS
• SPENT FUEL POOLS HAVE SHORTEST `PATHWAY' TO AIR, UCS SAYS

Following explosions in at least two reactor cores at Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant - and as the developing crisis is rated at level 6 of seven levels on the International Nuclear Events Scale (previously being 3, or below 3 Mile Island status, to keep the panic level low)- attention is turning to just what is happening inside the 40-year-old power plant in north-east Japan. Al Jazeera's Dan Nolan explains how a meltdown would happen.