We’re gearing up for a marvelous lesson in public relations later this month when the Fed holds its last meeting under the gavel of outgoing Ben Bernanke. That will happen January 29 & 30th. And, although the press won’t be in the room, a ceremonial “handing over the gavel” may be anticipated. According to some, a rather obscure indicator of markets will flip over right in that period: The Bradley Siderograph.
There’s not a word for this one. No longer warm doesn’t get it. Cool doesn’t work either. Cold just sort of sneaks up on it. “Freezing our asses off” is closer still.
Very quietly, the nibbling away at the edges of the “old and familiar” is moving ahead at serious speed this week in the odd intersection between physics, mathematics, and “urge to find truth” as 2014 spins up. The view is based on a cluster of events in headlines and the appearance of two items in my personal life, one of which comes from the “I Ching” Inbox. No, you can’t buy an I Ching inbox…they just sort of happen when you’re on the right path of a stupid initiate who seeks truth of all things. Item #1: In come the disclosures from Ed Snowden’s latest which is about how the NSA is building a quantum computer that’s designed to do a much faster job of breaking encryption keys than present-day technology.
My, this must be the morning for the odd to crop up on my desk. Here’s a note in the Federal Register today that says: Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Emergency Preparedness Requirements for Medicare and Medicaid Participating Providers and Suppliers This proposed rule would establish national emergency preparedness requirements for Medicare- and Medicaid-participating providers and suppliers to ensure that they adequately plan for both natural and man-made disasters, and coordinate with federal, state, tribal, regional, and local emergency preparedness systems. It would also ensure that these providers and suppliers are adequately prepared to meet the needs of patients, residents, clients, and participants during disasters and emergency situations. We are proposing emergency preparedness requirements that 17 provider and supplier types must meet to participate in the Medicare and Medicaid programs.
Sit down, relax, and open your mind up. We’re going to venture into the most highly speculative thing I’ve written in a good, long while. There is a longish chain of data to follow, but it leads to a very interesting bit of speculation. This is a complicated story and we are still barely upright apes. We’ve only recently figured out electricity, after all…so come on along on one of my holiday rambles… The timing of this is important, as we head to what some (like Patrick Geryl) have hypothesized as an early January quake.
As 2013 draws to a close, we come to the start of another year, and with it, perhaps, a change in how the world operates. There’s so much going on, it’s hard to all take in at a single sitting, but there are two points of interest which intrigue me. One, of course, is the Nordic legends of Ragnorok, but the good news is he holds off on the world-ending until a few days after my birthday, which I very much appreciate. I’m tempted to put a countdown timer (Days till Ragnorok) on the right panel of the site… Then, coincidentally we have 2012 researcher Patrick Geryl who’s on the track of major quakes and a possible poleshift in 2014 (or beyond) because the literature is just so very clear. Clearer in fact than the calendar, which if you recall from past discussions, doesn’t include a “Year Zero” – which can mess things up.
I have to imagine the biggest part of “coping” right now is all the last-minute holiday activities, so I’ll keep this morning’s comments short and to the point. (yeah, right…) As of this morning, it looks like the weather is not exactly cooperating: There are plenty of reports of delays traveling around the East. As usual, the mainstream media will be pointing out how serious the situation is, but a more relaxed ‘tude suggests that it is winter after all, so what’s the big?
For those who missed my FB/G+ post this weekend, I need to post it here so you can follow the latest developments. (If you read the G+/FB note, skip past this first indented part:) A reader sent in an interesting reason why this might be the case: Hi George: I hope you have time to look into this one – Today you say What if 2012 was a year off?
Say, here’s an interesting one to keep an eye on: Competition in the wings for Bitcoin: Scharmbeck Worldcoin Financial Services launched live beta testing today of an online platform that will streamline the buying, trading and use of Cryptocurrency (Cryptocoin). Beginning with the worldwide launch of Worldcoin’s new user-friendly system in February, the general public will not only be able to directly purchase Worldcoin instantly, but processing speeds for using Worldcoin will be 20x faster than Bitcoin. That means businesses will be able to process Worldcoin payments as effortlessly as accepting a credit card.
From the “What IF Department: Remember what was going on a year ago this weekend? The world was supposed to end when the Mayan calendar flipped over. Yet, if your eyes are open, you’ll notice that things are still here. (If not, I’d be interested in how you’re reading this…) HOWEVER, whether things will still be “normal” come February, well, that becomes a matter for a bit of speculation.
Editor in Chief, Zeus the Cat, suggested “Paws then Claus” as our opening headline this morning instead of our obscure reference to the drop in markets in order to build a base for the “Santa Claus Rally” that often happens at this time of the year. “What the hell do PAWS have to do with the market” I asked. “Scratch profits, you idiot!” he meowed back. “What goes with PAWS is CLAWS in my world and that would be a nice play off the other fatso – the one in the red suit.
“Dot connecting class is now in session. We have a whole string of dots, but do follow along and you can connect them as we go…” In an article back on Monday, November 25th, I had a crazy dream described in “Winds of Noumenon” that related to Harriers on carriers, sitting on the deck. I thought it was a goofy, although potentially revealing dream at the time about what’s ahead. Two days later the news stories begins to increase around the word Harrier. As in “Harrier by Jonathan Glancey, review” and lots of others.
OK, corporate wage slave, up at an ‘em: Time to jump on the treadmill like a good little hamster and press your nose toward the cheese for another week…all so we can pay interest which will accrue to the Uber Klassen so they, in turn, won’t have to work and can reinvest their money in continuing to buy corrupt politicians who don’t listen to the people, preferring instead the poison lies of the lobbyists instead. Boy, am I ever a motivator, or what? The good news, such as it is, holds that we are likely to see a 25% decline in the Dow and other major indices when people figure out how bad the economy really is. If you didn’t catch it, the UK Telegraph article “Europe repeating all the errors of Japan as deflation draws closer” is a real eye-opener.