7.8M earthquake struck the Scotia Sea area (north of Antarctica , east of South America)

7.8M earthquake struck the Scotia Sea area (north of Antarctica , east of South America). No tsunami warning issued. 

This is the same area which received the brunt of the x-class flare when it intersected Earth. (already had a 7.2M / 6.8M yesterday), plus a swarm of mid 5.0M today.. 

now this 7.8M.7

Where to view ISON with Naked Eye

View larger. | EarthSky friend on G+, Scott MacNeill, captured this stunning photo of Comet ISON on the morning of November 15, 2013. Thank you, Scott!

In case you haven’t heard … Comet ISON has been in outburst the past several days. In other words, it has gotten brighter! Our friend Scott MacNeill posted this wonderful photo on EarthSky’s Google+ page.

Many are saying they are glimpsing Comet ISON with the eye alone as a fuzzy barely visible patch in dark skies. The Comet ISON Observing Campaign says:

For those with very dark skies, this now makes it a naked eye object, and even for those in urban environments it is readily visible as a fuzzy green blob about half an hour before sunrise in the southeastern skies.

The comet will be in a conspicuous place in the sky for the next several mornings, near the bright star Spica on the sky’s dome. The charts below might help you find it! Look southeast before dawn for Spica. Scan with binoculars near Spica for the comet.

On the mornings of November 17 and 18, Comet ISON and the bright star Spica will be in the same field of view in binoculars. Look southeast before dawn for Comet ISON. Click here to know Spica’s rising time in your sky.

Here is the view on November 18. Look southeast before dawn.

View larger. | Here’s the same part of the sky as on the chart above – as photographed on November 13, 2013 by Annie Lewis in Madrid, Spain. This photo looks east before dawn. It’s the part of the sky in which you’ll find Comet ISON.

Author Of The PATRIOT Act Goes To EU Parliament To Admit Congress Failed, And The NSA Is Out Of Control

Author Of The PATRIOT Act Goes To EU Parliament To Admit Congress Failed, And The NSA Is Out Of Control

from the didn't-see-that-coming dept

It's already strange enough that the author of the PATRIOT Act, Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, has come out strongly against the NSA's mass spying, said that James Clapper should be fired and prosecuted, and introduced sweeping new legislation that would significantly curtail the NSA's activities. If you've followed civil liberties issues over the past dozen years or so, Sensenbrenner used to be very much in the camp of folks like Rep. Mike Rogers and Senator Dianne Feinstein -- seen as carrying water for the intelligence community (and industry). The change of heart (even if he claims the original PATRIOT Act was never meant to allow this stuff) is quite impressive.

Even so, it's perhaps even more incredible to see that Sensenbrenner has now gone over to the EU Parliament to admit that the NSA is out of control and needs to be reined in. While it doesn't sound like he got all the way to a complete apology, he appears to have come pretty close. According to Bridget Johnson's writeup at the PJ Tatler:

Sensenbrenner told the EU parliamentarians that “Congress knew the country needed new tools and broader authorities to combat those who meant to harm us,but we never intended to allow the National Security Agency to peer indiscriminately into the lives of innocent people all over the world.”

Sensenbrenner noted that he “worked under strict time constraints” to forge the Patriot Act and get it passed.

“I firmly believe the Patriot Act saved lives by strengthening the ability of intelligence agencies to track and stop potential terrorists, but in the past few years, the National Security Agency has weakened, misconstrued and ignored the civil liberty protections we drafted into the law,” he said, adding that the NSA “ignored restrictions painstakingly crafted by lawmakers and assumed a plenary authority we never imagined.”

“Worse, the NSA has cloaked its operations behind such a thick cloud of secrecy that, even if the NSA promised reforms, we would lack the ability to verify them.”

Sensenbrenner said the “constant stream of disclosures about US surveillance since June has surprised and appalled me as much as it has the American public and our international allies.”

Sensenbrenner promised more strict oversight from Congress, but also noted (realistically) that Congress's authority is mostly limited to domestic spying -- and that the US government needed to work more closely with foreign governments concerning foreign spying. Given who's saying it, this is a rather startling statement.

Chilling Warning Coming From China & The Elites

Today a man who has lived in 18 countries around the world, and witnessed collapses in many of these countries firsthand, told King World News “I don’t think the rest of the world is really appreciating what’s happening right now, but portable wealth, and I mean at the very top-end, is going ballistic.”  Keith Barron, who consults with major companies around the world and is responsible for one of the largest gold discoveries in the last quarter century, also stated, “I need to clarify here that this unbelievable situation appears to be being fueled by a great many Chinese buyers who are aggressively exiting US dollars.” 

Barron:  “The situation in Europe continues to be fairly grim.  S&P has lowered the credit rating of France in the last week.  We have also seen the general strike in Greece, the transport strike in Portugal, and the employment rates are not being improved at all in the PIIG countries

“So, the situation remains very dire, and if they don’t start to throw massive amounts of QE  at the tragedy in Europe, from the ECB, things could really get out of control in a hurry.  We are talking about major civil unrest, especially in places like Greece.

While all of this is happening, today we had another all-time high in the stock market in the US.  But even as the stock market continues to roar, we have yet another city in California that’s contemplating bankruptcy, just like Detroit did not too long ago.  

Now, here is what is really interesting:  Luxury goods, meaning portable wealth, are hyperinflating around the world.  This situation is really quite astounding.  Christie’s just had an auction of contemporary and post World War II art, and they shattered the all-time record for an art auction. 

The total sales from just that one auction were a staggering $691 million.  That is a truly outlandish number.  Christie’s crushed the record for a single work of art at that auction as well.  The $142.4 million art piece appeared, to me, to be purchased by a Chinese buyer.  

At another auction, there was a 14.8-carat diamond that sold for $35.5 million.  As KWN reported, the next day there was a pink diamond sold by Sotheby’s, also in Geneva, for a breathtaking $83 million.  This is truly remarkable what is taking place here.

I don’t think the rest of the world is really appreciating what’s happening right now, but portable wealth, and I mean at the very top-end, is going ballistic.  I need to clarify here that this unbelievable situation appears to be being fueled by a great many Chinese buyers who are aggressively exiting US dollars.  They literally want to get rid of their holdings in fiat currency altogether and place their wealth into tangibles, particularly portable wealth.

As KWN also reported, this is not just a case of ‘fat cats’ wanting to brag to everyone about their latest acquisitions.  These are people who are greatly concerned about the massive printing of fiat money, and they are looking to preserve their wealth.

People should understand that this is a warning of things to come.  The super-wealthy aren’t buying these hard assets because they are going to go down in price.  These people are connected and they know what the end game is going to be, and so they are moving extremely aggressively to preserve their wealth and their purchasing power from the coming Great Inflation.”

Barron added: “Gold has simply been marking time in a trading range, but it will break out as soon as it gets a catalyst.  You can’t have the super-wealthy bidding up the price of hard assets into the stratosphere and have the price of gold staying depressed.  It just goes against all logic.  At some point the gold bears will be overrun and the next leg higher in this bull market will begin in earnest.”

D. Rep. During Obamacare Debate: 'Haven't Seen So Much Panic on This Floor Since 9/11′

Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) attempted to calm the "panic" among his colleagues on both sides of the aisle Friday during the House debate on the Affordable Care Act. "Mr. Speaker, my mother used to say, patience is a virtue," McDermott said to start his two minute remarks. "I haven't seen so much panic on this floor since 9/11."

Speaking for his home state, McDermott noted that Washington's governor and insurance commissioner have already said they will not implement the House's proposed "Keep Your Health Plan Act." If the bill passes, McDermott argued, "there will be nothing but confusion."

In an unusual move for a Democrat, McDermott claimed that the GOP-sponsored bill amounts to "socialism" because it mandates that the insurance companies sell specific policies to people for next year.

"I can't believe what I'm hearing," he said. "I thought the Republicans believed in the free enterprise system. This is socialism. This is government saying to insurance companies, 'You must sell a policy to somebody next year that you sold to them this year. When did we shift on the Republican side to the Congress telling an insurance company who they have to sell a policy to or what's in the policy?"

"Our bill does not say 'must sell,'" Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), who has been the driving force behind the bill said, interrupting McDermott's remarks.

"I don't understand, the free enterprise system is lions, and they're eating antelopes," McDermott concluded. "I urge a no vote on this, because you're going to create endless confusion in this country in the insurance market."

While Upton's legislative fix to Obamacare is similar to the administrative one President Barack Obama announced Thursday, the president has vowed to veto the bill claiming it "threatens the health security of hard working, middle class families." While Obama's fix simply allows existing policy-holders to keep their current plans, the GOP bill would allow insurance companies to sell those plans to new customers.

House passes proposed GOP Obamacare changes

House passes proposed GOP Obamacare changes
(CNN) - The GOP-controlled House voted 261-157 to approve a Republican bill giving health insurers the option of extending plans through 2014 that would otherwise be canceled for not complying with Affordable Care Act standards.

The bill would also allow new customers to enroll in those plans. Thirty-nine Democrats crossed party lines and joined a nearly unanimous GOP caucus in voting for the bill.

It has little chance of clearing the Democratic-controlled Senate. The White House has also indicated President Barack Obama will veto the measure if it reaches his desk, saying the Republican plan would undermine the integrity of the law aimed at providing health coverage to millions of Americans without it.

The Senate is taking a wait-and-see attitude about possible legislation over insurance cancellations after Obama took administrative steps on Thursday to address the matter.

Obama's signature domestic policy initiative has been marred by the disastrous launch of the HealthCare.gov website, which allows consumers to buy new health plans online, and by the policy cancellations.

Both problems have put congressional Democrats in a difficult political position since the Affordable Care Act was approved in 2010 with no Republican support and signed by Obama, a Democratic president.

Earlier, the House rejected a similar plan offered by Democrats, but it was more restrictive than the Republican measure and so not supported by the majority.

Oprah Winfrey is going around the world telling everyone that Americans are racist while she promotes her new film

Oprah Winfrey is going around the world telling everyone that Americans are racist while she promotes her new film

Oprah Winfrey has been a prominent supporter of Barack Obama. She thinks that both he and the Office of President have been treated with contempt because of the colour of his skin.

“There’s a level of disrespect for the office that occurs. And that occurs in some cases and maybe even many cases because he’s African American. There’s no question about that and it’s the kind of thing nobody ever says but everybody’s thinking it.”