What's been Making News week 1 of 2012?

Some of the words and terms used in my 2012 Predictions video seem to have been in the News this past week, the first week of 2012. Here is a list of News reports related to Warfare, Weather and Economic Collapse…

• CYBERWARFARE: New Pentagon strategy stresses Asia, cyber, drones / (Reuters) - President Barack Obama unveiled a defense strategy on Thursday that would expand the U.S. military presence in Asia but shrink the overall size of the force as the Pentagon seeks to slash spending by nearly half a trillion dollars after a decade of war. The strategy, if carried out, would significantly reshape the world's most powerful military following the buildup that was a key part of President George W. Bush's "war on terrorism" in Iraq and Afghanistan. Cyberwarfare and unmanned drones would continue to grow in priority, as would countering attempts by China and Iran to block U.S. power projection capabilities in areas like the South China Sea and the Strait of Hormuz.

• CONVENTIONAL / NUCLEAR WARFARE: There has been much in the News about wars, civil wars, revolutions and social upheaval, especially in the Middle East. Please see my latest video titled 'War: What is it Good for?' for more on these fast developing stories. 
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• EXTREME WEATHER: Mother Nature unleashes her fury in first week of 2012 / Jan. 8 

January 8, 2012 – MANILA – Philippine rescuers dug through rock and mud Friday looking for people feared buried by a deadly landslide at a remote gold mining community, as officials vowed to shut down unsafe mine sites. At least 25 people were killed on Mindanao island before dawn on Thursday when a rock and mud avalanche buried a mountain settlement of gold prospectors who had refused to leave an area declared too dangerous for habitation. 

However, the national government began to back away from the previous official figure of 150 people missing, saying only eight of them are known by name and there were no reliable census figures at the gold rush site. “I think that is exaggerated,” civil defense chief Benito Ramos told AFP, adding the original estimate was given by local officials in the area who extrapolated the figure from the number of buried shanties. “It would be hard to even give an estimate,” he said. Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo flew to the disaster site near Pantukan town on Friday and also downplayed the initial estimate of the missing. “That might not be a very accurate number,” said Robredo, interviewed over ABS-CBN television in Pantukan. He said 80 percent of the population were recent migrants chasing instant riches from high gold prices. “Hopefully the search team there will be able to get it done in 48 hours,” Robredo added. Pantukan’s civil defense office said the toll now stood at 25 dead and eight missing, while 16 were rescued and treated at Mindanao hospitals. Meanwhile, Robredo announced the government would shut down up to 500 small-scale mines that dot the mountainsides around Pantukan and relocate the affected miners and their families, who will be given state financial aid. About a thousand mine tunnels operate in the area, he said. “Probably half of these are without permits, so we (he and the local officials) agreed that all the illegal tunnels will be closed down.” –Terra Earth 

Dike burst Brazil: A dike burst in Brazil’s flood-hit northern Rio de Janeiro state Thursday, forcing the evacuation of nearly 4,000 residents, authorities said. Rising water levels on the Muriae River due to the torrential rains of the past few days caused the rupture of a bridge that serves as a dike protecting the town of Campos do Goytacazes, rescue officials said. “We have evacuated about 1,000 families (roughly 4,000 people) who have been brought to the fire department barracks and municipal shelters,” firefighter Joaquim Silva told reporters. The rising waters destroyed part of the bridge and opened a hole of nearly 20 meters (60 feet), flooding the Tres Vendas area in a matter of hours. Silva said the residents were warned in time and many families were able to salvage some of their belongings. Aerial television pictures showed the slow advance of flood waters and residents fleeing the area. Authorities said the water rose between 3.5 and four meters (11 to 13 feet). “From the houses, only the roofs were visible,” said Henrique Oliveira, of the local Civil Defense. Floods caused by heavy rains have left eight people dead and forced the evacuation of more than 15,000 people in the southeastern states of Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais, officials said. Exactly a year ago, flooding and landslides left more than 1,000 people dead or missing in the mountainous area of Rio de Janeiro state. -TD

Dutch village hammered by gale-force winds: Around 10 people were evacuated Thursday from a village in the northwest of the Netherlands as high waters threatened to overwhelm a dyke, local authorities said. But the dyke at the village of Tolbert near the city of Groningen was expected to hold, Judith de Jong, a spokeswoman for the Dutch department of highways and bridges, told AFP. ‘We no longer expect the dyke to give way but it also depends on the wind,” she said. Local authority spokesman Michiel Zijlstera told AFP that eventually 10 people had been evacuated from the village. He had earlier put the number at 100. But the situation remained ‘critical,’ he added, warning that strong winds were predicted late at night. Gale force winds reaching up to 110 kilometers (about 70 miles) an hour as well as heavy rains are expected along the Dutch coast. About a quarter of the country sits below sea level. The provinces of Groningen, North Holland and Friesland were under special alert and maritime traffic was badly disrupted at Rotterdam, one of Europe’s biggest ports where some 430 million tons of goods pass through annually. “Eleven vessels wanted to leave the port and two wanted to enter but were unable to do so because of the heavy wind,” said port spokesman. About 800 people have since returned to their homes after flood water receded. –Terra Daily

Three earthquakes strike nuclear plant region of Fukushima district / 

Posted on Jan. 7. 

January 7, 2012 – JAPAN – In September of 2011, Tokyo Electric Power Company said they suspected there were 5 active faults near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant that could affect the crippled plant if they caused a tremor. TEPCO said in September of 2011 that geological deformations were observed for the first time at 5 faults, suggesting they are active. –ENE News

It therefore should come as no surprise that three earthquakes erupted in the Fukushima district. The FD report says, On January 5^th, an earthquake of magnitude 4.2 hit Japan. The epicenter is Fukushima Nakadori, where Fukushima plants are located. It’s shallower than 10km. No information about the plant is announced yet. JNN Fukushima live camera was down immediately after the quake. The earthquake was only one of three that hit the region in cascading fashion. -Fukushima Diary 

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• ECONOMIC COLLAPSE NEWS:

World Economy would be crushed in a week due to major disasters, Terrorist Attacks / MSNBC 

The global economy could withstand widespread disruption from a natural disaster or attack by militants for only a week as governments and businesses are not sufficiently prepared to deal with unexpected events, a report by a respected think-tank said.

Other Economic Collapse headlines from 

http://dollarcollapse.com/

The Economy

1/07    ECB steps in as Italian yields hit 7% – Wall Street Journal
1/07    German factory orders drop most in nearly 3 years – Mish
1/07    Profit warnings at Target, Kohl's, JC Penney, American Eagle – Mish
1/07    The 10x difference between TrimTabs and ADP's jobs estimates – Mish
1/07    The stock market is not physics, part IV – Elliott Wave International
1/07    Eurozone strains increase with grim new economic data – Guardian
1/07    Eurozone crisis spreads to France as car sales decline – Huffington Post
1/07    Land of the freebies, home of the enslaved – YouTube
1/07    Key financial risk measure hovers near 3-yr high – Reuters
1/07    Eurozone retail sales hit by unemployment, crisis – Boston.com
1/07    Something wicked this way comes – OfTwoMinds.com
1/07    Hungary concerns drive up Austrian yields – Reuters
1/07    Employment trends since 1955 – Mish
1/06    December employment report – Calculated Risk
1/06    Bill Gross warns of financial market implosion – Business Insider
1/06    The danger debt poses to the western world – Casey Research
1/06    Predictions of Apocalypse – The Real Asset Co.
1/06    The gilded age of bankers – AheadOfTheHerd.com
1/06    Euro-zone breakup emerges as buyer risk in UniCredit's stock sale – Bloomberg
1/06    Data bring new gloom for euro zone – Wall Street Journal
1/06    Eurozone flawed, austerity an imbalance, not solution – FirstPost
1/05    Fed intervention and the stock market – Financial Sense
1/05    Backdoor QE, fractional reserve banking, and insolvency – Financial Sense
1/05    Is a banking crisis on the way in 2012? – Fox Business
1/05    Preparing you finances for 2012 – Elliott Wave International
1/05    Hungary sovereign debt insurance costs at record highs – NASDAQ