Here are smokescreens laid down by those in charge in order to mollify ignorant sheeple:

1. The U.S. and global economy will be much improved in 2013.
2. “Global Warming” will be an even more serious problem in 2013.

And you can take that to the bank because that’s what the newspapers have been guaranteeing. (Right, Will Rogers?)

1. These are economic reports from overseas which can be categorized as “global”, however:

– Cargo News (1/07/2013) – “NYK to stay asset-light. The carrier will slow steam bulkers, like boxships, to cut capacity – JAPAN’S No. 2 container shipping line, NYK, sees a difficult year ahead for the marine transportation sector with supply and demand gap still impacting the container business. NYK president Yasumi Kudo, in his annual New Year’s address, said his company aims to develop slow steaming bulkers as it has done in its containership fleet to offset surplus capacity.

– Shipping Gazette (1/08/2013) – “Plenty of talk about consolidation – Liner consolidation has been a recurrent theme in the container shipping industry over the year, and it has certainly come back into the spotlight in recent years given the poor state of the market. This is not surprising that it has come back into vogue at a time when rates and demand for shipping are falling, while shipping capacity is rising and bunker prices are soaring, sending operating costs into the stratosphere.” –

2. And here is a weather report you won’t hear “Global Warming” alarmists talking about:

– “China Daily (1/06/2013) – “Some 1,000 vessels icebound as north China cold snap hits 28-year low – Nearly 1,000 vessels have been stranded in the Laizhou Bay area between Qingdao and Tianjin on the coast of Shandong province as temperatures plunged to their lowest in 28 years, reported China Daily.

“Since late November the country has endured an average of 25 F degrees – colder than the previous average, said the China Meteorological Administration.

“At Laizhou Bay, 291 square kilometers were icebound, disrupting inland transport as temperatures fell to a minus 26 degrees F. More than 140 flights from the state capital airport in central Hunan province were delayed, while heavy snowfall closed sections of the Beijing-Hong Kong Expressway, said China daily.” –

[Thank goodness for “Global Warming”! Can you just imagine how really cold it would be if it weren’t for this alarming (and imagined) rise in global temperatures?]