>: Eyjafjallajökull Volcanic Eruption 20 March 2010 / First the Economy, Then the Mountains

A MOUNTAIN

"The Eyjafjallajökull glacier is a 1666 m high glacier-capped stratovolcano. ... The icecap of the glacier covers a volcano (1666m in height) which has

BUT NOT YOUR ORDINARY MOUNTAIN

erupted relatively frequently since the Ice Age. The crater of the volcano has a diameter of 3-4 km and the glacier covers an area of about 100 km².

NOT SHAKING ALL THE TIME

In June 1994 an earthquake swarm lasting for nearly a month occurred below the active volcano Eyjafjallajökull in South Iceland. It is otherwise a relatively quiet volcano – although it is not listed as being inactive. Eyjafjallajökull erupted last in 1821-1823." (Eyjafjallajökull glacier, Nature, Visit South Iceland)

LOOKS LIKE ANY OTHER MOUNTAIN

People go by, and see a mountain covered with ice and snow. Like any other mountain.

AND SO YOU GET USED TO IT

Mountains are considered pretty permanent, and after a while people start thinking: that's just a part of the scenery. Something that has always been there.

The farmers graze their sheep on the plain below, and tourists come by to take pictures of that nice mountain.

Change it? Suspect it? No. That's nature. And we must protect the environment.

But then the volcano erupts. Not all the time. Maybe not for 200 years. Or maybe every 5 years.

Oh good! Such brilliant colors to watch.

A WONDER OF NATURE

The brightly colored substance is liquid rock. Its extremely hot, and so can flow like a river. Needless to say, people, animals, and houses in the way tend to destroyed.

Its called lava: "molten rock that issues from a volcano or from a fissure in the surface of a planet (as earth) or moon; also : such rock that has cooled and hardened". (lava, Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary)

"Volcanoes are some of the most amazing natural formations in the world. When these sleeping powerhouses wake up they can literally blow their tops. As the ash and lava settles, any damage and destruction the eruption has left behind can be evaluated. In ideal circumstances,

PEOPLE ARE SAFE -- IF THEY WEREN'T TOO CLOSE

people and structures are protected at a safe distance and the firey beauty of the volcanic eruption can be observed, filmed and photographed." (6 Devastatingly Powerful Volcanoes, Webecoist)

OF COURSE, PEOPLE AREN'T ALWAYS AT A SAFE DISTANCE

"In AD 79 the volcano Vesuvius completely destroyed the provincial Roman town of Pompeii.

IT LOOKED JUST LIKE ANY OTHER MOUNTAIN

It is doubtful that most citizens of Pompeii realized an active volcano lurked at their back door. Nor is it likely that anyone credited the volcano with the rich soil that made the land an Eden for farmers.

AFTER ALL, IT WAS A RICH COUNTRY

The prosperous residents of this provincial Roman city of 20,000 probably saw Vesuvius as just another beautiful mountain and their rich volcanic soil as a gift of the gods. Life was good, and it would go on just as it had for 1,000 years. If you would have told the average Pompeiian on the morning of August 24, AD 79, that his city would be completely wiped off the the map within 24 hours, he would have probably laughed in your face.

But Pompeii was obliterated, along with several other nearby towns.

AS USUAL, PLENTY OF WARNING SIGNS

Furthermore, nature had been more than generous with her warning signs. Clearly, disaster was imminent.

A great earthquake had rattled the area seventeen years before. Houses and temples collapsed. Statues toppled from their pedestals. People lay buried beneath the rubble.

TIME TO GET AWAY FROM THE DANGER?

The damage was so great that the Emperor Nero wondered out loud if Pompeiians should just abandon the place and be done with it. But the people of Pompeii were stubborn and proud. They started rebuilding immediately -- their magnificent forum, the ten temples to the gods, their theaters, their coliseum, their

PLENTY OF SHOPPING CENTERS TO BUY THOSE LEVI'S JEANS

shops and stores, and their homes. But it was a long process. Damage from the AD 62 was still visible when Vesuvius blew its top seventeen years later.

And there were other, more recent and telling signs of the coming disaster. Several small quakes shook the area in the days preceding the eruption. Wells dried up and springs stopped flowing.

PRODIGIES

Dogs howled and birds were strangely silent. But Pompeiians went about their daily business, oblivious to the rumblings under their feet or the strange behavior of their pets.

THERE WAS STILL TIME TO FLEE

Then, at about 1:30 on the afternoon of the 24th, there was a tremendous roar and a gargantuan column of flame, rocks, smoke and dust gushed from the summit of their beloved mountain. The lava plug capping the mouth of Vesuvius for a millennium finally surrendered to internal pressure. A half hour later Pompeii, six miles southeast of the crater, began to be pelted with fallout.

A pine tree-shaped cloud rose over the mountain and blocked the sun. Pumice pebbles, too light to do much damage, rained on Pompeii. Other rocks, as solid as bowling balls, killed a number of people. Ash sifted down on the cobbled streets at the astounding rate of six inches per hour.

Pompeiians took to their homes to escape the hurling missiles and choking ash. Residue piled up on relatively flat roofs causing buildings to collapse. Now the people of the city knew they must flee to safety. But where? Residents retrieved what valuables they could carry. Slaves bore their rich masters through the streets on sedan chairs. People, carts and livestock clogged the narrow streets. Some made their way toward the wharfs on Sarno River. Others headed into the surrounding countryside, as far away from the belching mountain as possible.

At dusk, 90 percent of the people of Pompeii had reached safety. Those still left,

"FOR WHATEVER REASON"

for whatever reason, still had plenty to time to escape -- and they probably would have done so without further hesitation if they had only known what future horror the mountain had in store.

Vesuvius had been erupting for about 10 hours.

JUST AS IN THE VIDEO ABOVE

Night showed a spectacular display of lightning amid the volcanic cloud spewing from the crater. At times, the dense cloud of ash, smoke, and stone towered 12 miles high. Strong winds aloft blew the material southeast toward Pompeii and nearby Stabiae. Another town at the foot of the volcano and even closer to the crater, Herculaneum, had been spared a heavy fall of ash because it was upwind.

AH, WE'RE SAFE

The residents thought they were safe.

NOT!

They weren’t.

Up until now, the heavy column laden with dust, ash and rock had been supported by the sheer force pushing out of the volcano. But, at about 11:30 p.m., that force was momentarily weakened. The superheated cloud collapsed upon itself and started to roll down the side of the mountain.

The leading edge of this avalanche was a fast-moving stream of hot ash and gases, hurtling downward at terrific speed. The second part was denser, consisting of pumice, rocks and soil, made liquid by temperatures that approached 750 degrees. The glowing cloud failed to reach Pompeii on the first try, but it easily engulfed Herculaneum. Every single soul remaining in the little resort town, by the sparking Bay of Naples, perished instantly.

An hour later, a second pyroclastic flow surged down the mountain. Again, it failed to reach Pompeii. But the steady rain of rocks and ash were getting to be more of a hazard than those at ground level were prepared to bear. Residents, still huddled in their houses, gathered what belongings they could collect and started out of the city. Yet, unbelievably, some still remained.

Four hours later, another surge roared down the mountain. This time, it was stopped at the north wall of the city. Then, at 6:30, a fourth surge broke though and swept through Pompeii, killing everyone who remained -- some estimates as high as 2,000. Pompeii had joined Herculaneum, 12 miles away, in death. Two further surges sealed the cities in an earthen tomb.

The eruption of Vesuvius lasted barely a day, but it’s devastation was complete. When survivors returned they found an alien landscape. Only the very tops of a few of the taller buildings barely poked through the ground. Pompeii was buried under nine feet of ash, and a deep, hard layer left by the surges. Herculaneum, much closer to the mouth of the volcano, was buried to a depth of 65 feet or more, in a deposit as tough as concrete." (Vesuvius destroys Pompeii, essortment)

ICELAND WAS A PROSPEROUS LITTLE COUNTRY

"Iceland had ousted Norway from the head of the UN's league table of 177 countries that compared per-capita income, education, health care and life expectancy – which, at 80.55 years for males, was third highest in the world." Iceland had "free health and education systems, bought the most books, owned most mobile telephones per head, and included the highest proportion of working women in the world". reference

There were various eruptions of war, and dangerous scams going on over in Europe.

In countries like Visigoth Spain:

Visigoth Empire in Spain - Rise, Fall, and Lessons to be Learned

and in France:

Children's Crusade 1212 - Marseille / Arles Slave Traders Cash In on Religious Fanaticism

But the Icelandic "people and structures are protected at a safe distance and the firey beauty of the volcanic eruption can be observed, filmed and photographed." (as per 6 Devastatingly Powerful Volcanoes, Webecoist) Travelers could come with news of these catastrophes, and the people of Iceland could observe European events from a distance, and learn.

DIFFERENT AT FIRST

The Jews came to Iceland in 1625. Other than their singular appearance and unique morality, they seemed much like other people. "The prosperous residents of this provincial Roman city of 20,000 probably saw Vesuvius as just another beautiful mountain and their rich volcanic soil as a gift of the gods." (Vesuvius destroys Pompeii, essortment)

BUT THE NATIVE POPULATION GOT USED TO THEM

And those Jews? Just another sort of people. Soon Icelanders were buying Jewish products.

Jacob Franco was one of the "Portuguese Jews". He was in the tobacco business in Copenhagen, and got the monopoly for supplying all the tobacco products to Iceland and the Faroes/Føroyar in 1704. There was some friendly rivalry amongst the Jews, so in 1710 Abraham Levin and Abraham Cantor got into the business as well. And, of course, this traffic in death stayed in Jewish hands. In 1731, Isak Cantor took over the family business. reference

AND IF YOU HAD TRIED TO WARN THEM?

If you would have told the average Iceland in 2000 that his country would be financially devastated within 10 years, he would have probably laughed in your face.

"If you would have told the average Pompeiian on the morning of August 24, AD 79, that his city would be completely wiped off the the map within 24 hours, he would have probably laughed in your face." (Vesuvius destroys Pompeii, essortment)

BUT OF COURSE THERE WERE WARNINGS

Oh, there had been some warning signs: "Furthermore, nature had been more than generous with her warning signs. Clearly, disaster was imminent.

A great earthquake had rattled the area seventeen years before. Houses and temples collapsed. Statues toppled from their pedestals." (Vesuvius destroys Pompeii, essortment)

People kept getting cancers from those cigarettes imported by Jacob Franco and his successors. And then there was the matter of Björgólfur Gudmundsson. He ran Hafskip. And looted the company, and took it under in a huge criminal fraud. reference And the Great Depression. And the smaller depressions. And Enron.

BUT MOST OF THE PEOPLE WERE UNAFFECTED

"But the people of Pompeii were stubborn and proud. They started rebuilding immediately". (Vesuvius destroys Pompeii, essortment)

And the Icelanders thought, Oh my, These people have been hunted by Nazis, penned in camps, and forced to work. After all that intolerance, its time to just forgive and forget.

SINCE THESE PEOPLE WEREN'T "REALLY" JEWS

If the Icelandic people even thought about it. Because so many Jews had gotten baptized. Jews like Ludvig Mariboe. He had been born in 1781 in Copenhagen to Jewish parents. For business reasons, he pretended to be Christian. The Norwegians let him stay in the country after 1814 because they reasoned that he wasn’t really a Jew. (Oskar Mendelsohn, Jødenes historie i Norge gjennom 300 år, Bind I, Universitetsforlaget, 1969, p. 50) In Norway, he established many businesses. And sat in the national parliament between 1830 and 1833. And audited the books of the country between 1834 and 1839. Not to mention publishing the "liberal" newspaper Patrouillen. (Ludvig Mariboe, Wikipedia) A course of action so similar to that of Gutkind Hirschel / Gerhard Bonnier, who was doing about the same thing at the same time in Sweden. (documented here)

BUT THE WARNINGS INTENSIFIED

"And there were other, more recent and telling signs of the coming disaster. Several small quakes shook the area in the days preceding the eruption. Wells dried up and springs stopped flowing. Dogs howled and birds were strangely silent. But Pompeiians went about their daily business, oblivious to the rumblings under their feet or the strange behavior of their pets." (Vesuvius destroys Pompeii, essortment)

Like "Icelanders" going to Russia. To the capital city of the Russian Mafia - St. Petersburg. And starting up a huge brewery firm. Supposedly in a foreign country. Which was not so foreign at all for Björgólfur Thór Björgólfsson, a man who is at home in London (much of the time) when not in Cyprus, where he got his paperwork. reference

AND THEN THE MOUNTAIN STARTED BELCHING

Then England shut down the Icesave scam. reference And that was the last big warning.

"Four hours later, another surge roared down the mountain. This time, it was stopped at the north wall of the city. Then, at 6:30, a fourth surge broke though and swept through Pompeii, killing everyone who remained -- some estimates as high as 2,000. Pompeii had joined Herculaneum, 12 miles away, in death." (Vesuvius destroys Pompeii, essortment) And now Iceland has a "stricken economy". (Iceland's central bank cuts rates despite Icesave worries, Reuters, 17 Mar 2010)

And so the Jewish bankers decided to lay off? Let the Icelanders alone after cleaning out the country? "Iceland's central bank cut interest rates by 50 basis points on Wednesday to ease pressure". (Iceland's central bank cuts rates despite Icesave worries, Reuters, 17 Mar 2010)

They have the people under pressure. And now they are reducing the heavy burden of usury.

By 50 basis points!! That must be a lot.

"The Sedlabanki said it would lower its key seven-day collateral rate to 9.0 percent, and reduced other main rates also by 50 basis points ." (Iceland's central bank cuts rates despite Icesave worries, Reuters, 17 Mar 2010) Oh, a 5% reduction.

While other countries are keeping their rates around zero, they've decided to keep the Vikings under heavy pressure. Usury of 9%.

THAT SURGE ROARED ON DOWN THE MOUNTAIN

"The implosion of the

AND BROUGHT DEATH TO ICELAND'S "FINANCIAL SYSTEM"

island's financial system also left it

VIKINGS LEFT HOLDING THE BAG FOR THOSE LONDON BANKERS - THEY WISH

owing Britain and the Netherlands around $5 billion which the two countries doled out to their savers who had lost money in high-yield online "Icesave" accounts." (Iceland's central bank cuts rates despite Icesave worries, Reuters, 17 Mar 2010)

The people didn't see things that way. And so the government let them vote, and the people said, No, we already lost our money to the Jews, we're not going to pay anything more. reference

They may not want to pay directly, but the Jews always have a way -- high interest rates. Sooner or later they get what they're really after:

BUT AT LEAST THEY'RE KIND - THEY SAY

"This kindness will I show.

SETTING THE TERMS OF CREDIT

Go with me to a notary, seal me there
Your single bond; and, in a merry sport,
If you repay me not on such a day,

THE MONEY WOULD BE FINE

In such a place, such sum or sums as are
Express'd in the condition, let the forfeit

BUT WHY NOT MAKE IT FLESH

Be nominated for an equal pound
Of your fair flesh, to be cut off and taken
In what part of your body pleaseth me."
(Shylock cited in Act I, Scene III, The Merchant of Venice (William Shakespeare))

WHEN THEY IGNORE THE WARNINGS -- REBUILDING THE CITY IN EASY RANGE OF DANGER

And the people of Iceland have figured this out? Expelled the Jews from their country?

Oh, no. They're just sad:

THEY ARE SO SAD

"In sooth, I know not why I am so sad:
It wearies me; you say it wearies you;

BUT CAN'T FIGURE OUT JUST WHAT CAUSED THEIR MISERY

But how I caught it, found it, or came by it,
What stuff 'tis made of, whereof it is born,
I am to learn;
And such a want-wit sadness makes of me,
That I have much ado to know myself."
(Antonio cited in Act I, Scene I, The Merchant of Venice (William Shakespeare)

USED TO BE A RICH COUNTRY

As noted above, Iceland used to be a rich country. But then the economy got "imploded". They had handed over their "financial system" to foreigners.

BUT NOW THEY NEED CREDIT

"Aid promised by its Nordic neighbors and the International Monetary Fund is on hold until the "Icesave" dispute is solved." (Iceland's central bank cuts rates despite Icesave worries, Reuters, 17 Mar 2010)

Dispute? The Jews in England and Netherlands want the Icelandic people to pay compensation for the monies looted by the Jews who lived, at one time, in Iceland, but now live in London. Again.

And "solved" (per Iceland's central bank cuts rates despite Icesave worries, Reuters, 17 Mar 2010)? Oh. Its just a matter of going down to the notary:

"Go with me to a notary, seal me there
Your single bond;"
(per Shylock cited in Act I, Scene III, The Merchant of Venice (William Shakespeare))

Seal a single bond. And then they can get more loans.

Interest free? Are you kidding?

Maybe just at a concessionary rate of 9%. But then again, maybe for more.

And if they can't pay it

"In such a place, such sum or sums as are
Express'd in the condition"
(per Shylock cited in Act I, Scene III, The Merchant of Venice (William Shakespeare))

Well, then comes that pound of flesh. (per Shylock cited in Act I, Scene III, The Merchant of Venice (William Shakespeare)) Like the fisheries. The airline. And how about all the real estate on the whole island too.

What? That greedy?

Could these usurers and slave traders -- "medieval histories, if they mention Jews at all, refer to them almost exclusively as money-lenders or involved in slavery". (Norman Roth, Medieval Jewish civilization: an encyclopedia, Routledge, 2003, p 189) -- really be out to grab the whole island over a "debt" racked up by some Russian Mafia types -- who just happened to have sojourned in Iceland?

That's what they did with Hong Kong.

In the 1930s, zoologist Ernst Schäfer made several expeditions to Tibet and China.

In theory, he was looking for animals with fur and four legs. But the observations he made in China tell you everything about what happens when people like Antonio say:

"Content, i' faith: I'll seal to such a bond
And say there is much kindness in the Jew."
(Antonio cited in Act I, Scene III, The Merchant of Venice (William Shakespeare))

The Chinese had been to the notary with Shylock: "Although the Nanking Treaty of 1842 did not specifically mention opium, it had the effect of informally sanctioning the British sale of opium and there-after discouraging the Chinese from much more than “sporadic punishment of opium offenders". (Spence 1992, 244)." (Keith McMahon, The fall of the god of money: opium smoking in nineteenth-century China, Rowman & Littlefield, 2002, p 38)

And the consequences?

Ernst Schäfer saw it all "in

CENTER OF CRIMINAL ACTIVITY

Hankow, an important junction on the Yangtze and often called China’s Chicago.

TURF CARVED UP

The British, French and Russians all had concessions here." (Chrisopher Hale, Himmler's Crusade: The Nazi Expedition to Find the Origins of the Aryan Race, John Wiley & Sons, 2003, p 47)

And the business model was one we've seen again and again in our case studies:

DRUG TRADE (AS USUAL)

"Hankow was the centre of the opium trade which

SLAVERY BUSINESS

had ensnared millions of Chinese in a prison of poverty and addiction."

THE EMPEROR HAD A PROBLEM WITH THE DRUG TRADE, SO THEY TOOK HIM DOWN

"Hankow had also been the condenser for nationalist passions that had

WITH A REVOLUTION (AS USUAL)

overturned the Manchu emperors in 1912.

SCENE OF AN EXTORTION SCAM

Further downstream was Nanjing. Here, a century earlier, the English

JEWISH

diplomat Sir Henry Pottinger had used his

FOREIGN MILITARY FORCES / FULL EXTORTION

formidable negotiating powers to force the fading Manchu dynasty to allow their empire to be opened up to

"HER TRADE"? SINCE WHEN WAS DAVID SASSOON A "SHE"?

her commerce and trade. Pottinger had also acquired the island of Hong Kong ‘in perpetuity’." (Chrisopher Hale, Himmler's Crusade: The Nazi Expedition to Find the Origins of the Aryan Race, John Wiley & Sons, 2003, P 47)

Hong Kong? Iceland? What's the difference. Its just a matter of some ledger entries down at the counting house.

You know, the one where Barabas manages his operation.

But how can you think of an island as being "fair flesh"?

"Be nominated for an equal pound
Of your fair flesh, to be cut off and taken
In what part of your body pleaseth me."
(Shylock cited in Act I, Scene III, The Merchant of Venice (William Shakespeare))

There is another kind, of course.

A VIBRANT, MULTICULTURAL SOCIETY

"A city of thirty-six nationalities, Shanghai was fractured by competing European powers
who had arrogantly divided the city between them, and by stark barriers between

WHERE "CERTAIN PEOPLE" HAVE THE MONEY

the rich and the near destitute." "Shanghai was wealthy and cosmopolitan, and it relished its talents for dissolution and sleaze.

FULL PERVERSION

Its clubs, opium dens and and brothels were infamous and promised to satisfy any vice.

THAT POUND OF FLESH

The white Russian girls who had been turfed out of Russia by the

DIDN'T KNOW JEWS WERE PURITANS

puritanical Bolsheviks were especially prized." (Chrisopher Hale, Himmler's Crusade: The Nazi Expedition to Find the Origins of the Aryan Race, John Wiley & Sons, 2003, p 45)

There are plenty of white Icelandic girls.

So now the country has some choices to make.

The people could follow Bassanio's example:

"You shall not seal to such a bond for me: I'll rather dwell in my necessity."
(Bassanio cited in Act I, Scene III, The Merchant of Venice (William Shakespeare))

Or, of course, give in to Shylock's persuasion and make a trip down to the notary:

"ANTONIO

Why, fear not, man; I will not forfeit it:
Within these two months, that's a month before
This bond expires, I do expect return
Of thrice three times the value of this bond.

SHYLOCK

O father Abram, what these Christians are,
Whose own hard dealings teaches them suspect
The thoughts of others! Pray you, tell me this;
If he should break his day, what should I gain
By the exaction of the forfeiture?
A pound of man's flesh taken from a man
Is not so estimable, profitable neither,
As flesh of muttons, beefs, or goats. I say,
To buy his favour, I extend this friendship:
If he will take it, so; if not, adieu;
And, for my love, I pray you wrong me not.

ANTONIO

Yes Shylock, I will seal unto this bond.

SHYLOCK

Then meet me forthwith at the notary's; Give him direction for this merry bond, And I will go and purse the ducats straight,
See to my house, left in the fearful guard
Of an unthrifty knave, and presently
I will be with you.