WashingtonPost: Big aftershock rattles Japan’s tsunami-ravaged northeast coastThe strongest aftershock since the day of the magnitude-9.0 megaquake was a fresh blow to victims of that March 11 quake and subsequent tsunami that killed some 25,000 people, tore apart hundreds of thousands of homes and has sparked an ongoing crisis at a nuclear power plant.
ZeroHedge: As Radioactive Iodine Cloud Passes Over Korea, Government Downplays Risks
AolNews: Preventing Blasts a Focus at Japan Nuclear PlantTOKYO -- After notching a rare victory by stopping highly radioactive water from flowing into the Pacific, workers at Japan's flooded nuclear power complex turned to their next task early Thursday: injecting nitrogen to prevent more hydrogen explosions.
NYT: Core of Stricken Reactor Probably Leaked, U.S. SaysThe United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Wednesday that some of the core of a stricken Japanese reactor had probably leaked from its steel pressure vessel into the bottom of the containment structure, implying that the damage was even worse than previously thought.
Global Conflict
Spiegel: The Battle against Gadhafi
NATO Fears War without End in LibyaThe front in Libya is barely moving as the country remains split between rebels and Gadhafi's troops. The rebels are complaining of not receiving enough air support, but NATO is hardly in a position to ramp it up after the withdrawal of US fighter jets. The resulting stalemate underscores the lack of a clear strategy for the allies in Libya.
BusinessInsider: Qaddafi Adopts Scorched Earth Tactic, Attacks Rebel Held Oil FieldsQaddafi's forces have attacked rebel held oil fields in Eastern Libya, according to NATO (via Reuters).
The attack targeted the Sarir fields, and has forced the shut down of fields at Misla and Waha as well.
Financial News
Mish: No Path to Prosperity: Ryan's Incredulous Budget-Balancing Proposal, Preposterous Unemployment Estimate
BusinessInsider: MARC FABER: Ben Bernanke Is A Murderer Of The Middle ClassIn an interview with KWN, Faber says the Fed has created an economic situation where every asset class will rise, and thus working Americans will be the losers:
Bloomberg: Government Shutdown Threatens 800,000 As Obama Seeks Solution
CapitalGainsandGames: Did the Federal Budget World Plunge in to A Budget Hot Tub Time Machine Yesterday?If you're a federal budget watcher, there was a moment yesterday when you had to wonder whether you had entered a parallel universe or traveled back in time.
NewRepublic: The Least Defensible Budget CutA former Americorps member explains why gutting the program’s funding doesn’t make sense—even on conservatives’ terms.
CapitalGainsandGames: Boehner Goes All In For The Tea PartyAccording to this story by Greg Sargent in The Washington Post yesterday, Boehner supposedly let the White House know that he couldn't or wouldn't support a deal on a continuing resolution that wasn't supported by 218 Republicans in the House. There are 241 Republican members of the House in this Congress and at least 40 identify themselves as tea party supporters. That makes the math simple: There's no way for Boehner to get the 218 votes he says he has to have from the GOP caucus if he loses all the tea party people.
ZeroHedge: Obama's Advice To Those Complaining About Surging Gas Prices: Suck It In And Cope
MultiplierEffect: How Much Food Will a Week's Earnings Buy?
Recent months have seen double-digit increases in energy prices and the prices of many important agricultural commodities. Because of the recent inflation in various raw materials, fuels, and foods, many ordinary Americans have been finding it increasingly difficult to afford basic necessities. The figure above shows just how severe this trend has been.
inteldaily: Republican Plan to End Social Security, Medicare and MedicaidRepublicans, in fact, always opposed these programs. Given unsustainable deficits from out-of-control military spending and corporate handouts, they now see a chance to end them by a combination of cuts, shifting cost burdens to states and beneficiaries, plus lots of smoke and mirrors. Key is that Democrats concur, despite softer public rhetoric, appealing to constituencies while betraying them behind closed doors, Obama a duplicitous co-conspirator.
NakedCapitalism: ACLU Taking Aim at Florida’s
CalculatedRisk: Forecast: Rising Rents to slow House Price DeclinesHousing economist Tom Lawler predicted this afternoon: 'Rising rents combined with a substantial reduction in the “excess supply” of housing (single family as well) will also help stem the recent “renewed” downturn in US home prices well before the end of this year.'
Independent: Sean O'Grady: If Spain fails, it will be too expensive to saveThe working assumption throughout the financial crisis is that Greece, Ireland and Portugal are all "manageable" – even in the worst case scenarios they are simply too small to threaten the existence of the eurozone by exhausting its resources. Spain, it is readily agreed, is on a different scale.
MSNBC: Farewell, debit reward cardsBanks, credit unions ax programs in anticipation of new 'swipe-fee' rules
Debit card rewards programs — the ones that offer free travel, merchandise and cash back — could soon be as hard to find as a free bag of peanuts on an airplane.
This whole section below is from rj at the Global Glass Onion.
Thanks for all the help rj!
Why is Paul Ryan’s Budget Trying to Dismantle Financial Reform? - It’s not enough to gut programs for low-income Americans. Paul Ryan wants to roll the clock back on Wall Street to 2008. The budget Paul Ryan released yesterday has huge cuts that are likely to fall on the poorest Americans while offering all kinds of bonuses to the top 1%. Others will be talking about how it eliminates Medicare and Medicaid. I want to talk about how it dismantles one of the few regulations put on Wall Street post-crisis. Let’s back up with a high-level overview.
Peak oil and Energy News
NPR: Rising Oil Prices Beginning To Hurt US EconomyJust when companies have finally stepped up hiring, rising oil prices are threatening to halt the U.S. economy's gains.
Some economists are scaling back their estimates for growth this year, in part because flat wages have left households struggling to pay higher gasoline prices.
MSNBC: Any oil price pullback could be temporary
Don't expect any lasting relief until Mideast tensions cool
Environmental News
NatGeo: Monarch Butterflies: Miles to Go Before They Sleep (and Lay Eggs)
America in Decline
TruthOut: Robert Scheer "The Peasants Need Pitchforks"
"The delusion of a classless America in which opportunity is equally distributed is the most effective deception perpetrated by the moneyed elite that controls all the key levers of power in what passes for our democracy. It is a myth blown away by Nobel Prize winner Joseph E. Stiglitz in the current issue of Vanity Fair. In an article titled 'Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%' Stiglitz states that the top thin layer of the superwealthy controls 40 percent of all wealth in what is now the most sharply class-divided of all developed nations: 'Americans have been watching protests against repressive regimes that concentrate massive wealth in the hands of an elite few. Yet, in our own democracy, 1 percent of the people take nearly a quarter of the nation's income - an inequality even the wealthy will come to regret.'"
Jim Hightower | Sacrificing Teachers and Firefighters to Hoovernomics
"America owes a debt of gratitude to such insightful Republican governors as Scott Walker of Wisconsin, John Kasich of Ohio, Rick Snyder of Michigan and Chris Christie of New Jersey. Were it not for them, many Americans - myself included - would still be thinking that today's state budget messes are mainly the product of a national economic crash caused by the reckless greed of Wall Street banksters and rich speculators, as well as the abject failure by political leaders to tax their super-wealthy campaign contributors in order to meet the growing needs in education and other essentials. Luckily, the GOP guvs have set the record straight by explaining that the budget woes are the fault of teachers who have health coverage and firefighters who get pensions."
AlterNet: 10 States With the Most Shocking Anti-Woman Legislation
AlterNet: Slut Shame: Attacking Women for Their Sex LivesIn 2011, it’s still considered perfectly acceptable to attack women based on their supposed sluttiness.
On January 26, Loren Feldman wrote an open letter to media personality Julia Allison’s father, alleging to her expertise at oral sex and her promiscuity. The post, which has since been removed, is a prime example of the ease with which the accusation of being a slut is still hurled at women as a way to shame and degrade them.
Food and Water
FarmPress: Japan approves MRLs for Radiant SC and Delegate WG insecticidesDow AgroSciences announced that Japan has established maximum residue levels (MRLs) for spinetoram, the active ingredient in Delegate WG and Radiant SC insecticides. The new MRLs open up a new export market for U.S.-grown fruits, vegetables and citrus.
Medical and Health
Guardian: Dramatic rise in antidepressant prescriptions linked to money worriesFinancial woes and job insecurity thought to be behind 43% rise in antidepressant prescriptions in last four years
Other News
RawStory: In honor of his pending departure: The top 10 craziest things Glenn Beck ever said
LifeInc: Is the bad economy good birth control? The Great Recession and its painful aftermath has had an indelible effect on most Americans’ lives, and now some are wondering how deep an impact it will have on the next generation as well.
Grist: Biodegradable wool coffins keep you cozy six feet under
BusinessInsider: Donald Trump Has People In Hawaii Hunting For Obama's Birth CertificateTrump, who continues to double down on his birther claims, tells Meredith Vieira that he has people in Hawaii hunting for President Obama's birth certificate.
The Forums
TinfoilPalace: Are the seasons weird at your place?
TinfoilPalace: Drugging America: The drug industry exposed
TheOilAge: Orlov:Financial Totalitarianism
TheOilAge: Distilling water
Hubberts-Arms: Gerald Celente blows a gasket, stops paying taxes
Hubberts-Arms: Superbugs threaten to render antibiotics useless, warns WHO
SilentCountry: USGS is unreliable
SilentCountry: Please let us crash before we make things even worse
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