Friday, May 13, 2011

Breaking News Fri. May 13, 2011

Thanks rj for the tip on putting this post together in hotmail while Blogger is down. Make sure to check out rj's Friday wrap-up at Global Glass Onion. I know he's been hard at work on it while battling the Blogger mess as well!
here's a good story from Russia. Apparently even the Ruskies are prepping for doom!
Bloomberg: Apocalypse Angst Adds to Terrorist Threat as Rich Russians Acquire Bunkers
(smart folks those Russians)
Also, here's the latest from our own Bill Hicks at the Downward Spiral Blog. Great work Bill!
I hate the upper middle class. Which is kind of funny because by any income-related statistical measurement (if not actual lifestyle) I am one of them. I reside in Fairfax County, Virginia, which perennially makes the list of the top five richest counties in the country based upon average income. Most of the people I know are upper middle class. They work at jobs where if they ever break a sweat they can just turn up the air conditioning, and not a one of them would be caught anywhere within a 100 miles of a NASCAR track. And while I like plenty of them as individuals, as a collective whole they really turn my stomach. Not so much because of how they act but because of their general obliviousness to the severe economic distress being felt by so many of their fellow citizens and because many of them claim to, you know, really care.
Check out the forums linked at the bottom of the post, they are really hoppin'!
Also, come back tomorrow for Documentary Saturday and on Sunday, we'll have a guest post from forum member SpaceCase0 talking about setting up your own seed bank. Great info for people trying to save seed for the future.

Japan 
Nuclear collapse looms? Fukushima No. 4 reactor 'leaning' 
NYT: Japanese Reactor Damage Is Worse Than Expected
BlackListedNews: Fukushima: Fuel Rods Dropped to the Bottom of Reactor 3, More Highly Radioactive Water Going Into Ocean
CSMonitor: Fukushima Daiichi: Japan asks banks to help Tepco with loans
Fukushima Daiichi: the massive loan burden for Tokyo Electric Power Co and it's creditor after the Fukushima Daiichi disaster exceeded $23.4 billion. The Japanese government is asking other banks to help ease the burden despite risk in return.
thanks to CollapseNet for the following link.
ZeroHedge: Japan's Latest Proposal To Contain Fukushima's Radioactive Fallout - A (Circus) Tent
TheTelegraph: Nuclear meltdown at Fukushima plant

One of the reactors at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi power plant did suffer a nuclear meltdown, Japanese officials admitted for the first time today, describing a pool of molten fuel at the bottom of the reactor's containment vessel.
Engineers from the Tokyo Electric Power company (Tepco) entered the No.1 reactor at the end of last week for the first time and saw the top five feet or so of the core's 13ft-long fuel rods had been exposed to the air and melted down.
Bloomberg: HSBC Sells Biggest Non-Guaranteed Samurai Debt Since Lehman Bros. Collapse
ZeroHedge: Dylan Grice On The Coming Japanese Hyperinflation


Global Conflict
UPI: McCain: Don't use torture to get info
BlackListedNews: Libyan Rebels Inspired by Globalization
CSMonitor: Pakistanis cast doubt on Taliban's role in bin Laden revenge attack
The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for an attack avenging bin Laden's death today. But local police doubt that the Taliban was directly involved, or that revenge was the main motive.
BlackListedNews: It Begins: US Starting the Baluchi Insurrection
In the shadow of the “Bin Laden” media circus and increasingly aggressive rhetoric between Washington and Islamabad, the corporate-financier funded NGOs that fomented the “Arab Spring” are now cultivating a united Baluchi front ahead of a proposed US-funded Baluchistan insurrection. As early as 2006, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace identified Pakistan’s Baluchistan province as a potential point of leverage against Islamabad and an opportunity to assert foreign intervention.
BlackListedNews: Two "Homegrown" New York 'terrorists behind plot to attack Empire State Building
Guardian: Bahrain's hospitals are used as bait
In a health system that is being dragged deeper into the political crackdown, patients risk imprisonment just for seeking care
TheTelegraph: Osama bin Laden dead: Blackout during raid on bin Laden compound
The head of the CIA admitted yesterday that there was no live video footage of the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound as further doubts emerged about the US version of events.
VOA: Palestinians Prepare to 'Mourn' Israel's Creation
Guardian: Libya's rebels call for better arms to fight Gaddafi - video
BBC: Eritreans 'being tortured in Egypt's Sinai for ransom'
Father Mussie Zerai, who heads a Rome-based refugee charity, says they are tortured and forced to phone relatives for ransoms of up to $10,000 (£6,000).
He said one hostage told him a 24-year-old Eritrean man had recently died after electric shock torture.
VOA: Fresh Protests Planned for Yemen
WashingtonPost: 2 suicide bombers kill 80 outside Pakistan paramilitary training center
Reuters: Libya's Gaddafi most likely wounded: Italy
(Reuters) - Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has very likely left the capital Tripoli and has most likely been wounded, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said on Friday.
NPR: Syria Seals Off Areas Trying To Prevent Protests
Syrian authorities closed off entire areas in several tense cities on Friday, setting up checkpoints and roadblocks ahead of planned anti-government protests after prayers at the country's mosques, activists said.
NPR: Key Republican: Success In Afghanistan May Mean Including Taliban
BBC: Egypt: Suzanne Mubarak detained in corruption probe
The wife of ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has been detained for 15 days pending further investigations into corruption allegations, the state news agency reports.
Pakistan Suicide Bombs to Avenge Bin Laden 


Bloomberg: Pakistan Taliban Threatens U.S. as Blasts Kill 80
CNN: U.S. interviews 'hostile' bin Laden widows, with Pakistan officials
On Tuesday, Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik told CNN that the United States will be given access to bin Laden's widows and children.
Malik's remarks came a day after a senior Pakistani intelligence source said the United States could speak to the women and children only if their "country of origin has asked for permission." Besides the Yemeni, the other two widows are from Saudi Arabia, according to a well-placed U.S. official who would not speak on the record.
Malik said Tuesday that Pakistan would give U.S. authorities access to the widows "so they can interrogate them, they can interview them."
That same day, Pentagon spokesman Col. Dave Lapan said U.S. and Pakistani officials were discussing the matter.
Interviews with bin Laden's widows aren't the only things that the United States is hoping to get from Pakistan, as it continues its investigation of al Qaeda.
Time: Is Israel Using Gay Rights to Excuse Its Policy on Palestine?
NYT: Protesters Take to Syria’s Streets Despite Crackdown
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Thousands of protesters in Syria defied a ferocious crackdown and returned to the streets Friday, even in towns that the military had besieged only days before, in a relentless contest of wills that a leading dissident described as an emerging stalemate.
USAToday: Reuters: Porn found inside bin Laden's compound

Financial News
Gothamist: Photos: Angry Plebes Protest Banks, Bloomberg As Wall Street Swells Sip Champagne
Did your mimosa taste a tad sour yesterday? In the crisp mid-afternoon light, lower Manhattan saw thousands of union members, concerned citizens, and their children gather to protest the imminent firing of 4,100 teachers, the Bloomberg administration, and Wall Street's exploitation of government to the detriment of the lower and middle class. Heady subjects for such a gorgeous, apathy-inspiring afternoon, the rally's tone was not one of rage but of stirring confidence that the participants' voices would be heard. Despite whatever was on the bull's balls, anarchy was not in the air.
ABCNews: 8 Reasons to Worry About Debit Cards
FinancialSense: Worrisome Data on the Economic Front
MSNBC: SEC's revolving door to Wall Street gets fresh scrutiny
FT: Inflation hits emerging markets
YahooFinance: Not the Time to Be Adding Risk, Strategist Says
USAToday: Medicare, Social Security running out of money faster
Bloomberg: Consumer Prices in U.S. Probably Rose in April
PBSNewsHour: Tax Breaks for Oil Companies: Good for Business or Unfair Advantage?
CreditWriteDowns: China losing competitiveness
ZeroHedge: April CPI At 0.4%, In Line With Expectations, Core Up 0.2%, Gasoline Accounts For Half Of Price Increase
Bloomberg: U.S. Consumer Prices Rise 0.4% on Gains in Fuel, Food Costs (2)
May 13 (Bloomberg) -- The cost of living in the U.S. rose in April, led by increases in food and fuel costs that are starting to filter down to other goods and services.
ChrisMartenson/FinancialSense: Why Growth is Dead Time to Prepare for the Coming Rout
TheDailyBell: China Takes Over Africa?
Africa is an important element of world domination given its large population and mineral wealth, and European powers have always sought to control it, carving it up conveniently in the meantime. But those days may be over.
PBS: McConnell Optimistic on Spending Deal That Will 'Astonish the American People'
BusinessInsider: Jim Cramer Goes On HUGE Twitter Rant Against His Critics
Reuters: Newt Gingrich pushes tax cuts to boost economy
Reuters: Cisco braces for biggest layoffs in its history
(Reuters) - Cisco Systems Inc is expected to cut thousands of jobs in possibly its worst-ever round of layoffs to meet Chief Executive John Chambers' goal of slashing costs by $1 billion.
CRR: The Potential Impact of the Great Recession on Future Retirement Incomes
The results show that the recession will reduce average annual incomes at age 70 by 4.3 percent, or $2,300 per person. This drop results almost entirely from the anemic wage growth that occurred during the recession, which the model assumes will permanently reduce future wages.
FinancialCollapse: 20 Facts About Child Hunger And Child Poverty That Will Break Your Heart
Mish: Spanish Revenues Collapse by 16.8%, GDP Misses Target; Is a Bailout of Spain in the Cards?
NYT: Larry Summers, Un-king of Kumbaya
What about the economy now keeps you in cold sweats at night?
I worry for the medium and long term about where the jobs are going to come from for those with fewer skills. One in five men between 25 and 54 is not working, and a reasonable projection is that it will still be one in six after the economy recovers. It was one in 20 in the 1960s. That has potentially vast social consequences.
BlackListedNews: Central Banks Purchase 127 Tons Of Gold In Q1

Peak oil and Energy News
Platts: Oil prices seen peaking at $120/barrel in mid-2011: CGES' Drollas
Global oil prices are likely to peak at around $120/barrel in mid-2011 but the pace of any retracement depends on how OPEC responds to key market supply and demand fundamentals, Leo Drollas, chief economist at the Center for Global Energy Studies, said Friday.
BusinessInsider: A Quick Look At The Threat To Gas Production From Midwest Flooding
WSJ: Cold Putting a Damper on Alaska Pipeline
As less oil runs through the Alaska Pipeline, the crude it carries is cooling. This is raising the risk of ice formation and waxy buildup. WSJ's Russell Gold reports from Alaska.
SocialWeb: WPI Counterpoint Commencement: Richard Heinberg, author of the The Post Carbon Reader, speaks
BusinessInsider: Another Ludicrously Volatile Day For Crude
DeclineoftheEmpire: Peak Coal This Year?

Environmental News
BBC Newsnight: Wikileaks files reveal Arctic 'carve up' (YouTube)
GlobeandMail: Coastal nations urged to preserve Arctic waters
Two hundred miles above Canada’s most northern shore lies a body of international water that has been covered in ice for more than 800,000 years – a sea the size of the Mediterranean kept beyond reach of commercial fishing interests by a vast frozen dome of white.
But the ice shield is melting and no agreements are in place to prevent boats from China, Japan and other fishing nations from entering the High Arctic to reap an undersea bounty that could become accessible in just a few years.
DiscoveryNews: Sharks Dying by the Dozens Due to Internal Bleeding
BusinessInsider: France To Ban Fracking
UKMetro: Man smuggles a bear, baby monkeys, leopards and panthers in luggage

A first-class passenger in Thailand was arrested after airport authorities found his suitcases were packed with a 'virtual zoo' of baby leopards, panthers, a bear and monkeys.
ClimateProgress: Washington Post story about impact of global warming on Greenland never mentions sea level rise
ibtimes: Huge 3.9 Feet Catfish Caught in Korea, Largest in River’s History [PHOTOS]
A huge 3.9-feet catfish has been caught in Gyeonggi-do, Korea. The fisherman, 59-year-old Soon-sik Park, caught it with a net he has set up in Imjin river. The catfish was the largest ever caught in that river.
MotherJones: Is Scholastic Selling Elementary School Kids on Coal?

Economist: Shale Gas Extraction: The Need To Be Seen To Be Clean 
DRILL rigs tower over the silos on farms in Pennsylvania. Once-empty mesas in western Colorado, where mule deer and sage grouse ranged freely, now look like a neural network from a bird’s-eye view, with well-pads connected by dirt roads scattered across the landscape.
NYT: Disaster Plan Problems Found at U.S. Nuclear Plants 
Despite repeated assurances that American nuclear plants are better equipped to deal with natural disasters than their counterparts in Japan, regulators said Thursday that recent inspections had found serious problems with some emergency equipment that would have made it unusable in an accident.
ClimateProgress: GOP bill shifts oil drilling cases to court dominated by judges with oil investments

America in Decline  
LegitGov: Iraq dossier drawn up to make case for war - intelligence officer
ABCNews: Botox Mom Who Injected Daughter, 8, Under Investigation
The California mom who admitted to injecting her 8-year-old daughter with botox for a kiddie beauty pageant is now being investigated by the San Francisco Human Services Agency.
BlackListedNews: Yes, They Lied; Yes, a Million Died; and Yes, They Want It To Go On
DeclineoftheEmpire: Washington Doesn't Work For You
DOTE readers already know my well-substantiated view of what goes on in our Imperial Capital. Forget about it! Those making a dishonest living in Washington live in a bubble, totally disconnected from your everyday concerns. In the words of George Carlin, they don't give a fuck about you. Corruption is rife Inside The Beltway. Corporate and other special interests dominate everything Congress does. America is a Democracy in name only. Thus does the Empire decline.

Food and Water
CSMonitor: "Poisoned" author Jeff Benedict examines the current state of food safety in the US
Nearly 20 years after a fatal e. coli outbreak at Jack in the Box restaurants, is our food system any safer?
FutureImperative: Further Impacts of Climate Change on Grain Production
ExtinctionProtocol: Food production yields fall under strain of climate change patterns

Vimeo: Food Democracy Now: Dr. Huber Explains Science Behind New Organism and Threat from Monsanto's Roundup, GMOs to Disease and Infertility

Science and Technology
NewScientist: Graphene may reveal the grain of space-time
WashingtonPost: Google under government investigation for online pharmacy ads
ScientificAmerican: Plants Versus Photovoltaics: Which Are Better to Capture Solar Energy?
Determining the relative efficiency of photosynthesis and photovoltaics is not a simple problem
Discovery: Tech Turns Air into a Multi-Touch Screen
An empty frame wired with sensing technology lets you write or paint in thin air.
WiredDangerRoom: Osama’s Diabolical Plan for Secure Email: Thumb Drives
Tom'sGuide: Complete Zeus Trojan Source Code Leaked

NASA: Youtube ScienceCasts: Space-Time Vortex


Medical and Health
ABCNews: Allergic to Sex? Semen, Orgasm and Latex Can Be Culprits
TheTelegraph: Babies given anti-obesity drugs in the womb
Babies to be given diet drug in the womb to stop them being born overweight in trial described as ‘disturbing’ by weight loss groups.

Other News
UPI: Legislators seek curbs on airport screens
WASHINGTON, May 13 (UPI) -- Legislators in several states have introduced bans on airport patdowns, but the moves are largely symbolic, observers say.
YahooNews: Tea party godfather Ron Paul running for president
BusinessInsider: What The Hell Is Ed Schultz Saying About Michele Bachmann?
youtube MSNBC 05 12 2011 22 32 03
Time: Is Time Running Out to Find Soldiers' Remains in Vietnam?
SaudiGazette: Saudis complain about Google doodle
ABHA: Tens of thousands of Saudis have reportedly complained to Internet search engine Google after the company celebrated the 117th birthday of the late “Mother of Modern Dance” Martha Graham with an animated logo depicting dance motions.
USAToday: Obama's Middle East envoy to resign
ModernSurvival: Guest Post: Negotiating Downed Power Lines and Victims

The Forums
TinfoilPalace: David Icke Reveals The Navy Seals Who Shot Bin Laden 

TinfoilPalace: How M.S. Drugs Are Promoted: “We Have a Whole Money Laundering Thing Going On”
TheOilAge: Peak Coal Could Be Next Year!
TheOilAge: New mass protests in Egypt

Hubberts-Arms: Friday Rant: Traitor to My Class (and Damn Proud of It)
Hubberts-Arms: No Right to Resist Illegal Cop Entry
SilentCountry: Shrinking Oil Supplies Put Alaskan Pipeline at Risk
SilentCountry: Farmers in America ditch tractors and use oxen to beatsoaring gas prices

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