I'll post extra early as I have to go give a spinning lesson here directly but there is no shortage of news stories to think about.
Thank you as always to our good friends RJ at Global Glass Onion, who posts a weekly wrap up on Friday afternoon every week. Be sure to check it out. And to my friend the Ozarker at
Conflicted Doomer whose beautiful writing always makes me think.
check out the great forums linked at the bottom of the post too. Lots of eyes there looking in every possible direction.
Here's a story that just has that certain "creepiness" about it that bothers me.
what do you think?
ScienceInsider: DARPA to Offer $30 Million to Jumpstart Cellular Factories
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the U.S. Defense Department's high-risk granting body, is about to jump into synthetic biology in a big way. One of the latest research buzzwords, synthetic biology means different things to many. But for a new DARPA program, it represents modifying the metabolic and genetic machinery of cells to produce useful products. "We want to create a new manufacturing capability for the United States," says DARPA Program Manager Alicia Jackson. Approved barely a month ago, the $30-million Living Foundries program should be sending out a request for proposals in the next few weeks and making awards several months from now.
Japan
Zerohedge: 1 Sievert Water Leaking From Fukushima As Full Body Radiation Checks Begin Across Prefecture
Reuters: Magnitude 5.4 quake hits central Japan, 7 injured
A magnitude 5.4 earthquake hit central Japan and injured seven people on Thursday, but there were no immediate reports of major damage.
Global Conflict
ExtinctionProtocol: Saudi Arabia vows to get nukes if Iran acquires them
BuzzFlash: Some Homegrown Muslim Terrorist Threats Have Been Largely Government Orchestrated
Reuters: Cost of war at least $3.7 trillion and counting
Telegraph: Greek bailout crisis: a second day of violent protests in Athens
CNN: British strikes set to cause chaos for schools, travel
SeattlePI: Clashes reveal Egypt's volatility 5 months later
Spiegel: Yemen's Revolutionaries, The Tent-Dwellers of Sana'a
UK, US based global satellite company Inmarsat allegedly aiding, abetting terrorism by providing satellite services to Gaza-bound ships
MaxKeiser: CrossTalk on Gaza: Flotilla 2.0
CommonDreams: Fresh Clashes in Cairo's Tahrir SquareAbout 600 injured as police fire tear gas at thousands frustrated by slow pace of change since Egypt's revolution.
Independent: 'War on terror' set to surpass cost of Second World War
Wired: Someone Tell Obama’s Counterterrorism Crew About The InternetThe Obama White House’s new strategy to cripple al-Qaida vows to fight the terrorist network everywhere it operates. As long as it’s IRL.
TheTelegraph: Pakistan tells US to leave 'drone' attack basePakistan told the United States to leave a remote desert airbase reportedly used as a hub for covert CIA drone attacks, Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar was quoted by state media as saying on Wednesday.
Military.com: Senator Wants US-Israeli Op Against FlotillaA U.S. senator wants U.S. special operations forces to help Israel halt a Gaza-bound international aid flotilla that includes a vessel carrying a number of American veterans, one of whom is a Sailor who served aboard the USS Liberty, the ship that Israel infamously attacked in 1967.
Financial News
Bloomberg: S&P Would Cut U.S. to D Rating on DefaultStandard & Poor’s would cut the U.S. credit rating to its lowest level and Moody’s Investors Service said it will probably reduce its ranking if the government fails to increase the debt limit, leading to a default.
MSNBC: Economic crisis in Greece could reach United States, IMF warns
Money markets, banks may spread the contagion, according to officials
ABCNews: ATM Slip Shows Whopping $100 Million Saving's Balance Tossed ATM receipt owner revealed
(wow)
CharlesHughSmith: The U.S. Is a Kleptocracy, Too MoneyWatch: Social Security: Paper Statements to Stop Being Mailed
CNN: The end of the European dream?
USDeptofLabor: UI Weekly ClaimsEMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION
Reuters: Exclusive: U.S. small business borrowing surges
Reuters: Greek government wins majority for second austerity law
BusinessInsider: Old America And Young America Go To War Over ResourcesWilliam H. Frey, Senior Fellow, at the Brookings Institution discusses the Uneven Aging and "Younging" of America as noted in the 2010 census.
DealBookNYT: S.E.C. Delays Rajat Gupta’s Trial for Six Months
WSJ: Most Cities Post Annual Drop in Unemployment
The job market is hardly healthy. But in most places in the U.S., it’s far better than a year ago.
Bloomberg: German Banks, Government Agree on Draft Greek Plan
CNN: Patient bills doctor for wasted timeWould your doctor pay for wasted time?
BusinessInsider: The 19 Most Hated Companies In America
BusinessInsider: Basically, Deutsche Bank Just Wrote The Eulogy For The Euro
A note from Deutsche Bank's Peter Hooper almost reads like a eulogy for the eurozone.
It leads in with this quote, from former Bundesbank Chief Economist Otmar Issing: “There is no example in history of a lasting monetary union that was not linked to one State.”
BusinessInsider: Initial Jobless Claims WORSE Than Expectations At 428K
NYT: Fed Halves Debit Card Bank FeesFees paid by retailers to banks for debit card purchases, a $20 billion annual expense that has been the subject of a furious political battle over the last year, will be cut in half after the Federal Reserve voted Wednesday to cap the charges.
NPR: The Nation: Tax Breaks For The Wealthy Gotta Go
NYT: What Some Banks Don’t Want You to Know
CNBC: JPMorgan, SEC Reach Settlement on Fraud Case
CreditSlips: The Fed Bails Out the Banks...Again
USAToday: Obama challenges Congress on taxes, debt limit
WashingtonPost: Amazon to cut off California-based Web affiliatesAmazon.com says it will stop working with online affiliates based in California now that the state has enacted a rule that forces online retailers to collect sales tax there.
Bloomberg: Monsanto Raises Forecast as Net Gains 77% on Herbicide Sales
Monsanto Co. (MON), the world’s largest seed company, raised its full-year profit forecast and posted third-quarter earnings that topped analysts’ estimates on higher sales of Roundup weed killer and genetically modified seeds.
CNN: The number that's killing the economy
NYT: Despite Fears, Owning Home Retains Allure, Poll Shows
HuffPost: Federal Reserve Raises Swipe Fee Cap In Victory For Wall Street
The Federal Reserve delivered the punchline Wednesday to the year-long joke that has been the lobbying blitz over debit card swipe fees. Amid heavy Wall Street pressure, the Fed nearly doubled the amount it will allow banks to charge retailers and consumers under a new regulation while effectively exempting an entire class of debit card transactions from the rule altogether.Guardian: Ireland will be 'comeback economy of Europe'
BusinessInsider: JPMorgan Explains The Impact Of The Fed's New Rule On Visa And Mastercard
FT: Monsanto under SEC probe for incentives
NakedCapitalism: US Bank Halts Evictions in Oregon After Judge Reverses Foreclosure
UPI: GOP pushes balanced-budget amendmentWASHINGTON, June 30 (UPI) -- GOP senators pushed for a balanced federal budget amendment after President Barack Obama said a U.S. deficit-reduction deal must include new tax revenues.
BusinessInsider: DEBT CEILING: There's One Thing In The Market That's Making Lawmakers Nervous
ZeroHedge: Next step towards Hyperinflation in the UK: Rationing!
Washington: How you know the negotiations have truly failed
NYT: In Deficit Plan, Taxes Must Rise, President Warns
MSNBC: ‘Skills gap’ leaves firms without worker pipelineNational problem that has left businesses without a supply of qualified workers
BBC: China raises income tax thresholdChina has decided to raise the level at which people start paying income tax.
The standing committee of the National People's Congress is lifting the threshold from 2,000 yuan ($309; £193) to 3,500 yuan a month.
Peak oil and Energy News
PeakMoment: Arrival of the Post-Petroleum Human
OilPrice: China’s CNPC Delivers biofuel for Air China flightsChina National Petroleum Corp, Asia's largest oil producer, has delivered 15 tons of jatropha oil to help Air China schedule the country's maiden biofuel-powered test flight for later this year.
The delivery confirms that CNPC now has the ability to produce biofuel from non-grain feedstocks and help clean up the environment by reducing carbon emissions, the company noted on its website.
Grist: GM working on sexy new all-electric car for every country except U.S.
EarlyWarning: Peak Oil is not Synchronous
Environmental News
DesdemonaDespair:Tropical species in Puget Sound a mystery
TransitionVoice: Fukushima spews, Los Alamos burns, Vermont rages and we’ve almost lost Nebraska
CNN: Tropical Storm Arlene makes landfall on Mexican coast
RawStory: Greenland ice melts most in half-century
Intake Structure that cools reactor probably most vulnerable at Ft. Calhoun nuke plant
Arnie Gundersen on Five O'clock Shadow with Robert Knight, WBAI, June 28, 2011 at 5:00 pm EDT:
ClimateChangePsychology: Human activities emit roughly 135 times as much climate-warming carbon dioxide as volcanoes each year
MotherJones: Let's Abolish the Most Effective Agency in the Country!
The Environmental Protection Agency is the prime target of a lot of right-wing conspiracy theories.
CNN: Mating turtles shut down runway at JFK
ThinkProgress: How Bad is the Texas Drought? “In Austin, They are Praying for a Hurricane”
NPR: Firefighters Push To Protect Los Alamos Lab
EuobServer: EU 'won't back down' in China aviation row
BusinessInsider:Nuke Plant Inspections Show We're Not Prepared For A Disaster
A special inspection of U.S. nuclear plants after the Fukushima disaster in Japan revealed problems with emergency equipment and disaster procedures that are far more pervasive than publicly described by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, a review of inspection reports by ProPublica shows.
Guardian: Mild tsunami strikes Cornish coast, shifting water levels 'in a flash'
Mild tsunami strikes Cornish coast, shifting water levels 'in a flash'UniverseToday: Dawn Closing in on Asteroid Vesta as Views Exceed Hubble
Landslide at sea likely cause of surging wave along south coast and hair-raising static electricity
An underwater landslide is thought to have caused a small tsunami that sent holidaymakers and anglers scattering in Cornwall. Witnesses reported the sea being sucked out, or receding, before a wave struck the coast on Monday morning.
There were reports that static electricity in the air at the time made people's hair stand on end.
A new world in our Solar System is about to be unveiled for the first time – the mysterious protoplanet Vesta, which is the second most massive object in the main Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter.
The pirate fishing vessels most recently documented by the EJF are operated by companies based in Las Palmas and Spain on behalf of owners based in South Korea.America in Decline
Andy Hickman, Oceans Campaigner for the EJF, says the demand for seafood in the EU and Far East makes it a bustling business.
CNN: New U.S. strategy against al Qaeda to focus on 'homeland'
A new U.S. counterterrorism strategy will focus on the ability of al Qaeda and its network to inspire people in the United States to attack the homeland, said John Brennan, White House counterterrorism adviser.
SJLedman: The Business of America Is War
WashingtonPost: The Supreme Court’s continuing defense of the powerful
Salon: Are the American people obsolete?The richest few don't need the rest of us as markets, soldiers or police anymore. Maybe we should all emigrate
Food and Water
ArchawologyNewsNetwork: Severe food crisis hits East Africa
Eastern Africa is experiencing what has been described as the "most severe food crisis in the world today", with at least 10 million people affected in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Uganda, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Guardian: China told to reduce food production or face 'dire' water levels
Food must be imported and water use tightly regulated to protect dwindling supply, a leading groundwater expert has warned
BusinessInsider: Meet The Millionaires And Billionaires Suddenly Buying Tons Of Land In Africa
Oakland Institute just completed the most thorough investigative report on who's buying land in Africa we've seen yet: "Hedge Funds Grabbing Land in Africa," as BBC called it.
ThinkProgress: Farm Subsidies Go To Farmers Right? Think Again
“The fundamental problem with America’s farm programs: They mostly reward those who own the land, not those who farm it, or are most in need, or grow the healthiest food, or do the best job of protecting soil, water and wildlife habitat.”
Science and Technology
ArchaeologynewsNetwork:'Humans will find aliens within 20 years'A top Russian astronomer says humans will make contact with alien life in the next two decades - but "they may have different colour skin".
TechReview: How a Broken Medical System Killed Google Health
Google would have had to fix a balkanized U.S. health-care system to make the service catch on.
Medical and Health
TechReview: Drug Reverses 'Accelerated Aging' in Human Cells
The discovery has implications for the treatment of several diseases—as well as normal aging in healthy people.
SOTT: Fox News Reports: 'U.S. Troops Reportedly Taking More Medication Than Ever'
The Daily reported Wednesday, that the US Department of Defense doesn't keep track of those medical prescriptions doled out to service members in combat. This, despite ongoing pleas from federal officials to record the data. The military's 2012 budget report from the House Appropriations Committee, cited how the prescription of pain management drugs is not handled consistently, particularly in battle.
ABCNews: Feds Arrest Ten in First-Ever 'Bath Salts' Bust
Ten people were arrested on Tuesday by federal agents and charged in the first-ever federal prosecution dealing with "bath salts," a dangerous new designer drug that has been linked to emergency room visits and deaths across the country.
M&C: Translation. Second Look. Fears grow in Sweden of local E coli outbreak
Fifty-three Swedish people who had traveled to Germany this spring fell ill with type 0104 enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) after coming into contact with bean sprouts. The disease left more than 40 dead, including one person in Sweden.RawStory: Ohio House approves anti-abortion bill that challenges Roe v. Wade ruling
But the case in Sweden's Schonen district involves a man who had neither been to Germany or come into contact with Germans recently, sparking fears that this case might stem from a local contaminant.
Doomsteading, Gardening, Urban Farming
FarmWars: Frankenpot – Marijuana gone GMO!
DoomerinCanada: Pig Processing Tip #1: Avoid Sick People
Other News
TheOnion: InTheKnow: In The Know: Coal Lobby Warns Wind Farms May Blow Earth Off Orbit (Hysterical! thanks RJ!)Panelists debate whether the U.S. is doing enough to heed the warnings of coal industry scientists who say turbines could blow the Earth right into the sun.
BusinessInsider: MSNBC Has 'Indefinitely' Suspended Mark Halperin For His 'Dick' Remark About Obama
That was fast.
This morning on Morning Joe Mark Halperin, under the impression Morning Joe was on a 7 second delay, said he thought President Obama was a 'dick' in his press conference yesterday.
TheAtlantic: Obama Has Finally Become Dick Cheney
Physorg: High court undoes Scalia's pro-tobacco order
NYPost: 5 NYPD cops injured breaking up dispute outside LES rap concertWhen cops started vacating Tammany Hall, one music lover refused to leave and punched one officer in the face, breaking the officer’s tooth, said the spokesman.
As the thug was being handcuffed by other officers, he screamed for help which "[incited] a riot," said the spokesman.
TheTelegraph: North Korea shuts down universities for 10 months
North Korea has shut down its universities for the next 10 months and sent students to work in factories, agriculture and the construction sector as it struggles to rebuild its economy.
Cryptogon:Florida: Condominium Association Requires DNA Database for Dogs
A Florida condominium association hopes dog DNA samples will help them determine which pet owners aren’t picking up after their pooches.
CNN: Man grabs French president before being tackled by security
BBC: China opens world's longest sea bridge near Qingdao
China has opened the world's longest sea bridge to general traffic.
The bridge spans 42.4km (26.3 miles) to connect the eastern coastal city of Qingdao to the suburb of Huangdao, in Jiaozhou Bay.
DeLong: This Is Very Bad: Barack Obama Fail Department
The Forums
TinfoilPalace:Westboro Baptist Church and the f-b-i participate together in training at Quantico
TinfoilPalace:Nat Geo Doomsday Preppers
TheOilAge:No good Chinese shit!
TheOilAge:Megadoom's Daily TOA Review
Hubberts-Arms:Dripping with irony, Orwell prize-winning journo caught redacting truth
Hubberts-Arms:What Do the PIIGS Have in Common? They are "Energy Deadbeats"
SilentCountry:Why Formal Education Often Doesn't Help the Underclass
SilentCountry:Go to first new post Charles Hugh Smith = The U.S. Is a Kleptocracy, Too
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