Breaking News Tues. June, 14, 2011

Good Morning!
It's a lovely autumn day here today! LOL
temps are a almost 20 degrees cooler for the highs. Still no rain though. RJ, stop hogging up all the rain! JK
I wanted to start off today thanking our friends RJ and the Ozarker for sending links this morning. Be sure to check out their great work at The Global Glass Onion and Conflicted Doomer.
The Ozarker has a wonderful article up today too, about puttering in the garden. My favorite activity.

This just in from our excellent friend Bill. His article  "America’s “Holiday from History” – How George Will got it all wrong" has been picked up by Energy Bulletin! Way to go Bill! LOL
Congratulations!

Also, thanks to reader John who sent along some information on his work on irrigating his garden in responce to Sunday's post on dry weather gardening. John said,

I have been trying to get soaker hoses to work from a tank (very little pressure) with little success.  Your mention of drilling holes has inspired me to try to renew the 2/$7 at Sam’s  soaker hoses made from recycled tires by drilling holes in them.  Low tech, and fine by me.

In exchange for these tips and the great work you are doing, I want to tell you about my stream pumping.  I tried the cheap northern hydraulics gasoline pump  for $140(http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200380049_200380049), but the flow through sprinklers is way too slow.  I bought 275 gallon totes for $40 used from a meat packer.  They held a  food additive, so I did not need to spend a lot of time cleaning them.  The result is that I can fill one in 30 minutes, even using 150’ of hose with a 5/8”  hose in last position.  The pump outlet is 1” and able to pump at a much higher rate (1585 gph) and uses little 2 cycle fuel.   As soon as I figure out how to distribute the water I will be in great shape, and you have given me a new direction  for old equipment.

 Thanks for that info John.

Also, please read Guy McPherson's post up over at Transition Voice. I've added a link to Transition Voice on the right in Links of Interest. Professor McPherson's monthly essays are well worth reading. Here's a link to his latest piece.

Transitioning

As should be clear to any observant being, we’re headed for a world characterized by ever declining supplies of crude oil.
And because most all “renewable” forms of energy technology are derived from or currently trace back to crude oil, declining availability of oil translates directly to reduced availability of energy and ultimately to completion of the ongoing collapse of the industrial economy.

And one last thing before we dive into the news. Here's a great video that I'm sure many of you have seen but I wanted to post it here for anyone who might have missed it including me! LOL
Sums things up in a way that's hard to beat for brevity and clarity.

Japan
CNN: Japan to hand out radiation meters to kids near crippled plant
hat tip to buttcheese at Sustainable Country for this story. Also linked below in the Forums section.
DailyMail: Back from the dead: Astonishing pictures show how Japan is recovering just three months after tsunami

Global Conflict
Bloomberg: Qaddafi Coddled by U.S. Oil Whose Hearts Are Where The Money Is 
TheIndependent: 'They shot people who were trying to get away'A dispatch that reveals the brutal truth about regime's crackdown
Exclusive by Kim Sengupta and Justin Vela in Idlib, Syria
ActivistPost: US Congress votes against Libya funding
BBC: Sudan's Bashir and Kiir 'agree Abyei troop pull-out'
Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir and southern leader Salva Kiir have reportedly agreed to withdraw all troops from the disputed town of Abyei.
BBC: Syria faces US pressure to stop crackdown
The US has renewed calls on Syria to halt its crackdown on anti-government protests.
Guardian: Why foreign intervention is not welcome in Syria
Syrians are well versed in the history of foreign occupation and interference, and do not trust the west's motives
CNN: Despite reports of bloody Syrian crackdown, no action by U.N. council
Guardian: Secret US and Afghanistan talks could see troops stay for decades
Russia, China and India concerned about 'strategic partnership' in which Americans would remain after 2014
BBC: Gaza unemployment levels 'among worst in world'
Gaza's unemployment rate was among the world's highest, at 45.2% in late 2010, the UN has found, as Israel's blockade of the territory enters its fifth year.
VancouverSun: Street clashes break out as King Abdullah visits Jordanian town
HadalZone: TheTrench: CIA Increasing Yemeni Drones Amid U.S. Policy Mieldown
WiredDangerRoom: The Secret History of Iraq’s Invisible War
CNN: Syria violence: 'They died in our arms'
CNN: Report: Many weapons used by Mexican drug gangs originate in U.S. 
NYT: Germany Officially Recognizes Libyan Rebel Government

Hack Attacks
This is a new section I thought I'd add so we could keep track of these hacking attacks.
Some of the links are from several days ago from earlier attacks, I wanted to go ahead and include them so we could get a better idea about just how serious this is getting.
YahooFinance: Hackers break into Senate computers
The Senate's website was hacked over the weekend, leading to a review of all of its websites, in the latest embarrassing breach of security to hit a major U.S.-based institution.
TechWatch: IMF hack blamed on state-sponsored phishing
Bloomberg: IMF State-Backed Cyber-Attack Follows Hacks of Lab, G-20
InformationWeek: What Do IMF, Citigroup, And Sony Hacks Share?
Many organizations have been focusing on complying with regulations, rather than taking a top-down look at what most needs to be secured, security experts say.
NationalJournal: Hack of IMF Data Raises Global Worries
USAToday: Apples top most pesticide-contaminated list
InfoWorld: Lockheed hack should put U.S. on high alert
RSA is an easy scapegoat for the successful hack on Lockheed, but end-user ignorance was the critical security weakness
Reuters: China under suspicion in U.S. for Lockheed hacking
Suspicion that some individual or entity in China was behind a recent cyber attack on Lockheed Martin is growing among experts and agencies looking into the incident.

Financial News
Fortune: Are big banks doomed to fail?
ABCNews: Unclaimed Money: Tips to Find Funds From Deceased Relatives
BusinessInsider: DESPERATION: Woman Hides Dead Mom In Her House For 6-Months So She Can Get Her Benefits
BusinessInsider: Small Business Optimism Just Fell To 8-Month Low, Hiring Plans Plunge
Reuters: Major economies losing growth momentum: 
OECDMajor economies, with the exception of the United States, are losing momentum as the outlook for growth worsens in European and developing countries, the OECD's leading indicator for April showed on Tuesday.
WashingtonPost: Domestic spending, foreign aid to top White House budget talks this week
MoneyWatch: Long-Term Care: Don’t Let the Cost Blow Up Your Retirement
YahooFinance: The Federal Reserve Will Go Bankrupt, Don’t Listen to Bernanke: Jim Rogers
NYPost: Report: Facebook loses 6M users in US
WSJ: The Dangers of a Default Position
MoneyWatch: How Facebook and Your Free Time Can Get You Fired
Bloomberg: Tesco Sales Growth Misses Estimates as Electronic Sales Fall (1)
MSNBC: Retail sales fall for 1st time in 10 months
Auto sales dropped 2.9% in May, the biggest setback for the industry in 3 years
Rosenberg Says 99% Chance of Another Recession by 2012
In a Bloomberg video David Rosenberg, chief economist at Gluskin Sheff & Associates, says there is a 99% Chance of Another Recession by 2012. Rosenberg also talks about the outlook for the U.S. economy.
Economist: Race to the bottom Losing the ugly contest
Some of Wall Street’s biggest banks are preparing to cut their use of US Treasuries in August as a precaution against any turbulence that could follow if warring Republicans and Democrats fail to increase soon the US debt ceiling, a senior bank chief said.
MacroMarketMusings: The ECB Monetary Policy Mess in One Picture
San Francisco Fed economist Fernanda Nechio shows us in one picture the ECB monetary policy mess:
NakedCapitalism: Inept Obama “Anybody but Warren” Stance Reveals Fundamental Bank v. Middle Class Fault Line
NakedCapitalism: HUD: Bank of America “Significantly Hindered” Mortgage Probe (Updated)
MarginalRevolution: The silent ongoing run on Greek banks
FRBSF: Monetary Policy When One Size Does Not Fit All
BusinessInsider: No Less Than 50 Specialty Metals Face A Supply Threat
WSJ: High Hopes at Miracle-Gro in Medical Marijuana Field
Reuters: CEOs less confident about economy: RoundtableThe chief executive officers of large U.S. companies expect higher sales and higher capital spending in the next six months, but their optimism about economic conditions and expectations for growth are more muted than three months ago, according to a quarterly survey.
Reuters: Fed must tighten policy or risk inflation: FisherThe Federal Reserve must reverse its super-easy monetary policy or risk fueling runaway prices, a top Fed official known for his hawkish views on inflation said on Monday.

CNNMoney: Are big banks doomed to fail?
Reuters: Sputtering economy could complicate debt talksSputtering job growth and talk of new tax cuts are throwing more hurdles in the way of a deal to reduce the deficit as Democratic and Republican negotiators step up their budget negotiations this week.
CNNMoney: How the housing depression spells QE3
NYT: S.& P. Downgrades Greece, Says Default Likely 
Reuters: Soros: Time working against euro zone solutionThe chances of positively resolving Europe's serious debt problems are decreasing from day to day as authorities focus on "buying more time," not solving problems, billionaire investor George Soros said on Tuesday.


Peak oil and Energy News
McClatchy: WikiLeaks cables show worry about Saudi oil security
USDA: With USDA Support, Indiana Company Begins Wind Study
CNNMoney: Google invests $280 million in SolarCity 
WSJ: Indonesia's Indika to Expand Coal-Mining Capacity 

Environmental News
MotherJones: "Dirty Dozen" List: Great, but What About the Farm Workers?
ThinkProgress: Australian Scientific Community: “Climate Change is Real, We Are Causing It,” Media has Botched the Coverage
WashingtonPost: Will Obama trade away land conservation in budget talks?
Good: Folk Band Targeted by Obama's Campaign Against E-Bureaucracy
Guardian: Arizona wildfire crews try to cut off eastern advance
Emergency workers light fires outside Luna, New Mexico, to try to keep main blaze from getting into town
DailyMail? e're all getting smaller and our brains are shrinking... is farming to blame?

ThinkProgress: “It’s The Oceans, Stupid” — Can we save the engine of our economy and our livable climate?
DeclineoftheEmpire: The International Conspiracy To Catch All Tuna
NationalGeographic: Warming to Blame for Water Crisis in U.S. West?
Heat—not lack of precipitation—shrinking crucial snowpack, study says.
CNN: Joplin tornado's death toll at 153, city says
NYDaily: Arizona wildfires creeping towards New Mexico; threaten small town of Luna
LAT: Thick snowpack holds water — and potential peril
Much of the West's high country remains buried under a snowpack. Dam operators are watching for jumps in temperature that could turn piles of snow into raging floodwaters.

America in Decline
DemocracyNow: TODAY: FBI gives agents wider domestic surveillance powers. We hear the story of Texas activist @scott_crow. STREAM:
ActivistPost: The Pentagon and slave labor in U.S. prisons
McClatchy: Survey: U.S. trails in equal legal treatment of citizens
ActivistPost: DHS Should Focus on Criminal Activity, Not Beliefs
Last week, The Washington Post reported that for the last two years, the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) intelligence gathering and analysis unit devoted to rightwing groups and militias has been "effectively eviscerated," while reports on so-called Islamic extremism "got through without any major problems."
Good: Uruguay's Schools Give Each Kid a Laptop, While America Twiddles Its Thumbs


Science and Technology
NewScientist: Why the universe wasn't fine-tuned for life
Geek.com: How to watch the lunar eclipse tomorrow 

Medical and Health
TechnologyReview: Medical Smart Cards find their Niche
Unified health systems and limited infrastructure offer opportunities to medical-IT innovators.


Doomsteading, Gardening, Urban Farming
CNNMoney: Doomsday bunkers for under $10,000!A company that sells luxury doomsday shelters is branching out with a new "economy class" bunker that costs $9,950.
Vivos is building the cheaper facility to accommodate the growing number of people worried about "life-extinction events" such as super volcanoes and asteroids but can't afford to shell out $35,000 for the fancier model.

TreeHugger: When Cows Retire: An Alternative Approach to Dairy Farming (Video)

Other News
ABCNews: Gabby Giffords' Rosy Recovery Needs Reality Check, Say Experts
WashingtonPost: Fact-checking the GOP debate in New Hampshire
USAToday: U.S. Army dumps berets for patrol caps as official headgear
BusinessInsider: Do The Palin Emails Finally Prove That The Trig Pregnancy Was Faked?
BBC: Republican 2012 hopefuls open debate in New Hampshire
EpochTimes: Chinese Spying Devices Installed on Hong Kong Cars
Politicususa: Florida Police Leave The Republican Party In Mass Exodus
AmericanProstpect: The science-based community shifts to the left.

The Forums
TinfoilPalace:Worldwide Slutwalks: Protests Against Rape & Violences
TinfoilPalace:Staged Alien Invasion Date Revealed - September 2011
TheOilAge:Tea Party targets Post Carbon, Transition Towns
TheOilAge:France experiencing worst drought in decades
Hubberts-Arms:America’s “Holiday from History” – How George Will Got it All Wrong
Hubberts-Arms:Daniel Ellsberg-Everything Nixon Did To Me Is Now Legal
SilentCountry:Astonishing photos of how fast Japan is recovering from the Tsunami
SilentCountry:I just got my 2011/2012 fuel bill