Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Breaking News Wed. Aug. 17, 2011

Apologies for being late posting this story, but Dignity of Struggle was on Washington Blog interviewing Ricard Clarke!
a must see interview!  Congratulations to Dignity of Struggle!
Our Own DignityOfStruggle on George Washington Blog! 
video at below link, join the discussion above.
WashingtonBlog

Hope more of you are having cooler weather. Finally now, the nights have started to cool off and that has really helped. The daytime highs are not nearly as awful as they were either and we're sure thankful for that.
thanks to RJ at Global Glass Onion for his help this morning. He's a tireless blogger who has a great weekly wrapup of financial news on Friday afternoons. Don't forget to check him out and say hello.
Also thanks to dear Ozarker for her links and friendship. You can visit her at the Conflicted Doomer. Oh, and something I found out yesterday, she has some amazing fiction pieces on her blog. Short stories that are beautifully written and a pleasure to read.
Click on the tab at the top of her blog and you'll see the drop down box with stories listed as well as an excerpt from her book. An Uncivil War

I wasn't exactly sure where to put this one so I'll put it up here. You just can't make this stuff up sometimes can you?
BusinessInsider: International Investment Banker Accused Of Putting A Fake Bomb On A 18-Year Old Girl's Neck
The FBI found Australian investment banker Paul Douglas Peters at his ex-wife's house in Kentucky.

Japan
RT: Workers at Japan’s Fukushima plant say the ground under the facility is cracking and radioactive steam is escaping through the cracks. The cooling system at the plant failed after the devastating tsunami hit Japan in March, sparking a nuclear crisis. But new evidence suggests that Fukushima reactors were doomed to cripple even before the massive wave reached them. RT’s Anissa Naouai talks to Dr. Robert Jacobs, a Professor at the Hiroshima Peace Institute.
Thanks for the above story RJ!

Global Conflict
WashingtonPost: Report: Israeli army planting new mines along Syria border to stop protesters from crossing 

NPR: Report: Syrian Government Is Tracking, Intimidating Dissidents Abroad
AlterNet: How the Political Right Bullied the Department of Homeland Security Into Ignoring the Threat of Right-Wing Extremism
After right-wingers freaked out about a report detailing the rise in right-wing extremism, Homeland Security effectively dismantled a unit tasked with tracking it.
WashingtonPost: Israel arrests Al-Jazeera reporter, lawyer says he’s accused of Hamas membership
Thanks to the Ozarker for the following story! LOL
MoonOfAlabama: NATO Wants Copulating With Those Possessed By The Devil
From this report by a Canadian journalist it seems that Gaddhafi's support in Libya has increased since NATO started bombing it. NATO is now also dropping leaflets and is showing, again, its total incompetence and lack of understanding of the local society:
    As for the messages on the leaflets, the Libyans are quite amused at the clumsy translations. On one such note, the intended slogan is meant to urge civilians to go forward and "embrace" the rebels. Instead, it translates to encourage Libyans to go out and "copulate" with the rebels.
    Another NATO missive was intended to advise those living within Gadhafi’s sector to pack up and move to a rebel-occupied territory. This somehow became garbled into a request for citizens to relocate to a "possessed" (as in, by the devil) area of Libya.
So NATO wants the Libyans in Tripoli to go and copulate with those possessed by the devil.
UPI: Rebels confident of Tripoli's fall
ActivistPost: Obama Warns Of Norway Style Lone Wolf Shooting In American On Or Near Tenth Anniversary of 9/11
MSNBC: NBC: US sends more Predator drones to Libya - Unarmed, unmanned aircraft being used for surveillance missions
NYT: Attacks in Iraq heighten political tensions 
WiredUK: Food prices could hit tipping point for global unrest
Hosted: Obama: 'Lone wolf' terror attack biggest concern 
UPI: Egyptian youth calls for Mubarak execution
Haaretz: Egypt deploys thousands of troops and tanks in Sinai, in coordination with Israel
CNN: NATO cites 'significant advances' in Libya
Reuters: Protests swell as Anna Hazare fasts - Protests swelled across India on Wednesday in support of self-styled Gandhian Anna Hazare fasting to the death in jail, with Prime Minister Manmohan's Singh's beleaguered government apparently unable to end the standoff.
WashingtonPost: Vandals torch 18 cars in Berlin, second night of arson attacks in a row
TheTrench: We Will Lose In Iraq and Afghanistan
BBC: Spain 'foils gas attack on anti-Pope protesters' - Spanish police have arrested a Mexican chemistry student for allegedly plotting to gas anti-Pope protesters at Madrid's Catholic youth festival.
BBC: Libya conflict: Rebels make gains in push for Tripoli

Hacker News
NakedCapitalism: Why is the US Media Going Easy on the Rapidly Widening Murdoch Scandal?
ITWorld: Fired techie created virtual chaos at pharma company - A former IT staffer has pleaded guilty to using a secret vSphere console to wipe company servers

Financial News
Nouriel Roubini tweeted this morning
As in 2008-09 once we double dip we will get Stag-Deflation (Recession + Deflation) rather than Stagflation. There is no inflation in sight 

BusinessInsider: Nicolas Sarkozy Just Announced Plans For A New Tax On Financial Transactions
Zerohedge: Man Pretends To Be Hank Paulson To Make Fake $353,000 Mortgage Payment To Citi, Succeeds
SeattleTimes: China appeals to US to focus on economic recovery 
CreditWritedowns: Dangerous Merkel-Sarkozy Spin
Interesting read by some traders on the Merkel/Sarkozy nonevent. Their take away is both leaders sent a message to the PIIGS to either get on board with fiscal adjustment or leave the Euro.
CnnMoney: Wal-Mart U.S. store sales still hurting 
TheAtlantic: Chart of the Day: Is the Real Unemployment Rate 12.5%?
CNNMoney: Pre-Marketing: Time for job-creators to create jobs
ProjectSyndicate: How to Resolve the Euro Crisis: George Soros 
ABCNews: Nice Guys and Women Earn the Least Amount of Money
WashingtonPost: Government dollars fuel wealth: D.C. enclaves reap rewards of contracting boom
WashingtonPost: Merkel, Sarkozy want balanced budget laws in all eurozone countries
EconomistsView: Blinder: The FOMC Majority is Very Worried
WhiteHouseBlog: Getting More Bang for U.S. Bucks 
UPI: Wells Fargo to test debit card fees
SeattleTimes: Bank of England unanimous on keeping rates down - The Bank of England's nine-member rate-setting panel voted unanimously to keep its main interest rate at the record low of 0.5 percent in August because of slowing growth and heightened tensions in financial markets.

ModeledBehavior: I’m cashing out my 401k and putting all my money into lotteries
MotherJones: The Pentagon Since 9/11: By the Numbers 
TheEconomist: Interrogating the "Texas Miracle" 
WSJ: Knights of Columbus Add New Claims To BNY Mellon Mortgage Suit 
TheConsumerist: Late Credit Card Payments At Lowest Rate Since Mid '90s
YahooFinance: Pricey tobacco pushes up core producer inflation
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Core producer prices rose at their fastest pace in six months in July, pushed up by higher tobacco and light truck costs, but weak domestic demand was seen keeping inflation under control.
Dailyfinance: Poverty's Not Just for Cities: America's 10 Poorest Suburbs
YahooFinance: Core wholesale inflation up most in 6 months - Companies paid 0.4 pct. more for wholesale goods, excluding volatile food and energy costs 

NewRepbulic: America’s Age of Austerity May Look a Lot Like London’s 
ChrisMartenson: Charles Hugh Smith: Why Local Enterprise Is The Solution
Reuters: Designing a national consumption tax

Peak oil and Energy News
MSNBC: States mull taxing drivers by the mile - Shift away from gas power drives proposals for GPS-based fees

WSJ: Overrun by Chinese Rivals, U.S. Solar Company Falters 
WSJ: Growth in Emerging Countries Slows Significantly 
Grist: Rick Perry wants to frack Iowa
Bloomberg: View: Consumption Tax Would Ease U.S. Deficit 
EnergyCollective: Will Natural Gas Remain Cheap for 10-20 Years? 
Reuters: Special report: Pension scandal shakes up Venezuelan oil giant - Venezuela received an enviable honor last month: OPEC said it is sitting on the biggest reserves of crude oil in the world -- even more than Saudi Arabia.
Retired workers from the oil behemoth have taken to the streets in protest. Their beef: nearly half a billion dollars of pension fund money was lost after it was invested in what turned out to be a Madoff-style Ponzi scheme run by a U.S. financial advisor who was closely linked to President Hugo Chavez's government.
Asiatimes: Bills paid, Iran's oil ships again to India
SeattleTimes: Venezuela, Iran seek to boost dialogue within OPEC  
NYT: In Chrysler Deal, Cellulosic Ethanol Firm Gets a Prominent Partner 
USAToday: New ethanol blend raises ire of car buffs 
Chron: Government to develop advanced biofuels 
UPI: Outlook grim for Libyan oil production 

Commodities/Metals
Bloomberg: Gold Surge to Record Creates a ‘Bubble Poised to Burst,’ Wells Fargo Says
IBTimes: Morning Silver Market Report - The silver market has forged a quasi upside breakout this morning and in the process the September silver contract reached the highest level since August 8th.
IBTimes: Morning Gold Market Report - With another new high for the move overnight, the gold market continues to feed higher off Euro zone uncertainty and to a certain degree off ongoing fears of slowing in the US.

Environmental News
AccuWeather: AccuWeather.com Fall 2011 Forecast Region by Region

and this from MegaDoom at the Oil Age: The Atlantic basin broken
CNN: Gray whale dies after nearly two months in California river
NOAA: Billion Dollar U.S. Weather Disasters 
ClimateProgress: With No End in Sight for Texas Drought, ABC News Explains: “Every Farmer in the World Will Be Affected by Climate Change”
thanks to SignalFire at Hubberts-Arms for the following story
EneNews: Highest Yet: Rain near Toronto, Canada measures 20,000 CPM per square meter — “Crazy hot” (VIDEO)

Guardian: Shell finds second oil leak in North Sea - The secondary leak is proving a challenge, while the main leak is 'pretty much dead', according to the energy company 
CNN: Lightning strikes six people at Sea World
Platts: Shell defends spill response as UK leak trickles on 
Grist: Rick Perry thinks Texas climate scientists are in a ‘secular carbon cult’ 
ClimateProgress: Koch Brothers Fund Bogus Study Bashing Offshore Wind in New Jersey 
WashingtonPost: A watershed moment for Obama on climate change - Ain’t eBay grand? For $10 you can buy a sack of 50 assorted Obama ’08 buttons, and that’s what I’ve been doing. If you look closely, you might see them this weekend on the lapels of some of the global warming protesters holding a sit-in outside the White House.
EnergyCollective: Pollution Has A Price, Just Not For The Polluter

America in Decline
Thank you RJ for the following story!
 TheStranger: Defending Traditional Marriage From Dead Lesbians 
The Marion County coroner's office is refusing to release Santiago's body to her partner; the office cited the Defense of Marriage Act as the reason why they've turned down Brennon's request to pick up her loved one's remains. DOMA allows states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states. Indiana has its own version of DOMA that outlaws same-sex marriage. Since Indiana law requires the next-of-kin to pick up Santiago's body, but the state won't recognize Brennon as the surviving spouse, Santiago's body is still laying in the morgue awaiting a solution. It's unclear whether or not Santiago has other family available to claim her corpse and take it home for burial.
CommonDreams: How Safe Are You? What Almost $8 Trillion in National Security Spending Bought You 
Corrente: Nudging us into giving up on our Social Security

Food and Water
great link sent to us by Eric,
Eatwild:
Comprehensive, accurate information about the benefits of raising animals on pasture.
A direct link to local farms that sell all-natural, delicious, grass-fed products.
Support for farmers who raise their livestock on pasture from birth to market and who actively promote the welfare of their animals and the health of the land.
KansasAgLand: Drought leads to livestock sales 
WSJ: Chinese Hunger for Corn Stretches Farm Belt  
HuffPost: Child Labor Rules Stalled At White House As Farm Accidents Continue  
Fox: Second Harvest Food Bank Runs Out of Food 
BusinessDailyAfrica: Food prices worsening crisis in Africa's Horn, World Bank says 


Science and Technology
IBTimes: Suicide Bacteria Kills Itself to Destroy Threats: Scientists
IBTimes: Oxygen Made on Earth Millions of Years Before Detectable in the Atmosphere, Study

Medical and Health
FoxNews: Amoeba Parasite Kills Second U.S. Child This Month
CNNMoney: Anti-baby boom: Why U.S. birth rate keeps falling

Doomsteading, Gardening, Urban Farming
BeforeItsNews: Turning Your Back Yard Into A Food Producing Machine

NaturesWrath: Being Ready When There Is An Earthquake 
TransitionVoice: No shirt, no shoes, no problem. Interview: Dmitry Orlov

Other News
PBS: The Secret Language Code

YahooNews: Actor Burt Reynolds faces foreclosure on Florida home
ABCNews: Texas Man Bites Woman; Claims to Be Vampire Satisfying a 'Need to Feed'
RawReplay: Fundamentalist Christians spanked daughter to death
YahooNews: Is 94-Year-Old Zsa Zsa Gabor Going To Be A Mother?
Aljazeera: Native Son
One young Native American struggles to reclaim both his cultural identity and his education.
 


Politics

Slate: The Tea Party's Circular Logic -
Its revolt undermines the private sector more than it reins in "big government."
JesseCrossroadsCafe: In Case You Were Wondering Who the Mainstream Media DOESN'T Support...
TheBigPicture: Texan-Sized Bullshit


YahooNews: Bachmann wishes Elvis happy birthday on death date
MotherJones: Birther Airman Goes AWOL to Protest Obama (Video)
RollCall: Perry’s No Tea Party Darling in Texas
HuffPost: Herman Cain: Impeaching Obama 'Would Be A Great Thing To Do': Report  
CNNReligionBlogs: My Take: 5 biblical passages for Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry


The Forums
TinfoilPalace:Fact following fiction? Scientists plan mission to blow up an asteroid 'hurtling towards Earth'
TinfoilPalace:Billionaire funding 'floating countries'
TheOilAge:Warren "too bad suckerz" Buffet
TheOilAge:The Atlantic basin broken  (this is a must read)
Hubberts-Arms:Investors hedge their bets on America's biggest banks
Hubberts-Arms:10 reasons why we don’t need GM Foods
SilentCountry:Moonrise Wierdness
SilentCountry:Texas grid on shaky ground

10 comments:

  1. What is it with the deflationary mantra, when $100 buy you a coffee I'm sure that will be proof that deflation is here.
    Deflation is now impossible for the US: interest rate rises have been ruled out for 2 years and your debt will increase, to service your debt you will require more money printing.
    This will inflate the money supply and devalue the dollar especially compared to developing countries that can raise interest rates to control inflation.
    The fact that as Jane public you might have less dollars does not equal deflation if the same dollars buy you less not more.
    For example more than 50% of the US's transportation fuel is imported, that will require more devalued dollars to buy it.
    This idea of deflation comes from the depression era when the US supplied virtually all its own market.
    Are you starting to see where this wrong headed idea comes from it is another aspect of American 'exceptionalism' - there is nothing special about the USA any more, get used it ;¬)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh, look :p
    https://rt.com/usa/news/china-america-oil-canada/

    ReplyDelete
  3. e Brutto, thanks for the comments, I always enjoy hearing from people.
    I wish I understood inflation and deflation and economic things better than I do. I realize that as time goes by our fewer and fewer dollars will buy fewer and fewer things. I think that's what you're saying.
    That's why it's so important for people to begin now to try and unplug from the system to the best of their ability and to try and network in their communities and begin to grow food closer to home, set up trading groups and places where people can learn practical skills, begin to learn about ways to collect their own water, or generate a bit of electricity on their own.
    check out Transition Voice or any of the forums at the bottom of the post here to find people working to change things for the better and prepare for the whatever may come.

    http://transitionvoice.com/

    thanks again for commenting,
    remember too, that what's exceptional about America is the people that live here. and no matter what our economy may do, that fact will never change.

    pamela

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Pamela

    Yes, I enjoy your blog and appreciate the time you put in.

    Yes, I do those transition type of things - 3 raised beds on the patch of grass out front.

    Yes, some Americans are more open to new ideas all my facebook friends are Americans.

    Yes, IMO it is all about access to flows of energy, which created the standard of living formerly enjoyed in the USA, peak energy is reducing the total pie available and there is less pie in the US, the lower classes have a weakened bargaining position for share of the reduced pie as manufacturing has been exported.
    Domestic energy supply has supported the rise of all empires including the Chinese.
    They have a coal mining area that was not easily accessible until modern road transport options had been developed plus cheaper labour.

    Here is graph of US M1 (The total of all physical currency part of bank reserves + the amount in demand accounts ("checking" or "current" accounts)) - so old fashioned money.

    http://www.shadowstats.com/charts/monetary-base-money-supply

    What has happened recently is money printing to compensate for consumers (70%+ of the US economy) not spending and paying off debt, thereby reducing the money supply.
    Deflation can not be allowed to happen when interest must be paid on the US debt as the inflation in the monetary supply is used to pay that interest.
    That is the Fed must have the dollars to buy its own treasury bonds! - so now it is printing its own dollars to buy its own bonds as zero interest rates have not resulted in greater consumer debt that would have created dollars (via the rules of fractional reserve lending) for the Fed to use to buy its own bonds.
    Deflation could happen in the depression as the vast majority of treasuries were owned domestically for example in 1970 9% of treasuries were held by foreigners (much less in the 1930's I imagine) now it is >50%.
    Money supply could be reduced domestically for this reason.
    The US can not volunteer to export deflation to another sovereign nation by reducing the debt through interest rate cuts unless all pretence of a market economy is to be given up.

    As to the future I would not like to guess but less resources means less for the majority of the population in most countries unless you are going to embrace socialism - strange things happen.

    ReplyDelete
  5. e Brutto, something you said really stands out for me.
    "What has happened recently is money printing to compensate for consumers (70%+ of the US economy) not spending and paying off debt, thereby reducing the money supply."
    That's some good insight, I hadn't thought of that before. I know that's what we have done, haven't borrowed any money and payed off debts.

    so, are you seeing inflation-hyperinflation?
    I see folks talking about whether we are heading into and inflationary or deflationary period a lot and am interested in what people's opinions are on it. I myself don't really have an opinion on it.
    As for embracing socialism? LOL I could have used a little of that recently when I went to the doctor!
    oh, one last thing, if you don't mind me asking, where are you from? do you like here or over seas?

    ReplyDelete
  6. The value of the dollar is being reduced, I have a video 273mb I can send you that explains amongst other things have the fractional reserve system works in theory (if your email can handle a file that big) or I could post it as a torrent for you.
    Basically debt is used to create money, this is where economist like she who will remain nameless get the deflation idea from.
    In theory as the economy slows and people borrow less and pay off debt the money supply contracts just like in the great depression.
    This model no longer works for several reasons.
    So yes inflation or debasement of the money supply so you can pay your debts until the world market loses all confidence in the dollar and decides to cut its losses.
    Reply to my email and I may reveal a little about myself.

    ReplyDelete
  7. what you said about people paying off debt and not borrowing makes sense to me. also, I was thinking if you could, maybe put the video on youtube if you can and that way I can link to it and share with everyone.
    I didn't see an email from someone that could be you. i'll look again, could be i missed it.
    again thank you, and e Brutto and everyone for their comments.

    pamela

    ReplyDelete
  8. From 14:01 this explains the principle:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5VNAEmmBQM
    He has a funky new film out as well.
    Check your email from last Saturday 13th, 'Small gift in the post'.
    I like to remain eBrutto online.

    eBrutto

    ReplyDelete
  9. Here is Mike's latest movie.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tj2s6vzErqY

    ReplyDelete
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    ReplyDelete