Much thanks to RJ at the Global Glass Onion and the Ozarker at Conflicted Doomer for their help today, and as always, don't forget to check out the forums linked at the bottom of this, and every, post.
Japan
ENENews: Sickened Fukushima woman with teeth, nails, and hair falling out has auto-immune disease
Global Conflict
ScientificAmerican: Doomsday Clock Moved 1 Minute Closer to Midnight
StratRisks: Israeli Mossad recruiting Iranian exiles in Iraq’s Kurdish region: report
Guardian: Car bomb in Tehran kills Iranian nuclear scientist - video - Footage from local TV shows the scene in Tehran where an Iranian professor working at a nuclear facility was killed. Reports say Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, 32, was killed after two assailants on a motorcycle attached explosives to his car. It was the latest in a series of attacks blamed by Iranian authorities on Israel and the US
StratRisks: Israeli Mossad recruiting Iranian exiles in Iraq’s Kurdish region: report
Guardian: Car bomb in Tehran kills Iranian nuclear scientist - video - Footage from local TV shows the scene in Tehran where an Iranian professor working at a nuclear facility was killed. Reports say Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, 32, was killed after two assailants on a motorcycle attached explosives to his car. It was the latest in a series of attacks blamed by Iranian authorities on Israel and the US
Fair.org: PBS’s Dishonest Iran Edit - As if tensions between the United States and Iran weren't high enough, here's PBS NewsHour anchor Margaret Warner (1/9/12):The Iranian government insists that its nuclear activities are for peaceful energy purposes only, an assertion disputed by the U.S. and its allies. On CBS yesterday, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta repeated international demands that Iran stop enriching uranium. PANETTA: But we know that they're trying to develop a nuclear capability, and that's what concerns us. And our red line to Iran is, do not develop a nuclear weapon. That's a red line for us. They need to know that, if they take that step, that they're going to get stopped.The way that's presented you'd think that the United States has evidence that Iran is pursuing a weapon. Leon Panetta's soundbite is from his appearance on Face The Nation on Sunday. But the NewsHour removed one key phrase; right before Panetta says, "But we know," he said this: Are they trying to develop a nuclear weapon? No.
Reuters: No big US naval buildup in Asia, top officer says
Bloomberg: Oil Trades Near a One-Week High as Iran Tension Counters European Economy
BlacklistedNews: Another Bites The Dust: Iran car explosion 'kills nuclear scientist' in Tehran
Atlantic: Intervention, Please: the 'No-Fly Zone' Requests You Don't Hear About
Time: Egypt's New Political Equation: The Military, the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafis - With predictions of conflict and of cooperation, how will everything add up?
Telegraph: Four dead in US drone strike in Pakistan
Hosted: NKorea keeps door open for food-nuke deal with US
Hosted: Pakistan army warns of 'consequences' to PM charge
Reuters: Pakistan PM sacks defence secretary - Pakistan's prime minister has sacked the defence secretary, his office said on Wednesday, in a move likely to ratchet up tension with the country's powerful military.
LegitGov: NORAD to Conduct Training Over National Capital Region
CNN: Report: Bomb kills 4 members of Syrian army - Four members of the Syrian army were killed when a bomb exploded in a military bus Wednesday, the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency said.
BBC: Bahrain police go on trial over death of blogger
SOTT: Mosque Defaced, 3 Cars Torched in West Bank
OWSBloomberg: Oil Trades Near a One-Week High as Iran Tension Counters European Economy
BlacklistedNews: Another Bites The Dust: Iran car explosion 'kills nuclear scientist' in Tehran
Atlantic: Intervention, Please: the 'No-Fly Zone' Requests You Don't Hear About
Time: Egypt's New Political Equation: The Military, the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafis - With predictions of conflict and of cooperation, how will everything add up?
Telegraph: Four dead in US drone strike in Pakistan
Hosted: NKorea keeps door open for food-nuke deal with US
Hosted: Pakistan army warns of 'consequences' to PM charge
Reuters: Pakistan PM sacks defence secretary - Pakistan's prime minister has sacked the defence secretary, his office said on Wednesday, in a move likely to ratchet up tension with the country's powerful military.
LegitGov: NORAD to Conduct Training Over National Capital Region
CNN: Report: Bomb kills 4 members of Syrian army - Four members of the Syrian army were killed when a bomb exploded in a military bus Wednesday, the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency said.
BBC: Bahrain police go on trial over death of blogger
SOTT: Mosque Defaced, 3 Cars Torched in West Bank
TheExiled: My First “Occupy LA” Arraignment Hearing: Los Angeles Stalls Legal Action Against Arrested Occupy LA Protesters
HuffingtonPost: Occupy Wall Street Protesters Stream Back In To Former Camp
Hacker News
PsyOrg: US probes alleged India hacking of commission
CIO: A Brief History of Hacktivism
Domestic Financial News
NYT: Fed Turns Over $77 Billion In Profits to the Treasury
NakedCapitalism: Why Banks Back SOPA, the “Bring the Chinese Internet to America” Bill
BusinessInsider: Now US Bankers Are Planning To Sue Or Walk If Bonuses Are Too Low
MyBudget360: Las Vegas real estate and the dynamics of a lower priced housing market – With median home prices around $100,000 they now reflect the reality of a lower paying service sector economy. Foreclosures and short-sales make up over 70 percent of all sales activity.
CNNMoney: Twinkie maker Hostess Brands in bankruptcy filing - Enjoy your Twinkies while you can, because Hostess Brands, the storied American manufacturer of Ho Hos and Ding Dongs cake snacks, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Wednesday.
CNNMoney: Twinkies will keep coming despite bankruptcy
Forbes: Can Sears Be Saved? Four Strategies For Success - You may have missed it, but during the week between Christmas and New Year’s, Sears Holdings announced that it would close up to 120 stores amid bad holiday shopping results. As Miguel Bustillo and Ann Zimmerman report for The Wall Street Journal, investor and Sears Holdings Chairman Eddie Lampert has a dismal track record with the venerable brand:
Zerohedge: Microsoft is in Secular Decline
CNNMoney: 6 things you'll pay more for in 2012 - Everything from airfare to cotton clothing is going to cost more this year. So book your flights and buy your jeans now or else you'll be doling out some serious cash.
WashingonPost: For most-hurting Americans, Fed remedies limited - In the most difficult economy in a generation, middle-income and poor Americans are hurting the worst. Congress is tied in knots, barely able to pass even the most basic measures to help. That has put pressure on the one arm of government with the power and the flexibility to try to boost ordinary Americans’ fortunes: the Federal Reserve. But the limited policies the Fed has at its disposal mostly put money in the hands of the affluent, at least through their direct effects. The affluent, in turn, are less likely than most to spend that money in the wider economy.
BlacklistedNews: How JP Morgan And George Soros Ended Up With MF Global Customer Money
MarketWatch: The 10 worst states for retirees in 2012
CommonDreams: Detroit May Be Next Michigan City to Get 'Emergency Manager'
MarketWatch: The 10 worst states for retirees in 2012
CommonDreams: Detroit May Be Next Michigan City to Get 'Emergency Manager'
Global Financial News
MetroUK: 300 workers threaten suicide at Xbox 360 factory - Infamous Chinese manufacturer Foxconn has suffered yet another suicide scandal - this time as hundreds threaten to kill themselves at once over pay and conditions.
WashingtonPost: Fitch warns that many euro countries may see ratings cut by the end of this month — A number of euro countries, including Italy, could see their credit ratings downgraded by the end of this month as they struggle to cope with too much debt and slowing economic growth, Fitch Ratings said Tuesday.
EurActiv: Alarm bells ring as banks pull out of eastern Europe
Independent: Ireland 'must renegotiate debt deal or face default'
BusinessInsider: Timelapse Video Of A 30 Story Chinese Hotel Completed In 15 Days
GlobeandMail: Germany’s economic recovery stalls
BBC: Italy austerity: PM Monti warns of angry response - Italian PM Mario Monti has warned of protests against the EU and Germany if his country's economic reforms and changes to labour laws go unrecognised.
Zerohedge: RIsk, Euro Tumbles Under 1.27 On Weak European Data, Continued Flight To Safety
Guardian: Little Chef to close 67 restaurants putting 600 jobs at risk - Roadside restaurant chain to shut 40% of its sites but expand its 'new concept' sites, based on a revamp by Michelin-starred chef Heston Blumenthal
BBC: EU threatens action against Hungary over deficit - Hungary has taken "no effective action" to contain its budget deficit, the European Commission has said.
As a result, the commission will take the next step in its excessive deficit procedure against the country. YahooFinance: Greek deficit to exceed target in 2011 - Greek development minister says 2011 deficit to exceed target, reach 9.6 percent Reuters: Can financial innovations help the eurozone? -- For all that financial innovation has got itself a pretty bad name recently, there’s no shortage of people with bright ideas as to how to address the euro crisis
SoberLook: ECB provides unsecured funding to banks to keep them from failing - As European banks face a wall of maturing debt and no buyers, they are using a tool provided by the ECB to borrow on an unsecured basis. There really is no other choice for many institutions.
Reuters: Mafia now “Italy’s No.1 bank” as crisis bites-report - Organised crime has tightened its grip on the Italian economy during the economic crisis, making the Mafia the country's biggest "bank" and squeezing the life out of thousands of small firms, according to a report on Tuesday.
Bloomberg: Greek Crisis Has Pharmacists Pleading for Aspirin as Drug Supply Dries Up - For patients and pharmacists in financially stricken Greece, even finding aspirin has turned into a headache.
Peak Oil and Energy News
FCNP; Tom Whipple: The Peak Oil Crisis: Gasoline in 2012 EnergyBulletin: Reality strikes back: a review of Richard Heinberg’s The End of Growth
DeclineoftheEmpire: Shale Gas Production Is NOT Profitable At The Current Price
McClatchy: Cuba's offshore oil drilling platform gets OK from Coast Guard, BSEE
Commodities/Metals
ETFDailyNews: Absurd Gold/Silver Price Ratio; Why $500/oz Silver Is Now A Certainty In The FutureBusinessInsider: Maybe This Is Why Gold Bounced... Mineweb: High gold price will drive M&A in 2012 - McEwenMineweb: Gold, silver to have strong upward bias in US trade
Environmental
ExtinctionProtocol: Anthrax outbreak kills hundreds of animals in Zimbabwe national reserve - January 11, 2012 – AFRICA - More than 165 wild animals including 88 hippopotamuses have died amid an outbreak of anthrax in Zimbabwe.
DesdemonaDespair: Eight endangered rhinos killed by poachers in Kruger Park
Guardian: India's children reap the bitter harvest of endosulfan - In some Keralan villages half the familes have a severely disabled child: the legacy, locals say, of pesticide spraying
AgWeb: Wacky Winter Continues; Change on the Way
CSMonitor: Beijing’s air: like standing downwind from a forest fire - Drawing the curtains had no visible effect on the amount of light coming through the window. I could not see the buildings on the other side of the road because the grey fog of pollution was so thick. A quick visit to the US embassy’s Twitter page, which posts hourly readings of Beijing’s pollution levels, confirmed what my eyes and nose had already told me. The reading was “Beyond Index,” off the charts, seven times worse than US standards for acceptable air quality.
Cryptogon: Flashback 2002: 9/11 Hijackers Passports Were Issued by the CIA – U.S. Consulate Whistleblower
TruthOut: Death of Private Danny Chen: Military Admits Chen Was Target of Race-Based Hazing on Daily Basis
RawStory: Ohio man kills son, two others, then himself in argument over food
USAToday: As USA grays, elder abuse risk and need for shelters grow
TheNewYorker: Turning Back the Clock on Privacy
CaliforniaWatch: Rural schools struggle to keep buses running
ModernSurvival: 40,000 New Laws For 2012
RadioFreeEurope: Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp Now 10 Years Old
LAT: L. A. County jailers more likely to use force on mentally ill inmates
Food and Water
CityFarmer: ’60 Minutes’ Exposes Dark Side of Truffle Trade
Bloomberg: Water Risk in Supply Chains Draws Investor Scrutiny
WashingtonPost: Vermont dairy farms scramble to get through winter after storm destroys corn, hay for feed
Guardian: WikiLeaks: US targets EU over GM crops - The US embassy in Paris advised Washington to start a military-style trade war against any Euroxpean Union country which opposed genetically modified (GM) crops, newly released WikiLeaks cables show. In response to moves by France to ban a Monsanto GM corn variety in late 2007, the ambassador, Craig Stapleton, a friend and business partner of former US president George Bush, asked Washington to penalise the EU and particularly countries which did not support the use of GM crops.
FastCoexist: Fearful of Genetically-Modified Crops? You’re Too Late - Frankenfood! It's the evil-sounding name given to genetically modified crops by organic enthusiasts fearful that altering nature's design will result in irreparable damage to either the environment or our bodies. And there is a good chance that they're right. The fight against GM crops has been intensifying of late, with the USDA approving modified alfalfa early this year, despite protests from big organic (which might be less worried about the potential risks and mostly worried about their organic certification). Because a cow that eats GM alfalfa is no longer organic, no matter how it was raised, and GM alfalfa has the extra ability to spread like kudzu--even to places where it's not supposed to be, like an adjacent field of original-gene alfalfa. But these fights should not give the impression that we are about to step over a precipice into a world full of GM crops. We did that in 1996. See this chart from the USDA:That's right. Nearly 100% of all soybeans grown in the U.S. are genetically modified to resist weed-killers that used to also kill the soybeans along with the weeds. And Bt cotton and corn--which have had genes from a soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis jammed inside them to help them resist insects--both comprise about three-quarters of all the acreage of that crop.
NYTOpinionator: We’re Eating Less Meat. Why? - Americans eat more meat than any other population in the world; about one-sixth of the total, though we’re less than one-twentieth of the population. But that’s changing. (much thanks to RJ for these excellent food related stories!)
Science and Technology
ArchaeologyNewsNetwork: Unique discovery of jade necklace belonging to ancient Mayan ruler in Guatemala
TechReview: The Art of 3-D PrintingTechReview: Blog - World's Largest Quantum Computation Uses 84 Qubits
Medical and Health
NYT: How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body
M&C: Live chicken sales to resume in Hong Kong after bird flu case PsyOrg: Picky females prefer well-fed males
M&C: Report: Rats nibble at paralyzed patient in Indian hospital
RedditScience: New drug may keep you sober no matter how much you've had to drink
PsyOrg: Study finds that treatment of depression can increase work productivity (next step? Forced antidepressant medication for people not meeting production expectations.)
Doomsteading, Gardening, Urban Farming M&C: Live chicken sales to resume in Hong Kong after bird flu case PsyOrg: Picky females prefer well-fed males
M&C: Report: Rats nibble at paralyzed patient in Indian hospital
RedditScience: New drug may keep you sober no matter how much you've had to drink
PsyOrg: Study finds that treatment of depression can increase work productivity (next step? Forced antidepressant medication for people not meeting production expectations.)
Morse Code Translator
WikiHow: How to Make Your Own Soy Sauce
PermacultureMag: Warm oca salad recipe - It’s obvious that there’s now a growing band of permie people growing this so-called ‘lost crop’ of the Incas. The tubers could easily be the model for gems or ‘power ups’ in a computer game they are so pretty. They come in a range of stunning colours, some with variegated eyes. They need a long growing season and tuber formation does not start until day length reduces after the autumn equinox. The three-leaved foliage is very pretty and provides good ground cover.
TreeHugger: Tiny, Electricity-Free Home Nurtures Inner Peace
Other News
NYT: Oklahoma: Court Upholds Blocking of Amendment Against Shariah Law
CBS: U.S. ship rescues Iranians at sea - again - Last Thursday, the U.S. Navy rescued 13 Iranian fishermen who had been held captive by pirates in the northern Arabian Sea for more than 40 days. WashingtonPost: Scots leader: Scotland, not Britain, has right to decide terms of referendum - Scotland’s top leader Alex Salmond clashed with the British government Wednesday by insisting that the people of Scotland should set the terms of a referendum on independence, not British politicians. British Prime Minister David Cameron had said Tuesday he favors allowing the Scots a vote on whether their country should become independent, but suggested that Scotland should choose between total separation and the status quo.
ArchaeologyNewsNetwork: Why does England still have the Parthenon Marbles? - In 1801, Thomas Bruce, the 7th Earl of Elgin, started removing, many say looting, priceless marble statues from the Parthenon and Acropolis area of Athens, Greece.
Guardian: Andaman Islanders 'forced to dance' for tourists - video The Jarawa tribe have lived in peace in the Andaman Islands for thousands of years. Now tour companies run safaris through their jungle every day and wealthy tourists pay police to make the women - usually naked - dance for their amusement. This footage, filmed by a tourist, shows Jarawa women being told to dance by an off-camera police officer
Politics WashingtonPost: Newt Gingrich veers from nice to nasty, with few advisers to guide himUSAToday: Romney wins NH primary; Paul in 2nd and Huntsman 3rd
TruthOut: Bird-Dogging the New Hampshire Candidates
MotherJones: GOP Primary Predictor: Play Along at Home
MNN: Santorum leads GOP field in blinking
Forums
TinfoilPalace: World ticks closer to 'Doomsday'
TinfoilPalace: Major Saturday Event?
TheOilAge: China Wins $700M Afghan Oil/Gas Bid Why Didn’t US Bid
TheOilAge: Michael Klare: danger waters (NOT just Hormuz)
HubbertsArms: Planting an orchard
HubbertsArms: Religion is a natural consequence of how we are wired: we have a "belief engine"
SilentCountry: The Greek parents too poor to care for their children
SilentCountry: Crushing the Poor
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