Breaking News Wed. Jan. 4, 2012

Wired: White House Denies CIA Teleported Obama to Mars

Well, I'm sure glad that's settled, aren't you? Personally, I knew Obama had never been to Mars as I'd not seen him around when I was there. LOL

I want to thank the two buyers yesterday that bought pieces from my Etsy shop. Thank you very much!
One painting is going all the way to France!

Thanks to RJ for the following link. This is a MUST watch interview.
MarketWatch666: "Brace Yourself! The American Empire Is Over & The Descent Is Going To Be Horrifying!"  - in depth interview with Chris Hedges, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, best selling author…

Here's some spectacular AssHattery sent in by our good friend the Ozarker this morning.
NewCivilRightsMovement: Santorum: No One Has Ever Died Because They Didn't Have Health Care

And last but certainly not least, please, check out Guy McPherson's latest essay. I want to say, I try and read everything Guy writes but this one, this post of his, spoke to the mournful part of my heart. Good luck to you Guy, good luck to us all.




GuyMcPherson: Taking a hike 

I’ve long accepted the words of Hunter S. Thompson in The Proud Highway: “We are all alone, born alone, die alone, and — in spite of True Romance magazines — we shall all someday look back on our lives and see that, in spite of our company, we were alone the whole way. I do not say lonely — at least, not all the time — but essentially, and finally, alone. This is what makes your self-respect so important, and I don’t see how you can respect yourself if you must look in the hearts and minds of others for your happiness.”

Thanks to RJ  at Global Glass Onion and  the Ozarker at Conflicted Doomer,  for their contributions and help. Be sure to check out their great blogs today as well as...the super duper, Tom Terrific, forums linked at the bottom of this post!

Not as comprehensive a post as I would like as my mouse up and died on me and this track pad thing is next to useless! anyway, hopefully tech savvy hub can get me straightened out when he gets home.
thanks everyone for stopping by,  and see you all tomorrow!

Japan

AJW: As radiation fears persist, ties unravel in society  - A 4-year-old boy in Tokyo's Meguro Ward wears two flu masks and a raincoat every time he goes to his kindergarten. When he returns home, he is immediately told to shower and rinse his body with bottled water.
DesdemonaDespair: Fukushima: A woman speaks out about health problems – ‘Until this summer, my teeth were healthy’

Global Conflict
USAToday: Sarkozy: Assad must step down over massacres
Hosted: US to Iran: American warships to remain in Gulf
LegitGov: Man arrested with explosives at airport was Army demolitions expert 
Time: Syria: How the Arab League's Monitors Are on a 'Mission: Impossible' - With the regime apparently still shooting at its opposition, the official observers are caught in a credibility trap
SOTT: Nigeria protests turn violent as price of fuel doubled
BusinessInsider: The Navy's Sneakiest Drone Slips To The Air From The Trash Chute Of US Submarines 
Reuters: Militias could drag Libya into civil war: NTC chief 
NYT: U.S. Reverses Policy in Reaching Out to Muslim Brotherhood 
Zerohedge: War Imminent In Straits Of Hormuz? $200 A Barrel Oil? - There are dim lights at the end of the seemingly darker and darker tunnel. The proposed sanctions legislation allows Obama to waive sanctions if they cause the price of oil to rise or threaten national security. Furthermore, there is the wild card of Iran’s oil customers, the most prominent of which is China, which would hardly be inclined to go along with increased sanctions. But one thing should be clear in Washington – however odious the U.S. government might find Iran’s mullahcracy, it is most unlikely to cave in to either economic or military intimidation that would threaten the nation’s existence, and if backed up against the wall with no way out, would just as likely go for broke and use every weapon at its disposal to defend itself.  
TheAtlantic: Witness to an Uprising: Expelled from Bahrain for Posting to Facebook - How an English instructor's struggle to stay neutral at his state-run university got him fired, evicted, and forced to flee Bahraini protesters. 
MSNBC: Israeli-Palestinian talks end without breakthrough 

Hacker News
LAT: High-tech cars raise possibility of cyber attacks
IBTimes: Saudi Arabia Hackers Steal 400,000 Israeli Credit Card Numbers


Financial News
WSJ: Fed to Publish Rate Forecasts
SFGate: Obama to Name Cordray as Consumer Bureau Director Today
BusinessInsider: GOLDMAN: This Is What The World Will Be Like In 2012 And 2013
CNBC: 'True Revolution' Ahead for US Fiscal Future: Greenspan
Zerohedge: Stunner: Bank Of America Responsible For 14% Of Projected 2012 S&P500 Earnings Growth
SFGate: Greek PM to meet with labor union, business reps 
Spiegel: Time Running Out - Greece Urgently Requests Clarity on Bailout Deal
DailyBail: 'How To Forge A Client's Signature' And Other Lessons From Inside The Ameriquest Sub-Prime Sweatshop
WSJ: Latest Fed Transparency Move Draws Mixed Response - The Federal Reserve‘s latest move to open up the policy-making process is getting mixed reviews from economists, who are struggling to make sense of what the central bank is in fact planning to do, as well as what it can accomplish.
BlacklistedNews: US Closes 2011 With Record $15.22 Trillion In Debt, Officially At 100.3% Debt/GDP 
TripleCrisis: China on the verge? - It has become increasingly common to suggest that on top of the European debacle and the sluggish recovery in the United States, China might be on the verge of a collapse, and with it the last bastion of economic growth in the world economy would also be gone.
BusinessInsider: Major Economies Everywhere Face Debt Rollover Troubles In 2012 - With everyone watching debt rollovers in Europe, let's instead take a look at the total global debt rollover and debt issuance problem. 
EconomistsView: Fed Watch: Still Cautious Heading Into 2012 - I have been hesitant to embrace the recent positive data flow - once bitten, twice shy perhaps. Something about the current dynamics that seems a little too familiar. Indeed, I felt something of relief when FT Alphaville came to a similar conclusion in the waning days of 2011. 
NYT: Bring Back Boring Banks 
DealBookNYT: Hedge Funds End 2011 on a Very Bad Note  
EconoMonitor: Best Economics News Story of 2011: Dickens Meets Hayek in a Mumbai Slum 
MarketWatch: U.S. retailers Target-ing avid Canadian shoppers 
GuruFocus: Jim Rogers Short Russia, India, Long China; Gold Deserves a Substantial Correction
CNBC: US Charges 3 Swiss Bankers in Tax Evasion Case 
Zerohedge: Charting The Extinction Of American Disposable Income - It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Given today's excitement at a rallying equity market, we are already hearing chatter on raising GDP estimates even though macro data is benefiting from standard seasonal improvements. However, while these good times are rolling for some (who, we are not sure), Sean Corrigan (of Diapason Commodities) points to our real disposable income. The man on the street's spend-ability has seen the worst five years' growth in half a century.
Zerohedge: Global Bond Issuance To Top A Staggering $8 Trillion In 2012 - As households are supposedly deleveraging and European nations face austerity, one might suspect that global debt levels were stabilizing or even dropping. Think again.
TransitionVoice: Meet the woman who makes your kids nag you for products -
“We found the way a child nags isn’t always the same,” says Lucy Hughes, then-director of strategy and insight for Initiative Media. “There’s one of two ways that they nag— either with persistence or with importance.”
Persistent nagging is “really whiny,” according to Hughes. “‘Mommy, I really, really want the Barbie Dream House, wah, wah, wah, wah…’” Important nagging by contrast is more reasoned: “‘Mommy, I need the Barbie Dream House so barbie and Ken can live together and have children and have their own family.’”
SydneyMorningHerald: Spain warns deficit could top 8% 
BBC: Greece warns on euro exit if bailout not signed - Greece may have to leave the eurozone if it fails to secure its latest bailout from the EU, IMF and banks, a government spokesperson has warned. "The bailout agreement needs to be signed otherwise we will be out of the markets, out of the euro," spokesman Pantelis Kapsis told Skai TV.  

WSJ: Investors Losing Confidence in Hungary
GazetteTimes: Retirees must repay millions to Ore. state pension

Peak oil and Energy News
EnergyBulletin: Iran and the price of oil - Jan 3
BusinessWeek: Oil Trades Near 8-Month High on Iran Tension, Shrinking Supply
AdvisorPerspective: Weekly Gasoline Price Update: Second Week of Price Increases 
MarketWatch: Global oil search may cost $595 billion in 2012 - Dahlman Rose & Co. on Tuesday said it expects worldwide oil and gas exploration spending to rise by 9% to a record $595 billion in 2012.
Zerohedge: Crude Surges On News Europe Agrees To Ban Iran Oil Imports
GlobeAndMail: What do triple-digit oil prices mean for growth? IBTimes: Nigerian Protesters Shut Down Gas Stations After Fuel Subsidy Removal

Commodities/Metals
Mineweb: Gold should soar as Obama administration plans to ‘kill the dollar'

Environmental News
WashingtonPost: Court puts on hold regulation to reduce power plant pollution spoiling air downwind - A federal court Friday put on hold a controversial Obama administration regulation aimed at reducing power plant pollution in 27 states that contributes to unhealthy air downwind. More than a dozen electric power companies, municipal power plant operators and states had sought to delay the rules until the litigation plays out.
Discovery: First Hybrid Shark Found  - The first-ever observed hybrid may be a sign the predators are adapting to climate change.
ScientificAmerican: Yeti Crabs, Ghost Octopi Found at 1st Antarctic Deep-Sea Vents
ThinkProgress: Breaking: Climate Science Denier Wins Iowa Caucuses 
PBS: How 2011 Became a 'Mind-Boggling' Year of Extreme Weather
Grist: Climate change got even less media coverage than last year
Yahoo: Ohio earthquake was not a natural event, says expert
ThinkProgress: Mother Nature is Just Getting Warmed Up: December Heat Records Exceed Cold By 80%, Annual Ratio Hits 2.8-to-1
EarlyWarning: Lots More Killer Summers on the Way - In discussion on yesterday's post, commenter Chris R. pointed me to another recent Hansen paper (with coauthors M. Sato and R. Ruedy) Climate Variability and Climate Change: The New Climate Dice.
CNN: Black turkey vultures invade town Thanks to the Ozarker for this link in particular! Can't figure out what the folks are all tore up about though, I think it's kind of cool that those big birds are hanging out there.
WALB|Added on January 3, 2012Residents are sick of their new neighbors, hundreds of black turkey vultures who have invaded their neighborhood.
PopSci: Drill, Don't Kill: Lessons From Two Underground Lakes
DesdemonaDespair: Graph of the Day: Trend in Published Reports of Climate-related Forest Mortality, 1985–2009

America in Decline
MarketWatch666: "Brace Yourself! The American Empire Is Over & The Descent Is Going To Be Horrifying!"  - in depth interview with Chris Hedges, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, best selling author…
SOTT: Missouri public library blocks websites about 'occult' spirituality - The Salem Public Library in Missouri along with its board of trustees face a lawsuit for blocking access to websites discussing indigenous American spirituality and the Wiccan faith

MSNBC: Ex-soldier in Mount Rainier killing stationed at deeply troubled base
Wired: No Warrant Needed for GPS Monitoring, Judge Rules
HuffingtonPost: Work-At-Home Scam Victims Receive $9.70 Per Person In Settlement -  With more Americans out-of-work, the economic downturn has given work-at-home scammers a boost. The number of complaints about work-at-home scams filed to the FTC grew to nearly 8,000 in 2009 from slightly more than 4,000 in 2006, according to USA Today. The firms often take advantage of vulnerable Americans by offering them the opportunity to make money by stuffing envelopes, doing online searches or assembly or craft work, according to the FTC.  In addition to the unemployed, financial scammers are also increasingly preying on the elderly, a separate USA Today report found. 
HuffingtonPost: Growing Number Of States Contending With Crisis-Level Child Poverty 
YorkDispatch: Philly schools send layoff notices to 1,400 - The Philadelphia School District has sent layoff notices to an additional 1,400 employees as it struggles to contain costs while facing a bleak budget picture.
LAT: FBI tracking videotapers as terrorists?TechnoLog: 7 signs we're living in the post-privacy era

Food and Water
Zerohedge: Guest Post: A Punch to the Mouth - Food Price Volatility Hits the World
BigPictureAgriculture: CBS News: All is not Rosy in Iowa - In this CBS news video, the Iowa caucus has cast a spotlight on soaring Iowa farmland prices. This has not translated to a booming local economy...
Grist: Eaters, beware: Walmart is taking over our food system | Walmart’s greenwash: Why the retail giant is still unsustainable - Aubretia Edick has worked at a Walmart store in upstate New York for 11 years, but she won't buy fresh food there. Bagged salads, she claims, are often past their sell-by dates and, in the summer, fruit is sometimes kept on shelves until it rots. "They say, 'We'll take care of it,' but they don't. As a cashier, you hear a lot of people complain," she said.
WashingtonPost: Billions needed to upgrade America’s leaky water infrastructure

Science and Technology
TechReview: Your Connected Vehicle Is Arriving
PopSci: Nobel-Winning Quasicrystals Appear to Have Come From Space
RedditScience: The Lost City of Cahokia -- New evidence of a "sprawling metropolis" that existed in East St. Louis from 1000-1300 A.D. 
PoSci: FYI: What's the Point of Nose Hair? 
ScientificAmerican: Key Findings on Higgs Boson, Alzheimer's Drugs, Lake Vostok Set to Emerge in 2012 
UnderstandingSociety: Information technology and new human capabilities 

Medical and Health
ScientificAmerican :Call to Censor Bird Flu Studies Draws Fire
RedditScience: FDA finds that the DEA has created an artificial shortage of ADHD medication
M&C: Two Australians die after eating poisonous mushrooms 
RawStory: Anger over secret drug trials on Indian children - Indian activists have reacted angrily after 12 doctors were fined less than $100 each for conducting secret drug trials on children and patients with learning disabilities. 

Doomsteading, Gardening, Urban Farming
ModernSurvival: New York Gun Laws Imprisoning Tourists

GwenFarslottie: Seed viability - It is the time of year when everyone is looking at ordering new seeds for the growing year. We should also go through our old packets of all seeds to see what we do and don't have, before we get carried away with ordering new seeds!

Other News
BlacklistedNews: Just When You Thought It Couldn't Get Any Worse... Introducin​g: H.R. 3166 & S. 1698 Enemy Expatriati​on Act!
DeclineoftheEmpire: Terrified Woman From Another Universe Wakes Up Here 
Time: Are Aries More Likely to Be Criminals? 
Boston.com: Man arrested in NY Islamic center firebomb attack 
SHTFPlan: 2012: Predictions of a Mad Tin Foiler 
BlacklistedNews: White powder sent to Fla. gov't office sickens 4
LegitGov: Suspicious package, white powder at Navy SEAL Museum 
BlacklistedNews: Library Sends Police To Collect Overdue Books From 5-Year-Old 

Politics
Fox: Romney Edges Out Santorum to Win Iowa Caucuses
CharlesHughSmith: The Ministry of Propaganda Declares Ron Paul "Unelectable"
Cryptogon: CNN Pulls the Plug on Live Feed of Soldier Talking About Voting for Ron Paul
RawStory: Pat Robertson: God revealed the next president, but it’s a secret
DailyCaller: The trouble with my uncle, Rick Santorum
BusinessInsider: You Won't BELIEVE How They Count The Votes In Iowa
RawStory: Mexican Grand Warlock predicts Obama loss in 2012
DailyBail: Republican Insider Says: GOP Establishment Planning To Subvert Iowa to Prevent Ron Paul Win
Economonitor: The GOP Ticket in 2012: Romney-Rubio
CNN: Bachmann ends GOP presidential bid 

The Forums
TinfoilPalace: The shifting timeline and strange events thread
TinfoilPalace: Oil Prices Going Up, Gas Prices Going DownTheOilAge: “Brace Yourself! The American Empire Is Over & The Descent - 
TheOilAge: "Zombie" Fly Parasite Killing Honeybees 
HubbertsArms: Fifteen Years After Their Reintroduction, Wolves are Being Slaughtered Again 
HubbertsArms: Imperial overdrive: Red alert over Iran 
SilentCountry: When Seconds Count
SilentCountry: Allstate will not renew my homeowner Ins. because .........