Hello everyone! Hope you all had a good week and are going to have a great weekend.
We're supposed to get snow here tonight and tomorrow...we'll see. LOL
This from the Ozarker this morning! LOL you know, I think we went over to Afghanistan and brought the Taliban back here to run things.
Alternet: Every Sperm Is Sacred! Dem. Lawmaker Sneaks 'Life Begins at Ejaculation' Amendment into Vile 'Personhood' Bill
Despite being rebuffed by voters in Mississippi and Colorado, proponents of the “personhood” movement are still pushing to enact legislation in states like Ohio and Oklahoma that would give zygotes the same rights as American citizens. These bills would not only criminalize abortion in all circumstances, they would also outlaw common forms of contraception, as well as in vitro fertilization.
To poke fun at the absurdity of the measure, Oklahoma state Sen. Constance Johnson (D), has tacked on a provision affirming — in the words of a famous Monty Python song — that every sperm is sacred:
Much thanks to RJ at the Global Glass Onion and the Ozarker at Conflicted Doomer for their help today!
Be sure to check out RJ's weekly wrapup this afternoon and Ozarker will have a new post up tomorrow afternoon! So don't forget to pay them a visit.
I'd like to thank La Curee for commenting on posts this week. It's nice to get comments and he has some good things to say. Check out his site too. La Curee, it's linked in the sidebar so do visit his blog and encourage him to keep blogging!
also I would like to thank David over at ETF Daily News for sending links for us as well. Thanks David!
Japan
LegitGov: Fukushima No. 2 plant was 'near meltdown'
UPI: Fukushima's temperature rise stabilized
Global Conflict
Reuters: Report: Saudi Arabia to buy nukes if Iran tests A-bomb
MSNBC: Recommended: Report: Saudi Arabia to buy nukes if Iran tests A-bomb
Saudia Arabia would move quickly to acquire nuclear weapons if Iran successfully tests an atomic bomb, according to a report.Zerohedge: A Very Different Take On The "Iran Barters For Food" Story
Citing an unidentified Saudi Arabian source, the Times newspaper in the U.K. (which operates behind a paywall) said that the kingdom would seek to buy ready-made warheads and also begin its own program to enrich weapons-grade uranium.
The paper suggested that Pakistan was the country most likely to supply Saudi Arabia with weapons, saying Western officials were convinced there was an understanding between the countries to do so if the security situation in the Persian Gulf gets worse. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have denied such an arrangement exists.
Iran, which follows the Shiite branch of Islam, and Sunni Saudi Arabia are major regional rivals.
ArsTechnica: Iran reportedly blocking encrypted Internet traffic
LegitGov: International 'militarisation' in Syria growing closer, warns US official
McClatchy: Deadly drone strike signals renewed U.S.-Pakistan cooperation
NationOfChange: Muslim “Terror Threat” Belied by Numbers
USAToday: Ban on women lifted for about 1% of military jobs
Atlantic: Can Russia Save Syria? Can Anything?
VOA: Explosions Rock Northern Syrian City
Telegraph: Tanks storm Homs amid fears of ground invasion
Reuters: Bomb blasts bring death to Syria's Aleppo
CBSNews: Civilians bear brunt of Syrian assault
Cryptogon: LAPD: High-Tech Crime-Fighting ‘War Room’
Time: Another Tibetan Monk Self-Immolates, China Declares "War" on Protesters
CNN: Blasts hit Syrian government buildings on day of protest
LegitGov: U.S. Space Science Confronts New Economic Reality
BBC: Russian 'sold CIA missile data'
KansasCityStar: Former Maldives president criticizes USUPI: Drones over U.S. may pose security risks
Telegraph: Elderly told: go back to work and downsize
Telegraph: Israel's 'narrow view' of Iran threat 'frustrating White House' - Israel's "narrow view" of the Iranian nuclear threat is frustrating the Obama administration, White House sources have claimed.
Telegraph: International 'militarisation' in Syria growing closer, warns US official
CNN: West must not intervene militarily in Syria
BBC: Syria crisis: Obama condemns onslaught on Homs - Amateur video shows the continued shelling of Homs
CSMonitor: Bomb Iran? Nearly half of Americans say 'yes' to halt nuclear program. - A new You-Gov poll finds 44 percent of Americans favor, and 35 percent oppose, a strike against Iran. Fewer Europeans favor force, but more are convinced Iran is trying to build a nuclear bomb.
OWS
NationOfChange: Day 144: Live Coverage of the Occupy Movement
iReport: Federal Police Charge at Occupy DC
Hacker News
LegitGov: 'Anonymous' hacker group threatens 'reign of terror' against Israel
LegitGov: Hacking off the Feds: Anonymous intercepts FBI conference call about...themselves
Domestic Financial News
Zerohedge: Is The Foreclosure Settlement A Shadow Bailout For Broke California
Prospect: The Mortgage Deal with the Devil
CharlesHughSmith: Why Is Gasoline Consumption Tanking?
Bloomberg: Unemployment Decline Masks Drop in U.S. Labor Force: Economy
BusinessInsider: CITI: Credit Card Delinquencies Probably Spiked In January, But Don't Worry About It
CreditWritedowns: Bernanke ‘Irresponsible’ to Compare US to Greece
Bloomberg: Foreclosure Deal to Spur US Home Seizures
WashingtonPost: House passes Republican-written insider trading bill that has heavy Wall Street Influence
NewScientist: Stock trading 'fractures' may warn of next crash
BusinessInsider: Disagreeable Men Make $10,000 More A Year
WashingtonPost: Questions and answers about what the foreclosure-abuse deal will and won't do
Time: Why Is Your Boss Moving to Brazil? - How Latin America's Economic Powerhouse is Luring the World's Top Executives
ETFDailyNews: Federal Reserve: Ten Things That Every American Should Know About The Fed
EconomicCollapse: Yes, It Is Halftime In America – So Now Is The Time To Get Your Financial Priorities In Order
NYT: Michigan Must Decide What to Do With an Unexpected Surplus
MultiplierEffect: State AGs Cave to Banksters
EconoSpeak: The Infamous Example of Rent Control
Guardian: This is no bailout for Main Street America - In reality, a $25bn mortgage deal with banks is a drop in the ocean – given US homeowners' $700bn of negative equity.
RollingStone: Why the Foreclosure Deal May Not Be So Hot After All
Atlantic: Special Taxes for Special Wealth: Why Is Investment Income Different? - When Facebook goes public, Mark Zuckerberg will become one of the richest people in America, with shares that will probably be worth more than $20 billion. When he eventually sells those shares, his federal tax bill will only be 15 percent of the cash he receives.* Zuckerberg and Mitt Romney (who, as everyone knows, paid a 13.9 percent tax rate for 2010) both benefit from tax preferences on investment income -- in this case, the 15 percent tax rate on capital gains.*
FT: Keep taking the testosterone - Until a few years ago, doctor Lionel Bissoon, who practises what he calls integrative medicine on Manhattan’s smart Upper West Side, mostly treated middle-aged women for what is politely known as cellulite. Then the financial crisis hit Wall Street and a strange thing happened: a stream of financial executives and traders began coming to him in the hope of being turned into alpha males. Dr Bissoon, a doctor of osteopathic medicine, now specialises in treating men for testosterone deficiency. While impotence is often thought of as the main symptom of low levels of the hormone, it turns out that financial executives are hoping the hormone will sharpen their faculties and make them more competitive in the workplace at a time when many companies are sending underperforming employees into early retirement.
WashingtonPost: Rep. Spencer Bachus faces insider-trading investigation
CalculatedRisk: Consumer Sentiment declines in February to 72.5
WashingtonPost: The real price tag for stimulus: Between $1 trillion and $1.7 trillion
NYT: Why Do We Still Care About the Dow?
DailyFinance: Why Your 2012 Tax Bill May Jump By $8,000
Spiegel: Greece Reaches Austerity Agreement - German Finance Minister Doubts Deal Will Be Enough
JOC: USPS Loses $3.3 Billion in First Quarter
Reuters: Consumer mood worsens in February on income worries
Global Financial News
BlacklistedNews: Greek police union wants to arrest EU/IMF officials
USAToday: Greece deal uncertain as ministers quit, violence eruptsWSJ: Greek Deal Faces Scrutiny
Reuters: Greeks strike against austerity, EU demands more cuts
WSJ: Greece Sets Austerity Plan
CNN: Volence erupts as Greece ponders tough terms for new bailout
CNNBusinessBlogs: Are ‘sweatshops’ an economic necessity? - A few years back, influential New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof shocked readers by opening a column this way: “Africa desperately needs Western help in the form of schools, clinics and sweatshops.” For Kristof, who regularly advocates better conditions for people in the developing world, this advice seems to belie his progressive views. But he’s part of a chorus of liberal economic thinkers who advocate that sweatshops – a broad term for factories or workshops characterized low wages, long hours, sometimes underage workers and unsafe conditions – are an unsavory but necessary first step to help bootstrap the world’s poorer economies.
NakedCapitalism: The Wages of Austerity: Superbug Runs Wild in Greek Hospitals
Guardian: Finance ministers demand proof Athens will deliver
Forbes: So, just where is that Greek debt deal?CreditWritedowns: Greece and the Troika’s Treachery
BusinessWeek: Commodities Risk Crash on China Recession Threat, Smead Says
LAT: Settlement doesn't end all mortgage-related problems for banks
SeattleTimes: Pepsico to cut 8,700 jobs; 4Q net rises
UPI: First-time jobless claims down by 15,000
Spiegel: The World from Berlin: 'Without a New Beginning, Athens Is Lost'
BBC: China's exports and imports dip raising growth concerns
GlobeAndMail: Bank of England pumps billions more into economy
Peak Oil and Energy News
ScientificAmerican: Nuclear Reactor Approved in U.S. for First Time Since 1978
Atlantic: Why We Can't Drill Our Way to Oil Autonomy
Reuters: Iran sanctions already hitting oil trade flows: IEA
CommodityOnline: IEA and OPEC cuts oil demand forecast for 2012
FuelFix: Trinidad & Tobago look for deepwater offshore development partners
CNBC: Saudi Arabia Will Not Let Oil Go Above $100: Prince
Commodities/Metals
Mineweb: Chinese rebalancing likely to boost gold demand
ETFDailyNews: Precious Metals: The Gold Chart That Will Knock Your Socks Off
CommodityOnline: Chinese copper imports fall 18% in January MCX copper up 6 80% YTD
Environmental
ExtinctionProtocol: 600 birds found dead in Christchurch being blamed on botulism
CNN: Ice grips Europe's waterways as deadly cold lingers RedditScience: Plastic Eating Fungus could solve landfill problems in the near future. Cheap too!
Grist: Santorum warns of “reign of environmental terror” - It's sometimes a little hard to tell what Rick Santorum is saying, but his latest approach to environmental conservation seems to be that liberals are a form of psychological terrorists, using guilt and science to distort the truth and frighten real Americans into sheeplike compliance. You think I'm exaggerating! But ... well, look, I'll just post some quotes, from a campaign event yesterday in Oklahoma City.ExtinctionProtocol: Europe continues to suffer through its coldest February in 26 years
MSNBC: Rhino dies in anti-poaching demo by conservationists
ShaleSites: Study suggests fracking may have negative impact on livestock
America in Decline
CNN: Postal Service pleads for help as losses continue
Reuters: Catholic TV network sues to block US contraception rule
CharlesHughSmith: Self-Interest and the Pathology of Power: the Corruption of America Part 2
Omaha.com: Phone calls in rural areas aren't getting through. Providers are dropping them to save money and the problem is difficult to track.
NYT: Education Gap Grows Between Rich and Poor, Studies Show
NYT: The White Underclass
NYT: Bishops Planned Battle on Birth Control Coverage Rule (do they even USE birth control?)
CBSNews: Obama to revise birth control rule
Salon: Repulsive progressive hypocrisy
Grist: Young people expect the future to look like Thunderdome
Food and Water
BlacklistedNews: Hungary Destroys All Monsanto GMO Corn Fields
Grist: How to make mineral water … really
BusinessRecorder: Iran turns to India for wheat as palm oil dries up - Iran has turned to India for wheat supplies as other sellers divert grain cargoes away from the Middle East country because of sanctions-related payments problems that have caused palm oil imports to grind to a halt.
VSFBelgium: Bill Gates, seeds alone will not end poverty.
RodaleInstitute: Monsanto sets its sights on “honeybee health” acquiring a company manipulating gene expression. Bee afraid. Bee very afraid.
EWG: The Corn Ethanol Lobby’s Land Grab.Insect inoculation may be the latest rave, but is it the best solution? Today we know that subsequent research failed to confirm a link between CCD and IAPV. Although IAPV can result in honey bee mortality, the symptoms are not consistent with those of bees dying from CCD.With that said, why does Monsanto claim that “…the Remebee® product line is now proving to be a viable solution to Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD)…” on their website?Perhaps anti-viral remedies are the next generation of products used to combat agricultural pests and pathogens but they don’t deal with the root of our problems such as native bee extinctions and unsustainable agriculture (ie. GMO crops, pesticides and herbicides). In the end we will still have a polluted environment.
TheNewYorker: Olive Oil’s Dark Side
SeattleTimes: Beef prices expected to climb for next 2 years - The smallest cattle herd since the 1950s likely will mean higher beef prices at the supermarket for the next two years.
Internet and Online Privacy News
What Do Your Apps Know -- and Say -- About You?
CNN: Who is Anonymous? Everyone and no one
Science and Technology
Wired: Origami Robots Run Only On Air
YahooNews: The End of the DVD is Coming Fast
Space.comNASA Fixes Computer Glitch on Mars-Bound Rover
MSNBC: Cut back on missions to Mars? No way, backers say - NASA reportedly will slash planetary science to make up for telescope cost overruns
ATlantic: Picture of the Day: The Supermassive Black Hole That's Eating Asteroids in Our Galaxy
NewScientist: First Neanderthal cave paintings discovered in Spain
Wired: U.S. Space Science Confronts New Economic Reality
Medical and Health
ScientificAmerican: Alzheimer's Disease Symptoms Reversed in Mice
TheAtlantic: Can Cats Make Us Crazy? - Jaroslav Flegr is no kook. And yet, for years, he suspected his mind had been taken over by parasites that had invaded his brain. So the prolific biologist took his science-fiction hunch into the lab. What he’s now discovering will startle you. Could tiny organisms carried by house cats be creeping into our brains, causing everything from car wrecks to schizophrenia? A biologist’s science- fiction hunch is gaining credence and shaping the emerging science of mind- controlling parasites.
LAT: Little-known brain disease rips apart lives of victim, loved ones - When Stu Bryant began acting rude and impulsive, his family was baffled. Then they learned he had frontotemporal disease, which strips away self-restraint and the ability to decipher social situations.
TodayHealth: C-sections aren't always best for preterm babies
MSNBC: FDA investigates vending machine for morning-after pills
Atlantic: Who Bullied the Susan G. Komen Foundation Into Cutting Funding?
TucsonCitizen: Boomers' demand for new knees soars
Doomsteading, Gardening, Urban Farming
CityFarmer: Meet your Urban Farmer in Metro Vancouver – 18 interview videos to come
CanadianDoomer: Hurray for Herbs
USAToday: 'Doomsday Preppers' highlights extreme survival techniques
CityFarmer: “596 Acres” – Find vacant lots in New York City
ModernSurvivalBlog: Know Multiple Routes ‘Out’
Other News
Telegraph: The Pope will die within a year: Vatican 'assassination fears' revealed
Time: The Art of Nazi Hunting: How Israel's Mossad Found Adolf Eichmann
“Operation Finale: The Story of the Capture of Eichmann” is a museum exhibition that chronicles the secret Mossad operation that stalked and captured Nazi war criminal Adolph Eichmann from his refuge in Buenos Aires, and smuggled him to Israel to stand trial for his role in organizing the Final Solution.CNN: 10 states freed from 'No Child Left Behind'
LAT: Officials examining 1980s case alleging abuse by Miramonte teacher
Times: Is the Polygamist Leader Preparing His Flock for Doomsday?
Six months ago Warren Jeffs, the imprisoned leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS), was hospitalized in critical condition, prompting speculation both inside and outside the breakaway Mormon sect about his survival and his successor. Now, thanks to the care he received during a medically induced coma, Jeffs has returned to health and to his cell inside a Palestine, Texas, prison where he appears to be in full command of his flock, issuing a barrage of revelations and edicts. Among them are orders to take away children's bicycles and to build a massive, amphitheater-like structure on the sect's West Texas ranch, all in preparation for doomsday.
Convicted of sexual assault in early August, 2011, Jeffs fasted and spent extended time on his knees praying during his trial, leading to his physical collapse 20 days after the verdict. His official Texas-prison mug shot shows an emaciated, hollow-cheeked man with close-cropped hair and piercing eyes. Gone was the tall, lanky, wavy-haired man seen kissing his teenage bride draped in his lap, as depicted in a photograph submitted during his West Texas trial. But while his criminal trials and his self-imposed afflictions have savaged his appearance, they appear not to have diminished his sense of purpose
PalmBeachPost: Video: Man tries to carry girl away at Ga. Walmart
WSJ: Appeals Court Rejects Clergy Tax Benefit - The taxpayers in the case were Phil Driscoll and his wife, Lynne. Mr. Driscoll, who is an ordained minister as well as a Grammy-award-winning trumpeter, heads Mighty Horn Ministries, a nonprofit based in Greensboro, Ga., that had total income of more than $6 million from 2005 to 2009.
At issue in the case were more than $400,000 of tax exclusions the Driscolls took over a period of four years for a lakefront second home near their first home in Cleveland, Tenn. The ministry provided the second home to the couple under the “housing allowance” of the tax code, often known as the “parsonage allowance.” This provision allows ordained clergy either to live tax-free in a home provided by a religious organization or to receive a tax-free annual payment to buy or rent a home as part of approved “reasonable compensation.”
Below, is a story that's extra special good, from our friend RJ!
MJPerry: What Dollar Store Locations Reveal About America - How does the concentration of dollars stores correlate with various socio-economic factors? Here are some interesting results from a study featured in The Atlantic:
1. The correlation between dollar stores and median income is significant and negative (-.57).
2. Dollar stores are concentrated in states with lower levels of education or human capital. The correlation is again significant and negative, even greater than for income (-.77).
3. The geography of dollar stores also tracks to the country's political divide. Dollar stores are positively correlated with the share of voters who backed McCain (.52) and negatively associated with Obama voters (-.47).
4. Obesity, smoking and crime also come into the picture. They are positively associated with the percentage of adults whose body mass index is greater than 30 (.72) and the percentage that smoke (.6).
5. Dollar stores states are also positively associated with property crime (.34), especially burglary (.54), and violent crime (.3), especially murder and manslaughter (.49).
6. Religion too plays a role. Dollar stores are positively and significantly associated with the percent of people who say religion plays an important role in their daily life (.71).
CBSNews: Josh Powell to boys: "I've got a big surprise" - Josh Powell told his 7-year-old son he had a "surprise" for him moments before attacking and killing him and his 5-year-old brother, according to the state social worker who was supposed to supervise a visit between Powell and his sons.
Alternet: 5 Big Lies About the Phony 'War on Religion'
CBS: Report: Teacher in LA scandal paid $40K to go
Politics
here in TN, we like to state the obvious. Just in case. LOL
TheTennessean: Conservatives prefer Romney to Obama
BusinessInsider: Santorum Fears Men Becoming Too Emotional If Women Take On Combat Roles
Atlantic: Who's Against Contraception?
ABCLocal: Santorum amplifies faith in way GOP rivals don't - TULSA, OK -- Rick Santorum stirs his ever-growing crowds when he promises to right a country awash in "immoral debt" and to replace an administration he argues has "callousness toward life and family and faith.
CNN: Campaign 2012: Billionaires to the rescue Are you a billionaire with a few million bucks to spare? - Assuming you've already got the customary roster of yachts, planes and vacation homes, you might want to try out the newest craze for super-wealthy Americans: Throw a few million dollars to a super PAC.
Guardian: About my ‘spilled semen’ amendment to Oklahoma’s Personhood bill - As a woman and a 31-year veteran of the legislative process in Oklahoma, I am increasingly offended by state law trends that solely focus on the female's role in the reproductive process. With Oklahoma's new, never-before-experienced Republican majority, we are seeing enactment of more and more measures that adversely affect women and their rights to access safe medical procedures when making reproductive healthcare decisions. My action to amend the so-called "Personhood" bill – SB 1433, introduced by Senator Brian Crain (Republican, Tulsa) – represents the culmination of my and many other Oklahomans' frustration regarding the ridiculousness of our reproductive policy initiatives in Oklahoma. I have received overwhelmingly positive responses from men and women in Oklahoma – and worldwide. The Personhood bill would potentially allow governmental intrusion into families' personal lives by policing what happens to a woman's eggs without any similar thought to what happens to a man's sperm.
Atlantic: Rick Santorum Is Right: Gas Prices Caused the Great Recession
NBCPolitics: House OKs insider trading ban; faces differences with Senate
Reuters: How Romney would tax us
Forums
TinfoilPalace: MUST READ: Jupiter to be Turned into Second Sun
TinfoilPalace: Were We Crazy?! NO!! Two Suns Visible by 2012TheOilAge: mouse & rat bait
TheOilAge: TAE: well past time for Europe plan Z
HubbertsArms: WTF? Kodak to stop making cameras!
HubbertsArms: Israel Supporting Known Terrorist Organization
SilentCountry: Bible Belt Towns in Kentucky Consider Liquor Sales to Raise Revenue
SilentCountry: Gatorade and Ramen Noodles
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